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
Terry from Indianapolis, IN
…that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
1 Corinthians 2:5 ESV
Susie from Carmel, IN
“You are my hiding place;
you will protect me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.”
Psalm 32:7 (NIV)
Andrea from Brush Creek, TN: Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Philippians 3: 12 NIV
Sarah from Jay, OK
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power.”
1 Corinthians 4:20 (NIV)
Regina, Birmingham – Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind…, IS 46:9 – ESV
O Lord, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious and sovereign over all the sky and the earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all. I Chronicles 29:11 NET
Thanks to Beth for posting this one several times ago. I needed a verse about God’s sovereignty!
Jenna, Kansas CIty
Mary Anne from Osler, SK, Canada
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
Diane Wadsworth, Pleasant Grove, Alabama
1 Corinthians 1:25 NLT
“This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength.”
Fountain, CO
“Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart.” Psalm 119:111 NIV
that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:21 NIV)
Trae Kendrick, Crawford, Texas: “I am filled with power – with the Spirit of the Lord.” Micah 3:8 NIV
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 1Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans. (Proverbs 16:3 NIV)
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation,the news that the God of Israel reigns! Isaiah 52:7 (NLT)
Gill from Lancaster (UK)
But they who wait for The Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40 v 31, ESV)
Toma, Antelope, CA
“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”
Ephesians 5:1-2 NIV
Becky
Westerville, OH.
“Don’t be afraid! Go ahead and do just what you’ve said, but make a little bread for me first. Then use what’s left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord says, ‘There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again’.
I Kings 17:3-4 NASB
Big Lake, MN
We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ.
To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
Colossians 1:28-29 NIV
I lift my eyes up to the hills–where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:1-2
i’m holding tight. thanks for speaking to my heart like you’re right here in my living room –
Nicole Powell in Tahoka, Texas
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, (Ephesians 3:20 NIV)
Nitsa, Eugene, OR. “Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.” Psalm 51:12 NAS
“Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight.” 1 Peter 3:3-4 (NIV)
Brandy from Jay, Ok ” All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:16 NIV
Kay, Richmond Hill GA
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but if power.
I Corinthians 4:12 NIV
Mound City, KS
For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who called you into his kingdom and glory.
1 Thess 2:11 NIV
Hebrews 10:39
But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed but to those who have faith and are saved. (NIV)
Pam
Kountze
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
Isaiah 55:8 NKJV
Patty Pierce
Searcy AR
2 Timothy 1:12b KJV
for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. (2 Timothy 1:12 KJV)
Abbie, Katy “Train a child in the way that he should go, and when his is old he will not turn from it.” Proverbs 22:6 (NET)
Courtney, LaPlata, MD
1 Peter 5:14 (ESV)
Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Kimberly from Carlsbad, CA
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
~ Galatians 6:2 NIV
Victoria – Salt Lake City, UT – Jer 29:7 (NET)
“Work to see that the city where I sent you as exiles enjoys peace and prosperity. Pray to the LORD for it. For as it prospers you will prosper.”
Anne, Simpsonville, SC “The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent His own son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving His son as a sacrifice for our sins.” Roman’s 8:3 NLT
Katie Swaney – (McDonough, GA) For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Sarah, Lincoln, NE, “Every good gift and perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17 (KJV)
Michele, Naperville, Illinois. “Am I now trying to win the approval of God or of man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
– Galatians 1:10 NIV
Liz Taylor, Washington D.C.
for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:37 ESV)
Debbie Torkelson, Annandale, VA
“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.” Eph 1:17, NIV
Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. Col. 4:5-6, ESV
Alicia, Gulfport, MS
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. (Psalm 139:14 NIV)
Brigette Brock
Morehead, Ky
Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
Hebrews 13:3
NIV84
April, Diboll.
He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does the LORD require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and the walk humbly with your God?
Micah 6:8(WEB)
1Peter3:15
But sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence.”
Anita
Justin, TX
Becky, St. Augustine, How much better to get wisdom than gold, to choose
understanding rather than silver! Proverbs 16:16 NIV
Psalm 86:15(NIV)
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Donna
Ponder, TX
Andrea from Gardendale
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
Isaiah 43:18 NIV
Sorry this is so late! We were on vacation…
“The Lord will keep you from all harm–he will watch over your life.” Psalm 121:7 (NIV)
Summer J., Crystal, MN
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1 ESV
Melanie, Armuchee, GA
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. Psalm 42:1 (ESV)