Save Your Family
From Messages
by Pastor Nave on March 10, 2019
And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it (Genesis 19:12–13, KJV).
There is a spiritual battle warring all around us and we must protect our loved ones from it. In this battle, culture is trying to reshape our personal values, telling us to put God and His Word second on our list of priorities. But, He must lead our lives, and we need to abolish any mindset that tries to convince us otherwise.
During the sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke against the norms of the world (Matthew 5:21–22). He revealed the culture of the world can set certain ideologies, but they aren’t the definition and values of His Kingdom. It’s vitally important we know the distinction of godly vs. worldly values and separate ourselves from them! The ways of God are high and difficult to reach, but they are worth obtaining. Satan likes to trick us into being less of a person than God has called us to be. He wants us to settle for being better than the world but not everything that God wants us to be. This doesn’t work and isn’t God’s will.
Lot was constantly drawn in to the world around him and had a blend of godly values with earthly values. If we are not careful, we can trade the absolute ideal with something that’s “good enough.” Scripture tells us the world will become worse and worse. The enemy is trying harder to deceive the world and get us farther from the truth. This should wake us up to the realization that we should be more different that those around us! We must be separate.
Angels told Lot to 1) save his family from their culture, 2) don’t dwell in the low places, and 3) when heading toward safety, don’t turn back. We need to lead our families in this discourse now so they will follow us when it counts later in life. Heed this lesson from Lot’s life: when he tried to warn his family, they didn’t take him seriously (Genesis 19:14). Taking these steps with our families count every day; our consistency will partner with God to save our families.
The first assignment was for Lot to save his family from the culture. The way we can do this is by separating our home from the world and making sure there is godly distinction and leadership therein. The Lord should be the center of everything that happens in our life and our homes. If we follow Jesus, He will never lead us astray. When our home is saturated with the Lord’s presence, it will be contagious to all the inhabitants.
Secondly, Lot was instructed not to dwell in low places. We’re all touched by low places comprised of the sorrows and pain in our life. We don’t feel the same way all the time and this can cause friction in our families. But, we can’t stop and stay in the low places because it’s too close to judgment; too close to the culture. We can’t abide in our mistakes because they will mold and shape the future of our families.
We must save our families without ever looking back to the way of the world. We know Jesus works, and therefore, shouldn’t look to the world to be the center of our marriage and families. We can hold onto the Lord and He will bring us out of every situation. Jesus warned the church judgment is coming. God will take His people out and destroy the wicked. Remember Lot’s wife and don’t turn back (Luke 17:32). Look forward; look to God; and let’s bring our family with us!
