A message of November 13, 2016 from Pastor Gus Brown:
Learning to be successful within a family unit is not something that automatically takes place or happens. You have to plan on it and work at it. It is more than just living for survival. You need to have the determination to get back up when you fall down, and to continue to work at it. Success in this area takes work.
Being successful requires two elements: Obedience and Doing
Many of us know what to do when it comes to what is right; however, to choose to do the wrong thing is sin.
James 4:17
So it is a sin for the person who knows to do what is good and doesn’t do it.
James 2:22-23
You see that faith was active together with his works, and by works, faith was perfected. So the Scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, and he was called God’s friend.
James 4:4
Adulteresses! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy.
Isaiah 28:10-13
For he says: “Law after law, law after law, line after line, line after line, a little here, a little there.” So He will speak to this people with stammering speech and in a foreign language. He had said to them: “This is the place of rest, let the weary rest; this is the place of repose.” But they would not listen. Then the word of the Lord came to them: “Law after law, law after law, line after line, a little here, a little there,” so they go stumbling backward, to be broken, trapped, and captured.
God’s Word is to have you grow and make progress, and if you choose not to, you are subject to falling backwards or being stuck.
Winning (success) does not come easy. That’s why the Lord talks about endurance. You need to endure hardships in order to experience victory.
God is looking more at your being (a follower of Christ, being in Christ) than your doing.
You can do things without being in Christ, but your being in Christ causes you to do things that matter for Christ.
John 15:1-5
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vineyard keeper. Every branch in Me that does not produce fruit He removes, and He prunes every branch that produces fruit so that it will produce more fruit. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.
No one can bear fruits (of the Spirit) without Jesus Christ (Galatians 5:22-23).
There are three areas that need to be done to help build up a family:
- Teach children to strive for knowledge.
- Help the children understand their physical makeup (for the sake of awareness…”you are unique, and God made you the person that He wants you to me”). Out of this comes a high self-esteem.
- Re-productivity of the child (sexuality)–when is it appropriate and how it is to be controlled.
It is better to grow healthy children into healthy adults than it is to repair adult men and women later in life.
The purpose is to build a family that will go through life undefeated. Life is a boxing match, and you’re going to get knocked down. It is all about getting back up.
When you get back up, it is important to get back into life with a purpose. If you lose your purpose, you lose your drive and momentum.
You have to care enough about yourself that you are the gatekeeper of your life.
Acts 4:13
When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.
The foundation for a successful family is one who looks at life from God’s point of view…not by one’s emotions or feelings. Keeping your eyes on Jesus…
Hebrews 12:2
…keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that lay before Him endured a cross and despised the shame and has sat down at the right hand of God’s throne.
Matthew 6:33
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.
A man, in his own ways, sees himself as right, but a wise person will evaluate how he sees himself with God’s Word, and the one following Christ will make the appropriate adjustments or corrections.
Psalm 119:59
I thought about my ways and turned my steps back to Your decrees.
Akron Alliance Fellowship 