Identity!

“It’s about building relationship, not resolution.”

I don’t know about you, but I often find myself, in all my glorious impatience, that once I’ve prayed, the resolution should be instantaneous. I have come a long way, friends; but through the process I’ve learned that while I was more attached to the outcome, God was always more attached to me.

It’s not much for Him who defeated death to grant us the breakthroughs in our circumstances that we contend for. He remains deeply concerned about everything that concerns us, but He is a Father who is mature enough to understand that what His Child really needs is relationship, not resolution.

Think with me on this for a bit. If He did grant us all our breakthroughs in a heartbeat, what would we need faith for?

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11:1, KJV)

Clearly, when we contend for heavenly realities to manifest in our lives, families, communities and nations; it is the process entailed with it that beckons us to grow in our relationship with Our Maker. It is in the process that we encounter His Presence, allowing His Spirit to minister to us things that the natural mind cannot comprehend, and hence we need faith.

When the God of the Universe asks us to believe in and for something, it usually seems like an impossible feat in the natural. But He exhorts us that what is impossible with man, is possible with God (Luke 18:27). So, a God thing would not only require us to have faith IN God, but the faith OF God. What does this mean? I believe it means that we learn, slowly but surely, to elevate the Truth of what He has spoken over what we see with our natural eyes. If we fix our gaze only on what we see happening in the natural, we may lose heart. But I believe Jesus tells us to, “take heart!” for a reason. We can take heart simply because we have access to a Higher Truth and a superior reality, but for that to manifest, we will have to intentionally fix our gaze on Jesus – the author and the finisher of our faith.

Jesus was never held captive by the state of circumstances around Him. He knew who He was and whose He was. He knew where He came from and was well versed with His Purpose which, I believe, enabled Him to see, think and do only that which The Father did. He thought from Heaven to Earth and often prayed so as to remain in divine alignment. This represents a majesty mind set, which in and through a relationship with Christ, is our portion too.

However, the cultivation of such a mind set is purely relational for it is God who gives us the grace to believe for the impossible to become a tangible reality in our lives. It is God who works the character of Christ within us to empower us, liberate us and unleash us. It is God who in those times that we harbor unbelief or doubt, fear or anxiety, despair or grief; gives us comfort through The Holy Spirit. It is God who releases promises into our lives and then patiently works with us to develop us into the stature of who He calls us to be in order that we may no longer be overwhelmed by the current state of circumstances, because we are now being trained to set our minds on the truth of prophecy and promise, and understand that it’s only a matter of time before it all comes to pass.

So, the question really is this: how do we wait upon The Lord? I absolutely love how The Word frames this thought,

“Oh, that we might know the LORD! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” (Hosea 6:3, NLT)

That encapsulates the very heartbeat of what I believe The Lord has laid on my heart. He assures us of His Faithfulness towards manifesting the required outcome. But in the same breath, He also spurs us on to know Him.

What is He talking of here?

Relationship.

Why is He crazy about it? Because He is not only crazy about us, but also about having us know who WE are IN Him and what we have access to THROUGH Him. The degree to which we know who we are in Him is the degree to which we will remain undaunted in the face of adversity and uncertainty. We will always have circumstances, because God calls us more than conquerors. To manifest that dimension of our Identity however, will require us to overcome, and in the overcoming, guess what?

We are becoming.

Suffice to say, our becoming is pivotal because it allows God to entrust us with more. More giants to slay, more mountains to conquer and more battles to win. It’s how He sees us, friends that defines us, and He sees us as victorious!

Not because of who we are, but because of who HE is, a Truth that can be etched out in the deepest crevices of our being only when we yield with supreme joy and delight to the absolute privilege of “relationship” as opposed to resolution.

Selah.


This is how we live!

“We live under Your smile and Your splendor shadow.”

It’s fascinating to do life with a God who loves us with the sort of love that is too deep to even comprehend. Having reconciled us through The Blood of The Lamb, we now live under His smile and His loving gaze. Looking past our past and even our current failures and limitations, He is a Father who sees who we are becoming and leaves no stone unturned in helping us become a higher and better version of ourselves, as we go deeper in Him.

Jesus descended from Eternity into Earth to reveal to us, The Father’s Heart; full of mercy, grace and compassion. I am reminded of someone we are all very familiar with, but the audacity and boldness of her faith remain etched out forever. I’m talking of the woman with the issue of blood. The Bible does not reveal her name, because I believe, having been subject to bleeding for twelve long years, she came to be known more by her issue than her Identity. However, as the crowd pressed around Jesus, she thought to herself that if only she could touch the helm of His garment, she would be healed. And she was.

Though this story represents the power of faith in the Son of God to heal and set free, I personally am touched by the heart of Jesus towards us. When He realized that power had gone out from Him and asked who had touched Him, the woman came trembling in fear, fell at His feet and confessed the whole truth. Instead of shaming or scolding her, Jesus said a Word that wrecks me till today,

“Daughter.”

He affirmed her Identity, a Truth that transcends the state of our circumstances, how people perceive us,what we have done or what has happened to us; and remains grounded in how God sees us. He sees us as Sons and Daughters with infinite worth and value. He sees us as Children that He wove into being with immense care and affection. He sees us as marvelous creations that have been endowed with seeds of greatness which when cultivated and unleashed, possess the potential to turn the world upside down and inside out. He sees us as His Beloved.

And slowly, I’m learning to live like one. There are sunny days and then there are stormy days, but the Constant through it all is his all encompassing Love towards me, which brings me to His splendor shadow.

God revealed to me lately that Love is not a feeling, it is a knowing. Just because we have trials and tribulations in our lives does not mean that God does not love us. He absolutely does, and relentlessly at that! In fact, when viewed through the lens of Heaven, it is precisely these trials and tribulations that God uses to grow our potential and develop our inner man, in a manner that we go from strength to strength, from the inside out. Graham Cooke puts it like this,

“God allows in His wisdom what He could easily prevent in His power.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Friends, it is in His Love that He allows some circumstances to manifest, that in the natural, may not be palatable to us, but in the Spirit, are the very tools that The Potter uses to mold the clay from one dimension of glory to the next. His Love is too good to leave us the way we are. It pursues us into healing, wholeness and restoration; which brings to mind one of my absolute favorite verses of Scripture,

“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” (Jeremiah 31:3 KJV)

Abiding in His Love and dwelling under His splendor shadow is the best way to do life. The Word puts it like this,

“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1, NIV)

We remain stable, steadfast and immovable to the extent that we have allowed ourselves to receive the Love of God, which is the very thing that catapults us into the Presence of God. THIS is our portion as His Redeemed and needs to be a way of life in order that through the unpredictable and uncertain circumstances that we may find ourselves thrust into, we can learn to walk with Jesus with joy in our souls and peace in our hearts. We can learn that as long as we know The One we are walking with, it does not matter what we are walking through. We can learn to carry the Presence that we have had the privilege to encounter in our lives in such a dynamic way that the people in our spheres of influence have to think twice about what’s really going on, till it is made abundantly clear that what they have had a taste of is not really of us, but of Him. So, with confidence, humility and gratitude in our hearts, let us lift our voices in united praise as we declare,

“Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness.” (Psalm 115:1, NIV)

In short, because of Your smile and Your splendor shadow!

Amen.

Faithful.

“If You’re leading me, I know Your Grace will keep me.”

At varied junctures in our lives, God presents us with new opportunities, relationships and new territory that He wants us to take. Our confidence, as believers, is that as long as we know that it is The Lord who is leading us on, we can rest in the absolute assurance that His Grace will keep us where He has called us.

It is important to note that we are no longer held captive by past failures or mistakes, because in Jesus, we are new creations entitled to a new nature and a new way of life. I believe God calls this lifestyle one of victory, strength, wholeness and abundance. It is a lifestyle that stems from the power of knowing Him; His heart and character towards us. He loves us without restraint and settled that issue, once and for all, by the power of The Cross of Calvary. I believe that we can love Him back by first, receiving that love and letting it empower us to follow Him into the spaces and places that He is gently and mercifully wooing us towards. I would love to share a few lines from one of my treasured passages of Scripture,

“You’ve gone into my future to prepare the way,
and in kindness you follow behind me
to spare me from the harm of my past.
With your hand of love upon my life,
you impart a blessing to me.
This is just too wonderful, deep, and incomprehensible!
Your understanding of me brings me wonder and strength.” (Psalm 139:5-6, The Passion Translation)

God is already in all of our tomorrows. He has gone ahead of us to make our crooked paths straight. His Word ensures that for every challenge, there will always be a corresponding promise, and all the promises of God are in Christ Jesus, “Yes” and “Amen.” He hems us in behind and before, and has laid His hand of Love upon us. He understands our frailties and will never require more of us than we can deliver, but will work with us in the sphere of our own unique graces, developing our potential and taking us from strength to strength.

The instance of Jesus walking on water comes to mind, as I write. As He walked on the lake and came towards the disciples, they thought that they had just seen a ghost, till their fears were stilled by Jesus’s kind assurance,

“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Matthew 14:27, NIV)

Peter was the first one to respond and step out of the boat. I believe it was his faith IN Jesus and his love OF Jesus that compelled him. However, when he saw the wind ( the slightest hint of opposition) he became afraid and started to sink. The Bible, at this point, informs us that Jesus not only reached out and caught him, but He did so, “immediately.”

This tells me that even when our faith enables us to step out of the “proverbial” boat and walk on water, there will be times when we falter or stumble. We may even second guess ourselves and doubt our journey. It is comforting to know that at such times, we can trust The Lord’s promise towards us,

” So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10, NIV)

Friends, it is not our feeble grip on Him, it is His firm grip on us. So, we can trust in His faithfulness and loving kindness towards us. We can trust that He is merciful and majestic. We can trust that He is alpha and omega. We can trust that what He begins, He is well able to bring to completion. We can trust that whatever He calls us to, He gives us the grace for.

Why?

Because He is Faithful, and He can’t help it!

Blessings.


A lethal hybrid!

“Our faith is a hybrid of both, prayer and process.”

When we ask God for something in prayer, I believe that He hears us. He may not give us what we want when we want it, but in His own timing, He will always come through. Let me share a cherished Bible verse,

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” (John 15:7-8, ESV)

The prerequisite here is that we must abide in Him as surely as He abides in us. Given how wholeheartedly He has loved us and continues to, I believe this abiding is only a natural response to the Love that has loved us first.

Why does God require this of us?

A relationship grounded in remaining in The Father’s Love is essential because we can give only to the extent that we have received. The best thing that we can give God is our willingness to receive His Love towards us in fullness and abundance. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, but only Perfect Love which casts out all fear. It is safe to surmise that the degree to which we receive His Agape Love towards us is the degree to which we will feel empowered, encouraged and equipped to be all that He has called us to be, allowing the overflow of such a sublime relationship to enable us to bear the fruit that Jesus talks of.

Abiding in Him also brings us in alignment with The Father’s Heart. We see the way He sees, we think the way He thinks and consequently, we pray in accordance with His Will. 1 John 5:14-15 (NIV) puts it this way,

“This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.”

Abiding is not a result of striving, but surrender. He is more than willing to come and fill those empty places on the inside of us with His love, wisdom, strength and Spirit. If we recall the parable of the lost son, then it come to mind what The Bible says,

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20, NIV)

All that God is looking for is an ounce of intention and a genuine desire to come to Him. He does the rest. He loves us into wholeness in a way so perfect and complete that the only response we can give is love itself, which, I believe, is the perfect place of abiding.

Abiding in His Love and in His Presence organically cultivates within us a desire to read and imbibe His Word which are Spirit and Life, thereby paving the way for a relationship forged by Love and grounded in Truth. Sounds like a pretty lethal combination to me!

This foundation forms the premise of Throne Room thinking, where we are not bound to the realities that surround us in the natural, but instead are unleashed into the majesty of The Kingdom. Therein lies the power of abiding. The degree to which we abide in Him is the degree to which we can access Him in order that we may exchange our thoughts for His Truth, till the purposes of Heaven collide with the circumstances on Earth in a way that leaves room for nothing less than absolute Glory! After all, the superior always supersedes the inferior, the supernatural overtakes the natural and the temporal bends its knee to The Eternal.

Therefore, even a simple prayer offered up to God in earnest possesses the potential to embark us upon the adventure of a lifetime. It can usher in a process that brings about a renewal of our minds in a way so powerful and radical that we are no longer daunted by earthly realities, simply because we have access to Heaven’s resources. This is all a part of “becoming,” a process that God uses to not only forge the character of Christ within us, cultivate the fruits of The Holy Spirit, but also to teach and train us to forever exalt the Truth of God’s Word over the facts of our circumstances, in order that in every situation, we now perceive what is going on in the natural realm, but are simultaneously honed into Heaven’s perspective so that we pray in accord with promise and prophecy, thereby responding to The Father as opposed to reacting to the forces of darkness. Manifesting our Identity as cherished Sons and Daughters in this way is a sure fire way to not only evolve in accord with the abundant riches that are made available to us through our relationship with Christ, but also be instruments in the Hands of God to manifest a piece of His Kingdom everywhere we go and establish it to the praise of His Glory!

Amen.



Presence

“We want resolution, but what we really need is Presence.”

Life, to me, represents a puzzle of jigzaw pieces that we, with the help of God, get to work with, always letting Him initiate in order that we may respond. His Spirit guides, but we are His Hands and Feet that do the work of putting together some pieces that represent triumph, others that represent trials; but all fitting together perfectly just like The Designer had in mind even before the foundations of the Earth. His promise is something we can all stand on,

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.  For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.” (Romans 8:28-30, NIV)

This shows me clearly that God IS alpha and omega, knowing the end from the beginning. He predestined us to be a part of His plan of redemption, is intentional about making us more and more like Jesus (and will use all our situations and circumstances to that end), in order that we may be fully equipped and empowered to answer the calling we have received as citizens of Heaven and bring great glory to The Father.

The only thing that is constant in life, besides God, is change. Because He does not change, we totally can and even need to so that we may learn, grow and transform from strength to strength. The degree to which we learn to lean on the Majesty of our God as opposed to the fickleness of our circumstances is the degree to which God would be able to work with us, and show us how to not only walk in the Truth of His Word, but even in the power of His Ways.

Let us dig deeper.

For instance, let us take Galatians 5 : the fruits of The Holy Spirit. It is one thing to believe in the Truth of the verse that talks of the importance of developing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. That equates with putting our faith in the Truth of God’s Word. However, it is quite another to humble oneself and intentionally work with The Holy Spirit, giving Him permission to let His oil permeate the deepest crevices of our hearts, minds and souls; softening places that have been hardened, breathing down walls that have been erected, and unleashing freedom that is our portion by the Blood of The Lamb. This equates with walking in His Ways.

I believe with all my heart that this is the heart of God for us. It is nothing for Him to grant us resolution, but He is more interested in making us more than conquerors; and more often than not, that happens within the context of the environments, relationships and circumstances we find ourselves in. God does not need us to be a people who want rescue, He wants a people who can stand their ground and watch their God fight their battles, while He simultaneously initiates, sustains and prospers the work of renewing our minds, healing our hearts and strengthening our souls, all of which is instrumental in making us more like Jesus, the object of our Father’s affection and the hope of glory that dwells within us.

The image of the invisible God, it is the character of Christ that is being forged on the inside of us, a process that is not possible without inviting the manifest Presence of God through The Holy Spirit. His Presence is the thing that heals, restores, anoints and transforms. His Presence is our peace in the midst of the raging storms of life. His Presence is an anchor for our souls, both firm and secure. His Presence gives us the strength to stand firm when the world is swirling all around us. His Presence gives us the power to be the knights in shining armor and the warrior princesses that we are all called to be. It is His Presence which elevates us above the current state of our circumstances, with the confident expectation that at just the right time, He will come through.

His coming through is not the question, but perhaps our becoming is. Are we willing? With Christ alive on the inside of us, I believe we are a people who will not stagnate, but grow; who will not remain but abide, who will not accept defeat but anticipate victory, who will not refrain from engaging in the process of metamorphosis which is but a bridge that takes us straight into the things that even God wants for us, but wholeheartedly embrace the process of becoming so that when the time is ripe, the harvest will manifest.

Clearly, our flesh may want resolution, but our spirits need His Presence in order that in all things, we may grow into the full stature of Christ and mature into a Body and a Bride that doesn’t even want resolution anymore, simply because she has discovered Presence.

Selah.


When God converts!

“Breakthroughs are a product of seamless conversion.”

In one of my recent dialogues with The Lord, He seemed to impress upon my heart, the truth of this statement.

We often contend for breakthroughs, friends. But it is the process of becoming, transforming and morphing into who God has called us to be that we are prepared emotionally, mentally, spiritually for the breakthrough which is inevitable, given that it is a Promise from The Lord. The destination is in His Hands, our part is to journey well with Him. As we walk with The Lord, He not only reveals dimension upon dimension of who HE is (Father, Mother, Friend, Confidence, Comforter, Way maker, Redeemer, Deliverer, Refuge, Shelter, Defender), but in and through those magnificent and majestic revelations, He reveals who WE are, in and through a relationship with Him, and the potential we carry of becoming that to the world around us. In short, a revelation of His Character in a particular dimension brings about a revelation of yet another dimension of our Identity in Him, which authentically positions us to be The Hands and Feet we are called to be in our respective spheres of influence.

As we journey and travel with Him, the process changes us from glory to glory. With our joy tethered to Jesus and our obedience yielded to the process, the breakthroughs inevitably come, but the process has changed us from being someone whose joy is found solely in circumstantial breakthroughs to someone, who is able to keep The Promise close to their heart, but are wise enough to not postpone their joy to a time when it does come to pass. Because we have learned the art of travelling well and doing it with peace, rest and joy.

After all, God is more interested in making us more and more like Jesus and I believe that the heartbeat of that lies in our ability to live above the state of our circumstances. Jesus was rejected, persecuted, misunderstood and faced trials and tribulations of all sorts. Yet, He remained steadfast and immovable through it all. With His gaze fixed on His Purpose, I believe He didn’t just endure His 33 years here on Earth, but He enjoyed His walk in order that we may too. Through the unfair situations that came His way, He never lost His abiding peace, joy and righteousness. He went about preaching about The Kingdom of God, restoring the lost, teaching the seeking, healing the sick, casting out demons and manifesting Heaven on Earth. He never lost sight of the ultimate Purpose, but through it all, He found purpose in everything.

While pondering a couple of things in my heart the other day, The Lord dropped something in my spirit. This is what, I believe, He spoke;

“While we are looking for resolution, God is more interested in who we are becoming.”

Whether it is a rocky marriage, a dysfunctional family, a hostile work environment; God has us where He wants us and where He calls us, He sustains us. But the beauty is that He doesn’t just sustain us, He makes us. He makes us into more and more of who we are in Christ. In the midst of fear, He makes us love. In the midst of despair, He makes us hope. In the midst of chaos, He makes us peace. In the midst of haste, He makes us patience. In the midst of antagonism, He makes us kindness. In the midst of legalism, He makes us grace.In the midst of uncertainty, He makes us into boulders of faith.

And I would venture to add, that as we yield to this “sometimes painful, but always glorious” process, we allow Him to not only make us, but prosper us. Prosper us in ways that may run contrary to the ways of the world, but are precious in the eyes of Eternity. Ways that prepare us to receive what He has prepared for us. Ways that bless us in order that we may too render ourselves a blessing unto the world. As His Word says, ways that are above our ways.

Without a shadow of doubt, it is the process that anchors us in the Person and Presence of Jesus, so much so, that when our breakthroughs and blessings do come, though our joy is found complete in the evidence of answered prayers, yet our joy is not founded in them as it is now attached to a more constant and consistent Source. We celebrate our victories in unabashed triumph, but our real triumph remains tethered to The One who always comes through and is the God of Breakthrough. In short, our foundations have now run so deep that the breakthroughs that once seemed like impossible mountains to climb, now only look like the rivers of blessing that are a natural by-product of the pure privilege of walking with Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

I found myself lost in a conversation with The Lord one night. Discussing the breakthroughs that we, together in partnership, are contending for, I found myself asking Him to make it a “seamless conversion,” like the time He converted water into wine. After all, He is the same yesterday, today and forevermore. Converting water into wine at the wedding in Cana was the first miracle He performed, and personally to me, nothing exemplies the relationship between process and promise better than this instance. At His command, as the water was being poured out into the six ceremonial stone jars, it remains a mystery at which point the water began to convert into wine. All that we do know is that the process of pouring out water was organic and natural, the breakthrough which was the production of wine was a miracle.

The Master gave the command, the servants obeyed, the water was poured, the wine was produced.

As the Beloved of God, our obedience however, has been won over by Love. Our obedience to His Call is what embarks us upon the process needed in order to lay hold of the promise. As He begins to transform and conform us to His image, He does so seamlessly. The Spirit always does a deep and gentle work. So, as we seamlessly transfigure into the more that God is calling us to step into, we will observe that the transformation and changes that we want to see in our external environments take place in just as organic, natural and seamless a fashion. There will be a rhythm , a cadence , a drumbeat to the process that when embraced wholeheartedly will not only make us pleasant pilgrims, but also ambassadors that are always pregnant with promise, and know how to carry the weight thereof, in order that when these promises do come to pass, the weight of glory that comes with the breakthrough will point to nothing else but a child-like heart that committed to a faith-filled adventure, and eventually bore witness to what can best be described as a, “seamless conversion.”

Selah.

Alpha and Omega!

“Begin with surrender, end with praise.”

In a world that threatens to overwhelm us with challenges that need to be confronted, relationships that need to be mended, obstacles that need to be overcome and dreams that need to be nourished, we can easily cave in to apathy or complacency. But in my experience, a better way to go about it is to wake up each day to the tender mercies that He bestows upon us freely, and simply surrender.

Surrendering our plans, goals and purposes for the day, in prayer, to The One who we absolutely trust, assures us that He will guide and help us navigate with the kind of wisdom and courage that we need in order to make that day count. Psalmist David said it this way,

“At each and every sunrise you will hear my voice
as I prepare my sacrifice of prayer to you.
Every morning I lay out the pieces of my life on the altar
and wait for your fire to fall upon my heart.” (Psalm 5:3-5, The Passion Translation)

The journey of a believer is a Spirit-led one. This means that even our chockablock calendars that are jammed with appointments and meetings, need to have first savored the taste of surrender. Submitting it all at The Master’s feet is where we taste freedom, as we let go of any ungodly attachments and let God guide our every step. Giving Him permission to do so not only honors The Father, but assures our success. He rejoices when we prosper, but laying it all out at His Feet is an act that not only demonstrates, but also forges the love that we have towards Our Creator. And how many of us know that love always wins?

Sometimes, I feel life is one long conversation with God, prompted by and grounded in love. As we go from one meeting to the next and from one task to another, it is a joy to invite Him in the spaces between and commune. It is a part of our inheritance to talk to Him about what happened, and ask Him to cultivate a unique language of love, truth, grace and mercy on the inside of us. Each of us is uniquely made because each of us is designed and destined to carry The Father’s Heart in a unique, special way that only we can. So, what I believe we need is an ongoing organic, thriving relationship with The Father that gives Him radical permission to intervene, guide, course correct and lead. Our best plans when laid out before Him pale in comparison to what He has in store for us. The Word promises us,

“What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9, NIV)

When we have such promises from Our Great and Mighty God, we can trust Him with all that is in our hearts, allowing His Spirit to freely flow through the hours of the day, keeping us sensitive to the needs of those around us, lest we overlook the very things and people that we are actually called to. A couple of months back, I myself received a loving correction from The Lord when He said,

“Divine interruptions are in fact, divine invitations.”

Friends, this was enough to cleanse my spiritual lens and allow His Spirit to sensitize me to what HE was doing as opposed to what I wanted or needed. His interruptions are usually the very things that leave our experience of life richer and fuller. These divine invitations come packaged and guised in the most unexpected ways, but should we allow ourselves to tap into the strength and courage, the compassion and empathy, the sense of awe and wonder that is deep down on the inside of each of us, we will realize the Truth of Isaiah 55:9,

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Leaning into His thoughts and making them are own are a sure fire way to live a life that is as adventurous as it is unpredictable. But isn’t that what Our Jesus was all about?

So, as we wake up to the bright dawn that each day gifts us with, may we bring our all to all of Him, surrendering at His Feet that which when touched and guided by the swift wind of The Holy Spirit, is sure to cultivate our day in a manner that not only allows our plans to manifest in accord with The Father’s Heart, but also gives us the liberty to be the salt and light we need to be in situations and circumstances that we never saw coming, but are more than willing to engage with, in order that Someone’s Eternal Purposes are also made manifest in and through our beautiful lives.

Suffice to say, let us begin with surrender and end with praise, because Someone knows the end from the beginning, and therefore, is worthy of our surrender in the first place.

Selah.

Time to pause …

As my day draws to a gentle close, I couldn’t resist sharing this exquisite view from my balcony. If you’ve been following my posts for a while, I hope you recall we recently moved base!

So, I get to see the radiance of the sun, which cliched as it may sound, undoubtedly points to the brilliance of the “Son.” I often say that nothing beats the majesty of His Creation, except His Character which I believe is also revealed in and through the splendor of all that we so easily take for granted through the business of life, yet it is precisely those things – the sun, the rain, the breeze, the dewdrops, the rainbow – that we find ourselves captivated by in those times that our soul needs peace, rest and solace.

I would love to share one of my favorites from The Bible, Psalm 19:

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
 Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.
 They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.
 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. ” (Psalm 19:1-4, NIV)

The last verse just caught my attention, friends! I would venture to say that perhaps God meant that in the heavens, He has pitched a tent for The Son, and not just for Him, but for all of us that are IN Him; The Beloved of God, The Bride of Christ, The Light of the world.

On that note, I hope and pray that we will be more sensitive to these tiny everyday wonders that point us towards Home. I hope that the joy that such a revelation brings forth would continue to give us the strength to press in and press on. I hope that we will find Jesus in the details, and every now and then?

Pause to give Him Glory!

Amen.

The Breath of God.

“Let us rebuild the wall that matters as we allow Him to breathe down those that don’t.”

Life is a glorious gift from God. It is an opportunity to love and be loved. It is a chance to make a difference. It is a school which teaches us lessons on a daily basis. It is also a battlefield where we encounter times and relationships that may leave us feeling a bit scarred, hurt, disappointed, disillusioned or disheartened. But that doesn’t have to surprise us when we know what Jesus said,

” In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, ESV)

Setbacks, failures, betrayals have a propensity to leave our hearts a bit hardened. I believe that’s why Jesus declared, “take heart,” for HE has overcome the world, and because we are IN Him, we will too. But that does require an active, organic, dynamic, free flowing partnership between God and us. When a situation arises that threatens to take territory in our hearts where Jesus has already claimed ground for freedom, the first and the wisest thing to do is to run towards Him, and not away. As Christine Caine so wonderfully puts it,

“What is not revealed, cannot be healed.”

Hence, we run to the altar and allow Him to gain access to those areas that need His healing, redemptive touch. We allow Him to knead and massage those hardened parts of our hearts where we have been so hurt that we have allowed ourselves to lock out any possibility of light gaining entrance. However, as His Spirit begins to flow and make us whole again, we will begin to find the courage necessary to go out into our tiny part of the world again, and shine.

We shine with the brightness of The Love that we have had a fresh encounter with that has left our heart so changed that we no longer look out for ourselves, but for those around us that are still hurting, seeking and searching. Praying for them, believing for them and being there for them are all a part of a process so intricately designed that not only does it serve to enrich our experience of life, but even those that we are called to.

In order for us to do this however, I believe it is absolutely necessary to allow The Spirit of The Living God to work with us consistently, as He breathes down walls of anger, fear, anxiety, insecurity, shame, unforgiveness; and instead cultivates within us the capacity to receive love, grace, truth, mercy, forgiveness and freedom; in order that we may be cheerful conduits of the same to the world around and about us.

I firmly believe that the more healed, whole and restored we are, in and through our relationship with Christ, the greater the zeal, passion and fervor we will have to rebuild the walls of shattered relationships, dreams, hopes and aspirations. The story of Nehemiah comes to mind as he went about rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Needless to say, they had severe opposition but their declaration in the faithfulness of God superseded all else, giving them the strength and tenacity needed to accomplish all that they had set out to do. The following passage of Scripture makes it abundantly clear,

“From that day on, half of my men did the work, while the other half were equipped with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand and held a weapon in the other,  and each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me.” (Nehemiah 4:16-18, NIV)

The weapons used in The Old Testament times were different from the ones we are called to use today. Our weapons are not carnal, but spiritual in nature. So as we strive to rebuild the walls of whatever it is in our lives that seems broken down and calls for attention, let us lay down the foundation that is the Mighty Name of Jesus . Let us rebuild as we lay brick- upon – brick of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The glue that holds it all together is found in the concrete of mutual acceptance, empathy and understanding. The structure is defined by The Word of God which is mighty in the pulling down of strongholds, and the outcome is something that gives all the Glory to God!

Rebuilding shattered ruins, whether it is in the context of our families, communities or our nation, is something Our God finds supreme delight in. Tracing back our own respective journeys, we will receive a sober reminder of how God took our hopeless situations and turned them around for our good and His Glory. Now that we are His extensions in the world, we get to do the same.

Rebuild. Restore. Revive.

Not alone, but in a thriving partnership with The God who doesn’t cause brokenness but is well able to weave a story of wholeness in and through a relationship with Him, a story that we will not keep to ourselves, but will extravagantly demonstrate the power of, not only with words, but in action and truth.

Friends, the wall that matters is the world around us. The wall that doesn’t is our flesh. Our tendency to want to protect ourselves and our fear of the unknown would top the list of the impediments that can come our way when we set out to do all that which is in accord with The Higher Purpose. Clearly, the success of our attempts at rebuilding all that calls for our attention rests on the other side of our personal freedom. The more we are willing to let go of what once was, the more we are able to fully adorn the new wine skins that God calls us to be, wine skins that have no place for fear, shame, insecurity , anxiety and negativity but instead, wine skins that are seeped in the oil of The Holy Spirit, which when released through our lives will undoubtedly help us build all that we see broken, shattered , in ruins until one day, we will look back with a sense of pride and holy confidence that comes only when we have dedicated ourselves to the mandate of being living sacrifices that make The Father’s Business their own.

Amen.