Every
parent has hope and dreams for their children. I personally know this to be true
because I am a father of seven children and I was present at everyone of their births.
I clearly remember lifting each one of my children above my head in the delivery room
and dedicating each child's life to GOD, and for HIS
good purposes for them. I often receive letters from parents that believe with all
their hearts that they did everything they could to bring up their children to become
spiritually healthy Believers, only to one day become disillusioned. Here is such
an example -
Pastor,
please explain what we did wrong. My
wife and I gave everything we had to our children. They were not raised in great
conflict and a seriously dysfunctional environment like the two of us were. Just
the opposite. We made a pact between us to NEVER call any of them a bad name or
speak badly to any physical malady any of them may have. Our children were
taught to never call their siblings names either. With
a godly home, a strong tie to the church, home bible studies and prayer, we thought
that only good things could come from such an upbringing. Overall, we rejoiced
in the good things the Lord had accomplished in
all our children's lives up to the teenage years except for two of them out of the
five . We
remained convinced that God's word is true, and a
child raised in His ways will eventually live a godly and gospel productive life.
What we originally failed to comprehend, that which never entered our minds in the
beginning, was that everyone has the god given ability to choose their own way or path
in life, and that can include backsliding. We
live and hope that the Lord will bring our children back to Him very soon.
Please keep us in your prayers pastor.
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Here
is another example of a godly family who had a child rebel against GOD
and backslide
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Pastor,
it was a shook to us when our child choose to
rebel against all that they had been raised to believe. Over a period of time,
they decided to live their own way, apart from the standards they had been taught in
their childhood years. In our ignorance, we were not prepared for such a thing,
we spent months trying to discover where we had gone wrong as parents, what had we
failed to do. We asked ourselves; "How had we failed those two children,
causing them to set aside living for God? Our
hearts seemed to fail us as we could not give an answer to the questions that
tormented us. In desperation we turned to God's word for direction and answers.
We were brought to our knees in thankfulness as the word comforted us.
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"Train
a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from
it."
Proverbs 22:6
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I
try to give parents hope through the ministry of GOD'S
Word. Over the years we have seen the lives of many backslidden
children completely return to the LORD
and make peace with their parents as well. The
truth of GOD'S Promises
has had an amazing impact on the lives of everyone's children. It's critical for
parents to recognize that all the godly love and biblical efforts made in the early
years of a child are not in vain. Along
with the body of Believer's around the world, my wife and I believe in JESUS
CHRIST as our SAVIOUR, and that our
devotion to HIM will bring about the gift of eternal
life in our children. A life of faith brings the blessings from GOD
that only HE can produce in the life of a child.
Living in faith, trusting the Scripture that GOD
will eventually grant salvation to our entire household, that includes our children.
| | "Believe
in the LORD JESUS
and you will be saved-you and your household."
Acts 16:31 | |
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GOD'S
Promises are eternal, each and every one of them will be
fulfilled just as HE has declared.
| | "For
no matter how many promises GOD
has made, they are "Yes" in CHRIST.
And so through HIM
the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of GOD."
2
Corinthians 1:20 | |
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Backsliding
is a long process. One, two or three
sins do not mean that a child has backslid.
1 John 1:9 says that we can find forgiveness and cleansing each and every time we commit
a sin. Therefore, backsliding takes
place in a child's life when they love their sin and makes a career out of sinning,
where daily or regular repentance does not take place. One important reason parents
do not give up on a backslidden
child is because GOD
is ultimately in control of their lives. There is no such thing as a child who is
a mistake to GOD.
| | "For
those GOD
foreknew HE
also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of HIS
Son,
that HE
might be the firstborn among many brothers.
And those HE
predestined, HE
also called; those HE
called, HE
also justified; those HE
justified, HE
also glorified."
Romans 8:29-30 | |
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If
you are a parent of a backslidden child,
don't give up on them. You may even have been victimized by them in the case of
drug addiction, etc. I am not saying that you should not hold such a child
accountable, but don't give up on their soul. As long as they are alive, they have
moment by moment opportunities to repent and accept the LORD
as their SAVIOUR, or in some cases, return to the LORD. It
was said that a foreman of a dock crew was raised in a Christian home but went his own
way when he became 18. This man was famous among the docks as a loud mouth
blasphemer. Yelling at the workers, calling them filthy names and threatening to
abuse them physically if they did not obey him. One day the foreman was walking
backwards on the dock as he was directing a new crane driver. In a flash, he fell
off the dock to the water 50 feet below! Several of the men climbed down the
ladders and carried his body up to the dock surface and administered CPR until he came
awake. The first this this blasphemer said was; "Thank you JESUS!"
The men that worked for him gazed at each other with unbelief at his words and asked
him; "Just when in time and space did you get religion?" He answered;
"On the way down!" We
never will know ahead of time when a backslidden child
will come to the LORD. Never!
Live your life by faith in regard of your backslidden
child. Your GOD knows their
personal situation and the things they struggle with in life, it is up to HIM
to deliver them, and HE will rescue them. Yes,
HE will! I
once was close to a man who gladly told everyone he knew, how he hated GOD.
For many years I could not imagine him coming to know the LORD
personally. One day the LORD impressed upon me
to to pray for him, in the way of faith. I was to pray for him and see him as a
Believer, lifting his hands in the sanctuary along with the Brethren, singing praises to
GOD. A couple years of this kind of prayer and
that is exactly what happened. All
I am saying (again), regardless what your eyes see today in the life of your backslidden
child, trust the LORD to sort
everything out and keep HIS Promises
to you and your household. You will never be sorry you did. Dr.
Mark Fielding
PraiseNation Staff |
