If there is one thing that is important to almost every human being, it is family. In this series, Dr. Siohvaughn Funches takes a look into the word of God to see the heart and will of God, not just for our lives but also for our families. We discover without a doubt that it is the perfect will of God for us and our whole house – in other words, family – to be saved! Beloved, it is with this confidence that we pray bold, faith-filled prayers for our families to be saved and that we fulfill our destinies together in Christ together, as a family!
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It’s A Family Affair (Part 4)
We’re going to be continuing on but certainly not finishing up our series title, It’s A Family Affair. Before we do that, we’re going to do what we always do and that takes a moment, acknowledge God and ask Him for His blessing as we hear Him. I thank you, Heavenly Father, that you are the God, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Father of Glory, you are given to each and every one of us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus. The eyes of our understanding are being enlightened that we may know what the hope of His calling is. What are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints and what is the exceeding greatness of His power towards us who believe?
According to the working of His mighty power, I ask you, Lord Jesus, to expound on the scriptures to us about the things concerning yourself. I pray you to open up our understanding that we might comprehend the scriptures. Bless us to know you more, Lord, to love you more and to trust you more. Calls us in every area, Lord, that we have a need to flood those areas with your light and your life. Where there’s darkness, let your light shine even brighter in our life, where there is need. Let your supply, God outbreak and break forth in every area of our life in abundance. Where sin abounds, let your grace much more abound, God. I thank you, Heavenly Father, where there’s doubt and you’re supplanting it, God. Wave after wave of your grace and your faith, God.
It’s taking place of doubt and unbelief. I thank you, God, that where there’s pride, you’ve uprooted it and you’ve supplanted it with your humility. You’ve given us the humility to receive from you, Lord. I thank you that you are the God who constantly supplies the spirit to us. You constantly work miracles amongst us. I thank you, Lord, that as we do the one thing that is needful to come to you, it takes faith to believe that only one thing, Lord is needful when so many things are pulling at us and calling for our attention. The devil is full of distractions. I thank you, Lord, for everybody under the sound of my voice, even my own life. To sit at the feet of Jesus and to believe you enough to say truly only one thing is needful and we’re fighting to stay at peace.
We’re fighting to stay at rest. God, we’re fighting to hear the word of Christ, the gospel of peace. I thank you that as we do that, we go back to the things, situations and circumstances, Lord. To the emptiness and we find the abundance, to the darkness and we find the light, to the brokenness and we find restoration, and to the hurting and we find healing, God. In its place, I thank you that with flesh was ruling or where the enemy and pessimism was ruling with negativity, God. I thank you for your love, light, goodness, positivity, God.
All your goodness, Heavenly Father, is in its place. It is standing, stay at firmly and stay at fast. I thank you, God, that you are doing this with your very own hand for whatever you do can never be undone. Be it on to us according to your word that we hear you, Lord Jesus. We are completely healed, restored and our prayers are over answered. Let us find that, God, as we go back and things that never the same again, as we do this one thing that is needful. In Jesus’s name, we pray. Amen.
God Created The Family
If you have been with me on this journey, you know that our key scripture for this particular series comes out of Acts 16. If you haven’t been with us on this journey, you have got to catch up. You have to do that. I want to strongly encourage you to go back and hear the previous messages. All of them but this particular series too, especially because family is something that’s near and dear to our heart.
It really is and we know that. We know how we, as parents, love our children. Married people love spouses. We know that no one has to tell us that we get that and we can feel that. That’s so strong. It’s tangible. You can feel it. It comes through your emotions. I think where the lack might be or where the reminder is needed is that God is for family. God created family. This was His bright and very good idea of family. It’s His idea still. It’s His creation, He made it and it is good.
It is forever good. God has pronounced good over. Whatever God does cannot be undone. The family is good. Your desire to want your family saved, healed, whole, following God and fulfilling their destiny together is the perfect will of God. We learned that whatever is the perfect will of God. The Bible says that God hears you when you pray the perfect will of God.
Not only does He hear you but you know that you have what you’re asking for. In other words, God hears you and He answers your prayers but we know God is a God who exceeds our expectations. He doesn’t just hear us, he’s the God who does exceedingly and abundantly above all we could ask, think or imagine, according to the power that’s working in us, which is God Himself. The holy spirit is indwelling, born again, believers and He is that power at work.
Jesus said, “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you.” It’s the word of God. You’re letting the word of God right now abide in you and that is the power of God. Jesus is the living, breathing word of God and we know that everything Jesus asks the father, it was done. We know that in situations where it seemed impossible, He made it absolutely possible every time. He has never failed. He is not failing you now and He never will fail you. That’s the power of God. God himself working in you. God has not lent some power to you. Jesus said all authority was given to him. He’s handing it over to you. He is the living, breathing power at you.
His spirit indwells you. This is the same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. It doesn’t get any more humanly impossible than dead but constantly and continually, He’s raising us from the dead and giving us the power to do so. You know that everybody who’s not born again is not a sinful person although they sin. A better description of that is a dead person. They are the living dead.
Every time somebody gets born again, they’re resurrected from that dead state and they come to live, breathe and have their whole being in Christ Jesus. God is continually in the most important way, constantly raising the dead and he’s doing it naturally speaking as well. We know the believer doesn’t die but passes from death to life. That’s the power of God working in you. Whenever you pray in His will, He is answering you and we know that He does exceedingly and abundantly.
The more accurate way of saying it is God is over answering your prayer when you pray His will. His will is His word, so we turn to the word of God because it is the only short and unshakeable foundation. It is indestructible and incorruptible. That’s the word of God. That is the only thing you should build your house in life on because it’s the only foundation that cannot fail, falter and fall. A better way of saying that is this the only one because it’s not just the thing and the word. The word is alive. It is Jesus Himself in the flesh. He is the word.
What Must I Do To Be Saved?
In Acts 16, the Bible says and He brought them out and said, “What must I do to be saved?” This was somebody asking the apostles or in the earlier church. The response was, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. You and your household.” That’s what I mean about God, just exceeding your expectations. This man is coming to know what must He alone do to be saved. God is so good. God doesn’t just have him alone in mind. He has him and his whole household. He has generations in mind. As you look through the Bible, you see that continually promises are made in a generational manner. Clearly, God has family in mind and the God wants the blessings of God to come not just upon you but upon your whole family and your entire generations. That’s what God wants. That’s His wheel so we’re getting an agreement with God.
We laid that solid foundation by the spirit of God. We know for a fact that it is and we just looked at how God is a God of order and nothing in the Bible is by happenstance. Even the order it appears in and the order God does things in. All of that is intentional. God is intentional. He is a purposeful God. We know this about our father and God when He was creating things, in the beginning, say, “Let us make man in our image enlightened.” The father and the son who was there. We know the Bible says, “All things that were made were made by Jesus.” The family was there first. You got the father, son and the holy spirit. God is so good. Family is clearly His wheel.
God did that and He said, “Let us make man in our image and likeness.” God had made so many things and He kept pronouncing that this is good. Light be. God is like, “This is good and it is good but He gets to add them. You don’t hear this whole announcement about it being good. God says the opposite. He says, “It’s not good for man to be alone.” Family, marriage, togetherness and unity are God’s ideas. It’s His wheel.
God didn’t want us to come together to be in disharmony. He wants us to come together that we are a reflection of the first family and that’s the father and the son. That’s Christ Jesus and the bride. He wants us to reflect on that. God doesn’t want any disharmony, discord, strife and separation. He wants love, peace and togetherness. For people to be not just on the same page but so much so that they are one. He wants to go that far.
If It Matters To You, It Matters To God
God is good and this is His idea. If it’s your prayer, desire and petition, you can have the surety, certainty and confidence. You can know without any doubt. It is written repeatedly and then we can see God’s heart in a regulatory manner that he’s given it to us by His spirit and showing us that it’s His wheel. It’s something of its primary. It’s something of first importance to God. If it’s important to you, it’s important to God but these are things that before we even ask Him, we can see this is important to God. It’s not just important because it’s weighing heavy on us. It’s important to God because in and of himself, He is saying, “This is very important. This is a top priority, in fact.”
I absolutely love it and God is very good. We were beginning to look at the first miracle that Jesus did. Speaking of first things first. At all of the things that Jesus could have gotten started within His ministry, the first thing He gets started with, He turns water into wine. You can see this in the Book of John, which is the Book of Signs pointing to things and deeper truths.
One of the first things He did was turn water into wine and where does He do this at? A wedding. Who does He do this for? A married couple. This is impressive. God is showing us beyond the shadow of any doubt that marriage is His perfect wheel. When God made Adam and Eve, the first relationship He made was the relationship of a married couple. He is God.
He sang a word. The light be, light was and light still is without them ever having to repeat itself. That’s not just any power. That’s all power right there. We’re talking about Almighty at this point. This is impressive. He could have done anything. With God, all things are possible. We see that but He starts there and He starts there for a reason. It is a reflection of His heart.
These are the things that weigh heavy on His heart and matter to him. If it matters to you, it just shows how much in the alignment God has made you with His will. This shows that you don’t have to be concerned. The desires of your heart, are they God’s will? Clearly, God has got you in alignment with Him and made you one with Himself. If you’re praying for your spouse, children, parents, colleagues or friends to be born again, you’re in alignment with God.
That’s the heart of God, literally. It’s permeating through you, even your prayer life. Don’t even be concerned or scared about the desires of your heart. God has made you one with Him and it’s bearing fruit if that’s where you’re at because that for sure is the heart of God. That’s on your prayer list in any way, shape, form or fashion. It is the heart of God beating inside of you. His desires are your desires. You are one with Him and that’s evident in this evidence. I’m sure it’s not that alone but it’s clear with this because this is clearly the will of God and the heart of God.
A Wedding In Cana
We saw in John 2 that Jesus did this. I’m going to read it a bit. We like to read directly from the word. I believe it comes from the new King James version if you’re following along with me, which I usually use. If we get to it, I’m going to read from the ESV version. That’s out of my box a bit. I do read and study from that. I don’t think I’ve ever utilized it though on the show yet if we get to it. This comes from the new King James version, this particular part. Hopefully, I remember to tell you when I switch over.
It says, “On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee and the mother of Jesus was there. Both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.” He’s taking a minute to remind everybody. The first thing you want to do is invite Jesus in. This married couple had the wisdom to invite Jesus in. Invite Him into their marriage. That was very wise. Somebody needs to do that. Even if you’re a parent and you’ve got a daughter and her son. He got a daughter and your new son because he’s married to your daughter. They’re not born again. You can invite Jesus in. Be willing to do that for them so that Jesus can have His way in their heart and their lives. He can work through your prayers. Could it be like Esther that you came into the kingdom for such a time as this that they would be saved?
Maybe God gave you His position. Your position being married to Jesus like Queen Esther was married to the King so when she petitions the King, who she has favor with on her kinsmen’s behalf, everybody gets saved. Esther is saved and the Jews. That’s us, Queen Esther. God is this King. Petition Him on behalf not just of yourself but even over your kinsmen, that we all be saved.
I’m telling you, it’s such good news. This particular show series literally makes me want to jump out of my own seat and shout, “I’m a Mama Bear.” To know that God hears my prayers not just for me but even more so for my children, it’s good news on steroids. We want to make sure we invite Him in. Have your way in our life and our family life in Jesus’s name.
When they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with me? My hour has not come yet.” You could tell there had to be a look maybe in Him or the way that He said it because His mother’s response was, “Mary, this is what happens when you know Jesus.” Even if something is said that seems like, “You know enough about Jesus to do what Mary did.”
His mother turns to the service and says, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” She knew she had what she was asking for. Do you understand what I mean? This is not because she was the mother of Jesus because as you go through the gospels. Jesus’ healing was multitudes. The Bible says great multitudes were coming to Him. People bring in people to Him praying for them and He was healing them all.
It wasn’t Mary. She’s blessed among women, not blessed as the only woman. She’s blessed among them. We’re blessed by God. We’re all the children of God. The favor of God is on all of us who are born again and God is not a respecter of persons. There were six waterpots of stone according to the manner of purification of the Jews containing 20 or 30 gallons apiece.
Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water,” and they fill them up to the brim. You can just see how God gives. It’s never reluctant. He’s not reluctant to give and when He gives, it’s more than enough. Let’s be honest. This wedding was in full swing. It didn’t go on long enough. This is the celebration that they ran out of wine. If you got a master of ceremonies, these were probably not people who didn’t have money or whoever afforded the wedding at least had the money, even to have a wedding planner. Those aren’t free. The last time I checked, they had the funds but they ran out of wine. It probably has been going on for a while. You can just imagine.
When we’re going towards the end of it and even I believe the master of the ceremony said that, in the beginning, people bring out that good wine and then, in the end, it’s like, “Give them whatever, they’re drunk. Who can tell the difference?” Here comes the best wine now. I think that was more towards the end of that celebration so to speak, for their wedding but Jesus is like, “Fill it up.” Fill in all the way up in 20 to 30 gallons. They opened up a winery after what was the leftover. God is very good at doing that.
It’s a good thing that they listened to Mary and Jesus. They fill them up to the brim and He said to them, “Draw some out now. Take it to the master of the feast,” and they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and did not know where it came from but the servants who had drawn it out did know, the master of the feast called the bridegroom and he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine and when the guests have well drunk then the inferior stuff have kept the good wine until now.”
Not only did Jesus answer this prayer. Not only did He bring more celebration, wine representing joy to the celebration of this marriage. Not only did He do that, He did it the best. Praying to Jesus doesn’t mean you’re going to get the leftover. It’s not going to be second best or second class. When Jesus does that, He goes big like the phrase, “Go big or go home.” No need for Him to go home because He’s going big.
He’s incapable of doing it. Everything good and perfect comes from God. No wonder why this man or when God did something said this wine was good. God has made you righteous, blameless, holy and justified you and it is good. This is just wonderful. His blessings are good. We have all the more reason and motivation to invite Him into all families and ask Him to manifest His glory.
We saw the Bible says, “This was the beginning of signs, Jesus did in Cana of Galilee and manifested His glory and His disciples believed in Him.” I’m going to put a pen here. The manifestation of the miracles and blessings of God in your marriage and family is for the glory of God. I can tell you your marriage are a ministry. It is one of the highest callings in your life. I can tell you that for certain. I won’t elaborate too much but God has shown me that always remember that your marriage is a reflection.
It is like Jesus walked the Earth in His ministry, the hands and feet of Christ as an individual and collectively as the body of Christ, the bride of Christ but also in your marriage, Jesus Christ is the bridegroom, the church being the bride. It is a reflection of that. That’s very important in the last episode. It explains some of the persecution because the devil wants to destroy the image of God. He certainly doesn’t want God to be glorified. The fact that you are married and you’ve done this and you want God involved in this, you want to do this God’s way in your marriage. Let me just remind you that don’t get scared. His defeated self tries and attack that image of God.
Family And Marriage Is The Perfect Will Of God
Know that God’s manifestation of His glory and your family, bringing celebration, joy and union to your marriage and family, it is for the glory of God and your reflection of Jesus Christ. As the bridegroom and the church and that’s very near and dear to God as we talked a bit about it. A family and marriage being blessed is the perfect will of God. God himself calls family of blessing. Children are a blessing from the Lord.
Look at Genesis 1:28 talking about Adam and Eve again, God blessed them. How did He bless them? He blessed them saying, “Be fruitful and multiply. Get busy with your wife and have children.” Sex was God’s idea. Plenty of people don’t get to say it. They like, “What? That was God’s idea? I’m going to rock with Him.”
Sex within the confines of the way that He wants that done. The safe, healthy way He wants that done. That also is the will of God. I think about this sometimes. I’m serious. In my own private time, I thank God that that was the way. Think about it. Without all things are possible, He could have just said, “Microwave something and you have children. Drink this and you get pregnant.” He made the journey to get there enjoyable. Kudos to God. Shout out to Jesus. Won’t He do it? I’m just keeping it very real. God is good all the time.
We thank God for that. We thank God for the journey to get there but it’s a blessing. Children are a blessing from God. Please, if the enemy has come to try to make you feel like your children are an obligation, a duty, a debt, a bill, expense and trying to make them feel like they’re not an asset but they’re a liability. It’s like your liability column on your financial worksheet. That’s a problem. We want to take a moment and ask God, “Deliver us from that.”
If we’re feeling like that, that is from the devil. That’s from hell itself. Don’t feel condemned but I want to expose Satan. That’s not God. Your children are a blessing from the Lord. Look at Psalm 127:3-5, “Take a moment, slow down being all of this. Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord.” Remember anything that comes from God the Bible says, “Every good and perfect gift comes from above.”
This is God’s idea. God blessed them by saying to have children. That’s the Siohvaughn version of the Bible. Children are a blessing from the Lord. Children are not a child support obligation. It says, “The fruit of the womb is a reward.” Those who come to God must believe that He exists and He rewards those that diligently seek Him. We know what a reward is. Nobody is sad when they get rewarded. That’s reason to celebrate and celebrate again and boast and thank God and your heart is saying, hallelujah. Mouth shortly following thereafter. This is a reward. God is not a man. He can’t lie.
If something has you feeling to the contrary of what the word of God says, that is from the devil. If you feel sad when you think about your children, if your children you’ve equated it with a check that you got a ride, I got a mighty school supply or I got to watch these children, these children are a blessing from God. They are a manifestation of the love of God for you. God loves you. The fruit of the womb is a reward. It says like arrows in the hand of a warrior so are children of one’s youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed but shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Some people are like, “I have too many children. Look how many it is.” Nothing is wrong. I know society. The enemies try to come and make people feel like their career is more important and your career is important. If it’s important to you, it’s important to God. As a matter of fact, a lot of people especially when you’re born again, your career is a calling on your life. It matters but the devil has tried to take this and that’s what he does with anything because he’s not creative. He creates nothing. Take what God has done and try to pervert it in some way. Children are a blessing from God. Your career and calling are blessing from God but He wants to take that and pervert it.
Either doing too little or doing too much. He has to do something evil to what God did and is good. He’s trying to pervert and change in a negative manner. The best way to do that and I’ve seen Him do it, is in a subtle way. It’s in the way that seems right but the Bible says, “Leads to death.” The career is fine but it doesn’t come before the children. We said God did these things in order. He did it in the order that He chose to do it on purpose, even things that are a blessing if they’re out of order, it can look like a curse. You can’t tell the difference. That’s how important and vital order is.
Your career is important but your children are more important. The enemy has tried to make people feel, especially in our society here in America. Your career is so important as if children are a burden or something that would hamper, hinder or get in the way but that’s wrong. You see all these people throughout the Bible and you may say, times have changed since then and they have but it’s meant to change and evolve. It got myths for that to be so but God remains the same and He is who He is. His word and ways are still the same and that’s what’s most important and everlasting. Everything else was meant to change or something is wrong if we’re not evolving. I shouldn’t have a pacifier in my mouth.
I shouldn’t have a rattle in my hand. I should have at this point in my life have this microphone in my hand preaching the gospel by the spirit and grace of God. Something would be wrong if I had a rattle in my hand and a pacifier in my mouth because I was meant to grow and evolve. There’s nothing wrong with that but the enemy wants to make it so that people look at children as if they’re a curse and then the more you have is looking down on them. They didn’t do anything but have children or that’s just the housewife. All she does is raise her children as if it’s like something negative. They’d say it in a condescending way or a demeaning manner like you haven’t contributed. Are you serious?
When people are on their deathbed dying, no one says, “Bring me my law degree. I want to look at it one more time.” If they do, we know that their body isn’t only failing. Their mind is failing. That sounds lunatic to me. Nobody does that. “Bring my accountant in so they can crunch my numbers for me.” People are usually like, “Bring me my wife. Somebody call my son.” Let’s be real. At the end of the day, all people have is their career and their accolades and you want to put all your trophies in your hospital bed and maybe toss them over in your casket. To me, that’s sad and that’s pathetic. That’s a terrible way to die.
I would ask God never to allow that curse to come upon me. As far as I’m concerned, that’s a curse. If I’m leaving up out of here and I’m surrounded by people I deeply love and who deeply love me, I’m coming to the end of this journey most happy and most glad because I know that I have the things that are so rich, wealthy and a blessing from God that money cannot buy them. Not all the money in the world.
Not Bill Gates reconcile with Oprah Winfrey could even produce a penny-worth of what I have. I’m truly rich, wealthy and blessed. This is living my best life. Not collecting a bunch of accolades and titles that before your body hits the ground, no one cares and it doesn’t matter. That’s what I’m saying. It’s good that you go to work, it pays the bills and it’s wonderful. I do, too but it’s only wonderful in its proper place. It’s only wonderful in perspective and God sees it.
Children are a blessing and blessed is the man that has his quiver full of them. If you’re somebody with a bunch of children then you are richly blessed. The favor of God, much more abound towards you. It’s not a curse and a debt. If you need God to supply you more financially and your time, whatever it is, God will supply all of your needs. We said, “Go big or go home.” God goes big. If you ask him, I dare you to, He’s going to over answer that prayer.
We’re out of time. We’re going to try and pick up where we left off. I thank you all for taking this time to be with me. I thank you, God, for this opportunity to get at the feet of Jesus and hear Him. I pray you cover your word with the blood of your son, Jesus and cover your people with the blood of your son Jesus. In Jesus’ name, I pray. I love you.
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