We Are in the In-between

It’s likely you have read or heard me speak about the Jewish holidays and specifically, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

I want to take a minute to remind you to be observant in this in-between week. I’ve found that decade after decade many things will come to an end or close out in the month of September leading up to Rosh Hashana. Then in October new relationships, adventures and holy assignments arrive that I’m to participate and further for the next 12 months.

This is why.

The Holidays were God’s idea. He instituted them and they aren’t any less valid to Him today than the first time they were observed thousands of years ago.

Rosh Hashana is the start of the Jewish calendar, New Year. That was Sunday here in the United States. Yom Kippur, a most holy day, is Tuesday, October 4^th, here in America. We are in this precious in-between period.

Anything is possible!

As I consider how many things happened in my life last year, I’m undone. It was last October (new year) that Mike and I moved from our So Cal home of 22 years and started our new adventure. We didn’t know we would face cancer, home buying challenges, find ourselves actually staying and buying in No Cal. But, as I look back on SO MUCH that happened, I see God in it.

God knew my deepest desires and brought me to a new home I couldn’t even dream up in my wildest dreams. Mike and I stared down cancer and today he is healed and whole. CANCER FREE! I learned I can do hard things. In this past 12 months I received more direct revelation from God than in any other years. And I began this week to receive the chapters of my new book about spiritual gifts.

It’s been three years since this has happened to me.

I have an important question for you: What is closings out of your life? Sometimes it’s a job, a marriage, a relationship, a home, etc. Even things we don’t want to let go. BUT, our good Father ALWAYS has something better ahead. It’s simply His character.

So, in this in-between, I’m praying and expecting BIG THINGS…. REALLY BIG THINGS! Bigger than I’ve ever asked for and I wait expectantly.

So, my dear brothers and sisters, talk to me.

In the comments, tell my what you have noticed that has closed out of your life and what are the really big things you are praying for. Let me be part of this amazing journey of faith.

I will believe with you.

I love you. With a full heart, Lynn Donovan

Artwork by StudioJRU

Jeanne here!

Did you know that before you were breathed into existence by God, he wrote a book about your entire life?  That book is in heaven right now.  God created you with a set of absolutely unique gifts and talents and abilities and strengths.  There are things that God put inside you that he didn’t give anyone else.  And then he planned out a whole lifetime of ways for you to use those gifts to benefit the people around you and bring glory to him.  He designed you so that when you use your gifts to do the things he planned, it brings you great joy and a feeling of fulfillment. Your book is not just about you, but about the thousands of lives you will touch, all woven together.

 You are God’s masterpiece, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which he planned for us to walk in.  Ephesians 2:10

I always pictured “good works” as passing out sandwiches and socks to homeless people, but this verse isn’t necessarily talking about acts of charity.  It concerns all the things God designed you to do in your little corner of the world.  For most of my life, I didn’t know what my purpose was.  I’m really just now starting to get it.

When He created you, God had a very specific set of characteristics that he built into you so you would be equipped to accomplish your purpose.  God has big dreams for you! Sadly, a lot of us grow up and never use or even discover our God-given design.  sin and violence. I believe we can determine whether we are operating in our giftings when two things are true: One, it blesses others or brings glory to God, and two, it brings us joy. 

We begin life with the unconditional love of our heavenly Father and a world of possibility.  But in ways big and small, the enemy kills our dreams, steals our joy, and destroys our vision.

So, what if we don’t know what our gifts are?  Or what if we use them for selfish purposes?  Does God give up on us?  Not at all. When it comes to us, God is a little bit like that annoying parent who thinks their kid can do no wrong.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never fails.   1 Corinthians 13:7

You’re not a disappointment to God.  He’s still working in your life trying to line things up to go well for you.  He doesn’t ever think about or even remember the times you messed up.  He is still as crazy about you as he was the day you were born.  He sees your potential; he is looking for ways to get you into position to receive all the blessings he wants to give you.  You are tremendously valuable to God, but not in the way the world judges value.

My mother had twelve children, and once when I was a kid I asked her which one was her favorite.   She answered, “The one who needs me most right then.”  I’m pretty sure God is like that.  He wants us to realize that we need him. He wants us to come as children, trusting him and loving him and just wanting to be close.  He isn’t waiting until we have it all together or until we have accomplished what he created us to do.

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.  Hebrews 11:16

We need to realize that God is good, and that it will be tremendously rewarding to seek him. It absolutely requires sacrifice and commitment on our part.  But God’s mercy and grace are far more than enough to pick us back up when we fall.   For the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross.  You and I were that joy.  The Father wanted us back, and Jesus was willing to pay the ultimate price to give us the opportunity to be in full, intimate relationship with him.

The next time the devil tries to whisper that you don’t measure up, remind him (and yourself) that you are God’s masterpiece, his beloved child intricately designed, bought with a price, and that no one can snatch you out of God's hand.  I encourage you to come into the presence of your Abba Father like a child, and ask him to read to you out of your book.  Share what you hear in the comments!

Jeanne here:

A couple years ago, my family adopted a mixed breed dog from a rescue organization.  Tasha is a friendly, playful, goofy dog.  She’s a good companion, but she’s no working dog.  She isn’t particularly fast or strong or smart or protective, and she has zero interest in retrieving.  She’s well behaved and she makes us laugh, and we are happy to have her as a part of the family without expecting her to do anything.

A few months ago, our indoor cat Allie escaped outside.  Our yard has dozens of tall trees and a ton of places for a cat to hide, so we wanted to catch Allie before she got herself into trouble.  When I went out to look for the cat, Tasha bolted straight for Allie, and kept her contained by circling around her until I came across the yard to pick her up.   Who knew?  Tasha must have inherited a herding instinct from one of her doggie ancestors, and it kicked into action that day. She was enormously pleased with herself for doing something useful.

All of us have traits and abilities that we inherited from our parents and grandparents, whether we knew them or not.  I inherited my bone structure from my mother’s mother, and my eye color from my biological father.  But what traits and characteristics have I inherited from my heavenly father? According to Scripture, those of us who are believers are children, and heirs, of God!

John 1:12-13: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Galatians 4:6-7: “And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” 

2 Corinthians 6:18: “And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.” 

Romans 8:17 says that we are God’s children, “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”

What does it mean to be part of God’s family?  The Scriptures mention our heavenly inheritance, the riches and glory of Christ himself, held safely for us in eternity.  But Holy Spirit also gives us godly traits and talents in this life.  It’s not our human heritage that empowers us to love the unlovable, to heal the sick and raise the dead and turn the world right-side-up. It is our place as children of God that enables us to take authority over all the power of the enemy.  But most of all, we were bred (so to speak) for a purpose: to love God and to bring glory to him through our own unique giftings and circumstances.  To very loosely paraphrase 1 Corinthians 12:29-30, we are not all sled dogs or retrievers, but each one of us has a gift, or multiple gifts, to use for the Body of Christ and the Kingdom of God.  

You are an answer to someone’s prayer.  You were designed and created to be a blessing to specific people at specific times in specific ways.  Just like Tasha’s latent herding instinct, there is some gift or talent in you that will bless others, and make you come alive while you’re using it.

If you aren’t aware of what you have to offer, sit quietly before the Lord and ask him to bring to mind times in your life when you felt fully alive and connected to something or someone outside of yourself.  It could be when you were nursing a baby, or painting a landscape, or tutoring a teenager, or a million other things.  These memories are clues to the way you were designed to be used by God.  Ask God to reveal your gift to you and unwrap it.  Then ask him to show you one small step you can take on the path to living out your purpose.  If he doesn’t give you something specific right away, keep asking and keep your heart open to his still, small voice that says, “This is the way. Walk in it.”

If you already know or suspect what your gift is, then your mission is to ask God how and where and when to use it.  Then whatever he says, DO IT.  That’s where I falter most often.  Many times I know what I’m to do, but I place a higher priority on any number of other things.  God is faithful to forgive me, but meanwhile the people that he has sent me to bless are left praying and wondering why God hasn’t answered them. And I’m left with the empty things I have chosen instead of the joy that comes from being used by the Lord.

Don’t be like me.  Be like Jesus, and choose to fully carry out God’s mission and purpose for you on this planet. It’s work, and it takes sacrifice, but it’s well worth it. There is nothing that compares to the joy of partnering with the Creator of the universe to show his love to people.  When this life ends, you will hear him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

Start right now. What is one unique aspect of your design?  Share it with me in the comments. See you there!  Jeanne

Fall Holy Feasts – What You Can Expect

Kingdom Marchers,

I’m interrupting this series on the Trinity because we are approaching a point in the year where we should take a moment and recognize God’s hand in our lives.

I’ve taught about the significance of Rosh Hashanah through Yom Kippur in the past. These holy feasts are markers for the Kingdom of God. They are markers in our lives.

Take an account of your life over the years. Begin to notate what the Lord has close out or remove from in the month of September.

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year. Through my years of experience and taking notice of God’s hand in my life, consistently, year after year, the Lord removes assignments, jobs, relationships, ministry from my life in September.

It’s a literal closing down of one season. I’ve looked through my past and so many significant relationships came to an end in September. Many jobs, assignments and conditions also wind down and close out prior to Rosh Hashanah. Not always are we in favor or happy about what is closed or removed but I find over time, we will gain understanding of God’s purposes in the closures.

And this is why. He’s preparing us for new assignments, blessings and work that begins with Yom Kippur. The Jewish tradition has long been that God takes an account of every person’s life in that 10 days between the two feasts. He’s looking to see what we have completed that has been writing in our book (Psalm 139:16). And if we are off course, He will likely close out things that need to go.

BECAUSE the new is on the horizon.

October releases the new assignments for the next year. It’s a time of encounter and glory. Remember that it was October 12, 2012 that my life changed forever when I encountered the love of God in a tangible way. Every year something amazing happens in October. I expect this year to be the same….

I expect it for me….. AND FOR YEAR. So ask. So seek… So knock…

Let me ask you, what is God removing from your life this year? Then be prepared for the “NEW” because it’s ahead. Then in November prepare for the spiritual warfare because the devil will apply all his efforts to destroy what God has released.

I stand with you. The year ahead is all up to us. Do you want peace in our world? Do you want justice to reign in our governments? Do you want love and honor to lead our children? We are the carriers of truth and hope.

The year ahead is all up to us. Live in hope and don’t ever, never give into fear or defeat.

Being a believer in Jesus Christ is the BEST and HIGHEST life on this planet. We are so richly blessed to be chosen. Walk like the son and daughter you are and bring heaven to earth.

This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you— because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the Lord, you will be clean from all your sins. – Leviticus 16:29

Shalom, Lynn

Gang,

I'm in a season of learning about blessing. I've taught about the power of blessing my book, Marching Around Jericho. But in this season the Lord is further instructing me to pray and bless this way:

Bless in the opposite spirit.

What this looks like is this. Whatever is coming at you. Ask this question, "Jesus, what is this?"

Listen to his response or sense what is going on or what kind of spirit is operating around you. If it's from the demonic realm, then release your voice and bless in the opposite.

For example: You are in conflict with your husband and in the middle of an argument. Begin to bless in the opposite. I bless my husband with peace. I bless my home with the Shalom of heaven. I bless our marriage, conversation and relationship with a spirit of unity and cooperation.

Okay, What do you think. How would you bless (pray) if you walked into the market and there was bickering going on with the employees and customers?

See you in the comments. Hugs, Lynn