Children Raised by the Culture

Welcome to Running With Horses, a podcast devoted to inspire you concerning a relationship with Almighty God that empowers you to accomplish things you never thought possible.

Surely Weaver wants to take you there. And now here's today's episode. Hello everyone and welcome.

So glad you are here. Is the culture raising our children? Are the children today being raised by the culture? Is there a generation of children now growing up under the tutorage, under the mentorship of the culture?

That's the question. Our example is Mary, the teenage mother of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. We also have scriptural admonition in the book of Galatians that we are not to look the other way when we have opportunity to do good to all men. And lastly, the power of prophetic prayer, which is a protective prayer, the Lord's Prayer, our Father who art in heaven, those three things, Mary the mother of Jesus, Galatians 6, when you have opportunity, do good to all men.

And this prophetic prayer, the Lord's Prayer. I want to put this in a special context today and do this with all sincerity and just a place in God's heart right now concerning the issue of suicide among our young people. It just so happens suicide is right up there as the number one cause of death in our country.

I'm not sure what the stats are, but way higher than it was just a few decades ago. So we have something going on that we need to pay attention to in the household of faith. We need to be aware of what's taking place. September, the month of September, is National Suicide Prevention Week in the United States of America. There is actually, I said week, I should have said month, but there is a week beginning September 10, Sunday, through Saturday, September 16, the emphasis being the prevention of suicide. I understand there's also an international day that corresponds with the week.

The day internationally would be Sunday, September 10. So I don't think that the emphasis should be a secular one where there is the mindset that this is just something that we need to think about. But for you and for me, we understand the connection to mental illness and how important it is for us to understand about that. So understand, understand, but also what does God's word say and what is on his heart in this regard. And I just want to look using this example of Mary as the mother of our Lord. You know, she was a teenager, a young teenager actually, when God called her to be the mother of Jesus. And scripture tells us that as a young woman, she submitted to the way of the Holy Spirit in her life. And for that example, we honor her. For her example, as a young teenage girl, we honor her.

This is not to say that we pray to Mary, or we pray through Mary, or we look for the favor of Mary. She is an individual just like you and I. It just so happens that her example as the mother of Jesus is a solid one for us. So we get it clear in our understanding from a spiritual and a religious standpoint, her role. Her role is an example.

She is not the intercessor, not the intermediary at all. That would not be biblical. God wants to do the same unique work in each life that he did in the life of Mary. That from our youth, we would serve the Lord, that we would choose to obey the Holy Spirit's leading, whatever the call of God on each life is.

Everybody has one. Every believer has gifts. Every believer has a calling. See to it that we fulfill our calling.

And you know, the Bible tells us and is very clear, Jesus learned obedience through the things he suffered. There is a growing up process, maturing process. We as the church want to oversee that instruction, that example laying. We do not want the culture doing that instead. So we see as we look closely, clearly God's plan has obstacles against that plan. And really, that number one obstacle would be our own flesh. Anytime we are in our flesh, obsessed in the flesh, we are distracted from the things of the Spirit and the Spirit's work. So number one in importance is to allow the Spirit to have the upper hand, to have the greatest influence in our lives. Now we do not have our head in the sand.

We are aware of the things that are happening in our culture, in our world around us. Those things just are not Lord. They are not where we receive our leadership and certainly not where we want our children to be framed, to be shaped.

That's not the shaping that we want for them. Very clear, we say it again, in the same way that the young teenage mother of Jesus obeyed the Spirit's call and said, her response, be it unto me, even as you have spoken. She agreed with what was spoken to her in that call. So you see, did she have a battle in her flesh?

I'm sure. You know the story is filled with obstacles. She and Joseph, her betrothed husband, those early years were extremely rocky.

Actually, their lives probably never settled down. Because see, they were walking out a calling. And the struggle in the flesh to remain true, to remain consistent in that calling, to grieve not the Holy Spirit in that calling. And in that regard, we continually resist the things of the Spirit. We resist the things of the flesh.

Let me say that again, get that clear. We continually lean into the leading of the Spirit. We resist the things of the flesh, attempting to influence our lives.

We do not grieve the Holy Spirit. We do not quench the Holy Spirit. And thereby, we become the examples, like the example of Mary, we become the examples for our children. We mentor them. We instruct them.

We disciple them. We do not allow the culture to instruct and shape and mold our children. We do not allow the culture to make disciples of our children. We want each child that we bring to maturity in our Christian household, we want them to have the same mindset the teenage mother of Jesus had, be it unto me, even as you, Father, have spoken. That should be our disposition, and the disposition of the children that we raise now. We're answering the question, is the culture raising our children?

So Mary is our example, the teenage mother of Jesus, and you as a parent, me as a parent, those of us who are grandparents, great grandparents, we are the example. We want our children to imitate and follow after. Second point, what did we do with what we had? What do we do with what we have? What is it that we do now that we have opportunity? And as I mentioned, the Bible speaks to this very thing, this matter of opportunity, Galatians 6 verses 9 and 10. And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we therefore have opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

You and I have opportunity. You and I are given opportunity by the Lord, therefore we don't grow weary in well-doing, and we're looking for a season of reaping in our own lives. You know how that works, seed time and harvest? If we faint not, you know, the farmer cannot faint. Between seed time and harvest, the farmer cannot afford to faint.

You and I are like that too. And in this season of harvest, both of the seed that we've sown for our own benefit, but also the seed in other people's lives, as we have this opportunity, we do good to all men, especially those in the household of faith. So I connect this idea of opportunity to the example of the teenage mother of Jesus, the way that you and I are examples for our children, and circle back to this idea of suicide in epidemic proportions in our culture, not just in one country, one nation, but around the world, we see the pace has picked up, and the influence of that level of darkness has also increased. So what would we do but consider the opportunity that we have to say to the Spirit's calling on our life, Father, be it unto me, the way that you have already spoken concerning me, use me, send me. And you know, because of the indwelling Holy Spirit in our lives, when we are around other people, I always say, if there's something going on with someone, I can usually sense it. You know, if there is trouble, if there is despair, I learned this with my own children, as they were growing up, you have a sensitivity because of the indwelling Spirit of God that is doing that very thing, looking for an opportunity to do good. So you sense a problem. You sense any time there is darkness or trouble or the cry for help, so to speak.

And we don't have to be expert. I definitely am not expert, but I have enough sensitivity because of the agency of the Holy Spirit working through my life to be aware when someone is in trouble or needs help. We can come alongside a person, young, old, rich, poor, male, female, we can come alongside them in the power of the Holy Spirit and make a difference if we just will, if we just will, if we're just aware that we have that authority and we have that capacity. We have that depth and that indwelling power to release, to combat darkness, certainly in other areas too, not just in the area of the darkness that takes over an individual life provoking and seducing that life to destroy itself, to turn on itself, to wreak havoc, to create destruction. So you see, we champion life. Why wouldn't we? Why wouldn't we be the voice that appeals for the side of life and light in a world that is increasingly dark?

Why wouldn't we? And lastly, this prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This is a prophetic prayer. Thy kingdom come, the kingdom of God will come ultimately in a future eternal time, an eternity future in that time, but even now is unfolding. We don't have it all right now, but we increasingly have more of it as we use our influence, insist upon God's word being the norm. If not for all of my neighbors, God's word is the norm for me and my house.

You see what I'm saying? We have responsibility for the sphere to which we are called. And as each person occupies fully, then the Lord can come.

So you and I open the way. Thy kingdom come and then see thy will be done increasingly. We will see it more and more as the day of the Lord is approaching and ultimately in his eternal kingdom. Right now, however, for comparison, think of the artificial outside stimuli that all of us receive, especially a person who is being tormented and stalked by the enemy in this area that we're talking, this seduction to destroy life. The term is suicide. You know the outside world, outside stimuli for that person can offer no comfort and no help and no relief.

Not really, not really. There can be a temporary help, but you know on this level and in this way, this battle between life and death, between life and death, be sure that's the battle, that's the struggle. God's supernatural power is the intervention that we want. And you and I are the mouthpiece. You and I are the hands laid. You and I are the kind word.

You and I are the ones that break through the isolation because anytime you see isolation around an individual, it is the precursor to the setup to come in and completely take sway, completely take over and begin to sin volley after volley into the heart and the thinking of that individual. And the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray, deliver us from evil. Deliver us from evil and some say from the evil one. It's both either. Actually, they overlap. Where does one begin and the other end? Deliver us from evil.

That's the plan. To answer the question, is the culture raising our children? Have we allowed that? Are we yielding to that? Have we stepped aside from being the example of life in the spirit? Or the life of the flesh dominating us is the clear message that our children and everyone else for that matter is reading.

So two things. What is life's meaning and purpose? And do we realize we're not alone? Life's meaning and purpose for every individual there is one and there is not a time that you or I are alone.

We just aren't. The Lord's presence in our life assures us of that fact. So first of all, don't let the culture raise your children. As you have opportunity, do good to all men. Be sensitive to those in need. Be sensitive to those crying out for deliverance. And lastly, this prophetic prayer, which is also a protective prayer that Jesus taught us to pray. Thy kingdom thy will be done right here on earth, the way that it's laid out and planned in heaven. Deliver us from evil. That's our prayer.

We're staking our claim there. Stay tuned. We'll be talking more about this in the next session. In our next episode, we invite you to stay with us. God bless. Thanks again, and we'll see you next time. Thank you.