There are so many people in the world today, differing in gender, age, nationality, ethnicity, religious beliefs, faith-based relationships, and there are MANY things that are not being passed down from generation to generation, that should be. Common Sense no longer really exists, and it is something that is learned, yet also gained through experience and understanding of others around you. There is a LARGE Gap between generations, and through the power of the CROSS and the hands & feet of ALL generations we can connect to each other again, and bridge the gap. We can stand in the gap, and cry out to God to restore us as a people.
Not all, but alot of 'young people' today are being blamed for a lot of things (some yes, it's understandable), but for a lot of it, it is because they are NOT seeing it lived out in the generations before them (Me included). Things like HONOUR, RESPECT, WORK ETHIC and INITIATIVE are being replaced with SELFISHNESS, EGO-TRIPS, LAZINESS, and 'SOMEONE ELSE CAN DO IT' or 'IT'S NOT MY PROBLEM/I DIDN'T DO IT' attitudes. For too long we have let things slip in teaching, training or just in our living out with the generations behind us.
Things like TRUTH, JUSTICE, FREEDOM, WISDOM, FAMILY VALUES, MORALS, TRADITIONS are not being taught to the generations behind us. (This goes for ALL generations -- because even generations 2 under you are watching you.) Now is the TIME to take back our 'kids'... but even more so, 'Kids' be an example to the Generations before you...
The BIBLE is GOD'S WORD, and it is TRUTH. Jesus Himself, is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. The words in the BIBLE are TRUE, they are not just fables or stories told long ago, passing through generations. They are HISTORICAL ACCOUNTS of things that happened and people that lived long ago. Their life accounts can be applied to our lives today... their flaws and sins are found in our lives today, their regrets, failures, tests, character flaws, worldly desires, etc can be found in the people of the world today. But the TRUTHS of God's love and faithfulness, and restoring, forgiveness and help can also be shown. God is the SAME, yesterday, today and FOREVER! Their relationship with GOD our Heavenly Father, can and will show us the way to live and not to live. The BIBLE is NOT just a book of religious commands, and 'don'ts', but it can and does show us the things we can do or live out for the generations behind us. No longer can a room full of people rhyme off 'The Lord's Prayer' because they don't 'know' it - have never heard it or learned it {let alone not get 'into trouble' for saying it.} No longer can people say 'well you know, like in the life history of Jonah, who disobeyed God...' because you will have those asking who Jonah is. No longer do parents sit with their children and share the truths that were passed on from their parents and grandparents. {Yes, it is true that some families do share time together, and that is great. I am thankful for family time with my family, and my 'family-in-love'.}
NOW is the time to grow and learn TOGETHER. Each generation sharing with the one after it, and even sharing with the ones before. We can ALL learn from each other. Yes, the world is changing. Yes, the world is getting younger, but it is still getting older. Yes, we need to focus on the 'youth' of today and tomorrow, and make things flashy and fun for them... but we cannot lose faith in the generations of yesterday, in the timeless hymns and traditional values of the past. They are needed to show the example of love, faithfulness, loyalty, honour, grace, God's goodness through the years, and more! We have to remember we are still training and teaching them, and they us. We need to be applicable to ALL generations... if that means flashyness with large print, then so be it! :) HONOURING ALL generations is important, as the generations behind will see it, and live it out!
I am so glad that I am able to participate and glean from the teaching, training and just plain 'living out' of the 'teachers' & people who have imparted and do still impart into my life... but I am also glad that I myself, am blessed to be a part of training the next generations behind me. I have the ability (thanks to God of course for the giftings & talents, but also to my church and my career) to teach, train, and be a 'living example' for babies (0-18 months), children (18 months - 8 years), tweens (9 yrs - 12 yrs), and teens (13+). I see this as a challenge, yes, as the WORD OF GOD says that teachers will be judged more strictly. (James 3:1) "Do not be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you’d have a perfect person, in perfect control of life." (The Message) But most of all I see it as a BLESSING. I have a large SPHERE of INFLUENCE, who will learn and grow, and then teach the next generations behind them. Therefore, I need to live my life by example as well. For not only are the children watching and learning, but their parents and other adults are as well.
One of my 'LIFE VERSES' that Holy Spirit has shown me, and definitely one of the reasons why I do what I do {teaching & training the next generations} is found in Psalms 78 (verses 1-8) {"Listen, dear friends, to God’s truth, bend your ears to what I tell you. I’m chewing on the morsel of a proverb; I’ll let you in on the sweet old truths, Stories we heard from our fathers, counsel we learned at our mother’s knee. We’re not keeping this to ourselves, we’re passing it along to the next generation— God’s fame and fortune, the marvelous things he has done. He planted a witness in Jacob, set his Word firmly in Israel, Then commanded our parents to teach it to their children So the next generation would know, and all the generations to come— Know the truth and tell the stories so their children can trust in God, Never forget the works of God but keep his commands to the letter. Heaven forbid they should be like their parents, bullheaded and bad, A fickle and faithless bunch who never stayed true to God." - The Message} Verses 6&7 highlighted above, are the ones that stuck out.
"That the generation to come might know them, The children who would be born, That they may arise and declare them to their children, That they may set their hope in God, And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments;" (Psalms 78:6-7 NKJV)
"...so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands." (Psalms 78:6-7 NIV)
Living a life of love and being an example in all you say and do... that is a challenge and a half... there is always faults in everyone, and through God we can change and renew our lives to be more Christ-like. It's easy to fall into traps of temptation and sin, and to 'talk behind someone's back', to 'sneer' or 'roll your eyes' at someone, to speak words of hurt in bitterness, etc... but it's even easier to just take ONE STEP back to Jesus, and lay it all at His feet, and let Him renew and restore your heart and mind. It takes alot to remember that others are watching (especially if you are a teacher of any kind) -- and it is a 'slow fade', it doesn't happen all at once... the temptation/sin or the redemptive process... It's not an IMMEDIATE action to fall into temptation and sin, and it's also not an IMMEDIATE action to be renewed and restored. The CHANGE from the TOUCH of GOD's hand on your life is immediate, but you still have to make the right choices to do right, and our "thoughts invade, and choices are made" as in the words in the song 'Slow Fade' by Casting Crowns. All the words to the song are powerful -- but one line always hits me, "Be careful little feet where you go, for it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow".
BE AN EXAMPLE and if you know me, HELP ME to BE AN EXAMPLE, "so the next generations would know".
May you be BLESSED as you go, and remember there are always 'little eyes' watching you... (did you know that your eyes supposedly stay the same size as you grow -- so all eyes can be considered little?) Live it out, so that we produce stronger generations behind us.
Here's a video to SLOW FADE on Vimeo...
http://vimeo.com/7474108
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