How To Have God's Blessings Upon Our Homes Series

HOW TO HAVE GOD'S BLESSINGS UPON OUR HOMES

Ephesians 5:22-33 "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife [see] that she reverence [her] husband."

It is essential that the homes of our nation be strengthened. We are obviously sliding down a slippery slope of moral degradation and family breakdown. The pages of history are filled with the stories of nations that left God out of their national and family life. In Gibbon's, "The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire," the record makes it clear that the doom of that great Empire was sealed when moral and family values were abandoned and the leaders of the Empire began to cater to the natural desire of the masses for more "things;" free bread, larger circuses and continuous Roman Holidays.

It has been said, "As goes the home, so goes the nation." If the homes of a nation are built upon slippery sand, that nation faces certain destruction. The analogy our Saviour used about the contrasting foundations of the two houses in the gospel of Matthew, surely informs us on this matter as well. It is essential for the structure of the family to be built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, His Way and righteousness.

The Bible tells us of many homes. In the garden we find the first home. Then there were the homes of Abraham, Issac and Jacob; all with their successes and failures. We find the details of relationships, sibling rivalries and conflicts given to us for our example and instruction. There was a home in Bethany that Jesus loved to visit. There was a home with a prodigal son with all the sorrows and heartaches; as well as the forgiveness, restoration, reunion and joy of such a situation. A home that reached out to a far country and the love of a father that brought a wandering boy back into his arms. There was a home in Nazareth with a Godly father and mother where our Savior grew to maturity and manhood.

In all these examples we can conclude that the sweetest home on earth is the home with Jesus is at the center. A Christian home. Not a perfect home by any means, but a home that strives to serve the Lord. A home that tries to place Jesus and His will and way above all else. A home where Christ is the Head and where the mother and father and children love God and live for Him by living for each other.

What does it take to make such a home today? Someone has well said, "It takes a heap of living to make a house a home." And this is certainly true, especially if you insert the word, "Godly" before living. But there are specific essentials that are necessary for a Christian home. Let us look at those essentials together.

GOD HAS PROMISED AND REALLY DESIRES TO BLESS AND PROSPER OUR HOMES. "Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established: And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches." (Prov. 24:3-4) God wishes to fill our lives and our homes with precious and pleasant riches that can only be acquired His way. If we were offered a sure fire formula for acquiring real temporal financial riches, many would spend the time and energy necessary to learn and apply the formula and become rich. God has given us clear and certain instructions for filling our homes with eternal precious and pleasant riches. He desires to build it from the ground up. If He is going to build our bless our homes it is clear that they must be built upon the right spiritual foundation. Any lasting spiritual structure must begin with the right foundation. "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:" (Matt.7:24) "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." (I Cor. 5:11)