Loved and Protected

That song reverberates in my head often these days as I look forward to His soon return.

The question I have to ask is this: Are we pressing in? Getting into that secret place, worshipping in spirit and in truth? Or are we merely going through the motions? As much as I hate to admit it, I did that for years without even realizing it.

So how do we determine whether our worship is the kind Jesus deserves? Well, I can tell you it’s easy when we know the words and music, to merely say the same things again and again, without them even making a dent in our spirits. I’m sure God was not impressed when I echoed things that hadn’t come from within a mile of my emotions.
Now that’s not to say God wants hyped emotions for emotions’ sake.

What He really wants is for us to grasp the truth of what He has done for us. We don’t have to be very bright to realize that without Him we would be lost forever, with no home in heaven awaiting us, no confidante, no counselor, no shelter in the time of storm, no encourager, no protector from the wiles of the enemy, no provider, no one to love on us when we’re down, no comforter when we grieve.

Let’s think about it. What would’ve happened if Jesus had said, “No, God. I refuse to leave heaven for people who want nothing to do with us. They never will, you know.” What then?

You and I should fall on our knees before God daily, realzing the depth of love He had for us that He would die a humilating death on a cruel cross, taking our place, bearing the terrible weight of our sin, crucified before a world who hated Him, when He deserved nothing but their (and our) adoration.

We serve such an incredible God, who has all our bases covered. He knows us intimately, including our quirks and odd habits, understands that we are what we are because of where we’ve been, and yet no longer wants us to use that as an excuse to live like the devil.

In Him we are redeemed, transformed, made new to walk reflecting the character of God Himself! What’s not to like about that? Well, I can tell you the only thing that keeps us from following after Him is that we want our own way. It’s that simple. We don’t want anyone telling us what to do even if it is for our own good. That’s the reason people refuse the gift of salvation.

And that’s their right, but it breaks my heart to realize they’re going to pay for that fateful decision for eternity.

I want to pray for us.
Lord, we desperately need a revelation of what You’ve done for us–the lengths You went to, to secure our salvation, our redemption from Satan, hell and eternal separation from God. We need a fresh outpouring of Your fire, Father, to fill us, for without You, we are dry, empty, lost, alone and hopeless. But when You come we are transformed by the fresh anointing of Your Spirit and we grasp the depth of your love, at least in part. Let us fall in love with You again, Lord, and drink of Your amazing grace, in Your Word and in that secret place where we are revived again and again. Let us not focus on circumstances which are ever more frightening, but draw near to that secret place where all is joy, hope and peace, because we have everything we need in You. Glorify Yourself and use us to lift up the name of Jesus, our wonderful Lord. Give us new boldness, as if today is our last day to accomplish Your purposes. Let us be light and salt in the darkness that surrounds us, and give us joy unspeakable and full of glory, knowing that in You we live and move and have our being. Let us love the unlovable as never before, showing supernatural and undeserved love just as You loved us. Pour out Your spirit as never before, Father, and let us be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf does not wither. Bring our loved ones and our children back, Lord, and let the lost see their end without You. Let us share the gospel of our wonderful Lord Jesus, who is coming soon. Bless Your people, Father, and let us feel Your mighty presence and power. Comfort those who struggle and and those who grieve, and minister to their needs as only You can. And we look forward to Your return with great expectation, Lord. We adore you, Jesus! In whose name we pray, amen and amen.

Because of His great love,
Nancy

So how was your Christmas? It hope it was beautiful. Hope there’s no buyer’s remorse but rather that you have a new sense of what Jesus did for you.

In that regard, I’m listening to an audio book by John Bevere entitled Rescued. If you really want to be reminded of what you’ve been saved from, get this book. I believe this is the time you and I as believers must do all we can to live in the moment, realizing time is short to win souls.

It’s so important that we not be deceived by the devil into thinking nothing is ever going to change–that Jesus has broken His promise to return. It’s vital that we realize hell is a real place where real people go if they don’t know Christ. It’s important that you and I not be intimidated into staying silent when we need to share the gospel with those who’ve never heard.

We have a mandate from heaven to reflect God’s deep compassion for the world. I’m sure you know it’s easy to pass people at the mall or the market scarcely seeing them at all.

I don’t know how long it will be before Jesus comes, but we need to live as if it’s today. So what if we try an experiement? What if we pretend that today is our last day on earth? How would we live differently if we knew we had less than twenty four hours to live?

Think about it. Who would you warn if you knew Jesus was coming today? Who would you say I love you to? Who would you ask forgiveness of? How would you reflect Jesus every minute until the end?

In fact, we should live every day as if it’s our last. What kind of legacy are we leaving? Are we grumbling, unhappy, depressed, frustrated, ungrateful when things go wrong? Are we apathetic and sleepy regarding spiritual things?

You and I should live passionately because we’ve been redeemed from death, grave and hell. Some time ago I shared a segment of the book, Twenty Three Minutes in Hell. I shared it with my Sunday School class as well. A few people were moved by what they heard, but overall I was dismayed that it apparently did little to change the way we see things.

What will it take for us to be moved? What does God have to do to get us off square one? It’s like we’ve been lulled into a deep sleep from which we can’t waken.

The truth is, heaven actually opened and God sent Jesus to save us. Does that knowledge move us at all?

Let’s ask God to shake us, to waken us…

Because of His great love,
Nancy

I was reading in I Kings last night and noticed how, over and over, God put kings in place that had great potential but chose to turn their backs on God. These were His chosen people and yet they had no use for Him whatever. And as always the people followed the kings toward their doom. It must’ve broken God’s heart when they didn’t “get it.”

Nothing has changed in our day, has it? God allows rulers to rule who have the potential to do great things, yet they choose to use it for personal gain instead of in the best interests of the people.

So that brings me to my question–why is God so patient? Why doesn’t He just rain down fire and bring evil men to their knees? The answer to that question is the same as it’s always been. God loves even the evil men and tries to woo them, by the power of His spirit.

He has great hopes that they will turn it around and yield to God after seeing their end. He knows that even in the worst of men God can sweep away every vestige of sin and degradation, and that is truly the hope of glory.

He looks at each of us as an individual born for a purpose with great potential and great promise if we let Him work His way in us.

You and I are the hope of glory for the Lord. He gets really excited when He sees us choosing His will over our own. He’s thrilled when we “get it”, and actually grasp the depth of His heartache as He watched others walk away.

This week in particular it’s easy, even for believers, to think of everything but Jesus with our crazy, busy schedules.

So let’s take time today to ponder the incredible hope of glory God sees in us, loving to be with us, letting us take part in His bigger plan for humanity. Let’s bow our hearts and give Him the glory He truly deserves this Christmas. He’s not just a babe in a manger, but He’s everything to those who truly press in and learn of Him.

Let this Christmas be a time of refreshing rather than exhaustion as you truly seek Him as the wise men did.

Because of His great love,
Nancy

It’s finally arrived! The day the children await with great excitement. The day they dream about for months in advance. But what about adults? It’s often a hectic, expensive proposition, fraught with icy roads and relatives we dread seeing. Isn’t it?

But if that’s the way we see it we’ve entirely missed the point. If we can’t wait for it to be over we need to re-think our traditions and perhaps change them. Certainly we need to change the way we think about Christmas.

Jesus’ birth should be a time of soul-searching, a time of meditating on the incredible gift of love God gave the world. Jesus, who is in reality–God Incarnate, offered His very life to redeem us from the throes of death, hell, and the grave. That’s what Christmas is all about. It’s about God’s compassion on a human race that didn’t love Him back.

And to be honest that’s the only thing that matters. The gifts, the running around, the merriment, the partying, the debt-load–none of these things are God’s idea. So what does that mean? It means we should simplify our lives, cutting back on exhausting and meaningless activities, identifying how we want Chrismtas to play out in our lives–so that we’re contemplating and spotlighting Jesus. If it means explaining to loved ones that this year you’re giving only small and thoughtful token gifts, and sending a donation in their names to Feed The Children, do that. Or perhaps you could fix a Christmas lunch of homemade soups and salads instead of stuffing yourselves as well as the turkey. If that’s what it should be for you, then do that.

If it means taking your entire family to help at a homeless shelter then do that. Find out what God would want you to make of Christmas if it is currently only a hollow, commercialized time, a day you dread.

Every day is a day of worship to me. But Christmas should be like communion, when we stop and give some consideration to the reason for the celebration. Instead of looking outward we should look inward and realize that without Christmas we never would’ve been redeemed by the beloved Son of God. We never would’ve been set free from sin to life and that more abundantly.

Christmas is Jesus, beloved–the Reason for the Season. So let’s give Him His due on this–His special day.

Because of His great love,
Nancy

The greeting cards I sent for Christmas hold an excellent message, especially this year. “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things” (Phil. 4:8, NIV).

As hard as things may be you and I have a choice to make regarding our focus. We can either wring our hands and worry about the future, or we can look to the Lord for what we need. We can hold up our heads, knowing “whom we believe” and focus on the precious things of God.

As I said the other day He isn’t just our Provider, but our Provision. In Him dwells every good thing we need to accomplish His purposes. If we have set our hearts on Him He promises to be with us. He is our righteouness, our Comforter, the Lifter of our heads. He is the shade on our right hand, the one who lights the way before us. He promises He will lead us if we ask. And He never breaks a promise.

Even Christians face fears at times, but those are the times we as believers should shine, because we have resources others don’t have. We are children of the Most High God. Can you hear me now? I said, children of the Most High God!

So what’s it to be? Are we going to sink into unbelief and despair, or will we speak to the devil and declare our inheritance and our faith and stand when others are falling around us?

The faith movement has in some ways may have tripped us up in confusion. But real faith never lets doubt gain a foothold. You and I bear the DNA of God in our bellies if the Holy Spirit lives inside us. So now is the time to spread our wings and learn how to fly doing things we’ve only dreamed of before in the power of God.

We serve an awesome God who will never leave us. All we have to do is dump our problems at His feet and wait for Him to speak showing us the way to go. Then we need to follow in obedience. It’s that easy. But unlike little children who simply trust the parents who dote on them, you and I have a tendency to make it hard and to try and second-guess God instead of merely obeying.

Now is the time to meditate on God’s incredible gift of love, salvation, and all the amazing things that accompany beng His child. When you and I receive salvation we inherit all the Father gave Jesus! So let’s not make it hard. Let’s take Him at His Word and let God be God, with us tagging along behind, secure in His love.

There’s so much more we have yet to tap into regarding the depth of God’s love and direction. Let’s press in and think on Him and everything that is praiseworthy.
Merry Christmas, everyone, and may God’s richest blessings be yours today and always!

Because of His great love,
Nancy

It occurred to me this morning that we are now at a very important crossroads, a place where we must make a decision. We must choose which way we’ll go. Until now it’s been pretty easy (in America) to be a believer–to say we love Jesus. So far it’s essentially cost us little.

But Scripture says there will be a great falling away before the end, and I’m sensing that time is here. Those of us who have used our Christian label for gain will now have to decide which side we’re on, because the days of gain are over. Those who simply said the salvation prayer, then did nothing with it, or walked away to live for themselves, will now have to choose which way to go.

The true test will be this: Will we who have for so long said we loved Jesus willingly be fired up with passion in that secret place? Will we toss aside everything else to get into the secret place where we draw near to God?

No longer will bored, complacent Christianity be the order of the day. Either we’ll be hot or cold, with nothing in between, because we’ll either love Christ or we’ll walk away.

Myriads of believers are being challenged as never before. Our parents never had to live this way. They were never fired or laid off from jobs. Things are drastically different from the way we always thought they would be. Aren’t they? Our dream bubbles have burst. So now what will we do?

How will we respond? Will we get angry at God and shake our fist and say it isn’t fair? Or will we simply draw near the throne room, pour out our hearts and say, “Where do we go from here, God?”

Life is not predictable. It often isn’t fair, and yet, the point of it all is how we deal with the hand we’re dealt. Will we choose to cast our cares on God, basking in His tender care, and wait on Him for direction? This is the only place we’ll find peace and rest in our current economic/political situation.

No longer will simple formulas or easy answers sell books, because there are no easy answers anymore. From now on it’s going to take pressing in to get answers from God, and that through right relationship and passion for Jesus.

Along the way He’s going to ask us to do some hard things, and it will be up to us to choose the way we go. But even when things are hard, we can rest assured, they will never be boring. No longer will we yawn in church or fall asleep during our devotional times.

He has much for us to accomplish before the end. That circle of influence needs you to live for Christ as never before. To be passionate, excited about the things of God.

Jesus is worth getting excited about. I’m overwhelmed by what I see when I look into that secret place. I don’t deserve an iota of what He’s offering, but He loves me enough to bless me anyway. That’s the enigma, the mystery that motivates me. He loves me! And He loves you! Get into that secret place. Press in and give God His rightful place, and I promise, you’ll never be the same again.

Because of His great love,
Nancy

Looks like our government is going to shove down our throats things we hate no matter their constitutionality. And this could bring believers to new heights of fear, dread, and doubt. But should it? Absolutely not.

You and I are to awaken to the depth of God’s incredible love and tender care during this time, so much so that the world will see passion and love and compassion flowing through us. But that will only happen as we press in. The glory of God cannot be legislated, ruled in or out, or forced by perfectionists who insist on making it happen. We only get passionate about Jesus and come alive in the spirit as we bask in His glory and get a personal revelation in that incredible secret place.

I mentioned the word “Ichabod” last week, and defined it as, “The glory of the Lord has departed.” Because of the choices our nation has made, walking away from God, it’s clear that the glory of the Lord has departed, purposely forced out. But that doesn’t mean that His Spirit has departed. The word “Immanuel” is defined, in contrast, as meaning, “The Lord is with us.” In other words we may have kicked God’s presence and power out of our houses of government, but because He is in us we can get excited. God hasn’t even begun to show His hand yet.

So far we have just a taste of the new wine, the new outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but it’s only the beginning as we urgently draw near to God and pray for revival. In fact, I believe that, without all these bad decisions, we would scarcely have noticed the last days.

Now it’s clear to even the most hard-hearted unbeliever that something is up. Well, what’s up is God–moving in power and might to show us exactly what we’ve walked away from. The dark is getting so dark that the light is becoming more clear. Can you see it now?

My point is–we can do what Peter did and look at the loss of our freedoms and get depressed and go under, dragged down by circumstances, or we can choose to press in to that secret place, get excited about Jesus, and come out refreshed, renewed, with new and encouraging revelations, renewed fervor for souls, and a passion that, like that light dazzling the darkness, cannot be hidden for its uniqueness.

The fact

Today I was watching an infomercial for The Gaither Christmas DVD/CD, while in the back of my mind pondering passion for Christ. The songs, of course, were enthusiastic and beautiful, and the harmony exquisite as always….

But then they began to sing The Hallelujah Chorus from the Messiah, and at the forefront, on the piano, was the late Anthony Burger, pianist extraordinaire. If you haven’t seen this man’s work, you’re missing a treat. He’s one of the most talented pianists I’ve ever seen. He had a kind of spark– his smile lit up the room. I ws saddened to learn last March that he actually died of a massive coronary while on a Gaither cruise on Feb. 22, 2006.

The thing that caught my attention wasn’t just that he played the notes so perfectly, but the passion with which he played the accompaniment for The Hallelujah Chorus. I was moved to tears watching him move his whole body with each chord, and on occasion he even leapt from his seat–now that was passion I could see and would not soon forget. He obviously loved playing the piano, and it was clear that he also loved Jesus with all his heart. In fact I’ll bet he’s playing to accompany the angels in heaven this very day.

In the same way you and I have the chance to be visibly passionate about our Jesus and the talents we have, so that when people look at us they see that we’re having a blast loving and serving our Lord. That’s how it’s supposed to look, you know.

Not that I ever got this until lately, but now that I have, I’m incredulous to realize it took me so long to grasp the truth, that Jesus, the King of Kings, is alive and well in me. It should motivate me to wake up each day in awe of my God, asking “What are we going to do today, Lord?” And then we should move in sync, with me thrilled at being in His company, and excited, working in accord with the Holy Spirit to model what the real love of God is all about.

Let’s get passionate about our wonderful Lord! Christmas is the time to celebrate not only His birth, but His very presence inside us. We are, of all men, most blessed!

Because of His great love,
Nancy

(Note: I had Internet server problems the last few days, so please forgive any inconvenience this may have caused. Thanks.)

I’ve been reading Mike Bickle’s book Passion for Jesus, and I’m amazed to find that I could’ve written it myself. He puts into words exactly the things I’ve been learning, and it’s a wonderful confirmation that God is moving worldwide to pour out His spirit on all mankind.

His point is that we have majored on the minors for far too long. We have majored on doing the right things but without the right motivation. We have gone through the motions of the Christian life without the “life.” He said that if we don’t fall in love and grow intimate with God in that secret place, basking in His tender care and learning how much He treasures us, we will never see ourselves as whole, capable, and confident in His love, which means we will continue to major on the minors. However, once we see that He is truly our biggest fan, our greatest cheerleader, our truest ally, we will never again doubt our identity.

You may wonder how He could love us when we aren’t perfect. Well, Mike says that if our hearts yearn to please God He is wildly attracted to us, even when we don’t always measure up. If our hearts are bent toward pleasing Him and loving and serving Him, His greatest desire is to empower and bless us. Isn’t that incredible? I can’t get over it. Everyday I see as the psalmist said, that “His mercies are new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness.” It blows me away…

And the best part is that by basking in His presence we are changed, transformed, and He reveals Himself to us. Let me repeat that–He reveals Himself to us.

Do you realize that all through the Old Testament God took pains to hide His glory because it would actually kill people? Seeing His face was intolerable to human beings. But in the day of grace that’s all changed. Now the Holy Spirit lives inside us, and reveals the Father’s glory to us day by day if we want it–when we spend time in that secret place. In fact we can study the Word and go through the motions of every Christian activity and never see God’s face or hear His heartbeat. If it’s only done out of obligation it will never transform us–never. And that’s because it’s His presence that transforms us from glory to glory. Spending time in that secret place we find that He isn’t mad at us. On the contrary, He’s madly in love with us and wants to kiss our faces and tell us how much He adores us. Isn’t that amazing? Just that revelation alone–that He isn’t mad at us, is transforming. It draws us like bees to honey, because in our deepest hearts we yearn to be truly known with all our flaws, and yet truly loved. And that’s exactly what He does for us in the secret place. And as we press in, we find that our old wounds are healed and we are restored, matured and set upon a solid foundation with our identity secure. And when those things occur we become mighty in power to love and serve our amazing God.

It’s His undeserved love that moves us and changes us from the inside out, and out of gratitude we get excited, passionate about who He is and who we are, and we want to share it with everyone we meet. Jesus is everything to those who actually “get it.”

Do you get it? Do you want it? It’s already yours if you’re willing to press in and take hold of it.

Because of His great love,
Nancy

In Exodus 20:2 the first of the Ten Commandments listed says this: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength.” Is. 42:8 says, “I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another.” In fact in His grace He blesses and glorifies those who love Him though we don’t deserve it. (See Is. 61:1.)

It goes on to say in I Cor. 10:12: “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.”

I’m afraid many of us who claim to be believers have our own preconceived notions of what God has said and has not said in His Word, and we worship a God of our own making, an idol customized so we can tolerate it without the necessity to change. Often if something doesn’t suit us we say, “Oh, He couldn’t possibly have meant that. He knows my heart.” Yes, He knows that our hearts are deceiful, wicked above all things (Jer. 17:8) and that the devil the great deceiver, wants to delude us into believing everything is fine when the Holy Spirit says otherwise. Instead of being convicted enough to repent and follow God we stifle that conviction and keep going. But the hard truth is–just because we don’t like what a scripture verse says doesn’t mean we can spin it to say what we want.

A case in point: In Matt. 25 we find the parable of the ten virgins, where God tells us that five were prepared and excited, with their lamps trimmed, and five were not ready. Note: it’s talking here about believers, not the unsaved. Some were ready and some were left behind. I know that’s a frightening thought, but it should wake us up to the truth that we are not a shoe-in merely because we once prayed the salvation prayer. Scripture says that only he who overcomes to the end will be saved.

In his book Passion for Jesus, Author Mike Bickle says this: “An an inheritance God the Father has promised the Son a church filled with believers whose spirits are ablaze with affections and adoration for Jesus. The Father will never insult or sadden His beloved Son by presenting Him a church that is bored, passive and compromising.” This means that you and I are to beunrestrained an uninhibited in our worship, wildly passionate about Jesus, if we are to be ready when He comes. But are we? I fnot, this parable states unequivocally that we risk being left behind when the bridegroom returns. And that means we will go through the worst of the Great Tribulation when God pours out His wrath. If that happens we will either die for the cause or choose to walk away from our slavation because it will cost too much. In any event, we should avoid that scenario at all costs. But are we willing?

Did you know that in the Old Testament the Lord often sent the worship team first–even before the army? Armed with only true worship and passionate praise they held the power to defeat the enemy, so that often the army won without even raising their swords. That’s how powerful true worship really is.

It’s time to get serious about passion for Christ. If the world can’t see the glory of God in us we are of no use to the kingdom, no different from anyone else. Let’s get into that secret place and fall in love with Jesus all over again…

Because of His great love,
Nancy