WEEKLY
DEVOTIONS
|
|
| Click Here for
more devotionals!! "MEN
OF HONOR" "And he shall go
before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the
hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a
people prepared for the Lord." Socrates once said, "If I could get to the
highest place in Athens, I would lift up my voice to say,
'What mean ye, fellow citizens, that ye turn every stone
to scrape wealth together, and take so little care of
your children to whom ye must one day relinquish
all?'" That seems to be the problem with alot of
families in America today... we spend so much time on
things that will pass away and we neglect the most
important things in life! I believe the call is going
out, asking the question: Where are the men? Where are
those who will stand up for what is right even when it's
not popular? Where are the husbands who will love their
wives and stay faithful to them in the midst of a society
that glorifies adultery and promiscuity? Yes, God is
still looking for a few good men!! In Luke 1:17, an angel appeared to Zacharias the
priest and told him that his soon-to-be-born son, John
the Baptist, would prepare the way for Christ's coming by
turning the hearts of the fathers back to the children.
I am convinced that is exactly what needs to
happen in America today! Families need to be reconciled
together before our country can be healed. Fathers need
to be saved and reconciled to the children they haven't
talked to in years! Did you know that almost every man in
prison, especially those on Death Row, either hate their
fathers or never really knew them?! The breakdown of the
family is the #1 cause for many of the problems in
society today. And let me say this: You don't have to be
away from home to be an absentee father. You could be
living under the same roof and eating from the same
table... but if you are neglecting your relationship with
your children... it's the same as being an absentee
father! Luke 3:22 tells us that when Jesus was baptized by
John the Baptist in the Jordan River that the sky was
opened, the Holy Ghost descended "in a
bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from
Heaven, which said, 'Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I
am well pleased.'" In that moment,
God, the Father, let his Son know that He was pleased
with him. Every son needs that affirmation from their
father in order to overcome the trials of life...whether
it's in a hug, a handshake, or a spoken word. They need
to know that you love them, even if they don't turn out
quite the way you planned. Here's a good example of that:
throughout the Old Testament you can find where a Jewish
father would call his children around his death bed and,
one by one, lay his hand upon them and bless them. And
many times God would honor the father's request and bless
the children according to his words! Dad, have you
blessed your children lately?? Most of us are familiar with the story of the Prodigal
Son. He was the youngest son of a wealthy land owner. One
day, he decided he wanted his share of the inheritance
early...so he could go enjoy it while he was young. So
the father gave it to him and he was off! It didn't take
long before all of his money was gone and a famine hit
the land. The young man got a job feeding swine and,
because of starvation, he soon found himself eating the
pigs' food just to stay alive. It was then that he
decided to go back home and ask his father to take him
back and make him a slave. Before I finish the story, let
me tell you what didn't happen: The
Prodigal Son's father didn't make him
wallow in guilt and beg to be forgiven...he did
not look down at his lost son and say,
"Well, I hope you learned your lesson, boy!"
No...the Bible tells us that when he saw his son afar
off, he ran to his son and gave him a hug, a kiss, a robe
and a ring! And that's exactly what our Heavenly Father
is like! Love isn't love unless it's unconditional...and
God expects all of us dads to be examples of His love. We must also be willing to forgive. As the spiritual
leader of the home, you must make sure there's a spirit
of forgiveness in your home--not a spirit of strife. You
are to be the Peacemaker in the home--not the one who
causes WAR to break out! As husbands, we must learn to
forgive our wives just as Jesus has forgiven us. We must
create a Biblical lifestyle of forgiveness in our homes.
Abraham Lincoln said it best this way, "There is
just one way to bring up a child in the way he should go
and that is to travel that way yourself." Dads, the
best gift you can give your children is to love their
mother! Remember, the Bible says in Proverbs 18:22, "Whoever
finds a wife finds a good thing, and obtains favor of the
Lord." We are living in a society
where more than half of all marriages end in divorce...
and the divorce rate among Christians is even higher!
Men, I want to remind you that your wife is a gift to you
from God. No, she's not perfect...but neither are you!
God gave her to you to make you complete...to be your
life-long companion. You need to love your wife through sacrificial
love--I don't mean for you to die for her in one
heroic moment, but to die to self daily and love her and
exalt her as the one God gave to you. Husbands, listen to
me: my wife and I have talked to many women through our
ministry and many of them have told us, "If my
husband would love me and treat me the way Jesus does...I
would have no problem submitting to him!" Fellows,
it's time to start loving our wives the way Jesus
commanded us to! If you're reading this and thinking about leaving your
wife for another woman...you had better stop and think
about what you're doing. The physical and spiritual
consequences of your decision could last your entire
life...and perhaps through eternity! The Bible says, "What
God has joined together let no man put asunder." and
"Marriage is honorable in all, and the
bed undefiled: but adulterers will God judge."
Now, I don't know your situation but God does and He's
the best marriage counselor you'll find. Why not give
your problems and your marriage to Him? He can
work miracles if you'll just let Him! Being a parent is an adventure...being a minister and
a parent can sometimes be a difficult task. In 1 Timothy
3:4,5 we find some of the qualifications for a pastor or
a minister to be: "One that manages his
own family well and sees that his children obey him with
proper respect. For if a man does not know how to rule
his own house, how shall he take care of the church of
God?" A few months ago, I received a
devastating phone call. It was concerning a pastor whom I
loved and admired very much. He had resigned his church,
left his wife, forsaken his children and is now living
with another woman. That news devastated me. I
immediately fell on my knees and began to pray for that
dear family. While I was praying, the Lord reminded me
that, even though I was a minister of the Gospel, my
first calling was to be a loving husband and father, and
to be the spiritual leader of my home. Pastors,
Evangelists, Ministers listen: balancing family and
ministry can be a difficult task at times, and the
demands of the ministry can easily exceed the needs of a
minister's family. But, as the Apostle Paul told us, your
highest calling is to take care of your
family!! And when you make your family the first and
foremost responsibility of your ministry, they will be
the greatest fulfillment and blessing in your life! My father passed away on April 16, 1999. I remember
him in two different ways: In my early childhood years, I
remember him as a hard man...one that had a bad temper
and didn't smile alot. The reason for that is because he
spent many years running from the Lord...he was miserable
because he was under conviction and he knew it. I
remember many Sundays going to church with mom and my
brother and requesting prayer for my dad to be saved.
Even though he wasn't saved until years later, I still
respected him. I didn't always agree with him, but I
respected him. As I got older I realized he was alot
wiser than I gave him credit for...and I started
listening to his advice. When he finally gave his heart
to the Lord, dad became a totally different person! Even
though he was sick most of the time, he would laugh and
joke around with everyone...it was like he never met a
stranger. He was always faithful to church--even when he
didn't feel like going. It was this latter part of his
life that made the biggest impact on me. Because I could
see the change that came over our home when Jesus was
allowed to rule over it! Because of dad's heart
condition, he had experienced death once before. I can
still hear his words as he would share his testimony, "Death
has no sting when a righteous man dies!" That's what I want to be: a righteous man. One whose
desire is to follow God with all his heart, who loves his
family more than anything in life, who is wise in God's
Word, who can find the humor in any situation, and who is
faithful in all that he does. To find out more information about being a man of honor, simply use the Bible Study Tools at the bottom of this page!
|