Turning Our Hearts Toward Home - Pt 1

Would you ever try to build a house without a blueprint? Probably not! Today we will be looking at God’s blueprint for building your home and family in our new series, Turning Hearts Towards Home.

INSIGHTS FOR YOUR TOOLBOX

Galatians 3:28 reminds us, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus”. We are all one or equals under the lordship of Jesus. In a corporation, there is the CEO who makes the final decisions and bears the responsibility for the business. He has vice-presidents and advisors, but the buck stops with him. The same is true for our homes. God has appointed you as the CEO of your home. Your wife is your most precious advisor.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

1 Corinthians 11:3 – “But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.” This is God’s blueprint for our families. As the CEO or spiritual leader of my family, I am responsible to Christ and He is ultimately the head of every home.

Our tendency today is to assume that we can eliminate the authority of the husband over wife and yet retain the authority of the husband-wife over the children. The Bible is more realistic about marriage than modern man, for the truth is that in disobeying the one hierarchy we destroy the other.
Charles Stanley

Turning Our Hearts Toward Home - Pt 2

Picture a father walking through deep snow and his son following behind, trying to walk in dad’s footsteps. Today in our new series, Turning Our Hearts Towards Home, we look at how we lead our families by setting our steps first.

INSIGHTS FOR YOUR TOOLBOX

Moses has just come down from the mountain where God gave him the ten commandments. Look at God’s specific instructions for leading your families through these words of Moses: “You shall therefore take these words of mine to heart and to soul; and you shall tie them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets on your forehead. You shall also teach them to your sons, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, and when you get up. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates…” Deuteronomy 11:18-20

Guys, we are to seize every ordinary event in our day to show our families how to follow hard after God. Look for opportunities to teach and talk about God in the routines of your day. Oftentimes our conversations can go where a sermon cannot. Incorporate God’s truth into your family as you live, eat, breathe, and sleep.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Here is what God promises to the fathers who lead their families in following the Lord:
• Deuteronomy 11:20, “Your days and the days of your sons will be increased on the land”.
• Deuteronomy 11:26-28, “See, I am placing before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you listen to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not listen to the commandments of the Lord your God…”

"Every father should remember that his son will follow his example rather than his advice." Unknown

Turning Our Hearts Toward Home - Pt 3

You walk up to the upscale department store and standing at the doorway are two of the biggest dudes you have seen in a long time. Decked out in uniforms and armed with guns, their job is to guard and protect that store. I doubt that anyone will mess with them! Today in our series, Turning Our Hearts Towards Home, we discuss the importance of protecting our families.

INSIGHTS FOR YOUR TOOLBOX

We have been stressing the importance of following Christ’s example as we lead our families. Jesus models the need to ask God for spiritual protection and deliverance in the Lord’s Prayer. He also prayed specifically for our spiritual protection. Here are his words from John 17:11, “Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name”. There is great power in the name of Jesus. Mark 16:17-18 says, “In my name, they will …drive out demons, pick up snakes, heal the sick”.

As Christians, we have been given the executive power in prayer to conduct business in Jesus’ name. Matthew 16:19 says, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Let us appropriate that power in prayer to protect our families. Here is a sample of praying for protection for your family: In Jesus’ name, I bind the enemy’s intent and attack against my home to steal, kill or destroy and ask you to protect my home and family.

Turning Our Hearts Toward Home - Pt 4

Remember those wonderful first days of married life when you loved your wife like crazy. Then life happens… Is investing in your marriage still one of the biggest priorities of your day? Today in our devotional, we Turn our Hearts Towards Loving Our Wives.

INSIGHTS FOR YOUR TOOLBOX

True love that keeps a couple together for a lifetime is not based on my feelings. It is based on my attitude. We are to have the attitude of Christ towards our wives. In fact, Christ COMMANDS us to love our wives. (Ephesians 5:25) What God commands, He will enable us to do. My mission is to see my sweetheart as the gift that Christ dearly loves, and I have the privilege of acting as His agent to love her.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Love truly is a choice! Romans 5:5 declares that the Holy Spirit will pour God’s love into our hearts if we ask. God wants to use you in your marriage, and He wants you to enjoy life with your sweetheart.

“Enjoy life with the wife whom you love all the days of your futile life which He has given you under the sun, all the days of your futility; for this is your reward in life and in your work which you have labored under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 9:9

Turning Our Hearts Toward Home - Pt 5

Statistic proves that having a loving and nurturing father is vitally important for a child’s happiness and well-being. Today we turn our hearts to our children and some final words in the Old Testament where we will be challenged about the importance of the relationship between fathers and their children.

INSIGHTS FOR YOUR TOOLBOX
Joshua is standing before his people in his old age challenging them to remain faithful to God. As you remember, the nation of Israel was prone to wander. Things are no different today. Joshua challenged his men to make a choice. “But if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord,” Joshua 24:15. Joshua made his choice and was going to lead his family to serve the Lord.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Here is an amazing quote from Matthew Henry. “Though all the families of Israel should revolt from God, and serve idols, yet Joshua and his family will steadfastly adhere to the God of Israel. Those that resolve to serve God must not mind being singular in it, nor be drawn by the crowd to forsake His service. Those that are bound for heaven must be willing to swim against the stream.”

Joshua led his family and his children by his choices and his example. Men, here is your mission statement from the writings of Paul.

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ,” I Corinthians 11:1