Name: Family Devotional Times
Uploaded: 1970-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
Duration: T50M22S
Description: Leading%20a%20family%20in%20the%20midst%20of%20this%20age%20can%20be%20intense.%20However,%20taking%20time%20to%20instruct%20and%20lead%20our%20kids%20day-to-day,%20though%20hard%20at%20times,%20will%20bear%20much%20fruit%20in%20the%20long%20run.%20Richee%20shares%20some%20thoughts%20and%20tools%20when%20it%20comes%20to%20leading%20family%20devotional%20times%20and%20more.

1. Age To Come Reunion
  1. I can’t control whether my kids will remain faithful witnesses to the gospel message and endure to the end and be saved. But I can do what the Word says in Prov. 22:6 and train them in the same hope the prophets and apostles had and taught, through leading them to cling to the cross, cry out to the Holy Spirit and know the Biblical gospel and it’s author. A hope anchored in the restoration of all things through the Messiah’s return.
    1. Example: 1 Peter with kids
      1. In trials, it’s the joy you have in the hope of Jesus’ return that actually testifies to your faith in the eyes of others.
    2. Who doesn’t want to see their children in the age to come, resurrected unto life for all eternity? But that gospel must be tangible and real and can easily become a pipe dream in my own heart. A fantasy. Clouded by the busyness of life and the spirit of this age, which is strong here in the West where we live. And that then echoes into my priorities, family, etc.
2. Theology (Knowledge of God) Informs How We Live and How We Worship
  1. TESTIMONY – Early in my parenting, I was a work-a-holic. My family was neglected greatly but I was praised beyond the walls of my home. Some can testify to part or all of that here at Bethany because you saw me then. Especially my wife. Much of my theology came from men, not study of the scripture (Biblically illiterate) and informed a lot of “doing” in Jesus’ name for the sake of reputation, absent of listening. But not a lot of being with Jesus and knowing Him through His Word while being humbled.
  2. Pursuit of comfort and fame in the name of Jesus and formed my theology around it.
    1. e.g. Minstries of the past
  3. Our theology informs our lifestyle. And my theology was disjointed and my gospel shallow. I treated the Bible like a buffet to pick and choose whatever would validate an easier lifestyle that still did “good things” but was absent of a solid gospel, calling me to the cross.
  4. Theology went from very disjointed, now-centered, self-helpish, to a far more gospel, God-centered focus that waits patiently and trusts.
  5. As a result, my worship, praise and rejoicing started becoming less “me” focused and more about Him and His mission. And that actually brought far deeper intimacy with the Lord than I ever had. A greater resolve to follow Him formed in me. His truth stirred my heart in joy, even in little trials I faced. I have felt far more steady as a believer and have far less desire to be everyone’s Messiah and Savior.
    1. As I actually began to read His Word, I realized it is constantly and primarily formed around the hope we have in the age to come when the Messiah sits on the throne in Jerusalem (“worship” in Psalms, etc. in Blue Letter). Salem Gil – Is. 25:8,9
    2. So for us, in our household, times of song or devoted focus on Him through prayer, the Word and worship, is solely to keep the gospel/“good news” in front of our eyes, that we might live according to it. To sojourn well. Not seeking to be the Messiah but to point to the Messiah and His plan while acting justly, loving mercy and walking humbly until He returns. Knowing that everything in this dark evil age, as the Word says, is seeking to distort the gospel so that I might not live according to it. And thus not endure well, live for my own self-preservation and end on the wrong side of the fence.
    3. Music is a serious tool to anchor truth or falsehood in children (and adults). We take it so seriously, it gains constant attention in our household. It helps us focus on the joy of God fulfilling His covenant to Creation in restoring all things at His return. And it helps keep our focus on the example Christ made to cling to the cross now that we might glory at His return.
    4. I would venture to say that singing around the gospel and the Scriptures is similar to glue that keeps a truth sticking to my kids’ (and my) hearts, so that they actually live according to the Scriptures.
    5. If we fail at everything else, don’t fail at knowing God and His gospel in the clearest way possible.
  6. I share all this because you will act on what you believe. Our theology has been massively central to how worship takes a key roll in our home.

Family Devotional Times

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME (US)?

LEADING MY FAMILY IN WORSHIP AND DEVOTION TO GOD