Digging Wells of Family Legacy - Apostle Mike Connell | Ascend Global Church

so i just want to thank pastor dave and kate for building an atmosphere where the presence of god is so welcome we should never just take it for granted you can go to lots of churches and you won't experience what we experience here and uh it's very hard to find a church where there's a great atmosphere of god's presence and worship like we experience today and so we should treasure and value that because it's so hard to find doesn't happen accidentally it happens because of commitment and sacrifice and work to build something that we can experience together amen so thank you we really appreciate that and what a so blessed today i'm so blessed absolutely blessed i got four my children here got three watch you online it's amazing how good is that gear they wow so good well pastor david put me on some last week he kind of said you can speak next week on this so i'm going to here it is i want to speak on digging wells of um our family legacy digging wells of family legacy how about that digging wells of family legacy and uh there's probably a lot could be shared around this area and you say well i'm not married it's not a big deal actually it is a big deal because if you don't grasp the concepts of this you won't see where you fit and how to function where you are and you won't see what's required of you in the future so i want to anyway let's just ask the question first of all what do we mean when we talk about legacy here's a scripture in proverbs 13 22 a good man a good man it's opposite to a bad man a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children or in other words from god's perspective a godly person considers and plans his life generationally we live in a world that lives for the moment uh one of the sad things we uh we we found is we've gone on a couple of cruises in the last few years people who who their their motto is span the kids inheritance i thought how stupid is that you don't understand why you have what you have and you don't understand its purpose it will soon depart from you so what is legacy when we talk about legacy then we're going to talk about spiritual and family legacy because they go together so what is legacy legacy's a part of a person that lives on beyond their life on the earth a legacy is something that lives on after a person is passed on it lives on so something of the person is transmitted to their family something of that person is transmitted to their family so it can be tangible in other words it can be money it can be some heirlooms it can be some jewelry can be some property that's tangible legacy that was left and so our children have got lots of tangible legacies i've made sure joy's hands are covered with rings so this rings for every girl tangible legacies and uh so that's why but then but the most important legacies of all are things which are intangible intangible in tangible means you can't see them but they're very real so it's the impact your life has on others for good or bad so everyone has an impact of some kind so uh so it's uh for an example of of legacy would be generosity generosity is a legacy now some people live in a family it's nothing to do with how money much money they've got but the whole thinking and attitude around money is very mean very tight it's not generous money it's mean money and uh and so that's a spirit of poverty operating in behind there courage is a legacy to live the courage to handle adversity and to overcome it or to endure through it is a legacy to to inspire and leave others behind you to follow that kind of legacy uh there's a legacy of values the values you built your life on and you build your family that's something you leave behind people remember those things it has an impact the culture you build in your family life creates a legacy for the next generation your example your personal example your teaching so legacy is really important tangible or intangible and so you've already received legacy from your parents now you say i don't leave me any money you're thinking wrong you're thinking only about the physical things and they are actually subject to change the bible tells us that the focus of a person's life as a believer should be on the unseen realm because what's the unseen realm is permanent and eternal what is seen is temporal law changes so money comes and goes but the source of finance or wealth is unchangeable so if we understand spiritual realities we can then access physical and tangible blessings and that's why we need to build our life around unseen eternal and spiritual values if we build our life that way then there will be a river and an overflow or a well of blessing that comes which is very tangible and so we have to understand that so you've already received some forms of legacy from your parents they can be financial they can be physical they can be memories of experiences you've had together but they also your parents have imparted to you through their dna physically and spiritually something of where they've come from and you cannot escape it it is a part of you and if we don't get insight to the spiritual nature of those legacies then the things that trouble them will trouble us as well make sense to you so so so not only have we received a legacy there comes a point when everyone leaves the earth so you will leave a legacy so the question then is not whether you'll leave a legacy the real question is what kind of legacy will you leave or put it another way what will you be remembered for or putting it another way when your name is mentioned what will come immediately to people's mind that has a lot to do with the legacy you have left that make sense to you so something will come to mind so we should live our life as though we're preparing that legacy to live so in other words think about it here's a simple put it another way if if you were to stand at your own funeral and to read out your own uh legacy of what you would like people to remember you for those are the things you want to be building and working on now they don't just happen they're built okay so that's legacy so god directs us to build legacy for multiple generations god directs us to build for multiple generations and in fact he is known personally as the god of abraham isaac and jacob so one of the ways god is known as a multi-generational god he is interested not only in you but your children and your grandchildren and if you're still alive and breathing you have a role to play in building legacy here's so uh if you think about the promises that were made to abraham the promises made to abraham could only be fulfilled through multiple generations and that tells us that god can make promises to you that you cannot fulfill in your life they're fulfilled only if you raise up a godly family and a godly generation to carry that legacy about that think about that see we want everything in the now but god thinks long term he thinks generations he thinks according to an eternal purpose so some things god promises and maybe some prophetic words you've had or some things that are written in the word of god may not manifest in your life but may manifest in the generation after you but it'll only do if you actually build intentionally that way so here's a scripture in psalm 78 verse 5 through to 8 he established a testimony in jacob that's speaking of israel he appointed a law in israel which he commanded our fathers that they should make known them them to their children so what he's saying here is that god laid out principles for success so when you read the uh the the ten commands when you read the the way god spoke to his people he said uh he said i set before you life and death blessing or cursing choose life so he said notice what he's saying here then he said he's established a testimony or god established something as a rule he commanded our fathers that they would make them known to their children now you have to understand this i'll come back to it the father is designated by god to be responsible for the spiritual welfare and instruction of his children not secular schools think about that verse 7 verse 6 that the generation to come might know him that the children who would be born may arise and declare them to their children so notice now he's saying that everything that god says and does and teaches us is not just for us we are responsible to impart them to our children in such a way that they will impart them to their children or our grandchildren one of the tragedies that we have observed is families where the parents paid a massive price to gain access to blessing from god and the next generation uh enjoyed the blessing and then they never imparted it to their children who basically now are just living together and living a life in the world there's nothing that distinguishes them as the people of god what a tragedy you can say well they've got a great life they're doing this listen that won't count for anything in eternity what will count is what you've been able to establish that god purposed for your life and it says in that they may not be like their fathers the stubborn rebellious people that did not set its heart right and was and their spirit was not faithful to god so god directs fathers god directs fathers to be responsible for the spiritual leadership and direction of the family and to intentionally with his wife build a legacy for the next generation you say well we're kind of our day's over we've done that no no if you're breathing and have life you still have a role to play see okay then now here's the thing there is a contention over legacy you have to understand legacy because it's valuable uh and legacies from god are valuable there's always contention i mean even you know that there's often a scrabble over a will you read about it every now and then families locked in the legal battle over world what's going on there that's a that's a contention over legacy and while they're contending over legacy the result is they lose everything to the lawyers it's just so tragic so but there's examples in the bible everywhere of of people struggling over legacy for example jacob and esau jacob contended because he placed high value on the legacy he wanted he was a contender and he did everything he could and god said i love this boy he saw i don't like him now what was it that he liked about jacob who actually was crooked and dishonest and did every kind of trick including deceiving his father why did god say he liked him because what was moving him was a desire for blessing of god and spiritual legacy he was going about it the wrong way but god can deal with that what he did want to see in his heart was a desire for a spiritual legacy whereas esau just sold it out and didn't think anything of it and the bible calls him a profane man didn't value the blessing of god and its benefits not just for himself but for future generations the church again has to value the blessing and favor of god and learn how to impart and build it into the next generations that make sense so so um and just going back now because we said digging digging the world so let's go back then and have a look at an example of a contention and it's found we've been reading it recently over the contention over abraham's wells and so notice god's the the god of abraham isaac and jacob so abraham starts to walk in the blessing of god and prospers his son starts to prosper as well and then immediately this contention overwhelms and so genesis 26 15 now the philistines had stopped or filled up all the worlds which his father's servants had dug in the days of abraham's father they filled them up with earth and abimelech said to isaac go away from us you're much mighty than us and isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the valley of gayra he dwelt there and he dug again the wells of uh water which they dug in the days of abraham's father for the philistines had filled them up with earth after the death of abraham and he called them by the names his father would call them and they also dug other wells so let's just look into the story since we're taught on it already i'll just bring out a couple of things i want to focus on number one the well what is the well a well is always a source of life if you're we just go there and turn the tap on this water get a shower everything it's all there but if you're living in a desert water is life and death matter so now you've got to think now when you see things in the bible you always ask what is its function so the contention over the well is because of the purpose and the function of the well the well is a source of life the well is the source of refreshing the well is the source of prosperity if you had a well you could water your crops water your animals you could water the crops you could actually prosper but if you had no well you were probably going to die so wells are really important and not only that it's really a challenge how to find and dig a well it's not that easy to find where the water is if you're in a desert you got to know where to look or have someone showing you where to look and so the thing here is the well how did abraham know where to dig the well god must have showed him and so the source of the well is what counts not the well itself so people can get all excited about the money that's coming from one generation to another what they're going to be left in the world but what you've got to ask for and really value is what is the source of it what causes that to be there and that's the lord himself see so so wells were also an evidence of ownership of the land and so uh what is at stake here is abraham's legacy and what the philistines did was they filled in all the wells with earth they removed any evidence that they were present so that abraham would have no claim to the land it was all about legacy get the idea so the philistines were incredibly and jealous and vindictive they sought to destroy evidence something had been built there and to destroy the possibility of someone being blessed how about that now this is a picture of the invisible spiritual war you and i all face these stories that are written in the bible are about natural people natural struggles natural conflicts natural outcomes but behind it there is a prophetic picture and application to us to see that we are involved in a spiritual war with spiritual outcomes so for example the word philistines the name literally comes from a root word meaning to roll in the dust which reminds us that god spoke of the serpent you'll eat dust all your days of your life so the philistines are a prophetic picture of invisible spirit beings and this is what they do they seek to destroy the evidence of the wells they seek to close up your access to any source of blessing from god they seek to shut down what your parents may have done that you may not have it think about that you cannot rely on the school to educate your children and things spiritual you can't rely on the church to do it you must take responsibility to open wells in your own family in order that the children have day by day an opportunity to see working out in their life what it's like to live a godly life so the philistines filling in the wells is a prophet is a visible picture or prophetic picture of the unseen realm and and if you think about it the place in the news all the time because of conflict is israel why is israel a place of conflict here's where it started right back here it's still going on because of the specific uh the prophetic and spiritual significance of israel so here's the thing about isaac he held on to the spiritual legacy he trusted god to be his source just as abraham did and he identified and opened up what his father had done in other words he placed a value on the work of his father that had resulted in good things and he continued those see so but then he trusted the law to help him dig something beyond what his father had dug and that's what the spiritual legacy is about we are to build on the successes of our parents so god wants you to as a parent or as a person plan to provide for your children the next generation to be able to go higher and further than you did to actually labor to produce something that will bless them and then help them move forward in their journey so they open up something that's never been opened before in other words that they have their own impact in their generation and if you look at it right now the culture that we're in today is different to the one that we came into christ on it's vastly different new wells have to be opened up it's important a generation rises up that understands what wells have been open and yet opens up new wells that are relevant for the culture that we're in today every generation has to contend for a spiritual legacy you have to contend to hold what was given you and then pass it on and the tragedy in the christian church are parents who want who walked with god but never passed on their relationship with god to their children and their children marry ungodly children they married children and not got the same value system and all of the legacy that was labored for is lost think about that so we need to be intentional about shaping the next generation shaping their heart and their values see so let's have a look then about um about establishing a spiritual legacy now there are two there's lots of things about it but let me just identify two things today number one there is a warfare over legacy we have to overcome negative spiritual influences historic and current there is a warfare no one is exempt from the warfare and conflict secondly we must build we must intentionally set patterns in place for our own family and the next generation don't follow the culture don't follow the culture it's a problem if we follow the culture so what is the warfare involved in 2 corinthians 10 verse 4 tells us very clearly the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in god to pulling down strongholds casting down arguments every high thing that exalts self against the knowledge of god bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of christ so the warfare we're involved in is a warfare against unseen spiritual beings which influence the way people think and the values they have so today like in the day when we were raised it was just an unusual thing for there to be a divorce it was an unusual thing for there to be adultery all those things they did happen but they were hidden and if they did come to the line it was a source of immense public shame and so to be living together was a source of tremendous shame now the values have so been compromised away from god's uh purposes and ways it's just accepted as normal and we know quite a few christian families and they're rejoicing over a couple being together and they're not married clearly they're ignorant of the dangers spiritually the couple are in clearly they're ignorant of the principles of god clearly they have lost spiritual revelation inside and they are now walking in darkness something has been taken away something's been stolen so there's a warfare the bible talks about a warfare warf is not just a single fight single fight isn't a warfare single fight just a scrap so you have a problem today you get over it a warfare means this is something that goes on all your life this is a warfare that is life lasting you're in this warfare till the day you die it's a warfare for your thought life it's a warfare for your values it's a warfare for your words it's a it's a warfare to shape your thinking to conform to the world and have no spiritual legacy that's why there's a warfare you've got to fight and some of the problems that you are facing and that you're struggling with now didn't originate with you they were in your parents and maybe your grandparents in fact they've been in your family for a long time and no one has stood up and solved it in other words for generations the family has lived in a physical a spiritual bondage a relational bondage a cultural bondage they've been in bondage under the power of invisible spirit beings and they think it's normal because that's all we've ever known and it may be that the pressures some of the pressures you're facing some of the things you're experiencing they come directly out of your family background they're part of the legacy that has been destructive and negative that you have to undo if i was to just run a class and teach you how to build a good family it will help for a while but the majority of people it doesn't last because it doesn't address the spiritual roots that empower the problems if we don't understand as a people spiritual realities then we just gonna copy how the world tries to do things if a person's got demons afflicting them and holding them in bondage counsel won't solve it deliverance is needed god has equipped the church with all it needs to fulfill its mission but if you are seduced by generational patterns and strongholds and bondage to live a low life then you're going to live below what's possible for you financially in your marriage in every aspect of your life so we have to be willing to put on a fight we've got to take on the battle see i personally had to face and overcome spiritual bondages that had been in my family for generations some were religious some were of a spiritual occultic nature freemasonry some of them were sexual sin uh adultery and other things that had gone on these were part of the legacy i received that's there was some good things but there's also these other things which can continue to press upon my life until i understood the fight and fought to overcome them so my children could have something different and better you have to understand that if we don't address hidden spiritual roots then there's no lasting change you get inspired you get excited and you go back the old way again because you're in bondage you like the idea of these things same with the financial thing you can go into financial seminars you can learn a lot get inspired a lot but lasting change requires a work in the heart and a commitment to lifestyle of change and sometimes we're opposed by spirits of poverty and addiction that resist the transformation so maybe the things you're wrestling with that you are struggling with in your personal life that you've experienced in marriage and family life maybe the source of them is hidden unseen and generational in nature which case if we're going to build a great family legacy we must not just do practical things we must also address spiritual realities and so some of the what are some of the spiritual roots that cause ongoing conflict in marriages and in families well the first one we mentioned is family generational sin and iniquity in other words where there's been sexual sin there's been adultery there's been abuse there's been control there's been all these kind of things hatred and violence in the family background abandonment or pride or those kind of things involvement with occult spirits all of those remain legally able to access your life and destroy the spirit realm works on legal rights when we violate the commandments of god a legal right is established for demons to afflict and to torment and harass that's why god requires that we get our marriages and lives in order not just because he wants you to be just doing things a certain way but he wants to empower you to be victorious in the spiritual conflict give the idea so unaddressed personal sin you may hide it from everyone but if there's secret things going on in your life pornography or other kind addictions other kind of stuff going on it it gives a gateway into your generations eventually your kids are doing the same thing as you did and you wonder how it happened you hate it in yourself and you hate it happening in there but you seem powerless to do anything about it there is obviously a war going on and you're losing unresolved roots of unforgiveness and bitterness and judgments all of those produce an ongoing flow within family life you find yourself doing the same things you said you didn't like in your family growing up there is a hidden war going on unhealed personal wounds and trauma will carry on into your marriage into your relationships and will affect your family it'll affect the father being unable to love and embrace and celebrate and invest in his children dysfunctional family patterns where we've been in families that uh grown up where they never communicated never talked never dealt with issues everything was covered over don't we don't we don't talk about those things really you mean you want to control it and carry on like it's not there it's there it's going to affect the next generation some of those things are cultural now cultural the area of culture is a very sensitive area today but not all cultures are equal simple as that we're to build according to the culture of the kingdom of god which means every culture no matter which one we've come from needs to address the demonic shaping of their culture and come into alignment with the kingdom of god and there are some things every culture has which is which is of value and god's intended contribution to the world but there are other things which are ungodly and spiritually empowered which are destructive you've got to make a stand and when you make a stand to change it not everyone will like you there will be a conflict and a difficulty when you decide i'm going to build my life my marriage my family my finances my future around the way god says to do it when you decide to do that you're declaring war and it will come in many forms and so that's why we have to deal with it have to deal with the stuff so god spoke to israel specifically in exodus 34 take heed yourself lest you make covenant with the inhabitants of the land where you're going and it be a snare to you you'll destroy their altars break their sacred pillars cut down their wooden images now what god is saying is very simple that the culture you live in is so defined by demonic spirits and activity that if you don't make a stand you'll end up compromised and embracing the culture as being the norm he said you have to actually stand up to all this stuff may not be pc and in today's environment now if you stand up you're going to be held down it'll take courage in the church in the coming decade to start to get its voice over what's going on the voices that are being heard related to gender and related to sexuality are demonically inspired destructive voices you have to understand that they're totally out of alignment with god's order and what's out of alignment with god's order is called sin sin has consequences that we don't see at the time but they are consequences god calls us into kingdom alignment understand that so god called them to be intentional not only in the warfare but also to be intentional in the building look at this deuteronomy 6 5. and you know this is the great commandment but most people don't know the second part of the great commandment you love the lord your god with all your heart and all your mind all your soul and all your strength these are the words i command you today shall be in your heart and you shall teach them diligently to your children so the first commandment to love the lord with all your heart is also got attached to it that you should hold the love of god in your heart and the word of god in your heart and instruct your children teach them impart to them share with them don't just drop them off at kids church and hope they'll do what you're not doing all week come on and we should honor and appreciate brett and joelle and the team that is investing in the children and to vania moore and others are investing into teams we should honor and value the labor they do but they're not a substitute for you they can't be it's not god's order that they be they're here to help and support you in building your generational legacy okay let's move on so so in order to gain authority in spiritual warfare and i'll touch on this and then i'll give you some practical things okay so in in acts chapter 19 and verse 13 through to 16 some itinerant jewish existences talk upon themselves to call on the name of jesus over those who had evil spirits saying we exercise you in the name of jesus and there were seven sons of skiva the jewish chief priests who tried that and the evil spirit answer said jesus i know and paul i know who are you and the man and the evil spirit was he leapt on them beat them all up overpowered and prevailed against him they fled out of the house naked and wounded that's a really dramatic story of a delivery now don't say well i'm never going to do any deliverance man i want that happen to me it happened to them for a reason here's the reason you can't displace or command something that overrides your spiritual rank and authority you understand in an army the sergeant can't order the captain private can't tell the sergeant what to do in the realm of the spirit there's a spiritual ranking and order and hierarchy and if you're not in the game and know where you stand and what you can do you're going to be beaten up every time they thought that by just putting into place a method they could overcome hidden spiritual powers like many people think if i just put into place a bit of a method into my home i'll have good kids as the outcome you're kidding yourself there's a warfare and a contention goes on for your family we have had to pray and engage in that warfare for every one of our children everyone both spiritually and practically it's not a a a four set oh you're passing away kids are gonna turn out really have you thought this yeah we're a pastor inspiring people to follow god we're the target of the most spiritual attack and if they can't knock us out all our kids will be second in line that's why you pray for your pastors because they face pressures you don't know anything about they're engaging at a level you're not engaging at but you need to engage yourself anyway so so you notice there spiritual authority works on the order of spiritual rank you have to have a positioning the demon said well we know jesus and we know paul paul certainly carries some authority we're really scared of him and jesus we're terrified of him but you who are you you can i remember taking a guy on a deliverance ministry with me to a house someone who's demonized and when i stood up to the demonized guy he just drew back then he looked at the guy next to me and then laughed his head off and then read his mail just read out what was going wrong in his life and the guy went red in the face because he was totally exposed or naked spiritually in this arena his life wasn't right he just uh he's posing posturing you can't hide from spiritual realities they see straight through you either got it or you haven't now jesus has promised us authority so don't look at the story now listen you're in the war you're either going to win it by knowing what you can do and doing it or you're losing but what's at stake is you something precious to you your family next generations luke 10 19 behold i give you authority i give it to you i give it to you you got to have it to give it all authority in heaven and earth is given to jesus i give it to you god wants you to have authority he wants you to have victory he wants you to be able to establish a spiritual and relational legacy i give it to you and he said you'll tread on serpents and scorpions all about the enemy nothing shall by any means harm you don't mean it won't scare you and cause trouble just won't harm you how about that so jesus overcome every spiritual thought if you want authority you have to connect to him in the realm of the spirit without connection to authority you have none that's why people get scared they don't know what to do say don't talk about it just avoid all going there how can i get that authority in my life now i've had to pay the price for getting it you get it a number of ways you get it number one by revelation you need revelation of who jesus is he's the son of god he died on the cross for this for your sins he's defeated all principalities and powers he's exalted far above every principality and power and he is coming again i need revelation of what jesus has done two i need faith i need to commitment in my heart to believe and put my life in jesus hands and start to live a life that pleases him the living to please christ may cause people to not like you or upset with you and don't like what you're doing that doesn't mean that you don't stop doing it they may not understand your path and your priorities my family did not understand my path and priorities but in time they could see i produced a great result and reluctantly conceded this is a great journey can you make do you understand that so it requires submission if if i want to have authority i've got to be under authority in my life this thing the church doesn't get in james 4 7 it says god will resist proud people you proud you can do it yourself good on you on your own everything will be against you it's an uphill battle and you'll feel the pressure see but submit to god submit to god resist the devil he will run away be terrified of you why because you carry authority that causes him to be intimidated and to run from you but but the key there is submitting jesus has the highest rank of authority if i align with him i now am empowered because i'm his representative so now i can deal with demon demons in my own life deal demons and family background deal with demons that come against my family against the children i'm in a place of spiritual authority and then finally i need alignment you've got to align your life right it's not just some old big thing of having something it's actually to do with how you live your life we have to align our lives our personal life have you got stuff where you compromise that's the area the devil has authority get it right sort it out repent put it right with god your relationships i had to repent from failing to be the spiritual head and leader of my home i hear all kinds of stuff and cry in the culture but god says this the husband is the head of the wife whether you like it or not it's got nothing to do with it it's just a spiritual reality of a it's not to do with how important the person is it's got nothing to do with their value at all it's got to do with a job a function our problem is we look and it's all about titles and then people carry on like it's a title on the head i can boss everyone around what a lot of ignorance that is spiritual headship is about loving and serving and sacrifice jesus is the model it's about giving leadership it's about serving it's about empowering it's about loving it's about listening so if we don't understand spiritual headship all we can do is connect with an abuse of it and say i don't like that i don't agree with that but it's a spiritual reality that for me to have authority to deal with things coming against my family i needed to step up and own the responsibility and repent of passivity and slackness in this area you're getting quiet now aren't you saying and and the wife wives submit to your husband as christ and you know as unto christ so submission see we it's a horrible word because of the way it's been misabused but actually it's just to position yourself relationally in a way you flow together in god's plan it's a functional term it's not your less person it's where you fit in how god's designed this thing to work and then you work as a team working as one and never letting the kids get between you they get between you you've got no power no authority they'll divide you and rip you apart and the kids are expert at it if you hadn't realized mom ma mom you there's a massive division in there man come on you all know that they all know they go for the weak spot mum said really i'll check ah don't check come on let's go see so so disorder in the marriage opens the way for chaos in the family spiritually so you get rejected passive men or controlling authoritarian men they damage everyone in the family and they're totally out of order you get rejected and secure woman and they they withhold what they have or they use what they have to control everyone it's a nightmare it can't produce good because it's not in god's order how are we doing so see you want to talk about family legacy this is what it involves it involves spiritual alignment so spiritual legacy is not automatic it doesn't just come to you automatically you actually have to contend for it i look as i've run out of time now so i probably better draw it in you've got to find i've got some a whole list of practical ways to build family legacy i'll maybe just have to leave that but but there are things you got another 10 minutes okay then firstly then a godly legacy if you're going to build a godly family legacy it's not automatic you've got to take hold of it so i'll give you a scripture in ephesians 1 verse 3 now god has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in christ in other words god has spoken and decreed over us favor blessing finances freedom all kinds of things we need for life god has made available for us however you must access it in galatians 3 the accessing of it says god in christ in verse 13 has redeemed us from every curse and has positioned us to receive the same blessing abraham received by faith in jesus christ so notice there it's only by faith i can overcome the curses only by faith i can overcome destructive elements only by faith i can reach into and gain the blessings of god i must do something so spiritual blessing is free but not automatic you've got to do the right things there's an importance of doing it so if we don't actually build a life with god and start to grow and mature and let them deal with our heart then we have a mixed things come into the family so i purposed and joyous purpose that we would walk with god and we would resolve our heart issues we would resolve unseen spiritual issues we would submit our life and our relationship our finances and everything to him and then learn how to walk with him now i'll give you some simple practical ways to do it and uh the thing about abraham was god says i know him he's going to command his children after him fathers there's a need for you to give leadership and if your father has failed you in leadership there's a need to resolve the grief and the robbing that's taken place in your life it's immense it's enormous because of the power associated with the father's blessing and many people their hearts are broken because their father abused them was angry with them controlled them abandoned them or was just passive and never engaged fail to represent god as a heavenly father let me give you just a few things now and and uh i can make these notes available so people can just have them if you need them i'll send a copy to dave and kate and then watson can get them so number one place jesus first matthew 6 33 we made an intentional commitment to seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness because he promised everything we needed would be added or god would bring them into our life and so kingdom when it says seek the kingdom of god it means the government of god it means god's rule and order and pattern being established in your life when it says righteousness it means functioning the way god intended you to function see unrighteousness is when we're malfunctioning see if we do our part he will cause what we need to come to us so the first step is make a commitment to make christ central and put his kingdom first number two build your own personal altar build your own an altar in the bible is a place of encounter and meeting with god it's a place where we offer a sacrifice it's a place where the spirit realm and the natural realm and direct so here it is in the bottom line is build a strong personal prayer life have your children ever heard you praying mine heard me they heard me five o'clock in the morning late at night see but you've got to build everything starts with your own relationship with lord secondly build a family altar build a family altar this is so neglected today this is a family altar again it's a place to meet god as a family so we did ours at the breakfast and we would make it a chance to have meal together and then also to read the bible together read a passage that was appropriate for them out of a book that was appropriate for them and to pray together to pray for the family it it if you want make prayer important it won't be important it's it's blessings the father's blessing the children day by day the mother standing with him also blessing prophesy so teach them keys to life teach them from the bible teach them from your life pray and lay hands on them and bless them use it as a chance to talk about what's coming up and if need be pray about it don't take the spiritual growth for granted it's not going to happen unless you engage and invest in it share what god has done let them know how god's worked in your life and the things you've had to overcome at the age that's appropriate thirdly commit to family participation in church now a lot i could say on this but let me just say a little bit i've seen over the years many parents who have paid a price to get to walk with god and break free of sin but they got offended when god was trying to shift their life or offended by some immaturity in the church and they walked away from the church well that's wonderful they haven't thought through what the effect that's going to be on their children because the children are learning all the time your value of the church becomes their value of the church maybe but if you have no value on assembling as the body and being in a place of corporate worship neither will they you understand that and so uh so commit to it so god plants people in the church so encourage your family all of them when they're young should all attend church while they're under your roof they all come to church you're providing and paying the bills and feeding them come to church i don't want to go nevertheless come to church i'm paying the bill i'm feeding you you'll be here god's providing me to provide for you so so so if you criticize and run down leaders and whine and mingle behind the scenes your children learn they listen and learn this is all unreal i want nothing to do with it as soon as i get out i'm out so parents are often blind to the long-term consequences of your attitude to the church in other words the wells that your father dug have now been filled in they're no longer walking with god no longer walking in the church here's some other thing you cultivate family celebration celebrate whenever you can have fun together i mean who wants to be heavy religious nonsense in the home you know fun together and laugh together and play games here do stuff celebrate why because god taught forget this this is for all the party poopers listen god commanded israel gather three times a year for a celebration and put some money aside so you know i can't do it he commanded them to put money aside so they could have parties three times a year pentecost passover pentecost and habernak so celebrate celebrate you don't have to have much you can make a big fuss out of very little but just make a fuss out of it celebrate birthdays hooray you're alive you're a gift of god praise god let's honor them and say some great things about them on their birthday they have an anniversary great they're celebrating anniversary see don't forget what we're doing here we're just saying we're celebrating life if a child does well at school great come on let's give him a bigger now do it go around let's get them all okay one two three clap hooray we're glad you succeeded we're with you see this is all about building stuff together see see so you gotta celebrate this little laughter be in the home build a healthy family culture what does that look like well everyone's got a job to do none of this slacking around and doing nothing people don't feel they belong unless they have a role see them a role hold them accountable age appropriate responsibilities brush your teeth make your bed come on put your clothes away they're all things that build your family legacy so do it set boundaries for behavior that's not acceptable this is what we do in our family here's why set boundaries call them out if they they violate the boundaries teach them to be respectful they must be respectful to their parents if they're not respectable to the first authority in their life they definitely will be disrespectful to god you have to teach people to be respectful no lippy no answering back you're cultivating an attitude to spiritual authority so you tr you train them in respect and obedience it's what we want that's what we expect and you train them in consequences what did we say you made a bad choice here's the consequences it's not a big don't do it all out of anger it's just out of this is life this is how it works there's a there's what's required here's the outcome and that's what we need family experiences do family holidays together we always had a family holiday i also did personal dates with each child i take them out do an hour appointment with them once a week just to invest in them personally it's incredibly valuable to the child to know in all your busy life you've still got time for them very important you do on a date and don't go doing what you want do what they would like to do sometimes we did weird stuff we bought a bag of lollies how exciting to buy a bag of lollies it's exciting went through a bike ride and bought lollies what a great outing we had they still remember all that stuff they're very young they're very impressionable and you create those valuable things they go on outings and experience i take great i just invited my gran one of my grandchildren out to the movies but i've been doing that with georgia and paige for years you understand you you never lose investing in them and it's not a matter of what movie don't care what movie it is this is we have time together hang out together and i have to talk a little bit and i can ask questions and maybe get to pray for them come on teach them how to handle money [Music] we did a family night could i know tv said friday night with family we did a concert man i i had hysterics at the weird stuff that happened they were unbelievable they're doing concerts everyone learned to be a speaker everyone everyone had a part to play in invest in their personal development you must invest help the kids understand what they're good at train up a child in the way they should just help them discover what god designed them for because a lot of people think that you've got to follow do what your parents want now listen don't get your kids to do what you want find what god wrote in them not your job to get them to do what you want in that area of their life calling it's written in their heart your job is to help them discover the desires and dreams of their heart and empower them if they're reasonable to get there come on invest in them pay for some music lessons if you can't you do something for someone and get them to do music for your kid just do something that makes these teach them how to handle their money so give them a little bit of money here's the money that goes to god that bit goes to spain that it goes to say teach them from the beginning come on these are things you can do to build your legacy help them with their relationships help them with all their relationships sometimes you need to check out the friends because listen if they form the wrong friends they'll go a different path to where you want them to go that's why you need to know who their friends are so make your home a place they can bring their friends then you get to see them firsthand and know who the friends are and you can figure it out me see help them with the conflicts help them with the comics they have conflicts with their friend they get on the phone deck and i do this how can i do that the answer is always no because you're on the phone and maybe you really don't want to go they're just pressuring and you can't say no you've got to help them with this stuff sometimes that requires confrontation and intervention when they're in the 10 years i'd have to have confrontations and interventions you think oh you passed everything well no no no i've had to go there and literally get them out of bad situations physically having to go and confront situations because that's because like this is forgiveness if they marry the wrong person who does not share the values in the spiritual life they will move their heart away from god and they will destroy what you speed your life trying to build it's important who they marry i'm not saying control who they marry but have a voice into it and pray into it we're praying now for our grandchildren and the spouses they will marry because they're important for our legacy to continue come on these are not this is not rocket science this is actually having a heart to be engaged and seeing that there is a warfare and you must both fight and build and persevere can you say amen to that can you say amen to that and grandpa if you're a grandparent your job didn't finish pray and intercede connect with the grandchildren if you're able to and talk with them listen to them mostly they want you to listen to them because their parents are too busy trying to do live to listen sometimes but grandparents can sit there just listen and listen and listen and talk and and sometimes the grandparent is the one the child will go to when they're in difficulty but they don't go to you if you haven't built the relationship so build the relationship take the time build a legacy for the future great children great grandchildren great marriages oh financially prospering serving the lord passionate for christ becoming a blessing for the generation we live in what a thing to build to dig the wells of family legacy oh i encourage you to do that right nick can we stand on our feet right now why don't we give the lord a clap right now i thank god for the people who helped me on my journey i had to ask for help i really didn't know what to do i had to seek ministry because i was bound spiritually and failing i had to choose models and mentors to help me see what it looked like that's what the church is to do i want to just give an older call now firstly for those who are fathers if god has been convicting you today of failure to stand in your role as spiritual head to pray for your wife and children to engage and invest in serving them if god has been talking to you perhaps you've been passive perhaps you've been very controlling dominating it's all about you you say god i'm repenting i want to come and properly take my place as your representative in my family i want them to see what jesus is like because of my leadership if that's you haven't you come forward now come quickly come quickly come quickly right now come quickly right now quick quick quick i don't just draw this out need you to come now now fathers that want to build a prayer life fathers that want to do a better job than they've done fathers that no man i've got something in my life needs to be removed i need the power of god to hit that thing and shift it why don't you come now come come come perhaps there's others here today and you've got a real issue with your father and you look into your family background there's a legacy perhaps of abuse there's a legacy perhaps of sexual uh sin and perversion and stuff like that perhaps there's some spiritual stuff in the family there's been idolatry spirit of him some kind of stuff let me say god i need to be cleaned up of that today perhaps your heart has been broken because a father or mother abandoned you you say god today i want to put that right i want to actually clean up my heart concerning my parents so i don't bring the junk into the next generation listen no matter what age you are you can do that right now is that you perhaps you're carrying shame in your heart from your family the poverty the suffering what you went through you say god i need to be free of that shame today i need deliverance from their chain perhaps there's some of you and you're abandoned and the pain is incredibly difficult stopping you making lasting commitments perhaps for some of you it's an issue over church and you bailed out a church and now things have gone wrong for your family you need to come back and repent say god forgive me for judging for being so judgmental i renounce and repent that judgment right now [Music] i can feel the presence of god here to touch people listen those who've come to the front just lift your hands and as you lift your hands i want you to talk to the lord and resolve right now by the words of your mouth repent of any place that god has spoken to you that you've failed and need to deal with is there someone to forgive in your heart see that person imagine them release forgiveness forgive them you don't know why they did that crazy stuff you don't really know why but you don't want to be attached to the crazy stuff you want to forgive and bless him so you can get on if you make judgments you say well lord i repented that judgment lord i cancel and call that judgment back today perhaps there's an area and you say god i need to be free today is that you is that you just do it right now do it right now there are others need to come up other others need to come up perhaps you're a younger person and you're wrestling with things from your family the legacy has been painful for you perhaps as women and the fame the legacy of families painful for you make your way to the front come come come come and just put your heart right before the lord i'm gonna lead us just we're gonna worship the lord our god is a loving father who has a great legacy for us if you're watching online god wants to touch you wherever you are you can stand right now where you are you can begin to repent in your heart you can begin to connect back with god again you can forgive in your heart god wants to touch you where you are right now people are here people are standing in the presence of god let's just worship the lord with a song i'll lead you in the prayer then we're going to break the power of those things over your life and believe for a great deliverance come on first of all let's worship him we give you all the glory [Music] yes [Music] are [Music] you are worthy [Music] today [Music] you are worthy [Music] right now i want you to follow me in this prayer at the end of this prayer we'll go back into worship i want to release god's power to touch you to bring deliverance from things that are unseen that have hindered you god and you know what it is i believe as we lay hands upon you the power of god will touch you and set you free i want you just to follow me in this prayer father i come to you in jesus name i repent now of every way that i have failed to be responsible [Music] in your kingdom i present myself now i submit to jesus christ and i ask you lord to forgive me i choose to forgive those who have wounded those who have hurt me have treated me unjustly i refuse to carry it today lord i ask for the anointing of the holy spirit to set me free of every generational bondage and to empower me to be a man and woman of god [Music] thank you lord i claim it now in jesus name come on church let's sing together in jesus name i take authority in the spirit realm i speak to every generational curse poverty idolatry perversion abuse religious spirits abandonment rejection fear anxiety i command you to go in jesus name go in jesus name go in jesus name i release a mantle of spiritual authority upon each person standing here holy ghost fall upon them now in jesus mighty name come on church thank you lord thank you lord father right now a priest member [Music] confidence [Music] jesus [Music] we [Music] of god [Music] energy but if you want to stay in this atmosphere you're welcome to stay as [Music] well to be [Music] thank you lord you are worthy father in jesus name i bless this household i bless fathers and mothers i bless marriages i bless families i bless their finances i release blessing in the house i pray father that in every home altars of prayer will be built personal altars of prayer family altars of prayer i pray father there will be a restoration of the glory of god in the homes and families here in jesus mighty name [Music] me [Music] [Music] together high on your trains [Music] [Music] [Music] deliverance freedom prosperity a river a well a family legacy legacy building thank you [Music] [Applause] here oh we love you lord we honor you we thank you for one another we thank you lord everyone here in the house has their journey only you know what they've suffered the injustices they've gone through but you're the god of justice the god who restores the god who rebuilds today lord we commit as a house to build with you to become restorers of the breaches the desolation of many generations father today let this house be known as a place of restoration where family legacies are built established where financial favor increases and flows over into the community and into generations father i pray you'd release a spirit of wisdom and revelation you would release power to create wealth you would bless the families that are here and lord we give you all the honor you have paid the price for us to succeed in jesus name god bless you we love you let's give the lord a clap offering as we finish shall we go give someone a hug god bless someone this morning

Channel: Ascend Global Church

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Id: O_DABo7Sc6c

Length: 71min 17sec (4277 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 14 2021