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All About You

Psalms 27:8 (AMP) When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You, “Your face, O Lord, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].”

We are officially in 2024. You may have written out your goals or made a resolutions to be a better version of yourself this year. I have seen this statement over and over “A Better Me.” Do you remember when were in grade school and the first week of school we had to do a project called “All About Me?” I do and it still goes on today. It is something that we have done because it is our nature to be self centered and self focused. There is nothing wrong with making goals. There is nothing wrong with wanting to better yourself. My question though is for what reason?

Isaiah 12:5 (AMP) Sing praises to the Lord, for He has done excellent and glorious things; let this be known throughout the earth.

I love reading. I do it to gain knowledge, but also because the written word puts pictures in my head. When I read the account of David bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, David’s first attempt was failure. Those who he had chosen to help him did not understand the reverence that needed to be held for such a piece. David was grieved that he could place people in a path of destruction by doing something so noble. Was this something that God wanted him to do? If so, how? The second attempt he, and the camp were successful (see 2 Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13:1-16:43). In 1 Chronicles 16 we see a psalm commissioned by King David of which is also recorded in Psalms 105:

Psalms 105: 1-4 (AMP) O give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people. Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; speak of all His wonderful acts and devoutly praise them. Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek and require the Lord [as their most essential need] rejoice. Seek and deeply long for the Lord and His strength [His power, His might]; seek and deeply long for His face and His presence continually.

As soon as the Ark is brought in, he has commissioned the task for them to sing a song of thanksgiving. Who received the glory? God did. It is His grace that allows us to do anything whether it is in the marketplace, in our homes or within the church.

Ephesians 2:8 (AMP) For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God

The word for grace in greek is ‘charis’, it is the word that we get charisma from. We often translate it as God’s undeserved favor. What if we looked at it as God’s empowerment? When I say I have been graced for something, I am saying that God has empowered me for this. When Jesus ascended He sent the Holy Spirit to empower us. We now have the charisma of God on this earth moving in and through us. This is a gift. What we do with this gift can either be used to glorify Him or it can be abused.

Philippians 2:3-11 (AMP) Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit [through factional motives, or strife], but with [an attitude of] humility [being neither arrogant nor self-righteous], regard others as more important than yourselves. Do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this same attitude in yourselves which was in Christ Jesus [look to Him as your example in selfless humility], who, although He existed in the form and unchanging essence of God [as One with Him, possessing the fullness of all the divine attributes—the entire nature of deity], did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped or asserted [as if He did not already possess it, or was afraid of losing it]; but emptied Himself [without renouncing or diminishing His deity, but only temporarily giving up the outward expression of divine equality and His rightful dignity] by assuming the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men [He became completely human but was without sin, being fully God and fully man]. After He was found in [terms of His] outward appearance as a man [for a divinely-appointed time], He humbled Himself [still further] by becoming obedient [to the Father] to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also [because He obeyed and so completely humbled Himself], God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow [in submission], of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess and openly acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord (sovereign God), to the glory of God the Father.

In the fall of 2018 my ego and spirit had been wounded. I could have retreated and pulled back from everything. I did run into the hiding place of God. That did not mean that I hid from people. Remember, it is through Him that we are empowered. When I shrink back, I am giving power to whatever hurt me. We have instinctively told people that this is okay because it is a natural reaction. 2 Samuel 6:6-7 (AMP) “When they came to Nacon’s threshing floor, Uzzah reached out [with his hand] to the ark of God and took hold of it, because the oxen [stumbled and] nearly overturned it. And the anger of the Lord burned against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his irreverence; and he died there by the ark of God.” It was a noble thing that Uzzah reached out to catch the Ark when it looked like it would fall, but that is not what pleased God. I think when we withdraw and focus on self we are doing the same thing. It may seem noble to encourage this, but ultimately we become so self-focused that we lose sight on what we were graced for. The ministry of reconciliation, that we are called to, get put on the back of our minds. We have been graced for this. The charisma to carry out our calling has been gifted to us. Desiring for More was birthed out of that time. My desire to see spiritual growth in others was birthed out of that.

In a world that tells us to make it all about us, we should be conforming to the model of Christ. He wanted His Father to get the glory, so He served. Christ did not want to make a name for Himself, in doing so God made His Name above every Name. What was the heart motive of Christ? It was for you and me. Seek first His Kingdom and all things will be taken care of (Matthew 6:33). If you want to better yourself, spend more time in His Presence. Get to know the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and Jesus. Jesus became a man so that He could show us the way to the Father. He did that through selfless humility. He went to the cross.

Abba, Father, You are so Marvelous. We stand in Awe of Your Majesty. You are our Creator and our Banner. Thank You for sending Your Son to bring us back to right standing with You. Thank You for gifting us with the Holy Spirit. We have now been given the grace and power to walk into everything that You have for us. You have gifted us with Comfort, with Peace, with Joy and with Wholeness to just name a few. In our desire to grab a hold of these, we have omitted that we still need You. They are free gifts, but it is You who shows us how to operate in them. We repent for the times we did not walk in Your grace and made it all about us. You have told us not to conform to the world and yet we did. Forgive us as we turn back to You and pull from our place of Redemption. We want to glorify Your Name. We want Your Name to be high and lifted up. We want to speak of Your good works. We choose joy today. We choose hope today. We choose forgiveness today. We choose love today. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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To care or not to care? That is the question.

John 13:34-35 (AMP)  I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.

The word “love” here is the in the Greek agape. It is not a word for emotion but a description of doing things for the benefit of another person. It is having an unselfish concern for another and a willingness to seek the best for another.

My husband and I are in a theme of Restore on Sundays. We minster together. It is a teaching we have been doing for over a year now. Often times as a person we want to be restored without having to make any effort on our part, because sacrifice has become as bad of a word in the church as repentance. A surrendered life is the example Jesus lived. It puts responsibility on me. We hold onto the truth that Christ paid it all on the cross, yet forget the words of Paul, “continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ] (Philippians 2:12).” I do not work for my salvation, but I am responsible for maturing. I am responsible for my surrender. Let’s go back to what Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.” This takes maturity, because I am selfish by nature, as are you. The best place to work this out of ourselves is in a group of people with the same purpose. That’s right, I am talking about the body of believers in your church.

Hebrews 10:23-25 (AMP) Let us seize and hold tightly the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is reliable and trustworthy and faithful [to His word]; and let us consider [thoughtfully] how we may encourage one another to love and to do good deeds, not forsaking our meeting together [as believers for worship and instruction], as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more [faithfully] as you see the day [of Christ’s return] approaching.

If you do not think the people in your church are important enough for you to be present, then you are missing out on a great opportunity to work out your salvation. You are missing the part that Jesus told us, “This is My commandment, that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you. No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. (John 15:12-13).” He is not talking about dying for each other, He is talking about us dying to ourselves. He is asking us to genuinely care for each other. Care so much that you see how important they are in the Kingdom. Why are we so self concerned whether someone else’s life looks better than our own, that we cannot care for one another? It really is a sad state because how is the world suppose to know that we are His? If you have love and unselfish concern for one another.

Let’s put it another way. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are to take care of this temple. Often times we only pertain this to ourselves. Look what Ephesians 2:19-22 has to say, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens [outsiders without rights of citizenship], but you are fellow citizens with the saints (God’s people), and are [members] of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the [chief] Cornerstone, in whom the whole structure is joined together, and it continues [to increase] growing into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, set apart, and sacred to the presence of the Lord]. In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you also are being built together into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” We are being build up together. I am not an individual set apart, I am apart of a body that is set apart. Know you can see what they are talking about in Hebrews about falling away from meeting together and the harm it does. I cannot do this on my own and I was never suppose to. Look at Haggai 1:2-10 and see what happens when we do not care about the temple of the Lord (the body of Christ). We lose in more aspects than we could ever imagine. We wonder why we struggle.

I’ve heard that there is no condemnation in Christ. I do not have to do any of this because works do not make me saved. That is all true. Works do not make me saved. However, I am not to neglect because of my freedom. That is not the character and nature of God and does not line up. We often like to quote Romans 8:1, “Therefore there is now no condemnation [no guilty verdict, no punishment] for those who are in Christ Jesus [who believe in Him as personal Lord and Savior].” However, we often use it out of context. It comes on the heals of Paul admitting to his own selfish tendencies. He is not giving himself permission to be selfish, but pointing back to a surrendered life. So I am not in condemnation because I have surrendered…that is how I am in Christ Jesus. That is why I want to care and show love for others. That is why I show up every Sunday. It is my worship to Him. It is not about me! Excuses make it about me. A surrendered life will want to follow the new commandment. A surrendered life cannot help but want to serve as Jesus did (John 13:5-15). He was the ultimate example, we are to do as He did. To care or not to care? If you really care then show up and serve.

Lord of the Universe, our Father and our Maker, we honor You today with every breath that is in our lungs. We praise You for who you are. There is none like You. We thank You for Your Son. We thank You that He lived the perfect life and gave us victory over death. Thank You for the Holy Spirit. We thank You that the same power that raised Jesus from the dead now dwells in us. We repent for squandering our Salvation by not maturing like You desire us to. We repent for continuing to live for ourselves and not walking out salvation to build each other up. We repent for not accepting the gift of the body of Christ and loving each other. We repent for not caring. Look at our hearts and take out any part that is within me that has continued to harden towards the love You want me to give. We choose today to turn back to Your face and live a life of surrender. We choose to walk in forgiveness and desire to see the best in others. We choose joy as our weapon. You said that Joy is our strength and I cannot have that apart from You. We desire to see Your Kingdom established and we repent for only caring about our own. Your Son said it is of not any benefit to do for those who would only do for us in return (Luke 6:32-35). Let us choose to be merciful and compassionate just as You are. We choose hope today. We choose joy today. We choose forgiveness today. We choose love today. In Jesus Name, Amen.