Dads these days are too busy.
“God will turn the hearts of the father TO their children.” -
AWAY from the love of money and serving mammon,AWAY from corporate greed, AWAY from the American Dream, AWAY from excessive desires for sports, hobbies, leisure, and entertainment.
“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.” Malachi 4:5-6
“Lest I strike the world with a curse.”
Our land is cursed and our prisons are full of inmates who HATE their fathers. Never once have they heard the words “I love you” from their fathers. Never once have they heard, “I’m proud of you”. Most children seldom, if ever hear these words until Dad is on his death bed.
God has given children a natural desire to want to please their parents, but man has quenched that desire by-
Neglect, nagging corrections, and being too busy. Parents hold a rod and demand respect from their children. “You WILL obey me. You WILL honor and respect me”.
And they wonder why they can’t get it. It’s because they do not have the hearts of their children.
Their praise only comes when they do a good job in their sports, their grades, their performances.
They feel like they have to EARN their parents love and approval.
And that’s how they begin to see God.
As parents, we represent God to our children.
If your children are always unsure of your love, acceptance, and approval, put your Bible down and repent.
We, as parents must have a heart change and repent of our idol worship, putting things above God, above our children, above others.
What’s in your heart?
The American Dream?
Bigger house. Newer cars? Lots of grown up toys?
This dream doesn’t come cheap. It costs us our relationship with the Lord, our wives, and our children.
Now the wives are out working long hours trying to help live the America dream.
And the children are the ones who have to pay the biggest price.
It’s a parent’s job to train and nurture their own children. This is impossible to do with a 8-12 hour day job, sporting events and practices at night, evenings spent on homework, quick trips to get fast food, baths, and bedtime.
Less than 100 years ago this was not normal. It was natural for a mother to be at home nurturing her own children.
It was natural for fathers to lead, provide, and teach their children.
The thing about deception is when we are deceived we don’t even realize it. We base our beliefs on the worlds system of doing things rather than what God’s Word clearly says.
The good news is that the very moment we realize we’ve been duped is the moment we are set free.
God help us as parents to repent of chasing the American Dream at the expense of our children and let God have His way with our hearts and our homes.
Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.” Psalm 127:1
The Heart of the Father Must Turn-
Denny Kenaston
http://www.ephrataministries.org/audio/GH05B.mp3
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