If you want to open in your Bible somewhere, you can go to Hosea chapter 4. As you're going there, I want to share with you, I just got back late on Friday from a week of being a camp speaker at junior camp in upstate Michigan, at Camp Barakal. And I'll tell you what, you know what it means to be the camp speaker for the 7, 8, 9, and 10 year olds? Basically it means that they locked me in a room with 138 7, 8, 9, and 10 year olds, And after several hours, Bonnie would come and drag me out and resuscitate me after they worked me over. After the first day, I said, honey, I don't even know what I'm doing here. I don't know why I came and agreed to this, and I don't want to do it anymore. And that was the first session. But the Lord blessed. You know, it says in the Bible, when we're weak, what? That's when he's strong. And it was such a blessing to watch, and after I stopped being You know, self-conscious of all these missionary outfits Bonnie had gotten for me. I was the missionary speaker. And so, I mean, I had to wear the jungle outfit and the Chinese outfit. And oh, it was so embarrassing. But I noticed after I stopped thinking about myself, I started looking at the kids. I mean, those children were actually sitting right on the edges of their benches. And their eyes were so wide. And they were still at the age where they believe absolutely everything they hear. And what a blessing to be able to teach them the truth while they're that way. I mean, their hearts and eyes and ears are wide open. And I remember when I lifted the sword and was cutting missionary John Stam's head off, when it whacked the tree stump, they all just went, oh. I mean, they were just right with me. And it was precious. So thanks for praying. But I will say this, that we spent 2,500 miles as a family together, driving all the way to the map of Michigan. We went all the way up to there. You know, right up near the top of the lower peninsula, 2,500 miles. And in that time, sitting in the car, I started thinking about those ancient, you ever heard the anonymous laws of parenting? I think every one of them took place in our car. I'll read them to you, just for you to know what it's like to travel with us. The later you stay up, the earlier your child will wake up the next morning. Have you found that to be true? I would be up trying to figure out what to say to those little juniors, and I was working late. I already put the kids to bed, and before the sun would rise over those great northern pine forests, my kids were up waking me up, you know, at 4.45. For a child to become clean, something else will become dirty. We were camping, remember? Toys will always multiply to fill all available spaces. That's a law of child-rearing. The longer it takes for Bonnie to make a meal, the less the children enjoyed it. Yours is always the only child who doesn't behave. It was so cute in first service. As I said that, there's a little child in the back saying, I don't want to be here. And the parents, they thought, ah, you know. They said, I hope the pastor didn't hear that. I didn't. If the shoe fits, if the shoe fits, it's expensive. The surest way to get something done is to tell your child not to do it. The gooier the food, the more likely it is to end up on the carpet. Now this one, imagine we have eight children. Vacuuming the car out of the driveway causes your child to have to go to the bathroom. I mean, we know all the rest areas between here and everywhere. And finally, the last law, the more challenging your child, the more rewarding it is to be a parent. sometimes, but it's always true. Now all that is funny, but Hosea 4.6 is the sobering part. Now remember, I was with children all week. That's why I'm acting silly. Someone says, you should go away more often. You know, you're funny. Appreciate that. But I was with children all week. I had 138. The other side of the lake and the campground, it's on both sides of this big Michigan lake. The other side had more than that of junior hires, 13, 14, 15, year olds up in that sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. But after listening to them, I would visit both sides of the lake and talk to the kids. There were over 300 campers all together. I found out they were from 90 different churches in Michigan, 20 different denominations. I mean, we had every type of child from every type of background, just a cross-section of Michigan. I mean, this is a 50-year-old camp, very well-known, interdenominational. One verse. Hosea 4-6 summarizes what I saw as I listened to those young people. This is what the Lord said to Israel, and of course it was his message to them, but I think that we can apply it also in this situation. It says, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you, God said to Israel, from being priests for me. Because you have forgotten the law of your God, Look at this. I also will forget your children. This came to me the first night I was speaking, and I was talking about blind Bartimaeus, and I was doing the whole blind thing. You know, when I speak to children's camps, I just walk around up and down. That's what you have to do to keep them, you know, not falling asleep. I go up and down the aisles, carrying my Bible, and I was doing Bartimaeus. And I said, there is an eternal heaven, and there is an eternal hell. And when I said hell, half the kids went... And they started poking each other and whispering. At that night, when I was meeting with the counselors, they said, do you know what the kids kept us up saying? Why did he swear at us? They said they'd never heard in church anybody say hell. They only heard that when their parents got angry. You know, it's someone on the road or something. They said they didn't know that that was in the Bible, and they didn't know that was a place, and they didn't know that Christians were supposed to talk about it. They said, those seven, eight, nine, and 10-year-olds their 90 different churches and 20 different denominations had in their entire lifetime never heard consciously Heaven contrasted to the literal place the lake of fire called hell and they thought I was swearing at him These young people are growing up in churches where they're being mostly entertained the camp director sat with me And they told me that I was a test run. I wonder why they asked me to do this and Because I speak in Michigan at couples conferences, and parenting conferences, and marriage conferences, and Bible conferences, and prophetic conferences. But they never asked me to speak to seven, eight, nine, and 10-year-olds. And they said, what we found out is we bring in speakers, and they come in, and they entertain them, and they play games with them, and they do the puppets with them, and all that's wonderful. And they said, but they never really get around to teaching them the Bible. And we thought, maybe kids can't learn the Bible. Or else they do the constant ongoing invitation, like the fellow that was there the week before me, had all the kids stand up, all of them, the whole room, and put up on the chart this prayer. And he said, I want you all out loud to pray this with me. And they all prayed it. And he looked at me and said, every one of you are now saved. Sit down. I mean, they said, either we have that or the entertainment. And they said, and they never get taught the Bible. So they said, we thought we'd put you down with them. I said, thanks a lot. Almost killed me. Didn't like it all. Had to change all my messages. Indeflectible loyalty had to become become friends. You know, I mean, you had to rename everything. But you know what struck me was they said that the churches are doing so much to attract and hold the kids that they become biblically illiterate. They're doing everything they can to keep them coming and to keep them happy that they don't have time to teach them the Bible. And so what happens is they're not only biblically illiterate, but they're spiritually starving. They're excited and bright, yet they're spiritually unprepared for life. They don't know what they believe. Should have heard the questions. It was amazing. They don't know how God has revealed himself in his word and they don't know how to appropriate that truth for their lives. So you're saying, oh boy, I'm glad we don't live in Michigan. I'll tell you a secret. That's how it is here too. This country is sliding toward biblical illiteracy. Now, thank God. Unusual at Tulsa Bible Church. I have to say I've walked around and I've peeked in every room Did you know the Bible is taught from baby Bible? Over there where they're just old enough to sit in those old chairs all the way through the senior citizens They are taught God's Word and that is a blessing but the church at large is Becoming like Hosea 4 and verse 6 people are perishing and the last part is so ominous I will forget your children Just unbelievable what's going on in our country. Well, has the God of the universe marked out a pathway to keep us from raising children that are biblically illiterate, that don't know how to be prepared for life and what they believe and how to live? Well, the good news is He has. And the directions are right here in this book, God's Word. And on Mother's Day, I began this message. I promised you I'd finish it the week after Father's Day, and that's this week, okay? And I called the first half the mile markers on the road to godly parenting. What I did is I went through and explained to you what God wants us to inculcate and disciple into our children. It was basically how to disciple children and what are the attributes that God wants to see us formed. through his grace in the lives of our children. It was an acronym, Godliness. G-O-D-L-I-N-E-S-S. And we covered that. And if you remember, some of the points were, God wants us to teach them how to have a godly life, an outreaching life, a disciplined life, a life with true love, with integrity, a noble life, an exemplary life, a spirit-filled life, and a sacrificial life. So, boy, I really laid it on the kids. And that's what God wants for them to have. The other half is this morning. in order to see godly character built in and discipled into young people, whether they're your physical children, or your grandchildren, or your spiritual children, or grandchildren. You see, all of us are part of a family in Christ. But that's what God wants us to disciple into their lives. But the other half is, what kind of character does God want in the discipler? That was the disciplee. That's the disciple. What does God want in their lives? Boy, that's great. But what does he want in ours if we're going to be the teacher, the discipler? Well, that's what we're going to look at this morning. And what God wants to see in our lives is He wants to see genuine biblical character. He wants us to have character that will glorify His name. And so what I'd like you to do is turn with me to Luke 14. And I'm going to give you basically one verse for each of these points. And I want you to think about your personal life, because I've been thinking about this all week long as I have talk to these young people and minister to them and as I sat and drove and pondered this morning in this message, what does God want in us? And I'm going to follow an acronym again for the word parenting. P-A-R-E-N-T-I-N-G. And each of those letters of the word parenting has to do with a character quality God wants in us. Now you say, I'm beyond parenting. Okay, grandparenting. You say, I'm not in that either. How about spiritual disciple making? This is what the heart, the character of a person whose life is followable, imitatable, a life that is an example. What does it look like? First is a letter P and that the Lord describes in Luke 14. And the word is a life that exhibits, listen, patience. Oh, we need that in America. Remember, I've been on the road 2,500 miles. We have the most impatient drivers in this country. I'll tell you what, you know, it's just everyone's impatient, but it's not just with driving. It's with everything. But look what Jesus said. So he told a parable to those who were invited, and he noted how they chose the best places. Verse 7, saying to them, verse 8 of Luke 14, when you're invited by someone to a wedding feast, don't sit down in the best place. That shows a little bit of an impatience that they want to be honored. And they want to, you know, they don't want to wait and see what happens. And so he says, watch out, less someone more honorable than you be invited. Verse nine. And he who invited you come and say to you, hey, can you give up your chair for this guy? And you began with shame to go to the end, to the lowest place. But here's what a godly person is like. When you're invited, go and sit down in the lowest place. Boy, the Lord had such ability to illustrate Can you see this big banquet? Say it's a political deal and all the umpahs are up in the front. Where do you want to be? Up by the front. The Lord says, no, no, go sit in the back. And when he who invited you comes, he'll say to you, friend, what are you doing back here in the back? Come on up here. And then you will have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you. What's the principle, Lord? Verse 11, for whoever exalts himself will be humble. Whoever says, I want, I want, and I'm going to get it, too. I'm going to exalt myself. I'm going to promote myself. I'm going to climb to the top. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. And what the Lord is saying is that we need to be patient and say, I'll go to the end of the line. Now, I thought about this all week long. I was at a camp, and there were all these kids. And I mean, they have all the food and those kids are bumping and jostling. They all want to get up to the front of the line. It's such a picture of life. Isn't that how we are? We burst out of the traces on Monday morning and boy, we're going to get to the front in whatever career, whatever path, whatever realm we're in. But instead of being boss, I'm going to be willing to be at the bottom of the heap, the Lord says, if I want to be a godly example. I want to be willing to go to the end of the line. Remember when we were studying sheep a couple of weeks ago about the Lord said I'm the good shepherd? Did you know in every flock there is always the big ram. He's out front. He's the boss. He's following right behind the shepherd. And then there's the little tailender sheep that's at the back end of the line. And the Lord says you're not supposed to be the top ram. We're supposed to be tailenders. And we have to deny self-assertion and self-aggrandizement and self-pleasing and give way to the desire to simply be pleasing to God. Remember what 2 Corinthians 5 that Travis just read said? Be pleasing God. That's our desire. Whether we're absent or present, we want to be pleasing God. And that happens when we yield our place to the Lord. And the hallmark of a serene soul is the absence of a drive for self-determination, for self-aggrandizement, for self-ambition. In fact, when God listed off the attributes of a godly leader, he said, watch out for those who have selfish ambition. They always have this plan in the background for where they want to be and what they want to do. And I'm not talking about not planning in life. I'm talking about planning, but putting my plans out like this. and saying, Lord, alter them at will, change them, take them away, replace them with yours. But I want not my will, like Jesus said, but thine be done. That's what it's all about. And the person who is prepared to put their personal life and personal affairs in the Master's hand is characterized by patience, because his management, God's, in God's direction, is found in the place of yieldedness and waiting. What does it say all the way through the Bible? Wait on the Lord. Wait patiently for Him. And He will direct you, and He'll show you, and He'll give you. So, what do we have to have? We have to have patience. A lot of parents are so impatient with those they're discipling that they want them to be something that God is going to do and it takes time. And we need to be willing to go to the end of the line in our personal lives so we exhibit patience with those we minister to. Letter P, patience. I will go to the end of the line. A couple of biblical characters, and I'm not going to even dare to open the Bible there, I'll just tell you about them. King Saul, remember him? He was so impatient. He didn't have time to obey God. And he was rejected as king because he wouldn't obey the Lord. He was impatient. He wanted to do it quick, his way. Lot is the other guy. Genesis 19. Remember Lot? Lot stood with his uncle Abraham and Abraham said, hey, where do you want to build your business? You get the run of the land. Which do you want? Which is such a mark of a person whose life is in the hands of the Lord. They don't have to grab the best piece for themselves. And so Lot, being a kid, at heart and in maturity, looked over and he saw it was kind of desert over here and his flocks wouldn't grow as fast. And he looked over here and it says the plains of Sodom should immediately have caused rise in his apprehensive. Sodom, whose name was characteristic with Sodomians, Sodomites, and sin. He looked over and it says the plain of Sodom was well watered and what he thought was I'll make a quick buck, my sheep will grow fast eating that grass. And I don't want to work over here, I want the fast path, the fast track, I want success. So he moved to where he would succeed most rapidly, and he did succeed. But in the end, he lost his wife, his children, his honor, and everything he owned burned up in Sodom. Wasn't patient, wanted the fast track, lost out. So, patience means I don't make the mistakes I see in those who are hasty and unwise, And I want to be patient and go to the end of the line and let God lift me up. Let's turn to 1 Thessalonians 5.18. To the right. 1 Thessalonians. You were in Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. There it is. 1 Thessalonians 5.18. Now maybe if you've never noticed this before, you ought to mark this because I have a little acronym that goes with this. An attitude of praise is what I put down. Look what it says. In everything, give thanks. And what it means is offer a sacrifice of praise. In everything that happens, just immediately, just give thanks to God. Offer a thank offering to Him. Why? Well, verse 18 says, this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. And what I wrote in my Bible is, I will praise instead of pout. How do you like that? That's easy to remember. I've been with children all week. When they don't get chocolate milk in the camp, I don't like white milk, you know. They don't praise God that they have milk, right? And that they have a roof over their heads and they have a dry place to sleep. They just pout and that's a childish thing. But what does God want us? He wants us to have an attitude of praise. I will praise instead of pout. Instead of finding fault with life and always asking why. Those with the attitude of praise are willing to accept every circumstance of life with the godly attitude of gratitude. Right? Not, why is everybody else healthy and did I get sick? Why is everybody else succeeding and I'm struggling in my job? Why does everybody else have no debts and I have trouble financially? Instead of always questioning everything in life. Now, sometimes there are reasons why people are financially always in trouble because of unwise decisions, but I'm talking about the bigger picture of life we as humans somehow feel entitled to question the reason for everything that happens to everyone and sometimes in many instances this builds into a continuous criticism in a dissecting of everybody's situation in life and it makes the person so so out of tune with the Lord and with the bigger picture that in everything God is working Romans 828 all things together for good in fact you know You should put a Bible marker in your Bible at Romans 8 28 and check it every so often when things are going bad because God is actively working all things together for his good and in that he wants us all to give thanks. So we should really believe our affairs are in God's hands. We should place them there and every event that happens no matter whether it's joyous or tragic will be taken as a part of God's plan. And I will praise him instead of pouting. about what's going on in my life. So the second attitude of a godly discipler, not only are there patience showing in their life, a willingness to go to the end of the line and let the Lord lift them up, but there's also an attitude of praise. They thank the Lord and acknowledge his hand in their lives. Now here's another one, the third one. Now, this is meddling, but turn back to Leviticus. You say, is that in the Bible? Yep. It's an important part of the Bible. Leviticus 19. And Leviticus 19, verse 32, has one of those unique statements that are in the Bible. And I want to show you a little signature of God that should just make you sit up. And in fact, if some of you are slugging through your first time reading the Bible or again going through the Old Testament, here's something you can look for. You ought to mark these. Leviticus 19. And look at verse 32, the last four words of the verse. It says, I am the Lord. Now, that little I am the Lord shows up all the way through. Exodus and Leviticus and God will say some of the most unusual things and it's almost like People are going huh? And he goes I am the Lord he signed it You know kind of like you ever get a note saying do something You're not sure if you should do it to see who signed it go. Oh, yes. Oh, okay. I'll do that. Yes, sir You know well, that's what he says here now. What's the beginning of the verse? It's talking about one of the lost arts of our culture. It's called talking about respect Respectfulness This is look what it says. You shall rise before the gray headed and honor the presence of the agent and fear your God. I am the Lord. You know what this is talking about? It's not it's many things rising before the infirm, the weak. The elderly, also zakim, gray headed, is the word that's used for the elders as in the leaders. And usually the most aged and wise were the leaders. They were also the weakest physically. What it means is we have a respect, not in the worldly way for the big and mighty and powerful, but for those whom God honors, the weak, the infirm, the aged, those who have earned by wisdom their place, not by might. by wisdom. So there's a respectfulness. They say, what happens when that's not present? Well, now let's go to the New Testament, to 2 Timothy 3. Because all of these truths are reflected in the New Testament. And 2 Timothy, Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, you know, it's near the end. Pass the Gospels to the right there. 2 Timothy chapter 3. Because we're closing in, in America, on the era that God says will be a lawless and hard-hearted era. And in that era, children will be disrespectful and society will be brutal. Now, listen to these words, but mark this. There will be terrible times in the last days. Verse two, Second Timothy three. People will love themselves. They will love money. They will be boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal. and not lovers of the good. What a strategic time to capture the hearts of our children as we reflect a submissive, reverent heart to those God says should be honored. I mean, little things. I mean, this week, traveling. You know, we're going in somewhere and all the kids are filing through and they notice that I keep holding the door open because there might be, you know, a mother struggling with her kids or there might be an older person or maybe it's the guy coming in with his cart, you know, into the QT trying to reload the shelves. And you just stop and instead of letting the door slap them like that or being first in line at the restaurant because the line is so long, you show that respect and you Rise before the agent. Give him your chair. Hold the door for him. Acknowledge. Just those little things. That's not Boy Scout stuff. That's godliness. Not push down on the kids. They should learn to do that. Because they see you, Dad. They see you, Mom. Exhibiting that kind of respect. You know, that comes even to the police. You don't say those derogatory remarks about them. You acknowledge them. Their authority. Their position. It's a respectfulness marking our lives, especially in an eroding culture. Well, let's look at Philippians. That's back about three books. Philippians chapter two. Here's the next one. P of parenting is patience. And I will go to the end of the line if I'm patient. I'm not in a hurry. I'm not, you know, trying to grab all I can. A is for an attitude of praise instead of pouting. First Thessalonians five. R is for respectfulness. And E of that acronym parenting is Philippians 2.4. Let me read it to you. It says, let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. And then it goes through the humbling of Christ and his exaltation like Christ. And it goes through how he humbled himself and became obedient. You know what I call this? I call this the whole idea of emancipating ourselves from ourself. You know, you and I were born slaves to ourself. We, as children, we want this, we want that, we want this, and give me that. You know, that's how children act. They cry and they shake, you know, when they're babies, they shake their rattles and pound they want stuff. And we train them out of that. But usually what happens is we just train them out of the overt display of it, and it's still there. Right? Self is still so evident. And what Paul says is, we need to emancipate ourselves from self. I remember the song I mean I've been teaching kids all week You know what one of the songs is Jesus and others in you what a wonderful way to spell joy J is for Jesus for he has first place always for others we meet face to face to do the motions Y is for you, and whatever you do put yourself last and spell joy j-o-y Jesus others you emancipation from self self-centeredness, self-assertion, self-insisting on my rights. I'm willing to forego them in favor of others. We should deny ourself. It's not easy. It's not normal. It's not natural. And even in the loving atmosphere of a home, self-assertion becomes so evident. We were on this 350 acre campground, two sides of the lake. And here we are, all of us. And we borrowed this little car. Emphasis, little. car had five seatbelts I don't see how five people could have sat in them but there were five but there were eight of us in the car wheeling around these little sandy roads in the backwoods of Upper Michigan and I was driving along between couple points and in this campground and I heard in the backseat don't touch me I thought touch me I mean we're we're sitting on top of each other in this car and I heard a little voice don't touch me you know that's self-assertion And we laugh and say, ha ha, that's a little kid. Isn't that what adults think too? There's such a drive for self-assertion, aggrandizement, ambition, for all those things. Well, to the person who's willing to pocket their pride, to take a back seat, to play second fiddle, there is a tremendous daily emancipation. What emancipation means, it means to be set free from self. And when we're set free from self, we are not so easily deflated. We're not so easily disappointed. We're not so easily offended. You know, if you have your foot stuck out, it will get stepped on. If you have your foot stuck out, it will get run over. And if you have your pride and your ego and yourself stuck out, it will always get injured. But the Lord said, emancipate yourself from that. Look not, Philippians 2.4, don't look out for your own interests alone, but also be looking out for the interests of others. There is a tremendous emancipation from self in this attitude. We are set free from the shackles of personal pride. It's very hard to hurt a person who is emancipated from self. What does it say in Psalm 119, verse 165? Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. That's an emancipation from self. I can't get hurt by others if I, as it says in Galatians 220, am crucified with Christ. Well, continuing for the end, look at 2 Peter 3. So we're in Philippians, Colossians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James. There we go, 1 Peter. 2 Peter, almost the end of the Bible. Look at the last verse of 2 Peter 3. Last verse of that little epistle. For the acronym, P is for Patience, A is for an Attitude of Praise, R is for Respectfulness, E is for Emancipation from Self, N is for Nurturing. A nurturing lifestyle. Look at what 2 Peter 3.18 says. But grow, not only in grace, that is, accepting the unmerited favor of God lavishly poured out in Christ, but also in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grow in knowing Him. How do we know Him? This is life eternal. They may know thee. Thy word is truth. Sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. As newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word. How do we do that? Well, let me just give you four verses. Job 23, 12. Just write them down. I don't want you to get lost. Okay? Job 23, 12. This is what Job said. I have not departed from the commandment of his lips. I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my necessary food. Now, you know, I have favorite foods. Very favorite food. In fact, my favorite meal is breakfast. And anything associated with breakfast, I love. And here we are camping, and Bonnie knows that. She camped all week long over an open wood fire. Isn't that an art form? She can bake. She can cook. I had blueberry muffins, and blueberry pancakes, and bacon, and Spam. I love Spam. I know it's not good for your heart. In fact, I don't even know, I think they put the snout of the pig in that, but I still like it, you know? And she's frying those eggs and she has this great big, about 20 inch cast iron skillet. So one morning I got up real early, you know, about quarter to five and I went out and the kids, of course, woke up too and came out and I said, I'm making a campfire like the Indians, you know? And so I had it all ready, but it wasn't going very well and I was rubbing the sticks. I was trying to, so I got the lighter out and I went, you know, with the butane lighter, and it went, you know, and the kids, they thought I got it by rubbing the sticks, but don't tell them I didn't. So we got the Indian fire going, and I stoked all the wood on, and then I went underneath and got the big skillet. And I was going to surprise Bonnie, I was going to give her breakfast in bed. So I pushed the wood down after it burned a while, and I put the pan right on the fire. Probably shouldn't have done that. And I went in, got the bacon, I set it, and I pulled it all off, put it in there, because Bonnie loves bacon. And then I ran in to make her tea, and I forgot, a fire is about 800 degrees. And I stuck that pan right on. When I came out, I had a burning pyre, like a funerary pyre, a black mound of burnt bacon. So I turned over the cooking roll to Bonnie, and she made breakfast, and it was wonderful. But that's my favorite food, and I look forward to it. And I couldn't wait for it every morning. And that's how the Lord says we're supposed to look forward to this book. We long and anticipate and can't wait to smell it, to get into it. And it says, as Job said, it's more than my necessary food. Psalm 119, oh how I love your law. It's my meditation all the day. When we start our day with the Lord, we meditate on him. Psalm 119, verse 97. Jeremiah says this, your words were found and I ate them. See, that's why we study this book. We look through, we find that word of God that is just especially going to touch our life that day and we eat it. We read it and we ingest it into our lives, into our hearts, and we meditate on it all day long. You know, what you ate last night has become a part of you today. It's part of your cells today. It is processed through your body and has been absorbed, and it's a part of you. Did you know what you read in God's Word? By meditation, it becomes a part of you. And that's what it says in Jeremiah 15, 16, I ate them, and your word became to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart. for I am called by your name." We should have a nurturing lifestyle. We should be feeding on this book. You don't teach those you love to love God's Word by telling them, but by them seeing that you love God's Word. That you can't wait to read it. You can't wait to mark it. You can't wait to talk about it. That's what parenting is all about, spiritual or physical. Well, the next one. is in Romans 121. So if you want to turn over there, we'll get to the T. Romans 121. I've got several more, so I'm going to... As I told the children this week at camp, I said, I have got more material than I have time left, so I want you to listen fast, and I'm going to talk fast, okay? And it's happened before, and I said, don't worry, we'll get through it. And so, the T of parenting is thankfulness. And it says in Romans 121, the characteristic of those who are away from God, degenerating away from God, is, look at Romans 121, although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God, nor gave thanks to Him. When you woke up this morning and you were awake and alive and conscious, I hope that your heart immediately thanked the Lord you had another day to live for His glory on this planet. When you were able to open your eyes, I hope you thanked Him that you have sight. When you're able to breathe, I hope you thank Him you don't have to tote around one of those oxygen tanks behind you with a mask on, that you can still breathe. I hope that when you walk that you're thankful that you still have the ability to be mobile. See, Godless people don't thank God even that they're alive, that they're existing, that they even have all the wonders of this body He gave us. 1 Thessalonians 5.18 says, Give thanks in all circumstances. And that, as I shared with you, was this attitude of praise. But you know what? Thankfulness has to be shown. Did you know when things don't happen, when your car breaks down, you have to say, I thank the Lord I even have a car. Right? There's a man in discovery class this morning who doesn't even have a car. I mean, you ever met someone who doesn't have a car? Yes. You have to be thankful you have one. Some of you have two or three. We should be thankful. When I travel overseas, I'm so thankful I live in America. I mean, I can't believe it. You go in to get a drink. There are 500 choices. You go to a lot of countries, there's no choice. We should be thankful. And one of the marks of the decline of our world is, Romans 121, the decline and fall of the human race is, they wouldn't glorify God as God, nor would they thank him. Three more left, okay? Let's turn back to Isaiah. Let's go to the eye of parenting. Eye of parenting is Isaiah chapter 33. And this one I want you to turn to. If you don't know where Isaiah is, just open your Bible to the middle, and that's Psalms. And then go to the right, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Isaiah. Just to the right of Psalms. And Isaiah 33 and verse 15. And if you are a Bible marker as I am, I wrote at the top of my Bible, by Isaiah 33, 15, I wrote, here is the next characteristic God wants in our life. If we are going to be an effective parent of our children or of our grandchildren or of our spiritual Children in the Lord if we're going to be effective discipler and parent are of those people we have to be Iniquity hating you say what do you mean by that? Let me read to you. Isaiah 33 15 the Lord's describing who gets to Get close to him and know him and he says he who walks righteously and speaks what is right who rejects gain from extortion I'm in verse 15 who keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears against plots of murder, shuts his eyes against contemplating evil." What? Shuts his eyes from contemplating evil. You know, I was powerfully reminded of that this week. In fact, it was Thursday. We were driving back a long stretch, and I saw one of those billboards that says, Outlet Mall, over 400 outlets. We're giving stuff away. I thought, I know they're not, but the kids needed to walk. So I pulled in. Actually, I dropped everybody off sequentially by age, all the way down this thing. I was going to pick them up at the other end. I said, you guys just walk all the way down this thing. I took the two littlest ones with me, two-year-old and five-year-old. So I'm walking down these 400, outlet you know it's outdoors and all storefront thing and I'm walking with them and I'm just enjoying it's nice it's cool and it's beautiful day and haven't broken down we're just happy you know the cars running and I was walking with them and all of a sudden I noticed my little guy was stumbling and dragging I looked at him and I thought what is wrong with you you know how dads are will you hurry up and walk with me and I looked and he was walking with his eyes closed stumbling and dragging his feet like this because he wasn't he had his eyes closed and I said I said, I call him Sugar. I said, Sugar, what are you doing? And he went, and wouldn't even look, he wouldn't open his eyes. He was pointing like that. Do you know where we were walking in front of right then? You know, I wasn't looking at the stores. I don't like to shop. We were in front of the Bally's underwear store. There were life-size posters of women in underwear. He was not going to look at those. He had closed his eyes, and he was stumbling like this, and he was going like that, and he's saying, don't you see that? And I hadn't. You know, how do you get a five-year-old to not look at iniquity, at somebody else's wife wearing underwear? How do you get them? How do you communicate this? I said, what are you doing? He said, that's what you always do in the mall. You know, there's some store that has those posters in the mall, too. And, you know, usually I just look away and walk this way, you know. He said, so that's what I'm going to do, too. Do you know what? You could beg them not to look at iniquity, but if they walk in and you're laughing and watching it on television, or on the videos, or at the movies, or in the games, or online, or in the mall, or at the beach, or watching all the indecently clad people all over town now that it's summer, and they just see what you're doing, you will never teach them to hate iniquity unless you do. A godly example hates iniquity. God says this. He says, look at verse 17. If you choose, or actually verse 16, if you choose to hate iniquity, this is a man who will dwell on the heights. He says, I'll give you joys you don't even understand, because I will satisfy you. You will have a refuge in the mountain fortress. Your bread will be supplied. You will never hunger. Your water will not fail. You'll always be refreshed. But look at verse 17. Here's the biggest blessing of all. your eyes will see the king in his beauty. I'll tell you what, if you don't get anything out of the Bible, then you ought to do a quick little blood test to see if you are in the condition of loving iniquity. Because if you love iniquity and not hate it, you'll be drawn toward it. You ever had a brand new suit, paid two, three hundred dollars for a suit, and you see your kids coming with chocolate on their hands going, what do you do? You go, ho, ho, ho, ho, don't get, no, wait a minute. You put your hand out, grab them right by the head and say, whoa, don't touch me. Why? You don't want to get defiled with the chocolate and pay the bill to have it dry cleaned out. Is that how you are about sin? You see it coming. You turn away and you even stumble and drag your feet because you will not look at it. That's what God wants. And look at verse 17. Then your eyes will see the King. If you can't see the Lord in the Bible, maybe you don't hate iniquity and you're grieving and quenching the Holy Spirit. Two more and we have two minutes. So listen fast. Galatians 220 for the letter and a parenting of our acronym we're looking at it says in Galatians 220 I'm crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I what is then not I but Christ I call this the crucified life Instead of the exercising and asserting my will I learned to cooperate with God's wishes the Saints from the earliest times Repeatedly pointed out that nine-tenths of our being a true follower and a dedicated disciple of Christ lies in our will You want to grow in Christ you have to say not I but Christ. It's not my life It's not my plans. It's not my family. It's not my finances. They're Christ's the end of parenting is not I, but Christ. There's such a joy in allowing our wills to be crossed out, canceled, canceling the great I in our decision making and the cross is applied to all of our life. This is what it means to no longer do my will, but his will. Here's the last one, Matthew 11, the letter G, Matthew 11, 28. And I think this one makes all the rest possible. Because what you see, if you want to be able to communicate as a disciple, you have to have this quality of Christ. Look at the last three verses of Matthew 11. Jesus said this, What are we supposed to learn, Lord? Verse 29. Learn that I am gentle and lowly in heart. The God of the universe, the omnipotent one. God the Son is gentle. What is gentleness? Gentleness is a beautiful reflection of God in our lives by the absence of an abrasive manner in dealing with people. You know what's funny? If you truly learn of Christ, you cannot be abrasive in any area of your life. It changes your business career, it changes your academic career, your sports career, your social career, your personal, your family, everything. Because when you get to know Jesus Christ, you become gentle. I'll tell you what, a gentle person in God's hands can accomplish a lot more than a brazen person in their own hands, who is always pushing and shoving and getting their way. And what the Lord says is this, I'm gentle and lowly, And if you will increase in your tendency of personal kindness, you will be able to show to your children how to be patient, how to have an attitude of praise, how to be respectful, how to be emancipated from self, how to be nurturing, thankful, hating iniquity, and how to live the crucified life. It isn't shoved. It's gently lived before them. You say, wait a minute. That's too much. It's impossible. Yes, it is. There's one last thing I didn't tell you about, and that's tonight. Because how do you do all this? I mean, how do you really get inside of a child's heart? How do you really get the Word of God in there? Well, the secret tool is the greatest tool we have, and that's prayer. And tonight, we're going to finish this whole thing on godliness and parenting by looking at how we pray for our children. The single greatest thing Bonnie and I do, more than all the Bible reading and teaching and talking and explaining, is we pray. God's Word into the lives of our children. And that's what we're going to learn about and study tonight.