Over and over the Holy Spirit has been whispering to my heart. Words of His love, thoughts of encouragement, reminding me that His plans are good. I may be satisfied with my current lot but He, most definitely, is not.
This year is to be a year for the ages. A banner year for my heart. I expect to look back on my life from eternity (if such can be done, or is considered worth doing then) and see 2009 as the foundation point for the rest of it. A cornerstone year.
Don't know exactly what that means, but I know my heart is changing. Growing. Opening to Him and His will in new and fresh ways. Expecting it in new places. You see, I have some Great and Precious Promises.
Peter is a man who knows about growing. He was a simple fisherman, some say ruled by his emotions. But he spent time with Jesus. He committed his heart and future to Jesus. He committed himself, who he was to become, to Jesus. He allowed the words of Jesus to change the man he was, and the man he was to become. Just the fact that most will know who I am talking about proves the effectiveness of this change. Peter became one of the most famous, effective, respected leaders in history.
Peter knew about great and precious promises. Jesus in person had made some to him. Peter said that by these promises from God, we become partakers of His divine nature.
We partake of His divine nature. It's not just that we experience the same results he would experience. It is that we become changed to be like Him. The results just come, well, as a result.
You see, I have received some great and precious promises from God. (You have too.) I have been waiting and expecting Him to do them. I could not do these things on my own. Plus in my own experience, and what I read in the word, trying to fulfill God's promises in your own strength only backfires. So I have been waiting. Praying. Expecting.
But now the Holy Spirit is whispering in my heart. I am beginning to see how these great and precious promises come to pass. I cannot do them. God will not do them without me. His plan is to change me to be like Him, to partake of His very nature. Then I will be able to do them, because He can do them. He can do them through me.
When we receive the promises of God in faith, the work begins. The Word begins to change me. To change my thinking. To change my expectation. To focus my attention. To stir motivation. To inflame desire. Not just any desire, some desires result in corruption or death. In the same breath as talking about partaking of the divine nature, Peter talks about escaping the desires that result in corruption. God's promises produce burning desires for the right things. His promises help us crucify desires that lead to death. His promises cause me to be thinking about Him, and what He said, and what He wants for me, and where He will lead me. His promises cause me to begin wanting what He wants, and putting away what He doesn't.
Result? We become like Him. Partaking of His divine nature. And the result of that? The fulfillment of His great and precious promises. After all, isn't that the end result of everything he would say to me anyway? That I should be like Jesus.
Yes, I will see the fulfillment of His Promises, Great and Precious they are. Not because I can do it, but because He can. Not because I said, but because He did. I consider Him who promised faithful.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Take Possession of It
These are challenging times we live in. But I wonder, has there ever been anyone alive who could not say that?
Our church, the Branch Family Church, is in the building process. We have purchased 52 acres on Rocky River Road in Charlotte, just inside I-485. We are building on the property. We are taking possession of this land. This will be our home.
My house is quiet this Saturday morning. It's cold outside and the stars are as bright as they get in the suburbs. I'm drinking a great cup of steaming coffee from the big mug from Harvard that my sister gave me. Yes, they always said I was a smart kid, but she is the one who graduated from Harvard. (That's not where her degree is from but she was highly honored to be chosen to attend the John F. Kennedy School of Government executive training course.) I am very proud of her accomplishments.
So this morning I'm thinking about the challenges for our church to build during this economic environment, and about the business I work at, and about my family and our future. About how do we move from where we are to where we want to be.
A few minutes ago I was getting a book from the shelf and came across an old church newsletter. In 1989 I attended New Covenant Church , and we were building a new building. I wrote an article that spoke to our church then. That article spoke to me this morning. Here it is:
"We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." These words, spoken by Caleb in Numbers 13, are ringing in my heart. When the 12 spies returned from spying out the land they agreed that it was a good land, flowing with milk and honey. It was a land overflowing with fruit. There was an abundance of everything they would need. Yet of these 12 men, only Joshua and Caleb had the faith and courage the believe the the Lord could give such a land to them. They did not dismiss the obstacles or difficulties involved in taking possession of the land. Instead, they acknowledged that there would be battles but victory was certain.
"Time and again the people had seen God's miraculous deliverence and provision for them. They had personally walked across the dry floor of the Red Sea, they had watched as the mighty army of Pharaoh was laid to rest in the watery depths. These men and women themselves drank the water that flowed from the rock in the desert. Still, they forgot all these miracles. They felt like all was lost, just because they were in another tight spot. Apparently they were still learning the lesson.
"But Joshua and Caleb graduated with honors from God's School of the Desert. Every one of the Israelites had experienced the same miracles, but it seems that Joshua and Caleb had that attitude of victory that springs from total devotion to the Lord.
"Perhaps you find yourself at a crossroads. Is there some promise God has given you that seems too big? What is the Lord challenging you with? Maybe you lift up your eyes and see that the land God has promised you is a good land, but the obstacles are too great, there are giants, there are just too many reasons Why Not. I challenge you to lift up your eyes higher still, and see the bigness of our God. What giant can stand before Him? Who can oppose Him? He deals with giants like He deals with Pharaohs. He humbles all who oppose Him and His chosen people.
"Read Psalm 18, and ask God to make His word alive in your heart. Go forth in confidence in God. Abraham, like Caleb and Joshua, obtained the promise because he considered God faithful. We too should consider Him faithful to the promises He has made to us. We too should go up and take possession of our Promised Land."
Amazing. Words I had written almost 20 years ago to encourage others now coming back to encourage me. God has performed miracles in my life - miracles! He has not forgotten His promises to me, and He never will. I will see the fulfillment of what He said. He is faithful. He will do it.
I'm going to go read Psalm 18. Then I'm going to go and take possession of my own Promised Land!
Our church, the Branch Family Church, is in the building process. We have purchased 52 acres on Rocky River Road in Charlotte, just inside I-485. We are building on the property. We are taking possession of this land. This will be our home.
My house is quiet this Saturday morning. It's cold outside and the stars are as bright as they get in the suburbs. I'm drinking a great cup of steaming coffee from the big mug from Harvard that my sister gave me. Yes, they always said I was a smart kid, but she is the one who graduated from Harvard. (That's not where her degree is from but she was highly honored to be chosen to attend the John F. Kennedy School of Government executive training course.) I am very proud of her accomplishments.
So this morning I'm thinking about the challenges for our church to build during this economic environment, and about the business I work at, and about my family and our future. About how do we move from where we are to where we want to be.
A few minutes ago I was getting a book from the shelf and came across an old church newsletter. In 1989 I attended New Covenant Church , and we were building a new building. I wrote an article that spoke to our church then. That article spoke to me this morning. Here it is:
"We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." These words, spoken by Caleb in Numbers 13, are ringing in my heart. When the 12 spies returned from spying out the land they agreed that it was a good land, flowing with milk and honey. It was a land overflowing with fruit. There was an abundance of everything they would need. Yet of these 12 men, only Joshua and Caleb had the faith and courage the believe the the Lord could give such a land to them. They did not dismiss the obstacles or difficulties involved in taking possession of the land. Instead, they acknowledged that there would be battles but victory was certain.
"Time and again the people had seen God's miraculous deliverence and provision for them. They had personally walked across the dry floor of the Red Sea, they had watched as the mighty army of Pharaoh was laid to rest in the watery depths. These men and women themselves drank the water that flowed from the rock in the desert. Still, they forgot all these miracles. They felt like all was lost, just because they were in another tight spot. Apparently they were still learning the lesson.
"But Joshua and Caleb graduated with honors from God's School of the Desert. Every one of the Israelites had experienced the same miracles, but it seems that Joshua and Caleb had that attitude of victory that springs from total devotion to the Lord.
"Perhaps you find yourself at a crossroads. Is there some promise God has given you that seems too big? What is the Lord challenging you with? Maybe you lift up your eyes and see that the land God has promised you is a good land, but the obstacles are too great, there are giants, there are just too many reasons Why Not. I challenge you to lift up your eyes higher still, and see the bigness of our God. What giant can stand before Him? Who can oppose Him? He deals with giants like He deals with Pharaohs. He humbles all who oppose Him and His chosen people.
"Read Psalm 18, and ask God to make His word alive in your heart. Go forth in confidence in God. Abraham, like Caleb and Joshua, obtained the promise because he considered God faithful. We too should consider Him faithful to the promises He has made to us. We too should go up and take possession of our Promised Land."
Amazing. Words I had written almost 20 years ago to encourage others now coming back to encourage me. God has performed miracles in my life - miracles! He has not forgotten His promises to me, and He never will. I will see the fulfillment of what He said. He is faithful. He will do it.
I'm going to go read Psalm 18. Then I'm going to go and take possession of my own Promised Land!
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