Surrender

Do You Love Me?

Abide

Lately, everywhere I turn, I hear Jesus asking, “Do you really love me?” In passage after passage he says, “If you love me, you will obey my commandments.” John 14:15

“If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love…This is My commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you…You are My friends if you do what I command you.” (John 15: 10, 12, 14)

“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock…” (Matthew 7:24)

I sing about what a friend I have in Jesus, but do I truly obey him? Do I love my neighbor as myself?  As a demonstration of what it means to love your neighbor, Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan.  When was the last time I gave extensively of my time and resources to help a perfect stranger simply because they needed help?  Honestly, I’m far more likely to be like the priest and the Levite and walk by on the other side of the road, thinking either, “I’m too busy” or, “That person got themselves into the mess they’re in.”

I often act contrary to the leading of the Spirit, thinking to myself, God understands.  He will forgive my weakness this one time.  I even have people around me counsel that it’s OK because “we are saved by grace and not by works.”  But I know that Jesus didn’t save me just so I could go to heaven.  As much as he loves me, he loves the people around me.  If I am a member of the Body of Christ, if he is my Head, then it is up to me to do what he says, to carry out his will and not my own, by serving those around me “that they may see my good works and glorify my Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16.) The Church is not a place I go; it is the Body of Jesus himself, walking around on the earth, doing what he does.

There is a passage that has long been troubling to me.

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:23)

I wondered how someone could be doing these mighty works but not be doing the will of the Father.  The truth is, the one prophesying and driving out demons and performing miracles isn’t the human being at all, but the Holy Spirit working through that person.  Jesus calls them “workers of lawlessness,” in other words, those who disobey the commandments. Jesus doesn’t say, “If you love me, work miracles.”  He says, “If you love me, obey me.”

By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments… By this we know that we are in Him:  Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked. (1 John 2: 3, 6)

This “abiding in him” is spoken of in many places, but here it clearly states what that looks like.  It’s not about going to church, or reading a devotional every morning, or memorizing scripture, or praying a lot, or talking about my faith.  He tells me what it looks like throughout the gospels:

Walk as Jesus walked.  Take up my cross and follow him.  Deny myself.  Lose my life for his sake.  What does this mean for me, today?? Jesus changed the lives of the people around him.  He got up before dawn to spend time with the Father, and then spent the day teaching, healing, delivering, discipling.  There were no wasted moments scrolling through social media or worrying about how he looked. Everything he did and said had purpose and meaning. I’m a long, far cry from walking as he walked. If I confess my sins, he is indeed faithful to forgive me, but I don’t want to continually repeat the cycle of sin > confess > sin > confess.  I want to be his friend, to show my love, to obey the first time, every time.

About a year ago during a time of worship, I had a quiet nudge to take a literal step forward in the place I was standing, as a sign of taking authority over that place for the kingdom of God.  It was a smaller step than Neil Armstrong took on the moon, but it has played a much bigger role in my life.  Because as I took the step, I experienced a sense of myself in Jesus and Him in me that I had never felt before.  It has stayed with me and to this day, I know, I sense, when I am walking in a direction that is NOT where he would go.  Simple things like making a snide remark about a family member, or indulging a “harmless” habit, or keeping the truth to myself out of fear it won’t be accepted or understood.  I can see myself walking away from Jesus with each of these acts.  He’s still there, but I’m not abiding in him.

The solution is simple. I just need to repent, which means to change my mind and my direction.  Instead of walking away on a path of my choosing, I choose to walk toward him in the direction he wants me to go. When I do, I experience far more joy and peace than when I go my own way.

What does it mean to you, to walk as Jesus walked?  What do you find helpful? Tell us in the comments!


The Spirit is Willing

Living water

Hi everyone, Jeanne here.  God’s blessings of peace and joy from sunny, chilly Minnesota, where the leaves are a riot of color in the golden light, but you can see your breath if you’re out before sunrise.  October 2021 might go down in my memory as the month where God started to take me up a notch.  I’ll try to explain, but it will take a bit of context. 

We’ve all heard, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Some may even recall that these were Jesus’ words to Peter, James, and John in the garden of Gethsemane, as Jesus was sweating blood and the disciples were… sleeping.  Apart from the Biblical meaning, the expression is used to describe good intentions thwarted by a lack of self-discipline. But lately, I’m seeing this phrase from another angle.

A few weeks ago in my prayer time, I heard, “Stop talking about healing and start doing it.” Don’t laugh, but my first reaction was, “God? Is that you?” He immediately reminded of the time several years ago when he told me to heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. So yes, this was clearly from God, and furthermore it wasn’t the first time he’d said it to me.  It was around this same time that I got my new perspective on this phrase.  Please bear with me as I share my thought process.

Jesus described the Spirit as rivers of living water flowing from believers. Water takes the path of least resistance, so if I want the Spirit to flow through me (for instance, in order to bring healing to someone) I need to get the obstacles out of the way.  Ideally, I would simply be the empty vessel through which Holy Spirit flows to encounter those around me. I realized that the Holy Spirit is willing to work through me, but my flesh, my unrepentant self, is weak.  

For me, one obvious hindrance to the flow of the Spirit is pride.  When I’m being led to get outside my comfort zone, I immediately wonder: What will someone think of me?  Even as this becomes less of a problem for me, there are many, many more ways that I’m not fully yielded.  When I asked the Lord to show me how I was blocking the flow of life-giving water, he pointed to John 14:15 where Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”  It didn’t take me long to find a whole mess of Jesus’ commandments that I struggle to obey.

  • Turn the other cheek
  • Take up your cross and follow me
  • Love one another as I have loved you
  • Bless those who curse you
  • Forgive as you have been forgiven
  • Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength
  • Let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no
  • Love your enemies
  • Give to the one who asks you
  • Be perfect as your Father is perfect
  • Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
  • Watch and pray
  • Do not judge
  • Do not worry about tomorrow
  • Do not be afraid

I could go on and on, but you get the point.  Don’t get the wrong idea; there was no condemnation in this revelation of how incredibly short I fall.  Jesus isn’t beating me up; he’s just answering my question.   I don’t have to be perfect for the Spirit to use me.  Coming to grips with the true weakness of my flesh is a good thing!

 My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

Knowing how weak I am in my flesh helps me to both appreciate and to rely on the grace God has deposited in my spirit.  I don’t have to summon up the courage to reach out. I don’t need to manufacture the power to heal. It’s not even my job to fashion the right words to pray for someone.  I believe Holy Spirit will work powerfully as I yield, and he is able to do far more than I could even imagine.  I’ve always loved the Dwight L. Moody quote, “The world has yet to see what God can do with someone who is fully consecrated to him.”  To that I reply, “The flesh is weak, but the Spirit is willing!

Somehow this process of re-learning what is my responsibility and what is God’s has brought me great hope for the coming season.  I’m not sure I’ve conveyed it well, but I’ll pray that the Spirit fills in the gaps I’ve left.  Please, share your thoughts in the comments.

               Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.  (John 7:37-39)


We NEED This Hammer and Nail. A MUST READ!

Hammer and NailKingdom Warriors, we have been talking about the Kingdom lifestyle here for a number of weeks. Previously, we have covered the Kingdom structure, our book of destiny, and assignments, how the devil steals our blessings, the angels and more. From here my posts are likely to be a bit more sporadic, as far as various topics, about the Kingdom of Yahwey. I’m going to write like I have for the past 15 years. And that is this: What God is teaching me; I’m going to share with you.

Also, one of my sister’s in arms, Martha Bush, is joining the team and will contribute to the conversations a few times a month. She is on the Jericho journey right now and has a lot to share about how she is walking through the journey and how fantastic it has been. So watch for her a few Thursday’s a month.

Today, I want to talk about a nail and a hammer.

Yep, today’s topic is one of those that isn’t an exciting and life-changing moment in the realm of glory. It’s a tedious and all out difficult and necessary components of growing into mature and powerful sons and daughters of God.

It’s surrender. It’s quick obedience. It’s truly letting go of what you “think” is absolutely necessary for your happiness.

Ahem, THAT is where I’m living right now. In the past year I have lived through some tremendous losses. At least that’s how I perceived this past season. But, our God is soooo good, so kind, what was actually happening was His revealing of several hidden idols that lurked in my spirit and soul.

I’m going to be vulnerable and share the real deal here. In the past 12 months, my husband and I lived without an income for six months. Also, I literally thought I was going to die in November of 2019. Furthermore, a number of other truly wrenching things occurred. During that time, I came to realize that in my heart I was looking to finances as a safety net. Everything in the last 12 months has been about removing the idol of Mammon (That’s money).

Ugh!

Mammon /ˈmæmən/ in the New Testament of the Bible is commonly thought to mean money, material wealth, or any entity that promises wealth, and is associated with the greedy pursuit of gain. ... Mammon in Hebrew (ממון) means "money".

So, this past year I’ve taken my “false” security of financial security and nailed that thing to the cross with a big ‘ole hammer. I’ve crucified my pride over my credit report, which remained undamaged through all of this, but I sure learned I held that silly number in high esteem. I thought I was going to die at one point, go bankrupt and destroy my credit rating. And for a former banker, this scenario rested upon my soul as, horrible.

Boy howdy, I had to learn what real trust was all about.

The interesting thing about this past season is I didn’t know these things were in me. I didn’t understand I put my faith in a false god to take care of me.

One day, the Lord revealed all of it. ALL OF IT. Well at least I hope that’s all of it. AND ONCE AGAIN I slogged off to the cross with true and humble repentance in my heart and upon my lips, and I nailed all of these false sense of securities to the cross of Jesus Christ.

IT IS FINISHED.

I honestly emerged from this with a new trust in my Lord. It doesn’t matter if the whole world burns down, which in our current social climate, it might. It doesn’t matter because if God says He will take care of me, His child. HE WILL! I hear Him so much better now. I won’t make a decision without Him. I talk to Him all day long. It’s thrilling. Amazing!

So, my fellow sojourners who are traveling toward heaven with me, what needs a nail and a hammer? I’ll slog with you to the cross and together we will bow and allow the cleansing blood of our Savior set us straight and heal our every wound and wash away every lie of the deceiver.

I’ll pray with you about your nail and hammer. Let me know in the comments. I love you, Lynn