Tenacious sap

I love my husband. I honestly have never met a better person in all my life. He encourages me, challenges me & just plain moves me to be a better version of myself. He is tenacious as all get out, and sometimes I want him to take a break from his tenacity but alas, he cannot. It's just who he is. And so I've been pondering that tenacity...

Tenacious defined is "holding together; cohesive; not easily pulled asunder; tough." That's a great adjective for Joey, for sure. He definitely holds me and a whole lot of other folks together! He is cohesive, in the sense that he has the ability to adapt well to whatever environment he finds himself in. He is not swayed by negative circumstances that arise and yes, of course, he is tough.

So before you think this post is going to be full of sap, hang on. Although I'm feeling reflective about my man, yes, I do have a point! It's because of HIS tenacity that myself, and many others are fulfilling our destiny. And so today, I wonder who's tenacity has caused you to fulfill your destiny? Or perhaps, are you the one spurring others on to reach their full potential? If you stop and think about it, I bet you are doing that without even knowing the impact of it!

When Joey was asked to Pastor our church at the end of 2008, we actually chuckled amongst ourselves. Pastor? We've never pastored before. Joey had traveled for years ministering and speaking in Public Schools with Radical Reality, a journey which he very much enjoyed. So to be asked to Pastor a church was absolutely out of left field. And yet, we had to entertain the thought. And so we did. And we prayed. A lot. And obviously we accepted the call.

During Joey's years of traveling, I was not able to be much a part of it and yet, my heart so desired ministry. And as God so wonderfully does, He reached into my heart and pulled out my desire and delivered it to me in a strangely wrapped gift. Pastoring. And so we began a new season...

Transition is rarely easy and with that particular transition there were many different obstacles that arose. But the tenacious spirit that Joey has shone through each and every obstacle and it has been through those challenges that we have been able to grow in ways never imagined possible.

My life will never be the same, because he accepted the call to Pastor. He was created for this journey, without a doubt. WITHOUT A DOUBT. He is a great shepherd, full of humility and grace and leadership and fire and...oh, sorry. There I go again all sappy like.

Because he accepted his divine assignment, it positioned me for mine. I feel like I'm smack dab where God wants me to be & doing what God wants me to do. The personal growth I've experienced over the past 6 years is nothing short of miraculous; it overwhelms me to think of how where God has brought me from, through the muck and the mire, out of pit after pit after pit. It's so exciting to accept God's call.

We were talking about this topic the other day, thinking about the different lives that God has brought into our season to walk this road with us and it's pretty phenomenal really. I think of the staff we have at church and how they are fulfilling their divine destiny for this time in their lives. I think of the thousands of people that have graced the doors of our church, and the love I am positive they felt as soon as they walked in. I think of the great people all across this city that have been fed or clothed through Helping Hands, and now many of them come to church on the buses sent to bring them! I think of the members of Lord's Gym and the impact that something as simple as a gym is making in their lives and in the community they are reaching out into. It overwhelms our hearts to think of all God has done in such a short time...and it's all because of a little tenacity.

Now of course, I know it's all the Lord. And in fact, Joey would tell you that he has far more weaknesses than he does strengths. I won't reiterate what he let slip out of his mouth in third service on Sunday in case nobody caught it but we sure are having a good laugh about it, DAILY! If you can't laugh at yourself, well, I'm sorry. Cuz it's the best. But every now and again, a person just needs to hear that someone is thankful they answered God's call and so today, I'm thankful he did just that.

Destiny is a domino effect. When you begin to fulfill your destiny, it begins to effect all of those around you. As you do what God is empowering you to do, the people in your sphere of influence are not only impacted by your destiny, but they just might begin to reach theirs. Just take a moment and look at the lives around you: Your spouse, your kids, your friends, your co-workers, the list goes on and on. You can't know this side of Heaven how many lives you have affected by simply saying yes to God.

So, what can you do today to be a tenacious person of destiny? Can you reach one person through a smile or an overdue "I love you" or how about extending forgiveness when you really don't feel like it or maybe you can volunteer somewhere or send financial support to a ministry or missionary God has on your heart or you can play an extra game of UNO with your kids tonight or call a friend and be a listening ear or clean a neighbors yard that can't do it themselves or see a single mother in the grocery store and pay for her groceries or step out in faith and share Jesus with someone or, or or...

The list is endless. Accepting God's call on your life does not have to be a dramatic event, it's simply saying yes to whatever God has for you. Could it be a life altering thing? Absolutely. And then again, it may just be finally submitting your heart to His way, whatever the way may be. It's an exciting journey, this whole "living out your destiny" business. Try it, you'll like it!

And did I mention that I love my husband? Sap. Sappy sap sap.

It's time to slice and dice

There is a particular passage of scripture that God often highlights in my life and that's Hebrews 4:12. It says, "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

This was made alive again to me today as I was thinking back on my life and reminiscing over issues God has highlighted to me in the past. I accepted Jesus as a teenager, and as soon as I accepted Him, God in His grace began to work in areas of my life. However, at the time I did not have the maturity to realize it was God highlighting areas He wanted to free me from, so I covered those feelings with different things. I have to admit though that even now, some 24 years later, I still can fail to recognize when God is highlighting an area in my life and hence, I'll cover those emotions up with something else.

I think some folks have the mindset that once you accept Christ, you are void of ever dealing with any issues. That's simply not true. The great fact of the matter though is this, we have freedom. We absolutely have freedom the moment we accept Christ into our heart. In that moment, we are completely free from any hurt, any deep wound, any rejection, any addiction, any anger, any bitterness, any envy, any food issue, ANY THING, we are free from it. The Bible says that "He whom the Son sets free is free indeed." So there it is, you are free at salvation. However, it's entirely up to us to decide how much freedom we want to live in. How do we decide? By our actions. Discipline is freedom.

Having said that, the scripture in Hebrews comes into play once again in talking about this area of our freedom. As we grow in our faith, often without even realizing it's happening, God begins to search our heart. We fail to forget that when we read God's Word, and when we hear it at Church or in an encouraging conversation with a friend, that the Word that is being spoken is literally activating in my life. And it says the Word "judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." So all of a sudden, I may begin to feel like I'm battling something, and perhaps I don't even know what it is. Of course, it may be some type of attack from the enemy and I need to absolutely remind him that he lives under my feet and he has no room to mess with me. But in an other instance, it very well could be God trying to highlight an area in my heart as that Word has been searching my heart out and now God wants me to become aware of it. And as I become aware of the issue, I then can call it out for what it is, release it to God, allow His healing touch to wash over the area and move on toward the destiny He has called me to!

But what happens so many times is that rather than stop and ask God to reveal what these random and possibly out of the blue emotions are, we stuff the emotions with whatever our "go to comfort" is. For me, it's food. For you it may be something entirely different. It could be alcohol, drug use, cigarettes, toxic relationships, excessive spending, and the list really can go on and on. But regardless, when faced with un-explained emotion, we can subconsciously and quickly turn to a self destructive behavior. When we do that, we forfeit the freedom that we gained at salvation and we take ourselves one step backwards from the victory that was already ours.

The great thing about Hebrews 4:12 also is this; that we can literally take our Sword and attack a certain area of defeat or lack or trouble that we need to. For instance, if we are battling a health problem we can get ourselves a list of healing scriptures and speak those suckers out loud and watch God take that Sword of the Spirit and begin to bring healing as it slices through the walls of sickness. If anxiety and depression are trying to plague you, grab a list of encouraging scriptures that releases you from being bound by anything mentally taxing. If you are struggling in your finances, bust out a little Luke 6:38 on the scene and remind yourself that as you give, God gives right back to you. And the hope for those of us that have fallen into a self-destructive pattern in the past is that God absolutely can pick us right up out of the pit we may have fallen into. Micah 7:8 says, "though I have fallen, I WILL RISE!" That's right devil, you might have taken my emotional issue and sidetracked me with it for a minute, but you better be on alert because I have my SWORD and I'm slicin' and dicin' anything that's not of God and tries to get in my way of maintaining my freedom!

Goodness gracious I dunno about you but that sure encourages the heck outta me! So what I'm training myself to do, and maybe you'll do the same, is when you feel anxious or emotional or angry or just upset and you can't quite explain the reason for it, take some time to sit with God. Ask Him if there is something in your heart that He is highlighting, something that can hinder your absolute freedom, and He absolutely will walk You through whatever He brings to your attention. He has had to heal me of abuse, rejection, anger, bitterness, fear, gosh the list can go on for days. But He has never failed to heal me when He has highlighted the issue. So rather than fail to listen and go on an eating bender, I now have to stop and say, "ok Lord, what's up here." The ultimate objective is that we would live a life of freedom and purpose and destiny. So anytime God shows us something in our lives it's always for our good, to keep us marching on this sweet road of victory that He so lovingly paved the way for us thousands of years ago.

Rest assured dear one, that "He who began a good work in us will carry it onto completion." Our name is written down in glory, we have a forever home waiting for us. That's something worth holding onto our freedom for! So get your Sword out folks, it's ready to do some war.

Isn't it obvious?

The imagination of a child is a phenomenal thing to watch & hear. I love to listen to kids use their imaginations when playing with toys, drawing, writing or even just dressing up in character inspired clothes. They use such imagery when reciting who is playing what role, where they are going in their make believe and what they will do when they arrive. The fully immerse themselves in the story. And they believe it.

And then we grow up.

And the struggles that come with walking the journey of life quickly take over the imaginative road we once lived on. You see, even in my dysfunction as a kid, I still day-dreamed. I would spend hours imagining a different world that I partook in, a world that in no way resembled my current reality as a kid. Children have the ability to do that, to escape into a far away Kingdom; whether that child intentionally wants to escape their current situation or they simply are just doing what kids do, they can pretend up the most beautiful of Kingdoms!

Child-like faith is phenomenal really. They just believe. And they generally believe the best in people and in situations. There is nothing like having a conversation with a kid, is there? For example, Lily (age 6) just walked into my room and I said, "Lily, what comes to mind when I ask you what a Kingdom is?" She says, "really? It's obvious."

Ooookkk. Clearly she gets her sarcasm from me. Moving on.

Jesus referenced having a child-like faith often. He said in Luke 18 that we need to receive the Kingdom of God like a child would. So how would a child receive it? Well, if you are Lily, it's obvious. But to those of us that are not as wise as my fashionista 6 year old, let's chat about it.

Believe. I think it's truly that simple. Believe. Kids just believe. It's only been until our most recent trip to Disneyland that our girls are beginning to be aware that it's not all real. For years and years and they truly believed that when they took a picture with Cinderella it sincerely was the maiden that gained a fairy god-mother, lost her glass slipper and in so doing lived happily ever after. They just believed.

The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:11 that God has "set eternity in the hearts of men." We were created in the image of God. So whether you choose or reject His Son, He still created you & I with this glimpse of glory on the inside of us. Another translation says that God "planted" eternity in our hearts. So He created us with a Kingdom seed on the inside of us; a seed, that when fed and watered, it has the potential to grow and bloom and cause us do amazing things with our lives!

But we have to believe. God would will for all of us to believe in Him, but He certainly won't force us. He brings people into our lives to water that planted seed of eternity that's been set in us, however we can choose to allow the seed to lie dormant, never accepting that precious love that God has to give. But oh goodness, the joy that awaits those that believe! Our minds can't begin to imagine what God has prepared for us; both here on earth and in Heaven above. There will come a time that our breath here on earth will be absolutely final and in that moment our spirit will slip into our forever home. Those that have believed in Jesus will join a presence that we cannot comprehend here on this earth!

Believe. The things that God can accomplish through a life that simply believes...it's a road less traveled. Because when you are a person that believes you are a person that refuses to live in fear. A person that believes is a person that suits up for the battle, regardless of how difficult it is. A person that believes is a person that loves, in spite of a billion reasons not to love. A person that believes is a person that lives in absolute peace, because that person knows God is in complete control over every situation. A person that believes is a person that prospers, because that person dares to believe the promises of God in every area of life and when you dare to believe in a promise, you can't help but prosper in it! Believe. Believe. Believe.

After all, isn't it obvious?