Notes from this week's podcast: Transformed Tuesday with Tiffany Lyght

Tiffany: I'm so thankful for God and for His presence and I can honestly say that He has walked with me all of my life. And I am so very thankful for that. 

Jo: How firm your faith was planted in you during your early years in your home -- how the impact of your godly parents had on you...

Tiffany: I'm so thankful. I couldn't even express enough the gratitude that I have for my parents. I couldn't have prayed for better parents. Both of my parents are no longer here with us on earth but they live on through me and my brothers. And the one thing that was so vital was Christ in our home and a relationship with God. And they always stressed the importance of "studying to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." They stressed the foundation of the Word, of knowing the Word for myself, of spending time with God, of walking our life of faith out, of exemplifying faith so it's just been extremely foundational in who I am as a person. It has built me up because I can always lean into that. So, when you have a foundation of God, even when adversity comes, life can't shake you and move you. It keeps you so grounded. Life will happen, but knowing God gives you the peace to get through everything, even though it's hard. Knowing that He is with you gives you that peace and grace to still keep going. And so, I'm so very thankful for my parents and so very grateful for what they instilled in me and my brothers in knowing the Lord.

Jo: What an encouragement to many young mothers. What hope that gives them!

Tiffany: I would tell parents don't stop. I would tell parents: it is so important the foundation that you give. I would tell parents: spend time with your children in the Word. My mom, she was the principle person to spend the time and my dad was always: walk out your faith; if you live it, it will show. So we had a perfect balance there in the home.

My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer when I was 10 years old. But what I saw the most was her faith. She didn't allow that to shake her. She stood on the Word, and I could just se her walking out her faith. I saw her and I saw my father come together and show us what it meant to be a couple who loved God but also what it meant to walk out your faith, even through hard times, even through adversity. So, I'm saying, as parents, you can be an example. And, that carried me, even in knowing that whatever came, they still trusted the Lord. No matter what it looked like, they still trusted the Lord. No matter how hard it was, they still trusted the Lord.

Jo: We can know the Word, and we can say the Word, and we can trust the Word, but to live the Word and you watched your parents live it, in the circumstance that Father God, although He's sovereign, that circumstance came into their lives, into your home, into your life and you saw the Word come alive.

Tiffany: I saw my mom take the Bible and quote the Scriptures and walk out the Word and breathe out the Word in faith. I saw that. I saw that she didn't yield to the situation or circumstance. I saw my father through it all.

Jo: If you're in a home and the Word of God, that Bible, is lying there on the coffee table, on the shelf, and you haven't picked it up in weeks or months or maybe years, let this speak to your heart. Parents, pick it up. Children, pick it up. Pick it up, open it up and begin to read the Word. Begin to read the Word aloud. And as you read the Word, and the Holy Spirit speaks to you through the Word, begin to pray that Word back to Father God because it may be preparing you for something down the road that you don't even know, but the Word is our boundary. It is the boundary of life. 

Tiffany: I am so honored when I begin to think about it. It's about being His vessel and being a vessel of honor unto the Lord. I can't tell you how important it is for me to embody what I believe and for people to see me walk out being a vessel of honor wherever I am. Our lives speak for us before we even say a Word before we even open our mouths. And people will watch you. And they will observe your behavior before they say anything to you, particularly when you profess the banner of Christ, that you love the Lord. People are watching.

It is so important that we walk that out, that we show that in the earth.

Jo: And not be ashamed of who we are. The world is starving to see Christ in us.

Tiffany: The Word tells us that creation is groaning for the manifestation of the sons and daughters of God. Creation cries out to see authenticity in our walks with the Lord. Creation is groaning for a manifestation and that happens through the body of Christ. That is where they see the love of God. We have to walk it out.

Jo: And choose to do it if no one else will go with us, if no one else will amplify the life of Christ.

What does that look like in your life? to serve God, with all [your] heart, soul, strength?

Tiffany: It's about creating an atmosphere that's conducive to His presence. Parents, don't underestimate the impact that you have in shaping your children, and shaping who they are in the Lord. The Bible tells that children are as arrows in the hand of parents and it's up to parents to shoot them in the right direction.

Don't take for granted establishing boundaries and setting an example of what it means to live righteous, holy. That's creating an atmosphere of worship in your home, teaching your children the importance of worship and praise. It's a daily thing. Don't take the time you have with the Lord for granted.

Jo: What I'm hearing your say: [Your parents] took authority over [resistance met in the home].

We stand on the Word.

Tiffany: "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." That was not a question. That was a statement and it was understood. That was a foundation from birth. They made getting into the Word exciting. 

We had continual engagement. It wasn't sporadic. It was a consistent lifestyle of being in church, of being in the Word. 

Jo: Consistency. What does that look like in your life today because of that foundation?

Tiffany: Because of that foundation, I still value the Word, my time in the Word. I still value time in prayer. So, my husband and I pray daily, pray over one another. We spend time in worship. We cultivate an atmosphere of worship in our home. The relationship with God encourages me because I know He's here with me. 

Jo: All the things that battle and that parents are confronted with today, time is an issue. But, how does that fit into your life -- that time is not going to snatch the important things that are important to God, important to be carried out in the home?

Tiffany: We're intentional in praying together. We also understand the importance of that time to pray, to take in the Word, so even if it's a few minutes, we do what it takes. It's just that important. 

It's our heart for God that He's after. 

Jo: It comes back to desire. And if you don't have that desire, make that a matter of prayer. It's the relationship with God that comes first and then it spills over into our relationship with other people. 

Righteousness brings balance to our lives. 

Tiffany: It's so important, as parents, the atmosphere that you cultivate in the home is consistent -- what you say you believe that you really walk that out. 

Jo: Even if it's one truth at a time. Ask the power of the Holy Spirit to fall on you and empower you to walk that one truth in your home. God honors that. God will magnify that.

Tiffany: Your children are watching. They will notice the consistency. Allow God to grow that one truth. 

Jo: Keep pressing in. 

God is bringing us to the point to hunger and thirst for His righteousness. 

Tiffany: Cultivate an atmosphere where your children can talk to you, just like we can go to Father God. Our parents should create a safe place for us. 

Jo: Even if we, as parents, have messed up, be real with your children. Admit to them. Ask for forgiveness. 

Tiffany: Not that you're perfect, but that you are walking in integrity and truth. Character speaks. 

Jo: We don't always get it right but our heart is to get it right. It comes back to the desire. We want to restore fellowship with Him, with our children. God honors that -- being a vessel of honor. It we've messed up, God is right there at the altar waiting for us.

Tiffany: Whether a parent or grandparent, my parents were my biggest encouragers. You see things in your children that they don't see in themselves. Show them the greatness in them. Put them in environments that cultivate that greatness. You have the ability/authority to speak life into them.

To this day, I remember things that my parents spoke over me. And it keeps me going, encouraged to stay the course. Show them who they are in Christ consistently.

Scripture for further study: 2 Timothy 2:15, 2 Timothy 2:20-21, Joshua 24:15, Deuteronomy 6:5, Psalm 127:4, Proverbs 22:6, 1 Samuel 16:7b