Legacy of Love

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U6OcIaa5jo

Your Nature ~ The Belonging Co. Featuring Kari Jobe

 

Then he said to them, “… Stay here and keep watch with me.” ~ Matthew 26:38 NIV

 

I have been thinking a lot, lately, about the legacy of my grandfather, Lyle Hayes. Most people wouldn’t recognize his name. While most of his grandchildren—and possibly even great-grandchildren—remember him as a quiet, gentle man who loved to sneak his sweets, (and then share them with us), I also know another side of him.

 

As an adult, my grandpa told me that he prayed for me every day, just as he prayed for all his children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Most of the time I thanked him but didn’t really think about it. But in later years, after seeing some of the fruit of his labor—at least 3 relationships restored, physical health restored, mental and emotional health restored, strong marriages, jobs found, etc.—I was in awe of his labor of love.

 

I don’t know when he started praying for his family. I never thought to ask. Regardless, the power that one man’s prayers had in so many lives was more than he could imagine. Whether he prayed at church or home, I know he knew that Jesus was praying with him.

 

In Matthew 26:36-46, Jesus takes the disciples with Him to Gethsemane and asks them to keep watch with Him, (v. 38). Later, Jesus told them to, “Watch and pray,” (v. 41). According to Bible commentator David Guzik, Jesus told them to watch and pray, because they needed to combine spiritual power with their physical action to be effective, (Blueletterbible.org). Guzik also suggested that many spiritual battles are fought and won long before we see the crisis.

 

Looking back at his life, my grandpa was always a fighter. Physically, he fought as a bombardier in World War II, serving and protecting his country and family. Through his prayers—a soldier for Christ—he has fought and won many spiritual battles on behalf of his loved ones. I’m proud of his service in the military. I am forever thankful for the decades he fought as a soldier for Christ.

 

Jesus calls us all to keep watch with Him, to watch and pray. Though we don’t know the battles up ahead, we’d like to have the victory even before the crisis arrives. Today, I implore you, do not leave to chance the protection of your family. Keep watch with Jesus, watch and pray!

©Heather Potts 2022

Do Not Forget

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqKO-MwJ2sM

Crowned ~ Highlands Worship feat. Rebecca Hart

 We will not hide these truths from our children;
we will tell the next generation
about the glorious deeds of the LORD,
about his power and his mighty wonders.

~ Psalm 78:4 NKJV

 The media offers us so much to fear, both for the present and the future. Typically, we’re advised not to look to the past, but scripture tells us to not forget the faithfulness of the Lord:

·         In giving our tithe or our first fruits, we are to remember and tell our children: “By strength of hand the LORD brought us out of… the house of bondage,” (Exodus 13:14).

·         After crossing the Jordan, Joshua told the twelve tribes to each take up one stone as a sign and so that they could tell their children, “the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off,” (Joshua 4:7).

Every generation, from the beginning till the present, has gone through hardships:

·         In 1929, our grandparents and great grandparents were rocked by the Great Depression, as many lost jobs and homes.

·         December 7, 1941 will forever be etched in U.S. history with the bombing of Pearl Harbor, propelling this country into World War II and sending many men to the battlelines.

·         On September 11, 2001, many lost loved ones and a sense of safety and protection as terrorists crashed planes into the Twin Towers.

·         March 13, 2020 turned a lot of families upside down as President Trump declared a COVID-19 national emergency, closing schools and businesses.

Through every event, each person had to decide, for themselves, if they were going to let the events paralyze them, or if they were going to push past the fear and keep going, not knowing what would happen, but knowing Who was walking through it with them.

If we keep looking to the future through the lens of fear, we will become anxious and depressed. However, if we look through the lens of God’s promises and faithfulness, we will be enabled to stand firm and persevere.

The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. ~ Exodus 14:14 NIV

©Heather Potts 2021