Floaters To Followers

I was praying the other day for people, not any one specific thing just for those who don't know Jesus and how I could be more effective in sharing the gospel. As I was praying the Lord shared something with me. The Holy Spirit showed me that I pray for people to have a relationship with Jesus so they can have a better life, so they can be freed from things that keep them in bondage. My desire is for them to have joy and know that God loves them and they can be healed from their physical and emotional wounds. The Holy Spirit showed me that I was looking at lost people like they were sick and could get healthy but that's not accurate. People who don't have a relationship with Jesus are dead not sick. They just don't know their dead. He gave me a mental picture of me in a row boat and there were dead bodies floating face down all around me.
My current way of thinking was like throwing life jackets to dead bodies. (Tough stuff to read I know and some of you may stop reading my jewels all together and that's a risk I'm willing to take, I'll still love ya)
The Lord showed me that dead bodies first have to have life breathed into them and then they can experience all the Lord has for them. First they have to see they are dead and then be born again.
We were all born the first time into a world filled with sin. Sin comes with a price and someone has to pay before you can be free from it. The one that paid the price for us is Jesus.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Because of this we need to be pulled into the boat and filled with the power of Jesus to give us a new life, to be born again.
Colossians 2:13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.
You don't set up an IV or make an appointment for a counselor for a dead person.
Now you may be asking yourself, how can you be born again? You wouldn't be alone in this. When Jesus walked the earth and talked about it the people asked that very question thinking he was a lunatic.
John 3:4 The Message
"How can anyone," said Nicodemus, "be born who has already been born and grown up? You can't re-enter your mother's womb and be born again. What are you saying with this 'born-from-above' talk?"
John 3:3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.
People then just like today are dead and they don't know it. This put a whole new sense of urgency on me to share the good news. The situation became a lot more urgent. It made me want to resuscitate not just grab a band-aid.
John 5:24-27 (MSG)
"It's urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living. "It's urgent that you get this right: The time has arrived—I mean right now!—when dead men and women will hear the voice of the Son of God and, hearing, will come alive. Just as the Father has life in himself, he has conferred on the Son life in himself. And he has given him the authority, simply because he is the Son of Man, to decide and carry out matters of Judgment.
We have that resurrection power thanks to Jesus. God loved us enough to have a way out of our current death grip. It's God's will that we all be saved!
John 6:39-40 (MSG)
"This, in a nutshell, is that will: that everything handed over to me by the Father be completed—not a single detail missed—and at the wrap-up of time I have everything and everyone put together, upright and whole. This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time."
It may be kind of drastic Gems but we have to start seeing lost people as dead people and point them to the Savior. Once they are given new life they can reap the benefits of that life with Christ living in them. We can turn the tragedy of the Titanic to the joy of The Love Boat :)
1 Peter 1:3-5 (MSG) What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all—life healed and whole.
We can help turn sins floaters into Christ followers!

Dumb As A Rock

Have you ever heard that saying? When someone is describing a person they don't think is very bright they will say he or she is dumb as a rock.
Hold that thought.
I want to talk to you about prophesying. Bet you didn't see that coming :) Like it or not Paul tells us in Corinthians to pursue it.
1 Corinthians 14 1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.
Why do people get so freaked out when you want to talk about this? You don't have to be a spiritual super hero complete with cape and a leotard to do this. You just need a heart that loves, eyes that read the word, ears that listen to the Holy Spirit and a mouth to speak the words God puts on your mind.
Simple right?
We have all been guilty, myself included, in starting a conversation with someone that goes like this “I don't know if this is from God but I feel like I'm supposed to tell you....” Sound familiar?
I remember a day when the Holy Spirit gave me a message for a girl I worked with. The message was, don't let the why nots keep you from doing something your thinking about doing.
Gems I had no idea what that meant but she did. She thanked me for giving her the message as she was in the process of making a decision . Every time she thought about it all she could see were the reasons why it might not work and this gave her the push she needed to move forward.
People are always wanting to hear from God especially when we are in the decision making process. God doesn't always use people but a lot of times He does. Sometimes He uses people to give you confirmation that you did hear from Him directly on a subject.
According to Paul he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.
When Jesus was with His disciples the Pharisees got bent out of shape when the disciples started prophesying.
Luke 19:38 saying: “‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” 39 And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.”
They were pretty much telling Jesus to tell his guys to shut it. Why? Did they feel the disciples weren't qualified to speak God's word to men? Did they feel like the disciples were in some way stealing their thunder? Did they think they were the only ones God spoke to?
Why don't churches allow prophesy today? Clearly it's biblical. Some say they believe in it but where is it being practiced if they do?
I'm not dissing the pharisees or the church I'm just asking some questions to you. What do you think?
People are desperate to hear from the Lord but if we aren't prophesying to them when God gives us a word how is it going to happen? Especially if they are unbelievers (those that don't believe in Christ.) Paul said in Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
Gems Jesus told us all to go and preach. You see one of the amazing things that can happen when you give a word to someone is you share something with them that you couldn't possibly have known. The person knows you couldn't know so it causes them to ask “how did you know that? And then you tell them about the Holy Spirit. It get's their attention, they can't deny the truth and it opens the door to share Jesus with them.
True story: A few years ago the Lord sent me to Tennessee. I can't tell you the whole story because it's too long but it was one of the best times of my life. Before I left the Holy Spirit gave me the name John. I was like OK now what? After a series of events I ended up in this little town near Johnson City. It was very old and there were antique shops on both sides of the road. I stared walking down the road when the Holy Spirit said “go in that store.” Now a lot of these businesses were also the owners homes so you had to be careful. I walked up to the door and there was a sign that read “ring the bell” I suddenly felt like Dorothy and thought a small door would open and a man with a big mustache would ask if I were there to see the wizard.
I knocked on the door having no idea what I would do next. The door opened and a nice looking man let me in. I stepped inside and saw a couple in the living area looking at the antiques. I was about to walk into the living room and the Holy Spirit said “introduce yourself” so I stopped and looked at the man and said “hi I'm Gena” to which he replied “I'm John.” Bingo! The other couple ended up leaving and I went on to tell John the Lord sent me from Florida to Tennessee to share Jesus with him. He was an unbeliever, a Jewish man from Florida and awed by God. He listened and we prayed together. It was an amazing day.
1 Corinthians 14:24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. 25 And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.
Please note we are not to throw rocks, the convicting part is done by the Holy Spirit.
Back to our previous story of the Pharisees, I love how Jesus answered them.
Luke 19:40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”
Jesus is telling us if His people, us, won't speak up His stones will cry out!
I don't know Gems, maybe rocks aren't so dumb after all.
I don't pretend to have all the answers but I do have lots of questions :) I hope you will ask the Lord who He would have you prophesy to and that you will be obedient in doing so. Don't miss an opportunity to edify and comfort your brothers and sisters.
Rock on!

Live Like A Tortoise

My daughter Amanda recently went on a missions trip to Africa and my job was to take care of Juliet for her. Juliet is a tortoise and as you may or may not know pets are not my thing so a tortoise was just my speed, no pun intended.
Juliet lives in an aquarium that has a small rock pool with a log to climb on or under and of course her food dish. There are other odds and ends placed in her home for her pleasure. Juliet doesn't have to do any tricks or make any deals with me in order for me to tend to her daily needs, she just has to trust that I will. I take care of her because I'm her current owner and it's my responsibility. She never appears to be stressed out or worried I'm not going to do my job. She's never wailing or banging her head against the glass begging me to take care of her. She just goes about her life doing whatever it is that tortoise do. There are days however that Juliet attempts tasks that take her out of her shell :)
For instance, she will climb onto the top of the log and do a nose dive. I don't understand the purpose of this but I'm not a tortoise. The first few times she tried this trick she fell on her back and couldn't roll over. I of course would run over to the tank and give her an at a girl for trying something new then turn her right side up. After a few times of me rescuing her she attempted the dare devil stunt again. I thought to myself is this tortoise stupid or what? But then I found myself cheering for her, come on Juliet you can do this thing. She made her ascent once more, making for her the difficult climb to the top of the log. When at the top she stretched out her neck and did her free fall. She once again hit the bottom and landed on her side then ended on her back. This time I waited before I turned her over. I stayed near by and watched the whole time but I just let her battle it. Her little legs were flaring and her long neck came out and she smashed her face into the glass trying to get some leverage (that was pretty funny.) Finally she did it, she rolled over all by herself. I actually ran over to her and yelled YEA Juliet you did it! I have to admit I was proud of her.
All in all taking care of a tortoise has to be the easiest job I have ever done.
As I was sitting here this morning watching Juliet climb around in her little glass world it got me thinking about my life with God.
In that regard our relationships are very similar. God takes care of my needs every day just like He said He would. Part of the Lord's prayer is Give us this day our daily bread. It doesn't say our monthly or weekly bread but our daily bread. Food for one day at a time, so if you don't have a pantry full of food it's OK because God will take care of each day.
I don't have to do any tricks or make any deals for the Lord to take care of me, He's my owner and that's His job. Like Juliet my job is to trust it will happen.
Just as I can always see Juliet from every angle in her glass world Jesus can see me at all times.
Psalm 139:1-12 You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day,for darkness is as light to you.
There isn't a time I'm hidden from the presence of the Lord, so if I decide to get out of my shell and attempt new adventures He will be there to rescue me when I fall.
Psalm 34:17 The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.
As a matter of Fact Peter tells us the Lord will allow us to go through trials and troubles. 1 Peter 4:12-13 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
When I moved to Tampa Nathanael was a senior in High School and wasn't coming with us. After much discussion we decided he would stay in Lake County and live with his father and Jessica and I would move to Tampa. I didn't understand why we would move without him as I didn't feel it was in Nathanael's best interest. As the months went by I was heart broken about Nathanael not being with me and I missed him terribly. He wasn't doing all that great either. He had a bout with depression which only enhanced my mommy guilt. I was very much like Juliet, a tortoise laying on her back arms wailing and crying out to God “how is this part of the plan?”
I had to trust that God had the best plan and of course He did. The months we were here before Nathanael came we made a lot of good friends and many contacts in the church we joined. When Nathanael graduated and moved to Tampa he was accepted in the Up Rising program at the church and his journey took a turn for the positive that I could have never pulled off on my own. Like Peter said, I was overjoyed when God's glory was revealed!
Even if I couldn't see Him while I was struggling God was right there watching the whole time, maybe even cheering me on.
Just like my new friend Juliet we can live like a tortoise in the aquarium of God knowing He will take care of all our daily needs and rescue us when we need it. So Gems I encourage you live like a tortoise!