Seven Steps in Raising a Faith Child

God has placed within parents the natural ability to teach their children. As a Christian parent, we must not only teach our children about the physical necessities of life, but we must also train them up so that they will walk in faith. The Word says in Proverbs 22:6 that if we train our children properly while they are children, then when they become older, they will not depart from their instruction.

Here are seven simple steps in training your child to be a child of faith.

1. You must pray for your child.

Your prayers are more powerful concerning your children than anyone else’s. You not only have spiritual authority, but you have the natural authority of a parent.

2. You must speak the Word over your child.

Isaiah 59:21 says, "‘This is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants' descendants,’" says the LORD, "’from this time and forevermore.’"
3. Speak the promise and not the problem.

It’s tempting to speak the problem when you are dealing with children by saying things like, "When will you ever learn to . . ." Remember, there must be instruction without condemnation.
4. Encourage your child with the Word.

Isaiah 54:13 says, "All your children shall be taught by the LORD, and great shall be the peace of your children." They must know you stand on the Word unconditionally in faith.
5. Call those things that be not as though they were.

God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did. (Romans 4:17)
For "who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?" But we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:16)
Say, "You are intelligent because you have the mind of Christ." Say, "You are strong because the joy of the Lord is your strength." Say, "You are delivered because the children of the righteous shall be delivered."
Remember, you cannot tell them they have the mind of Christ and act like they have the mind of the devil.
6. Let them see faith in you.

As you live your natural life at work and at home, walk by faith in all you do. Your children will see your character. Second Timothy tells us that faith can be transmitted from one generation to the next.
When I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. (2 Timothy 1:5)
7. Don’t give up on your child.

Thus says the LORD: "Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says the LORD, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy. There is hope in your future, says the LORD, that your children shall come back to their own border." (Jeremiah 31:16,17)

The Heart of a Father

 

“See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for He allows us to be called His children, and we really are!…” I JOHN 3:1 NLT

The heart of a father is found in the heart of God. In order for a man to be the kind of father that his children need, a man must understand what kind of a father God is to his children. Here are four important areas to consider

:

1. Leadership
Children need leadership. A father has been called by God to instruct his child, point his child to the path of life, and show his child how to walk upon it. A father is a child’s spiritual leader. From a father’s lips, a child needs to hear wise words and wise counsel; from a father’s steps, a child needs to see the importance of wise choices and good decisions; from a father’s love, a child needs to discover his purpose, his identity, and his true worth. 

A Dad is respected because he gives his children leadership.

2. Care

Children are very needy people. Every child needs to be cared for and have his or her basic needs met. A father has been given the main responsibility of caring for and providing for his children. A man’s work is a God given way for a father to care for his family. No work is small or insignificant in the eyes of God. A man’s work is honorable and is a doorway through which a father helps to express his love and care for his children in practical ways.

A Dad is appreciated because he gives his children care.

3. Time

Every child has a need to spend time with his father. Being a father is about being together with your child to share life’s joys and God’s blessings. Every moment a father spends with his child is another opportunity for good to happen in a child’s life. A father needs to value and guard his time with his children. Time is a precious gift that a father can give his children and it will have far greater value than any material gift he could ever buy for them.

A Dad is valued because he gives his children time.

4. Himself

Even greater than a father giving his child the gift of time is when a father gives his child the gift of himself. When a father gives the gift of himself, he is saying to his child, “I am not only spending this time with you, but you have my complete attention. My eyes are upon you, my watch-care is over you, my thoughts are with you, and my love is around you. When God spoke to Abram, God gave him this precious promise, “ ‘…Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.’ ” GENESIS 15:1 KJV

A Dad is loved because he gives his children the one thing they treasure most— himself.

WORKING AT IT

There are people who use the excuse that they are working at overcoming offense. But that's not what the Bible instructs us to do. James 1:23-25 clearly states that only the doers of the Word will be blessed.

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does.

A doer of the Word is not someone who merely listens to what the Word says, but rather applies what he has heard to his life. How do you suppose it would sound if someone said, "I am working at not lying"? No, if you simply tell the truth, you won't lie! It's not those who are working at not lying who are blessed, but those who speak the truth.

God doesn't accept the idea of "working on it" any more than you would if your spouse said he or she was "working on" being married. Your spouse would get the slack jerked out of him or her very quickly!

When someone states that they are "working on it," what they are actually revealing is that they are not yet willing to obey God. Isn't that right? It's a whole lot easier to justify yourself by saying that you are working on something than it is to implement the Word of God or to admit you're in sin. Many times you can con people with such statements, but you can't con God because He looks upon the heart.

There is not one sin that the blood of Jesus cannot eradicate. His blood is all-powerful. And as a result, there is no excuse for a Christian to be offended. No one—no matter how heartbreaking, horrific, or desperate the situation—can develop an excuse for being offended that is acceptable to God.

You may have convinced yourself that your basis for offense is a worthy one, but you will never persuade God. He gave His Son to die so that all of humanity could be forgiven of their shortcomings. If you have accepted God's forgiveness, then you must be willing to give it to others. "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you." (Matthew 6:14)

There is no permissible excuse for disobeying God. When you stand before Him, and He asks, "Why didn't you obey My Word?" you cannot come up with an excuse that will satisfy God. You may offer an excuse, but He will reply, "I empowered you with supernatural ability to do all that was written in My Word. All you had to do was make the decision to obey." And the bottom line will be that you simply made poor choices.

In the same manner, there is no acceptable excuse for harboring unforgiveness because of an offense. Although someone always tries to defend their reason for being offended by saying, "But you don't know what they did to me, or how many years I have had to put up with it." However, the Lord didn't exclude anyone when He said, "Whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses." (Mark 11:25) So, apparently it doesn't matter what the offense was, you are still required to forgive.    WOW !! What must the Lord think about this world today, cutting each other down..if they say what they believe …family against family… people are tossed too and fro with the winds ..believing first one thing then another … “stand firm on the word of God not man” no matter who he might be.

Remember Lot’s Wife

Luke 17:32
“Remember Lot’s wife.”

Lot lived in the sinful Sodom and Gomorrah, his choice. God seen it was so sinful he would destroy it. However,Abraham pleaded with God for the good souls in Sodom and Gomorrah, and angel appeared to Lot, and told him to hurry, and take his family, which consisted of his two daughters and his wife, as far as we know, out of the city.

I’ve heard this story many times, however, I never seen it like I did while studying this time. The angel told Lot to run to the mountains, Lot refused, and said that he wanted to stay in a nearby city called Zoar because he was afraid that some evil would overtake him there and he would die.
The only reason why God preserved that city was because Lot was in it, because Zoar was to be demolished as well. (Genesis 19:21)

Whether we want to admit or not, God delivers us from things, and sometimes, we say we let go and we don’t let go all the way. God tells you, to leave the low place you have been to go to a higher place. However, instead of doing this, because of fear, we settle to stay in a nearby town.
How many times has God delivered you from someone or something only too have you run right back to it.
The funny thing about Lot, is that eventually, he realized that he could not stay in Zoar. That’s what happens, you will be with a person, rebound to someone who is another mess, and then you will realize you cannot stay in Zoar. God may have set you free from drugs or any other trap of Satan and we turn back to it. God is telling you, leave Zoar and retreat to the mountains. Zoar is no better than Sodom and Gomorrah and God wants you to be with Him and a higher place, and with Him alone.
And He doesn’t want you to turn back.
When God deliverers you from a bad or evil situation, the worst thing you can do is turn back. The worst thing you can do after God has delivered from a bad relationship is to turn back and go back to this relationship out of loneliness or desperation. If the story of Lot’s wife, turning into a pillar of salt, does not convict you enough not to turn back on meaningless relationships with peoples that have no future than pray that God helps you not to turn back into these relationships. Bad habits ..whatever.
She turned into a pillar of salt! Meaning she was literally paralyzed. Turing
back into situations that God has delivered from, will paralyze you!

Run from them! Run as fast as you can.
If this story wasn’t as important as it was, Jesus would’ve quoted it again in the new testament saying, “Remember Lot’s wife” Luke 17:32
Today I charge you, to remember Lot’s wife, and don’t make the same mistake that she did of going back to a situation that God had delivered you from.
* One thing we must realize is that Lot’s wife did not say a word! She wasn’t even called by name. It was her heart that yearned go back to Sodom and Gomorrah. I don’t know if she yearned for friends, family or stuff left behind whatever I Pray that your heart would be changed to not turn back to the Sodom and Gomorrah’s in your life!
Not every place, person,or things of the past who has left your life is a Sodom and Gomorrah. Ask God to give you discernment help you not to turn back.

You Must Read This

A Man kills wife and buries children alive.
A Muslim man in  Egypt  killed his wife because
  she was reading the Bible and then buried her with their
  infant baby and an 8-year old daughter.
The girls were buried alive! He then reported to the police that an uncle
killed the kids. 15 days later, another family member died.
  When they went to bury him, they found the 2 little girls
> under the sand - ALIVE! The country is outraged over the
> incident, and the man will be executed.. The older girl was
> asked how she had survived and she says:- 'A man wearing
> shiny white clothes, with bleeding wounds in his hands, came
> every day to feed us. He woke up my mom so she could nurse
> my sister,' she said. She was interviewed on Egyptian
> national TV, by availed Muslim woman news anchor.
>  She said on public TV, 'This was none other than
> Jesus, because nobody else does things like this!'
> Muslims believe Isa (Jesus) would do this, but the wounds
> mean He really was crucified, and it's clear also that
> He is alive! But, it's also clear that the child could
> not make up a story like this, and there is no way these
> children could have survived without a true miracle. Muslim
> leaders are going to have a hard time to figure out what to
> do with this, and the popularity of the Passion movie
> doesn't help! With Egypt at the center of the media and
> education in the Middle East , you can be sure this story
> will spread. Christ is still turning the world upside down!
    Please let this story be shared. The Lord says, 'I will
   bless the person who puts his trust in me.' Jeremiah 17
                   God will reward you abundantly!!
                                 Mark 8:38 which says,
'Therefore whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and my Words in this
adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of  Man shall also be ashamed of
him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels'

Baby pterodactyl she’s not !

Baby girl tries to fly …but didn’t get far and the landing left much to be thankful for!!!  Things could have been much different … had she landed under the dresser or TV. She is so smart … she figured out she could pull the draws out and uses them as stairs to get to the top so ..(being a baby pterodactyl) she could fly !  But to her surprise she didn’t fly high up in the sky…but the dresser, the big heavy TV and baby pterodactyl all tumbled to the floor !!!  Now I don’t know about the dresser or the TV but as for the baby pterodactyl she got one of her wings clipped !!  She called her Maga to say “I not a pterodactyl, I not fly !!!”

Thank You Lord that our baby girl didn’t get hurt worse …she sure gave her angels a workout….

And at the same time my oldest grand daughter had her arm in a sling also. She didn’t try to fly or think she was a baby pterodactyl … but she may have wished she had ..it might have been more fun and less pain..      

Maga  (grandma) love’s you girls

Write It Down, Make It Clear

This is the confessions of my mouth; I am fully persuaded that God will do what He has promised. There is no power in denying a sickness exists, the power is in mixing Faith with Gods Word … If you believe you shall receive whatsoever you ask in Jesus’ name.  My God is faithful … I am practicing God’s medicine … Mark 11:23 …..he shall have whatsoever he saith.   So I choose to believe and speak the word in faith.

Ps. 103:2-5

2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits;                      

3 Who forgiveth all your iniquities, who healeth all your diseases;           

4 Who redeemeth your life from destruction; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and tender mercies;             

5 Who satisfieth your mouth with good things; so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Ps. 107:17

He sent His word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.

Prov. 4: 20-23

20 My son attend to My words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.

21 Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.

22 For they are life to those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

I believe in the Power tools …. “The Word” - “The Name” - “The Blood”

I also believe in the “Power of Prayer and Praise” so I am singing His praise and praying in the spirit continually.