For the Sake of the Kingdom

For the sake of the kingdom, I will leave my dad.

For the sake of the kingdom, I will leave my mom.

For the sake of the kingdom, I will leave my sister and best friend.

For the sake of the kingdom, I will leave my brother-in-law.

For the sake of the kingdom, I will leave my nephew.

For the sake of the kingdom, I will choose to make this sacrifice.

“One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, ‘Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters – yes, even one’s own self! – can’t be my disciple. Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple.”

“Simply put, if you’re not willing to take what is dearest to you, whether plans or people, and kiss it goodbye, you can’t be my disciple.”

Luke 14v25-27 & v33

Even after 4 years of not living in the same country as my family and saying goodbye dozens of times… it hasn’t gotten any easier to say goodbye. The last 2 months with them has made me appreciate and love them even more, which has made it even more difficult to say goodbye again! But for now, I’m covered by God’s grace knowing that I am where I am supposed to be.

Restoration

"The Lord always desires that we be restored to Him."

Restoration: Renewal; revival; re-establishment; as the restoration of friendship between enemies; the restoration of peace after war. (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

Restore: To renew or re-establish after interruption; as, peace is restored. Friendship between the parties is restored. (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)

 

I was sitting on our porch this morning, reading the Bible to my dad as he worked out on the treadmill thing and we started chatting about dreams we’ve had recently.  As we shared the two dreams we had the night before, we ask each other and the Lord what it is we should learn from them. The two things that were highlighted in the dream I had was (1) Personal Revival begins with Repentance and (2) The Lord always desires for us to choose to be restored to him and to others. From my perspective, these two things happen around the same time. As we allow Holy Spirit to work in our lives and point out areas that need to be dealt with, then we are able to repent of them and thus be restored to or be in ‘right standing’ with God.

The process of repentance is quite simple:

Repent from your actions/beliefs that are contrary to God’s Word.

Receive His forgiveness

Rebuke the lies/untrue beliefs you were living out of

Replace those lies with the truth of God’s word and of who you are in Christ.

You don’t have to make it super systematic… I’m pretty sure Jesus just wants to hear that you’re sorry for not believing the Truth of what He says and He wants to give you real freedom in your life!

I understand that sometimes it seems easier to just believe the lies, like ‘you’re not good enough’, ‘you’re not worth loving’, and ‘I’m not sure what I should do with my life’. But honestly, these are simple lies that we as humans are living out of because we still need our minds to be renewed and have HS reveal to us where we aren’t believing God’s Truth of who we are… that we are ‘accepted as his dearly beloved children’, ‘we are created in his imagine’ and our worth is in the fact that He intentionally created us with purpose!

Through believing and living out these truths, we walk in freedom and in a kingdom lifestyle. There is a greater understanding of who you are as an individual and an even greater understanding of WHO GOD IS!

I believe that repentance is a continual act. Something we are never finished doing because there are always ways that we can become more like Jesus in our actions and beliefs. But ‘What God’s Grace Leads Us To, His Grace Will Lead Us Through’. It’s not an easy task to have your thinking/belief system radically changed but we’re not called, as believers, to live easy lifestyles. We are called to be the world changers and how can we change the world if we don’t even know God’s original intentions for it! I believe that God’s desire is to have the entire world be restored to him… and I think that starts with the individual… who has a personal repentance experience with God. Once you have that repentance and restoration experience, you can’t just keep it to yourself! It needs to be shared with someone so they can see that  truth and freedom is possible!

Rev 12:10 “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.”

 

Rev 12:11 “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.”

Rev 12:12 “Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!"

 Some Truths to Ponder:

Rom 15:7 “Accept one another, then, for the glory of God, as Christ has accepted you.”

Eph 3:12 “In union with Christ and through our faith in him we have the boldness to go into God's presence with all confidence.”

Eph 6:10-13 “Finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of his mighty power. Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks. For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. So put on God's armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground.”

Jer 29:11-13 “I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. Then you will call to me. You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. You will seek me, and you will find me because you will seek me with all your heart.”

Isa 11:2-3 “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear.”

Pretty much all of Ephesians Chapter 1!!!!

Eph 1:3- 14 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

V 17-21that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

What is Reality? What is Truth? What is Love?

How would you answer these questions in a world where we are taught that everyone has their own reality, truth is relative and love can be whatever you want to make it?

This was the beginning of my Reality Check Seminar.  Although I had read up on what the seminar was about that hadn't prepared me for the questions and thinking that would be posed for me to wrestle with! 

Reality Check is a week long seminar that is being run on my YWAM base here in South Africa. I had heard that it was happening in February (a month that I would be in SA for! :) and was eager to learn more about it. I found out that it was hosted by The Template Institute whose founder also wrote the book, 'The Old Testament Template', which I quoted in my last blog. From what I understand, this seminar was 'designed to help Christians rediscover God’s principles for every sphere of life' and so far it is definitely accomplishing that goal!

Today has been mind boggling! We have done so much in just the first day! We went from looking at the 8 different 'Spheres of Society' to reading through Genesis 1 and pulling out characteristics of God to color coding Proverbs and then onto meditating on Romans 12v1-2 with a whole lot of other exciting things thrown in the day! I never thought my mind could receive so much new information in such a short amount of time. Thankfully we have the evening off so we can read the book, 'The Old Testament Template', finish color coding a few chapters in Proverbs, and mediate, or should I say wrestle, with all the thought provoking questions that were asked!

This is certainly not going to be an easy week but it will definitely be a challenging, thought provoking and transformational one! I started the day thinking that God was really just involved in the Church and Missions but after today I've already seen that He is involved in EVERYTHING, every area of our lives and our world! It was so eye opening to read through scriptures and see God's character, His view on how family should function, how government and politics work, how the media & arts could be... I had never realized how involved God was in all of these things and that He talks about ALL OF THEM in the Bible!!! We have such a cool God! He's incredible and wants us to be involved in the world around us and have His view on the world so we can bring His Kingdom to every area of living!!! What a task--- but I'm up for it!

 

 Romans 12v1-2 "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

Dream Big

‘Towards the end of his life Jesus prayed this prayer, ‘(Father,) I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.’ His Father had sent Him into time and space to accomplish specific objectives. He knew what they were, and He completed them. The entire work of reaching the world was not accomplished at His death, but Jesus understood that He was not sent to do everything. Much of the Father’s mission would be carried on and completed by the church he would leave behind. But, for the time being, His specific role as Son and Messiah was complete.’

-The Old Testament Template, Landa Cope

I’ve started reading Landa Cope’s book, The Old Testament Template. I’m only about 20 pages into it because there is so much information and challenging concepts that I can only read a few pages each day. This is the last paragraph I read that made me stop and ponder. A few questions came to mind that I’m still mulling over. They were:

1,What has God called me to do?

2, Am I doing it?

3, Will I do it and finish it well?

I think these are some of the hardest questions to answer! They are similar to the age old questions, Who Am I and What Am I Here For? I felt compelled by the Lord to just sit down and write a list of all my dreams and the things I desire to do in my life. Granted, some of them are just my own desires but I have no doubt that some are really inspired by God and are things He will accomplish through me in my lifetime. As I reread my list I realized that there were a few big dreams. I think that ‘normally’ you’d have one large goal in your life that you are working towards… I had roughly 5 large goals J It looked like a good list, but who knows what will actually happen! I wonder if the Lord sensed the doubt in my heart and decided to remind me of this situation, one of my proudest moments in missions.

The majority of the outreach team had been hanging out in ‘The Fellowship Hut’ at the Iris Ministry compound in Pemba, Mozambique. We were all chatting away to friends as we finished up our evening supper of rice and beans. As I look around the hut, I see a few women gathered around Hailey, my one-on-one (Mentee). As I wonder what they are all so intrigued about, I slowly make my way closer to hear what she’s talking about. I overhear her sharing her vision and desires of what she will do after her Discipleship Training School. After spending 3 months meeting with Hailey and discipling her weekly, I’m so excited to hear that she is pursuing what God has next for her in life. It’s been an ever changing decision of what she wants to do with her life and what steps she should take next to accomplish it. After imparting these words to her many times in our one-on-one’s, I hear her say, ‘If you’re able to accomplish your dreams on your own, you’re not dreaming big enough!’ I was so touched hearing those words come out of her mouth. She may not have realized it, but in that moment I knew that God had allowed me to touch her life.

Remembering those precious moments in Pemba, I realize that I need to start taking my own advice more! I need to dream big with God and know that the dreams and desires He gives me are possible and I need to have more faith in the one who is giving them to me! Looking at my own, ‘Dream List’, it all seems possible now. No matter how big my dreams are, I’m working for the one who makes everything happen in His perfect timing! I can’t wait to look back on this list in 40 years and see all the things the Lord has checked off!

The Lord's Prayer

Matthew 6v9-13
"Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done, as in heaven, so on earth. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen."

Last night at our community worship night, the guest speaker referenced this scripture. Growing up in the Catholic denomination, I've memorized these verses and recited them many times. But over the last 15 years these verses have come more alive to me. They aren't just words to rehearse but they have deep meaning and reveal so much of God's purpose for us. Now, every time I read this passage, I have sooo many more questions about it!

Here are just a few questions that are challenging my thinking of how I view God and the world around me.

-If we represent God on earth as his children/Christians, how are we accurately or inaccurately portraying God's character to society?
-What does is mean to 'keep His name Holy'? How can we honor God's Name in our words and actions?
-What is heaven like? Was heaven the original plan and earth is modeled after it? Does heaven function similarly to earth with different areas of society?
-What does God do in heaven that can be done on earth, through me and other believers?
-What is God's will for the earth?
-What does 'His kingdom' look like practically worked out on earth? How will living out God's kingdom change/reform every area of our lives and communities?
-How do I trust God for the everyday things and in His ability to provide for me? What's hindering me from trusting Him completely?
-How is God's power and glory explained in other parts of scripture? What does it look like for us to walk in that power and have God be glorified through it?
-What are the differences between how God, as a King, would rule His kingdom compared to an earthly ruler? (Compare legal systems, care of orphans/widows/vulnerable, education & sanitation systems... etc.)
-How did God rule Israel and how can we learn from the principles/laws He set for them?
-How have we strayed from the laws God originally put in place for Israel?

Meditate on these verses and please post your own thoughts or any questions of your own! I'd love to hear of any revelation you got from these verses. Blessings!

Faith Journey - Part 1

God's been taking me on this crazy 'Faith Journey'. One month has felt like one year and I've been in this pressure cooker of fighting for what the Lord has spoken to me. Do you ever feel like you really heard God on something... but the more you think about it and chat with people the confidence you had at first starts to 'wear off'. I've come to realize that no one else will be as aggressive in pursuing what God has spoken to your heart as you would be. When He's called you to something--- you must persevere, you must keep faith, you must continue in prayer to see the fulfillment of what God has promised! There's no easy way to go about it--- it's all your tears, prayers and purest ambition that keeps you going full throttle after what you know is God's will for you! You do your part, God will do the rest.