LEGACY
4. "I will reveal these truths to you so that you can describe these glorious deeds of Jehovah to your children and tell them about the mighty miracles he did."
Today as I sat at the Women's Overflow monthly group and listened to my pastor speak on legacy I thought about my own legacy that I will leave for my children and grand-children. I haven't really ever put any thought about it seriously but at church today I paused for a moment and wondered what legacy would I leave for my offspring. The word legacy is defined according to Merriam Webster: "something that happened in the past or that comes from someone in the past." or 'something handed down from one generation to another.' A legacy could be a tradition, an inheritance, a gift or a consequence.
As I mulled on this I thought about my own life. There have been some things I rather had not passed on to my own children and grand-children, those are the consequences of things done in the past that may have left a lasting memory of pain or bitterness or unforgiveness or hurt. We as women sometimes do not get things right especially as young wives or single mothers. We make a lot of mistakes and not really thinking about the consequences and how our children are receiving the information in the situation at hand. We fail to realize that our children are absorbing all the information provided to them in their lives from the way we live our lives or the words expressed or our through our nonverbal language.
I am guilty of charge of some of those negative images but I also want to focus on some of the positive images. Some of the things I did get right from the help of Almighty God. You see, the reason I did not get things right in the beginning is because God was not involved in my life way back then. I thought I could do it alone or rather I was ignorant of what God meant to me and what He could do for me. I didn't know; and there was no one really to help me or guide me. I was not surrounded by women, mentors who could teach me about the Lord and His role in my life. I felt alone, lost most of the time. I felt overwhelmed and frightened and didn't know who to ask for help or where to go for help. Sometimes I prayed and hoped that God will hear me and save me and my children.
What has saved me today is that I kept searching, I kept listening for God and I kept praying. As time went by little by little I learned some things and I began to improve. Today I am in a much better place in my walk with the Lord. He is my Mentor, my Counselor, my Best Friend and everything else. When I want advise I go to Him first and maybe from another woman of faith. God is willing and able to help all of us as women, in every area of our lives and our children's and our husbands'. I realized why I failed in the past and made a humongous mess of my life and my children's in the process. But I also know I have left some good qualities in their lives that hopefully will cancel out the poor memories of the past. I have asked God to heal my past and that of my children's and I know He would.
Where is your treasure? What are you laying up for your future generation? What value you hope your children would receive as their legacy? The Bible says in Matthew 6:20. "Instead, stockpile heavenly treasures[a] for yourselves that cannot be stolen and will never rust, decay, or lose their value. 21. For your heart will always pursue what you value as your treasure." (TPT). I hope my daughters will treasure and value the Almighty God and His Son, Our Savior, Jesus, above all else. I hope this one thing I could leave as a legacy for them is to put God first place in their lives. I hope they would desire and love the Lord with all their heart and soul and mind. I hope they would pray vigilantly over their household, their children and their spouses.
I hope they would choose to be the gatekeepers of their families as the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 and Ruth in the Old Testament; strong women of faith. I hope they will face the giants in their lives as David did with strength, determination and complete confidence in God to take them safely through to the other side- no matter what. I hope they would know that God loves women and as women they are special to Him. I hope they know God loves them with an everlasting love and that He would never leave them nor forsake them. I hope that if they mess up they would not run away in shame but run to Him and ask for forgiveness. I hope that all these things I have learned will be part of the fabric of their lives like a tapestry of various times in our lives. Growing from strength to strength from faith to faith.
Today I am in a good place and I honor my Father, God by giving Him all the glory and all the praise. God chose me since the foundation of the world-me. I use to think I didn't matter much to the people in my life and my family didn't know how special I was. Today I know. God knows me by my name and He loves me with all of my flaws; even my past mistakes and every day I know He is transforming me into the woman He designed from the beginning. I am being transformed everyday until I return home to heaven. So I pray for every woman and their families. I pray for my own family, my children and grand-children that as we grow in grace let us be cognizant of the life we live today and the inheritance we would pass on to our offspring and to the future generations. Remember, what we do and say today will have a ripple effect on our future generations.
Psalm 145:4 The Passion Translation (TPT) "Generation after generation will declare more of your greatness and declare more of your glory."
John 15:16 The Passion Translation (TPT) 16. "You didn’t choose me, but I’ve chosen[a] and commissioned you to go into the world[b] to bear fruit. And your fruit will last, because whatever you ask of my Father, for my sake,[c] he will give it to you!"
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for everything you have done for us and thank you for healing our past mistakes and bringing good gifts into our lives. You gave us Jesus, Your Own Legacy so that we would know how to live our lives through Him. You give us Your Word as a road map on how to chart the course of our journey through this life and this world. You are constantly with us and we never have to walk alone. When things get messy we will run to You and You will help us through every difficult moment. Thank You for being the Rock, the Foundation to build our lives upon, our families and our home. Glory to Your Name. We praise and honor You with all that we are and striving to be, in Jesus' Name, Amen.
http://goldencordofhope.blogspot.com
shalom
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