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
Bobbie
College Station, Tx
Joshua 1:9 (NIV)
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.
James 1:19 HCSB
My dearly loved brothers, understand this: everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger.
Shannon, Blacksburg VA
Lala Ball Cooper from Ruston, Louisiana, says:
“And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” 1 John 2:28 KJV
Cara – Fridley, MN
Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
Matthew 22:37-40, NET
Susan
Jersey Village, TX
“Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”
Matthew 22:37, 38
(NIV)
Woodbridge, CA
“Be kind and loving to each other, and forgive each other just as God forgave you in Christ.”. Ephesians 4:32. New Century Version
Carole, Imperial, CA: Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1 NIV
Bev van Vuuren – South Africa – Sow righteousness for yourselves, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord,
until he comes and showers his righteousness on you. Hosea 10:12 (NIV)
Psalm 34:4 NLT
I prayed to The Lord, and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears.
Heather from Mckinney, TX “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” (Psalms 46:10 NLT)
Kendra Husband, Charlotte, NC
I Cor. 13:6-7 (NIV)
6 “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
Stann, Frisco, TX
There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven- Ecc. 3:1 NASB
Ephesians 3:20 (NIV)
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.
Christy, Conifer, Colorado
Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. Jonah 2:8 NIV
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Lou Ann Smith, McAllen, TX
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10 ESV
Ashley from Durban, South Africa “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right (steadfast) spirit within me.” Psalm 51:10 ESV
Bryn, Frisco, TX “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31, NIV
Ashleigh, Lewistown, MT.
Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.” Joshua 3:5 (NLT)
Desiree, Carlsbad
Isaiah 26:8-9a (NIrV)
“Lord, we are living the way your laws command us to live.
We are waiting for you to act.
Our hearts long for you to be true to your name.
That’s what you are known for.
My heart longs for you at night. My spirit longs for you in the morning.”
Hebrews 12:1 NIV
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders, and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
Persevere on the unique path God has you on.
Barbara Severns, Eagle, Idaho
Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.
Hebrews 12:28 & 29 NASB
Yvonne
Fresno, CA
Psalm 18:43 NIV You have delivered me from the attacks of the people, you have made me the head of nations, people I did not know are subject to me.
Sue, Texarkana, TX Isaiah 64:4 “Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him.”
Amy- Custer,SD
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5&6 NIV
Whitney Laramore, Ames, OK
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 6:8 ESV
Marie Franse. Albuquerque, NM 1 Corinthians 4:20: God’s Way is not a matter if mere talk, it’s an empowered life. (Message)
The Lord delights in those who fear him, who UT their hope in his unfailing love.
niv psalm147:11
Tangila, Pearland TX
The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3 NLT)
Rebecca, Las Vegas. “They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” Isaiah 61:4 (NIV)
Jennifer, Kailua, HI:
Psalm 77:11-I will remember the deeds of The Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
Proverbs 1:7 (NKJV)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Sarah , Lambertville, MI
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
1 Corithians 4:20 (NIV)
Love it! Thanks for making it leap off the page for me too 🙂
Odessa, TX
Job 42:1-2 NIV Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted.”
Cathy Reineke in Orofino, ID
Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put My trust in You. Show me the way I should go for to You I lift up my soul. Ps. 143:8 NIV
Susan, Corinth, TX
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
I Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Kelley, Des Moines WA Ecc. 1:9 NIV What has been will be again
Elizabeth Blakeley. Escalon, CA. “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:20 (NIV)
Dawn, Pottsville…For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Corinthians 4:20 (NIV)
Beth, London, U.K. “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity but of power and love and discipline.” (2 Timothy 1:7, NASB)
Paula, Houston, TX,–
Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. (23) They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness!
(Lamentations 3:22-23, NIV)
Eva in Wichita, KS
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
1 Corinthians 4:20 in NIV
Deborah, Nashville
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Amy in Waipahu, Hawaii
“You didn’t choose me. I chose you.” ~John 15:16a NLT
Karen, from Dallas, TX:
The Lord himself goes before you
and will be with you;
he will never leave you or forsake you.
Do not be afraid;
do not be discouraged.
Deuteronomy 31:8
Colleen, Cape Town, South Africa
But blessed is the woman who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. She will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out it’s roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; it’s leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8, NIV
Sarah, Bracknell, UK
“And may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.”
2 Thessalonians 3:5 NAS
April, Greensboro, NC “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”
1 Corin. 4:20
Kim, Valdosta, GA
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. II Chronicles 16:9, NKJV
Mary, Lilburn – For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. I Cor 4:20