Friday, January 30, 2009
I have read studies that say at the rate Christian's are producing children in our culture today, our religion will die out within so many generations (I can't remember the number). In contrast to that, Muslim is the #1 fastest growing religion. The reason their religion is growing so much is not because of evangelism but because they have an average of 6 children per family who are then going on to produce many more Muslims. The average "christian American" family has the same number of children as non-christian Americans, which is around 2. Why is this? Why don't we look different than our culture? The easiest and most obvious way to advance the kingdom of God is to produce godly offspring. If we as Christians will quit trying to control our every decision in life, including when and how many children we have, then God can use us for his glory. Isn't that what we are on this earth for? The first commandment (dubbed The Genesis Charge) the Lord gives us in the bible is, "Be fruitful and multiply, and replinish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Genesis 1:27-28 Why is it that we feel compelled to obey all of God's other commandments but overlook or ignore this one, the 1st one (study the bible to learn more about God's Laws of First and their importance)! This commandment does apply to each and every person who is married and follows the Lord. And we don't just have to accomplish this with blood offspring, there are many children who need a godly family to adopt them. So, are you doing your part to replinish the earth with godly offspring?
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By Nancy Campbell - Above Rubies
Malachi 2:15 RSV, "Has not the one God made and sustained for us the spirit of life? And what does he desire? Godly offspring. So take heed to yourselves and let none be faithless to the wife of his youth. For I hate divorce, says the Lord the God of Israel."
God reveals His heart about marriage in the above Scripture. He wants the wife and husband to be one. He wants them to be faithful to one another. He does not want them to be divorced. And He makes His reason for saying this very clear. The disruption of marriage tampers with the godly offspring. The thing that God looks for in marriage more than anything else is godly children. This is His heart's desire. He looks eagerly for the coming children. This is His plan for marriage.
It is the nature of God to want children in His image. And because we were made in the likeness and image of God, it is inherent in mankind to want to have children in our image. We long to see who they will be like. And yet we now live in a distorted age. Couples have been so brainwashed by humanist deception that they often refuse to have children, or at least limit how many they have. They live counter-culture to God's kingdom and to their own instinctive design. While they live to their own desires, God waits with patience to see children born in His image. Grandparents wait to continue the godly dynasty.
Each new precious baby is created in the image of God and He wants His image multiplied in the earth.
But even more challenging is that it is not just offspring that God looks for. No, it is godly offspring. The margin in my Bible says, "the seed of God." What kind of children are the seed of God? It is even more challenging again when we find that the Hebrew word is elohim. As you know, the name Elohim is one of the names of God, the first name that God introduces himself to us in Genesis 1:1. This is only one name of God and it occurs 2,570 times in the Bible.
Elohim is used 35 times in Genesis 1:1 to 2:4 revealing God's creative and governing power. He created this vast universe by His spoken word. Elohim is the one who brought "cosmos out of chaos, light out of darkness, habitation out of desolation, and life in His image." (Nathan Stone) Because we are created in His image, we also have the ability to create. God has put into our mouths the power of the spoken word. We can minister life or death by our tongue. (Proverbs 18:21) God wants us (and each new babe that is born) to create and speak for His kingdom and His glory. He wants the godly offspring to fill the earth with His words, His truth and His character.
Elohim also reveals God as a covenant keeping God. There are many Scriptures revealing this but here are a few.
Genesis 17:7, "I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God (Elohim) unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."
Genesis 9:15-17, "And I will remember my covenant... And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature..."
On Joseph's death bed he said, "God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." (Genesis 50:24)
When Solomon dedicated the temple he prayed, "There is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart." (1 Kings 8:23)
Elohim is a covenant-keeping God. He wants us to also manifest covenant keeping. This is how we reveal the image of Elohim. He wants each godly offspring to be a covenant-keeper. It is interesting that God talks about the godly seed coming forth in the context of a covenant keeping marriage. Malachi 2:14 RSV says, "The Lord was witness to the covenant between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant."
It is not having lots of children that will solve the world's problems. It is having godly children who will impact the nations for God. May God enable us to welcome the godly seed and train them to truly reveal the character of Elohim. There is no career that can come anywhere the enormity and power of this vision.
Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
PRAYER:
"Oh God, please help me to be a faithful covenant-keeper and to train my children to be the same."
AFFIRMATION:
I have the awesome privilege to raise the "seed of God."
************************************************
By Nancy Campbell - Above Rubies
Malachi 2:15 RSV, "Has not the one God made and sustained for us the spirit of life? And what does he desire? Godly offspring. So take heed to yourselves and let none be faithless to the wife of his youth. For I hate divorce, says the Lord the God of Israel."
God reveals His heart about marriage in the above Scripture. He wants the wife and husband to be one. He wants them to be faithful to one another. He does not want them to be divorced. And He makes His reason for saying this very clear. The disruption of marriage tampers with the godly offspring. The thing that God looks for in marriage more than anything else is godly children. This is His heart's desire. He looks eagerly for the coming children. This is His plan for marriage.
It is the nature of God to want children in His image. And because we were made in the likeness and image of God, it is inherent in mankind to want to have children in our image. We long to see who they will be like. And yet we now live in a distorted age. Couples have been so brainwashed by humanist deception that they often refuse to have children, or at least limit how many they have. They live counter-culture to God's kingdom and to their own instinctive design. While they live to their own desires, God waits with patience to see children born in His image. Grandparents wait to continue the godly dynasty.
Each new precious baby is created in the image of God and He wants His image multiplied in the earth.
But even more challenging is that it is not just offspring that God looks for. No, it is godly offspring. The margin in my Bible says, "the seed of God." What kind of children are the seed of God? It is even more challenging again when we find that the Hebrew word is elohim. As you know, the name Elohim is one of the names of God, the first name that God introduces himself to us in Genesis 1:1. This is only one name of God and it occurs 2,570 times in the Bible.
Elohim is used 35 times in Genesis 1:1 to 2:4 revealing God's creative and governing power. He created this vast universe by His spoken word. Elohim is the one who brought "cosmos out of chaos, light out of darkness, habitation out of desolation, and life in His image." (Nathan Stone) Because we are created in His image, we also have the ability to create. God has put into our mouths the power of the spoken word. We can minister life or death by our tongue. (Proverbs 18:21) God wants us (and each new babe that is born) to create and speak for His kingdom and His glory. He wants the godly offspring to fill the earth with His words, His truth and His character.
Elohim also reveals God as a covenant keeping God. There are many Scriptures revealing this but here are a few.
Genesis 17:7, "I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God (Elohim) unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."
Genesis 9:15-17, "And I will remember my covenant... And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature..."
On Joseph's death bed he said, "God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." (Genesis 50:24)
When Solomon dedicated the temple he prayed, "There is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before thee with all their heart." (1 Kings 8:23)
Elohim is a covenant-keeping God. He wants us to also manifest covenant keeping. This is how we reveal the image of Elohim. He wants each godly offspring to be a covenant-keeper. It is interesting that God talks about the godly seed coming forth in the context of a covenant keeping marriage. Malachi 2:14 RSV says, "The Lord was witness to the covenant between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant."
It is not having lots of children that will solve the world's problems. It is having godly children who will impact the nations for God. May God enable us to welcome the godly seed and train them to truly reveal the character of Elohim. There is no career that can come anywhere the enormity and power of this vision.
Love from NANCY CAMPBELL
PRAYER:
"Oh God, please help me to be a faithful covenant-keeper and to train my children to be the same."
AFFIRMATION:
I have the awesome privilege to raise the "seed of God."
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