Author: ShapedByTruth

Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

The bible says that a child needs to be trained in the way they should go.

God puts responsibility for training up kids in the hands of parents.

Children don’t come out of the womb knowing right from wrong. Children come out of the womb instinctively self-centered and ruled by thier appetites, needs, feelings, and emotions.

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

We, as parents, are the ones who have to show them right from wrong. We are responsible for managing their “appetites” until they learn to do so for themselves. We are responsible for helping them learn to manage their emotions and desires.

Prov 29:15 The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame.

Children have a natural tendency from the flesh to want sweets and junk. Unchecked, they will fill themselves with empty calories that will rob them of health.

We are responsible for training their tastes to appreciate more healty forms of food. Without our intervention, they would never develop a taste for what will build them up.

So it is with what they spend time doing. Without any external guidance, they will have a natural tendency to spend time watching and doing things that feed the flesh instead of their spirit.

Many of the things of God require time and repeated exposure in order to develop a taste for them.

As Godly parents, we must make sure our children are being exposed to the Word of God and things that are pleasing to God.

Otherwise, our children will grow up without ever having developed a taste for those things and learn nothing other than how to gratify the flesh.

Part II

1Jo 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment, He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

God is not a tormenter. Satan is the tormentor. If you are overlording over someone, or use threats and fear tactics to get your way with someone, you are working the works of satan and tormenting them. You might get temporary compliance, but you are planting seeds of contention and strife that will reap an evil harvest in your home.

Deuteronomy 11:16 – Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

How much time do you spend upset about “things”.

You know how strong a hold “things” have on you by how much time they occupy in your life.

How many idols have possession of you?

We are instructed to “take heed of ourselves”. Otherwise it is up to us to continually keep ourselves in check in order to keep ourselves free from making an idol out of commonplace things. If we are not watchful, then according to this verse we will be deceived.

Deuteronomy 11:16 – Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

Luke 21:8 – And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 – Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 15:33 – Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners.

Galatians 6:7 – Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

Think about it. On your death bed, what will you be thinking? Will you be regretting not having more money? How about having watched more TV? Putting more hours into work, watching sports, getting one more promotion, getting the fancier car, spreading more gossip?

Will you be regretting time wasted on things instead of people?

On your death bed, what you will regret will be lost opportunities to build more and stronger relationships.

You can’t take money, jobs, cars, or TV with you when you die. These things are temporal and do not last.

The only thing you can take with you are the relationships you have built. The only thing that lasts forever are the time and efforts invested in developing relationships. Your relationship with God, your spouse, your kids, your relatives and friends will last on into eternity. Relationships with saved loved-ones will last forever in heaven.

Your #1 priority while here on earth is building these relationships. You will not find satisfaction in any other activity.

Satan and the world continue to try and sell anything and everything else as *the* source of fulfillment. These things may provide distraction or pacification for a short time. However, they cannot provide a source of fulfillment, purpose, and strength.

1. The first relationship you need to build is with God.

God has an unlimited supply of strength for you to draw on. He is your source of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If you expect to draw love from anyone else, you will drain them and sap the strength out of them. Your relationship with God must come first, in order for you to be continually filled to overflowing with love that in turn you can pour out on others around you.

2. Your next priority is to minister to your spouse.

The bible says that husbands should love their wives (Eph 5:25, Col 3:19). Notice this is not optional, nor does it say “love your wife when you feel like it”. God wouldn’t tell us to do it without giving us the ability to do it. You must decide and make a commitment to love your wife regardless of your feelings. Once you make the commitment and take action on it, your feelings will catch up. Loving your wife is your most important ministry. You need to treat your wife better than you treat anyone or anything else. You need to speak highly and kindly about your wife to other people whether she is around or not.

God’s kind of love must be learned. (Titus 2:3-5) The natural, fleshly kind of love centers on self fulfillment and is only concerned with what it wants. God’s love is not concerned about self, and instead is more concerned about the other person.

When the husband/wife relationship is out of balance, then there is strife and contention in the home. This strife is like a cancer that destroys everything else in the home and steals any and all blessings that God wants to pour out on the family.

Children look to the parents for love and security. If the parents do not have a loving relationship, then they cannot strengthen each other, and the parents do not have anything left to pour out on the children. The children then become a drain.

3. Train up your children

Next is to pour your love and attention into your children. Time is the most valuable asset we have. Children value time and attention higher than anything else. Too often we bend over backwards trying to buy the best, latest, and greatest toys out of guilt for not having spent enough time with our kids when all they need is your attention.

Train up your children in the way that they should go. If you do not maintain discipline over your children, you are setting them up for failure. They need to learn there are consequences for behavior. They need the consistency and security of a stable, firm, loving home environment. You provoke your children to wrath by being inconsistent with your discipline, or spoiling your children by not disciplining them. They are provoked to wrath because they gain an expectation of being able to get away with bad behavior and then resent being disciplined for things they have gotten away with in the past.

Children learn more from watching you. They learn how to develop relationships by watching how you develop relationships. This again leads back to the importance of a healthy husband and wife relationship in the home.

4. Know your role

God has especially created us to fulfill certain roles. We are “coded” and tailor made to fulfill specfic purposes in our lives.

Satan and popular culture have sold most of the world lies that fulfillment only comes from a career and accumulation of possessions. Those who buy into this lie, end up bitter and/or depressed due living an unfulfilled, aimless life.

We will only truly enjoy the things that we have been created to do.

The role of a husband is to submit to and willingly love and obey God, love his wife, and love his children. After that, his next priority is to provide for his family. The bible says that if a man doesn’t provide for his family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (1Tim 5:8).

Too often I hear believers say “Well, I’m only human.”

If that is what you believe, then all you will ever get is human results.

The statement “I’m only human” is not true for a disciple of Jesus. You are no longer “only human”. The bible says you are a new creature. If you have accepted Christ as savior, then you are born again in the spirit and one-third of you is “wall to wall” Holy Spirit.

If all you look at is in the natural, then all you will see is natural results.

Let God be true and every man a liar. Choose to believe God’s Word and walk in the Spirit. Walk by faith and not by sight.

There is a concept that pops up every now and again that the “Gospel” somehow overrides or is a more reliable revelation than the Bible. That the introduction of Grace somehow makes the rest of the Bible merely interesting reading. That the Gospel allows for us to go about and do whatever feels good and go about our business without any thought of consequences.

Unfortunately, this is a serious misrepresentation that leads many folks astray and away from all the awesome things God has laid out for us.

The truth is, the Gospel isn’t one or two verses taken out of context, nor is it one or four books taken by themselves. The truth is, the Gospel is revealed through an understanding of the entirety of God’s Word. The Old Testament points to and describes Messiah, the New Testament fulfills prophecies about and reveals Messiah.

The Gospel is not about being free to feed your selfish feelings, the Gospel is about being freed from your selfish flesh and being led by the Spirit. (Gal 5:16)

Feeding selfish desires only brings temporary and fleeting pacification that lasts only for the moment. Walking in the Spirit leads to ongoing peace and joy that are independent of circumstances and sources of strength not that are not only for the here and now, but have benefits that last into eternity.

Instead of serving your flesh and emotions, your body and emotions become your servants.

The Bible gives us the foundation for understanding the good news of salvation and prosperity. The entirety of God’s Word is there for us to maintain balance and to use as a standard by which we can test the plethora of messages that are out there.

2Tim 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires.

Truly unbiased and objective science is a good thing. The eventual answer to science’s questions and observable fact based reasoning will ultimately point to the laws that govern the universe.

We are supposed to seek, and keep on seeking for truth with the hope that eventually we will indeed find it. This is not arbitrary hope, but hope based on God’s promise that if we seek and keep on seeking we will find. If we knock and keep on knocking, the door will be opened.

The problem comes when we “shop” for the truth that best fits our own designs. Too often we stop when we find the answer that we want to hear, instead of continuing until we find the truth. Too often we believe what we want to believe, and ignore anything and everything that doesn’t fit into our neat little model of how we want the universe to function.

Shopping for truth has its consequences:

Pro 16:25 There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end of it is the ways of death.

The world tends to go through several “flat earth theory” phases. There will be times when some ideas seems reasonable to cursory observation and become very popular. However when taken in the whole body of evidence (geology, physics, mathematics) it just doesn’t add up right. Eventually, as we learn more about our universe, we will grow out of this phase — and very likely right into another.

An advantage that we as believers have the Bible as a foundation and the benefit of a Helper who will lead and guide us into all truth.

Joh 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth. For He shall not speak of Himself, but whatever He hears, He shall speak. And He will announce to you things to come.

Seek and keep on seeking, and as you seek keep the bible as your foundation and plumb-line to keep you on the straight and narrow.

I have not been able to track down the original source of this. I wouldn’t base a theology on these kinds illustrations, but they can be thought provoking.

A man found a cocoon of a butterfly. One day a small opening appeared. He sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force it’s body through that little hole. Then it seemed to stop making any progress. It appeared as if it had gotten as far as it could and it could go no farther.

So the man decided to help the butterfly. He took a pair of scissors and snipped off the remaining bit of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged easily. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly because he expected that, at any moment, the wings would enlarge and expand to be able to support the body, which would contract in time.

Neither happened!

In fact, the butterfly spent the rest of its life struggling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings.

It never was able to fly.

What the man in his kindness and haste did not understand, was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to to get through the tiny opening were God’s way of forcing fluid from the body of the butterfly into its wings, so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved it’s freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If God allowed us to go through our life without any obstacles, it would cripple us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been.

And we could never fly.