“Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6 (KJV)
A good friend said her daughter that is in the fifth grade came home and told her that the teacher was teaching the class about the occult. Her daughter was told about a day of the year where it is believed that the dead have an open portal to visit their loved ones. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, I was saddened to hear that satan found an opening in schools to influence children with darkness this way. Teaching about things like ghosts and open portals to the dead is not from the Kingdom of God. Ecclesiastes 9:5-6(NLT) says, “The living at least know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, nor are they remembered. Whatever they did in their lifetime—loving, hating, envying—is all long gone. They no longer play a part in anything here on earth.” God’s Word is true. He is instructing us about death so that we understand how life and death works. Ghosts do not exists, but demons and familiar spirits do, and we must be aware of how they use our wrong beliefs about death and ghosts to plot and lay traps for our detriment and destruction.
This world is attempting to corrupt children in any way that it can. This is one of the reasons that God warns us in 1Peter 5:8(NLT), “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” As parents, our first priority to our children is to protect their eye-and-ear-gates from the false doctrine and teaching. This isn’t always easy. There’s so much information coming at them every moment of the day. They are barraged with it, and most of it isn’t good for their souls.
The best way to protect our children from satanic attacks is to teach them the Word of God, and to also ensure they listen to it being taught by good and accurate teachers. We must be adamant to at the very least give them as much nutritious food from God’s Word as we can so that they are not overcome with the messages of darkness and destruction from the world.
God’s Word tells us in Genesis 1:26 that He created us in His image. The Godhead is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 1Thessalonians 5:23(NLT) tells us, “Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.” In God’s image, three components with separate functions make up the whole of all that we are; spirit, soul, and body. The body houses our spirit being, our spirit and soul. The body is the temporary earth suit that allows us to live on planet earth, and it is a part of what makes us human. If any part of our being was missing, we would not be human, we’d be something else.
2Corinthians 5:1(NLT) says, “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.” Once the body has no life, we can no longer abide within the natural realm of earth. As believers we will enter God’s eternal realm. Hebrews 9:27-28(ESV) says, “27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.” Because of sin, the bodies of all human beings must die, unless they belong to those that are alive for the rapture. Upon death, the place that our spirit being enters is a place of no return. No believer that has died will return to earth without the resurrected body that Christ will provide.
The life experience is very challenging work, and it is a work that can only be done in a body on earth. This is why God commands us to fight the good fight of faith, because it can only be done once, and we will do ourselves the greatest justice to do it well.
2Corinthians 5:6-8(ESV) says, “6 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, 7 for we walk by faith, not by sight. 8 Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” A believer in the Lord Jesus Christ that has passed from this life is resting in the Lord Jesus. If an individual did not use their lives to live for Christ and have passed away, they are somewhere else. You can believe that they are in such a state that they cannot return to earth as a ghost or anything else. If they have any hope at all, it is that we that are alive will pray for the saving of their souls.
The distractions of darkness and wickedness are too many to number. They bombard all of us, but the defenses of our children are not as strong as adults. As parents, God has empowered us to know the truth. He’s given us the grace to know it for ourselves, and He holds us responsible as parents and guardians to raise our children in Godliness by teaching them His Word. Let’s pray and ask the Father for continual and increasing spiritual sharpness and maturity. Pray that He reveals to us anything that the enemy is plotting against our kids so that we can instruct and equip them in the truth and keep them covered in prayer. Then, when they become adults, Proverbs 22:6 tells us that they will not forget our Godly instruction and will teach their children the lessons of righteousness as well. ■
English Standard Version (ESV), The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Raise Them up in the Way They Should Go”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.