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
Peggy, San Antonio, Tx
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Heb 6:19 NIV
Allyson
League City TX
Psalm 86:12 ESV
“I give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify Your name forever.”
Tracee, Morristown, TN
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
1 Corinthians 4:20 NIV
Lauren Morton, Decatur, TX – I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. – Psalm 91:2 NIV84
Central, LA
Seek The Lord and His strength. Seek His face evermore! 1 Chronicles 16:11
Janice, bakersfield, ca.
There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. John 1:6-7. NIV
Lanie Beth, Locust Grove, GA, NIV, ‘I pray to you. You answer me because you love me so much!’ Psalm 69:13
Tarah in Camdenton, MO
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” 1 John 3:16
Kayla, Edmond, OK
My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to You because You have redeemed me. Psalm 71:23 (HCSB)
Cathryne, Fayetteville NC
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
For You I wait all the day. Psalm 25:5 NASB
Katherine from The Woodlands, TX
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 15:1 (NIV)
Connie Willis, Knoxville, TN
By which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them, you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
2 Peter 1:4 ESV
jackie from MO
psalm 139:17 niv
how precious to me are your thought, God! How vast is the sum of them!
Kelly from Denver…
Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
Psalm 37:4
NASB
James 5:16 NLT
“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.”
Amber, Huntington, IN – Let us test and examine our ways, and return to The Lord! Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in Heaven; Lamentations 3:40-41 ESV
“How great is the goodness You have stored up for those who fear You. You lavish it on those who come to You for protection, blessing them before the watching world.”
Psalm 31:19
NLT
Pat
Crawfordsville, IN
Christy from Omaha:
“…find out what pleases the Lord”
Eph. 5:10 NIV
Tina Cincinnati Ohio – Isaiah 41:10 – So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (NIV)
Sara, Plymouth, IN
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
Ezekiel 36:26
I lift my eyes 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 NIV
Mickey, Blue Springs, MO
See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.
Isaiah 43:19
Karen, Beech Island, SC. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation. Psalm 118:4 hcb
Five of the bags were by Louis Vuitton, the fashion house credited with starting the designer handbag craze in the 1920s, as well as another nine by Chanel, which sold for up to 1,800.
Lisa, West Columbia, TX
“And whatever you do, whether 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 (NIV)
Apart from me, you can do nothing. John 15:5, NLT
My God will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:19, NLT
Lindsey Johnson
San Antonio, TX
(Isaiah 26:3 ESV)
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
Candace, Narvon, PA
Acts 17:11 NIV – Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.
Karen, Nampa, ID, “During these days another large crowd gathered. Since they had nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for these people; they have already been with me three days and have nothing to eat.” Mark 8: 1-2 (NIV)
Susan, Oak Ridge Tn
For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but power.
1 Corinthians 4:20
NIV
Grateful.
Jeri, Lynchburg, VA. Proverbs 28:26. NIV. “He who trusts in himself is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom is kept safe.”
Cheya. Houston. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28 ESV)
What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose. Psalm 25.12
Carol, Poplar Bluff, MO
Proverbs 16:6 NIV
Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the LORD a man avoids evil.
Diana, Cincinnati, Ohio. The LORD will fulfill His purpose for me; Your love, O LORD, endures forever- do not abandon the works of Your hands.
Psalm 138:8 NIV
Fredericksburg, VA
“from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” Psalm 61:2 ESV
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
Galatians 5:22 (NIV84)
Sherry
Oklahoma
Ps. 91:4 ESV
“He will cover you with his pinions,and under his wings you will find refuge his faithfulness is a shield and buckler”
Penny G
Coweta, OK
Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. (NIV)
Lori
San Angelo, Tx
Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD.
Jeremiah 17:7 ESV
Lindsay, West Point, NE
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:18 NIV
pamela t., Fairmont, NC
Romans 5:8 (NIV)
“God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Kim, Pearland, TX
You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Psalm 16:11 NIV
Blanche, Pearland, TX
Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphoald thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
Isaiah 41:10 KJV
Debbie, Hattiesburg, MS:
“A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked.”
Psalm 91:7-8 (NKJV)
Allison L. Tulsa,OK
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:17, ESV
Katherine, Atlanta GA
Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart.
Psalm 26:2 NLT
I thought to myself, “God will judge righteous people as well as wicked people, because there is a specific time for every activity and every work that is done.” (Ecclesiastes 3:17 GWT)
Sherree from Mansfield, TX
Colossians 4:6 NCV
When you talk, you should always be kind and pleasant so you will be able to answer everyone in the way you should.
KariAnn – Houston
Psalm 95:7
For he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Oh that today you would harken to his voice.