Bible passage:
God's calling, revelation, and salvation for households
Genesis 7: 1 Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.
Genesis 18:19 For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.
Acts 10: 2, 30, 31, 24, 44 [Cornelius] a devout man who feared God with all his household, gave alms generously to the people, and prayed continually to God. And Cornelius said, “Four days ago, about this hour, I was praying in my house at the ninth hour and behold, a man stood before me in bright clothing and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your alms have been remembered before God... Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word.
Acts 16: 32-34 And they [Paul and Silas] spoke the word of the Lord to him [Phillipian Jailer] and to all who were in his house... and he was baptized at once, he and all his family... And he rejoiced along with his entire household that he had believed in God.
Psalm 103: 17 - But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children.
Confession/ Atonement: Lev 16:11 - “Aaron shall present the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself.
For the next generation - God's word, our testimony, consecration: Deut 6: 6, 7 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Psalm 78:4 We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. Job 1: 5 And when the days of the feast had run their course, Job would send and consecrate them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my children have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did continually.
If the Church is the place where the family of God gathers for worship and discipleship, Christian homes are mini churches where two or three of God's children are gathered.
God loves to bless families! For the sake of Noah, his household was saved. When Abraham was called, his household was also blessed. When Moses was called, his household came along. When David was called, the house of David was blessed. Like Paul's Damascus experience, Cornelius could also have got a dream where he alone is saved. Yet, God was pleased to have Peter preach to the whole household, and they all received the Holy Spirit together.
In the Old Testament, we see that God commanded Aaron, as a priest to offer sacrifices of sin offering for himself and his household. We also see that Job sacrificed offerings to God for the sins of his children. We read also that by God's command, it is the responsibility of the parents to teach God's word, share one's testimony, and bring up the children in God's faith and discipline.
They say, 'A family that prays together, stays together'. In a world where families are breaking, let's pray that Christian homes would pray together, and as a part of family prayer - worship the Lord truly, meditate on God's word, confess and repent, seek His guidance and blessings for themselves, and others around them, consecrate themselves for His mission, and share the testimony with each other first.
Prayer points:
Pray that the Christian men in every house would raise up and take their spiritual responsibilities and have regular prayer altars where they offer sacrifices pleasing to God.
Pray that Christian families which don't pray together begin praying; where families pray irregularly, they would persevere and pray every day; where families pray ritualistically, that there is a revival.
Pray that faith stories - repentance, the guidance received, miracles experienced by parents are shared with the next generation and that we don't see any child from a Christian home going astray from the faith.
Pray that the Holy Spirit would bind family members with each other and with Himself as they grow in the discipline of family prayer.
Pray that every distraction, excuse, temptation, and obstacle to establishing prayers at Christian homes would be broken in Jesus' name.
If you can, try memorizing Psalm 103:17.
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