I DECLARE (3 page)

He told me, "Joel, now every morning when I get up I look around on purpose. I stare at my children. I go outside and I look up at the leaves. I take time to pick up an acorn and I'll just stare at it."

Because he almost lost his vision, seeing has now taken on a whole new meaning. He appreciates it in a much greater way.

I DECLARE a legacy of faith over my life. I declare that I will store up blessings for future generations. My life is marked by excellence and integrity. Because I'm making right choices and taking steps of faith, others will want to follow me. God's abundance is surrounding my life today. This is my declaration.

When you hear the word legacy you probably think of what you will leave behind or how you will be remembered when you are gone. That's one way of thinking, but there is something even more significant. The Scripture talks about how we can store up mercy for our children and future generations.

You can store up blessings and favor by living a life of excellence and integrity that will affect generations to come. I know I am blessed today because I had parents who honored God. I also had grandparents who prayed for me and modeled a life of excellence.

You are where you are because somebody sacrificed.

Somebody prayed. Somebody served. And now God is honoring them by releasing His goodness in your life. None of us got to where we are on our own. In 2 Timothy 1:5 (NIV), the Apostle Paul said, "Timothy, the faith I see in you first dwelt in your grandmother, Lois, and then your mother, Eunice, and now I can see it in you."

Paul was saying, "Timothy, what I see in you didn't start with you. It started because you had a praying grandmother. That woman honored God with her life. She stored up mercy that was passed down to your mother, and now I can see it in you. And the good news is it will not stop with you. It will be handed down from generation to generation."

You may not feel like you have a godly heritage if your parents or grandparents didn't give God the time of day. But you may be reaping the rewards of a legacy left a hundred years ago by a great-great-grandfather or other ancestors. They prayed. They helped others. It was their faith, their life of excellence, that planted the seed, and now God is rewarding them by helping you to live a life of victory.

Scripture tells the story of Joshua and the people of Israel who were in the midst of a great battle. Their leader Moses was on a hill holding up a staff of God in the air. As long as Moses had his hands raised, Joshua and the Israelites would win. But when he grew tired and put his hands down the enemy would start prevailing.

Moses realized what was happening. He asked a couple men to help him keep his hands in the air. But what I want you to see is Joshua was down there winning the battle. He did not realize the only reason he was winning was because Moses was on the hill holding up his hands.

Without Moses doing his part Joshua and the people of Israel would have been defeated. Your challenge is to live in such away as to cause others to win. With every right decision you make, you are holding up your hands. You're making it easier on those who come after you. Every time you resist temptation you are winning for your children.

Your challenge is to live in such

a way as to cause others to win.

Every time you are kind and respectful, every time you help someone in need, every time you come to church, serve, and give, you are storing up mercy. It may be for your children, for your grandchildren, or even a hundred years from now for somebody in your family line who will experience God's goodness because of the life you've lived.

I DECLARE that God has a great plan for my life. He is directing my steps. And even though I may not always understand how, I know my situation is not a surprise to

God. He will work out every detail to my advantage. In His perfect timing, everything will turn out right. This is my declaration.

The Scripture talks about how all of our days have been written in God's book. He's already recorded every part of your life from the beginning to the end. God knows every disappointment, every loss, and every challenge. The good news is your story ends in victory. Your final chapter concludes with you fulfilling your God-given destiny. Here's the key:

When you go through a disappointment, when you go through a loss, don't stop on that page. Keep moving forward. There's another chapter in front of you, but you have to be willing to walk into it.

Sometimes we focus too long on trying to figure out why something didn't work out the way we wanted, maybe why a marriage didn't last, or why we weren't given a position we worked hard for. You may not understand everything you've been through. But if you'll just keep pressing forward, not letting the bitterness take root, you will come to a chapter in your future that will pull it all together, a chapter that will cause it to make sense.

When you go through a disappointment...

don't stop on that page.

Our daughter Alexandra loved to put together puzzles when she was a little girl. Every couple of weeks we bought her a new puzzle to work on with her. Sometimes it would take us two or three days. Invariably, we would find a piece of that puzzle that didn't look like it fit anywhere. After trying every option we could think of, placing the piece here and there without finding a fit, I'd usually come to the conclusion that the manufacturer must have messed up. Maybe they'd included an extra piece by mistake or dropped in a piece from a different puzzle.

Every time that happened, though, we'd discover as the puzzle came closer to being finished that there was a perfect place for that "extra" piece. What was the problem earlier? All the other pieces weren't together yet.

The same might be true for you and your life. You may have issues or challenges that you don't understand. You're wondering, "Joel, if God is so good, why did my life turn out like this? Why didn't I get that promotion? It just doesn't seem to make sense."

Yes, that's true on its own, but it's because you have pieces to your puzzle that have not yet come together. If you will stay in faith, before long you will see how every setback, every disappointment, even a loss, was simply another piece of your puzzle. You may also discover that if this issue or challenge had not happened you would not have become connected to the great things God had in your future.

You may not see it yet, but God has the right pieces to make your puzzle fit together. That puzzle may not make sense right now, but don't be discouraged—there's another piece coming that will pull it all together.

I DECLARE God's dream for my life is coming to pass. It will not be stopped by people, disappointments, or adversities. God has solutions to every problem I will ever face already lined up. The right people and the right breaks are in my future. I will fulfill my destiny. This is my declaration.

A college professor took a group of students to China for a field trip. Several days into the journey the professor experienced incredible stomach pain. He was hurting so badly, the professor asked a friend to call an ambulance. He was rushed to a local clinic.

They were way back in a small town with no big hospitals. The medical staffer in charge noticed that the professor's appendix had ruptured. Poison was spreading throughout his body, but there were no surgeons around. There was little that could be done for the professor, his friend was told.

"I can give him some pain medication, maybe some sleeping pills, but my advice is that he should make peace with his family," the clinic staffer told him.

The professor went into convulsions and passed in and out of consciousness.

Back at home in the States, the professor's father, who is a pastor, began to feel an incredible burden for his son during a service at his church. The pastor tried to ignore the feeling but it just wouldn't go away. Finally, he stopped the service and he said to the congregation, "We must pray for my son. Something is wrong."

They dropped to their knees and prayed.

Back in China at the clinic it was two o'clock in the morning when one of that country's most well-known surgeons walked in—the same surgeon who travels with the U.S. president when he visits China. The clinic staff was amazed to see him.

"I'm here to take care of the American," the surgeon said.

The Chinese surgeon saved the life of the professor with an operation.

The next day the surgeon said to the recovering professor: "Who were those two men that you sent into my office yesterday?"

"I didn't send anybody to you," the professor replied. "I don't know anybody here in China. I've just been here for a couple of days."

"That's odd, because two men came in dressed in nice

suits. They looked like they were government officials," the surgeon said. "And they said you were a very important person and I needed to be here in the middle of the night to operate on you."

God knows how to make it all work out....

He is in complete control.

God knows how to make it all work out. Even seven thousand miles away God had people praying. That's why you can live life in peace. God is in complete control. He knows the end from the beginning. God knows what you will need a week from now, a month from now, even ten years from now. And the good news is He's already taking care of you.

I DECLARE unexpected blessings are coming my way. I will move forward from barely making it to having more than enough. God will open up supernatural doors for me. He will speak to the right people about me. I will see Ephesians 3:20, exceedingly, abundantly, above-and-beyond favor and increase in my life. This is my declaration.

My friend Samuel always dreamed of starting his own business. Year after year he was faithful to his employer and he was always doing good things for somebody; not just encouraging people but fixing things at their homes, or giving them rides to the airport. He has a giving spirit.

A while back another friend asked him to go to dinner. Samuel thought they were just catching up on old times, but this friend brought a proposal to start a new business. This man already owned a very successful company, but he wanted to start something new. Samuel thought that he just wanted to get his advice about it and maybe get some encouragement. But he said, "No, I don't want just that. I want you to be my partner and we will split it fifty-fifty."

My friend Samuel was really thrilled.

"I'd love to do that but I don't have the funds like you do," Samuel said. "I can't put in fifty percent like you can."

"Don't worry about it. I don't need your funds," the businessman said. "That's taken care of. I just want to bless you because you've always been so good to me."

Now Samuel owns fifty percent of a growing business. His dream has come to pass. What was that? He walked into a moment of favor that God had already lined up for him.

God has amazing things in your future.

A business dropped in his lap. In the same way, God has amazing things in your future. He has doors that will open wider than you thought possible. He can bring across your path opportunity that's greater than you can imagine. You may think you've reached your limits, or that you will never accomplish your dreams, never pay off your house, and never leave anything for your children. But you don't know what God has already spoken over you. You don't know the incredible things God has coming your way.

The Bible talks about how God rewards faithfulness. Matthew 25:21 says that when you are faithful in the little things that God will give you greater things. When you remain faithful, I believe your payday is coming.

God rewards those who seek after Him. If you have been faithful, if you have given and if you have served then God says: "Your payday is on its way." He is about to release a moment of favor that He already has in your future. All God has to do is speak to one person, and your whole life can change for the better.

I DECLARE that God will accelerate His plan for my life as I put my trust in Him. I will accomplish my dreams faster than I thought possible. It will not take years to overcome an obstacle, to get out of debt, or to meet the right person. God is doing things faster than before. He will give me victory sooner than I think. He has blessings that will thrust me years ahead. This is my declaration.

In the first public miracle Jesus ever performed, he turned water into wine at a wedding reception. During this big celebration, the hosts ran out of wine. Jesus' mother, Mary, came up and told Him about the problem.

"Mom, why are you telling me that? I can't do anything about it," Jesus said. "My time has not yet come."

I can imagine Mary just smiled and said to the workers, "Do me a favor. Whatever He asks you to do, just do it."

Mary knew what He was capable of doing.

There were six stone water pots nearby. They held about thirty gallons each. Jesus said to the workers, "Fill those pots up with water."

They filled them up.

Then He said, "Now dip out some of the water"— which was now wine—"and take it to the host of the party."

When the host tasted it, he called the groom over and said, "This is amazing. Most people serve the best wine first and then, after people have had a lot to drink and don't know any better, they'll bring out the less expensive wine. But you've done just the opposite. You've saved the best wine for last."

I've read some on how long it takes to make wine. It's a very lengthy process that begins, of course, with the planting of the seeds. Then it takes several years for the vines to grow and produce grapes. Once the grapes develop and mature and are just right, they must be picked and processed to make the wine. In general it can take three to five years before the first wine can be bottled. And that's just average-quality wine. The better-quality wine takes between five and seven years to make. Aging it for quality and increased value can take decades.