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For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his
children and his household after him to keep the way
of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that
the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has
promised him."
Genesis 18:19
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What
is a home?
Is
it no more than a short order restaurant, or a residential
hotel, or just a place to hang your hat? Is it just a house
with a big mortgage to pay off? No, a home is a family—people
living, growing, learning and creating together. A little
boy explained it well when he told an interviewer after his
house had burned down, “We still have a home. We just
don’t have a house to put it in.”
Home
should be a happy experience—a haven from the problems
of the world, a place of security, laughter, love, acceptance.
But, as indicated by the rising divorce rate and a host of
family problems, homes are too often places of tension, growing
frustration and division—a tug-of-war between very unhappy
people.
How
can the energy and creativity of your family be harnessed
for a happy home? Let’s go back to the source. The home
is God’s idea—not a human invention or a cultural
phenomenon. In the plan of creation God designed the home
as the foundation of society, to meet the mental, spiritual,
physical, emotional needs of men, women and children.
According
to God’s Word, the family is a lasting relationship.
The Bible states that in marriage a husband and wife become
“one,” building a permanent relationship. The
family is not designed for temporary convenience—to
be kept together so long as it’s fun and pleasing. The
family’s strength is its permanence. God designed the
family as a lasting relationship in which, with His care,
humans could weather the storms of life together. The home
is God’s loving shelter for growing to maturity.
Although
the family is a lasting relationship, it is not an automatic
success. The daily parts and pieces of life just don’t
automatically fall into place. Loving and living with your
spouse and children takes determination and practice, plus
time and imagination, sacrifice and planning, and much more.
But
love and determination by themselves aren’t enough to
build the relationship God intended. Centuries ago a man who
had faced many family problems wrote, “Unless the Lord
builds the house, they labor in vain who build it” (
Psalm 127:1a).. God not only designed the home, but He desires
to be at the center of family life—guiding, sustaining,
filling the home with His love, peace, forgiveness.
But
for such a transformation to happen in your home, you must
personally yield your will to God. You must confess that you,
as all people, “have sinned and come short of the glory
of God” (Romans 3:23). As a result you are alienated
from a holy God who must punish sin (Romans 6:23). But God,
in His matchless love, has provided for your need by sending
His Son Jesus Christ to pay the penalty for your sins on the
Cross (1 Peter 3:18).
If
you have never received the risen Christ as your personal
Savior, do so now. Not only the future of your family but
your eternal destiny depends on your relationship to God.
Why not make God the center of your life and home?
You
might pray something like this, “God, I am a struggling
person who often has done what’s wrong, and I know You
are holy. I know that you sent your son Jesus to die for me.
Thank you that he received the eternal punishment for my sins.
Thank You for sending Jesus to cover my sins by dying in my
place. I want You to become Lord (boss or controller) of my
life and my relationships. I want to server you now. Thank
you Jesus. I love you.”
And
Jesus please help me treat everyone in my family the way you
want me to treat them. I ask you Lord to bless everyone in
my family and help me show kindness to them the way you showed
kindness to me. Thank you again Jesus. Amen.
As
you seek to make Jesus Christ Lord of your life and home,
search the Bible daily for guidance in your family life. Pray
for God’s instructions to you on how you should treat
each family member. Pray that God would help you fulfill your
family responsibility. He wants to help your family weave
your lives into one harmonious design.
Be
patient with your family
They
might not know Jesus the way you do. When God gives the time
you may tell them about Jesus.
Remember
one of the most effective ways we tell someone about Jesus
is by living a life of love like Jesus...most people will
want to ask why we do this.
If
the Lord opens the door...
Encourage
your family to begin a time of daily prayer and Bible study.
As your family shares praise and personal needs in prayer
and searches God’s Word, you will be growing closer
to the Lord and to each other.
Equally
important, attend a Bible-believing church together, so that
you may find the encouragement and fellowship of other Christians,
and instruction in God’s Word.
With
Christ as Lord of your family, you can have a happy home.
As you daily follow Him, your life will be filled with God’s
love and wisdom. Your home will be more than just a place.
It will be a family—living, growing, and learning together
with God.
Remember
Most Important
It
is NOT our job to push someone to Jesus.
It
is God's own job to draw (pull) someone to Jesus. And He will
draw people we love when we pray to Him and ask him to. God
knows when the best time for them to come to Him is, and with
your prayers, God will start to pull them to Himself.

HOW HAPPY EVERY CHILD OF GRACE
"We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins, according to the riches of His grace." Ephesians 1:7
How happy every child of grace,
Who knows his sins forgiven!
"This earth," he cries, "is not my place,
I seek my place in Heaven-
A country far from mortal sight,
Which yet by faith I see,
The land of rest, the saints' delight,
The heaven prepared for me."
O what a blessèd hope is ours!
While here on earth we stay,
We more than taste the heavenly powers,
And antedate that day.
We feel the resurrection near,
Our life in Christ concealed,
And with His glorious presence here
Our earthen vessels filled.
O would He more of heaven bestow,
And let the vessels break,
And let our ransomed spirits go
To grasp the God we seek;
In rapturous awe on Him to gaze,
Who bought the sight for me;
And shout and wonder at His grace
Through all eternity!