Arrows: Living Toward the Target

Notes: Arrows: Living Toward the Target

Psalm 127: 1-5

Pastor Levi Lusko

Dec 28, 2014

Levi is telling us about going to Glacier National Park where he was preparing if he ran across a Grizzly Bear. His dad asked when they should put it on the bear repellant. You don’t put it on, it is like really strong mace.

He said you can have something like the bear repellent and not know how to use it. Levi said just because we have children it doesn’t mean we know what to do with them.

Psalm 127:1-5New King James Version (NKJV)

127 Unless the Lord builds the house,

They labor in vain who build it;

Unless the Lord guards the city,

The watchman stays awake in vain.

2 It is vain for you to rise up early,

To sit up late,

To eat the bread of sorrows;

For so He gives His beloved sleep.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,

The fruit of the womb is a reward.

4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,

So are the children of one’s youth.

5 Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;

They shall not be ashamed,

But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.

7 Take Away Truths for the New Year:

1. Children are a blessing, not a burden.

If you have a child you have been rewarded.

We have so much more responsibility with children, yet life is so much greater with them.

Blessings are easy to mix up with burdens because they are both heavy.

When God gives you a child, He is giving you a platform unparalleled like nothing else.

Your children can learn who God is because of you, or in spite of you.

Faith is the key to seeing it as a blessing. 

2 Corinthians 4:18 NKJV

while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

With parenting, the days are long but the years are short.

Don’t miss the beauty because of the mess that is right in front of you.

2. There are lots of different arrows, but only one target.

In real arrows there are over 180 different kinds of arrows. Just like kids, there are lots of different kids.

All the kids will grow up to be lots of different things, but there is only One Target that they are aiming to attain.

Kids have lots of different attitudes and love languages, but we must get them all on the same path to Christ.

Matthew 6:33 NKJV

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 

There is nothing more important than to get your children aimed towards Christ. 

We can not make them follow Christ, but we can do everything we can to give them the opportunity to know Christ.

If you do not, then you will never have the peace that you did all you can do to get your children to Heaven.

Joshua 24:15b NKJV

But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Many say: as for me and my house we will:

play soccer

get straight As

go to an ivy league school 

etc. etc.

There is no such thing as an atheist, everybody puts something ahead of everything else.

Levi says he feels led to tell us about this subject because when he lost his child at such a young age he has the hope of seeing her again.

3. Arrows can extend your reach.

Ephesians 3:20 NKJV

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 

Ephesians 2:10 NKJV

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

What is more important than your children knowing they have a higher calling?

Deuteronomy 28:10 NKJV

Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. 

We do not punish our children, we are to discipline our children. Discipline your children because you love them and keeping them on the correct path.

4. They Can’t Know What You Don’t Tell Them.

Deuteronomy 6:7 NKJV

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 

You don’t teach kids only during formal times, you teach them about Jesus throughout the day.

We should use all of life as an opportunity to teach our children. We are meant to help and shape our kids into followers of Christ.

If you don’t teach your kids about life, someone else will.

Proverbs 20:15 NKJV

There is gold and a multitude of rubies, But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

Charles Spurgeon said: 

"Men cannot quite forget the teachings of a holy fireside; they may somewhat, but not utterly. The seed may lie buried long in dust, but the day will come when under other circumstances the hidden life will germinate. A verse of an old familiar hymn may lead the man of eighty to the Saviour, though he learned it when a child; the holy text, which like bread was cast on the waters, shall be found again after many days. I believe in the Holy Spirit, and in his sacred care for divine truth. He will not permit the word of God to fail; his holy influence, like the rain and the snow, shall not return void to heaven; it shall water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud. It is ours to continue blessing youth with holy and godly instruction, and God will crown our efforts to the bringing of his banished ones to himself."

5. They Can’t Follow What You Don’t Show Them.

When kids are young they do what you tell them, when they get old, they do what you showed them.

Your children shouldn’t ask if they are going to church.

The greatest gift you can give to your kids is to be present.

45% of homes in America are single parent homes.

Strong Dads, Strong Daughters a book Levi recommends.

Girls with dads present are more satisfied with themselves, and many many more positive life experiences.

If you are a dad in the home, know that you are a hero to someone.

6. Stance Matters. Plant Your Feet and Stand Firm.

To shoot an Arrow accurately, you need your feet and your bow anchored.

If you want to know how to run your house, you need to plant your family in God’s house.

You must be prepared for the trial that you are not yet in.

7. Arrows Are a Weapon and This is War.

The Christian life is not a play ground it is a battle ground.

F.W. Boreham said: "When God sees that in this poor old world a wrong needs righting or a truth needs preaching or a benefit needs inventing, He sends a baby into the world to do it.”

Raise a child that knows the Lord and let them Shine the Light of the Gospel into this dark world.