Ready for M.O.R.E
It's been nearly 6 months since my last posting, and though I have been silent this whole time, God certainly hasn't! Since my last posting about being WITH God, He has taken me through a season of pruning. Through it He has helped me identify and refine areas of my heart and mind that have needed to change; awakened old dreams, passions, and promises; inspired new visions, desires, and gifts. Most of all He has inspired to me to be ready for MORE.
In my experiences with God, I have come to learn when God does a work in you it is always multi-faceted; meaning as He does a work with where you are at, as you are, in the present, He is also in process of preparing you for where you are headed in the future, the next exciting part of His plan for you. Today He told me now that I have been made ready for more, He wants me to develop my mindset, and turn my focus on M.O.R.E everyday in the coming months...
Mission: To Know God, and to Make Him Known
My mission is, first and foremost, to KNOW God. And I don't mean to just know He exists, or know what is said about Him, but to continually seek after Him. 1 Corinthians 1:9 says, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." The word "fellowship" in the Greek means "from partnership, to communicate, communion, to be a partaker/companion." More often than not, I would take the lazy way out when it came to knowing God; I would learn about God through other people's knowledge of Him and their experiences with Him, and let it be enough to get me by before I felt restless again. I have had seasons of knowing, but when it got too close, and too uncomfortable, I resorted back to the "safe" (and ever so limited) place of knowing through others. But this year, God has been challenging me to not settle for secondary sources anymore, but to do the work of seeking the primary source out for myself, and not run when I come to the place of losing my life in order to find it in Him (Matthew 10:38-39).
My next mission is to make Him KNOWN. You can't make known what/who you do not know for yourself. When you truly know something, it will naturally show in what you say, what you do, and how you act. And God also calls me to make known the truth I know; to flow like a river, not store up like a damn. Honestly, I have had times with God where I became so full I couldn't help but release it to flow out of me, or I thought I might explode! Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do everything I have commanded you. And remember that I am always with you until the end of time." If I am doing my first mission, then to co-mission will follow naturally.
Obedience: The Heart of the Matter
God has also been showing me how vital it is to stay obedient to Him. The act of obedience demonstrates trust, dependency, and a willing submission to the person or object of authority. Whether we realize it or not, we are in a state of obedience to something or someone when we choose to defy or comply with that given authority. If you choose to disobey God, then you actually are choosing to obey something or someone else. 1 John 2:4-5, "The person who says, 'I know him,' but doesn't obey his commandments is a liar. The truth isn't in that person. But whoever obeys what Christ says is the kind of person in whom God's love is perfected. That's how we know we are in Christ." God has shown me when I choose to resist Him and not obey, it usually stems from a source of fear in my life. For to be perfected in God's love means that fear cannot be present where His love is, so if I disobey God out of fear, then in the same turn I am obeying fear and giving it authority in my life. When God asks me to do, say, pray, or give something and there is a resistance to it, then it is an indicator of an internal issue.
The key to staying in obedience to God comes down to a heart issue. Proverbs 4:20-23, "My son, pay attention to my words. Open your ears to what I say. Do not lose sight of these things. Keep them deep within your heart because they are life to those who find them and they heal the whole body. Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it." What God cares most about is what we carry around in our heart, and what we allow to remain rooted there. Jesus paid the high price to set us free from all pollutants that should not remain there, whether it be fear, sin, and unforgiveness, which even more pollutants stem from (bitterness, anger, hurt, etc.) To be obedient to God, you have to have a listening, willing, and open heart in the now. It's not enough if I was willing and obedient yesterday, everyday God wants me to evaluate where my heart is at, and discern whether I am hiding pollutants in pockets of my heart.
Relationship: Value the Who, Not the Do
Like mission, relationship is to be centered first on God, and then with others. Somewhere along the line I got lost in task-oriented thinking, and like I mentioned in my previous blog, I was so busy doing things for God that I neglected to do it WITH Him. God is now shifting my focus into people-oriented thinking. 1 Corinthians 13:2-3, "I may have the gift to speak what God has revealed, and I may understand all mysteries and have all knowledge. I may even have enough faith to move mountains. But if I don't have love, I am nothing. I may even give away all that I have and give up my body to be burned. But if I don't have love, none of these things will help me." Love is all about relationship. Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to love God with your heart, soul, and mind, and to love people (Matt. 22:37-38). Tasks are important, but they are not the most important thing. What you do is not as important as who you love. What Jesus did was the direct result of His relationship with the Father, and from that relationship He loved as the Father loved.
God always values the person over the act of doing; the focus should never be on what we do, but what He has already done, the completed work of Christ. Sometimes we get lost in our works when God is more concerned about our relationship with Him and with those around us. In fact, our "good works" are supposed to be the by-product of the relationship that is supposed to come first. My friend Julie Aton once said during one of her teachings, "It's not about the do, it's about the who, and the who is you." God desires and values you, not what you do; in the same turn, we need to value people, not the task. Whatever you put your hands to do, value the relationships involved in the process; the one with God, and with people. Take time to encourage, equip, and empower others through the tasks. Know that whether the task is a success or failure, the relationship is the primary objective; the one with God, and with people. In the end, God isn't going to be as concerned with how much you did, but how often you chose love; not what you did, but who you did it for.
Eternal: On Earth As It Is In Heaven
If you haven't yet noticed, each of these areas of focus are interrelated, and where the first three are nouns, this last area is an adjective. Eternal is defined as the following: without beginning or end; lasting forever; always existing; ceaseless; enduring; existing outside all relations of time; not subject to change. If eternal describes something that has no beginning and no end, then it must follow that it is present in the now. God has inspired me to focus on seeking the eternal in the here and now, as well as looking forward to what He has yet to reveal later. Jesus prayed in Matthew 6:10, "Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." In his book When Heaven Invades Earth, Bill Johnson comments on this verse, "Everything that happens here is supposed to be a shadow of heaven. In turn, every revelation that God gives us of heaven is to equip us with a prayer focus." People get lost in the mentality that eternal means after death, but Jesus defeated death so that we can experience Him in the here and now.
Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God, He demonstrated it through His life and ministry, what it looks like, how it operates, and who it glorifies. Jesus said in Luke 17:21, "You see, the kingdom of God is within you." To know the Kingdom, you must know the King; to seek the Kingdom, you must first seek the King. It is present where the King is; it is living and active in those who believe, who choose it, and who receive it with open hearts. Eternity is meant to be a continuation of our mission, our relationship and our experience with God; for what we know in part, we will fully know (1 Cor. 13:12). What I choose to do with my life, with my time, money, resources, and energy should be focused on the eternal. I am called to be a good steward of everything He has given me, for He has fully equipped me to do the work of His ministry (His Kingdom at work in the world.)
In the coming weeks, I hope to share with you the many things God has taught me over the last 6 months, but also what He teaches me as I focus and live for M.O.R.E.
In my experiences with God, I have come to learn when God does a work in you it is always multi-faceted; meaning as He does a work with where you are at, as you are, in the present, He is also in process of preparing you for where you are headed in the future, the next exciting part of His plan for you. Today He told me now that I have been made ready for more, He wants me to develop my mindset, and turn my focus on M.O.R.E everyday in the coming months...
Mission: To Know God, and to Make Him Known
My mission is, first and foremost, to KNOW God. And I don't mean to just know He exists, or know what is said about Him, but to continually seek after Him. 1 Corinthians 1:9 says, "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." The word "fellowship" in the Greek means "from partnership, to communicate, communion, to be a partaker/companion." More often than not, I would take the lazy way out when it came to knowing God; I would learn about God through other people's knowledge of Him and their experiences with Him, and let it be enough to get me by before I felt restless again. I have had seasons of knowing, but when it got too close, and too uncomfortable, I resorted back to the "safe" (and ever so limited) place of knowing through others. But this year, God has been challenging me to not settle for secondary sources anymore, but to do the work of seeking the primary source out for myself, and not run when I come to the place of losing my life in order to find it in Him (Matthew 10:38-39).
My next mission is to make Him KNOWN. You can't make known what/who you do not know for yourself. When you truly know something, it will naturally show in what you say, what you do, and how you act. And God also calls me to make known the truth I know; to flow like a river, not store up like a damn. Honestly, I have had times with God where I became so full I couldn't help but release it to flow out of me, or I thought I might explode! Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. So wherever you go, make disciples of all nations: Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Teach them to do everything I have commanded you. And remember that I am always with you until the end of time." If I am doing my first mission, then to co-mission will follow naturally.
Obedience: The Heart of the Matter
God has also been showing me how vital it is to stay obedient to Him. The act of obedience demonstrates trust, dependency, and a willing submission to the person or object of authority. Whether we realize it or not, we are in a state of obedience to something or someone when we choose to defy or comply with that given authority. If you choose to disobey God, then you actually are choosing to obey something or someone else. 1 John 2:4-5, "The person who says, 'I know him,' but doesn't obey his commandments is a liar. The truth isn't in that person. But whoever obeys what Christ says is the kind of person in whom God's love is perfected. That's how we know we are in Christ." God has shown me when I choose to resist Him and not obey, it usually stems from a source of fear in my life. For to be perfected in God's love means that fear cannot be present where His love is, so if I disobey God out of fear, then in the same turn I am obeying fear and giving it authority in my life. When God asks me to do, say, pray, or give something and there is a resistance to it, then it is an indicator of an internal issue.
The key to staying in obedience to God comes down to a heart issue. Proverbs 4:20-23, "My son, pay attention to my words. Open your ears to what I say. Do not lose sight of these things. Keep them deep within your heart because they are life to those who find them and they heal the whole body. Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it." What God cares most about is what we carry around in our heart, and what we allow to remain rooted there. Jesus paid the high price to set us free from all pollutants that should not remain there, whether it be fear, sin, and unforgiveness, which even more pollutants stem from (bitterness, anger, hurt, etc.) To be obedient to God, you have to have a listening, willing, and open heart in the now. It's not enough if I was willing and obedient yesterday, everyday God wants me to evaluate where my heart is at, and discern whether I am hiding pollutants in pockets of my heart.
Relationship: Value the Who, Not the Do
Like mission, relationship is to be centered first on God, and then with others. Somewhere along the line I got lost in task-oriented thinking, and like I mentioned in my previous blog, I was so busy doing things for God that I neglected to do it WITH Him. God is now shifting my focus into people-oriented thinking. 1 Corinthians 13:2-3, "I may have the gift to speak what God has revealed, and I may understand all mysteries and have all knowledge. I may even have enough faith to move mountains. But if I don't have love, I am nothing. I may even give away all that I have and give up my body to be burned. But if I don't have love, none of these things will help me." Love is all about relationship. Jesus said the two greatest commandments were to love God with your heart, soul, and mind, and to love people (Matt. 22:37-38). Tasks are important, but they are not the most important thing. What you do is not as important as who you love. What Jesus did was the direct result of His relationship with the Father, and from that relationship He loved as the Father loved.
God always values the person over the act of doing; the focus should never be on what we do, but what He has already done, the completed work of Christ. Sometimes we get lost in our works when God is more concerned about our relationship with Him and with those around us. In fact, our "good works" are supposed to be the by-product of the relationship that is supposed to come first. My friend Julie Aton once said during one of her teachings, "It's not about the do, it's about the who, and the who is you." God desires and values you, not what you do; in the same turn, we need to value people, not the task. Whatever you put your hands to do, value the relationships involved in the process; the one with God, and with people. Take time to encourage, equip, and empower others through the tasks. Know that whether the task is a success or failure, the relationship is the primary objective; the one with God, and with people. In the end, God isn't going to be as concerned with how much you did, but how often you chose love; not what you did, but who you did it for.
Eternal: On Earth As It Is In Heaven
If you haven't yet noticed, each of these areas of focus are interrelated, and where the first three are nouns, this last area is an adjective. Eternal is defined as the following: without beginning or end; lasting forever; always existing; ceaseless; enduring; existing outside all relations of time; not subject to change. If eternal describes something that has no beginning and no end, then it must follow that it is present in the now. God has inspired me to focus on seeking the eternal in the here and now, as well as looking forward to what He has yet to reveal later. Jesus prayed in Matthew 6:10, "Let your kingdom come. Let your will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." In his book When Heaven Invades Earth, Bill Johnson comments on this verse, "Everything that happens here is supposed to be a shadow of heaven. In turn, every revelation that God gives us of heaven is to equip us with a prayer focus." People get lost in the mentality that eternal means after death, but Jesus defeated death so that we can experience Him in the here and now.
Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God, He demonstrated it through His life and ministry, what it looks like, how it operates, and who it glorifies. Jesus said in Luke 17:21, "You see, the kingdom of God is within you." To know the Kingdom, you must know the King; to seek the Kingdom, you must first seek the King. It is present where the King is; it is living and active in those who believe, who choose it, and who receive it with open hearts. Eternity is meant to be a continuation of our mission, our relationship and our experience with God; for what we know in part, we will fully know (1 Cor. 13:12). What I choose to do with my life, with my time, money, resources, and energy should be focused on the eternal. I am called to be a good steward of everything He has given me, for He has fully equipped me to do the work of His ministry (His Kingdom at work in the world.)
In the coming weeks, I hope to share with you the many things God has taught me over the last 6 months, but also what He teaches me as I focus and live for M.O.R.E.
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