Pain

I would have lost heart unless I had believed I would see

the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Psalm 27:13

     Pain- an inevitable part of life.  What I've learned is that hiding it from God is not.  What I do with my pain will depend on what I believe God thinks about it.  The devil wants to make us believe God is mad at us or disapponted with us because we hurt.  It's a lie to keep us from turning to the only one who can heal our pain.  Our pain is not the result of not loving God enough or not having enough faith, our pain is a result of being human and living in a fallen world full of other humans. That we hurt isn't a measure of our spirituality like the enemy wants us to believe. We don't need to be ashamed of our pain or feel guilty for it but I acknowledge that unfortunately too often this is what is conveyed in some churches however unintentional and this is the reason so many people have learned to put on their 'It's Sunday I am going to church' mask'. God is not put off by our pain or our disappontment that some things in our lives didn't turn out the way we expected.  To be sure He only is the way to healing and wholeness. 

     The enemy wants so much to sabotage any expression of Gods image in our life.  It is the image of God he hates us for.  If he can conceal it under pain, guilt and shame he will.  The only way he can is through deception, making us think God feels about us the way we feel about ourselves and our pain. What a lie! The key is to guard our heart so we don't allow our pain to cause our view of God and His heart to be anything other than what lines up with the truth revealed in His word, regardless of external circumstances.  Our circumstances are not the truth and neither is how we feel in the midst of them.

     I have found God is the safest place  to express what I'm really feeling, He doesn't love us any less for it.  We think that He does because we've been conditioned to love ourselves less for it or to love others less for it, but God's love is based on who He is, not what we are which is why it never changes, ever. God is love. His love is eternal because He is eternal. Imagine....there has never been a time when God did not exist, He has always been.  

In His Presence Is Fullness of Joy

     Authentic, genuine encounters with the Presence of Jesus are being sacrificed on the altars of convenience and comfort and “proper religious protocol” and the body of Christ is dying because of it. People must encounter in a real tangible way the presence and power of God, no matter what the cost, be it reputation or credibility among the religious politically correct, whatever.  While programs and agenda’s have a place, could it be that they are taking the place that belongs to the Lord?

     This particular subject is near and dear to me is because I know the kind of relationship just attending church because it is Sunday and this is what we do kind of thing creates. I know because it used to be me and it wasn’t until I was in an environment where the freedom of the Holy Spirit was fostered and embraced rather than avoided that I was really healed emotionally (if you read my testimony you will understand better what I mean).  I came out of a relationship that was made up of rules taught by men rather than passion for the King who died for me. There is an atmosphere created in a corporate environment that brings about the movement of the Holy Spirit that is different than when we are alone.  It is this type of atmosphere that brings people to a place of vulnerability and transparency before God that allows for deep emotional healing. We are seeing people in unprecedented numbers who are not attending church and to be honest I don't wonder why.

    There are things coming and some that are even now upon us, a prophesied order of events lining up the return of Christ which make intimacy with the Lord an absolute necessity; church as usual will not suffice the body of Christ in the days ahead. Some of what is coming we won't like that is just as much in the plan, purpose and will of God as all that we do like and want to embrace.  

Isaiah 60:1-3 Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.  The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.

I don't believe our job is to stop His process, purpose, or plans, but to be what He has created us to be in the midst of that. He wants our cooperation in the advancement of His kingdom, not to be like the Pharisees of old who were unwilling to embrace the new day.

God doesn't want for us to just “survive” the flood but to walk on the water.  To stand erect as oaks of righteousness in the midst of the storm; to be the light in the midst of darkness.  He desires for us to bring Him glory in the midst of what is coming, not pray against it, or simply hope to survive it but to be His witnesses in it, however, He doesn’t expect us to do it on our own.

     God’s heart is for us to be a people prepared for the Lord. There is a wave of His glory coming such as never has been seen before. He wants us prepared in order to properly steward what is coming. Our greatest days as the body of Christ are on their way!

Love

    A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, so also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35


 I want to ask you, when was the last time you heard someone in the kingdom be honored or recognized for something other than the power they walk in, the miracles they do, the revelation they have, or the gifts of the spirit they operate in? Think for a minute about all the people you have read a “spiritual resume” on, you know, the list of things that are printed about someone to encourage you to want to come hear them speak (no offense intended, just trying to make a point), or the things said about someone as a means of honoring them. Yes, we are to render honor to whom honor is due, I get that, and for the most part based on what is written or said we assume it is motivated by the love of God that a person walks in. But lately I have been wondering if perhaps we might be making some wrong assumptions some of the time.

 

     As unintentional as it might be, I find in mainstream Christianity a picture being painted of what is “successful”  that falls far short of the picture Jesus painted for us. On the one hand we have a picture of what dying to ourselves looks like and on the other hand a picture of what “kingdom” life looks like but it seems that the two are in opposition to each other. I don’t find either of them putting much emphasis on the nature or character of Christ and the love of God that is produced as a result of having the former. Has any of this crossed your mind? Have you like me found yourself a bit confused at times wondering if your life measures up to the pictures being painted by some of the more visible “movers and shakers” of the “kingdom”.

 

     The picture of dying to ourselves has become more about portraying a false humility we don’t possess while simultaneously portraying ourselves as being kingdom minded by appearing like we are living the abundant life Jesus promised...which sad to say has been reduced to how financially prosperous we have become, which by the way is diametrically opposed to the “I’m dying to myself” picture.


     Jesus said, "no kingdom divided against itself will stand".  Is it any wonder we find ourselves a little confused sometimes, or is it just me? One extreme is to live like we are poor by not living in too nice of a  house or driving too nice a car and fasting one day a week to prove our “humility” while it’s nothing more than being a modern day Pharisee. Or the other extreme of measuring our success in the kingdom by seeing how big of a house we can have and how expensive of a car we can drive. I have been guilty of both or I wouldn’t be writing about it in the first place. So I am not pointing any fingers. I am afraid that a lot of people are confused about what really matters to God.

     We live in a time where there are more conferences, more meetings, more teachings, and revelation, not to mention all the access to Christian TV than any other time in the history of the church and yet it seems like we are impacting society less and less. Why is that? Maybe we embrace all of the above to prove  that we really are spiritual, but all the while I hear the Father asking,” Where is the love? Where is the love in all that we are about doing to demonstrate we belong to Him?

 

     The bottom line is that the kingdom of God is about faith expressing itself through love. No amount of false humility, no measure of financial success or power displayed at a conference, or time served at the church will ever replace the measure of love the Father sees in our daily lives by the way we treat those closest to us, or the way we interact with strangers put across our path day to day. No matter what we do or don’t do, if we do not have love we are nothing.

 

I don’t know about you, but when I measure myself based on what God says love is in 1 Corinthians 13 I shamefully admit I fall far short. Loving as God loves will cost us everything because it cost Him everything. Maybe that is what I am really afraid of. Could it be that in some measure that is what we are all afraid of and as well, equally afraid to admit? The truest picture of both dying to self and being successful is living a life of love, it is also the truest representation of Christ I know.

The Glory Of The Lord

     During praise and worship today listening to a song called “I Have Found” this particular verse stood out to me that says “let your glory rain down, let your glory rain down, let your glory rain down and cover us, cover us.” As I heard the words I saw Gods people on the earth and His glory enveloping them and becoming a shield protecting them from the darkness that is seeking to cover the earth and its people. As I continued in worship I could feel the burden of the Lord for His people and His desire to protect us and prepare us for the things ahead. I was reminded of the following scripture:

2 Chronicles 7:14 If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

But what was impressed upon me is that humbling ourselves and seeking His face isn’t just about crying out because of our condition and how desperately we need Him to intervene, but also about praising Him and worshipping Him for who He is. Have you noticed if you watch too much news about what is going on in the world you can become very heavy hearted, I have to the point that I really limit how much of it I listen to.  But equally so when you focus on God and His power that is displayed throughout all of His creation it puts things in proper perspective, and in the times we are living in now, it is essential that we maintain proper perspective.

     We must praise the God whose name we claim, we must worship the God whose name we claim, we must be boldly unashamed of the God whose name we claim. As we praise Him and worship Him His face is turned toward us and His glory will be released not just from above, but from inside of us as well.  As the scripture says in Colossians 1:27 “Christ in you, the hope of glory”. We must be people who not only carry His presence but are clothed in His glory as the Presence we carry inside is released through our praise and worship. We must seek Him based on who He is, what He has done and what He has promised to do. Yes, darkness is coming, we can already feel it, but the greatest days of the Church are coming as well.

Isaiah 60:1-2 Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.

What a relevant scripture for the days in which we are living and what a word of encouragement to us as children of God. Jesus said we are the light of the world. We are to let our light shine. We praise you Jesus, the King of Glory!!!! You can listen to the song, just click below.

Song: I Have Found