Somebody Loves You

Raul Ries: With today's society and what's happening today in the church, there are so many families today and parents that are in separation or separating from their wives or husbands. There are divorces. But I believe that the problem is never with God; the problem is with man. That man listens, but man doesn't obey to what he listens to.

Guest (Male): Welcome to Somebody Loves You Radio, the Bible teaching ministry of Raul Ries in Diamond Bar, California. We're in the middle of a study on Christian moms and their key role in nurturing a faith-filled home life.

And today, Raul will urge you to stay the course as you guide your kids in God's truth, not allowing competing influences to distract or deter you from this crucial calling. We hope you'll keep listening for assurance that your consistency and authenticity will go a long way in establishing your children's faith. In the book of Joshua, chapter 24, here's Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: Israel now had come into the land, and Joshua had led them into the promised land. Moses now was dead. And it was a very interesting time in the nation of Israel because Joshua had called all of the people together. He knew that he was old and he was going to die. He gathered together his wife and his children and brought them out to the field where all the people met with Joshua as he began to challenge the people one more time.

The reason that Joshua is going to challenge the people and the reason that I want to challenge you this morning is because you as a parent and grandparent have a great responsibility to God. Priorities. What are our priorities with our children, with our grandchildren? If you're not married today, you will be one day, so you need to pay attention and to listen to what the scripture says.

Because if you're still living in the home of your parents, then you have a responsibility too, to listen and obey your parents, especially if they're godly parents. Joshua had come to that place where he knew he was going to die, and yet at the same time he could already see what would happen in the future. God already had told him. Because the people were constantly in rebellion against God.

They were worshipping all kinds of little gods. And so, Joshua comes to that place in his own personal life, and he's calling them to see who are they going to serve in time to come because of the children and their grandchildren and the great-grandchildren that would come. With today's society and what's happening today in the church, there are so many families today and parents that are in separation or separating from their wives or husbands.

God gave us his best, and God intends to give us his best. But I believe that the problem is never with God; the problem is with man. That man listens, but man doesn't obey to what he listens to. Here in the 24th chapter, turn with me there, and we're going to read verses 14 through verse 18 this morning.

He says, "Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river in Egypt, and serve ye the Lord." Now they had come out of Egypt; 430 years they spent in Egypt in bondage. Working there in Egypt and being tormented by the Pharaoh.

And then God sent them a deliverer by the name of Moses, and he came and he began to lead them out of Egypt. Egypt is a type of the world. As they went through the wilderness, but before they went through the wilderness, they came out of Egypt and they headed out to the Red Sea. And there at the Red Sea, a type of the baptism of the child of God, walking through on dry ground.

Getting over to the other side, and as soon as they got over to the other side, they began to murmur and to complain about manna, about water. And God met every one of their needs, and they still were complainers. And so, God said an 11-day journey is going to turn out to be 40 years. You're going to go in a huge circle, and everyone that came out of Egypt except for those that are 20 years and under, they will be the only ones to enter the promised land. The rest will die of unbelief in the wilderness.

One of the greatest things that we want to study this morning is that we have an inheritance God's given to us, and we have a heritage to build and a legacy that we have to leave behind for our children. But it can only happen if you have a godly seed. Godly parents, godly children. God declares it all the way through the scriptures.

So we see here in verse 14 that at the beginning of his speech, he's calling people to commitment to serve. Verse 15: "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, then choose you for yourself this day who your're going to serve." You see, make a choice. Don't straddle the fence. Don't bring confusion to your children. Don't bring confusion to your grandchildren.

Because what you're doing is you are setting the standards, and God is giving you the responsibility to stand true and righteous and godly to those that you're representing. And they're watching you as you're a representative of Jesus Christ. Look what else he says, verse 15 in the middle.

He says, "Whether the gods of your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell now. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." And so the people answered and said, "Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, for the Lord our God is he who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way we went among all the people through where we passed. And the Lord drove out before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwell in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for he is our God."

Words are great, but do you really mean what you say? Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because they said something, but they didn't live what they said, and they were leading people to hell. 15 times here in the book of Joshua, chapter 24, if you look all the way through the book of Joshua, the word is used for serve. 15 times in chapter 24. Just in 24, 15 times, serve. That is to serve God means what? To fear him, to obey him, and to worship him only. No compromise. No middle ground.

No middle ground. I stand true to the word of God. You see, Joshua could already see, and if you have your Bible now, you could go ahead and turn to the book of Judges, chapter 2, verse 10. And it says there, and then after that generation died, there arose another generation that did not know the Lord, but worshipped Baal. Their children, their grandchildren, and their great-grandchildren all perished because of the parents and the grandparents. They didn't teach them well.

We are responsible for our children and our grandchildren. And it is important that we come to that place where God not only speaks to my heart, like he spoke to Jacob and Samuel and now Joshua. Joshua wasn't suggesting that the people could choose to worship the false gods of the land and God would accept it, for there was no other option but only to serve Jehovah God, period.

Bob Dylan came up with a song many years ago, "You Gotta Serve Somebody," and that is so true. You are serving someone. And it may be the devil, and it may be your car, and it may be your job, and it may be your money, and it may be your children, and it may be your wife or husband, but you're serving somebody. God doesn't want any idols in your life or my life. No idols. God has to be number one.

Parents, we are so responsible. To much is given, much more is required. Sometimes when you're young, you're naive, and then you get married and you're young still, and you're learning through life. And that's why God has given you godly parents and godly grandparents so that they can give you wisdom if you ask for it.

Let me ask a couple of questions this morning. Number one: what are your priorities within your own family? Is God first? Prayer, the Word in your home. Is it really important for you and your family to be spiritual in your home? Do you really want to know God's will for your life?

The answer to that question is this: you have to teach by example. Why? Because our children and grandchildren mimic us. They're watching you lead the way to the future. They're going to learn already evil when they go to school, and the playground, they'll learn a lot of evil too. You don't have to teach them; they'll learn.

Secondly, how important is family life to you? Are you always spending time with them, or are you always spending less time with them? Always making excuses why you can't spend time? How important is your family?

Guest (Male): You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. It's always our privilege to support you on your faith journey, and we invite you to explore our full array of resources at somebodylovesyou.com. Raul's six-lesson series with encouragement for Christian mothers is available on CD and USB. We'll tell you how you can get your copy in just a few moments. But first, let's hear more from Raul Ries.

Raul Ries: Thirdly, what kind of an influence do you have as a family in this world? Are you influencing your neighbors, your loved ones, friends? Do people see that you're a godly family, or do they see the opposite? What kind of a legacy are you going to leave behind for your family? I hope it's a spiritual one and a godly one, because we're all going to die one day, sooner and some later.

It's really important to plan for the future. Because we are living in a time like the Judges where family and priorities are not so important. Instead of the family coming together, the family is growing apart, and there's division in the family. That was not God's purpose.

Even today in Israel, when you go to Jerusalem or anywhere in Israel on the Sabbath day, everything closes at 6:00 in the afternoon. The Shabbat begins at 6:00, and the whole family that night goes to dinner together and they read the scriptures to remind them who God is. And then the next day, nobody works, but they spend the whole day together in worship and rest before the Lord.

You see, even today, teaching their children for next generations to come the importance of God's word, the importance of the family, the importance of leaving a legacy, living a heritage for the future. Let me give you an example of a man that left a great heritage. His name was Jonathan Edwards, a great preacher.

Jonathan Edwards, the notable preacher of early 1700s to in his wife Sarah, left an incredible legacy based on their influence. Number one, their descendants included the following: 13 college presidents out of their family, 65 college professors, 100 lawyers, including a dean of the law school, 30 judges, 66 physicians, including dean of medical school, 80 holders of public office, including three U.S. senators, three mayors of large cities, three governors, a U.S. vice president, and a controller of the United States Treasury.

Jonathan Edwards' legacy. What kind of legacy are you going to leave? Are you preparing your children to go from generation to generation to generation in the ways of the Lord? It is so important to make an impact in your community, in your home, in your job, in our country, in your world. Everywhere, anywhere we go, we need to make an impact as parents and grandparents and single people preparing for the future of what God may hold for each one of us individually.

If you're a parent this morning, number one, you need to be protective of your children. To make sure what they see, what they hear if they live in your home. Protecting them with the Word of God, teaching them God's Word, praying with them. Making sure you're in church all the time so they can learn how not only to relate, but they can learn from their Sunday school teachers.

They can see that you put an importance on Sunday school and church, that you want to be in the house of the Lord and that you're continuing to grow in the Lord. That's how you protect them. Protecting the TV, protecting the radio, protecting what they read.

Secondly, we need to train our children. How do you do that? Well, by getting up in the morning and reading a scripture to them or a story and praying with them. In the Old Testament, Deuteronomy 6:6 through 8 says, "And these words, which I command you today, shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall talk to them when you sit down in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you get up."

That's what it means. Every opportunity you get with your children, when something happens, you can tell them a story in the Old Testament, why this happened. You need to graffiti your whole house with scripture. I'm not literally saying graffiti it, but put up scriptures. Put up scriptures so even when they go to the bathroom or take a shower, here is a scripture, they're looking right at the scripture. I mean, there's nothing wrong with that, better than something stupid on the wall that is going to damage their minds.

Training up our children. Teach them to memorize scriptures. Thirdly, we need to not only teach them, but we need to educate our children. In Deuteronomy 4:6 it says, "Therefore be careful to observe them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the people who will hear all these statues and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise nation and understanding people.'"

Why? Because of the word of God. You can tell kids that have grown up in the ways of the Lord. They're different than worldly kids. I didn't grow up in the ways of the Lord, but I surely can tell today who is in the Lord and who's not in the Lord. So neat to bring them up in the ways of the Lord, as my children have been brought up in the ways of the Lord, now my granddaughters. I didn't have that privilege, you see, but it's the grace of God.

We also need to correct our children, discipline them. Sometimes I watch parents and they're fearful of disciplining their children. Let me say, because we're Americans, in my Korean class and my kendo class, the sword class, we have all these Asians, and let me say this: the moms drop off these kids and the instructor takes the sword and whacks them. And there's no lawsuits, I'll tell you that right now.

Disciplines the class. But we're afraid to discipline sometimes, you see. And it's amazing I've seen in the stores where little children control the mother and the father as they're screaming and yelling, throwing a fit. In the Old Testament, when a child got out of order and say, "Mom, you're stupid," oh, be careful.

Or you said something really bad to your parents or you threw a fit. Listen, your parents had the freedom and the right by God's word to take you down to the city elders and say, "My son, my daughter will not listen to me, and they've been calling me names and insulting me." And they would say, "No problem, just sign on the dotted line." And the parents would sign and they would take the child, put him outside of the city wall, and they would kill him with stones.

No juvenile delinquency. No juvenile halls, my friends. Let me read it to you. You don't believe me? Deuteronomy 21:18: "If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and who, when they chasten him, will not listen to them, then his father and his mother shall take a hold of him and bring him out to the elders of the city at the gates of the city."

"And they shall say to the elders of the city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious. He will not obey our voice. He is a glutton and also a drunkard.' And then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall put away the evil from among you, and all Israel shall hear and fear." They'll go, "Don't mess with those parents," you see.

Now this was the Old Testament law. Referencing your parents today. There is no reverence for parents and grandparents. So much disrespect. I see it. So much disrespect. When we were kids and we disrespected, we got the belt of whatever stick. You say, "Oh boom!" You're out on your back. You see, but today people are fearful. And yet God's told us to do that.

Parents also need to provide for their children. In the book of 2nd Corinthians 12:14 it says, "For I do not seek yours, but you, for the children ought not to lay up for their parents, but the parents for the children." Be wise in what you're putting up for your children for the future. Don't destroy them. Don't spoil them.

Be careful. Be wise as a parent. Teach them responsibility. Teach them to cut the grass. We used to cut grass when we were little kids to make money, sell newspapers. I had a route my own. Worked in the markets, box boy. Always had a job because my parents didn't have any money.

And sometimes parents will destroy their children by buying, giving all the time, and they learn no responsibility. So when they grow up, they don't even know what to do. They want it all. Whose fault was that? The parents, not the children. You're the instructor. You're the one to love them and to teach them. That's our responsibility as parents and grandparents. Why? Because we want a godly, godly seed in time to come. A godly seed.

Guest (Male): Whether you're a parent or grandparent, it's good to be reminded that your daily life speaks volumes to the young people who are watching you. You're listening to Somebody Loves You Radio with Raul Ries. Today's study was titled Parents And Priorities. To get an unedited version, just call us at 800-634-9165, and for a donation of five dollars or more, we'll send a copy to you.

As you evaluate the message your words and actions are currently sending, we'd like to tell you about Raul's six-part series for mothers. It's available on both CD and thumb drive. Every lesson underscores the importance of authentic faith if you want to lead by example. You'll see that when you keep the Lord at the center of your home life and establish habits that honor his name, your children will learn what it looks like to truly walk with God.

To order Raul's six-message series for mothers, visit somebodylovesyou.com or call 800-634-9165. We'll send you the CD set for 20 dollars or the flash drive for 12 dollars. That's 800-634-9165. To order by writing us, our mailing address is Somebody Loves You Radio, Post Office Box 4440, Diamond Bar, California 91765.

Thank you for your partnership. Every gift you give enables us to keep sharing inspiration and instruction from God's eternal Word. Next time on Somebody Loves You Radio, we'll continue this series with a call to spend more time praying for your children, persevering if you don't hear from the Lord right away, and trusting in his perfect plans. Here is Raul Ries with a closing comment.

Raul Ries: May God help us to be men and women that stand up for what's right. To be righteous before the Lord, to be holy before the Lord. So that one day when our children grow up and they go on their way, they can rise up like in the Proverb and says, and they're going to call you, "Blessed is my mother. Blessed is my father, because they taught me the ways of God."

That's what you want to hear. I thank God for my grandparents, for my grandmother, even though when I was a heathen, I saw the example that she gave. Grandparents are very important in the life of the family because they've lived a long time and they have a lot of wisdom, especially if they're godly, godly grandparents. You should listen to them.

Guest (Male): This program is sponsored by Somebody Loves You Radio in Diamond Bar, California.