Blessing Generations to Come

I recently had an opportunity to share with my daughters that since they have been born, I have been praying for the husbands God will give them. Sound strange?  Not according to God’s Word.

Mark 11: 24 says, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours”.  Years ago, God pricked my heart to pray for their future spouses.  This is just one example of blessing generations.

Our words have great influence in the lives of those around us, and speaking blessings can bring hope, encouragement, and direction to our families, friends, and others, for generations to come. 

Proverbs 18:21 tells us the tongue has the power of life and death.  Which are you speaking to your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or any other young person you encounter? Blessings or curses?

“You’re going to be just like your daddy / momma!”  Blessing or curse?

“I hope you have children that act just like you!”  Blessing or curse?

 
“You’re never going to change” Blessing or curse?
 
If we want our children, and our children’s children, and so on to know God, and live abundantly according to His Word, we must start to speak those things into existence.  If we want to affect the heart of our world as a whole, we must begin to speak blessings, healing, and love, to our future generations.

The greatest example of how powerful the spoken word is can be found in Genesis, Chapter 1.  In that first Chapter, God said ‘Let’ or ‘Let there be’ 13 times, and it was so. The entire universe, and all its creation was brought into existence by speaking words. Stop and think on that for a moment.  If God’s words can call an entire universe to be, what can your words call into existence?

So, I ask you again, are you speaking blessings or curses? Just as light overcomes darkness, blessings can overcome curses.

Deuteronomy 30:19 says, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live”

It’s not too late to change the landscape of our future generations.   Start to use scripture to speak blessings over generations. “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” –Isaiah 55:11.

Friend or Foe?

Friend or Foe? Which are you?

Are you walking in obedience to what God says in His Word? 

Are you obedient to the prompting of the Holy Spirit? 

Are you living out what God has called you to do? 

Are you bringing people to Christ?

A ‘no’ answer to any one of these questions tells you what side of the fence you are on.

The scripture that gives us the clearest definition of ‘friend or foe’ is found in James 4:4, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”

We let the world know where we stand with every decision we make.  Every day, throughout the day, we have to make choices.  When we make a choice in rebellion to God, we have become His enemy.

Further in the fourth chapter of James, verse 17 tells us, “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. (NLT)”

Are you failing to take a stand for God in your personal life? Where you work? Go to school? Among your family and friends? During your recreation time? In your place of worship? Friend or foe?

 
Everyday through various media outlets . . . radio, TV, internet,

magazines, and books, etc. we see how the world bombards us with what they believe is ‘right’ and ‘good’.  How do these outlets line up with the Word of God? Friend or foe?

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.  Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” – Romans 12:1-2

It is time we stop straddling the fence, and stand, and act, on what we believe – the Word of God.

Formula 409

Formula 409 was created in 1957 by the Rouff brothers, three scientists from Michigan.  The brothers worked for Gem Products, an industrial cleaning solution manufacturer.  The Formula 409 name is actually a tribute to the tenacity of the brothers who were determined to formulate the greatest grease-cutting, dirt-destroying, bacteria cutting cleaner on the planet.  Creating the ultimate cleaner doesn’t just happen on the first try.  And it didn’t happen on the 101^st or the 301^st.  It wasn’t until batch number 409 that they were finally satisfied.  And so the name stuck.

What if we applied the Formula 409 principle to our prayer life? Never giving up when we’re praying on a situation, or interceding for a family member or a friend.

In 1Thessalonians 5:17 TLB, Paul commands us: “Always keep on praying.”  There are many instances in the Bible, where persistent prayer paid off not only for the person praying, but for entire nations.

Moses prayed for forty days and forty nights, seeking God’s grace for the rebellious Israelites.  “As for me, I stayed on the mountain in the Lord’s presence for forty days and nights, as I had done the first time. And once again the Lord listened to my pleas and agreed not to destroy you.” (Deut. 10:10)

 
In Luke 18, Jesus taught His disciples, through a parable, “that they should always pray and not give up . . . And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly”. (Luke 18:1-8)

Hannah, the wife of Elkanah, was barren.  Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah, would taunt Hannah year after year because Hannah had no children.  Each year as they traveled to the Tabernacle, Hannah would be reduced to tears from Peninnah’s taunting. But Hannah kept praying, pouring her heart out to the Lord. So much so, that Eli the priest thought she was drunk. Hannah declared that she was ‘praying out of great anguish and sorrow.’   The scripture tells us that, ‘The Lord remembered her plea, and in due time she gave birth to a son.’ (1Samuel 1:1-20)

Don’t live your life offering the Lord only crisis and emergency prayers.  Be persistent in prayer, and pray believing that you will receive.  “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” Mark 11:24

Porcupine Christian

If given the chance, would you cuddle with a porcupine? Probably not.  According to National Geographic, when other animals have an encounter with a porcupine, they come away with quills protruding from their own snouts or bodies. I imagine that is pretty painful. How do our fellow brothers and sisters, or non-believers, feel after an encounter with us?  What is it like to be on the receiving end of you?

 

 

When you look in the mirror, do you see this expression looking back at you . . . 

 

Ask yourself these questions:
Who am I reflecting?
What does my speech reflect?
What does my demeanor say to others?
How does the world see me?
Am I a ‘Porcupine Christian’?

Or maybe you regularly encounter a Porcupine Christian. How do you react to them?  Ask yourself this: “How is this person holding up the mirror to me?”  What does dealing with the Porcupine reveal about me (irritability, impatience, sharp-tongue)?

All of us are subject to bouts of less than Christian behavior every now and then. We are human. We are not perfect. But we must take responsibility for our attitudes and our actions.

Employees of Chik-Fil-A are trained to say “It’s my pleasure”! As followers of Christ, we should be able to reflect, “It’s my pleasure!” as we serve God and others.

Remember the joy and excitement you had as a new convert? Wouldn’t you love to get that back?  Reorganize and re-attitude your speech, your demeanor, and your interactions with others. When I find myself slipping into less than Christian behavior, I pray Psalm 51:10-12 “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.”

Are you attracting others to God, or telling them to ‘back off’? As believers, we are charged to spread the Gospel. Remember, Gospel means GOOD NEWS!