Daily Devotional for Tuesday July 3, 2007

Kids Who are Growing Up with No Mother, No Father, and No God

(Psalm 127:3; Isaiah 8:18; Proverbs 20:11)

Kids who are growing up with no mother, no father, and no God. After 94 months of Liveprayer.com and 52 months of the Liveprayer TV program, I am seeing every day the family unit decimated and dealing with kids between 10 and 18 who are growing up in a home with no mother or no father, and in most cases, with no God!!! We have a new generation that is growing up void of God, void of His Truth, and void of a relationship with Jesus!!!

People wonder why I am like a broken record about getting God's Truth into the marketplace. If they sat in my chair, even for a day, they would understand. You see, I deal daily with the very real lives of those people who are growing up right here in the United States, a place with more churches, ministries, Christian media and publications than man has ever known. Yet they are part of the larger percentage of 2 full generations now who have never even been inside of a church, aren't the target audience of most ministries, and have no contact with Christian media and publications. These people have their lives, thoughts, and beliefs shaped by the world.

These kids have been born in and have grown up in a world that has taught them there is no God and if there is, He is detached from our lives and isn't really interested in what happens in the world. They have been taught in school that we weren't created by God, but we evolved from a drop of pond scum and are really little more than a genetic accident. From birth they have been bombarded at every turn with raw sexual images and the message that sex is a sport to be enjoyed at any time, with anyone, and in any way without consequences. Smoking, drugs, and alcohol are things everybody does because they make your life more enjoyable.

The games they have grown up with all have violent and death elements to them, numbing them to how special and precious life is. Most have spent thousands of hours every year in front of TV and internet screens with little parental supervision, being exposed to every kind of lie the world can tell about life. Most have grown up totally void of God and Biblical Truth since it wasn't taught to them at home and they weren't being exposed to it in the marketplace where they live each day.

I share with you often how what we do here each day is literally a battle for the souls of men. That has never been more evident than in the lives of those kids 10-18. Their entire belief system has been shaped by the lies of this world. They are oblivious to the fact there is a very real enemy of their soul who seeks to "kill, steal, and destroy," THEM! A growing percentage are growing up in homes with only one parent, and in many cases with a parent who has also rejected Christ and Biblical Truth and have modeled a life that only supports the lies of the world their child has grown up believing.

So when they get a Daily Devotional or turn on to watch South Park and right after comes the Liveprayer TV program, and they read or hear how evolution is a ridiculous theory and we were created by God, that homosexuality is a sin, how sex outside of marriage is not God's plan, how abortion is murder, how faith in Jesus is the only way to be saved and the other religions and beliefs the world embraces are lies, THEY FREAK OUT! They have never heard these things before. Biblical Truth flies in the face of everything they have ever heard and been taught, seen and experienced their entire life.

Sadly, we deal daily both on the Internet and through the TV program with so many young lives who have already been damaged before they ever had a chance to live. Fortunately, many of their hearts are not yet so hardened that they refuse to listen to the fact God loves them, gave us Truth to live this life by, and that by having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ they can find the true joy, peace, and abundance of this life plus know where their eternal home will be when they die. The key is, we have to get out in the marketplace where they live to reach them with this message.

My heart breaks for these kids who grow up without ever knowing the real Truth of this life and end up with their lives decimated and destroyed at such a young age. How many times do I have to say it, THE CHURCH IS PLAYING GAMES, SATAN IS NOT!!! The answer is to follow God's plan for the family. It starts with marriage, God's Holy Institution. A person needs to be equally yoked with another Believer, they need to take the time and effort to build a solid spiritual foundation to their relationship, and than follow through on the vows they make to each other and God for life.

It is in that Godly union that children are born. A mother and father, loving and nurturing them, raising them in the admonition of the Lord. Growing up in a home where Jesus is honored and guided by God's Truth. A home where prayer and Bible reading is part of each day. A home where they have the model of a mother and father who love the Lord and each other. It is this environment that God intended children to be raised. In 2007, how many children are growing up in a home like this?

I love you and care about you so much. So what is the answer? For you single moms and dads, God will make you adequate. You can't go back and change things, so start today to do all you can to raise your child or children with the love of Christ and guided by the Truth of His Word. Pray of your children every day. Have a time of reading the Word with your children. Make sure they are in church each Sunday. Talk to your children about all that they are seeing and experiencing in their life so you can help bring God's Truth to contrast the lies of the world they're being exposed to. Raising your child in the admonition of the Lord is the greatest ministry you will ever have, and God will make you adequate each day.

For those who are single, pray hard and long before you make that lifetime commitment to someone. It is the most critical relationship you will have in this life after your relationship with the Lord. Stay out of the trap of pre-marital sex and possibly having to raise a child without the benefit of a mother and father. Getting married, having children, are life-changing events. If you will follow God's plan, they can make your life special and fulfilling beyond all you could ever imagine. God's way works!

Finally, for you young kids and young adults. The world has lied to you about EVERYTHING! There is only one source of Truth, God's Word. It has the answers to everything in this life and if you follow it, your life will be blessed and abundant, full of joy and peace you can never experience without God. The fact is, God DID create you in His image. He loves you so much. He has a plan and purpose for your life. He loved you so much that despite the fact you have sinned, he sent His Son Jesus to die for YOUR SINS so that by putting your faith in Jesus, your sins could be forgiven and you would have the assurance that when this brief life is over you would be forever with God your Creator.

This is why I so passionately scratch and claw each day to press forward and implore you to help me. Not only are there adults in their 20s to 90s out there lost, hurting, and heading to hell unless they come to know Jesus, we have children between 10 and 18 who are growing up for the most part totally void of God and Biblical Truth, having their thoughts and beliefs shaped by the lies of this world, and unless we reach them, they will become the next generation to grow up and have children who will also be growing up without God and rejecting Christ's love for them.

Kids who are growing up with no mother, no father, and no God. May we rise up and go into the marketplace where they are growing up and let them know that the Bible is God's guiding light of Truth and that Jesus loves them, died for their sins, and wants to have an everlasting relationship with