What’s my legacy going to be?

I just finished taking a graduate course in evangelism.  As a part of the course, I was challenged to write a "Vision Paper".  What are my plans for carrying out the Great Commission?  How am I going to be obedient to God’s command to reach others with the gospel?  How am I going to live my life?  As I thought about this, I thought about the idea of "what is my legacy going to be?"  And that led me to thinking about Abraham.

There was only one person in Scripture that God referred to as his “friend.”  And that was Abraham.  (James 2:23)  Abraham was from the Ur of the Chaldeans.  He loved God completely.  He obeyed Him with questioning Him.  I sometimes have hard time relating to Abraham because his life of complete faith in God is so amazing.

However, if we take a closer look into the life of Abraham, we find that he was not perfect. But, he persevered with God and he became a godly man.  Genesis 15:6 says that he “believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.”

When Abraham was 75 years old, God told him to leave his family, his homeland, his livelihood, and move to a new land.  This required a lot of faith, but Abraham didn’t waiver.  (Would I be able to do the same?)

“The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.

2 “I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you;

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;

and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Harran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there.”  (You can read the whole story in Genesis 12)

So what did he do?  He left his family and went on his journey. “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (Hebrews 11:8).  He trusted God and he went.

He made some mistakes along the way. The end of Genesis 12 tells us about how Abram got into trouble because he lied and said Sarai was his sister instead of his wife.  This is an example of Abram’s fearing man instead of trusting God.

Then there was time Abraham and his nephew, Lot, split up.  Abraham told Lot to choose which piece of land he wanted and in doing that Abraham gave up his rights to the land God had promised him. Peace was more important to Abram than being right.  (Ouch – can God say that about me?) 

Next we find Abram wanting to help God fulfill His promise.  God said he would be the father of many nations, but Sarai was barren and they were old.  In their impatience to wait on God, they made a horrible mistake.  Abram slept with Hagar, Sarai’s handmaid, and she bore him a son, Ishmael.  This act of disobedience still plagues the world today.

Sometimes I make mistakes similar to Abram.  And, like Abram, I have to reap what I sow.  This doesn’t mean God is finished with me.  It only means that sin has consequences, and even though God forgives the sin, I have to live with the consequences of my actions.

God, in His own time, fulfilled His promise to Abram and Sarai.  Abram was 100 years old when Isaac was born. Sarai was 90 years old.  When it seemed impossible, God stepped in and did the supernatural.  It’s the way He often works.  God gets all the glory because there’s no doubt it was God at work. 

Then, after that long wait to get Isaac, God tells Abram to offer him up as a sacrifice.  Try to imagine that.  You’ve waited for what seems like forever for God to fulfill a promise to you and now He’s asking you to give it up. Abram obeyed God.  Hebrews 11:17-19 tells us that Abram believed God could raise him from the dead.

Just as Abram was about to plunge the knife into his son, God stopped him.  God said, “Now I know that you fear God because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son” (Genesis 22:12).  It is interesting to note that God says, “Now I know”.  I was not until Abram was willing to give up his only son, that God knew that he would be completely obedient to the end. 

What about me?  What’s God asked me to give up?  Have I been obedient?  Did God call me to something?  Did I obey? Did I walk away from my calling, or stand firm for Jesus?

Abraham’s legacy – he believed God!  What’s my legacy going to be?  What’s my story going to look like when my life is over?  Did Abraham make mistakes?  Yes.  What is he known and remembered for?  His faith.

Thoughts on prayer ...

When I think about prayer, I think about some of the great people of prayer that I have read about. There’s George Muller who started each day with several hours of prayer. He was begging God to meet the needs of his orphanage. Martin Luther devoted 2 – 3 hours to prayer each day. There are many more, Susannah Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, etc… I think about a lady that took care of me as a child, Theresa Berkebile. One time when I was staying with her, I witnessed her on her knees in her bathroom early in the morning praying. I know she prayed for me.

Then I started to think about the prayers lives of a lot of people I know. They will say that prayer is important to them, but if asked how long they pray, most would say less than ten minutes. And, I would venture to say that most would not really find satisfaction in their prayer lives. It’s just something they see that they need to do. They feel guilty if they don’t, but their prayers are shallow. Many aren’t anything that they really need God to take care of. Many are so vague, they would never even know if they were answered.

Why the difference between Luther, Muller, Edwards and people today? Why could they pray for hours and we get fidgety after 10 minutes?

Do we really pray prayers that show our dependence on God? Do we ask Him to do the supernatural? Do we really trust Him? Do we really believe He listens and hears every word? Do we really believe that prayer changes things?

Do we acknowledge our need for God? Does our prosperity affect our prayers? It seems unnecessary to pray for our daily bread when our pantries are full of groceries and our checkbook has plenty of money in it. Are we really relying on God to take care of us? Or are we the rich person that Jesus spoke about?

Then I think about how the world of technology has affected us. We rarely have conversations with people any more. Go to a restaurant and watch how many times the people sitting around you are on their phones during their meal. And conversations themselves are changing due to the text message/ Twitter mentality. Can we sit and have really have meaningful discussions anymore?

We are a society that is on the go. We are so busy! There’s never enough time in the day for everything we need to do. Where does God fit into a life that is already that busy? We say prayer is important, but isn’t it one of the first things we cut from our schedule?

Is prayer about changing God? Or changing me?

I want more than anything else in the world, to “know” God – intimately, deeply, and passionately. In order to do that, I must spend time with Him. I must seek Him wholeheartedly. I must be disciplined to not cut that time short. I must remember what I am doing. I am speaking to God - the God that created not only the universe, but the God that created me. He is the same God that parted the Red Sea, that saved Daniel from the lion’s den, that spoke to Moses from a burning bush, and that raised Jesus from the dead. I must never forget who He is - never take Him for granted. I must never take my relationship with Him lightly. Praying to God is a privilege. It demands my full attention, my concentration, my honesty, and my heart.

Praying today that I will have a heart that earnestly desires to spend time in the presence of God.  

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"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God".
Philippians 4:6

"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." Colossians 4:2 "Come near to God and He will come near to you."
James 4:8

"The point of prayer is not to get answers from God, but to have perfect and complete oneness with Him." ~ Oswald Chambers

Women’s Day

We have a tradition at our church where the women do the entire service one Sunday in October in order to help celebrate appreciation for our pastor.  I was honored to be asked to give the sermon.  The link below will take you to the video at YouTube.

Living by Grace

Be different in order to make a difference

The world we live in measures success by things like how many “followers” do you have and how many “likes” did you get.  Success values results and production.  The end result is all that counts no matter what you have to do to get there.

It’s all about the “return on investment.” and it doesn’t matter whether the investment is money, time, or talents.  We measure our success by how many came to our event, how much money we raised, or how many raised their hands to accept Christ.  My success isn’t about the results. Jesus didn’t measure the disciples success by their results. He gave them grace when they failed. He had patience with them while they were learning.

Success for the disciples (and for me) Is an internal thing, not an external thing.  It isn’t something that can be seen or measured.  It’s a matter of changing me.  It’s about my character becoming what it needs to be.  It’s about continually being conformed to the image of Christ – because that is the ultimate goal for my life.

The world would have me sacrifice my character in order to reach my goals. What Jesus wants to do is refine my character. He knows if I handle what’s going on in my life from an eternal perspective, I will be what is changed.  As I change and am different, I can then make a difference in the world around me.

Forget success based on measurable results. Success is about character transformation. Let God transform you into the person He created you to be so that you can impact the world in the way He imaged you could from the start.

What is missing?

I think we’ve lost our fear of God, our reverence for Him.

We’ve remade Him in our own image. Jesus has become our “bro”, our friend, our problem-solver, the “big guy upstairs.”

That’s not who He is. He’s the eternal, everlasting God of the universe. He is holy and righteous and demands our worship… and deserves our worship.

He is the One for whose glory I live.

Psalm 9:1-2
“I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart;
I will tell of your wonders.
I will be glad and rejoice in You;
I will sing praises to Your name, O Most High.”

We, as a body of believers, lack conviction and intensity.  We lack whole-hearted worship. We miss the idea that when we worship, we are coming into the presence of the Most High God.

We need to reread Isaiah 6 and see Isaiah’s response to being in the presence of God.  We need to reread Revelation 1 and see John’s response to being in the presence of God.

A.W.Tozer said “The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him.”

The Apostle Paul wrote “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”  (Romans 1:21)

Lord, help us keep a proper perspective on who You are.  You are the creator of the universe. You are almighty, infinite, omniscient, and sovereign.  You choose to have a relationship with us – Your creation.  Help us to to come to You with an attitude of awe and reverence.

Some thoughts from this morning

I come to God in complete surrender. I have no rights. My rights were nailed to the cross when I accepted Jesus as my Savior. It’s all about Jesus – His glory, His mission.  Knowing and loving Jesus is the goal of my existence.  And so because of this, I study the Word, pray, seek, press on to know Him better every day.

Surrender. Then surrender some more. Sometimes it is surrendering the same things over and over again. Other times God reveals new things in my life that need surrendered – things I didn’t even know were a problem.

The more I surrender, the more I discover I need to surrender, and so the more I surrender. And the more I surrender, the more I discover it is really  a moment-by-moment practice of surrendering.  Then I need to remember to keep my hands off – leave it on the altar. 

God is constantly working in the midst of my crazy life. God is preparing me for His purposes. He is working in me so that He might work through me.

Be faithful in wherever He has me. Be faithful in my job. Be faithful in the Word. Be faithful in prayer. Be faithful in reaching out to others. Be faithful in teaching. Be faithful as a wife and a mom. Represent Jesus well everywhere and all the time. Be faithful in the small things. God is shaping me and remaking me into the vessel that He is going to use. Relax and enjoy the process.

Surrender my desires. Surrender my wisdom. Surrender everything. Trust God with everything. Surrender the desire to be comfortable. Surrender the desire to know the plan. God’s going to get me from Point A (here) to Point B (who knows where). I don’t need to know the details on how.

It’s not about “just doing it” or “gittin er done”.  It’s about waiting and growing. It’s about trusting and obeying. It’s about letting God be God.

He who has promised is faithful. God will not break His Word. Nothing is impossible for Him.

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I put my hope.”  Psalm 130:5

Passionately Pursuing Jesus

It seems like I started this project a long time ago!  My second book, "Passionately Pursuing Jesus," is officially published. It is available from Amazon. 

Here’s a preview:

What gets you excited? When you get up in the morning, what can't you wait to do? Who can't you wait to see? Who do you long to spend time with? Who do you seek when you need advice? Who or what can't you live without? What inspires you? Have you discovered God's calling on your life? What's the most important thing in your life? Are you satisfied with your passion for God? Are you satisfied in that relationship? Or, are you seeking more? How do you love God more? How do you seek Him above anything else? How do serve Him better?

This book will attempt to answer those questions. So, won't you join me in "Passionately Pursuing Jesus"?

Here’s a direct link to the page on Amazon.

http://smile.amazon.com/Passionately-Pursuing-Jesus-Carol-Horner/dp/1511658819/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1436451741&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=passionately+pursing+jesus

All proceeds from my books go to missions.