Day 3 Morning Session Rev Bimpe

God wants to raise strong men and women in this season, to war against spirits that are hindering men from calling on the name of the Lord. Though the enemy is fighting against God's purpose, he is still being used by God to fulfil His purpose. Challenging times ought to spur us to pray and by that, get us closer to God.
 
Seth trained his child, Enos, such that Enos was able to influence his generation to call upon the name of the Lord. God is interested in the way we raise and train our children. They are the future of the word of truth, but if they are weak, it becomes a lost cause. God trusted Abraham to command his children after him. In Abraham fulfilling this expectation, the Lord fulfilled all that He promised Abraham through his seed
 
Every child born with a prophecy would attract attacks from forces of evil to ensure the prophecies are not fulfilled.  This is why parents must war over their children. (Genesis 18:19). Parents must be strengthened by the Lord to raise children right. The strength required is everlasting life. God gave marriage to an everlasting man and woman, so it was never an afterthought.  
 
God made man, male and female. It was Adam that called Eve, a woman because she was taken out of man. The strength Adam had was everlasting and the name he gave her remained. (Genesis 2:23 -24).
 
When God required Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac did not resist despite being a strong youth, this is because he had been trained. When parents train their children, they will trust the judgement of their parents. Children are very observant, and they learn by watching the conversations of their parents.
 
Parents ought to train children in the way of salvation. We must not be deceived into thinking that children are too little to learn God. They can learn God early in their lives as the Spirit of God is more interested than we are, in the raising of these children. Children should be allowed to listen to what their fathers are teaching. Also, parents should take it upon themselves to drive in the reality of what they might have heard, by living out what is taught in church.
 
Parents do not own the children but are simply caretakers who have been allowed to raise them for God. Singles should also learn how to take care of children early by helping parents. They do not have to wait until they have theirs. A healthy woman would know how to take care of children.
 
A child who is properly trained will not be easily provoked. Parents should be loving but in training a child, such love must have boundaries in place; it is firm when firmness is needed. Parents should treat their children well because they will give the account back to their owner, God. They should point children towards the Father, God.
 
As children grow, they should be allowed to handle responsibilities at their levels. This will help prepare them to face challenges in life. Love will help them to grow well in God, but at times, the love may need to be in the form of chastisement.
 
Parents should not withhold corrections from children. Correction may involve words, but it could also require the rod; the rod is useful in the early years of a child. This is because a child who is entering his/her adolescent/teenage years can become hardened to the use of a rod rather than words for correction. The training of a child is a communal responsibility. It is not meant to be left to the parents alone. (Proverbs 23:13).
 
Children are very important to God and He can provide for their needs. Their education should be according to God's provision. Parents must therefore not go beyond their reach in seeking to give them a good education. What makes children are the things the parents put in them and not the education they receive. Thus, their training should not be left alone to teachers.  
 
If God desires to have a child and the parents hinder Him from accessing such a child, He can take the child to another home where he will be raised to what God wants. Parents should therefore not be obstacles in God’s way.
 
In correcting a child with a rod, a parent must be careful not to correct in anger. No matter how stubborn a child is, parents are obligated to keep praying for them while also correcting them in love. They should not be compared to other children who are seemingly doing well. Parents should also not use negative words on children.  
 
By the Spirit, we will be instructed on how to care of them, and we must follow through with it. We should not use a rod when we ought to correct with words and vice versa. Children are very important for this everlasting work because they are the future of it.
 
Training children is majorly that of the mother, but fathers have a vital role to play as well. Fathers are figures of authority, set to bring order and sanity to the home. Therefore, mothers should not disdain fathers so that the children will not dishonour them and their authority, as they need their fatherly blessing. The father is the source, and he is the one who blesses the children.

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