And The Crown Is Past or Will You Wear It Proudly?

The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors even to David. - 1 Samuel 28:17b

I woke up this morning feeling as though something my heart longed for was missing. I soon realized it was found in my work; I'm simply not being compensated for my work. I'm patted on the back. I'm given oral accolades but no dinero!

It has affected so much of my life. I should say, I've allowed it to affect so much of my life. It has even created perceived affects that make me question my relationships with the people who profess to love me.

I have come to believe our work, the pattern of our life, including relationships, the Body of Christ with whom we worship, the people God puts in our path, they are all a part of our personal calling.Within our calling is the anointing of God on our life. You might feel more comfortable with your life purpose. It is with our calling where we wear our crown.

When God anoints a person, a pattern of trials and circumstances appears to take place at specific times in their life. God often takes each of us through what I identify as four test forms. He does so to determine how (not if) we will walk out His call throughout our life. Our response to these forms of testing provide a sort of set of gates through which we can advance to the next level of responsibility in God's Kingdom and our relationship with Him. The farther along we get, the deeper the relationship to Him. The more He shines through us and the more we resemble Him.

I am not sure if they are ordered just this way. I can imagine they are not. However, my experience, and my reading on the subject of God's will both biblically and extra-biblically point to these four being present for each one of us who names Jesus Christ as Lord.

Here they are:

Self-Control/God-Control - In the scripture above the one being spoken to is King Saul. He spent most of his time as king trying to prevent others from getting what he had. Saul never reached a place with God in which he was a grateful recipient of God's goodness to him either for the unique relationship he had with God or what God had blessed him with in the natural.

Saul did not live with an abundance mentality.

This might have been because he did not live in a time where this was a popular notion. He embraced the grasping, selfish, "survival of the fittest" attitude. By the way, historically, it has not often been the case in any time where a people felt they were a part of abundance either spiritually or physically. However, Saul was a religious as well as secular controller. This control led to disobedience and ultimately being rejected by God because Saul no longer was a vessel God could use.

Bitterness - Every major character in the Bible was deeply hurt by others that were close to them. Jesus was hurt deeply when Judas, a trusted follower, betrayed Him. Perhaps more hurtful was the way his own family and Peter treated Him however. In the case of Judas, despite knowing this was going to happen, Jesus responded by washing Judas' feet. Every anointed leader will have a Judas experience at one time or another. God watches us to see how we will respond to this test. Will we take up an offense? Will we become jaded toward others? Will a severe hurt drive us to a place where love, caring, concern and the ability to love inspire of heartache plague our lives? Will we retaliate? It is one of the most difficult tests to pass. You will be required, most likely more than once to see yourself beyond your emotional heartache in order to fulfill God's greatest joy and purpose in your life.

Power - Power, and more precisely the lording over through its use, is the opposite of the general call on every Jesus believers life. That call is to servanthood. Jesus had all authority in Heaven and earth, so satan tempted Jesus at the top of the mountain to use this authority, this power, to remove Himself from a difficult circumstance. How will we use the position, influence and a superior advantage(s) that God has entrusted to us? Do we seek to gain more? There is a common phrase in the investment community, "He who has the gold rules." The Kingdom of God, the place where all gold is created and from where it is distributed has a different phrase, "Whomever amongst you that would be first must in fact become servant of all!, With Love & In Truth, Jesus.

He was the ultimate servant leader. Follow that which is contrary to all fundamental leadership training and follow His lead.

Covetousness - Covetousness, greed, is a toughie. The "Big Bucks" naturally has great influence. This influence can be for great good but more often than not with a little comes the pursuit of more and more of it and then its very pursuit erodes a mans moral fiber.

When money is a major or just as often, the primary, focus in our life, it becomes a tool of destruction. It takes the place of relationships. It removes us from spending time in the pursuit of the love and serving of others. When it is a fruit of our labor, it can become a great blessing to both self and others. Many of God's kids started out well - only to be derailed once wealth or frankly any form of affluence (knowledge, social status, things, etc.) became a primary portion of their life. What history has shown us is that there are millions that flourish spiritually in terrible trials; only a few can thrive spiritually with the grasp of wealth.

As the called of God, you and I must be aware when the negative pressure of these four (4) things are present in our life situations. You can be confident that each one of these conditions will present itself as God calls you for His purposes.

Will your love of God and trust in the principles of His kingdom overcome your natural tendencies? Start at the beginning. Ask our Heavenly Father for a double dose of His grace today to walk in light; triumphing over the darkness of things that crave to naturally possess us.

I remain...

InHISgrip,

~J~

In The Face of Betrayal We Found Grace

...Peace be with you! - John 20:19

How would you respond to a group of friends, those who followed you as a teacher, mentor, and more if having poured your life into them, teaching them all you know for three plus years, only to have them disband though you had instructed them otherwise? What would you say to them after you were reunited for the first time? I'd be cynical. I'd use sarcasm. I might want to speak with them one at a time and enumerate their failings.

I'll tell you this, at the very least I'd make sure they felt shamed by their lack of loyalty and commitment. After Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead, He appeared to the disciples. His first words to them were, "Peace (Grace) be with you!" The word grace means "unmerited favor." When someone loves you unconditionally, without regard to your behavior in return, it becomes a powerful force in your life.

Such was the case for the disciples when Jesus appeared to them. They could have expected reprimand. Instead, they received unconditional love and acceptance. He was overjoyed to see them. They were equally overjoyed to see Him.

And in this, Jesus created a teachable moment. Jesus understood that the disciples needed to fail Him as part of their training. Quality, wise, understanding Coaches are just like that. For the Apostles it would be this failure that became their greatest motivation for service and one of the things they would use to illustrate God's amazing love personally. Failure allowed them to experience incredible grace for the very first time and grace would transform them from men into men of God. Have you experienced this grace in your life?

Have you extended grace to those who have hurt you? Can you let go of any wrongs that have come through friends or associates?

The grace you extend may change their lives-and yours.

 I remain... InHISgrip, ~J~

Does God Have Motives?

He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me. - 2 Samuel 22:20

I have the opportunity to hang around nonbelievers all the time. I love it. I also choose to hang around believers online that quite often disagree with me deeply. Often, when I engage this group the reason I do so is called into question. At first I became righteously indignant. Well, I did until it had nothing at all to do with righteousness and more about my just wanting to be right. I work on it daily now and attempt to do what Paul encouraged us to do...I believe the admonition to "try the spirits" and to "check our motives" whether they be of God can be viewed as two sides of the same coin.

Questioning someone's motives for their activities can become an overriding response to those with whom we interact. Wrong motives can result in broken relationships, poor business decisions, patterns that lead to alienating ourselves from others but also from right thinking and good judgement. Often, when we practice junior psychology on others we skim the surface of their intentions. Often they don't fully understand why they do what they do. I am of the sincere and biblical opinion that most often, without the guidance and illumination of the Holy Spirit to our spirits do not know the motive of another person. It is wrong for us to assume what their motive is until we have confidence that we know their intentions. When we respond or react prematurely, we become judge and jury over them. We were never given either office.

God has a motive for every one of His children. His desire is to bring us, as the opening verse states, into a spacious place. He wants us to go beyond our borders of safety and security so that we might experience life at a level that goes beyond ourselves, and our narrow perceptions. What do you think of when you think of a "spacious place"? No limitations? A large, grassy field? Open air? Perhaps the evening sky? These are positive images. They can be quiet, serene, and massive!

Sometimes these spacious places, simply by their size and the spark of creativity that the Holy Spirit lights up, encourage us to step out in faith into areas where we've never ventured.

Sometimes we need to be rescued by the Lord...

When Peter walked on the water, God was inviting him to a spacious place. He went beyond the borders of his boat and ventured into a whole new world. He didn't have complete success in his venturing out, but it was a process that would lead him to the next victory in his faith walk with Jesus. Stepping out leads to criticism. Stepping out will also lead to blunders for both those watching and those attempting it. Sometimes failure is what is needed in order to move us to the next level of faith with God and just as likely, when we are struggling with our faith we move out into the great unknown without great direction. What I am learning is for some they must be willing to fail and let God rescue them. Doing "something", "anything" is better than the place they were at.

I have concluded that the Lord delights in the process of His kids going forth into spacious places, into big projects and growing. He also embraces and I am sure, as only God can delights when we learn the lessons of "great going" with "great listening" to His voice. But in this God has a motive for each of us. Generally speaking His motive for His children is always loving. And, as I watch others grow and go one thing becomes evident on that subject: In the going He is always desiring to bring us to a new level of trust and dependence on Him so we become more deeply involved and intimate with Him!

I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~

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~

Allowing Me Into Your Life

Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel - Philippians 1:12-13

Have you ever heard these statements: "Money talks." Or how about this: This is the golden rule: He who has the gold makes the rules." Both of these statements have a hint of truth in them.

When Jesus was crucified there was a question as to where Jesus would be buried. Those that hurried Him to the cross, designed that He should make His grave with the wicked; that he would be buried with others who had been accused of crimes and that had also been crucified. God designed He should make it with the rich and prophetically had announced this in the Old Testament in Isaiah 53:9 - Though they prepared his grave with the wicked he entered in death with the rich though he had done no violence nor was there found any lie within him.

And so a rich man also named Joseph (like Jesus' earthly father) ensured he had a proper burial. In order for Jesus to be buried with honor, this man of influence was permitted to take the body of Jesus. It seems this man had a personal relationship with Pilate. Thus, we can call this Joseph a man of influence. Ultimately he retrieved the body of our Lord and placed it in a burial plot he owned in a cave that was reserved for the rich.

Joseph of Arimathea was called an honorable counselor, a person of character and distinction, and in an office of public trust; some think it would be comparable to our State Department. That would allow him to be privy to and associated with Pontus Pilate. This post also seems to have been in the Jewish faith and that he was one of the great Sanhedrim of the Jews, or one of the high priest's council.

The Bible says that God desires His people to be the head, not the tail. He prepares us, when we accept and embrace God's instruction through the Holy Spirit to be sensitive to God's leading and to be instructors, teacher's, leaders.

Guys, if we are to influence the our time, our place, the culture that surrounds us, we must be men and women of influence in whom God uses to impact the culture. If you are a successful person, consider the words of Paul when he said, "...what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel." Although Paul was referencing adversity in this statement, it can be equally said that each of us needs to ask if our prosperity has served to advance the gospel or our training or our advancement in any area of our life. We need to look to heaven and ask God to reveal to us where our personal leverage and leadership exists. We also need to ask where we have not sharpened the saw of our life or maximized our potential to change lives by allowing God to fully develop our tools, talents, passions and gifts.

Are you using your influence to impact your workplace, city, Body of Christ or even nation for the sake of the gospel? Is there something or some things you have neglected that would change your ability to stand in a place of honor, or, as in Paul's case, apparent dishonor (this to be developed more thoroughly in a future teaching) so that God is glorified and the borders of the Kingdom of God are spread by your efforts and position? What else should you be doing? What two things, right now, do you know for certain you could do that would extend your ability to touch and perhaps bring salvation to lives around you? THINK! :-) - I bet you dollars to donuts that if you spend just 15 minutes in consideration, meditation and prayer over this that the Holy Spirit of God will show you what those two things are...

This is a season of warmth, love, consideration, serving and fellowship. Nothing about giving is more valuable then your compassion spread in a way that would fall naturally within your gifting and position. God's richest blessings to you and may your borders and tents be spread and Jesus arise in you and through you to others like the Daystar of the morning. I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~

It's Just My Nature - Ya, No Kidding...WE KNOW!

When the report was heard in Pharaoh’s house, "Joseph’s brothers have come," it pleased Pharaoh and his servants. And Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Say to your brothers, 'Do this: load your beasts and go back to the land of Canaan, and take your father and your households, and come to me, and I will give you the best of the land of Egypt, and you shall eat the fat of the land.' And you, Joseph, are commanded to say, 'Do this: take wagons from the land of Egypt for your little ones and for your wives, and bring your father, and come. Have no concern for your goods, for the best of all the land of Egypt is yours.'" The sons of Israel did so: and Joseph gave them wagons, according to the command of Pharaoh, and gave them provisions for the journey. To each and all of them he gave a change of clothes, but to Benjamin he gave three hundred shekels of silver and five changes of clothes. To his father he sent as follows: ten donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, and ten female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, and provision for his father on the journey. Then he sent his brothers away, and as they departed, he said to them, "Do not quarrel on the way." So they went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. And they told him, "Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt." And his heart became numb, for he did not believe them. But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, "It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die."
- Genesis 45:16-28

So what is the scene we have here? Joseph's brothers are on a journey back home. They had come seeking food in a time of great famine. They had gotten much more than that. However, I want to focus on a smaller point here so I won't go into the whole reunion with Joseph thing. They not only had been given plenty to eat on the way back to their homeland, but had also been given new threads as well. In short, they had all that they needed---and they once again had it in abundance!

Returning to a land that was in the depths of depression and poverty they must have really looked like something. In the midst of a land drying up under the feet of it's inhabitants they would have looked like kings!

Notice, however, the one directive Joseph gave them: "Don't get into an argument on the journey!" It had been years, yea, decades since Joseph had been with his brothers. Yet, through knowledge and wisdom, he knew those men, didn't he?

I just crack up in these historical biblical stories when little tidbits like that are inserted. Centuries may come and go, but human nature stays pretty much the same. As much as we wish it would go away, it's impossible to erase depravity. I know. It would be kinder to call it "human nature." But the fact of the matter is that it's the human nature, the sin nature, that Joseph was bringing to their remembrance.

There is an old Chinese proverb: "Not very many men can carry a full cup without its disturbing their equilibrium." Sudden wealth or promotion can be a tottering experience, both for the recipient and those surrounding him or her. But it's not just when good things happen to us that we are thrown off of our spiritual game.

Is it?

Superiority, inferiority, arrogance, and jealousy can easily to create out of you and I something ungodly and unlovely; certainly not something that God would be honored to call His own. We know this is true. All we have to do (on the positive side...or is it?) is to check on those who win the lottery. Very few can handle the financial windfall.

To top it all off, in our little story here, Joseph had given his younger brother Benjamin more than he had given to the other brothers. He gave them all provisions and gave each of them new garments, but he gave Benjamin three hundred shekels of silver and five new garments. YIKES! Apparently Joseph had not had mommy lessons in counting the sprinkles on the cupcakes to create an "even" or "fair" playing field.

A similar experience had been had in the life of Joseph decades earlier that had caused hatred in the ranks of his brothers toward Joseph. His dad had shown him special favor also. It had cost him years in slavery, prison and humiliation.

It had cost Joseph...

...hadn't it?

No, probably not...not according to God's view; but certainly yes, according to man's view.

No doubt Joseph remembered well what had happened years before when he had been given more than the others, but he had his own reasons for giving Benjamin these items. He didn't want that to result in a fight. "So don't argue about it!" he told his brothers. He wanted to see what they had learned.

A great principle of the Christian faith might be this: Trust one another, but we are never to trust one another's nature. That's one of the reasons parents give their children the warnings that they do. Parents understand their children's natures better than their offspring do. It's not a question of trust; it's a matter of knowing the nature within. The only way that nature changes is when the Spirit of God rules and reigns in a heart. That is a supernatural event and it must happen every day...daily we must die to our natural man. Daily we must realize, "Christ in me is the hope of Glory!" Daily we must come to grips with our eternal nature and invite through our worship, our praise, our affection toward God the Father and our habits God's Spirit to grab hold of us, once again, for that day...and that is why today, I must remain...

InHISgrip,

~J~