A few weeks ago, I asked the question, "What if we finally awakened to the reality, that the vision (God has for each of our lives) was now?"
In that post, I promised to share more in the coming days. There's been a lot of snow, ice and freezing temperatures in our part of the country, so I had a week longer to prepare to speak at our women's Bible study. Now, as I committed to the ladies today, I'm ready to get myself out of this "winter distracted funk" and settle in to delving into this idea further.
I never set out to have a three-point sermon. It just so happens that when God was growing this lesson in me, He utilized three ideas that He had already been developing in my life. In early November 2013, He pulled all three of these together to present me with a choice of how to proceed in my relationship with Him and the way I approach discerning His will and even how I come to Him in prayer.
But more about this later. For today, I'd like to share the first lesson God had been growing in me for a long time: He still gives visions and dreams.
Acts 2:17 reminds us of a prophecy first found in Joel 2:28:
"'And it shall be in the last days,' God says,
'That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind,
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men dream dreams;'"
I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but every day we are one step closer in the Kingdom calendar to the day Jesus returns to establish His reign on the New Earth. I have heard Beth Moore state in two different Bible studies, each recorded almost nine years apart, that we are in an obvious time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As she says, 'We didn't all the sudden just wake up and get smart and start studying God's Word.'
The almost insatiable appetite for God's Word, getting back to what really matters (i.e. not building massive churches, but investing massively in Kingdom work), and the current Millennial generation's willingness to forgo college and traditional jobs in order to serve the poor, the destitute and the downtrodden, are all beautifully amazing indications that we are living in a time of God's outpouring of His Spirit. If you need further proof, someone recently shared with me that an online Bible study (I think from Lysa Terkheurst) has 39,000 women from around the world participating in it.
That's just one study.
I hope you're convinced that we are living in a time of God's outpouring. If so, I'd like to press you further into embracing that because of this outpouring, young people "will prophesy".
For just a moment, I'd like for you to set aside your preconceived notions of what it means "to prophesy". It's not just the hairy man standing on the street corner shouting at cars and pedestrians that "the end is near"! The actual dictionary.com definition also includes "a declaration...as if by divine inspiration". There is even an archaic definition rendered as "to teach religious subjects". If you need further proof of this one, return and reread the third paragraph up. This Millennial generation is putting all others to shame in their desire to abandon all and no matter the cost follow the teachings of Jesus. I don't know what could more adequately demonstrate God's declarations.
And as far as visions and dreams...I've heard story after story in recent years of people who have grown up in cultures where Christianity is not even allowed, let alone promoted, and live under hostile religious regimes, yet they are willing to follow Jesus as Messiah because He comes to them in dreams and declares His love for them. Last year, I shared a review of a book written by two such women entitled Captive in Iran.
But here's the place that God was drawing me to last fall: It's not just dreams, as in the Biblical sense, that He gives...He graces us with His vision for our lives too.
I've actually known this for quite some time. If you've been reading this blog very long, you know that about five years ago we began a financially downward spiral that was out of our control. "Downwardly Mobile" was no longer a cute catch phrase coined by Henri Nouwen to describe when a Christian walks away from the pinnacle of their career to embrace a life of servitude to the marginalized and forgotten. Downwardly mobile was our existence.
I won't rehash it all here, you can already turn to many of the early posts of this blog to learn more about my story. But this blog was started out of the fullness of my heart as God showed me piece by piece how He was reshaping me to be mindful of the "widow and orphans" (James 1:27) of our society. Single moms will always have a special place in my soul because of that time period in my spiritual growth.
God's faithfulness, provision and determination to get me through to His way of looking at life was nothing short of miraculous. But something else happened during that time that I don't think I've ever shared on here. Because of this "revelation" (for lack of a better word) in November, it is now time.
I've lost track of precisely when...but sometime in 2010-2011, God gave me His "vision" for my life. It wasn't a divine billboard dropping out of the sky. It was more like whispers, refinement, unquenchable desires and abiding joy at a plan He was growing in me. I spoke this out loud to a group of people outside of my closest friends and immediate family for the first time today. Somehow it's appropriate that I put it out for the world to know too:
Some day...I would have a place where I can grow things, teach others to grow things (the current "it" word is "live more sustainably") and a place where the "weary traveler" can come, put up their feet, rest, be nourished, encouraged, grow in wisdom, discernment and knowledge, for however long it takes for them to be sturdier on the feet God gave them.
That's a mouthful.
At times, I have thought He has a place for me on the "back 40" somewhere. A place where I can have chickens, goats, orchards, massive garden sites and enough room to take in a herd of people too. I envisioned classes, seminars and relationship upon relationship, cultivated just as much as the ground upon which I would toil.
Other times, I've found it very appealing that maybe God's vision for my life would be in an urban setting. The work that groups like The Simple Way have done to live out love and relationship in the inner city is nothing short of amazing. A "beauty from the ashes" story is one I'd also love to live.
What I was able to share with the ladies this morning in our study of the life of Joseph, son of Jacob, is that while my "trials" by no means compare to his...I do know what it's like to be given a vision by God that looks nothing like your physical life exists.
How could I be confident and assured that His vision would become reality? That's the second part of the lesson He was growing in me. Come back tomorrow (or two days!) to learn why my confidence in His vision could not be shaken.
*************
More in this series: Part 2 This Life as We Know It...
In that post, I promised to share more in the coming days. There's been a lot of snow, ice and freezing temperatures in our part of the country, so I had a week longer to prepare to speak at our women's Bible study. Now, as I committed to the ladies today, I'm ready to get myself out of this "winter distracted funk" and settle in to delving into this idea further.
I never set out to have a three-point sermon. It just so happens that when God was growing this lesson in me, He utilized three ideas that He had already been developing in my life. In early November 2013, He pulled all three of these together to present me with a choice of how to proceed in my relationship with Him and the way I approach discerning His will and even how I come to Him in prayer.
But more about this later. For today, I'd like to share the first lesson God had been growing in me for a long time: He still gives visions and dreams.
Acts 2:17 reminds us of a prophecy first found in Joel 2:28:
"'And it shall be in the last days,' God says,
'That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind,
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
And your young men shall see visions,
And your old men dream dreams;'"
I'm not sure if you've noticed or not, but every day we are one step closer in the Kingdom calendar to the day Jesus returns to establish His reign on the New Earth. I have heard Beth Moore state in two different Bible studies, each recorded almost nine years apart, that we are in an obvious time of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As she says, 'We didn't all the sudden just wake up and get smart and start studying God's Word.'
The almost insatiable appetite for God's Word, getting back to what really matters (i.e. not building massive churches, but investing massively in Kingdom work), and the current Millennial generation's willingness to forgo college and traditional jobs in order to serve the poor, the destitute and the downtrodden, are all beautifully amazing indications that we are living in a time of God's outpouring of His Spirit. If you need further proof, someone recently shared with me that an online Bible study (I think from Lysa Terkheurst) has 39,000 women from around the world participating in it.
That's just one study.
I hope you're convinced that we are living in a time of God's outpouring. If so, I'd like to press you further into embracing that because of this outpouring, young people "will prophesy".
For just a moment, I'd like for you to set aside your preconceived notions of what it means "to prophesy". It's not just the hairy man standing on the street corner shouting at cars and pedestrians that "the end is near"! The actual dictionary.com definition also includes "a declaration...as if by divine inspiration". There is even an archaic definition rendered as "to teach religious subjects". If you need further proof of this one, return and reread the third paragraph up. This Millennial generation is putting all others to shame in their desire to abandon all and no matter the cost follow the teachings of Jesus. I don't know what could more adequately demonstrate God's declarations.
And as far as visions and dreams...I've heard story after story in recent years of people who have grown up in cultures where Christianity is not even allowed, let alone promoted, and live under hostile religious regimes, yet they are willing to follow Jesus as Messiah because He comes to them in dreams and declares His love for them. Last year, I shared a review of a book written by two such women entitled Captive in Iran.
But here's the place that God was drawing me to last fall: It's not just dreams, as in the Biblical sense, that He gives...He graces us with His vision for our lives too.
I've actually known this for quite some time. If you've been reading this blog very long, you know that about five years ago we began a financially downward spiral that was out of our control. "Downwardly Mobile" was no longer a cute catch phrase coined by Henri Nouwen to describe when a Christian walks away from the pinnacle of their career to embrace a life of servitude to the marginalized and forgotten. Downwardly mobile was our existence.
I won't rehash it all here, you can already turn to many of the early posts of this blog to learn more about my story. But this blog was started out of the fullness of my heart as God showed me piece by piece how He was reshaping me to be mindful of the "widow and orphans" (James 1:27) of our society. Single moms will always have a special place in my soul because of that time period in my spiritual growth.
God's faithfulness, provision and determination to get me through to His way of looking at life was nothing short of miraculous. But something else happened during that time that I don't think I've ever shared on here. Because of this "revelation" (for lack of a better word) in November, it is now time.
I've lost track of precisely when...but sometime in 2010-2011, God gave me His "vision" for my life. It wasn't a divine billboard dropping out of the sky. It was more like whispers, refinement, unquenchable desires and abiding joy at a plan He was growing in me. I spoke this out loud to a group of people outside of my closest friends and immediate family for the first time today. Somehow it's appropriate that I put it out for the world to know too:
Some day...I would have a place where I can grow things, teach others to grow things (the current "it" word is "live more sustainably") and a place where the "weary traveler" can come, put up their feet, rest, be nourished, encouraged, grow in wisdom, discernment and knowledge, for however long it takes for them to be sturdier on the feet God gave them.
That's a mouthful.
At times, I have thought He has a place for me on the "back 40" somewhere. A place where I can have chickens, goats, orchards, massive garden sites and enough room to take in a herd of people too. I envisioned classes, seminars and relationship upon relationship, cultivated just as much as the ground upon which I would toil.
Other times, I've found it very appealing that maybe God's vision for my life would be in an urban setting. The work that groups like The Simple Way have done to live out love and relationship in the inner city is nothing short of amazing. A "beauty from the ashes" story is one I'd also love to live.
What I was able to share with the ladies this morning in our study of the life of Joseph, son of Jacob, is that while my "trials" by no means compare to his...I do know what it's like to be given a vision by God that looks nothing like your physical life exists.
How could I be confident and assured that His vision would become reality? That's the second part of the lesson He was growing in me. Come back tomorrow (or two days!) to learn why my confidence in His vision could not be shaken.
*************
More in this series: Part 2 This Life as We Know It...
No comments:
Post a Comment