Laying Hands on the Future!

The act of laying on of hands appears in the Old Testament in various connections: in the act of blessing (Genesis 48:14); in the ritual of sacrifice (hands of the one offering laid on the head of victim (Exodus 29:10,15,19; Leviticus1:4; 3:2,8,13; 4:4,24,29; 8:14; 16:21). The tribe of Levi was set apart by the laying on of hands (Numbers 8:10). Moses appointed Joshua to be his successor by a similar act in (Numbers 27:18-23/ KJV) where it says, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand upon him; 19 And set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation; and give him a charge in their sight. 20 And thou shalt put some of thine honour upon him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. 21 And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall ask counsel for him after the judgment of Urim before the LORD: at his word shall they go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he, and all the children of Israel with him, even all the congregation.

22 And Moses did as the LORD commanded him: and he took Joshua, and set him before Eleazar the priest, and before all the congregation: 23 And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge, as the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.”

The idea in these cases varies with the purpose of the act, but the primary idea seems to be that of conveyance or transference and in some cases the idea of identification and of devotion to God.

I have two children, Savannah and Emerson, and as they get older it seems that I become more and more aware of the desire of Hell to snatch them away from the church. I’ve heard the statistic passed around recently that some 80-85% of our young people are leaving the church as they get older. I don’t know about you, but that bothers me. It bothers me even more because I have two children that I want to see go to Heaven as bad as satan wants to see them go to Hell!

Because we live in “the world” I understand that “the world” will have many opportunities to leave its finger print on my children. Through attitudes, fashions, media, and people in general, the world will have plenty of opportunities to leave its impression on my children.

So, how do we fight that without locking our children up in the house and not letting them go “outside?” We make sure that the finger prints of God, the man of God and the Church leave a GREATER impression on our children!

God's finger print is obviously on us because HE CREATED US in His image! Our responisibility is to raise up the next generation to love God and His Word with all of their heart and to submit to God and His Word. There is also the finger print of the church that is left on us because we're a part of a local church that has the opportunity on a weekly basis to touch our lives through prayer, praise, worship, bible studies, preaching, children's church and youth services! Again, our responsibility is to make sure that we're there (at CHURCH...EVERY SERVICE) so the impression can be made!

Then there is the finger print of the man of God that is left on us when he dedicates us as babies, prays for us, preaches to us, leads us to Salvation, and gives us counsel. We desperately need to get back to the place where we allow a man of God to leave an impression on our life. We need men of God to impart their wisdom and passion on to the next generation. We need men of God to lay their hands on us and transfer anointing to the next generation who will the church into the future. We need men of God to speak into our lives and help give us direction as we lead our families, our churches and our nation into unchartered waters.

I want my children to know that God is GREAT and greatly to be praised! I want my children to love God MORE than they love ANYBODY or ANYTHING! I want my children to fall in love with the Word of God, because it's principles NEVER change! I want my children to fall in love with the Church because it's a safe place: a place of PRAYER; a place of WORSHIP; a place of HEALING; a place of DELIVERANCE! I want them to love the Church and love going to church!

I also want them to love the men of God who will leave impressions on them throughout the years. I want them to love the man of God who will preach to them what they NEED to hear, NOT just what they want to hear! I want them to respect the man of God who loves them enough to tell them what they MUST do to be SAVED! I want men of God who are passionate about our Apostolic Heritage and "the message" that has been passed down from generation to generation to transfer their passion and anointing to my children so they can pass it down to their children!

Just as Moses laid hands on Joshua and charged him transfering his anointing to him, I want my children to have that same experience. So, this past Sunday at Revival Center, we had Pastor Tim Copeland preach for us. WOW, what a message this man of God preached to our church! After he finished preaching and people were in the Altar praying, I asked Pastor Copeland to lay hands on my children and pray for them. What a beautiful site it was to see this great man of God wrap his arms around my children and pray a passionate prayer over them. My son, Emerson, met his new Hero of Faith last Sunday and has been talking about how good "Bro. Clopeland" as he pronounces it, preached ever since!

So, let me encourage you today with Romans 12:21/ NKJV where it says, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Don't be intimidated by the impressions of the world, just overcome them with the finger prints of God, the Man of God and the Church!