Fatherhood 101

Ephesians 6:4 NKJV

Fatherhood 101: Set the right course for my children to desire the training and admonition of the Lord; and then guide them carefully and lovingly.

Parenting 101

Proverbs 22:6 NKJV

Parenting 101: Lord, I pray our children are equipped to follow their live's paths guided by the Spirit.

My Children to Reflect His Holiness

[S] Isaiah 29:23 --
But when he sees his children, the work of My hands, in his midst,
They will sanctify My name;
Indeed, they will sanctify the Holy One of Jacob
And will stand in awe of the God of Israel.

(NLT)  For when they see their many children
and all the blessings I have given them,
they will recognize the holiness of the Holy One of Israel.

[O] Receiving God's blessings for my own life and for my generation is definitely a good thing.  However as I get older each year, which means closing in on my last days on earth, the hope of this verse gets highlighted even more.  The NLT version put a clearer picture in my mind about how when I see God's blessings in my children I will recognize His holiness (setting them apart from this world for His purpose).

[A] I am in awe of how God has been blessing my children, especially with Ensay's health conditions.  Tomorrow is another blood count and as I'm praying for His continual healing, I am fully recognizing by lifting up my hands in awe for His setting my children to do His great and wonderful works even after I have left this world.

[P] Dear Father, more than simply asking for protection and healing in our lives, I am praying that You would sanctify our children and their future so they would be in the middle of Your holiness as I ask in Your name.  Amen.

Needed: Spiritual Vaccine for Our Children

[S] 2 Corinthians 11:14 --
14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

[O] This is a clear warning to watch out for deceptions of Satan in this world we live in because it is very real.  One thing after another, the master of deception is eating away the freedom we have in Christ by twisting the truths to make us believe it is harmful to us.  This is very sad and yet as Paul pointed out, something we cannot avoid and we must be awake at all times to separate God's truth from the deceived truths in this world.

[A] It seems every year, the degree of confusion get worse and worse which means our children's generation is going to have a very difficult time distinguishing what is from God vs. from Satan (the disguised angel of light).  Since I cannot possibly immunize my children completely against such virus, I need to totally rely on the Holy Spirit to protect and lead my children so they'll know how to stand up for THE TRUTH in the midst of the storm of confusion.  I need to pray for each of my children daily so that their spirit will be sharpened toward God.

[P] Dear Jesus, would you warp Your Spirit around my children at all times so that they would always be fully aware of Your truth in their hearts?  May their time at home with the family be the equipping ground to recognize Your voice so when they are on their own, they would simply continue to do what they were doing at home to bring glory to Your name.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Joy of Parenting

[S] 3 John 1:4 --
4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth.

[O] John writes here re: spiritual children but I cannot help but to overlay this with my own children.  I will want nothing more than for my children to be continuously walking in the truth as they grow up and into the adulthood.  They will most likely make many mistakes and some of their plans in life may not turn out as expected, but as long as they walk (not mastering) in the truth, drawing closer to Christ, my heart will have great joy as a parent.

[A] No slacking on prayer for my children's hearts to be grasped by God's leadership.

[P] Dear Father, I am so thankful for the children You put me in charge of to raise them to be walking with You at all times such that they will realize their purpose and vision here on earth -- to fulfill the mission You assigned them from the beginning.  I love them much.  Please protect their hearts by surround them with You angels.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

From Hearing to Understanding

[S] Matthew 13:14 --
14  "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;


[O] Hearing vs. understanding and seeing vs. perceiving are two key concepts here.  Hearing and seeing are mere activation of sensors in our body sending electrons up to the brain while understanding and perceiving goes beyond to process those senses into a comprehensible conclusion.  Anybody can hear and see, but only those who work to process further will gain understanding which requires God's granting us through the Holy Spirit in the first place.

[A] As I'm raising my children, I am more convicted to pray and guide my children so they'd attain God's permission to understand and perceive the wisdom God desires them to grasp as they live their lives.

[P] Dear Father, please seal Your Holy Spirit's granting my children to understand Your words and for them to not just hear and see things around them and simply react to them.  May Your wonderful wisdom take root in their hearts deep inside.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Don't Remove Your Sandal

[S] Deuteronomy 25:10 --
"In Israel his name shall be called, ‘The house of him whose sandal is removed.’

[O] Not a good name to be called in those days because it means one who disgraced his family.  Everyone knew what this name meant because their culture and social standard was clearly understood by everyone.  Contrary to then, our society today seems to lack this (moral) "standard" of living because everyone has their own gauge and can justify to be all "right."  Almost everything we do have a standard such as STP (Standard Temperature and Pressure) in chemistry, sea level in altitude measurements, etc. because they will indicate how far we are from the norm.

[A] Teaching these types of moral standards is getting more scarce these days and I need to take up this responsibility at home with my children.  This doesn't come from textbooks or their school classes but will only come by on-the-job training on daily basis and this is why I need to not thin out the time I spend with them on daily basis (although going on an extended vacation together is a good thing too).

[P] Dear Father, please use me as their dad to instill in them the moral rights from the wrong and for them to live out lives which will adhere to the standards of living that You teach them in their hearts through Your Spirit.  Please encourage them to do their personal devotions faithfully each day so You may speak right into their hearts.  In Jesus' name.  Amen

Turning the Spiritual Tide Through Generations

[S] 2 Kings 21:3 --
 ³For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them.

[O] When Manasseh became the King of Judah at the age of twelve, he restored all the corruption back in their places against what his father, Hezekiah had destroyed.  At such a young age, he was already biased toward worshiping Baal and other idols such that he was determined to turnover the whole nation.  I cannot pass judgment on Hezekiah as a father, but without having to dig into the root cause there was a disconnect from Hezekiah's value system to Manasseh's.  It wasn't a slight difference but a completely different basis of spiritual foundation.  In order to bring this type of an impact, Manasseh must have been influenced strongly in his upbringing by those against the God of Heaven.  The point is the value systems we see now in our society were shaped through several generations and did not happen overnight.

[A] Needless to say that I need to do my utmost best to pass on the spiritual values to my children and their generation just like my father had done just that up to his last days on earth.  Instead of being like Manasseh who did his best to get rid of Godly presence, I wish and pray that my children will give all they got to restore the presence of God in their lives and generation they will thrive in.

[P] Dear Heavenly Father, please hear my prayer about passing on the Godly spiritual values to my children and allow me the honor to do just that in my lifetime.  I pray that the spiritual foundation I lay down for them will become the basis for their layer of the spiritual foundation imparting their own friends and families.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Objective Parenting

[S] Ephesians 6:4 -- ⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

[O] Parenting is a tricky business because while I need to take it personally to raise my children in an upright way, I also need to be not so involved personally.  What I mean by this is that because I have a vested interest in my children's well being, I can get all wrapped up about teaching them some lessons in life.  Especially the in their teenage years I often fool myself to think they're grown ups when they're still just a children (other than physically) and sets a higher expectation on myself and can get pretty hard on them.  Today's passage teaches me such an approach can simply provoke anger in my children leaving them zero learning capacity.  Instead I need to discipline and teach them with instructions from the Lord through His word.

[A]  Even though I may be emotionally all worked up, I must balance that with God's wisdom and instructions such that the plumb line they need to is not my standards but God's own standards.

[P] Dear God, please make me a father who would bring my children up to follow God closely throughout their lives through ups and downs, successes and failures because of my pointing them to Your instructions and disciplines.  May they fear You and align their lives no matter how far they may drift away from You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Legacy of Victory

[S] Deuteronomy 30:14; 31;13 --
 ¹⁴"But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.
 ¹³"Their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the LORD your God, as long as you live on the land which you are about to cross the Jordan to possess."

[O] This was a reminder that I don't need to look far for God's guidance for me as it's already in and around me all the time.  So I really don't have any excuse for not knowing about what God wants me to do.  Along the same line, my children also have the same privilege of being near God word and in addition to that as long as I live out the victorious life God intended for me to live, my children's generation will learn to fear God.  Living out the victorious life means conquering the Canaan in my life where I must face oppositions that are far larger than what I can handle and yet wiping them out by obedience to God's calling for my life.  As long as my children witnesses this, their hearts will absorb the goodness and the strength of God and they will in turn trust in the same God.

[A] Continue to encourage my children to attend BSF and keep up with the lessons.  Continue to care for the small group leaders.  In some sense my "children" are both my biological and spiritual children and God wants me to teach them God's provision through my own obedience.

[P] Dear God, I'm so thankful for showing me to see beyond my own needs but to expand my vision to my children's generation.  I want to pass on the spiritual legacy of trusting You especially when going gets tough.  Please raise my children to be the "Joshua's" who will continue on to conquer their Canaans.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.