Restoring Faith in the House

I welcomed my first grandchild into my family just before the turn of the year. What a joy she is! Since then, I’ve been shopping for her, showering her with pretty little outfits. When I was visiting her in Australia, I cradled her in my arms from feed to feed. She was mine. Many titles are earned, but the title “Grandpa” is one that can only be given to you by grandchildren. What a privilege!

Beyond the physical gifts and smooches, I had the joy of dedicating her to the Lord at her Baby Dedication service. I didn’t do it as a pastor. I did it as a GRAND. God has given us a sphere of spiritual authority in our families. Whether you are Dad, Mom, Brother, Sister, youngest or oldest in your household, the greatest gift we can give to our family is the Gift of Faith.

Some of our families have misplaced faith – especially since weathering the pandemic over the last two years. Being unable to physically meet with the community of faith regularly or even be in church together as a household has sidelined your walk with the Lord.

Some of you may be the only believer in your family, circumstances have become more chaotic, and you are struggling to believe the promise in Acts 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”

Whether you’ve been discouraged, disappointed, distracted, or disillusioned – there is no displaced faith too far for the Lord to restore. God wants to restore faith in you to believe in His redemption plan for your household.

How can we restore faith in our households?

It begins with YOU. Just like how I dedicated my children and now my grandchild. We all have spiritual spheres of influence in our families. And our words and actions can either cause faith in our homes to be displaced even further, or be restored back into our homes.

Declare Boldly. 2 Corinthians 9:6 reminds us: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” What are you sowing into your family? Kindness? Forgiveness? Or hostility?

As we ride out of the pandemic toward being endemic as a nation, and churches reopen, be God’s restorer of faith in your household and speak boldly.

Encourage siblings who’ve stopped attending church to return to the house of the Lord. Break fear in your elderly parents to have faith and bring them back to the community of faith.

Parents, model and teach your children to put God first. You may have signed them up for a multitude of enrichment courses, but will you be just as eager to sign them up for church camps and conferences? Will you set aside the Sabbath for them to worship and encounter God? Beyond wise financial investments, sow generously into spiritual investments!

Pray Relentlessly. When was the last time you prayed and fasted for your family? There is power in prayer. Conversely, there is none when we don’t pray. You can talk about the power of prayer all day, but if you don’t get down on your knees to pray, nothing will change.

If you want to see a restoration of faith in your house – you have to pray, fervently, unceasingly and relentlessly. God is not hard of hearing. But it’s the expression of our dependency and an affirmation of our trust in Him. When we give up praying, we allow the waves and storms of the circumstances to swallow us. But when we press on in prayer, holding on to God until our breakthrough comes, that’s when we see the manifestation of faith released into our circumstances.

Faith is often challenged in a crisis. Don’t give up! Pray until the breakthrough comes. Pray until the restoration is complete.

What you do today counts for eternity. The only time we have to spend is the time that is yet to come. We can’t change the past. We can’t change who our parents are. We can’t change who we were before. We can’t change the way we have raised our children. But God can restore – making it better than before.

Choose today to make a difference and be the change today that will impact your life, future, and destiny, plus the lives of those around you – especially your family.

让神的家恢复信心

我在2022年快到来之际迎接了家里的第一个孙。她真是我们的喜悦！从那天起，我一直在为她买东西，买了一件又一件漂亮的小童装。当我去澳洲探望她时，我把她抱在怀里一次次喂奶。她是我的。我们有很多称谓是靠自己获取的，但是“爷爷”、“外公”这些称呼只有你的孙儿孙女能给你。这是多么大的荣幸！

除了送上礼物和亲吻之外，我愉悦地在婴儿奉献礼上将她奉献给主。我不是以牧师的身份，而是以祖父的身份将她献上。神在我们的家庭中给了我们属灵权柄的领域。无论你是爸爸、妈妈、兄弟、姐妹、家中最小的还是最大的，你能给家人的最美好的礼物就是信心。

我们当中有些家庭已失去了信心，尤其在经历两年大流行的煎熬之后更是如此。无法定期和主内的弟兄姐妹实体聚会，甚至无法如往常一样全家人一起上教会，使他们与主的关系疏远了。

你也许是家里唯一的信徒。情况的愈加混乱，也导致你挣扎着相信使徒行传 16:31 中的应许：“当信主耶稣，你和你一家都必得救。”

无论是灰心、失望、焦虑还是理想破灭，不论你的信心丢失在何处，神都能恢复它。神要恢复你的信心，使你能够相信祂为你的家庭所定的救赎计划。

我们如何才能恢复家人的信心？

一切从你做起。就像我如何奉献我的孩子，现在又奉献我的外孙女一样，在我们的家庭中，我们都有属灵领域的影响力。我们的言行能够导致家人的信心更加软弱，也能够恢复家人的信心。

大胆地宣告。 哥林多后书9:6 提醒我们 “少种的少收，多种的多收”。你在家庭里播什么种？仁慈？ 饶恕？还是敌意？

随着我国从大流行过渡到地方性流行病，教会重新开放，让我们作神的信心修复者，在自己的家中大胆地宣告。

让我们鼓励停止参加聚会的兄弟姐妹回到神的殿，破除年长父母的惧怕，带领他们回到这个信心的群体。

父母要作孩子的榜样，教导他们把神摆在首位。你或许安排了孩子上多个强化课程，你也会兴致勃勃地为他们报名参加教会的营会和研习会吗？你愿意把安息日分别为圣，让他们敬拜神，与神相遇吗？除了明智的财务投资之外，我们更要慷慨地进行属灵的投资！

恒切地祈祷。 你上一次为家人禁食祷告是什么时候？祷告是有能力的，不祷告就没有能力。你可以日夜把祷告的能力挂在嘴边，但如果你不跪下来祷告，什么都不会改变。

如果你想看到家人恢复信心，你就必须热切地、不断地、恒切地祷告。神不是听不见的。通过祷告，我们表达对神的依靠，确定对神的信靠！当我们放弃祷告时，我们就允许情势的风浪吞噬我们。但当我们坚持祷告，紧紧抓住神，直到看到突破时，信心的彰显就使我们经历神的介入。

信心经常在危机中受到挑战。不要放弃，祷告直到经历突破；祷告直到修复完成。

你今天所做的对永恒来说是有影响的。我们只能够动用未来的时间，因为我们无法改变过去，无法改变我们的父母是谁，无法改变以前的我们，无法改变抚养孩子的方式。但是，神能够恢复——使情况比以前更好。

我鼓励你，今天就选择带来变化，让你的行动影响你的明天、你的未来、你的命定和你周围的人，尤其是你家人的生命。