Children Are Watching You

Who is following you? Who sees what you do or say on a regular basis or even a few times a week here at church? Who do you have influence over?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:14

Hello, my name is Martin Marquez. And this is Dive Into Scripture. A weekly devotional teaching life lessons through the eyes of a disabled veteran with the Word of God. This week's devotional will be titled Children Are Watching You. Let us pray before we start. Heavenly Father, I come to you now in prayer through your Son Jesus Christ, my Lord. I pray that you open our hearts, minds, and souls, that we may listen and learn. I pray that you speak through me and that the Holy Spirit will convict those who need conviction, that He guides those needing guidance, and encourages and comforts those that need that. I pray that we all take to heart what is said here today. Lord, I pray that those listening can understand that this comes from love and sincerity to help and guide my fellow Christians in the attempt that we will grow and mature in our faith in you. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Ephesians six four says, And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians six nineteen through twenty says, And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I had to speak. Second Corinthians six eighteen says, and will be a father unto you, and shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Psalms one hundred three thirteen says Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. Proverbs twenty two six says Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. We all here are fathers or mothers, or will be one day. Myself being a dad who has lost custody of his child in divorce. It burdens me to the core to make sure that I am the best father I can be, and to be the best example I can be around every child I come in contact with. Today in twenty twenty six, we see the result of ungodly parents not raising their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We even see some saved parents doing that because they are not walking with Jesus daily. We have a few short years to influence our children and to raise them to love, respect, and honor Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives. We need to pray for our children and pray to God for the strength and courage to speak boldly and teach our children how to live godly lives. We must be godly examples like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the kings of Judah. Second Chronicles fifteen two says, And he went out to meet Asa and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah, and Benjamin, the Lord is with you. While ye be with him, and if ye seek him, he will be found of you, but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. If we want the blessings of God, we must be obedient to him. I know it is easier said than done, but in this life it is God's way or our way, and I would rather be under God's grace and protection than do things my way. The only way to accomplish this is to daily put on the armor of God and to daily pick up our cross. For me, that really hit me the last decade. As some of you know, I dealt with depression most of my life. Through writing my book, Overcoming Depression Through His Word, it gave me the inspiration to fully trust God in my emotional health and thus help me to see that I have done wrong by my daughter for many years, even though I pay my financial support each month. As in the movie Not Easily Broken, it says sometimes you have to let your life turn upside down so you can learn to live right side up. And as Aristotle said, What it lies in our power to do, it lies in our power not to do. We must do the right thing in the sight of the Lord. Any person can create a baby, but it takes a godly person to raise the children to be Christian children who love the Lord and will grow up to be a good Christian adult. It is not in us to do such a thing. We all are born sinners, we all fall short of the glory of God. It is only when we walk with Jesus and steadfast in His Word that we could be fathers and mothers we need to be, and that we must not look to each other for examples as I have done in the past, because we have a perfect example in our God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ as an example of a proper godly man. Think on this when we are tempted, just say no. Also, we can do nothing about yesterday and we can do nothing about tomorrow. All we can do is our best today. So I urge you, all of you, to do the best you can do today to walk with God and train your children to walk with God and trust in Jesus. Only in that way can we change this country. Only through prayer and starting in the home can we change the world. Our trust and belief in Jesus Christ must be shown through our lives to the unbeliever if we wish for a better world for our children and for those children we care about, such as the bus kids or fatherless kids, or even our brothers and sisters kids at church. As the seventh principle of the RU program says, our sinful habits do hurt those who are following us. So I ask you today who is following you? Who sees what you do or say on a regular basis? Or even a few times a week here at church? Who do you have influence over? Remember, you and me, we all have the responsibility to molt these children just as we are asking Jesus to mold us. As the Word of God says, the Lord is the potter and we are the clay. However, we are to be the hypothetical potter for our children in a sense of guiding and teaching. We are to show them right from wrong. As an example was given of a man's toddler daughter hiding her vitamin, we are born with a knowledge and desire for sinful, selfish desires. We as parents, as well as single adults, can teach our children to honor God and to do good and right in the eyes of our Lord, our God, just like King Asa of Judah. The Bible has so much scripture about what it means to be men and women. As men, we are first in providing for and protecting our families, but we are also first to answer to God for our families. We have the responsibility to guide our wife and to teach her. Ephesians twenty five twenty seven says Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. Now Ephesians five twenty two through twenty four says wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Both of these give examples of how we are to be in marriage. The problem is many people don't want to obey parts of the Bible like these. The thing about it is all scripture is given by the inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Just because you are not married doesn't mean this doesn't apply to you. Men can still treat women this way, and women can still treat men this way. We are to be holy because he is holy. We must find a lesson in all scripture to be more like Christ. I understand that we do not get to choose the sex we are born, whether male or female, but being a man has great responsibility. The question is are we willing to take on that responsibility or be like the world and shrug it off to someone else? Of course women have a different type of responsibilities and duties that the Bible gives them. Second Thessalonians three ten says, For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. Well that goes for our children in a sense. How can we expect our kids to grow up and love and serve the Lord if we do not teach them to do so? Yes, I understand that you that have children may have children that love and serve the Lord, but I said earlier, this is more for me. However, it is never right for us to forget these little lessons. God help us if we ever come to a place where we think we have made it, that we have accomplished and do not need to learn more or hear something again. There have been many times that I have heard a verse or said a scripture for the tenth time or more before it hits me square in the face. Until God returns or takes us home, we need to daily be trying to learn more about our Lord or daily be trying to grow closer to Him. In conclusion, remember what you do and say is seen by many, and you don't want to teach others that bad activities are okay. We don't want to be the reason someone will stumble and fall. We must be godly examples to all around us, especially the children who are easily influenced and molded by what they see and hear. I pray you all take this to heart and examine your own lives. Remember, children are watching you. Remember, I am Martin Marquez and this is Dive Description. The Romans Road can guide you in helping someone choose salvation. Romans three twenty three for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans six twenty three for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans five eight but God commendeth his love toward us, that in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans ten nine and ten that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Romans ten thirteen, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Amen.