Week 8 Lesson 1 The Foundation Scripture reading Psalm 127:1 Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it Satan wants to do all he can to devour your family. Peter says, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8) How can we keep this from happening? How can we build a family that thrives? Let me give you some basic answers: 1. Pray with your children and for our children every single day. 2. Have them in a good, solid, Bible teaching, local church and go as often as you can Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. 3. Let the church be the center of your life. The church is the body of Christ. If you are going to have a Christ centered home, you should have a church centered home. 4. Deliberately pursue friendships with other Christian families so that your children s best friends will be Christians as well. Your children will get positive peer pressure and not negative peer pressure. 5. Give them a Christian education. Whether you homeschool or have them attend a Christian school, make sure they get the Word of God in their schooling daily. 6. Fill your home with Christian music. 7. Place Bible verses, Christian plaques, and Christian pictures throughout your home. 8. Never be critical about other Christians or Christian leaders in your home. When something negative takes place, keep it to yourself or discuss it with your spouse. Always elevate Christians or Christian leaders in the eyes of your children. When they need godly council, they will have somewhere to go. Center your life around Christ. Allow Christ to be the foundation of your home and your family will THRIVE.
Week 8 Lesson 2 Marriage Partners Scripture reading Ecclesiastes 4:7-12 Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. When my wife and I got married forty-one years ago, we claimed verse 12 as our life verse. We knew that we were not strong enough to make it on our own. We knew if we bound our hearts together with Christ, a threefold cord, we could face anything and overcome any battle. Marriage is a partnership, but that partnership can easily break apart unless Christ is in the mix and He has tied the knot. When my children were coming of age for marriage, I gave them these simple words of advise. Find someone who loves Jesus more than they love you and marry that person. When you are hard to live with they will stay with you because they love Jesus. Every marriage will face difficulties. There is no such thing as a marriage made in Heaven. Successful marriages are worked at here on Earth. Remember you stood before God and made a commitment to be married for better, for worse, for richer, or poorer, in sickness, and in health until death. You didn t make that commitment because it was going to be easy, but because it was going to be difficult. Work at your marriage. Make your partner the highest priority in your life. Let your spouse know he or she is more important to you than anyone or anything. That is how God intended it. When you do this, your marriage will THRIVE.
Week 8 Lesson 3 The Basic Problem in Marriage Scripture reading 2 Timothy 3:1-5 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves This passage, let us know beyond a doubt that the basic problem in marriage, is mankind s selfishness and self-centeredness. This passage says that mankind is selfish and self-centered. Look at its description.: 1. Lovers of their own selves 2. Covetous 3. Boasters 4. Proud The list goes on. 5. Blasphemers 6. Disobedient to parents 7. Unthankful 8. Unholy When two people in our society get married, they bring these attitudes and actions into their marriage. Any marriage in this present age, is basically the union of two self-centered people. This will always cause problems. You may think, this applies to my spouse, but it doesn t apply to me. The reason you think this way is because the Bible says you are filled with pride. Proverbs 13:10, states Only by pride cometh contention. You may also think, I know that I am right; but Jeremiah 17:9 says, The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Proverbs 16:25 makes it clear that you can think you re right when you re not. There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Our text makes it very clear that we are by nature selfish sinners. We have problems in our marriages today, and we fight with one another because it is hard for two people who are selfish and self-centered to live with one another. From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? The fact is we live in sinful bodies, and we want our own way. So what is the solution to this problem? The answer is we must stop being selfish, and we must become a servant in the home. We can t do that ourselves, the only way we can is by daily surrendering to the Holy Spirit of God and asking Him to control us so we will want to be a servant instead of being served. Philippians 4:13 states, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. When you determine to be a servant in the home, your marriage will THRIVE.
Week 8 Lesson 4 The Family that Prays Together, Stays Together Scripture reading Luke 18:1-8 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. If we are going to have successful families, we must pray for the power of God to sustain our families. Let me give you several points that will help you be consistent in your prayer life with and for your family: 1. Make a commitment to pray. Allow God to grab your heart about the importance of your family staying together, and your children growing up to honor God. Remember, prayer is asking and prayer is a DAILY event. 2. Make a DAILY prayer list that includes your wife and children. Make a list that includes your wife, your children, your in-laws, your grandchildren, and your children s future in-laws. I encourage you to continue to use the THRIVE Life Notebook. 3. Make a list of what you want for your children, and pray with that list in mind. Each day, I pray the Lord s prayer list found in Luke 11. Pray that God s name will be Holy in their lives. Pray that God will reign in their lives and that God s will be done in their life lives Pray for God s provision over their lives and pray for God s forgiveness in their lives. Pray that God will protect them from trials and deliver them from satanic attack. Pray that God would keep them pure. 4. Let your children hear you pray for them. Each night, when you take them to their room, let them hear you call out their names to God. This does not have to be a long prayer. Simply, let them hear you pray that they will live for Him. 5. Talk about God with your children on a regular basis. When God answers prayer, tell them about it. Any conversation of significance should include God s opinion. Bring God into your everyday talk so they will be comfortable talking about Him and to Him. If you make prayer an essential part of your family s life, God will do for you what you cannot do for yourself, and your family will THRIVE.
Week 8 Lesson 5 Training Children Scripture reading Ephesians 6:1-4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Our passage for today is very clear in that if the family is to THRIVE, two things must take place: 1. Children must obey their parents. 2. Parents must train their children to obey. (God s plan is for a child to be born into a protected environment.) Mother and father are to lead, guide, and direct him until he comes to the age of maturity, twenty years old. He is to obey his parents and to know the protection of God through his parents. According to our passage, he is to obey because it is right. If he does not learn to obey his parents, he will never learn how to submit to authority when he is older. As a Christian parent, you are instructed to bring up your child. Don t get discouraged when your child makes mistakes. God has given you twenty years to raise your child for the glory of God. Bringing up a child takes a long time. God tells us that we are to nurture our children. The word nurture means to discipline. The word admonition means instruction. We are responsible for the instruction of our children. I would suggest reading these two books: Dare to Discipline by James Dobson and To Train Up a Child by Michael Pearl. Though I do not agree with everything written in these books, they will help you understand the foundations of child discipline. If you want your family to THRIVE, it is absolutely essential that you make a determination 1. To bring up your child (this takes time). 2. To discipline your child (this takes determination to learn how to do it properly). 3. To instruct your child (this is a constant process). 4. To communicate with your children (This will be throughout your lifetime). If you apply God s simple instruction from Ephesians 6, you will see your children THRIVE.
Week 8 Lesson 6 The United Family Will THRIVE Scripture reading Deuteronomy 6:1-9 And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. From this passage of Scripture, we learn several things. 1. God wants us to be united. Have you ever noticed that God told children to obey their parents? He did not say to obey your mother or your father. He said to obey your parents. If children are to obey God, then parents are to be united. When a child asks if he can do something, your response as a parent should always be: What does your mother/father think about it? If you as parents have disagreements, discuss them later when you are alone. 2. Your primary purpose is to teach your children to love God. You do that by praying with them. Giving God credit for all the good things that take place in your lives. Read His Word to them. Let them see you honor His Word. Take them to church, His house, on a regular basis so that they can meet with other Christians. 3. You ought to spend time with your children. Notice that our passage says that you are to talk about the love of God with your children when you sit, when you stand, when you walk by the way, when you get up, and when you lay down. Our world is very rushed, and it is very easy for us to not spend time with our children. Someone once said that the average parent spends less than five minutes a day communicating with their children. Many times that communication is negative communication. As we come to the end of this family focused week, I encourage you to make your relationship with your spouse and your children a top priority. Mom and Dad determine to be united. Determine to teach your children to love God. Determine to spend quality and quantity time with your children. If you do these things, your children will grow up loving you, and your family will THRIVE.