Honor & Life Messages

Lately the Lord has been speaking to me about "life messages." By this, I believe He means the individual purpose and significance He has birthed in each of us that we are assigned to carry into our world. We are all created so differently, and for good reason, He loves variety - just look at the animal and plant kingdoms! As there are so many lifestyles, cultures, and temperaments - God cannot have ministry that is one size fits all. When you look around at the vast expanse of Christian programs and literature, it can be a bit dizzying and can even push some people towards cynicism and further to criticism - particularly if a ministry's style does not suit you, your tastes, or your current spiritual maturity level. Can I encourage you to not buy into that and continue reading with an open heart? I had such a strong desire to put this blog together, because I know this is a common ploy of the enemy...to destroy the unity of the body of Christ and fragment us over sometimes serious but often inane differences.

The principle of honor (respect, esteem, value) is such an important one in every arena, but sadly there are still some folks out there who haven't quite let God refine this characteristic in them. I know, because I have been one of them! To be honest, I have been successful at doing this on a high level, meaning with large and visible ministries, and seeing the good they are doing in the name of Jesus, even if it isn't ministering strongly to me. God has led us to sow financially into various ministries like this and bless them to continue on in their work; this is going beyond simply acknowledging their mission but is supporting and esteeming their mission to the point where it affects your pocketbook...now that is honor.

All of that being said, I had been having a more difficult time with honor in more personal and close to home relationships. Struggling to put the pieces together and love, respect, and honor others - especially when they have not been honoring you - can be quite difficult. I have been seeking God over this matter for months, and it is crystal clear that love and honor are very high on His priority list for me right now!

As I prayed and sought Him about it, He spoke to my spirit in such clear terms (and might I add, not angrily or condescendingly, but calmly and in an encouraging way) about the concept of every individual and their life message. Just as corporations have mission statements and core values, God has created each of us so uniquely, with backgrounds, experience, education, and interests that all fit together to create the exact life message He destined for us; that life message is vital to a lost and dying world, and He wants all of us to find it and come into our own in terms of purpose with passion.

When you think about #1 His brilliance and #2 His plan, it boggles the mind for little old me to begin criticizing whomever for what I think they are not doing correctly. My responsibility is to honor them and the life message that, most of the time, I can see so clearly written all over them. While doing this, it is also extremely important that I be pursuing my life message with singleness of vision, regardless of what others may be thinking, saying, or doing about me. I do wonder sometimes how many life messages have been abandoned or even crushed as a result of others' jealousy, mistreatment, or plain misunderstanding.

Can I challenge and encourage you on both of these fronts, to be the type of person that honors others, regardless of whether you understand them, and continues to relentlessly pursue your own life message, even if it's sometimes alone? The King has need of you; answer His call and don't let the enemy have one more inch (make that centimeter!) of ground in this area :).

I Samuel 2:7-9
The Lord makes some poor and others rich; he brings some down and lifts others up.
He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump.
He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor.
For all the earth is the Lord’s, and he has set the world in order.
He will protect his faithful ones, but the wicked will disappear in darkness.
No one will succeed by strength alone.

Becoming All-Out Givers

My husband, Austen, and I have been on an interesting journey over the course of our 8 year marriage. When we were first married, we were still a part of church, but we will both tell you that God was not the main priority of either of our lives. As we began to get hit with the trials the world can bring you as an adult, we began making an effort to put God front and center, and for us this included becoming more consistent in our financial giving.

However, it wasn't until we heard a message by Ed Young (at Fellowship Church in Dallas) about being a steward rather than an owner, that we became faithful tithers. His message was that we don't truly own anything, but that everything has been given by God, and we are merely stewards (some synonyms: custodian, manager, administrator, representative). That word really sunk in with both of us at the same time, which is so providential of our awesome God, that we as a newly married couple were unified in this decision! It was a big chunk of money to begin sowing, but the knowledge that we were privileged to bring this 10% back to God to support His local church, was enough to keep us going.

We continued as regular tithers for a few years and picked up monthly support of a few additional ministries along the way, as well as participating in occasional church-sponsored community outreaches. Most in the religious community would call these our additional offerings, above and beyond the tithe. We stayed at this level in our giving until my sister gave me a book by Robert Morris called, The Blessed Life.

In this book, Pastor Morris talks about the three levels of giving: tithe, offerings, and extravagant offerings. He said that most people who get to the first level of tithing will proceed to the next level of offering, but that very few would cross over into extravagant offerings. He joked that a friend of his actually called them tithes, offerings, and painful offerings! Why is this important you may ask? "If I'm giving my tithe, or even making an effort at giving my tithe, then I have done my duty and don't need to do anymore." The problem with this is then you aren't quite following the gist of God's purposes for us as believers in this world. We are not to be reservoirs of His Goodness, financially or otherwise; but rather, conduits or funnels, getting our resources to the places He directs. What's more...reaching the level of extravagant offerings is where things get a little risky, and dare I say it, fun!

After coming across this book, we were highly motivated to give anywhere and everywhere God directed. We have crossed over into the extravagant level a few times (cars, furniture, etc.), and it can be a bit nauseating but always exhilarating, as you trust that God will provide for your needs instead of your well laid-out Dave Ramsey plan. Now I'm not advocating that we abandon Dave Ramsey's principles; they are extremely helpful and appropriate for people who are out of control to get back into a balanced financial state. But beyond that, I believe, they limit the church. We need to become believers who listen to the Holy Spirit and give as He directs, not as our plans direct us.

Austen and I have ratcheted up our giving in many areas, to the point where Turbotax regularly tells us we have audit risk because our charitable giving is so high in proportion to our income; but we have never seen our needs gone unmet. We have continued to see increase, sometimes extravagantly and sometimes just in the nick of time. This is not meant to be a brag-session on us, merely a tale of the journey it has taken for us formerly marginal givers to become all-out givers. The purpose for the journey is that we show ourselves trustworthy to God, that money not have a hold on us, that He might put more resources into our hands to be funneled into the Kingdom. Can you imagine what the church, and by extension, the world would look like if more believers operated this way??

Luke 6:38 - Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

The River

A current theme in my life has been that of a river, but not just any river, "the" river of the Holy Spirit - our comforter and teacher. There is a song out by Bethel Church called Deep Cries Out that expresses it this way: "If it goes to the left, then we go to the left! If it goes to the right, then we go to the right!"

In a world full of so much uncertainty, isn't it comforting to think there is a source of all stability and wisdom constantly flowing with new provision that flows directly from the throne of Almighty God? See the following passage from Ezekiel which is mirrored in Revelation 22.

Ezekiel 47:1-5 - The man brought me back to the entrance to the temple, and I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple toward the east (for the temple faced east). The water was coming down from under the south side of the temple, south of the altar. He then brought me out through the north gate and led me around the outside to the outer gate facing east, and the water was trickling from the south side. As the man went eastward with a measuring line in his hand, he measured off a thousand cubits and then led me through water that was ankle-deep. He measured off another thousand cubits and led me through water that was knee-deep. He measured off another thousand and led me through water that was up to the waist. He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross.

Revelation 22:1-5 - Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

Our task is to stay in tune with the Holy Spirit and where He is going. Just as in the natural - a river already has its path laid out, already knows its pace and current, and only takes people downstream that are willing to go with its flow. Let's be people in tune with what the Father is doing and follow the river wherever it goes, rather than sticking to some formula or pattern of the way things have always been. He is an ever-changing and ever-advancing God, and I want to be a part of His purposes in the earth!

When we cooperate and follow the Holy Spirit within us, then the river will flow from us as well, producing fruit that will be nourishment to many. I'll finish with a quote from Jesus, who of course, provided our access to the river:

John 7:38 - "Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”

Droughts & Roots

Today I spent the good majority of the morning doing yard-work, which included mowing the grass but also a lot of weed-pulling...our next house will have St. Augustine grass like we have had in the past - Bermuda is a pain!

So some of the weeds were large, but most of them were in the normal range of what we have come up in our yard. Imagine my surprise today, that as I pulled these seemingly identical weeds I've pulled before, when they were NOT coming up easily at all. If you know me personally, you know that I have decent strength, I guess you could say, for a girl :). And when I say not coming up easily - I mean both feet planted, knees bent, gloved hand wrapped around it firmly - weed-pulling. When they finally did let go, most of the time it sent me backward a little. You would not believe the root systems on these babies! We are talking maybe a pencil diameter, as compared to these same weeds having more like dental floss-diameter roots in the past. Here in South Texas, we have had an incredible drought this year; and I can only imagine this is the reason behind these very beefed up roots, as even the weeds had to work hard to search out any moisture available!

As I continued to work, that got me thinking about our spiritual root systems, and I continued to mull along these lines all day. We all go through times of spiritual refreshment, and then I know we sometimes go through periods of drought, like Texas has experienced in the natural this summer. I recently came across a different perspective about these so-called drought times that I'd like to share. I am currently working through a study on the Song of Solomon from the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, and here's their enlightening discussion on the different 'seasons' of His embrace:

"His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me." Song 2:6

This is the "divine embrace" or His "jealous grip" which describes the 2-fold activity of God in her experience. By embrace, we mean the "sweet" feelings of being loved and the "sweet" feelings of loving back. The "Divine Embrace" is found in 2:6 & 8:3. There is a certain mystery to God's embrace as He releases and withholds His presence in very strategic ways. God wants MYSTERY to be in the relationship.
a. The Invisible Activity of God ("His left hand is under my head")

Her head speaks of the Lord touching her and releasing to her wisdom and a heavenly perspective. God's left hand touching her UNDER her head speaks of His indiscernible activity she can't see, because His 'hand' is under her head. He is still drawing her in.

b. The Manifest Presence of God ("His right hand embraces me")

This speaks of the "sweet" manifest presence of God that can be seen, felt, and discerned. The right hand of God is the part that embraces. This is something that you can feel and it is discernible. It is the cherishing embrace (Eph. 5:29).

I liken these seasons of His embrace (invisible and manifest) to mean the same as drought and rain periods in our spiritual journey. Much of the time in Christian circles though, you don't hear the positive analogy (embrace) just the negative one (drought). Thinking of it in the terms described above makes it much more palatable, wouldn't you agree? That our amazing Father isn't withholding anything (in one case rain) from us; but that He is actually there, literally holding us and teaching us the whole time, and we just don't know it!

Regardless of how you view it, these times of quieter spiritual activity in our lives can still be very unpleasant and confusing. I know I've been in positions where I was trying to figure out what I could do to get out of them, when in fact, they were something He was taking me through. And for what purpose? Of course, the answer is maturity in Christ and a greater understanding of Him (roots being more firmly and deeply planted); but that answer can very hard to receive when you are in the midst of going through.

So if you are experiencing such a time in your life (as we all have) - I want to leave you with two mental images this evening: 1) Side by side comparison of your root system before this season and what you think they will be after you walk this out (imagine my steroid-esque weeds described above!) and 2) Your being held by God in an embrace that transcends our human understanding, regardless of whether you feel it or not!

Colossians 2:7
Have the roots [of your being] firmly and deeply planted [in Him, fixed and founded in Him], being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving.

Drawn to Prayer

I know as well as anyone the legalistic ideas that can surround having a long, daily prayer time. I grew up attending a small Christian school that would sometimes feel a bit condemning in the way that having a daily quiet time was taught, and quite frankly, it ended up feeling like a chore a lot of the time.

As an adult growing into my own personal relationship with God, making time to 'withdraw' to a 'solitary place' (Matthew 14:13) was often difficult. I remember very well a Bible study I did when my oldest son was a baby called "Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World." It encouraged sitting at Jesus' feet (resting and gazing) rather than being and doing so busily all the time. One of the practical suggestions in the book was to create a 'withdrawing' room, a place where you would want to go and be alone with God. I vividly remember the corner of our previous home that I set up while my son was napping - lots of cozy pillows and yummy smelling candles. Now, are any of these things necessary? Of course, the answer is absolutely not. However, it encouraged me to withdraw to a solitary place - it helped to get me there initially where then God's Spirit could do the rest.

Even more recently, I have felt God prompting different things to help me spend more time in prayer. He wants me there, and He knows I'm human and apt to fall asleep like the disciples; isn't His grace amazing? He knows just what we need. Anyway, one thing in particular for me lately has been going outside on our back porch at night. I have to be honest - some nights I just want to crawl into bed or stay there if I'm already laying down. And I don't have anywhere near a perfect record, but man the wonderful evenings I have spent out there. Sometimes just the breeze, the cloud movements, even a shooting star - I always come inside shocked at how long I spent outside enjoying praying. Another thing for me has been the discovery of these instrumental piano podcasts called Music to Pray By. They are beautiful, free, and absolutely anointed.

I list these things to give you some examples of the things God has used and is using to draw me in being more devoted to prayer. What, for you personally, can He use to draw you? "Draw me! We will run after you!" - Song of Solomon 1:4(a). Not only does He want this time alone with you, but there is tremendous power He wants to release as well.

I'll finish with this story. My three year-old son was telling my husband and I in the car the other day that he wanted to draw a picture for God. He described everything he wanted to put in it, but then stopped perplexed and asked the thought-provoking question..."How do I give it to Him?" As he realized that day, God can seem so far away; but it's especially so, when we are immersed in the very tangible presence of the world around us. That is why we need to regularly find a solitary place, just like Jesus did, where we can be quiet and become in tune with the invisible realities of our Father's Kingdom.

To Whom Goes the Glory?

This subject is a truth that God has made real in my heart through different circumstances over time, but I had to pray and think about how exactly to convey it. The gist is the following: EVERYTHING we do should give glory to God. Let's define the word glory for a moment - praise, honor, or distinction extended by common consent; something that secures praise or renown. And here are a few synonyms: acclaim, accolade, credit, props, etc.

Even when you don't want something bad enough to do it for yourself, will you exhibit the faith in order that God, and not the enemy, receive the glory? I want my life to be a light that reflects His beauty, splendor, love, and majesty and doesn't even have a hint of the enemy on it. I believe it makes our Father's heart sad when we allow the enemy to have victory in even small areas, not saying that I don't still have some myself :). Here are just a few of the Scriptures I was reading as I wrote this blog:

Exodus 20:23
You shall not make [gods to share] with Me [My glory and your worship]; gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves.
1 Chronicles 16:24
Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all peoples.
Psalm 145:11
They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom and talk of Your power,
Isaiah 42:8
I am the Lord; that is My name! And My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to graven images.
Habakkuk 2:14
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
John 11:4
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
John 11:40
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
John 15:8
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
1 Timothy 1:17
Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

This conviction is especially real to me whenever I see someone facing major bodily sickness and disease. You can almost see the enemy dancing all over it, as the person's body is wracked with pain and suffering; it is such a perversion of God's perfect creation. Recently my 102-year old Grandad passed away. The circumstances came quickly, as he was diagnosed with colon and liver cancer only 2 weeks after becoming ill. Obviously treatment at his age would probably have killed him sooner, so the doctors sent him home with the grim prognosis of being unable to eat along with extreme pain for weeks or months until his body gave out.

Now he was a believer and had lived a great life, and it grieved me to imagine his last days on earth being spent this way. Not only for his own pain, don't get me wrong! But also for the message that would be displayed on earth and the heavenlies - that we stood by and allowed the enemy to suck the life out of him in such an awful way. So, my sisters and I believed that it would not be so. We took communion together and agreed in prayer that he would have a peaceful homegoing when he was ready. And that is exactly what happened...to God's glory!!! He went home to be with Jesus and His Heavenly Father less than 24 hours after being released from the hospital, at home in his own bed while sleeping.

Of course, sickness isn't the only circumstance where I can see this playing out. It's also in the small things...like allowing a strife-filled home, or not taking care of your body, or allowing small offenses to take root, etc. I don't want my life to give glory to anyone or anything but God, because He alone is worthy of all praise, acclaim, and props!!!

Following Your Convictions, i.e. Obedience

So here we go on the topic of obedience... I hesitated to write this one because I do not like legalism in any fashion, and that can sometimes be the fruit of such discussions. But this is something God has been working on in me, and I knew it was time to share; I trust that His Grace covers my writing and will not let it be received in a way I did not intend :).

For me, as I'm sure for many of you, obedience comes easily in many areas. There were a few stubborn spots, but almost all of them are gone now...career, money, entertainment, etc. But can I be really transparent here and tell you what remains? Food! That's right, I said it, food. It is the Christian drug of choice after all. I say that facetiously, but it does seem to be an accepted habit done in excess but yet isn't considered "sin" to most Christians. And I would agree, that in and of itself, food is not sin. However, if God has been speaking to you and nudging you away from certain foods or habits of eating, and you're still not listening - that is a completely different story. See Exhibit A below...

Romans 14:23 (NLT) - But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning.

This Scripture called my bluff, to say the least, on whether or not I was sinning by continuing to drink my Dr. Pepper (which God had been asking me to give up). Now for you, food (or drink) may not be the issue. But what is it in your life, seemingly insignificant and innocent, that you continue to do regardless of the Spirit saying otherwise? Is it your entertainment choices, the way you prioritize your life, your spending habits, your attitude, etc. May I encourage you to take your blinders off, and admit that even these things (if you believe they are not right) are sin? At this point, you may be asking yourself why I am pointing this out.

I believe we all go through different stages in our relationship with God. When you have reached the point of being fully committed but still have these small remnants of disobedience remaining, you are truly right on the verge of breakthrough but limiting your potential. As it says in Song of Solomon 2:15, it is "the little foxes that spoil the vines."

Commit today to follow your convictions, and to obey in everything He is asking you to do. I will do the same! Now on the upside, and there ALWAYS is an upside with God:

Genesis 22:18 (NLT) - And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed—all because you have obeyed me.