HELP!

The Father spoke to me the other day, saying, "Do not judge my actions based on your needs."  Too often, we hold against others the results we desire to see in our own lives, based on our perception of their ability to produce them.  In other words, we can get offended because of a need we have that someone else isn't meeting.  We look at them and we just know...they could take care of this in a second if they wanted to.  Offense is not far behind this thought.  And regarding offense is the death of destiny.  Now, the obvious needs that spring to mind might be physical or financial things.  But, as is always the case, those needs are linked to the deeper, more foundational issues of identity and maturity.  

The needs we have are opportunities for us to come to know God more fully.  They are the building blocks of our Christ-likeness and must be stewarded well, so that His character can be fully formed within us.  This is not to imply that God doesn't use the people around us to meet our needs from time to time, just as He uses us to meet the needs of others.  When He does that, however, it is not simply for the cause of fulfilling some divine welfare mandate.  He strategically chooses these moments to train us in operating in His image.  He teaches us how to honor and defer to one another is those places where we reflect His strength or, in a complementary way, reveal our frailties.  He teaches us to humble ourselves in the asking, manifest His nature in the giving, and broadcast holy gratitude in the receiving.  When He chooses to delay the answer to our perceived need, even if that means staring a potential result in the face and hearing a resounding, "No," we must realize that God may very well have orchestrated that encounter from the position of His perfect wisdom and love.  He is posturing us for our next maturity leap.  It may hurt - often does.  But there is no mistake, we will look more like Jesus as a result of it.  And those are the results we all really want.  

We must continue to learn and grow in the execution of trusting Him, fully.  We must shift in those "needy" moments from a "what You need to do for me" to "what are You wanting to do in me" perspective.  If we will, the sharp pang of need will give way to the shimmering plume of growth and glory He has planned for us.  And the next time we look in the mirror, we might just see a better reflection of His image looking back at us. 

CATCHING WAVES

There comes that time, after you have furiously paddled to catch a wave, when you must simply relax into the crested swell and hope that you are perfectly positioned to ride it home to shore.  The time for synchronizing with the movement of the water is over; and floating is the only action worth anything.  Our walk with Holy Spirit is much like this.  A supernatural and cyclical dance of paddling and pressing, resting and rising.  'Striving' is too fleshly a word for the process; and 'coasting,' way too lazy.  After all, wouldn't we admit that God is not so easily boxed into either excluding us from or relying on us for anything He desires to accomplish?  He does, however, very clearly state that He desires to do things with, in and through us.  Papa loves to partner.  He puts certain elements of His plan in our hands, making the fulfillment of His will vulnerable to our flaws and failures.  Of course, He is so faithful to provide the tools necessary for our success.  But, nonetheless, we are amazed that He would offer us a place in His Kingdom cause.  

So then, what is the secret to catching the waves of God's glory, which seem as elusive as they are frequent?  We must fall into the cadence of grace.  We must demonstrate our hunger to synchronize with God in tangible ways, remembering that we have nothing left to earn, but everything to gain.  We exercise only those efforts which surrender our flesh to our faith.  We yield and we grow and we learn and we love.  We pray.  Not the desperate prayers of those unsure of favor, but the declarative prayers of those who refuse to waste it.  This is our paddling.  This is our pressing.  Once we have synchronized with Holy Spirit, all that is left to do is rest and let the wave take us to that portion of the promise He has planned for us.....and then we get to paddle out and do it all over again!   ;-)

MOTIVATING MOVEMENT

Today's nugget addresses the leader in each one of us.  Whether your leading a nation, a corporation, a small team, a family or just yourself, there comes with leadership, and from the Lord, a sense and hope for direction and destiny.  It percolates in our souls and can preoccupy our thoughts.  At times, it simultaneously seems to define and deflate us.  And there are those moments when moving forward just isn't happening fast enough, if even at all.  How we handle those moments will be a direct reflection of our current capacity to manifest the character of Christ, Who is the Ultimate Leader.  Like the simplicity of a well pump, it is much easier to draw people, than push them, towards something.  In the zeal of our perspectives, we can lose sight of this.  We become supernaturally repellent to the hearts of others, thereby hijacking and handicapping the very thing we want to see happen.  In those very moments, the Father is so pleased when we choose to speak future and destiny in lieu of failure and deficiency - even to ourselves!   

Now, the best way to create a hunger for repentance (change/growth/movement) is to rehearse, for ourselves and others, the gift of God's kindness.  Of course, repentance, in its most foundational sense is "a change of mind."  And a change of mind leads to a change of feelings and behavior.  Once that happens, advancement is inevitable.  Jesus used His relationship with the Father to inspire those around Him towards repentance.  He walked in an unshakable revelation of God's kindness.  The people around Him could literally sense and see this.  They loved it!  And it made them hungry to move in His direction.  This is available to us, as well; and we too, are called to use our personal experience with the Father to whet the appetites of those we know and love toward a greater hunger for Him and all that He has whispered as "destiny."  As we do this, His future comes into our focus; and what has been viewed as merely potential, seems suddenly within reach.  And something within reach becomes powerfully motivating.  The kindness of the Lord leads us to repentance; and the kindness of His leaders will lead others to the very same power of transformational thinking.  In this spirit, culture, atmosphere - we will initiate hunger.  We will inspire repentance.  We will experience transformation.  And together, we will move into destiny.

GOD'S PLEASURE

16 After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; 
and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the 
Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him,
17 and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, 
"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

Such glorious words!  I hear them and immediately imagine myself standing on the banks of the Jordan.  John's wild hair and camel skins are flapping in the breeze.  Maybe he has a bit of honey and locust still stuck to a corner of his mouth.  Jesus, simple and humble and pulsating with the power of heaven has just addressed John's concerns regarding the appropriateness of water baptizing the "Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world."  Freshly soaked seekers mingle with skeptics and spies on the shore, honored, curious, and plotting, respectively.

Jesus stands there, now, dripping wet.  Face glistening in the sunshine as the unforgettable phenomena occur.  The very Presence of God, shimmering in the form of a large, gentle dove alights the body of the Christ - an unmistakable symbol of the peace that is being extended to all mankind, now embodied in this One, Son of Man.  Then, the unthinkable happens - Father speaks.  Not the still, small voice of intimate prayer; but, the loudspeaker of heaven booms out the official, celestial announcement:  "Here stands before you, My very own Son - perfectly intimate with, approved and enjoyed by me in every and any way possible!  And all that pleases Me is found in Him." Talk about your epic OMG moment!  Can you place yourself there?  Can you imagine witnessing such an event?  Now, take it a step further - can you picture yourself standing where Jesus was, in the very place He was, when this was said?

Well, according to God, you were and are.  I know, such love and favor are too much to grasp - too wonderful to comprehend!  But it's true.  Our lives have been hidden in Christ Jesus.  We are seated with Him in heavenly realms.  When the Father, Holy and Beautiful, Wise and Majestic, Perfect and Powerful, looks at us, He sees who we are in Christ, not what we were before Him.  Jesus, the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world, is our Hiding Place.  And when Papa God, nearly two thousand years ago, looked at Jesus and said, "IN HIM I AM WELL-PLEASED," He knew we were there.  You and I, blood-bought and born-again, have become the very pleasure of God, wrapped up, safe and secure in the Person of Jesus Christ, our friend and older brother.  Now, go back to that moment at the Jordan.  Listen to the words of your Daddy, as He says of you, "In this child of mine, I am well pleased;" and then join me in weeping for the joy and gratitude of such a truth.

IDENTITY OVER INVENTORY

The beatitudes have long been enjoyed and celebrated by the Church - and for great reason.  They are power-packed nuggets of essential truth, delivered line by line by Jesus Christ Himself!

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth..."

And on Jesus goes, outlining the character and culture of the Father's Kingdom.  I highly encourage you to click the link and visit those words, so readily available here in cyber-space.  As you do, consider what may be a slight perspective shift.  Try to read them, not as a spiritual to-do list, but as a description of identity.  In other words, resist the urge to challenge yourself to act in this way.  Uh-oh...I think I may have lost some of you with that comment.  Please don't be scared or angry.  Demanding ourselves to align with God's Word is nothing I suggest we should neglect, scoff or devalue.  Just bear with me a moment.  For the sake of perspective, try accepting the beatitudes as something designed to describe us more than make a demand of us.  You see, these phrases describe the Father.  They describe Jesus.  And they are also designed to describe us.  After all, we are to function in this world in the same way that Jesus was/is.  We have been made like him and have been made to sample His divine nature.  If we will allow ourselves the power of this perspective, we will find that the root of all blessing is anchored in identity, not inventory.  It is very healthy and freeing to see the character of God as something granted and accepted by His born-again children, rather than as something gained and acted upon by well-meaning church-goers.  We are absolutely called to yield to the inner working of Holy Spirit, as He fully forms Christ in us.  However, this is a process of surrender, rather than discipline - something to receive through the labors of God, not by the sweat of our will.  I have committed to surrender in this way to the words of Christ in the beatitudes.  As a result, and in this way, I have realized more of my identity in Christ than my past efforts ever afforded.  And I have found that the greatest blessings aren't about what is being given to me, but about what is being made of me.

LOVE'S TAKE-OVER

I love love.  It is gentle and fiery and powerful and eternal.  It spans time, space, generations, cultures, and any other barrier we can imagine.  It is unquenchable, unstoppable and unpredictable.  It is generous and hopeful.  Love is simultaneously content in the present and hungry for more.  It is alive and growing and never satisfied with a maintenance-mode.  True love cannot be divorced from the passion and desire to overcome every pocket of hate and indifference it encounters.  Its self-appointed mission is to take over!  God IS love.  He is the source of it; the power behind it.  He exemplifies, magnifies and ratifies all that love is, does and plans.  Walking in love is much more than being "nice" or socially pleasant.  It is the conscious choice to let Papa God take over your soul.  To give Holy Spirit free reign in the formation of your thoughts and the expression of your emotions.  It is the yielding of one's will to the passions of Christ.

When Paul describes love, he is not listing a set of rules or behaviors that religious people should imitate on behalf of their faith.  He is revealing an infinitesimal fragment of the supernatural chemical composition of the Creator of the Universe.  He is whetting the appetite of those who have been born-again with their own potential modus operandi.  When John, one who knew the essence of God's heart, says that "God is Love," he is intentional to distinguish the difference between the possession and the presence of it.  Love is a person, not a principle.  To traffick in love is to become a broker of the literal and transformational presence of God; and this, friends, is the backdrop for anything worth doing at all.

CAPTURING GOD'S HEART

Genesis 13:5-18 details the problems that Abram and Lot began to face as the blessings of God manifested and their holdings increased.  Yes, blessings can sometimes invite problems.  Abram had been promised these blessings from God and they were now the vehicle of frictions between he and a most beloved nephew.  I love Abram's response.  I am personalizing and paraphrasing, of course, but I hear Abram's dialogue as something like this:  "Wow.  We are so blessed that we have to find a way to spread out so the land can support all of what God has given us!  Hey Sarai, how about we give Lot first pick?  We'll let him choose the spot he likes best.  I mean, we are the ones who encouraged him to follow us in the first place; and I am sure the Lord will continue to bless us no matter which way we go.  What do you say?"

The next thing that happened is what has really touched me and it contains the "gold nugget" I found while at "the river" today.  God's reaffirmation of His promise - this beautiful, supernatural interruption into Abram's day and thoughts, came on the heels of Abram's generous and peaceful solution to a potentially divisive situation.  Abram, as God's friend, could have asserted his rights over Lot.  After all, the promises belonged to him.  He could have demanded Lot take his clan and go.  Instead, his trust in the Lord and his humble heart led him to be so generous.  This caught God's attention and He couldn't help but beam with Fatherly pride!  He stepped out of the unseen and blessed Abram all over again.

Friends, let's follow Abram's example.  Trust the Lord.  Be His friend.  Let's not cling to the visions, dreams, promises, assignments - even our destinies, so tightly that we sacrifice the heart of God in the process.  Know this:  the development of our calling is very often directly linked to the development of our character.  Promises are often fulfilled at the pace of our maturity.  Prioritizing love and relationships is a sure fire way to capture God's heart of beauty and invite His hand of blessing.