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
Darl, Bakersfield, CA
Colossians 3:13 “bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.” NASB
Misty, North Charleston, SC
He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what He has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord.
Psalms 40:3 NLT
She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. Proverbs 31:20 NIV
jaclyn from Naperville, IL: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 NIV
Natalie, Houston
And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Colossians 3:17 NET)
April, Lake Charles, LA
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” ~ Gal. 5:1 (ESV)
Sarah from Brownwood
2Cor. 12:9 a. NIV
My grace is sufficient for you,
For my power is made perfect in weakness.
Cindy, living in Cochem, Germany – As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. Psalm 103:13-14 (NIV)
Laura ~ Plainfield,IN
Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
Philippians 4:4 NIV
Nicole Hudnall, Lynchburg, VA
Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. (Proverbs 16:3 NLT)
Susan, Statesville – For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Phil.1:6 (NAS)
Ann: Ft Lauderdale, FL
“Cause me to hear Your loving kindness in the morning, For in You do I trust; Cause me to know the way in which to walk, For I lift up my soul to You.” Psalm 143:8 NKjV
Proverbs 27:9 “The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.” NLT
Kathy, Danvers, MA
Hebrews 4:16 NIV
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Janet – Columbus, GA: “Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?” -Matthew 6:26, NIV
Isaiah 65:24(NIV)
Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
Shirleen, Greenville, SC
1 Corinthians 4:20 (NKJV) For the kingdom of God is not in word but in power.
Cyndi, Lexington, KY
You provide a broad path for my feet, so that my ankles do not give way.
Psalm 18:36 NIV
(11) I will remember your great deeds, LORD;I will recall the wonders you did in the past. (12) I will think about all that you have done;I will meditate on all your mighty acts.
-Psalms 77:11-12 (GNT)
Sarah, Dallas
Amber Moon, Lincolnton, NC
Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Psalm 23:6 (NIV)
Beth, Mansfield, Tx
Trust him at all times, you people. Pour out your hearts in his presence. God is our refuge. Selah (Psalms 62:8 GWT)
Lindsey, Scenery Hill, PA
Psalm 33:4 (ESV)
For the word of the Lord is upright and all his work is done in faithfulness.
Lexington, Ky
James 5:10 NIV
Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of The Lord.
Sherri, Pueblo West, CO
Phil 4:13 NKJV
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Jennifer in Cincinnati, OH
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
D’Anna Nowack
Kilgore, Texas
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Cindy, Madrid, Spain
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”
1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Michele-Lubbock
Psalm 91:16
“With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.” KJV
Sharron, Spring TX
A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
Prov 17:22 HCSB
Sara, Greenville, SC – “Lead me by your truth and teach me, for you are the God who saves me. All day long I put my hope in you.” Psalms 25:5 NLT
Lizz, Brick NJ
The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.
Ex 14:14 NIV
Marcia, Portland OR NIV – For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Corinthians 4:20
A wise woman builds her home; a foolish women tears hers down with her own hands. Proverbs 14:1 NLT
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power 1 Corinthians 4:20
Katie Cincinnati Ohio
Jeanette, Mansfield –
For so the Lord has commanded us, “I have placed you as a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the end of the earth.” Acts 13L47, NASB
Mary Ellen~Trenton GA~ “When I was child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a “woman”, I put childish ways behind me.” ~1 Corinthians 13:11 NIV
Angie
Anniston, Alabama
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has born? Though she may forget, I will not forget you. See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands, your walls are ever before me.”
Is.49:15-16
Pam D., Hendersonville, TN Romans 8:1-2 (NCV) “So now, those who are in Christ Jesus are not judged guilty. Through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you free from the law that brings sin and death.”
Johanna, Carlsbad, CA
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Melissa
Midlothian, VA
John 15:5
New International Version (NIV)
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
Debbie from Universal City, Texas.
“Finally, my brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 NIV
Melanie, Pensacola,FL
Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Phil 2:3 NIV
Kaye from Hamburg
“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. “(Psalm 5:3 NIV)
Bernadette. Mtn home AR. “The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” Exodus 14:14. NLT
Valerie, Little Elm, TX. “For the kingdom of God is not just a lot of talk; it is living by God’s power.” 1 Corinthians 4:20 NLT
Whitney from Cape Girardeau, MO
Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
Isaiah 65:24 NIV
Judy-Taylors, SC
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. (Jeremiah 31:3 NIV)
Amen. I love you.
Lora
Mooresburg
“We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin.” Romans 6:6 NCV
Allison from Cincinnati, OH
Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.
Proverbs 3:6 NLT
Lauren, San Marcos, Tx. Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win the favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in The Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:3-6 NIV