"This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for ones friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other." John 15:12-17
The more I come to know The Lord and get completely drunk and high off of his goodness, I can't help but want to go to the top of the mountain and scream my lungs out and testify about they ways he's brought me peace and joy. I have times when I have my ear buds in, laying in bed, listening to worship music, and all I want to do is get up and start dancing because I'm totally pumped moved by the spirit. The best part? It's NOT to good to be true. It IS true.
With that being said, I've learned that I have a heart for sharing the good news with others who are struggling…. those who haven't found that undeniable joy yet. I experience what it feels like on the daily, and OF COURSE I want the people I love and care about to feel the same undeniable joy. It's a love and a joy that I truly want everyone to experience.
But let me tell you, it hasn't been all butterflies and roses. If you have been keeping up with my blog, you'll know that getting 'drunk and high off Jesus' has been an uphill battle… through the fire…. falling down..…….face planting into the mud……. crying my eyes out…….. picking myself back up again……. and charging towards the cross. This might be a pattern for the rest of my life, but now I have a joy in The Lord and a foundation built only through him that will get me to the cross faster than the pace I was going before.
Here's what they told me at training camp……. it hit me like a TON of bricks. "If you can't set yourself free, how can you set the nations free? If you haven't started to deal with your own burdens, how can you help other people deal with theirs?"
Ouch. That kinda hurts, doesn't it? We have to face our burdens and our crap before we can help others. We can set aside our own issues and help others first for as long as we want, but that's like filling up a lake with an eye dropper. It's not going to happen…….. you are going to crash and burn…. real fast.
Now that I've had the chance to face my fears, deal with some of the mess that I've put aside for far too long, I'm able to find Joy in serving others. I'm able to find Joy in wanting to dance around the room because the love of The Lord consumes me THAT much. It's time to lift each other up. It's time to grab the people in the wilderness by the hand, and take them with you as you continue to walk through the fire on your way to the cross. What good is our journey with Christ if we do it alone?
I've been praying this everyday : "Lord, do anything you need to do IN me, so that you might do everything THROUGH me." Sometimes that's a scary prayer to pray. It's dying to ourselves and letting God lead us…… lead us to the people that need his love.
Remember, you might be the only bible that some people read. Write your story well. USE it. OWN it. It's time to step up and bring our brothers and sisters along with us.
Here is what we need to train our spiritual senses to do……
1. Be able to see who is ready to be healed from their wounds
2. Who has the faith?
3. Who is ready to receive the gospel?
4. Then GO. Grab them by the hand and take them with you.
The invisible is more real than the visible. The deep wounds that are hiding don't come to the surface when you pass someone in the grocery isle or sit next to other moms at little league. The enemy makes sure that our pain sinks in deep. It's found in painful places…. sometimes it looks invisible. We've got brothers and sisters fighting a battle. Lets help them out. Chances are you are fighting one too….. fight it together.
but remember this….
Your comfort zone is NOT spiritual discernment. Spiritual discernment is important. I understand completely. However, do not let your comfort zone hold you back from praying with the woman that you don't know sitting in the church pew next to you who's load and burden seems too much to carry on her own. Do not let your comfort zone stop you from asking your neighbor to come to church with you. It's time to jump and say yes. The more you risk, the more you learn. The more you say yes to the spirit, the more you hear from the spirit.
We don't get to pick and chose who we want to pray for and do ministry with. I've learned that lesson loud and clear since being on the field. We don't get to chose who we want to bring into God's Kingdom and who we want to see fall down, just because they have harmed us or done us wrong.
As Christians we will NEVER delight in the downfall of a brother. Ever.
"The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. " 1 Corinthians 12:12-13
"If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad." 1 Corinthians 12:26
Lets not continue to go through our days without picking someone else up along the way. Lets not go at this alone. What's in it for us if we do that? Nothing, really. First, fight for your relationship with your father. Fight like you've never fought before. Don't give up, even when every ounce of your being wants to give up. (trust me, I've been there) Then, after you've fought and won the fight, pick someone else up who can't fight just yet….. and then fight for them.
