What is God Doing NOW??

One of my favorite Bill Johnson quotes is to “keep your eyes on what God is doing…do not focus on what He has not done yet.”* Though most of us instinctively turn our thoughts to what we wish God was doing in our lives, we must make it a point to rejoice in the things He is doing/has done for us already. When we focus on what the Lord is actively doing in our lives, it keeps our eyes and hearts in the right place…it keeps us from becoming cynical, builds our faith, and keeps a lot of anxiety at bay.

Today, I urge you to take some time to recognize and praise the Lord for what He has already done for you and what He is doing for you right now. Thank Him for it, and pray for more! I’m not sure what He is doing in your life right now, but I know it’s good! Here’s what He’s doing in mine:

- Providing supernaturally for me in every area of need, and He will continue to…provision in everything!

- Fresh revelation constantly

- Creativity to write music, lyrics, arrangements…letting me “have my own song”

- Stirring up new wells of love and parts of me that are completely new

- Bringing unity to believers in this city and region

- Giving me the privilege to be a part of a sold-out group of people who are genuinely hungry for the presence of the Lord, and for His will to be done

- Placing people in my life that are edifying and that listen to the Lord

- Bringing people here to become world changers via the Arise Worship Internship

- Prospects of a future partnership with a national organization to affect countless young lives for the Kingdom and to push them into their calling more effectively

- A soon-to-be-recorded EP completely backed by a growing global non-profit organization

There’s much more than that. The Lord is good! Of course there are things I’m still waiting on and looking forward to, but the present is so great! Sometimes I get caught up anticipating ‘x’, or thinking about what things will be like once ‘y’, but I remind myself to just stop and look at what God is already doing. It’s huge. All kinds of blessing. Thank you, Jesus, for everything! I love You. Bless it more, Lord. Let more come, and thank You, Lord, for all that You’ve done, and what You are doing right now. In Jesus Christ of Nazareth’s Holy Name, Amen.

*a paraphrase from the Bethel Supernatural School of Ministry DVD Session 1001: “Introduction to First Year”; not a direct quote :)

Song of the Week #47

Restoration

We've talked about restoration a lot around here lately…for God to restore you, your broken relationships, your heart, your life, etc. And I’ve seen it happening all around me! Praise the Lord!!

Whenever I hear the word “restore”, my mind usually thinks something along the lines of “set back to default” or “the way it was”. Basically, it’s almost like I picture a giant Reset button that can be pushed and you get to start over. But as I think more about restoration, I’m not sure that thought is completely accurate.

In Revelation 2, the church in Ephesus is praised for its good works, its perseverance, and its intolerance of wickedness. But immediately after this, they are warned in Verses 4 and 5, “Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first…”

The Lord calls them to “do the things you did at first”, and to remember their “first love”. Depending on your interpretation of the whole account that warning is probably referring to the love they had for each other and/or the love they had for Christ. Let’s assume the passage means Christ (and if it means Christ, then it also automatically means love for each other because that is the natural progression of love for Christ anyways). Thus, the Lord is reminding and warning them that although their works have been wonderful they need some kind of change in their lives where Christ is the center of their attention again.

Herein lies where I think I’ve been slightly off in my thinking of restoration. God tells them to “do the things you did at first”. I used to view this primarily as a call to put things back to the way they were when I first came to know Jesus, and to do the things I did when I first accepted Him as my Savior. I’m sure you’ve heard others reminisce about how amazing it was the first time they felt the love of Christ, got baptized, and got set free of their past ways. They may even talk about how “on fire” they were for God back then. So my thinking has usually gone to how I could recapture the way I felt and acted in the summer of 1997 when I first accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior.

But I don’t think restoration only means hitting reset. I think by restoring Christ to the center of your attention the most critical thing you do is to restore Him to His rightful place—the place of your first love. You again sit Him at the highest and most important place in your life. To merely hit reset is to erase all of the things that have happened since your conversion. Although there’s surely some crap in there that you wish never happened, there is also a history with God. There is stuff in there that God doesn’t want to be erased because it brings glory to His Name now that you are back on the right track!

This whole idea is rocking me right now! It’s changing my entire perception of restoration. I pray God continues to reveal His perfect concept of restoration to me, and that He shows the same thing to you. Lord, please open my mind and my heart to the depths of your love, redemption, mercy, and restoration...and the fullness thereof. Reveal these things to me and I pray that they manifest themselves in my life more and more. In Jesus Christ of Nazareth’s Holy, Loving, and Awesome Name, Amen.

Song of the Week #46

Song of the Week #45

Guest Blog: Tara Smith

The heart of my friend, Tara Smith, is big. Though her talents abound, she is foremost a devoted lover of God, her husband, and her 2 boys. Her blog is called "In the Land of Princes"...here is her latest post:

My lil' princes will outgrow this land someday.....

Being a mother means warming up your same cup of coffee at least 4 times before you actually get to drink it because the kids need you. However ,I have decided that I want Noble to stay 12 weeks and Valor to stay 2 1/2 forever. I really love these ages! Valor remains my comic relief most of the day and Noble's smile, cuddling, and chuckles make my heart come alive. Both boys have absolutely stolen my heart. Valor has had a fun day. He told me Bob the Builder was here and I looked out the window and sure enough there was a man who looked like Bob the Builder working on a tree in our backyard. Valor has watched him most of the day. :-) Noble is starting to sleep 9 -10 hours a night and that is heavenly. He is such a joy....such a good, easy, sweet, loving, wonderful baby. Valor is such a good, loving, toddler and I adore him. I thank Jesus for Nobe and Valor. I'm just now truly getting the hang of two children. I'm finally taking risks by attending more than one activity a day. Not everyday. We actually rarely go anywhere except to Church and mammys. :-) I'v taken them to Walmart once and quickly realized by the time you get both kids in a cart...there is no more room for groceries! I had to rethink my trip and only get about 10 little things when in fact I needed about 100 things! :-) Everyday is a challenge to have patience, energy, get priorities straight, be a good mother and good wife, do my chores, play with children, spend time with God, be creative and raise my little disciples that God has given me. I am just now learning to take better care of myself and its not selfish for doing so! I have also started a new Mary Kay business....so life is hetic but fun right now (most days). Its a challenge but having a family is my dream come true. Staying home with my kiddos is huge dream God fullfilled for me. There is no place Id rather be than here with my kids and here in His love. Valor wakes up every morning and asks for his Daw (this is what he calls TJ) and then will say Daw is at work, working hard. He says he works hard for toys. :-) I love Valor and Noble and Tj. I love this land where my princes live. I get sad to think that someday my lil' boys will outgrow this land of princes. I cant imagine my life with out bubbles on the front porch, sidewalk chalk everywhere,a living room in which I dont trip over toys, a dining room that has exploded into a toy room, no more mickey mouse cartoons, cribs, little feet running down the hall to jump in bed with me, and no more "mama i need this or mama i need that". They will outgrow the silly songs I make up and the sword and water gun fights will eventually end. They will not always light up when i walk in the room,and they wont always run with all their guts to come give me a hug and kiss.The gobbling of thier cheeks will surely take its toll on them and they will ask me to stop doing that. I look in the back yard and see a swing, a little pool, and dump trucks, sticks, balls and slide. I cant stand the thought of my lil' boys outgrowing those things. They have brought me joy beyond my wildest imagination. However I'm reminded of all the things they will do for God and humanity and I almost cant wait to see that either! I watch our pastors enjoy their sons being used in their calling and giftings and it makes me long for the day when TJ and I can sit on the front row and smile,laugh, and praise God because our lil' princes are now doing big things for God. They may outgrow this land of princes but they will never exhaust or outgrow all the wonderful dreams and plans that God has for them. But until then....I'm going to enjoy my little boys that God has given me. Some days I want to cry because I'm tired and lack energy. Some days I want to pull out my hair. Some days my attitudde just stinks and the whole family pays for it. I regret those days. Some days I want to run away just to have some quiet time to think..to actually finish a thought without any interruptions. But most days, I'm living my dreams. I'm happy to be just where I am. In the middle of beautiful noise, snotty noses, sweet little giggles, precious toddler conversations and baby coos, wild chaos, peace, joy, tears, love, frustration, tiredness, zeal, repetition, security, happiness..all of which are a part of my sometimes fabulous and sometimes mundane life. My family and I are the hands of God and there is no better place to be!!!! Thank you God for my family that you have given to me. It is my dream come true. Give me the joy, energy, peace, sanity, creativity, strength and love to raise my little disciples into great men of God and to love my husband well. Thank you for my princes....may I take excellent care of them while they are in this land of mine.

God's Will and You

The call of God is general and it is specific. God’s will on earth is to grow His Church—that every person on earth come to know Him as He is; i.e. to know Him as their creator, their master, their lover, their God. He wants everyone to experience Him and have relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. He wants His will on earth done as it is in Heaven. He does not want to see people sick, depressed, lonely, hurt, suffering from disease, broken, broke, unloved, defenseless, ridiculed, enslaved, abused, hated, ignored, burned, left for dead, disregarded, or lied to.

You are part of the bride of Christ. To be a bride means only to love Him, and to let him love you. Fully.

When you are asking to find your specific purpose, your specific role, it only makes sense to me that you seek to love Him first, that you seek to find His heart more. When that love relationship gets all kinds of messy then things will be birthed in your spirit. Then, those things won’t just be cool things that give you something to get excited about for a while; they will be things that already are drenched in the purposes and heart of God. THOSE are the things that turn out to do mighty Kingdom things.

Don’t necessarily look for things that everybody else is doing, things that are big, and looking at the way to do them the biggest and best. People don’t necessarily have to notice you…especially at first. If the goal is to be noticed, especially at first, then your heart probably isn’t in the right place. Don’t be the guy in the worship band that misses the worship b/c of the band. Don’t be the prayer warrior that only goes to major events but neglects the prayer closet. You’ve gotta lay the ground work in your heart correctly if you want to be part of something that is God-big, and sustainable.

Your specific purpose will tie to the big overall purpose: to grow His Church on earth. If you keep that in the forefront of your mind and heart, then the Lord will sooner or later show you your more specific role in the Body. The Body is His Bride. Let us love Him.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.