FATHERING THE KINGDOM WAY

Daddies Day Out with Debo....The truth and fact about fathering in the millenium era.

What does a kingdom mean? Kingdom simply implies a domain where one reign as a king/an authority. So God’s kingdom is a place where God is the king and authority of.

Fathering the kingdom way is raising up the child(ren) WHERE, WHEN and HOW God has ordered. In fathering the kingdom way the first question a father must honestly answer is, whose child(ren) is it or are they in the first instance? Yours or God’s? Psalm 127 vs. 3 says: “Children are a GIFT from God” (TLB). A child is a gift, a gift of opportunity entrusted to us like a cherished assignment. Every father should count themselves honoured to have God’s most treasured creation the young, innocent and precious lives committed to their care. As a father you should be proud you are deemed responsible enough to nurture to adult God’s best.
The precious gifts are given with a price tag and how high is this price? The price of fathering the kingdom way is SACRIFICE. Sacrifices in our careers, finances and time.

Career Sacrifice: No matter our career choices as fathers we MUST make choices with the welfare of our child(ren) in mind. A Japanese man Takeshi Tamura who works as a senior executive with the Japanese National Railways gave up his job to be there for his son who was heading towards real trouble due to his involvement with unsavoury associations. When asked how he feels about his decision, he said “it is perhaps the best decision I ever made. Spending more time with my son and doing things together, including studying the Bible with him, had a remarkable effect. We became friends and he cut off his bad associations and improper behaviour”. I always tell any parent who cares to listen that the child(ren) needs more than a dad or mum, they need a friend. Are you a friend to your child(ren)?

Financial Sacrifice: It is not money but the love for money that is the root of all evil. Everybody’s excuse for getting up very early, coming home very late or not coming at all as always been to make more money, so life can be comfortable. NO! A friend of mine who happens to be a single father out of various job opportunities opened to him chose the one with the most flexible hour, he said “Though the salary isn’t fantastic being able to take the time off to be with my daughter makes it worth it”. – Remember, no single penny spent, no expense incurred on a child is a waste, it’s an investment into your future. It a natural law of sowing and reaping.

Time Sacrifice: T o a child love is spelt T.I.M.E. what you spend most of your time on decide the of person you are and it is what you are most passionate about. To some it is money, to some it is their career; to some it is fun but to Bob a Christian psychiatrist I read about, it is spending more time interacting with his children. He said, “I’m spending much more time with my four children than I would have if I had not seen in my psychiatric practise, so many bad results of the father absence from raising up his child(ren). Pay now, play later or play now, pay later. Either way you will pay – John Maxwell’s father. “Spend time building the child(ren) now or spend time correcting them later. Either way you will spend time” – Baiye Adebowale Folarinwa.

Proverbs 22 vs. 6 says: Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Proverbs 29 vs. 17 says: Discipline your son, and he will give you peace; he will bring delight to your soul.

The child(ren) are gifts, they are not yours. You are only a caretaker and one day the rightful owner will appear, and you shall give account. As fathers how well you brought up your child(ren) will be rewarded here on earth. In Psalm 127 vs. 3-5 says:
Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.

As fathers when you are blessed with issues it does not matter the number, you are blessed for the child(ren) is a physical part of God in your home. And with your child(ren) you have:
· Advantage over your adversaries poverty, illiteracy e.t.c because your children are weapons with which you can break all barriers.
· The child(ren) increases your boldness and confidence as a father, like an army general with a well groomed troop in respective of number is full of boldness.

Raising a child(ren) is one of the most taxing yet fulfilling, frustrating yet rewarding task any man can attempt. As fathers we only have this one life and one opportunity at raising our child(ren) and to succeed at this, what we need is the counsel of the master, the extra-ordinary strategist – GOD. Proverbs 3 vs. 5 says: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. You can be a chartered accountant, a sound economist, a trained child psychologist, all kudos to you but when it comes to fathering the kingdom way do not lean on your own understanding, rather trust in the Lord by seeking His counsel on how to raise the child(ren) the way they should go so when they grow they will not depart from it. The question now is, is your home God’s kingdom? are you raising up the child(ren) when, where and how God want it?

Watch out for the concluding part of FATHERING THE KINGDOM WAY. Thank you and God bless, see you @ the Top.