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Focus: Embracing your life as a legacy
Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV) “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”
I believe this verse was written for you personally. You might automatically think, “Yeah, right—this was written thousands of years ago about somebody else, not me”. Well, I differ on that philosophy. Please stay with me and keep reading…
Another scripture in the Bible worth considering, says this: Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us –2 Timothy 3:16-17 (The Message).
Try imagining your life was truly ‘ordained’–that God saw possibilities in you even when you were still in your mother’s womb. He saw you as someone who would have successes and failures. Someone who would possibly be tempted to give up. He knew you would question at times why you were born—but most importantly, He saw you as someone He could use as an example to others—just like He used a person who lived in Bible times, named David.
David was a simple shepherd boy. He had seven or eight brothers and a couple of sisters. He was the youngest son of a man named Jesse. David was singled out by the Prophet Samuel and anointed as king of Israel while he was literally in a field watching sheep. Several years went by before he actually reigned as king. In the meantime, he was still a shepherd–who was also a musician—who also killed a giant with a sling and a stone, because he called on God for help.
During his younger years, David was brought before King Saul to play the harp. Even though the king was pleased with David’s musical ability and trusted David to be his armor bearer, later he became extremely jealous of David.
In the years that follow, David spends a lot of time running for his life because King Saul wants to kill him. When he finally becomes king, David goes through several marriages. He commits adultery with another man’s wife and she becomes pregnant. David arranges for the man to be killed in battle. When the baby is born, it dies. One of David’s grown sons rebels against him and tries to kill him. David struggles with depression. David has physical problems—open sores that won’t heal. He wins many battles. He writes songs for God, based on his experiences. He adds other people’s compositions to his own and creates a collection of songs called, “The Psalms”.
David’s life is a long list of failures and successes. God calls David, ‘the apple of His eye’. David is the father of Solomon, who is known as the wisest man who ever lived—who also succeeded his father as king. David is one of the ancestors of Jesus Christ.
David was an ordinary guy who depended on God. Some of the words he wrote were later referred to as ‘prophecy’. Because he wrote down his failures and victories, he was able to leave a legacy. What if he hadn’t bothered to do that? Or, what if he had only written down the ‘good stuff’?
He couldn’t have been proud of his mistakes. But, in all of his circumstances—David was humble about his life. He was willing to admit when he was wrong. He knew his strength and any goodness in him, came from God–and he always gave God praise.
Declaration: I will embrace the sum total of my failures and successes, as the legacy of my life—knowing that both the bad and the good are a part of my ‘whole story’. I will live each day with new strength and give God praise.

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All NEW STRENGTH posts are Copyright by Christina Cook Lee 2012. Please request permission to re-post or re-blog.