~band.of.brothers~htbc.weekly.mens.

devotion Now behold, he has a son who has seen all his fathers sins which he committed, and upon observing him does not do likewise. He does not ear at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbors wife, or oppress anyone, or retain a pledge, or commit robbery, but he gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, he keeps his hand from the poor, does not take interest or increase, but executes My ordinances, and walks in My statutes; he will not die for his fathers iniquity, he will surely live. As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother and did what was not good among his people, behold, he will die for his iniquity. Yet you say, Why should the son not bear the punishment for the fathers iniquity? When the son has practiced justice and righteousness and has observed all My statutes and done them, he shall surely live. The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the fathers iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the sons iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statures and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. -- Ezekiel 18:14 21 Many of you have probably heard or read Exodus 20:5 before. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me. If you are like me and your father failed to leave a godly legacy you may have found this passage extremely troubling. As Fathers Day approaches I felt it a good idea to look closely at this issue many men struggle with. Keep in mind that when God spoke these words He was dealing with a nation that had been enslaved by a pagan people for generations. They had been led out of Egypt and were preparing to enter into the Promised Land, a land peopled by even more pagan peoples. He was warning Israel what could happen when a father wanders away from the truth. A fathers selfish actions can negatively impact generations of descendants. The good news, brothers, and it is truly GOOD NEWS, is that the cycle of sin can be broken. The passage above from Ezekiel proclaims this loudly. I have observed my fathers selfdestructive behavior for almost 47 years. For a long time, that behavior became my own in different ways. It was only when Christs redemptive action began in my life that I began to realize that something had to be done. This is a message for all of us, gentlemen. SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE. The chain of generational sin ABSOLUTELY NEEDS to be broken. Through the work of the Holy Spirit in our individual lives we can begin to forge a new generational chain. We can discard the chain of selfishness and sin and link by link create a new chain of righteousness that can far outlast the generational curse hung around our necks. YOU CAN BREAK FREE!!! Having been down this road, having desperately sought freedom from generational sin by the grace of God, I can tell you that it is possible. For far too long I used my father as an excuse. In the early days of my faith I could often be heard saying, You have no idea what my father was like. Its because of him that I am like this. WHAT A LOAD OF MANURE!!! I lied to myself and I short-changed God. It is because of my own sin nature that I was what I was. Sure, my dad didnt help me grow in grace and truth, but 99.9 percent of my worthless decisions were my own. To blame our condition on our up-bringing or, worse yet, on our parents is the wimpiest, selfcentered excuse we can dredge up. It is time for us to take responsibility for our own sin nature and DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT by the life-changing power of Christ. We need to choose to walk in Gods statutes and to keep His ordinances. We need to stop making lame excuses for the sake of our children and our childrens children. We need to RIGHT NOW build a legacy of righteousness. It can be done, my brothers. Is it important enough to you? To Stand and Not Fall,

Ric ***MENS BREAKFAST, SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 7:30AM, IN OLD FELLOWSHIP HALLSIGN UP BY SUNDAY, JUNE 12***