OCTOBER’S THEME — “SEEING HOLINESS FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE”
BEATS FROM YOUR PASTOR’S HEART
LEAVE SOMETHING BEHIND THAT OUTLIVES YOU
“One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.” — Psalm 145:4
WHAT WILL STILL BE HERE WHEN YOU ARE GONE?
There comes a time in life when we begin to think differently about what really matters. Earlier in life, much of our attention is given to building a career, raising a family, paying for a home, providing for the future, and accumulating the things we need. But as the years pass, God begins to remind us that everything we possess is temporary. One day someone else will live in our house. Someone else may drive the automobile we once cared for. Our clothes will be given away, and many of the possessions we worked so hard to acquire will eventually belong to somebody else. There are some things, however, that we can leave behind that time cannot erase. We can leave a testimony. We can leave truth. We can leave prayers that continue bearing fruit after we are in Heaven. We can leave behind children and grandchildren who know that Jesus Christ was not merely a part of our lives, but the very center of our lives. Psalm 145:4 says, “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.” God intends for faith to have a voice from one generation to the next. Somebody behind us needs to hear what God has done in front of us. The question is not simply, “What will I leave to my family?” The greater question is, “What will I leave in my family?”
LEAVE BEHIND A TESTIMONY OF GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
Your family does not only need to know what you accomplished. They need to know what God brought you through. Tell them about the prayers God answered. Tell them about the nights when you did not know what tomorrow would bring, but somehow God carried you through. Tell them about the doors God opened that no human being could have opened. Tell them about the valleys where God became more real to you than He had ever been before. Your testimony may one day become somebody else’s anchor. There may come a day when one of your children or grandchildren faces a crisis you will never see. They may be sitting in a hospital room, struggling through a broken relationship, facing financial uncertainty, grieving someone they love, or wondering whether God has forgotten them. In that moment, they may remember something you told them years earlier: “I have been where you are, and God was faithful to me.” That memory may become the very thing God uses to keep them from giving up. Never assume that your family already knows your story. Tell it. Write it down. Repeat it. Let the next generation know where God found you, what Christ has done for you, and how many times the Lord has proven Himself faithful. Your testimony is not merely about where you have been. It is a declaration of who God has been.
LEAVE BEHIND A VISIBLE FAITH
There is something powerful about the memories created by a faithful Christian life. Let your children remember hearing you pray. Let your grandchildren remember seeing your Bible open. Let them remember hearing you say, “We are going to trust the Lord.” Let them remember that when trouble entered the house, faith did not leave the house. Children and grandchildren often remember far more than we realize. They remember how we respond to disappointment. They remember what we say when life hurts. They remember whether church mattered to us. They remember whether prayer was something we merely talked about or something we actually practiced. They watch us when we know they are watching, but they also watch us when we do not realize they are paying attention. Years from now, they may not remember every sermon you quoted or every piece of advice you gave them, but they may remember seeing you sitting quietly with an open Bible. They may remember you bowing your head before a meal. They may remember hearing you call their name in prayer. That picture can preach for decades. A godly legacy is usually not built through one dramatic moment. It is built through thousands of ordinary moments of faithfulness. It is built by going to church when you are tired, praying when you are burdened, forgiving when you are hurt, giving when resources are limited, loving when it is difficult, and trusting God when you do not understand what He is doing. Faith lived consistently becomes faith remembered deeply.
MAKE JESUS THE CENTER OF YOUR LEGACY
The greatest legacy is not having people say, “What an impressive person.” The greatest legacy is having them say, “What a faithful God he served.” After nearly fifty years of ministry and nearly fifty-eight years with Mae, I increasingly realize that what matters most is not what people remember about me, but whether my life helped them remember Jesus. That realization changes the way we measure success. The goal is not simply to leave our name behind. The goal is to leave His name behind. We do not ultimately want people standing around saying, “Look what he accomplished.” We want them saying, “Look what his God did.” Every blessing came from Him. Every door He opened was by His grace. Every valley we survived was because He carried us. Every good thing that came through our lives was ultimately the work of His hands. A Christian legacy should function like a signpost. The sign itself is not the destination. It simply points someone farther down the road. Our lives should continually point others toward Jesus. We should live in such a way that our family understands, “Trust Jesus. Follow Jesus. Stay with Jesus. He was faithful to us, and He will be faithful to you.” Someday our voices will become silent on this earth, but our influence does not have to become silent. If we spend our remaining years pointing people toward Christ, our testimony can continue speaking long after we have gone home to be with the Lord.
Imagine an elderly man planting a small tree in his yard. Someone watching him might ask, “Why are you planting that tree? It may take many years before it becomes large enough to provide shade. You may never sit beneath it.” The old man could answer, “I am not planting it only for myself. I am planting it for those who will come after me.” That is spiritual legacy. Every prayer you pray over your family is planting a tree. Every Scripture you teach is planting a tree. Every testimony you share is planting a tree. Every time you demonstrate forgiveness, courage, generosity, faithfulness, and trust in God, you are planting something that may provide spiritual shade for somebody long after you are gone. You may never live long enough to see everything God does with the seeds you plant, but plant them anyway. Somebody coming behind you may one day sit beneath the shade of a spiritual tree you planted years before.
FINISH YOUR LIFE POINTING TO JESUS
You do not have to leave behind great wealth to leave behind a great legacy. You do not have to be famous. You do not have to have your name placed on a building or a monument erected in your honor. You simply need to live faithfully enough that the people coming behind you know where you stood and, more importantly, know the God upon whom you stood. Let them know that God is faithful. Let them know that the Bible is true. Let them know that prayer matters, church matters, people matter, and following Christ matters. Let them know that Jesus saves, Jesus satisfies, and Jesus is worth following all the way home. The greatest thing you can leave your family cannot be placed in a bank account. Leave them faith. Leave them truth. Leave them a testimony. Leave them memories of a life that continually pointed toward Jesus. When your journey on this earth is finished, may those coming behind you be able to say, “We know more about the faithfulness of God because we watched it in their life.” The greatest legacy is not, “Look what he accomplished.” The greatest legacy is, “Look what his God did.”
WARFARE PRAYER
Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, I refuse to waste the years You have given me. I stand against every distraction, every regret, every disappointment, and every lie of the enemy that tells me my usefulness is finished or that my influence no longer matters. As long as You give me breath, give me something eternal to pour into those coming behind me. Make the remaining years of my life fruitful for Your kingdom. Lord, guard my children, grandchildren, and the generations that follow from spiritual indifference. Break every stronghold that would draw them away from Christ. Let the prayers I have prayed over them continue producing fruit long after I am gone. Let the truth planted in their hearts rise up when they face temptation, suffering, fear, confusion, and disappointment. Bring to their remembrance the Scriptures they heard, the prayers they witnessed, and the testimonies of Your faithfulness that were shared with them. Make my life a testimony that the enemy cannot erase. Let my words point people toward Christ. Let my choices honor Christ. Let my home reflect Christ. Let the final chapter of my life declare more loudly than ever that You have been faithful through every season. When my earthly voice is eventually silent, let the testimony of Your grace in my life continue speaking. May the generations that follow me be able to say, “The God they trusted is the God we will trust.” In the strong and victorious name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
DAILY CHALLENGE
Today, choose one person in your family and tell them about one specific time when God proved Himself faithful to you. Do not merely say, “God has been good.” Tell them what happened. Tell them what you were facing, what you feared, what you prayed, and how God met you in that situation. Then tell them why you are sharing the story. Say, “I want you to remember this someday when you are facing something you cannot handle and need to trust God for yourself.” You may discover that one simple conversation becomes part of the legacy that outlives you.
THURSDAY’S PRAYER NEEDS
Patricia Burnette
Britany Smith
Darlene Kelley
Darlene Thaxton
Ginny Ford
Kim’s McClain’s Mother & Sister
Paula Ferus – Hip Replacement
Rob Davis
Rose Fuller-Chronic Back Pain
Susan Bankston