TLP 159: Help Your Children Discover God’s Will for Their Lives, Part 2

Truth.Love.Parent.

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:04

The world system lives for the flesh because it's made up of billions of humans all living for the passions of the flesh

00:11

But the will of God stands in contrast to our human passions Welcome to truth love

00:18

Parents where we use God's Word to become intentional premeditated parents.

00:23

Here's your host am Brewster Welcome back to our series on helping your children discover

00:29

God's will for their lives last time We laid a broad foundation and discovered that God's greatest purpose for your kids is that they partner in the gospel

00:37

But that broad foundation stone has many implications We looked at four additional purposes for us and our kids and today we're gonna get even more specific

00:46

We can know exactly what God's will is for our lives If we simply allow his word to dictate our actions words feelings thoughts and choices

00:55

But before we do that, I'd like to ask you to take just a couple moments to rate and review the show I know how it is

01:01

Sometimes you'll receive an email or a pop -up or someone like me will ask you to take a few minutes to give a review businesses will bribe us with free meals and oil changes and we're told that our five -star reviews really matter and Generally speaking where we'll only review when the product or service really wowed us

01:19

Well, our greatest desire is to wow God but in so doing we want to be a blessing to you as well

01:25

When you take the time to rate and review it tells us what we're doing Well, and if you have any criticisms, we want to hear those too

01:31

Please never hesitate to email us at team TLP at truth. Love parent comm to share your thoughts and ask your questions

01:38

We love accountability. We really do appreciate it when people disagree with us It keeps us honest and drives us back to the

01:45

God's Word for confirmation And with that said that's how all of us should live our lives We should center our life choices around the

01:53

Bible and when someone tells us that we're not pleasing the Lord with our lives We should be able to go back to the scripture to give an answer for the hope that dwells within us

02:00

And that's what we want to give you today What is God's will for your children today?

02:06

We're gonna look at eight things your children absolutely must be doing if they want to be in the center of God's will for their lives

02:11

Number one God wants your children to live opposite of the world first John 2 15 through 17 says do not love the world or the things in the world if Anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in him

02:26

For all that is in the world the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not

02:32

From the father, but it's from the world and the world is passing away along with its desires

02:37

But whoever does the will of God abides forever The world system says that we should desire that which satisfies our flesh our eyes and our pride

02:47

Their motivation for all they do can be traced back to one of those three ideas and all three of those

02:53

Concepts are wrapped up in an addiction to self We talked about this and some good detail in episode 114 when we talked about how to know if your child is addicted

03:03

The will of God for your kids is not to seek after self -satisfaction But to do the will of God Though this verse doesn't specifically tell us what that will is we can easily tell two things first It doesn't align with the world's systems methods motivations and philosophies, please my friends remember

03:20

When you send your children to the world for education They will receive far more training and how to live for the flesh the eyes and their pride

03:29

Then they will math English or science. I Really strongly encourage you to listen to our education series that started in episode 80

03:37

We discussed whether or not you should consider sending your child to the public school the Christian school home school or boarding school

03:43

And we wrapped it up discussing the importance and the future of Christian education in America That series was extra beneficial because we brought on five different guests each professionals in their fields to talk about the options

03:56

So we learned from this passage that God's will is not the world's will and secondly God's will can only be discovered in God's Word I know the verse doesn't specifically say that but we know from reading the scriptures that the will of the

04:08

Father can only be known We're not going to discern it through our emotions or tea leaves the position of the stars or secular counselors

04:16

The Bible is the only source of special revelation on the planet if our children aren't in the word, they won't be in God's will

04:24

Number two God wants your children to live opposite of the flesh God not only doesn't want us living like others.

04:31

He really doesn't want us living like ourselves 1st Peter 4 1 through 6 says since therefore

04:37

Christ suffered in the flesh arm yourselves with the same way of thinking For whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin

04:44

So as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions, but for the will of God The world system lives for the flesh because it's made up of billions of humans all living for the passions of the flesh

04:57

But the will of God stands in contrast to our human passions The next few verses then give us more detail about these passions for the time that has passed suffices for doing what the

05:07

Gentiles want to do living in sensuality passions drunkenness orgies drinking parties and lawless idolatry and Then he shows how the world system is confused by people who follow

05:17

God's will With respect to this they are surprised when you do not want to join them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you

05:25

But they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead that though judged in the flesh the way people are

05:34

They might live in the spirit the way God does The will of God is spiritual not fleshly

05:41

Number three God wants your children to do good so consistently that the world cannot blame them

05:47

First Peter 2 15 reads for this is the will of God that by doing good

05:52

You should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people This is a really good point to use when talking to your children about their friends

05:59

Do their friends know them for their righteousness? Do the kids at school not even try to accuse your children because they know the accusations wouldn't stick if the other kids at school accused your kids would the authorities believe it and Speaking of authorities number four

06:13

God wants your children to obey their authorities Ephesians 6 5 through 8 bond servants obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling

06:22

With a sincere heart as you would Christ not by the way of eye service as people pleasers

06:28

But as bond servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart Rendering service with a goodwill as to the

06:35

Lord and not to man Knowing that whatever good anyone does this you will receive back from the

06:41

Lord whether he is a bond servant or is free We could do a whole series of episodes just on this passage

06:47

But let me sum it up like this as you teach your children how God created them to obey their authorities It will be very important to point out that God's ultimate motivation for obedience is his glory

06:57

Notice again what he says in verse 7 rendering service with the goodwill as to the

07:03

Lord and not to men He really says it all throughout the verse in verse 5 He talks about obeying with a sincere heart as you would

07:10

Christ in verse 6 He talks about not being a people pleaser, but as bond servants of Christ Let's be honest enough with our kids to admit that their highest motivation for obeying us should not be us

07:21

When they obey us they need to be focusing on obeying God. That's the only way they can do the right things in the right way

07:28

If you haven't taken your kids through the teach your children to obey series be sure to listen to that one soon It's God's will that our children obey

07:36

But they have to know how to truly obey and I think we parents too often accept partial obedience even though it's not true obedience

07:43

Okay, so God wants your children to live opposite of the world and opposite of their natural instincts He also wills for them to be righteous so consistently that the world cannot blame them and he wants them to obey their authorities

07:53

Number five God wants your children to give to people in need 2nd

07:59

Corinthians 8 1 through 5 tells us we want you to know brothers about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia for in a severe test of affliction their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have

08:12

Overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part For they gave according to their means as I can testify and beyond their means of their own accord

08:21

Begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the Saints and this is not as we expected

08:28

But they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us

08:34

This is the point. I think we don't focus on enough with our children, especially the young ones The churches of Macedonia even in their poverty gave to the

08:42

Lord and then gave to Paul because they knew that was God's will So does this mean tithing is this referring to special missionary offerings?

08:51

I encourage you to listen to our episode about family chores We touch on how chores should be an act of service to the family

08:58

But we also need to stay tuned for my upcoming interview with Jessica Mayer when we discuss rearing a servant

09:03

The point is it's God's will that we all give to people in need and being humans

09:09

We're always in need that means we must have a spirit of service always looking for ways to give our of ourselves for others

09:17

Number six God wants your children to abstain from fornication This is a huge concept in our society

09:24

Deviant sexuality of every sort is paraded and promoted But first Thessalonians 4 3 says for this is the will of God your sanctification that you abstain from sexual immorality we've discussed sexuality a whole lot on this show and we've seen how

09:42

Important it is to teach our very young children the introductory concepts of Christ honoring sexuality

09:47

I encourage you to listen to episode 147 for a deeper understanding of this topic and a list of our other episodes that deal with Sexuality, of course, you can also find that list at truthloveapparent .com

09:58

But please realize that this is a gigantic concept. We cannot afford to neglect this topic it's

10:05

God's will for your children to refrain from all sinful sexuality both physically and Mentally, but the world system and their flesh want the exact opposite Now I was going to mention this later and I may still do so But the best way to be in the center of God's will ten years from now is to be in the center of his will today tomorrow and every day in between My point is we have to help our children learn these truths now if we want them to be successful in it later

10:32

Yes, it's true. God can revolutionize a life overnight, but why risk it? Okay, moving on.

10:38

This next one is equally huge. Number seven. God wants your children to always be thankful for Thessalonians 5 18 give thanks in all circumstances

10:47

For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you Once again, we could take a whole episode for this and maybe we will one day

10:55

This is so important so dynamic and so incredibly difficult give thanks in all

11:02

Circumstances that leaves no wiggle room This verse needs to be added to our parenting Bibles ASAP Of course if we want them to be successful in this we're gonna need to explain to them how to be thankful in all

11:13

Circumstances and obviously model that for them, but we'll save that for another show Okay, so God's will for our children is that they live opposite of the world and opposite of the flesh

11:22

He also wants them to be so consistently spiritual that the world is unable to legitimately blame them He wants them to obey their authorities

11:29

He wants them to give to those in need and he wants them to stay away from sinful sexuality And he wants them to be thankful in all situations

11:36

And lastly God wants your children to do everything the Bible commands Mark 335 for whoever does the will of God He is my brother and sister and mother and we acknowledge this last time from cover to cover

11:50

The Bible is God's revelation of his will Now again, I understand that some of you may have been hoping for more specific guidance

11:58

All of us are supposed to do the eight things we just discussed, but we can't all marry the same person We shouldn't all major in the same fields of study and we likely won't all work the same jobs or drive the same cars

12:08

But remember how can we expect to know God's will for our marriages or our educations or occupations?

12:14

If we're not interested in his will for our behavior today But never fear we are going to discuss how to help your child discover

12:21

God's will for their occupation Next time and we're going to talk about the rest of those questions as well at the end of the series

12:28

Now this may be a little bit of a stretch But I think it may possibly be the will of God for you to follow truth

12:34

Love parent on Facebook and Twitter and then share this episode with your friends We are the number one iTunes podcast for Christian parents and I praise the

12:42

Lord for how he's daily Introducing us to new parents and we have many of you to thank for that and don't forget about the episode notes at truth

12:49

Love parent calm. Hopefully they will benefit you as you teach your children about God's will for their lives And I'd like to take just one moment to thank one of you in particular

12:58

One of our newest patrons Johanna is super passionate about what we do and she shows it by supporting tilapia with her prayers

13:05

Finances and by telling people about our mission to glorify God by equipping moms and dads to be intentional premeditated parents

13:11

She'd love for you to join her in this ministry. You can learn more by clicking on the five ways to support

13:17

TLP link in the description God's will really isn't as confusing as we make it and I hope that as we continue this study

13:24

You'll be excited about helping your kids discover it. See you next time truth love

13:31

Parent is part of the ever mind ministries family and is dedicated to helping you become an intentional