Legacies can also be intangible, such as family traditions. You may have a legacy of family traditions - and some of those are good; some may not be very good at all. Family traditions, or family ways of doing things, or family values - these are things that can be transmitted from one generation to the other.
I look at Aaron and Julie, I look at their family, and I see a strong legacy imparted into their children. It didn't just happen. It was intentional, and their children are children to be proud of. They've risen up, and they're achieving at high levels. This is a great thing, to have a legacy passed on like that. That's a great sign of success as a parent.
Revelation is something that God reveals to you, and shows to you - and here's the thing to realise: God reveals it to you - that's free; but growing it and giving it to others will cost you something.
Anything that God reveals to you is intended to change how you live. It's not so you can come in and say: “this is a great teaching - this is great...” No, no, no, no - it's actually to change our life.
The teaching of the word of God needs to change how we live and do life; what you value, what you do. If you walk out of a meeting, but never stopped at some point to say: “God, what are You speaking to me about; and how do You want me to change? What do You want me to do...” – then you're not applying the word of God.
It says in Genesis that the inheritance was something that they should “walk into”. “...that we might do all the words of the law”.
God intends whatever He shows you to be passed on – the next generation can receive without paying the price.
Joy and I travel globally. We touch literally hundreds of thousands of people every year. We minister in many different countries. I have more invitations than I can possibly accept; and have the potential of increasing greatly what we do. That is not an accident; or something that ‘just happened’ because we're ‘special people’. There was a journey we took with God and this is the consequence - so going back to Aaron again...
Aaron has taken a journey with God; and the result of many decisions - Aaron's children are where they're at; and his marriage is where it's at. One of the things I notice about both Aaron and Julie is their faithfulness and diligence in every aspect of their life - it's carried on to their children.
The next generation can receive without paying the price. However, they do pay the price to expand it and increase it.
I can impart to you what God has given to me - I can show you what I've learned. I can show you things in an hour that took me years to learn. If it took me years to learn - and you can get it in an hour, then you've got something given to you, that cost someone else a price. However, for you to carry it, and bring it out to someone else - that will cost you.
So the purpose of inheritance is: God wants inheritance (or legacy) to go to you; and then you increase it, and enlarge it, so that it expands – that will cost you something.
For you to sit in the church, and receive the word of God week after week after week, and never touch a life with it means: you're squandering your legacy. You're not what God called you to do with it - to influence and impact the lives of people.
Jesus said: “Follow Me”. We can follow the world - opinions, offences, culture, values, family, parents; but Jesus said: follow Me.
He said: I will “make you”; or “you will change” – to become a person who is a “fisher of men”. He didn't say: an evangelist; He said: a person who can “impact people's lives”; or “attract people into the kingdom”.
Who am I attracting into the kingdom of God? Who am I intentionally reaching out to - to attract into God's kingdom? That means: the legacy I've been given - I'm starting to expand it; because legacy is expanded, or developed, as you pass it on into the lives of others.
I think of someone like Elaine Morrison, and Elaine doesn't have a high profile in the church, but I know her passion for evangelism, and just so many people over so many years that she has discipled in her home. She's taken what was given to her, and she has expanded it, by sharing it with someone else.