Abundant Fatherhood

INTRO

2 Chronicles 14:1–12 (ESV)

1 Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. 2 And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim 4 and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. 5 He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him. 6 He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. 7 And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered. 8 And Asa had an army of 300,000 from Judah, armed with large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin that carried shields and drew bows. All these were mighty men of valor. 9 Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10 And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” 12 So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.

ABUNDANT FATHERHOOD REQUIRES BEING A GODLY DAD.

A GODLY DAD…

1) Prioritizes Worshipping God and not Things!

2 Chronicles 14:1–5 ESV

1 Abijah slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David. And Asa his son reigned in his place. In his days the land had rest for ten years. 2 And Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. 3 He took away the foreign altars and the high places and broke down the pillars and cut down the Asherim 4 and commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, and to keep the law and the commandment. 5 He also took out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the incense altars. And the kingdom had rest under him.

When Asa became king over Judah the land was a syncretic melting pot of various foreign religions and the Jewish worship of God as well.

Everyone treated “worship” as something done on the side as they live out their own lives.

In that time, people worshipped various things because they thought those false idols would help get ahead in various areas of life. That is why they held to a plurality of gods.

When Asa had charge over the Kingdom of Judah, he removed the things that people were worshipping and set their sole focus back on God.

He commanded Judah to “Seek the Lord”

And to keep the law and the commandment

Not a rigid, technical way of life, but a call to seek the Lord and to live out faithfully in relationship with Him.

Not just do this or do that, but learn who God made you to be and be His people to honor and revere Him.

In our day, people set aside special places where they go and worship things.

People today “worship” a plurality of things in which they hope to meet some kind of need or achieve some kind of satisfaction that makes them feel accomplished in life. We don’t associate them with specific false deities, but that’s exactly what they are. An idol is anything that captivates your attention away from God or you seek to fulfill your needs outside of God.

It’s easy to pursue and emphasize empty things yet sprinkle in a little bit of God in there so that we feel religiously accomplished as well. But at the end of the day, there is a vast difference in liking the idea of God and being fully committed to God.

A Godly Dad who seeks to experience Abundant Fatherhood, will lead his family away from the kind of eternally empty living that most people around them are consumed by.

He will identify the foreign altars and high places within his family.

He will break down the pillars that are holding up false notions that you can seek and find comfort in worldly pleasures as long as you give a nod to God every once and a while.

A Godly Dad who seeks to experience Abundant Fatherhood, will lead his family to Seek the Lord wholeheartedly and to walk in faithfulness to Him, not in a rigid technical sense, but in a way in which they learn who God has made them to be and to be His people who honor and revere Him in a relationship with Him.

Abundant Fatherhood requires being a Godly Dad and a Godly Dad Prioritizes Worshipping God and not things!

2) Proactively Guards His Family Against Godless Influences!

2 Chronicles 14:6–7 ESV

6 He built fortified cities in Judah, for the land had rest. He had no war in those years, for the Lord gave him peace. 7 And he said to Judah, “Let us build these cities and surround them with walls and towers, gates and bars. The land is still ours, because we have sought the Lord our God. We have sought him, and he has given us peace on every side.” So they built and prospered.

It’s not enough to simply set your priorities straight. You have to maintain them and constantly make sure that outside influences are not gaining a foothold.

During a time of great peace, Asa didn’t sit back and take it easy. He fortified his homeland.

Asa knew that if you experienced peace today, you should anticipate war tomorrow. There were nations all around Judah that wished to invade its kingdom and exercise its influence over the people and nation of God.

Asa knew that peace didn’t last forever and therefore he needed to be ready to repel any outside forces that would wish to invade his kingdom.

We are engaged in a spiritual battle for our hearts, our minds, and our ears. There is a godless world with a plethora of godless influences all around us that are wanting to deter us from setting our full attention on God.

Fathers, God has called you to not only win this battle within your own heart, but to be the protector of your family as well!

We cannot wait for trouble to strike our homes, we must be proactive in protecting our families from godless influences within our homes, not just reactive. If we wait and be reactive, we will have to back to the hard work of rooting out the foreign altars and high places and crushing the pillars and Asherim within our homes once again.

It is better for us to be proactive and to reinforce the call to seeking God and living faithfully to Him. It is better for us to screen and monitor what is coming into our homes and screen that which is influencing our families.

If we want to be Godly Dads who experience Abundant Fatherhood, we must proactively fortify our families against godless influences.

We need to proactively make sure our families are firmly established on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ before they are set loose in this godless world.

It should motivate us to do things differently when we realize that most young adults who are simply “raised in church” but lived surrounded lives invaded by godless influences walk away from the faith, leave the church, and succumb to worldly living.

Men we must proactively guard our families from godless influences!

Abundant Fatherhood requires being a Godly Dad and a Godly Dad Prioritizes Worshipping God and Not Things!

Abundant Fatherhood requires being a Godly Dad and a Godly Dad Proactively Guards His Family Against Godless Influences!

3) Petitions the Lord for Victory!

2 Chronicles 14:9–12 ESV

9 Zerah the Ethiopian came out against them with an army of a million men and 300 chariots, and came as far as Mareshah. 10 And Asa went out to meet him, and they drew up their lines of battle in the Valley of Zephathah at Mareshah. 11 And Asa cried to the Lord his God, “O Lord, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.” 12 So the Lord defeated the Ethiopians before Asa and before Judah, and the Ethiopians fled.

Where are my men who are natural born fixers. We see a problem we fix it…or at least try to fix it the best we can.

When Asa faced a problem, he didn’t devise cleaver methodologies. He didn’t formulate all the ways he could fix this problem.

What Asa did was he drew up a battle line and cried out to the Lord!

Asa knew that this battle and this task was too much for him to handle on his own, so he called out to His God!

Look at Asa’s heart to God in the face of an impossible battle:

Lord, you are greater than this enemy I face. “there is none like you…”

Lord, we need your help! “…to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O Lord our God, for we rely on you…”

Lord, this is a battle that is worth fighting because we come against it for your glory and to honor you. “…in your name we have come against this multitude. O Lord, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

Because of Asa and Judah’s faithfulness to God, God saw that their prayer was not just lip service and from a place of panic. It was from a heart of genuine trust and the Lord defeated the enemy and gave victory in an impossible battle!

A godly dad seeks the Lord and petitions the Lord for the battles in his life and in the life of his family.

When we petition the Lord, we need to genuinely see that whatever we are facing…

God is greater

We require the Lord’s help, we can’t do this on our own.

The battles we fight for our families are worth fighting because we seek for the Lord to be glorified and honored in our homes and in our family.

Fighting battles are hard but perhaps the hardest part is getting out of our own way, petitioning the Lord for His victory, and then faithfully following His lead.

Abundant Fatherhood requires being a Godly Dad and a Godly Dad Prioritizes Worshipping God and Not Things!

Abundant Fatherhood requires being a Godly Dad and a Godly Dad Proactively Guards His Family Against Godless Influences!

Abundant Fatherhood requires being a Godly Dad and a Godly Dad Petitions the Lord for Victory!

CLOSING

As we close, this altar will be open. Will you join me today in seeking the Lord to be a godly dad that experiences Abundant Fatherhood?