I stand silently to listen for the one I love, waiting as long as it takes for the Lord to rescue me. For God alone has become my Savior. He alone is my safe place; His wrap-around presence always protects me. For He is my champion defender; there’s no risk of failure with God. So why would I let worry paralyze me, even when troubles multiply around me? Psalm 62:1-3 The Passion Translation
Emotionally Drained
This last week drained my flesh and if my spiritual inner core was not strong in Christ, I would have fleshed out and fallen hard. After such a dreadful week, one I hope not to repeat too often, this morning I arose and I realigned my identity, I positioned it wholly-holy in Christ. I rejected the enemy’s condemnation of my imperfect flesh. I opened my heart wide to God and accepted His unconditional love and took all the enemies thoughts captive making way for the truth. I listened up to God. He spoke such reassuring truths to me and strengthened my inner spiritual core in that way only He could have. The truth is, I may be surrounded by battles in this life, but the battle is truly His, it belongs to Him, not me. This is how I fight my battles:
Vital-Vertical Relationship
I speak a lot of my vital-vertical relationship with God. I have many responsibilities in this life and I naturally prioritize those responsibilities. My vital-vertical relationship with God is my first responsibility. Why? Because God has gifted me in such a way that my arms are held wide open in a horizontal stance. Most of my todays, I am reaching out to my world horizontally with the love and truth of Jesus Christ. If you look at the cross of Jesus, it was His vertical relationship with the Father God, that held up His horizontal reach to this world. Jesus clearly demonstrated to us why His horizontal reach was so powerful, it was because His vital-vertical connection with His Father God. This Father-Son relationship was strong and it upheld His horizontal mission. His life was a picture of the cross as He lived life sacrificially, all He did was all about us and for us. Jesus’ life was given on a cross and the best part was, He left an empty cross, which is now a symbol of a future hope to our dying world.
Jesus replied, “Now you finally believe in me. And the time has come when you will all be scattered, and each one of you will go your own way, leaving me alone! Yet I am never alone, for the Father is always with me. And everything I’ve taught you is so that the peace which is in me will be in you and will give you great confidence as you rest in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!” John 16:31-33 The Passion Translation
Horizontal Failure
Without the vertical, the horizontal falls. This is where I found myself plenty of times in my life, my horizontal failed to uphold me. I tried so hard to be strong, to be the fixer of all. My inner spiritual core was not strong enough to hold everything I had put on my plate. I was not connected to God vertically. I was not a cross. The horizontal bar fell to the ground. I fell down in a death grip. The enemy wanted me, wanted to steal my life, kill me, but God said NO. I got up and when I got up, I connected vertically. When people see my life today they ask me? How could you stay so strong through that horrible situation you just faced? I say: “I say what you see, my horizontal life, my arms held wide open during every part of my life, including sudden trial, crisis or painful times, it remains the same in strength. I am that way, not because I am strong, I am weak, but because my vital-vertical relationship with God, it upholds my horizontal. I am a picture of His cross. We all can relate to that perfect picture syndrome. The selfie. We make things look perfect and we snap the picture and share it. These are never the reality of truth.
Living by the Power of the Holy Spirit~ So now the case is closed. There remains no accusing voice of condemnation against those who are joined in life-union with Jesus, the Anointed One. For the “law” of the Spirit of life flowing through the anointing of Jesus has liberated us from the “law” of sin and death. For God achieved what the law was unable to accomplish, because the law was limited by the weakness of human nature. Romans 8:1-3 The Passion Translation
The Cross – My Life
Being a cross in this life, I am most influenced by my Kingdom perspective, not my worldly viewpoint. I don’t need to fit in. I don’t need to be liked. I don’t base my reality of truth by other people’s opinions. I don’t need the approval of any man or woman on this earth. I don’t need to be okay. It is okay for me to not be okay, to be a mess. I don’t give anyone permission to speak into my mess but God, because He is the only One Who can make a message out of my mess. People give me good wisdom, some of it applies, some of it does not. Like my mom once told me: “Eat the meat – spit out the bones”. Some people have no permission to speak into my life, because they speak condemnation and they do not add value to my life. I listen up to God first and those who speak confirmation to what He has spoken, I listen to readily.
Accountable To God
Take responsibility – every reaction is your action; it belongs to you. You can falsely blame others for your stanky reaction to their stanky human condition. If you blame others, for your reaction to their mistakes, you will end up lame. BeLame. Your reaction belongs to you, this is your choice. The human condition is so stanky at times with unforgiveness and bitterness. I will either react to someone, or I will respond to God first, laying down my human reaction at the foot of His cross and waiting on Him for the best response. We don’t realize the significance of the decision to react or respond. This important choice, positions our identity wholly-holy in Christ, or independent of Him. Why is this a vital decision on our part? Responding to God first, instead of reacting out of our flesh, it puts us heart to heart with God. Responding to God, we are fully facing God with our heart wide open to Him, and He has total access to our life. My reaction is all about me and my response, it is not about me, it is all about Him. This is my hope: “I do not react in the flesh; I do respond out of my relationship with God.”
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to relieve me of this. But he answered me, “My grace is always more than enough for you,[a] and my power finds its full expression through your weakness.” So I will celebrate my weaknesses, for when I’m weak I sense more deeply the mighty power of Christ living in me. So I’m not defeated by my weakness, but delighted! For when I feel my weakness and endure mistreatment—when I’m surrounded with troubles on every side and face persecution because of my love for Christ—I am made yet stronger. For my weakness becomes a portal to God’s power. 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 The Passion Translation
Bowed Before God
Sometimes I am bowed under the weight of personal failure and I loathe my human condition. Yet, I choose to remember how God sent us his Son in human form to identify with human weakness. Jesus was clothed in humanity. God sent His Son, even when we did not deserve it. We were not perfect, we were flawed. Jesus died our death, so we could live His life. Jesus gave his body to be our sin-offering. The Father God once and for all condemned the guilt and power of sin. Today, I resist the enemy, I don’t react to his nonsense, I respond to God. I choose to bow to God and not be bowed to the human condition. I reject the voices of condemnation. I resist the false guilt of the enemy of my soul. I reject his shame and I accept God’s infinite and unchanging love for me. Therefore, on this day, on this new day God has given me, I am forgiven and undergirded by Him. My inner spiritual core does not sag by the weight of human fear or by the stress of anxiety that surrounds my human condition. I am upheld by God. This vital-vertical relationship with God, it empowers my courage to face the daily challenges of life, and those sudden trials that like to pop up at the most inconvenient times. With every challenge I face, the purposes of God are freely flowing in and through my life, because He has total access to my life. Yes, every challenge I face, the God purpose in play in the challenge, is greater than the challenge itself.
Add Value Or Devalue?
When I face the human condition, I will either love or I will judge. I will either add value or I will devalue. These are two basic choices I make from every moment into every decision, to speak or act. I will form an impulsive opinion and react out of my assumption and speculation of what I “think I know” or I will take it to God, wait on His wisdom, seek His truth, listen up to Him and respond with His response. One will add value to the life situation. Which one is it? Impulsive human reaction or waiting on God for His response. Unfortunately, too many times I have found myself on the reaction side of life situations and have not added value, but have been used to continue the devils devaluing of our lives.
Humility and Faith ~If you bow low in God’s awesome presence, he will eventually exalt you as you leave the timing in his hands. Pour out all your worries and stress upon him and leave them there, for he always tenderly cares for you. Be well balanced and always alert, because your enemy, the devil, roams around incessantly, like a roaring lion looking for its prey to devour. Take a decisive stand against him and resist his every attack with strong, vigorous faith. For you know that your believing brothers and sisters around the world are experiencing the same kinds of troubles you endure. And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in his eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, he will set you firmly in place and build you up. 1 Peter 5:6-10 The Passion Translation
God Purpose In Play
When I let it flow, the purpose of God, it freely flows in my life as I open my hands to God and open my heart wide to His Holy Spirit. The Providential Care of God, it has two purposes in play. One purpose is for our good, the other purpose is for the glory of His Kingdom. When the Lord is fully welcomed into my life, there is no compartment of my life with a shut door. I got up this morning and my first step out was down, face down before God. In this humility of heart-to-heart communication with God, every door of my heart is flung wide open and He comes in. There is not one compartment of my life that the enemy can speak into without being filtered by the Holy Spirit and Truth, without the purpose of God in play. Therefore today, it is not about me, it is not about here, it is all about God and His Kingdom purpose. Rest in the promises of God, especially when the enemy is in play in our lives and it seems like all hell has broken loose. Listen up to this 1 Minute Encouragement Video:
I Believe God
My goal is this: “I believe in God, I believe God.” I want both. Why? Because my constant conversation with God, He is speaking what is true to me. I am listening to Him more and most. I believe what God says about me first. I do not need a human being, they can’t meet my needs, to be the one I look to for strength, approval or a reason to live. I need God. He is my first and foremost. I shake off anything that encumbers me or enslaves me to this world as I give God’s Truth total access to my life. God’s truth is my reality. I am free to face this life with courage, love and wisdom, which is empowered by God, gifted freely by God in my vital-vertical relationship with God as He speaks with is true into my life and loves me faithfully. I pray this for all of us and I pray all of us will come to this place to pray for the Lord to speak what is true to us, first and foremost, we listen to Him. He is our first priority in the all of our everything. I resist the devil and I refuse to live life by what I “think I know” or by what people expect out of me. I want to wholly-holy live out of the reality of God’s Truth and everything I do, I do out of my heart of love for Him, unto Him.
The flavor of the meal today on the Author Table was genuine, nothing artificial in this meal. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope you were soul fed by it. Please sign up by email so you don’t miss any of these meals at the various tables of The Bridegroom’s Café. We are so glad you were here to be soul nourished on this day. God bless ya, KimberlyMAC.