THE CROSS AND THE FAMILY

The Cross Of Jesus Is God's Plus Sign
To The Family

F-A-M-I-L-Y. As a service project, a group of high school students served dinner at a local shelter for the homeless. One of the "dinner guests" wrote a letter to the adult leader and requested that she read it to the youth group. The handwritten letter read:

Dear Friends:
Thank you for the fine meal. Most of us are here today for three main reasons: (1) Lack of education; (2) Drug and alcohol addiction; (3) Alienation from family and friends. So you won't be here one day in the future on the RECEIVING end of all this good food and hospitality, PLEASE (1) Stay in school; (2) Stay away from drugs and alcohol; (3) Stay in close contact with family. Thank you for the fine meal.

The family is God's premiere institution. It is that which He primarily works through to manifest His will to a city, a county, a state and a nation. But what happens when a family falls apart and becomes dysfunctional?

THE CROSS OF JESUS IS DYSFUNCTION JUNCTION

Dysfunctional families produce disenfranchised children. These families aren't just the homeless or poor. They are the families which live in suburbia. They are the middle class and upper class. They are church going families and they are the cream of the crop families. Dysfunction can--and does--happen to all types of families.

However, if there is any thing on Earth that can break apart and then fix all dysfunction and all disenfranchisement, it is the cross of Jesus Christ.

As I walk the cross throughout California cities, this is what I share with the moms and dads who approach the large cross and ask for prayer for their family and their children:

The very last word of the very last Scripture in the Old Testament tells us what the fathers' abandonment of their children has done and is doing to our city (and nation). That word is C-U-R-S-E: "And [the Spirit of Elijah] will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse" (Malachi 4:6, emphasis added).

The 5th chapter of the book of Zechariah describes this curse as a large flying scroll that flies across the face of the earth and enters the house of sinners.

What can break all dysfunction? What can nullify "the curse"? The cross of Jesus and everything it represents is dysfunction junction! It is that which can transform men into crucified husbands and dads. And crucified husbands and dads can become spiritual men who walk in the Spirit each and every day and lead their families to THE WAY.

AN ENCOURAGING WORD FOR ALL MEN

Allowing the Spirit of God to make us Ephesians 6 husbands and dads is how God breaks all dysfunctions in the family. Ephesians 6 shows men the proper way to treat their wives and children. More than a wife respecting her husband or children obeying their father, the Holy Spirit places the burden and responsibility of maintaining a happy and healthy family squarely on the shoulders of the father/husband.

God is for husbands and fathers. He wants us to win, not lose. So He gave us the Bible as a guidebook as far as marriage and family are concerned. And he expects us to follow these guidelines. There are many guidelines, but here are three vital guidelines for all husbands/fathers to follow when it comes to the family:

1. BECOME BORN AGAIN.
Jesus declared that, unless we are born again, we CANNOT (1) see the kingdom of God and (2) we CANNOT enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3,5). To be born again simply means that we ask God to forgive our sins and accept Jesus Christ as personal Savior.

2. BE LED BY THE SPIRIT EACH DAY.
The Holy Spirit, in many ways, is God's conscience in us. That is, the Holy Spirit will always prompt us to do God's will concerning all things. He will convict us if we sin or stray from God's ways. He will convince us that  what we are doing is either right or wrong. And He will convert our way of thinking to conform to God's way of thinking.

3. BE A MAN OF GOD.
There are three things a man must constantly be aware of: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life if he is to grow spiritually and strong in the Lord: (1 John 2:16). The lust of the flesh desires the "toys" and things of the world more than doing the will of God. The lust of the eyes includes the imagination and things associated with fantasy, which will keep a man spiritually immature and nongrowing in his walk with Jesus. The pride of life is living life apart from God and His ways, especially if God's ways seem unpopular or even unfair.

AN ENCOURAGING SCRIPTURE

You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back. For Hell cannot thank You, death cannot praise You; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth. The living man, the living man, he shall praise You, as I do this day. The father shall make known Your truth to the children. --Isaiah 38:17-19