When You Say Yes Lord, But Your Children Say No

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." - Ephesians 2:8-9

If I say that you must be born again by the Spirit - like Jesus told Nicodemus and that the only way you can be saved is by grace through faith - I don't think that any Christian would argue with me. But - if I went on to say that it also applies to your children and you being a Christian does not guarantee that your offspring will be Christians - you would likely struggle with that thought. For good reason. You love your children and you want them to have eternal life by faith.  You might even think that somehow you are responsible if they are not Christians. I will address that but want to share a factoid with you first.  Did you know that there were 41 kings beginning with King Saul until the end of the reign of kings in 586BC. Of those 6 were faithful to God (good kings), 7 were on and off in their faithfulness (good and evil), and 28 were unfaithful (evil). Not a very good track record was it.  Wouldn't you think it would have been better than that? I did until I did some research.

Some perspective. God loved the world and sent His Son. (John 3:16) While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us - all of us. (Romans 5:8) Jesus lamented over Jerusalem for because of the people's rejection of the Way and Truth and Life. (Matthew 23:37)

So back to our kids. Certainly children born into families where the parents are Christians are without excuse. Meaning that they could never say they never heard the Gospel or never heard about Jesus. But having Christian parents does not guarantee that the children will be saved or not that their lives will not go off the moral rails at some point. Do you remember this verse.

"... for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" - Romans 3:23

How about this one.

"As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one" - Romans 3:10

Another verse.

"No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him" - John 6:44

I would say there is a high probability of a child becoming a Christian when the parents are Christians, but it is not a guarantee. The reason is that salvation is an individual experience between the lost person and God.

I hasten to add that it is not uncommon for a child who has been saved to wander from the Way - especially as a teenager and young adult. That does not mean that they are not saved or have somehow lost their salvation. What it does mean is that the child has stepped out of the "umbrella of faith" of the parent and is now swimming on their own. Sometimes there is a great struggle and sometimes not. Our role as the parent is to be faithful to live our lives rightly as a witness to our children and to love them through that difficult time. You don't condone their choices, but you don't stop loving and praying for them.

I may have quoted this before, but it merits being said again. We don't take big problems to God but take our problems to a BIG God. The father of the prodigal son knew where his son was but waited for the son to repent - loving him all the while.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Confess it - Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone 

The Bridge Builder - Leaving A Legacy

I read an article some years ago about some local fishermen who drowned in a river while fishing. What caught my attention was the last sentence in the article. "They were good Christian men." I don't know the men or their ages, but I do know that they left a legacy as faithful Jesus followers. Which gave me pause to consider my own life. 

When we are saved we are made perfect in the eyes of God because of His Son not because we are perfect in all of our ways. We all have others' eyes on us. People, I think, are desperate to know that our faith is real. We are living testimonies to that reality. They are looking for proof. That proof is the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit in us.

"the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." - Galatians 5:22-25

When our mom was saved, the four older children, including me, were skeptical. We knew what she had been like before. So we waited for proof that what she said she was wasn't true. The the old-mom was still there. But time proved to us that the old-mom was no more. That didn't mean that she lived a perfect and sinless life - but the change - the manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit - was undeniable. So it could have been said at her passing, like those fishermen, that "She was a good Christian woman."

She, and my step-dad, left a legacy for their children. And so it is incumbent upon us to do the same. My children don't know what I was like before I was saved - but I do. I know that my grandchildren are watching me and Martie as we live our lives. We want to be bridge builders - legacy leavers for future generations pointing them to the Lord.  The way, the truth and the life.

I read a poem the other day that brought this home to me. The Bridge Builder - by Will Allen Dromgoole, written circa 1900

***

" An old man, going a lone highway, Came, at the evening, cold and gray, 

To a chasm, vast, and deep, and wide, Through which was flowing a sullen tide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim; The sullen stream had no fears for him;

But he turned, when safe on the other side, And built a bridge to span the tide.

"Old man," said a fellow pilgrim, near, "You are wasting strength with building here;

Your journey will end with the ending day; You never again must pass this way;

You have crossed the chasm, deep and wide- Why build you the bridge at the eventide?"

The builder lifted his old gray head: "Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,

"There followeth after me today A youth, whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm, that has been naught to me, To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be.

He, too, must cross in the twilight dim; Good friend, I am building the bridge for him." End

***

So who are you building a bridge for? Or are you just making your own way and have decided by choice or neglect that those who follow must do the same?

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Confess it - Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone 

The Trouble With Temptation

"For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works." - Titus 2:11-14

There is a difference between being faced with temptation and succumbing to it and embracing those things by which we are tempted. So long as we live and breathe in this "earth suit" we will be faced with temptation to sin. I have not met a person who does not face the struggle. In fact the Word speaks directly to it. 

"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Everyone is tempted. We are not all tempted by the same things but there is something or many things that tempts us to sin. God has provided a way to resist the temptation. To be clear, temptation is not sin. But sin is always preceded by temptation. Remember David and Bathsheba. 

"It happened in the spring of the year, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the people of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem. Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house. And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child." 2 Samuel 11:2-5

If we break this down. David was supposed to be with his men who had gone off to war, but he stayed behind. He was not where he was supposed to be. On his rooftop David saw a woman bathing and rather than turn away he looked at her, letting the temptation get stronger, and then called for her. He knew she was the wife of Uriah the Hittite. He acted on the temptation and he had sex with her and she got pregnant. If you read further - David compounded his sin by trying to cover it up. First by bringing Uriah back from the war so he could have sex with his wife and then David could claim it was Uriah's child not his. Turned out that Uriah was a man of character and would not lay with his wife when the rest of his comrades were fighting in a war. So David had Uriah moved up to the most dangerous place in the battle and Uriah was killed.

Do you see how when we yield to temptation, sin takes root and then gives birth to more sin. Psalm 51 is about David's response when he is confronted by the Prophet Nathan recorded in 2 Samuel 12. David came under conviction and repented before the Lord.

In Psalm 51 David cried out to the Lord - "Create in me a clean heart oh Lord and renew a right Spirit in me. Do not cast me from your presence. Restore unto me the joy of my salvation." Living with unconfessed sin - with an unclean heart and hands stifles fellowship with God. Nathan told David a story and David said the man Nathan talked about should be punished. Nathan said, "You are the man!"

Don't think you are above temptation and the sin that follows.

"Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death." - James 1:13-15

Guard your heart! 

"But the path of the just is like the shining sun, That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble. My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, And put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, And your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, And let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil." - Proverbs 4:18-27

When you see that your next step will be on the path to sin, take another path.

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Confess it - Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone 

Who Decides What Is Good? - God Does Not You

To him who overcomes… —Revelation 2:7

I just read a post the other day saying that most Christians think they are like King David - whole hearted for God, but are really like King Saul - serving God half heartedly. 

Most Christians don’t struggle with those things that are blatantly “evil”, but with those things that seem, on the surface, to be “good”.  Good as defined by our culture and our traditions, not God. There is a movement in our culture, in particular, to redefine the definition of “good” or what is not sin. Isaiah wrote …  

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” - Isaiah 5:20

Today, centuries later, men continued to strive to be like God and define what is good and acceptable.  Paul wrote in the beginning of his letter to the Romans .. 

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. … they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools… And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them." - Romans 18,20-22,28-32

When the young man called Jesus a “good teacher”, Jesus responded 

“Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." - Matthew 19:17

In other words, Jesus was saying “My Father is the only source for what is good”. He is the only One who decides what is good - what is right.  However most cultures reject God and choose to define their own morality and embrace their own definition of what is good and right.  Jesus accused the Church of Ephesus of being lukewarm in Revelation 2.  They wanted to have their cake and eat it too.  That is embrace God and embrace the world, at the same time.  When there is a clash of definitions of good and sin, God is often abandoned in favor of the culture's definition of good.  God is rejected and the culture is embraced. Those Christians who do it feel justified. It is the temptation of “Everyone is doing it”  or "Going along to get along" 

His Spirit convicts us of sin, but we have within our capacity to quench the Spirit. We are in a spiritual battle that manifests itself in the way people live and believe.  My encouragement to you .. 

 “Choose this day whom you will serve .. but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" - Joshua 24:15

 Make it more than a catch phrase or a plaque on your living room wall.  Make it a commitment … everyday … and more than that … do live like you mean it!

Think about it – Pray about it – Believe it – Walk in it. Let your light shine and give God the glory. 

By Faith Alone By His Grace Alone And For His Glory Alone