Tonight was our annual Praise Dinner/Worship Service at my home church, Liberty Baptist. Every Thanksgiving week, we come together to enjoy a meal (like every good Christian) and have a service with testimonies and singing. I look forward to this service all year.

I was sitting in service tonight flipping through my Bible on the awesome YouVersion iPhone app. I felt that I needed to read Ephesians 2. I flipped (or tapped) over there, and read these 10 verses:

¹ And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. ⁴But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, ⁵even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— ⁶and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,⁷so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. ⁸For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not a result of works, so that no one may boast.¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Eph. 2:1-10, ESV, emphasis mine)

I got done reading that and those two little words stuck out at me. “But God…” Those two little words are the turning point. “But God” changes everything.

We are all, by nature, sinners living in the passions of our flesh. Then God “but”s in. His rich mercy and love don’t just save us from Hell–a powerful thing by itself–but they raise us up with him and seated us next to him. All for what? Just so he could show us His grace. That’s it. He saved us just to lavish on us his grace.

Even crazier? Not 10 minutes after I got done glancing over this passage the pastor starts reading it from the stage. God had a message tonight! I pray that it might stick with you like it is with me. Go out and remember God’s “but”. It changes everything.

Today, I ran across one verse in three different places.  Typically, that means I’m supposed to be paying attention to something.  There’s something important God is trying to show me.  So here’s what I read:

“Our children will also serve him.  Future generations will hear about the wonders of the Lord.  His righteous acts will be told to those not yet born.  They will hear about everything he has done.” Psalm 22:30-31

In the 4th century AD, a man named Eusebius (wacko Roman names) wrote a book titled The History of the Church.  He wrote every single thing down that happened to the early Roman church.  Persecution, growth, penalties, doctrines.  It was all in there.  To this day, it’s still the most respected source of extra-Biblical early church history.  Eusebius left a manuscript behind for those not yet born.  He told us about everything God did for them.

We’re called to do the same.  We’re called to leave a legacy for those that aren’t even born yet.  Over 1500 years later, we’re still reading Eusebius’ history of the church.  Will people still care about anything I’ve done or affected in 1500 years?  It’s not not necessarily about me- it’s about letting Christ work through me.  I don’t care if people remember me in 1500 years.  I care about if they know Christ more because of the life God empowered me to live.

We all leave something behind.  I want to leave a better world.  A healthier world.  A more responsible world.  A greener world.    A more Christlike world.  What’ll be left over when you leave?

My life has been on a Joseph kick lately.  We’re starting a 10 week Joseph series in kids’ church, the first lesson of which I taught.  Ryan preached on Joseph today.  I’ve heard stuff about a book about Joseph.  It seems like Joseph just keeps coming back.  I suppose God’s probably trying to tell me something.

Regardless, I did have a realization about Joseph today.  See, Joseph’s life was pretty screwed up.  He had more step-whatevers than you could imagine, his dad cheated his way through life, and he was the favorite.  He wouldn’t let you forget it either.  Joseph didn’t start life very well.  In fact, Joseph even contributed his good share to how screwed-up he was.  Sometimes I can read through his early life and see pride, other times I can’t.

Joseph’s brothers hated him because of his pride.  Finally, his pride led to a fall.  Literally.  He found himself at the bottom of a pit.  Not by his choosing, but more because that’s where the 10 brothers found a convenient place to put him.  That pit was important to Joseph’s life though.

See, without that pit, Joseph would have lived the rest of his life as the spoiled brat child of a con artist.  But that pit opened up opportunities.  That pit changed his life.  After that, he had a rough couple of years, then he became a great ruler.  That’s what a pit did for Joseph.

We’re a lot like Joseph.  Sometimes, we get so cocky we just get thrown to the bottom of a pit without a rope.  While we’re in there, it looks pretty hopeless.  It’s dark and we can’t escape by ourselves.  But if we choose, that pit can be hopeful.  You have to come out of the pit eventually.  Things will be better once you get out.  You just have to try.  Choose that you’re going to get out.  That way, when you’re on level ground, you can look at where you’ve been and thank God you’re not there anymore.  You overcame, with His help.  Let the pit change you for the better, rather than wallowing in the swamp at the bottom.