Thoughts on the authority of the believer

Posted by Admin on May 11, 2017 in Authority of the believer | 8 comments

Have you ever had questions about your authority as a believer…I mean deep questions—questions such as “why didn’t ‘it’ happen when I prayed/declared/confessed/said such and so…?” I sure have.

Last night I was minding my own business, cleaning up after dinner. Down on the inside of me that Voice I’ve grown to recognize spoke directly to me about this very topic:

“I’ve not given you CONTROL on the earth; I’ve given you AUTHORITY. But that authority comes at a cost.”

He had my attention. Before I could dry my hands and sit down to study this further, I heard, “For instance, when My disciples couldn’t cast the demon out of that boy, I told them, ‘This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer and fasting.’ A COST.”

A cost. That intrigued me. I knew that Jesus had already paid the full PRICE for my redemption—I’d freely received salvation through faith in Him and His sacrificial death on the cross. There was nothing else I needed to do to secure my salvation; Jesus paid the entire price.

But I realized this word “cost” held a different connotation. Although Jesus paid the PRICE for our salvation, He was reminding me that to walk effectively in the life and authority He purchased, I…you…would, indeed, incur COST. And, like the verse He pointed out to me, one such cost is prayer and fasting.

I sensed, however, that He wasn’t referring specifically last night to prayer and fasting. Instead, I felt He was shining light on something even more sweeping and overarching—which was to live a prayerful, fasted life unto Him—the kind of life that disciplines itself to listen first before acting or speaking. The kind of life that takes a measured, prayerful approach when pursuing its own interests or asserting its own will.

Then another verse came to me, Luke 14:28. “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”

Before leaping into authority mode, I could see the Lord was showing me the need to make an honest assessment of my own willingness and ability to follow through—to persevere to the bitter (but preferably, victorious) end. In other words, if I couldn’t stand the heat invariably generated by a pronouncement of authority, it would be better not step into the authority kitchen at all—at least not yet. Many people suffer major setbacks simply by making premature authoritative declarations before counting the cost and preparing themselves for the ensuing battle. They put the cart before the horse…and suffer for it. God doesn’t want that.

Again, another Scripture came to me. First Corinthians 9:24 states, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.”

To win, an athlete incurs cost. Verses 25-27 following this Scripture list several of those costs:

• This athlete exercises self-control in all things.
• The runner avoids aimlessness.
• The boxer resists making empty jabs at the air.
• The athlete disciplines his body and makes it his slave.
• The believer takes great pains not to be disqualified after preaching to others.

Finally, I was directed to 2 Timothy 2:5. It said, “Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.”

There are laws of nature and man. When anyone pushes against or violates any of them, consequences happen. I realize, likewise, that “rules of engagement” govern the Kingdom of God—“rules” such as:

• Follow me as I follow Christ (1 Cor. 11:1)
• Have this mind in you that was in Christ Jesus (Phil. 2:5)
• The greatest among you shall be as the servant (Matt. 23:11)
• Faith works through love (Gal. 5:6)
• Lay aside the old self and put on the new self (Col. 3:9-10)
• Walk by the Spirit and you won’t fulfill the lust of the flesh (Gal. 5:16)

And perhaps most pertinent to effectively operating in authority:

• Submit therefore to God; resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7)

I must say, I went to bed last night with quite a bit to think about—He’s not given us CONTROL on the earth; He’s given us AUTHORITY.

And that authority comes at a cost.

Dorothy

Abandon the quarrel before it starts

Posted by Admin on Apr 5, 2017 in Daily walk | Comments Off on Abandon the quarrel before it starts

“The beginning of strife is like letting out water, So abandon the quarrel before it breaks out.” Proverbs 17:14

Have you ever waded into the breached dam of contention? Before you know it, you find yourself swept away in a torrent of hurt feelings and strife. Family members or friends dear to your heart seem like bitter enemies after such an encounter. Your soul stings with every thought of them; the pain demands resolution, but fear of stepping back into the flood waters of angry words and dredged up past transgressions freezes you into inactivity.

Perhaps you’ve never experienced this. Perhaps you navigate relationships with grace, thoughtfulness, and dignity, confronting every disagreement with wisdom, kindness, and fairness, humbly taking into consideration your own weaknesses as well, bringing every potential conflict to a quick, peaceful, and loving resolution.

I WISH I could say this about myself. I cannot. You see, I have found myself in the tango of turmoil more than once, even after swearing to myself “NEVER AGAIN” and committing to wise and peaceful discussions—or deflections—whichever seems to suit my fellow “disagreer”.

How, how, how, I asked myself recently, do I train myself to abandon the quarrel before it busts down the dam?

Well, the Lord came through for me (yay, God!) with some instruction as I was seeking Him about this. Instruction is good; doing it is better.

Unfortunately, living in this fallen world, I will have ample opportunity to practice. Not sure I’ll be always be proficient; but as a child of the King, He will help me every time I fall to get back up again. It is my fervent desire to grow in this and to put into practice what He has shown me.

Here’s the Scripture the Lord dropped on me as I prayed. First Corinthians 10:13 is a lengthy verse, but it’s enormously helpful. It says

“No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”

Standing on the edge of an ill-advised quarrel is definitely a temptation. Your pulse quickens as you think of defending of your honor and exposing how very wrong the other person is. However, throwing yourself into the quarrel sucks you right up the vacuum cleaner—trapping you and your “sparring partner” with all of the other dirt!

As I prayed about this verse, God plopped a four-point flow chart down on the inside of me revealing how to deal with the beginning of strife, any time, any place. As an acronym, the first letters of the words He gave me spells the word “ALTAR”—the very spot you must place yourself at the onset of strife—that is, if you want to invite God’s intervention.

1. ALERT! The Lord showed me that with my most recent quarrel, I had let down my guard. The quarrel had started before I even knew what was happening—and soon enough, I was in the thick of things and neither of us were benefitted. Had I been on the alert, I would have recognized the flashing warning signals…and I would have abandoned the quarrel before it started! It is because we live in a fallen, troubled world that we must be diligent to maintain vigilant, prayerful alertness for the signs of impending “tit-for-tat” verbal “slap fights” (which sometimes manifest as “helpful insights” into the other person’s secret motives or varied dysfunctions) before we get swept up in the flood of contention and hurt.
2. LOOK to the Lord. Once you realize that you and your friend are cruisin’ for a contention bruisin’, immediately force your attention to the One who loves both of you. Look to the Lord for help; don’t look to your mental database for a quick list of past transgressions they’ve committed against you. If you will take charge right then—right when the strife starts—and quietly invite the Lord into the conversation, I believe God will arrive on the scene to intervene.
3. TRUST Him. He has answers, solutions, and a way of escape. As you are busy trusting Him, your mind won’t be hashing and rehashing your best comeback to their points against you. Trusting Him to do what He does best—being God—will open the door for Him to step into the middle of your situation.
4. AND (Don’t leave this next part out!)
5. RECEIVE the way of escape. As soon as you are alert to the onset of strife, look to God and trust Him to open up your escape route…and He will. Your next step? Abandon the quarrel, receive the way of escape He’ll provide—and take it…all the while resisting the urge to land one last jab.

I realize this set of steps—ALTAR—seems simplistic. However, the weeks, months, and years of hurt and blame that emerge from the crippling incapacitation of verbal slap fights consisting of dominance-jockeying, recitation of past transgressions, labeling/name-calling, and harsh judgments destroy relationships and send many lives down bitter dead-end paths of sullen despair, callous resentment, or defeated hopelessness.

By no means does Scripture teach that confrontation is always harmful; the Bible calls us to go to the brother who has offended and speak to him about it. It also urges us to go to the people we hurt and apologize. We are even called to bring a word of correction to one who has strayed. However, never are we commanded to jockey for dominance, recite old laundry-lists of transgressions, brand each other with demeaning labels, or hit one another with harsh judgments.

May God help all of us as we navigate the ups and downs of every relationship in our lives.

Dorothy

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.  Romans 12:1

The good fight of faith

Posted by Admin on Mar 17, 2017 in Daily walk, Help from God | Comments Off on The good fight of faith

To turn the hearts of the fathers

Posted by Admin on Feb 9, 2017 in Daily walk, Prayer Perspective | Comments Off on To turn the hearts of the fathers

It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:17

One morning toward the end of 2016 as I was keeping my appointment with God, I heard this snatch of a verse: “…to turn the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous.” I looked it up and found it in the book of Luke. It was the angel’s proclamation to Zacharias, John the Baptist’s father, about this yet-to-be conceived child.

I thought about my generation and the swelling tide of disobedience and chaos throughout the earth…particularly in America. I want nothing more than to see an outpouring of hunger and thirst for the things of God and a moving of His Spirit upon every living soul in this generation—including the rebellious.

As I began praying about this, however, I glanced back at the Scripture open upon my lap. In my New American Standard Bible one phrase was capitalized to show it was an Old Testament quote. It read this way:

…TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN…

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from it. I knew God was showing me something I’d never thought about before. And then it hit me: The hearts of the fathers had drifted away from their children, and it was epidemic in our culture and world—and this turning away—this gross disinterest—was responsible for most of the chaos and upheaval surrounding us.

I thought of my dad and his difficulty with showing affection. I thought of his temper and tendency toward punitive actions and belittling words. And yet despite his massive flaws and mistakes I knew his heart was for me…and knowing that had helped to keep me somewhat steady in life.

Then I thought of my days as a camp counselor. We all knew it: you were either staff-oriented or camper-oriented—you either put the kids first or you prioritized hanging out with or flirting with other counselors.

I also thought about my teaching career. I had observed some who consistently arrived to school as late as possible and left right after the buses. There were those who sat in the lounge “chill-axin’”throughout every break; others stayed glued to their computer most of the day; and toward the end of my career, as smart phones worked their way onto the scene, I knew of teachers who constantly texted back and forth to each other while supervising students.

I thought of ministries and para-ministries, men and women in governmental positions (both elected and appointed), business leaders and executives, even those in volunteer roles—and yes, fathers and mothers. In every one of these cases, I could instinctively recognize those who prioritized “my ministry; my office; my position; my career; my needs; my desires; my gifting; my talent; my abilities; my expertise, my insight” above everything else. These were the ones—the “fathers”—of whom the angel spoke, whether they were male or female; whether they had children of their own or not.

These were the ones whose hearts had turned away from the children. These were the ones who viewed with gross disinterest those entrusted to their stewardship . These were the ones whose hearts were stuck on self.

You see, my dad was extremely dysfunctional and often unkind; but he wasn’t stuck on self. There’s a big difference.

And I then I saw it. Our nation doesn’t so much need a spiritual outpouring on the disobedient; instead, what we desperately need is a move of God on the fathers—on every last one of us called to leadership in any capacity—whether to steward, shepherd, teach, nurture, guide, direct, correct, or oversee anyone else. Without such a move, the full outpouring of the Holy Ghost upon the rebellious, the disobedient, and the unpersuadable will be stifled.

The hearts of those in leadership must be broken and redirected once again to genuine care for those under their oversight.

And as for the rest of us? I sense the same is true for both you and me: Consider your ways toward those entrusted to you—whether they be many or few. Is your heart genuinely toward them—sincerely listening, pondering, and probing the Spirit of God on their behalf—or is there some “stick-age” in your stewardship—gross disinterest—stuck on self?

Don’t feel bad if you discover you’ve been stuck on self; all of us have been to some extent or other. But now it’s time for the One who has stewardship over each one of us to correct, redirect, and transform our focus, unsticking our stick-age, and to bring our hearts into alignment with His heart…turning us back in genuine concern for those He’s entrusted to each one of us…eradicating any remnant of gross indifference from our souls.

And I believe that as those of us in any leadership capacity at all will yield to Him and turn in real compassion toward those He’s given us, then “the disobedient and incredulous and unpersuadable” will turn “to the wisdom of the upright” (see Amplified Classic) and be transformed.

Lord, prepare us to follow You fully—even in this!

Dorothy

Make an appointment

Posted by Admin on Feb 2, 2017 in Prayer Perspective | 2 comments

As I was seeking God in December about this year, I was also very aware of some areas of vulnerability in my life. One such shortcoming was this: I was not as consistent in set-apart prayer time as I had been in the past. Sure, I talked to God on and off throughout the day and enjoyed hearing from Him in the surprising ways He would “drop in on me”, but I knew He was re-directing me to a more focused, disciplined pursuit.

And as He would have it, one of those surprise “drop-ins” came as I was wrapping up reading through the Old Testament in the book of Amos. I read

“Do two men walk together unless they have made an appointment?” Amos 3:3, NASB

Now this verse is more famously quoted this way: “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” (KJV) That’s how I’d always heard it preached—we need agreement with one another to accomplish God’s work; we need to be in agreement with God to walk in His ways.

However, this word “appointment” jumped off the page at me. My complacent lethargy concerning daily prayer was in for a makeover! And it all had to do with making an appointment with God.

Here’s how God directed me. He reminded me that I made appointments with the dentist and the doctor—and that I kept those appointments. I also remembered that when I met a friend for coffee, we would text each other ahead of time to confirm our meeting. Basically, the Lord showed me that most of my dealings with others involved appointment making—and by the same token, the way to return to my first love and zeal for Him simply involved making and keeping appointments with Him.

So here’s what I did: Before I would go to bed, I asked the Lord, “What time tomorrow is our appointment?” and I’d hear a time and would agree to meet with Him then. Simple…yet profoundly helpful.

Are you having difficulty finding time to set apart for God? Then call out to Him, set up an appointment, and then show up. Then do it again the next day.

A funny thing started happening soon after I began those appointments…I seemed to blunder into divine appointments and supernatural unfoldings more and more in my everyday life. And then it dawned on me—I was honoring the appointment part of the verse, and God was showing up in the walking together part!

Now don’t get me wrong—I’ve missed an appointment or two since that verse jumped out at me. But I know how to make my way back to Him quickly and to pick back up: I make an appointment and keep it!

Here’s to walking with the Lord persistently and consistently!

Dorothy