Diving Deep and Charging Ruthlessly
This morning (11/21/2010), Jeremy
and I were getting ready to gather like we normally do and I was just saying,
“God, I want to be taught, stretched, and I want to dive deeper into the things
that I know nothing of, the things of You. I know you freely give when we ask,
so here I am…. I want to get something fresh and heavy every morning that will
change the course of my life, every single day….� Well, as we cracked Isaiah
61, I felt this overwhelming sense of responsibility, even before I started
reading. I began to think that it might be a sense of fear, so I prayed against
that and continued. What I didn’t realize is that I was confusing fear with
fear. It was a sense of responsibility from fear, fear of the Lord. An honoring
sense of responsibility sprung from pure love for me!
Shortly after, this is what I
read:
1“The Spirit of the
Sovereign LORD is upon me, for the Lord HAS ANOINTED ME to bring good news to the poor.
2He has sent me to
comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives WILL BE RELEASED and PRISONERS
WILL BE FREED. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the
LORD’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their
enemies.
3To all who mourn in
Israel, he WILL GIVE a crown of
beauty for ashes, a JOYOUS BLESSING
instead of mourning, FESTIVE
PRAISE instead of despair. In their RIGHTEOUSNES, they will be like great (immovable) oaks that the
LORD has planted for his own glory.�
What a powerful mission statement
for we who are in Christ….
Move on down to verses 8-9.
“…I will FAITHFULLY reward my
people for their suffering and make an everlasting covenant with them. Their
descendants will be recognized and honored among the nations. EVERYONE will realize that they are a
people the LORD has blessed.�
This is no new revelation, just a great reminder of WHO I AM!!!
10�I am overwhelmed
with joy in the LORD my God! For he has dressed
me with the clothing of salvation and draped
me in the robe of righteousness. …11The Sovereign LORD will show
his justice to the nations of the world. Everyone
will praise him! His righteousness will be like a garden in early
spring, with plants springing up everywhere.�
I am overjoyed because I am
the one remembering that the LORD has blessed me!!!
It’s important to remember that we
can’t reach anyone unless we have been reached first. We can’t set prisoners
free unless we have been set free. We can’t love unless we have been loved
first. We can’t change anything unless we have been changed first. We can’t
walk in power unless we have been given it! All these things are ours, so take
hold….
I have been given a crown of
beauty instead of ashes!!! I have been given unending joy instead of
mourning!!! I have been given festive praise instead of despair and the LORD
has set me up like a great oak for HIS GLORY!!!! I have the power set the
captives free!!!! I have the power to SHAKE THE WORLD!!!!!!! SO DO YOU!!!! YOU
ARE POWERFUL in JESUS NAME!!!!! And in this, take hold of it with me, you
warriors of the Living God!!! Take hold of your identity in Jesus!!!
Have you ever sword fought with
little boys? I HAVE!!!! They don’t care who is against them, big or small, they
fight like it’s the real deal! As we took the line, the boys screamed at the
top of their lungs, “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!� and ran full speed into the
enemy swinging with all the power they had!!!!
Let us run full speed into the
heart of the Lord as we ruthlessly charge the enemy without fear!!!
After all, we have the honor to fight with the biggest heart of victory
RIGHT BY OUR SIDE!!!!!!
CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGE!!!!!!!
Good news people! This joyous responsibility
is not as hard as we think…. ‘His yoke is light’ and he simply says, “CHARGE!!!!
I’ve got the rest….�
(I also preached on that this morning and it was powerful! PRAISE HIM!!!!)
