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. 

Which is easier for you- public or private worship?

A Question posed to me from the book, A Purpose Driven Life, by Rick Warren. "Which is easier for you- public or private worship?"

         Well, isn’t this a catch 22. Not sure what a catch 22 is, well, this question has put me in a difficult situation of which I feel my answers will conflict with one another and cancel each other out. Of course after reading the chapters from Rick Warren’s “A Purpose Driven Life”, I can say that worship is a lifestyle, not just a 30 minute feel-good sing along on Sunday mornings. Which, if I’m being honest, I already knew that, BUT, knowing something and living it out are two completely different things. 

         It’s real easy to go back to an old out dated way of thinking, especially if it were drilled in your head for the last 40 years that “worship” is the time where the congregation sings before you hear the message. For me, I equate worship to singing, like most people do, but for me, singing comes natural, it’s part of my gift, something I can easily and freely give back to the Lord. So, although worship is SO much more, singing is my first response when someone says worship. It comes from inside of me, like an out pouring of my love for Him. For me, there is no easier way to express how I feel, than through songs. For others, that might be the last thing they would do, they might prefer being on the streets on a First Saturday Serve, and that’s okay too. That’s the beauty of Jesus, He’s multi-faceted, He loves ALL ways of communication with Him, whether it comes from a  song, a blanket handed to a homeless person, or a greeter standing at the door of the Church.

          We all, as believers have a very public life, especially if we are in any type of ministry role, so our worship is done publicly. We have the eyes of the unchurched on us, and we need to be intentional with how they perceive us, because we are the face of Jesus for them. Even though it can be uncomfortable to “worship” in public, with all eyes on you, I do believe a great Pastor once said, “Jesus is more concerned with our character than comfort”. As for worship in private, I can only hope that when someone enters my home, they feel the love of Jesus there. It’s there because I’ve covered my home with prayer, I’ve been through every room singing praises to my Jesus, I’ve cried out countless times for Him to be welcome in my home, it wasn’t easy, it came with a price. I’ve paid with my time, my emotions, many many tears, and brokenness. I’ve felt vulnerable, exposed, even naked because of my private worship. Times that I’ve laid bare my soul, and felt like He had left me.

         So, to answer the question, I feel closer to Him when I’m surrounded by like- minded people, people who have the same desires as me, the same goals, the same victories, we feed off of each other’s faith. It becomes a fire inside me, where the atmosphere is electric, and it passes from person to person. Worship among peers, can be a catalyst for your next leg in the journey. When we stir up the Spirit of God, and He moves, we’ve set the tone for a miracle. We usher in the presence of God, by creating a place where He can, and will do miracles because as a body, we’ve created a breeding ground for His manifestation. That’s not to say that those things can’t happen when you are alone in your private time, but for me personally, I know that private time is a weakness, and because of that, my mind can easily fall prey to the lies of the enemy. Isolation is something he pulls out of his bag of tricks, and he knows it’s a place where I struggle. So to answer the question, which is easier, private or public worship. My answer is “yes”. I’m choosing to say “yes” to both. I’ll worship in private. I’ll worship in public, and with His help, they will both become easy.

A Godly Support System- It's a Necessity not an Option

          Webster’s defines the word “friend” as ‘one attached to another by feelings and affection, a person who gives assistance, a supporter, a favored companion’. I cannot begin to tell you how my thought process for friendship has changed over the years since being rooted and grounded at Church of the Highlands. Years past, I had heard of people that had friends, true friends, real friends, the kind that God intended you to have, but that didn’t describe me, and my social life. The friends I had were seasonal, they would come and go, with the changes of situations. Like a leaf from a tree, in the Spring, the friendship would bloom, our mutual feelings of love, and adoration would blossom, we might hit some hard times when life got a little hot and sticky, but hey that’s what friends are for right? But then, all of the sudden a strong wind would blow, and like the leaf, the friendship would start to discolor, because there didn’t seem to be much nurturing going on, maybe a little bitterness entered the relationship, maybe it didn’t quite get watered like it should have, and then, poof, it was gone. That so called friend, the one you thought would be there through thick and thin, is now blowing in the wind. Gone. And just like like, you’re alone again.

          I am SO grateful, I’m going to say it again, I am SO grateful for the REAL friends I have now. We even call ourselves a tribe, to some that might seem silly, but for us, it’s our livelihood. Our friendship goes beyond a dinner out on a Friday night, it goes beyond sharing a recipe, it is in it’s entirety, a necessity to life itself. Having a good friend, is as essential to life as breathing for me. I can’t do life alone, I refuse to. I tried it the other way, it doesn’t work. 

          C. S. Lewis once penned this statement, “Friendship is the greatest of worldly goods. Certainly to me it is the chief happiness of life. If I had to give a piece of advice to a young man about a place to live, I think I should say, 'Sacrifice almost everything to live where you can be near your friends.’.” 

          A true friend is worth far more than rubies, its value is indispensable. A true friend, like God, will advocate for us. They will go out of their way to defend us, they will promote us, and propel us further that we ever could go alone. They will guide, encourage, commend, and counsel. A true friend will not give up, even when they have every reason to. 

          That sounds so much like our Father, isn’t He the same, He’s our guide, He encourages us through the Word, He commends us, and the Word says the Holy Spirit is our Counselor, Jesus is our advocator, defending us to the Father right now. And like a true friend, He hasn’t given up on me, even though I’ve given Him every possible reason to. He’s a true friend indeed.

Worship: It's a Lifestyle not a Sunday Sing-A-Long

         Unfortunately, in today’s society, the word “worship" means more to the world than it does to the Church. This is one subject that the enemy has used to divide the Church, and regrettably the Church has suffered greatly. 

          If you asked non-believers if they worshipped, I’m sure most would say a resounding “No”, because they associate the word worship with some “All-Knowing Being”, they don’t want any part of. Although their vocabulary doesn’t understand worship, the actions of their lifestyles certainly bare witness to the things they worship.  The non-believer worships, whether they realize it or not. In fact all people worship, believers and non-believers alike. For the non-believer, the worship would be better described as what we know as idolatry. You’ve seen the news, the headlines, as a fallen culture, people grasp at anything to make them feel alive, so they passionately adore, and fantasize celebrities, musicians, and even items that bring them pleasure. They might not be familiar with the word worship, but it’s exactly what they are doing. They are putting their attention, and focus and even money towards the object of their attention. They cheer at concerts, they hoop and holler and sporting events, they wear clothes that represent what they love. Unknowingly, worshiping.  

          It’s sad that for the Church, the same thing can be said. How alarming is it that the description of worship for the non-believer can many times, look very similar to that of a believer. I personally believe that God made all those things for us to enjoy, and He even takes pleasure in seeing us enjoy life. Whether, it’s shouting at a football game, or singing along at a rock concert of a band we enjoy. He delights in our pleasure. There is a balance though, sometimes a fine line between, our enjoyment of something and our worship of something. 

          We have to be very careful as believers to not put anything above our relationship with God. If we hold ourselves to a higher standard, and we are intentional about using our whole lifestyle as worship, I don’t think we have anything to worry about. We almost need to ask ourselves a question to decide if this thing we are doing is going to effect our relationship with Jesus, a litmus test if you will. To make it simple, filter everything you do through this one question, “Will this further my purpose or hinder me from receiving His best?”. 

          Simple does not always mean easy. Paul said, “I die daily.” Daily, ya’ll. That means even good ol’ Paul didn’t have it together. But he made a decision, to live a life totally surrendered to God, and if it meant that he had to renew his way of thinking 50 times a day, then so be it. We must, as a church, get better at this, and not reduce our “worship” to a meaningless sing-along every Sunday morning. It’s so much more.

Romans 12:1-2  So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Daily Declaration

Make this Declaration today:

           Lord, purify my motives and heart today. Let my words be healing and life giving. I commit to you to measure my words, my thoughts and actions against your truth. Help me to choose willingly to be a servant to your people. Humble me. Remind me to always, in every situation to choose kindness over being right. Help me to fix my attention on you so that in ALL things, I will bring you glory. Bring moments to my attention, so that I might motivate others one step closer to you, and in doing so, fulfill my purpose.

Psalm 51:10 Create in me a new, clean heart, O God, filled with clean thoughts and right desires.

Proverbs 15:4 Gentle words cause life and health; griping brings discouragement.

Proverbs 16:24 Kind words are like honey, enjoyable and healthful.

Proverbs 3:5-6  If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgement and common sense, then trust the Lord completely. Don't ever trust yourself. In everything you do, put God first, and He will direct you and crown your efforts with success.

Jeremiah 29:13   When you come looking for me, you'll find me. Yes, when you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I'll make sure you won't be disappointed.

Psalm 139:23-24  Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about. See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong- then guide me on the road to everlasting life.

Time: A Destructive Dilemma

         Tick tock, tick tock. How many times a day do you look at your watch? A clock? Whatever digital device you are using these days. Some days, we can’t get the clock to go fast enough. We are grudgingly willing the hands to move faster as we stare down the time. Seconds turn into minutes, minutes to hours, the numbers seem to taunt us. Whether we are sitting at our desk at work, overrun with unattended papers stacked to the ceiling, or maybe we’re alone in a doctors office, awaiting a dreaded outcome. On the opposite end of that spectrum, there are others that want nothing more than for time to stand still, just ask any new mother. One day, they are cooing lovingly at their tiny miracle, and the next they are attending their High School graduation. Time can easily become our enemy.

          If we were all honest with ourselves, we would probably admit that at some point in our lifetime, we let time itself dictate our agenda. Most of us could probably even say that our daily routines are measured in time. We set an alarm to get up, we set a reminder to go to bed,  we measure our steps for goodness sake! We know that we have to be out of the door by a certain time, then we watch the clock until lunch time, eagerly awaiting the time to leave. 

          I think it’s safe to say that the driving force for the majority of people is, time. It’s a part of our daily lives that we cannot escape because the world revolves around time, as sure as it turns on it’s axis.  The dilemma is not time itself, but rather what we do with it that counts. We ALL have the same 24 hours in our day, no more, no less. It’s how we choose to use those 24 hours that matter. I believe the solution to this is what the world would label as “time management”, but for the Christian, instead of calling it time management, I think it would better be described as Motivated Moments. We as believers, have to process time differently. We need to filter every action, every response through the question, “Will this propel me further towards my purpose, or will it hold me back?”. 

          I know that can sound a bit harsh, but maybe it’s time that someone shake you, and rattle you to the core. If you bristled at that statement, maybe, just maybe, it’s something you need to take a closer look at. Could this be what’s been holding you back? Could it be something as simple as managing your time better? I believe so. We all tend to get caught up in the ways of the world, it’s so easy to do. We all do it, but if we could set in motion a new way of thinking, a new way of measuring ourselves, would it be possible to change? Well, I have no intention of changing how the world thinks, but what I am in control of is “me”. I am the only one that can change “me”.  So, yes, a big resounding Yes!, I do believe it’s possible to change. I will intentionally choose to make every moment count. 

Don’t take my word for it, but measure it against the only Word that counts.

           Here, the Message is very clear, it doesn’t mince words. Romans 12, verses 1 and 2.

 “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”

Guess What Folks? It's NOT About You.

        It’s not about you. 

          You ever heard the saying, “Get off your high horse”? If you are not familiar with it, the Urban Dictionary defines it this way ; ”Get off your high horse" is a saying people respond with in an argument, when the other person is acting like a “holier-than-thou” ,  when in reality, they aren't. To simply put it, to tell people to stop acting as if they're the top authority when they aren’t.”

       Well, there you have it folks, the verdict is in. You are not the top authority. All the good people say, Amen. There is no need to wax eloquently about the fact that it’s NOT about you. Deep down we all know that, it’s just a hard pill to swallow sometimes. 

          "It's not about you" begs the question, “If it’s not about me, then who is it about?”. We were created ON purpose, FOR a purpose. We were created for worship. Everything, the trees, the mountains, down to the lowly rocks on the ground, we were all created to worship. Surely you’ve heard the song, that has been floating over the airwaves recently. “If the stars were made to worship, so will I”.  We sing along on the radio, driving down the highway, without a care in the world, but do we really mean what we are saying, or is it just lip service?

          If there is any doubt in your mind, as to what you were made for, it’s as simple as looking to His Word for guidance. Here are a few of my favorites to get you started.

Psalm 150: 1-6  “Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy house of worship, praise him under the open skies; Praise him for his acts of power, praise him for his magnificent greatness; Praise with a blast on the trumpet, praise by strumming soft strings; Praise him with castanets and dance,  praise him with banjo and flute; Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum, praise him with fiddles and mandolin. Let every living, breathing creature praise God! Hallelujah!”

Revelation 4:10-11  "They worshiped the age-after-age Living One. They threw their crowns at the foot of the Throne, chanting, Worthy, O Master! Yes, our God! Take the glory! the honor! the power! You created it all; It was created because you wanted it.”

Isaiah 43:7  “Every last one who bears my name, every man, woman, and child Whom I created for my glory,  yes, personally formed and made each one.’”

Psalm 100: 1-4   “On your feet now—applaud God! Bring a gift of laughter, sing yourselves into his presence. Know this: God is God. He made us; we didn’t make him. We’re his people, his well-tended sheep. Enter with the password: “Thank you!” Make yourselves at home, talking praise. Thank him. Worship him.”

Romans 12:1  “Beloved friends, what should be our proper response to God’s marvelous mercies? I encourage you to surrender yourselves to God to be his sacred, living sacrifices. And live in holiness, experiencing all that delights his heart. For this becomes your genuine expression of worship.”

Comfort Leads to Complacency

          What do you imagine when someone says the word “Comfort”? Are you picturing a pillowy sofa, wrapped in a comfy blanket, possibly eating your favorite food? Well, I am. That’s my picture of comfort, oh, did I mention that if it’s raining, it’s even better? It is, we all know that. Comfort, contentment, satisfaction, complacency. Wait, what? Complacency, did I just say that? Does that word fit in with all the others listed? Why yes, yes it does, and here’s why.

            What if I told you that your comfort level, is what is holding you back from fulfilling the purpose that God laid out for you before the foundation of time. Being complacent in your walk with Jesus, is a dream killer. Many times, we become complacent simply because, it feels good. We don’t have to exude any energy. Lets face it, we’re tired. Physically tired because we go and go and sometimes, admittedly I’m not even sure if I’m coming or going. We try our best to keep up with the Joneses, but what we don’t often know, is that the Joneses are up to their eyeballs in debt, or near the brink of destruction. But from a distance, we envy them. We try to match our lives with theirs, just to feel normal. Therefore, we become tired, then we get up and do it all again the next day. 

          Being tired is not a sin itself, but what if being tired results in you becoming complacent. You just want to get through the day, make another dollar, keep the peace in the family, and move on. Where is God in this scenario? Are you so comfortable that you don’t want to move to where God is? He’s over here, doing good things, He’s in the middle of the action, restoring families, feeding the hungry, healing marriages, bringing freedom to the captives, and where are you? Watching from a distance, because you’re not comfortable being around the homeless, the sick? Get ready, here it comes. Get out of your comfort zone! There, I said it. Not just to you, but to myself as well. It’s so easy to get attached to what we know, to what we’ve always been doing. 

          Well, my friend, The Word says, “Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,

rivers in the badlands.” (Isaiah 43:19)

          I don’t know about you, but I want to be a part of what God is doing. I’m tired of being “normal”. God didn't create me to be normal. I can picture it now, God and Jesus, in Heaven, working on making new people, thousands of years ago, then they come to me, and say, “Well, I don't know what to do with her? Should we give her something special, make her creative? Talented? No, no, let’s just make her normal.”.  What? Of course not! He said in His Word that we were not called to be normal, that we are called to be set apart, a royal priesthood. Don’t let complacency deter you from your calling. 

          Listen to what Peter says about it,  “But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.

(1 Peter 2: 9-11)