Are You Content to be Fat?

I had hoped my next blog post would be to share things stirred in my heart from my recent experience at Jesus Culture Awakening. Hopefully I will make time to do so in the future, but for today I feel I have a word from the Lord. I believe it's a personal word for me, but one He is also wanting me to share with His body.

Perhaps it is the result of what I saw and heard shared at the conference...after all, there were many ministries represented and showcased throughout the conference all with the same mission..."Send," "Go," "Love," are words I continually heard. These were people not just content to sit in a conference and listen to great men and women of faith share their stories of miracles and moves of God. No, they were people whose lives had been laid down in total surrender. They were in the trenches doing the "stuff," loving the unlovable, rescuing the dying, releasing the captives. One lady shared of a ministry starting with 5 children rescued from the sex trade, now they are up to several hundred children. They not only feed and house them, they are providing the children an education so they can grow up and be productive citizens! These people are not just preaching the gospel, they are living and doing it!

Which has led me to question are we, the body of Christ, more content to be fat? By fat I mean fat on knowledge...continuing to partake, but never assimilating. Maybe we don't "act" on what we know because we are afraid of what the sacrifice might be. Perhaps we are afraid of failing or of the unknown.

I am reminded of the scripture in I Corinthians that says, "knowledge puffs up, but love builds up." Allow me to take this verse out of context and pose the question, is it love that makes it possible for us to put knowledge into action? I believe the answer is yes. It is love that compels us to take knowledge and put action with it...to assimilate what we know.

What I love about spiritual principles is they are always first seen in the natural. If all we did is eat and eat and eat some more, but we never leave the table to exercise what happens? We get fat! Same applies spiritually...if all we do is study, go to church once a week and attend conferences, but never take what we learn and "go out unto all the world" we get fat...fat with knowledge.

"From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (Luke 12:48b)

I don't know about you, but I'm not content to just eat and get fat. I want to share my "food," share my experiences with God, share His love, bring healing to the brokenhearted and set the captives free. This is what I was destined to do, my purpose...the piece of the Father's heart I carry. What part do you carry? If you don't know, I encourage you to ask Him. He has been waiting for you to ask!

Pray with me...Dear Papa, I'm no longer content to sit at Your table and feast without sharing the bounty with those around me. I'm tired of making it all about me, my needs and my wants. I recognize I am blessed to be a blessing. I want to see what you see in this world. I want my heart to break for what breaks Yours. I want to use what I "know" of You and represent You well to others. Papa teach me to put love into action, truth into action...I want to be a living, breathing, walking around example of the gospel of Christ. I want my words and actions to bring You glory and draw others into the abundant and free life You have generously bestowed upon me. Thank You for making the way. Thank You for trusting me, Papa. Thank You for life. Amen!"

It's time for the body of Christ to start assimilating what they know in a spirit of love. There is a world out there dying, literally and figuratively, to know and experience the love of Christ...what if you are the means to bring that freedom to someone? Why not you and why not now? This is the gospel and it makes MY SOUL SING!

If you enjoy My Soul Sings I invite you to become a follower of this blog. If this post has ministered to you, please feel free to share it with friends! Blessings on you!

Passionate about Purpose Part III

Welcome back to our Passionate about Purpose series. This is part three of our journey. If you are just now joining us hop on down to the first post in the series and read up.

In short review, in our last post we learned striving is a nasty word. We took a brief look at what drives us to strive and how our worth is NOT found in what we do.

Today we are going to discuss what leads to ministry burnout. In our first post I posed several questions to you. One of them was, "Are you, or have you, felt burnout in the area of ministry or Christian service?" If the answer was "yes", hopefully, today's post will shed some light and give you a direction in which to move.

As Christians I believe we all come to a point in our lives where we ask the question, "is this all there is?" If we are honest with ourselves, and each other, most of us have thought it and some of us have even verbalized it. Of course, with this thought comes a good deal of guilt, shame and condemnation. After all, He gave us the greatest gift imaginable, shouldn't we find pure joy in serving Him? The answer is "YES!" Serving Him should be pure joy....so why is it not for many?

Presence and overflow. Two key words which should be at the top of your Christian vocabulary list....way before the word service or servant. In this post we will focus on presence.

I have often said, "without the presence of God we can just all go home." What I mean by this statement is if we aren't hosting the presence of God in our life, especially in the area of Christian service, what we are doing is basically worthless. You might get the best Amy I have, but if His presence isn't on it, the best Amy is useless.

Let's see if I can make this a little clearer...can you think of a time you were in a church service, perhaps a weekend retreat or conference and the atmosphere felt absolutely lifeless? The music was good, the preaching or teaching was average, but something just seemed to be missing? I certainly have experienced this, in fact, most of my life I would say this was my opinion of church and church functions. You go to church and you go to these functions because it's what "good" Christians do, but it's not because they put a fire in your belly, it's because you feel obligated. This my friends is going through the motions. There came a time in my life I recognized there had to be more than this. The God I read about in the Bible simply wasn't this lifeless and boring! Jesus came so we could have life, abundant life (John 10:10.)

After being under the power and presence of God, I can now recognize when the Spirit has left the "building." I love the book by R.T. Kendall, "Sensitivity to the Spirit." He tells of the story in the Bible where Mary and Joseph have been to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. On their way back Mary and Joseph realize Jesus is not with them...it took them three days to realize this!!!! Now, we might read this story and think that is crazy...THREE DAYS! Would it take you three days to realize your child wasn't with you? Pastor Kendall likens this to the Dove (Holy Spirit.) How many times have we moved on in ministry, a church service, etc. without the presence of the Dove? Stuck in our routines, relying on our talents and the Dove has left the building and we don't even notice!

I really haven't done the subject of hosting the presence justice. How can I describe in a few words the magnitude of the power of His presence? I hope you will dig deeper in this subject and I pray Holy Spirit brings you wisdom and revelation...He, after all, is the very best teacher!

So, what is the cure for ministry burnout? I hope you are seeing the answer...it's His presence, but it's also overflow.

What is overflow? I am so glad you asked:) Overflow is the result of spending time in His presence, at His feet, in His lap, in the secret place with Him. When we seek Him we are promised in Scripture we will find Him (Jer. 29:13.) This is your greatest purpose as a child of the King! You were created to worship and love Him. If this is ALL you ever did, you will have fulfilled your highest calling.

In our next post we will discuss this purpose in greater detail and how if we live in a place of worship and overflow, serving Him is a natural by-product! Doesn't that sound wonderful and liberating? Serving Him is a natural by-product of spending time with Him!!!!!

Yes, we have made it harder than He ever designed it to be! Isn't He brilliant? If we would just slow down and seek Him life would be far more rewarding and enjoyable!

If you have spent any significant amount of time here at "My Soul Sings" you will recognize I am a proponent of experiencing God. I fully believe we were made to experience His goodness, power, love and grace in a tangible way. I also value His Word. It is both His written Word (logos) and His spoken word (rhema) that empowers me to walk in His presence and in His power. I have a tangible God. We are instructed to "taste and see He is good" (Psalm 34:8.)

Maybe you are hesitant to "experience" God. I am not here to change your mind, but to share my story of how He changed me and brought me into abundant life. Walking in lifeless religion, void of relationship and experience, didn't work for me...so I leave you with the question, "how's it working for you?" Yep, think about that one...

Until next time, I pray He reveals Himself to you as deep cries out to deep...your soul longs for Him. My Soul Sings because I have found what, no Who, it was crying out for...you can too!

If you enjoy reading My Soul Sings please become a follower of this blog and consider sharing it with a friend! Blessings on you!

Passionate about Purpose Part II

Woo-hoo, my life has been full lately! What about yours? Happy to report the home church we are helping to start had it's first service last week and God blew us away...but, He always does when you are submitted to Him. Thank You, Jesus for such an opportunity. Normally today I would be ministering but I have the day off and I am so glad to get around to blogging! YAY!

In our first post about Passion and Purpose we asked some questions. We started to break down Psalm 46:10 and learned striving is truly the "s" word:) Briefly, we discussed how God desires us to be His friends and lovers, not just servants. It is from our relationship with Him that we serve from the overflow. If you haven't read the first post, I suggest you start there, because these posts are building upon each other.

Today we are going to take a look at what drives us to strive. I say "a look" because I can't begin to cover the roots of striving completely. I can only really share from what I have personally experienced.

As I said in the previous post, striving denotes a "doing" mentality. When we put our focus on "doing" instead of His presence, we fall into the Martha trap. If you are unfamiliar with the story of Mary and Martha in the Bible I suggest you read Luke 10:38-42. I recently heard a pastor say if you are in a Martha season, by all means, get out! Jesus rebuked Martha twice!

I once was Martha. When I hosted a gathering at my home perfection was the goal, details reigned supreme and I would bit your head off (just ask my husband and children) if you walked through the kitchen. Instead of focusing on creating an atmosphere of love for my guests I created one of tension and stress. As Jesus said to Martha, "Martha, Martha, you are worried about and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken away from her."

Pastor Bill Johnson teaches on the importance of not putting principles over the presence (of God.) Principles are good and necessary for order, but shouldn't take precedence over hosting the presence of God. It's in the presence of God where people are touched, transformed, healed and loved!

So, what might gear a person toward being a Martha instead of a Mary, toward striving instead of serving from overflow? For me it was driven out of a need to please and perform for the approval of others. I had to be the best at what I did...sadly, it didn't matter how much collateral damage there was in the process. Needing approval of others is just the surface of what fuels this kind of behavior. Unworthiness is a nasty beast driving this "striving" and "doing" mentality as well. Maybe if I do my best I can be worthy of love and acceptance. This is placing our value in what we do, not who we are in Christ.

God loves you for you. Period. When we try to "work" for His approval we are in essence saying His grace wasn't enough for us....and how prideful is that?!? Do you think what Jesus did on the cross was enough? The deceiver works overtime to keep us believing the lie we are unworthy. What I am about to say is strong and I don't say it to condemn...but really, when we say we aren't worth the sacrifice Christ made we are calling Him a liar...because, Beloved, He said you were worthy enough for Him to die for. Is your sin so bad that He needs to go back onto the cross and suffer it all again? Of course not....so, why do we live with a cloud of shame and unworthiness? Hopefully we can shed some light on this topic in the future.

Perhaps you have struggled with unworthiness (I haven't met anyone who hasn't at one time, me included.) When we are shrouded in a cloud of unworthiness we believe He couldn't possibly want to spend time with us....so we neglect spending time with Him and our hearts become empty...then we take our empty hearts and try to "serve" Him...which is the pre-cursor to ministry burn out. Which is where we will pick up next time!

In the meantime might I encourage you to seek the Lord if you struggle with the ungodly belief you are unworthy. If you find value in what you do, instead of who Christ's makes you, ask Jesus where the ungodly root is. Start with this prayer or something like it:

"Father God, You created me for relationship with You. To be in Your presence and to serve from a place of presence. I have struggled with striving and have tried to earn Your grace. I confess I have believed the lie I was not worthy and denied Your gift of grace and the work of the cross. Jesus, Your blood makes me worthy. I receive Your robe of righteousness. Father, help me. Show me areas in my heart where there are lies I am believing about how You feel about me. I want to receive everything You have for me. I want to walk in FREEDOM and JOY and serve from the OVERFLOW of my relationship with YOU! Thank You, Papa, You give me only good gifts. Thank You for Your grace. I love You!"

Now turn your eyes toward heaven....listen....He is going to talk to your spirit. Write it down and meditate on what He reveals to you.

Serving from a heart of overflow, hosting His presence which brings the kingdom of heaven to earth makes MY SOUL SING! Lalalalalala, can you hear it singing? Yours can sing too!

If you enjoy reading My Soul Sings please become a follower of this blog and consider sharing it with a friend! Blessings on you!

Passionate about Purpose

Remember those old time arcade games? My aunt and uncle had one in their basement when I was a child. You would pull back on the lever, let go quickly and watch the metal ball be propelled up the chute and back down as gravity pulled it, hitting sensors as it went, full of accompanying sounds and lights as you pushed the button which flipped the bars trying to prevent the ball from going into the gutter. That pretty much describes what is going on in my head right now with this post...so many directions it could go, so many holes it could fall into, some scoring more points then others...Excuse me a moment while the ball lands at its destination...Holy Spirit come, wisdom and revelation come. Okay, here we go....

This will be a series, not sure how many posts. I have much to say on the topic and I don't want to overwhelm you. Let's start with taking an inventory on where you stand on the subject of purpose by asking a few questions:

1. What were you created for?

2. Do you feel you are walking in what you were created for?

3. Do you struggle with feeling like there should be something more to life?

4. Do you feel incomplete?

5. Are you frustrated or confused in the area of purpose or calling?

6. Are you, or have you, felt burnout in the area of ministry or Christian service?

7. Do you say "yes" to things out of a sense of obligation?

8. Do you find identity in what you do? In other words, does "doing" make you feel significant or valuable?

There was a time when looking at these questions would have made me feel hopeless. My answers would have been:

1. I have no idea

2. No, obviously, since I have no idea.

3. Yes, all the time.

4. Are we allowed to feel complete?

5. Yes and Yes

6. YES!!!

7. YES and guilty when I had the guts to say no.

8. Identity? What the heck is identity?

Like the majority of the body of Christ, I believed I was made to serve. I mean, after all, this great big God sent His one and only Son to die for me, a wormy wretch, shouldn't I spend the rest of my life serving Him? If this is where your thoughts end on the subject, you may have been missing out on the greatest relationship of your life. If you have accepted the lesser of your identity as "servant"as the end of the line you have been missing out on the opportunity to walk in the greater part of your identity as "friend" and "lover." I will attempt to show you in this series how we can be all three; servant, friend and lover.

Let's take a look at Psalm 46:10 in the NASB version:

"Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

You may be more familiar with the version that begins with "be still," but I want to talk about "striving" before we talk about "being."

Let's define the word strive: To exert much effort or energy. To struggle, to contend in opposition, battle, or any conflict. To rival, vie.

In the ministry where I am on staff, strive is the "s" word. Striving denotes a "doing" mentality. In our relationship with the Lord it is not about doing, but being. Doing denotes a theology full of works. Grace is unmerited favor, a gift. Grace can not be earned. Salvation is also a gift, it can not be bought, earned or paid back. It has been my observation although a denomination believes salvation is a gift from God, not of works, many live their lives in contradiction to this truth by "striving."

When it comes to our relationship with the Lord it should be from desire we pursue more intimacy with Him, not so we can meet a quota of Bible reading, prayer and study. When we come to understand how crazy in love with us He is, we WANT to spend time with Him. Time with Him becomes a priority, not a duty. Religion has taught us time with Him is routine, mundane and mechanical. Why have we made relationship with Him something different then what He designed it to be?

Other translations of Psalm 46:10 begin with "be still." Read it like this: Be. Be still. Be still and know. Be still and know that I am God.

I want to propose to you the concept of resting in the Lord. I heard a speaker this past Sunday say, "It's out of rest you wear the enemy out." The enemy is most intimidated, most frustrated and most defeated when we REST in our God given identity...when we KNOW who we are in Christ we are scary to Satan...we can REST in the finished work of the cross KNOWING His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Here are some things we will address in future posts in this series: What drives us to strive. The cure for ministry burnout. What is our purpose. Expose lies the enemy wants us to believe about serving God. How to deepen your walk with God and become a friend and lover, not merely a servant. How to serve from the overflow of relationship. We will discuss what it means to "know God" as we continue to look at Psalm 46:10. Wow, this is the list I have made so far...who knows where the Spirit will lead. It will be exciting! I hope you join me on the journey!

Knowing my purpose has liberated me in ways I can't express in words. Leading others in discovering their purposes makes MY SOUL SING!