We recently finished a teaching series titled - GENERATIONAL BLESSING: How to Establish the Touch of God on Your Life!

As a church we discovered that a little over a fourth of Genesis is dedicated to telling Abraham’s story. And much of the rest of the Old Testament testifies to his importance (it’s always Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob because God was the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob – a God focused on Generations). And the reason Abraham is so important to the people of God is because God began His covenant with Israel through him.

God wanted to bless him and his Generational seed and made special promises to him in Genesis 12.

And what were those promises?

1. I will make you into a great nation.
2. I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.
4. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you.
5. And - to your offspring I will give this land.

The challenge is for all of us to think Generationally … realizing that the revelation that we carry that God wants to bless us, realizing that our actions, our faith, our efforts – they all don't just go to work in our own lives, but get passed down to the next generation.

One key to successfully establishing a Generational Blessing on your life is making sure you are POSITIONED in the House of God. Where are you located?  

In Psalm 92 it encourages us that:

The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green.

Be deliberate in knowing where God wants you – because he wants to bless you!

There is a place God has designed where opportunities find you, a place where His blessings overtake you. God has a particular place for each one of us, a place where each one of us will find our highest purpose, where we will thrive and reflect God’s blessing and greatness. He has a specific job for you, in a specific community, where you are surrounded by specific people positioned to help you find fulfilment.

 


Fellowship comes from the Greek word Koinonia, which means “something in common”.   

 
There are four lessons learned from Geese about the power of being connected to a Church family.  
 
When Geese head south for the winter, flying along in V formation, you might be interested to know what science has discovered about why they fly that way. It has been learned that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. By flying in a V formation, the whole flock adds at least 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own. (Christians who share a common direction and a sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier, because they are travelling on the thrust of one another.)
 
LESSON ONE: Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone, and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front. (If we have as much sense as a goose, we will stay in formation with those who are headed the same way we are going.)
 
LESSON TWO: When the lead goose gets tired, he rotates back in the wing and another goose flies at the point to share the workload. (It pays to receive  assistance and mentoring when building your life.)  
 
LESSON THREE: The geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep up their speed. (What do we say when we honk from behind?)

  
LESSON FOUR: Finally, when a goose gets sick, or is wounded by a shot and falls out, two geese fall out of formation and follows him down to help and protect him. They stay with him until he is either able to fly, or until he is dead, and then they catch up with their original group. (If people know we would stand by them like that in church, they would push down the walls to get in.) 

When you are in the right place, connected to the right people, that’s when God will release great things into your life. Look for the signs in your own life. Be determined to reach the highest place of blessings. Search your heart. Stay faithful. Be positioned to establish a Generational Blessing in your life.

Be blessed!

Comments (1) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink

Is patience difficult for you?

A man in Los Angeles, California, was arrested for negligent discharge of a weapon after shooting his toilet bowl five times with a 38 caliber handgun. He claims that he just got upset. He couldn’t take it any longer. His daughter had flushed a hairbrush earlier in the day and clogged the pipes. So he shot the offending toilet. I have no word on the toilet’s condition, but the man’s patience was long gone.

How are you with patience? It seems that there is always something to try our patience. Having to wait is one of those things

• We wait on traffic and we wait in lines
• We wait to hear about a new job
• We wait to complete school or to retire
• We wait to grow up or for maturity in a child
• We wait for a decision to be made
• We wait for someone to change his or her mind

Every day presents plenty of occasions for training in patience. We can resent waiting, accept it or even get good at it! But one thing is certain - we cannot avoid it.

I call FAITH & PATIENCE the Power Twins. Like baby human twins - which have very similar DNA, work closely together, but have their own unique identity - so too FAITH & PATIENCE are individual forces. But when they are both established in a person's life these two forces have an inseparable connection and help people to walk out their destiny!  

 
In Hebrews 10: 35 - 36 it encourages us to “Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward. For you have need of patience, that, after you have done the will of God, you might receive the promise.”

Almost everywhere you find faith mentioned in the Bible, you also find patience. Faith and Patience are the Power Twins.



Patience without faith has no power to call into reality the thing desired. On the other hand, faith without patience many times will fail to stand firm on the evidence of the Word that gives deed to things not seen.

One of the most common traditions and mistakes in this area of believing is many people are convinced that trials and tribulations develop faith. Trials and tribulations do not develop faith … faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Trials and Tribulations (the testing of that faith that has already been deposited into your heart) develop patience.

The story is told that the great New England preacher Phillips Brooks was known for his calmness and poise. His intimate friends, however, knew that he suffered moments of frustration and irritability. One day a friend saw him pacing the floor like a caged lion. ‘What is the trouble, Dr. Brooks?’ asked his friend. ‘The trouble is,’ replied Brooks, ‘that I’m in a hurry, but God isn’t.’”

Haven’t we felt the same way many times?

Mix patience with your faith to generate the power to persevere.  

 
Be blessed!  

Comments (0) | Trackbacks (0) | Permalink