The Enemy's Not So Subtle AttackFight for your family and don't loose hope!
Today we are in a desperate struggle that affects every human living on this planet. If the attack had been clearly announced, maybe our response would have been different. But this war was never openly declared. It has been so cunningly subtle and diabolically waged that most people didn’t even see it coming. You may think I’m referring to the war on terrorism, but I’m talking about something even more sinister. I’m talking about Satan’s crusade against our children. The perilous times of the end times are not coming. They are here! (2 Timothy 3:1). Consider these recent statistics:
- Sexual content on prime time TV has tripled in the last ten years. (More Sex TV 3/04, Parent’s Television Council,
Los Angeles , Ca.)
- One in five children ages 10-17 has received a sexual solicitation over the internet. (The Web’s dark secrets, Crimes against
Children
Research
Center , ProtectKids.org)
- It’s estimated that 2.5 billion e-mails per day are pornographic! (Pornography Statistics 2003, Family Safe Media, SpamFilterReview.com)
The enemy realizes his time is short (Revelation 12:12). If he can get to our children, he knows he can destroy our families. If the enemy can destroy our families, he can paralyze the Church. But, thank God, Malachi 1:5-6 tells us that before Jesus returns, there will be a supernatural move of God to turn the hearts of fathers back to their children. But it won’t just automatically happen. Parents, grandparents and Christian leaders must rise up to fulfill this promise.
“Point your children in the direction to cause their God given gifts to flourish.”
Children are a gift from the Lord. They are a reward from him. Children born to a young man are like sharp arrows in a warrior’s hands. Psalm 127:3-4 NLT
Your children are gifts. There is nothing as precious as your kids. They are the only earthly things that you can take to Heaven with you. But children don’t just “turn out right.” They must be “trained up in the Lord.” We agree that raising children in today’s culture is tough. But if you will “take them in hand,” or train them properly, your children will become weapons likened unto arrows. Consider this about arrows:
Arrows must be sharpened. How do you spiritually sharpen your children? By training them up in God’s Word. Don’t just leave it up to the church and the Christian school to teach your children about God. Turn off the TV, get off the computer, and honor Jesus in your home with your children.
Arrows must be aimed. Point your children in the direction to cause their god-given gifts to flourish. Don’t try to live vicariously through your kids. Proverbs 22:6 says to train your child “in the way he should go.” Help him find his own way. If you do, the Lord promises, “he won’t depart from it.” We are not saying that if you make a mistake your children will turn away from God. You will make mistakes. We certainly did. But there is nothing like seeing your grown children rise up and use their faith when the challenges of life come against them. Not long ago our daughter, Brooke, became pregnant with her first child. We were so excited, but our excitement was turned to sorrow when she miss-carried the baby. To make matters worse, this happened when she and her husband, Scott, were 650 miles from home.
When she finally knew that the baby was gone, Scott called us and said, "You'd be so proud of your daughter right now. Even though her heart is broken, I can hear her in the shower, singing and praising God." We had taught Brooke to sing and praise God when she was small. During one of the toughest trials of her life, she acted on her training. She was singing because she knew God would give back what the enemy had stolen. Today Brooke has two healthy, precious girls, and she is training them to love and praise Jesus. If you'll commit to raise your children according to God's Word, you can overcome Satan's assault, and raise great kids who really love God.
Extract from 2=1's Legacy Magazine
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