Leaving a Lasting Legacy

How do you want to be remembered? What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind for your family? When you are gone from this life, what will people say about you? These are questions that I think all of us ask ourselves from time to time. I know I do. As is always the case, God's Word perfectly sums up how I would want people to remember me. Psalm 112 tells me, and all of us, how to leave a legacy that will last.

"Light shines in the darkness for the godly. They are generous, compassionate, and righteous. Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly. Such people will not be overcome by evil. Those who are righteous will be long remembered. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly. They share freely and give generously to those in need. Their good deeds will be remembered forever. They will have influence and honor." ~ Psalm 112:4 - 9

In the passage above, the word "generous" is stated three times. If you want to leave a lasting legacy, be a generous person. This certainly applies to money, but I think we often have an incorrect view of what being generous with our money means. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, has a net worth of $17.5 billion dollars, according to Forbes. His donations, such as a recent $500 million dollar gift to a charitable foundation in Silicon Valley, are well publicized. When I see donations like that in the "millions' of dollars, I wonder what difference could I make in comparison to such great wealth. And then I read Mark 12:41 - 44...

"Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts. Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins. Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 'I tell you the truth, this poor widow had given more than all the others who are making contributions. For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.'"

In God's eyes, that widow gave more than Marck Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, or any other billionaire we hear about donating money on the news. While they give out of their surplus, the widow gave all she had.

Generosity is not just about giving money, though. It is also about giving our time and ability to help others. A great example of this is found in Acts 9:36 - 41...

"There was a believer in Joppa named Tabitha (which in Greek is Dorcas). She was always doing kind things for others and helping the poor. About this time she became ill and died. Her body was washed for burial and laid in an upstairs room. But the believers had heard that Peter was nearby at Lydda, so they sent two men to beg him, 'Please come as soon as possible!' So Peter returned with them; and as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room. The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them. But Peter asked them all to leave the room; then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body he said, 'Get up, Tabitha.' And she opened her eyes! When she saw Peter, she sat up! He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then he called in the widows and all the believers, and he presented her to them alive."

The affection that people had for Tabitha in that region jumps off the page. Why? Because she was abundantly generous with her skills and abilities. I'm sure we all can think of "Tabitha's" in our own lives who are always doing kind things for others. Let them know that what they do is a blessing to you.

The unnamed widow who gave all she had and Tabitha are both great examples of how we can leave a lasting legacy. Neither were rich or powerful in the world's eyes. They simply gave their money and skills back to God, and as a result, their stories will be listed in God's Word for the rest of time! What a legacy! Let us leave legacies that will have similar impacts on those around us as we give our resources back to the One who gave them to us in the first place.

Psalm 51

As I was reading through Psalm 51 the other day, I was reminded of all the times when I sin of how often I tell God that I will repent, but find myself committing the same sin over again later that day or the next. Randy Gunter, Pastor at MeadowBrook, often reminds our church that it is God who saves us, but it is also God who sanctifies us. He does not leave it up to us to live the Christian life in our own power and strength after our salvation.

David understood this. He committed two of the worst crimes that a person could commit, adultery and murder, yet he knew that God was the one who would forgive him AND empower him to repent. I encourage you to read Psalm 51 below, and especially take notice of the bold, underlined verbs where David is asking God to take action in his life.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
  because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
  blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
  Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
  it haunts me day and night.
4 Against you, and you alone, have I sinned;
  I have done what is evil in your sight.
You will be proved right in what you say,
  and your judgment against me is just.*
5 For I was born a sinner—
  yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
6 But you desire honesty from the womb,*
  teaching me wisdom even there.

7 Purify me from my sins,* and I will be clean;
  wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Oh, give me back my joy again;
  you have broken me—
  now let me rejoice.
9 Don't keep looking at my sins.
  Remove the stain of my guilt.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
  Renew a loyal spirit within me.
11 Do not banish me from your presence,
  and don't take your Holy Spirit* from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
  and make me willing to obey you.
13 Then I will teach your ways to rebels,
  and they will return to you.
14 Forgive me for shedding blood, O God who saves;
  then I will joyfully sing of your forgiveness.
15 Unseal my lips, O Lord,
  that my mouth may praise you.

16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
  You do not want a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
  You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.
18 Look with favor on Zion and help her;
  rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will be pleased with sacrifices offered in the right spirit—
  with burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings.
  Then bulls will again be sacrificed on your altar.

I don't so much struggle with the phrases like "blot out the stain of my sins," "purify me from my sin," or "forgive me". I know that I am powerless to cleanse myself from my sin, and that Jesus has forgiven me of my sin through his death on the cross and resurrection. But, I often forget that I am also powerless to live in repentance. God must do that work in me, too. Phrases like "renew a loyal spirit within me" and "make me willing to obey you" shows that David knew God must essentially be the one to provide forgiveness AND repentance in his life. David could not do either in his own strength.

This was something that the early church in Galatia struggled with. Paul wrote them, "Let me ask you this one question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit by obeying the law of Moses? Of course not! You received the Spirit because you believed the message you heard about Christ. How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?" (Galatians 3:2,3) In other words, they trusted in Christ for their salvation, but not for their sanctification. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, must do both of these works in us.

So what must we do? What part must we play? Paul told the Galatians, and tells us today, that we must ask the Holy Spirit to guide our lives, and to produce fruit that will bring glory to Christ. "So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control." (Galatians 5:16, 22-23)

Let us be reminded, through the example of David and the Galatians, that it is God, through the power of the Holy Spirit, that empowers us to live the Christian life from start to finish. 

Pay It Forward

We all know of the phrase "pay it forward", where someone is on the receiving end of an act of kindness, and it is then their responsibility to do an act of kindness for someone else. We see a biblical picture of the "pay it forward" idea put into practice in the life of King David.

In 2 Samuel 7:18, we see David offering a prayer of thanks to God form taking him from a lowly shepherd boy to the King of Israel. "Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?" His prayer goes on throughout the rest of chapter 7, and we get a glimpse of the unworthiness and thankfulness he feels in the face of God's extravagant grace that he is experiencing.

In chapter 9, one of the first acts David does as king is to fulfill his vow to his friend Jonathan by showing kindness to family. He finds out that one of Jonathan's sons, Mephibosheth, is still alive, although he is crippled in both feet due to an accident detailed in 4:4. David sends for Mephibosheth to come visit him. To be sure, Mephibosheth had to be uneasy about David's intentions for the visit since he could be considered a threat to David's throne as a grandson to the former King Saul.

Instead, David quickly dispels any fears that Mephibosheth may have. "Don't be afraid! I intend to show kindness to you because of my promise to your father, Jonathan. I will give you all the property that once belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will eat here with me at the king's table!" (9:7) David takes the grace and goodness that God showed him, and shows that same grace and goodness to Mephibosheth. In short, he pays it forward.

What also strikes me is the similarity in the response of David to God showing him grace (7:18, see above), and Mephibosheth's response to David showing grace to him. "Who is your servant, that you should show such kindness to a dead dog like me?" (9:8) Both knew that they had not done anything to deserve the grace that was shown to them, yet both of them received it with humility and thanksgiving. "And Mephibosheth, who was crippled in both feet, lived in Jerusalem and ate regularly at the king's table." (9:13)

We have been shown God's grace in His Son, Jesus Christ. "Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege (or grace) where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory." (Romans 5:2) But, as we learn from David's example, this grace is not for us to keep to ourselves. We must share it with others. We must pay it forward.

Living in the New Nature

Proverbs 26:11 says, "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his foolishness." This is a verse that most of us are familiar with, but I think we only apply it when, for example, we see someone getting arrested multiple times for the same offense. "Oh well, that's just a fool returning to their folly," we might think. But this verse doesn't just apply to those who break the law, it applies to every single one of us, every day.

The imagery of that verse is gross to us as people because it is not in our nature to do that. I don't know why dogs are "wired" that way, but they just are. It is natural for them to do this. So, what does this have to do with us?

I have heard several conversations recently from people who claim to know Christ, but who are reading books, watching movies, or being involved in things that obviously do not glorify God. For whatever reason, whether it's because of the "everybody else is doing it" excuse, or maybe just the thrill of finding out what will happen, like Eve taking a bite of the fruit, these people do not realize or have forgotten what God's Word says about the new nature we have been given in Christ. 

In his letter to the Christians in Rome, Paul told them that "you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature (literally 'the flesh') urges you to do." (Romans 8:9,12) Also, 1 John 2:15 - 17 says, "Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever." (emphasis mine)

My point is this. When we as Christians sin, in God's eyes it is just as bad, if not worse, than what a dog does as described in Proverbs 26:11. Just as it is in a dog's nature to do certain things that we might find repulsive, it is in the Christian's nature to find sin repulsive. If we have been forgiven and freed from sin, it shouldn't make sense for us to go back to it. Am I saying that we should be perfect? Absolutely not. As it says above, our flesh is urging us to sin each day, and I will be the first to admit that I sin and succumb to the flesh's urgings more than I should. But, through the Holy Spirit living within us, we can put these urgings to death. (Romans 8:13) So who do we turn to when we obey the flesh and sin? 1 John 2:1,2 says, "But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins - and not only our sins but the sins of all the world."


In closing, the nature we now possess through the Holy Spirit is not just about not sinning. It is about doing. "Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God." (Romans 7:4,6) When our faith is in Christ, we don't serve Him out of trying to be perfect, or "obeying the letter of the law" as Paul said. We serve Him out of gratitude for His forgiveness and grace that He gave to us on the cross. Let us live each day in the new, life-giving nature He has given us!

Living Water

It has been a dreadfully hot summer here in Alabama so far, and rainfall has been few and far between. Experiencing these drought-like conditions made me stop and think when I read through the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4.

Today, we take water for granted. If we are thirsty, we can go to a faucet or sink in our home and fill our glasses with as much water as we like. It wasn't that easy in Jesus' day. "In Israel, people were keenly aware of water sources and water quality. Springs and rivers that ran all year were few, so the land relied on cisterns to catch and store the winter rains and wells to tap underground water tables." (NLT insert) Needless to say, as I am currently drinking a Dasani bottled water that says it is "enhanced with minerals for a pure, fresh taste", I am grateful for the time and location in which I live!

When Jesus told the Samaritan woman that he would give her "living water" (John 4:10), I've never known the significance of what that statement would have meant to her. "In Jewish culture, 'dead water' referred to standing and stored water. 'Living water' referred to moving water, as in rivers, springs, and rainfall. Such water was precious because it was fresh." (NLT insert) It then makes since why the woman would question Jesus about where he would get this "living water". She wanted to be satisfied and refreshed!

Of course, she was thinking about earthly, physical water that "anyone who drinks will soon become thirsty again." (4:13) Jesus, as he does throughout the book of John, uses this earthly example of water to reveal something spiritual about the Kingdom of God. "But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life." (4:14) Jesus makes this same declaration to the masses in John 7:37 - 39. "Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, 'Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.' (When he said 'living water,' he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory.)"

For those of us who have put our trust in Christ, we have this "fresh, bubbling spring" within us in the Holy Spirit. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, satisfies our spiritual thirst in every way, so let us never abandon the "fountain of living water and dig for ourselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all." (Jeremiah 2:13) Basically, how foolish it would be of us to look for spiritual satisfaction in any other source but Jesus now that we have tasted the "living water". But, let us also be reminded that others are in need of this water, too. People are thirsty for the truth, and we can be the one to lead them to the source of "living water".


So, the next time you are physically thirsty in this hot, Alabama summer, let it be a reminder of the "dead water" that once filled you, and of the "living water" that now springs up within you.

How Can A Hyssop Branch Point to Christ?

If you have read through the Old Testament, you have no doubt come across several scriptures that mention hyssop, or a hyssop branch. What is hyssop, and why is it important in the bible? Hyssop is a perennial flowering herb with aromatic, or fragrant, flowers. It belongs to the mint family and can be found growing in the wild. It has tall stalks with narrow leaves. In biblical times, they didnt have detergent, and the hyssop branch had detergent properties to it. It was used to clean clothing and temples.


Below are some Old Testament scriptures describing how hyssop was used. Hang with me, the point is coming at the end.


In the first Passover...


Exodus 12:22 "Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning."




In purification ceremonies...


Leviticus 14:49, 51 "To purify the house the priest must take two birds, a stick of cedar, some scarlet yarn, and a hyssop branch. He will take the cedar stick, the hyssop branch, the scarlet yarn, and the live bird, and dip them into the blood of the slaughtered bird and into the fresh water. Then he will sprinkle the house seven times."




In David's repentance after committing adultery with Bathsheba...


Psalm 51:7 "Purify me from my sins (Hebrew: Purify me with the hyssop branch), and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."


Jesus, after his resurrection, told his disciples "When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled." (Luke 24:44) Who knew that this would even include a hyssop branch? John's detailed account of Jesus hanging on the cross takes on an even deeper meaning when we keep in mind how hyssop was used in the Old Testament. "Jesus knew that his mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture he said, 'I am thirsty.'A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to his lips. When Jesus had tasted it, he said, 'It is finished!' Then he bowed his head and released his spirit." (John 19:28-30)


I've heard it said that Jesus doesn't just fulfill the Old Testament, he "fills it full". The hyssop branch is a great example of this. Just as God used the hyssop branch as a small part of rescuing the Israelites from the Egyptians in the first Passover, God used hyssop in the crucifixion of Jesus as He rescued us from death and has given us life. And just as hyssop was used to clean people physically, it is a reminder of the spiritual cleansing from our sins that Jesus has provided. 


The kicker for me, though, is that hyssop is a aromatic, fragrant flower. What does that have to do with anything, you ask? Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:2 to "live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God." Yes, just as hyssop was a pleasing aroma in Old Testament sacrifices, Jesus was a pleasing aroma to God when he sacrificed himself for us. And since Jesus now lives in us through the Holy Spirit, we are the fragrance of Christ among everyone that we come in contact with each day (2 Corinthians 2:15).


I certainly didn't think I would blog about hyssop of all things, but I think it is incredible how God uses things like that to remind us of what Christ has done for us.

Authentic Faith

When I was in college at Alabama, my church back then (Calvary Baptist) would hold a Fall Retreat and Spring Retreat each year. It was simply a weekend to get away from the rigors of study to worship God and hear from His Word. Often, our speaker on those retreats would be Neil McClendon, who now pastors a church in Texas. One of his talks during our Fall Retreat in 2002 was recorded, and I listen to it occasionally on my iPod. This particular talk is entitled "Authentic Faith", and in it Neil shared some solid truths pertaining to living out who the Bible says we are in Christ.

I wanted to share this message with you, so that you might be blessed by the truths he shares from God's Word. Even though he is speaking to college students at the time of the recording, it applies to both young and old in every walk of life.

Just click play on the video and it will begin. The talk is about an hour long, so if you can't listen to it in one sitting, that's fine. I usually have to listen to it in parts myself. But, I think it will be well worth your time.