Building Healthy Families
Joshua 24:15
Joshua 24:15 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.
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.
Listen to the Contemporary English Version of Joshua 24:15 14 Then Joshua told the people: Worship the LORD, obey him, and always be faithful. Get rid of the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived on the other side of the Euphrates River and in Egypt. 15 But if you don’t want to worship the LORD, then choose right now! Will you worship the same idols your ancestors did? Or since you’re living on land that once belonged to the Amorites, maybe you’ll worship their gods. I won’t. My family and I are going to worship and obey the LORD!
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.
Both the Old and New Testament reveal the family as the basic unit of society. Ron Philips in His book, Home Improvement; A Maintenance Manual for Families says;
“The family is a corporate unit which serves as the center of social and religious training.”
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.
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. There are people who no longer respect the biblical and traditional view of marriage and family.
Many see this modern day attack to redefine the family as something new, but it’s not. 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.
As you know the first family caved into this seduction and temptation and it ahs been spiraling out of control ever since.
Satan is working in our day to construct an unstable society without God and biblical values by redefining marriage and the family. If this happens there is only one thing you can count on. An unstable society that is bankrupt of godly morals.
To keep this from happening we have and maintain families that are spiritually healthy and stable. Let’s look at the definition of family.
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.
