Hey, Sweet Things!
I’m writing this post to you on Saturday night from the seat of a gigantic United Airlines plane on my connect flight from DC back to Houston. The Living Proof Live team and I had the tremendous privilege of serving in Providence, Rhode Island and God worked in such a distinct way that I will remember it for many years. I hope forever. God is doing something different this year at LPL. I don’t quite know how to define it but I have been flat-on-my-face grateful that He is not only still in it but stirring the pot. Not one of us on the team wants to be there a moment longer than Jesus is. We don’t even want Him to make an obligatory “appearance” because He loves us and feels sorry for us after we’ve scheduled all of this. We want the event to be proactively Jesus for His own sake and for His own glory and because it is a delight to Him and because He looks forward to it. Nothing less than that and, if it’s not that, we want Him to move us each elsewhere.
It’s so strange. We began this year looking back to the previous 15 but, by our 3rd event, it was like we all fixed our faces forward as if nothing in the world mattered but what was in front of us. No “yesterday’s plan.” No “yesterday’s work.” This is today. Something is up. Something new to us. There is something liberating and also a little frightening about just saying to Him, “Do what You want, God. Anything You want. We’re in it with You or we’re not in it at all. All bets are off.” Anyway, I’m not sure why I went off on all of that. God just really has my eyebrows high on my forehead right now wondering what He’s doing.
I have a group of about 30 of you Siestas fresh on my mind because we met up quickly after the event for our group picture. These were your northeastern sisters and the cutest things you can imagine. Well, just like all of you are. All ages and types, with this one glorious bond: the lively love of Jesus Christ. I am so crazy about you guys. I cannot fathom the grace of God to have stirred up a community of encouragement in Christ where relationships really do seem to have some substance to them. It’s an anomaly that still isn’t wasted on me.
You have marked my journey of faith. You’ve encouraged me and made me want to keep running my race energetically and earnestly. You’ve helped me get back up even at times when you didn’t know I was down. You have been a harbor of joy, peace, and laughter in an online Christian world that can be astonishingly fractured. You are a corner of courageous gentleness in a culture that has lost its manners.
And, good grief, you guys have impacted my Scripture memory life so dramatically that I hardly have words. After every Living Proof Live when we meet up for our (clandestine) Siesta picture, I always ask, “Will I be seeing any of you in January at our SSMT celebration?” Invariably there are those who answer with infectious enthusiasm, “YES!” It makes me so happy. The previous celebrations have been like a family reunion on steroids. I hope so much you’re staying up with your Scripture memory, saving your money, and planning to head to Houston that weekend. We aren’t really a beautiful city but we’re a happy one and a hospitable one, I believe I can confidently say. And we can offer you Tex Mex at virtually every four way stop. I mean, what more could you want, people?
The verse I’ve chosen this time around is one God seemed to lift from the page of my early morning Scripture reading last Monday. I continued to say it and pray it throughout the week and referenced it several times this weekend in Providence. It’s easy to memorize and it puts a concept in a nutshell that is as vital as breath to us in this believing life we’re living. Here it is:
Beth, Houston. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
God is using it to remind me that this thing isn’t about incessant chatter and nonstop Twitter noise and learning to speak fluent Christianese. It’s not tantamount to Bible banter and doctrinal debates and holy hair-splitting. It’s not about getting together at church and threatening week after week to live changed lives and think renewed thoughts. It’s not about getting all lathered up and sweaty-headed at events over theories of effective, influential, and abundant lives. This Christ thing to which we’ve been called is about actually doing it and through an unction not remotely our own.
When the Holy Spirit comes, He comes with power.
Where the Holy Spirit goes, He goes with power.
Whom the Holy Spirit infiltrates, He infuses with power.
Our lives were meant to be powerful. Less talk. More demonstration. Through things like a love that we know good and well is utterly beyond us and a faith that emerges in tact from a minefield soaked in blood and strewn with flesh. We were meant to be able to do what we can’t, like who we don’t, bless who we’d curse. We were promised strength in weakness and extravagant grace in our deprivation.
We were meant to wonder what has derailed or gone awry when a season of our lives persists in powerlessness for weeks on end. We were promised more than this. We’re not meant to write our own personalized chapters in a revised standard version of The Emperor’s New Clothes so the world could have a harder laugh at us. We who have placed our trust in Christ Jesus, the living, breathing-on-us Son of God, have been clothed with power from on high. (Luke 24:49) And it’s supposed to show.
Every limb of our lives where we welcome the Holy Spirit can be infused with strength not of this world and, yes, even in continued weakness or infirmity, should that be the case of our present calling. The coexistence of the two is the mystery of it. We’re not superwomen. We’re a long shot from perfect. But we were meant to be vividly powerful through the One who saved us and made Himself at home in us. Let’s not forget that today. Let’s not be satisfied just to talk about it. Let’s not just clap and cheer during that part of a service when a pastor or teacher tells us we’re called more than conquerors. The New Testament is not the theory of Christianity.
You may feel powerless right now, Sister, but, if you are in Christ, make no mistake: you are not. Get some backbone back in your prayer life if your spiritual spine has deteriorated. With reverence for His holiness and with the boldness He said we could bring to the Throne of Grace, read to God from His Word where He promised His people victory as they looked to Him alone…
…and where He promised to clothe us in power
…and where He said He’d make Himself conspicuous through our spiritual gifts and through supernatural works in His Name.
If you don’t know where those places are, go hunt them down. (But you could start in Romans 8, Luke 24, Acts 1, Acts 2, 1 Corinthians 12 and Hebrews 4.)
Tell Him you’re going to ask for it and ask for it and ask for it in His great Name and for His glory until He gives it to you and frees you from whatever this present powerlessness is. And then DO IT. Ask and ask and ask and tell Him you will do whatever it takes to cooperate and mean it! Throw your hands out to receive. And, then, when He gives it – and He will – don’t take credit for it. Appreciate it. Thank Him and thank Him for it. Know that it’s grace. Use it audaciously to bring Him attention.
Sister, you cannot fulfill your foreordained purpose without power. Go back after it but, whatever you do, don’t try to get it without Jesus coming with it. Power for power’s sake will blow you up. God-given unction isn’t meant to just come and go with periodic personal revival. We were meant to live powerful lives. Let’s get to them. If you’ve got an area of carnality that is quenching it, I promise you it’s not worth it. Believe me, I’ve been there. Repent, turn from it and get on with it. You’ve got a calling. And it takes divine power.
You mean so much to me. Hold tight to Jesus.
Tags: Scripture Memory 2013
Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. Proverbs 19:21 NIV
Linda, Blue Springs, MO
1 Corinthians 4:20 ESV
For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.
It doesn’t make any difference now whether we have been circumcised or not. What counts is whether we really have been changed into new and different people. Galatians 6:15 NLT
Yvonne, King, NC For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. Romans 8:15
Richelle, Kingston, TN
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Phillipians 2:3-4 (NIV)
Hannah from Winter Haven, FL
Psalm 119:45-48 (NKJV)
45-And I will walk at liberty, for I seek Your precepts. 46-I will speak of Your testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed. 47-And I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love. 48-My hands also I will lift up to Your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on Your statutes.
Susan, Wynne
Proverbs 1:33
New American Standard Bible (NASB)
33 “But he who listens to me shall live securely
And will be at ease from the dread of evil.”
Janice – Topeka, KS
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.
Micha 6:8 NIV
Joan G, Allentown, PA When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear Your Name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. Jeremiah 15:16 NLT
Anne, Atlanta, GA
I have missed a few weeks so I am catching up!
#12 My presence will go with you and I will give you rest. Exodus 33:14 NIV
#13 This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24 NIV
#14 Therfore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace. Hebrews 4:16 NIV
Sally, Columbus, OH
“I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, Who has given me strength, that He considered me faithful, appointing me to His service.”
1 Tim 1:12 NIV
Kathy, Madison, CT
Romans 1: 25-26 NIV
ThereforeThey exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones.
Plano, Texas~
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body. Ephesians 4:25, NIV1984
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Cor 4:20 NIV
Sandy, Lexington, KY
“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ.”
Philippians 1:6 (NIV)
Maggie, Seattle, WA
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. -1 Cor. 4:20 (NIV)
(Thanks for the inspiration, Beth!) 🙂
Philippians 4:5 NCV
“Let everyone see that you are gentle and kind. The Lord is coming soon.”
Patty, Granite Bay, CA “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” 1John 1:6 NIV
Janice, Harrison, AR
“Peace I leave with you; My (own) peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.] “. John 14: 27. AMP
Holly Burlington, IA But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. (James 3:17 NIV)
Jan Horne
Bossier City, LA
Psalm 62:1 NIV
My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from Him.
Susan, Locust Grove VA
2 Peter 1:4
And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. (NLT)
Amy from Frisco, Texas
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
Psalms 118:29 NLT
Amy Brown, New Palestine, IN
“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we may be called children of God.” – 1 John 3:1 NIV84
Pat C
S Burlington, VT
“So I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Gal 5:16
NIV
Heather Wilkinson
Springfield, VA
Eph 2:7 (NIV)
in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Midland, TX
Galatians 6:7 (HCSB)
Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked.
For whatever a man sows he will also reap,
Valerie from Taylors, SC
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble Psalm 46:1 NIV
Jane from Geneseo, Illinois
Luke 12:48b
From everyone who has been given much,
much will be demanded;
and from the one who has been entrusted with much,
much more will be asked.
(NIV)
Gail, Phoenix
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Katie, Amarillo. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.” John 14:18 NIV
Janet, Tulsa
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Emily
Platte City, MO
May 15th- Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Psalm 139: 23 NLT
June 1st- My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. Psalm 73: 26 NLT
June 15th- Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 1 Timothy 4:12 NKJV
July 1st- Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. Psalm 63: 3 ESV
July 15th- But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me. 2 Timothy 4:17 NKJV
Ambur, Fulton, MO ‘I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.’ Psalm 62:1-2 NLT
Cyndi from Centreville, VA
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
1 Corinthians 4:20 (NIV)
Marcia Jordon, Fulton, MO
1 Corinthians 4:20 (NIV84)
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”
Angie W. from Liberty, Missouri: For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV84
Leah from Bloomington, In “have mercy on me, O God, have mercy. I look to you for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of your wings until this violent storm is past. I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill his purpose for me. Psalm 57:1-2 NLT
Marisa, Michigan
1 Cor. 6:20
…you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Kat, Albany, NY
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”
1 Corinthians 4:20
Anne, Minneapolis
Matthew 5:6
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. NIV
“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.” Psalm 18:14 NIV
Ps. 90:1-2 ESV
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
Christina, Lancaster, CA
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Colossians 3:12-13 ESV
Rosie Tacoma Wa
I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.
In any and every circumstances, I have learned the
Secret of facing plenty and hunger abundance and need.
I can do all this things through Him who strengthens me.
Philippines 4:12-13 ESV
Veronica -Atlanta. Georgia. The lord your God is with you,he is mighty. To save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet
you with his great love, he will rejoice over you with singing! Zephaniah 3:17
Kim from Center, TX:
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Hebrews 13:16 (ESV)
Oops. I submitted the same verse on July 1…I have misplaced my spiral & I’m losing my mind! So here’s my new one.
Kim from Center, TX-Love is patient and kind; it does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on it’s own way; it is not irritable or resentful. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 (ESV)
Zoe L from Oklahoma City:
And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it City, grace would no longer be grace.
Romans 11:6, NIV
Zoe L from Oklahoma City
(correction)” … if it WERE, grace would no longer be grace.” Rom 11:6 NIV
Kim, Corning, NY. “How abundant are the good things that you have stored up for those who fear you, that you bestow in the sight of all, on those who take refuge in you. (Psalm 31:19 NIV)
Pam Hendersonville, NC
“For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” I Corinthians 4:20 KJV