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A Father's Blessing

Power Point / Jack Graham
The Truth Network Radio
May 12, 2022 8:00 am

A Father's Blessing

Power Point / Jack Graham

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May 12, 2022 8:00 am

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Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's book, Man of God. But first, here's the message, The Blessing of a Father. Take your Bibles and turn with me to the 12th chapter of the book of Genesis. Abraham is described on numerous occasions in scripture as Father Abraham because he became the father by faith to a great nation, the Jewish people. And not only to the Jewish people but to all who believe. We are descendants of Abraham by faith. And we are a part of the spiritual family of this man. And in the second verse of chapter 12, I will make you a great nation and I will bless you and your name shall be great and you shall be a blessing. Now Abraham has blessed the world.

Father Abraham, a man whose faith has been carried on from generation to generation. And it is my prayer that every father here, every dad, every mom, every parent would extend that blessing to our own families as we are living our own legacy of faith. And I want to ask and answer the question today, how do we bless our children? So many children grow up without the blessing of God upon their lives. So many children never experience the blessing of a father, the blessing of a parent, those words of affirmation and acceptance. We are supported in that.

We are strengthened in that. So every child needs the blessing of the father. Every child needs the blessing of the family. What is it? To bless our children.

I want to use in a little acrostic this morning, B-L-E-S-S. If we're going to bless our children, we do it first of all by building our children's self-esteem. By building our children's self-esteem inside of every child made, created by God, stamped with the signature of God Himself is incredible potential for life.

Just as God promised Abraham to make a great nation of His people, God has promised greatness to all who believe and trust in Him. And so there is the opportunity within every child born, the gifts given to us by God, the opportunity to build character and confidence and compassion by blessing our children. God made every child to win. And yet the reason that so many kids today are acting like losers is because they've never been told, they've never been blessed, they've never been built up in their own confidence in Christ.

And therefore they don't know how to win. When you look at your child, what do you see? I hope, men, that you see an incredible amount of potential. When our children were little, we used to sing with them the little Gaither song, I am a promise, I am a possibility, I am a promise with a capital P. I am a great big bundle of potentiality. And every child carries within the heart and the life, certainly when that child is redeemed by the blood of His cross and the power of His resurrection, every child possesses amazing potential. I heard about a little class in Vacation Bible School and they were asking the boys and girls what they wanted to be when they grew up.

And the various answers, the normal answers were on the way. Of course, I want to be a fireman, I want to be a policeman, I want to be a mom, I want to be a president. And then finally one little boy raised his hand and said, I want to be possible.

The teacher said, possible? Why do you want to be possible? He said, because my dad tells me all the time I'm impossible, I want to be possible. God help us to teach our children, to tell our children that they are possible. God has poured out lavishly His love upon every one of us. And in the same manner as He has blessed us with this confidence, this Christ confidence that we can square our shoulders and lift up our heads and live life confidently. So in passing our faith to our children and the blessing of our faith upon our children do we teach them to live life with self-esteem and confidence and possibilities for the future. Your child is a blank check from God and we get the joy of building them up in who they are. But secondly we bless our children by loving our children unconditionally.

This is an unbreakable love that perseveres through trials and obstacles. Love is best defined of course as sacrifice, particularly in the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. But God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.

God gave Himself in love for us. And when we love our children unconditionally our children respond to that love. Don't ever in any sense of the word in any way in your life suggest to your children that your love is based upon their behavior or based upon what they do. But rather let your children know that no matter what they do that your love is lasting. Even as the love of God is eternal so is the love of a dad, a love of a mom lasting. The other day at a little dinner with our family and friends our children gave a tribute to dear old dad.

And it was interesting what they said and it was a very emotional moment. But each one of them, each one of them mentioned the unconditional love but in particular they said, dad, thank you. Thank you for providing security in our home by loving our mother and being faithful to mom. One of the best ways you can show your love for your children is by loving their mother. And men to be faithful to the calling that you have as a husband and as a parent. Know that unconditional love must not, cannot be withheld. And we express our unconditional love in all kinds of ways and dads do it with hugs, do it with kisses and embraces. Be expressive, be effusive in your love for your children.

Don't be standoffish but rather open and transparent with your love for your kids. Several years ago a letter was recorded by a lonely man who was writing during the fearful days of the Second World War. His son was fighting in a far off distant place in the Second World War and the man sat down to compose the following anguishing verses. Dear son, I wish I had the power to write the thoughts wedged in my heart tonight as I sit watching that small star and wondering where and how you are.

You know son it's a funny thing how close a war can really bring. A father who for years with pride has kept emotion inside. I'm sorry son when you were so small I let reserve build up that wall. I told you real men never cry and it was mom who always dried your tears and smoothed your hurts away.

So that you would soon go back to play. But son deep, deep down within my heart I longed to have some little part, some little part in drying that small tear-stained face. But we were men, men don't embrace. Suddenly I found my son a full grown man with childhood done. And tonight you're far across the sea fighting away for men like me.

Well somehow pride and what is right have somehow changed places here tonight. I find my eyes won't quite stay dry and that real men sometimes cry. And if I stood here face to face I'm sure my son we would embrace. Embrace your children dads. Hold them close.

Love them with all your heart and express it every day. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and his message The Blessing of a Father. Pastor this month we have a special gift for our listeners who give a gift to PowerPoint. It's your book Man of God.

What can you tell us about this powerful resource? You know I have a real passion to see men know and follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and as their Savior. And if I were just speaking to men right now I would say the greatest thing you can do with your life is to fully follow the Lord Jesus Christ. You know it's said that it doesn't take much of a man to be a Christian but I tell you this it takes all the man that there is of you.

In other words you are to give yourself completely and totally to Christ. Some of you guys you're you're moral you're good. You're a good husband. You're a good family guy.

You're a good worker. But goodness doesn't get us to heaven. That doesn't make us a man of God.

God's man. Jesus does that. And when you put your faith and trust in Christ as your Lord and your savior then you can become the man that he made you to be the person that he made you to be.

Some of you have never done that. You have a relationship with the church or you have a relationship with Christians but you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ. I really want to challenge you today that you would trust him with all of your heart. And then if you are a believer and follower of Jesus but maybe you find yourself sort of half in not fully in. I want to encourage you to walk with God like never before. And that's the reason I've written this book Man of God. I really want you to have this book because it talks about how we as men can truly be men of God.

And if that sounds overwhelming I promise you it's possible for you. You can be the man the person that God wants you to be as you walk with him and the power of the Holy Spirit. So I've written Man of God so that we can live life with purpose and passion in life and make a difference in the world. And that's why I want you to get this book Man of God. It's available to you right now.

I would encourage you to get it as soon as possible. Call today and get Dr. Graham's book Man of God as our thank you for your gift. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

Or text the word PowerPoint to 59789. Now let's get back to today's message. The blessing of a father. God bless our children by building their self-esteem, by loving them unconditionally, and thirdly by encouraging our children's best. Every child needs a cheerleader. And dad, you don't have to put on a skirt to be a cheerleader. I'm so thankful for my dad, Tom Graham, who cheered me on every step of the way. I can't remember a ball game or an event that my father was not there cheering me on.

He was willing to stand in the background in order that my brother and I might take center stage. So many children grow up with constant criticism and negativity. And if we grow up with criticism, we learn to be critical. But if we learn to grow up with praise, we learn to be praiseworthy and expressive of praise. Remember when you start blessing your children with encouragement, you are encouraging generations to come. Some of us here today are negative or cynical or critical in our family environments because that's what we learned in our families. Perhaps you grew up in a family where there wasn't much praise nor was there much criticism and you have just succeeded this in the generations of today. But you can break the cycle of criticism.

You can tear that wall down. And remember this, how you praise and encourage your children will ultimately be reflected in their own lives and in their own parenting. I'm talking about your grandchildren. And so begin the cycle of praise and encouraging them in every way possible. Next, we bless our children by shaping our children's values. We must not leave our children alone in order to pledge for themselves in this world that is no friend to grace. We shape our children's values by praying for them, by protecting them, and then by teaching them to love God's Word and to live in obedience. For example, the book of Proverbs in the Old Testament is actually a book of short and simple truths given from a father to a son. And it is the role of the father, the big time role of the father to make sure that we are imparting wisdom, not just human wisdom, but God's wisdom to our children.

And prepare our children for life by shaping their values. The Psalm is said in Psalm 127, like arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior, so are the children of your youth. And just as arrows are to be prepared and pointed and polished and then propelled against the adversary, so we dads like warriors must be setting the arrows and releasing them. What does an arrow do?

An arrow flies to a place that you cannot go. And our children will live in a time and an era that we will not live, but they are our message and the mission of Christ into the world through our lives. And therefore we are shaping them, developing them, train up a child in the way that he should go, nourish the child, and develop that child into a disciple of Christ.

What is the role of a dad? You are to be a disciple maker in your own family with your own children as you take the responsibility of shaping the values of your children for the years to come. And then finally, we bless our children by building their self-esteem, by loving them unconditionally, by encouraging them to be at their best for Christ, by shaping their values, and finally by strengthening or sharing our own faith with them.

It's like the passing of a baton. As we transfer our faith in the race to our children and our children's children, Joseph Bailey, who is one of my favorite writers, speaks of this transfer, this very important moment that some of us need to be thinking about a little more today, dads. He writes, sometimes God speaks to us or causes us to take a long look at ourselves and our families at a time of change. And that time may be beginning, the beginning of a new year, or it may be an unexpected jolt or coming up short.

My 60th birthday, he writes, was such an occasion. It was a time when I had a warning of my own mortality, that a day was coming when my voice in this world would be stilled and I shall awaken in my Lord's awesome, joyous presence. The warning was a tap on the shoulder, not hounds around my neck or a shove to the ground, but it caused me to think deep thoughts and consider separations and ponder my life and work. One heavy thought that came to me was what final testament I would leave for my children and other Christians of their generation. That was not a new thought, but in recent weeks it had been a recurrent, but now there was an edge of urgency to it. I could not avoid the evidence that my generation is in the process of turning the team over, or rather turning the game over to a fresh team.

We are now in the process of turning the game over to a fresh team. Our children and our grandchildren. And how we make the transfer is vital to the cause of the kingdom of God and the future of our families. They say that in a race, a relay race, the most critical moment is the exchange from one runner to the next, the passing of the baton.

And you don't get to slow down to do it. In fact, you're running at full pace if you intend to be successful. And you make the exchange by handing that baton to the one who will run after you. So it is in the Christian life and this race of faith that we're in, gentlemen and ladies, that we have the opportunity and the responsibility to pass the baton of faith to our children.

And ultimately to their children. And the bottom line is that the last steps in the race are the most critical in passing the baton. As we're getting older and as the race continues, let's make sure that we don't stumble.

But that we keep running and running well. And that from the first steps to the last steps that our children will know that we are men of faith, women of faith. And that we are sharing our faith and strengthening the faith of our children. That's how you bless the generations to come. And it's my prayer that you would not only know the blessing of God upon your own life, but that you would give that blessing away.

As it were, you would lay your hands upon the heads of your children. And even as an ancient patriot, bless them for the sake of the gospel and for the joy of our faith in Christ. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, The Blessing of a Father. Today's culture has so distorted the concept of masculinity that some even reject it as toxic. But our world doesn't need less manly men. We need more men of God, men who love Jesus, make loving husbands and fathers and lead as servants. We'd like to help you uncover what God says about true masculinity by sending you Dr. Graham's book, Man of God.

You'll gain biblical insight into how you or the men in your life can live with purpose and passion, putting Christ first and living radically for him. Man of God is our thanks for your gift to help proclaim God's word through PowerPoint. So request your copy when you call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit Jack Graham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is Jack Graham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? There are many people who never felt blessed or encouraged or favored by their fathers or by their mothers. They did not have a good experience growing up.

Maybe they came from a very dysfunctional and discouraging family. So often people grow up therefore without a sense of blessing. But you can know the blessing of the Father, the blessing of the Heavenly Father. God loves you and God believes in you. He believes in you so much that he died on the cross for you and rose again. God wants to bless you. He wants to be your Father.

He wants to give you incredible favor. It begins with the forgiveness of your sin and the acceptance into his family. And it continues with the affirmation of his love every day in hundreds and hundreds of ways. And it will take an eternity for us to experience the full blessing and the wonderful joy of being in the family of God.

And when you are loved like that, when you know that God loves you, then you can love other people starting with your own family. He wants you to reach out to your kids, to touch them, to hug them, to put your hand on them and bless them with your words. All you have to do is ask God to show you how.

Ask him to give you the words. Ask him to show you the way that you can make a difference in your child's life by loving them extravagantly and giving them your very best blessing. Now, if you don't know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, then you have very little chance of being a great parent. But if today you will trust in Christ by receiving him as your Lord and Savior, then you can receive not only his grace and power and forgiveness and salvation, but the power to live a godly life and to be a godly dad, to be a godly mom or parent. So today, invite Christ into your life by simply praying, Lord Jesus, I know you died for me and rose again.

I believe and trust in you. The Bible says if we confess with our mouths the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in our hearts that God has raised him from the dead, we will be saved. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

So call upon his name right now. Just pray, Jesus, be my Lord, be my Savior, my God. I come to you. Thank you for your blessing and your favor and your grace. And help me to live in that grace and to give that grace to others this day. When you know this love and this blessing of God the Father, the blessing of salvation, then you can pass this blessing on to your children.

It's the best thing, the very best thing you can give to your family. Maybe today you've never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You've never invited him into your life, receiving forgiveness and the free gift of eternal life. So right now, wherever you are, pray this prayer. Lord Jesus, I do invite you to come into my life. Thank you for dying on the cross for me.

I believe you rose again on the third day. And right now I do receive you as my Lord and my Savior. I pray that I will follow you in the power of your Holy Spirit all the days of my life until you come for me. Now if you pray this prayer and with honesty and sincerity invite Jesus into your life, then welcome to the family of God.

And I would personally love to hear about your decision and give you some materials to help you get started in your relationship with Christ. Today if you prayed that prayer with Dr. Graham and accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, we'd love to hear from you so we can help you begin your new life with Christ. Please call us at 1-800-795-4627.

That's 1-800-795-4627. And join us again next time as Dr. Graham brings a message about how Psalm 1 provides the principles for being a father who knows best. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.
Whisper: medium.en / 2023-04-19 22:53:48 / 2023-04-19 23:02:57 / 9

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