When Sheep Bite

     
Have you had hurtful
experiences in church?                                                                                                
Does the word 'church'
conjure up negative thoughts
and emotions in you?

Have you given up hope in
finding the perfect church?

If your answer to any of the above questions is 'yes', then you are not alone.  Many, many people have been hurt in church.  In fact, almost every person I know has experienced some degree of hurt at one time or another in church.  Do you know why?  Because people attend church.  Or, let me put it a little more gently.......people in process attend church.  A speaker I heard put it this way, "Sheep bite".

I am in no way excusing hurtful attitudes and behavior from individuals in church, but I would like to share some thoughts and truth that I have learned along the way that might help in dealing with pain  experienced from such encounters.

But first, I would like to share just a smidgeon of my journey. I was raised in a traditional denominational church in a small community in the south. You may be surprised, but my overall experience with church all the way till adulthood was pretty positive. I attribute this to a couple of things.  One, my parents had a pretty high value for respecting not only the leaders and authority in the church, but also those who attended. The benefit and result of this was that I grew up with a respect and understanding of honoring people of all types.

The second reason I believe my church experience was positive is found within the church community where I belonged. I could name off quite a list of adults who poured into my life through the years of Sunday school, VBS, choir, mission trips, etc. In many ways it felt like a big family to me. I grew up with these people. I felt loved there. They nurtured me, pastored me, mentored me, and helped launch me into the first steps of the calling on my life.

Now, fast forward about 10 years and my husband and I have begun our journey of experiencing the in's and out's of church ministry life. After pastoring for 9 years in the Northwest, an experience full of life lessons not to be delved into here, we entered a 10 year desert season where we experienced the gamut of hurtful church experiences, some intentional and some not.

It was about halfway through that 10 years that I spiraled into depression.  I had never been depressed before, so I didn't see it coming, and I didn't recognize the unhealthy thought patterns that allowed this dark cloud to overtake me.  I sought God in that place of desperation and He was so faithful to bring me out of one very dark pit.

During this time, a couple of books ministered greatly to me; Letters to a Devastated Christian by Gene Edwards, and God Meant it For Good, by R.T. Kendall. A CD I listened to over and over during our wilderness season was Why Wounded and Betrayed Believers are So Useful to God, by Graham Cooke.  I began to see clearly the enemies' plan to cause me to give up on the church, the destiny that God had for me, and ultimately God. The enemy was up to something, but God was up to something much bigger and greater.

With the constant help of the Holy Spirit, I began to sort out truth from lies and come to a place of  healing in my heart.

Below are listed some of the steps towards healing and lessons I learned on my journey.  I hope they will be helpful for you.

1.  Forgiveness for all those involved is an essential first step.

2.  Make a firm commitment to quit rehashing the whole ordeal.  By all means talk with a trusted friend or counselor, but you cannot release things until you quit rehearsing them.

3. Remember that all people (Christians, too!) are in process and many are badly broken. Broken people hurt people, so don't be surprised when you encounter conflict in the church. Understand that everyone is in process and varying stages of wholeness and healing. Having healthy structures, ministries, and core values for dealing with brokenness is essential to a healthy church.

4. Thankfulness and gratefulness for your journey is a giant step toward having your heart healed. It was not until I could begin to see with grateful eyes how God wanted to use my journey, that I began to experience the grace to be healed. The life story of Joseph was bread for me during those desert years and I was continually reminded of Gen. 50:20, "You intended to harm me but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."

5.  Allow God to use the furnace you are in to purify your own heart. Remember that God is never the author of evil, but He is an expert at taking the evil that befalls us and turning it around for our good. Part of that process involves letting our injustices cause the impurities of our own hearts to come to the surface. Repentance and cleansing will always change your perspective.

6.  Don't let your hurt cause you to be jaded and carry you into cynicism. In our journey we made a decision not to give up on the church. Why?  God hasn't given up on the church, so neither should we. When we separate ourselves from the Body of Christ we have taken a step away from the very ones who will help us step into our own destiny. I don't mean that we are supposed to remain in unhealthy, abusive situations, but find a church body that generally operates with healthy core values and practices and find your place in the wall. When we remove ourselves at the first sign of trouble, we are most likely removing ourselves from the very process that God wants to use in our life.

7.  The only way to trust again is to trust again. Self preservation never leads us in a good direction, but instead takes us farther into isolation from others and from God. Take His hand and let Him lead you out of the heartache you have experienced and into a place of healing. Acknowledge your own inadequacy to protect yourself and find rest from your striving under His wings.

8.  Have your mind renewed to begin seeing the people around you as treasures, made in the image of God with potential for greatness. Ask God to give you eyes to see them as He sees them, looking past the brokenness to call forth their treasure.

Now, back to those three questions at the beginning of my blog. I must admit that third question was a trick question. If you answered 'yes' to "Have you given up hope in finding the perfect church?", then give yourself a pat on the back, because there are no perfect churches. But, there are plenty of churches filled will beautiful, redeemed people who are right in the middle of their journey of growth and healing. Most are hungry for something real in their relationships.

I encourage you to find a community where you can love and be loved as you take the step to trust God with His process in your life.

The Futility of Self Effort

                                                   

                       

                                                                       

I often wonder what it would be like to fully see into the Spirit realm.  I'm sure if we could gaze unhindered into the unseen realm we would be surprised at how many perceptions and understandings we have that need to be adjusted to match up with reality as Heaven knows it.  One of the major roles of the Holy Spirit is to alert us to the changes we need to make in order to cooperate with those things that God wants to do in and around us as we learn to walk by faith in a realm that we cannot fully see.  

Learning to live and walk by faith is key if we are to step fully into our destiny and see the fulfillment of our promises.  For me, the bottom line of faith is believing what God has said, then stepping out on it to demonstrate that I believe it to be so.

But, far too often we try and mix in man's best efforts or solutions just in case faith doesn't work out.  But, faith mixed with man's best efforts is not faith at all.

This is similar to what was taking place in Paul's rebuke of the Galatians in Gal. 3:3-5, 'Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing? Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?'

We live in a culture steeped in self effort and we are often blind to how it has permeated our lives. The Galatians were trying to mix in human effort with the gospel of faith and Paul assures them that it just won't work. It won't work for us either.

Early in our marriage, before encountering Financial Peace and Dave Ramsey, we were trying to find our way through financial struggles like many young married couples do. We wanted to live by faith, but the temptation to step in with a credit card when debts were looming sometimes got the best of us. It often felt like we didn't have a choice, but the reality was that we did. Faith will always feel risky because it is stepping out into the unseen.  I remember feeling disappointed that God 'didn't come through' for us, but what I didn't see at the time was that inserting our own solution (the credit card) short-circuited the whole faith process, and prevented God from meeting our need in the way that He would have wanted. The Apostle Paul might have said to us, 'Are you so foolish?  After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by using a credit card?'  

Another enemy of true faith is presumption. Presumption occurs when we insert our own wishes or desires in place of what God has said. Again, we can only step out in faith on what God has said, not what we wish He would say, or what we want Him to say, but what He has actually said.

Like presumption, self effort is devoid of true faith.  A sure sign that we are stepping into self effort or presumption is when faith plays no part in the equation.  Some good questions to ask ourselves are:

• What am I living by faith to see?
• What have I heard God say, and am I believing it will come to pass?
• Am I trusting Him and leaving room for Him to work in my life?
• Do I feel I have to manipulate circumstances or find my own solutions?

I have experienced firsthand the futility of self effort and the disappointment of faithless living.  Like the Children of Israel, I came to the place that I didn't want to circle that old desert one more time.

Believing God is a big deal. In fact, it's such a big deal that Heb. 11:6 tells us, "without faith it is impossible to please God....".  Faith is not some unreachable standard that God has put in place to frustrate us, but a key to our joy and fulfillment here on earth.  Unbelief, or lack of faith will always keep us from moving forward. The Israelites were not able to enter into their Promised land because of unbelief.  It seems like such a simple thing, but our adversary opposes us and wants us to fail in our faith journey. He knows that it's only through faith that we are able to access our full inheritance and promises, so He pulls out his big guns and blasts us with doubt, fear, and accusations aimed at our Father.  And all the time, our Father patiently whispers, "Hear my voice and trust me".

I absolutely love Heb. 12:2 because it tells me that Jesus is "the author and perfecter of my faith".  Faith was His idea......He authored or created my faith.  Not only that,  He promises to perfect my faith.  I have a hunch that when he sets about perfecting something, he does a really good job.

Thank you Father that "He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it" and that includes perfecting my faith.  Thank you for revealing the futility of self effort and the arrogance of presumption.  And thank you that my faith comes easily when like Abraham and Sarah I "...consider Him faithful who had made the promise." (Heb. 11:11) 

Birthing Revival Through Prayer

                               

                                                                                                                                                     

Around the beginning of 2013 I felt that God begin nudging me in the area of prayer. As I oversee the prayer ministry at our church I felt He wanted me to encourage all of our ministries to up the level of prayer. The phrase He gave me was to 'up the ante of prayer' in every area. As the year rolled on and all the busyness involved in church life took it's toll, it seemed we were spending less and not more time in prayer.

So, as 2014 rounded the corner the burden for prayer began to intensify in my heart. God had spoken over the past couple of years lots of prophetic words about our church body and it's place in the city and more than that, it's place in a coming outpouring of God's Spirit and resulting harvest. I knew that a concerted movement of prayer would play a significant role in seeing the fulfillment of these words.

It was during this time that something unusual happened. I was wearing a silver charm bracelet that had a single little silver key charm. One day, glancing down I noticed the silver key charm was gone. I looked around everywhere but could not find it. A couple of days later my husband found the charm in the carpet at our house. Then, just a few days later, I was wearing a necklace that had several charms on it, one of them being a key. I happened to look down and notice that now this key was missing! Again, I searched but did not see it. Then, later that day, Richard and I were standing in the foyer of our church and he noticed the key on the floor and picking it up said, "Honey, did you lose another key?" I immediately knew that God was speaking through this repeated event, (we call this the language of the Spirit, and it is a way that God speaks to me) but I didn't have any idea what He was saying.



I began to pray and ask God what He was saying to me, but I didn't hear anything right away. It was about a week after losing the keys, and Richard thankfully finding them, that just as I was dropping off to sleep one night I heard, "I have given you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. (Matt. 16:19) Don't let the keys fall to the ground". I knew that once again He was speaking to me about prayer.

A couple of weeks after this I had a dream. In the dream I found myself seated at what seemed to be my own dinner table. Richard was seated beside me and we were seated across from Bill Johnson. I should mention that I greatly admire Bill because of His walk with God and commitment to go after the Presence of God no matter the cost. As I found myself seated at this dinner table I realized that we were somehow hosting Bill Johnson for dinner. I observed the plates that were set on the table and noticed that none of them matched. Even worse I noticed that most if not all of them were chipped and broken. Then I was mortified to see that the food on Bill's plate was a mass of frozen meat. In my embarrassment I offered to warm up his food and Bill acquiesced. There was a microwave close by and I stuck it in to warm up the meat. End of dream.

When I woke up I felt it was a God dream, but once again I didn't have a clue what it meant. I made it a point to ask several different people if they had an idea what it might mean, but no interpretations rang true to me. So I continued to pray and ask God to interpret the dream for me. A couple of Sundays later during the Sunday morning worship service Richard was sharing all of the different prophetic words that had been given to True Life for the year 2014. In one of the words that someone had given, they mentioned that when you have a dinner party at your house you prepare. You prepare to host.

When I heard these words, it was as if God instantaneously dropped the interpretation of the dream in my spirit. I felt I heard Him say, "You are not prepared to host the Presence". I realized that Bill Johnson represented 'The Presence' to me in the dream, and we found ourselves unprepared to host him.

Again, I felt that this was a strong exhortation/warning from the Spirit of God that prayer would be the thing to prepare us to host His Presence.

In that same Sunday morning service where Richard read the prophetic words, a prophetic friend of ours approached during the worship and shared that she felt God had given her a word for the body. We decided to let her share the word at the end of the service and this is what she shared: "I saw an angel standing on stage with a torch, ready to go! But there was no flame yet....the Holy Spirit gently told me: He is waiting for MY command! This is MY special angel for carrying MY fire to the nations, MY GLORY! Tell MY people: it is not by might or by power but by MY SPIRIT shall those things happen..."

After hearing this word there was one phrase that stood out to me like a flashing neon sign...."there was no flame yet". As these words burned inside of me, again I felt I heard Him say, "it will be the prayers of my saints that release the Holy Spirit to light the flame of the torch and the prayers of the saints will keep the fire going". I was reminded of Lev. 6:13, "The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously; it must not go out." In the Levitical law it was the job of the priest to see that the fire on the altar burned continuously. It was never to go out day or night.

It continues to baffle and humble me that God has chosen to partner with the prayers of His people. He is looking for those who will stand in the gap. He is looking for a people who will say "Yes!" to co-laboring with Him in bringing His kingdom to earth through prayer. So much is at stake.

A. T. Pierson said this: "There has never been a spiritual awakening in any country or locality that did not begin in united prayer."

And Watchman Nee said this, "Our prayers lay the track down on which God's power can come. Like a mighty locomotive, His power is irresistible, but it cannot reach us without rails."

I'll end these thoughts with a short video that I shared with our church the same Sunday that I shared these thoughts with our congregation. These words by Banning Liebscher stirred me deeply!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXuCbJ9exYE



Worthy of It All


Words by David Brymer

All the saints and angels bow before Your throne
All the elders cast their crowns before the Lamb of God and sing

You are worthy of it all, You are worthy of it all
For from You are all things, and to You are all things, You deserve the glory

Day and night, night and day, let incense arise
Day and night, night and day, let incense arise
Day and night, night and day, let incense arise
Day and night, night and day, let incense arise

The Wonder of Christmas

Remember what Christmas looked like through a child's eyes? I do. I remember being totally swept up in the sights and sounds of the most wonderful time of the year. I would lay for hours on the floor watching our silver tinsel revolving Christmas tree slowly turn. The shiny blue balls would glow in the dim light and I would dream of Christmas goodies, gifts, and all the fun that was sure to come.

We always attended the Christmas Eve service at our church. I loved the candlelight, the poinsettias, everyone bundled in their winter coats, and the hush that came over the congregation as we ended the evening with "Silent Night". It was at those times that I first noticed it.  There was a noticeable feeling deep inside. Something unexplainable. I call it wonder.
 
The dictionary defines wonder as: a feeling of surprise mingled with admiration, caused by something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar, or inexplicable.

There is something mysterious, epic, and yes wonder-ful that calls to us from deep within during this season. Though we are celebrating a birth that happened some 2000 years ago, the enormity of what occurred must not be overlooked. Everything in Heaven and on Earth shifted the moment Jesus was born. You can almost hear the rumbling and shaking of all of Heaven as the ancient doors open to reveal the King of Glory.  The unexplainable love in the Father's heart for all of His children was poured out that night in this gift from Heaven to Earth called 'Jesus'. 


All of the Heavenly Host were waiting and watching for this day....the day when the Father's plan would finally be set in motion. You can literally feel the excitement in their proclamation to the terrified group of shepherds as they joyfully shouted, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests. Whose favor were they shouting about? The Father's favor! Jesus came to bring many sons to glory (Heb. 2:10), and in doing so, He made a way for us to be fully restored back to the Father. He positioned us for favor and set us on a path that goes from glory to glory.

Though this whole Christmas story unfolded long ago, my story with the Father is still unfolding.  Your story with Him is still unfolding, too. I have an amazing story because the Father gave His Son that I would be restored back to His family. That for me is beautiful, mysterious, and inexplicable.  That is the wonder of Christmas.

                                        * * * * * * * *

Blessed is the season that engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. - Hamilton Wright Mabie

Embracing Hunger

You will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29:13

One of the greatest gifts we can carry as believers is hunger. In the natural, our hunger drives us.  We were created with an appetite and the need to find food to satisfy that appetite is one of the most basic of human needs.

Yet, this thing called spiritual hunger is often more elusive. Complacency in the life of a believer can be a dangerous place.  In fact, the enemy wants to lull us into this place where we feel neither hot nor cold. We can become like those members of the Laodicean church who no longer needed a thing. They had lost the ability to accurately assess the fact that they were wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. They should have been hungry, but they didn't feel a thing, or see that they needed anything.

I've been in that place before of not feeling hungry. We don't usually set out to be in that satisfied,  complacent state, but inattention to our own heart can easily cause us to end up there. It can slowly creep up on you, and before you know it, you find yourself with little or no appetite for the things of God.

I have always looked in amazement at the life of David. Though I believe the hand of God was resting on His life, David did not have the Spirit of God dwelling in him as we do now. Yet, David's life models for us such an example of intimacy and communion with God.  So, I'm listing below some of the lessons we can learn from David's life as to how to maintain a heart that is hungry for God:

David understood that hunger and gratefulness are linked together. This is one of the keys that made David the great man that he became.  If we are not careful, our hunger can subtly lead us into self pity, or even worse, anger at God if He should choose to delay our encounter.  God often works through delay, and it is in this place of delay where we choose whether we will manifest faith, hope, and love, or move into self pity or anger at God. David was constantly crying out to God, but he would always bring things back into perspective by thanking and praising God and declaring who he knew Him to be in his life.  His choice to be grateful set his heart on a course to encounter God and attract His favor.

David didn't settle for counterfeit experiences to fill His hunger. Over and over again David declares that God is His source and strength. He wasn't willing to compromise and accept a cheap substitute for His relationship with God. He knew what it was to encounter the Living God, and He would not settle for less.

David knew how to watch over his own heart and life. Though we know that David fell later in his life, the principles and wisdom that he walked in throughout much of his life are not negated by his failure.  Psalm 101 reveals the kind of 'self talk' that David used in dealing with his own life. David makes declarations declaring his intent to lead a blameless life.  It was this practice that caused His spirit to continually be strengthened and stay open to God.

David was honest before God. A read through the Psalms that David authored feels like reading a friend's journal. The pages are filled with intimate moments expressed in raw language depicting every emotion imaginable.  David held nothing back in his exchanges with God.  Even when he failed so miserably, he eventually found his way back home when he humbly confessed, Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.-Ps. 54:1.  David's willingness to be real with God created a climate where God would be real with him.

David fed his hunger. In the natural realm we stop being hungry when we eat, but in the spiritual realm the more we dine on the things of God the more our hunger increases. David's early years tending his father's sheep paid off as he developed a healthy appetite of spending lots of time alone with God. Then later when he found himself in the desert of Judah he cried out in hunger, O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. David knew what it was like to feast on God, and his hunger drove him to continually pursue more of God.

     Father, give us hungry hearts.  Instead of running from the void that aches within, cause us to embrace this friend called hunger.  You are worth the cost, the search, the wait. No good thing do you withhold.  

                                                     

If we are hungry enough for God, we will find a way into His presence. We should be so hungry for the presence of God that we absolutely will not go out of our house or tackle any kind of project until we have spent some time with Him.
Joyce Meyer
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/hungry_2.html#3HPYLUFuwU2TZdtg.99

If we are hungry enough for God, we will find a way into His presence. We should be so hungry for the presence of God that we absolutely will not go out of our house or tackle any kind of project until we have spent some time with Him.
Joyce Meyer
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/hungry_2.html#3HPYLUFuwU2TZdtg.99

Barricades are Being Removed

Recently I was watching a facebook youtube video of a march of veterans and others in Washington, D.C. They were there to protest the barricading of the WWII monument, a previously open-air monument that honors those who gave their lives.  As I watched the video(below), I felt something stirring inside, but then in my busyness I forgot about it.  Yesterday morning as I was getting ready for the day, the Lord brought the scenario from the video to mind where I saw common people bravely picking up the barricades that blocked them from accessing the monument, and then marching them away.

As I recalled what I had watched, I felt I heard Him say, barricades are being removed.  Something about the quietness of the march and the purposeful strides of the group reminded me of another group that marched a long, long time ago, this time around a city called Jericho.  God had given Joshua specific plans for this march, and it, too, was all about removing the barricades or walls surrounding the city.

Things were tightly shut up (Josh. 6:1), a phrase that aptly describes where some find themselves in life at this very moment.  The Joshua passage goes on to say, No one went out and no one came in.  It's the enemy's plan to box us in.  He enjoys taking away our incentive and causing us to feel trapped and without options. But, God has other plans!

Our God enjoys the challenge and it's in this place of reduced options that He loves to display His glory.  He doesn't enjoy our pain, or our frustration and discouragement, but He knows that it is in this very crucible, this tight place, that we encounter Him in a way that we could not elsewhere.  This bittersweet place of encounter, and the victory of overcoming, quickly replaces the pressure that we felt in this barricaded place. 

You may have noticed that the story of Joshua 6 is full of sevens.  Seven priests with seven trumpets marched around the wall seven times, and on  the seventh day they circled the city seven times before giving the shout that brought the walls tumbling down.  So why all the sevens?  In scripture, seven means fullness, completion, and perfection.  God has a time of completion.  He is shouting from this story that his timing, method and ways are complete and perfect.  Likewise, He has an appointed time for you to cross into your land, and He has an appointed time for you to defeat your enemies. As we obey His voice and follow His lead, we step into the fullness of time concerning our own destiny. He is setting the stage for a great and glorious victory!

So, as we ready ourselves to move past the barricades in our lives, what things are important to acknowledge so that we are fully positioned to move forward?  Below are some things that will set you in place to move forward:

1. Get the word of the Lord.  The Lord spoke clearly to Joshua when He said, "See I have delivered Jericho into your hands..."  He not only gave Joshua the command, but He also gave Him the plan.  We will need faith to move forward, but faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of the Lord.  Our faith must rest on what God has said.  Those who move in presumption will often be disappointed.  They often move forward without hearing the word of the Lord over their lives and situations, creating heartache and problems as a result.  This is not to say that you have to have a word for everything you do.  But, there are many times where we must seek God for His plans and strategies for our lives.                    
2. Remember what God has done.  It's interesting that God had given instructions for the Israelites to create 'memory stones' after crossing the Jordan into their land.  The stones were to be a sign to them and future generations telling of the miraculous things that God had done on their behalf.  These stones were faith-builders.  Create the memorial stones in your own life.  I write my history with Him in journals and pick them up to read when my faith needs a boost. 
3. Follow the Presence.  The priests carrying the Ark of God's Presence were the first to enter the Jordan and as they did the waters flowing downstream were cut off allowing the nation to cross over.  We will never cross over into our land apart from following His Presence.  Look for the mark and hand of God on your situations and circumstances.  Be like Moses who determinedly said, If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. (Ex. 33:15) God's plan to bring down the walls of Jericho seemed like total foolishness to many I'm sure, but Joshua chose to follow the word and Presence of the Lord.
4. Be set apart and healed.  Setting the stage for the Jericho march, God required that Joshua circumcise those who had not yet been circumcised.  The entire nation of men were then circumcised, and God said to Joshua, today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.  Egypt represents slavery, and it was necessary that this act of circumcision was completed before they could fully conquer their giants and step into all that God had for them.  Verse 8 says ....They remained where they were in camp until they were healed.   Many times we are not moving past our barricades because we are not yet healed.  Redeem the waiting time and pursue healing and allow God to rid you of the shame and reproach of your past.  He wants to replace the old wineskins and mindsets that formed while you were still in bondage.  You will need a renewed mind to take your land.  The land will not be taken by slaves, but by sons.
5. Receive the new land He is giving you.  Many times we are our own worst enemy.  Our beliefs about ourselves can cause us to feel unworthy to receive the land He is giving us.  As our mind is renewed and we come to see Him in all of His goodness, then we will also start to see ourselves as He sees us.  Just believing that He has a 'land' for you is not enough.  You must receive and step into it.  What land has He delivered into your hands?

Thank you Father that it is your good pleasure to give your children the kingdom. Equip, establish, and empower us for this season of moving past the barricades that have blocked us from taking the lands marked out for us.  May we be a generation of courageous sons and daughters, awakened by your love, who conquer lands and kingdoms for Your glory. 

Seeding the Clouds

The clouds have really caught my attention lately. After years of drought in our region it is especially good to see the sky full of big fluffy clouds. I had never really thought much about it before, but clouds have been causing me to think about God's promises and even more than that, about faith.

There is a type of scientific weather modification practice known as seeding the clouds where scientists are actually able to enhance a cloud's ability to produce precipitation. Likewise, when we allow faith to have it's full place in our lives, then we partner with the Spirit of God to sow into the clouds of heaven the very promises that have been spoken to us. In doing this we are co-laboring in faith with God who Himself, calls things that are not as though they were. We are seeding the clouds of our own promises.

We often forget that our life here on earth is more than anything else, a faith journey.  God is very partial to faith. In fact, He goes so far as to say, Without faith it is impossible to please Him.

Take a look at the Old Testament prophet, Elijah. Now there's a man of faith.  Just like us, the land was in a terrible drought.  Then the Lord told Elijah to present himself to Ahab and then he would send rain on the land.  This was no easy task for Elijah as he had been a hunted man every since Jezebel, Ahab's wife, had decided to systematically kill off the prophets of God.  But, Elijah would not be deterred by the threat of death.  He valued obedience over his own safety.

What follows is an amazing display of raw faith at it's finest. Elijah set up a very public challenge on Mt. Carmel where he invited Ahab to assemble the 450 prophets of Baal and the 450 prophets of Asherah.  They then each prepared a bull sacrifice, but neither was to set fire to it. Instead, Elijah suggested that they call upon their god, and He would call upon His God to set fire to the sacrifices.  Then comes my favorite line of the story......the god who answers by fire --He is God.

And the Lord God did answer by fire, and lots of it! And the prophets of Baal?  Not even a spark.

After all of this excitement, you would think that Elijah might have even forgotten God's promise to bring rain on the land after he had presented himself to Ahab. But, Elijah was holding on to his promise.  He boldly declared to Ahab, Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.   Now, there was no sound of a heavy rain yet, but Elijah was partnering with God and calling that which is not, as though it were.  He was prophesying what would be, before it was. 

Elijah then assumed a position of prayer all the time instructing his servant to watch towards the sea looking for the coming rain.  His servant must have been pretty perplexed because six times he was told by Elijah to go back and look again.  Elijah's faith would not budge, even though each time the servant reported that there was nothing to see.  But, the seventh time the servant saw 'a cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea.' 

That was all Elijah needed to hear.  The tiny cloud was as good as a flood to him, because He was operating from a realm of faith.  All along the way, Elijah's obedience, faith, and declarations had helped to seed the clouds that would then release a heavy rain on their land.

So, I'm humbled, challenged, and stirred by this glimpse into Elijah's life.  I can't help but think of the promises of outpouring that have been released over our region and the responsibility that has been entrusted to us as His people.  May we, like Elijah, assume the position of prayer that seeds the clouds with the heart and desire of our Father in Heaven.  And may we, like the servant, have eyes to see the cloud as small as a man's fist rising over our own land.