Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray you are well.
I'd like to share with you a Word from the Lord about a scheme from the evil one that is focused on our families.
And this scheme is centered on the influence of celebrities or what are commonly called "influencers."
These influencers have been planted and inspired to lure your children into darkness. This is a season to watch carefully what your children are watching, reading, consuming, and listening to. These influencers have been empowered to lure our children away from the faith.
This Word is also a sharp correction for the heads of households and parents.
We need to be in step with the Lord. We need to be teaching our children about the Father, without fear.
I'd like to now share a dream from the Lord which triggered my inspection and investigation of this scheme.
I saw a woman.
She was holding a microphone.
And she had an audience.
And she asked, “Does anyone here have children who have no problem being demonic?”
And I was disturbed because her question was indicative that there were many who would agree with this.
That it was becoming a cultural norm for children to act demonic, or be attracted to the demonic, or be influenced by the demonic.
She even smiled when she asked the question.
She was some kind of popular figure or host, a media figure, a celebrity.
The Lord is exposing the enemy’s plan to ruin generations.
The enemy wants to create “children of disobedience.” These children need to know their heavenly Father.
“Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.” Ephesians 5:6 KJV
There is a scheme to deceive parents into living in unrighteousness, so they will teach their children unrighteousness.
The enemy wants to raise up a dark generation.
We need parents of faith to be fearless and raise their children according to the Word.
Again, what's most important is that parents raise their children to know their Heavenly Father.
We Must Protect Our Kids From The Wickedness Around Them
It's important that we know what do now that we have becoming more aware of this plan of deception from the kingdom of darkness.
The Word shows us the key is the fear of the Lord, where we find "riches and honor and life."
But we must also warn and be warned - there are "thorns and snares" that come with living a perverse life which is outside the will of God.
The fear of the Lord and the warning against thorns and snares immediately precede the admonishment to train our children in the way they should go.
“By humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches and honor and life. Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards his soul will be far from them. Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:4-6 NKJV
In Genesis 19, Lot decided to stay in a land the Lord intended to destroy due to its wickedness.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
He had been set free from Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities that exemplify idolatry and perversion.
Yet Lot still went against God's heart.
The angels told him to go to the mountains. But Lot thought that was too far, too hard.
He wanted the easy way out.
Instead of going to the mountains, Lot chose to go to a land called Zoar. It was one of the cities the Lord was going to destroy along with Sodom and Gomorrah.
So Zoar was in an area renowned for its wickedness. And it was where Lot had decided to raise his family. He was raising his family in a place that was rife with perversion, homosexuality, and idolatry.
Still, even after the Lord came to his rescue thanks to the prayers of Abraham, Lot didn’t get the picture.
He still chose to live in a place that was wicked. He still chose Zoar, where his family would be stricken by perversion.
We can’t afford to let the world around us to raise our kids.
We will see later how the culture of wickedness impacted Lot’s daughters.
Don’t Be Afraid To Take God’s Route
Zoar means “insignificant.” It got that name because Lot asked the angel to allow him to settle there because it was just a small town. Small meaning “insignificant.”
Lot had just lost his wife, who became a pillar of salt. And he made a conscious decision to take his daughters to a place that was “insignificant.”
He escaped the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, but he was too afraid to follow the Lord.
Lot’s fear drove him to a cave in Zoar. And that is where he raised his daughters.
Lot wasn’t being led by the Lord when leading his family and raising his children.
He didn’t choose to go to the mountains as the angels suggested. He went against the wisdom of God and chose Zoar because it was closer. Zoar was easier to reach. Lot was afraid to make the trip to the mountains. He was convinced he would die.
And since insignificance was easier to reach, that’s the route he chose.
Friends, we can’t take the easy route. We have to teach our children how to worship the Lord.
This means we have to worship the Lord first.
The Enemy Wants To Destroy And Devour You And Your Family
There is a deeper meaning to this place where Lot decided to raise his children. Zoar was originally known as Bela, which means “destruction.” It’s root word means “a devouring” or “a thing swallowed.”
This was a place that was destined for destruction, but the Lord allowed Lot to live there because that was Lot's desire. It was a place known for swallowing and devouring. It wasn’t known for giving life. Lot desired to live in a place that was small, insignificant, and associated destruction.
He failed to get God’s heart for his family. And just settled for what was around him to be the influence on himself and his children.
We see this even when Lot had settled in Sodom. His daughters were pledged to be married to men in Sodom! He encouraged his daughters to wed men who were raised in a wicked culture that was full of perversion.
The perversion had even crept into Lot’s heart. He offered his daughters, who were engaged, to the angry homosexual mob that was demanding to rape angels!
“See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.” Genesis 19:8 NKJV
When you’re not seeking the Lord, you will become like the wickedness around you. It will become normalized. You might not go to the same extremes as other people, but your boundaries will expand. Your capacity for sin will grow. And the impact on your children will be dire.
In Lot’s case, his daughters took on the same fear that he had. They didn’t have peace because they didn’t have God.
So, his daughters conjured up a plan to salvage their lives. They lost their mother and the men they were going to marry. They lost their home. They were isolated in a cave in an insignificant place.
What did they decide to do? They allowed the wickedness they had been raised in to guide them into doing the unthinkable.
“Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve the lineage of our father.” Genesis 19:31-32 NKJV
Notice how the daughters were influenced by the “custom of all the earth” to do this.
This is the power of the influencer.
Lot's daughters were concerned about what other women were doing. They were having children. Their hearts were not in touch with the Lord. He is more concerned with our worship. But these young ladies were focused on what they witnessed around them in their wicked environment.
Their perverse decision was also rooted in their father’s inability to grasp the need for worship in his life and his family. Instead of leading his family to the Lord, Lot allowed his family to adopt the immoral ways of the culture around them.
Seek Worship
Mountains in the Word represent worship, places of communion. Mountains or "high places" were spaces people used to be "close" to their gods, and this was also true for God's people.
The angels told Lot to go to the mountains.
They were telling Lot to take his family to a place of worship. He was being rescued from a place with wicked influence and ushered to a place where he could rebuild in the presence and tutelage of God.
The Lord wanted to save him. He wanted Lot to worship Him. He wanted to bless Lot’s family.
But Lot chose the easy, destructive, devouring route.
I pray for all parents to see clearly how the Lord wants to deliver your family from darkness.
Trust Him and seek Him.
Let the Father be the head of your household.
This kind of household is what God was building for Abraham, the household Lot chose to separate from.
Look at what God saw happening in Abraham and his family:
"For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” Genesis 18:19 NKJV
God wants to be able to trust you with your family.
But it starts with being "known" by God.
You have to let Him lead you.
You have to let Him guide you.
You have to let Him take control.
You have to live a life of worship.
Fellowship and communion and intimacy are the most important things to God.
That's why He hates sin! It separates us from Him.
That's why He HAD TO send His only begotten Son to be our redeemer and take our punishment.
God has moved heaven and earth to find YOU.
And He wants your children too.
I pray you will go before the Lord boldly for guidance on how to lead your children.
You can trust Him to lead and train your children in the "way" they should go.
Jesus is "the Way," the only Way to the Father.
Lead the Lord teach you Jesus so you can teach Jesus to your household.
"It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." John 6:45 NKJV (Emphasis Mine)
May the Lord bless you.
