My Upbringing and My Eternity
Please stand with me as we go over our current memory Scripture:
Matthew 5:6-8
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
And our memory Scripture “refresher” verse is:
Proverbs 3:5-8
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.
“Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”
Today we will be reading from
Genesis 25:19-28 & 26:34 - 27:10 & 27:41
Today is Mother’s Day!
One of our grandson’s is named Johnny! Johnny loves to ask the question to Karenlee, “I’m your favorite, right Grandmom?”
Well, the other day Johnny, who is six years old, was reading a book about Joseph and the many colored coat and all of the problems that came about because he was his father’s favorite son and he said to Grandmom, “It’s not good to have favorites is it?”
Naturally, Grandmom had to tease him about his claim of being the favorite grandchild and he just smiled, thinking it was still true that he was Grandmom’s favorite …
Anyway, I always tell him that he’s my ninth favorite grandchild and that when our Rachelle gives birth in June he will be my tenth favorite grandchild.
In the Bible there are plenty of examples of mothers, both good and bad and, since it is Mother’s Day I thought we would take a look at a few Mothers found in the Bible
So, let’s start out with one found in Genesis 25:19-28 & 26:34 - 27:10 & 27:41 and see what we can see …
(prayer for help)
Wow! Some Mom that Rebekah was, right?
Was it her fault that Jacob and Esau became mortal enemies?
Would it have turned out differently if she had treated Esau and Jacob the same?
Would it have turned out differently if she had doted on Esau and schemed and plotted against Jacob?
What other mothers do we see in the Bible?
We see Eve. She raised both Cain and Able as her first two children. Able pleased the Lord and the Cain murdered his brother.
One bad son and one good son - same mom!
We see that Jochebed, Moses’ mom, defied the Pharaoh’s decree and kept Moses alive who later became the mediator between the Lord and people of God; leading them from slavery in Egypt to the border of the promised land.
Good mom - good son.
Samson’s mother is only ever referred to as “Manoah’s wife” or “Samson’s mother”. She was barren and had no children until The Angel of The LORD appeared to her and told her that she would have a child and that he should be raised according to the rules of the Nazirite vow. Samson brought military victory to Israel but was a foolish womanizer which was his spiritual downfall.
Good mom - spiritually bad son.
Then we see Hannah, another barren woman until the Lord intervenes and she gives birth to Samuel who becomes a great prophet of the Lord most high. OK, now think about this, Hannah prayed for years for a child and when Samuel was born she did as she had promised the Lord; as soon as he was weaned she took him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh and left him there.
Good mom - good son.
Now, let’s take a look at a more recent example not from the Bible.
There is a pastor and evangelist out west named Greg Laurie.
He is a man of God. He is genuine.
What was his mom like?
She was from a family of six girls and three boys.
At 17 she ran away and married a young sailor, a marriage that did not last long.
Her life consisted of a string of wrong choices and bad relationships. She was married and divorced three more times by the age of 25.
In 1952 she gave birth to Greg but the family name on the birth certificate was not that of his real father.
Her life continued on, filled with parties and alcohol and abusive relationships.
And sometimes Greg was the target of physical abuse by whatever man she might be with at the time.
At other times he was like a yo-yo bouncing between his grandparent’s home and wherever his mom was living.
Greg says, “When I think of lonely times of my life as a kid … part of it was when I was a kid and she wouldn’t come home at night. You know when you are like six or seven years old that’s kind of scary. And then when she did come home I’d be asleep and I’d hear the door open and I’d be happy she was home but then a little bit of talking, tinkling of glasses, and that means she’s drinking. And then the arguing, then the screaming, then the crashing, then things flying against walls and fights. That was terrifying to me and I hated it and I felt lonely and I felt that I had no one to help me through all of that.”
He was sent away to military school when he was approximately 11 or 12 years of age. On the weekends most of the kids would go home with their parents but often he would be there on a nearly deserted campus. It was at these times when he would feel very lonely and unwanted.
He recalled one Christmas after they had had their dinner that his mom started drinking until she passed out and he was thinking about the Christmas shows on TV with the joyful family around the dinner table and the dad carving the turkey and the tree and the presents. And as he was looking at her passed out on the couch he remembered thinking, “This is not how it’s supposed to be.”
To make a long story shorter, she ends up marrying another man who was actually a good man, a man Greg easily called Dad and bonded with him quickly. But, not long afterward she divorced that man and took Greg off to Hawaii into another bad relationship.
One of his aunts was quoted as saying, “I just remember how lost and sad He was.”
So, why are we talking about all of this and why did we look at Eve and Rebekah and Rachel and Samuel’s Mom and Moses’ Mom and Samson’s Mom from the Old Testament? Why did we hear about Greg Laurie’s childhood?
It is because, while it is an unbelievably great honor and guide to have a godly Mom it does not mean that you will automatically follow the Lord.
And, while it is a great spiritual handicap to have a terrible, wicked Mom it does not mean that you will be condemned to Hell with hatred in your heart for the Lord.
Here’s the thing; we live in a society where everyone is a victim.
There are people who sit around and all they do is dwell on what happened to them and in doing so they relive the offense over and over and over. And in doing so they are victimized over and over and over in an endless, self-centered spiral.
Do you know that a self-centered spiral of living as a victim is exactly what the devil wants for your life. He wants to steal you, your life, your very soul and send you to Hell where you can be his victim forever.
But, Praise God, there is also a Savior, a Healer, a Redeemer and His name is Jesus the Son of the Living God! And, no matter what your background is He wants you!!!
Jesus said, “I have come to seek and save the lost.” (Luke 19:10)
If you are unsaved, Jesus is seeking you to bring you from death to life! He is the Savior of victims.
Are you carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders from something that has happened to you or from the multitude of sins you have committed?
In Matthew 11:28-29 it is recorded that Jesus said,
“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
There may be some Moms here who were terrible Mothers.
You may think you are unforgivable. You are not unforgivable.
If you are a Mom like that you may believe that you have caused irreversible spiritual damage to your child or children.
Jesus healed those with incurable diseases, gave sight to one born blind, cast out demons and raised the dead. He can find a way to reach your child.
Not only can Jesus find a way to reach your child He can heal your spirit. You may believe that your spirit is shattered into too many pieces; so many pieces that it could never be put back together.
You would be wrong. Jesus can gather your shattered life back together and create a new person out of you.
And, that new person just might be the one who, through agonizing prayer and a righteous life, might lead that child to Jesus.
There may be some Moms here who did their very best to raise their offspring in ways of the Lord and yet one or more of your children may be living outside the will of God.
Take comfort, the Lord is putting people in their path to speak truth into their hearts. The things of the Lord that you spoke into their lives may come rising up in their minds over and over again.
Don’t give up. Keep agonizing in prayer for them. Keep living a righteous life of Christlike love before them.
Those of you who have or have had a righteous Mom, give thanks to the Lord for her. Bless her name. Speak of her in a way that will allow her witness to continue through you.
Some of you may have had a Mom who was unsaved and who never showed you the way of life that is found only in Jesus. Agonize in prayer for her. If she is still living it is not too late.
The one stepdad who was ever any kind of real dad to Greg Laurie came to know Jesus one day after Greg had grown up and had become a pastor and evangelist. He is the one who adopted Greg and whose last name Greg shares. After many years Greg was able to locate him and went to visit him. And one day when they were out for a walk they knelt down in the middle of a park with people all around and Greg’s adopted Dad became a child of God.
As parents we are always praying for our children whether they are faithfully following the Lord or whether they are far away from God.
And often in our prayers for the wayward child we ask the Lord to send someone across their path who can be a conduit of God’s grace to draw them back to Jesus. This is a good prayer to pray and often the Lord will do exactly that.
At the same time there are other mothers who are asking the Lord to send someone across the path of their child to draw them to Jesus. You may be the answer to their prayers. You may be the one to whom the Lord has given the great privilege of leading someone to new birth in Jesus.
You see, we can’t always be praying for the Lord to send someone to our children if we are not willing to be sent by the Lord to the children of some other praying parents.
Jesus said in Acts 1:8 (ESV)
“You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
In modern language, Jesus is saying that we have been given the honor of being filled with the Holy Spirit and along with that honor comes a responsibility. That responsibility is to carry the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus to not only our household but to our neighborhood, our town and wherever He might send us.
Everyone who is unsaved is a lost child no matter how old they may be and we are being sent. The prayers of their mothers may just be echoes through time past but the Lord has heard those prayers and He is sending you to take the message of eternal life to them.
There a song called “Mama’s Last Amen” by
Afraid to lift my head, I stand before You
Afraid that it's too late to be ashamed
Unworthy to be heard I call upon You
After all the times I called Your Name in vain
Oh Jesus I don't deserve Your mercy
Knowing right from wrong I chose to live with sin
But today my soul is cryin' for an answer to the prayers
That ended with my mama's last amen
She prayed that I'd be strong enough to follow You
And I promised her I would but never tried
She said Jesus if he stumbles give him faith to keep on searchin'
Oh till he finds the Tree Of Life
And Jesus let me go back to her bedside
Give me one more chance to follow You again
'Cause today my soul is cryin' for an answer to the prayers
That ended with my mama's last amen
Oh today my soul is cryin' for an answer to the prayers
That ended with sweet Mama's last amen
We praise God for faithful Mothers, but, if your Mom was not a child of God don’t let that be the pattern for your life. If you are not already a child of God be reborn in Jesus today.
(Speak about the plan of salvation and invitation if the Spirit leads.)
Final thoughts and prayer.
