Six
Battles Every Man Must Win
Part
3: Fight For
Your Family
Pastor
Darrin Wright – February 10, 2008
I.
·
Key Text: 1 Samuel 30:19(NASB)- “But
nothing of theirs was missing, whether small or great, sons or daughters, spoil
or anything that they had taken for themselves; David brought it all back.”
·
Key Person: David
·
David and his
men came to Ziklag and found that the Amalekites had overthrown Ziklag
and burned it.
·
The Amalekites also took captive all of the women and children.
·
Look at how the
Bible says David and his men responded to what they found.
·
1 Samuel 30:4 (NASB) – “Then David and the people who were with him
lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep.”
·
1 Samuel 30:6 (NASB) – “Moreover David was greatly distressed because the
people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one
because of his sons and his daughters.
But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.”
·
1 Samuel 30:8 (NASB) – “David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I
pursue this band? Shall I overtake
them? And He said to him, Pursue for you
will surely overtake them, and you will surely rescue all.”
·
1 Samuel 30:16 (NASB) – “When he had brought him down, behold they were
spread over all the land, eating and drinking and dancing because of all the
great spoil that they had taken from the land of the Philistines and from the
land of Judah.”
·
1 Samuel 30:17 (NASB) – “David slaughtered them
from the twilight until the evening of the next day; and not a man of them
escaped, except four hundred young men who rode on camels and fled.”
·
Hundreds of
men were reunited with their wives and children. Every man who embraced his family did so
because he was willing to sacrifice his life for them.
·
Proverbs
·
Decision: To value our wives and love
them sacrificially one day at a time.
·
A husband’s
decision to provide his wife with spiritual leadership and emotional nurturing
can infuse a marriage with vitality.
·
Active love
and leadership are the keys to a happy wife and a fulfilling marriage.
1.
Sacrificial Love
a.
Ephesians
b.
Marriage is a
call to die, and a man who does not die for his wife does not come close to the
love to which he is called.
c.
Our marriage
will thrive if we will consciously choose to love our wife as Christ loved the
church and daily put her needs before our own.
d.
Marital love
calls for everything.
e.
Christian
marriage vows are the inception of a lifelong practice of death, of giving over
not only all you have, but all you are.
f.
Determine: To allow Jesus to live
through us and enable us to love our wives sacrificially.
a.
Ephesians 5:26-27(NASB) – “so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed
her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the
church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that
she would be holy and blameless.”
b.
Marriage
should move us toward holiness.
c.
This command
from Paul is a
husband’s elevating effect on his wife.
d.
He is to be a
man of the word who lives a godly life, praying and sacrificing for his
wife. His authentic spirituality is
meant to move her toward the image of Christ.
e.
Bill Perkins – “Our aim should be to love our wife in order to strengthen her
spiritually. We must fight for her heart
as we do our own. Our passion should be
to have a cleansing effect on her so that both her thoughts and actions are
pure. We must serve as her “spiritual
windshield wiper” – continually removing anything that blurs her vision and
threatens her safety.”
f.
Truth: I am the only man with the
God-given responsibility to protect the heart of my wife.
a.
Ephesians 5:28-30 (NASB) – “So husbands ought also to love their own wives
as their own bodies. He who loves his
own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and
cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of
his body.”
b.
This means
granting her the same importance and value that we place on ourselves.
c.
We are to
love our wives physically, emotionally, and socially.
1.
Proverbs 20:7 (NASB) – “A righteous man who walk in his integrity –
How blessed are his sons after him.”
2.
The sense of
security and destiny our children receive from us will fortify their hearts
when they face the enemy.
3.
Our children
need our blessing.
4.
bless
– speak well of; praise someone
5.
In the Old
Testament a blessing transferred a good thing from one person to another.
6.
While we may
not have the ability to give a blessing of such benefits, our blessings and
words of affirmation can pass on valuable gifts to our children.
Five Ways To Bless Our
Children
1.
Discipline – We bless our children through proper, biblical discipline.
a.
Proverbs
b.
Proverbs
2.
Devotional – Teach your children about God, and how to walk with God. Let them see you model a relationship with
God.
3.
Dialogue – Have meaningful conversation with your children on a regular
basis.
a.
Verbal Affirmation – words of affection and approval. (John Maxwell – names for kids)
b.
Physical Affirmation – A hand on the shoulder, a pat on the back, a
hug, wrestling with them.
c.
Predictive Affirmation – Words that forsee a
bright future that’s consistent with their personal strengths. It tells them we love them and believe God
has something special for them.
d.
Josh McDowell – “Rules without relationship equals rebellion.”
e.
Our love and
affirmation will do more to fortify them against the enemy than you can
imagine.
4.
Direction – Lead them, guide them in an intentional way; protect them from
things that could hurt them.
a.
Dr. James
Dobson says there are two things he would never alone in his child’s room if he
were raising children today: a computer,
and a t.v. set.
5.
Date
– Date your children on a regular basis; build in one on one times with your
children on a regular basis. (story of Katie wanting to go on a date.)
6.
illustration: the
different miles my shoes have gone; children wearing my shoes; cleaning out the
closest after funeral; memories of the shoes; what will they remember?
7.
Hebrews