Now it happened on the third day that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne in the royal house, facing the entrance of the house So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favor in his sight, and the king held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther went near and touched the top of the scepter. And the king said to her, “What do you wish, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given to you—up to half the kingdom!” - Esther 5:1-3
When I read through the O.T. and I am surrounded in a story of physical, earthly might and power, it is normally standing "small" against a rather large and unintimidated God! He never freaked out in front of any King, or his armies.
Ladies, He can handle your husband. And, men, I know this might be even harder to grasp but He can handle your wife. Kids? Inlaws? Neighbors with bad manners and hygiene? Noe of those things muss or fuss our God. Pastors, he can handle the church council. And congregants (whatever those are) he can handle your church headship (whatever that is).
He can handle the person who gives you grief. He can handle your Ex. that
He can even handle your enemy. (By the by...what have you done lately to reduce the number of those you might call "enemy?")
What's my point in all of this? It is this, Your Father who hung the heavens, He can handle the most intimidating situation, because in the hand of the Lord, any heart is like water; not so tough and not to very hard.
In the above verses you can see that Esther walked in this kind of confidence in her relationship to God and in fact, though she was the visible marker (the one facing the King) it was her God who provided the answers and the power. Read those verse! Just look at this young girl! She doesn't cringe and cower; she doesn't stumble on her words...she stands like a mighty oak. Esther stood in front of the king's rooms. "The king saw Esther the queen standing"(Note my emphasis)) No shaking in her boots or biting her nails (to those of you who know me, that's a personal rub on yours truly). Though she's doing what's never been done before, a woman of no earthly importance standing in a place where she should NOT be, she is standing tall, confident in the Lord.
And when the king saw her standing in the court, she obtained favor in his sight, and he extended his golden scepter to her. This is the gesture. Without it she would die. And now, confident, she touches the top of the scepter, making a connection with the king. "Then the king said to her, 'What is troubling you, Queen Esther? And what is your request? Even to half of the kingdom it shall be given to you' " (Esther 5:3).
I love that! Esther doesn't know what to expect, and the king says simply, "What's on your mind? Whatcha got going on?" In fact, he goes further. He says, "What can I do for you? Name it. There's no limit; it's yours."
If you had been reading the whole story you would know that she had an enemy. His name is Haman. Haman wanted not only Esther gone but the total annihilation of all the Jews. And, now, here it is! This is her moment to cut the neck of Haman - -but she doesn't. Not now. This is a truly wise (as in God's thoughts and God's timing) woman. And, Esther understands the value of timing. No need to sweat it. And, probably an even strong lesson for you and I, no need to be vengeful. You know why she can show such spiritual poise, grace and maturity? Esther had been waiting on the Lord.
Yesterday was not a better day for me and the concept of waiting on the Lord.I freaked. I got in my own way and in the way of God's timing. Do you ever do that? Do you ever get in a hurry, become impatient with things, people activities? We all jump ahead and do rash things. We shoot from the hip. We run off at the mouth, saying things that we later regret. In my case it gave me the opportunity to make my wife a wonderful breakfast this morning. But when we have sufficiently waited on the Lord, He gets full control of our spirit and at those moments, we're like a glove, and His hand is moving us wherever He pleases. Having known that experience, I can testify, there's nothing to compare it to. It's marvelous!
So my exhortation to you this day is simple: Wait on the Lord-You will have renewed strength-You will mount up life an eagle...run, not be weary...walk (or rollerblade) and and not faint...and I...remain
InHISgrip,
~J~
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Are You a Domestic Bird?
But we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
- Hebrews 6:11,12
The people of God, and most all of their forms of gathering, are running shy of eagles, and we're running over with parrots. Content to sit safely on our evangelical perches and repeat in rapid-fire falsetto our religious words, we are fast becoming overpopulated with bright-colored birds having soft bellies, big beaks, and little heads. - Chuck Swindoll
Chuck Swindoll penned those words more than a decade ago. Many positives have hit the church and many a wake up call has slammed into it's walls through the intervening years. But still the fact is that as a people we're still soft!
What would help to balance things out would be a lot more keen-eyed, wide-winged creatures willing to soar out and up, exploring the illimitable ranges of the kingdom of God . . . willing to return with a brief report on their findings before they leave the nest again for another fascinating adventure. We need soaring, adventurous, fast-moving, fast-thinking, quick-witted, single-minded and determined EAGLES!
To Chuck's point it should be obvious (in keeping with the analogy and hoping that the metaphor police don't come and get me!) parrot people are much different than eagle thinkers. They become accustomed to the familiarity of the cage. If you have ever owned a parrot (I grew up with one in my house) they are incessantly picking over the same pan full of seeds. Boring and meaningless repetition such as listening to the same words until they are burned into their lil' parrot heads and can be repeated out of their oversized, giant parrot beaks provides them satisfaction and more comfort; even YEARS later!
They like complacent and similar company too. Since they are colorful and easily, at least outwardly, the "brightest" creature in the room they crave lots of attention. Provide them with a scratch here, and a snuggle there, and they'll stay for years right on the same perch and right in that same cage.
In captivity I bet you can't remember the last time you saw one fly. I can. And, when Polly's clipped wings grew out (who knew they grew out or could?)Polly flew around the room and right back to the perch. End of story.I think what Polly realized was that she did something different and, oh my gosh, different is, well, scary! Parrots like the predictable, the secure, the strokes they get from their mutual admiration society.
Not so with eagles nor with eagle believers. There's not a predictable pinion in their wings! They think. They love to think. They are driven with this inner urge to search, to discover, to hunt, to learn. And that means they're courageous, tough-minded, willing to ask the hard questions as they bypass the routine in vigorous pursuit of the truth. The whole truth. "The deep things of God" - fresh from the Himalayan heights, where the thin air makes thoughts pure and clear - rather than the tired, worn distillations of humanity. And unlike the intellectually impoverished or at least unchallenged parrot, eagles take risks getting their food because they hate anything that comes from a small dish of picked-over seeds...it's boring, dull, repetitious, and dry.
Although rare, eagles are not completely extinct in the historic skies of the church. Thomas Aquinas was one, as were Augustine, Justin Martyr, Luther, Wesley and Bunyan, Wycliffe and Huss. So were G. K. Chesterton, R. A. Torrey, Spurgeon, Moody, C. S. Lewis, Charles, Finney, John Gill, Robert Dick Wilson, J. Gresham Machen, W. R. Nicoll, and A. W. Tozer.
Many of the reformers qualify, as do Jonathan Edwards, John Newton, George Whitefield, and a long line of nonconformists - original thinkers whose lives were interwoven through the treasured tapestry of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
And in our day? We could name some...but they are increasingly rarer, as the "Entertain Me" philosophy of the public outshouts those who plead, "Make me think!"
Have you fallen prey to a similar mind-set? Do you find yourself contentedly sitting on your perch (i.e. church pew), pecking at dry morsels (i.e. some pastoral lesson or some popular book) rather than longing for the skies? Get off the perch. A great way to worship and glorify and honor God is to step out, step up and attempt great exploits in His name!
Think about it. I remain...
InHISgrip,
~J~
- Hebrews 6:11,12
The people of God, and most all of their forms of gathering, are running shy of eagles, and we're running over with parrots. Content to sit safely on our evangelical perches and repeat in rapid-fire falsetto our religious words, we are fast becoming overpopulated with bright-colored birds having soft bellies, big beaks, and little heads. - Chuck Swindoll
Chuck Swindoll penned those words more than a decade ago. Many positives have hit the church and many a wake up call has slammed into it's walls through the intervening years. But still the fact is that as a people we're still soft!
What would help to balance things out would be a lot more keen-eyed, wide-winged creatures willing to soar out and up, exploring the illimitable ranges of the kingdom of God . . . willing to return with a brief report on their findings before they leave the nest again for another fascinating adventure. We need soaring, adventurous, fast-moving, fast-thinking, quick-witted, single-minded and determined EAGLES!
To Chuck's point it should be obvious (in keeping with the analogy and hoping that the metaphor police don't come and get me!) parrot people are much different than eagle thinkers. They become accustomed to the familiarity of the cage. If you have ever owned a parrot (I grew up with one in my house) they are incessantly picking over the same pan full of seeds. Boring and meaningless repetition such as listening to the same words until they are burned into their lil' parrot heads and can be repeated out of their oversized, giant parrot beaks provides them satisfaction and more comfort; even YEARS later!
They like complacent and similar company too. Since they are colorful and easily, at least outwardly, the "brightest" creature in the room they crave lots of attention. Provide them with a scratch here, and a snuggle there, and they'll stay for years right on the same perch and right in that same cage.
In captivity I bet you can't remember the last time you saw one fly. I can. And, when Polly's clipped wings grew out (who knew they grew out or could?)Polly flew around the room and right back to the perch. End of story.I think what Polly realized was that she did something different and, oh my gosh, different is, well, scary! Parrots like the predictable, the secure, the strokes they get from their mutual admiration society.
Not so with eagles nor with eagle believers. There's not a predictable pinion in their wings! They think. They love to think. They are driven with this inner urge to search, to discover, to hunt, to learn. And that means they're courageous, tough-minded, willing to ask the hard questions as they bypass the routine in vigorous pursuit of the truth. The whole truth. "The deep things of God" - fresh from the Himalayan heights, where the thin air makes thoughts pure and clear - rather than the tired, worn distillations of humanity. And unlike the intellectually impoverished or at least unchallenged parrot, eagles take risks getting their food because they hate anything that comes from a small dish of picked-over seeds...it's boring, dull, repetitious, and dry.
Although rare, eagles are not completely extinct in the historic skies of the church. Thomas Aquinas was one, as were Augustine, Justin Martyr, Luther, Wesley and Bunyan, Wycliffe and Huss. So were G. K. Chesterton, R. A. Torrey, Spurgeon, Moody, C. S. Lewis, Charles, Finney, John Gill, Robert Dick Wilson, J. Gresham Machen, W. R. Nicoll, and A. W. Tozer.
Many of the reformers qualify, as do Jonathan Edwards, John Newton, George Whitefield, and a long line of nonconformists - original thinkers whose lives were interwoven through the treasured tapestry of the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries.
And in our day? We could name some...but they are increasingly rarer, as the "Entertain Me" philosophy of the public outshouts those who plead, "Make me think!"
Have you fallen prey to a similar mind-set? Do you find yourself contentedly sitting on your perch (i.e. church pew), pecking at dry morsels (i.e. some pastoral lesson or some popular book) rather than longing for the skies? Get off the perch. A great way to worship and glorify and honor God is to step out, step up and attempt great exploits in His name!
Think about it. I remain...
InHISgrip,
~J~
Friday, January 7, 2011
I'm On The Happy Side of Life!
Solomon left us many statements about the value of joy in the book of Proverbs. A joyful heart is good medicine, / But a broken spirit dries up the bones - Proverbs 17:22 and A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, / But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken Proverbs 15:13 and again a cheerful heart has a continual feast - Proverbs 15:15
Today we find ourselves as a worldwide community re-broiled (that can't be good for the meat can it?) in the same 'ol battle relating to the qualifying tenants of the Christian faith.
I'll bring it down to the vernacular: How can you know someone is really a Christian?
The question has no singular answer.
Oh, sure, you can point to things in the Bible that it says about knowing people are Christians but then you realize it says more than one thing. Does it then mean if you have one of those and not another that you are or that you aren't? Love (I John 2:3-11) is the greatest litmus test of our faith (or so it seems today) but if we are not agreeing on what that love is we are not agreeing on it as the final authority. James provides practical advice on whether our faith is authentic (James 1:27). There are objective tests (2 Peter) and subjectives tests to prove faith (2 Corinthians 1:12; 1 John 5:10). There are doctrinal tests (I John 4:2 and 5:1) and moral tests even (1 John 2:3). And, I didn't even get started...(Aren't ya glad I quit?)
The one thing you can know is that someone has had a Christ encounter when they have the testimony of a changed life that takes the form a bright and buoyant spirit. Jesus talked about childlike faith. Most of us take that to mean simple. However, a winsome spirit that is engaging and attractive as the Proverbs above describe is as much or perhaps more of a determiner as anything.
The joy that oozes from that kind of person, the one whose life has been changed by the work of God, well, it's simply contagious. Christians talk a lot about love and faith and hope, but we often fail to emphasize the value of joy, of winsome, wholesome, engaging, bright and exuberant joy! I find it odd that we can't or often don't see great joy is the spirit of a man putting things of this earth in their right ordered and godly place. This is even more evident when we remember back to the fact that joy appears next to the top of the list in the fruit of the Spirit. Remember? But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control -Galatians 5:22-23
I admit that my spirit affirms that should God hand out trophies to those who bear the right fruit, those who demonstrate love on a regular basis would win the the biggest and largest . . . but also as the greatest evangelical force, those who model joy would be right there with them; perhaps not the top honors but a clear, strong second for sure.
Laughter, light heartedness, the ability to see the great wonder and joy all around us are some of the most pleasing things we can experience on the planet and I am convinced that God loves it!
As someone once said, "Joy is the flag flying high above the castle of the heart, announcing that the King is in residence there." (Read that again.)
So, let's lighten up. Let's allow ourselves to rest and relax more often during spontaneous segments of each day. We should gives ourselves permission to fill those times with a little fun. Let's stop suppressing our laughter. Let's remind ourselves that a healthy and well-exercised sense of humor is as much a mark of spirituality as being faithful in prayer and being committed to the truths of Scripture.
You want people to see your Father in heaven? Your heart needs to rest in Him. If it is then you will realize that all that is here and now is but a blip. He has the whole world in His hands and He has YOU! Oh man! Beyond cool...beyond neat...beyond awesome...it rocks baby! No separation from the love of my daddy Father GOD! EEEeeeeeeeOooooooWWWwwwwwww!
So get out your joy flag 'cuz it's time to unwrap that flag, raise it to the top of the mast, and fly it high! I remain...
InHISEmbrace!
~J~
Today we find ourselves as a worldwide community re-broiled (that can't be good for the meat can it?) in the same 'ol battle relating to the qualifying tenants of the Christian faith.
I'll bring it down to the vernacular: How can you know someone is really a Christian?
The question has no singular answer.
Oh, sure, you can point to things in the Bible that it says about knowing people are Christians but then you realize it says more than one thing. Does it then mean if you have one of those and not another that you are or that you aren't? Love (I John 2:3-11) is the greatest litmus test of our faith (or so it seems today) but if we are not agreeing on what that love is we are not agreeing on it as the final authority. James provides practical advice on whether our faith is authentic (James 1:27). There are objective tests (2 Peter) and subjectives tests to prove faith (2 Corinthians 1:12; 1 John 5:10). There are doctrinal tests (I John 4:2 and 5:1) and moral tests even (1 John 2:3). And, I didn't even get started...(Aren't ya glad I quit?)
The one thing you can know is that someone has had a Christ encounter when they have the testimony of a changed life that takes the form a bright and buoyant spirit. Jesus talked about childlike faith. Most of us take that to mean simple. However, a winsome spirit that is engaging and attractive as the Proverbs above describe is as much or perhaps more of a determiner as anything.
The joy that oozes from that kind of person, the one whose life has been changed by the work of God, well, it's simply contagious. Christians talk a lot about love and faith and hope, but we often fail to emphasize the value of joy, of winsome, wholesome, engaging, bright and exuberant joy! I find it odd that we can't or often don't see great joy is the spirit of a man putting things of this earth in their right ordered and godly place. This is even more evident when we remember back to the fact that joy appears next to the top of the list in the fruit of the Spirit. Remember? But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control -Galatians 5:22-23
I admit that my spirit affirms that should God hand out trophies to those who bear the right fruit, those who demonstrate love on a regular basis would win the the biggest and largest . . . but also as the greatest evangelical force, those who model joy would be right there with them; perhaps not the top honors but a clear, strong second for sure.
Laughter, light heartedness, the ability to see the great wonder and joy all around us are some of the most pleasing things we can experience on the planet and I am convinced that God loves it!
As someone once said, "Joy is the flag flying high above the castle of the heart, announcing that the King is in residence there." (Read that again.)
So, let's lighten up. Let's allow ourselves to rest and relax more often during spontaneous segments of each day. We should gives ourselves permission to fill those times with a little fun. Let's stop suppressing our laughter. Let's remind ourselves that a healthy and well-exercised sense of humor is as much a mark of spirituality as being faithful in prayer and being committed to the truths of Scripture.
You want people to see your Father in heaven? Your heart needs to rest in Him. If it is then you will realize that all that is here and now is but a blip. He has the whole world in His hands and He has YOU! Oh man! Beyond cool...beyond neat...beyond awesome...it rocks baby! No separation from the love of my daddy Father GOD! EEEeeeeeeeOooooooWWWwwwwwww!
So get out your joy flag 'cuz it's time to unwrap that flag, raise it to the top of the mast, and fly it high! I remain...
InHISEmbrace!
~J~
When Your Mentors Speak Pay Attention!
The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the LORD - 1 Sam 3:19-20
As a boy growing up there was a lot of things that were cool about my neighborhood. First, you could always step outside and find someone out there who could play. Secondly, we played sports year around. We could always gather enough guys to play baseball in the Summer. hockey, Football, in the winter and basketball in Spring and Fall. But, in our neighborhood baseball was king. It just played out that way. We did them all but loved baseball. Baseball was my sport. I grew to be good at it. And, as good a player as I was I found I was even a better baseball strategist and historian. This is not pride on my part, but merely a fact.
For all of my talent in and around baseball and for all my desire to have a life in and around baseball it never has been that way. God has directed my life into business and showed me an interesting mix of how that life, along with family and social life works as ministry. The way I view life, the culmination of all of my life experiences have combined to create the calling I am living out today. Those of you who know me know I center my life as a mentor, pastor and teacher of others. I, and sometimes poorly, pastor a small group, I mentor the men, I consult and work in the franchise industry to help people understand small business and, from time to time also work with the franchises themselves.
Similarly as we mature in life, God uses our parents, teachers, uncles, coaches, mentors and forms of spiritual leadership (pastors, missionaries, evangelists, Christian authors, etc.) to affirm our gifts and callings. I found, especially when I was young that it often seems like these people are attempting to steer our lives. Something shiny, noisy and bright has caught our attention and they are trying to keep us on some other, familiar and maybe more tried and true (i.e. boring) path. But it appears not what we want to do but what they want us to do. However, God uses authority figures to provide key direction during key times (the early teen and twenty-something years). He uses these people to help guide us to the ultimate purposes He has for our lives.
When we are young, we're often more impressionable than at any other time in our lives. The young person who can allow wisdom to rule over immaturity and impatience is a rare individual. However, if you are able to receive from the people God puts in your life at this stage, you will be so far ahead of your peers and you will be amazed.
Having said that, as if I was speaking to teenagers who I would hope read this, I also believe it true of anyone at any phase or age in their life. Having the ability to commit to a strength, a power, a vision, a singular focus and to embrace wisdom from those who guard over your life is a massive step to a successful life.
"God is continually preparing His heroes, and when the opportunity is right, He puts them into position in an instant. He works so fast, the world wonders where they came from," said A. B. Simpson. Often however what seems like an instant has been less obtrusive and/or obvious preparation. We would laugh if a shepherd boy thought himself prepared to be a warrior because he had a couple of encounters with danger a la David.
Quiet your spirit. Take more deep breaths. Consider deeply the words of the successful. Let God do the foundation work so that he can advance you to His ultimate purposes He has prepared for your earthly walk. I remain...
InHISgrip,
~J~
As a boy growing up there was a lot of things that were cool about my neighborhood. First, you could always step outside and find someone out there who could play. Secondly, we played sports year around. We could always gather enough guys to play baseball in the Summer. hockey, Football, in the winter and basketball in Spring and Fall. But, in our neighborhood baseball was king. It just played out that way. We did them all but loved baseball. Baseball was my sport. I grew to be good at it. And, as good a player as I was I found I was even a better baseball strategist and historian. This is not pride on my part, but merely a fact.
For all of my talent in and around baseball and for all my desire to have a life in and around baseball it never has been that way. God has directed my life into business and showed me an interesting mix of how that life, along with family and social life works as ministry. The way I view life, the culmination of all of my life experiences have combined to create the calling I am living out today. Those of you who know me know I center my life as a mentor, pastor and teacher of others. I, and sometimes poorly, pastor a small group, I mentor the men, I consult and work in the franchise industry to help people understand small business and, from time to time also work with the franchises themselves.
Similarly as we mature in life, God uses our parents, teachers, uncles, coaches, mentors and forms of spiritual leadership (pastors, missionaries, evangelists, Christian authors, etc.) to affirm our gifts and callings. I found, especially when I was young that it often seems like these people are attempting to steer our lives. Something shiny, noisy and bright has caught our attention and they are trying to keep us on some other, familiar and maybe more tried and true (i.e. boring) path. But it appears not what we want to do but what they want us to do. However, God uses authority figures to provide key direction during key times (the early teen and twenty-something years). He uses these people to help guide us to the ultimate purposes He has for our lives.
When we are young, we're often more impressionable than at any other time in our lives. The young person who can allow wisdom to rule over immaturity and impatience is a rare individual. However, if you are able to receive from the people God puts in your life at this stage, you will be so far ahead of your peers and you will be amazed.
Having said that, as if I was speaking to teenagers who I would hope read this, I also believe it true of anyone at any phase or age in their life. Having the ability to commit to a strength, a power, a vision, a singular focus and to embrace wisdom from those who guard over your life is a massive step to a successful life.
"God is continually preparing His heroes, and when the opportunity is right, He puts them into position in an instant. He works so fast, the world wonders where they came from," said A. B. Simpson. Often however what seems like an instant has been less obtrusive and/or obvious preparation. We would laugh if a shepherd boy thought himself prepared to be a warrior because he had a couple of encounters with danger a la David.
Quiet your spirit. Take more deep breaths. Consider deeply the words of the successful. Let God do the foundation work so that he can advance you to His ultimate purposes He has prepared for your earthly walk. I remain...
InHISgrip,
~J~
Thursday, January 6, 2011
What Is the Breadth and Width Of Your Life's Calling?
If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. - 2 Corinthians 1:6
"God must love you a lot! He doesn't allow someone to go through the kinds of adversity you have experienced unless He has a special calling on your life." Those words were said to me by two different pastors at two different times when I had gone through a place that was a desert place in my life. If you have walked in the Christian life and have had struggles with work, relationships, family, friends or perhaps what it is God wants to do with you I bet you have heard them or some form of them also. Later I would learn another related truth from a respected man of God - a man who lives in another country, a man whom God uses throughout the globe. This man would say, "The depth and width of your faith experiences are directly proportional to your calling." What were these men of God saying? What were they getting at?
They were describing a process of preparation that God takes each of His leaders through when He plans to use them in significant ways. In Full Gospel circles a "faith experience" is an event or "spiritual marker" in your life about which you can say, "That is where I saw God personally moving in my life." It was usually preceded by a place in your life where you either thought or said, "God! Why is it that I cannot figure out what you want to do with me or why you are putting me through this?"
The time I speak of though is an unmistakable event in which God reveals Himself personally and in a very intimate manner to you. It was the burning bush for Moses; the crossing of the Red Sea or the Jordan River for the nation of Israel; Jacob's encounter with the angel with whom he wrestled and sustained a life changing injury. You get the drift. It was the feeding of the 5,000 for the disciples. It was Thomas putting his hands in the wounds of Jesus Christ and it was Paul blinded on a dusty road in the Roman Empire. It was the time when you saw God, and His reality for you might as well have been face to face.
If God has plans of using you in the lives of many others, and you need to know if you are reading this I can nearly guarantee it, you can expect that He is going to allow certain faith experiences to come into your life in order to build a foundation that will be solid. That foundation is what you will be able to look back on to keep you faithful to Him in the times of testing. You will hold on when Satan attacks viciously. Each of us must have personal faith experiences in which we experience God personally so that we can move in faith to whatever He may call us either into to to do to further the Kingdom of God and rightly honor and worship Him. Do you need a personal faith experience right now in your life? Be careful what you ask for but pray that God will reveal Himself to you. He may not do it in some manner you might otherwise think conventional but He delights in doing just that.
I remain...
InHISgrip,
~J~
"God must love you a lot! He doesn't allow someone to go through the kinds of adversity you have experienced unless He has a special calling on your life." Those words were said to me by two different pastors at two different times when I had gone through a place that was a desert place in my life. If you have walked in the Christian life and have had struggles with work, relationships, family, friends or perhaps what it is God wants to do with you I bet you have heard them or some form of them also. Later I would learn another related truth from a respected man of God - a man who lives in another country, a man whom God uses throughout the globe. This man would say, "The depth and width of your faith experiences are directly proportional to your calling." What were these men of God saying? What were they getting at?
They were describing a process of preparation that God takes each of His leaders through when He plans to use them in significant ways. In Full Gospel circles a "faith experience" is an event or "spiritual marker" in your life about which you can say, "That is where I saw God personally moving in my life." It was usually preceded by a place in your life where you either thought or said, "God! Why is it that I cannot figure out what you want to do with me or why you are putting me through this?"
The time I speak of though is an unmistakable event in which God reveals Himself personally and in a very intimate manner to you. It was the burning bush for Moses; the crossing of the Red Sea or the Jordan River for the nation of Israel; Jacob's encounter with the angel with whom he wrestled and sustained a life changing injury. You get the drift. It was the feeding of the 5,000 for the disciples. It was Thomas putting his hands in the wounds of Jesus Christ and it was Paul blinded on a dusty road in the Roman Empire. It was the time when you saw God, and His reality for you might as well have been face to face.
If God has plans of using you in the lives of many others, and you need to know if you are reading this I can nearly guarantee it, you can expect that He is going to allow certain faith experiences to come into your life in order to build a foundation that will be solid. That foundation is what you will be able to look back on to keep you faithful to Him in the times of testing. You will hold on when Satan attacks viciously. Each of us must have personal faith experiences in which we experience God personally so that we can move in faith to whatever He may call us either into to to do to further the Kingdom of God and rightly honor and worship Him. Do you need a personal faith experience right now in your life? Be careful what you ask for but pray that God will reveal Himself to you. He may not do it in some manner you might otherwise think conventional but He delights in doing just that.
I remain...
InHISgrip,
~J~
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