Psalm 127:3 Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Yes Friends, we’re continuing with the need for relying on our God to do things successfully. Now successfully is the key word, for we can do many things without God’s help, but nothing with a sense of purpose or that will have eternal value. Let’s sink that right deep in our hearts souls and minds, people. And one of those things the Psalmist talks about is having and rearing children. And a most appropriate way to get into that is by sharing some of my brilliant wisdom. (smile) Recently, the spirit enlightened me with an awesome thought: The best way to get good people, is to start with good children. And isn’t that the truth mih Friends! It’s always better when you start out on the right foot. Unfortunately, in these crucial and critical times, too many of us are not doing that, and our children are getting off to bad starts and ending up lazy, selfish, undisciplined, and craving the ungodly lusts of the world. And sadly, we use all sorts of excuses to justify our lack of proper parental guidance and upbringing. Oh we’re too busy making a living for the same children, so we don’t have the time to raise them properly. We’re allowing the television, all the other godless technology and what they represent to raise our young. What then can we expect if they’re raised on consumerism, worldly lusts, immorality, no God or proper direction in their lives? Exactly what we have; a self centred, unscrupulous, lazy, immoral generation, who are only interested in fanciful, glittering, immaterial worldly stuff. But Friends, ‘children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.’ At least they’re supposed to be. But too many of us aren’t enthusiastic about the heritage we’re leaving behind in our children, and don’t consider them a reward of God because of their selfish, undisciplined behaviour. But who made them so eh? We the parents. Parenting begins and ends at home. The days when you could count on children getting discipline and learning something worthwhile in school and church are over. The schools have no discipline because we the parents took away that power from the teachers, and we don’t send or take the children to church. So if they’re not being disciplined in a godly manner at home, they’re not learning anything in school, and they’re not going to church, then obviously they’ll turn out wrong. Remember parents, if we don’t raise our children the way we want them to be raised, somebody else will do it their way. Granted the society is busier, more hectic and confusing than in our youth, but that’s no excuse for us not spending time and making the effort to set them on the straight and narrow path. Note, it’s not the quantity, but more the quality of time we spend with our children that’s important. Again, like most things in life, it’s the simple principle of sowing and reaping. You can’t plant corn and reap peas. So we can’t not teach our children the right way, but yet expect them to find it. The world and all its ungodly delights will not teach them that, but rather how to embrace the wide and winding path to death and destruction. So if we want them to walk the straight and narrow, then we’ve got to teach them to do it. But therein lies another problem Friends; how many of the parents themselves are godly and walking the straight and narrow. Obviously not enough, else our world would not be in such a sad, ungodly state. Maybe it’s the parents we should be working harder on, because the young usually follow the old folks. Maybe the parents aren’t setting a good example, living overly hypocritical lives, expecting the children to abide by the ‘do as I say not as I do’ principle. But Friends that doesn’t work. Eventually they realize our hypocrisy, start following our example and end up worse than us. Oh mih people, when I go about and see the rude, uncouth, unmannerly behaviour of our young, it saddens me. They lack class, ‘broughtupcy.’ They have no idea how to behave in different situations. It reminds me of the star system in the early days of Hollywood. Before you were unleashed on the public you were taught how to walk, talk, eat and dress, all the social graces, and your dirty linen was never washed in public. So though you came from a backwoods hick town, you were taught how to behave in public because you had a wholesome image to maintain, be it only a public persona. But look at whom we’re calling stars today, sorry superstars, for they’ve upped the ante with the name, but lowered the expectations and standards of behaviour. And sadly, our youth are given these people as role models; people of loose morals, poor education, lack of godliness, uncouth public behaviour, lusts for money and the worldly things it can purchase, their private lives played out in public on the t.v and in the gossip magazines. Meanwhile the driving forces behind this evil, disgusting behaviour are laughing all the way to the bank, but little do they know, also to Lucifer’s fiery lair. Friends, is that what we really desire for our children? I sincerely doubt it. Well then, please let’s spend more quality time with them. You can find it if you truly want to. Let’s teach them the right way, the godly way, because contrary to what many of us think, godliness isn’t a restrictive, non fun-loving way of life. Just look at Jesus example here on earth: He went everywhere, to all sorts of functions, and spoke to everybody; rich and poor, priest and prostitute, but He did it in a controlled not outlandish manner. That’s what we must learn to do, then teach it to our children, if we expect them to improve. It’s a matter of learning right from wrong, a concept, which unfortunately too many of our youth are lacking, so they’re forced, dragged along by what their friends and the world dictate. This is not the heritage we want to bestow on them, so let’s help them change nuh. It’s our duty as parents to raise them properly. They say you can raise the children but you can’t raise their minds, but that’s a fallacy, because if from the very start you raise them right, most of them will turn out okay, at least they will know right from wrong and have the options involved therein. Friends, at the rate we’re going, our generation will be known as the one that let the children stray, that lost them. Please, let’s change it while we still have the time. Much LOVE!…the best gift we can give our children…teach them to pray…from birth…
Yes Friends, we’re continuing with the need for relying on our God to do things successfully. Now successfully is the key word, for we can do many things without God’s help, but nothing with a sense of purpose or that will have eternal value. Let’s sink that right deep in our hearts souls and minds, people. And one of those things the Psalmist talks about is having and rearing children. And a most appropriate way to get into that is by sharing some of my brilliant wisdom. (smile) Recently, the spirit enlightened me with an awesome thought: The best way to get good people, is to start with good children. And isn’t that the truth mih Friends! It’s always better when you start out on the right foot. Unfortunately, in these crucial and critical times, too many of us are not doing that, and our children are getting off to bad starts and ending up lazy, selfish, undisciplined, and craving the ungodly lusts of the world. And sadly, we use all sorts of excuses to justify our lack of proper parental guidance and upbringing. Oh we’re too busy making a living for the same children, so we don’t have the time to raise them properly. We’re allowing the television, all the other godless technology and what they represent to raise our young. What then can we expect if they’re raised on consumerism, worldly lusts, immorality, no God or proper direction in their lives? Exactly what we have; a self centred, unscrupulous, lazy, immoral generation, who are only interested in fanciful, glittering, immaterial worldly stuff. But Friends, ‘children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.’ At least they’re supposed to be. But too many of us aren’t enthusiastic about the heritage we’re leaving behind in our children, and don’t consider them a reward of God because of their selfish, undisciplined behaviour. But who made them so eh? We the parents. Parenting begins and ends at home. The days when you could count on children getting discipline and learning something worthwhile in school and church are over. The schools have no discipline because we the parents took away that power from the teachers, and we don’t send or take the children to church. So if they’re not being disciplined in a godly manner at home, they’re not learning anything in school, and they’re not going to church, then obviously they’ll turn out wrong. Remember parents, if we don’t raise our children the way we want them to be raised, somebody else will do it their way. Granted the society is busier, more hectic and confusing than in our youth, but that’s no excuse for us not spending time and making the effort to set them on the straight and narrow path. Note, it’s not the quantity, but more the quality of time we spend with our children that’s important. Again, like most things in life, it’s the simple principle of sowing and reaping. You can’t plant corn and reap peas. So we can’t not teach our children the right way, but yet expect them to find it. The world and all its ungodly delights will not teach them that, but rather how to embrace the wide and winding path to death and destruction. So if we want them to walk the straight and narrow, then we’ve got to teach them to do it. But therein lies another problem Friends; how many of the parents themselves are godly and walking the straight and narrow. Obviously not enough, else our world would not be in such a sad, ungodly state. Maybe it’s the parents we should be working harder on, because the young usually follow the old folks. Maybe the parents aren’t setting a good example, living overly hypocritical lives, expecting the children to abide by the ‘do as I say not as I do’ principle. But Friends that doesn’t work. Eventually they realize our hypocrisy, start following our example and end up worse than us. Oh mih people, when I go about and see the rude, uncouth, unmannerly behaviour of our young, it saddens me. They lack class, ‘broughtupcy.’ They have no idea how to behave in different situations. It reminds me of the star system in the early days of Hollywood. Before you were unleashed on the public you were taught how to walk, talk, eat and dress, all the social graces, and your dirty linen was never washed in public. So though you came from a backwoods hick town, you were taught how to behave in public because you had a wholesome image to maintain, be it only a public persona. But look at whom we’re calling stars today, sorry superstars, for they’ve upped the ante with the name, but lowered the expectations and standards of behaviour. And sadly, our youth are given these people as role models; people of loose morals, poor education, lack of godliness, uncouth public behaviour, lusts for money and the worldly things it can purchase, their private lives played out in public on the t.v and in the gossip magazines. Meanwhile the driving forces behind this evil, disgusting behaviour are laughing all the way to the bank, but little do they know, also to Lucifer’s fiery lair. Friends, is that what we really desire for our children? I sincerely doubt it. Well then, please let’s spend more quality time with them. You can find it if you truly want to. Let’s teach them the right way, the godly way, because contrary to what many of us think, godliness isn’t a restrictive, non fun-loving way of life. Just look at Jesus example here on earth: He went everywhere, to all sorts of functions, and spoke to everybody; rich and poor, priest and prostitute, but He did it in a controlled not outlandish manner. That’s what we must learn to do, then teach it to our children, if we expect them to improve. It’s a matter of learning right from wrong, a concept, which unfortunately too many of our youth are lacking, so they’re forced, dragged along by what their friends and the world dictate. This is not the heritage we want to bestow on them, so let’s help them change nuh. It’s our duty as parents to raise them properly. They say you can raise the children but you can’t raise their minds, but that’s a fallacy, because if from the very start you raise them right, most of them will turn out okay, at least they will know right from wrong and have the options involved therein. Friends, at the rate we’re going, our generation will be known as the one that let the children stray, that lost them. Please, let’s change it while we still have the time. Much LOVE!…the best gift we can give our children…teach them to pray…from birth…
SCRIP-BITS 