You are not who you think you are!

Graham Cooke persists as one of my all-time favorite authors. His take on the kindness of God and what we have been created to attain never fails to inspire me. Right now I'm reading his "Way of the Warrior" series, Book 2, "Manifesting Your Spirit," and I just HAVE to share some excerpts:




 The chapter titled Strengths and Weaknesses are a Paradox contains these gems: "...At first Moses offered every excuse in the book as to why he couldn't possibly be the one to lead Israel out of bondage. In Exodus 7:1, God ended the debate: 'See, I have made you as God to Pharoah.' True to His word, Pharoah was so bewildered by the power Moses wielded that he didn't know what to do or think...he had...to conclude that Moses was some sort of God...

 ...Gideon offered the same excuses at first. His self-image was a mess: 'O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house," he said in Judges 6:15. What did God see when He looked at Gideon? Read verse 12: 'the LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!' Obviously, a significant gap existed between who Gideon thought he was, and what the Lord had laid out for him to do...

...A spiritual warrior lives in this strength and weakness paradox. God always puts our weakness together with His strength. He does not ask us to be strong; in fact, our weakness is what attracts Him. He is strong enough for both himself and us. He couples our inability with His provision... 

...Magnifying God is not an option; it is an antidote to poor self esteem...

 ...Living out of the soul is a lower order of engagement because we are the prime focus. When we allow logic and emotion to lead us, fear grips us...

 ...The Holy Spirit is not interested in what we cannot do; He is interested in what we are willing to do. If our heart is right before God, no present weakness can prevent us from overcoming the challenges before us...

 ...We cannot build a life by trying to correct weakness. Instead, we build our life by defining and refining the gifts, strengths, and revelation God has given us...

 ...When we focus on our weaknesses, we cannot make a difference in a critical moment...

 ...No one can inherit or possess a gift from God when they focus on on their weakness. Every believer already possesses the things they need to both get free and stay free. It's already in us, put there by God Himself. We simply need to take inventory of our gifts and use that arsenal God has given us. In Acts 3, Peter did not dwell on his weakness when confronted with a crippled man at the Gate Beautiful. Instead, he gave out of the strength God had put in him: 'Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk,' (verse 6). The same principle was echoed by Paul twice in Philippians 4: 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," (verse 13), and 'And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus," (verse 19). When we pour out the blessing God has given us, another door opens for us in Heaven. We do not live out of a finite pool of anointing; God has more than enough to give us...

 ...Prosperity then is about giving, not receiving. When we sow, God gives us both a massive harvest to reap and more seed with which to plant...

 ...Mature Christians know both what God is doing in them, and what He is doing through them. They do not confuse the two. What our souls see as crisis is actually an opportunity for expansion. It may have to come in a strange way or a difficult time, but it is always an opportunity. Will we allow our soul to dominate in this time, or our spirit? Will we resolve to live from the right place? Are we determined to stand fast and rest in the Lord? These are the questions we will face over and over again in our lives."

 PREACH IT, Graham!

Prune or Be Pruned

An old forgotten apple tree grows along a trail I often frequent with my canine pals. I don't know if some long-dead homesteader purposely planted it there, or if it's merely the lucky offspring of a discarded apple core. Every fall I peruse it for fruit, but in the past four or five years, I've only managed to pick two small, sour specimens; the few apples it produces each year are either wormy or out of reach. That tree is a mess. It's scraggly branches are mostly dead and dying, and the few live ones seem to have forgotten how to carry out the process of fruition. This tree seems to be shrinking rather than growing, as it sacrifices a dead limb or two each year, with no new growth to replace what has been lost. This old apple tree is in dire need of a gardener's care, or more specifically, it cries out to be PRUNED.

 Pruning is weird. It seems so ruthless and painful, yet it yields great abundance and LIFE. Dead and dying branches, sucker shoots, and excess blossoms sap a tree of the necessary energy to produce flowers and decent fruit. Wildness and unhampered freedom haven't blessed this apple tree. It has suffered in it's exposure to the elements, wild animals, insect infestations, and probably destructive humans, year after year, leaving it in a weakened and essentially barren state. Just like that tree, my life needs some hands-on care from the Creator... including painful but necessary pruning.

 Just this past week, I experienced some pruning. Specifically, I was pruned of my computer :) I thought it was a huge tragedy (especially since the crashed hard drive took with it thousands of unbacked up (irreplaceable) pictures that I feared I would either lose forever or have to shell out hundreds of dollars to extract, all blamable on my backup neglect). As the week of loss wore on, I gradually came to appreciate the stillness, the lack of social network frenzy and tyranny of catching up on missed tv episodes. I spent more time reading, more time talking to my husband, and more time free of the need to keep in touch with, reply to, check in with: PEOPLE. I didn't miss my computer at all. I enjoyed the extra space and cyber quiet. And now that my pictures have been rescued (THANK-YOU Merciful Father!), I don't want to go back to the cyber-addict I was before. I want to chill out and live a bit more naturally. While I will NEVER prefer phone conversations over texting and email, I don't want to feel the compusion to read my whole newsfeed every day, "like" my friend's pictures and statuses, or to constantly check if someone is "liking" my stuff. It doesn't matter.

What matters is to breathe, to savor, to LIVE the one life I have been given to live. Not hooked up to my machine. Not living in the Matrix of cyber-space. I want to disconnect and go outside; see the glory of God and experience what HE has for my life...

A Culture of Childishness

"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me," 1 Corinthians 13:11. I have been thinking about what it means to be childish. Not childlike, which the Lord commends in Mark 10:15, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

 Webster defines childlike as "resembling, suggesting, or appropriate to a child or childhood; especially: marked by innocence, trust, and ingenuousness," and childish as "of, relating to, or befitting a child or childhood; marked by or suggestive of immaturity and lack of poise; lacking complexity: simple." Childish actions include: demand for instant gratification, an attitude of entitlement, emotional instability, temper tantrums, self-absorption, disloyalty and the like.

 In many ways, the American culture promotes and even lauds childishness. We are a culture of violence, disloyalty, divorce, immorality (or definining our own "morality"), abortion, lascivousness (rampant pornography), lawlessness, greed, obesity, compulsions and addictions, materialism (leading to massive debt), vanity, etc. Childishness IS, simply defined, the manifestation of the sinful nature. As people of God, it's time to put childish ways behind us. Childishness negates love. The meat of 1 Cor. reads, "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres" (vv.4-7).

 Galations 5 commands us in verses 16-26, "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other." Believers must WAR against the flesh, (Hebrews 12:4: "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood."), but thankfully, we have been given the Holy Spirit in order to triumph over our sinful nature. 

Second Corinthians 2:14 assures us of this: "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him." I long to walk in triumph over my flesh-driven childishness and live as Romans 6:11 commands, "In the same way, count yourselves DEAD TO SIN, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Amen!

Playing for the Right Team

I shared this amazing Francis Anfuso quote on my FaceBook Status today:

"We’re created to be the salt and light of this earth. (Matthew 5:13–16) Salt preserves what is good, melts what is cold, and flavors what is bland.
Light eradicates darkness, shows direction, and reveals the truth. By blending into the world, adopting its values, and compromising Biblical wisdom, we misrepresent God and our life experience ends in regret. Eventually, we become exactly what we detest, living and dying in mediocrity.
If we, as Christ’s church, misrepresent Jesus, then we lose the essence of our purpose. Either we reflect the likeness of Jesus, or tarnish it and live a forgettable life. We must change, reflect our true Source, or accept the reality that we aren’t living up to our full potential. The God of second chances awaits our decision."

I've been thinking of our role as Christians in light of sports teams (March Madness affecting my brain :) We who have been redeemed play for God's team, while the Lost play for Satan's, whether they realize it or not. We Christians, however, have a choice: we can play with abandon and total commitment, or we can skip practices, shirk games, become distracted by our own affairs, and essentially bench ourselves. I must ask myself, "how loyal and committed are you? Honestly, I vaccilate. Sometimes I'm the gung-ho, most-improved player, and other times, I'm lazy and indifferent, the sort of player coaches want to kick in the butt. I hate it when I'm apathetic, but I don't usually hate it enough at the time. I WANT to LIVE in exuberance and steadfastness, not to waver with the wind.

So my prayer this week is that I fall so completely in love with Jesus that I can't help but exude His very life and light to EVERY person I encounter. That I'm not so caught up in my own agenda that I despise the very beings HE died for, you know, the ones cluttering up my goals. Sometimes I'm so self-absorbed, it's embarassing. So Lord, cause me to so hunger and thirst for You, that I AM salt and light in a world starving for Your love-a world looking to us to pour it out that love for them.

And we say we want revival...

Lately I have been studying the lives of old-time revivalists...and also modern Christians who have healing ministries. Many of us American Christians claim we want revival; we want to see miracles and mass salvations, but are we really willing to pay the price? The biggest difference I notice between the old time revivalists/modern healers and your run-of-the-mill American Christian is PASSION and COMMITMENT. I don't know about you, but compared to them, I'm lazy, indifferent and distracted. They had/have single-minded purpose to promote and usher in the Kingdom of God, and to that end, spent hours and hours on their faces before the Lord, crying out for His hand to move in mighty ways. They fasted and gave up lives of luxury to live among the poor and diseased. They didn't give a thought to financial success, increasing their standard of living, entertainment, recreation, or personal fulfillment. They embraced poverty and possessed radical love for the lost. Reading about such zeal makes me ashamed of my shallow, self-serving pursuit of STUFF and EXPERIENCES.

In this context, I'm embarrassed to note that my thoughts often revolve around getting a raise, taking a vacation, buying new shoes, finding a new hairstyle, picking up a latte, or catching up on my favorite TV shoes. None of those things are wrong in themselves, but what portion of my thoughts and energy are budgeted toward things for ME rather than for the Kingdom of God? I think it boils down to priorities. I have been indoctrinated to think I deserve to live the middle-class, American life. I have not yet allowed love for Jesus to saturate my every fiber. I have not set aside MY time to sit at His feet soaking in His love and filling up with the Holy Spirit's fire. Revival will not come until we are done with putting God on the back burner while we pursue the American dream.

Daniel Kolenda wrote, "Everybody seems to want 'revival,' thinking it is a pleasant and enjoyable experience. But to be revived is to be shaken out of a state of slumber, to be jolted out of apathetic complacency, to be alarmed awakened, and startled.  Too many churches praying for revival have a 'Do not distub' sign hanging on the door...Instead of praying for revival, perhaps we should pray with Sir Francis Drake, "Disturb us, Lord! Powerful prayer begins where complacency ends."

Acts 2:42-47 reads: "They DEVOTED themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."



Quite a contrast to the average American life. I truly believe that if we devote ourselves to PRAYER and the study of scripture, as did the apostles, we will catch fire. Passionate intercession will bring revival, starting with us. And that fire will spread, igniting a family, a church, a community, a city, a nation, and eventually, the world.

Contaminated Gospel

If you were Satan, what would you do to weaken the gospel? You would chip away or erode the good news-making it ineffective and weak. Over time, you could create a Christianity without power. A flaccid Christianity that sees no miracles, heals no sick, raises no dead, casts out no demons. You (as Satan) can laugh all the way to the bank, as few are interested in embracing such a limp faith; few are touched by a weakened and disinterested God. Contrast that anemic gospel with the true gospel demonstrated in the book of Acts. What exciting things happened? Peter HEALS a lame man (Acts 3:1-11), the apostles performed MANY WONDERS (Acts 5:12-16), Peter raises Tabitha from the DEAD (Acts 9:36-41), An ANGEL delivers Peter from prison (Acts 12:7-17), Paul HEALS a crippled man (Acts 14:8-10), Paul HEALS MULTITUDES (Acts 19:11-12), Paul RAISES Eutychus from death (Acts 20:9-12), Paul shakes off a deadly viper AND suffers NO ill effects (Acts 28:3-6), Paul HEALS Publius' father and the REST of the island were cured (Acts 28:7-9)... I could go on, but this is an impressive list, and it doesn't even touch on the rest of the disciples who healed, raised the dead, cast out demons, etc.

I know there is a doctrine of Cessationalism in place, but sorry, I can't see the biblical support for that, and I will NEVER be convinced of it, partly because I have been the recipient of physical healing miracles, but ultimately because Jesus PROMISED us, "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." (John 14:12-14). AMEN! And lest you think you're exempt, you're not. We ALL are gifted for miracles. 1 Corinthians 12:6-11 states, "There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines." That should blow your mind, actually! We ALL are endued with POWER from on high...not ONE of us is left out of the miraculous life. So what's stopping us? Jesus is NOT a liar...get busy, Church!

My Cat

My cat is irritating.

She is also funny, adorable and loving...

...but just when I'm working at the computer, knitting, wrapping gifts, or scrap booking, she's a huge pain in my tush.

I could chalk up her annoying interference as pure cat curiosity, but much of the time, she just wants to be in my lap, close and purring.

Not to be egotistical, but my cat worships me. She isn't really fond of anyone else, unless of course, I'm unavailable, and she'll cuddle up to a select one or two others, but in general, she's a one-woman cat. In fact, even as I write this, at the painfully early hour of 5:00am, she immediately appeared to jump in my lap, curl up and purr. I'm starting to see her behavior in a new light: her adoration and peskiness as attributes rather flaws. I want to be like her in my relationship toward God-seeking Him out and drawing near to Him in love and affection.

I want to sit at His feet and draw comfort and strength in His presence, to worship Him as the mighty and perfect being He is...to trust Him, rely on Him, and love Him with my whole heart.

I want to choose Him over everything else that easily distracts and sucks up my time, to prefer His company to the company of others. I want to rest and soak in His presence. To BE rather than DO, to be a Mary rather than a Martha, whom the Lord had to gently correct: “Martha, Martha...you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42). I want what Mary had: a treasure that cannot be taken.