Legacy Dad

Why do we make it so hard for ourselves

  

1 Timothy 6:6-7 (New International Version)

 ⁶But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

What does culture teach us:  To always want more

What does God say: 

1. Believe in His Son

2. Confess your sins

3. Repent and be born again

4. Sanctify yourselves

5. Holy Living/Living Sacrifices

6. Mature as a Christian

7. Find Contentment

So, where do we start:  PRAY THE FOLLOWING:

"Dear God, Please answer this prayer, less of me and my needs and more of you and your needs..."

The Perfect Father's Day Gift

There is no greater love than for someone to lay down his life for another.  Imagine dads, that if you had the power to save the world from sin by sacrificing your child who would die a gruesome death in order to save the "World".  Could you do it?  If it were up to me I could probably guess what I would tell the world if I had to sacrifice my son, yet, God did exactly what had to be done.  His Son, Jesus, was sent to earth to fulfill prophecy and to die for our sins (A sin offering) so that we could come to the Father in Heaven and be Saved.

As we enjoy are barbeques (or picnics, lunch, or whatever your Father's Day activity may be) let's say thank you to our Heavenly Father, who is in heaven, and thank him for the sacrifice that he made for us.

May God Bless you and keep you and make His Face shine upon you.

Happy Father's Day!

Respectfully,

Lance & Dante

A Father's Day prayer...

"Dear God, this year please send clothes for all those poor ladies in Daddy's computer, Amen."

Job 31

1 "I made a covenant with my eyes
not to look lustfully at a girl.

Galatians 5

Life by the Spirit

16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

This Father's Day give your wife and children the gift and promise to try and walk the way that God desires us to walk.  Trust and Obey for there is no other way...

Vision

Imagine a discussion between yourself and three other leaders.  Imagine the discussion being about something that you hold true and near to you heart: Men's Ministry.  Now imagine that the conversation takes a turn to your wildest imagination.  Here is the thing, I have often been told that these leaders have really good vision and discernment, but I have never seen it first hand.  The thing that makes this day most rewarding is that we all, for just a short moment, were able to share our hearts desires for men and where we would like men to start:  Reading God's Word.  Prayer.  Listening to the Pastor's Sermons, obedience to the Holy Spirit.  These are the ways that we can hear God talking to us.  

The most intimidating thing about the Bible is the parts that we don't understand, but today on the radio, I heard a pastor say that in order for us to come to understanding to the parts that we don't understand, we have to hear and listen and DO the parts that we do understand.  Come closer to God and see what he does in return.  ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication).  Give God your heart.  Don't just hear the Word, Listen to the Word. And do what it says.

True Repentance of the Heart

"Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."  Confess with your mouth to others and stop letting the sin (idols) 

in your life blackmail you from a life of walking worthy for the sin offering that was paid for all of us on Calvary.  Jesus is the High Priest and gave for us a blood offering that has washed us all white as snow.  We hear a lot about grace and mercy and sometimes we overlook the act of true repentance from the heart.  We are quick to call that "free pass" in our salvation, but do we let go of that sin that we carry with us daily.  Look, I am not saying that any of us are perfect and blameless.  Actually, quite the contrary, however, the difference is that we sometimes lack the very essence it what God is calling us to do: Repent from the heart.  Go and sin no more.  Free ourselves from the very thing that holds us prisoner and or blackmails us from true worship (true repentance of the heart).  For some of you, you may be reading this and saying that there is no way that a loved one or a friend would understand.  There is no way that they can or would ever forgive us.  James 4: ⁷Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. What is the mark of a true disciple of Jesus Christ:  Humility.  A man who is committed to the daily reading of scripture.  To Prayer.  

Hebrews 5: ⁷During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. ⁸Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered ⁹and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him ¹⁰and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Warning Against Falling Away

Hebrews 5 ¹¹We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. ¹²In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! ¹³Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 6 ¹Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death,^[a] and of faith in God,²instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. ³And God permitting, we will do so. ⁴It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, ⁶if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because^[b]to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace. In this last Scripture it raises some serious issue.  To conclude that our sins (our idols and past transgressions or old nature) is to big for Jesus to handle or that we keep looking for a "bigger miracle" to get us over our dependence on adultery, pornography, drinking, drug use, laziness, pride, arrogance, or fill in whatever blank you need to is to say that the death and resurrection was not enough and that you need more? Is this is what you are saying or your actions are doing?

SHAME ON YOU!  

REPENT AND SIN NO MORE FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND!

Wordless Wednesday

What fruit are you bearing?

    

GALATIANS 5:¹⁶So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ¹⁷For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

 ¹⁹The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. ²⁵Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

A Tree and Its Fruit

Mathew 7: ¹⁵"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

 ²¹"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' ²³Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

The Wise and Foolish Builders

 ²⁴"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."

 ²⁸When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

------------------------------

How do I really know what fruit my life is bearing?  Who will hold me accountable and tell me what I am really like?  How can I change?  Do I want to change?  How can I possibly let go of that?  My wife (or my kids) will never understand?  I cannot believe that I grew into the man that I said I would never be?  Or you find yourself saying that it won't hurt anyone?  How about, "No one will ever know"?

------------------------------

Here is the bitter pill to swallow:  GOD KNOWS! GOD SEES EVERYTHING & GOD IS NOT MOCKED!  God isn't just looking for you to say Lord, I am sorry please forgive me, BUT you still hold on to that which causes you to stumble.  You won't let go?  You won't fully repent of the heart.  STOP BEING FOOLISH!

------------------------------

If you think for a moment that God will overlook this unrepentance in your life then read Judges 10:6-16.  After you have read this then I implore you to grab a notebook and before you go into a quiet place take a deep look into the mirror and reflect on who you truly see.  If things aren't adding up or you know you have to let go of some things in order to have God come closer to you, then write these things down that are causing you to stumble.  Confess your sins to God and go and sin no more.  As Jesus had the Pharisee bring a woman who was caught in the middle of committing adultery, the people were going to stone her and Jesus had asked whoever is without sin to cast the first stone.  After a while only the woman and Jesus were left standing.  He didn't say to her that's okay, go back and continue on your journey toward hell- NO!  He said, Go and sin NO MORE!  Flee from evil.  Let go of that which causes you to stumble.  Come closer to God and He will come closer to you.

What fruit do you see in your life? That of the sinful nature or that of the Fruit of the Spirit.