Judges 2:6-10

Children grow up watching their parents. From toddlers to teenagers, their parents’ actions are seeded in them and no matter how much that child attempts to grow up differently than their father or mother, in time the seeds instilled in them, eventually bring out the good or bad characteristics of what they have been raised around. 

When a child grows up with parents with a good marriage, in other words a father and mother respecting, loving and caring for each other, something incredible happens. The son grows up observing how a man should treat a woman. The daughter knows what to look for in a man who would be suitable for her. Like her dad is to her mom. Those parents have instilled those good seeds, not just by verbal communication, but by their actions as husband, wife, mother and father. That is fertilization for those seeds in the next generation.

When parents live and represent the ungodly lifestyle, their next generation will create a different way of life. Seeding into a version that is not pleasing to God. This is what happened in the generation after Joshua. In Judges, we find that Joshua’s generation lived by what they witnessed and knew about God and His miracles in their lives. But in verse 10 it says that after Joshua’s generation, “… another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works He had done…” The godly way of life was not performed in front of that next generation of children. And because they did not know, observe or even hear about what God had done for His people, they began to look to other worldly things to worship and believe in.

Because they did not learn to have faith in what they could not see, they learned to depend on what they could touch, see and smell. They never learned the true meaning behind the real power of God, so they depended on doing things under their own power. When the next generation never learned to have faith, they left themselves open to compromise and submitting to the world and its ways.

As Christians we should always allow the testimonies we have of God’s power in our lives to be shown and seeded in our children. So that they may carry the history of God’s work on to the next generation. This will seed into the next generation allowing them to live out new testimonies from their lives in what God has done for them. It is our duty to keep what we know as witnesses alive in our children. So that they too can live their lives experiencing God’s miracles. 

May God continue to bless, keep and protect you as you journey in Jesus’ name.
 
Amen
 
~Billy

John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.” ~CSB

My wife and I have found that in raising our son, we are able to seed in him better when we tag team. Not necessarily ‘Good cop/Bad cop’, but we recognize the strength in each other. When having a serious conversation with our son on any given occasion, either my wife’s voice or word is stronger than mine, or other days it will be me who would have the stronger seed.

In other words, we know when to decrease and allow the other to increase because the message we are both attempting to send to him will be received better when we don’t try to stand in front of each other to be heard. In the text, John the Baptist tells everyone that he has come before the Messiah so that he can prepare everyone for Jesus. Now that Jesus is here, he will now decrease so that the Messiah can increase.

This is the same in our walk as believers. We must have the same decerning for decreasing. You see, Jesus has allowed us the counselor. He advocated to God on our behalf for our helper, the Holy Spirit, to walk with us in guidance. It is our job to recognize and react by decreasing in our own power. We must allow the Holy Spirit to increase in us so that we say the right words, so that we walk in the right direction and we receive the wisdom we need for God’s purpose in our lives through the Holy Spirit. Decreasing keeps us from getting in our own way.

This week, practice decreasing in situations when we don’t know what to do. Practice decreasing in situations where we don’t know what to say. And definitely practice decreasing when we begin to fail at showing God’s love to others. Practice it. And watch the power of the Holy Spirit increase and experience the true victory in God’s purpose for our lives.

May God bless and keep you protected and provided for as you walk in Jesus’ name.
 
Amen