A Resolution to live today with tomorrow in mind.

Day 1

Leaving a Godly legacy

One decision by one person makes a ripple effect on the generations to come.

Are you making today’s decisions with their impact on tomorrow in mind?___________________________________________________________________________________________________

When you are arranging your priorities and forming your habits, do you think about your children, your grandchildren, about the kind of character they’ll remember about and inherit from you?

Think of a family member that is passed as far back as you can... what do you remember about then?__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The decisions you make today, matter. They keep mattering. They are your legacy.

A legacy is not only what tangible items you leave behind. People spend a lot of time planning and making legal what will be left to who; but what about their spiritual inheritance? Our legacy of faith, compassion, gratitude, perseverance, forgiveness, patience, and love should be carefully crafted and then purpose

What would you like to leave your children Spiritually?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Choose to live today as if someone tomorrow depended on it.

37 Because of you, the Lord became angry with me also. He said, “You will not enter the land either. 38 But Joshua, the son of Nun, is your helper. Joshua will enter the land. Help him to be

brave. Give him hope. He will lead Israel to take the land as their own.

Deuteronomy 1:37-38 NIrV

As Moses’s stood on the outskirts of the land of promise, having been in the desert for forty years with God’s people and not being able to enter this land he waited to the ripe age of 120. He spoke of legacy. He spoke of spiritual inheritance. He encouraged God’s people to make today’s decisions with tomorrow in mind.

19 I’m calling for heaven and earth to give witness against you this very day. I’m offering you the choice of life or death. You can choose either blessings or curses. But I want you to choose life.

Then you and your children will live.

Deuteronomy 30:19 NIrV

Who are you leaving behind to live? When you think of them what do you want for their future?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

By choosing to love the Lord, to cling to Him, and commit themselves to Him in faithful obedience - today- the people of God could expect a long, prosperous existence as a nation tomorrow, filled with a lifetime supply of His joy and peace.

Would you try to be obedient to God if you knew it would mean your kids would be passed down a divine protection?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A Resolution to live today with tomorrow in mind.

Day 2

Life or Death

I wonder if men and woman while hearing Moses’ words were thinking about what God was offering and in turn the second alternative... Death.

Making this selection would result in consequences that were equally explicit - things like misery, loss or divine favor, the insecurity of living outside God’s protection.

Two choices. Life. Death

When you think about it like that how could this way of thinking change the choices you make in life?______________________________________

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Is there really a choice to make? Would anyone knowingly seek “refuge in his own destruction” (Psalm 52:7 ESV) squandering the opportunity to bequest a steady, godly legacy to his children, complete with all the blessings and favor that come from God alone, both for themselves and the generation to come?

What do you think? Do we ignore God’s priorities and make unwise, self-centered decisions without concern for others? ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Both knowingly and unknowingly, we do this every time we make even a small, daily decisions that are contrary to the purpose, plans, and promises of God. If we are not careful we will leave them with a heritage of heartache, turmoil, adversity, unnecessary difficulty, and possibly even spiritual curses to contend with.

Perhaps you know this reality with startling clarity.

Are you a product of the unwise choices of your parents? The legacy left to you has been one of addiction and compromise, of debt and unforgiveness, of failure and shredded self-esteem. Is so how has it effected you? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Maybe your parents didn’t mean to leave you imprinted with this kind of heritage, and yet they did - every time they chose not to make their momentary decisions with tomorrow in mind. We need to be careful what we are handing down to our children. When we opt for pleasure and fun over purity and fidelity, when we opt for weakness and selfishness over willful obedience and steadfast love, they are making the unwitting decision to pile baggage on our children’s grown up doorstep.

What decisions in your life do you think could effect your children in their future and even presently in their life?___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

No matter the legacy handed down to us, we can wake up and draft a new one for ourselves and children. This is your opportunity to leave a different legacy.

What is something you need to work on so your children do not inherit it? and how?________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

No matter our life circumstances we need to cultivate a legacy worth leaving to those we love. Staying committed to our family and faithful to the Lord. To invest ourselves fully in the work God has for you, whatever that may be.

How can you invest yourself fully in the work God has for you?

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Now’s your chance to see through the lens of Moses’ biblical description. See them as small yet significant choices between death and life.

Is there really a choice to make?

Choose wisely.

The legacy you are leaving depends on it.

A Resolution to live today with tomorrow in mind.

Day 3

Unexpected Legacy

Our lives are filled with such ups and downs. Some people deal with things we could never imagine dealing with. Priscilla tells a story of her aunt who was in her sixties never married and unable to have children.

When she had her hysterectomy she let God deal with much of her pain and loss. In fact, one day while recovering she heard a baby crying and instead of yet another wave of heartache and grief, it compelled her to seize the moment as an opportunity to receive her season of barrenness and to walk within it wholeheartedly.

To surrender instead of fight against what God was allowing. As she did this, a consuming sense of freedom surged through her body. God placed a blanket of His peace and contentment around he in a remarkable way. She felt Him say, “You have given up a physical womb, but I have given you a spiritual one.”

How would you deal with that disappointment? If you could never have children and were never led to get married? ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This woman six months later had confirmed God’s Words by saying, “You are not barren. Out of your womb will come new life. There is life to be produced and a legacy to be left through you. You have daughters many of them.” This woman knew nothing of her aunts situation.

Has this confirmation happened to you before? Something you were questioning and God sends his messengers to set your heart at ease. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Perhaps you know her aunts pain or have been cheated from another experience in life that you thought you deserved. But maybe if you look carefully, you’ll see the spiritual blessings.

What in your life have you felt you have missed out on experiencing?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Are you willing to give this to God? Why or why not?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

As women in whom God’s Spirit lives and has borne fruit, we have each been called to leave a godly legacy, to pass the baton of His grace and truth to others who will then take it to lengths and destinations we will never go ourselves. This is not an option. This is a heavenly mandate.

This heritage must be carried on. And it can be.

Through you. To them.

This truly is the essence of what a godly legacy is - the continued sharing of values, standards, beliefs, disciplines, priorities, experiences, lessons learned - not only to those who sprout from your family tree but also to those with whom you share the bloodline of Christ.

Who in your life could benefit from a mentoring relationship with you?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A Resolution to live today with tomorrow in mind. Day 4

Set in Stones

What do these stones mean to you? Joshua 4:6

In any other place, they might be just rocks. But put those rocks on the banks of the Jordan River, marking the site where two million Hebrews closed the book on forty years of wilderness wandering and into the promise land. Suddenly these are not just rocks anymore, they are monuments.

That is exactly what God intended when He said to Joshua in Joshua 4:2-7.

Paraphrase what happened in this scripture?

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Just rocks until they are gathered, strategically memorialized and purposefully positioned to be remembered.

Some people think we live day to day doing the same old thing, but a woman resolved to lead a godly legacy knows these moments stand for more.

How do you view your every day routine life?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She knows every moment represents experiences with God that are unique and personal. It may just be another monday, but its still a monument.

Instead of spending every other night of the week on something that will probably yield little, if anything of real value, would you be willing to take just one slice of one evening to walk back into the middle of the Jordan - into some moment when you experienced God in a memorable way - and pull out some insights that could help begin construction on a growing record of your legacy?

Describe a Jordan moment in your life. How can you use that to grow your legacy?____________________________________________________________________________________

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Take the time to journal especially in these cases:

• Something is pressing on your heart and mind.

• A specific milestone has been reached.

• The Lord has been doing an important transformative work in you.

• In the middle of a particular life occurrence that may matter in the future.

You can go back and be able to recall specific seasons of your life, remember what you were praying for a see where God has worked in your life.

Recording God’s handiwork in ways both large and small, provides you and others a walk down memory lane that inspires because it’s Him... in you.

And now in stone.

Your children, grandchildren, the younger women you hope your life will be able to affect - they’ll be curious to see how He moved and worked, through both your successes and your failures, your high spots and your biggest mistakes, wrapping them all in His sovereign grace and sealing them in ink on these simple pages.

Do you journal? If not do you think after reading this you may want to?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Journalling is not for everyone, but I am asking that you find your own way to store up your legacy. To gather stones. Obviously the life you live is much more important than the one you write down. Just find a way that works for you.

What other ways can you record your legacy ?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A Resolution to live today with tomorrow in mind.Day 5

Your Legacy

Every day your Father does something new. He molds and shapes. He guides and refines. He rotates and contours and buffs around the edges. Every single day. And though it may seem all routine and ordinary to you, this is the stuff of your legacy. It’s happening all around you. Inside you. In living relationship with One you long for others to know in even deeper ways. And one day, when they come to you wanting to know, “What do these stones mean?”.... Make sure you have something to show them, not just tell them.

Look at your day through the lens of the woman leaving a godly legacy....... list the wonderful things God is doing in your life. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Do you already have some “Stones” ready to share? Ether passed down to you or ones your polished yourself!____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You are a woman who's story bears reading and repeating because your God is doing amazing things in you, whether or not you realize it. Things you don't want to hide or downplay. Things others shouldn't need to learn all over again. Things that will help them launch life into a spiritual boost and a head start.

What advice would you like to give your kids that you wish you would have listened to when you were younger?____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Don't you just wish people could learn from your mistakes and all you did wrong?! Maybe making this legacy in stone could help someone walk through the reason why we say “because I said so.”

These Resolutions are bigger than just our lives. It’s about living a life that’s bigger than yourself, one that can’t be contained by the limits of a human lifetime. This is both a responsibility and a joy - the responsibility to invest heavily in others and the joy of watching God take our smallest gifts and turn them into eternal treasures. In whatever way He leads you to this, He will supply you incredible grace and strength to accomplish it.

Leaving a Godly Legacy

I fully resolve to make today’s decisions with tomorrow’s impact in mind. I will consider my current choices in light of those who will come

after me.

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