REBORN 2 WRITE: Writing my IMPERFECT life to share God's PERFECT Love. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Romans 5:5
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels.
So I thought this summer I was going to get spiritually lazy. I could feel it coming on like a long nap on a hot summer day. It
was as if summer was conspiring against me to just spiritually “veg-out”. You
see, during the school year I had a very disciplined and scheduled devotion time;
an hour to myself before work to read my Bible, listen to worship music, write,
and pray. It was an awesome way to start my day. THEN…
This summer, I volunteered to work the early morning shift at my
Christian Preschool; which means I have to be there at 6:30 a.m.
and unfortunately my morning devotion time has disappeared. My inner slacker
rationalized, “It’s OK to slack off for 2 months. What’s the worse
that could happen?”
Well God knows, based on my past history, that a lot of bad stuff can happen to me when I get spiritually lazy. So He arranged for me to have a
totally different kind of devotion time. My first preschooler arrives a
little tired and anxious, and wants to cuddle up with his blanket. He has asked
that I read him the Bible because it helps him relax. WOW – the wisdom of 4-
year olds always amazes me!
I am so blessed to work at a Christian Preschool because
part of my job is sharing the Gospel. I don’t consider it just a requirement
but a privilege. So most mornings, my little friend and I start each day with
prayer and then for the next 15 minutes until the next student arrives we read
the Children’s Bible.
At first I missed my “adult” Bible. Then I remembered a
Christian Conference I attended recently that reminded me that the same
Holy Spirit in me is the same Holy Spirit in children. That means they have the
same Holy Spirit power. Their prayers are just as effective, maybe more so,
because they don’t have adult “hang ups”. All of a sudden, I looked at this
little Children’s Bible in a whole new light and the gospel came alive to me again.
My little guy is hungry for the Word of God. He has challenged me to go beyond
my role as preschool teacher to disciple-maker.
Recently, my preschooler’s mom shared how her son was going
to be baptized the following Sunday. So, for our morning devotion time, we talked about what baptism
means. Trying to explain the definition of baptism [a way of showing that you
have been washed free of sin by the death and rising from the dead of Jesus
Christ] in 4-year old terms was not easy but, with the help of the Holy Spirit,
my little guy got it. We read the story of Jesus being baptized by John the
Baptist. I was able to share how when Jesus came up out of the water, God called out from Heaven, “This is My
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:17)
The best part of that morning devotion was that my little
guy has taken it upon himself (I have tried to refuse but he won’t be
dissuaded) to bring me breakfast on Friday mornings. So after we finished our
devotion, we had kind of a communion time over doughnuts and chocolate milk. I
prayed with him to accept Jesus into his heart. I prayed that the Holy Spirit
would fill his heart with His love and power, I prayed blessings over his
baptism, and I prayed that God would grow him up to be a mighty man of
God.
Recently, my pastor talked about how we are all called to
make disciples (followers of Jesus Christ). Before Jesus was taken up to Heaven, He commanded us to go out into the
world and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19) Being a “disciple-maker”
does not have to be intimidating. Most of us have NOT been called to be
missionaries to 3rd World counties. Be we have all been called to witness somewhere. Maybe it’s sharing Jesus with a 4-year old preschooler, a
classmate you invite to youth group, a co-worker who’s been asking you
spiritual questions so you invite to lunch to share your testimony, or a family
member who thinks your weird but you keep loving and sharing Jesus with them
anyway. You may think that you are the last person God would want to use
because you’re weird, your life’s a mess, or you have a tainted past. All you
have to do is look at the people God used in the Bible to spread the gospel.
They were all a little weird, had tainted pasts, or messed up lives until God
showed them how to use their imperfect lives to share God’s perfect love.
My friend Tammy, who is a great disciple-maker, uses words
of encouragement and scripture verses to bring people closer to Jesus. Recently she sensed, like good friends do, that I was struggling spiritually so she sent me this quote:
“Being willing to do what you are not qualified to do is
sometimes what qualifies you.” From the book, Hosting the Presence, by Bill
Johnson
In his book, Bill Johnson is talking about how John the
Baptist did not feel qualified to baptize Jesus. John protested strenuously and
told Jesus, “It is I that need to be baptized by you!” But the scripture says
that Jesus insisted and told John, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting
for us to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:14-15) My Bible commentary
says that by allowing John to baptize Him, Jesus was showing support for John’s
ministry but it was also Jesus' inauguration of His public ministry. I like that Jesus used the word “us” when
talking to John. He was letting John know that He approved of his baptism and
repentance ministry but also that God the Father approved.
God does not need us qualified. He just needs us
willing. So often I get caught up in how unqualified I am to share the message
of Jesus that I feel like quitting before I even start. I feel like John the Baptize thinking, “Jesus, there is
no way that I'm qualified for your ministry.” But Tammy’s text was God’s way
of reminding me that He is using me, not because I am qualified, but because I
am willing; to try again when I fail, to put my worship music back on, open my
Bible, and get back to writing. By writing my struggles, my victories, and my heart, my prayer is that God uses it
to touch the heart of someone who happens to be reading and searching for Him.
So that is what disciple-making looks like for me. What does
it look like to you?
"Whenever God gives you a promise, it's because he has gone into the future and brought back the words necessary to get us there." Bill Johnson from his book, Hosting His Presence
Recently, I prayed for something very specific…again.
God’s answer seemed to be a resounding “Not yet”…again.
Not a “No”.
Not a “Yes”.
But I a definite “Maybe”.
Last year, I had a dream about this particular prayer
request. In my dream, God’s answer was a definite “YES”. It was a beautiful
dream and I woke up with a longing for this prayer to be answered. Over the
years, each time I think this prayer is going to be answered in the
affirmative, I seem to get the same response, “Not yet”.
I’ll tell my friends that I’m not disappointed. I’ll even
tell myself that very same thing but, in reality, I’m always kind of crushed.
Sometimes I think that maybe I am standing in the way of my own blessing, my
brain getting in the way of taking a leap of faith. But I've learned to put
aside my disappointment, trust in His timing, and soak in His truths.
God’s truth always crushes the Enemy’s lies.
So…
When the world jeers
instead of cheers
When fake smiles turn
into tears
When all you've strived
for goes bust
When all you've built
turns into dust
When what you thought
was love was really just lust
When those you've
confided in break your trust
When friends disappoint
and life seems unjust
When the mirror says
you’re just not enough
When the fight seems
outnumbered
And the climb seems too
steep
When the battle seems
endless
And the pit seems too
deep
When the road most
traveled
Seems easier to cross
When you’re tired of
pretending
And count it all loss
Stop fighting your
demons
And take a deep breath
Remember GOD loves you
In spite of your mess
Sometimes you don’t
feel Him
But know that’s He’s
there
Whispering to your
spirit,
“Hold on. I've got you.
Trust me. I care.”
Don’t listen to the
lies
The Enemy is shouting
in your ears
The approval you seek
Won’t come from your
peers
The TRUTH is
I love you with all
that I AM
For I AM love
It’s for you that I
came
I formed you
I want you
I gave you My SON
You’re the prize
My Child
The prize I have won
So if the answer to your prayer seems to be a resounding,
“not yet”; don’t go down the path of despair. Don’t give up. Keep the faith. God's Word tells us to keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking. He has promised to answer. (Matthew 7:7) For He has called us this beloved prize.
He chose to give birth to us by
giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized
possession. (James 1:18 NLT)
All who confess that Jesus is the Son of
God have God living in them, and they live in God.We know how much
God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who
live in love live in God, and God lives in them. (1 John 4:15-16 NLT)
TheLordyour God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He
celebrates and sings because of you, and he will refresh your
life with his love.” (Zephaniah 3:17 CEV)
So, friends, take
a firm stand, feet on the ground and head high. Keep a tight grip on what you
were taught, whether in personal conversation or by our letter. May Jesus
himself and God our Father, who reached out in love and surprised you with gifts
of unending help and confidence, put a fresh heart in you, invigorate your
work, enliven your speech. (2 Thessalonians 2:16 MSG)
