Isaiah 61 ; Verses 1 Through 3

Let’s start today with one of my very favorite passages from Isaiah, chapter 61, verses 1-3, and then we’ll break it down.  

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind. 2) He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God’s favor to them has come, and the day of his wrath to their enemies. 3) To all who mourn in Israel he will give: beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness. For God has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory.”

If you don’t have a life verse, I highly suggest you get one, and meditate on it daily. Take this one, make it your mantra. Declare it over your life and see how your life changes. Your confidence will increase, you will be stretched, you will grow in virtue, and your life will conform to the will of God.

Verse 1- “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me” -   I love how before we do ANYthing, we first must have the Spirit of the Lord.  We need to unashamedly welcome the help of the Holy Spirit, and let Him be fully operational in our life. If you want to see maximum results, you need to partner with the Holy Spirit to accomplish the purpose for which He has given you.

“because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted.”-  God Himself has set you apart, and dedicated your life to His service. He created you with a purpose, and one component of your purpose is to live your life as a witness so that others can see what a difference He has made in your life. By sharing the good news, the gospel, we give hope to others who are suffering. We offer a way out, and His name is Jesus. 

“He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind”- Sometimes the best thing we can offer the brokenhearted, is our time. They simple want to know that someone cares. We don’t always have to know the right thing to say, sometimes, a shoulder to cry on speaks more loudly than flowery words. As for announcing liberty to captives, this is my personal favorite. For so many, when we picture the word ‘captive’, we automatically think of jail, prison, people behind physical bars. What if I told you that the invisible bars of bondage enslaved more people than metal bars? People are damaged, and in desperate need of being restored. They carry around past hurts like a ball and chain. Well, I’m here to break those chains, and tell them they no longer have to live a life of bondage! Jesus came to set them free! By doing this, breaking the yoke that has for so long subjected them to a life of slavery, we open their eyes to a whole new way of life. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me and I will give you rest- for all of you who have worked so hard beneath a heavy yoke. Wear my yoke- for it fits perfectly, and let me teach you; for I am gentle and humble, and you will find rest for your souls, for I only give light burdens.”

Verse 2-  “He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God’s favor to them has come, and the day of his wrath to their enemies.”  - Many translations say, the year of jubilee or it’s the time of a favorable year. That’s exactly what it sounds like, a party, a celebration of the Grace that God has shown us by delivering us from our lives of destruction. It’s time that we as believers, can set aside to thank Him for graciously saving us from our enemies and destroying the weapons that were formed against us. We get to take a praise break to acknowledge His goodness and favor on our lives.

Verse 3-   “To all who mourn in Israel he will give: beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness.”-   In those times, people who were in mourning, actually had ashes smeared across their foreheads, to indicate to everyone else that they were experiencing a time of sadness. Now, we don’t actually put ashes on our heads, so it’s not always as obvious, but I believe that if we are in tune with the Spirit of God, He will point out to us people who are hurting and need help. It’s a part of our purpose to exchange people’s brokenness for the beauty of our Savior. We are to take away the the sadness and replace it with a crown. To me, this symbolizes that we are taking off the old life, the things that weighed us down and marked us as  damaged goods. Here’s the good part, we then get to replace that filthy baggage with a life that is custom made by the Creator! The old things gone and forgotten, behold, He is doing a new thing! From now on the down trodden will no longer be identified by their hurts, failures, and defeats, they are now crowned with acceptance from the Father, they will now be known as Heirs to the Kingdom!

“For God has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory.”-   

Oh, to be called an Oak, what a gift! The oak tree is a symbol of righteousness, life giving, and able to withstand peril and endure for a lifetime. What a tribute to the glory of God! The idea here is that those who were once oppressed, and burdened by sin, are now strong and vigorous, deeply rooted in the Father, unwavering. 

This passage is my calling, I am convinced that God has given me His Spirit, and anointed me to share His story of healing and redemption to those who have lost all hope. I want to tear the blinders off their eyes, by replacing the lies of the enemy, with the truth of God. I want to shout to them that they no longer have to live a life bound by fear, shame and rejection. I want to let them know that God has a better plan for them, a plan for their future. I want to firmly plant them, so that no matter what comes their way, nothing will sway them, they will be rooted and grounded in the love of a good, good Father. 

Share the Good News!

When you get a long awaited promotion, what do you do? You share the good news! 

When you finally see those two pink lines, after waiting so patiently to start your own little family, what do you do? You share the good news! 

What do you do when you get engaged to be married? You share the good news! 

There’s a pattern here. Do you recognize it? We get so excited over life change, because for so many, it’s a fresh start, a clean slate if you will. So the most natural reaction is to share your joy and happiness with others. 

When you find out that Jesus has forgiven you of EVERY sin you can ever imagine, and He took the punishment for you, so that you can live with Him for an eternity, what do you do? Was ‘share the good news’ your first reaction, or did you cringe a little because you knew where I was going with this? Why, oh why is it SO hard for us to share the most important, life changing experience that could ever happen to us, with others? 

I propose that for the majority of people, it boils down to this one thing. Rejection. Oooh, such a nasty little word, that holds such a punch. Because of our own hurts from the past, the times we ourselves felt rejected, and abandoned, we can many times project our personal feelings on a situation and negatively affect the outcome before we even got started. 

As believers we must firmly know who we are, having a solid grip on our true identity, so that no matter what the results are, we are not shaken. The perfect antidote for rejection is knowing that we have unconditional love from the Father, grace that abounds endlessly, and acceptance of Jesus. Once we surrender our personal agenda, laying down the surface reasons that we want to share the good news, we can get to the heart of the matter. Our motive for sharing the gospel needs to be the same motive as Jesus, to bring healing, restoration, and to introduce them to the One who can save them. Not so that we can line our own pockets with checkmarks of being a good Christian. As far as I can tell, no one is handing out gold stars for how many people you win over. When we become Kingdom minded, setting our hearts on the things of God, He will shift our hearts to feel, and think like Him. He will begin to show you what hurts His heart, and ignite a fire of passion for what breaks it. Keeping this in mind, people may refuse your offer of help, but it in no way changes your status with Jesus. He has not rejected you. You are chosen. You are loved. You ARE accepted.

Evangelism, Is it a scary word?

Evangelism is defined as “the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching or personal witness.”

There are so many words that will strike fear in the human heart. You know the kind, the kind that completely takes your breath away, and stops your heart. For a split second, you don’t know what your next move is. It’s crippling. You yourself might even be plagued with one or two on the list. Let’s dive in and take a look at some fears that people have, some rational, and others not so rational. Then we’ll zero in on the one that many believers are handicapped with that ultimately stunts their growth.

You all remember the film from 1990, Arachnophobia? There I was, a budding teenager, thanking my lucky stars that my parents finally allowed me to watch a PG-13 movie. It was a film about a deadly spider that made it’s way into the U. S. and wreaked havoc on a small California farm. Not only did it wreak havoc on the family that starred in the film, but it dangerously effected the way many people viewed spiders from then on out. Suddenly, a large viewing audience now suffers from arachnophobia when the day before, they were hunky dory. This fear was introduced to them in their minds (let’s put a pin in this, and come back to it later) . (Honestly though, I get it. Spiders are creepy!) 

What about some other fears? Acrophobia, the fear of heights, that’s a good one. What about Claustrophobia, the fear of tight spaces. I think we’ve all dealt with that at some point. Then there’s silly ones like Bananaphobia. You guessed it, the fear of bananas! We can all laugh at that, but what about Glossophobia. Oh, never heard of that one, eh? So strange that no one has heard of it, yet MANY, and I do mean many, people have it unknowingly. Dare I say that even you might suffer from it? So, raise your hand if you like public speaking in front of crowds of people. Anyone? Anyone? I hear nothing but the crickets. This is something that I want to hone in on, because not only do ‘WE’  suffer from this fear, but as followers of Jesus, the lost are the ones who are truly suffering. It is because of our unsubstantiated fear, that they are the ones that are lost, and losing out on hearing the greatest story ever told. 

Earlier, I defined the word evangelism as the spreading of the Christian gospel by public preaching, or personal witness. I think so many of us don’t even get to the last part of that sentence where it says such a simple phrase, ‘personal witness’. We all get too caught up in the scary part where it tells us that you must spread the good news by publicly preaching. Once most people read that part, they shut down, fear takes over, and the result is paralyzing. Remember when I said that a huge audience was perfectly normal one day, then after the thought of being fearful of something was introduced to them, they all of the sudden took on the symptoms of having arachnophobia, the fear of spiders? Imagine the enemy, using this very same tactic. He has before him, a large audience, and he introduces the thought of something fearful, and just like that, you were manipulated by the enemy. Fear of failure, anxiety, panic attacks, they are birthed from a thought, planted by the enemy to stop the spreading of the gospel. What if I told you, that controlling your fear was as simple as taking those thoughts captive. 

2 Corinthians 10:5 leaves no room for argument. Listen to it from the Message, it’s clear, “The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ.” 

Whoa. That’s heavy stuff. If we want a life shaped by Christ, we MUST fit every loose thought, emotion and impulse into the framework of the Word of God. That leaves no room for fear. It says that as believers, we use our God-given tools (our giftings, and abilities) to tear down anything that is not in line with the truth of God. The fact might be that you are terrified of public speaking, but the truth is that God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.
 (2 Timothy 1:7).

I believe it’s long over due, that we take a stand against the enemy, and declare over ourselves that we will not let fear rule us. The enemy has manipulated our thoughts, and used fear to imprison us, to put an end to evangelism. Well, I say, “No more!”. I will not let the enemy imprison me any longer, rather, I choose now to imprison those thoughts, and by faith I will believe that everything the enemy meant for harm, God will cause it to all work together for good  and because of that, I will boldly spread the gospel, not only by living a godly life for others to witness, but I will proclaim the Good News from anywhere He asks me to. Whether it be in front of thousands, or just a handful. For you, this might seem like an impossible task. Let me remind you of what Jesus said to his very own disciples in Matthew 19:26, “You have no chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourselves, but you have every chance in the world if you trust God to do it, with Him, ALL things are possible.”

College? Me? YES. Me. My Intro to Highlands College at 40 (40 and fabulous I might add)

   “What was I thinking?, This is not what I thought it was going to be!, I’m in over my head”. Those are the thoughts that played on repeat , over and over after leaving Highlands College my first night. On my way in, I was charged with anticipation, excited even, felt like a kid on Christmas morning, about to get a present that I’d been asking my parents for, but what I  got was completely not what I expected. Like the kid that was hoping for an xbox, it turns out, after the gift was unwrapped, in all it’s glory, it was a home-made knit sweater from Grandma.

           So, “Hey, I’m Amy from Montgomery, Alabama”. Technically not Montgomery, because I live in the tiny town of Eclectic, population 1,026. I say Montgomery though, because no one has ever heard of Eclectic, heck, most people can’t even pronounce it. Out of the 1,026 people that make up my tiny town, I claim 4 us, myself, my good old trusty husband Heath, and two of the most amazing kids you’ll ever meet. Of course, that’s my personal opinion, but once you meet them, you’d probably agree. (By the way, It’s every Mama’s secret wish that you’d compliment her about her kids. It tends to warm her heart.)

          We’ve been attending Church of the Highlands now since December of 2012, but didn’t really jump in with both feet for nearly 2 years. Honestly, I was burned out from church, tired physically, mentally, and most of all, I was dried up spiritually. I just wanted a place where no one knew my name, and I could slip in and slip out. I’m sure you’ve either been there, or know someone who has. It’s so easy to get in that position if all you do is give away from yourself and never have any one pour back into you.  I was coming from a small struggling church, that needed a miracle, and those who were there were unfortunately worked to death. Not a physical death mind you, but a spiritual one. The songs were tired, the sermons were lengthy and all the mamas were spread thin as we had to “pull our weight” in the nursery. I’m sure you’re thinking, why not just leave, go someone else. Well, it was much easier said than done. It just so happened that my Father- in- Law was the Pastor, and it was out of duty that we found ourselves there. 

          At the end of 2012, I was miserable. I had a toddler, a new baby, and was completely overwhelmed with life in general. Without a support system, I knew I was going under, and fast. Something had to change. We decided then and there, that if we didn’t find a place that could flood us with new life, we’d end up a statistic. Finding a new church was our top priority. Years before the kids came along, I worked with a freshly married girl, that in my mind was one of the most highly regarded people I had ever known. Her name was Rachel, and at the time, she was just a former work friend, from days past. Somewhere in the back of mind though, I remembered a rumor that I heard, her and her husband Chris Erwin were starting a new church in Montgomery. We decided as a family, that maybe we’d check it out. We were considerably skeptical, when we found out they met in a hotel, and the Pastor wasn’t even there! We had nothing to loose at this point, so we went. And we went, and we went again. Fast forward now, to six years later.

          I’m in Highlands College, the last place on Earth that I would have said I’d be, even just a year ago. I’m currently a Small Group Leader, a Small Group Coach, a Dream Teamer, and now let’s add “Student” to that list. Whew, guys, am I in over my head? I kind of hope so. Because if I’m in over my head, that’s the place I know I need to be, because from that position, the only cry could be, “Help me Jesus!”. I know I’m not able to do this on my own, so it just makes it so much easier to give the Glory to God, where it belongs. 

          Let’s revisit my earlier statement about feeling like a kid on Christmas morning, you know the one. The kid that’s wished for months that they would get a super shiny toy to show off to all their friends, but instead opened a recycled box and found the crochet sweater from Grammy Lou? Yeah, well, that kid is me. I wanted the super shiny title of Highlands College Student, proudly telling people what I was, but instead, I got a dose of reality (the ugly Christmas sweater) that Highlands doesn't need another graduate, but the Kingdom does need another servant. So, even though that “ugly sweater” isn’t exactly what I wanted, God knew that it was exactly what I needed. He knows that one day, what I glean from Highlands College will be a much needed resource for humankind. Where will it lead me? At this point, I’m not sure, but a good starting place is right here in my own backyard, my kids. They are my most important ministry right now, I’m raising leaders. So, the journey begins.

If You Are Saved- You Are Called To Serve

          I think we must debunk the myth that serving God is only for “Members Only-“ an Exclusive Club for Clergy. If you are saved, you are called to serve. They go hand in hand. Jeremiah said that the Lord told him, “ I knew you before you were even formed in your mama’s belly, I had already appointed you as my mouthpiece to the world!”. That means YOU were chosen from the get go! You, yes you, were hand selected by God to minister to His people. 

          I really feel like so many Christians feel un-qualified to do this. Whether it’s because we fear failure, or we’ve bought into the lies of the enemy that we’re not good enough, we have to get a hold of the truth, we must reverse our way of thinking, and discover our identity in Him. We all know that our soul consists of our mind, our will, and our emotions, and it must be “restored”. When God restores you, He brings you back to your initial purpose. As much as the world has tried to sway us from our original purpose, we must let God restore us, like an old out dated piece of furniture, we too can be gloriously restored and brought back from the ruins. The Word said that He has a plan for us, a purpose for us. One of those purposes is to minister to His people. We are all called to serve, no matter what our station in life. What most people don’t understand is that they can serve from right where they are. God can use anyone. If we can just get people to change their way of thinking, and get out of the “survival” mentality, and into the “thriving” mentality, I believe we could change the world! Jesus Himself in the gospels said that, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” If ordinary people could grasp that, and believe that what they read in Isaiah is true for themselves, then ordinary people become extraordinary ministers! 

          I truly believe that if people would recognize their potential, and use their God given gifts, we would see revival like we’ve never seen before. I’ll close with Isaiah 61:1- “The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me because God anointed me. He sent me to preach good news to the poor, heal the heartbroken, Announce freedom to all captives,  and pardon all prisoners.”  We must, as believers, be earnestly convinced that this is for us, or we will never reach our full potential as ministers.

A Waiting Season is NEVER a Wasted Season. EVER.

          God never wastes anything. EVER.  

          You ever felt like you were in a dry place spiritually?  A desert, a wasteland where everything seems infertile? Well, I have. I’ve been there embarrassingly too many times. Too many to want to count. I’ve learned now to refer to this time as a “Waiting Season” instead of negatively labeling it a “Wasted Season”.  For years while I was waiting on God to move, waiting on Him to change my circumstances, waiting on a miracle that never came, I got weaker and weaker. I became fragile in my faith, letting anything and everything shake me to my core. I was hesitant to believe that God would ever move on my behalf. I felt powerless. 

          You know the song that’s blasting over the airwaves so much now, called Do It Again, by Elevation Worship? Well, that seems to be my battle cry. It starts off with this phrase, “ Walking around these walls, I thought by now, they’d fall, But you have never failed me yet. Waiting for change to come, knowing the battle’s won, For you have never failed me yet.” It goes on to say that my confidence is in Him because He’s never failed me. That He made a way, when there was no way, and I believe He’ll do it again. And that is SO true for me now.      
    

         It is only by His grace that I am where I am. Just the other day, during a Freedom group, I had someone tell me something that hurt me to the core. It was not meant to hurt me, but nevertheless, it cut deep. A lady told me that when she met me, a few years ago, after we had a short conversation, she said when I walked away, she thought to herself, “ That has to be the saddest woman I’ve ever met.”  Really, wow, the saddest woman she had ever met? Was my brokenness that evident? Was all the hurt, and heartache that I thought I was so bravely holding onto that visible? Apparently so. Now, I can say, from the other side of it, how grateful I am that my flaws, and lack of purpose was showing. It’s because of my utter disappointments and major fails that I can confidently say that God made a way, and if He did it for me, He’ll do it for you. I can use my story, to tell His story. 

          Because during the times that I was buried, and there seemed to be no light, I now know that I wasn’t buried, I was actually planted. I was a seed that grew stronger with each new season.

Serving Others Through Small Groups

What do you love to do that you could use to serve others in the family of God?

          Honestly, this answer surprises me greatly, because if I had been asked this same question just a short 3 years ago, I would NEVER have said this,  but……..I love to lead Small Groups, especially Freedom. I know now that it was part of my design from the very beginning. If I had never experienced it for myself, I would not have discovered this God- given passion.  I know without a shadow of any doubt that this is what God put inside of me, and I don’t want to waste it. 

          Three years ago though was a completely different story, I was actually trying (half -way trying!) to discover my own freedom. It wasn’t a pretty little thing all tied up in a bow. It was ugly, it was messy, and I didn’t want to continue down that road , because it was too hard. Y’all, I even got up during one of the freedom lessons and left, I sat in my car and actually argued with God! Can you believe that? I told Him adamantly that I was NEVER going back. Can I tell you how grateful I am that I decided not to listen to myself. I went back, it wasn’t easy, but oh, it was so worth it. My freedom journey took much longer than expected, and He is still actively pursuing me, molding me, changing me,  because it’s a process, BUT, through it all, I’ve been able to move one step closer, then another step, then another….He was more concerned about my obedience in the little steps than He was about me totally figuring out everything all at once. He’s sweet like that. So now, here I am, free as a bird, leading other women through their journey, and it tickles me pink to know that the enemy didn’t stop me!

Being a Disciple is NOT the Same as Being Christ Like

          Webster’s Dictionary defines the word “disciple” as; ‘One who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another, such as Christianity, to be a convinced follower of a particular idea or church.’  According to that definition, ANYone who believes in something can be described as a disciple, whether their beliefs are founded in truth or not. 

         As the church, we sometimes can be narrow minded and only think of the particular group of followers of Jesus that the Bible called His disciples. Being a so-called disciple, and being “Christ-like” are two totally different  ideologies, we only have to study the lives of the disciples to know that they were not always Christ-like.

As we all know, just because one considers himself a disciple, does not automatically make him like Jesus. Just because you identify as an Apple, does not mean you are an Apple Pie. Becoming the pie, takes a process, just as becoming more and more like Jesus is a process. 

         

         In John 17:3, it states that the way to a “real” life with Jesus is by getting to “know” Him. The word “know” here, in Greek is the word Ginosko.  Ginosko means to actually take in knowledge, it suggests that there is a process of knowledge. 

         The only way to experience real life, the abundant life, is to get to intimately know Jesus.  What a privilege that we get to commune with the Creator of the world, we get to call Him Daddy, daddy! The Word says that “If you love me, you’ll keep my commands”. This was not meant as a threat, but instead more like advice from a loving Father to a son, saying you don’t have to worry about disobeying me, because the more you love me, you’ll want to keep my commands. The closer are to Jesus, the less we act like the world, that’s just a fact. It’s called cause and effect. Because we spend time getting to know Him, the effect is becoming more like Him. 

         A sobering thought that hit me last week, was this; ‘We are only as close to Jesus as we want to be’. What a profound statement. My prayer is that I will not only be a disciple, and follow Jesus, but that I won’t stop there like so many believers do, I want to strive to be more like Him every day, with every decision that I make. I want to take my ordinary life, and place it before God as an offering. I want to fix my attention on Jesus, and not get distracted by the world, so that He will develop maturity in me, and bring out the best in me.

Judgement Free Zone

         I absolutely love the phrase “Judgement Free Zone”. If you’ve ever been in a Planet Fitness, you’ll see this phrase painted across the wall. I myself use this statement leading small groups, because I want so much for the people to know that I won’t judge them for what ever they are about to say. As hard as I work letting others know that I won’t judge them, it’s an internal battle that I struggle with, fearing that others are judging me. Sharing my own needs, hurts, and hopes makes me feel so vulnerable. I know that it is a lie, and I do my best to replace the lies with truth, but I can easily fall prey to the thoughts of “being alone” or “no one else has this issue”. It brings to mind this famous saying from C. S. Lewis, “ Friendship is born that moment when one person says to another; ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.’ “ Just knowing that there is someone else out there that has gone through what I’m going through, and they survived, they are on the other side, it gives me hope. And hope is all I need.

Excuses.

         Excuses, excuses, we’ve heard them all. “I don’t have time for church. Why go to a church that’s full of hypocrites? I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian, I watch on tv.” These barely scratch the surface when it comes to reasons people don’t join a church. People seem to always have an excuse at ready, like they have one waiting in wings until the next person asks them to come to church, then like a token, they spit it out. If someone doesn’t want to go to church, they will always have an excuse, but the words they speak are usually just as empty as their hearts. It can many times be heart wrenching for the brave soul who continues to ask their fellow peers to come to church. We see people all around us, hurting, empty, and broken. Their lives just a shell of the person they could become. We see the potential in them though, not seeing them as they are, but what they could be.

         It’s like a doctor wanting so desperately to give a patient the antidote to their life-threatening illness, but the patient stubbornly refuses. As believers, we have the antidote, the answer to their problems. We all know Him as Jesus, but because of the lies of the enemy, most people are blinded, and can’t accept the help that’s being offered because they don’t like the package it comes in. Jesus is the ultimate gift that we are trying so desperately to deliver to the hurt, the wounded, the broken, but because the Gift is “wrapped” and packaged as the Church, sadly most people refuse. We must as a Church change the way the world views the church. The best advice I can give to the asker, is don’t give up. I know we so many times, feel like a broken record, but I promise the efforts are not in vain.