Joseph Prince - God's Heart For Your Family
Every time we come to God's Word, we are expecting God to give us a fresh light, fresh revelation out of his Word. Amen? It is something called a word in season. And the Bible says our Lord Jesus has that word in season always in his mouth. The prophecy of him in the Old Testament says, "The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I may speak a word in season to him that is weary". It is not just that we read any portion of Scripture and that it will necessarily bless the people, because the Pharisees had the Bible, and yet they missed the Lord Jesus. You know, the Bible says, prophet Amos said that this will happen in the last days. There'll be a famine, a famine not of hunger or thirst, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. And that's what the Pharisees had.
It's not enough just to have the Bible in your house. It's not enough just to even read the Bible, all right, religiously, or that you have done your duty. You read your chapter for the day. It's more important that you have the bread, amen, the uncovering, unveiling by the Holy Spirit, who has been sent to teach us all things and to guide us into all truths. We need the true bread of heaven. We need to receive bread from heaven, and the Pharisees, even though every Shabbat the Bible says they would open up the Scriptures, they would read the Scriptures, yet the Bible says they condemned the one of whom the Scriptures spoke about. And the Bible says that this has happened because they refused the key that unlocks all the Scriptures, our Lord Jesus Christ. So, when he came, they rejected him, and yet the Lord said to them, "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me".
And every time we come to God's Word, we want the bread, amen, and the bread is the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's bread in no other. Even as the famine of hearing the words of the Lord it's a famine of bread, just like the story of Joseph. You know, Joseph is a type of our Lord Jesus, loved by his father, but rejected by his brothers, became the bread of life to the Gentile world, and that has happened. Our Lord Jesus, who came unto his own, and his own received him not, and he has become the bread of life this past 2000 years, predominantly to a Gentile world. He took a Gentile bride. So, our Lord Jesus, his bride today is predominantly Gentile, out of Gentiles. Amen. But the Lord is working on Israel in these days, as well. We are truly in the days of restoration, and just before the Lord comes for us again, we know, we know we're going to see a lot of salvations, Jews and Gentiles, all over the world, but we're expecting the Lord to come back any time. Amen?
So, we are like the people during Joseph's day. There was seven years of plenty, followed by seven years of famine, and they came to Joseph during the time of famine, and they said to Joseph, "Give us bread". That is our prayer. When I come to God's Word, I want to see the Lord Jesus. I ask him, "Give me bread," and the bread is a revelation of himself, amen. Just like Emmaus Road, you know, the disciples were despondent, downcast, and they were reasoning, and the Lord came, and he opened up the Scriptures concerning himself. And I believe that's what we need to do. That's the true bread from heaven. They cried to Joseph, "Give us true bread". So, we call upon our heavenly Joseph to give us true bread. Hallelujah. And I pray that every Sunday, as you tune in to the Word of God, I pray that you receive true bread, not just knowledge of the Scriptures like the Pharisees had, but true bread from the Scriptures, amen, for they are they which testify of him, hallelujah.
Let's dive right into the Word of God, right now, for the Word that God has for us now and during this time, during this season. We see that we are in the last days, amen. We are truly in a time when the Lord Jesus can come back any time, amen, and it's not contingent upon any Bible prophecy being fulfilled, because the coming of the Lord for us in the rapture, not the second coming, when he comes for us in the rapture, it is not based on a certain prophecy has been fulfilled or certain events must come to pass, then he'll come for us. No, that will be the second coming. He's going to come any time. So, when he comes again, our lowly body will be transformed like unto his glorious body. We'll never see death again, praise the Lord. We'll live forever in that glorified body. Praise the name of Jesus.
The circle will be unbroken. We'll meet all the loved ones who have gone on before, and we'll be with the Lord. That's the best of all, amen, amen. We'll live in heaven, literally the kingdom of God is not just heaven, you know, we think of it. It is bigger and larger than we can imagine, praise the Lord. And that will be our place of habitation for the rest of eternity, hallelujah. Praise the Lord, thank you, Jesus. So, I'm fully expecting the Lord to come back any time. Are you? Are you looking forward to his coming? The Bible says that just before he comes, at that time will be darkness covering the earth and gross darkness the people. For God's people, God says the Lord will rise upon you and upon your family, as well, and his glory shall be seen upon you. Praise the Lord.
Keep on reading. It talks about how God will bring your children and your sons and daughters back to you. If they've gone astray, he's going to bring them back. There'll be a family restoration, and that's what I want to share with you, because the Lord's been putting this on my heart for the past weeks, actually, and he's been speaking to me in different ways about family blessings, and that's what he wants you to enjoy, the aspect of blessings pertaining to the family. And God wants this because it's a testimony in these end times, praise the Lord, to the glory of God, when our families live in heavenly peace and in heavenly light, amen.
And we see that, also a picture of that in Exodus, when the children of Israel, you know, the ten plagues that came on Egypt, because of Pharaoh's hardened heart and because of his rebellion, the Bible says God sent ten plagues. And not only that, just before the last plague, the death of the firstborn, there was a plague of darkness, and darkness was so thick that no one can see another person. It was a supernatural darkness. But during this time of darkness, which pertains, there's a picture. Remember that? God puts things in the Old Testament, not just a historical fact for us to acknowledge, all right, but it's something that will point to us that is he's gonna, you know, the Bible says that the thing which is, is that which has been.
In other words, it actually shares this. Whatever has happened has happened as a type, a prototype, amen, of things that we see now. In the Old Testament, we see the shadow. In the New Testament, we see the shadow. In the New Testament, we see the substance, amen. The Bible says the Scriptures in the Old Testament testify of Christ. In other words, all the characters, the godly characters, and the men of God, and the heroes of the Bible like David, and David himself was rejected, and he went around wandering with his mighty men. So, there's a picture of our heavenly David, and all of us today, we are in a sense rejected, and we are in a wilderness, but we are with our David, hallelujah, conquering battle after battle with him. And not only that, one day when he is glorified, when he becomes King, the Bible says we'll all enjoy, all right, that same glory, praise the name of Jesus. That's what God says.
Now, not in the sense of all glory, all worship, but that belongs to him alone, but we'll be partakers of that glory. And those who are faithful during the times of persecution, like David, David gave them positions. David made different roles for them, roles of authority, and that's going to happen. God will give us authorities over the kingdom that is to come, praise the Lord, visibly to come. It is already here, but it is to come visibly, amen. You and I are going to reign with Christ, praise the Lord, hallelujah. That's our destiny. Our minds cannot comprehend it, amen? But, you see, the Old in the New is revealed, just like the New Testament, the new doctrinal part and all that, and the person of Jesus is concealed. So, in the Old the New is concealed, but in the New the Old is revealed.
So, we see the picture of darkness covering the earth. Isn't that what's happening right now? We see darkness covering the earth, and it's a judicial darkness. It is not a natural darkness because the Egyptians cannot dispel that darkness with candle or with fire, or else they would avail themselves of this means. They cannot do it. It is a darkness that no one can dispel at that time. But in the houses of the children of Israel, the Bible says, let's read the verse, 23. "They did not see one another; nor did anyone rise from his place for three days. But all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings". I love this, "light in their dwellings". So, for the people of the world, there'll be darkness covering their eyes, even though their eyes are open. And, you know, we're not talking about darkness, a physical darkness that you can see and all that. Back then, it was physical, all right? It was something that they visibly, they cannot see through it, right, but today it is a darkness that we cannot see the true nature of things.
And also in the moral sense, we substitute evil for what is good, and we call evil good. We call good evil. And that's happening because of darkness, darkness covering people's eyes, and gross darkness upon the earth in the last days. But during this time, God's light, God's glory will be seen upon you, child of God. God's glory will be seen upon your families. But especially for the families, I just want to share this, that God has been speaking to me, and I want to share this with you, that God wants you to have light in your dwellings. God wants you to enjoy light in your dwellings.
And just like that darkness was supernatural back then, the light is supernatural. It is not a natural light of their own works. They did not produce that light. None of the children of Israel could produce that light or even earn that light. Don't forget, at this point in time, they were still worshiping, many of them, later on, it out when Joshua told them, "You worshiped idols even in Egypt". And many of them don't even know God the way they should. And they were in a place, yet, the Bible says all the children of Israel, all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
So, church, I'm saying to you right now that God's going to bring that light into your dwelling. Get ready for it. Flow with it. Do we have a responsibility in this? Yes, our responsibility is to believe and to just get out of the way and let God bring light into your dwellings, light into your families, light into your marriage, light into your children, amen, that they will see what God wants them to see, and they'll not be blinded anymore. Praise the Lord. Light in their dwelling. And this light is heavenly light from the Father of lights. Hallelujah. Just like the darkness is supernatural, this light is supernatural light. Praise the Lord. We're going to live with supernatural light in these last days. Praise the name of Jesus. There'll be light in our dwellings. People that step into our house, they'll feel as if there's an atmosphere where there's less stress, and there's a peace, and they can't explain it.
Now, we might be, you know, living in a way that is not altogether godly or in a way that God wants us to, but even then there's a light there that people can sense. There is a difference about you, child of God. Yes, and may that motivate us to even live for his glory. Live a life that is victorious, a life that will bear testimony that our God is good, amen, and our Lord Jesus loves the people, praise the Lord. Our life should reflect that, amen, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. We all want that, amen. We want to see our Father glorified. So, the Lord says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see, what, your good works". Amen.
So, the light produces the good works. That's the manifestation, not dead works. Dead work is anything that you do to try to earn favor with God. No, no, no, that is not a good work. That is a dead work. And the Bible says we are to repent from dead works. No, the Bible talks about good works. Good works is an outflow of the life of Christ in us, amen. As we cease, he starts, amen, and we need to flow with him and the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace. Notice it's called fruit, not the works as in the works of the flesh. Why the works of the flesh? Because people are struggling with their efforts and the result is the works of the flesh, which is adultery, variance, witchcraft, bitterness, hatred. But the fruit, notice not works of the Spirit, it's fruit of the Spirit. So, works is the result of energy, effort, amen? Fruit is the result of life. You have the life of Christ, the fruit will be there. Expect it, believe it. Amen? And the only criteria is that you're a child of God. Praise the name of Jesus.
As you follow the Spirit every day, amen, listen to his promptings, and just flow with him, amen. In the Old Testament, it was commandments on the outside to be obeyed. In the New Testament, amen, under the new covenant, we have the Spirit inside us to be followed and not to worry. The Spirit will excel even beyond the commandments. Praise the Lord. The commandments says, "Thou shall not commit adultery". Well, there are those who don't commit adultery because they don't have the opportunity, or they don't have the money. I think it takes money nowadays. And yet, they don't commit adultery, and they don't have any love for their wives. Amen? But when you follow the Spirit, amen, there'll be love in your heart for your wife, and you don't want to commit adultery because you love God, and because you love your wife. That is the motivation, and the Spirit, grace always goes beyond the law, amen, praise the Lord.
So, I pray that you will follow the Spirit. Learn to listen to the voice of the Spirit. Amen? Praise God. So, in these last days, God wants our families saved. If they're not saved yet, if you have family members not saved yet, you know, God really came strong on me to tell you get your families saved, praise the Lord, your children saved. And man of the house, the head of the family is always the father; and if the father is an unbeliever, of course, the mother will step in, in that role, but predominantly God is speaking to the fathers, amen, and the father is the determining factor for the salvation of the family.
Look at this in Genesis 7, verse 1: "Then the LORD said to Noah, 'Come into the ark, you and all your household," you and all your household, your entire family, "because I have seen that you are righteous," not his household. God did not say, "I have seen that you and your household are righteous". But because of one man being righteous, his entire household is blessed. "Because I have seen that you," singular, "you are righteous before me in this generation". So, the blessing comes on the family because of one man who is righteous. But God is speaking to the man. God says, "Come into the ark," and the ark is a picture of Christ and the place of salvation, the place of refuge.
Again, it's a picture of the last days. It's a picture of the last days, and how in the last days, before God judges the earth and send the flood. You know, the antediluvian period that people were living in at that time, it was actually a time of rebellion, and God was just allowing, you know, man to go on without, and God was grieved with the wickedness that he saw in men's hearts every day, but God was not ready to judge them. God is always slow to judge.
Let me tell you this. Throughout the Bible, many people think that God is so swift to judge. No, God is slow to judge, slow to anger. Even if he has to judge, before he judged Sodom and Gomorrah, he went to Abraham. He wanted Abraham to plead for them. And Abraham pled for them. Abraham pled, "God, if you find fifty righteous, will you destroy fifty"? God says, "No, I'll not destroy for fifty's sake". "You find forty-five righteous men, will you destroy for forty-five's sake"? God says, "I'll not destroy for forty-five's sake, if I find forty-five men". He went down, all the way to 10. "And God, if you find ten righteous, will you destroy Sodom and Gomorrah"? God says, "For ten's sake, if I find ten righteous in that city, I will not destroy the cities".
Alas, there's only one man who was righteous. He was a defeated righteous man. His name was Lot, Abraham's nephew, but only one man in that city. And if only, if only Abraham that had sort of interceded until one person, I believe God may have spared the city. Amen? God is waiting for man to take his place like in a court, amen, to plead for a guilty person, even though what a person merits is judgment, but God is waiting. But here, thanks be to God that we have a perfect intercessor today at the Father's right hand, our Lord Jesus Christ, and that's why God is not destroying cities today, amen. We are not in the day of judgment, yet, as I shared last week. We're still in the dispensation of grace, praise the Lord, amen. So, God is always slow to judge, slow to anger, amen. He will send messenger after messenger, prophet after prophet to warn the people, and then finally he will say, "The cup is full".
So, God sends judgment in the form of a flood in the antediluvian days. But God spoke to one man. What sweet words these are. "Noah, come into the ark, you and your family, for you I have seen righteous. You I have seen righteous". You know, because of one man, the entire family is blessed. I want to say this to you. Men of God, amen, fathers of the family, you are the leader of the house. Do you know your family today is blessed? Whatever blessings you see in your family, they are blessed, yes, of course. They're rightly, the Lord Jesus Christ who did it, but the principle of God, God does not violate his principles, his ways. It's because of you, because you are righteous, amen. You have received the Lord Jesus Christ, and you follow God, praise the Lord, your entire family is blessed.
And God's heart is not just for one man's salvation, but for his entire family. God thinks generationally. When God blessed Abraham, God says, "I'll bless you and your seed," all right. "In you and your seed all the nations will be blessed," amen. And I know the seed refers to Christ primarily, but many other places it also refers to descendants, your descendants. Jacob, the same promise, all right, "Your descendants will be blessed," amen. All the way, Isaac, Jacob, and Jacob's 12 sons, and the blessings went on to them. God's mind is always on blessing generationally, amen, generation after generation. Praise the Lord. So, we've got to think like God. What is holiness? Holiness is to think like God. Praise the Lord. It's to think like God. Love what he loves, hate what he hates, flow with him, praise the Lord.
And you are holy practically. We're all holy through Christ's death at the cross, and that is in terms of our position, who we are in Christ, and how God sees us. But there is an outworking of it. And how do you do it? Thinking God's thoughts. Where do you find God's thoughts? In his Word, amen. So, I'm carrying God's thoughts and the now word, and this Word in season for a time such as this. What is God saying to us? He wants you to realize that your family is... what a devil wants to seize upon. He wants to get after your family. He wants to destroy your family. He wants to stop the godly influence upon your children, even before they have blossomed, even before they have learned. He want to stop it, he want to nip it in the bud before it starts to blossom. Why? Because he knows the moment the seed is planted into the heart of your child, amen, it's hard to eradicate that seed.
The Bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it". It's very interesting. I look up the Hebrew one day, and I realized that the Hebrew actually says, "Train up the child in the way of his mouth". The word peh, the Hebrew word for mouth is there. "Train up a child in the way of his mouth", what does that mean? That means, just like in the natural, whatever you put in the mouth of your child, the food, I'm talking about food and all that, the child, maybe the child will be adverse to it, even sweet things. At first, the child will be adverse to it, but then the child starts to like it, and then it's a cultivated taste, just like we love our mother's cooking, amen. No matter how old we are, whether we are in our 50s or 60s, we still love our mother's cooking, or we love certain kind of food that we were brought up on. No matter what, no matter how born again we are, no matter how old things have passed away, all things, you know, our taste, we still want those things that we grew up on. And that is still part of us.
So, God says, spiritually, it's true as well. Train up a child in the way of his taste, of his mouth, amen. Make sure you put a spiritual taste. And that's why, child of God, listen, amen, you have children, all right, then you have the authority in your household to influence them, amen, a godly influence over them. Make sure that they participate in the Rockets, we call it Rockets, our Sunday School, amen, our children's church every Sunday. I know that it's not just a Sunday thing, you know? It's a daily thing, but I'm talking about let's get started there first, amen? Bring them in, amen? Tell them, "You've gotta watch this". They're gonna play their video games, not until after, amen. And tell them this, "God comes first". Slowly, you are teaching them to taste.
At first they might say, "Oh, you know, I don't feel like I'm getting pleasure or delight or fun". They might say it's boring, might say it's that. It's not boring at all. Let me tell you this. I myself enjoy watching our Rockets service. But they will say all kinds of things. Just like when you put them out in nature, and all children need the benefit of nature. We are so urbanized. We don't realize there's benefit to nature, just going out on a walk and all that. You put children out in nature for a while, they feel restless. They don't have their video games. They've gotta have something. After for a while, that boredom goes away, and they start to relax. They start to de-stress. They start looking at small, little, you know, dragonfly or butterfly. They start to notice things around them. And God made man, you know, to exist in this kind of environment, don't forget, originally, amen? But the world is becoming so urbanized. They're losing the benefits that come from nature.
See, you put that taste in your children. Whatever it is, you put that taste in your children. You put it in their mouths. And the greatest thing you can put in their mouths to taste is to taste and see that the Lord is good. Isn't it remarkable that God would say, "Taste and see"? These are things that we who walk by faith will say, "No, we walk by faith". Amen? God is good. We walk by faith. We believe God is good. But here God is actually saying, literally, "Taste and then see". Things gotta do with our five senses, amen. I know it's a spiritual taste, and I know it's a spiritual sensing, but nonetheless God is using man's expression to tell us he wants us to experience his goodness. He wants us to taste his goodness. So, let your children taste his goodness. Praise the Lord. Like food, once they have tasted that food, there ain't no going back. Praise the Lord. They can go astray, but they always come back, because they have tasted the Lord is good, hallelujah. Praise the Lord. And when you get blessed, amen, tell them why you are blessed. Praise the Lord.
So, the devil is out to get your children. Don't allow him, the Bible says he goes about seeking whom he may devour. Don't let him have your children. You know, one of the four compromises of Pharaoh to Moses, when Moses says, "Let my people go," you know, Pharaoh is a type of Satan. So, one of the four compromises is here in Exodus 10, same chapter we find light in our dwellings, this after God sent hail on Egypt, and then Moses and Aaron were summoned by Pharaoh. So, they brought him to Pharaoh, and he said to them, "Go serve the Lord your God. Who are the ones that are going"? And Moses said, "We will go with our young and our old, with our sons and our daughters, with our flocks and our herds we will go, for we must hold a feast to the LORD". Notice that he says, "We will go with our young, with our sons and daughters". What's the reason? "For we must hold a feast to the LORD".
Now people say, "Don't you think that, you know, you're going to hold a feast to the Lord. What does it matter, your little ones go or not"? Right? That's what Pharaoh is reasoning. You're going to go, you go, okay? Why bring your little children, amen? People say, "Aren't you making your children go to church every Sunday or online, Rockets, isn't this something that they will find legalistic, and it become a form? You partake of the Lord's Supper regularly. Wouldn't it become a form"? And that's always the thought that the devil will put into your mind, okay? Listen, my friend, you know, Moses didn't think that way. Moses says, "We'll go with our young. We will go with our sons and daughters, for we," notice, "we," not just me, not just the adults, "we, our children, our little ones included, must hold a feast to the LORD". Amen. Bring them to church. Praise the Lord. If they don't like it, amen, give them a taste of it, and they will like it. They will eventually like it.
You see, everything, everything else in life, even smoking, first reaction of anyone smoking is always they find it detestable. All right? They find they don't like it, okay? I'm talking about people who are starting off for the first time, the first experience, and they don't like it. But then they think it's cool, and they are given the idea that it's nice, and it relaxes you, and all that, okay, and then they start smoking, and then the delight comes later. The delight don't come immediately. Let me tell that they are now addicted. Of course, friend, there's a higher way to be cool without all the after effects, without the lung cancer, without all the, you know, the diseases that come with chronic smoking.
Let me tell you this, friend. Jesus says, "My peace I leave with you". And if we have received that peace, how does a believer, who has that peace, look like? Cool, really cool, amen. The world has taken a term that's actually from the Bible. Literally, there's a verse in the Bible that says, "A man of understanding, a man of an excellent spirit is," the word there is a cool spirit. He has a cool spirit. Praise the Lord. So, the word "cool" is actually from the Bible. No one can really be cool. They can project, amen, an image of being cool, but in their hearts, many are the times you just rub them the wrong way, there goes their temper, all right? They are short-tempered. They are demanding. They are, you know, you cannot have that coolness without Jesus, people. Praise the Lord, hallelujah.
So, here we go. God commands Pharaoh, "Let my people go," through Moses. He refused. And he asked, "Who is going"? "We are going with our young and our old, our sons and our daughters, for we, all of us, we must hold a feast to the LORD". Look at Pharaoh's response. This is Satan's response. "Then he said to them, 'The LORD had better be with you when I let you and your little ones go.'" Notice that. "Beware, for evil is ahead of you". Then he thinks about it for a while. He says, "Not so! Go now, you who are men", that means what? Leave your children back in Egypt. "'You who are men, you go and serve the LORD, for that is what you desired.' And they were driven out from Pharaoh's presence".
Now, after they were driven out, that's when the Bible says that Moses prayed, and God sent this time the locusts. Now, friend, notice Satan's compromise. He will say, "Okay, you go, all right, but leave your little ones behind". In other words, "You who are men, you go. You all know what the feast is about. You all know what going to church on Sunday is all about. But your children, you know what, leave them behind, okay? Don't be so radical. You know, don't be so fanatical. Come on, all right? Leave your children behind. They don't understand anyway. Leave them behind. In other words, leave them to me". What an anomaly, what a terrible anomaly that the fathers are feeding on the manna in the wilderness, and the old corn of the land, whereas their children on feeding on leeks, garlics, onions of Egypt.
You know, friend, the things that you have tasted of God's goodness, of his grace, his favor, amen, the things that you see in the Scriptures that makes you go, "Wow, amen," you are excited about the revelation that God has given you. Your sons and your daughters deserve that, amen? The food of the world cannot feed them. The hunger in their hearts, yeah, they might not seem like they're hungry for God's Word. But that's what their deepest craving is for. They might be indulging in all kinds of practice and behavior that is not edifying, but sort of like bring temporary pleasures and temporary relief, but not the long term, because it's not satisfying them truly where it really matters. And God says, "Why do you pursue that which is not bread? Why do you pursue that which does not feed you"? God says, "Listen to me, amen, and feed. Listen carefully, and your soul will be fed". Praise the Lord.
So, we cannot have a heart, amen, for living in Canaan, the land that God has promised, the land that flows with milk and honey, amen, the Christian life today, praise the Lord, we cannot have a longing for that and still neglect our children and leave them in Egypt. That's a terrible anomaly. Amen. You have enjoyed the manna out there. You have enjoyed the old corn of the land. When Joshua and all the people, when they went into the land, the manna ceased, and they enjoyed the old corn of the land, which is actually the wheat. And all this are pictures of Jesus Christ. You have tasted him in different forms, amen, in the Word of God. Praise God. How can you leave your children behind?
And the food of Egypt is backbreaking food. Have you noticed that? All the food of Egypt that's mentioned in the Bible, melons, the leeks, the garlics, the onions are all food of the ground. You have to bend over, and you have to pick them up. You have to bend over and pick them up, whereas the food of Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey, they're all food that is in a restful way, in a relaxed way. You can just pluck them. They are at your level, right? The figs, the pomegranates, the vine, the grapes, they're all at your level. Even the wheat grows tall. When it's harvest time, it really grows really tall and it bows down. You can just take them from there. Even walking through the fields like Jesus's disciples, they go pick the grain that are ripe and even eat it immediately.
So, God wants us to feed on manna. God wants us to feed on the wheat of the land, which is easy. All these pictures are pictures that, you know, is easy for us to pick up the food of Canaan. It is not backbreaking, but the food of the world is backbreaking. We think that, oh, the devil wants you to think that finding food in gospel is hard. But, you know, the availability and the ease by which you get the food of Egypt is so easy. At the push of a button, you know, you can see all kinds of things you want to see. And, you know, let me tell you this. It's backbreaking. It will cause you to stoop. It will burden you with depression, worries, and cares. It will cause you to feel lonely. It will cause you to feel all kinds of things that God never wants you to experience, because God wants you to have the best of the land, amen.
Even the quails that God brought to Egypt, the Bible says God brought them from the sea by a wind. And then when they came over to the camp of the children of Israel, they were so tired, I believe they were tired, that God says that the quails fluttered two cubits from the earth. All you gotta do, they're fluttering around, you just pick them, amen? And then you have roasted quail for that night. So, all the food of God is ready, and you take them in a relaxed way. You don't have to bow down, work hard, backbreaking work, and that's the food of the world. So, make sure that our children feed on Christ, amen? Our heavenly manna. Make sure that they're able to see something of him. And don't just depend, of course, on the Rockets or the Sunday School service.
Throughout the week here and there, the Bible says that if you're going to experience heaven on earth, amen, literally days of heaven on earth, in Deuteronomy 11, it says that, "Speak to your children when you rise up, when you walk along the way, when you sit down," amen, "in your uprising, in your daily walk every day". And the simple things of life, talk about Jesus. Now, in the context there, because they were under the law, God says, "Speak about the law". But you look carefully in the Hebrew, there is this signature of Jesus there, alef, tav. God says, "Speak of alef, tav". Speak of Jesus. Alef, tav. Alef is the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Tav is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Like it says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth".
In the beginning God created, alef tav, the heavens and the earth. In other words, alef tav forms the center word of the seven words in Hebrew of the very first verse of the Bible. The very center word says, it's alef tav. It's untranslated in the Hebrew Bible. I asked a friend one time in Israel, you know, why do you think it's untranslated? You know, he's not a believer, he says, "You know, it's a sign, it's a sign of something". He said, "It's a sign of something". And imagine Jesus appearing to the apostle John in the island of Patmos, and Jesus says, "I am Alpha and Omega".
Now Alpha and Omega is, again, the first letter of the Greek alphabet is Alpha. The last is Omega. But obviously Jesus would not have spoken to a fellow Jew in Greek. Greek is the language of the New Testament, and it's translated that way for us, but he would have spoken Hebrew, Aramaic, which is the same word there. "I am Alef, and I am Tav. I am the A, and I am the Zed or the Z. I am Alef and Tav". Amen. So, that signature is there. So, when you speak to your children, speak about Jesus. When he has done something for you, tell them what happened. And you see illustration, tell them, you know. I was talking to Justin the other day about how scientists study the sun in an eclipse. And I said, "God will always bring light out of darkness". Amen. What the world thinks is dark and all that, look for the light. God will always bring light out of darkness. Praise the Lord, amen.
You find opportunities in the daily thing, you know. He likes Pokémon games, and I said that, "You know who has the greatest power of all, more than all these Pokémon"? Of course, they always talk about the Pokémon, the greatest power. "The greatest one is Jesus Christ. All power, Justin, think about it, all power". Every day, there's an opportunity, even in the play, as well as those duties of life, their homework and all that, you can find opportunity to talk about Jesus, amen. Even mentioning the name of Jesus will cause them to taste and see the Lord is good. We don't have to explain in so many details to our children, amen, about Jesus. Remember how you had experience of Jesus. It wasn't in the preacher giving you the details of how wonderful and how beautiful he is. It was actually the Holy Spirit just imparted to you a sense that, "I know him. I know him".
The preacher might just say he is wonderful, but the Holy Spirit elucidated on how wonderful, the beautiful attributes, and it's like you just know it. I remember when I first went to church here in Singapore, as a child, and I was about four years old. I still remember this experience. I stepped into this building. It was a building, but it was a church service at the time. And the more I stepped into the building, they had a service, and I still remember the first song ever in a church that I heard was, it was the Christmas season, and they were singing. "Silent night, Holy night". That's the first song I heard, and I was drawn.
And you know something? I felt the presence of Jesus in that church. I know that church is not the building. But when I stepped into the building, I sensed the song playing. I sensed the presence of God, as a child. I cannot explain to my mother, but I knew, I knew that I sensed something that I loved, that I'm attuned to, because it's something in me that tells me this is what it's all about. This is really where you'll find your joy and delight, as a child of four years old. Of course, I went astray later on, and only later in life, as a teenager, I believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and accepted his gift of salvation, but that impression left behind something. So, expose your children. You never know that how the Holy Spirit will just touch their spirit, amen, and leave a deposit, a revelation. Let them "Taste and see that the Lord is good," amen? Praise the Lord.
So Satan's out to get the children. He says, "You, man, you get deep into the things of God, okay, but you know what? Leave the children behind". No, "We are all going," and that's what Moses said. Praise the Lord. Thank You, Jesus, amen. Now, I wanna share with you something that the Lord spoke to me very recently. Now, you know how many times we can read a portion of Scripture, and, yet never see this? Now, I've never heard anyone preach this or share this. Like I said, you know, I read this portion so many times, but it's the first time the scales fell off my eyes, and it's something to do with the story of Jericho, and Joshua and Jericho, the spies, and Rahab.
Now, there's something very interesting because I've read that portion so many times, and I didn't realize something about this particular thing. Now, before I come to that, let me show you the background. Again, Jericho is a picture of the world. And Joshua, in fact, his name in Hebrew, "Yehoshua," literally, is Jesus, our Lord Jesus, right? So the Lord is coming back, and Jericho is a picture of the world. And the Second Coming of Jesus is to judge the earth before he establish his righteous and peaceful rule on this earth, but the first part of it is judgment, the day of vengeance of our God. But notice, like I said just now, God is slow to judge. God is slow to anger.
You know, even before he judged Jericho, you know what he did? Forty years earlier, he allowed them to hear about how good he is to his people. He allowed them to hear so that they might repent because the goodness of God will lead you to repentance, and it was in the mouth of one of their inhabitants, a prostitute by the name of Rahab, okay, who said this: "Forty years before, we heard how God dried up the Red Sea for you". And it's almost like she's saying, "What took you so long to come here"? So, in other words, she said, "We heard". The entire inhabitants of Jericho heard the goodness of God, how God made a way where there was no way, amen? If he's on his people's side, you better not be on the wrong side, the enemy's side as Pharaoh and all his Egyptian armies were drowned in the sea, right?
So they heard about the goodness of God to his people, and they could've become one of his people by believing in God because, after all, one of their citizens did. Rahab, the prostitute, she believed, and she and her family got saved. So it's a picture of the end times. So God will always give them chance after chance, opportunity after opportunity, send messengers, and, finally, the time came that Joshua would send two spies. Now, notice, in the first time, remember the time of Moses? About 40 years earlier, Moses actually sent... or, rather, like, 38 years earlier, Moses sent 12 spies, right? And these spies were all leaders of their tribes. They're probably elderly men, older men, 12 spies. And they came back, and the majority actually did not believe God, and as a result, they had to wander in the wilderness.
Now, this time around, Joshua said, "I'mma repeat the mistake. I'm gonna send two spies. Two spies. Only two". And he sent them into the land. After all, there were two, back in Moses's time, that believed God, Joshua and Caleb, and Joshua is one of them. Joshua says, "This time, to spy out the land, I'm gonna send two spies". And, again, the spies went in and went to Rahab's house because God knowns the hearts of those he has prepared, amen, those who believe on him. Rahab, even though she was a prostitute, she believed in God about 40 years earlier when she heard how God dried up the Red Sea. And they were hidden by Rahab on the rooftop from all the people seeking the people of Jericho, the security of Jericho, that was looking for them, and she made them go by another way, and she saved them, but just before that, she made them promise that, when they... see, she foresaw the day of vengeance. She foresaw that judgment is coming. She actually told them, "Don't forget, okay, when you come invade our", she knew that they will win. God is with them.
And she said this, just like us today, we believe in the coming of the Lord. We know that what God says always come to pass. God always fulfills his Word. She said, "Remember me and my family," and then one of the spies said, "If we come in, you put this scarlet rope by which we came down just now". Scarlet rope means what? Red robe. Red robe. And the rope by which they were let down was a red robe. It's literally a red robe. It's a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, his blood. It's the blood, amen? It's the blood on your house, amen. It's the blood on your family. Praise the Lord. Nothing but the blood of Jesus can cleanse away all our sins, amen. Neither is there salvation in any other name. There is no other name by which we can be saved but the name of Jesus, amen.
So the red robe is a picture of the blood of Jesus, and the spies were let down, down Jericho walls, and they escaped, and the spies told her, "This rope, make sure, when we come in, leave this rope in your house so that you and your family will be saved. My people will know not to destroy your family". But the amazing thing is this: Her house, the Bible says, her house was on the walls of Jericho. And you know how God brought the walls of Jericho down, right? But that's the only part, and today, they have uncovered that area, and they said that there's a part of the walls that has not fallen, and we believe that it's the place of Rahab's house and her family. There's only one place. Imagine, even supernaturally the walls came down, right? There's a part that the walls did not fall. Why? Because Rahab and her family believed. Praise the name of Jesus. Hallelujah.
Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? Believe on him, and you shall be saved. Remember Paul? Paul was in the prison, and Paul and Silas, at midnight, they began to sing praises to God, and the Bible says God sent an earthquake, and the chains fell off their hands and their feet, and the jailer was so afraid because the punishment for, you know, allowing prisoners to escape is drastic. It is severe, and he wanted to commit suicide, actually, and Paul says, "Do yourself no harm. We are all here". And let's follow the story: "Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. He brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' So they said, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll be saved, you and your household.'"
Notice, even in the New Testament, right? This is a New Testament story here right now under the New Covenant. God's heart is always for you to believe so that the blessing comes on you and your household. Now, of course, your household must also personally believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as we see, as we keep on reading. He brought them back to his house and washed their stripes, gave them food, and all that. Verse 34, "Now when he had brought them into his house, he set food before them, and he rejoiced", now look at this, "having believed in God with all his household".
So your family also must believe, but let me just say this: Because you believe, there's, like, an open door for God to put his hand in and save your entire family. Hallelujah. It's so much easier for them to be saved because you are saved. Praise the Lord. Believe it, amen. Believe that grace is there, hallelujah, because the father of the family, amen, the leader of the house, the God-appointed man is saved. Your whole family is now in a position to be saved. Praise the Lord. God would do, you know, like, special things and extra grace that they might find it easy to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, but they still have to believe. Praise the Lord, amen.
Now go back to Rahab's story. And as we see Rahab at this time, the Bible says that the spies went back. Joshua sent the spies back, and this time, we see something here: "Joshua had said to the two men who had spied out the country, 'Go into the harlot's house, and from there bring out the woman and all that she has, as you swore to her.' And the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab, her father, her mother, her brothers, and all that she had". So entire family was saved, hallelujah. "So they brought out all her relatives and left them outside the camp of Israel," when the judgment fell upon Jericho.
Let me just share this with you. This is what God spoke to me, and I've read this portion so many times. I've read about the two spies, the messengers mentioned by James, all right, these two messengers, these two spies. And I always thought of them as just like the 12 spies sent out by Moses many years earlier. I thought they were leaders, they were elderly men, they were men much older, but, actually, this phrase here was given to me by God. God brought up this just a number of days ago, and it says this: "The young men who had been spies", notice, "the young men who had been spies". "The young men who had been spies".
So it's a picture of the end times, and Jericho is a picture of the world just before judgment comes, and all that, but who is the end-time messenger? Who are the end-time evangelists? An army, a company of evangelists. It'll be people from the younger generation, amen. "Young men" here is the word "naar" in Hebrew, which is actually from infancy to 20 years old, so I believe they were teenagers, teenager spies. They were teenage spies, and "young men," nothing is without divine significance in the Bible. Every detail, every name, it has meaning in the Bible. So because a end-times picture, God, you know, again, God is so slow to judge, so slow to anger. Forty years earlier, he already reached out to Jericho by the miracle he did for Israel, yet they refused to repent. Then he sent two spies, and the spies spy out the land and, notice, not just spy out the land for, what? To see if there's anyone willing to repent, anyone to be spared, and they only found one family, Rahab and her family, right?
Again, God is reaching out to them. Then, finally, on the day itself, just before the day of judgment, one week before, what did God do? God make Joshua cause his people to just go around the walls once a day, every day, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, once a day. What do you think is happening, carrying the ark of the covenant, blowing the trumpet? I believe God is reaching out to Jericho. God is saying, "Here's your last chance". Monday came and went. They refused to repent. Then Tuesday, God allowed his people to go around. The trumpet sound, ram's horn, and the ark of the covenant, lifting Jesus high, a chance for you to believe the one that is inhabiting this throne, the ark of the covenant. They refused to believe. They saw the wall, the pillar of cloud, by the way, and they saw the pillar of fire. It's always with Israel, and they refused to believe.
Wednesday, then Friday, Saturday, finally, seven days, and what did God say? "Shout, for the Lord has given you the city," amen? And that's what God instructed Joshua to do, and they shouted. That was the final one, but God is always reaching out. God is always reaching out, amen, for man to repent, to turn around. Praise the Lord, hallelujah. Now, again, young men who were spies. I believe this end-time generation, amen, the evangelists that God is raising are the young people, and that's why, when God showed this to me, it came like a supernatural thing, just that verse, that verse, "young men who had been spies". And I said, "My goodness, I read the whole story, and I never saw that they were young men". And I began to study the word "young men" and found out they were actually in their adolescence, and I realized that God is gonna use this because time is short, you know?
God can't wait for people to grow old because I suspect, listen, no one knows the day nor the hour, but the Father knows, right? So maybe God is using the younger people because he cannot wait for them to grow another 30 years, another 20 years, which means the coming of the Lord is very near, amen? If that is true, then he's gonna grow them really fast as well. There's gonna be a special anointing, special grace for this generation, this young generation to grow up and become godly, victorious, amen, peaceful, amen, with all the attributes that make for a man of God, a woman of God, praise the Lord, in these last days. Quickly, he's gonna do it quickly, amen. What took 20 years, I think it was Watchman Nee that said, "It takes 20 years to make a man of God".
I believe what took 20 years, years ago, in this time that we are in, in this generation, even in this decade, next few years even, it's gonna be accelerated. I believe that. I believe that. Praise the Lord. And they are amongst us already, amen. Let's feed them. Let's shepherd them. Let's take care of them. The revival in the last days will be amongst the young, amen, and young, even as young as, you know, preteens even, even as a child. Stop saying, you know, "They won't understand," just like what I showed you just now. The devil knows they understand. He knows, if you expose a child to porn at a young age, they'll be hooked for life. Whatever you're expose to, he knows he got you. He got the hook in you. So make them, you now, taste and see. Expose them to God's goodness. Praise the name of Jesus, amen.
Another picture we see in the Old Testament is actually the story of Samson. Samson is like the church, okay? Samson, it was his consecration to God that gave him even the physical strength, and, you know, strength with God is found in our weakness so that we cannot boast. I don't believe Samson was a muscular man, all right, with muscles ripping and all that, with all due respect to Pastor Lawrence. All right, I don't believe that Samson was a muscular man. I believe he was a man probably even very skinny for God's glory to be made manifested when the strength of God comes on him, or else people will start saying, you know, Hollywood like to produce, and they have a number of movies out there, all right, already on Samson, and he's always a strong, muscular man, a bodybuilder. No, my friend, if a bodybuilder rips off the gates and all that, you know, sometimes, the people might think, "Well, maybe he's able to do it," but when a skinny man does it, then God gets all the glory, amen. God gets all the glory. Praise God.
So it's a picture of the church, amen? His security is actually in his weakness. The more you know that you are weak, then you are strong. There's a message there, right there. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus. And, you know, he failed. He's like a picture of the end-time church. Imagine all the judges ended up with Samson blind. And the church, you know, the king, and then the kings came, right? Later on, the kings came, and all the reign of the kings of Israel, Judah, finally, it came to a blind king. Nebuchadnezzar came and gouged out the eyes of King Zedekiah. Again, even the kingship ended up in blindness. And then the church, Christendom, and when I say, "the church," there's always the true church, and there's a professing church, but the church of the end times, the times we are living in, it's called the Laodicean period, a Laodicean church.
And, of course, the true church can be within the Laodicean. Even though we don't subscribe to what they believe, we believe in the Philadelphia church that will coexist, I believe, at the same time with the Laodicean church, but the Laodicean church is like this: God says, "You are blind. You are blind. I counseled you to buy of me eye salve, that you might see". Now, here we go: We see that the Christendom ends up with a blind church, okay? So Samson is a picture of a church, and now he's being led to the last place of victory within the pillars. Let's follow the story: "Then Samson said to the lad", it was a young man, same word used for "young men" who were spies, "naar," in Hebrew. "Samson said to the lad who held him by the hand, 'Let me feel the pillars which support the temple, so that I can lean on them.'"
It'll be the end-time generation. The young generation is gonna help the church. It's gonna hold the church by the hand. So, you know, I remember once, when Jessica was small and I was reading to her a bedtime story, a Bible story, and I came to the part of Samson where Samson actually pushed down the pillars, and I did this with Jessica looking at me with sleepy eyes. I did this: "And Samson pushed down the pillars". And when I did this, the Holy Spirit just, like, flashed across my heart the revelation of Jesus's death on the cross. Notice this is a posture of Jesus being crucified on the cross. So the greatest victory that Samson accomplished was actually in his death. So Jesus, when he died on the cross, accomplished the greatest victory ever. Praise the Lord.
So, when I did this, I just paused for a while, and I said to myself, "Wow, this is what it's all about," amen? So there's no insignificant details in the Bible. So, in other words, it's the younger generation. They'll bring the church back to the place of the finished work, to the place of the cross. So you see, the lad here in the Hebrew is actually the word for adolescent, a young man. Now some people don't like that, you know. They say that, "No, the young, they are, you know, what do they know," and all that. It's time for us to realize there's a special grace, a special anointing on the young people, and the devil knows it. You don't know it, the devil knows it, all right? He's trying to attract the young with all that he has so that they will not see that which is truly bread for them, you know. But the young is wising up. The young people everywhere are coming to know Jesus and, not only that, they are radical for the Lord Jesus, amen. They are following him all the way. Praise the name of Jesus.
You know, the majority of Jesus's disciples, majority of them, you study on the history of the disciples, they were very young men. The youngest, of course, was John, the 12 disciples. Now, Peter was probably the oldest, and he was married. The rest of them, many of them were actually teenagers when they started to follow the Lord. Think about it. Even the Lord himself was 33 years old when he gave his life. Now stop thinking that only when you're 40 then you come to a place of maturity. Have you seen foolish old people, amen? People who are elderly and they're smoking their life away, you know? They're doing things that you are wondering, my goodness, you know, after all the hard knocks in life for many years, you are still doing that? No, friend, age does not guarantee wisdom, okay? The Lord gives wisdom, amen, amen.
So you say, "Pastor Prince, you know, it's only for the young people and it's not for me. I'm past a certain age". Well, God can renew your youth like the eagle's. God can renew your youth like the eagle, so the picture of a young man there, I believe it's referring to the end times as well. End-time evangelists, they are people "who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord," amen? What does that tell you? Alive, you can be alive because, you know, you are young, physically. But alive and remain is a generation of people, the Rapture generation, that's actually they're able to put disease at bay, they're able to live longer until the coming of the Lord, until the rapture, praise God. They're alive and remain. Alive and remain is mentioned twice in that passage on the Rapture in 1 Thessalonians 4.
So some people, when they hear me share about God renewing our youth and all that, they start saying, "Well, you know, the Bible doesn't promise that". Oh yeah? The Bible promises that. Just because some parts of church history, see, church history, listen, my friend. You can't just go back to church history. You must go all the way to the original history, all the way to the Word of God, to the book of Acts. That's the original history. Because later on, things were lost and then God began to progressively restore truth like Martin Luther and all that. If you leave pride to Martin Luther and that was your church history, you haven't much to go by, friend. There's a lot of darkness and bondage, amen. You've got to go back all the way beyond the, back to the, before the darkness to a time of the early church and what did they believe? They partook of the Lord's Supper, for example, as their main reason for coming to church on Sunday. Upon the first day of the week, they came together to break bread.
Wow, what a motive. Even though they had the best speaker at that time, the Apostle Paul, who was the guest speaker at that time, amen. But they came together to break bread. And not only that, they broke bread from house to house, from house to house, from house to house, amen. So we believe in breaking bread, of course. Number one, on the Lord's Day with all of God's people gathered together, amen? Just like the book of Acts upon the first day of the week, they come together to break bread. Praise the Lord. And then also don't stop from house to house which is happening right now, all over the world, amen. Praise the Lord. From house to house, amen. Praise the name of Jesus.
From what I know, the disciples were full of power and grace. They were able to cast out demons, heal the sick. Even the shadow of Peter falling on the sick would heal them. Wanna go back to church history, let's go back all the way to the book of Acts, amen. There's never been an age of miracles. There's no such thing as age of miracles, only a God of miracles, amen? So for those who say, you know, God renewing our youth and all that, you know, just, you know, "Pastor Prince just teaches that," and all that. Let me just tell you this, the Bible says: "Don't forget this as a benefit". Psalms 103, verse 5 tells you: "God satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's". Why does God illustrate "like the eagle's"? Because an eagle's renewals literal. Birds molt, all right? When they molt they change their feathers into fresh, sprightly, you know, bright feathers. Young feathers. They literally renew their youth.
So God is saying, "Don't expect this to be spiritual alone," okay? God says, "Expect this to be as literal like the eagle's," which is a literal renewal, amen? Now you say, "I don't believe in all that". God says, "Don't forget this is one of the benefits," and yet what God says to not forget, we are forgetting. The Bible begins like this, this portion here: "Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits". Forget what? "Forget not all His benefits", and choose, God said, "Don't forget them all". And yet the church has forgotten this. Renewal of youth is one of the benefits. God says, "Forget not all His benefits". He goes on to say, "Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases," that's one benefit. "Who redeems your life from destruction," getting through COVID-19 right there. "Who redeems your life from destruction," that's a benefit. "Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies," that's a benefit. "And who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle's," hallelujah.
What's a man like that God has blessed? You know, when you look at a man who is blessed, what is he like? Okay, the Bible says in Psalms 128: "Behold, thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the LORD". "Thus" means in this way, like in another version, it says: "In this very way the man who fears the LORD will be blessed". In what way? Let's read the preceding verses. "Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table".
Notice this family blessings? Your wife will be someone that will intoxicate you, praise the Lord. You'll be intoxicated with her love. Vine produce wine, right? And wine is something that intoxicates, so God is talking about being intoxicated with her love. She'll always be ravishing to you, praise the Lord, be attractive to you. Your children will always be anointed, because olive plants produce anointing oil, amen? And God says, "Your children be anointed children". Praise the Lord. "Behold, thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the Lord," or "In this very way the man who fears the LORD will be blessed". Your wife will be like a fruitful vine, your children like olive plants. Friend, when you are blessed, it affects your family. Don't demand this from your wife, demand that from your children, you know, demand change from them. It's you.
You need to change, praise the Lord. "Change to what, Pastor"? Being a blessed man, praise the Lord. When you are blessed, they are transformed. When you are blessed, they are changed, praise the Lord. When you are impacted by the Lord, amen, it's you. Even our children, you know, you can say a lot of things to them, you know, "Don't do this," "Don't do that," whatever it is, but you're living a life of worry, fear, anxiety. They learn from you. They learn anxiousness, worries, and cares from you. Where do you think they pick it up, amen. So we need to make sure that we walk the talk, amen. We believe that casting our cares upon the Lord will cause the peace of God to reign in our heart. Let's act it out because we are influencing our children without even realizing it, amen. Your wife, instead of demanding from her, just ask yourself, "Am I being a blessed man? Am I a blessed man"? Because in this very way, a man who is blessed of the Lord will see all these blessings, in this very way. Your wife becomes a fruitful vine, amen? Your children, anointed, praise the Lord, like olive plants, hallelujah.
I wanna close with this. You say, "Pastor Prince, where does it all start, Pastor? I want my family blessed. I want my children to have a heart for God to always taste and see his goodness. I want them all saved," if they are not saved. Then, friend, start with this. There's a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus in the story of Joseph. The clearest picture of Jesus is actually Joseph, the story of Joseph. Now look at this. Joseph, our heavenly Joseph, look at Genesis 39 over here: "Joseph found favor in his sight," his master's sight, "and served him. Then his master made Joseph overseer of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority".
So because Joseph is the clearest picture of Jesus, I believe God is telling us something here about family blessings. God says, "If you want your family to be blessed, then put everything into Joseph's hand". In our case, our heavenly Joseph, our Lord Jesus Christ. Put everything, everything about your family, your children, name them one by one. The best thing you can do for your children is to pray for them on a daily basis. Pray for them. That's the greatest thing because what you cannot do as a man, as a father, God can do. Pray for them. God hears the prayers for our children because children are very close to his heart, amen? Pray for your spouse, amen. Things that you cannot resolve on your own, pray, pray, amen.
God can drop the revelation. God can open up the heart. God can move away all the obstacles. Only God can make the crooked places straight. Pray, amen? You have influence with God. Don't just say, "I'm under the righteousness of God in Christ," and don't pray because, you know, why be all dressed up and nowhere to go? You are dressed in righteousness to that you can have influence with God, you can pray, and God will move heaven and earth for you. Praise the Lord. Thank you, Jesus, amen? So put everything in your heavenly Joseph's hand.
Now, next thing, notice the result: "So it was, from the time," when? "From the time that he had made Joseph overseer of his house and all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake". We can say, "The Lord blessed," you can put your name right there, "Joseph Prince's house, amen, for Jesus's sake," hallelujah. "And the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field". That speaks of your career or whatever you undertake. The blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the house and in the field. May this be true for you, amen.
My friend, let's pray. Let's pray for our loved ones. Let's pray for our little ones. Let's pray for our spouse. Let's pray for our entire family. Let's pray for our church. Let's pray for our nation. Let's pray because God moves when we pray, amen? Pray this prayer from your heart right now, child of God. If you're a father and you feel, like, inadequate, you feel like, "You know, Pastor, you've just put a burden on my heart," that's not God's purpose. You know that. "My yoke is easy," Jesus says, "My burden is light". If God is telling us to become the head of the household, that means he has given us the grace and the anointing to do it, amen? So just pray this right now and put everything in Jesus's hands, will you? Say, "Lord Jesus". Go ahead. Say:
Lord Jesus, I place my children, every single one of them, and I place my spouse into your loving hands. Thank you, Lord Jesus, you are my heavenly Joseph. I thank you that right now from this time forth they are blessed. And I will not take back the worry and care over them because I know they are in your hands. If the devil tried to bring in worry and care into my heart in the future, I'll just remember this prayer that I prayed right now. And Lord, they are safe in your hands. They are blessed in your hands. And from this time forth, I thank you that all that I have in the house and in my career, in my ministry, is blessed. In Jesus's name, amen.
If you've never prayed to receive Jesus as your Savior and Lord, pray this prayer with me right now. Go ahead, pray this prayer. Say:
Heavenly Father, I thank you that Jesus Christ died for my sins on that cross and he rose from the dead when all my sins were cleared away. I thank you that his precious blood washes away all my sins. I thank you that right now I'm a new man because Jesus Christ is my Lord and my Savior. And I thank you, Father, for giving me your Holy Spirit to indwell me all the days of my life, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all the people said, amen.
Praise God. Stand to your feet right now. Are you ready to be blessed for this coming week? This is not something to soothe the hearts of people. This is something that when I pray I believe God sets in course, in motion, the things, the events, the people to be in the right place at the right time for this week, amen? Lift your hands before the Father.
Father in heaven, I thank you, Lord, that you go ahead of us, Lord, into this week and you set the crooked places straight. Throughout this week, place every one of your people that's hearing right now at the right place at the right time. Let us not be afraid, Father, to go out, knowing that our steps are ordered of the Lord, right place, right time, enjoying the free favors of God. I pray, Father, that throughout this week everyone under the sound of my voice, Father, you will grant them in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ a divine canopy, a divine pavilion, a divine protection, Lord, from the COVID-19 virus and from the Delta variant. I pray, Father, that you will keep your people safe, strong, and healthy, even throughout this week, Father, let 'em experience that. I pray that sicknesses will turn to healing as your Spirit falls on them, even right now.
In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, God is healing people right now. Just receive your healing. I'm seeing that happen right now in Jesus's name. Receive that, amen, amen. Praise the Lord, amen. Darkness turned to light, amen. Mourning into dancing, praise the Lord, hallelujah, amen.
I pray, Father, for those of us who feel that we're advancing in years, renew our youth, Lord. Renew our youth like the eagle's, literally, Lord, like the eagle's, amen. That would be part of this end time company of evangelists, carriers of good news, that you're raising. Thank you, Father, amen.
And right now in the name of Jesus, receive the peace that guards your hearts and minds, amen, as only God can. Be at peace in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and all the people said, "Amen".