Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Legacy

Ex. 10:2 "and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your sons son the mighty things I have done in Egypt..."

A heritage. A legacy. This is something that I have thought about for a while. What am I going to leave behind that will impact my kids and others? I guess it is part of why I do a journal. Not only so I can meditate on God's Word, but also so I can leave something that can influence others when I am just a memory.

The thing that hits me with this verse, however, is that God does not want me to leave a legacy for me, He wants me to leave a legacy for Him. That His Name is exalted. That His Name is remembered. That the mighty things that He has done be repeated in my kid's lives and in their kid's lives.

God said to Moses that He was hardening Pharoah's heart for future generations. He was causing Pharoah to refuse to let the Jews go so the people of Israel could tell their sons and their son's sons the mighty things that they did? No, so that they could recite the mighty things that God did. It was a legacy for God. How God worked. How God performed signs. How God moved. How God is powerful and mighty.

I have always thought that Dad's should develop a story for their kids. Basically a story of their life that their kids could read. Now I know that the story that needs to be told to our kids is not what we have done, not what we have accomplished, but rather what God has done. The mighty deeds that God has done in my life. Have I done that? Do I tell my kids how awesome God is so that they can tell their kids? I need to start. Develop this story centering on how mighty God is...how He has worked. His legacy, not mine.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Long Time Coming

Wow. It's been a long time since I last wrote. I have been journaling a lot. I just have not gotten around to posting any of it. I am not sure that anyone really reads this, yet, I will start again with the hope and prayer that it may impact someone's life.

I have been reading in the Old Testament. Right now I am in the middle of Numbers. Numbers? Isn't that a boring book? Not at all. I will eventually get some posts from that book, but for now lets hit Exodus 3:14

"And God said to Moses, 'I AM who I AM', and He said 'Then you shall say to the children of Israel: 'I AM has sent me to you.'"

If someone comes up to me and asks: "What is your name?" my reply is: "Glen Richardson". My name identifies who I am in society. My first name is really no big deal because it is something that my parents picked out to distinguish who I am as it relates to my real identity which is indicated by my last name: Richardson. (My mom wanted to name me Gary. My dad won.) I am a part of the Richardson family. My Dad was Ralph Richardson. His Dad was Ralph Richardson. I guess it goes all the way back to England where it began as the Son of Richard. That is part of my identity. It helps define me in some way.

But God - When you ask Him His Name, He doesn't give a last name. He doesn't have a Dad. Instead, when Moses wanted to know who He was, when Moses asked how to identify Him, God said: "I AM who I AM - I AM." What does that mean? The Hebrew word is "hajah" and it means: "To be, to exist, to happen." In other words, who are you God? "I Exist". To Be. This really identifies Him as the eternally existant One. No beginning. No ending. He always was. Alpha and Omega. The Beginning and the End. The First and the Last. The same yesterday, today and forever. No Father. No Mother. No birth. No death. The God who always is. To Be. I Am. You know what is hard for me to grasp? That the forever God would be talking to a guy like Moses. That the eternally existant One would be willing to talk to me. That the One who is and always was wants a personal relationship with the one whose name is Glen Richardson, the temporal one...but He does.