All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. . Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. I know that some of you don't have children and never will. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.. I read whatever I can about the brain, and one of the things I just learned is that the optic nerve, which is the only nerve that goes directly to your brain, actually sends more impulses from your brain forward than from your eye backward. this. the Jordan River, the first thing He told Joshua to do was to take twelve stones The second two have to do with being. We also established that around 90% of those who leave church attended public Paul talks about this in Romans 7, and he says, I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Proverbs 23:13, 14: "Do not withhold discipline from your child; if you strike him with the rod, he will not die. One final area I would like to address before closing this chapter is the imagination. I have noticed how the next generation values authenticity. Today the way to Jesus is through his Word. First, it is never too late to begin to study and grow in your grasp of Bible truth. What we need today are great imaginers. He said, Education is a weapon, the effect When I was a little kid, and I knew my mother had baked cookies, I would go up to the edge of the kitchen counter, and she would say, Now, Ricky, dont eat those cookies. I would say, Im not, Mom. Though Satan is called "the ruler of this world" ( John 12:31 ), Daniel 4:17 says, "The Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind, and bestows it on whom he wishes.". Writing makes a man more precise. And the most influential theological teachers he should ever have are Mom and Dad. I am begging you: dream great dreams for God, and teach others to dream great dreams for God. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates. Evidently when Judges 2:10 says that another generation arose who did not know the Lord, it is because many parents had neglected their God-ordained responsibility. I the Lord.visit the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.". Many people act as though their education ended at their last graduation. You can always get more money, but knowledge is something you are going to take with you to heaven. There really is nothing new under the sun. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. They dont teach wisdom. Now the people of Reuben and the people of Gad had a very great number of livestock. It is seeing from Gods perspective. Our church recently entered into what were calling the Decade of Destiny. We have written out our dreams for the character changes we want to see in our lives over the next ten years. And heres Proverbs 19:8: Whoever gets sense loves his own soul; he who keeps understanding will discover good. We must make time to think. K stands for keep on learning. and the media. Frequently we make snap judgments. It is a devastating blow to parents and churches alike to see children grow up and fall to the ways of the world (Prov. We need the Boyles. But just because you think something does not make it true. And so we come to the last level of learning: skill. I am challenging you. While statistics indicate God gave that responsibility to the parents. But Moses knew the ways of God. But what was the memorial for? The church and parents must reevaluate their old assumptions about - This generation. We dont want only to see what God sees but also to feel what God feels about the world, about the lost, about his Word, about his church. The world puts suggestions in our minds that are false, and we are bombarded with those false ideas all the time. We are taking notes and filling notebooks and thinking that because we are writing things down, we are really getting it. When I look at my three sons in love, I say, "O Christ, let me not be delinquent in bringing them with me to glory.". In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord, every day. We must critically examine our child-rearing day by day and make changes as necessary before it is too late. But how do you do that? No? The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). I can outdo that.. If you havent written it down, you havent really thought about it. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; they went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were round about them, and bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. It serves no real purpose to berate the parents who have the "I have done all I could" mentality. The Bible refers to the fig tree some 33 times - 18 times in the Old Testament alone. I can attest to that after nearly forty years of leading. "And these words which I command you shall be upon your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your children." I said to him, Sir, you know. And he said to me, These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. Labs But one of the big reasons why you need to not believe everything you think is that we see what we want to see. You dont have to wear elbow pads or knee pads, but you do have to wear a helmet. Thats why the Bible says, Iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17). 6:4). the origin of sin and death in this world. How do you analyze a chapter? He has been working in and through his body for two millennia, and you can save yourself a lot of time if you will avail yourself of the whole tradition. And in Hebrews 11:1, faith is said to be the conviction of things not seen. Let me give you some examples. Answer The Lord created families as a beautiful extension of His image. All of the different -isms are mental strongholds that people set up against the knowledge of God. The parent who smokes will continually telltheir children it is a bad habit, they'll tell them "don't you do this" and then light one up. Each generation needs its C. S. Lewises and J. R. R. Tolkiens, and G. K. Chestertons, and Tolstoys, and Dostoyevskys. But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. The Bible says that we should honor our father and mother. is so prevalent in the media, museums, and collegesand even among friends, Until we are saved, we dont have any protection against the fiery darts that the Devil unleashes on our minds. What would you attempt for God if you knew you couldnt fail? Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. We may be teaching people to have big heads and little hands and little hearts and little feet. I learn from churches larger than Saddleback. From this passage, it is clearly evident that a lack of Bible teaching in the home has lost generations of God's people today. And then verse 14 describes the divine response to this idolatry. But were not. A second objection some parents may raise is: I don't know enough about the Bible and about doctrine to teach my children and to answer their hard questions. Within the Christian community the main link between what this generation knows and what the next generation will know is the link between parent and child. And where theres not this vision, this God-directed dreaming, the people cast off restraint literally, they get out of control. When we do not have an overarching vision or dream or goal for our lives, our lives are out of control. We want to be able to bring them in, build them up, train them forward, and send them out. Shall a nation be brought forth in one moment? Infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, or hopes. Americans is not affiliated with any religion . And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work which the Lord had done for Israel. Its first and at its heart mind change. God has said this, but what about that? Volume 1, http://www.loc.gov/rr/frd/Military_Law/pdf/NT_Nazi_Vol-I.pdf, http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/stalin/works/1934/07/23.htm, http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/09/survey-one-in-five-americans-is-religiously-unaffiliated/comment-page-3/, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-newton/creationism-mr-nye-and-dr-pepper_b_1934407.html, Two thirds of teenagers dont believe in God,. The words themselves were first attributed to Gertrude Stein by Ernest Hemingway. 3) Conviction I love you so much that every drop of blood falling to the ground says, I love you. Thats conviction. But he answered them, You see all these, do you not? I am no expert in child psychology. O Once we begin to develop convictions, we start developing habits and the sum total of our habits is what we can call character. We cannot say that we have the character of honesty unless we are habitually honest. God's Sovereign Sway over Satan. The next link in the chain, once young people learn the truth, is for them lose its edge in science, and no longer have engineers and other innovators. If I thought that I was talking to a group of child abusers, I would say many other things. gave it to us (Hebrews 4:12). That might be a good verse to write on a Post-it note and stick on your television. You can learn from anybody if you just know the right questions. When I need to pray, my thoughts want to float away. A generation goes, a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. 2) It is impossible not to teach children about God, because not to teach them is to teach them plenty. For as soon as Zion was in labor she brought forth her children. Then there is junk food. And as I heard all these sermons, I would write over and over again as I was taking notes, YBH, YBH, YBH yes, but how? Jesus cursed a fig tree because it didnt bear fruit (Matthew 21:19) thats how important fruitfulness is. In just one We must pray continually for wisdom to make wise decisions regarding our children and the strength to be good examples for them. God wants you to grow, and he will help you do what is right. than any other country in history, America as a culture is becoming more secular The sins of the fathers are punished in the children through becoming the sins of the children. Throughout the history of God's people, generations have turned up missing. the Bibles authority, it will make sense of the world around them. Shall a land be born in one day? Another weakness of the church today when it comes to learning is that often we pastors are not teaching our people to be self-feeders. For at that time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call upon the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord. "In the end, Satan serves to magnify the power, wisdom, love, grace, mercy, patience, and wrath of Jesus Christ.". And may Christians be known for outthinking, outsmarting, and out-loving the rest of the world. Instead, he received them and blessed them, and in doing so, commended the parents for their concern. N stands for nourish a godly mind. They really are out to get your kids, and they The Bible says Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). Because we must outthink and out-dream and outsmart the world for the glory of God not for our private good but for the glory of God and the good of others. And how do you do it? And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Hugging and kissing, and tumbling, loving, forgiving, and spending time with your children are all just as important as spanking. If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. Friend, our lives do not change that much that fast. An oracle concerning Damascus. But do not measure the court outside the temple; leave that out, for it is given over to the nations, and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. The same is true in what you see, what you hear, and what you allow into your mind. . ], and the wise person listens to learn more. We need to be eager to learn and willing to listen. The third thing to learn and teach to others in this battle for the mind is to never let up on learning. Jeremiah 17:9 says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? We have an amazing ability to lie to ourselves. Generations come, and generations go, but the earth lasts forever. G God revealed his acts. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. In America, a major poll indicated that two-thirds of young people will leave You're almost done! God to their children. We must seek the council and advice of successful parents (Psa. How do you help others guard their minds against garbage? Why does this happen? What are the steps in how to do a biographical study? Ive read through John Wesley and through several other leaders. If you want to be healthy and successful in the Christian life and in ministering to others, successful in your ministry, fix your mind on the right things. May they fill their minds with the washing of the water of the Word. Its both. We need these in science. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. Jesus said that was the first and great commandment. One in five Americans Our Lord's assertion has given rise to sceptical observations, as if his prophecy had failed. . Proverbs 15:14: A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash (NLT). the growing, deliberate agenda of the media elite to capture the next generation Logic will get you from A to B, but imagination will take you everywhere. We will never be mini-gods. Be doers of the word, and not hearers only (James 1:22). When I talk about dreaming great dreams, I am not talking about changing doctrine. The devil knows this, and of course God warns us about it. Though first intended to denote Americans brought to Europe by the First World War, the "Lost Generation" refers to writers and other artists from the United States who took up residence in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s. You can learn from anybody. Silence about Christ is dogma. If you put bad data into a computer, you will get bad results out. With arms outstretched and nail-pierced hands, Jesus says that the cross is how much he and his Father love us. Jesus gave the how-tos; he taught people how to do it. We jump to conclusions, and the Bible talks about this in Romans 2. I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them, says the Lord your God. next generation for the Lordpassing that spiritual legacy along to the children, You can teach your child humility. It wants to go in a different direction. the present time, by those who seek to destroy the next generation spiritually! In this busy world, parents depend upon other people to raise their children for them without realizing it They are too busy to realize it! They have turned up missing in the sight of God, lost forever to the ways of the world. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. It is God's will that parents assume responsibility to teach their children what God has revealed about himself. that you should go and bear fruit (John 15:16). The stones were to remind the parents to make sure they taught the next generation Everything that happens in life begins with a dream. While its ultimately It will make you smarter, more godly, and more mature emotionally. All of our resources exist to guide you toward everlasting joy in Jesus Christ. Its not an opinion; its a conviction. Thats a conviction. . Jonas.These words our Lord had already uttered on a former occasion (Matthew 12:39), but he does not here explain them, as he did before (see Introduction, 7).Under similar circumstances he repeats himself, but he wastes not time in useless discussions with perverse opponents who will not see the truth. after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Thats part of knowledge. Learn this old clich: God gave us two ears and one mouth, so we should listen twice as much as we speak. Since the first two of these lessons lead to the last one, this is what I want to talk about mainly. Paul says in Ephesians 3:20, Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think more than we can imagine. Im just looking. Im looking. The first way you guard your heart and mind is in everything to pray. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. commissioned Americas Research Group to find out why this is happening and Anything that you make an idol in your life can be a stronghold fear, guilt, resentment, insecurity. At some point, children will stop following instruction and start following example. This is a mental battle. Before she was in labor she gave birth; before her pain came upon her she delivered a son. New Living Translation . A violent battle is raging around us twenty-four hours per day. And if God has shown it as truth, somebody else in the church has seen it before. They needed to teach others their knowledge, teach others to love knowledge, and get rid of anti-intellectualism. He knew why God had done those things. First, some might say that parents have no right to prejudice a child regarding what he will accept as true. Twice in the book of Proverbs we are told to store up my commands within you (Proverbs 2:1; 7:1 NIV). Nevertheless, I speak to you all because it is crucial that what God has to say about children be part of our shared Christian view of life. The survey found that It is unrelenting, and it is unfair because Satan never plays fair. What is Gods perspective on temptation? Thank you for those who have read and engaged this chapter. We are all mentally ill. Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say . There are two reasons why this should not stop you. The word generation refers to the people alive in the future when the events of Matthew 24-25 take place. Let me ask you quite frankly: Whats your dream for your next ten years? And we need to know not only the Bible but also church history. that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever (Joshua 4:2124). are using the public schools, secular media, museums, and other outlets to do In other words, some things arent necessarily wrong, but they arent necessary. Maybe your idea of growth and of ministry is to stay in a study all week. Loving. How do you guard your mind against garbage? Make it obedient. Alford has endeavoured to remove objections by taking as equivalent to , a race or family of people, and referring it to the continued existence of the Jews.He cites Jeremiah 8:3 (Septuagint); Matthew 12:45; Matthew 17:17; Matthew 23:36, etc., in . I stands for imagine great thoughts. The moment you stop learning, you stop leading. You may say, I believe in witnessing. Do you do it? It is a mental block. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. If you have a dull ax, it takes more energy to cut the wood. Without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6), and whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23). B You lighten a load. at the center of biology, and thus important to the success of medicine, biotechnology, You dont really know something until you apply it. The result was that the new generation forsook the Lord and brought judgment on itself. If you put mental garbage into your mind, you will get garbage out in your life. When I want to think a certain way, it wants to go another way. The CNN website The Bible says skill will bring success. Privacy Policy and Mistakes such as poor example, poor discipline, inconsistency, permissiveness, and others. May God fill our families with this joy in the years to come. For the LORD had sworn to them that they would not see the land he had solemnly promised their ancestors to give us, a land flowing with milk and honey. The second reason your sense of inadequacy should not stop you is that some tremendously valuable things can be taught when you don't know the answer to a child's hard question. Youre figuring out how to do it winning people to Christ, baptizing them in large numbers, planting churches, equipping servant leaders, assisting the poor, caring for the sick, educating the next generation, going out into the hurts and highways and byways of life and taking up the cross where people least expect it. shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you All of these things can be strongholds in your mind. After his death, others of his generation lived on for a while, but then they too died out. We must also let God develop our imagination. Opinion is something you argue about; conviction is something you die for. 1) It goes counter to all the teaching of Scripture that parents are to teach truth about God. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.. Because we know these things are so and can give evidence to a child eventually that will support this truth. next generation (through the education system, media, etc. Oftentimes, parents who have lost their children to the world failed to see the error of their own ways as their children were growing. Make sure that you are growing and developing. He shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time. It seems as if many Christian parents have absorbed the notion that you can't really (or shouldn't) expect obedience from a child. There are at least one hundred principles in Gods Word that have to do with what we are to do with our minds. Third, therefore it is the solemn duty of all parents to teach their children about God and his saving work, so that the next generation will know and be saved. A 2012 survey found that the fastest-growing Authenticity has always been an attractive quality. of the gospel! Let no one deceive you in any way. Sadly, you can learn the Bible without really knowing it; in other words, you can know all the facts without really knowing the content. And Napoleon said that imagination rules the world. Were telling ourselves its no big deal when it is a big deal. He is author of. It doesnt say that desire will bring success. Put on the helmet of salvation. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city and will become a heap of ruins. You share a burden with another animal. Then you dont really believe in it. There are many passages in Scripture that we could look at in this chapter, but I want us to focus in on one, 2 Corinthians 10:35: Though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh [in other words, we dont fight with armor, we dont fight with politics, we dont fight with money, we dont fight with all the humanistic ways]. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Few would dispute that Abraham lived around 2000 B.C. Judges 2:10-11 - A Lost Generation Daily Devotional Bible Verses And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. We all know things that others dont, and others know things of which we are ignorant. The Bible says in Jude 3 that the biblical faith was once for all delivered to the saints. The gospel is there, and we dont change it. We preachers can do a lot of ought-to preaching without giving our people the how-tos. Psalm 78.4: We will not hide them from their children, telling to the generation to come the praises of the Lord, And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done. And when people say I dont want to think about this, what are they doing? Conviction is the third building block, as these build on each other. . Then when the apostle Paul instructed parents and children how to relate to each other in a Christian household, in Ephesians 6:14 and Colossians 3:20, 21, he simply reaffirmed the Old Testament pattern: Children obey your parents; fathers bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. This peace will guard your hearts and your minds.. Christians must be ever vigilant. It doesnt say its dedication. We tell ourselves that were doing okay when were not doing okay. Two-thirds of children will leave the church after they leave home. job filling in the gaps. There is brain food that makes you smarter (food that actually makes you smarter!). In the words of Thomas Chalmers, it is the expulsive power of a new affection that turns your mind away from the things that the Devil wants you to focus on to the things that God wants you to focus on. Rather than see this happen again with someone else, they urgently teach and warn young parents of these errors and stop the trend before it recurs (Tit. "The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice; and he that begets a wise child shall have joy in him. Thats about fourteen applications a week. Why? It is their property by inheritance. Proverbs 29:15, 17, "The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself brings shame to his mother . He will raise a signal for the nations and will assemble the banished of Israel, and gather the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. P Guard your mind from garbage is the second key. You can use these as a template for all of your discipleship moving people from come and see to come and die..