Fathers, Children and the Presence of God

King David desired and dreamt of building a house for God to dwell in. Jesus fulfilled it and made it possible for God to dwell in us, thus turning our bodies into living temples for the Holy Spirit.

If you seek His presence to fill your ‘house’ in the same way that David desired it, surrendering yourself to be a living temple, a house dedicated to God, for Him to dwell in, then you will be surprised how close and glorious He can be...

I want to take it a step further and suggest that God is still looking for Davids who are seeking to find places to turn into God's dwelling place or homes or churches. I am talking about people who desire that God's accomplished work through Christ's death and resurrection be made manifest in the lives of others on earth as it is in heaven. Let's talk about children.

God desires to dwell in children. He wants to fill children with His glorious presence. Not just in an emotional way but also in a substantial and foundational way. I would like to make it very clear that although I believe that education or Christian education has an important role, I do not believe that education takes precedence over encounter; especially with children. Although children are much more apt to learn than adults, I believe more emphasis should be put on presence than on lessons.

Children need to know God and not just know about God. Pastor Kevork on Father's day this year told fathers to take on their responsibility and not end up with others fathering their children. Coming from someone who fathered so many of other people's children, it had a powerful impact. In other words, real spiritual fathers will father your children if you don't, which will be a good thing for your children but will be your loss.

David fathered Solomon. He accepted and acknowledged his calling. He did it beautifully and wonderfully. The excellence of the work David did to prepare all that Solomon may need for the building of the temple of God, is truly admirable. Although David had serious family issues, but when it came to him taking care of all that Solomon might need to fulfill his calling, David did a remarkable job. His focus was one: to have a house built for God to dwell in with men. In other words, he desired the same presence he enjoyed when tending to his sheep, singing his psalms, fighting Goliath, escaping persecution, fighting wars, etc... to have a special place among men.

What are we doing to prepare a place of worship in our children's lives? How are we truly fathering them? What are we doing to equip them for their calling? And how are we doing that?

These are serious questions we should think about. For many who seek God wholeheartedly, raising these questions might take them to a place of brokenness and renewal, to their own personal Penuel, where Jacob died and Israel was born. Jacob was on the run. But Israel became an overcomer with God and a patriarch. He had many children and grandchildren. Before passing away, he blessed his descendants. As a prophet, he had great influence over their lives, but also as a father. He fulfilled His calling and passed on the baton to the next generations and saw from far the coming Messiah and slept believing in Him. He was raised with Christ.

I hope to touch the hearts of fathers who long to see their children succeed but also have a longing in their hearts to accomplish all that their calling suggests. The excellence of fatherhood is in the gifting of each father. I would like to encourage all fathers to explore this area and mold their children in a constructive spiritual way, teaching them how to have breakthroughs in the presence of God, stirring up their gifts, and leading them to hear from God for themselves like Samuel did. Our children need us, more than we may realize. They need proactive spiritual fathers. And we fathers need our children and all that they bring into our lives because it is through them that we get to explore the great riches of God stored deep inside us, the potential to uproot and build according to our calling and gifting. God bless you!