just because...

I love how God fills your life with just the right people at just the right time...just because He can. I had an awesome weekend with a new friend, Andrea. I was reminded what it is to just laugh...to just live and play...to just be crazy...just because!
No reason...except to enjoy the things God places in our lives. No lesson...no rocket science...just because...
and I thank You for loving me...just as I am...just because...

thanx for the pain...

It took an extra bit of supernatural strength to make it to church this morning. After shooting a wedding I'm usually crashed to the world - especially after a hot, long day with my camera and a couple of lovely folks enjoying their new life together! But despite my exhaustion setting in, I knew that church would be awesome - and I hate missing out...
Being thanxgiving and all, we had a little bit of a theme happening, and during worship God was speaking to my spirit of what it meant to truly give thanx in ALL things. It's easy to worship and thank God when things are great...but in the face of pain, sickness, trials - we can turn on God with a complaining spirit and wonder out loud why He isn't listening to our prayers.
The reality of it is that He's already answering...
For example...thanx to years of abuse in sports, my knees and ankles are a bit of an interesting mix (oh alright...I'm just getting old!) EIther way, kneeling can be a bit of a painful experience. I avoid it with excuses and discomfort. Why would God require me to do something so painful? I've prayed for healing, and know that God has the power and ability in one word to make all things new...and yet He hasn't...
And it was in this moment that I realized why...why not everything is geared to our comfort and ease. Why healing does not always come in the way we would like. When something costs something, or hurts to accomplish - the journey testifies to the value of what is being pursued. Our pain is often the conduit that God uses to deepen the reality of our relationship with Him. He's not into maintaining fairweather Christians...He's into rooting His children in His love so that we can truly experience the depth of who He is.
I often wondered why God did not take the "thorn in the flesh" away from Paul. Here was a man who healed others, who pursued God with his whole heart... who endured terrible trials to proclaim Christ to the world. You would think he was due for a little ease... and yet it remained, and despite its presence, he maintained his relationship with God. He continued to pursue...to praise...to give thanks. He continued to testify in the face of discomfort and personal pain that God was good.
This is the very chord of our worship. We praise and thank God because He is good...(and to coin the cliche...ALL THE TIME!!!) His goodness does not change. It is not lessened by the struggles we face - rather it is heightened by His faithfulness through them. Circumstances do not change God's goodness...but sometimes they can change our perspective on God. When we truly catch a glimpse of God's goodness, whatever we face or endure in this lifetime will not alter that truth. If our praise and thanx are hinged on what we are experiencing, we will constantly be riding a rollercoaster of emotions and doubts at each bend in the road.
Besides pain being an opportunity God gives us to realize His value in our lives, God was also speaking of all the things He was accomplishing through pain...sounds crazy, I know. BUT IT'S TRUE!
I was reminded of the story of Corrie tenBoom, a woman who faced the hells of WWII concentration camps. Her sister made her thank God for all the horrible conditions they faced at Ravensbruck...for the crowded barracks...for the lack of blankets...for the fleas. These things scream at our flesh to complain and shift our focus from God, who is turning to good what was intended for evil, and onto what is affecting us. And yet, it was these very things that God was using to accomplish a greater purpose - for there is no pit so deep that God isn't deeper still...there is no situation that He does not have His hand in - and it is in the darkness of these moments that He can take us into the depths of Himself.
Pastor B. made an awesome point this morning. It dealt with a thanxgiving dinner many years ago when a man broke bread and GAVE THANX...for the bread that represented his body, and the wine that represented his blood. Jesus celebrated the first thanxgiving meal with his disciples - giving thanx to God for a sacrifice he hadn't yet made and what would be accomplished for mankind through it. Profound! Humbling...
Truly the pathway of pain is not the route most would choose to meet God on...and yet, when you seek His face with a spirit of thanxgiving, it will not matter what you are facing, His goodness will remain. It will strengthen you. Deepen you. Accomplish things through you.
What can I do but praise you? What can I do but give my heart to you? To get down on my knees before you (as painful as it may be) and thank you for all things...in all things...because YOU ARE SO GOOD!

hezekiah 31 (the epilogue)

This is the last in my little trilogy...and it's kinda funny that it surfaces as first when reading through the blog, because it is a great premise to what God is calling us to do and be in this generation.
"BEWARE OF PRIDE"

Sounds so easy...but it goes without saying - pride is usually the downfall of many great leaders, and no one, not even Hezekiah, was free of its grasp. In II Choronicles 32 you read a short discourse of all the great things Hezekiah accomplished in his reign...but also where he tripped up...
v.25"But Hezekiah did not respond appropriately to the kindness shown him, and he became proud."
Note to self...IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!!!
This is something that you need to be very intentional about keeping in the forefront of your thoughts as you pursue God and return to worshipping Him. I am so thankful that God delights enough in us that He doesn't just save us, but that He uses us to accomplish His purposes on this planet. But in saying that, I have to constantly be humbling myself before Him and repenting of the whispers in my heart that want to pat myself on the back for my pursuit of God.
It is definitely an interesting balance of living out your giftings with humility and pointing the glory to God. I do not receive compliments well, nor do I feel comfortable in getting attention for the things I do...but even in this, I am constantly having to battle the prideful thoughts that vie for my attention, and humble myself before the One who it's really all about.
When King Hezekiah was obedient in what God was calling him to do, he earned the respect of the surrounding nations, and chapter 32 tells of many gifts that arrived in Jerusalem from outside sources because of this obedience. That's pretty incredible that God released the wealth of other nations to bless the obedience of His people. But talk about opportunity to get overwhelmed by pride...and the point of all this is that we all can get tripped up by it if we're not careful.
When you focus your eyes on God, those who are watching you will start looking in the direction you are looking. We need to stop looking in the mirror at what God created, and instead to the One who infinitely and wonderfully made us.
Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and HE will lift you up...
Do not look for the praise of man, but for the praise of the One who loves you, empowers you, and saves you...

hezekiah 31 (the dealio)

The prologue to chapter 31 was a good premise to the amazing truth God was revealing to me (especially specifically to my home church, FH). I have enjoyed the past few months of being able to freely worship and seek God, and grow in the freedom I believe He intends for His children. There have been so many truths that He has been revealing to me, that I can hardly pen them all! I believe we are entering an age where the church as we know it is going to be redefined in the world. This thought may scare some people, but I believe it will be necessary in the call of reestablishing truth. Just like Hezekiah's reforms restored Israel to a right relationship with God, I believe we are entering a season where God is calling the church back to Himself. There were three things that stood out specifically...
1. To destroy the idols of our past...(verse 1) - whatever is keeping us from truly worshipping God in spirit and in truth. Not only are there the idols the world has set up as a distraction, but there are the idols within the church that have been distracting the worship of God. They are often very cleverly hidden under the guise of things that have been established for good. For instance, traditions were initially instigated as guides to train and maintain our focus on God. Over the years they have become rituals in which we gauge the spirituality of those who may or may not follow the same traditions. They can become cesspools of false-security in the thought that a disciplined lifestyle can equate salvation. If I attend church twice on Sunday, go to Bible Study and not get involved in a immoral lifestyle...I will be saved. But if you do all those things and you do not know God, what will it profit you? Jesus is the ONLY way, the ONLY truth, the ONLY life. NO ONE comes to the Father but thru Him. This is pretty intense. We can set up all the right skills and drills to be able to be amazing athletes, but if we don't know the coach, chances are we're not going to be playing.
It all comes down to attitude, and the motive behind our "practices" as Christians. I'm coming back to the heart of worship...and it's all about YOU...it's ALL ABOUT YOU JESUS...
We need to dust off the truth that has been sitting on the shelf for so long, clean out the "temple" of all the junk that's been building up and reestablish God as the focus of our worship. Worshipping Him should not be hinged on style, or whether we sing hymns or choruses...it's a reflection and response to who He is and the fact that He alone is worthy of our praise...
2.To release a spirit of giving within the church that will support the spiritual leaders God has placed amongst us.(verse 4)
In addition, he required the people in Jerusalem to bring a portion of their goods to the priests and Levites, so they could devote themselves fully to the Law of the Lord.
This means releasing those who are called to be spiritual pastors in our church to BE spiriutal pastors in our church and cities - and not have to worry about supporting and taking care of the needs of their families. This means supporting the business people in our church to be ministers and pastors within the workplace...or supporting the stay-at-home moms in our church to be ministers and pastors within their homes and circles God has placed them in...and so on. It means coming together as ONE body, and pooling together for the greater blessing of God's purposes.
The cool thing about this was that when the people commited themselves to giving, there was an abundance. There was more than enough. God blessed their giving and there was more than enough to spare that they had to build storehouses to hold all of the excess!
8 When Hezekiah and his officials came and saw these huge piles, they thanked the Lord and his people Israel!
9 “Where did all this come from?” Hezekiah asked the priests and Levites.
10 And Azariah the high priest, from the family of Zadok, replied, "Since the people began bringing their gifts to the Lord’s Temple, we have had enough to eat and plenty to spare. The Lord has blessed his people, and all this is left over.”
God isn't going to let his people "scrape by" when they are obedient in giving. The less we hold onto the idea that we need to take care of ourselves first, the more God can pour His riches through us and bless others.
3.Purifying ourselves.
The purification process of the leaders in the OT times was pretty intense. There were so many steps to the process that had to be followed in specific ways in order to make sure there was no room for error. It was quite a commitment for Levites to make to be leaders. They were "set apart" from the people in lifestyle and freedoms.
Although I think the regulations are a bit more relaxed in the freedom found in the blood of Christ, there is still a calling to continuously purify ourselves as leaders. How does the purification process work in the church today? I keep coming up with the verse "All things are permissable, but not all things are edifying."
What does this really mean? I cannot help but venture the thought that there are a lot of things that have no spiritual implications in our salvation that clutter our lives, our thoughts, our time. As leaders, although they are not "wrong", they just become stuff that keep us from drawing closer to God. I loved the section of the vision found in Red Moon Rising that talked about a generation that wouldn't be held by Hollywood, pressured by peers, bound by labels...it talked about a generation that no longer saw the glitter of the world, but was taken - body, soul, mind and spirit - with the beauty of God and who He is.
"Laying down their rights, and their precious little wrongs..."
It's not about God making rules about what we cannot do, but about us making the choice to pursue Him with our whole hearts and being intentional in whatEVER we do that He may become more.

Who could imagine a melody true enough to tell of Your mercy
Who could imagine a harmony sweet enough to tell of Your love
I see the heav- ens proclaiming You day after day
And I know in my heart that there must be a way
To sing a greater song, a greater song to You on the earth

Who could imagine a symphony grand enough to tell of Your glory
Our highest praise but a feeble breath, a whisper of Your thunderous worth
I see the heavens proclaiming You day after day
And I know in my heart that there must be a way
To sing a greater song, a greater song to You on the earth

...and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace...

And the underlying blessing of all this is that success is inevitable. (verse 21) "In all that he did...Hezekiah sought his God wholeheartedly. As a result he was very successful."
It doesn't get any simpler than that folks! When we start tuning our hearts and seeking after God with complete focus, when we learn to partner with God and what He is doing, when we start listening and obeying His guidance, when we stop our analyzing and start taking action...success is what awaits. Spiritual, financial and physical success. This outcome doesn't make the process easier...but it gives it purpose! I'm sure there were lots of obstacles to overcome, but with the motive of his heart being rooted in seeking FIRST after God, he could not fail.
May that be our focus, our desire, our purpose...

hezekiah 31 (prologue)

So I had an interesting thing happen the other day...it's kinda becoming a common occurance in my life! It happened during my evening devotions (insert twilite music here!). I picked up my new camo tin bible (yes...I've gotten into the unfortunate and expensive habit of losing the word every once in a while!)and was like "okay God...what do you want me to read tonite?!!" Dangerous thing to ask...but it's cool to include God in your decisions of where a good place to dig in to his Word might be...I mean, He wrote it - and knows exactly what you need to hear and when!
This nite it was Hezekiah 31...hahahaha - nice try! That's not even a book! Trying to pull a fast one on me, eh! I decided to check out where the story of Hezekiah was in the Bible, just in case I wasn't getting my lines crossed...turns out it was in II Choronicles, starting at chapter 29 thru to 32. Interesting...
Here was a king, who at the age of 25 began his rule and in the FIRST MONTH of his reign took up the task of restoring the temple to a place of worship. Talk about not beating around the bush with priorities!
These were some interesting points gleaned before I reached the portion God wanted me to focus on...
1. God is into accomplishing things quickly when people are into establishing him in their hearts!
29:35-36: So the Temple of the Lord was restored to service. And Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced because of what God had done for the people, for everything had been accomplished so quickly.
2. Just because it's a good idea, does not mean you will have the support of your own people. In fact, you will often be persecuted by your own.
30:10-11 The runners went from town to town throughout Ephraim and Manasseh and as far as the territory of Zebulun. But most of the people just laughed at the runners and made fun of them. However, some people from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and went to Jerusalem.
3. When the motive of our heart is pure, God is gracious in our mistakes.
30:18-20: “May the Lord, who is good, pardon those who decide to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors, even though they are not properly cleansed for the ceremony.” And the Lord listened to Hezekiah’s prayer and healed the people.
4. We were made to party (especially WITH God!)
30:23,26-27 The entire assembly then decided to continue the festival another seven days, so they celebrated joyfully for another week. There was great joy in the city, for Jerusalem had not seen a celebration like this one since the days of Solomon, King David’s son. Then the priests and Levites stood and blessed the people, and God heard their prayer from his holy dwelling in heaven.
When's the last time that we dropped everything to worship God for a week (or two) straight? Setting aside "LIFE" to celebrate how awesome our God is? When was the last time you experienced extreme joy because God was SO GOOD?!!! Perhaps this is a new season in the life of the church where the focus will be returned on God and the church will be a place of extreme joy at the liberty and freedom found in Christ...
because God is listening...