Questions that form a good character in the children that God gave us

Genesis 50:19 ESV

But Joseph said to them, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God?

Questions that form the character of the children God gave us

Introduction

It is highly important to celebrate family life in the community. We celebrate and we seek the teaching of the Scripture in order to be guided by Our Father to be fathers and mothers. Yes, there is a special service about family today. The family of Christ celebrates the baby born of the Lucescu family. May the Lord bless Andrei and Maria and their children. May the Lord help you raise and educate them in the spirit of Christian teachings.

Education in family can be done through words and actions.

Education in family can be done through words and actions. None of these can’t miss in education.

Wrong attitudes: I won’t tell him; he must see! I won’t show him, he must hear. They must both hear and see.

As parents we must manifest as disciple makers.

The most important discipleship small group we will ever have is our family! . Discipleship is about talking (tell them what and why), showing, do it together, let them do it, deploy them.

Discipleship in cleaning the house. When you hold the child’s hand, you use all 5 fingers (image with a parent holding the child’s hand): I.WHAT - we must clean the house. II. WHY. III. Do it with them. IV. Let them do it while closely observing. V. Full confidence: let them do it .

Education through words can be done by statements and questions. The questions themselves can be divided into several categories: open, closed, rhetorical and others.

A rhetorical question is a figure of speech in which a question is asked for a reason other than to get an answer—most commonly, it's asked to make a persuasive point.

We don’t always have QR codes in education (Quick Response). But we always have the RQ codes (Rhetorical Questions), filled with implied long-lasting answers!

Parenting is terrible because we meet ourselves! Our genes are in the small human being who is growing under our guidance! Our entire life we tell them: don’t be like me, let’s both be like Jesus! Christlikeness must be at the heart of family: Christ praised God, Christ was filled with the Holy Spirit, Christ was and is the one in whose image we must grow!

Questions, of any kind, are important: And after that?

Questions that form the character of our children

What are the questions that were repeated so many times in your family that you can never forget? What were the central questions your parents used to say in the house? What are the questions that formed us as children? What are the questions we are asking now in our families? What is our legacy?

Legacy is much more than wealth. Averea e moștenire, dar nu toată moștenirea e avere. Modul în care vorbim e o parte importantă din moștenire!

Ill: A guy married the woman she loved. Because he was poor, he had to work 7 years to be able to pay his wedding gear. 7 years while looking at her but not being able to touch her! After the wedding, the kids were not showing up. Desperate, she asked him: give me children or I’ll die! Then he asked a question that was repeated by a son of him who was not born, not yet! It means it was a question that he will use in tough situations: Am I in the place of God?

JACOB

Is usually considered a bad dad.

Good things: special blessing for each child (Gen 49), asking blessed questions in moments that seem to be cursed (Gen. 30 - the women not able to bear children was named a cursed women).

The question Jacob asked is repeated only one more time in the whole Scripture ad literam.

The greatest generation of the entire history will not be the generation that will accuse the prior generation of something. In most cases, the one who accuses make himself worthy of accusation, because we do all things we accuse our parents about. The greatest generation has seen the sin of their parents and maybe they did it to, but in that case they will tell their children: my father lied, I lied, please don’t lie; please break the curse. Are we going to be that generation? Abraham lied, Isaac lied, Jacob lied. Joseph didn’t lie. He broke the curse of the generations.

Joseph - formed by the questions asked within the family.

Good Character Outside the family!

We want to have children that live their christlikeness outside the family as well, right? Examples: praying before meal at home, and then saying at school: I hate praying before meal. Asking nicely things at home, but use the f word at school.

Joseph used to ask rhetorical questions: Gen. 39:9. Gen. 50:19.

Joseph wasn’t able to hear the question from Gen. 30:2. But he is using it many years later, so it means that Jacob used it several times in his life.

There is no greater comfort for a parent than to hear that his child is living the christian faith in such a manner that the Holy Spirit decides he can be a part of the Scripture of the Living God!

Could my life be used by the Holy Spirit as a part of the Sword of the Spirit?

Joseph understood that God is holy! The most fundamental attribute of God is His holiness. Joseph didn’t ask if God left His place: Jacob taught Joseph that God never leaves His place! God is on the throne! God is Holy (you crazy wife of Potiphar, nameless wife - that’s the worse thing - to be nameless - my God is still there, on the throne. And He is still Holy! There is no other attribute that is repeated three times: love love love? no. Good good good? no. Holy holy holy? Yes!!!!).

How powerful a question can be that wipes away the huge youthful desire of the sexual intercourse?

Nowadays, as always, all generations talk about sexual intercourse. But there are things that we cannot say!

We can’t have holy dreams and interpretations from the Lord after we sleep with Potiphar’s wife (i.e. pornographic images, expose ourselves to bad images, clothing ourselves like we are for sale).

I can’t resist the sexual desire like Samson and have the dreams of Joseph!

We watch movies filled with pornography and then we want holy dreams! When was the last time when you shut a movie because it was too much pornography? Too much? No pornography at all. C’mon, the society is filled with pornography. Many people dress like porn stars. Almost nothing hidden anymore.

All generations: we must be clean and thus be involved in ministries in church. We cannot have bad relationships (not allowed to some things at a certain age) and then serve the church! Mind your step dear youth! Mind your eyes. Mind your hands. Stop touching what is not supposed to touch now. After marriage, you will have time to touch. And kiss. And go to the level God has prepared for all married people to do (male and female, husband and wife). Is this clear enough?

Rebuke is named bullying today because some people are so fragile and immature that they don’t want to accept there are moments when we must accept we did wrong and repent, without using wordly super-soft words!

Good Character WITHIN THE FAMILY

We love to see our children behave at school, at church, but at home sometimes they are …. a little crazy. Dear youth, the way you speak to your teacher, to your pastor, to your leader, that nice way: great! Now double that. THat’s how you talk to your mom and dad!

Joseph had: OPPORTUNITY to do harm (some people would harm others, but they don’t have the chance, so they look for it - see Judah); they have the POSSIBILITY (is in their power to do harm; they can do it - see Laban - he didn’t stop, but God stopped him); IMMUNITY (nobody would’ve do anything bad to Joseph in Egypt).

Still, there was one question whose answer made Joseph to not take the chance to harm. How powerful a question can be that wipes away the desire of the revenge?

The question that transforms a revenger into a provider!

Joseph’s forgiveness was something unique: He didn’t say ‘ok, ok, it sounds like a scam, but ok, I forgive. One condition: Y’all never ever see my face again. Got it? HE PROVIDED FOR THEM! They were his killers, but he became their savior. Blessed Jesus, we all killed You, and You still saved us!

In a situation of revenge, how will our children react towards their relatives?

Te-au jignit? Da ce’, tu ești prostul lor?

Vrei să îi chemi la ziua ta? dar ei te-au chemat? Atunci nu-i chema.

FINAL

What is our legacy for my children? Averea e moștenire, dar nu toată moștenirea e avere. Care sunt cuvintele pline de putere care vor rămâne și după ce murim noi? Afirmații sau întrebări.

This questions ‘Am I in the placr of God’ makes us all understand that not all things are in our power even when it seems we have the power to choose anything! We only have tk power to choose His will, which we might not really like at the moment

At the beginning of the Book of Genesis, God is on the throne! He created! He did this and that. And He created the man. He established a place for the human being. But the man didn’t accept his place. Years passed by with only a few human beings accepting their own place, their own role in the Universe. At the end of the Book of Genesis, there is a man who accepted his place. But his place didn’t matter. There is only one place that matter: God’s place. And that place must not be occupied by human, ever!

The questions in our families must point out first and foremost this: God only is God! All the rest, we are His children. Let’s not play God, ever.

We must respect God’s holiness in church and outside the church. Inside family and outside the family.

There will be moments in the life of the children when they will have the impression that God is not listening the prayers! And they will be so down. But they will have a RQ code from their mother and father, more powerful than any sermon:

Ps. 94:4 – does He who planted the ear not hear?

There will be moments when our children will have the desire to gain more in this life, and while gaining riches, they might forget God. But there will be an RQ code, that will strike the love for the world out

ØMatt. 16:26 - For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?

ØRom. 8:31 – If God is for us, who can be against us?

There will be moments, and they are coming, when our children will see that the entire world is against them. And they will feel abandoned. But there will be an RQ code, that will lead them through:

Rom. 8:31 – If God is for us, who can be against us?

Sofia Lucescu, September 22nd 2024 (Raisa’s birthday)