Freedom from fear

"And the LORD is the One who goes ahead of you;

He will be with you.  He will not fail or forsake you.

Do not fear or be dismayed."

(Deuteronomy 31:8)

I have been faced with a hard realization over the past several days.  It has been frustrating, humiliating, saddening ... while at the same time, extremely monumental.  For whatever reason, now is the time God has chosen to cause me to look back.  To look back over the many things in my life that have not happened as I thought they would.  He caused me to look back over missed opportunities, lost desire, and all-out moments of giving up.  

And then He revealed to me why some of these things happened.

Because in some instances ... I chose to give fear the upper hand.

Fear of failure.  Fear of being let down.  Fear of defeat.  Fear that I hadn't really heard Him.  Fear that I would make a fool out of myself.  And so on ... 

I want to be very careful to explain something.  God is not causing me to look back on these realizations so that I will succumb to a life of defeat and regret.  Instead, He is causing me to look back so that I will choose today to victoriously move forward in faith, purging fear to the wayside.  This is how I believe we know it is Him doing the prodding in our spirit.  Because He does not bring our failures or moments of disbelief to our minds to cause us to sink into a pit of discouragement and destruction.  Rather, He does this with the motive of Ephesians 1:18-20 in mind ... To build us up!

"I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe.  These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places."  

God uses His Word to build us up that we may have the courage to walk confidently in the direction He is calling us.  He desires us to cling to Him for our courage, believing that He will provide the strength we need when our hearts desire is to obey Him.  The kind of obedience that ultimately turns the attention away from ourselves and shines light on His life-changing Power.  When we realize that truly is what His calling on our lives is all about, we will experience an immense amount of freedom ...     

Freedom from fear.  

For His Name's Sake

"He restores my soul;

He guides me in the paths of righteousness, for His Name's sake."

(Psalm 23:3)

I have been slowly reading through the book of Joshua.  One thing I have learned in my study so far that has been monumental for me: When God chooses to use mankind to carry out His plan, the end result is always to bring others to look to Him as Lord.  

In Joshua chapter 3, God gives Joshua specific instruction to pass along to the priests who were appointed to carry the ark of the covenant across/through the Jordan River.  The LORD says to Joshua in Joshua 3:8:

"You shall, moreover, command the priests 

who are carrying the ark of the covenant, saying, 

'When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, 

you shall stand still in the Jordan.' "

Scripture goes on to tell us in Joshua 3:15 that the Jordan overflows all its banks all the days of the harvest.  I think we need to understand that this task was no walk in the park.  God was calling His people to believe Him for great measures.  This was a dangerous task - Without God's power and provision this would have been an impossible feat.  But Israel had the power of God backing them and with Him, the task was possible:

"And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the LORD 

stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan 

while all Israel crossed on dry ground, 

until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan."

(Joshua 3:17)

But the story is not complete yet.  Scripture goes on to say that the Lord spoke to Joshua telling him to choose twelve men from the people, one man from each tribe of Israel.  Each man was to collect one stone from the middle of the Jordan where the priests were standing and carry it back to their lodging place.  

"Let this be a sign among you, so that when your children ask later, saying,

'What do these stones mean to you?' then you shall say to them,

'Because the waters of the Jordan were cut off before 

the ark of the covenant of the LORD; 

when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.' 

So these stones shall become a memorial to the sons of Israel forever."

(Joshua 4:6-7)

Joshua left the men of Israel with a charge to tell the next generation of the faithfulness of their God ...

"that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty,

so that you may fear the LORD your God forever."

(Joshua 4:24)

I think sometimes we get caught up in what God can do for us.  And once He does it, we close the book.   But God does not intend the story to be over there.  He has a reason for accomplishing His purposes in and through our lives.  And it certainly does not end with us!  

I felt Psalm 23:3 went hand-in-hand with this challenge: "He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness, for His Name's sake."

You know this verse. You've likely recited it a thousand times.  But have you stopped to think about this one part ... For His Name's sake?  What does this truly mean to us?  

The interesting thing is that these four short words - For His Name's sake - really should be the goal, the ambition, the desired grand finale of our entire lives as believers. 

Every single task God calls us to believe Him for ... Every single failure that God has turned into a victory ... Every single moment of unbelief turned into belief ... Every single sin He has redeemed us from ... Every single rag He has turned to riches ... Every single filth He has made clean ... Every single stain He has washed ... Every single promise He has fulfilled ... And every single impossibility He has made possible ... Are all opportunities to make His Name Great.  

And so I guess today, I am just reflective and mindful of the fact that He has indeed restored my soul.  Keenly aware that just as He led the Israelites, He desires to lead my life.  And that He has a purpose in doing so - A purpose in His leading.  A purpose that absolutely does not end with me.  In fact, it's not about me at all.  It's about making His Name Great.  

Lord, thank You for Your Word.  It is so humbling.  Remind us that when You choose to use us to carry out Your plan, the end result is always to bring others to know You as Lord.  

Allow our lives to be a reflection of Yours, to a lost world ...

For Your Name's sake.  And not our own.

Radical Obedience

"And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart;

And you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them 
when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you 
lie down and when you rise up.  And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and 
they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  And you shall write them on the 
doorposts of your house and on your gates."

(Deuteronomy 6:6-9)

I am sitting on the couch in the living room and I have the baby monitor on the coffee table, volume turned up.  I am worshipping to the baby monitor.  

Huh???

Yep.  You heard right.  Hamilton has been falling asleep to a baby praise album that I downloaded to his little [pink -- I know, my husband is not a fan of the color] iPod.  It was however, a hand-me-down, so he is proud of me for using all my resources.  I've come a long way [grin].  

I am loving the hallelujahs, names of Jesus, and promises of God my sweet baby boy is falling asleep to.  As He sleeps, I find myself praying those things over his precious life.  And I find myself becoming intensely inspired to make the Word of God something that Hamilton grows up familiar with.  

A friend of mine shared with me the other day about the projects she has completed recently so that she can make Scripture more easily displayed throughout her home. She is taking God at His Word - Applying Scripture to her every day life and obeying the call in Deuteronomy chapter 6 to write God's words down and hang them on the walls of her home.

A few months ago I overheard someone say, "The only thing you want in life is to see your children happy." I have thought about this several times since I heard that comment. I mean, really thought about it. And this is my conclusion: This is an unrealistic expectation. Our children [my children] are not always going to be happy. In fact, there will be many difficulties ahead. Their lives will never go without struggle, and because of that, there will undoubtedly be times when they are not feeling or appearing happy. Hearing that comment has caused me to do some deep self-evaluation. What is it that I wish for Hamilton?

I long to see him walk in obedience. Radical obedience. The kind that forsakes comfort, logic and sometimes even momentary happiness if necessary.

So tonight, as he sleeps peacefully in our home and hears the hallelujahs, names of Jesus, and promises of God on his baby praise album, I will sit right here and pray. Pray for his future - that God will instill in his heart an insatiable appetite for obedience. And that I would not for one day, fail to speak the name of Jesus into his life. That I would actively practice and commit to Deuteronomy 6:6-8 in our home -- teaching and talking of His goodness every opportunity I am given. Being fully aware that without the power of Jesus, this too is a very unrealistic expectation.

Thank You Lord, for Your Word. May my desire for You increase so much that I cannot bear to go one single day without speaking Your goodness and Truth to the next generation. That I would desire - more than comfort, logic and sometimes even momentary happiness - radical obedience.

"With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord; 

And in the midst of many I will praise Him." (Psalm 110:30)

Lavished

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 

who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world,

that we should be holy and blameless  before Him.  

In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself, 

according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace,

which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses,

according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us.

In all wisdom and insight, He made known to us the mystery of His will,

according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him."

(Ephesians 1:4-9)

Our pastor challenged us this morning to ask ourselves the following question:  

Who am I?

He spoke about how our identity is directly linked to our destiny. How we have been chosen ... adopted ... blessed. That long before creation, God chose us. He sent Jesus as a means of adopting us as sons and daughters into His family. And through Jesus, we have been blessed with everything for a life of godliness. But it doesn't end there.

1 Peter 2:9 says: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into marvelous light." 

We have been chosen, adopted and blessed to make the glories of the King known. These words hit home with me: Our identity is to make known God's Identity!

I left being so overwhelmed by His grace. So thankful to Jesus for choosing me, adopting me, and for blessing me. I left praising Him that I am not who I used to be. Amen and glory to God. I left desiring more than anything ... to be known by my love for Him ... to be identified by Him. 

Too good to not share. 

Praising God this evening for the riches of His grace ... That have been totally and completely lavished upon me.

And because of that ... I can confidently answer the question posed by my pastor this morning.  This is who I am:

I am Chosen. I am Adopted. And I am Blessed.