John 17
A Father's Prayer for His Children
John 17:5-10
5
And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self
with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
Obviously this is a difficult verse to 'claim' as a dad, because we are not the 'only begotten' Son of God, amen?  We did not have the glory with God the Father before the world was.

But we still can be glorified as a father by our children and those who watch us as fathers!
We must just make sure it is God that is behind all that we do, amen!

Glad Parents!
Proverbs 23:24,25
The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice:
and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

A Glad Dad!
Proverbs 15:20a
 A wise son maketh a glad father...

Grandpas Glory!
Proverbs 17:6
 Children's children are the crown of old men;
and the glory of children are their fathers.

We Can Enjoy Our Children!
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded,
nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God,
who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
I Timothy 6:17 

6a
I have manifested thy name unto the men
which thou gavest me out of the world...
Manifest - To reveal; to make to appear; to show plainly; to make public; to disclose to the eye or to the understanding. Nothing is hid, which shall not be manifested. Mark 4. He that loveth me, shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. John 4. Thy life did manifest thou lov'dst me not.
1.  To display; to exhibit more clearly to the view.  The wisdom of God is manifested in the order and harmony of creation.

See to it that your children don't just listen, but 'hear' preaching!
But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching,
which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;
Titus 1:3

Our children need to learn of this mystery!
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit,
seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles,
believed on in the world, received up into glory.
I Timothy 3:16
Make sure our children hear of this - it is available today!
Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations,
but now is made manifest to his saints:
Colossians 1:26

Do our children see Jesus Christ IN US?
Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus,
that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
II Corinthians 4:10
For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake,
that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh.
II Corinthians 4:11
But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty,
not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully;
but by manifestation of the truth commending
ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God.
II Corinthians 4:2

Make sure our children have a proper understanding of righteousness!
But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested,
being witnessed by the law and the prophets;
Romans 3:21

It is our words directed to our children that our children need to hear!
They will then know YOU are their dad!
Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord,
how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us,
and not unto the world?
John 14:22

6b
...thine they were, and thou gavest them me;
and they have kept thy word.

Again, we always need to be reminded that 'our' children really belong to God!
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
Psalms 127:3

...To 'keep' thy word?
Our children should be trained to further the KJV!

There is no greater joy!
I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.
III John 4
Even to others!
I rejoiced greatly that I found of they children walking in truth...
II John 4a

That also means: no greater SADNESS when they walk in 'lies' / evil / etc.
A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bare him.
Proverbs 17:25
A foolish son is the calamity of his father:
Proverbs 19:13a
He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother,
is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.
Proverbs 19:26
He that wasteth his father, and chaseth away his mother,
is a son that causeth shame, and bringeth reproach.

8a
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me;
and they have received them,
The words of Jesus Christ - the Sword of the spirit - etc.
Have they RECEIVED them - or just know about them?
Dads - we must be able to KNOW that of our children!

8b
and have known surely that I came out from thee,
and they have believed that thou didst send me.

We need to pray that our children "believe" us, amen?  They must know that we are not just caught up in some 'religion'.  The world's educational system is geared to destroy the Book!  They will be hearing from all directions that we are 'nuts'.  They will be hearing that we are 'mentally sick'.  We will be going 'against' some normally accepted things - what will our children think of us during all of this?

Are we right?  Are we speaking the truth?  Is our Bible really the ONLY Bible?  Is it really from God?

I guess they will have to just SEE US BELIEVE IT by our walk in order for them to believe us, amen?
For our children, it is sort of like the O.T. - they must see to believe - then some day, they will have their opportunity to believe without seeing! - the NT salvation!

Our children must "see" our faith so that they can exercise their faith some day!
 For I was alive without the law once:
but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
Romans 7:9

9, 10
I pray for them:
I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me;
for they are thine.
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine;
and I am glorified in them.
Again, as a final review of 1-8, we are to be reminded that our children belong to God!
A little note with these verses reminds us
that our concern is for OUR children - not anyone else's!

Don't sacrifice your own children to be the 'father' and 'guide' for someone else's children!
Concentrate on your own!

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