shepherding a child's heart - foundation 3

get ready. i bristled in my seat this past sunday listening to this lesson. so far out of the 2 lessons i've heard and the other lesson i received the notes on this was hit the bullseye for me. it did not step on my toes, it stomped on them. as usual, i will just write the notes as he gave them to me and i will write my thoughts in green.


Foundation #3

Godward Orientation (meaning either toward God or away from God)
It is a child’s Godward orientation that determines his response to the shaping influences in his life.

Are any of you sail boaters? What determines the direction of a sailboat? The wind, the rudder, the orientation of the sail. Children respond differently to the same external circumstances depending on the Godward orientation their heart.


Proverbs 9:7-10
Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse. do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

All children are born with a sinful heart – an orientation away from God. yes, even our sweet little angels.


Psalms 58:3
Even from birth the wicked go astray; from the womb they are wayward and speak lies.


Psalms 51:5
Surly I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.


Proverbs 22:15
Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.

Examples of an orientation toward God:

Joseph (Gen. 50:19-21)
But Joseph said to them, "Don't be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done the saving of many lives. So then, do not be afraid, I will provide for you and your children. And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.


Naaman’s servant girl (II Kings 5:2-3)
Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman's wife. She said to her mistress, "If only my master would see the prophet who in Samaria! He would cure hm of his leprosy."


Romans 1:16-25
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written; "The righteous will live by faith." The wrath of God is being revealed form heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness since what may be know about God is plain to them, because God had made it plain them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what is been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animal and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator - who is forever praised. Amen.


The unrighteous turn away from God and worship the creature rather than the Creator. In the language of Romans 1, our children either respond to God by faith or suppress the truth in unrighteousness.


All men worship something.


The heart is not neutral.


The heart is either worshipping God or worshipping idols. (PeaceMaker, pg 104-5)


here it comes .....


An idol is more than just a wood or stone statue. It is anything apart from God that we depend on to be happy, fulfilled, or secure.


It is something other than God that we set our hearts on:
Luke 12:29
And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it.


that motivates us:
I Corinthians 4:5
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring light to what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motive of men's heart. At that time each will receive his praise from God.
this means my desire for my kids to be a certain way in front of people.. always nice, always obedient, quiet (yeah right!), always respectful, showing good manners and so on - just so i can swell with pride and say "look what we have done!" even if only in my head. i know it's there in my heart.


that masters or rules us
Ephesians 5:5
For of this you can be sure: no immoral, impure or greedy person - such a man is a idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
well i hadn't already been born with a sinful nature, i know for sure by now i would not inherit the kingdom of God.


that we trust, fear, or serve
Isaiah 42:17
But those who trust in idols, who say to images, "You are our gods," will be turned back in utter shame.


Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
as a one-income household i know i have worried about money now and then. i think just because you don't have a lot of money, it can still be your master - what you think about, what you worry about, and what you dream about (what you'd do with extra money).


Luke 12:4-5
I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear; Fear him who, after killing the body, has power to to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.
even with the officer's job, i don't worry about him a lot. there has only been one instance on his 10 years on the job, that i have worried for his safety. when we talk about the officer's job, we both usually say if he died on the job: 1. we know he would be in heaven. 2. he died doing what he absolutely loved doing. however, if you start to talk about something happening to our children. every parent's worst nightmare. that's a whole different subject. if you know us very well, i'm sure we are a little more paranoid than the average person (r.d. possibly excluded) because of the officer's line of work. we wrestle with this. do we have our trust fully in God? i am sad and ashamed to say, we have NOT mastered this.


It is something that we love and pursue more than God.
Martin Luther wrote "To whatever we look for any good thing and for refuge in every need, that is what is meant by ‘god.’ To have a god is nothing else than to trust and believe in him from the heart . . . To whatever you give your heart and entrust your being, that, I say is really your god."

worship God or worship idols?


Your heart may be worshipping idols – without even knowing it!


So let’s investigate our own hearts.


I can never lead my children to somewhere that I am not headed!

Questions to investigate my own heart – do I have idols?
What am I preoccupied with?

What is the first thing on my mind in the morning and the last thing on my mind at night?


How would I fill in the blank in this statement "If only _________________ then I would be happy, fulfilled, and secure"?

What do I want to preserve or to avoid at all costs?


Where do I put my trust?

When a certain desire is not met, do I feel frustration, anxiety, resentment, bitterness, anger, or depression?


II Kings 17:24-41 - not typing all this out - get your Bible out and read it. it talks about the foreigners in Israel worshipping God but without giving up their pagan customs. They worshiped God to appease him just adding Him to the list of idols they worshiped. have i done that? have i just listed God as the top of my idol list?


John Piper wrote "sin is what I do when I am not fully satisfied in God."

And my children will be like me!

Conclusion
You must be concerned about how you structure the shaping influences of life that are under your control. Secondly, you must be actively shepherding the Godward orientation of your children, but He will do this as He shepherds your heart toward Him. In all of this you must pray that God will work in and around your efforts and the responses of your children to make them people who know and honor God.

earlier in the lesson, it was said that you can never lead your children somewhere you are not headed. however; my sunday school teacher said, you CAN lead your children somewhere you have never been. so if you weren't raised in a godly home or if you haven't done the things you've wanted to in the past (or last week), you have hope. i can start anew every day pointing myself and in turn my kids Godward.