0:00:00 - 0:00:29 So I wanna make a video about families and how we can use family relationships to increase the amount of light that we flow um from the throne of God out to all people. Mhm I think um I think what we think in terms of the value that we can convey to others, we tend to constrain our thinking to explicit 0:00:28 - 0:00:57 gospel topics and settings. Um And that is valuable, but I think we miss out on the importance of the holistic view of these things. So um there's an idea in the Lord's prayer of bringing to pass more of God's will on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus himself talks about this frequently, especially in 0:00:57 - 0:01:29 the book of John, uh this idea of doing here, what the father would do if he were in his place. And so it's very important to adapt this idea to our circumstances in all things that we do. But often we omit the attention that should be paid in our own families. So you could look at this on several different 0:01:29 - 0:01:57 levels. Um starting with sort of explicit gospel things, what percentage quality or quantity of what your Children know about God comes from you versus peers, church, school, internet, whatever. Um And I'm not saying that in terms of trying to constraining those other sources, trying to constrain those 0:01:57 - 0:02:18 other sources. Although in some cases, that's a very good idea. Uh I'm just focusing on what you have to offer and what effort you're making to convey it. Um In terms of day to day, you could ask the same question. So not just on Sundays, but on a daily basis where they, where are they being fed from 0:02:17 - 0:02:43 . So Jesus said to Peter, feed my sheep and uh and Johnny talks about being the good shepherd and he instructs his servants to be shepherds to love others as he has loved them. God's advice for us is certainly not limited to explicit religious topics. So um he created everything and he has something 0:02:43 - 0:03:07 to say about everything and through him, we can get more value out of everything and find things of greater value. And uh the act of us doing that is its own topic. What I'm talking about is flowing down what you've received to others, especially those in your own household. When we think of things like 0:03:06 - 0:03:35 uh charity, charitable giving, tithing, preaching the gospel, our minds go to these explicit things that are highly administered by some organization. Um But whether there's value in that or not, the greater principle here is not, it doesn't have anything to do with organizations. They're just a means 0:03:35 - 0:04:06 to that the end. And what is the end? The end is improvement. The end is helping others to know more of what God is like and to be persuaded to act like that themselves and to find value in it. So those three things. So, um if you look at, um if you look at verses that, talk about glorifying God or sanctifying 0:04:06 - 0:04:32 God, what does that actually mean? Well, uh it means to, it doesn't mean to increase his holiness or his sanctity. It means to increase our perception or the perception of others, of his holiness and his sanctity. So if you look at um Luke 11 2, the Lord's prayer and he says, uh our father, which art 0:04:31 - 0:04:58 in heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done as in heaven. So in earth um hallowed be thy name. If you look up the that word hallowed it, it means to uh make the goodness of God, his holiness, his glory more evident, you're not increasing it, you're just increasing people's ability 0:04:57 - 0:05:23 to see it. And that's what preaching the gospel is all about. And so because of that, all good things are from God. And so we cannot constrain preaching the gospel or helping others to see the value that God provides. And to know how he is, we can't constrain that to explicit gospel topics. So certainly 0:05:23 - 0:05:50 includes them, but we can't constrain it to that. So in your family you have a captive audience, at least for some 18 years who has firsthand deep uh experience with you, who knows your character and, um, a lot of time and a lot of experiences that you can have together if you play your cards, right 0:05:49 - 0:06:11 ? It's kind of a two edged sword because those also, those people are the ones who will most readily recognize when you're a hypocrite or when you're doing things that you shouldn't be. So they'll see your limitations more clearly than others and they'll see your strengths more clearly than others. They'll 0:06:11 - 0:06:36 listen more readily when you sincerely act and speak and they will also reject you more readily when you're a hypocrite in what you do and say so when you live your life, the right way, the greatest treasure is most likely to be found in your own home because these people will have less reason to disbelieve 0:06:35 - 0:06:57 you than anyone else. And you'll have more opportunities to flow light and truth to them than anyone else. There's a special channel between a husband and a wife and between a wife and a husband and between a husband and a son and between a husband and a daughter and between a wife and a son and between 0:06:57 - 0:07:23 a wife and a daughter. Those are all unique channels for flowing special uh sets of light and truth. And so the, the degree to which you take advantage of this um that's up to you OK. So, uh I made this big presentation on charity and timing and everything else. So I decided to chop it up because I tried 0:07:23 - 0:07:40 making a video and I ended up burning lots of hours on that and I wasn't very happy with it. Everything I release is basically a live stream. I don't edit these videos. I just don't have the time to do that. And so if I'm unhappy with something, I'll just reshoot it and it almost never happens because 0:07:40 - 0:08:04 I can almost never justify that time. Um But um I wanted to make this video and take it as a small chunk of that larger video because so many of our opportunities for helping others. So I know people and I'm this kind of person myself that they go out of their way to try to help other people, they try 0:08:04 - 0:08:27 to find opportunities. And uh surprisingly, there aren't that many that aren't riddled with big old problems, problems that, that can make it so that uh i it's obviously not a good idea, not infrequently, those people miss out on opportunities right in front of them and their families. And the greatest 0:08:26 - 0:08:51 thing, a lot of times, the greatest thing you can do is increase the quantity and quality of time you're spending with your kids. Um It's evident to me that this is a big problem. Um Part of this is because we outsource our kids to professionals, we send them to church to learn religion, we send them 0:08:51 - 0:09:13 to public schools to learn everything else, we send them to sports to get whatever it is. People are supposed to get out of playing sports. Um, if you know me, you know, I'm really sour on that idea actually. All three of those ideas. Um, but how much time do you spend with your kids? Because the fact 0:09:13 - 0:09:34 is that you can only do those things because of who you are. You can only afford the time and money for sports because of the value you have. You can only uh, well, public school, someone else is paying for for the most part. Um But uh the point is you have to compare the value of what you could provide 0:09:33 - 0:09:53 versus the value of what you're putting them into. So, um their peers are not gonna be able to give them as good advice about life as you. So, are they spending uh at least better quality time if not more quantity time with you than them? Are they spending more time with their video games than they are 0:09:52 - 0:10:17 with people? So, um we're in a good book or whatever because I think that we're probably not doing all we can to help orchestrate the lives of our kids. I think we need to raise our vision of what's possible and also increase our honesty about the times we live in. The fact is that this world is uh not 0:10:17 - 0:10:38 a great place. Right now and it's gonna get way worse. And, um, if you put your canoe in the river and let it float down like everyone else without steering it, it's gonna end up in the same exact place more often than not. And it's a shock to me how shocked people are when that's exactly what happens 0:10:37 - 0:11:04 with their kids. So, um, yeah, I think that people who watch these kinds of videos are the sorts of people who are making efforts in their lives to dig for, for greater light and knowledge. But that doesn't imply that they're doing a very good job applying that in their own home. So rather than take 0:11:04 - 0:11:24 that as a criticism, I hope that you see this as an invitation for an uh uh for improvement, an opportunity that's being revealed that you didn't realize you had. So maybe a thought that your opportunity to give your life for another person was gonna be limited to some, I don't know, magnificent blaze 0:11:23 - 0:11:41 of glory thing. When someone says, do you deny the Christ? And you say I don't deny the Christ and then they chop your head off or maybe you thought that your big sacrifice was gonna be whether you'd be willing to cut a big fat check for someone who needed it when they really needed it or not. Or maybe 0:11:41 - 0:12:06 you thought that the big test was gonna be whether you're willing to pay X amount of whatever amount of money every month or something to some church. I'm telling you, whatever the value of those things is, a greater value is sustained intentional input from you into the people in your home. Flowing 0:12:05 - 0:12:31 the improvement that you have the ability to understand and value into people who neither understand nor value it yet. And that is the gospel experience with the world. It is what you're actually trying to do with all those other things. But the value and opportunity is so much greater inside your home 0:12:31 - 0:12:59 because you're dealing with people who already know you who can't get away from you until they're of a certain age, at least. And you know them, you know them and they know you and that's a two edged sword, but it's a tremendous opportunity if you do it right. So I would like uh to get to the point where 0:12:59 - 0:13:24 the people who are watching these videos are not an average age of 60 years old. I would like to get to a point where the people reading my books have more years ahead of them than behind them. There are things that I can do directly and there's a whole bunch of things that I cannot, it requires other 0:13:24 - 0:13:47 people to help share these things with the people that can't, I can't reach directly. And part of that is, is that they know you, they don't know me. Uh Another part of that is that you're much closer to them in more ways than one with the degree of light that you have. So they can see you better than 0:13:47 - 0:14:09 they can see me and I'm saying me and I in this, but what I'm teaching you is a completely generic gospel principle. It's just as true with God and someone else as it is with any other two people. And it's just as true for any other two people as it is for me. And you, there are hierarchies of light 0:14:09 - 0:14:36 and you have a duty to flow the light that you've received to others. Um go read John 15 and uh look at the how Jesus says uh He uses well, the translation uses this word abide and love, but the commandment is to love others as you've been loved, right? So if you're all about receiving more light and 0:14:35 - 0:15:01 truth, but you have way more intensity on that than you do giving light and truth, that difference is going to anchor you and what you can receive the, the love of God, it flows through the kingdom of God. And if you have a stop in what you're willing to do to convey that to others and what you're willing 0:15:01 - 0:15:23 to do to apply it in your life, in every aspect of the sphere of your life, which certainly includes in your own home. You will absolutely limit what God can flow to you in terms of receipt. That's the way it works. You get refilled as you empty out. So the more you pour out, the more you're gonna receive 0:15:22 - 0:15:44 . But uh I just want to focus this on the opportunities that are right in front of your nose in your own home. And I want to encourage you to pay attention to those and do the most you can. This world is a crazy place. Your kids absolutely need you. They need you to become as much like God as you can 0:15:44 - 0:16:08 to live everything that you know, and to turn and help them to see in you as much of God as you've become. And this can be as explicit or implicit as you want to take it. I'm focusing on the implicit stuff of doing what you can to help your kids shape their lives, to see how things really are in the 0:16:08 - 0:16:29 world, to see what's valuable, to see what's not valuable, to help them plan their lives and to, to, to acquire the skills, the personality traits, the character, everything so that they can be as successful as possible in this life. Jesus came to give life and more abundantly and that's not something 0:16:29 - 0:16:49 that starts when you die. So take advantage of the 18 or so years that you have with kids so that you can impart as much wisdom as you can to them in things small and large and don't be so passive about it. It's really, really, really important. I'll tell you the truth that you're not gonna wanna hear 0:16:48 - 0:17:08 there are so many people in on this planet today who were reserved for this time and some of them were reserved for how good they are and some of them were reserved for how bad they are. Um The reason they were reserved for this time varies, depending on who they are and what their mission is in life 0:17:07 - 0:17:29 . Your mission might be to carry these things to your kids who were born for this time because of how good they are. So, if you're not doing that, that might be the very reason you're born, you were born at this time instead of some time in the past because uh odds are the older that you are, the less 0:17:29 - 0:17:47 time you're gonna survive and odds are the older you are, the less likely it is that you're going to pass through the fire of the end times. Not just because you're old, but also just because there are certain things that have to happen and certain things that can't happen once you've been through certain 0:17:47 - 0:18:07 things, that's the most generic way I can put it. Ok. So I can't spend any more time on this. But I hope you think about these things because it's a really big deal. I, I don't derive joy from seeing the, the, you know, when I'm looking through comments, there's a demographics thing. And it's funny to 0:18:07 - 0:18:25 me that more women than men watch this channel, you, you didn't know that. I didn't know that till I saw it the other day. I was like, what? Um, I think that's hilarious because of what I hear from some outspoken women about the things that I say, um, turns out there is a silent majority on this one 0:18:25 - 0:18:45 . Um, but what I don't find so comical is that the age demographics are such that most, almost everyone that watches this channel is between 4055 years old. And if there's a, if there is a long tail, it's to the upper end that there's zeros on the lower demographics. And it shouldn't be that way. There 0:18:45 - 0:19:08 are so many young people who are starving for truth, they're starving for someone to tell them how it really is. And I'm not saying that ought to be me, but if you know them, it certainly ought to be you. I don't know these people. Right. So, um, it's incumbent upon all of us to look at our sphere of 0:19:08 - 0:19:29 influence and to glorify the name of God in bringing to pass more of his kingdom as much as we have the capacity to do so in the stewardship that God has given us. So think about this. I mean, you, you, you're hard pressed to find a better place than your home to do this. So I hope that uh I wish you 0:19:29 - 0:19:50 success in this and I hope you think about it and you pray about it and you ask God what you can do to more adequately share what He has given you. Not for me, just wherever, what is in your mind and heart from Him, how are you going to more adequately share that with other people? Not just explicit 0:19:50 - 0:20:04 gospel terms, but much more broad than that. How are you going to help other people improve in every facet of life based on the light that He's given you? So I encourage you to think about that.