The Four Stages of Manhood – The Age of the Patriarch – Leave a Legacy

The Four Stages of Manhood – The Age of the Patriarch

pa·tri·arch (pātrēˌärk/) noun

noun: patriarch; plural noun: patriarchs.

a.The male head of a family or tribe.

a man who is the oldest or most venerable of a group.

Eg.”Hollywood’s reigning patriarch rose to speak”

b. person or thing that is regarded as the founder of something.

“the patriarch of all spin doctors”

2.Any of those biblical figures regarded as fathers of the human race, especially Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their forefathers, or the sons of Jacob.

 

 

There is the wonderful season in Jesus, where the children are grown, we have been faithful to the Lord, and we have learned much through our life experiences, as we and our families have grown. As we have sought the Lord over the years, He has given us visionary assignments, specific directions for our lives and our families, and now, as this next season of life is upon us, we consecrate afresh to His leading, determined to both fully complete our mandate, and to train successors to our work, that the work of God through us grow and prosper in succeeding generations. Now, we live fully for the honor and glory of God, determined to see His mind spoken, His agenda promoted, His truth established in our families, communities, states, provinces, and nations of the earth.

 

We have been looking at:

The Four Stages of Manhood

This is the final teaching on manhood, and the four stages that I see from the Word of God, we grow through, both naturally and spiritually. These four stages are:

Boyhood

Manhood

Fatherhood

The Age of the Patriarch

Today we are going to talk about the age of the Patriarch

A Patriarch, is one that is head of his home, his family, his tribe. Speaking Spiritually here, he is expected to exhibit the character of spiritual adulthood, that is:

1.Esteeming Earthly Things Lightly.

2.Deadness to Censure or Praise.

3.Ability to Recognize God at Work.

 

In a perfect world, in a Christian home where the Holy Spirit was at work and the Word of God was being both submitted to and taught, one would hope that a person would grow both spiritually and naturally at roughly the same pace. Obviously, in a fallen world this has not occurred, and even in the church, there are many who hear the word, but they don’t believe it.

 

Hebrews 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

 

James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

 

Yet, there are those in Scripture that have gone even beyond Spiritual Adulthood, to become legends of Old, their lives depicted in the pages of God’s Holy Word.

These are what I call spiritual Patriarchs, and it is these that I wish to set before you today, so that by faith, you too will strive to take your place among them in the hall of faith, making headlines in heaven, writing eternity upon this generation.

Leaving a legacy of honour to the glory of God, and before the eyes of man.

 

First lets look at the life of Caleb

 

We see in Numbers 13 that Caleb was a leader, chosen to lead the tribe of Judah by his peers, from the linage that would one day produce Messiah, Jesus our Lord.

 

Numbers 13:30  And Caleb ‘stilled the people’ before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

 

He was a warrior, honoring God and respected among his peers. A man of courage, vision and faith with corresponding action, to change things.

 

Even though the people had a grasshopper mentality, and refused to do what was right and follow he and Joshua into battle, yet with passion he made his case known before them, and God.

 

Numbers 14:6  And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:

 

And God heard his cry and responded

 

Every single other person in the entire nation was sentenced to die without entering the promised land, except Joshua, and you guessed it, Caleb.

 

Forty years the entire nation of Israelites wandered in the desert eating Manna every day. One by one, they died there until a new generation was raised up who knew God, and who knew not Egypt. Even Moses died, and a new man was set in place to lead Israel, Joshua.

 

And Caleb was with him, still a warrior, still full of passion and faith, even though he must have now been in his eighties. Righteous, zealous for the Word of God to come to pass in his life we read:

 

Joshua 14:6 ¶ Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea.

7  Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

8  Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.

9  And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.

10  And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

11  As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

12  Now therefore GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN!, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.

And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.

14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.

And the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.

Now I need you to see some things here. Caleb could have rested after fighting with the armies of Israel for five years under Joshua. He was eighty-five years old. He could have died leaving a legacy of faith and honor behind him.

Yet, He did not. Why?

He had the heart of a Patriarch.

He had gone past spiritual boyhood decades ago.

He overcame his passions to pass through spiritual childhood.

As a leader, husband, and father, he passed through spiritual adulthood and fatherhood, and now found himself as a Patriarch in the nation of Israel.

He wasn’t called to lead as head of the nation, but you can be sure He and Joshua were tightly knit friends.

The same spirit of faith was in them both.

He could have been like Moses, and not fully accomplished the plan of God.

For God cannot lie, and God’s plan for Moses was that Moses lead His people into the promised land.

Yet, Moses never fully allowed God to deal with his anger, and God judged him severely for it.

He died without seeing the promised land in his earthly life (although the Word of the Lord was fulfilled, I believe, when Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus on the mount of transfiguration)

Numbers 20:8  Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

Numbers 20:11  And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

12  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.:

Romans 14:23

And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Reminds me of:

Heb 11: 36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

And Caleb made a decision. He decided that the plan of God and God’s promises to him were more important than even his earthly life, that he would FULLY fulfill all that God had promised Him, refusing to die until he did.

So, if his life is any indication, he probably figured. Well, this world is not my home anyway. I’m going to die sometime, even if it is in battle.

Yet, he knew that darkness and light will never mix. Enemies will remain enemies. Even though there might be an apparent end to hostilities at present, he knew what would happen. If left alone, the children of Anak would multiply, and the day of reckoning deferred today would only rise up again in future generations. Anak would attack or defile either his children or his grandchildren.

Join me if you will in an imaginary journey into the thought life of Caleb at this time. Could it be that he reasoned, “Well, I could die, and leave things as they are. Israel is established in this land, and I don’t really need Horeb. I’m well respected in the community, my family is fine. Who cares about Anak?”

Yet notice Caleb. He was determined not to die before all the plan of God for His life was fulfilled.

God had promised him Horeb, and he was going to take it!

To whom much is given, much is required.

And Caleb went to war, determined to see the Word of God fulfilled or die trying!

 

And the Word of God came to pass, and he lived victorious.

Read with me Josh 15:

¹³ And unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron.

¹⁴ And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.

¹⁵ And he went up thence to the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher.

¹⁶ And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.

¹⁷ And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. ¹⁸ And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou?

¹⁹ Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.

So then, a godly patriarch leaves a legacy for the next generation, and refuses to die, before his time is up!

 Psalms 118:17  I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.

Let go of your fears, and live your dreams, do the impossible!

 

Hebrews 2:15  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

 

If you are a Christian you need never fear death or the whimsical temporal approval of man.

 

Believe God, and change your nation or perhaps go as a missionary somewhere.

 

There are enemies in the land Patriarchs: same sex marriages that threaten the family unit. Unprecedented divorce rates and destruction of the family unit. Legalization of Marijuana, Abortion, Child Pornography. Islam, the homosexual agenda, child-sex trafficking, corruption in government to name a few.

As young David said when considering fighting Goliath – IS THERE NOT A CAUSE!

These are: Enemies of honor, enemies of the Word of God, enemies of freedom, enemies of God.

 

As a patriarch, you have a position of influence in the community, that others do not. People of influence will listen to you because of your age, that others will not.

Reminds me of a story: When we were missionaries, living in Val des Monts, Quebec, Canada, I shared this message with our neighbor, who was clearly the patriarch in our community. Though I was pastoring a small Bible study there , ,but as an English speaking evangelical pastor in a French community, I was tolerated at best. Yet I told him that in order for evil to triumph over good, good people do nothing. That God could use him, to quietly have lunch with one of his old friends, and more could be accomplished for the kingdom of God, than I could work in a lifetime.

He was very quiet, but very thoughtful, yet I was pleasantly surprised, when several weeks later, he called me over to talk. Seems he had taken this message to heart, and had lunch with the local judge. The word was that this particular judge would sentence guys arrested for drinking and driving to 30 days in jail, and community service, yet, when one of his own relatives appeared before him, he was pardoning them, and tension was rising in our small town, because of this.

Proverbs 21:3

To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice

He spoke to his old friend about it, and his friend saw the error of his ways. The following week, one of his nephews appeared before Him, and received prison time, and the community rejoiced.

Leadership is influence, and you can use your position to work righteousness for the kingdom of God, by affecting people in positions of authority, quietly, sometimes behind closed doors.

Galatians 2:2

I went because it was specially and divinely revealed to me that I should go, and I put before them the Gospel [declaring to them that] which I preach among the Gentiles. However, [I presented the matter] privately before those of repute, [for I wanted to make certain, by thus at first confining my communication to this private conference] that I was not running or had not run in vain [guarding against being discredited either in what I was planning to do or had already done].

Sometimes a quiet, simple coffee with a key leader will do more than all the public protests and clanging noise…

Yet in this culture: The disrespect exhibited for the elderly is appalling.

 

Leviticus 19:32  Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.

 

While we pastored in Canada, before God moved in the Inuit, elderly people were considered excesses, and were told to go out upon the ice and die. Now, since Holy Spirit has moved in the North, elders are again respected, revered, and are set in place to help govern this new territory Nunavet.

 

It is said in Africa, “When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground.”

Patriarchs and Matriarchs we need you to guide us with righteousness in this hour.

 

Phil 1: 21 ¶ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

22  But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.

23  For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

24  Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;

Dying is easy. Living takes faith. So the children have grown, and the grandchildren have come.

Live for God!

Ps 91: 14  Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Surely you are not satisfied that you have run your race through yet, finished your course for Jesus!

You need a vision from heaven!

Pr 29:1 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

If you get alone with God, and fill yourself with His Word, and seek Him faithfully in prayer, He will give you vision for your life, to make headlines in heaven, to have eternal impact. There is always someone to love, to pray for, to support, to teach, to help in some way….

Don’t retire, refire!

And don’t let the devil tell you that you are getting weaker, nor that you must be sick!

^{Psalm 103 1} Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. ² Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: ³ who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; ⁴ who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; ⁵ who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

As you get older, you do not need to get sicker. You can still execise, and eat healthily, and He will renew your youth.

I close with this word:

 

‘With long life will I satisfy him’

 

Are you satisfied that you have fully obeyed God, and done everything you can for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ?

If not, get involved in a prayer group. Seek God for His plan. Stop Abortion. Picket the courts until just laws reflecting righteousness prevail. Leave a legacy that reaps eternal rewards.

 

Go on with God.

Let’s Pray: “Father God in heaven, Creator of all life, renew my youth, my passion, my fire, my vision, my creativity, my health, my strength, my courage, and give me grace to live for Jesus, with fire and intensity and purpose today, and for the rest of my life, AMEN!’

 

Some great articles and videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjljqReu1Ihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7_X-Gu51xs

http://www.revivalthoughts.org/Recent%20Articles%202013/Serving%20God%20in%20the%20Sunset%20Years.htm

http://www.wholesomewords.org/etexts/troester/elderly.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaihOIVVQ98

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWjW3zv2A1s

Need Prayer:

https://chrisaomministries.com/2016/08/06/the-purpose-of-this-blog/

 

 

 

Manhood has four stages – Phase I – Boyhood

The Four Stages of Manhood

I am going to produce a series of short, Biblical articles on manhood, and the four stages that I see from the Word of God, we grow through, both naturally and spiritually. These four stages are:

1.Boyhood

2.Manhood

3.Fatherhood

4.The Age of the Patriarch

Today, we will look at spiritual and natural boyhood.

 

Boyhood

This is going to be a fairly short article for this simple reason: I want men to actually read it!

Over the years, as I have developed as a man of God, and more importantly as a man…Today we are going to talk about spiritual childhood, and growing through it, to become men of God….

In a perfect world, a child would be born into a Christian household, filled with love, nurture, the fruit of the Spirit, with boundaries of protection set around your world by the holiness of the Word of God.

There would be no drama, trama, or heartbreak, but parents would lovingly grow you up in the Word of God, until the day came that you, a fully responsible adult, would be launched out into your particular gifting and calling, deeply rooted in the Word and love of God, with wings to fly!

Yet, this is a fallen world, and not all of us grew up in a Christian home, furthermore, even those of us that did, could only be instructed in what our parents knew about the Word, and to the degree our parents were willing and able to recognize and respond to the giftings God had placed upon our lives, so that they might train us up in the way ‘we should go’.

Proverbs 22:6

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it

 

 

 

There is responsibility of spiritual adults to care for new Christians; spiritual babies are characterized by Innocence, Ignorance, and sometimes, irritability.

 

Babies are easily distracted, easily hurt, and easily frustrated. God wants us to grow up to the place where we become single minded, not easily hurt, and not so easily frustrated. Where you can give our word, and keep it!

 

Well let’s look at God’s Word on this topic today, and then let’s see spiritual childhood, boyhood, and how to grow through it.

 

1 Corinthians 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.

2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

When we receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we are born-again, new creations in Christ Jesus.

God Himself has come to live inside our recreated human spirit!

Jesus did not come to make bad people good, nor good people better, rather dead people: ALIVE!

We are born not only to our natural parents, but more importantly into the kingdom of God.

Just as the first thing a natural baby requires is to nurse, so in our heart of hearts, our recreated spirit also needs food to grow, the sincere milk of the Word of God!

Hebrews 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

The truth is, no matter how good or bad your upbringing was, as we decide to walk with Jesus, the Holy Spirit will bring the appropriate Word to make us more like Jesus, to bring us to completeness as human beings.

^{Romans 8:29} For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren

There may have been accidental parents, but no accidental children. God planned for you. He has given you and your life as a gift to this hurting planet, and He has an eternal plan being worked out for you, and in you.

You have been redeemed, adopted into God’s family:Ephesians 3:15 of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

No matter how great our earthly family may have been, we are now part of the royal family of God, training for reigning with Jesus!

1 Cor 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things

We are to be conformed to be like Jesus

Romans 8:29 (AKJV)

1. In a perfect world, in a perfect family (none exist on earth), a child would develop naturally, intellectually, and spiritually, in a wonderful cocoon of God’s love, grace and protection.
2. Hebrews 5:13 For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.

Galatians 4  (AKJV)

4 :1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; ² but is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father. ³ Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world: ⁴ but when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, ⁵ to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. ⁶ And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. ⁷ Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

You have been adopted into the family of God, with eternal rank and privilege!

Ephesians 1:5

having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

 

So what is the job and responsibility of a child? To grow!

Have fun! Fall in love with Father God, let Jesus love you, receive His grace, goodness, and continually diet of instruction in the Word of God. Learn to feed your heart, your human spirit, and to allow the Word of God to grow within you, setting boundaries upon your heart, teaching you truth from lies, right from wrong, good from evil, holiness from profanity, true love from mere human sentiment. Grow!

https://chrisaomministries.com/2016/08/06/the-purpose-of-this-blog/

Let’s pray:

 

Father, thank you for adopting me and making me Your child. Reveal Your great love for me, and show me Your holy ways of love, that are always greater than the love of even my earthly parents. Bring into my life the sincere milk of Your Word, and cause me to grow in the character and likeness of Jesus, falling more in love with Him every day. Show me the things I have been taught by my parents, my teachers, society, and even church, that are not in line with Your Word, or Your particular calling and destiny upon my life, and show me truth that makes me free. I choose to separate myself fully on the purpose and plan You have created me for: grant me courage to walk in it, without compromise. I ask this, knowing I am heard and answered, for I ask in Your name Lord Jesus, Amen’

Man of God: LOVE!

Man of God, LOVE!

Difficult Marriages Can Work the Character of Jesus into us, if we receive, by faith, the love of God in the midst of them!

This article is written to husbands, I’ll let the women preach to the women. For all you guys out there, Man Up, and read this…

You sure did not know that Abraham Lincoln lived in misery till his death. The cause? His marriage.
——————————-
The great tragedy of Abraham Lincoln’s life also was his marriage. Not his assassination, mind you, but his marriage. When Booth fired, Lincoln never realized he had been shot; but he reaped almost daily, for twenty-three years, what Herndon, his law partner, described as the bitter harvest of conjugal infelicity. Conjugal infelicity? That is putting it mildly. For almost a quarter of a century, Mrs. Lincoln nagged and harassed the life out of him.

She was always complaining, always criticizing her husband; nothing about him was ever right. He was stoop-shouldered, he walked awkwardly and lifted his feet straight up and down like an Indian. She complained that there was no spring in his step, no grace to his movement; and she mimicked his gait and nagged at him to walk with his toes pointed down, as she had been taught at Madame Mentelle’s boarding school in Lexington.

She didn’t like the way his huge ears stood out at right angles from his head. She even told him that his nose wasn’t straight, that his lower lip stuck out, and he looked consumptive, that his feet and hands were too large, his head too small.

Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln were opposites in every way: in training, in background, in temperament, in tastes, in mental outlook. They irritated each other constantly.

“Mrs. Lincoln’s loud, shrill voice, wrote the late Senator Albert J. Beveridge, the most distinguished Lincoln authority of this generation – “Mrs. Lincoln’s loud, shrill voice could be heard across the street, and her incessant outbursts of wrath were audible to all who lived near the house. Frequently her anger was displayed by other means than words, and accounts of her violence are numerous and unimpeachable.”

To illustrate: Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln, shortly after their marriage, lived with Mrs. Jacob Early – a doctor’s widow in Springfield who was forced to take in boarders. One morning Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln were having breakfast when Lincoln did something that aroused the fiery temper of his wife. What, no one remembers now. But Mrs. Lincoln, in a rage, dashed a cup of hot coffee into her husband’s face. And she did it in front of the other boarders. Saying nothing, Lincoln sat there in humiliation and silence while Mrs. Early came with a wet towel and wiped off his face and clothes.

Mrs. Lincoln’s jealousy was so foolish, so fierce, and so incredible, that merely to read about some of the pathetic and disgraceful scenes she created in public – merely reading about them seventy-five years later makes one gasp with astonishment. She finally went insane; and perhaps the most charitable thing one can say about her is that her disposition was probably always affected by incipient insanity.

Did all this nagging and scolding and raging change Lincoln? In one way, yes. It certainly changed his attitude towards her. It made him regret his unfortunate marriage, and it made him avoid her presence as much as possible.

Springfield had eleven attorneys, and they couldn’t all make a living there; so they used to ride horseback from one county seat to another, following Judge David Davis while he was holding court in various places. In that way, they managed to pick up business from all the county seat towns throughout the Eighth Judicial District.

The other attorneys always managed to get back to Springfield each Saturday and spend the week-end with their families. But Lincoln didn’t. He dreaded to go home: and for three months in the spring, and again for three months in the autumn, he remained out on the circuit and never went near Springfield.

He kept this up year after year. Living conditions in the country hotels were often wretched; but, wretched as they were, he preferred them to his own home and Mrs. Lincoln’s constant nagging and wild outbursts of temper.

— Dale Carnegie, How to Make Friends and Influence People.
The Reading Nation

Now this is the positive side: How was it that Lincoln, when president, could work so effectively with the rampant egos who filled his administration? “The long years of dealing with his tempestuous wife helped prepare Lincoln for handling the difficult people he encountered as president.” In other words, a whole nation benefited from his embracing the pain.

My heavy revvy from this story: Somehow, Lincoln endured the pain, and allowed it to make him a better man. I too, can walk in love towards my wife, even when we do not agree, for on her worst day, she is not as bad as President Lincoln’s wife. Since I have given my whole life to Jesus, I allow him to use everything in my day, to perfect the character of Christ in me. Perhaps, in the most difficult moments in marriage, He could be working some of the deeper fruits of the spirit in me, things like longsuffering, patience, self-control.

So I deliberately grabbed ahold of the love verses, and make these my battle cry, because faith works by love, and I am not going to let anyone, even my wife, shut down what I am believing God for, therefore I will walk in love, no matter how difficult it is daily….Perhaps, in light of the greatness of the call, God has allowed even my wife, to become His perfect instrument of surgery in my life, to work the character of Jesus into me. Delivering me from my pride, selfishness, self righteousness, and brutal ways…I have a call, and I have a plan..but making me like Jesus, is on His ‘To Do’ list, and I may not like the process, but I either take all of Him, or live a hypocritical, compromised life…

Ro 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Think it through man of God. Marriage is a covenant taken before God. Even if your wife is living far beneath her covenant rights and privileges, you are married. Unless there has been adultery, there are no grounds for divorce, and even then, I believe that God can restore a marriage. So, the only way out is death. Since you are not a murderer, nor adulterer, there is only one way through a difficult marriage, that is to embrace the cross of Jesus Christ, and to walk in love.

There is no other way. Unless the Lord take me or her to heaven, I’m married, for life, til death do we part…and I will love her, no matter what she does or does not do!

Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

Col 3:19 Husbands, love your wives, and be not bitter against them.

So, I want to be more like Jesus, and learn to love well:

This will take a walk or two to the cross – dying to self, sacrificing my will, for His, and living, and loving, for Jesus sake as part of my worship to Him…

Galatians 5:24

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.

I am head of my house, my ministry, and I set the atmosphere here, and that atmosphere must be heavenly, no matter how I feel. I must love my wife and children, period, making my home a place of refuge from the storms of life….

Proverbs 14:1  (NIV)
14 The wise woman builds her house,
but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.

Proverbs 19:13  (NIV)
13 A foolish child is a father’s ruin,
and a quarrelsome wife is like
the constant dripping of a leaky roof.

Pr 21:9 It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman in a wide house.

Pr 25:24 It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house.

Looks like these verses describe Abraham Lincolns wife, in fact there have been articles written claiming she was into the occult, and was clinically insane by today’s standards. (dementia)

I don’t know what particular hell your wife might be putting you through at this moment, but there is a straight and narrow way through her mess. It is called the way of the Master, the way of the cross, the love walk….

Love never Fails, Love is stronger than death!

I read, and pray these verses every day, because I need to walk in His love each day, not mine. Life is hard, but God is good. I have learned that I can receive these verses, by faith, and lay hold on them, and the Holy Spirit gives me grace, strength, to actually do, and live what they say.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (AMP)
4 Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.
7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]

1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

There you have it, God is love, and Jesus rose from the dead, and He is God. Love is stronger than death!

4 Love endures long and is patient and kind;

While you are enduring your present circumstances, know that God Himself gives you strength and grace to endure, and while you are enduring, to be kind to all those around you.

love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy,

When someone else has nicer things that you have, or appears to be endued with better looks, family, position, or material things in this life, God’s love, shed abroad in our hearts by the mighty Holy Spirit Himself, does not get envious, ever, and does not submit to the tyranny of unfulfilled expectations, jealousy.

is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.
Love is not proud, but is teachable, and will glorify God in the good and the bad, giving testimony of Jesus glory, for His glory, where appropriate, but never with a motive to boast, be vainglorious, or in a haughty or arrogant way. We can dress well, with nice things from the Lord, without having to strut or impress others, simply, gratefully, because God gave it to us.

5 It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly.

This is a verse I teach my children. We are to be bold in righteousness, confident in God and His gift in us, grateful for our ongoing accomplishments as we grow in grace, faith, strength and wisdom, but we are never to think more of ourselves, rather, to be great, we must think of ourselves, less. When tempted to butt in line, be pushy, short, and blunt with people, we remember that Jesus is in our hearts, and He in us, is not rude. He is holy, and will not act foolishly or unbecomingly, neither do we. ‘Love is not rude’, handles a whole lot of coarse behaviors…

Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way,
We are not selfish, insisting on our own way, rather we give place to others, yet bold in walking God’s way! We stand up for truth and His rights, not our own!

for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

Our very motive of heart, must be God seeking, seeking Him first in our every decision, not self seeking. Always building the kingdom of God, not our own empire. When people push our buttons, or things are not appearing to go our way, we don’t act touchy, we don’t worry or fret, but deliberately take thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ, refusing to fret, whine or complain.

When people do us wrong, we are quick to forgive, and forget. We do not hold grudges, nor give people the silent treatment, stonewalling them out of our lives. We pay no attention to the wrongs they do to us, but deliberately guard our hearts and thought lives to think on what whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, that we pursue and walk in peace towards all men.

6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.
As we hear the Media broadcasting filth, injustice, and unrighteousness, we never rejoice in this, never laughing at an off color joke. We rejoice, when right and truth prevail. I find this especially true of the political arena, so much railing, reviling, gossip, innuendos, supposed intrigue. Sure, I hate some of the decisions coming out of Washington, not because of the people that made them, but because they are contrary to the Word of God! So, I cry, unto God most High, to bring change, true change, to the heart of America. This is love, intercession, and gets results from heaven. A bad mouthed, cynical, bitter person, constantly complaining individual, does not even get heard by God. I listen to the the audio Bible all night, every night, letting the Word of God cleanse and wash me from the filth of the day. I will not allow my mind to become a garbage dump for the trash talk of the day!

When horrible things happen, even when God Himself executes judgments on wicked people on our behalf, we should fear God, and be warned, but seek love, mercy, forgiveness, and restoration for the offenders, not death and destruction.

7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes,
We are strong! We can put up with anything that comes at us, anything and everything!

is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].
When evil reports are told to us, even when factual, about other people, we use our faith, to believe the opposite of them. To believe the best of them, and for them, hoping, trusting God, and using our authority in the earth, to do all we can to make it easier for folks to do right. If they still have breath in their body, we never give up hoping and believing, without weakening. I deliberately use my faith to believe the opposite when I see someone, especially a government official, doing wrong. I bind and forbid, in prayer, their wickedness, and pray God have mercy upon them, and reveal to them the error of their ways. Currently, this is how we must pray for our President with respect to abortion, same-sex marriage, and his compromise with Islam. We hate the sin, yet uphold in prayer the office of the President of the United States. I actually love President Barack Obama, but I must admit, it has taken me many years of praying these verses to get there, for I hate much of what he has done, and is doing!

Yet, he has stayed married, he has empowered the black citizens of this country, and at times honored First Nations chiefs. Gotta keep my mind there as I pray for him, recognizing he is a fatherless man, desperately in need of a revelation of the love of our heavenly Father. That love, the love of God, revealed to his heart, can change anyone…it changed me!

8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]
This is the way of faith, following Jesus, our way and way maker! He never fails, so we never fail either, now, or in eternity!

As I stand in this, my particular stand of faith, I WILL LOVE!

1Co 15:57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let’s pray:
‘Father, your love is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit. I have decided to love my enemies, and to overcome evil with good in this world, by deliberately believing and receiving your grace to love, through Your Word. I know You are making me more like Jesus today, and that even the brutality of the daily circumstances, can bring me to You, if I will simply come, and break before Your throne. You see what I face today, now I am trusting you to work in me to will and to do, of your good pleasure today, help me to walk in love, in your name I pray Lord Jesus, Amen’

The Four Stages of Manhood – The Age of the Patriarch

pa·tri·arch (pātrēˌärk/) noun

noun: patriarch; plural noun: patriarchs.

a.The male head of a family or tribe.

a man who is the oldest or most venerable of a group.

Eg.”Hollywood’s reigning patriarch rose to speak”

b. person or thing that is regarded as the founder of something.

“the patriarch of all spin doctors”

2.Any of those biblical figures regarded as fathers of the human race, especially Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, their forefathers, or the sons of Jacob.

 

 

There is the wonderful season in Jesus, where the children are grown, we have been faithful to the Lord, and we have learned much through our life experiences, as we and our families have grown. As we have sought the Lord over the years, He has given us visionary assignments, specific directions for our lives and our families, and now, as this next season of life is upon us, we consecrate afresh to His leading, determined to both fully complete our mandate, and to train successors to our work, that the work of God through us grow and prosper in succeeding generations. Now, we live fully for the honor and glory of God, determined to see His mind spoken, His agenda promoted, His truth established in our families, communities, states, provinces, and nations of the earth.

 

We have been looking at:

The Four Stages of Manhood

This is the final teaching on manhood, and the four stages that I see from the Word of God, we grow through, both naturally and spiritually. These four stages are:

Boyhood

Manhood

Fatherhood

The Age of the Patriarch

Today we are going to talk about the age of the Patriarch

A Patriarch, is one that is head of his home, his family, his tribe. Speaking Spiritually here, he is expected to exhibit the character of spiritual adulthood, that is:

1.Esteeming Earthly Things Lightly.

2.Deadness to Censure or Praise.

3.Ability to Recognize God at Work.

 

In a perfect world, in a Christian home where the Holy Spirit was at work and the Word of God was being both submitted to and taught, one would hope that a person would grow both spiritually and naturally at roughly the same pace. Obviously, in a fallen world this has not occurred, and even in the church, there are many who hear the word, but they don’t believe it.

 

Hebrews 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

 

James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

 

Yet, there are those in Scripture that have gone even beyond Spiritual Adulthood, to become legends of Old, their lives depicted in the pages of God’s Holy Word.

 

These are what I call spiritual Patriarchs, and it is these that I wish to set before you today, so that by faith, you too will strive to take your place among them in the hall of faith, making headlines in heaven, writing eternity upon this generation.

Leaving a legacy of honour to the glory of God, and before the eyes of man.

 

First lets look at the life of Caleb

 

We see in Numbers 13 that Caleb was a leader, chosen to lead the tribe of Judah by his peers, from the linage that would one day produce Messiah, Jesus our Lord.

 

Numbers 13:30  And Caleb ‘stilled the people’ before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.

 

He was a warrior, honoring God and respected among his peers. A man of courage, vision and faith with corresponding action, to change things.

 

Even though the people had a grasshopper mentality, and refused to do what was right and follow he and Joshua into battle, yet with passion he made his case known before them, and God.

 

Numbers 14:6  And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:

 

And God heard his cry and responded

 

Every single other person in the entire nation was sentenced to die without entering the promised land, except Joshua, and you guessed it, Caleb.

 

Forty years the entire nation of Israelites wandered in the desert eating Manna every day. One by one, they died there until a new generation was raised up who knew God, and who knew not Egypt. Even Moses died, and a new man was set in place to lead Israel, Joshua.

 

And Caleb was with him, still a warrior, still full of passion and faith, even though he must have now been in his eighties. Righteous, zealous for the Word of God to come to pass in his life we read:

 

Joshua 14:6 ¶ Then the children of Judah came unto Joshua in Gilgal: and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite said unto him, Thou knowest the thing that the LORD said unto Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Kadeshbarnea.

7  Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the LORD sent me from Kadeshbarnea to espy out the land; and I brought him word again as it was in mine heart.

8  Nevertheless my brethren that went up with me made the heart of the people melt: but I wholly followed the LORD my God.

9  And Moses sware on that day, saying, Surely the land whereon thy feet have trodden shall be thine inheritance, and thy children’s for ever, because thou hast wholly followed the LORD my God.

10  And now, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years, even since the LORD spake this word unto Moses, while the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness: and now, lo, I am this day fourscore and five years old.

11  As yet I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in.

12  Now therefore GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN!, whereof the LORD spake in that day; for thou heardest in that day how the Anakims were there, and that the cities were great and fenced: if so be the LORD will be with me, then I shall be able to drive them out, as the LORD said.

And Joshua blessed him, and gave unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh Hebron for an inheritance.

14 Hebron therefore became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenezite unto this day, because that he wholly followed the LORD God of Israel.

And the name of Hebron before was Kirjatharba; which Arba was a great man among the Anakims. And the land had rest from war.

Now I need you to see some things here. Caleb could have rested after fighting with the armies of Israel for five years under Joshua. He was eighty-five years old. He could have died leaving a legacy of faith and honor behind him.

Yet, He did not. Why?

He had the heart of a Patriarch.

He had gone past spiritual boyhood decades ago.

He overcame his passions to pass through spiritual childhood.

As a leader, husband, and father, he passed through spiritual adulthood and fatherhood, and now found himself as a Patriarch in the nation of Israel.

He wasn’t called to lead as head of the nation, but you can be sure He and Joshua were tightly knit friends.

The same spirit of faith was in them both.

He could have been like Moses, and not fully accomplished the plan of God.

For God cannot lie, and God’s plan for Moses was that Moses lead His people into the promised land.

Yet, Moses never fully allowed God to deal with his anger, and God judged him severely for it.

He died without seeing the promised land in his earthly life (although the Word of the Lord was fulfilled, I believe, when Moses and Elijah appeared to Jesus on the mount of transfiguration)

Numbers 20:8  Take the rod, and gather thou the assembly together, thou, and Aaron thy brother, and speak ye unto the rock before their eyes; and it shall give forth his water, and thou shalt bring forth to them water out of the rock: so thou shalt give the congregation and their beasts drink.

Numbers 20:11  And Moses lifted up his hand, and with his rod he smote the rock twice: and the water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their beasts also.

12  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.:

Romans 14:23

And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Reminds me of:

Heb 11: 36  And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment:38  (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.

37  They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented;

And Caleb made a decision. He decided that the plan of God and God’s promises to him were more important than even his earthly life, that he would FULLY fulfill all that God had promised Him, refusing to die until he did.

So, if his life is any indication, he probably figured. Well, this world is not my home anyway. I’m going to die sometime, even if it is in battle.

Yet, he knew that darkness and light will never mix. Enemies will remain enemies. Even though there might be an apparent end to hostilities at present, he knew what would happen. If left alone, the children of Anak would multiply, and the day of reckoning deferred today would only rise up again in future generations. Anak would attack or defile either his children or his grandchildren.

Join me if you will in an imaginary journey into the thought life of Caleb at this time. Could it be that he reasoned, “Well, I could die, and leave things as they are. Israel is established in this land, and I don’t really need Horeb. I’m well respected in the community, my family is fine. Who cares about Anak?”

Yet notice Caleb. He was determined not to die before all the plan of God for His life was fulfilled.

God had promised him Horeb, and he was going to take it!

To whom much is given, much is required.

And Caleb went to war, determined to see the Word of God fulfilled or die trying!

 

And the Word of God came to pass, and he lived victorious.

Read with me Josh 15:

¹³ And unto Caleb the son of Jephunneh he gave a part among the children of Judah, according to the commandment of the Lord to Joshua, even the city of Arba the father of Anak, which city is Hebron.

¹⁴ And Caleb drove thence the three sons of Anak, Sheshai, and Ahiman, and Talmai, the children of Anak.

¹⁵ And he went up thence to the inhabitants of Debir: and the name of Debir before was Kirjath-sepher.

¹⁶ And Caleb said, He that smiteth Kirjath-sepher, and taketh it, to him will I give Achsah my daughter to wife.

¹⁷ And Othniel the son of Kenaz, the brother of Caleb, took it: and he gave him Achsah his daughter to wife. ¹⁸ And it came to pass, as she came unto him, that she moved him to ask of her father a field: and she lighted off her ass; and Caleb said unto her, What wouldest thou?

¹⁹ Who answered, Give me a blessing; for thou hast given me a south land; give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper springs, and the nether springs.

So then, a godly patriarch leaves a legacy for the next generation, and refuses to die, before his time is up!

 Psalms 118:17  I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.

Let go of your fears, and live your dreams, do the impossible!

 

Hebrews 2:15  And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

 

If you are a Christian you need never fear death or the whimsical temporal approval of man.

 

Believe God, and change your nation or perhaps go as a missionary somewhere.

 

There are enemies in the land Patriarchs: same sex marriages that threaten the family unit. Unprecedented divorce rates and destruction of the family unit. Legalization of Marijuana, Abortion, Child Pornography. Islam, the homosexual agenda, child-sex trafficking, corruption in government to name a few.

As young David said when considering fighting Goliath – IS THERE NOT A CAUSE!

These are: Enemies of honor, enemies of the Word of God, enemies of freedom, enemies of God.

 

As a patriarch, you have a position of influence in the community, that others do not. People of influence will listen to you because of your age, that others will not.

Reminds me of a story: When we were missionaries, living in Val des Monts, Quebec, Canada, I shared this message with our neighbor, who was clearly the patriarch in our community. Though I was pastoring a small Bible study there , ,but as an English speaking evangelical pastor in a French community, I was tolerated at best. Yet I told him that in order for evil to triumph over good, good people do nothing. That God could use him, to quietly have lunch with one of his old friends, and more could be accomplished for the kingdom of God, than I could work in a lifetime.

He was very quiet, but very thoughtful, yet I was pleasantly surprised, when several weeks later, he called me over to talk. Seems he had taken this message to heart, and had lunch with the local judge. The word was that this particular judge would sentence guys arrested for drinking and driving to 30 days in jail, and community service, yet, when one of his own relatives appeared before him, he was pardoning them, and tension was rising in our small town, because of this.

Proverbs 21:3

To do justice and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice

He spoke to his old friend about it, and his friend saw the error of his ways. The following week, one of his nephews appeared before Him, and received prison time, and the community rejoiced.

Leadership is influence, and you can use your position to work righteousness for the kingdom of God, by affecting people in positions of authority, quietly, sometimes behind closed doors.

Galatians 2:2

I went because it was specially and divinely revealed to me that I should go, and I put before them the Gospel [declaring to them that] which I preach among the Gentiles. However, [I presented the matter] privately before those of repute, [for I wanted to make certain, by thus at first confining my communication to this private conference] that I was not running or had not run in vain [guarding against being discredited either in what I was planning to do or had already done].

Sometimes a quiet, simple coffee with a key leader will do more than all the public protests and clanging noise…

Yet in this culture: The disrespect exhibited for the elderly is appalling.

 

Leviticus 19:32  Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.

 

While we pastored in Canada, before God moved in the Inuit, elderly people were considered excesses, and were told to go out upon the ice and die. Now, since Holy Spirit has moved in the North, elders are again respected, revered, and are set in place to help govern this new territory Nunavet.

 

It is said in Africa, “When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground.”

Patriarchs and Matriarchs we need you to guide us with righteousness in this hour.

 

Phil 1: 21 ¶ For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

22  But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I shall choose I wot not.

23  For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better:

24  Nevertheless to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

And having this confidence, I know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance and joy of faith;

Dying is easy. Living takes faith. So the children have grown, and the grandchildren have come.

Live for God!

Ps 91: 14  Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

15  He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Surely you are not satisfied that you have run your race through yet, finished your course for Jesus!

You need a vision from heaven!

Pr 29:1 Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

If you get alone with God, and fill yourself with His Word, and seek Him faithfully in prayer, He will give you vision for your life, to make headlines in heaven, to have eternal impact. There is always someone to love, to pray for, to support, to teach, to help in some way….

Don’t retire, refire!

And don’t let the devil tell you that you are getting weaker, nor that you must be sick!

^{Psalm 103 1} Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. ² Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: ³ who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; ⁴ who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies; ⁵ who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

As you get older, you do not need to get sicker. You can still execise, and eat healthily, and He will renew your youth.

I close with this word:

 

‘With long life will I satisfy him’

 

Are you satisfied that you have fully obeyed God, and done everything you can for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ?

If not, get involved in a prayer group. Seek God for His plan. Stop Abortion. Picket the courts until just laws reflecting righteousness prevail. Leave a legacy that reaps eternal rewards.

 

Go on with God.

Let’s Pray: “Father God in heaven, Creator of all life, renew my youth, my passion, my fire, my vision, my creativity, my health, my strength, my courage, and give me grace to live for Jesus, with fire and intensity and purpose today, and for the rest of my life, AMEN!’

 

Some great articles and videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZjljqReu1Ihttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7_X-Gu51xs

http://www.revivalthoughts.org/Recent%20Articles%202013/Serving%20God%20in%20the%20Sunset%20Years.htm

http://www.wholesomewords.org/etexts/troester/elderly.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaihOIVVQ98

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWjW3zv2A1s