God is our:
Cascading Falls
White Rapids
Steady Eddies
Powerful Currents
Calm Waters
Standing Pools
Dripping Rocks
Gentle Mist
Saturating Streams
We are:
Smooth Stone
Jagged Rocks
Blooming Flower
Broken Branches
Sandy Bottoms
Strong Trees
Outstretched Roots
Green Leaves
New Life
The Jews answered him, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me. Yet I do not seek my own glory; there is One who seeks it, and he is the judge. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon! Abraham died, as did the prophets, yet you say, ‘If anyone keeps my word, he will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? And the prophets died! Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.’ But you have not known him. I know him. If I were to say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you, but I do know him and I keep his word. Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
John 8:48-59
Our days are so consumed by the world we live in, each day living for its own glory. We see the idols of our lives pinned up as the things we strive for glory in, whether it be our jobs, knowledge, families, sports teams, celebrities, relationships, or social status; you name it, we are good at making idols everywhere we go, living for our own glory and comfort. We become easily blinded and distracted by the shiny things of life and tend to cling to those before seeking the glory and truth of God. Life can easily be caught up in the ideals of the world, but Jesus calls us straight outta that. Jesus makes this clear and plain to us in the section of John 8, that we will dissect and explore from above.
When we look at the Pharisees speaking to Jesus in John 8:48-59, we see that they are still so caught up in their own knowledge and glory, they can’t perceive that, Jesus, the Son of God is standing right in front of them. Their hearts and minds currently belong to the Enemy. They are blinded by their ideals, knowledge, glory, and personal righteousness. They are blinded by the Enemy, the king of this world. They can’t see past themselves or their way of thinking to realize Jesus is for real, and came to save them too. What they think, their beliefs, are held more important than what Jesus has been doing since He began His ministry. They are so dead set on belittling Jesus that they call Him a Samaritan with a demon, which beyond just saying He has a demon. Being called a Samaritan, was a derogatory term at the time. The insult similar to saying someone wasn’t of pure blood, so basically they said He’s a tainted Jew, less than. He was considered less than them, the Pharisees; as if somehow belittling Jesus would make Him small. Jesus comes right back saying He is of the Father, living for His glory, and here to redeem all people of their sin, self righteousness, and personal glory. He tells them word for word that they can choose eternal life by accepting Him, because by accepting Him, they put their faith in God. Yet the Pharisees continue to dishonor Him, after He rebukes them. They try to throw the bible at Jesus, by saying Abraham is greater than him and so are the other prophets because of all they have said and done. They believe these people are the truth and they are greater than Jesus. They have held these amazing men of God as idols of the faith! The Pharisees haven’t been looking at God, only the men who have carried the words of Truth. They have held up these Godly men of the old testament as greater than God, because they speak of God. They have been operating out of their own righteousness and glory believing they know best because of what they have learned. The Pharisees weren’t interested in someone coming in and stealing their thunder. They were not looking for a relational God, but rather to be right and know whats best of others under the guise that it all comes from God.
Jesus rebukes them again, saying He is not living for His glory, because that holds no eternal value or weight. He says His glory comes from the Father, not from Him, and calls the Pharisees out on not knowing God. He says that His Father is the God they keep speaking of, yet they do not know Him, because if they did, they would know who Jesus is. Jesus goes as far to say that if He renounced God, and said that He was not of God, sent by Him, that He would be a liar. That is the kind of liar the Pharisees are, their actions are as bad a if Jesus denied the heavenly Father and renounced His faith. Jesus basically picks up His spiritual sword and wields it at their souls, by showing how far they have fallen by making this point. Jesus goes on to further point to His deity by stating that He knows Abraham rejoices at His coming and fulfillment of prophesy as the Son of God, and nothing less. The Pharisees have dug themselves a deep hole, and continue to attempt to make less of Christ. They accuse Him of not being old enough to have ever lived when Abraham did or having any possibility of knowing him. Jesus maintains His composure and patience rebuking them one final time. He states that He is the great I AM, the one who came before all people and stands at the beginning of time before the world was formed. So surely He knows Abraham and all that he is and what he believed. To the Pharisees this was the final straw, they couldn’t believe that Jesus would claim to be I AM, God of the universe. The Pharisees were so blinded by the world, that no matter what Jesus said, they couldn’t recognize the Truth. So instead they became angry and tried to stone Him.
Jesus leaves the scene avoiding being stoned to death by the angry group. Jesus LEFT THEM, He up and peaced out. This is HUGE, Jesus after rebuking them three times, and revealing Truth to them finally walks away knowing they were too blind. The Pharisees had given themselves over to the kingdom of the world, Satan’s kingdom. They were no longer children of God, and had already accepted the world Satan had put in front of them. Jesus could perform a miracle and just change their minds, but that isn’t Him, we are free to choose Him if we want Him and His kingdom.
We have to choose Christ daily by picking up our crosses and walking the road of Cavalry just like He did. Otherwise we risk becoming like the Pharisees, who are more interested in the comforts of the world, their doctrine based religion, personal righteousness, and general glory of self. Satan’s job is to distract us with the desires of our heart which can be fulfilled in the here and now. He knows we want it easy, simple, satisfying, and self glorifying and Satan will sneak in and distract us with just about anything that strikes our fancy. BUT if we make Christ the greatest desire of our heart, pick up our cross, walk with Him daily, take the hard path less traveled, then we glorify our heavenly Father. We bring glory to His kingdom and inherit His eternal riches as God’s sons and daughters. We are co-heirs with Christ, but first we must lay down our idols, comfort, glory, righteousness, pride, desires, and anything that does not align with the heart of Christ. God desires to commune with each of us for eternity, but we have to choose Him and His desires for our lives daily. We must come under His reign and shine in His glory so others have an opportunity to see the beauty of His kingdom. We must become self forgetful, and realize that God has the greatest plans for us, which ultimately glorify Him, and allow for more people to see Him for who He is. Our God, the steadfast, loving, trustworthy, good, eternal Father that He is. We must look upward and forward daily for direction and realize that the only life worth living is the one that let’s go of our glory, which dies in the grave. Instead we must grasp onto the glory of God, which He desires to shine through us, which is eternal.
For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
2 Corinthians 1:20-22
Father God I pray over our Church, our intimate circle of believers, and each close friend, that we seek You with our whole self, hiding nothing, and without distraction. Father keep our focus in this time of trial, upward, looking forward, with the clarity of Your eyes. Give us each a heart of discernment to know what is good, right, and true. Strip fear and worry, from any person overcome by it, for it has no place in Your presence. Fill each of us with Your peace, wisdom, and steadfast presence. Help each of us walk like Your Son, Jesus Christ, so we are lighting the way with the hope and strength of Your Heavenly Kingdom. Do not let us stray from Your voice, and Your continual guidance. May we hear clearly and act upon Your will for our community. May we grow deeper roots of faith, knowing You do not take risks, because You know all and see all. You are our great provider and comforter, so remind us to put our trust in You, that we grasp Your outstretched hand, walking with You each day. May we choose to actively pick up our cross and bear it daily for Your glory.
In Jesus Name, Amen
Father God we ask that you bring strength and continuity to our lives with each day. Help us to only look forward and never back. Allow our hearts to be filled by Your wisdom and vision for our lives and the community around us. God we come to You with desperate hearts, understanding that we can not walk forward without You. Our vision is limited and finite, our understanding short sited and shallow, our physical strength is of a child and only strong with Your hand. God, You are true, mighty, majesty, with glory among the Heavens we do not understand. Father help remind us to not waste our lives looking at our present life with our eyes and our understanding. We long to bear a life that bears the image of You, but we are so small, so weak, we need You as our constant reminder of what this life really is. Do not let us be blinded by our lives and what lives in front of us, because that is dead, and passes away. We forget that these distractions are truly death, but You are life, You are righteous, eternal, and Holy. Our lives may pass here but, with You they go forward. Holy Spirit be our guide, light our physical and spiritual eyes each day so we may see and act in a manner worthy of the glory of our King. Jesus be a steady reminder of what an honoring, timeless, righteous life truly looks like. Jesus we long to know You and how You love so well, serve so well, and stand firm in all of the promises of our Father. Help us be like You, and continue as parts of the body. Bring harmony to our lives as a body of ONE, united with You helping along the plans of the Father. No matter where each of us stand, Father God, remind us that what we physically see is fleeting, but with You there is eternity, and that is how we should live. Remind us of Your promises over Your people, and of our purpose. You are always greater, stronger, and steadfast, so thank you. Thank you for being patient, kind and loving every day. Thank you for your Son, and the Spirit within us, even when we are blind, we are grateful. Thank you for shepherding us, despite our sin and shortcomings.
~ In Jesus Name Amen ~
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:19-25
Jesus always sought communion with our Father throughout His life and ministry. He is the example and epitome of what seeking the Kingdom and communing with the Father looks like. One of His gifts to us is the ability to come to a Holy, secret place with the Father whenever we choose. Out of this space we seek with the Father, we will operate out of Divine overflow, with genuine sincerity, clarity, and encouragement towards others. Jesus is seen throughout the New Testament retreating to God’s presence before or after large decisions and actions. He always looks to be guided and filled up by God, even though He is God. A challenge to us is, although Jesus is fully God and fully man as one, He still NEEDED to get with the Father to find center in His earthly life and ministry, so who are we to think we don’t need to regularly retreat to God’s presence for the same thing. We need God even more so, because we are not Divine, we are just human, and more importantly Jesus knew that we needed access to God, therefore He became that intermediary for us. We are in complete reliance on God for our redemption, yet somehow, many times we treat our lives as if we know what is best, by busying ourselves, and complicating our days. Jesus as fully man did neither, He was intentional and simple with how He lived and taught. There was one clear and true vision for His life, that was to look clearly and steadily at God to lead His life on earth, and serve Him well. So that is what we are to do in the midst of any and all circumstance and not allow our sinful bodies to busy our minds and distract us from a righteous path. Jesus never looks back on the past fretting over things that have happened, or is found busily running around trying to ‘fix’ or ‘manage’ things of the present or future. He is steady in His approach to life, feeling fully, the emotional spectrum of humanity, knowing His purpose, and yet He is steady in His focus on God no matter what the day brings. So what does that look like? We will walk through places where Jesus sought solitude to find simplicity with God in His ministry.
Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.
Ecclesiastes 5:1-2
The enemy wants to keep you out of the presence of God and our battle is to seek freedom through simplicity in our lives. The enemy will tempt you into toiling away at all of these distractions and you end up sacrificing time and emotion to things outside of your purpose and control. The past is in the past, let go of it. Present struggles are temporary, and God is greater than those too. The greatest question posed to me lately is, where are my eyes? Busyness and worry of life fade when I look at the Father, realizing He just asks me to sit still and see, that if I’m looking at Him and walking side by side, then everything is taken care of. The busyness of life fades in completion; all those struggles with all of those people and situations fade because He is sovereign over it, greater than my toiling. God is simple with us, asking us to seek first the Kingdom of God in everything. In doing that we are able to un-complicate the choices we make and this allows us to put our focus in the right place.
Solitude allows us the space and clarity to hear the Father’s voice and gain trust, understanding, and guidance. When we look at Jesus, He continually kept His life simple by retreating to solitude with the Father to find strength (Matt 4:1-11) knowledge (Luke 6:12), softening of His heart (Matt 14:13), restoration (Matt 14:23 Mark 6:31), renewed humility (Luke 5:16) hear/see God (Matt 17:1-9), and clarity/obedience (Matt 26:36-46). He did this many times after tragedy, after miracles, before facing trial, before making large decisions etc. Jesus prioritized solitude with the Father regularly in His ministry in order to align His heart with Him. Simplicity in our lives comes with one single move which is to allow Him Lord over our lives.
Strength
In Matthew 4:1-11, Jesus finds strength in the Lord when He is led by the Spirit to the wilderness for 40 days to then be tempted by Satan at the end of those 40 days. Jesus sought communion with the Father during that time in order to sustain Him as He fasted in the wilderness alone. Without the Father sustaining His every fiber, Jesus human body would not have had the strength to withstand that time. He would have completely fallen apart as a human and needed to rely on God to sustain Him and see Him to the other side of that 40 days and leave victorious over Satan walking away physically and spiritually full.
Knowledge
In Luke 6:12, Jesus is at the point in His ministry where He is ready to choose His apostles. Instead of relying on His own Divine nature to choose them, He understands the importance of the choices He will make and that they are to be appointed by the Father. Each of those people would be pivotal to the spread of early Christianity. Jesus sought out solitude on a mountain to pray over each person He was to choose and hear God’s voice to confirm each person chosen as an apostle.
Softening of the Heart
In Matthew 14:13 Jesus receives the news of John the Baptists death from His apostles and immediately retreats to a boat by Himself to sit in the presence of God. He is fully human and feels the well of emotions of losing such a person in His life, which is very painful. He seeks God’s presence knowing God will soften His heart not allowing it to harden against people, and in that space God is able to comfort Him and heal Him so He is able to go back out and continue to serve without the crippling pain of loss. Immediately after the news, and seeking solitude, He ended up feeding the five thousand.
Restoration and Recovery
In Matthew 14:23 Jesus has just fed the five thousand and seeks out solitude with God once again so He could sit in prayer and find restoration and recovery for His heart and His strength. He sends His disciples ahead on the boat, and He went up to the mountain again to sit and soak. He knows He needs this time so He can center Himself again and be filled.
Renewed Humility
In Luke 5:16 Jesus is approached by a sick man, with leprosy, and is begged to heal him. Jesus of course heals the man and encourages him to tell no one but instead to go to the priest and make an offering for his cleansing. Of course many people hear about the miraculous healing and find Jesus, gathering to be healed by Him. Based on the scripture, it was multiple crowds in multiple places. Instead of bolstering Himself on each occasion and making a scene, He retreats to a solitary place to pray each time. Jesus could have easily healed everyone on every occasion. That would not have been out of a place of humility, seems like something we would do if we had the opportunity. Instead He sought God’s will and found renewed humility each time He was confronted with healing large crowds. Jesus was more interested in God’s will for His interaction with people than He was with healing them. WOW.
Hearing and Seeing the Lord
In Matthew 17:1-9 Jesus brings three of His disciples up to a high mountain to be so they can see and hear God in all His glory. Jesus reveals Himself physically, as Divine to them on top of a mountain. He allows them to see who He is, as well as see an interaction with Elijah and Moses upon the mountain. During this interaction God the Father speaks to them and the disciples fall to their faces frightened by the presence, and Jesus reassures them that it is okay. Here we have a full view of what solitude on our ‘mountain’ with God looks like. This is so important! This is the intimacy God desires to have with each of us, so we can know Him.
Clarity and Obedience
In Matthew 26:36-46 Jesus is found in the Garden of Gethsemane before His betrayal and arrest. He knew what was to come, and knew He was to be obedient to God in allowing the arrest and crucifixion to go forward. He also knew how much strength and fortitude it would take to abide in God’s will for His life and death. Jesus prays three times for clarity and to be encouraged in His obedience by the Father. This is MASSIVE, Jesus would have abided either way, but He knew the importance of encouragement and clarity from the Father. He knew He needed that to get past the finish line and truly abide in God, even though He knew full well the outcome, and is also fully Divine. Even with all of Jesus’ knowledge and Divinity, He NEEDED God. He NEEDED HIS ENCOURAGEMENT and GUIDANCE.
Suffice to say these are all amazing examples to us of how Jesus sought time with the Father. God is here to restore us to His vision for our lives if we choose to sit with Him. Jesus could not have completed His ministry and been our sinless Savior without it. He would not be the model for our lives if He didn’t seek communion with God regularly for a complete filling of His soul. Jesus as fully human and fully divine shows us how desperately we need God as Father and Lord over our lives, to walk a simple walk, uncomplicated, with clear lines of what we are to be doing and how we are supposed to do it. He desires our whole heart and eyes to be set on Him, only then can we walk freely with no chains. Jesus gave us that, so lets go. Walk in freedom friends.
Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, “Sit here, while I go over there and pray.” And taking with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. So, leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.”
Matthew 26:36-46
Holy Spirit bring peace to our hearts and make known to us the will of our Father in each of our lives. Enlighten each of us to the mysteries of God so we may come to know and act upon our unique callings. Stitch our souls with divine thread allowing each of us to heal completely so we may invest in others completely with abandon. Immerse us in the love of Christ each day so we may love others like Him. Spirit of God rest upon us and guide us, bring to us vision and conviction to go forward with a bold heart. May we work in tune with You, creating harmony which can only be described as Divine. Spirit, You know us each so well and spend every minute with us, so remind us who we are when we forget. Challenge us, change us, and help us each live bold beautiful lives. Remind us daily to live in a radically Kingdom glorifying way, unafraid.
In Jesus Name ~ Amen
“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the just.”
Luke 14:12-14
Everyone has a seat at the eternal table with the Father. The greatest questions posed to me by the Holy Spirit are intense. Do we choose to sit at the table on a daily basis and encourage others to join? Are we encouraging to have them stay and join each of us every day? What does our familial kitchen table with God look like in our lives and how many sit with us? Who is still sitting in the cold we haven’t reached? Jesus says go and make disciples, that is the largest calling on each of our lives. God calls each of us uniquely to fulfill that call to cultivate new believers as well as spur on believers to go forth in faith. We each have a place at the table of the Father, and it is our duty to help others see their eternal place there as well. We are God’s hands and feet, and our job is to pull people in from the cold and invite them into the glorious mystery, and warm love of God who fills our lives.
God created each of us uniquely and individually with gifts, passions, and vision in order to fulfill Jesus’ great commission of reaching as many souls as we can. Our life long pursuit is a pursuit of relationship with God and relationship with people. God first, people second, is very important to remember. Without God being our main priority, then there’s no way we can reach people with the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit within us. In order to understand who Jesus is and how He walked when He was on this earth, we have to know Him to emulate Him and activate the Holy Spirit in our lives. Jesus set the stage for the way we can live and the things we can do. We are at a huge advantage because He left us with His Spirit which allows us direct access to Jesus and the Father. Yet somehow we lose along the line during our day, week, month, year the true vision Jesus set out for our lives.
Identifying your passions, skills, and positive qualities to serve the kingdom is vital in then being able to see where God wants to use, grow, or change them to reach the people you are surrounded by each day. We are called to ministry wherever we are, church, work, school, social circles, activities, and even very specific callings of ministry. There is no one way that ministry is cultivated in our lives each day. We are to live a life of daily mission, looking to operate from an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the people around us. Jesus surrendered His privileges of comfort and God-nature to live in complete surrender to the Father’s will for His life. He is the image of living on mission, and shows us how to become empty of ourselves and dependent on God; then the Holy Spirit can use us.
“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him. For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.”
Isaiah 51:1-3
So, we as a Holy people, are meant to reach others without judgement with an open hand and invite them into relationship with God. We are to show that no matter who they’ve been or what they’ve done in their lives, that Jesus gave all so they could be washed clean of every iniquity. We aren’t to pass judgement or think of ourselves as higher than others but rather lower oursleves to the lowest and get on our knees and show others the path we’ve walked to get to God’s table. None of us got to the banquet table of God by being high and mighty, rather we accepted the tragic status of our sinful souls and recognized we need God’s grace and mercy. I think we forget that on the day to day and try to raise ourselves above others at times, when in reality, we are all residing in gross sinful bodies and have to constantly pursue a washing of our souls by the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. We have to allow ourselves to be constantly convicted by the Spirit so that we are constantly brought back down to a reality of understanding where we stand. The only reason we have the joy and understanding of relationship and communiion at God’s table is because of His ever flowing grace. We never earned it, so we need to be careful of thinking we are better or cleaner than others because of something we did. God’s dinner table is for everyone of every status and walk of life; our job is to see that we stay on our knees serving our God who wants us to reach the messiest of souls. Giving up our feelings and status so people can understand the humility we try to walk in, is the only way we can reach others, a complete walk of humility and bareness of our soul. Then individuals can see and understand how God sustains each of us every day. Jesus wants everyone at the table with Him, but people need to see Him as the host, not us. Let Him shine, and lower yourself, and let someone see who sustains you. Maybe then they will see Jesus can sustain them too.
I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Corinthians 1:4-9
Lead me, hold me, show me the way.
Transform my heart, fill my soul.
Heal my darkness, shine your light.
Love me, like You do.
Steadfast and true.
Hold my hand.
Only You.
Grace.
.
Let’s look at letting go of our emotions, sounds insane, maybe, but really if you could operate your life out of emotional sobriety, imagine all you would do. God is our sober partner in life and because of the Holy Spirit living within us, we have access to God’s immeasurable steadfast sober minded guidance and grace. Life can look like a tornado of emotions that runs around ravaging the world around us, making rash decisions or otherwise muddied choices not rooted in Truth. Life’s emotions can also have a toilet bowl effect on our mind, a negative downward spiral that we can’t seem to stop no matter what we do. These are two ways that our emotions can take control of our life and swing the spectrum of feelings about a situation or person to an extreme. One way is inward and suffocating like you can’t escape your mind and the other is outward towards the world making hash of the things around you, either way, neither is a healthy place to be, and not how God intended us to live. Now take your season of life, look at it, and see where emotions got in the way of walking in God’s will and made you operate out of frustration, anger, confusion, sadness, depression, anxiety, addiction, or generally irrational behavior. If your emotions have kept you from operating out of sobering, yet quietly confident truth, no matter what the situation is, then you’ve given them too much power, and Satan has entered the scene twisting your world. The worst part about this, is Satan has now completely muddied your spiritual eyes, seeing God’s will and, operating under His guidance has become impossible. Then you are left to rely on yourself to handle whatever mess you are currently sitting in…
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-20
Paul calls us to humble ourselves before the Father and kneel before Him, why? We kneel in humility to show our acceptance of needing our Heavenly Father, so we surrender and let go of ourselves, and in turn, the Father can speak into the depth of depravity in our souls. We have to empty our hearts before Him, empty ourselves, of ourselves so we can be filled with Him. If we are not filled with God in our hearts and minds then we allow the world to wreak havoc, because the only impenetrable thing about us is the Holy Spirit in us. Satan can twist your heart and your mind to think all kinds of messy things that don’t really line up in your mind or your heart. When God is filling your life and you are pressing into the Holy Spirit through a quiet humble spirit, then you can find peace and clarity over every circumstance. Then you will find rest for your soul, and your sea of emotions is calmed to an idyllic water where God is waiting to speak into your life.
Paul is also writing here about the strength we are freely given by God at all times, especially when we look at Him in the middle of our mess. With this strength we are rooted and grounded in love, a perfect love, the perfection of Christ’s life and love for us. So instead of tapping into our own knowledge and strength to solve our problems, we are meant to put faith in something greater than ourselves, our Lord God, the unwavering standard of truth. When we turn from ourselves, thoughts, emotions, and usual way of thinking and instead press into what God is speaking into our lives through scripture, prayer, and Godly advice from other believers, we can immediately do a 180 degree turn on our inner turmoil.
The greatest fight in our lives is the unseen spiritual war that goes on in the heavenly realm. We may not be able to see spirits, demons, or Satan, but you better believe they are at work in your life trying to distract you from the life you were made for. If you’ve ever felt constantly on edge, angry all the time, easily upset, bitter towards another person, or otherwise overly negative about an aspect in your life, there’s something unseen at work, and its not just some emotional rut. Satan’s job is to come and steal your life from you, especially your eternal one, and he’s darn good at it. Satan is sneaky and generally diligent in trying to make your life get derailed in some way shape, or form. Any way he can, he will separate you from living a beautiful fruitful life, living for our Heavenly King. The enemy plans to scheme against you, assault your emotional spectrum, come after your family and relationships. He plays dirty and that stops right here if you are committed to telling the enemy to take a hike and let God reclaim your life, but that is your choice. You must actively choose to FIGHT for your serenity and clarity; Jesus life and death made you a VICTOR over Satan, so live as one.
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
Ephesians 4:25-32
Diving into scripture and living a life of prayer is your greatest and most powerful weapon against any and all attacks against you in your life. Scripture is the pillar of Truth in which you can rely on God to show you if you are walking upright in Spirit. Prayer brings Heaven down to earth and allows you to partner with God in His plans for your life. Prayer is a two way communication line between you and Him. Prayer stands as a great weapon against the enemy, because you have the power and authority, through Jesus name, to cast out any and all spirits oppressing you or people you know. Your greatest tools in regaining control over your emotions and health of your soul is time in prayer and scripture.
One very important model of prayer is always operating out of a constant state of forgiveness to those around you. If we operate our lives in unforgiveness we do two things, one, allow Satan in the door to stir our pot, two, God allows this because we are basically saying we are a better judge than God, even though God already forgave each and every one of us for everything we could ever do through Jesus Christ. So if you choose to hold resentment towards a person or situation you open yourself to attack from Satan at all corners. How do you stop it? Repent. Ask for forgiveness, and forgive whomever it involves in front of the Lord your God. That literally slams the door in Satan’s face, and if those feelings come up again and Satan comes knocking at your door, you can openly rebuke him and tell him you are forgiven and you have forgiven.
Another place we must utilize our prayer life is repentance for sins. If we outwardly sin on purpose towards anyone or any situation, then repentance is a must. We must come before the Father with all humility and ask for Him to forgive us and change our hearts. Otherwise once again, we leave the door unlocked to the enemy so he can come in and have his way with our inner spiritual life. Your emotional waters will be stirred and muddied by him and clarity is gone. God wants to heal those ugly places in your heart, but we have to reach out to Him so we can fully understand how He is at work. God is at work in your ugliest places, but you have to come to a place where you want to humble yourself enough to meet Him and accept the gift of Christ that was freely given. Jesus came and died so you could live, and living to the fullest requires God healing all the places we have messed up our hearts and souls.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints
Ephesians 6:10-18
Pray to God for all of the things He has ever put on your heart, for all He has ever set you out to do. You are a victor in this unseen war, so deploy your greatest weapons, scripture and prayer. The enemy can’t read your mind, can’t be all places, has already lost, and hoping to just drag people down with him at the end of the day. So literally call out the enemy (must say it out loud) and tell him he has no place in your life, and nor does anyone that does his dirty work. Reclaim your life, put on the armor of the Holy Spirit, which God has freely given to you. Avoid worldly temptation and trends, walk an upright path, and find your peace in a Heavenly Father who wants to see you do GREAT things with Him in this life and in the next. If you just don’t know where to start or life just feels too hard, get in community, seek out wise counsel who will pray with you and speak over your life. You were created to operate out of the gifts of the Spirit, with the same access to Heaven as Jesus, but you have to actively seek it out. You are created for more than what your physical body can do; walking in step with the Spirit gives us supernatural love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and faithfulness. So, step out of your own strength, let go of your control, and your emotions. Let God bring an eternal wisdom to your life and let it overflow into the world around you. Emotions are created to be felt to the fullest and filtered through the wisdom of God. He created us to be able to completely feel the world around us, bring it back to Him, sit with Him in it, and then walk back out to the world with His vision of what to do with it. It is a daily walk my friends, but a doable one, so let go of you, and say yes to the Father’s calling of let’s go.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who doe such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galations 5:16-25
Letting go of your life and saying yes to God’s plans for you, starts with becoming a reflection of Him in your life. The real question is what is actually a reflection? Because I’m pretty sure we are all good at fake it till you make it and try to do everything ourselves and make it look like God has been working in you. In reality you’ve gotten to the end of yourself at some point and you are left with a burden too heavy to bear. Instead of operating out of the overflow of the Holy Spirit within you, you’ve been striving to be God in some way or area in your life and then you realize you haven’t been a reflection at all, but instead trying to do His work… In reality God does the work and we just say yes and are present for it, following where He leads. So, what is truly a reflection of God when we look at our lives? I’m still figuring that out, but I will share what I know about reflections and the funny picture they give us. But first, we have to let go of something, or what may feel like everything.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light.
Ephesians 5:1-14
First thing to remember is reflections shine light. In order to be God’s reflection in your life you have to lay down things of the dark, any and all sin that you actively participate in as well as any lies you tell yourself about your life. In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians above he’s addressing just a small handful of sin, but sin that I would say most people get caught up in the most often. The part I want to focus on really lies in being imitators of God, walking in love, and allowing ourselves to step into the light so God can pull the darkness from our backs. God wants to relieve you of the fake image you hold up of yourself to the world, and show Himself through you and then by extension let the world see who you were really created to be.
So lets talk about reflections in the most basic sense, because a good analogy goes a long way. I’ll start off by saying that to be the Father’s reflection, we must reflect Jesus, because Jesus reflected the heart of the Father perfectly. (Hebrews 1:3) Now we have the Holy Spirit within us to guide our souls and shape us in the image of Christ, so spiritually we want to reflect the image of Christ. Here’s a few dictionary definitions of reflection and being reflective….enjoy.
Reflection:
The throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it.
Serious thought or consideration which increases self awareness which allows us to develop better understanding.
Reflective:
Relating to or characterized by deep thought; thoughtful. Looking inward.
Reflective listening is hearing, understanding, and letting the other know the he is understood. Requires responding actively to another while keeping your attention solely focused on the speaker. Active listening requires listening with all 5 senses.
Reflect Synonyms:
echo, follow, mirror, copy, emulate, imitate, resonate, shine, give forth
Those are just a few ways to look at the definitions of reflect, reflection and reflective. We will start with the first definition of reflection of bouncing light back without absorbing it. The word I want you to see here is that we are NOT MEANT TO ABSORB OR CARRY WEIGHT, only allow God’s plans and works to ‘bounce’ off of us and operate outwardly to the world around us. Second definition relates to reflection being a deep inward self awareness to develop a better understanding. God desires us to reflect inwardly to see Him and how He is working in us, and is shining light on all of our dark places. God helps us meditate on those ugly parts of our souls and will change them if we come to Him with reflective listening. Reflective listening is shown here by hearing, understanding, and letting the other know HE IS UNDERSTOOD. Active reflective listening to God is a TWO WAY street, also known as some good old listening prayer. God needs you to speak to Him about those places that need to be brought to the light. And He will focus all His attention on you while you speak, but He also requires that you focus on Him with your complete attention. This definition actually says that active listening requires using all five senses. God comes to us and speaks to us through all five senses, so your complete and total attention is vital to reflective listening with Him.
We now know what reflections by the dictionary standards are defined as, now on to mirrors and being light. We are called to be a mirror image of Christ and operate in the Light.
Mirrors:
Only smooth surfaces can reflect because rough surfaces scatter light. Light reflects from the surface at the same angle as it hits the surface.
Light:
Light is invisible until it bounces off of something and hits our eyes.
Mirror Image:
A mirror image is a light print of you, not a reflection of you from the mirrors perspective.
Mirrors are smooth for a reason, because they can’t reflect a perfect image without being smooth. The challenge is that we need to let God smooth out our rough edges instead of trying to cover them up with our own image we impart to the world. We can’t cover up our ugly, it always comes back, Satan’s a sneaky jerk that way. He’ll take your worst parts and keep bringing them to the surface no matter how deep you bury them. But God can heal those places, change those places, shine light on them with His own image and burn away the bad, so you shine the good. Melts that mirror and quiets that raging river to a tranquil place where only He can be seen. We can only reflect light when He is at work, because light is only reflected at the same angle as it hits the surface. God, you, then the world sees it, if you aren’t operating at the same angle as God, His image won’t be bouncing off you outwardly to the world. Light is also invisible in the dark, and reflections don’t exist in the dark, thats why God doesn’t live in the dark. We would never see Him, we only see Satan there. The ugliest darkest places of your heart, is where Satan is chilling hoping you will operate out of, because its easy, comfortable, and readily available. Satan tempts us with what is easy and usually ugly, but packaged as a beautiful bow. He distorts the view and creeps in until we are somewhere we didn’t want to be. Well God isn’t that way, God may bring initial pain, or something may seem impossible, but God wants to shine light on it, burning away the darkness. Burning hurts, but guess what it heals with growing something fresh and new. That old ugly, is gone, but first you may be presented with something hard.
So God brings light and bounces it off our eyes and we have to choose to look at it. Then we have to choose to do something with whatever we see, good or bad. That’s where God is at His best work, when we say YES to responding to Him in what He’s showing us. He wants to bring you to a place where you can be His mirror image. First we are usually seeing us as a mess in that mirror, whatever Satan’s flavor of the day is. A mirror image is a light print of you, not a reflection of you from the mirrors perspective. LET ME REPEAT THAT AGAIN. You ARE NOT a reflection from the mirrors current perspective, aka Satan’s uglies that He tells you and somehow identify with. A mirror image is a light print which is like looking at the bottom of a stamp and seeing that it is backwards and not understanding the full picture, it is distorted. In reality it is just our perspective, not God’s, and it just hasn’t been stamped on paper yet. We just don’t see God’s reality, His stamp, His print, us living in the light of Jesus blood on the page. WE ARE A LIGHT PRINT OF GOD, stamped with the redemptive blood of Jesus Christ, not Satan’s ugly reflection of you that he shows you in the mirror.
I’ll close with this, be the Father’s reflection. Do not strive to run ahead making your own path, because that is not where God is. When we run ahead we blur His reflection, and then we can’t truly see Him, just some messy version of ourselves we try to clean up when we slow down enough to look. You also can’t go dumping weight on that reflection, like throwing rocks in the water or at the mirror. We aren’t to carry the weight of God’s mission and calling He has on our lives. When we pick up ‘rocks’ we get weighed down and once again mess up our view of God and start to become tired looking for Him and only seeing ourselves. Then we prop ourselves up on our own strength and try to cover up our shortcomings and tend to revert to our sinful nature. We can’t help it, because we weren’t created to carry the burden of our identity, life, and future, and when we do, we self sooth with some ugly lies and ideas. Don’t distort your view of the Father by running ahead or carrying the weight of your identity. Just reflect Him, that is enough; it was enough for Jesus, and look at the life He lived, total badass. He died so we would have the same opportunity to shine for a Heavenly Kingdom, even when we screw it up. So shine on, reflect God, and be a light print. That was enough for Jesus, so it is enough for you too. He didn’t put His worth, value, or identity anywhere else.
Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:1-6
Faithful & Fruitful 