Personal Destiny vs. Generational Legacy

Written by Jarred Rushing

(5 minutes)

"Look, I am sending you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. His preaching will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse." (Malachi 4:5-6)

In the wilderness, Abba begins to redefine everything. One of the biggest shifts that He makes in our hearts is taking the value we've always placed on personal destiny and putting that value on what actually captivates His heart, generational legacy. It's taking the focus off of building a life for ourselves and putting it instead on building a life for generations to come. 

You can see how important generational legacy is to Yahweh in the last verses of the Old Testament. In Malachi 4:5-6, we're told that the spirit of Elijah will come and what that spirit of Elijah will do is prepare the landscape, or the environment, for the revealing of Yeshua the Christ. This forerunner will actually tear down all the religious construction that's been built and turn our hearts toward what Yahweh is really interested in: fathers with hearts for children, and children with hearts for fathers. 

Religion thrives on the message of personal destiny. It thrives on telling you that you COULD be great one day, and here's everything you need to do to get there. This message is based on the lie that you don't have what you need to be who you are. So, in turn, the message of personal destiny inspires you to turn inward, to always be looking at yourself and your own progress (or shortcomings). It's continually pressing you to figure out your own purpose and protect your own well-being. And here's the deadly catch, if you're always looking at yourself and you're only ever concerned about your own purpose, you will miss what Abba is already doing all around you and you'll miss the people that He wants you to be connected to. Here is a question you can bring into your intimacy with Abba concerning Malachi 4:5-6: "Abba, if the hearts of the fathers were not on the children, and the hearts of children were not on the fathers...where were their hearts turned to instead?"

Religion's lie is that you will find your purpose and personal destiny by paying more attention to yourself.

The truth that Yahweh is revealing is that you will be all that He's called you to be and do all that He's called you to do when you get your eyes off of yourself and onto Him, the Father, and onto the Kingdom family that He's planted you in.

This is generational legacy. It doesn't sell nearly as many books as personal destiny does, but it does attract the heart of Yahweh and it does reveal the real Jesus to the world. Generational legacy may mean that your life is simply seed in the ground that lays a firm foundation for the next generation to build upon. This is the same heart that Jesus had as He turned away from the big crowds and constantly invested Himself in a small number of people. 

It is still the heart of Yahweh to see fathers turn their hearts to the children, and to see children turn their hearts to the fathers. 

This is Abba's perfect plan for the Kingdom family that He's building. His heart fully turned to His sons and daughters. And beloved sons and daughters with hearts turned fully to Him. 

In the wilderness, Abba begins to redefine everything. What used to be important to us (personal destiny) isn't important anymore. It is replaced with something far more valuable (generational legacy).

Some questions you can pull into your walk with Abba today:
Abba, what areas of my heart are still focused on my own personal destiny?
Where am I still investing too much time, attention or resources into building for myself and not for the next generation?
Abba, what parts of my life need to be reordered around what's really important to your heart?

Declarations:

Abba, I let go of the lie that finding fulfillment and purpose only comes by paying more attention to myself. 

I let go of the lie of religion: that I don't have what I need and that I'm not good enough.

I embrace the truth that everything I need to be who You've called me to be, I ALREADY have inside of me.

And because I already have what I need, I am free to focus on You and the people You have put in my life.

My heart reflects what is important to Yahweh.

I invest time, attention and resources into generational legacy, the ever-expanding Kingdom family that Abba is building.

Walking away from personal destiny is effortless for me, because my heart has found something far more valuable than my own life.

Abba, I will be seed in the ground, planted by Living Water, so the next generation can find rest in my shade and freedom in my branches. 

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Worship: "No One Ever Cared For Me Like Jesus" by Steffany Gretzinger

Honor: Give online to The Wilderness Place

Share With Us:  We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!

What’s the problem…really?

Written by Jarred Rushing

(5 minutes)

Now, the disciples had forgotten to take bread with them, except for one loaf of flatbread. And as they were sailing across the lake, Jesus repeatedly warned them, "Be on your guard against the yeast inside of the Pharisees and the yeast inside of Herod!" (Mark 8:14-15)

As you are lured into the wilderness and intimacy with Abba really begins to be at the center of everything that you do, you begin to inherit a Kingdom perspective, a Kingdom-way of seeing. What you used to see as problems in the past, you don't necessarily see the same way anymore. And what you used to think was important may not seem as important as it once was. This is what happens in the wilderness. Abba begins to redefine everything. 

What does that mean?

Well, let me use my own story as an example. Before Abba lured me into the wilderness, I thought that Satan was a major problem. I would see most of the issues in my life as personal attacks of the enemy. Everything that was offensive or challenging to my way of being was really spiritual warfare, a battle, that needed fighting against. And I believed that Satan's main weapon was immoral people that behaved and believed differently than me. So the "real problem" was always that other political party, or that president that I didn't vote for, or that company that was creating movies with un-Christian ideas, or that extremist group with their pervasive, hidden "agenda," or that family member that lived a very different life than mine.

But shortly after entering the wilderness Abba began to redefine what the problem actually was. The problem was always religion. The thing that was really keeping me from encountering the unconditional love and presence of Abba was religion. Satan is still a problem, but he's been defeated and disarmed and the only thing he has ever really owned was an accusing, lying tongue and the biggest lie that he's been telling since the beginning of time is that we are not enough and we need to do something to get closer to God, and that is the message of religion. In the Garden of Eden, it wasn't a left-wing or right-wing politician, a Disney movie, or a flat tire that took Adam and Eve out. It was the lie of religion: if you do _________________, then you'll be like God. 

Jesus is repeating himself over and over in the boat with his disciples, telling them what they need to watch out for and be on guard against. The political spirit that would make us believe that we could change the world by being more powerful and in charge, and the spirit of religion that would make us believe that we aren't good enough but we could do something to earn God's love. These are the two things that Jesus felt the need to repeatedly warn his followers about. And that makes total sense, because it was the marriage of that political spirit and that spirit of religion that sent Jesus to the cross. They were both... anti-Christ. And they are both wanting to kill Christ in you.

So, what's the biggest threat to my relationship with Abba and my kid's relationship with Abba?
The lie of religion. The first lie that was ever whispered into humanity's ear: You're not good enough, but if you try harder then maybe you can get closer to God.

How do we deal with the lie of religion?
That's easy. There's only one way to deal with a lie. You let it go. You stop agreeing with it. You stop circulating it. You capture it and put it out of the camp. And then you fully embrace the truth.

Become fascinated with what Abba really thinks about you.

The first lie doesn't define me. The first truth defines me. And the first thing that was ever true about me is that I was deeply loved by Yahweh, and I still am. Before the foundation of the world, Yahweh set His heart on me and called me His beloved child. He took great delight in me before I even existed, before I ever did anything to be worthy of such love. And Abba loves with an unconditional love, which means His love doesn't wait for me to do something right and it does not recoil when I do something wrong. It really is the most perfect love. The stream of His love is always flowing in full force.

As you take a walk with Abba today, let Him tell you the truth about who you are and then repeat those words to yourself over and over throughout the day, like it's the greatest news you've ever heard. Because it is.

Worship: "Preference" by Rachel Morley

Honor: Give online to The Wilderness Place

Share With Us: We would love to hear how you're encountering Abba in your daily walks. Don't hesitate to share what you're hearing, seeing, or sensing in His presence. Email us here!