AUGUEST THEME – “Seeing Revival from God’s Perspective”
Join us in prayer and celebration as Belmont Baptist Church celebrates our Year of Jubilee, marking fifty years of God’s amazing faithfulness and looking forward with grateful hearts to all He has yet to do.
BEATS FROM YOUR PASTOR’S HEART’S
IT’S EASIER TO LEAVE AN INHERITANCE THAN TO LEAVE A LEGACY
“But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal.” — Matthew 6:20
WHAT WILL STILL BE WORKING AFTER I AM GONE?
Most of us spend a lifetime accumulating things. We buy a home, save money, build retirement accounts, purchase property, collect possessions, and hopefully reach the later years of life with something to leave our children and grandchildren. There is nothing wrong with that. Scripture says, “A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children’s children.” — Proverbs 13:22. Providing for our families can be an expression of love, wisdom, and responsible stewardship. But there is a greater question than simply, “What will my family receive when I die?” The greater question is, “What will still be producing eternal fruit because I lived?” We can spend decades accumulating assets and eventually leave them to people who may spend that money on things we ourselves would never have purchased, while giving relatively little thought to investing those same resources in things that could continue producing fruit for eternity. An inheritance asks, “What will I leave behind?” A legacy asks, “What will continue because I was here?”
EVERYTHING I LEAVE BEHIND WILL EVENTUALLY BELONG TO SOMEBODY ELSE
Solomon confronted this reality in Ecclesiastes 2:18: “Yea, I hated all my labour which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me.” Everything we accumulate eventually changes hands. The house we worked thirty years to pay for will someday belong to somebody else. The automobile we carefully maintained will eventually be sold, traded, or scrapped. The furniture will be divided. The clothes will be given away. The savings account will be transferred. The possessions we guarded so carefully will eventually be handled by people who did not work to acquire them. That does not mean we should stop saving, planning, or providing for our families. It means we must remember that ownership on earth is temporary; stewardship is eternal in its consequences. Everything I possess ultimately belongs to God, and for a short period of time He has placed some of it into my hands. The question is not merely, “How much have I accumulated?” but “What did I do with what God entrusted to me while I had the opportunity?” One day someone else will have the keys to my house, someone else will control my accounts, and someone else will decide what happens to my possessions. But what I invested in eternity while those resources were still under my stewardship can never be taken away.
AN INHERITANCE CAN BE SPENT; A SPIRITUAL LEGACY CAN KEEP MULTIPLYING
Imagine leaving someone $100,000. That may be a tremendous blessing. It could help purchase a home, pay for education, eliminate debt, or provide security. But it could also disappear remarkably quickly. The person receiving it may buy something you would never have purchased, take a vacation you would never have taken, or spend in a few years what took you decades to accumulate. Now imagine that during your lifetime some of those same resources helped support a missionary. That missionary shared Christ with someone who was saved. That person led his family to Christ. One of those children later surrendered to ministry and carried the Gospel somewhere else. Years after you are gone, the spiritual multiplication continues. Or perhaps your giving helped disciple a child, strengthen a church, print Scripture, train a pastor, support a Christian ministry, help a struggling family, or carry the Gospel somewhere you could never personally go. You may never meet on earth all the people touched by what God placed in your hands. Jesus said, “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” He was reminding us that there is a way to transfer temporary resources into eternal treasure. We cannot take our money with us, but while we are alive, we can invest it in things whose results may meet us there. An inheritance eventually gets divided. An eternal investment can keep multiplying.
THE QUESTION IS NOT “FAMILY OR GOD?” BUT “LORD, WHAT DO YOU WANT?”
This is not a call to neglect our families. Biblical stewardship does not require us to choose between loving our children and loving God. Providing wisely for children and grandchildren is honorable. The deeper issue is whether we have ever asked God what He wants done with what belongs to Him. We carefully decide who receives the house. We name beneficiaries for insurance policies and retirement accounts. We write wills. We divide property. We make arrangements for possessions. Those are wise things to do. But have we ever sat before God and asked, “Lord, when my stewardship on earth is finished, how much of what You entrusted to me should go to my family, and how much do You want invested directly into Your work?” Perhaps the question is not, “How much can I leave my children?” but “How much should I leave them?” There can be a difference. More money is not always a greater blessing, and giving everything automatically to the next generation is not necessarily the same as seeking God’s will for our stewardship. Our final act of stewardship should be just as surrendered to Christ as our first. Don’t merely prepare a will that distributes your possessions. Seek God’s will concerning their distribution.
Imagine two people who both lived faithfully, worked hard, saved wisely, and accumulated the same amount. When the first person dies, everything is divided among the family. Within several years the money has been spent. Cars were purchased, vacations were taken, bills were paid, and eventually little remains except memories of the person who left it. The second person also provides wisely for the family, but years before death begins asking, “Lord, how can what You have entrusted to me outlive me?” Some resources support missionaries. Some help children learn the Word of God. Some strengthen the local church. Some carry the Gospel. And provisions are made so that even after part of that estate continues advancing the work of Christ. Both people left money. But one left only an inheritance. The other deliberately planted part of his earthly resources where they could continue producing an eternal harvest. Years later, perhaps nobody remembers the amount of the check—but heaven still records the fruit.
WHAT WILL OUTLIVE YOU?
One day, unless Jesus comes first, everything we have accumulated will be left behind. Our houses will deteriorate. Cars will wear out. Possessions will disappear. Money will eventually belong to someone else. Our names may be engraved on a stone, but even that stone will weather with time. But a missionary supported, a soul reached, a child discipled, a church strengthened, a Bible placed into someone’s hands, a struggling family helped in Jesus’ name, or the Gospel carried somewhere because of our generosity can produce fruit long after we are gone. So don’t wait until the final years of life begin thinking about legacy. Live your legacy now. Let your children see generosity now. Let your grandchildren hear you talk about missions now. Take them with you when you give them. Tell them why God’s work matters. Teach them that the greatest thing they can inherit from you is not your money but your faith, your values, your testimony, and your passion for Jesus Christ. The greatest estate we can leave our children is not merely something in their hands. It is something in their hearts. Don’t just decide who gets your assets when you die. Decide what part of what God entrusted to you will still be working for eternity after you are gone.
WARFARE PRAYER — LORD, DELIVER ME FROM LIVING FOR WHAT WILL NOT LAST
Father, in the name of Jesus, deliver me from the deception of believing that the value of my life is measured by what I accumulate. Break every grip that money, possessions, comfort, security, greed, or fear has upon my heart. Guard me from spending my entire life building bigger barns while neglecting treasures in heaven. Give me wisdom to provide responsibly for my family while never forgetting that everything I possess ultimately belongs to You. Lord, show me what You want me to do with everything You have entrusted to me. Give me discernment concerning what I should enjoy, what I should save, what I should leave to my family, and what I should invest in Your eternal work. Let my children and grandchildren inherit more than possessions—let them inherit the testimony of someone who believed God, loved Jesus, lived generously, and invested in eternity. When my stewardship is finished, may there still be fruit being produced because I chose eternal treasure over temporary accumulation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
DAILY CHALLENGE — BEGIN BUILDING YOUR LEGACY TODAY
Take a few minutes today and imagine that your earthly life has ended. Ask yourself, “What did I leave that is still producing something for eternity?” Then prayerfully examine not only your will and financial plans, but your present giving. Ask God, “Lord, is there something You have entrusted to me that You want me to begin investing in eternal purposes now?” Then do something specific. Support a missionary. Invest in a young person. Help spread the Gospel. Strengthen your church. Help someone in need. Begin a conversation with your children or grandchildren about biblical stewardship. Don’t merely leave them money—show them how to use money for the glory of God. Because it’s easier to leave an inheritance than to leave a legacy. An inheritance tells your family: “Here is what I accumulated.” But an eternal legacy tells the generations coming behind you:“Here is what God entrusted to me—and I made sure some of it was still working for Him afte
FRIDAY’S PRAYER NEEDS
Brittany Smith
Darlene Kelley – Our Cousin _ Recovering from Cancer
Darlene Thaxton
Ginny Ford
Deanne Boynton
Anna Belle Taylor – Irregular Heartbeat – Jackson’s Special Friend
Rob Davis – cancer
Kim McClain’s Mother