Stirring up Trouble

I have some continued thoughts on what I posted in Maturity Leading to Corporate Unity. When God delivers us out of bondage to the enemy, whether it be the initial salvation experience or through an area of ongoing, personal growth, we rejoice: God has removed us from our troubles and taken out of the situation that caused us distress. God has a bigger plan though that neither our spiritual enemy nor the natural mind of man anticipates.

In Judges 14, God began to move in the background of Samson’s life. His actions did not make sense to his parents, and the Bible says, “But his father and mother did not know that it was of the Lord—that He was seeking an occasion to move against the Philistines. For at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel”. Different translations replace “to move” with “to confront” or “for assailing” the enemy. God is still looking for an occasion to attack the enemy.

God delivers us from trouble, but he is at work in us and through us to stir up trouble. He desires to raise up a people who will assail the enemy. It is my prayer that God will use his people to give our spiritual enemy an enema. God will cause the enemy to poop his pants when he sees us coming. The enemy has the capacity to create misery through his dominion over the people of God, therefore, God is continually seeking an occasion to confront the enemy.

Get ready for battle against an enemy that cannot be seen with your natural eyes and who hides behind naïve people who do not understand that they are being manipulated! The Bible says that the whole world lies under the power of the wicked one. It also says that he who is in us, we who are in Christ, is greater than he who is in the world. Jesus is our refuge, and he is also the head of Heaven’s armies. We have the supply line of Heaven’s resources, the reinforcements of the angelic, the supernatural gifts and fruit of the Holy Spirit, and love of the Father to steady us.

Your spiritual enemy hates you and seeks to maintain his rule over the people of God. God wants to lead you into trouble, but this time, he desires to terrify the enemy through your life. Are you ready and willing for God to use you to stir up trouble?

Epic Lives

Some of the classic movies are epic films. When I search online for a definition for “epic film”, I find a range of possible meanings, but it can carry the concept of “journeys of heroes upon which the fate of a large number of people depend”. When I think of epic films, movies that come to mind are Gone with the Wind, Titanic, and Stranger than Fiction. In the case of some characters, the fate of only one person hinged on the hero’s or heroine’s life, and yet, this reflected even greater worth on the life being enriched.

If we were to see the sequence of our days from God’s eyes, it would appear much differently than how it looks in the morning mirror or in the eyes of those we rub shoulders with. We are each actors in a grand production. It is both scripted and ad hoc in its development. We are not victims, but we are all potential heroes. I once saw a prophetic picture of someone’s life. She walked across a piano. Each footstep pressed a set of keys. Taken by themselves, some of sounds produced were really dismal. From God’s perceptive though, the end result will be an amazing song when played from start to finish.

Your life is amazing. It might not seem that way to you though. In fact, it probably has regrets, pain, boredom, and even some anxiety of about lies ahead of you. Ask God to show you the events of your life through his eyes. He deeply loves you. He has felt every cringe of pain and every thrill of joy that you have ever experienced. He treasures you. He can take what seems like a sad, meaningless life and turn it into an epic story. Trust in him to. Expect him to. Let him…

The Faithfulness of God

I dreamed last night of God’s faithfulness. In the dream, I was given an explanation of what his faithfulness looks like: He covers us fully in our life and in our being. He is the fully sufficient God. In certain areas though that will differ over the course of our lives, he will choose to not reveal himself in that area. It is with the intent that we would trust him by faith and not by sight. It is always temporary because he intends to reveal himself to us in that area too.

Here is a practical application of this principle: Identify the area of your life in which it seems as though God has not covered you and in which he has not revealed himself. Then, look over the rest of your life and identify where he has provided for you and revealed his nature. See that he has encircled the exposed area with his faithfulness. He is holding that area tightly. You cannot comprehend what he is doing there at the moment, but he has surrounded that area with his favor and his kindness. Trust him to increase your faith in his nature.

Avalanche Refresh

Steve Hill released a prophetic word two years ago about a coming spiritual avalanche. The full word was posted at the Charisma News site, and a fuller explanation was posted on the main Charisma site.

In a dream last night, I recalled Steve’s word. I was walking at the top of a snow-covered peak. I watched as a stainless steel cannon ball was fired at the upper levels of the sloop. It was meant to cause an avalanche. Based on Steve’s word, I would consider this to be an action that was initiated by God, but it was still a dangerous situation. There was no need to fear though for those with the right footwear. Those who walked on the peaks wearing sandals did not need to be afraid of the avalanches. For me, sandals speak of humility and a simplicity of trust in Jesus. It is an uncomplicated, unsophisticated faith that causes us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling.

I woke up this morning thinking about the goodness of God. In particular, I was focused on the intentionally of God’s goodness. The world at large can accept that God loves them, but I think that there is an assumption that God’s love is an automatic action, a default state if you will. It is almost as though we imagine God as being "accidentally kind". In reality, God has gone out of his way to show us kindness, mercy, patience, and forgiveness.

It is through a relationship of trust with Jesus that we are saved. I grew up hearing that we trust in and adhere to Jesus in order to be saved. That is true and yet, the focus is off. We trust in and adhere to Jesus because of who He is: He is the only begotten Son of God. He is the manifestation of the radiance of God’s glory. He is the righteous and holy judge before whom we all will give account of our lives. It is out of a recognition and a proper response to who Jesus is that we enter into relationship with him. Out of that context flows the care and intentional kindness of God.

Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ[c] depart from iniquity.” – 2 Timothy 2:19

As we focus our hearts on the nature of God, we will stand secure on the solid foundation of God. There is no slippery slope for us when we walk in a humble recognition of who God is and of who are before him.

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!