From Generation To Generation: The Power of Generational Blessing

Genesis 26

There was a famine in the land, besides the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Abimelech king of the Philistines, in Gerar. ² Then the Lord appeared to him and said: “Do not go down to Egypt; live in the land of which I shall tell you. ³ Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; ⁵ BECAUSE Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.”⁶ And Isaac dwelt in Gerar:

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 If there is one thing you need to know...GOD is an Oath performing, COVENANT-KEEPING GOD.

What makes this covenant that more incredible was that it was sealed based on faith and not on the works of Abraham.

Romans 4

1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? ² If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. ³ What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

⁴ Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. ⁵ However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness

Abraham left a GOOD CREDIT REPORT with GOD.  Through his Obedience to God, He demonstrated his trust in God. As a Next Generation Leader, here are some lessons we can take from Abraham's Life. 

1."...and I will be with you and bless you...";Isaac had seen and had been an active participant in the obedience of His Father. Obedience had been modeled for him. He had no need to rely on King Abimelech. God was more than capable of blessing him and he had witnessed it in his Father's life.

2. Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness- Could it be that God is speaking to You in this generation because someone in your previous generation was wholly obedient? Their credit report with God may have opened up a line of credit for you. Time after time in scripture we see record of sons who either walked or did not walk after their father's standard and the results. 

3. "...in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; BECAUSE Abraham obeyed..."- Obedience can release not only a blessing in your generation, but it can release generational guidance, protection, provision and encounter to your next generation. We often times focus on the material inheritance that can be left to our children's children, but forget the spiritual inheritance.

4. "...and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father."- God gives the next generation direction based on the previous generation's obedience. As heirs of the promise and as the seed of Abraham through Christ, we can receive the covenant blessings of God through faithful obedience.

5. "Then the Lord appeared to him and said..."- God wants to appear to the next generation. He wants his glory, his mercy, his love, his covenant to never end.

You can leave this generation with an example: You can open the door to Faith. You can show through your life how to live by faith, walk by faith, encounter God by faith, and trust in the Word of God by faith. Or you can leave this generation with a closed door by never living by faith, never walking by faith, hiding your faith in a closet, doubting God's Word, never speaking of God's existence, never testifying of God's power, never giving credit to God's generosity and denying God's power in your life.

I challenge every Next Generation Leader to fulfill these verses today:

Psalm 145:3-5

³ Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable.

⁴ One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.

⁵ I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

The "greatest" generation is the generation that recognizes, loves, and obeys the GREAT GOD. - SAC

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Leading In Famine Times

Genesis 26:1-5

King James Version (KJV)

26 And there was a famine in the land, beside the first famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went unto Abimelech king of the Philistines unto Gerar.

² And the Lord appeared unto him, and said, Go NOT down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of:
³ Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father;
⁴ And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed;
⁵ BECAUSE that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

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God is into being WITH US in famine. There are thirteen recorded famines in scripture, and they are usually all tied to dependency on God for guidance, provision, and supply. Much like Isaac, there is a spiritual tendency to naturally head to "Egypt" when famine comes. But it was not to be Isaac's prophetic destiny. Famine carries with it the seduction to go down to Egypt. Indeed God uses famine to draw Joseph's brothers into a family reunion in Egypt. He uses famine conditions in the wilderness to test the hearts of the Israelites who were still enamored with Egypt's government slave program. 

Isaac is faced with a choice. He can let his materials do the talking or he can listen to GOD. He chose to listen to God. Ultimately we must all come to this conclusion in Christ: The world is famine. Christ is Living Bread. The world is desert. Christ is the stream, the Living Water. There will come a day, not only when you will leave "Egypt" behind, but "Egypt" will eject you begging you to go as they did with Moses. 

As Next Generation Leaders, let us ever keep Christ, The Way before us, sojourning with Him. Famine Times come to remind us to stay Hungry for His Presence, His Heart, His Life, His Truth. And to lead others to do the same.

The Scent Of A Leader

 Job

1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. ² He had seven sons and three daughters, ³ and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among ALL the people of the East.

⁴ His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. ⁵ When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.

⁶ One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan  also came with them. ⁷ The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

⁸ Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is NO ONE on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”

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I start here with the Biblical account of a testimony service. Testimony Service? Yes. We know today  that Satan no longer has a place to come before God in heaven. He has been cast down to make war with the inhabitants of the earth and to tempt them into operating in their flesh where the principle and the law of sin can work. 

But this account lets us in on what gets God's attention. Job was a worshiper. He was a worshiper not just for himself, but also on behalf of his family. He was an interceding worshiper. Before there was Harp and Bowl, Job was already creating a private and public altar with God. Though the scripture highlights both WHO Job was and WHAT Job had, God only focused his testimony on WHO Job was. Because, seeking God first had added those things to Job's life. And though the things would be taken away, Job did NOT stop seeking God in the midst of his trials and tests:

 Job 1

²⁰ At this (onslaught of calamity) , Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in WORSHIP ²¹ and said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
    and naked I will depart.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away;
    may the name of the Lord be praised.”

²² In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Job was INCREASED once again and with MORE. 

 Job 42

¹⁰ After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before. ¹¹ All his brothers and sisters and everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him, and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring.

¹² The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. ¹³ And he also had seven sons and three daughters. ¹⁴ The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. ¹⁵ Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

One of the things that floors me about Job is that his earthly existence MATCHED his heavenly reality. In other words, THE WAY GOD SAW Job was exactly the way Job was on the earth. This is really the goal of a Kingdom Believer. Let your will be done IN EARTH (that's me & you) as IT IS in Heaven. We please the Father when we line up with who He says we are. We are tested and tried to shake that alignment! Job was tried more than once:

  Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he STILL maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” (Job 2:3)

When you keep a praise and prayer on your lips, you keep an incense going up to God. God recognizes your scent, or rather, your incense. God knew Job personally, I believe, because his life was his altar, and he was sending up sacrifice "as was his custom" (Job 1:5).

God is not pleased when our lives, unrepentant, offer him the stench of sin:

 Isaiah 65

² I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;
³ A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;
5b ...These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day.

 God wants the fragrance that saturates Heaven to be that of your prayers:

Revelation 8

² And I saw the seven angels which stood before God; and to them were given seven trumpets.
³ And another angel came and stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne.
⁴ And the smoke of the incense, which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God out of the angel's hand.

Many people focus on God coming to check out the stench of sin in His nostrils, but I encourage you to give God a reason to check out the sweet smelling fragrance coming from your life, your heart, your mouth, your hands raised to Him.

2 Corinthians 2:14-17

Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁴ But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ’s victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,

¹⁵ For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing:

¹⁶ To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is qualified (fit and sufficient) for these things? [Who is able for such a ministry? We?]

¹⁷ For we are not, like so many, [like hucksters making a trade of] peddling God’s Word [shortchanging and adulterating the divine message]; but like [men] of sincerity and the purest motive, as [commissioned and sent] by God, we speak [His message] in Christ (the Messiah), in the [very] sight and presence of God.

Get a hold of that! YOUR LIFE is the PERFUME of HEAVEN. God knows YOUR SCENT. You scent becomes stronger, and stronger, and stronger as you worship Christ alone. Like any one familiar with their lover's scent when they walk into a room, you KNOW they are there. And when they leave, their scent lingers in the air! 

As a next generation leader, whether you are like Job, prominently wealthy, or like Paul, one who blazes a trail of planting churches and doing ministry all over the world, GOD knows your scent. He wants who YOU ARE, in spite of what you have or have not! Remember, you can always replace things. You cannot replace YOU. So as David said, I will bless the Lord while I have my Being! One of the greatest places of leading is leading in God's Testimony Service. 

Will you be on the Father's lips today? There's only one way to guarantee that--Worship Him!