What You Need to Know Right Now

The night before last, I dreamed that I gave a general prophetic word to a young girl. She might have been seven or eight years old. After I gave her the word, her father asked to speak with me. He was very distraught, and I wondered if I had upset him. As he talked, I began to understand his frustration. His daughter was sick. She was not gaining weight and was not growing the way that she should. This father’s heart was filled with worry over his daughter’s future. 

The mother stepped in the room and poured out her concerns about medical care. They were a family of financial means, but the bills were overwhelming. I told them that I did not have all the answers and in fact, I did not have any answers. The mother gave a short cry of despair at that. Then, I told them what they needed to know, “God loves you”. It was not a trite thing to say. Something deeper was being communicated in those three words, “Even though what you are going through is crazy and even though you have no answers for why this is happening, God deeply cares for you. He is for you”.

“You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? When I cry out to You, Then my enemies will turn back; This I know, because God is for me.” – Psalm 56:8-9 (NKJV)

Whatever is happening today, you need to know that God is for you. You might never understand why certain things have happened. You might not see the conclusion in this life of the mysteries that have kept you awake at night. It is going to be OK though. God really and truly cares about you! He values you. He loves you so much. This is what you need to know, and this is what you need to stay focused on.

The Distributed Goodness of God

I just finished roasting three small batches of coffee on our electric range. Our apartment smells like a coffee shop. It is wonderful! Coffee has a special significance for me. It is a drink that I enjoy, but more than that, it is a way that God has specialized his goodness toward me.

“Who satisfies your mouth [your necessity and desire at your personal age and situation] with good so that your youth, renewed, is like the eagle’s [strong, overcoming, soaring]!” – Psalm 103:5 (AMP)

God is good in a general sense, but he is also vast in the depth of his goodness. His expression of goodness is not intended to be generic. He desires that it would be personal with us, so he tailors the expression of his goodness to our uniqueness. For me, coffee is one such expression of God’s goodness. Early in our marriage, my wife and I purchased a latte machine. I fell in love with it! A few years ago, the old machine was retired and a new but inexpensive model took its place. Recently, a gasket in the steamer wand started to deteriorate and needed to be replaced. When I checked online, it was not available from the manufacturer. My wife checked at the local hardware store, but they did not have any appropriate gaskets. At the end of that workday, I visited a local thrift store that I frequent. There on the shelf sat the same model. The espresso section appeared to have seen almost no use. Not only was I able to replace the gasket, but I received new parts for most of the espresso section of the machine.

A year or two ago, a coworker introduced me to the practice of home coffee roasting. I purchased some green coffee beans online, procured a twenty dollar hot air popcorn popper, and started roasting coffee for my own consumption. After a year, the popper died. I did not want to replace it due to its relatively short lifespan. When it seemed as though I would have to resort to oven roasting, God distributed more coffee goodness. The day before I intended to oven roast, an almost new Whirly Pop kettle popcorn popper showed up on the thrift store shelf for a rather low price. I took it home and found out that I could roast even better coffee than before.

Where has God blessed you? What areas of uniqueness has God imprinted into you? He values us as dearly beloved children. He is looking for opportunities to bless you. There are ways that God desires to distribute his goodness to you that will be meaningful to you personally. Do not be afraid to know who you are and to expect God to bless your uniqueness! 

Which Sort of Stone?

I have been thinking this week about an aspect of the victim mentality. When bad things happen to us, it is easy to believe that our future has been permanently blocked. We planned that our life would go a certain way, and then things went completely out of our control. We found out that we were not as strong, not as pure, or not as smart as we thought we were. The people that we relied on could not recognize us for who we will be in the future.

“And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,” - Philippians 2:8-9

Jesus did not die a victor according this world’s way of thinking. He died mostly alone after having been falsely accused, mocked, and beaten. When they sealed his tomb with a large stone, it appeared that his life and his legacy had been cut off. It did not end there though. God redefined the tombstone to be a stepping stone. What looks like defeat can actually be the path to tremendous success.

Yesterday, I was reading an article about a nineteenth century shipwreck. Someone made a mistake, a ship was going down, and heroes were born that day. The article had a quote that stuck out to me: “History is made up of a lot of people who never made it into the books...It was filled with everyday people who got into a situation beyond their control.” My desire that I will be able to live my life with that truth in mind.  I want to have the type of faith that allows me to see tombstones as stepping stones.

God is the Strength of My Heart

At the end of high school, I participated in a 10 week bible training course. I received hours of teaching, but I remember little of what was taught. I am confident that each of the teachers had great truths to impart. It was the very best of what the institutional church had to offer me. The problem is that most of what is taught in the Church and to the Church springs from human wisdom. The truths that are most distinct in my memory are from those times in which the Holy Spirit spoke to me directly.

"My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" - Psalms 73:26 (NKJV)

There was a particular day during those 10 weeks in which I was feeling overwhelmed. In the years previous, I had received several prophetic words about the calling that God had placed on my life. I had been thinking about the long road ahead, and I felt quite discouraged. I was trying to figure out how I would find the necessary courage and motivation to carry me through. At the end of one of the teaching sessions, the minister prayed for each of us individually. As he laid hands on me, I fell under the power of the Holy Spirit. As I made my way to the floor, I began to hear a song playing in my heart. I had sung it many times before in that church, “God is the strength of my heart. God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever”. The Holy Spirit was reminding me that God would be my courage and my motivation.

It is my practice to remember, to mediate on, and to pray back to God the prophetic words that have been spoken over me. This is how I encourage myself in the Lord. I have many days where I find deep discouragement to be a temptation. Discouragement promises a false rest that comes from believing that God’s plans for my life are impossible and that I can give up on them. A couple of years ago, a friend spoke a prophetic word over me. She said that I looked at what God had called me to do and felt that it was impossible. The encouragement was that God calls me to do what I do not know how to do and that he would train me. Most importantly, my eyes had to remain on God instead of what he had called me to do.

I believe that God knows what he is doing. I am his work of art, and he values me! My greatest encouragement has been found in admitting that I cannot do what God wants me to do. I cannot perform at a high enough level to qualify for knowing him and experiencing him and being used by him. Thankfully, this whole life is about the goodness and kindness of God. The more that I am aware of my unworthiness, the more that I can rest in who God is for me. He is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

He truly is Lord of Lords

Today was a lazy Saturday morning. After I woke up and spent a few minutes talking to the Lord, I made myself comfortable on the coach and snoozed for a while. I dreamed the usual random dreams, but then I dreamed something meaningful. I was waiting outside of a building. The door was open, and Jesus was inside. He was ministering to a small group of people. The people seemed to be receiving different types of healing. As I sat outside the door waiting to go in, I made a decision: When I was able to approach him, I would not walk up to him causally. I would make my way to him and kneel at his feet to reaffirm his lordship over me. I thought of how easy it is to interact with him as the twelve disciples might have interacted with him. He is my friend after all, and yet he is so much more.

 “Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands,  and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.  And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead…” - Revelation 1:12-17

Whenever we speak of Jesus and whenever we pray to Jesus, we do so with the backdrop of how we imagine Jesus to be. Most of the time, I have seen the Jesus of the Gospels portrayed as the backdrop and even then, with a particular fuzziness. Jesus’ life on Earth was a season of his eternal existence. Until the end of his life, he was being qualified for the roles of Savior, High Priest, and Lord of Lords. He fully represented the Father, and yet his glory was held back here on Earth. In John 17:24, Jesus prayed, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.”

I wonder how my walk with God would change if my inner picture of Jesus was more like that of the Risen Lord seen in the Book of Revelation. I would like to believe the way that we represent Jesus would be forever altered if our faith rested in this image of a God-man so intense that it would cause the apostle John to collapse in front him. He is fully in character and in godhood what he was when he walked on Earth, and he is now fully revealed in the glory that he received from the Father. He is totally approachable and yet awesome in his person. He is merciful, and yet not one to be taken lightly. He is both the Lion and the Lamb of God. This God, this incredible being is the One that I will never get bored with. It is this amazing God that I long to know in a deeper way.

Graduation in the Kingdom

Graduation in this world’s system is a big deal. High school students and collegians intensively prepare for and then celebrate their passage of graduation. It is the epitome of success. Cards are sent, gift certificates are given, and new opportunities await the graduate. Graduation in the Kingdom of God is a time of celebration too, but it can look like failure in its gloomiest form.

I woke up early this morning from a dream about graduation. In the dream, I remembered God telling me a week or so previous that I was about to graduate to the next level. I made a choice in the dream to honor God regardless of how it would appear to others. I chose not to fear people, but I did not realize the cost. By the end of the dream, it appeared that I would pay the price of being alone, misunderstood, and rejected for my choice. There would be no one to congratulate me, and I would have to walk through a time of the unknown.

There is a difference between the act of graduation and the ceremony of graduation. You can graduate without being honored for it. You can grow to the next level and not have an audience to cheer for you. The process of graduation for Jesus was being rejected by men and living as a man of sorrows. His final graduation found him exposed, brutalized, and dying a very painful death. What a dark hour!

“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” – James 1:1-4 (NKJV)

Graduation in the Kingdom is often misunderstood. I have a couple of friends who are in the process of graduation. To many, it would appear that they are failures, but they are graduating! According to the dictionary, one of the early meanings of the word graduation was that of “refining of something to a certain degree”. The goal of the trials that God allows is that we would be perfected and completed. We are graduating into a place with God where we will trust him more, where we will love him with a more intentional devotion, and where we will fellowship with him in both his sufferings and his resurrection life.

During high school, my parents homeschooled me. We operated under a homeschool group that held quarterly meetings. In one particular meeting, they conducted a semi-formal graduation of students who had finished 12th grade. On this occasion, an 11th grader found out shortly before the meeting that she had enough credits to graduate earlier. It was a surprise graduation for her! There is an encouragement to be received: Do not give up. Your trials will not last forever. You will be refined, and you will graduate from your current place of adversity.

“Now to Him Who is able to keep you without stumbling or slipping or falling, and to present [you] unblemished (blameless and faultless) before the presence of His glory in triumphant joy and exultation [with unspeakable, ecstatic delight]—” - Jude 1:24 (AMP)

In spite of graduation celebration, there is the issue of disappointment. Perhaps, we expected to accomplish such and such before we thought of ourselves as graduates, but God is the one who decides when we are done with a trial. Maybe, we thought we would graduate with a particular group of people, but God is the Potter. He knows what he is trying to accomplish in us. We can trust him to be faithful to us in the trial, to bring us through to its end, and to perfect us according to his design.

More of Whom?

Growing up in the church, I was fortunate enough to take part in many high energy meetings. Those attending “pressed into God”. We prayed passionately and worshiped intensely. God showed up in many of those meetings. Rich measures of the prophetic were released. There was a sense of God’s presence that would fill the room. What starts with effort must transition into rest. There is a place of abiding, and the enemy of abiding is striving.

The religious spirit will take a passion for God and warp it into a sincere but exhausting performance for God. It says, “You experienced some of God because you exerted effort in spiritual disciplines. You must increase your effort to keep experiencing God”. The resounding cry of “More of God!” seems authentic, but it can move from hunger to desperate hunger to just despair.

A few years ago, the Holy Spirit showed me a truth about what he wanted from me. During a time with him, God told me that there was a room deep inside my heart. He wanted to fill that room, but he could not get into it. I saw the room completely caked over with paper mache that been formed from newspaper. I had no idea what he was talking about. It was not until a time of soaking worship with friends that it came to me. God was telling me that words spoken by others had stuck to me. The reports and opinions of men that formed a hard shell, causing me to become closed off in a deep place of my heart. I would imagine that I am still walking out the application of what God showed me. Just as there was a span of time between revelation and understanding, there is a span of time where healing is taking place.

At a couple of times in the last decade, my prayer life has shifted just slightly. I have found myself moving from “God, give me more of you” to “God, have more of me”. There is a place of intimacy with God. We have to press through the distractions to reach that place. When we have reached a place of being able to hear God’s voice though, the most gracious Person in the universe is waiting for us. God is not moved by our effort. He drew us to himself. It is in that place of intimacy that God wants to experience us and to fill every part of who we are. I believe that the cry of God is that we would let him fill every part of our heart. He wants more of us.

Whose Kingdom?

Recently, I have felt a strong sense of needing to obey God more closely. I have become more careful to honor him in certain areas, but it has not been a 100%. On Friday, God gave me a confirmation and a fresh urgency to obey.

At one point during the workday, the Holy Spirit reminded me of what Jesus said in John 18:36, "My kingdom is not of this world...". Then, I heard the Holy Spirit speak to my heart saying, "My people build kingdoms that are of this world, kingdoms that are in this world". He led me to the below message. It is not a short video, but I think it is worth watching. Its message was sobering to me. I believe that God is leading us into a closer place of obedience with himself. We are moving into a time where disobedience will become more costly than it is today.

Feed the Hungry

Pastors,

I believe that Jesus wanders through the masses, the crowds of people. He is saying, "Who will feed the spiritually hungry?". He is not speaking of those who ate a large meal 4 hours ago. He is speaking of the impoverished who live out of garbage cans. Don't get me wrong. They get a little care and concern. After all, they are good for an occasional photo-op, but few actually care for them as a shepherd cares for his sheep.

In my town, there are at least a couple of very nice buffet-style restaurants. They open their doors at a set time on Sundays. People come in their Sunday best and line up around the corner. The restaurant, the chef, and maybe even the owner obtain a place of praise and honor for their work. I am sure that they endure gossip born from jealousy and they receive criticism from the food experts. It is just business though, and it works well for them.

But when Jesus heard it, He replied, Those who are strong and well (healthy) have no need of a physician, but those who are weak and sick. Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy [that is, [readiness to help those in trouble] and not sacrifice and sacrificial victims. For I came not to call and invite [to repentance] the righteous (those who are upright and in right standing with God), but sinners (the erring ones and all those not free from sin). Matt. 9:12-13 (AMP)

Not all, but many pastors draw a reliable salary. It might not be a great deal of money, but it is basically dependable. They work hard for their people, and they congratulate themselves on the sacrifices that they make. It is true that in some places people work the front lines, but someone has to stay home to keep the lights on, right? It is enough to send money to support the front line work. That is biblical, right?

Pastor, if you are where the Holy Spirit has called you to be, that is great. Listen though, to what the Holy Spirit would speak to your heart. What if he has called you to leave your pastoral position? What if he has called you to move to another city, to work as a janitor, and to go love on the homeless people in the park? What if he has called you to be a "nobody"? Oh, not so you can write a book or go back to your congregation in a month to tell them about the plight of the poor.

What if he has called you to live as a nobody, to love nobody's, and to die a nobody, at least in the eyes of everyone who sees you on this planet? The greatest person to ever walk this planet was, "despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him". How much do you want to resemble Jesus?

I tell you that what is seen now as "successful church life" is not going to last forever. The foundations of this current church system are ROTTEN all the way to its stone foundation! Even now, the building sways back and forth. In a moment, it will shatter into a billion pieces. Only then will refreshing and cleansing come. All that man built will be washed away in a moment. Be careful that you are building on the foundation with materials that will not be washed away.

Does not Envy

Love does not envy, yet I have always struggled with envy inwardly. The form of Christianity that I have lived out most of my life made it shameful to be incomplete or immature. To be holy was to hide my flaws by putting on a perfect performance. It was to present my righteous acts as though they were the whole of me. Of course, the Bible says that all of our righteous works are like filthy rags in God's sight.

"But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." - Ephesians 4:20-24 (NKJV)

In our age of intellectualism, we have studied the Bible with a microscope until we have lost the heart of what was being communicated. Ephesians 4 instructs us to put off fleshly acts, to renew our mind, and to put on godliness. Paul follows this with a list of things that the reader needs to put off. It is too easy for us to extract verses and to depersonalize them. Paul was addressing stuff that was actually happening in the Ephesian church. The first three chapters of his letter deal with our identity in Christ. It is those truths that we must renew our minds with. Paul exposed the sin, and he did so in the light of our identity in Christ.

"Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?" - Romans 2:1-3 (NKJV)

I am slowly learning that God is not ashamed of my weaknesses and flaws. It is the introduction to intimacy when I come into the light of his truth. His light exposes both the flaws and reveals his love for me. As painful as it is to admit my sins and shortcomings, it frees me from a greater bondage: self-righteousness. If I am honest about my struggles before God, it makes it harder for me to ascend a throne of judgement, a throne that positions me higher than my brother and my sister. Instead, I can sit with them in their struggles, not because I can fix them but because I can love them in their weakness.

"You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy, at Your right hand there are pleasures forevermore." - Psalm 16:11 (AMP)

Love does not envy, and though it is my struggle for today, God's process will lead me to a more complete intimacy with Jesus and with other believers. It is an ultimate revenge against sin when the very thing that caused me to hide from God in shame becomes the thing that leads to intimacy with God. By confronting a sense of inner lack, I begin to enter into the presence of the only One who can deeply satisfy me.

Clay Pots with a Choice

God is the process of forming us into the likeness of Jesus. It is a collaboration though. We can actually chose to work against what God wants to accomplish. When that happens, he decides on a different outcome for us and begins to shape our lives accordingly.

“Woe to him who strives with his Maker!

Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth!

Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’

Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?

Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What are you begetting?’

Or to the woman, ‘What have you brought forth?’” - Isaiah 45:9-10

From my perspective as a clay pot, I do not understand what God is forming me into it. Many times, I have been angry and discouraged because I felt that my life was less than what I had hoped for. Yet, I am a clay pot in process. I cannot see the final product. Galatians 6 tells me that I will reap a good harvest but only if I do not lose heart. This process requires patience.

A few years, I dreamed of a small vegetable garden. I had been tending this garden of mine for a period of time. It was my custom to identify defects on the plants and to remove those defects. This particular time, I noticed that I had missed cutting away some defects on a plant. To my surprise, I saw that I now had fruit growing on that plant! All along, I had been cutting away immature fruit because I believed that it was a defect that I needed to rid myself of.

As I looked for Bible verses that speak about the relationship between the Potter and the clay, I was reminded of how crucial it is that we respond quickly to God. He works in us “to will and to do”. Oftentimes, he will work in us in a way that does not seem "spiritual", and he will lead us on a path that we would not have picked for ourselves. He can be trusted, but he will not demand that we trust him. God is amazing in the way that he has chosen us to be his workmanship and yet given us the ability to effectively decline him and to cause him to take an alternate path. I want to be sensitive to his heart, so I can work humbly with the Potter.

Relating Versus Obtaining Information

There is a difference between relating to Jesus and simply pursuing a knowledge of him. I love reading articles that give me the answers to deep questions. I have no finished answers for this topic. I am a man in process. There is some things that must be lived out though, so it is useful to share the questions.

As Americans, we understanding “knowing” as having received a set of information. God desires a different sort of knowing. It requires a process of getting to know God and just as important, it requires us letting God get to know us.

When I was a teen, I prayed with fervor and focused intently on spiritual pursuits. I kept a constant moral inventory of my inner life. I wanted to know God. I thought that trying hard enough was the price that spiritual people were referring to when they encouraged me to know God. At one point, a prophetic person in my life gave me a word of encouragement. He said, “You want to know God, but God wants to know you more than you want to know him”. I took the word as something like, “You are on the right track, but you are only scratching the surface of passionate pursuit of knowing God. You are underestimating what is involved in pursuing God. You need to keep at it and maybe try harder”.  The other day, I had a moment where that older word became fresh, and I understood it in a different light.

Relationship with God is always about two beings that are getting to know each other. What God was telling me so many years ago is that he wanted to know me, not just for me to know him. To know information requires mental focus. To be known in a relational manner requires vulnerability and oftentimes, it requires that we allow a space of time and availability for someone to get to know us.

"Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One). For because of Him the whole body (the church, in all its various parts), closely joined and firmly knit together by the joints and ligaments with which it is supplied, when each part [with power adapted to its need] is working properly [in all its functions], grows to full maturity, building itself up in love." – Ephesians 4:15-16

The risk of a post like this one is that some will read it and feel that they need to struggle more to know God. Others will justify themselves in their place of apathy.  There are truths that we cannot comprehend apart from growth and maturity. Each of us needs…an ongoing revelation of what it means to be loved by God and what it looks like to live out that love in our daily life with other broken, incomplete people.

Sprint!

On the night of February 14^th, I dreamed that my wife bought a Sprinter van for 14,000 at 14% interest.

I dream all sorts of dreams. Some of them are what I refer to as “pizza dreams” in honor of Ebeneezer Scrooge when he tried to explain away Jacob Marley's visit. He told Jacob he was just an undigested crumb of cheese.

“For God may speak in one way, or in another, Yet man does not perceive it.  In a dream, in a vision of the night, When deep sleep falls upon men, While slumbering on their beds, Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction.” – Job 33:14-16

At other times, I have dreams that are very distinct. These dreams, I pay attention to. God still speaks to us in dreams. I search for detailed information contained within my dreams. Numbers can be important. The Bible associates different numbers to different meanings. The Divinity Code has been an excellent resource for me. Another resource is believers in the local body. There are those in the Body that God has graced with a special ability to interpret dreams. When I cannot make sense of a dream, I will sometimes reach out to one or two people in my life that have the gift of interpreting dreams.

The number 14 was used in the Bible to refer to the start of Passover. You can read about Passover in Exodus 19. In a nutshell, the enslaved people of Israel were to wait until twilight on the 14^th day. They were to prepare a lamb that that been reserved for this purpose. They were to eat the meal fully clothed and to eat in a hurry so that they would be ready to go when God released the final plague on Egypt.

God is up to something this year. He is going to do something special that is related to our passing over and to our deliverance. It is conditional on our being ready to move when he says to go. Essentially, this is the year where we will sprint when God says to move. In this season, our deliverance will be accompanied by a judgment against the enemy, divine protection for us, and supernatural provision to launch us on the next leg of our journey with God.

A New Track Ahead and Samson’s Fall

Recently, I heard the Lord speaking to my heart about a couple of shifts that are about to occur. We have a strong work ethic in the US Church. We believe that we are successful in Heaven’s eyes if we perform impressive acts here on Earth. We count hands, offerings, and big smiles. Signs and wonders are sought after because they feel like results achieved. We have a performance problem: We are trying too hard to do things for God. He has let us do this for a season. He has given us limited power and manifestation even when our motivations were questionable. It has been grace that carried us. It has been the goodness of God that is intended to lead us to repentance.

Things are now going to change, a little at first but then more. God is coming in a move that will be like a freight train. He owns the power, and He owes the track ahead. This time, the track has a third rail. The drive will not come from our strategies and tireless efforts. Heaven is going to power our forward motion. We have a learning curve ahead of us. Rest and obedience are the new burdens to be carried. Keeping step with Jesus as we walk yoked with him is the new focus.

Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, “Follow Me.” – John 21:18-19

When the glory of God is manifested, there is awe, relief from heavy burdens…and usually judgment resulting from a casualness about God. God brings his entire nature when his Presence comes into our presence. Those who would attempt to take hold of the third rail of God’s glory in this coming move will suffer serious consequences. The track ahead is not all together comfortable. Jesus, our King, is determining the track ahead. Our commission for the days ahead will sound like, “Take up your cross and reproduce the death of Christ on a daily basis”. It will be a full disclosure of the suffering that we are destined for and then a call to, “Follow Me”.

The track ahead is shifting. Many who started out well in their ministry will be derailed because they chose to set the pace and the direction of their ministry. The Conductor is about to fill his rightful seat. He will drive this move, direct the pace of this move, and take us into a place of personal suffering and submission.

Results in ministry has been the certificate of authenticity until recently. Like Samson, there are ministers who have lived in sin. It was a struggle at first, then a compromise in which they allowed the enemy to keep captured ground, and finally they accepted the enemy as a friendly neighbor. The people kept coming to the services, the programs produced smiles and nods, and the money was enough to fuel the vision that came from the heart of the leader. 

Lead and gold cannot remain bonded together. A fire must come to separate the two. Samson’s anointing is lifting. We will begin to see a new wave of leaders exposed, and we will watch them fall from their places of ministry authority. God is removing the idols from the high places. These ones lifted the heavy burdens, and they won the praise of men, but God had intended for them to be righteous and merciful judges who would deliver his people. The wave will start small and then will crest. It is the mercy of God that a few will fall at first in the hope that greater judgment might be averted through repentance.

Pursuing Refuge

I have had a couple of people suggest that I start a blog. I tend to be an introvert, so I have shied away from larger groups of people. It is time though for me to begin sharing more of what is on my heart. This is part of my journey to multiple the talents that God has entrusted to me. Like the foolish servant, it would be easy to hold back because the task of sharing seems so daunting and my resources so small in comparison to the need, but I choose to step out...

I welcome you to join me on my journey. I have things to share, and an invitation to extend to you. I want this blog to be a sharing of struggles, victories, and the intimacy of living life under God's grace. I am a clay pot being formed by the Maker, and in many ways, I am a broken clay pot....but what a beautiful place to live. I would not have it any other way.

God is my Machseh. He is my refuge, and I am pursuing him with passion. I have known much hurt and much brokenness in my life, and God my Refuge was there to hold me at every step. I believe that as I share my heart, you too will find him as your refuge in a deeper way.

Please read, comment on, and share any post that touches you at the heart level. I commit to share without pretense, and I challenge you to do the same!