Understanding the Purpose and Power of Men

Understanding the Purpose and Power of Men

on God is what a father needs to model for his children. The greatest heritage a man can leave his sons and daughters is not money or property, but faith. A house can burn down, or someone can sell or repossess it, but no one can destroy the faith you have instilled in your child. Besides, the child will be able to use his faith to obtain another house, because he has been taught to trust God as his Provider. In the Bible, you will often see variations on the phrase, “the God of my father.” (See, for exam ple, Genesis 26:24; 32:9; 2 Chronicles 17:4; Isaiah 38:5.) Men, if you have one goal in life, let it be this: before you die, you will hear your children say, ―I serve the God of my father.‖ If they have seen God reflected in you, then you have displayed His life and character to them. In doing so, you have given them a true spiritual heritage. Why did the children of the patriarchs follow the God of their fathers? He kept His promises and took care of them. In Genesis 12:2, God said to Abraham, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” Later, we see how God be gan to fulfill this promise. Abraham‘s servant r eported, The L ORD has blessed my master abundantly, and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cat tle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys. My master‟s wife Sarah has borne him a son in her old age, and he has given him everything he owns. (Gen. 24:35) Abraham‘s son, Isaac, saw firsthand that the God of his father was real, and he decided, ―I‘m going to serve my f a ther‘s God, too.‖ Today, many children are turning away from the true God because their fathers‘ faith is weak, and therefore they think their fathers‘ God is also weak. The God whom their fathers serve doesn‘t seem to be living up to what He‘s supposed to, so the children are disill usioned. If you are a father, your children are looking up to you and saying, ―Show me God.‖ Your represent ation of God in Let your goal be to hear your children say, “I serve the God of my father.”

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