Tomato Seeds Grow Tomatoes “Building a Family for God”
Joshua 24:14 - 20
Before we go on and dig deep into the scripture, lets get to know a very faithful young man named Joshua.
(Read Joshua 1: 1-5)
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Now, this is interesting…why would God pick Joshua and not Aaron, who was the brother of Moses?
Aaron worshiped the golden calf. Even though Aaron spoke for Moses during the “Let my people go” era.
Aaron was trusted with so many things…but when the going got tough, Aaron got going and strayed from God.
So, God saw the heart of Joshua…told Moses and Joshua, Hey…I’m coming over to your tent later and we are going to bless Joshua, your aid, to succeed you.
Aaron couldn’t be the next in line, because he died on Mount Hor. So he couldn’t get them into the Promise Land.
God told Moses that he would not be able to enter the Promise Land because of one act of disobedience.
God had given him a direct order to speak out to a rock and God would then cause water to flow out from this rock.
For some strange reason, Moses ends up striking the rock twice with his rod instead of speaking out to it as God had specifically commanded him to do.
Moses had disobeyed a direct order from God on how to perform the miracle of getting water from a rock, He did get water, by striking it 2 times with his staff, but God told him to “Speak” to the rock to get water.
As a result, God kept him from going into the Promised Land and he then died out in the wilderness. But before that, God spoke to Moses.
Numbers 27:18
18 So the LORD said to Moses, "Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand on him.
Now comes Joshua’s turn to lead…
God said: Get up, let’s go….time to go to the Promise Land!
But before you do that, I need you to talk to the people…. Either trust in me or don’t.
Then Joshua says: “Okay, I’m going to lay it on the line with these folks….” and he does. Joshua wasn’t one to sugar coat anything.
Joshua 24:14 - 20
14 "Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15 But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." 16 Then the people answered, "Far be it from us to forsake the LORD to serve other gods! 17 It was the LORD our God himself who brought us and our fathers up out of Egypt, from that land of slavery, and performed those great signs before our eyes. He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled. 18 And the LORD drove out before us all the nations, including the Amorites, who lived in the land. We too will serve the LORD, because he is our God."
19 Joshua said to the people, "You are not able to serve the LORD. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. 20 If you forsake the LORD and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you."
If you want to grow tomatoes, you don’t plant onion seeds. You plant tomato seeds.
Same thing with society….In order to have a stable society we have to have families that are healthy and stable.
The only way to have healthy and stable families they have to be founded upon the word of God.
70% of our prison population were raised in single parent homes.
37% of our prison population have had at least one immediate family member incarcerated.
It is estimated that over 3.5 million children exist in the United States with a parent behind bars. One out of 50 children today have a parent in prison or jail. Children with parents in prison are five (5) times as likely to become incarcerated themselves. Today’s pressures on American families puts pressure on our criminal justice system. Today’s abused and neglected children, maybe tomorrow’s violent offenders. Statistics show that being abused or neglected in childhood increases the likelihood of arrest:
As an adult by 38%
For a violent crime by 38%
For overall criminal behavior by 40%
Every 78 seconds a teen attempts suicide - every 90 seconds they succeed.
63% of suicides are individuals from single parent families
"Gang recruitment is a powerful lure for the products of broken homes and single-parent households" as gang members are likely to "receive little guidance or attention from family members at home."
If those numbers come as a shock to you, think about this…
That data was gathered in 1991...just think of how much it rose over the past 18 years.
Both the Old and New Testament reveal the family as the foundation for society.
On his website: focusonthefamily.com, Dr James Dobson says:
“To really succeed in life, our children need to learn more than management techniques, accounting, reading, writing and geometry. They need to learn the fine art of relating to people. If they learn how to relate well to others, they’ll have an edge in the game of life.”
In other words as the family goes, so goes society.
When the family structure is destroyed or ignored then it will have a devastating and destructive affect on society.
In 1961, the Dick Van Dyke show first aired. And every time a bedroom scene would come into play, you would see two twin beds.
One for him and one for her.
TV programs would not even dare show anyone in a lust filled situation.
Even Lucy and Desi, who were married in real life, wasn’t allowed to be seen sleeping in the same bed.
That was 30-35 years ago.
And now, it’s common to sex scenes in the day time and partial nudity at night.
The family is or should be the first and most significant influence in the spiritual training of children.
The children that we raise today will be the leaders of tomorrow.
That’s why the structure and meaning of family is being attacked.
Satan knows the foundation of a spiritual family is stronger than he is…that’s why he want’s to tear it down.
It started with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
In the book of Genesis we see Satan’s evil attack on the family when he tempted Adam and Eve to act and live independently of God’s word and will for their lives.
The first family gave in and ever since family life has in a hand basket.
The enemy is hard at work, right now, to build an unstable society without God and biblical values by redefining marriage and the family.
We are heading into an n unstable society that is bankrupt of godly morals.
You think it’s bad now, just think what it would be like 10 years from now.
There’s only one way to stop the family destruction.
We have to become a family that is spiritually healthy and stable.
According to Webster a family is; a: The basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their own or adopted children;
The Encyclopedia Britannica says the family is: A group of persons united by the ties of marriage, blood, or adoption, constituting a single household and interacting with each other in their respective social positions of husband and wife, mother and father, son and daughter, brother and sister.
My question is, “What are the Elements that build a Spiritual healthy and stable family? I want to share with you this morning the six elements found in our scripture reading in the form of the acronym F.A.M.I.L.Y!
Let me give you this acronym very quickly and then I will touch on each one briefly.
F = A Faithful Heart:
A = An Affirming Faith:
M = A Meditating Mind
I = Immovable Commitment
L = Laboring Hands
Y = A Yearning and Yielding Desire
I. A Faithful Heart Toward God:
Joshua 24:14 14Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.
Joshua 24:14 14 “So honor the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone.
A. We Need a Working Definition of Faithfulness:
What is "faithfulness?"
Well, if you looked in the dictionary, you would find a technical definition that says, "To follow through with a commitment regardless of difficulty."
To be steadfast in affection or allegiance: A firm in adherence to promises or in observance of duty: These are good definitions.
But let me give you one that may be easier to remember, "Faithfulness is love hanging on." It is love saying, "I will not quit. There may be misunderstandings, there may be disappointments, there may be discouragements and difficulties, but I will not quit." It is love hanging on.
Families will face disappointments; discouragement; distressing and difficult times as they serve God.
However their love for God will cause them to cry out together: It doesn’t matter how hard or what we have to go through we will not give up and quit. We will not turn our backs on God. We will love Him with all of our hearts.
As we choose to serve God and we make Him the Lord of our Household we will have times of opportunity to be unfaithful.
There will be times where we will be tempted to give up and quit, but our love for God will compel us to continue on in our faithfulness to God.
B. We need a living example of Faithfulness:
Matthew 16:21-23 21From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. 22Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee. 23But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.
Luke 9:51 51And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
Throughout the ministry the Lord Jesus Satan tried to tempt Jesus to be unfaithful. "Don’t go to the cross. Don’t die for their sins. Just quit. It’s going to be too tough. There will be too many obstacles, too many difficulties. Just turn around & quit."
Yet, the Lord Jesus set His face steadfastly toward Jerusalem." Jesus was determined that no matter what happened, He would be faithful to the mission God had for Him to do. So "steadfastly" He goes to Jerusalem.
Even while He was hanging on the cross, the people below Him were mocking Him, saying, "If you really are the Son of God, come down from the cross."
That’s what Satan was saying, too. "Quit! Come down. It’s not worth it. The pain is too intense. The people don’t care anyway. Just quit!"
But He continued to hang there until finally He says, "Father, forgive them for they don’t know what they are doing." And "Into thy hands I commit my spirit." That’s faithfulness. That’s faithfulness unto death.
And the faithfulness of Jesus has inspired the faithfulness of others down through the ages, those who hung in there, through the good & the bad, through times of plenty & times of want.
Let me share with you three things that you and I can do to develop faithfulness in our lives and families.
1, we need to realize that temptations will come. Just as surely as Jesus was tempted to be unfaithful, we will be tempted to be unfaithful - in our marriage, in our relationship with the Lord, & in the church. That’s what Satan does. He will tempt us to be unfaithful.
2. Secondly, we need to seek the Holy Spirit’s reinforcement & develop regular, positive, spiritual habits.
This world is not a Christian world. This nation is not a Christian nation. And we’re being pressured on every side to develop negative habits, tempting us to be unfaithful in church attendance, to be unfaithful in prayer, & in studying the Word of God.
But if we’ll say, "Get thee behind me, Satan," & be determined to serve God faithfully, then people will be able to count on us. We’ll be consistent, & trustworthy, & reliable.
We’ll develop these habits so they come automatically. And when Satan tempts us, we will not be severely tempted because we’ve developed the habits of faithfulness, & we will not quit.
3. Finally, we need to get back up when we fall or are knocked down.
II. An Affirming Faith In God:
Joshua 24:15 15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
We need to validate and confirm an unwavering faith in God. Our faith is affirmed, validated, and confirmed by the every day decision that we make.
When you and I choose to be faithful to God in the face of difficulty and adversity we are confirm with our actions what we say we believe with our mouth.
When we turn our backs on this world and it’s home made god’s we are telling the world that we love and serve one true God. We refuse to bow our knees to the god’s of this world.
III. A Meditating Mind On God’s Work:
Joshua 24:16-18 16And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods; 17For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: 18And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.
A. God Rescued Us: New Living Translation 7 For the LORD our God is the one who rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in the land of Egypt. King James Brought us Out.
B. God Demonstrated His Power On Our Behalf: 17b. And which did those great signs in our sight,
C. God Protected Us: 17c. And preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:
D. God Cleared the way for us to enter the land. Verse 18 18And the LORD drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the LORD; for he is our God.
IV. An Immovable Commitment to God.
Joshua 24:19-24 19And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the LORD: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20If ye forsake the LORD, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. 21And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the LORD. 22And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the LORD, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. 23Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the LORD God of Israel. 24And the people said unto Joshua, The LORD our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.
A. We must be Consistent In Our Daily Walk With God:
B. We Must Never Compromise What We Believe.
V. Laboring Hands:
There is one thing that caught my attention as I was studying this passage of Scripture. The word serve in one form or another is used 13 times.
What does it mean to serve?
To fulfill an obligation: to hear duty’s call; obey the call of one’s country; discharge one’s duty; assume one’s responsibilities.
In other words one cannot serve God without getting their hands dirty. We have been called not only to be saved but also to serve.
We as individuals, families and a church have been given a mission to reach the world with the message of God’s saving Grace.
We are responsible to carry out that mission. We are obligated by our call to fulfill the mission that God has given us.
VI. A Yearning and Yielding Desire for God and to God.
Joshua 24:15 15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
Joshua whole desire was yearning to have an intimate relationship with God and yield to God’s eternal will and purpose for his life.
There is no way that anyone can serve God without a yearning to know Him and have an intimate relationship with Him. One cannot serve God until they are willing to say, “God I yield my entire life to you. I want to know You and Serve You with all of my heart.
