11 May 2015
Recently we examined briefly the view point of Jesus in regard to children and how we should respond to His perspective. We are continuing to seek insight into the desires and the nature of God and how we should pray for the desires of His heart.
In the Psalms we see parts of God’s nature defined:
Psalm 36:5-9 (NASB)
5 Your lovingkindness, O LORD, extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.
6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; Your judgments are like a great deep. O LORD, You preserve man and beast.
7 How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.
8 They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; And You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.
9 For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light. (emphasis added)
In the Psalm above the psalmist describes God’s lovingkindness, His faithfulness, His righteousness and His judgements. Then he further develops his description of God’s lovingkindness in verses 7-9 by means of applying it specifically to the needs and desires of children. God’s word informs us that God is concern about the protection of children as they take refuge in the shadow of His wings. God’s lovingkindness is expanded to include God’s provision for children’s needs as they drink from the abundance of His house and the river of His delights! And further we learn that God willingly provides both life and light to children.
The Holy Spirit could have revealed His lovingkindness in His acts toward men or women or kings or other rulers, but in this case God describes His lovingkindness toward children. In this passage we have a picture of our God who is intensely interested in the complete well being of children, their protection, their provision, their life and their light. One of the primary objectives of the enemy of our children is to obscure the life and light of God in our children’s lives. This passage instructs us that God is the fountain of life and in His light we see light. This life and this light can come from no other source. God alone is the source of life and light.
Sometimes children, though innocent, have been destroyed by the hand of God. There were children in the city of Jericho that were destroyed by the righteous hand of God. Why? Children are linked to the acts and attitudes of their parents. When a child is raised in a sinful environment he or she can reap the rewards of their parent’s sin. When the sins of the people of Canaan became so atrocious that God decided, as in the time of Noah, that the people must be destroyed, the children were destroyed with the adults. Yet God is perfectly righteous. God always acts in completely righteous ways. We can depend upon this. But what warning should these facts bring to us regarding the level of unrighteousness in our land today? This should make us tremble. Will our declining level of righteousness in the US ultimately lead to the destruction of millions of children?
At this time we are told that 55 Million innocent children in the US have been murdered in the womb. Many call this choice, but God calls it murder. The murder of convenience thrust upon the defenseless unborn is an abomination to the eyes and heart of our God. One of the most abhorrent sins in the eyes of God performed by the people of Canaan was the sacrifice of their children to their false gods.
It seems clear that the enemy is focused upon our children. He has attacked the clear teaching of the Bible: “In the beginning God created heaven and earth.” - Genesis 1:1 He is doing his best to remove this truth from the eyes and hearts of our children. He is propelling a vicious attack on the family, the God provided place for the development of children. Satan desires that the Word of God be wiped out of the hearts and minds of our children. If he can accomplish this in a few short years he can in time destroy our society and our nation. He knows that if he can encourage our nation to walk away from obedience to God, in time, God will bring His wrath against us and destroy the US as a nation. The outcome of our nation will soon depend on the condition of the hearts and minds of our children, the next generation.
While a critical part of Satan’s destructive strategy is to focus on our children, our primary weapon is prayer.
“Satan dreads nothing but prayer. His one concern is to keep the saints from praying. He fears nothing from prayerless studies, prayerless work, prayerless religion. He laughs at our toil, he mocks our wisdom, but he trembles when we pray.” - Samuel Chadwick
We must pray for our children and also for their parents who have such a primary influence in their lives. We must pray for our schools, teachers, administrators and staff, where our children are further significantly influenced. And lastly we must pray for God to send more prayer warriors into this battle for our children. Please join me in these prayers and also in asking God for 10,000 prayer warriors who will daily lift up our children to the throne of God.
Malachi 4:1-6 (NASB)
1 "For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze," says the LORD of hosts, "so that it will leave them neither root nor branch."
2 "But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall.
3 "You will tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing," says the LORD of hosts.
4 "Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel.
5 "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD.
6 "He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse." (emphasis added)
Jeff Williams
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