Wednesday, May 18, 2016

In View of God's Mercy

Home. I love the sound of that word. It is amazing what emotions and feelings it can evoke. HOME means I am finally done traveling. HOME means warm and comfy and familiar. HOME means safety and security. HOME means its time to rest and refresh. HOME is just a really good place to be.


Home is a place but yet its not exactly what we think of in terms of places. You see, over the last year, home has grown and changed. I believe it is because God is working in my heart and life. He wants my home to change from the two-story white house with a red door at the end of the cul-de-sac in Derby Kansas, to a heavenly, eternal place: HIS PRESENCE. What has me pondering home once again? I guess its because I slept in my childhood bed last night, woke up and came down the familiar stairs to the kitchen. I used the old familiar coffee pot and sat down at the good old dining room table next to the french doors that give a magnificent view of the backyard I played in for so many years. Yes, its because I am HOME.

For any of you who have traveled, who have moved out of the house or out of the state and returned, you know what I am about to explain. No matter how familiar and comfortable home is when you return, the moment you walk out the door and engage in your once life.....well, you realize it's not the same. For some odd reason I thought life would stand still when I left; and when I returned, I expected everyone and everything to be just the way I left them. Honestly, that is pretty selfish and prideful of me. But, it is what I like to think.  If your anything like me, the first time it happened I kind of went into shock! lol


No, people don't stay the same. Cities don't stay the same. Roads, building and businesses don't stay the same. But, our GOD does stay the same. It has gotten easier every time that I come home. I realize that things don't stay the same. In fact, I am usually returning because someone is getting married, graduating, or a newborn has entered the family. For someone as....nostalgic as me, (I guess I really am a little Anne as mom always said) it really is hard to see all the changes and realize you have missed out on so much. It just causes me to ponder and realize some truths from Scripture that God has spoken over me time and time again as I have ventured out into ministry.

The first is somewhat of a recurring theme lately, even in my blogs. This world is not my home. Good grief, this phrase has rolled around over and over in my head causing havoc. If this world is not my home, than EVERYTHING changes. If this world is not my home, politics are just politics. If this world is not my home, there is no one place here that I can cling to. If this world is not my home, someone and something changes it should not phase me. If this world is not my home, I should never hesitate to move, or change positions or places. If this world is not my home, than everything I hold to for security, everything I depend on disintegrates. Does this mean I go through life hard and cold, not bonding with anyone, not caring about anything. ABSOLUTELY NOT! It rather means, I go through this world in wonder. It's honestly like a round the world trip with a cause or purpose. I am of course on a mission from my heavenly king. The king of my country has summoned me and commanded me to go into all the world and preach the gospel, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all His commands. I AM HIS. I AM FROM HIS KINGDOM. I SHALL RETURN WHEN HE COMES FOR ME. But for now, I am here. Yes, I am here on a mission but I am prone to wander.... How I pray that the Lord would continue to convict me and bring me back to His side.


"Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it
Prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it

Seal it for Thy courts above" 
-Come Thou Fount


The second truth is found in 1 Kings 19. I love this passage! The call of Elisha is so powerful.... The moment Elijah's cloak covered Elisha, he KNEW! He knew he was not just covered he was called. He RAN after Elijah. Elijah asked him, "What have I done to you?" Elisha knew all too well. What a beautiful picture of what Christ has done for us. He COVERED US. No, he did not force us to come follow him but when we recognize his covering, accept it and KNOW his MERCY, as Romans says, how can we not RUN after Him. "Therefore, I URGE you, brothers, IN VIEW OF GOD'S MERCY, offer your bodies as a living sacrifices...." All I have I now count as rubbish. Elisha then went back and burned his plow, killed the oxen. He gave up his means of living. He gave up is possessions. He gave up his status. He gave up is livelihood. He gave up his family heritage. He gave up EVERYTHING. "If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters--yes, even their own life--such a person cannot be my disciple." -Luke 14:26
It's a difficult thing...sometimes I'm not sure I understand it. But as each year goes by, I realize more and more that I no longer want what I used to want. I no longer want that little white house on a piece of land in the middle of no where. I no longer want a piece of land to pass down from generation to generation. I no longer want that legacy, that homestead. Does it sound nice when I sit down and think about it? Yes, sometimes.... Yet, I know something better. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. I want Him above all else. There is something greater in store. This is just the beginning. There is so much more. It isn't easy keeping my focus heaven-bound. But, is is necessary and worth it. 

This world is not my home I'm just a-passin' through
My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue
The angels beckon me from heaven's open door

And I can't feel at home in this world anymore




Tuesday, May 10, 2016

No One Cares

"Our job is not to fight the world but to win the world."- Pat Marlow


Have you ever felt paralyzed? Have you felt forced to silence, because those around you honestly don't care what you have to say. So, why should we say anything at all? "Keep silent, you don't want to offend anyone," our society tells us. We all know that it is getting ridiculous and yet it this single conviction spreads pandemonium among us day in and day out. It's not girls who run the world, it is the belief that disagreement means disrespect. The minority has become the majority. Follow me here... listen to what I have to say and take it with a grain of salt. Remember that my blog posts are not the Word of God but the opinions of someone seeking Christ. Take it, examine it, test it against the scriptures. If the Lord uses it, may He be praised. If you find something you believe untrue than throw it out. I am not putting myself up to be God or anything near him. I have studied His Word, I desire to be in His near presence, and I pray that I am like the men of Issachar, who knew the times and knew how to respond. I believe there is a time for everything and season for everything under heaven. There is a time to be silent... and a time to speak. I believe it is now time for me to speak. 

The real church is starting to go underground. But guess what, that isn't a bad thing. Every time believers have to go underground due to persecution, the church grows. I am not a pessimist. I believe revival is coming. I hear it on the wind. Yes, there is so much uncertainty in this world but MY GOD is MY CERTAINTY. He will never leave me or forsake me and He is coming back for me! He is pruning. He is weeding. Yes, there are so many fakes. Yes, it seems like there are so many doing it wrong, giving us a bad name. But if you focus on Him you begin to see Him at work all around us! GUESS WHAT?!?! OUR GOD IS ON THE MOVE!!

“They say Aslan is on the move—perhaps he has already landed,”
 -The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe 


Believe it or not that really isn't why I am writing this post. Really, I just want to set the stage. You see, I have been silent on the political front for too long. I have been praying that God would give me wisdom and discernment on how to say what I feel like needs spoken. First, I am so thankful that so many people care deeply about our country. I love this country and am proud to be an American. Yet, God has been laying upon me this past year that I am first and foremost a child of God. Y'all this world is NOT my home! My home is eternal and heavenly. Guess what else?? America, no matter how great, is NOT God's chosen nation. That would be Israel. Guess who came up with the idea of kings and presidents....that was a worldly, man-made philosophy. Or have you forgotten when the children of Israel asked for a king? 


 "...Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations."
 -1 Samuel 8:5

They wanted a king like OTHER NATIONS. When Samuel, utterly distressed and angry about the situation, went to the Lord, He told him that Israel had rejected God as their king. And here we are sitting around stressed out, arguing, battling each other over the next United States President. Yes, I know what you are going to say because I said myself for so many years. "We need and want people in leadership who believe what we believe so we don't have all this SIN filled laws. We don't want legislation that is corrupt." Well, neither do I. But this is the world.... Let the world run itself into the ground. It is eventually going to happen. We can't expect the world to act like us, to legislate like us, to live like us. We are called to be different, not to force everyone else to live like us whether they like it or not. WHAT???? I know, I'm talking crazy. I warned you in the beginning. Really it doesn't come down to policies, it doesn't come down to non-gender bathrooms, abortion activists or even gay marriage legislation. The fight we are fighting Paul warned us about in Ephesians 6. It is against principalities and the dark, spiritual forces in this world. It is a battle for the soul; a battle for the everlasting and the eternal not this country or its policies or legislation. Hello people! Our focus is all wrong here and Satan is continuing to have a hay day with us in this regard! His tricks are nothing new. From the beginning of time he has been dealing in half truths. Yes, life is precious. Yes, marriage is between one man and one woman. Yes, CHURCH leaders should be faithful to their wives and have control of their family. But this is a lost world we are talking about, not the church. In God's kingdom all these things should be held to and taught. They should be taught in every instance of our lives (Deuteronomy 6). God's kingdom is HIS people. In fact, in scripture it tells us that this world is under the control of Satan. This is his realm. And yet we are in shock because his realm refuses to abide by the law of God. They are not under that law! They are under the former law! They are slaves to sin. Something we have been freed from. Lets bring the fight to where it belongs! Lets grit our teeth, and out on our war paint. Forget about Trump and Hillary, Bernie and Cruze. Let us be overwhelmingly burdened with the souls of the lost. Who cares if they legalized gay marriage? Keep living out a godly marriage and teaching children the truth. Who cares about the bathroom debacle? Keep evangelizing every chance you have. Who cares if Trump is the worst republican candidate and the GOP is gone forever? Keep ministering in your local body. Who cares if welfare is in shambles? Keep meeting the needs of those around you. BE THE CHURCH! Stop looking to fix the spiritual issues of this nation through politics. It isn't going to happen. So yes. I will vote in November. But I am voting in a president not a pastor, for a country I am presently living in not for my home. 

IN THIS MOMENT, AND EVERY OTHER MOMENT THROUGHOUT MY LIFE I WILL REMEMBER THAT THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME, I AM JUST PASSING THROUGH AND I AM IN A BATTLE, A BATTLE AGAINST THE DARK, SPIRITUAL FORCES IN THIS WORLD. WITH EVERY BREATH I WILL BATTLE FOR THOSE STILL LOST, FOR THOSE WHO ARE STILL ENSLAVED. I WILL DO IT TO MY DEATH, WITH CONFIDENCE, BECAUSE HE HAS ALREADY WON THE VICTORY.



"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 16:33