Peace and Prosperity

Jeremiah 29:4-7, 10-14 NLT
This is what the LORD of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says to all the captives he has exiled to Babylon from Jerusalem: “Build homes, and plan to stay. Plant gardens, and eat the food they produce. Marry and have children. Then find spouses for them so that you may have many grandchildren. Multiply! Do not dwindle away! And work for the peace and prosperity of the city where I sent you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, for its welfare will determine your welfare.”  This is what the Lord says: “You will be in Babylon for seventy years. But then I will come and do for you all the good things I have promised, and I will bring you home again. For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

I have been sitting with this text for awhile now.  There are a few select statements that people like to use out of this passage.  I continue to go back to the ENTIRE passage.  Yes, God has plans to prosper us.  Yes, when we pray, he will listen.  The thing is, there is meat in between those statements.

God sent His people to Babylon.  They were taken from their land, others scattered to the far corners of the world.  The people who were brought to Babylon were told to make a home, they were told to build a legacy.  They were told to plant themselves.  The reality is, they were told that they would be there for 70 years, that is almost 2 generations worth of time.  (The desert was 40 years)  So, they were to grow their descendants and ready them to be brought to the restoration of their nation.

The world we live in today is happy to repeat the good points, the God will remember us and bless us statements, but we also need to remember that he said to be planted in the midst of their enemies.  Not just planted, but to bless them, and by blessing them THEY would be blessed.  It is easy to jump over that part.  Who wants to think about being stuck in places that are not surrounded by their traditions and their ways and find a way to not only prosper but to bless those living so differently than our own beliefs? 

We are living in some defining times right now.  We can choose to circle up and call out to God to heal our land, or we can step into the things that He has shown us and told us over and over that will bring blessing to our people and our land.  We are to prosper and bless in the worst of situations, in the worst of places.  We are to show His love and kindness even when it doesn't make sense, when it doesn't feel good.  We are to yield to Him and not our own feelings.  We are to build homes and plant gardens in the midst of our captivities, showing those around us the absolute goodness of the Father we serve. 

There are always time limits involved, and sometimes we are so focused on what is promised at the end that we have missed out on all of the "in between" opportunities.  We are so focused on what is promised to our next generation that we have forgotten to bless those around us to ensure that promise can be fulfilled.  As the Lord said, the welfare of the these places determines OUR welfare.  Are you working for peace and prosperity of your city?  Are you waiting on what is to come instead of doing the proactive now?  Are you waiting to leave exile, dreaming of going back to your homeland?  Israel was not returned to a beautiful city and land, they had to rebuild everything when they returned.  (We forget that part a lot too.)

My prayer today is two fold.  May we be focused on working towards the peace and prosperity of our cities and may we be readying the next generations to be ready for the work ahead of them. 

Gentleness for Today

  Philippians 4:4-8
Be cheerful with joyous celebration in every season of life. Let joy overflow, for you are united with the Anointed One! Let gentleness be seen in every relationship, for our Lord is ever near. Don't be pulled in different directions or worried about a thing. Be saturated in prayer throughout each day, offering your faith-filled requests before God with overflowing gratitude. Tell him every detail of your life, then God's wonderful peace that transcends human understanding, will make the answers known to you through Jesus Christ. So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.

I feel as though I have preached this passage about 5 different ways in the last 48 hours. There is a lot to unpack and a lot to meditate on.  We are living in a moment of time that we need to be very aware of what we are saying and how we are saying it.  There is so much going on in the world right now and for those who proclaim the stewardship of the name of Jesus, it is very important that we are aware of all that we are stamping His name upon. 

I am convinced that if we were to uncomplicate our religiosity and step into the actual teachings of Jesus, so many of our issues would just fall away.  If our thoughts were continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind, I believe that 80% of our social media feeds would dissolve into the darkness that they came from.  If we spent time rewiring our mindsets to all that is from the character and nature of our Father, there would be no need to chase people down to express our faith.  If we lived out the simplicity of this scripture, people would flock to us.  They would line up outside of our doors, demanding to know what we had that they desperately needed. 

Can we start with just one piece at a time?  Can you today make an effort to ensure that gentleness is seen in every relationship you connect to today?  Can you take that extra breath and remind yourself that they are as fragile as you have been in your journey?  What kind of a difference do you think will take place?  Maybe we just spend a week there. 

Gentleness.  How can you walk out gentleness to those around you?  Let's start with that for the day...and then maybe tomorrow we can move into that bigger idea of how important it is to be saturated in prayer throughout your waking (and sometimes sleeping) hours. 

A Call to the Carriers

Many have asked me when they would be seeing something from me about my time visiting Asbury, and I have been wondering the same thing myself.  It seems that each time that I sit down to write out what is on my heart, I feel the need to pause and eventually come back and delete what I had previously put into words.

The truth is that it is difficult to express in words, especially written word an encounter that marks you so deeply.  I believe that each individual that took the time to answer the call and found themselves on the campus in a small town in Kentucky had very intentionally, specifically unique encounters with God.

I will say this.... God is loving a generation back to life.

God is taking a generation that has been cursed and is speaking life and potential into them.  He is positioning them to know him, be changed by him and to bring him into every space that they walk into.  This is the "show me" generation.  There are so many counterfeits in this world, they are looking for an authentic encounter with God.  Nothing less will do.   

I have many words that swirl around that I hope to some day put into black and white.  I am not sure that the words I have now will ever suffice.  God is so much bigger and greater than the words that I can come up with.  His gentle love and compassion is restoring and reviving what we have lost, what has been forgotten.  God is kind and merciful, he is patient and continues to draw us as a people back to him.

He is still saying, "Seek me while I may be found!"  He is answering the people whose hearts desire him over all else.  I am forever changed because 10 kids could not go back to class, but stayed, leaned in and cried out to God.  Ten kids turned into over 50,000 people in 13 days.  I cannot wait to see what multiplication God does with that 50,000!!

I am thankful for ten kids who stayed behind, creating a call to the carriers to go out and do the same thing.  If you want to see God move, give up your titles, give up your stages, give up your five point sermons and get on your face and seek HIS face.  Ask him to search your heart, and respond when he shows you what needs realigned.

I will end with this.  I do not pray for revival.  I am convinced that seeking God, seeking his face, needing him more than anything else is what God responds to.   We say that we want to see revival, in reality, we may just want a place or thing.  Do you want revival or do you want a show that you can control the narrative of?  God has told us time and time again that he isn't interested in those things.  He wants hearts that are devoted to him.  He wants us to remember our first love, the things that we did at first.  He loves to pour his love onto us, as we pour our love and adoration out to him.  
Next time you feel a pull like that on your heart, or a want to stay, I challenge you to be the one who stays behind, and watch how many lives can be changed.

A Call to the Mountain

Today I am going to take us back to Exodus.  God took a people out of a land of slavery, he had a gift of a promised land to deliver them into and he wanted to meet with them in person.  His presence had been leading and following them.  His presence had been visible and I am certain palpable.  He called them to consecrate themselves and to come and meet with him at His mountain. He wanted to speak to them.

Exodus 19:10-13, 20:18-19
Then the Lord told Moses, “Go down and prepare the people for my arrival. Consecrate them today and tomorrow, and have them wash their clothing. Be sure they are ready on the third day, for on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai as all the people watch. Mark off a boundary all around the mountain. Warn the people, ‘Be careful! Do not go up on the mountain or even touch its boundaries. Anyone who touches the mountain will certainly be put to death. No hand may touch the person or animal that crosses the boundary; instead, stone them or shoot them with arrows. They must be put to death.’ However, when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast, then the people may go up on the mountain.” 
When the people heard the thunder and the loud blast of the ram’s horn, and when they saw the flashes of lightning and the smoke billowing from the mountain, they stood at a distance, trembling with fear. And they said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen. But don’t let God speak directly to us, or we will die!”

The people could not bear the weight of God speaking to them.  They opted to have Moses do it for them.  Today it would seem that we have taken this same approach in the western churches.  We look to the pastors, church leaders and intercessors and say, "You can speak to God and let us know what He says."

I believe that we are now at the mountain moment once again.  God is calling His bride to come and consecrate themselves.  He is asking to meet with them, to speak with them one on one.  He paid a mighty price to position us to be able to do so.  Jesus died to create the ability for us to be brought back into the presence of God and hear what He is saying to us.  He has a word for you, individually, that He would like to share with just you.  He is a personal God.  Just like it would be strange to have your parent tell another person what they think, feel or see in you, so that they can then relay it to you, it is no different when it comes to the Lord.  How much can be lost in the translation?  How impersonal would it be to have to hear that your dad told someone else to tell you that he loved you and was proud of you?  Wouldn't your heart desire to hear that from his own mouth?  The plans that He has for your life can only truly be known by hearing them directly from the source.  We have so many safe guards in place that we have over complicated a relationship that should be the easiest and purest form available.

He is calling us to the mountain, or maybe He is bringing the mountain to us.  Some will say, "Surely we will die!" And to that I say, yes!  We are called to die to ourselves, to this world, and the life we gain is so much more!!  God has always desired to meet with us, speak with us individually.  Are you ready to lean in and hear what he is saying??