I just read a short blog post by Mary one of the young girls of my church. In her post she begins with questioning why she wakes up in the early hours of the morning with thoughts of the worlds troubles on her mind and heart. Most recently the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. She mentions child abuse and the danger of escaped criminals a well.
This young lady's family is big by some standards. There are ten children, eight girls and two boys. Each one of them have been raised in a Christian home. There father, whom passed away a couple of years ago, was/is a kind, meek, and wise man. He was/is also firm standing in the care of his family and serving the Lord. Their mother has been and still is their constant. She is the glue and connection they all have with each other. Each child is unique and outstanding yet you can see the same heart.
Satan has forever done his best to destroy the fabric of the family. His tactics are plain and easy to see, divorce, abuse, abandonment, etc., with these he seeks to kill, steal, and destroy, that which God has ordained to be the first place His love is to be present. Young girls like Mary, grow up with out fathers or with abusive fathers or absent fathers. Girls who grow up with these circumstances often are led into lives of self destruction and exploited by the twisted minds of others
In the movie "The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers", Aragorn catches Eowyn niece of King Theoden practicing with a sword. Aragorn comments on her skill with a sword and Eowyn responds, "The women of this country learned long ago, those without swords can still die upon them.". Later in the third movie of the trilogy "Return of The King", we see Eowyn in battle armor riding out to war with the other soldiers.
One of our commissions from God is Proverbs 22:6 which says, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it."
The one thing the enemy does his best at keeping us from doing is training our children how to fight spiritually. We want our children to learn to defend themselves from bully's and anyone who would try to hurt them physically, but we can neglect the defense against Satan who seeks to harm them spiritually. We must gird up ourselves and shake off hesitancy and fear, and set ourselves to teach our children to be warriors. Laochra Eirigi, Warrior Arise.
We must teach our children boys and girls how to wear the Armor of God. You have probably seen the cartoon pictures of a child wearing God's armor that was too big and the idea was for the child to grow into it. I am not downing that at all, but here is a different view. The Armor of God that is given to us already fits. It fits us perfectly as children and as we grow, it grows with us. One size fits all. The training doesn't come in learning to grow into the armor, it comes in learning to how to use it. Part of the problem is that sometimes we ourselves don't know how to use it.
A friend of mine posted this on facebook. His seven year old daughter woke up one night after having a nightmare. His daughter told him that when she woke up that she thought instead of running to daddy she prayed to God to take the bad dreams away and told Satan to get out in the name of Jesus. That my friends is training your child.
" Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. " Ephesians 6:11-12
The shoes of the gospel of peace, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, the sword of the spirit, and prayers of supplication.
Battles are brief but wars are longer. We are in a war where battles are won and lost. The war has already been won, but the battles are daily and must be won. Soldiers don't fight for themselves. They fight for others. Their king, their country, their people. Jesus is our King. The Kingdom of Heaven our country. God's creation of man our people.
Laochra Eirigi, Warrior Arise. Learn your armor. Learn what it's for. Learn how to use it, then teach your children. Begin sowing those seeds into them. They aren't too young. They aren't too small. One Size Fits All.
In Christ,
Kevin
