Thoughts for this Father's Day Weekend,- Unless the Lord builds the House'

During this week I have been reading from Psalm 127. I want to share
some thoughts with you for this Father's Day weekend.

The message is this, "Unless the Lord builds the house, its
builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the
watchman stand guard in vain" (Psalm 127:1).






We can give our children the best education, the best material
things, and the best opportunities, but if the Lord does not build
and watch over their homes, they will be unable to withstand the
horrendous pressure and the temptations that life brings.






The psalmist continues in verse two to say that all of the frantic
work, financial planning, and social positioning mean nothing if the
Lord is not at the center. Our country shows signs that it is
crumbling from within -- our children are not suffering attack from
invading armies but from godless legislation and curriculum. Do we
trust the political system or schools to save our children? No. We
trust God. We must go to God. We must call on Him. We may be called
to take a political stand at some point, but the political system is
not our hope or our salvation. Jesus is the only Way, the only Truth
and the only Life. We must cry out to Him on behalf of the next
generation. The enemy will do everything he can to destroy the moral
and biblical convictions of our children because he knows that is the
fastest way to destroy a nation. He has experience doing it. We need
to call upon the Lord for our homes, our cities, our nation, and the
world.






As parents we have incredible power through prayer to impact future
generations. If you look down through history, every great man or
woman of God -- like Saint Augustine or the Wesley brothers -- had
someone praying for them. If we cry to God on behalf of the next
generation, I believe with all my heart that we can reverse the
trends we see in our culture. However, it will take a commitment from
us to live for God, to walk with God, and to spend time in intimacy
with God.






This Father's Day, cry out to God for the next generation. You may
not see the answer to those prayers firsthand but they will be heard
and answered because our God is faithful.

Greg Sousa
Chief Photographer
Goldsboro News-Argus
Goldsboro, N.C. 27534