I was watching Joseph Prince the other night. I really like his preaching. It is always like drinking fresh water. What he was talking about was how people couldn't possibly be strong enough to fight off unforgiveness and grudges and other temptations like that when they weren't "eating" anything good. Kind of a what are you filling yourself up with? What you eat is what you are. Then he said something I can not stop thinking about. He said most people when they go to church aren't fed anything that is sustaining. Wow... He said most people go to church to get filled up on philosophy, psychology, drama, politics, etc... Politics is the one that hit home for me. It felt like he was talking straight to me. The Spirit automatically started teaching me how it's not about politics or anything else. You don't go to church to better your life, you go to church bc having a relationship with God betters your life. It's all about God. It's ALL about God! If it's not about Him, something is wrong! What a beautiful relief to know that I don't have ANY obligations to man. I don't have anything to prove to anybody in any way! That frees me to follow true men and women of God without needing them and without expecting anything from them. That also means I don't have to prove myself to them. Even thinking I do takes away from God! Short but sweet.
From Bondage: I need to impress people and look like i know what I'm doing.
To Liberty: I need a relationship with God, that produces a real relationship that is warm and inviting to anyone I meet.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Thursday, December 22, 2011
The Deal-E-O
Alright! For anyone who wants to know what God is doing in my life, here is an update.
I told everybody that I am "stepping down" from our worship team 2 weeks ago. I have been on the other side of this before, and know this can't happen without talk and rumors, but what God is doing on my side is WAY to big to let that get in the way!
I did this because God told me to. The vision He gave me, what He is telling me to do, is a different direction then what the worship team vision is, so it kinda makes sense that this should happen! I will need all my energy and focus for this new pursuit for the Kingdom :)
I don't have a completely clear idea of what God wants but following him with baby steps is better then not following Him at all. I am so excited about this though. Once I made the decision to be faithful, I've been getting a few more baby-steps at a time and it almost feels like I'm flying forward, every baby-step feels like a leap!
The main thing that I know is God wants to LOVE on Cookeville. He wants people to be able to worship Him and let Him minister to them where they are in their life walk without having to worry about anything! I may be dreaming big, but this is God's dream and I am merely catching onto it. The word that comes to mind is "Echo". I just want God's goodness to bounce off of me and out to any and all people who want it. Don't misunderstand, this is not about me, at least I don't want it to be. This is GOD. Anything good is just a replica of Him. I am well aware that It is not my abilities that God loves the most about me ;)
I know if God gave me a clear vision of what is to come, I'd get too excited, lose any patience, and try and do it myself. But just imagine... those small moments when you decide to give every single bit of you up, lay it down, just surrender to His will... NOTHING is impossible then... anything can happen! :)
I was telling a complete stranger about this the other day, and this person said "Oh my gosh! I feel the same way!" They went on to talk about how they are getting a passion for all the things that I want and I never even said anything about those things!!!! I'm not going to get too excited bc then I'll want to just GO GO GO!!! But I am so happy with God's orchestration :)
It's so ironic how this almost seems like a step backwards. I had a month long of "Are you sure?" to God. Stepping down off a worship team and all the ministry involvement almost seems like a step in the wrong directions, and finally God said "It's holding you back" Wow... that was interesting to receive... but God's heart is pure. Noble. Loving. He wasn't saying the team I was on was awful and terrible, He was saying, I am no longer in the right place and that I need to follow Him if I want to progress personally! What a great God! For anyone willing, He wants to take you up from where you are and lead you through the best path for your life! That may be a physical change... or just a mental change. Changing your mindset can sometimes be the most freeing! :)
A friend recently posted Psalm 23:1-6 on facebook
and as I read it, I was put at peace about every decision I am making. This is God's way for me. This is His perfect plain being walked out by a human (me) who can definitely make mistakes... but I'm willing :) As I read it, it was made so personal to me:
Jessica,
1-3 I am your shepherd! You don't need a thing apart from me.
I have bedded you down in lush meadows,
I find you quiet pools to drink from.
True to my word,
I let you catch your breath
... and send you in the right direction.
4 Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
Don't be afraid
when I am walking at your side.
My trusty shepherd's crook
makes you feel secure.
5 I serve you a six-course dinner
right in front of your enemies.
I revive your drooping head;
Your cup brims with blessing.
6 My beauty and love chase after you
every day of your life.
You are back home in the house of God
for the rest of your life.
psalms 23
Thank you, Father!
Well... That's the latest in my life :)
From Bondage: Wrong road!!!
To Liberty: Right road!!!
I told everybody that I am "stepping down" from our worship team 2 weeks ago. I have been on the other side of this before, and know this can't happen without talk and rumors, but what God is doing on my side is WAY to big to let that get in the way!
I did this because God told me to. The vision He gave me, what He is telling me to do, is a different direction then what the worship team vision is, so it kinda makes sense that this should happen! I will need all my energy and focus for this new pursuit for the Kingdom :)
I don't have a completely clear idea of what God wants but following him with baby steps is better then not following Him at all. I am so excited about this though. Once I made the decision to be faithful, I've been getting a few more baby-steps at a time and it almost feels like I'm flying forward, every baby-step feels like a leap!
The main thing that I know is God wants to LOVE on Cookeville. He wants people to be able to worship Him and let Him minister to them where they are in their life walk without having to worry about anything! I may be dreaming big, but this is God's dream and I am merely catching onto it. The word that comes to mind is "Echo". I just want God's goodness to bounce off of me and out to any and all people who want it. Don't misunderstand, this is not about me, at least I don't want it to be. This is GOD. Anything good is just a replica of Him. I am well aware that It is not my abilities that God loves the most about me ;)
I know if God gave me a clear vision of what is to come, I'd get too excited, lose any patience, and try and do it myself. But just imagine... those small moments when you decide to give every single bit of you up, lay it down, just surrender to His will... NOTHING is impossible then... anything can happen! :)
I was telling a complete stranger about this the other day, and this person said "Oh my gosh! I feel the same way!" They went on to talk about how they are getting a passion for all the things that I want and I never even said anything about those things!!!! I'm not going to get too excited bc then I'll want to just GO GO GO!!! But I am so happy with God's orchestration :)
It's so ironic how this almost seems like a step backwards. I had a month long of "Are you sure?" to God. Stepping down off a worship team and all the ministry involvement almost seems like a step in the wrong directions, and finally God said "It's holding you back" Wow... that was interesting to receive... but God's heart is pure. Noble. Loving. He wasn't saying the team I was on was awful and terrible, He was saying, I am no longer in the right place and that I need to follow Him if I want to progress personally! What a great God! For anyone willing, He wants to take you up from where you are and lead you through the best path for your life! That may be a physical change... or just a mental change. Changing your mindset can sometimes be the most freeing! :)
A friend recently posted Psalm 23:1-6 on facebook
and as I read it, I was put at peace about every decision I am making. This is God's way for me. This is His perfect plain being walked out by a human (me) who can definitely make mistakes... but I'm willing :) As I read it, it was made so personal to me:
Jessica,
1-3 I am your shepherd! You don't need a thing apart from me.
I have bedded you down in lush meadows,
I find you quiet pools to drink from.
True to my word,
I let you catch your breath
... and send you in the right direction.
4 Even when the way goes through
Death Valley,
Don't be afraid
when I am walking at your side.
My trusty shepherd's crook
makes you feel secure.
5 I serve you a six-course dinner
right in front of your enemies.
I revive your drooping head;
Your cup brims with blessing.
6 My beauty and love chase after you
every day of your life.
You are back home in the house of God
for the rest of your life.
psalms 23
Thank you, Father!
Well... That's the latest in my life :)
From Bondage: Wrong road!!!
To Liberty: Right road!!!
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Doubling Up
Gal 6:7&8 (they are combined... difficult to separate)
(7)Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others- ignoring God-(8) harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds. But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.
I have been thinking about this verse because the way it starts. I keep wondering who would be stupid enough to try and make God look like a fool... but then He started talking to me :)
If you take a word from the Lord and use it in ANY other way then with pure love (even if you have "good intentions") that's what it is. Then you are hiding your manipulative heart behind "God's Word" and that just looks stupid but it doesn't make God look that way, it makes the sower look that way. For example, if you try and use God's word to tell someone that they are acting stupid but your heart isn't pure, you end up looking stupid bc everyone knows what is really going on and you've actually just created weeds. This will actually even persuade people to harden their hearts towards God. Hence the reason people get sick of religion. This is also a vain imagination bc you aren't looking at them as God sees them.
If you use the truth of God against someone, it's your life that reaps weeds. In order to use God's word like this, that means you don't understand Him either. Your heart hasn't been softened to Him. God is always Good, always having our hearts in His best interest.
This was some awesome insight! It is what the Lord has been showing me in my heart and then here it is in scripture! I love it!
1- Weeds are quick to multiply and choke out whatever they grow around. That sower will be known for choking people out. And everyone they influences now has to search themselves to see if they have properties in themselves planted by that sower that are actually weeds. They wouldn't even know they did unless they dropped their pride to look inside. The sower of weeds is gonna have such a hard heart and walls built up.
2- The right way to "plant"... is out of a response to what the Goodness of God has done/is doing in the sower. Letting God work in you, and naturally responding with that change. What can you possibly have to offer that hasn't come from God first? You can't give that which you don't have and you don't have anything unless you have God. Wow... pressure is coming off!! :)
The other day I read something that makes a good example of these two sowers:
The first sower used God to show someone else how wrong they were. The heart of the statement was said ruthless with a "You are wrong and you should figure it out and shut up" attitude. This was not love. My heart cringed at it. It wasn't towards me, but if it had been i definitely wouldn't have received it, AND it probably would have helped harden my heart towards the God this person was talking about.
Then I read a post a good friend wrote on his wife's wall. This sower was building her up and saying to her what God says about her. It wasn't to me, but it encouraged me to check my heart to see if my actions lined up with what God says about me, who I REALLY am. I realized I wasn't and repented! My pride jumped up, but I chose not to let it win! It was a conviction or righteousness! I thanked the person because even though it wasn't for me, it helped me! Perfect example!
The first person was growing weeds. The second, harvested good things without even realizing it!
from bondage: I can prove i know God.
To Liberty: Change my heart oh God, make it yours, then the response will be natural and purely You!
(7)Don't be misled: No one makes a fool of God. What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others- ignoring God-(8) harvests a crop of weeds. All he'll have to show for his life is weeds. But the one who plants in response to God, letting God's Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.
I have been thinking about this verse because the way it starts. I keep wondering who would be stupid enough to try and make God look like a fool... but then He started talking to me :)
If you take a word from the Lord and use it in ANY other way then with pure love (even if you have "good intentions") that's what it is. Then you are hiding your manipulative heart behind "God's Word" and that just looks stupid but it doesn't make God look that way, it makes the sower look that way. For example, if you try and use God's word to tell someone that they are acting stupid but your heart isn't pure, you end up looking stupid bc everyone knows what is really going on and you've actually just created weeds. This will actually even persuade people to harden their hearts towards God. Hence the reason people get sick of religion. This is also a vain imagination bc you aren't looking at them as God sees them.
If you use the truth of God against someone, it's your life that reaps weeds. In order to use God's word like this, that means you don't understand Him either. Your heart hasn't been softened to Him. God is always Good, always having our hearts in His best interest.
This was some awesome insight! It is what the Lord has been showing me in my heart and then here it is in scripture! I love it!
1- Weeds are quick to multiply and choke out whatever they grow around. That sower will be known for choking people out. And everyone they influences now has to search themselves to see if they have properties in themselves planted by that sower that are actually weeds. They wouldn't even know they did unless they dropped their pride to look inside. The sower of weeds is gonna have such a hard heart and walls built up.
2- The right way to "plant"... is out of a response to what the Goodness of God has done/is doing in the sower. Letting God work in you, and naturally responding with that change. What can you possibly have to offer that hasn't come from God first? You can't give that which you don't have and you don't have anything unless you have God. Wow... pressure is coming off!! :)
The other day I read something that makes a good example of these two sowers:
The first sower used God to show someone else how wrong they were. The heart of the statement was said ruthless with a "You are wrong and you should figure it out and shut up" attitude. This was not love. My heart cringed at it. It wasn't towards me, but if it had been i definitely wouldn't have received it, AND it probably would have helped harden my heart towards the God this person was talking about.
Then I read a post a good friend wrote on his wife's wall. This sower was building her up and saying to her what God says about her. It wasn't to me, but it encouraged me to check my heart to see if my actions lined up with what God says about me, who I REALLY am. I realized I wasn't and repented! My pride jumped up, but I chose not to let it win! It was a conviction or righteousness! I thanked the person because even though it wasn't for me, it helped me! Perfect example!
The first person was growing weeds. The second, harvested good things without even realizing it!
from bondage: I can prove i know God.
To Liberty: Change my heart oh God, make it yours, then the response will be natural and purely You!
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