Protecting Your Family

Introduction

Is there anyone in this audience who believes that today’s world is difficult one to raise children in? Society, government and media being corrupt does not give an excuse from protecting your children from the schemes of the devil.

God called Noah in the midst of a corrupt world, the bible says the earth was filled with violence. It was so corrupt that God said to Noah “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold I will destroy them with the earth.

Understand that anytime we are in the midst of a corrupt situation God calls us to build a protective mechanism to free the people from the corruption. If nothing else we should be able to protect our families from corruption with God’s help.

We do not have to worry about enacting revenge on the corrupt, all God is requiring is that we protect the gifts that he has blessed us with.

Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

It was up to Noah to do everything he could according to the commands of God to build a hedge of protection for his family at least.

Protecting and Providing is a Command

God provides a specific plan of protection for Noah to provide for his family.

Ark of Gopher wood

Make rooms in the ark

Cover it with pitch

He gave him exact length, width and height.

Typically God provides instructions to protect you and your family for the destruction at hand. If nothing else our children should feel safe.

Not only does God provide the instructions for how to protect your family but God gives instruction on what you should allow inside your family as well.

The Devil wants to have the ability to destroy your family from the inside out. He knows if he can input toxic things inside your family he can try to infect it from the inside out.

This is why we have to strive hard to rewrite the patterns and pathologies set before us by our family. Life is too short to sweep past dyfunction under the rug.

The progress of evil had affected the family of Noah through those who have come before them.

We have patterns in our family that can be destructive to our family and we have to rewrite that.

God designed marriage to be between one man and one women. Lamech decided to take multiple wives. Cain killed Abel, Adam neglected Eve, and all of these things had a paramount effect on the world as well as an affect on the family they were a part of.

Things had become so corrupt that God “regretted” that he made man on earth.

Regret or to be sorry, his creation of man grieved God to the point he wanted to destroy mankind and start over.

Sometimes in effort to protect and provide for our family we have to build something new and start over.

You may have to move to a new place.

You may have to put your child in a new school.

You may have to invest in a ministry that you are not accustomed to.

Just know that God has called you to take care of your family and that may mean discomfort, that may mean starting over, that may mean leaving others behind.

Leading Means Listening

Leading your family must begin with listening to God.

Building the Ark was not enough. Many of us build time for family devotions, we raise our children in nice neighborhoods, we have dependable cars, nice homes and bring them to church every Sunday but I am going to be honest with you this morning and tell you that all of those things are not enough.

Then the Lord said to Noah, Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in the is generation.

Noah was righteous in the sight of God nonetheless he still had to do something unprecedented to protect his family from the consequence of a corrupt people.

It was not enough to just build the Ark, he had to make sure his family was inside was God told him to build.

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Belief requires action! Faith requires diligence and obedience. Sure, Noah was a righteous man but God expected him to protect his family at all cost.

Leading your family has no age cap. Noah was 600 years old when the waters began to fall on the earth. Nonetheless Noah, regardless of age had to be proactive in protecting for his family.

Life is to short to just react, we have to build and understand every facet of our children’s life. True the bible says honor your mother and father but we have to give them something to honor. We cannot expect our children to just honor us because we birthed them into this world.

Regardless of age not only was it required to honor my parents but my grandparents as well. My grandfather exuded leadership across all bounds. Spiritually, financially, emotionally, he led properly because God called him to do such things.

Poor leadership from your parents or those who came before you is not an excuse for you to drop the ball.

The rain is coming, are you going to build an Ark of Protection for your family or will you allow your family to be destroyed because you did not heed the calling.

But those who won't care for their relatives, especially those in their own household, have denied the true faith. Such people are worse than unbelievers.

God does not have time to fool around with someone who was called to lead their family to neglect them.

You might be a single mother this morning but God called you to lead these children under the hedge of protection of the Lord.

You might be a grandparent raising your kids and your kid’s kids protect and provide.

You might be going through all kinds of marital issues, protect and provide.

The man or woman you might be in love with does not want anything to do with you or the kids, protect and provide.

God has called you to build an Ark and free yourself from the corruption of this world.

In conclusion we have to heed the call of God, in effort to raise a generation that replenish the earth of a Godly character that this earth so desperately needs. Jesus died to protect us from sin, and our goal should be to protect our children to foster discipleship and good christian living.