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What is success?

1 Chronicles 28: 2, 3, 6 (AMP) I had intended to build a permanent home for the ark of the covenant of the Lord and as a footstool for our God, and I prepared materials for the building. But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My Name (Presence)…He said to me, ‘Solomon your son shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be a son to Me, and I will be a father to him.

I am in the process of reading the Bible Chronologically using the Amplified Version in the You Version App. It is different from reading a complete book at a time, because it puts you in the perspective of what was going on during the time it was written. Reading Psalms out of context before had me feeling like David was a big whiner sometimes. It reminded me that we can make judgments about people because we do not know the whole story.

I just finished reading where David is at the end of his life and his heart’s desire was to build the permanent home for the Ark of the Covenant. He has spent years studying the texts and his heart was to see it completed. In 1 Chronicles 23-29 David is making preparations for his son, Solomon, to become king and to build the temple.

1 Chronicles 28:11 (AMP) Then David gave to his son Solomon the plan… This had me thinking. When was the last time you helped someone with their success knowing that you would not reap the benefits of it? I gained a new respect for David when I saw his heart for his son to succeed. David had been talking about and dreaming about building this temple for years. What would you have done if God told you that you would not be the one to build what you dreamed? Would you still gather the materials? Would you still do the research? Would you still buy that plot of land?

We live in a culture where offense is the norm. I actually think some people do not know how to function without someone being the villain in their lives. David did not look at his son as his successor, nor as his competition. He looked at Solomon as the one who was going to succeed him, and he was excited about it.

My husband and I are pastors of a church in Opelika, Alabama. We were not the ones who started the ministry, his parents were. I often look back as to when were did not have a title, or considered the “assistants,” and how our hearts were to see the church succeed. We had no intentions nor was it on our minds that one day we would lead. Every event was planned and executed by us, yet we did not take the lead role during the event (to include baby and bridal showers). If there was a need to reach a certain demographic with a small group or a type of fellowship, we started and led it, willingly! We were excited to be at the church early and doing whatever needed to be done way before service started. If they needed someone in nursery, I was there. They needed a pre-teen class for an age group to be ministered to, I will teach it!! They just needed to state the need, not ask me to meet the need.

When was the last time you looked around and saw a need and did not just say “someone needs to,” but instead said “there is a need and I am going to make sure it is met”? Instead of being offended with your church or pastors for not meeting your needs (or expectations), ask yourself what you can do to help that area succeed. When others succeed, you will succeed. Do you need the recognition here or is it enough that the Father sees your heart and has a reward for you in heaven? Instead of taking on offense at the leader, what can we do to make sure they succeed?

I do not know if you are a leader or if you look to your leader to meet all of your needs. Only he Father can meet all of our needs. I want to be a light to this world. I want to make an impact that brings glory to God. If that means that I do all the work in the background to make sure there is a good foundation laid for the next generation, then so be it. If they succeed, then I succeed!

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He Understands

Ephesians 4:22-25 (AMP) That, regarding your previous way of life, you put off your old self [completely discard your former nature], which is being corrupted through deceitful desires, and be continually renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude], and put on the new self [the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God’s image, [godlike] in the righteousness and holiness of the truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation]. Therefore, rejecting all falsehood [whether lying, defrauding, telling half-truths, spreading rumors, any such as these], speak truth each one with his neighbor, for we are all parts of one another [and we are all parts of the body of Christ].

So many of us put our faith in Christ as our Savior, but fail to allow Him to be our redeemer, our healer, our restorer. Christ has done everything He needs to do to be one with us. God lives in me, He sees me, He hears me, He loves me and He understands me. People may not always understand you, but Jesus will always understand you.

I have recently gone through a great heart ache. People in our church have recently walked away from ours to go to another in our area. As pastors it is hard because it feels like a divorce (or that is what those who have never had a divorce would think it feels like). I had a dream about one of them last night. It was a dream of when he and his brother were younger, with short curly hair. In my dream I wept. I also imagined myself using something to dull the feeling of pain. That is something I have never done in the natural, so why would I dream about that?

Galatians 5:16-17 (AMP) But I say, walk habitually in the [Holy] Spirit [seek Him and be responsive to His guidance], and then you will certainly not carry out the desire of the sinful nature [which responds impulsively without regard for God and His precepts]. For the sinful nature has its desire which is opposed to the Spirit, and the [desire of the] Spirit opposes the sinful nature; for these [two, the sinful nature and the Spirit] are in direct opposition to each other [continually in conflict], so that you [as believers] do not [always] do whatever [good things] you want to do.

I have recently been reading about the time in David’s life when his son Absalom was against him. You can read about their tumultuous relationship in 2 Samuel 13-18. David did not send orders to end Absalom’s life. He asked for them to have mercy on his son, the son that was trying to overthrow him. I often think about how we want God to take revenge for us to those that have done us wrong. My husband made a good point yesterday and I have been asking God to help with my heart change. We have have every right to feel the way we do when someone wrongs us…in the natural. However, when we are born again we have to submit those feelings to the Kingdom and let go of our rights.

David writes during this time in Psalms 26:11 (AMP), “But as for me, I shall walk in my integrity; Redeem me and be merciful and gracious to me.”

Psalms 139:23-24 (AMP) Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart; Test me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me, And lead me in the everlasting way.

I cannot allow these hurts to hold me back. I cannot beat myself up for them coming up sometimes either. I have to change my focus. I have to allow the Holy Spirit to heal me from the inside out. Remember, Jesus understands. David did have his moments when he cried out to God to hide his iniquity. Psalms 38:16 (AMP), For I pray, “May they not rejoice over me, who, when my foot slips, would boast against me.” We want to hide in our shame. We want to close the doors to our bedroom and not let the light shine in so we can stay in the bed all day long. Let Christ in!

Let me know how I can pray for you today. Let me know if you have moments like this too, or if you are in a season right now that is hard to get out of. I want to pray with you! You can email me at amanda@desiringformore.org.

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Fresh Bread

Leviticus 24:5-8 (NLT) You must bake twelve flat loaves of bread from choice flour, using four quarts of flour for each loaf. Place the bread before the Lord on the pure gold table, and arrange the loaves in two stacks, with six loaves in each stack. Put some pure frankincense near each stack to serve as a representative offering, a special gift presented to the Lord. Every Sabbath day this bread must be laid out before the Lord as a gift from the Israelites; it is an ongoing expression of the eternal covenant.

I like to bake. Most of my meals for my family is prepared using the oven. As of right now, there are about two different baked goods, on the counter, for my family to grab anytime they want something.

A couple of weeks ago, when I took my mom to the beach, I was reading this book, The God Chasers by Tommy Tenney. It was my second time reading it, first time was about twenty years ago. Chapter two in The God Chasers is titled “No Bread in the ‘House of Bread’ crumbs in the carpet and empty shelves. What are crumbs in the carpet?”

This caused me to do a little research. There would be bread in the tabernacle, behind the curtain that the priests were only allowed to go through. On a golden table there would be two stacks of six (twelve in all) of round loaves of bread. It was referred to as Show Bread.

First of all we think that the show bread is there because is symbolized the manna that fell from heaven, and then there are the twelve tribes as to why there are twelve loaves. Show bread in Hebrew is לחם הפנים‎ lechem haPānīm, literally, “Bread of the Faces”. haPānīm is translated “face” and sometimes intimate/inward relationship. haPānīm according to the Hebrew alphabet, the letters equals 180. In their culture numbers are very meaningful. Moses met with God haPānīm el haPānīm, face to face. So 180 plus 180 equals 360 and that is the circumference of a circle.

So why do we not have bread in our modern services today? John 6:35 (AMP), Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.“

This bread symbolized a personal, face to face, relationship with God. Jesus is not here with us today. The Holy Spirit is though. John 14:16 (AMP), And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever.

What I like is that the bread had to be fresh. If bread is not fresh it gets hard, it gets stale, it gets moldy. Matthew 6:9-11 (AMP), Jesus instructed them, “Pray, then, in this way:‘Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. ‘Your kingdom come,Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. ‘Give us this day our daily bread.”

When I think of a kitchen that is used often we have different smells. You can have a burnt smell, from a house that does not know how to cook. A sour smell, from a house that does not take out the trash enough. There is also the house that has a luring aroma, the house that when you enter your stomach starts grumbling. My kids friends say my house smells like the later. They know where to get a good meal. I believe that is the desire of the Father about His house.

Who brings that bread though? We do, as worshipers. It was not the priests that brought the bread, it was the Israelites. I proposed this to my church yesterday (there is a link to the full message below): Do you come to Sunday service with a fresh expectation or are we expecting to be fed off of the same bread crumbs? Do we think it is not necessary to bring fresh bread, a gift in our worship?

I pray this encourages you that God wants to do something fresh and new in you today. I also pray this encourages you that you desire to give Him your best self today as well. Be blessed!

Link to yesterday’s message Fresh Bread: https://youtu.be/ZM_skPaLI00

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Should we hide?

Acts 8:1 (AMP) Saul wholeheartedly approved of Stephen’s death. And on that day a great and relentless persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem; and the believers were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles.

We read in Acts 6 and 7 about the life (in Christ) and the death of Stephen. Saul is still a young man and is witnessing this. What a moment in the history of the early church. A man (innocent) said to have the face of an angel (Acts 6:15) is stoned to death for telling the group before him that they were stiff necked and stubborn just like their fathers before them for resisting the Holy Spirit (Acts 7:51). Saul (later Paul) witnesses all of this and later becomes a persecutor of Christians. We see in the above verse that the believers were scattered.

Where did they scatter to? Did they go in hiding? A relentless persecution had broken out against the church in Jerusalem. If we look to the past, what did they do in the past? Moses ran (Exodus 2:11-15). David ran (1 Samuel 21-24). Elijah ran (1 Kings 19). Should they run and hide?

Acts 8:4 (AMP) Now those [believers] who had been scattered went from place to place preaching the word [the good news of salvation through Christ]. 

Caves were no longer an option for those in Christ. When I was fired nearly three years ago, and told that I was a criminal for the unintentional mistake, my first reaction was to hide. I could have shrunk away from all things ministry. Instead, it propelled me into a deeper relationship with my Father and a deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit. We have to remember, although the angel led Elijah to the cave, it was God constantly calling him out of it.

Why did the persecution come? Why do hardships come? Before the Holy Spirit was released, Jesus gave a great commission, Matthew 28:18-20 (TLB), He told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and earth. Therefore go and make disciples in all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and then teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you; and be sure of this—that I am with you always, even to the end of the world.” We have two choices, we can either hide (and use God as our crutch) or we can follow these instructions and GO!

We have not been hidden for later use. There is a great need for Christ in our world. It is in our comfort that we seek the cave. Depression is a real issue. If this is an issue with you and you cannot come out of the cave because of it, it may be time to seek help. It would not be choosing a plan B (other than God). You are not a failure for seeing a counselor, therapist and/or doctor. That was a dangerous and destructive theology…why is it okay to send doctors to the mission field, but not okay for you to see one?

In the last three years I have preached more in my local church, not to say I have not had to fight rejection. I have not had thoughts that I was not enough for people. However, I have stepped out and mentored anyone who has allowed me to. I am not ashamed of the Word and how it changed me.

Acts 1:8 (AMP)  But you will receive power and ability when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be My witnesses [to tell people about Me] both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.

This is what they were missing and why they hid. We have the Holy Spirit. This is why we do not hide! He has not hidden us for later use. It is time for the Body of Christ to come out of hiding and proclaim the word (the good news of salvation through Christ)!

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Marathon, not a race

Psalms 119:32 (AMP) I will run the way of Your commandments [with purpose], for You will give me a heart that is willing.

Last week I spent time with my mother at Panama City Beach, Florida. The beaches in the Gulf of Mexico have white sand. They have some of my favorite beaches. Gulf Shores, Alabama, being my top favorite. Panama City is where my mother, and sometimes my grandmother, would take us during the summers. The places we stayed growing up had an old Panama City feel, and the place we stayed at this time reminded me of my childhood. My grandmother would have celebrated her 80th birthday that week.

hile on the beach, where I spent most of the day, I read. I love the written word. I do not read fiction. I read books by authors like John Bevere, Lisa Bevere, Tommy Tinney, Joanne Weaver, Lysa Terkeurst, Joyce Meyer, Lisa Harper, Bob Goff….I have an extensive library. I not only read the revelation of others, but I also read the Bible for myself. Right now I am reading the Bible chronologically and I am about a third of the way through (I started about 120 days ago).

This verse above stood out to me. Sometimes we think that God will run the race for us. Have you ever heard this statement: “It’s a marathon, not a race”? When someone sets out to do a marathon, they have to train. When someone starts running, they cannot expect themselves to do a 5K the first day out. When we start to desire more of the things of God, we cannot expect to sit and pray for two hours, when we have never prayed more than at meal time (the same with reading).

How can I want to do this, you ask? Make a plan and execute it. This verse says do it with a purpose. If it is something we think we are “suppose” to do and don’t, then guilt will set it. Guilt is the biggest lie of the enemy when it comes to getting into a deeper relationship with our Father. It will cause us to run away from Him instead of drawing closer to Him.

So pick up that book study that has been calling you to grow deeper. Spend some intentional time in prayer. Turn off the television, You Tube or whatever you like to listen to to get your Word for the day and start reading it for yourself (good teaching should be a supplement to add to, not your be all). You might start out with a chapter a day…I did. The first time I read the Bible completely through was when I was forty (twenty two years after I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior). That was last year.

We are all at different levels of training for the marathon. Do not get distracted or feel guilty for not running as fast as others. Just keep running, He is the wind that is pushing you along. He will give you the heart that is willing!

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Evidence

1 John 5:10 (AMP) The one who believes in the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies confidently on Him as Savior] has the testimony within himself [because he can speak authoritatively about Christ from his own personal experience]. The one who does not believe God [in this way] has made Him [out to be] a liar, because he has not believed in the evidence that God has given regarding His Son.

Sometimes evidence will be staring you straight in the face and you do not want to believe it. I think this is like what this statement is saying. To put it in another perspective, go back to 1 Kings 18 and read the account of Elijah on Mt. Carmel to prove to King Ahab who the one true God is. Jezebel introduced polytheism to the Israelites, they started worship both Yahweh and Baal. Baal was the king of all gods, but not king over Yahweh, so Elijah’s challenge was for a great show down on Baal’s turf. Yahweh showed up and showed out! Elijah was so excited that he out ran chariots. When King Ahab told Jezebel about the one true God, she sent a messenger to tell Elijah she was going to end his life. Beyond all evidence being presented to her, she refused to believe. It pretty much sounds like she was made out to be a liar.

Elijah, heart broken because it did not change the hearts of as many as he had hoped, ran away and hid and became depressed. We are tempted to do the same thing when we focus on the response of people. God will tell us time and again to have peace, to be still in His presence, so that we may regain focus. What are we to be focusing on? He is the “I AM.” That means He is our all. Yes, we are called to be with His creation and we are not to isolate ourselves from them, but we do not focus on them.

Philippians 4:8 (AMP) Finally, believers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable and worthy of respect, whatever is right and confirmed by God’s word, whatever is pure and wholesome, whatever is lovely and brings peace, whatever is admirable and of good repute; if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think continually on these things [center your mind on them, and implant them in your heart].

This is a verse I cling to when my thoughts and my doubts start to stir up inside of my mind. Today I am sending off a group of teenagers (my two sons included) to a youth camp in Florida. They will spend four nights in amazing worship and ministering services. I pray they come back filled with a fresh fire and receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Evidence will be presented of what a life in Jesus can transform their lives like while they are still teens. Pray for them this week. Pray that broken hearts are mended, anxiety is broken off of them and they open their eyes to see who the Son of God is. Pray they come back with hearts on fire to see a revival in their schools!

Have a blessed week!

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Not Rejected but Accepted

Psalm 142:5 (AMP) I cried out to You, O Lord; I said, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

In my personal studies I am reading the Bible in chronological order. I have been using the You Version App and it has a plan to read it in a year. I cannot say that I read every day, but I do catch it up to where I should be in line with what it wants me to be at. Right now I am in the middle of 1 Samuel and some of the Psalms. These were the Psalms that David wrote as he was being pursued by Saul the first time. I encourage you to read your Bible in different ways and in different translations. The Word of God is living and brings fresh revelation (like the manna) every day. Here are some that stood out to me:

Psalms 142: 4-7 (AMP) Look to the right [the point of attack] and see; for there is no one who has regard for me [to act in my favor]. Escape has failed me and I have nowhere to run; no one cares about my life. I cried out to You, O Lord; I said, “You are my refuge,my portion in the land of the living.
“Give attention to my cry, for I am brought very low; rescue me from my persecutors, for they are stronger than I. “Bring my soul out of prison (adversity), so that I may give thanks and praise Your name; the righteous will surround me [in triumph], for You will look after me.”

Psalms 56:8 (AMP) You have taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not recorded in Your book?

Psalms 56:5 (AMP) All day long they twist my words and say hurtful things; all their thoughts are against me for evil.

Psalms 34:14 (AMP) Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.

Psalms 31:10-13 (AMP) For my life is spent with sorrow and my years with sighing; my strength has failed because of my iniquity, and even my body has wasted away. Because of all my enemies I have become a reproach and disgrace, especially to my neighbors, and an object of dread to my acquaintances; those who see me on the street run from me. I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind; I am like a broken vessel. For I have heard the slander and whispering of many, terror is on every side; while they schemed together against me, they plotted to take away my life.

Reading these passages out of context (just reading the Psalms on their own) we would think that anything against us we have the right to wale like David did. In that context when we “think” people, family and/or the world is against us we like to quote these verses of David. I want to make something clear, David was ACTUALLY/LITERALLY RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE!

I had a Psalms 56:5 moment the other day (All day long they twist my words and say hurtful things; all their thoughts are against me for evil.) Then I had to think, “If I had to explain this to an non-believer what would they think?” They would probably think I was nutty, fruity and flaky. Here is what I want you to notice what David did recognize, in Psalms 142:7, he writes, “Bring my soul out of prison (adversity), so that I may give thanks and praise Your name; the righteous will surround me [in triumph], for You will look after me.” When we lament over our thoughts of adversity, we put our own souls in prison. Most of the battles we are facing are in our minds, not like David here, who again was literally running for his life.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (KJV) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds😉 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

People are not our problems. The more we dwell on them, and how you think you may feel about each other, we are putting up strongholds in the body of Christ that will keep us from reaching the ones that need Jesus. We are the light of the World and we cannot show our light if we keep putting up these strongholds. We cannot keep “feeling” like this against our brothers and sisters in Christ and be effective. We are doing like David said and have put our souls in prison. Let us cast down these thoughts, these imaginations and focus on who we are truly called to be.

1 Peter 2:9-10 (MSG) But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

We are not rejected, we are accepted!

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Inventions of the mind

2 Corinthians 10:4-5 (AMP) The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (KJV) For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

I was reading Nehemiah chapter six as it was instructed in my Faith to Faith Devotional yesterday and something stood out at me. When a group of people heard that the wall had been rebuilt and there was no way to breach the gate (there were no doors to the gate at the time) they wanted to meet face to face with Nehemiah. Their intentions were not to talk things out, but to harm him. He refused. Four times they requested and he refused. The report back to him was that they heard a revolt was planned and they were planning on making Nehemiah their king. They said that if he did not come out and meet they were going to send a report to the Persian King. I love Nehemiah’s response, because it lined up with the scriptures above.

Nehemiah 6:8 (AMP) I sent a message to him, saying, “Such things as you are saying have not been done; you are inventing them in your own mind.”

I do not know about you, but I have moments like the men outside the walls. We can act super spiritual and say that the Holy Spirit is revealing these things to us (that the spirit gift of discernment is at work.) I am so grateful that I have the husband that I do. This is why it is important that you have people in your life that are grounded in the Word, and for you to be grounded as well. When I start to allow the imaginations to run in my mind, I think a phrase or a look is directed with evil intent, I need to reel it back.

My husband is in a series called “Focus.” This is a year of distractions and we need to be focused on Kingdom purpose. Then he has branched to the subpart called “Assurance.” Assurance being the state of mind free from doubt. Now he has sub-parted off of that to “When the Enemy Attacks.” The first place the enemy will attack is your mind. It is not going to be a one time thing either. That is his point of entry. The whole point in attacking your mind is because he wants you to accept the lies that he tells, the Word in how he twists it. Then his goal is to rile up your emotions to you responding the way that is contrary to the Word (see Galatians 5).

Romans 12:2 (NKJV) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Ephesians 6, verses 10 through 20 tells us to put on the full armor of God. The renewing of the mind and the full armor of God are things we need to do daily. There are days I can honestly say that I do not feel like it either. We want to quote the lines from a famous song, “Jesus, take the wheel.” That is not His job, He is making intercession for us. We have to make the choice. Joshua 24:15a was explained very well in service yesterday. In the NIV it says, “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.” It is not always desirable to renew our minds. It is not always desirable to turn off the shows that cause us to become anxious (the news included). Our spirit man has been saved, but we still have our own fleshly desires we have to put in line (which includes our minds). Today, I choose to cast down those thoughts, those plots I can see forming (only in my head), and choose to think on what God sees (Philippians 4:8).

Happy Monday! Be blessed!!

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In Pursuit

1 Peter 3:11 (AMPC) Let him turn away from wickedness and shun it, and let him do right. Let him search for peace (harmony; undisturbedness from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts) and seek it eagerly. [Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!]

Back when I received Jesus as my Lord and Savior, in 1998, there was a couple of popular books going around. There was, Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren and, The God Chasers by Tommy Tenney. This verse made me think of the later. I still have my copy of the book with all my highlights and notes from when I first read it. Rereading the introduction this paragraph stood out to me, “The difference between the truth of God and revelation is very simple. Truth is where God’s been. Revelation is where God is. Truth is God’s tracks. It’s His trial. His path, but it leads to what? It leads to Him. Perhaps the masses of people are happy to know where God’s been, but true God chasers are not content to just to study God’s trail, His truths; they want to know Him. They want to know where He is and what He’s doing right now.”

This has been my hearts desire and why I started Desiring for More. Yes, we are saved by the drawing of the Holy Spirit. You cannot pursue after something that you have no knowledge of.

Mark 10:46-52 (AMP) Then they came to Jericho. And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting beside the road [as was his custom]. When Bartimaeus heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout and say, “Jesus, Son of David (Messiah), have mercy on me!” Many sternly rebuked him, telling him to keep still and be quiet; but he kept on shouting out all the more, “Son of David (Messiah), have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, telling him, “Take courage, get up! He is calling for you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” The blind man said to Him, “Rabboni (my Master), let me regain my sight.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith [and confident trust in My power] has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Jesus on the road.

The sovereignty of God has come to the point that people accept their place in life, their illnesses, their living situations everything they are as God’s will for our lives. “If He wanted something different for me, He will bring me out of it” mentality. Or, “I am just waiting on God to come through for me.” I know I am stepping on Sovereign toes (golden calves), but there are many times that we see pursuit of God before freedom, the break through, the healing. I know of people who burn sage in their homes to ward off evil spirits. That is weird to me, when I know the One that makes the demons tremble.

Pursuit is not a bad thing. Pursuit does come with expectations though. It may be the disappointments that have caused believers to stop pursing after God. Maybe it is just not knowing that they could. It is up to the ones that are chasing to disciple others in that pursuit. There is something true about fire that we can relate to. If you get close to a fire you will either use it to get warm; you can get closer and you can start to burn; or we could make the choice to jump in and we can catch on fire ourselves. Just like the levels of intensity, we choose the level we want to be at.

I pray this encourages you to pursue! Pursue whatever it is that you have a need of in your life. I pray that you discover that in your pursuit that it is Jesus that you see that meets that need (see John 4:46-47; Mark 1:23-28; Mark 1:40-45; Matthew 8:5-13; Matthew 9:1-8; Matthew 9:18-26; Matthew 9:27-31; Matthew 15:22-28). In also encourage you that you do not seek after a relationship to get, but you do like Bartimaeus and follow.

Matthew 6:33 (AMPC) But seek (aim at and strive after) first of all His kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.

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Give me the giants

Joshua 14: 7-12 (AMP) I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to scout the land [of Canaan], and I brought a report back to him as it was in my heart. My brothers (fellow spies) who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the Lord my God completely. So Moses swore [an oath to me] on that day, saying, ‘Be assured that the land on which your foot has walked will be an inheritance to you and to your children always, because you have followed the Lord my God completely.’ And now, look, the Lord has let me live, just as He said, these forty-five years since the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel wandered in the wilderness; and now, look at me, I am eighty-five years old today. I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so is my strength now, for war and for going out and coming in. So now, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke that day, for you heard on that day that the [giant-like] Anakim were there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the Lord will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the Lord said.”

I love this part of Caleb’s story. I have had my spirit crushed before with expectations of people, specifically them not meeting my excitement of the journey ahead. Caleb was tenacious. He persevered even when they did not match his excitement (see Numbers 13). God rewarded Him for that.

There are times that you will be ready to move forward when those that you love are not ready to move at the same pace. Keep moving forward anyways.

I spent the day traveling three hundred and eighty two miles from home (nearly a six hour drive) to be at the Palm Coast Holy Spirit Conference this week. My husband and I planned this trip months ago. We brought our teenage sons along with us. A couple in our church are also attending. My prayer is that no matter what our ages, that we will have the excitement as Caleb did. “Give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke that day!” If not, then my prayer is lined up with Elisha for the servant with him, when the enemy army was surrounding them in 2 Kings 6:17 (AMP), then Elisha prayed and said, “Lord, please, open his eyes that he may see.” And the Lord opened the servants eyes and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire surrounding Elisha.

We will have giants come before us that we will have to overcome. I get excited about the giants, because I know that growth comes from fighting giants. I understand that not everyone is excited about a challenge like I am. I might let you discourage me for a moment, but I am going after that giant eventually. Giant slayers are strong! Giant slayers gain momentum. Giants slayers eventually take that mountain!!!

Wherever you are I pray that you do not give up. I pray that you look up to the promise and tell God that you will do what you need to do to conquer that mountain, even slay a giant if you have to!

Have a blessed week!