A Look at the Family Who Fears the Lord
By Dean Honeycutt
Mitchell County
Joshua, the successor of Moses, was given a task to go over to Jordan and conquer seven wicked nations and live in the Promised Land. God promised Joshua that he would fight for Israel as the Captain of the Lord’s army and would conquer and win battle after battle in Israel. God told Joshua to be strong and courageous as he fought the Lord’s battles. Joshua defeated all his enemies, and the Lord gave rest to Israel.
To be successful Joshua and the children of Israel had to be faithful. Being faithful means adhering to and obeying all that the Lord commands and trusting in the Lord. If you could just picture little children and young boys and girls in Israel at the time of conquest observing their dads as they went off to fight in battle. I would imagine that they, like Joshua, would tell their family, “I am going to be ok today because God is going to fight for us, and we are going to win this battle”. Israel only lost one battle under Joshua’s command and that was because of the disobedience of one soldier and his family.
These children and teenagers would personally experience the faithfulness of God. Dad would come back from war and tell his family, “we won today because God helped us defeat our enemies”. And the family would praise God. This would have been a regular occurrence in the life of Israel. Joshua and the Army of Israel would defeat thirty-one kings, representing seven nations on the west side of the Jordan River. A military conquest by a smaller Israeli army is amazing. With God all things are possible.
We face struggles and battles today. We are not physically fighting in hand-to-hand combat, but we are fighting battles nonetheless. God has not changed, and He will not change. What He desires for Joshua and his family is the same for Christian families today. Joshua said, “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord.”
Our children need to see us win some battles. This is the way a family experiences God. The reason we are weak is that the world has more of us than the Holy Spirit. The Bible says be filled with the Spirit of God. When we walk in the Spirit, we will not desire the world. We cannot and should not have one foot in the world (and the ways of the world) and one foot in the church. This is not pleasing to God and does not promote faithfulness. The Bible says, “to be in the world but not of the world.” We have no power with God because we dabble in the world and then expect God to fight for us. This happened to Israel when a man named Achan disobeyed God. Achan sinned when he took some things that he was not supposed to take, he stole from God. His sin led to the single defeat of Israel to Ai and the destruction of Achan’s family. The Bible says the “wages of sin is death.”
When we are faithful to God, we can see how God works in our lives to bring about His glory. Our children will see our faithfulness to God and God’s word. A child’s faith can be strengthened when they see mom and dad living by faith.
If I were on the outside looking in at a faithful family, what would I see? I would see a dad and mom devoted to God. I would see them reading God’s word daily. I would see them praying. I would see them in a church and involved in the ministry of that church. I would see a husband love his wife and put her needs above his own. And I would see a wife respect and submit to her husband. I would see them sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I would also see a separation from the world, but not legalism. I would see them loving their neighbor and loving God. During difficult times of life, I would see them drawing their strength from God to overcome the battle pains of this world. And then I would see them with their eyes fixed on their heavenly home because we are pilgrims passing thru this world to Paradise.
I trust we would all be strengthened in faith and courage to overcome just as Joshua and the Lord’s faithful soldiers. God bless you and your family as you serve the Lord. Training children to follow the Lord is tough and God blessed you with them because he knew you could do it.
Love,
Pastor Dean…be encouraged today.
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Pastor Dean Honeycutt shepherds Snow Hill Baptist Church in Bakersville, NC. He may be reached at 828-385-0213, snowhillbaptist@gmail.com, or visit their website at www.snowhillbaptist.com.
You can read more good Christian news from Dean HERE.
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