Good afternoon! I pray this post finds you doing well. So much has been going on in my heart the past month or so, that it may take me a minute to get it all out, but stick around, because I promise, it’s well worth the read!
The last time I wrote, I was in a bit of a conundrum spiritually. I was allowing fear and anxiety to disrupt my peace and faith about this ever happening, however, I am so thankful to say that in writing that last blog post, the Lord delivered me from it, and I moved on quite quickly from my anxious state. Once I realized that it was a lack of trust on my part, I quickly changed my mindset in that area, and now I can say I have a completely different outlook. Thank you Jesus for bringing my stubborn self through that trial!
Since then, the Lord has had a few things on my heart. The first one being purpose. I had someone ask me once, what was it about England that I was so excited about. At the time, I didn’t have the ability to put into words what I feel when I am there, but I know now what it is. It is a sense of purpose. When you are doing what God has called you to do, and living out your purpose, there is nothing else like it. I know the Lord has called Billy and I to Europe to bring His good news and freedom to them. I don’t always feel qualified, but to know that He chose me, and He called us to go, is more than enough for me to say that I’ll spend every waking breath spreading news of His Kingdom to the world. I am overwhelmed with gratitude at the thought that I get the privilege to be His servant in this task.
The second thing the Lord has really put on my heart is about intimacy. Billy’s and my life are so busy right now, even more so than before we made this decision to go, but He keeps calling us to come deeper with Him. Billy and I both have been drawn to Isaiah 55 lately. It beckons us to draw near to Him. Billy was speaking Sunday at Three Streams Mission (the local church that actually got us started going to England in the first place) about Isaiah 55:3. It says, “Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you – the sure mercies of David.”
“Incline your ear, come to me…” He beckons us into deeper intimacy with Him. Billy looked up the Strong’s for the word “incline”, and found something significant. Incline is a word that means to stretch or spread out, outstretch, stretch forth. Stretching requires effort. You can’t just be passive about it, you have to move to accomplish it. Stretching can also be uncomfortable. It pulls us out of our comfort zone. Being intimate with the Lord requires effort. It takes being willing to be stretched; to be made uncomfortable. Incline also means to bow, go down; to let down; to yield. Again, being made uncomfortable, yielding our thoughts and our ways to Him; bowing down to Him and laying all our previous notions aside. Submitting yourself to only Him. Jesus was the perfect example of this. He was so intimate with the Father, He only did what he saw the Father do, and said what he heard the Father say. I want to be able to be that intimate with Jesus. I want to incline my ear so closely to His that he only has to whisper and I will still hear and obey out of my love for Him.
This brings me to my third topic I’ve been really trying to practice – stewarding Him well. Out of intimacy comes relationship, and out of relationship comes a desire to please and obey. If I want to please and obey Him, then I would consider Him first in every single tiny decision I make. Bill Johnson, with Bethel, says to consider the Holy Spirit like a dove that comes to rest on your shoulders. First of all, you aren’t going to have a dove resting on your shoulders without gaining trust and getting to know the bird first; bringing us back to intimacy. However, if you had a dove resting on your shoulders and you didn’t want it to fly away, you would make every motion and thought with that dove in mind. My desire is to host the Holy Spirit (the dove) by being intimate with Him, to keep my focus and attention on Him, because I desire Him more than anything else. I want to steward him well in every decision I make.
Now, just because I am writing about this does not mean I have mastered it by any means. We are all works in progress, but I do want to live every moment trying my best to be sensitive to Him and what He is asking me to do. My hope is that you will want to join me on this quest to be intimate with Christ and steward His presence well. Could you imagine what the world would look like if we all kept this in mind in our day to day lives? Wow! World changing!
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