Our Connection point and legacy

Introduction:  Keeping connected

2 Corinthians 10:12-But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

-I believe the demands from the stress of life and evil within it, is to provoke us to seek our unique purpose in relationship with God, and that purpose is not to live comparing ourselves with someone else-the pride to measure ourselves with one another and compare one another waste time, in figuring out how uniquely God made me=effective for His purpose

-The apostle wants us to understand that the “connection point” for knowing who we are starts with God’s grace through Christ-false teachers were without understanding b/c they didn’t embrace, that we all have a distinct place of purpose to be effective, they were too busy competing and comparing themselves (they just wanted followers, they were known to slander Paul-because to them Christianity was like business, competitors like Samsung versus Apple, not seeing a distinct yet unified purpose from God)

–anytime race/ethnicity, age, gifts, and talents is called to gather together by God to fulfill His purpose-our connection point must be Jesus Christ, and us understanding the uniqueness in which God made us, keeps the relationship relevant, fresh, and engaging with Him and each other, that’s where growth happens…

Ephesians 4:15-16-Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

-it is Jesus that will eventually bring cohesion, a unity and love that we share together, though we all are different-me being older and “not cool”, etc. shouldn’t make me irrelevant, how I do I stay relevant=Is godly wisdom ever irrelevant?

Ex:  so as a husband/father when Jesus is my foundation/place of connection, I can relate to my wife and kids through Jesus in every way-helping them understand that Jesus is our connection point (not my ability to play sports/or have tea parties, I stay relevant through Jesus, as we change together…

(The need for Connection)-the child can see Church as something “they go to”, not a place of a connection point for the family to fulfill a purpose-the enemy wants the pressure of the disconnect, to uproot the spouse/parent from Christ (your connection point) and you conform to the child=(such people are tempted to replace God w/family-when in reality you see them disconnected and you want some connection, b/c to be disconnected is draining)-(Ephesians 4:16)

How can I relate to the disconnected without compromise–1 Corinthians 9:19..22-23-For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them…22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.-(Without Jesus we generally try and make people conform to us in numerous ways)

-It is wisdom to try and meet people where they are, to bridge the gap of helping them see that Jesus is the connection point to true Life-yet it is never at the compromise of Him being the foundation why?  Because Jesus is the foundation for generations to understand purpose in the earth, that our prayers for families, and church members-is for God to re-establish what previous generations got covered up, that kept you disconnected and continues to keep us disconnected…Ex: Family reunions & seeing God’s earthly design

 

God establishes a generational mindset

Genesis 26:17-25-So Isaac departed from there and encamped in the valley of Gerar and settled there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water that had been dug in the days of Abraham his father, which the Philistines had stopped after the death of Abraham. And he gave them the names that his father had given them. 19 But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of spring water, 20 the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they contended with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that also, so he called its name Sitnah. 

-We see Isaac not looking to deviate from where God blessed his father Abraham-b/c he was connected to God-he was connected to something God had started through his father, (that God works through generations, in spite of the enemy- having a season of stopping what God was doing through Abraham)

-Isaac didn’t see his father and the work hid did for God as irrelevant because he was connected to God-in other words when people see God and Church as irrelevant to their lives it is because they are disconnected, Jesus is not irrelevant, we are!

John 15:5-I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

-if Isaac is not connected to God, not only will he not doing anything to build in the direction God is building-but he also won’t be able to see why (the purpose of doing it) and appreciate his father’s legacy!(-(this is why purpose in all of us especially parent(s) is so important-b/c we have to answer the question why we serve, why we volunteer our time, why I give to this or that, why I read my Bible

1 Peter 3:15-but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; (After you giving the reason of why you do those things for God, you have now given them the opportunity to be relevant or irrelevant-it’s in their “court” now.  Have you given such reasons?)

-Abraham’s purpose was moving in God’s purpose, and God continued this purpose through his son Isaac-so for us, regardless of whether not your parents are/were saved and established a purpose for you to see, God wants to start a generational purpose for you in your bloodline

Ex:  I didn’t know my father was raised in church-and saw himself as an evangelist before he got into trouble in his life

Malachi 2:15-Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking?  Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.

Here is the importance of being connected to God (especially as a parent)-God will show you attributes of your child/people in general, personalities that we have an opportunity to speak life into–(Life in Christ being the direction God has for them to go-meaining we have to purify our motives as to our hopes and dreams for them, it’s not about us)

Psalms 127:4-Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth.

 

When you find your place

Genesis 26:22-25–And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, saying, “For now the Lord has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”23 From there he went up to Beersheba. 24 And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of Abraham your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.” 25 So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord and pitched his tent there. And there Isaac’s servants dug a well.

-Isaac and his servants are not content to settle in any place of competition (this is mental/physical), because competing visions will always produce discord/quarreling-Notice that Isaac didn’t come up with his own vision, he just started from where his father left off, but even still ran into competition from others, yet he didn’t waste time fighting–(people who waste time quarreling with people, aren’t focused on a vision/purpose-a vision is focusing on God and what makes for peace, it qualifies what is worth fighting over, a vision helps us to see things in the long-term God’s way) Ex:

Ex: Christian Churches; fighting over creeds, denominations, and hierarchies of all kinds, doing nothing but hindering effectiveness-the goal should be to find a place of peace, a vision where you can be fruitful

-Consider that Isaac understood, that if what he is doing is from God, it’s made for him to do, essentially it symbolizes peace with God-the struggle of realizing who I am and what I am called to do, God gives rest and a peace when submission to His will is sought for obeyed!

-So when Isaac finds this place of peace, he names it, and declares that since this is the place of God, we will be fruitful here-this is important, because this where true faith & confidence resides from, is knowing I am in the place of God (Sadly we allow people to shake our confidence and peace-b/c we adopt what people define as confidence which comes from the world; status, money, professional titles, beauty etc)

–But we see Isaac’s priority and faith, in that being in the place of God being enough for him, because it is answering why he is alive!=purpose-(so he leaves Gerar and goes up to Beersheba and God affirms him and promises to bless him-that the connection between God and what his father left him as a vision to fulfill brings the blessings of God!)

Matthew 6:33–But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

-It was the connection point with God, that brought him to a place of peace-but also a separate place from his father to establish his own purpose in God (Beersheba)!

-Isaac made an altar to God, not in the place of where his father left off, but in his own place with God-and he built an altar there, no living off his father’s faith but building upon his own, leading to God’s purpose…

-The legacy of faith that Abraham left behind, connected him and Isaac, but the connection was God-not that they both dug wells or did the same thing, but worshiped the same God.  So Abraham left a legacy for Isaac, that Isaac would leave for Jacob, eventually to Christ, that we can leave for others!

but the challenge is whether you want God to be the connection or you-b/c that takes sacrifice of pride, ego, and selfish ambition, that we as Christians like to mix, leaving the people more influenced by what we want. (they may connect with us on surface things, but it’s the heart where pain occurs-and when we are disconnected at the heart, the question is who is the connection point, me or God?) 

Luke 9:23–And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. (Worship is a practice of denying ourselves daily on small things, so when big sacrifices come-the “momentum” from daily worship leads you into establishing God’s purpose)