Happy New Year from Legacy Dad!We hope that you and your families have a great and wonderful 2016. As we have put 2015 to rest and look back for a moment, for some of us it could have been a great and prosperous year. For others it could have been a year full of trials and tribulations and for others it could have been a year of loss - job, relationship, death of a loved one. And for others it could have been a combination of others. In either of these cases, what is going to be different about 2016 for you and your families?
Every New Years Eve, my family and I get together with some dear friends and celebrate New Years Eve with food and fun and celebration. We laugh and share and watch our kids grow each year. One of the things that my wife and I bring to this yearly ritual is a delicious Carrot Cake from a dear friend of ours that owns a bakery business. Looking at the one piece that is cut from this unbelievable cake started me to think about this post.
When the cake is complete and we see its finished product it is beautiful and ready to share with the world. That is, when God grows us into his work and we see more and more of his ingredients (the work of the Holy Spirit in us) we see the world notice something that is no longer of the old flesh (the old sin nature) and instead we see His love through each of his disciples.
When we start to make this carrot cake, we cannot just go out and lump all the ingredients together and stick it in the oven and expect the frosting to be perfect. We have to train ourselves and point the cake into the direction that God wants it to grow. Proverbs 22:6 says it this way: (ESV) 6 Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. According to Tony Evans, the Goal of a Christian parent is to raise the next generation in such a way that they reflect the rule of God in their lives.
Dr. Tony Evans defines Kingdom Parenting as "intentional overseeing the generational transfer of the faith of our relationship with God in such a way that children learn to operate under God's rule. That is, that if we are doing it God's way (as parents) then we see a transfer from one Christian generation to another. He goes on to say whoever owns the family owns the future. There is spiritual warfare in parenting, that is why God tells us to be fruitful and multiply. The culture wants our children very badly, that is why we have to fight for our family. Nehemiah 4:14 (ESV) 14 And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
At the end of this year we had the long-awaited Disney's Star Wars release and the line that is in there that is applicable to this blog entry is, "Did you feel the awakening in the Force." This got me thinking some more to ask this question of you: Do you feel the Holy Spirit calling on your legacy dads (and moms) not to miss God's will for you life? Do you feel the pangs of parenting (Godly parenting) that calls us to make our faith real to our children? Do you feel the Holy Spirit laying on your hearts to take His Son (Jesus Christ) and His Word seriously?
Yesterday in our Men's Group, Men of Faith, one of my leaders challenged the men on taking God's word in our lives seriously. He challenged us to start out this year in community with God and to seek His will in our lives daily. He then played this video by John Piper:
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Here are some things to ask yourselves for 2016:
- Is my life reflecting God's will?
- Am I in relationship with God?
- Am I in His Word daily?
- Would others watching my life and its action call me a friend of God, an acquaintance of God or a foe of God?
- Would my time, my talent and my treasure point others to God?
- If not, why not?
- Fill in your question here ______________?
As for me and my house, we will choose to serve the Lord.
Blessings and Happy New Year,
Dante