Your Kids Are Watching

Dr. Jeff Schreve: Dads, you have such a great opportunity with your kids to make a difference. God just wired it that way. He set it up that way. I mean, the way you are to your children, that's the way they're going to interact with God the Father. God says, dads, I want you to join me. I want you to take my hand and together we're going to bring the blessing home to your sons and to your daughters. You walk with me and we're going to bring the blessing together.
Larry Nobles: Thank you for joining us today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve, who's going to continue teaching fathers about how to get a blessing to their families. Now, online, there are lots of ways to give reviews, good or bad, to businesses. These approval ratings really impact future buyers. Dads, if your family were to give you a Yelp rating, what kind of approval rating would you get? We're learning what it takes for you dads to be a blessing to your family in the lesson bringing home the blessing. It's from Pastor Jeff's eight-lesson series, Do You Want to Be Blessed? How to Experience the Goodness of God. We aired part one last time, and you can easily listen to that online again anytime at fromhishart.org. Just click the listen link. Now though, open your Bible to Proverbs chapter 20 verse 7. Here's Pastor Jeff with part two of the message for dads called Bringing Home the Blessings.
Dr. Jeff Schreve: Joshua Hugh Wooden. He was never famous. Nobody really knew where much about him, but he wasn't invisible at home. He wasn't invisible to his sons. He made such an impact on his boys, especially on one of his sons named John. John Wooden became the coach of the UCLA Bruins in 1946. John Wooden's name is a legend. He's regarded by many as the greatest college basketball coach to have ever lived. Now, his dad, nobody knows he was invisible to the town, but John Wooden, his son, everyone knows when asked, John, how would you like to be remembered? He said this, I would like to be remembered as a man who came as close as possible to being like my father. Wow. What impact Joshua Hugh Wooden had on his family, on his sons, especially on his son John, who went on to influence and impact millions. Well, I'm going to talk about fathers, but not to bash you, to build you up, to encourage you, and to encourage myself, because we need to see the great impact that God has given to us the opportunity to impact our children and to make them happy as they see Christ in us. So, let's talk about bringing home the blessing. How do you do that? What does it take to bring home the blessing to your sons and to your daughters? Three ingredients, very simple. Three ingredients. First of all, it takes righteousness. God is a just and holy and righteous God, and he says, I want you to be righteous. A righteous man who walks in his integrity. How blessed are his sons after him. And one of the wonderful things, if you want to be a righteous man, a righteous woman, a righteous boy, a righteous girl, if you want to be righteous, the very first thing that's required in order to be righteous is you have to see that you're unrighteous. See you must see your unrighteousness if you want to be righteous. Psalm 143 verse 2 says, in your sight, Lord, no man living is righteous. We're all sinners before God. You can't become righteous until first you see, as Isaiah saw, woe is me. For I'm undone. I am unrighteous before a holy God. So, you want to be a righteous man, you must first see your unrighteousness, and number two, you must receive the righteous one. You receive the righteous one. A great verse is in Isaiah 53 verse 11. Isaiah 53 verse 11 speaks of the cross, and the whole chapter in Isaiah 53 speaks of the suffering servant Jesus on the cross. And the scripture says this, out of that terrible travail of soul. What a understatement really when you think of the cross and what Jesus went through. Out of that terrible travail of soul, he'll see that it was worth it and be glad he did it. Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant will make many righteous ones as he himself carries the burden of their sins. See, the unrighteous one comes to the righteous one, and the righteous one makes you righteous. The New Testament equivalent to Isaiah 53 verse 11 is second Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21 that says, God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. So, that's the first ingredient. It takes righteousness. A righteous man who walks in his integrity. How blessed, how happy, how fortunate are his children after him. Second ingredient, not only does it take righteousness, it takes integrity. A righteous man who walks in his integrity. You say, what is integrity? Integrity is living out your righteousness. It's living out that which the Lord put inside of you when he saved you, when he wrapped you in a robe of righteousness. Integrity is the opposite of hypocrisy. It's living genuine and it's living true. It's being consistent with the person that you are on the inside, with the person that the Lord has made you to be. The person of integrity, that doesn't mean you're perfect. If you have to be perfect to have integrity, then no one has integrity. Cuz there's none perfect. There's none righteous. There's none just, not even one. He is just. He is righteous. He is perfect. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So, to be a person of integrity doesn't mean you have to be perfect. It means you have to be honest and genuine and real and deal with sin in your life. Look what it says in 1 John chapter 1 6 and 7. If we say we have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. This is what veneer over particle board. It says that it's solid. It says that it has fellowship with him so to speak, but it lies. And when you see the underbelly of it, you see, hey, this isn't genuine. This isn't consistent. You're presenting one side, but this is what we see in and this is not solid. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another in the blood of Jesus, his son cleanses us from all sin. See, that's a person of integrity. They walk in the light. They're not throwing sheets over things in their life. They are not hiding stuff in the closet and saying that's you know, if I just poke out my own eyes, I don't see that. No, they're dealing with it. And when they mess up, they fess up. Man, that that is so important, especially for dads. Hey, when you mess up, fess up. When you mess up with God, you bring your sin before the Lord. If we confess our sins, the Bible says he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But hey, if you try and cover over your sin, there's a man in the Bible who did that. His name was Achan. He covered over his sin, and the Lord says, I see that. Cuz the eyes of the Lord are in every place watching the evil and the good. I see that. And what did God do? God exposed his sin. Achan would have done much better to say, Lord, I've messed up, but he didn't. He tried to cover it over. You never get ahead trying to cover things over. You know what dads need to learn? Everyone needs to learn this, but dads especially. Three things that you need to learn to be a great dad. You need to learn to say, I was wrong. You need to learn secondly how to say, I'm sorry. Thirdly, please forgive me. I have three daughters, as many of you know. I thought about that. Okay, how has Jeff done with this with his own girls? So, I called uh Amy, my middle daughter, in Austin. I said, Amy, can you ever remember a time where I did something to you that really hurt your feelings and I had to apologize? And before I could finish the sentence, she said, yes. So, really? She was, yeah, you remember when we were driving home from Austin, you got so mad at me uh when I was driving? I said, you remember you're talking about the time you almost killed us? Yeah, I do remember that. She goes, yeah, you really hurt my feelings. We had a time in there on the drive, we weren't talking, and you had to apologize to me. I said, yeah, I remember that. Man. But you forgave me, right? She goes, yeah, I forgave you because you asked me to forgive you, so I forgave you. So, good. Okay. I called Sarah. I said, Sarah, do you ever remember a time when dad did something that really hurt your feelings and I had to ask Yes, I do. She told me about a time where I made her feel stupid and hurt her feelings in front of a group and and I said, yeah, but I asked if you'd forgive me. I told you I was wrong. She says, yeah, that's right, you did, but don't do it again. I called Jill this morning, my oldest daughter. I said, Jill, has there ever been a time when dad has done something to you that really hurt you that I had to to get right with you? She goes, I can't think of anything, dad. I said, you've always been my favorite. Then she thought a little longer. She goes, well, there was this time, you know, it had to do with driving again where she almost killed me. I don't do well teaching my kids to drive. But listen, you're honest. You're not perfect. I'm not perfect. No, no one is perfect. But you can learn to say, I was wrong. I 'm sorry. Please forgive me and make things right. When you mess up, you fess up. That's how you walk with God. That's how you have a good marriage. That's how you have good relationships with people, and that is how you have a good relationship with each one of your children. When you hurt their feelings and you know you are at fault, you make it right. So, you can be a person of integrity cuz you don't have to be perfect. You just have to be honest.
Larry Nobles: Honesty means truthful, sincere, and fair in what you say and do. It includes refusing to lie, deceive, cheat, or hide the truth. Or as Pastor Jeff Schreve often says, if you mess up, fess up. Always. Pastor Jeff returns on From His Heart in just a moment. Close out our lesson today. It's called Bring Home the Blessings, part two. But first, he wants to take just a moment to issue a personal invitation. Pastor.
Dr. Jeff Schreve: Hi, Pastor Jeff here, and I'm excited to announce that we'll be going to Israel in 2027. Our trip is set for April 2nd through the 11th, and we would love for you to join us as we walk where Jesus walked. Hey, this is truly the trip of a lifetime as the sacred places you've only read about will now be seen up close and in full color. You can find out all the details by going to our website fromhishart.org. That's fromhishart.org and follow the link titled Holy Land 2027. I look forward to having you with us for this awesome experience in the land of Israel.
Larry Nobles: Well, a trip of your dreams for sure. Again, go to fromhishart.org. Go to the homepage there, scroll down just a tad, and click the Holy Land graphic. All your questions can be answered there. Join us, won't you? You will be blessed. Now, back to the conclusion to our lesson Bring Home the Blessing. Here's Pastor Jeff.
Dr. Jeff Schreve: And then know this, a person of integrity lives safe and secure. Proverbs chapter 10 verse 9 says this, he who walks in integrity walks securely. He walks safely. He walks with confidence, but he who perverts his ways will be found out. He who twists his ways, he who makes his ways crooked, he who cheats, he who takes the easy way. He who perverts his ways will be found out. But if you walk in integrity, you walk securely. And listen, if you have done something that you said this would bring shame on me, you are not alone. I think everybody in this room has something in their past that they said, yeah, you know, I wouldn't want you to put my sin on the big screen because it would bring such terrible tremendous shame. I want to tell you something where the devil gets so much of his power. He gets his power when you're silent about your sin. He gets his power when you put your sin in the closet. Maybe you've confessed it to God, but you don't tell anybody else about this, and you have this shame-filled secret in your life that you've covered over, that you tried so hard to protect. I don't want anybody to know this. Listen, the moment that you pull that out of the closet and you share it with another brother or sister or somebody that you can trust, say, you know, I've confessed this to God, but I need to confess this to you because the Bible says in James chapter 5, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The moment that you confess it to another, it loses its power. And people can know and people can pray for you and people can hold you up and people can hold you accountable. He who walks in integrity walks securely, but he who perverts his ways will be found out. Hey, do you want to bring home the blessing? A righteous man. You don't have the righteousness he does, and he wants to give it to you. A righteous man who walks in his integrity, who lives out his righteousness, who walks with God, who deals with sin in his life, who walks in the light. That man. How blessed and happy and fortunate and to be envied are his sons and his daughters after him. It takes righteousness. It takes integrity. And thirdly, it takes priority. Priority. Your kids and your family have to be a priority. Listen, dads have such a great gift from God in children. I talked to a dear couple just this week, and we prayed for the Lord to give them children because they want children and they're unable right now to have children. We're believing God that they're going to be able to have children. He so wants to be a dad. She so wants to be a mom. And it doesn't make sense in our minds why some people have kids and throw them away and others who would give them such a good and godly family, they have trouble. But listen, we should never Dads, moms too, but dads, don't take your kids for granted. Kids are a gift from God. Psalm 127 verse 3 says, behold children are a gift of the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward. That's a reward from God. And here's the tendency that we all have, that I have, is we we have our kids and we love our kids, but we we kind of put our kids on the back burner. Why? Because we got to go slay the giants. We got to go out there and climb the corporate ladder. We got to do well for our family and we got to bring home the bacon for our family. And And if you're not careful, you can spend so much time in the workplace that you don't spend near enough time at the homestead. And you say, well, I'm providing for you nice things. But listen, your kids don't want your stuff. They want you. They want you. The same Psalm that says children are a gift of the Lord. It says in the verse right above that, it is vain for you to rise up early, to retire late, to eat the bread of painful labors. For he gives to his beloved even in his sleep. God will bless you. God will take care of you if you honor and put priority on your family. Of course, you work hard, but don't let work consume you. Keep things in perspective. Keep them in balance. And remember, your kids want to spend time with you. I read an story this morning as I was studying. Charles Francis Adams was a 19th century political figure and diplomat. He was the son of President John Quincy Adams, the grandson of President John Adams. He was a big shot. Came from a family of big shots. Charles Francis Adams kept a diary, and one day he made this entry, went fishing with my son today. A day wasted. His son Brooke also kept a diary. And on that same day, he wrote, went fishing with my father. The most wonderful day of my life. Kids want you. They want to spend time with you, dad. Because as Robert Louis said, dad is destiny for child. Mom is wonderful, but dad There's something about dad. Dad is just big and dad is strong and and mom's great, but she's not dad. I mean, if there's a fight between mom and dad, who wins? Dad cuz dad's tough. But they just look There's just something about dad in the home. I was like that as a kid. Weren't you like that as a kid? There's something about your dad. You know, he's not there all the time like you're so so much of the time like mom is. So, dad is just he's like the king. He's like royalty and you just want to be around dad and dad can solve problems and dad can fix stuff and that's the way it is for kid. Listen, dads, you have such a great opportunity with your kids to make a difference. God just wired it that way. He set it up that way. I mean, the way you are to your children, that's the way they're going to interact with God the Father. Someone has well said, a child is going to have a hard time finding a father in God if they can't find much of God in their father. And you can be that. God says, see, that's the wonderful thing about this blessing that God wants to bring. God says, dads, I want you to join me. I want you to take my hand and together we're going to bring the blessing home to your sons and to your daughters. You walk with me and we're going to bring the blessing together. Joshua Hugh Wooden. I shared with you a little bit about him. The farm that he got, that was his wife's inheritance when her parents died. 65-acre farm. And they were barely scraping by with their crops. And so Joshua Wooden said, you know, we need to have a little bit of a safety net here in case the crops fail. And so he bought a bunch of hogs. He had to mortgage the farm to buy the hogs. And then he said, I don't want my hogs to get sick. So, he bought some cholera vaccine to vaccinate the hogs. But the cholera vaccine he got was tainted. And so when he gave the vaccine to the hogs, every single hog died. And then they had a drought that year and he had no crops. And the bank came and foreclosed and he lost the farm. And it was a hard time for their family. They had to move. And like I told you, he had to work in this hot mineral bath place. And he felt the weight of losing his wife's inheritance. And John Wooden said, it was in that time, the way my father handled that adversity. He told us, boys, never whine, never complain, never blame, never make excuses, always do your best. Don't hate. It does no good. And he said, I saw my dad live that out. And it was one of the most powerful things that I witnessed as a boy. John Wooden said this, when I saw that in my dad, that's where I came to see what you do is more important than what you say you do. If we say we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, God's son, cleanses us from all sin. What you say you do versus what you really do when the chips are down. That reveals so much. And hey, maybe you're a dad and you're going through some really hard times, some really hard times financially. Man, your kids are watching. It's an opportunity for you to impact them for the rest of their lives. Dads, your kids watch you. And you have such an opportunity to make a difference in their lives.
Larry Nobles: You're listening to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Schreve today. And our prayer is that every dad listening right now would desire more than anything else to be the example that God would want you to be, to be solid in your faith and know that he wants to use you to be a blessing to your children and family. As a father, there's not another higher calling and responsibility than to be there for your children and help them to understand what it means to be on blessing ground with God. Hey guys, we have to be an example to our family. Today's message was called Bringing Home the Blessing. We heard part two today. It's from Pastor Jeff's series, Do You Want to Be Blessed? How to Experience the Goodness of God. The best way to be a blessing is to love God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength, and to live a life that makes that truth evident, loud and clear. God's love for us is beyond amazing for sure. And to help that truth sink into your heart even deeper, we'd like to send you Pastor Jeff's seven message series we aired earlier this month called Beyond Amazing, Understanding the Grace of God. You can get it in the format of your choice for your gift of any amount. Call 86640 Bible. 86640 Bible. Or go online to fromhishart.org. And thank you for being a part of this ministry that is impacting you, your hometown, and the world with the word of God. And thank you for joining us today. I'm Larry Nobles inviting you to be right back here tomorrow when Pastor Jeff will have another powerful, inspiring, and truth-filled lesson about God's amazing grace. That's when we'll open up God's word and share real truth, real love, and real hope from his heart.