Saturday, March 16, 2013

Protect your Spiritual Legacy



Daniel 5: 1-6, 18-23

King Belshazzar gave a great banquet for a thousand of his nobles and drank wine with them. While Belshazzar was drinking his wine, he gave orders to bring in the gold and silver goblets that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem, so that the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines might drink from them. So they brought in the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. As they drank the wine, they praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.

Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall, near the lamp stand in the royal palace. The king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was so frightened that his legs became weak and his knees were knocking.

18 “Your Majesty, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness and glory and splendor. 19 Because of the high position he gave him, all the nations and peoples of every language dreaded and feared him. Those the king wanted to put to death, he put to death; those he wanted to spare, he spared; those he wanted to promote, he promoted; and those he wanted to humble, he humbled. 20 But when his heart became arrogant and hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. 21 He was driven away from people and given the mind of an animal; he lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like the ox; and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he acknowledged that the Most High God is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and sets over them anyone he wishes.

22 “But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Friday morning as I sat before the Lord, Holy Spirit set a reminder before me concerning the spiritual legacy of writings that I will leave behind when I return home to be with the Father. I reflected on the time in 2000 when I had my first will and testament drawn up and notarized. It was a detailed letter of how I wanted my earthly possessions to be distributed within my family. After my initial will was done a few years later when my first book was published, I added an addendum which covered any material written from 2000 and beyond.

Today, there may be someone reading this who may not be aware of the U.S. Copyright laws which state “Copyright in a work created on or after January 1, 1978, subsists from its creation and, except as provided by the following subsections, endures for a term consisting of the life of the author and 70 years after the author's death.” For each person their divine directives may be different, but for me anything that I’m  prompted to write as part of my scribal assignment has to be copyrighted and protected and preserved for future generations.  Just only a few weeks ago, I read a sad story about the family of a writer who died and his work is now in public domain being used in a manner which does not reflect or honor his family. The family unfortunately do not have the rights to his legacy and are unable to legally stop the harm because the legacy was not properly protected and passed on. 

The scripture referenced above from Daniel 5 shows what happens when the protection of what one has been given steward over were to reach public domain. In the scripture we find where the son of Nebuchadnezzar throws a great banquet and has brought out the gold goblets that had been taken from the temple of God in Jerusalem and used them in a manner which greatly displeased the Father. Belshazzar knew his father’s legacy but he did not honor and hold precious the very things of God. The scripture does not show if his father stressed the importance of the legacy, but if he had, there could have been a much different outcome. (When you have time please read the whole chapter of Daniel 5) The story of ROOTS is an awesome example of showing the importance of protecting one's legacy. Throughout the miniseries it showed how the legacy of Alex Haley's ancestors was passed from generation to generation to generation. Because the legacy was protected and preserved it soon rested in his hands. When Alex Haley began to treat the legacy with honor, the blessings from the previous generations rained down in his life. 

As stewards over the gifts and assignments of the Father, we have a spiritual obligation to protect the legacy so that it does not fall into the public domain or the wrong hands. Every God inspired vision and plan has to be protected so it can remain in the right hands. When the Father, through the death and resurrection of His Son made us joint heirs with Christ, instantly we became keepers and protectors of Christ spiritual legacy. (Romans 8:17 & Colossians 1:12) Because Christ’s legacy is important, so are those things which we do for and through Christ as well.

It is of great importance that those things which are regarded as sacred and holy be protected and treated as the Father desires and not as something common. This is where Belshazzar made his mistake and caused immediate judgment to visit his house. Today as you are led, please take a moment to assess what the Father has placed in your hands and begin to see it as part of your spiritual legacy. Ask yourself how are you treating what the Father sees as sacred and holy? Have you taken any steps to ensure that your legacy is passed into the right hands upon your return to the Father? And are you willing to release your legacy to your heirs at the appointed time? These questions and more can only be answered when you not only understand but embrace the magnitude of what the Father has placed in your hands as something special, sacred and holy.

Your spiritual legacy when protected and preserved, will have a greater opportunity to blossom and become the blessing that the Father has truly destined it to be. 

Blessings and Love,

A Scribe of the Lord, A Scribe for the Lord

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