"I will not keep silent because of Zion, and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem, until her righteousness shines like a bright light and her salvation, like a flaming torch." (Isaiah 62:1)
This past season I have found myself sautéeing vegetables, cooking quinoa, tossing salami, soaking sprouts and making myself cups of tulsi-ginger tea.
I could never imagine myself in the kitchen a couple of years back, yet here I am. Though I came into this year with Covid, it was precisely this area – physical health, wellness & nutrition – that I found God breathing upon.
Honestly, I have had a propensity to believe that God is a fearsome dude who is only interested in the big moments of my life.
But my experience proves something different.
God, I’m learning, is a Good, Good Father who isn’t just present in the mighty mountain top moments, but also in the ordinary everyday. And he isn’t just present, he cares.
He cares about how I’m doing on a daily basis – what I am consuming and putting into my body. He cares to give me an understanding about my physiology and how it is that he has wired me up to work.
As a result, I have seen myself morph from someone who really didn’t give much thought to food but was mostly seeking ‘food for thought,’ into an identity that cares.
I care about what I eat and put into my body, because my body (and yours) is not a dumpyard, it is a temple of the Holy Spirit – the very house of God.
Having gone from a diet where I barely knew what I was ingesting to a largely organic diet composed of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, leaves and seeds has seen a sure shift in my thinking, believing and subsequently, my feeling.
I feel so much more alive and awake than ever before. I am energised by the scent of wind-tossed herbs, the feel of green lettuce leaves under cool, running water; and the sight of new life as I witness inch-long sprouts freshly emerging from my lentils and red gram.
And new life is exactly what he offers us, friend.
Gathering us, his Sons & Daughters, around the Father’s Banquet Table, Jesus calls us to dine full – receiving generous portions of new life that renew, refresh and revitalize.
I just didn’t realize that sometimes he means it literally.
“When the rug was pulled out from under me, I found solid rock beneath my feet.”
A lot has been burned up. A lot has been shaken. A lot feels lost.
As I write this, I am keenly aware that so many of us have been trudging through impossible circumstances, trying to scale insurmountable mountains.
But friend, I want you to know that there is healing in the valley and there is honey in the rock.
Our setbacks may have caught us by surprise, but God knows the end from the beginning. And He still has a plan, a purpose and a sure path of victory moving forward.
Do not fear. Hold onto Hope.
All of us want to know the miracles of God, but very few of us want to know the God of miracles. The latter always requires us to be in a position where we need him to show up – a posture of vulnerability in the face of fear and uncertainty.
Here it is important for us to remember the nature and character of our God – he is rich in mercy, abounding in grace, perfect in love and unrestrained in power.
He rules the earth with the scepter of his throne, and works on the behalf of truth, humility & justice. Though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, the Word of the Lord endures forever.
Stepping into the rocky landscape of this post-pandemic world, I see God creating a new reality, and he is doing it by the power of the Spoken Word.
Certainly we have seen our circumstances cave and crumble, but the power of God’s Word has withstood the test, the tribulation, the hell, the highwater, the fire and the storm.
Jesus told us that God’s Word is firm foundation for us to build our lives on. And I have found that in a time when everything that can be shaken has been shaken, it is only that which cannot be shaken that remains – all things built upon the kingdom of God.
The kingdom still remains unshaken, and always will be.
So the waves can roar and the winds can blow, but I will be still and know –
.. the ground where I stand is not only rock solid, but rather solid Rock.
“Performance was a big problem for me. As a child growing up, I always sought to perform for the approval and validation of people. I harbored a compulsive need to top my class, and I would work my tired fingers to the bone. Needless to say, I found myself on the hampster wheel of performance and ended up extremely weary, tired, exhausted, depleted – needing hope.
That was when I turned my life over to Christ. As I gave myself over to receiving mega doses of the Father’s Love, I realised that beneath all these layers of performance, the root of the issue that plagued my soul was –
…
To read the rest of this story from my life and the testimony of God’s grace, I invite you, friend to visit my guest post live with my creative friend, Jennie Denney!
It has been a challenging time where the Lord’s Love has compelled me to take it slow and find the beauty in it. Having to match my pace with His has tried my soul in ways I can’t even articulate, but by His Grace, I feel I am doing much better now – being more rested, more whole, more free.
What I feel as a result, is that what most marks this season is ‘redefining productivity.’ By the world’s standards, I may not have been producing or creating much, but by the standards of the Kingdom, so much more has been produced in me, beneath the surface, in a way that is truly symbolic of Fall.
Sitting in the sun and basking in His glory have become my favorite winter activities. Digging in the Word while sipping some green tea mark my delight. Finding my rhythm in tune with that of creation brings such great joy, friends that I felt today to simply hop on and encourage you to ‘winter in’ with me.
What looks cold and barren on the outside often is growing deep roots beneath the surface. When growth is least suspected is when it perhaps is happening the most. It may not appear to be yet what was promised, but every oak tree was once a tiny seed.
May we know it, perceive it and sow it.
Even when its Fall. For the season of singing and pruning the vines will always come.
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
(Revelation 3:20, KJV)
I will talk about the Table today, friends. But let me start with the door.
When we open the door of our hearts to receive the Lord, He enters in and from that moment on, we are His home, His very own dwelling place. A lifestyle of communion – intimacy, fellowship and family has been ushered in and we are no longer orphans, but cherished Sons & Daughters in the family of God.
We belong at the Table.
The Lord’s Table.
The Lord himself spreads the Table out for us and offers us a seat. We each have our own reserved space and unique place at the Table. There is a six course meal for each child of God every single time we go to Him as He calls us close to dine full at His Table.
As I eat, I recognize that my portion is entirely mine and your portion is entirely yours. Mine does not take away from yours, and yours does not take away from mine. What is mine is mine, and yours – yours.
The place that is in the Father’s heart for each child is equally unique. The place He has in His heart for me is uniquely mine and only I can ever take it. And the same holds true for you, my friend.
The place that He has in His heart for you is uniquely yours too.
This pattern of wholeness plays out not only in the matter of our identity as God’s very own children, but also in the realm of our destiny. We each have a unique gift mix and set of skills, talents and abilities that God spins together in His masterplan for our lives. For His plan for every single one of us is as unique as is our design.
God is a Master Creator, and He paints as He wills, with our best interests at heart, on the canvass of our lives. He made us, redeemed us and only He can use us for His glory in the right way.
The value He places on each child of His is infinite, and at our best, I do not think we can even comprehend it. But what I am learning is that what we cannot comprehend, we can always trust simply because we know who our Father is.
Our Father sits at the Table and calls His children together to feast in fullness. Here at the Table, there is no striving to be more for each child is aware of their own unique significance in the Father’s eyes. They know that they are the apple of their Father’s eyes, and the grand setting of the Table is only a revelation of that great love.
Here at the Table, there is no comparison or competition. Each child sits enthroned at the Father’s right hand as royalty. They not only know their own value, but also that of their neighbour. Any need to be ‘better than’ is done away with as each child is secure in the Father’s Love, and is only motivated by how well they can love one another in response.
In fact, the level of internal security within the hearts of God’s children is so intact that they are looking around to see who they can share their extra portion of fresh oranges and strawberries with!
There is truly no dearth at the Father’s Table.
For this is a place of abundance of resources and generosity of spirit.
Jealousy and envy have no share at the Table either. The abundance of love and the supply of riches is so extravagant that there is a remarkable internal rest among the children of God here. They are dining full at their Father’s Table and know deep within their hearts that what is for them, is only for them.
They know that their Father does not compromise on His love, His power or His faithfulness. He is a man of honor who keeps every word he speaks. He has written the screenplay of their lives in the blood stained ink of Calvary, and is going to supply them with everything they need to walk in the fullness of who their Father has created and called them to be.
Here at the Table, every Child of God’s story is copyrighted by the Lord. It’s script is uniquely written for each and its set to the soundtrack of authenticity. God did this so that each child of His would have the blessed privilege to discover what it is that the Father has for them – what it is that has their name on it.
God will never deliver our mail to our neighbour. He is faithful, and will always deliver our goods to the right address, in the right way and at the right time. And quite honestly, truth be told, He doesn’t need our help in manifesting our destiny. He only needs our obedience.
Children at the Table therefore, have a revelation that any manner of strategizing and striving to fulfill their destiny is not needed. Let me repeat myself here –
They know who their Father is.
A deep experience of their Father’s Love, His impeccable nature and character has assured these children that their Father is faithful. He is worthy of their complete trust and come what may, He will never leave them nor betray their confidence. On the contrary, He promises to richly reward their faith in Him. So they wholeheartedly comply because they trust that He who promised is faithful.
In response to the outcomes of victory that their beautiful Father has promised them, these beloved children have decided to give themselves over to the power of the process that their Father has laid out for them. They know where their hope and strength lies, and they press in more and more.
Not to accomplish more or accumulate more.
No.
They press in to know Him more. Their beloved Father who is so worthy of it all.
And the funny thing is that the more they press in to know their Father, the more secure they get. Eating full and drinking deep, they are both – completely satisfied yet longing for the more of Him.
For their thirst for the things of this world has been replaced with an appetite for the Kingdom.
They know the value of dining full at the Father’s Table where their portions are always to the point of overflow. They are content in what they receive and no longer distracted by the temptations of the world. In fact, should they find themselves wanting, they look only to their Father.
A counterfeit won’t do for these blessed ones, for they have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.
And the Good News for us here is that we are those children.
Yes.
You and me.
We are these blessed children that are called to sit at the Table for we are the absolute desire of the Father’s heart. It is us who get to dine full here, feast on the abundant supply of His riches in glory and find ourselves both – completely satisfied yet longing for more.
Because every need we have is met only in Him and He never disappoints.
So the next time we are tempted to feed on the lesser things of this world, whether its the snare of worldly validation, vain glory or selfish ambition, may we do but one thing.
Friends, it was earlier this year that the Lord laid this verse on my heart.
Coming out of a year most unprecedented, this new wave of His Spirit found me seeking and soaking up Truth like a dry sponge. Though I don’t think we ever ‘arrive,’ I certainly am in a better place than I ever have been before.
Praise God!
So as the Lord began unearthing areas of my heart that needed healing, what I realised was that a lot of brokenness in my life was the result of the lies I had believed –
Lies about the nature & character of God, which led me to believe lies about my identity, worth and value.
Looking back, I realise that though I have come a long way since the beginning of this year, I still have to be intentional about guarding my heart against lies and renewing my mind with Truth, if I am going to continue to walk in Freedom.
I still have to be careful about not letting my worth and value be defined by anything other than the Cross of Jesus Christ. If God saw me so valuable, that He sent His one and only begotten Son to die for me, then yes – I am quite valuable, and that’s a truth I can stake my life on, regardless of how poorly or well I am doing.
It has since become the cry of my heart to resist the temptation to be defined by the opinions of man or the strength of my works. Instead, I now seek to be defined only and only by the words of authority that Christ declares over me, words that call me healed and made whole as the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
And yes. Though it seems paradoxical, it is true. As I ascend the mountain of the Lord, He continues to unearth deeper and deeper areas of pain and brokenness in my heart that I perhaps thought were already dealt with!
But I reckon that we are more mysteriously complex than we realise. Our souls are a fragile part of us, and need more care and attention than we realise.
Much like a garden actually. I am learning that for a garden to flourish, it must be tended to, watered well, dug up, fertilised and cultivated. And the same holds true for the condition of our hearts.
So how do we cultivate this tender garden deep within?
I do it by letting it soak in the Presence of God, letting it receive Truth and correction through the Word of God and letting it breathe in the Freedom that Jesus died for it to receive.
After all, He paid more than enough a price for my heart to remain alive, teeming with life and free!
Journeying hence with the Lord, friends; but as I do, I also wanted to chime in here for a bit and speak Truth over you. You, my friend, are more worthy and valuable than you realise. You are imago dei – an image bearer of God himself. He knows you, loves you and cares deeply for you.
And that thought you just had? That thing that seems to be blocking your access to Him?
It’s time to check it and thwart it. For whatever tries to threaten your relationship with the Father, must cease to exist.
So that you can be set free to become, heal, develop and flourish into the image of the Wonderful One who created you, knows you by name, and calls you –
“Beloved.”
But again – it is only the Truth that we know that can help us do that, for it is only Truth that makes us free.
So I declare that its time now. It’s time for you to encounter Truth in a way that lets His finger prints run through your mess, and rewrite the rest of your story with the echo of love, life and liberty.
“If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.”
(Matthew 10:38-39, MSG)
Setting our hearts on Jesus, and letting His heart pulsate through, what say?
I found myself saying this to the Lord the other day, friends.
Though I am not sure why exactly I said this, but it sure was liberating. Writing thus, I am reminded – it is the Truth that we know and stand on that makes us free.
Foxes
I think that we all do subconsciously battle with expectations – what people perhaps expect from us. What they think about us and how they may perceive us. What they think we should do and what they think we shouldn’t. It happens very subtly really – but if we pay attention, we will catch these foxes.
I call these thoughts ‘foxes’ because that is what they are. They slowly sneak in to steal our peace, our joy, our hope, our freedom and before we know it, we find ourselves in a battle that we were never designed for.
For we were designed for Freedom.
Freedom freely given
“And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.'”
(Genesis 2:16-17, emphasis added)
When God made man, He gave him explicit instructions to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil so that he could be free – free to be himself, free to enjoy a loving communion with God and free to abide in the Tree of Life.
We all know what happened next. The crafty serpent slithers in, sows doubt in Eve’s mind and deceives her. She eats the forbidden fruit and the whole trajectory of human history takes a turn.
Sin enters the world, and we now need a Saviour.
What am I saying all this for however?
Not sure, friends. But maybe somewhere there is a connection.
When God said – you are free – He meant it.
Adam and Eve were designed to be free, but they also had a part to play in order to protect that freedom.
They had to put up boundaries.
Protecting Freedom
When God began teaching me about boundaries earlier this year, He told me something very important –
“Boundaries are to inspire your Freedom, not take you deeper into bondage.”
See?
The enemy wants us to believe that God asks us to guard our hearts and establish healthy boundaries in our lives because He wants to rob us of our Freedom.
Nothing could be further from the Truth.
For the Truth here is that because our Father cares so much about our Freedom that He sent His one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to purchase it back for us – He tells us to establish and honor boundaries.
So we can protect that which He has freely given to us.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
(Galatians 5:1)
The Dual Thief
Friends, in the fast-paced world we live in, we can easily feel burdened. We can feel burdened by the cares of this world – by things like living up to the expectations of man which is a mind-set fuelled by the dual thief of comparison and competition.
We can scroll through social media and easily feel ‘less than.’ We can feel like we don’t have it all together while the rest of the world does. We can judge our struggles by someone else’s highlight reels and feel that life is unfair. We can lose sight and have a distorted view of things if we don’t take care to take our thoughts captive and do what our Father tells us to –
Put up boundaries.
Putting up boundaries is key in learning to navigate emotional and mental health challenges. And the sooner we realise how the tricks of comparison and competition designed by the enemy of our souls are vicious tools to distract us from our destiny, the better off we will be.
And perhaps even more willing.
Even more willing to protect the good, good gift of Freedom that our Father has purchased for us.
Truth that makes us Free
It’s quite simple really.
Our job is not to live up to the expectations of man, our job is to live out the call of God on our lives.
And the call of God is simply this –
• to love God • to be loved by God • to love ourselves and others in a godly way.
Friends, we are called to love and serve one another, not compete or contrast against one another. We are each a masterpiece, the Designer’s Original. We each have a specific plan, purpose and destiny assigned to us by God and only we can ever fulfil it.
But we can fulfil it only when we embrace who we truly and authentically are as unique, individual expressions in Christ. We cannot fulfil it if we get distracted by the dual thief of comparison and competition that is always trying to get our focus off of Jesus and onto ourselves.
No.
We have a superior calling.
To fix our eyes on Jesus – the author and perfector of our faith.
For the goal of our salvation is to be transformed into the image of Christ.
He is the Alpha. He is the Omega.
He is our reason for being.
He is the One with whom we lock eyes because He is the One who has eyes like flames of fire. He has the answers we need because above all, He is the answer we need.
He it is who loves us, affirms us and tells us we matter. He it is that fills up the void we feel all the way to the overflow. He it is who validates us, authenticates us and identifies us by name. He it is who comes with both, hope and healing in His wings.
He it is that sets us free and He it is that sends us to then set others free.
But the Truth is that we can only ever give from the abundance of that which we ourselves have fully received. For the good, good gifts that our Father has so graciously given to us can be dispensed only from the point of overflow – an overflow of peace, an overflow of joy, an overflow of hope.
So the foxes have to flee and the thieves have to leave. For whom the Son sets free, is free indeed.
Freely we have received, freely we will give.
These good, good gifts.
🎁
Activation
Where do you feel tempted to compare, contrast and compete friend? How can you be intentional about choosing authenticity, freedom and truth instead?
SoulandSubstance27 