Seeing the Kingdom where we live...

It's been a while between posts while we've been setting up the cafe - with that now growing momentum like a firestorm it's a good time to get these back on track. We'll get a summary of our 3 week Creation Evolution discussion next, but first let's close off the final part of our Live-Work-Play series...seeing the Kingdom come where we live. Read on...

As you'll see in the slides below, we kicked this session off by asking what 'Home' means to each of us - do we see it as a fortress to retreat to, an oasis that rejuvenates us, or something else?  Biblically, we see that home is depicted as a place of blessing (slides 3-7).  

Thinking of the ideas of home and family, it becomes interesting when you look at how God introduces himself in scripture. The Bible opens by introducing God as plural being who is a Creator first and foremost, and then we meet the mind-boggling concept of "I Am" in God's introduction to Moses - introducing himself as someone who always IS, always will be, and never wasn't...God is life itself, the very essence of BEING (as in a literal personification of the verb TO BE).
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​It's mind-numbing stuff for us created ones. More on that another time perhaps.

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And from there God introduces himself consistently as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - the God of three generations of family. From there God increasingly reiterates his promises to the Israelites based on his history/credibility as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (slides 8-12). 

God inescapably works generationally - he works in and across families. In our individualism we unwittingly focus on our own lives and ask God to bless our endeavours. It seems it's frequently his pleasure to do just that but ...he has a much bigger story and a much bigger game at play that he's inviting us into. He is working across generations, across families, calling us into a larger destiny and inviting us to leave a legacy behind us as we go, giving a head-start to those that follow. 

Why? The answer to that is the same as the reason why I hate tomatoes...it just is...it's who I am. This is just who God is...it's part of His being I AM. He works in families. He is family. And if you have somehow lost family or had it taken from you, he'll set you in family again: 

"God sets the lonely in families" - Psalm 68:6

It's beyond us to fathom why God is the way He is but given that He is the very essence of life itself, when we live in line with His character increased qualities and experiences of life are the result. When you live, work and build generationally, you build enormous momentum across time. It's the difference between the speed our best runners can set doing a 100m sprint from a standing start, and the way they totally blitz those times again when it's a relay race where the runners hit the track running.
God is inviting us into a generational relay race that will set unstoppable momentum and increasing resource behind our lives. 
This has the potential to create enormous freedom so, obviously, the kingdom of darkness is desperately trying to undermine it. 

Things like divorce have an obvious effect - dividing the inheritance and splitting the wealth of a family, let alone the emotional trauma for all parties, but where does it begin? Could it be the modern dating culture that draws us to experiment with relationships in isolation and then flick them off when something goes wrong? Modern dating offers intimacy without commitment and essentially trains us for divorce by leading us to dump and change partners rather than work through conflicts together (an essential ingredient for a healthy marriage). 

How are parents and elderly people typically presented in Hollywood? We're so seldom given images of parents who have the backs of their kids no matter what, or kids who seek advice and support from their parents. Authority is almost never to be trusted in Hollywood's gospel. We're left swimming in imagery and themes that do anything but support a link or a partnership between generations. 

The western world's portrayal of sex as simply another expected part of any relationship at any age beyond puberty is perhaps the most powerful way of attacking the link between family, generational momentum and legacy. 
What is meant to be the unique glue that holds a lifelong oath together through fun, adventure, longing, frustration, highs and lows, just becomes another shortlived moment of hormonal pleasure devoid of real intimacy. As casual relationships inevitably break the scarring on our hearts build up until we can share our bodies with each other but are no longer able to share our souls. It's a brief moment of physical intimacy that's robbed of the full pleasure of emotional, spiritual intimacy. What God designed as a 3D experience becomes reduced to 1D and we wonder why it's not all we thought it was cracked up to be. Ironically, our so-called sexual freedom actually leaves us impoverished. And the pattern is set... 

God is inviting us to a radically different, much more powerful way of living across generations. Their is a massive legacy flowing through your veins just waiting for you to get in touch with...and there's a torch in your hand for you to pass on to others (whether their in your bloodline or not). 

What might your generational inheritance look like? It could be any of the following and more: 

• Natural personality traits that run in your family - excess joy, being at peace, hospitality, graciousness, generosity. These are all different aspects of God's character that he gives to different cultures and families.
• The gift of the gab - an easy way with people, natural skill at creating relationships, public speaking etc
• Physical health, wellbeing, strength 
• Specific areas of knowledge or insight passed down (hunting skill, traditional health knowledge, music, crafts etc)
• Skill with money and business
• Leadership abilities
• Art - the ability to see the world in different ways and capture and express that
• Skill with conflict - natural confidence in confronting physical, emotional, spiritual conflict

The list goes on!! 

Consider: 

• What inheritance has been given to your bloodline? 
• What skills and abilities can you consistently see in your relatives and ancestors? 
• How are you growing and giving voice to the legacy that lives in you? 
• Who are you passing the baton on to?