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A LASTING LEGACY

iUniverse, Inc.

Chapter One

... Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth; if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "Move from here to there" and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. (Matthew 17:20–21)

The making of this book had its genesis in a desire to leave a legacy for our children and grandchildren, a legacy founded on taught spiritual values as well as learned lessons. The messages here are really nothing exceptionally special about basic foundational values or behaviors. What might make them special is the uniqueness of the messages and that those messages have come from those whom our children and grandchildren know, and knew, intimately. Their very own Oma and Opa, real people they knew, wrote this. These are lessons experienced and encountered by people just like themselves.

He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones. (Proverbs 2:7–8)

We start this book with a discussion on faith: our faith, the faith of our parents, the faith of our grandparents and ancestors, and the faith of those gallant leaders found in the history of Israel and dedicated followers of the precepts laid out by our dear God and heavenly Father.

Faith gives us a solid ground to stand on. Faith, embraced by hope, gives us purpose and meaning for our lives. More to the point, we want to talk about the faith we trust you have developed and nurtured, the faith we hope resides in your heart, and the faith you carry with you every day of your lives.

Without faith, we have no foundation on which to stand. Paul says the foundation of a Christ-centered life is faith, hope, and love. So too, we will start our book with these three foundations. Without a strong faith, the rest is meaningless. We live by a faith made available through the workings of the Holy Spirit allowing us to know that God has laid out a promise for us when this mortal life is finished.

Throughout the history of mankind, faith has always been at the foundation of man's existence. We, and all mankind, have this need inbred in us to put our trust in something. Every element of our daily lives is founded on faith. We, for example, put our trust and faith in God as the author and sustainer of all things. God in His majestic love and faithfulness provides for our every need. We know that and we believe. We trust and have faith that God will be there day in and day out to feed us, clothe us, and shelter us.

Yet there are those who put their trust in scientific reasoning and state that unless it can be seen and repeated in an experiment, there is no foundation for believing in something. In their twisted way, those same individuals will emphatically proclaim the proven scientific fact of Darwinian evolution. They will state evidence that points to millennia of genetic evolvement eventually leading to human life. Yet when asked to apply their very own strict scientific regimen by insisting on the need to observe the principle of repeatability, they will immediately retaliate by insisting one must have faith. Faith in a God is not acceptable, but faith in a scientific principle must be accepted. Simply put, the belief in Darwinian evolution is nothing more than a groundless faith by those who will readily deny the existence of God and outright refuse to accept any supernatural existence of beings or events.

We have been called not to just put our trust in whatever meets our momentary fancy. We are a cherished creation of an all-loving and omnipotent Creator. Our lives are not operating in a totally free-for-all vacuum. For our Maker and Creator has set Himself in front of us to make sure that our faith is sound and squarely fixed on Him.

A life of sixty, seventy, or eighty years cannot progress without a firmly rooted faith in a whole variety of day-to-day activities. The building we work in evokes our faith in knowing the structure won't explode or collapse. We cross a bridge and have faith that architects have designed the structure so the bridge will not give way. We drive our vehicles on roads trusting that other drivers are careful.

The faith we are talking about is far more substantive than those examples. We're talking about a deep conviction that the impossible is possible, that the unthinkable is achievable, and that the unattainable is reachable. Notice how Paul says it in these excerpts from Hebrews 11 (verses):

Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. (1–2)

By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (3)

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country. (8–9)

By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who made the promise. (11)

By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son ... (17)

This kind of faith is one that transcends all earthly comprehension and asks us to accept that without question those human activities and issues that far transcend our human understanding. Now this is not saying we do not quest to gain greater understanding of God's creation and the magnificent workings of the world and matter. No, not at all. For without that quest for greater understanding and knowledge, we never would have uncovered God's desire to have us discover automobiles or airplanes or advanced medical techniques or a host of other mind-numbing technical advancements. God's world is full of yet to be discovered wonders, and He desires that we continue to uncover those wonders, which manifest the power and glory of His unfathomable creation. There comes a time in everyone's life where we cannot understand how God will accomplish His will in our life, or how we will get out of a particular situation, which seems all but hopeless, or how we will overcome what appears to be a career-ending or life-ending situation. Times like these make us feel as if all hope is gone and all solutions are exhausted. We need to revisit the verses from Hebrews. Building on those passages, the following verses from Psalms say it so well:

The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you. (Psalms 9:9–10)

[M]y God turns my darkness into light. (Psalms 18:28b)

In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. (Psalms 2:4–5)

It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. (Psalms 18:32)

The book of Nahum is one of those Minor Prophets we probably skip too frequently in our Bible reading. Notice how he declares his faith in God so succinctly when he says:...