The danger that lies with any obedience to God’s voice is that we become distracted with the details of the work itself, losing sight of the bigger picture of purpose in our lives. I succumb to this danger way too often. I get fired up with the fact that I heard God and that He has given me a directive, then I dive in, working and focusing on the tasks at hand. Before I realize what has happened, I have become more focused on the task than the task giver.

Bottom line: as I work, I lose touch with God’s sustaining presence – His breath and life in me. I have felt through this task of moving my home that I have become so self focused that I can’t see anything beyond myself and frankly, it is misery. The work is necessary but prioritizing work over His presence isn’t.

I have realized that I get myself in trouble when I do this. I start questioning EVERYTHING. What is the point of this? What is the point of that? Etc., etc. I know I really cannot allow myself to do this or I will be in a pit of despair for a long time.

God is good! He has reminded me of my purpose, of His sustaining life in me, and of His love for me. I still have work to do, and will have to do it, but in the process I can be sustained by Him. I don’t have to do it on my own or in loneliness or drudgery. I don’t have to be frustrated. I can choose.

When I forget my purpose, I feel nothing is worth it or has meaning. When I remember my purpose, everything has meaning!

If you are floundering in a place of wondering and wandering, ask God to remind you of your purpose. He has truly set you here for such a time as this for His kingdom purposes which only YOU can fulfill. I don’t know what it is for you but HE does.

Take a break, come to Him, and let His refreshing revive your dry and thirsty soul.

The Lord must be chuckling at me this morning. I can imagine His pleasure at my finding a treasure He had hidden away for my discovery.

I was reviewing some stuff I had written some years ago and came across this one. It is practically prophetic. I had no idea, um, well, this was probably just an idea at the time, something I could see in scripture. I had been called to the line when I wrote this but I had not yet stepped over the line. Yes, I did step over the line and it has been costly, but my oh my…I can sense I am on the verge of something amazing (more of Him – HE is THE REWARD!).

Anyway, this has been and is being tested in my life right now and this was so encouraging to me today and I hope it will be for you too. Thank you Lord for giving me the encouragement I would need so far in advance. I didn’t know but You did. You planned for me. You are such a great God!!!

Willingness costs us something.

 Sometimes the Lord asks us to do something and doesn’t tell us what the price will be; He just wants to know if we are willing. “Are you willing to serve me regardless of what it might cost you?” That can be a difficult question to answer. I doubt Abraham had an answer when God told him to sacrifice his one and only son of promise. We can rest assured since God did sacrifice His one and only Son on our behalf that He will not require that kind of sacrifice from us, but maybe He will ask you to sacrifice more and more of yourself. That’s a tough one too. Dying to self may be the ultimate in willingness and perhaps one of the most costly to us personally as well. But what does God ask of us that He does not give back in measureless amounts?

 Being willing to die to self requires constant diligence but it also receives limitless satisfaction and joy. The things of life that are really important and valuable can only come to us when we are willing to let go of worldly cravings and set our desires on kingdom assets. Are you willing to take on God’s capacity to care and nurture others?

 The early believers willingly gave up possessions to donate for the common good of all. It cost them something. They lost wealth from property and money, but notice the Holy Spirit’s enabling of them. In Acts 4:33 it says, “…and much grace was upon them all.” If the Lord asks you to do something, trust in the fact that if you have a correct response of complete willingness, He will surround and empower you with the grace to accomplish it.

As an introvert, I tend to be quite introspective. I love to examine facets, cracks, and crevices gleaning from them every possible bit of information. In the meantime, I also tend to over think things and scrutinize more than I should. It can be paralyzing at times.

But, before I get into the “seriousness” of our subject (because you know, we introverts are SER-I-OUS!!!), I thought I’d share this about introverts. If you are one, you can soooo relate! If you’re not, then try to understand, we are different from you!

A friend posted this on FB the other day. I could relate

Now, down to business…One area that gets placed under the high-powered microscope of personal introspection is my heart. However, do I really have authority to examine my own heart or am I trespassing into Someone else’s territory?

There are many places in scripture where we are told to take personal responsibility for things: consecrate yourselves, put on the armor of God, pray without ceasing, etc. When it comes to examining the heart, I don’t see the same responsibility being placed on us. (Maybe I’m overlooking some key verses…help me out here if you can think of them.) What I do see in the scripture is that the Lord has the responsibility to examine the heart and to find the wicked ways.

So, let’s look at some scripture:

1. Jeremiah 17:9-10 – “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.”

If the heart is deceitful and beyond human understanding, then it is futile to try to examine it for ourselves. Even in trying, we can be deceived.

The heart, when examined by its owner, is not always willing to see truth, whether that truth be good or bad. We can be so condemned and deceived by lies that we are unable to see the good that the Lord has put in our heart.

Then, on the other hand, are we always willing to see our own evil and twisted motivations? Can we see that for ourselves? We often try to justify our actions, hurts, pains, bitterness, unforgiveness, etc. We are simply not capable of convicting ourselves of sin.

2. King David, Paul, and Jesus told us who has the authority to examine our hearts.

Psalm 19:12 – “Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults.”

Psalm 139:23-24 – “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:27 – “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.”

Jesus said, “When he [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment…John 16:8

3. “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

Can you imagine the freedom you will experience by giving up the responsibility to convict yourself of sin?

Rest assured that if you are spending time in His word and in His presence through prayer:

• He will shed the light of holiness, purity, and cleansing on any sin.
• He will show you, so don’t worry with it, it isn’t your job and you can’t do it effectively anyway!
• Trying will cause you to be “burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

We can fall into the trap of introspection when we feel we must come to the Lord without fault. We sometimes feel we have to know our faults and sins before we can come to Him, like having all our ducks in a row. It all has to be just so. That is a lie!

We can only come to Him through the blood of Jesus and our own attempts at righteousness fall short every time. Self focus, self introspection is in essence pride and idolatry. Ouch!!!

Let’s focus ourselves, our hearts and minds, on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. As we look to HIM, HE will bring correction when and where it is needed.

Preparation. To keep the oil supplied and flowing, you must put forth effort to obtain the oil.

We are at a time in the kingdom where God’s people must take a stand, as did Queen Esther, and give our lives for the message of the Gospel. I’m not trying to be dramatic, but in my spirit I sense time quickly running out and work on earth being incomplete.

Since my post on Culture Shock the Lord has reignited in me the message of holiness, purity, and righteous living. It is for this that I have come into the kingdom and it is for such a time as this. I won’t go into the evidences of the moral decay of our nation because they are so obvious and in our faces every day. Things our Lord calls depravity are not only commonly practiced but they are approved and taught as normal and acceptable by our culture…read Romans 1:24-32.

Rather than focus on the things that are wrong, I’d like to focus on what it takes to live a holy life in the midst of an unholy people. It matters how we live our lives here on earth and here is why:

God Created Us For Fellowship, Ruling, and Reigning

Our destiny and purpose is completely tied to God’s presence, His enabling grace. Without His presence, we will never succeed in fulfilling our God given destinies. Sin separates us from God and if we are separated from God, we are not experiencing His presence.

Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden and they had intimate fellowship with God. Can you imagine walking face to face with God and being able to ask whatever question you wanted and clearly hear His response? Adam and Eve received wisdom and all they needed to accomplish their purpose directly from God.

Their purpose is our purpose.

Please read Genesis 1:27-31, 2:8-9, Matthew 28:18-22, and Mark 16:15-20

God gave Adam and Eve the responsibility, authority, and provision to manage the affairs of the earth. He put it all in their hands and He empowered them to do what He told them to do. God Himself planted the garden in Eden thereby giving them an example of how to tame the rest of the earth. As the man and woman multiplied on the earth, eventually the people would go out of the garden and subdue the rest of the earth. By doing that under God’s influence, they would cover the earth in His glory.

Well, things didn’t work out that way, the people disobeyed God and birthed sin into the world. Through that disobedience, the authority to rule over the affairs of the earth was given over to satan. But the super good news is Jesus came and defeated sin and took back the authority to rule the earth. In the Matthew and Mark verses, Jesus says, “All authority in heaven and earth is given to me.” He then commissioned us to go and do what He had been doing, which is what people were supposed to have been doing all along!

In the Mark verses, this whole concept comes into focus. As the disciples went out and obeyed God, doing the work Jesus had commissioned them to do, God’s presence came and empowered them! “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” (Mark 16:20) Really cool.

These guys, the disciples, weren’t living with one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom. They were living their lives to the best of their ability for the Lord. All of them, with the exception of John, were martyred for the Gospel. John warned us, “do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)

If you are separated from God’s presence because of sin, you will not be able to fulfill your destiny. You sell yourself short.

Be Holy Because He Is Holy

The Lord tells us in Leviticus 11:44, “I am the Lord your God, consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy.” Here the Lord tells us to take the responsibility to consecrate ourselves. What does He mean by that? How do we do that?* (see note below)

We make daily choices. Leviticus 10:10 says, “You must distinguish between the holy and the common, between the unclean and the clean,” and like John in the verses above, don’t love the world or the things of the world.

We all know we SHOULD make good choices but how do we make choices for holiness without becoming rigid and legalistic? Back to the previous point: Presence. This kind of life will never work without God’s presence. Here is how it has worked for me:

I came to a time in my life when I was stale and dry. I was not growing in the Lord. As I began crying out for a change and for more of the Lord, He began to talk to me. He showed me that I had choices to make. As I would go to turn on the television, He would ask me if I wanted that time in front of the TV more than I wanted Him. I chose to seek Him. I would spend some time in the word instead of watching TV. I could only do that because I genuinely wanted Him and nothing else!

To consecrate ourselves, we decide we want to change and we decide to seek Him, and we decide to choose Him over other distractions in this world. He wants us but do we want Him? As we make the choice to actively pursue Him, He fills us and we will grow and want even more of Him. The ultimate purpose of our lives is to be like Jesus in character and in deed. Choosing to follow after the Holy Spirit with the everyday choices you make will draw His presence like never before and in turn you will be empowered to do what He has called you to do.

Since accepting Jesus, His Holy Spirit has come to live on the inside. The amazing thing is the Holy God lives in you!

Please read 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Wherever you go, whatever you see, and whatever you say is where the Holy Spirit goes, sees, and hears. If you hear or speak profanity, you have just exposed a HOLY God to trash and filth. I could go on with examples, but I know you’ve got the picture.

One day I was walking down the hall in a church building. I heard some young people talking and one said to the other, “I can’t tell you in here because we’re in church, wait until we go outside.” Wow! That demonstrates a total lack of understanding and I think it is very common. Each saved individual is the temple of the Holy Spirit and is even more sacred than a building where people meet to worship. The building itself doesn’t contain the Holy Spirit, the person does.

We cannot afford, in this day and time, to live our lives as if we are separated from holiness. We are holy and we are to live like it. You have to choose…consecrate yourself.

Holiness Matters For Eternity

Please read Revelation 19:7-8

The fine, white linen is the righteous acts of the saints. That part of the verse has always had deep meaning to me and blows me away. The natural response to God’s presence is to do good. So, the more you are in His presence and following His leading, the more you walk in His purposes for your life. In turn, God will reward you for following Him by giving you beautiful garments to wear.

I often wonder if there will be people in heaven who do not receive these beautiful garments. Read 1 Corinthians 3:10-15. I think it is a very sad possibility. God doesn’t want it to end that way and He gives us every opportunity to press into Him.

In Conclusion

We have purpose and destiny and to accomplish that purpose and destiny we must have God’s presence. Sin separates us from God’s presence, so we must live a life that draws His presence. We do that through the daily choices we make: For Him. He has written His law on our hearts so we will follow it through love and desire for Him.

When His Spirit is in you, you want to love Him, please Him, and not sin against Him. His Spirit empowers you to overcome sin AND do powerful things in His name. Read 2 Corinthians 6:16-7:1.

Our eternal reward rests on what we do here on earth.

I have a sense of urgency about this message. It is time for those who call themselves His to get serious! We can’t continue to compromise and play with fir and not be burned.

*There is an imparted righteousness we receive from the Lord when we receive salvation and go through the waters of baptism, burying our old man and taking on the sinless nature of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. When I talk about living a holy life, I am not speaking of earning righteousness or right standing before God through works. We are saved by grace and we receive righteousness from Him. However, it matters how we live for all of the reasons listed above and more that are not listed. It matters to Him so it should matter to us.

My people are called to be an oasis in the wilderness. To be an oasis in the wilderness, you must be willing to live in the wilderness planted as a tree with roots growing deeper and deeper. The world is the wilderness and it is barren and dry. The people in the wilderness are desperate, hot, exhausted and wandering. They are lost. Are you willing to live a solitary life to be the tree planted by Me, the tree planted by the stream in the desert? Will you go to the wilderness to be planted? Will you go to a place where your only survival is found in Me, found in the water I provide, or found in the water that is far underground? What about the times of dryness when there doesn’t seem to be any water, even deep under the ground? Would you be there, ready and waiting for the one who will wander over to your shade, the shade I, Myself, provided for them? I want to give them shade. I want to give them a taste of what it is like to be IN Me, to be NEAR Me, to KNOW Me. I love them and am longing for them but I need more trees planted in the wilderness. Will you be one?

The fourth step in growing in relationship with Jesus is to exercise faith.

The foundation of the Christian walk is faith and without it, you will not grow at all. See for yourself:

Hebrews 11:6 – “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Hebrews 3:12 – “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.”

Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”

Even your salvation is received by faith: Ephesians 2:8 – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith…”

I have realized lately that faith requires exercise. According to the scripture above, it is clear we are given a measure of faith in which to believe and trust God for salvation, but for that measure to grow, it has to be exercised. OK, so when I say exercise, I think of a sweaty gym, maybe running on a treadmill with a towel draped around my neck, a timed exercise initiated by me and controlled by me. I think that is a dream world filled with wishful and idyllic thinking. (Trust me, I am chuckling at myself!)

I am realizing that it is more accurate to say growing in faith is like living in a war zone where you face enemies over and over that are seemingly insurmountable and immovable. It is not a nice, neat, controlled or contained one time event, but an ongoing onslaught of battles. The battlefield is rocky, uneven, intense and often painful. The pitfalls there are disappointment, discouragement, temptation, loneliness, fear, struggle, etc.

I don’t always have control over what the giants are in my life, but I do have control over how I face them. I can back down and cower in fear and unbelief, or I can face them, like David faced Goliath, and trust God with what I can’t see in the natural and depend on Him and His word to empower me to overcome. “…Everything is possible for him who believes.” Mark 9:23b

Faith is having spiritual eyes to see what your natural eyes cannot. It is seeing from God’s perspective, from His throne to earth and your own circumstance. When we try to see from our vantage point, we will be blinded by the immensity of the challenge. As we face our challenges in the war zone with faith in our hearts and determination to trust God, we will grow.

Read Genesis 12:1-4 and Hebrews 11:8-10

What do you think Abraham saw to make him move from his home to somewhere unknown?

When God told Abraham he would be the father of many nations, how many children did he have? (At that time, he didn’t have any children)

Now read Romans 4:18-22

Did Abraham use natural or supernatural vision to hold onto faith in God through the many years of barrenness, not to mention the physical barrier of age?

Did Abraham receive the promised land in his lifetime? (Hebrews 11:39)

How do you think God wants to improve your supernatural vision?

Are you facing a giant now that seems insurmountable? What is your response to that giant now that you have read scripture on faith?

I may be nearing the ten year mark of having made some choices in my life that affect the way I live my every day life.

In my past I was addicted to music, classic rock specifically, and it was an idol in my life. During those years, I knew all the bands, their songs, their albums, the guitarists, the drummers, etc. I could name a song, artist, and album after the first few notes. I wasn’t really living for God during those years and I formed many unholy soul ties while listening to that music.

Fast forward ten to twelve years and I found myself happily married and raising some sweet kiddos, loving God, firmly and securely in Him. At that point in my life, my decision to live for Him and to love Him was truly the anchor of my life but I was so dry on the inside. I wasn’t growing in Him. It was at that time Beth Moore came out with her bible study Believing God. When I saw the ad for it I knew I had to get it. I didn’t know anything about Beth Moore or her bible studies but I got the workbook and I did it, every single page of it, and it absolutely changed my life.

I came alive on the inside again and I wanted God and His presence more than anything. It was during that time that I made those decisions that have so drastically affected my life. I wanted God so bad that I sought Him in everything, and I mean everything. I would go to turn on the TV and His presence would ask me, “Do you want Me or that show?” I stopped what I was doing and truly considered the question. It was a question that had to be answered. If I really wanted God, I had to want Him and nothing else. I chose HIM. (So I kept the TV off)

It was also during that time that the Lord asked me some questions about music. He showed me about the default of a fallen world. You see, what He showed me is that the default of this world is: everything around us is actively at work to pull us away from God. Secular music may not be ALL bad but if it isn’t centered on God, then it IS actively pulling you away from Him. Therefore, if one wants to be closer to God, they have to actively work towards Him. That means letting go of the things that don’t actively push you toward Him, like secular music. My choice during that time and since then has been to put things in my life, such as music, that will help me focus on Him and not pull me away. I don’t, as a habit, listen to secular music. There are already too many things in life to pull me away from Him, why add another?

Hence, my culture shock.

I’ve heard of Katy Perry, even know that she was raised in a Christian home, put out a Christian album or two, I’ve heard of Justin Beiber, One Direction, Fresh Beat Band, etc., etc. I’ve even heard some of their music, I mean, who could avoid it? We shop, we eat out, and my kids even listen to some of it. I don’t like it so much, but I don’t want to be rigid. I am realizing that I might not be able to afford flexibility in this area, I don’t know…

I accidentally came across the song. I listened out of curiosity. Now I understand so much but I am undone on the inside. Oh, God, we are so lost without you. With cute and catchy songs encouraging girls to kiss each other and like it, our society is doomed. The reality of how far we have transgressed in grievous. The choices I made are to live a holy life. God says, “Be holy for I am holy.” If we want to see Him, we must be holy and pure. The blood of Jesus makes us clean, but we cannot defile ourselves with the world and then expect to see God. Grace and righteousness are not for sinning but for living a holy life. Only those who desire it will have it because they are the ones who will pursue it by casting aside the things of the world. “Love not the world or the things of the world…”

Those of us who desire God and His holiness and purity have got to come together in an even greater way to pray and cry out for this generation of young people. They are disillusioned. Will you join me in crying out to God for another Great Awakening in our land?

In other words, now that you have established a relationship with Jesus and are learning about Him, it is now time to obey.

Jesus is our example in everything! He didn’t do anything on His own, but only what He saw and heard from His Father. The Apostle Paul put it this way: “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:1-2)

Here are some practical things you can do to apply what you are learning:

1. Pray His word: praying the word is praying God’s will and it is power and truth Hebrews 4:12.

For an example, if you are having an issue with finances, find scriptures that speak to God’s promises regarding provision. Here are a few of those:

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or “What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

“‘Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” (Malachi 3:10-11)

2. Trust Him:

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (Proverbs 3:5-10)

3. Obey His word: John 14:15-24, 31

Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15)

Applying what you have learned is acting in obedience but if you are not applying yourself to learn, how can you obey? Steps 2 and 3 go together.

When you love God and are walking in Him and in relationship, you obey Him just because you love Him. Many of His commands come with promises but we have to be careful that the promises aren’t our motivators but that love is our motivator.

You give your tithe, just because He says to do it (and because you trust Him).

You give up idols of your life because they don’t deserve your affection, He does.

You do and don’t do things anymore, based on His word and obedience, but also because you love Him and it would grieve your heart to grieve His.

The Lord desires that we know Him and allow Him to know us. Applying what we learn is our step toward Him. He is faithful and He is there with us every step of the way. He invites us to partner with Him to see His kingdom come and His will be done on the EARTH as it is already done in heaven. What a privilege and an honor!

He has the keys of the kingdom ready to lay into our hands the moment we say yes to Him. Will you receive them?

For me that area is complaining and that time is now. Over the past few months the Lord has shown me how destructive complaining is. As I’ve been reading through Exodus, the complaining parts have stood out to me like flashing neon. Every time I open my mouth to complain, I literally feel the atmosphere around me change and negativity settle into my heart forming a gloomy and sour attitude. Complaining takes the fresh air of God’s life away.

I know the Lord has said, “Enough is enough, Child. It’s time to come to a higher standard.”

My Father is so gracious. He doesn’t just tell me to do something and then leave me without help or an alternative way of life. It isn’t as if all the things that I have complained about have ceased to exist, but the firm admonition has been to dwell on what you have rather on what you don’t have; think about what is working rather than on what isn’t working; be thankful for what you know is certain and real rather than what is uncertain. I guess it is the proverbial question: Is the glass half full or half empty.

As I have begun to change the way I think, I am happier, more optimistic, hopeful and less discouraged. Complaining reinforces every negative thing and sets it in concrete in your heart. It takes a holy jack hammer to break up the effects of it in your life. But focusing on WHAT the Lord IS doing, rather than what I think He isn’t doing, establishes His Lordship more deeply in my life and causes my faith to grow. I have an expectation that what I do see is going to cause the things I don’t see to be made manifest.

Another way the Lord has been faithful to help me is to bring a warning when I’m in the middle of a temptation. Just a few days ago someone was relating a situation that would normally pull me in and cause me to start complaining; but as the person was speaking, the Holy Spirit rose up in me and said, “Be careful here.” Because I want to cooperate with God’s working in my life, I didn’t say much and when I did, it wasn’t negative. I will say, there are times when the Holy Spirit cautions but I don’t heed. I fail too but when I do, I repent and obey the next time.

Is there a better way working in your life? I’d love to hear.