What’s Now Before What’s Next! January 29, 2010

One of the most common asked questions people ask me is, “How can I know what God wants next for my life?”  AND…after being in ministry for nearly 20 years I’ve discovered that much of the time people don’t actually want to move on to what is NEXT…they are merely asking the question because they don’t want to deal with what God is doing NOW!

BUT…God will NOT reveal what is NEXT until we are obedient in what He is revealing NOW!

Let me share a Charisse illustration here?  :-)

I really do want to take her to see, “The Princess and the Frog.”  She’s never been to the movies.  She’s never had hot popcorn covered in butter.  She’s never had a HUGE Coke to go with it.  She’s never had candy to chase the popcorn down!  (Hey, if you are going to do it…do it right!)  She’s never seen a screen like the one at the theatre.

I know she would LOVE IT!  I know she would want to go back.  I know that the whole experience would be one of the most amazing events of her life so far!

BUT…I can’t take her because she won’t stop taking a pee in her pants!  (She’s going to KILL me when she gets older and sees some of the stuff I’ve written about her!)  :-)

Here’s the deal…she is potty trained.  She KNOWS when she needs to go pee.  She tells us and we “assist” her with the clean up afterwards.  She knows that it is wrong to pee in her pants…but she won’t stop.

It’s not that she doens’t know better.  Lucretia and I have spoken to her about this…and she knows that it is wrong and she should not do it…but for whatever reason she will have a few good days and then BAM…pee!!!  (It’s really bad when she’s pees on me!)

SO…I had this conversation with her.  I told her about the movies.  I told her about the popcorn.  I told her about the fun we would have…but then I told her, “I am not going to take you until you stop peeing in your pants.”

She totally understood; in fact, she said repeatedly the first day I shared this with her, “I am not going to pee in my pants and then mommy and daddy will take me to see the Princess and the frog.”

BUT…then she does it again!

Here’s the kicker…I REALLY want to take her to see that movie.  I know it would bring so much joy to her life and that she would love the entire experience.  BUT…I won’t take her there until she deals with “the issue” that we’ve clearly identified/discussed in her life.

The same is true with our heavenly Father…His plans for us are amazing (I Corinthians 2:9, Ephesians 3:20), He REALLY does want to take us to places that we could never even inagine…but..until we deal with the issues He brings forth in our life He will allow us to stay right where we are.  He can’t trust us with what’s next if we are not obedient with what’s now!

Here in the South we try our best to bypass this.  God will reveal an area of our life we need to deal with…and instead of becoming obedient and submissive to His leadership we will say, “Well, I’m not going to obey THAT…but instead I will do this!”  An example would be, “Well, I am not going to stop screwing my boyfriend/girlfriend…but instead I will get involved in lots of Bible studies, sing really loud at church and get involved in serving.”

Radical obedience in one area of our lives is not a license to pursue disobedience in another.

Is there an area of your life that is NOT submissive to Jesus?  Because, if that is the case we’ve got to understand that He is NOT going to change His mind, nor will He be mocked (Galatians 6:7) by our meaningless worship or manipulated (Isaiah 29:13) by our vain words.

Christianity is meeting Jesus and then following Him for the rest of our lives…one step at a time.

SO…what is THAT step of obedience He is leading you to?  What is that thing that always keeps coming up?  What is the issue He is wanting you to let go of?  Trust me…He’s NOT dealing with THAT issue because He hates you…but rather because He loves you and wants to see greater things.

Let’s deal with what’s now so we can constantly move towards what’s next!

“Hold My Hand” August 3, 2009

The other day I was walking along with Charisse and she tripped and fell down.  I automatically reached down and picked her up…but only after a few more steps she stumbled again.  (It looks like she has my cordination!)

So…I took her by the hand and we went on…and the next time she tripped she did not fall.  I told her, “As long as you are holding daddy’s hand I won’t let you fall down.”

And God hit me with this thought, “I’ve been waiting on you to learn that lesson for a long time!”

As I look back at the times in my life at the most painful mistakes that I have made I will have to admit that it was during the times I had wrestled my hand free and ran away in rebellion…you know, doing it “my way.”

AND…I am SO THANKFUL for a gracious God who pursued me during those times and didn’t allow me to be content in being apart from Him.

BUT…I am learning more and more and the Christian life isn’t about trying to “connect with God,” but rather being submissive to the idea that He wants to connect with us…and BE THERE WITH US and FOR US so that we do not fall flat on our faces.

I do believe there are times He allows us to fall on our faces so that we can see our need for Him…

And I DO NOT believe that if we are consistently connected with Him that everything in life goes well at all times!  ((Psalm 23 says that WHEN we walk through the valley of the shadow of death…not “if.”  We will have bad days…)

BUT…I believe with all of my heart that the KEY to living an abundant life, one that is NOT full of regrets, is reaching out and taking the hand that He extended to us over 2,000 years ago through His Son Jesus Christ.

The good news is…I don’t HAVE TO SCREW IT UP…God WANTS ME (AND YOU) to get it right…to honor Him and be both prosporous and successful through submission to His Word (Joshua 1:8-9).

So…how about it…are you allowing Him to guide you through life…or trying to wrestle away so that you can embrace rebellion?

As long as we hold His hand…we will not fall!!!

God And Frustration June 23, 2009

Being a parent is teaching me so much about…me…

The other day I was in the living room and asked Charisse to do something…and she completely ignored me and kept right on going with her agenda.

SO…I repeated myself to her, thinking maybe she had not heard me; after all, my beautiful, perfect little angel would NEVER ignore her father’s voice because I was asking something that may inconvenience her, right?  ☺

She ignored me again…so…

I got up from the couch and said, “Charisse, what did daddy say?”

She stopped what she was doing, looked me in the eyes and told me exactly what I had been asking her to do…and then she went and did it.

She heard me, she understood me…she just chose to put me off for as long as she could before obeying me…perhaps thinking if she ignored me long enough that I would change my mind.

I said out loud (to no one in particular), “Why in the world didn’t she just do what I told her the first time?”

And then I felt the Lord ask me the same thing about me!  SNAP!

I can not count the number of times I have really felt the Lord pressing down on me to do something…and I don’t necessarily say no…I just choose to ignore the prompting, thinking that by doing so it may disappear because, after all, He would NEVER ask me to do something uncomfortable, right?  Things such as…

• “You need to make a phone call and get things right with that person.”
• “You need to memorize more Scripture.”
• “I want you to be more generous—and here is your opportunity.”
• “Witness to that person.”
• “Tell Lucretia that you are sorry and that it was your fault.”
• “Call that person and ask them how they are doing.”

I think you get the picture.

One of the things I am really wrestling with right now is desperately trying to practice immediate obedience…that whenever I hear the voice of the Lord I don’t ask for an explanation or an time extension…I just obey.

Because…

I am learning more and more that God’s holiness impacts every aspect of His being…even what He commands of His children.  SO…when He speaks to me what He is commanding me to do is an extension of His holiness and perfection; therefore, He can be completely trusted!

Is there anything you are putting off that God keeps pressing in on you?  He’s not going to change His mind.  The key to freedom in this life we are living is to stop trying to negotiate with Him and just obey—period.

How Often Do We Tell Him? June 18, 2009

The other day I was standing in Charisse’s play room and she came up to me and kept saying, “I love you, I love you…” over and over again.

I thought to myself, “hearing my child say that NEVER gets old!”

Then I felt the Lord speak to me and say, “it never gets old to Me either!”

I am so guilty of telling God I love Him right before I ask for something or when I am really sorry about a sin that I have committed…but…

I am understanding that He likes it best when I communicate my love to Him out of appreciation for who He is and what He has done…and not in desperation in hopes of manipulation to get Him to do what I want.

When was the last time you thanked God for all that you have…or simply said “I love you” just because?

He is the perfect Father…so He KNOWS when we are trying to “butter Him up!”  AND…I am guessing it doesn’t really work with Him.

My prayer is that I will become more desperately in love with HIM because of WHO HE IS and not because of what I perceive He can give me!  And a way to make sure that happens is to offer consistent and sincere praise and thankfulness to the ONE who has blessed me with more than I could ever imagine!

Asking God To Destroy Me! June 16, 2009

I shaved my gottee the other day…and didn’t really say anything to anyone about it.  I wanted to see if anyone noticed and what their reaction was…

And the most unique reaction came from Charisse.

Keep in mind that I have had a gottee since she was born…that’s the only way she’s ever known me.  Many times she has sat in my lap and played with my whiskers.

SO…after I shaved I walked into the living room and picked her up and began playing with her.  She drew back from me and stared…put her hand where my gottee used to be and felt that it was smooth…and then proceeded to FREAK OUT!

Seriously…I was worried about her for a second.  She wanted OUT of my arms because I had changed things up on her.  She was used to me being a certain way…and when that wasn’t a reality for her anymore she had a hard time dealing with it…

I think I’ve had the same experience with God many times!!!  I’ve thought of Him as being a certain way.  I’ve placed Him in a box and built up my beliefs based on who I think He is…and He just keeps destroying my limited ideas and revealing Himself to me in ways I’ve never thought about…

Which makes me VERY uncomfortable…

One of the problems I believe I have had as a follower of Jesus is that I want to develop and idea of who God is and then have Him stay there…my desire for comfort has dominated my thinking…

But God never really invites us to a place of comfort…in fact, when He uses someone in the Scriptures He usually had to DESTROY a lot of their preconceived notions.  (Isaiah 6 and Acts 9 immediately come to mind.)

SO…my prayer lately has been, “God, teach me to see as You see…and destroy in me what needs to be destroyed  so that I can see you for who You are and not for who I want you to be!”

When is the last time you asked the Lord to make you uncomfortable?  To destroy you?  To reveal who HE IS to you rather than who you want Him to be?  WATCH IT…seeking the Lord like this is dangerous…it will propel you into an uncomfortable place…but it is in that place that He ruins us and then uses us to make a difference for Him!