Resolution but to live it out long-term? What would happen if millions of chil-
dren could see God transform their fathers into tender, loving dads and power- ful, spiritual warriors who walk in integrity and leave an eternal legacy? What would it do in the hearts of our sons and daughters? What would it do for future generations?
We have written this book because we want to join God in turning the hearts of fathers back to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. As you know, we are unapologetically calling men to follow Joshua’s ex- ample of spiritual resolve and leadership and say, “As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” We want to rekindle a vision of what your marriage and family could be like if Christ was completely ruling in your heart and your home. We want you to spend the rest of your life preparing to stand before God and hear Him say, “Well done!”
We have also challenged you to be a chain breaker, a prayer warrior, a justice fighter, and a spiritual mentor—so that your children and grandchildren, as well as the other men around you, will follow your example. Yes, they must decide for themselves. But when your children feel the love of God flowing through your heart into theirs, when they hear the Word of God boldly pour- ing from your lips, and when they see the power of God at work through your changed life and answered prayer, they will be drawn to know, love, and follow the God of their father.
This is your legacy.
Every father is first to be a faithful follower of Christ, second a faithful husband, third a faithful father, and then a strong spiritual leader in this world. But we must get these in order, starting with ourselves and moving out from there. If we do not love Him first and our wives as Scripture commands, our failure in these areas will greatly limit our success with our children and bey- ond. But if we are faithful at home, then we can be strong influencers in our
cities and nations for Christ. We can positively impact the world ourselves, and then through our children and grandchildren after we are gone.
God has set us up for success. We have a Savior who has reconciled us back to God. We have a heavenly Father who has blessed us with “every spir- itual blessing” (Ephesians 1:3). We have new identities in Christ and are ac- cepted and beloved. His divine power has given us “everything” we need for “life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:2–3). We have His Word, His church, His Holy Spirit, and His promises to help us say no to what is evil and not to fear any man or present crisis. He has promised us, “‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?’” (Hebrews 13:5–6).
But as we approach this final resolution, we must understand something vitally important. If we are not careful, we are still likely headed for failure. We are foolish to think that we will be true to all of these resolutions if we are still relying on our own strength or our own steadfastness.
Here’s why . . .
After three years of closely following Jesus, the apostle Peter looked at Christ during the Last Supper and swore to Him with resolution that he would never fall away or prove unfaithful to Him. He declared, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You” (Matthew 26:35). Within a few short hours, however, he had completely failed. Not once. Not twice. Three times he denied he was a follower of Christ. Complete collapse.
Peter was very sincere—just like we can be—when he resolved to be faithful to Jesus. But he was relying on his own strength. Even though acting with great zeal and passion, his pride was mixed into his mind-set, and it set him up for great failure.
The same thing will happen to us . . . unless we humble ourselves and become reliant on God’s grace and His Spirit. We must go back to what Jesus said at the very beginning—to the very first words of His very first sermon in the very first gospel.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Mat- thew 5:3)
Becoming “poor in spirit” is a key to living the Christian life daily and fulfilling this Resolution long-term. There are many types of poor people. Some wake up needy each morning and have to go out finding work—day laborers—living from hand to mouth in order to survive. Today’s work buys
tonight’s meal. But there is an even more impoverished type of poor—the blind beggar who wakes up hungry every day but cannot work at all. The only thing he can do to survive is to cry out for help. Continually.
This is the type of “poor” that Jesus was describing. But He was speaking of “spiritual poverty,” the kind that comes from realizing we are completely powerless apart from God’s constant intervention. Helpless on our own.
That’s what being “poor in spirit” is all about. It’s knowing we can’t do anything of eternal value without God’s constant help. It’s relying completely on Him and begging continually to survive—the extreme opposite of pride and self-reliance.
Think of it. Who was the most powerful, successful, and effective person in the history of the world? Who was the only person who never failed or blew it spiritually? Who was the only one who did the perfect will of God all the time? Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And how did He choose to live? “Poor in spirit.”
Constantly, completely reliant upon His Father.
Consider His spiritual poverty. Though He was God, He chose to empty Himself, take on human flesh, and humble Himself as a servant on earth. Jesus was filled with the Holy Spirit and became absolutely dependent upon the Father for all things at all times (Philippians 2:5–10).
He then said . . .
• Not My will, but His will. (John 6:38)
• Not My teaching, but His teaching. (John 7:16–17) • Not My glory, but His glory. (John 8:49–50; 12:28) • Not My words, but His words. (John 14:10–24)
He modeled the secret to long-term victory—total surrender of self, total reliance on God. We too, like a hospital patient plugged up to a life support system, must stay intimately connected to Christ and dependent on our heav- enly Father and His Spirit for all our spiritual strength, wisdom, guidance, and grace.
The decisions of our lives each day could impact eternity one way or an- other. We will miss the eternity-wrapped moment of “now” if we are not abid- ing in Christ. Our selfish nature wants to stay in control and resists reliance on
God’s Spirit. Our tendency is only to cry out in a crisis when all else fails and we have no other options.
But true power and sufficiency in Christ begins with recognizing our bankruptcy within ourselves. Paul said it is “not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God” (2 Corinthians 3:5).
This does not mean false humility or cowardice; it is merely facing real- ity. This does not mean laziness. God doesn’t want you to sit back and coast like He is going to do everything for you. He wants you to call on His name, rely on the strength of His grace, and then wear yourself out six days a week for a worthy cause—Him (1 Corinthians 15:10).
But before you can say, “I can do all things through Christ” (Philippians 4:13), you must acknowledge that “apart from Him I can do nothing” (John 15:5). Then you must learn to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:17), which means that you are constantly going to God for the grace and wisdom you need to be like Jesus and do His will moment by moment throughout each day.