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Lukewarm water or indecisive, indifferent. Hot water is good to soak and bathe in, to get clean. Cold water is refreshing and cooling. Lukewarm water is not good and is oftentimes stagnant and full of pollutants. 

 

As Christians, we should strive to not be lukewarm. We should never be lukewarm for Christ. We should always be working, obeying God, and doing what He says. We don’t have all the time in the world to get ready to work. The time is now! If the people don’t serve God when the church doors are open then how are you going to do it when the doors are closed? If you love God then you will be praying for revival and when it comes then you’ll be there to support it. Whatever God has called you to do then you better be doing it to the best of your abilities. God isn’t going to put you in a place where He knows you’re going to fail. You might struggle a little but in the end, the reward is greater.

Most live in a life that thinks that God owes us anything and everything we want. The Bible is clear that we deserve nothing and we are all wretched and poor. 

God wants us to place Him as number one in our lives. If we put anything in front of Him then we’ve got the cart before the horse. Whatever we place before God will let us down and steer us in the wrong direction. If God is first then He will lead and He knows where and what to do.

A lukewarm church just lets things happen regardless if the sin. In other words, it doesn’t care about the people that are dying and going to Hell. A church’s focus should be to please God and not others. It’ll wear out a person if they are constantly stepping around and over sin. It’s much easier to confront it, and deal with it according to God than to step over it. 

It’s not a surprise that one of the most discussed topics is how to parent. Thousands of books have been written, yet we already have a book.

As a mother, do you think you are a good mother based on your abilities? How about how much you can provide? Are you good at nurturing? These things are good and welcoming but they are not the most important to children. When it comes to raising children it takes parents. The father should not excuse themselves from raising their children as they often do. It’s not just the mother’s responsibility. Ephesians 5:20-21, it’s made clear that it takes both to submit to each other.

Children should also obey their parents. It’s not about an opinion that what one feels is right but what God says is right. Honoring your parents is a commandment that should always be kept. This means that children should be raised properly according to God. A child brought up without God will be disrespectful to authority for the rest of their life. If they will not obey you as a parent then how will they obey God? The future of the world is how we raise our children today. If a parent doesn’t raise a child in a Godly path then the future will be Godless.

Nurture = discipline

We’ve tried to change the definition of nurture. As a mother, you should love your child enough to nurture them. A child needs help from their mother to show them the correct way to go. People try to make up their own way.

Admonition = warning

A Godly mother should not be afraid to warn their child that there are two paths, one of destruction and the other of life. There are consequences to sin regardless of what you think. Just as soon as a child begins to know the difference between right and wrong you should jump at teaching. You should teach them that there are consequences to bad choices. Every child has the opportunity to do good and likewise evil. Some people think that they should just let the school system teach them right from wrong. However, it’s not the school's responsibility but the parents.

Consistency

It’s not about stature, education, thought, or feelings. Being consistent and unwavering in how one lives.

The way one lives on Monday should be the same as how one lives on Sunday.  A commitment to live constantly to do God’s work and obey Him. The laws of God should be obeyed regardless of the day of the week.

Church attendance is taught by the parents who bring their children to church no matter what.

Praying in front of your children is important and it shows who your God is. Praying over each meal shows consistency.

Your speech also teaches your children where your heart is. Out of the mouth comes from the heart. The manner of speech on Monday should be the same as it is in church on Sunday. One can say they love Jesus all day long but if they live like the devil then their deeds out way their words.

Correcting should always be consistent. Proverbs 13:24; if you as a parent withhold correction then you hate your child. If you don’t teach your child that their sibling's orange in the plate is not theirs then they will learn to steal.  Proverbs 29:15; Hebrews 12:5-6; Hebrews 12:11; correction and reproof are required of a parent to their children. God is the perfect example of a Heavenly Father and He knows what we need and when we need it. If He is the perfect example then we ought to follow His example.

Loving consistently should be a given. God’s love for us is unconditional. Ours should be no different than His. If you love someone then you will do whatever it takes to help them to do the right thing and go the right way.

A sower spread some seed and some of it fell upon the wayside. Once it had been placed the birds came and ate it. Some seeds landed into the stony ground and it couldn’t take a good root and it quickly died out. Other seeds fell in the weeds and it was choked out. Then some seeds fell amongst good, fertile ground. It began to grow and take root and flourished. 

Christians today receive the word and some fall amongst the wayside, stony ground, and thorns. When one looks into a mirror they are judgmental yet once away from it they forget the judgment of themselves. They are not reminded. A Christian doesn’t forget.

How many have gone into the world and said, we had a good service last night. When the person asks what the pastor preached on we couldn’t remember. The preacher works hard and studies the message yet we come into the church with our ground unworked and not ready to receive the seed of God. We are not to care about the things of this world and allow things to get to us. Yet we allow them to choke us out of a blessing from God. 

God knows everything including how many hairs are on (or off) your head. He knows what you’re doing and what you not doing.

Get ready for church. Get prayed up. Get repented up.

There will be a time when people will turn their ears away from sound doctrine and look for false doctrine. All around us today people claim to have a form of godliness yet deny Jesus Christ. If you’ve been saved then it will never leave you but, you can turn your back on it. In this reading, we see a child that left his first love. He requested from his father his inheritance as if he was dead. What a disrespect it is to look to your earthly father and demand your inheritance as if he was already dead. 

 

For the saved.

An even worse disrespectful act is to turn their back on God, the one that gave you life and can take your life. Rebelling against God never turns out good. Look around today and you quickly see that there isn’t a true God-fearing church that is full in attendance. This is because the people have left their first love. Church attendance does not declare salvation. But if you’ve been saved you’ll want to attend a church, there is a drawing. 

A saved person knows better because they know what God saved them from. Some people can take a dollar and turn it into 2, then take 2 and turn it into 4, etc. In a spiritual sense, we are given talents, through God’s blessing we can take those talents and turn them into a bunch more. If we stop God from working thinking we can do it on our own without Him, we can take those talents and waste them and lose them.

Chastisement is a proof of love. If chastisement isn’t made then the person doing wrong will never learn from right or wrong. God is in full control and He can do whatever He wants whenever he wants. Since He’s all-knowing He knows what chastisement is needed to keep us on track for the present and future.

In this reading, the famine was going on around the son who ran off. The famine was not happening at the father’s house. There is a difference between chastisement and punishment. Punishment is made for deeds done wrong. Chastisement is made out of love to turn from the wrong deeds. If you are not chastised by God then you are NOT one of God’s children. 

Once you’ve been chastised then you should repent. Repentance is a turning away from wrongdoing. How many people went to bed last night remembering they wanted to attend a church service this morning, yet didn’t attend? One can remember but if they do not turn, and repent, then they are still in sin.

Once true repentance is made, then forgiveness is made.

 

For the unsaved.

They are already on their way to Hell. 

Dwell means to settle, or to wed as in marriage. Many think that if they get married and it doesn’t work then they can just get out of it, a trial run if you will. It doesn’t work this way with God. Once you’re His then you’re His forever more.

 

The secret place. Being saved means that your relationship is in secret. No one knows the relationship between Him and you. His secret place is bountiful and full of His grace and love. The only way to get there is to go through Christ. The world is driving people mad because they think they can’t escape the chaos.

 

Abide means to stay permanently. We start by dwelling and then move into abiding. It’s like a drop of water in the ocean. The drop is part of the ocean and the ocean is part of the drop. One can’t separate the two once put together. 2 Corinthians 5, once one is Born Again then they are made a new creature.

 

The secret place is a protective place. The things of the world might come against you just as a storm blows through but His secret place is a place of protection. Under the roof of God! The perfect example of grace. God doesn’t make one come in out of the storm. We have a choice whether to stay in the storm or seek shelter under His wings.

 

A fortress, a walled area of protection. We may have to live in it or work around it, but we don’t have to be a part of it. He protects us while we go out into the world.

 

Habitation means a dwelling place. For people, our habitation is our home, where we live. For a saved person our habitation is the Lord. He bids us to come into His protection because He wants to help and keep us. 

 

There is only one way to get to God, Jesus Christ. He is the only one with the key to God’s secret place.