This morning I read Genesis 26 in my quiet time with God and this chapter is all about Legacy. It’s about Abraham’s financial legacy of wealth, and spiritual legacy of blessing, being passed onto his son Isaac. Sadly, its also about Abraham’s legacy of sin being passed to his son Isaac and his grandson Esau—specifically, his track-record with women. Both Isaac and Esau commit the same sexual blunders as Abraham.
I think the point is that we as parents pass our success, as well as our failures, onto our children. They will succeed in some of the areas we have succeeded. But they will also fail in many of the areas where we have failed. In many cases, our habits will become their habits and our addictions will become theirs. Therefore we have a responsibility, not only as people not to harbor and hold onto bad habits, but as parents to ensure that the legacy passed onto our children is honorable and godly.
As I listen to Kris Allen, winner of American Idol, sing my new favorite song “God of this City,” I am drawn to the three passages of Scripture in the Gospel of John where Jesus utters the phrase and promises “greater things.” The first is in John 1:50 where a man named Nathaniel is willing to become a Christ-follower simply because of Jesus’ perception and discernment. Jesus appreciates Nathaniel’s sentiment but promises, “You shall see greater things than that.”
The second time is in John 5:20 where Jesus heals a lame man and is questioned by the religious leaders who think Jesus is unorthodox for helping/healing someone on the Sabbath. Almost tongue-in-cheek, Jesus says to His opposition: That’s nothing! I will show you “even greater things than these…,” insinuating that he has not even begun to challenge their traditions yet, and predicting His death and resurrection.
The third time Jesus utters this phrase is in John 14:12, just moments before His arrest. The Disciples know that something bad is about to happen and Jesus is trying to comfort them. Knowing the end is near, He challenges them by saying, “I tell you the truth any one who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these.” With these words He challenges His followers to continue His work—not just His first-century followers, but all followers throughout all time.
So what is the work we are to continue? Isaiah 61 offers insight to His work saying it is “to preach good news to the poor; to bind up the broken-hearted; to proclaim freedom for the captives and release for the prisoners; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor; and to comfort and bless those who grieve and to lift them from despair; and to display the splendor of God.” Not only does Jesus tell us to continue to do this Gospel work, but to do it on a greater scale than even He was able—and He promises to enable us accomplish the task with the help of His Spirit.
So I’ve got to wonder: Am I doing greater things in my city? What about you?
“Jesus Christ has irreparably changed the world. When preached purely, His Word exalts, frightens, shocks, and forces us to reassess our whole life. The gospel breaks our train of thought, shatters our comfortable piety, and cracks open our capsule truths. The flashing spirit of Jesus Christ breaks new paths everywhere. His sentences stand like quivering swords of flame because He did not come to bring peace, but a revolution. The gospel is not a children’s fairy tale, but rater a cutting-edge, rolling-thunder, convulsive earthquake in the world of the human spirit.”
The Furious Longing of God (David C. Cook, Colorado Springs) p. 115.
2 Corinthians 5:9 says: “Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present of absent, to be well pleasing to Him” (NKJV). Here the Apostle declares the aim (or goal) of his life: to be well pleasing to God.
What are you goals in life? To experience romance. To attain academic excellence. To have a house, 2.5 kids, and a dog named Spot. To make a million dollars. To be the best at whatever you do. To achieve fame and/or significance. What is your life’s aim—what are you shooting for?
For the Apostle it is rather simple: to please God.
What I immediately notice is the unselfishness of his goal. It’s not about getting stuff, proving something, living up to someone else, or being better than the rest. He simply hopes that his life will be pleasing to God. But he doesn’t just hope. He makes it his mission, his passion, his life’s work.
Is your goal in life to please God? Does it wake you up in the morning, lay you down at night, and govern who you are in between? What you do with your time—does it please God? What you do with your money—does it please God? What you eat and drink—does it please God? What you say to your coworkers—does it please God? How you treat your spouse—does it please God? Have you made it your aim to please God?
Sadly, most of us just try to please ourselves.
Making it our goal to please God is not easy. But three verses might be an asset in this discussion. The first is Hebrews 11:6 which says: “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” The second is 1 John 5:3 which says: “This is love for God: to obey His commands” (NIV).
And the third is found in John 2 in a record of the events surrounding Jesus’ first miracle. It’s during a wedding feast. Unfortunately, the wedding-planner has failed to secure enough wine for the party (a pretty big social fax paux in 1st century Israel), and Mary asks Jesus to solve the problem.
Interestingly enough, Jesus doesn’t seem real keen on doing this but yields to his mother’s request, asking the servants to fill six large vats with water. When they look at Him with confusion Mary says to the servants “Do whatever He tells you” (John 2:5 NIV). Enabled by their obedience, Jesus turns the water into wine.
It’s a simple statement, yet profound in our discussion. Do you want to make it your life’s goal to please God? Then do whatever He tells you.
Several weeks ago, while attending a church-planting conference, a conviction developed inside of me that I was not spending enough time with God. Not being overly mystical, I nevertheless felt that God was telling me to mark out more time for Him—time to pray, time to read Scripture devotionally, and time to journal my thoughts, prayers, and struggles. This conviction hit me when I learned of thousands of Eastern Christians in the Orient who are setting aside 3 hours a day for prayer and personal Bible study.
Therefore, I began the discipline of marking out time for God. Thinking that I should begin and end my day with God, I began to get up earlier and stay up later so that my time with Him did not take away from my time with family, friends and work. And what better way, then to start and end the day, with God?
And I must confess that it began only as a discipline. The first morning, when my alarm sounded at 5:30am, was a rough one. I hit the coffee maker before I hit the Word. But the second morning was easier. And the third easier still. Also, spending an hour in prayer and devotional study was not easy. What to pray? What to read? How to keep from falling asleep? That’s why they call it discipline, I suppose, because it’s not easy.
However, my discipline is now being transformed into desire. I’m anticipating my times with God in the morning. I’m finding the television in the evening to be monotonous. I’m looking forward to my prayer journal, and my devotional books, and maybe most, my Bible. I’m reading things that challenge me—and I like to be challenged—things that could change me. My passion for God is being renewed once again—and I find myself spending more time with Him throughout the day (and appreciating Him in my work and in my play). Discipline has become desire.
I wonder how many other areas of my life need the catalyst of discipline. It takes discipline to exercise but eventually it becomes a desire. It takes discipline to love the unlovable, but eventually the unlovable become desirable. How many areas of our lives could God transform if we were willing to accept His discipline and embrace self-discipline? I don’t know for sure, but I do know that my spiritual disciplines have become spiritual desires—and for this I rejoice.
I saw this video a few weeks ago at the Exponential Conference in Orlando, Florida. It’s produced by Community Christian Church out of Naperville, IL and the lead “singer/performer/entertainer” is Brian Prunty (a guy I went to college with). It’s hilarious and spiritually significant.
In Genesis 15 and 16 we discover an epic dilemma in the life of Abraham and Sarah. The dilemma is that Sarah is barren and cannot produced an heir, and that she is now well beyond her child-bearing years. Therefore, in Genesis 15 Abraham decides to choose his highest-ranking servant Eliezer as his heir. But when Abraham prays about this decision, God intervenes and says “no.”
Then in Genesis 16 Sarah suggests that Abraham should take her servant Hagar as a surrogate wife and conceive with her, producing an heir vicariously. Apparently, Abraham likes this idea and (rather than praying for direction) sleeps with Hagar, who conceives. This creates all sorts of struggles within the family—prompting feelings of inadequacy and bitterness for Sarah, and rivalry for Hagar.
The bigger problem is that Abraham and Sarah, rather than waiting on God’s plan and promise to be fulfilled, decide to take matters into their own hands. This creates all sorts of trouble for them and even for us today (if you know your history).
For us, it means that we must wait on God’s will to become evident in our lives–we cannot run ahead of His will. Things must take place in His time. We need to be diligent and proactive, but everything we do should be (1) bathed in prayer; (2) approved by the Word; and (3) affirmed by godly Consults; because the consequences of going ahead of God can be disastrous.
Psalm 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds a house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over a city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.”
Since it’s mother’s day I want to send some love to the mother of my three sons (otherwise known as my wife). Seriously, I think she is pretty amazing.
First, she loves and fears God which sets her on a strong foundation.
Second, she is the “wife of my youth,” as the Proverbs describes her, the one who brings such joy to a man’s life.
Third, she supports and contributes to our family and my ministry beyond what I ever would have expected or even imagined. She’s like the lady in the cartoon whose psychiatrist says, “So you use 50% of your energy on your job, and 50% of your energy on your kids, and 50% on your husband. I think I’m beginning to see your problem.” Except my wife expends about 100% in each area (which I realize is mathematically impossible, but still, you get the point).
Fourth, she puts up with me and this is what I find really astounding. She knows me better than anyone on planet earth. She knows my weaknesses and my faults, my sins and my struggles. She knows how self-conscious and egotistical I can be, all at the same time. She puts up with my arrogance, pride, and self-centered(ness), and she sticks with me none-the-less. She knows my inconsistencies and hypocrisies. She knows I don’t always practice what I preach or preach what I practice. Yet she loves me just the same.
You’ve heard the humorous saying “Behind every great man there is a surprised woman.” Well, I’m no great man; but when I occassionally do something well she isn’t surprised which means that she believes in me. And her belief in me (sometimes blind faith actually) motivates and inspires me to try to be better.
So, on Mother’s Day I just want to take a blog-moment to say “Thank You” to my wife, the love of my life.
The Jewish faith in Jesus’ day was dominated by rabbis—teachers of the law. Their doctrine was thorough. Jesus told them “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39-40, italics added). They knew the written word of God very well, but not the living Word, even as he stood before them.
The Scriptures are not so much the goal as they are an arrow that points us to the life-changing Christ.
Unfortunately, the rabbis never did realize who was among them. In the last few days before his crucifixion, Jesus wept over the city as he said, “You did not recognize the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:44 NASB).
It is fine to explain about God, but far too few people today are experience the living Christ in their lives. We are not seeking God’s visitation in our gatherings. We are not on the lookout for his outstretched hand.
The teaching of sound doctrine is a prelude, if you will, to the supernatural. It is also a guide, a set of boundaries to keep emotion and exuberance within proper channels. But as Paul said, “The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:16).
Jim Cymbala. Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1997) p. 150-151.
