Legacy | Fuel For The Weekend

God told me to share my faith on Fridays and call it Fuel For The Weekend. It's my desire that the posts I put up on Fridays will give you something to think about, ponder, consider, and reflect on throughout the weekend.

Happy New Year! It is the year 2021. God has blessed us to see another year begin. We have no idea what all this year will bring, but we can trust in God to order our steps and help us through whatever comes our way. Amen?

I want to share something with you. It's two verses in the Old Testament and yet it is powerful. It would be easy to overlook the incredible account, because it's sandwiched in the middle of verses about kings and disobedience and so forth, but there is something I think we need to take from these verses and apply it to our lives in 2021.

Without sharing too much, God has spoken to me about specific deaths that will happen in 2021. I do not want to go into detail and I have not been released by God to talk about it, other than to say, none of us are promised to live beyond this moment. Sure, we live like we will never die. We plan ahead and save money and book the trips, plan the events, do the things because we do not anticipate dying any time soon, if we are honest. Tragedy strikes and for a brief time we talk about how short life is and we may even become intentional about living life on purpose but when enough times has passed we simply go back to living for tomorrow.

I don't want to talk about death, but I do want to talk about legacy. What impact will your life have on those who are left behind long after you have gone on? My grandfather instilled God's Word deep in my heart. I am ashamed to say it, but I tried to run from it. I didn't fully understand it. I didn't think it was for me, necessarily. I needed to find God on my terms. I am so thankful He is a loving and merciful God that will allow us to explore who He is. My grandfather died when I was 17 years old, in the middle of my senior year. My grandfather was my hero. I highly esteemed him and now that I am 42 years old I can promise you those lessons were not lost on me. His legacy still impacts me today.

Do you think it's possible to live your life so devoted to God that you can have a direct impact on others even after you are dead and buried? I am here to tell you that it's not only possible, it happens! And in today's text we see the resurrecting power at work long after the prophet has been dead and buried!

2 KINGS 13:20-21 (20)And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. (21)And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band of men; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet.

Can you believe that is all that it says about this incident? It was like this huge miracle takes place and someone adds it in the middle of this chapter and I'm like, "WAIT! I want to hear more! What did the man do when he came back to life?" This is phenomenal! I knew from reading about Elisha that he was a man of God. God gave him great power and might to do many exploits for Him but this seems like it needs it's own chapter, right?

So Elisha died and they buried him. That's good. I would expect that. And then the Moabites come along to carry on the annual tradition each spring of invading the land. Unfortunately another man has died and is being buried and just as they are lowering him into the ground, they see the raiders coming at full speed. They know how awful the Moabites are and so they basically throw him on top of Elisha! There is still so much power on that man of God that this corpse comes back to life, and stands on his own two feet, and walks right out of the grave! Wow!!

Do you know the things Elisha has done? Have you read the stories of how God gave him a double portion of Elijah's anointing? He was a brave, courageous man of valor. He had times of being scared and fearing for his life... but he was human after all. He was an incredible prophet! God used him mightily! There was so much anointing on his physical body that even after his spirit went back to God who gave it, there was resurrection power all over him that he caused a dead man to live again!

Wouldn't that be an awesome legacy? I hope that when my time comes to be with Jesus, that my life will be remembered as one devoted to God. I know I stumble. God says, Go! and I ask for specific details. But my heart is absolutely His! I want to serve Him. I want to run well. I want to win the crown of life He has laid up for me. I want to see His face and hug Him so tight! I want to kiss His nail-scarred hands and nail-scarred feet. I want to touch the side that was wounded for Me. I want to bow before my King and honor Him. I want to thank Him for everything He brought me through, every trial, every moment of fear, every time I was tormented.

I want others that knew me to be touched by the Master through me. I want to live my life so that it would please Him and bring Him honor. I want to glorify Him in the words I speak and the thoughts I think and the way I behave. I hope when it's all said and done that I lived a life that would please Him. I don't want anyone to remember the trips I took, the things I bought, the stuff I had. I don't want them to think about the clothes I wore, the vehicle I drove, or the career I had. I want them to look at my life and only see one thing: JESUS! I want them to see His hands that sustained me, His love that kept me, His blood that redeemed me, His grace that was sufficient. I want them to know that He is there for them too and that they don't have to wait to get to Heaven to experience His love, His mercy, His grace, His healing, and His forgiveness now. I want my legacy to be one of faithfulness to my Jesus!

God bless you all!

~Bridgett Owens