To Be Afflicted and Not Comforted (Isaiah 54)

"O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted..."

I love these words from Isaiah 54.
 
I love them because of where they sit in the midst of a chapter that word after word not only lifts the lowered head, but acknowledges that it is indeed lowered, and knows there was reason.

I love God's heart- the nearness and the dearness of Him- as his response is not just to make a promise, but to acknowledge that life's current reality seems to defy that promise (v.1-3).

I love that he doesn't just say don't be afraid or ashamed, but acknowledges that I have felt both (v. 4-6).

I love that he doesn't just talk about eternal kindness and mercy, but acknowledges that I felt lost...forsaken... unable to find him (v.7-8).

I love that though it should be enough- all the testimony in the Bible, all the testimony in my life- he knows I still need to hear him say that he's not going to change his mind and I'm not able to screw up or fail my way out of this, because to his own heart it is a covenant (v. 9-10).

I love that he speaks so well to the heart that has fallen somewhere between disheveled and destroyed.. to the person left standing in the middle of it all, grief-stricken and tired, asking how and why and what. I love that he knows I am not comforted. And that instead of igniting a righteous indignation in him, he says such a thing as "O you afflicted one, tossed with tempest, and not comforted..".

I love that what follows is to speak of the beauty of what he will build, and that he will use the most precious things. I love that it is by his own hand (v. 11-12). 

I love that he doesn't just promise peace and safety, but acknowledges there will be reason to need that promise fulfilled. (v.13-15).

I love that he acknowledges there are things created to destroy and they'll be intended for my own destruction, and puts power and authority in perspective as he says that whatever man may be creating, He created man. (v.16-17)

Discouragement is not from the Lord. Neither is fear. We are never forsaken, and he is our comforter. But he speaks right to it all anyway, because he knows us. He remembers our frame, that we are dust. And he loves us...

Let's just talk about this.

You cannot receive the God of the Bible and reject the Bible itself.

How can a person have a medley of beliefs/faiths/philosophies, and throw God (the God of the Bible) into it as well?! This baffles me. God by nature does not coexist with other gods/belief systems/etc. Sorry! That's a strong message throughout scripture. These aren't vague, cultural, whatever, verses. I mean if a person just believes in God as a higher power, that's one thing. Because then presumably God is a power but not person, has not spoken to man unchanging truth...so this isn't to address belief in God as a higher power. But if "God" is the God of the Bible, how can you choose God and reject who he said he is, who you are, what he said about life now and life eternal, or create a belief system that is in direct blatant contradiction to the self-description of the God you believe in. That seems like....

Either God is lying, or your truth is a lie.

I love words about God- I just spent more than I meant to at a bookstore, so I can read some more words about God. But the Bible is not that, this is important. The Bible is not words about God, it is the word of God.  How could you possibly hope to know the God of the Bible, without the Bible?

Either God is lying, or your truth is a lie. Right?

The Bible tells us Jesus is the only way to the Father. The only way! You cannot receive a God who says there is only one way-and He is it- and still believe there are many paths for people, and they each need to find their own. The contradiction is insane.  

He says that no one is good- that all of us deserve punishment for our sins apart from the work of the cross- which by the way, is available to all but not chosen by all. The saving work of the cross is for those who believe on his name and are saved....and it was necessary (Luke 24:46, Acts 17:3). There is no salvation without the cross of Christ. We cannot will ourselves into what is not ours apart from life in Christ. 

He says there is only righteousness and unrighteousness, only heaven and hell, only two "teams"- only the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light, with no neutral territory- and that they are at war. 

He says that he is holy, righteous, just, without sin...and that he is both wrath and mercy. And that even his wrath is holy, needing no defense or excuse (Romans 9:18,20,22. God punishes sin and God forgives sin. 

And he's not your hippie yoga teacher, who only wants you to really get in touch with yourself, because the source of true happiness and spiritual enlightenment is within you. Sorry kids, it's not. The source of everything that is pure and lovely, every worthwhile thing, is Christ. Christ is Truth. And without him, all your enlightenment and self-discovery and blessed spirituality is deception. All the pretty lies…how they can shine though! The Bible tells us that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Ok look. I’m not trying to go on a religious rant. I remember my open-minded spirituality years… I wasn’t too sure if I believed in God exactly, but I wasn’t ready to discard Him entirely, and when I took too much of something I shouldn’t have been messing with at all, He was the one I was praying to. I mean, that was the extent of that relationship, because the rest of the time I was on the whole “everyone has their own path….I’m gonna go light some more candles and do a bunch of symbolic things that might have some power” kick. I’ve got things to say about that too… but for another time, my friends. My point is just to let you know that I had this same contradiction in my life. I wasn’t really ever confronted with it, until I hit a point in my life so desperate that the only hope was that God actually was….. well…. God. 

It was the “either you are God, completely, or you are not at all” moment- the situation required it. I cried out over and over to know if it was true, opened a book up to a verse, and radically encountered the presence of God for the first time. It was a moment that marked me in such a way that I could not have recovered had I wanted to. There’s no going back. God is real. Jesus is true. 

In a world full of counterfeits, all you can really hope to do is choose the ones that look best to you-even choosing a counterfeit God- until you encounter Him for all He is. When you encounter God as He is and you give Him your yes, the person of Truth is now intimately and forever know by you. Lies compared to lies can be sneaky. This is why we choose the lies that appeal to us most and think we’ve done well for ourselves. Lies compared to Truth though…there’s no hiding (though before anyone gets high and mighty about how their “open spirituality” friends should hear this, let me say that religion is the worst and most deceptive counterfeit of all, because it most easily passes for the real thing in Christian circles, and I think it is quite possibly the most wicked deception of all). Don’t be sold a distorted God, of any kind. He’s beautiful, and He’s a God who wants to be found.

He's a God who will be found.

Grace as a Warrior; Grace as a Watchman

Grace is a warrior.
Grace is a watchman.
It looks for weak areas and stands as a guard, as a fortifier. In a city with walls of iron it finds the disrepair, the broken down, the forgotten, and stations itself there.
It cannot be moved.
The weather does not move it.
The seasons do not change it.
I spent some time today reminiscing about the journey and the process God has brought me through, and marveling at the ways He prepared me for these days. Like flipping back through a book after you've already read so far, and getting the delight of seeing all the more clearly how everything was being woven together to prepare for this. Ah, process! The kindness of God. The goodness of God. In my early days with God (early 20's) He was moving powerfully in my life, and I found myself able to move mountains, but unable to open the mail and deal. with. it. I developed the discipline of reading my Bible and spending time intentionally seeking the Lord everyday, but I lacked other disciplines- like cleanliness/organization. I cried out for and was granted wisdom and was given treasure after treasure of insight and revelation, but I couldn't budget and was financially irresponsible. As I thought about the irony and pondered how it is that we can be so full in some areas and simultaneously so lacking in others, I thought of how much grace God showed me. He was so, I don't know.... not unnerved by it all. Not flustered. Not frustrated. Several times I was in tears, truly overwhelmed, to the point of crying out to Him one day "this isn't even good parenting! You have to let me feel the consequences! I knew better and did it anyway...every parenting book, even the best Christian ones, would tell you that you're enabling me! And yet I know you're perfect in all your ways. You're a good father, and you chose grace, you chose to protect me from the natural consequences". It blew my mind and wrecked my everything. That is grace my friends. If it doesn't knock you on your @$$, you're missing it. He knew the "why" behind the "what" because He sees my days and searches my heart in the innermost places. He knew what was in my toolbox and what wasn't. He knew when it would be the season to mature me in a specific area, and He covered me until that time in the way that you would hold a child with a disability to a different standard than a child without one. Because he knows me. Grace has wrecked me several times. It's flung the curtains open for the glory of God to break through. It's caused me to cry, to laugh, to praise, and to marvel. I think grace carries such an assumption of gentleness, but today I saw grace in a new way. Grace is a warrior. Grace is a watchman.

Prophecy for Beginners

I want to share a little story I had posted on Facebook earlier this year (because FB is my original blog, let's be real), in the hopes of encouraging and stirring up those who are timidly standing on the edges of prophecy. 

"We had professional carpet cleaners over for the better part of this morning. As I walked through the house, double-checking my prep work, I wondered who these people were and what would they gather about us or about God from what they would visually be taking in. The snapshots. Would they read a verse from the Bible left open next to my bed? Would they think I'm secretly a weirdo because I have books with titles about prophetic training and living a crucified life? Were they Christians...and if so, what kind? And what kind of Christian would they presume me to be? They had made small talk with me here and there. I felt a little nudge of God's heart for one man. No deep emotion welled up within me. Just an awareness of God's own awareness of this man.

So I asked Him.

I asked God to tell me, show me, or give me something for this man. I wanted him to be encouraged, or strengthened, or rescued. More than anything, I wanted him to know God had seen him. God had spoken. God knew his need and his destiny. I wanted to partner with that.

I started to get a sense of something about this guy. I "felt" (sidenote: did you know that feelings can be Spirit-inspired and God-honoring? He made our feelings. He wants us to feel. Back to the story!).... I felt kind of this vague sense that there was something that the lead singers from Big Daddy Weave and Mercy Me had that this guy had too. I started getting excited, but it was still blurry. I wanted to know what it was. I wanted more!

So I asked for more.

I got excited and ran over to my Bible, knowing He could speak through it. I flipped it open and looked through, careful to not judge whether it was a word based on my own understanding, but really looking for the Spirit. Nope. Nada. I got nothing this time. Ok then! I pondered in my heart what this thing was that the singers had in common, and I got this sense that they had a deep sense of God's love, as time went on I felt they were abiding in that love, and later saw that they had been healed of many wounds. I felt that this was what the man was to hear, and to bring him the 2 cds of these artists. I felt a particular emphasis on the Mercy Me cd.

I waited.

I asked if there was anything He wanted to say about the other man who was with him. Nothing. Even the crickets were silent. Well... alright then.

I waited more.

Then as I stepped outside to run an errand, he happened to walk out alone at the same time. Thank the Lord, I was not going to have an audience! Hey I'm willing to be weird, but I'm also aware that I'm being weird. If hopping on one foot while singing the alphabet song gives me eyes to see and ears to hear the kingdom of heaven here on earth though, better believe I'm gonna be out there hoppin' and singin'.

I told him "hey, I have a word for you (then I remembered I was in my driveway, not at Jesus Culture). Oh um...have you heard of that before? Do you know about words from God?" He did not. I went on to quickly explain that I believe in God, I believe in Jesus and sometimes He'll tell me things about other people or kinda show me what His heart is for a person. I began to give him the word (what I had felt under inspiration of the Holy Spirit), trusting God to do what He wanted to do once it was out of my hands (or mouth rather). It wasn't lengthy (unlike this post, hmm), but I didn't make it past the halfway point before he interjected. I had told him I didn't know where he stood with God, but that he was going to know God's love and live in it ('cause abide is weird vernacular outside the church). I said two singers had come to mind and that he has the same spirit as these men.

He freaked. Dude lit up.

"I'm a singer!!! That's crazy! I'm a singer! Ya I sing mostly Mercy Me songs. That's crazy". He rubbed the goosebumps on his arm. I smiled and showed him the Mercy Me cd God had pointed out to me. He already had it, but God knew it was not about giving him a cd, but giving him confirmation both of what he is already doing, and the word he was given for what God is awakening in him.

It was on my heart to post this because I do believe it will encourage someone who is on the edge to step forward and step out. For some, this is normal, every day stuff. Not even that great. Like...no one's amputated leg grew back. No heads of state were brought to salvation and have vowed to reform the political arena. Haha. But this post isn't for them. It's for you. For the timid, the cautious, the unsure with a burn in their hearts and butterflies in their stomachs. This post is to encourage lambs to come walk with lions. This is for the honoring of the still small voice of God. Without going into a whole teaching on prophecy, I want you to know that there are stirrings in your heart, and feelings, and thoughts, and what you've known in your gut, that are there under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and that with nudges and whispers you are given words and pictures to pray and to prophecy, that God's will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. I posted this most humble of stories, because these are the things of small beginnings, which we are not to despise. I posted it to normalize what otherwise can sound so far beyond us. I posted it so you would know that when we speak what He speaks over people it is for good and glory. It is for rescue and redemption. It is to raise tired arms and lift the lowered head. It is for the plans and purposes of God. It is that we would know who He is and who we are.

Step out.
Start small... start with the whispers and the "I just had a sense"s.
Trust Him.

It may be awkward.
You might not understand why He would say that particular thing. .
You're going to wonder if this is God or just you.
You're going to wonder if your friend Jen is a nut, and you're going to be right, but she's a prophetic nut and you should listen to her.

You might be tempted to wait until God makes it really really clear..... don't give the Holy Spirit the brush off. You'll get the blessing of confirmation that you DO hear and you DO see as you are faithful. Being faithful is going to require... *drum roll*...faith.

These are not waters you navigate from the dock. He speaks, you speak. What is it worth to you, the glory of God? How treasured is the intertwining of your heart with His? How precious the partnership? Blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear. He DOES speak to you. You DO hear! I challenge you to step out in faith with the still small voice of God, and for the next 3 days be courageously faithful EVERY SINGLE TIME God nudges you and you sense something or see a picture of something for a person, to tell them, holding nothing back. The power of life and death is in the tongue, and we know that when God is speaking, He is speaking life. Do not hold back the power of life from people because of fear or insecurity or doubt. 

You may be a lamb, but you walk with the lions. Step forward and take your place."

Treasured Memories

Colossians 3:1-2 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

Matthew 6:19-21 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth or rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What we hold dear reflects our values. It speaks something that we may otherwise be silent on. What we treasure of our past defines us. What are your most treasured memories? What comes to mind? Well set those aside, just for a moment, and let’s re-evaluate. Your most treasured memories are not defined as the ones that cause you to smile the most as you replay them in your head. Your most treasured memories are the ones-beautiful or broken- that you have given a sacred place to in your heart, that you replay over and over…the memories that you will not let go of. Holding tragic memories near to your heart often will be at the cost of relationships around you. Your most treasured memories of the past are the ones that continue to define you in the present- that’s why this matters. Our present identities are defined by our past memories, our days are directed by our thoughts, and all of this is a reflection of the true condition, and allegiance, of our heart.

Praying Powerful and Effective Prayers

The secret to praying powerful and effective prayers is simply this: hear what God is saying, and let that direct your prayers.

I have prayed for radical healing (and seen it come) for a person facing imminent death, and I have prayed for the release of a person's temporal life in the same situation. What was the difference? Was I lacking faith... did I give up the fight? No! I had discerned both the voice and the peace of God for each moment, and prayed accordingly. Both resulted in God receiving praise and glory.

In a culture that loves to make declarations with great assurance, I have felt an increasing concern that there may be more declaring than hearing. That concern is not because these declarations are too outlandish. Let them be as wild as God himself! Let them be as impossible as the God who makes all things possible! Let your declarations contradict the natural circumstances set before you, but let them not contradict the voice of God in the present hour (Jeremiah 6:14 They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially, Saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace).

Listen for the voice of God, and you will pray the power of God. Pray the power of God, and your prayers will be effective.

Isaiah 43:21-25

The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness' sake;
He will exalt the law and make it honorable.

But this is a people robbed and plundered;
All of them are snared in holes,
And they are hidden in prison houses;
They are for prey, and no one delivers;
For plunder, and no one says, "Restore!"

Who among you will give ear to this?
Who will listen and hear for the time to come?

Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers?
Was it not the Lord, He against whom we have sinned?
For they would not walk in His ways, nor were they obedient to His law.

Therefore He has poured on him the fury of his anger and the strength of battle;
It has set him on fire all around, yet he did not know;
And it burned him, yet he did not take it to heart.