Where's The Faith In Between?

EIMS-pirituality-TINE

I'm a member of a church where I know I am supposed to be. I'm always fed when I go. When I lived in California, I wasn't able to attend or listen to CDs, but when I talked to people who attended, what God shared with me and what He'd shared with the house always seemed to be one in the same. I can truly call this church my home.

Recently we've been challenged to learn about the changes that occur in a group of people who are moving from one place (with which they've grown familiar), who are currently in a place that is uncomfortable, only to be transitioned into the right place where they were intended to be. I appreciate the heart of our shepherd, in that he shares with us what God put on his heart, then tells us to GO DO OUR HOMEWORK, that God's word may be proven and established in our hearts. There are a million things to talk about concerning group dynamics, flexibility and individuals making proper adjustments to dwell in a different scene. What I want to write about today addresses one's mindset in the midst of a major change into something better.

I've been able to spend a lot of time with my family lately, which has allowed me to draw some parallels between natural family and church family. Let me preface all this with an "I don't know everything and I don't profess to know everything!" I'm just here to deduce and ask questions. I believe we're all in this together and those of us who are drawn to connect, can help each other move forward in life. Ok.....so family. Whew, family. If you don't have anyone crazy in your family, shoot me your email, so I can tell you you're lying! It takes transparency and humility to accept the horrible truths about oneself; even further, it takes a huge dose of courage and love to accept the bitter, nasty truths about your cousins, your siblings, your parents...there are some people in this world that just don't want to believe that anything is WRONG with "me and mine."

If you have any aunties or great uncles who express that pride that says "no one needs to know..." then I pray God teaches you the harsh lesson of humility [Prov 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall]. If you know of any deacons or URshers at your church who express the same pride...I pray the same prayer. See I've decided that church family is a lot like your real family. Spiritual battles in life are just as real as family drama. I've noticed that for one reason or the other, "church folk" are a lot less forgiving of the people who God joined them to in a church, than they are of people God joined them to from birth. Who has your trust? And what makes them more or less trustworthy? Truly trusting in God produces a completely different motive for commitment, follow-ship and fellowship...but that's another blog entry. I digress...

Your church family is the body that God has joined you to for your spiritual development. Just like your natural family is the body of people that God has PLACED YOU IN (on purpose) for your natural development. Your natural family was there to help you learn to read and to speak properly to each other. They helped you determine what is funny, what is unacceptable, gave you "street-sense," and they SHOLL "got yo back" if something were to ever go down...in the natural. Who has your back when evil spirits attack? Who's there to teach you how to speak what you read to shape your spiritual strength and integrity? Have y'all ever had that one person at church who just pulled you aside and asked what was going on...or just told you something that changed your whole perspective...something that made you thankful that God put you on their heart that day? I'd like to call those people your spiritual family. Some members you fancy, some members you don't. That doesn't make them any less chosen to be a part of your spiritual growth and development!

One day I'll talk about corporate worship and the benefits of being joined to a particular group of people. God honors and values unity among us so much! Just like synergy-- |ˈsinərjē| (also synergism |-ˌjizəm|)--noun-- the interaction or cooperation of two or more organizations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate--is real, God blessing individuals who convene on one accord, with one faith, and one mindset, especially in honor of him...that's real too! [Matthew 18:20 For wherever two or three are gathered (drawn together as My followers) in (into) My name, there I AM in the midst of them.]

Without being too "deep," I just want to say, no one is perfect. Not you, not your mother ("WHAT she say about my mama??!?!!"), not your granddaddy, not your deacon, not your greeter and not your pastor. Surely give honor where honor is due; but let's not place unfair demands and unrealistic expectations on PEOPLE who live, breathe and have to die to flesh just like we do. By NO means am I offering an excuse, or justifying "bad behavior" by seasoned LEADERSHIP in the church, I'm speaking more on the individuals who have not yet been placed to lead or to serve...those who aren't yet required to be accountable to a massive group of people. As a member of a body of believers, we have the responsibility of valuing and considering the other PARTS of the body (See I Corinthians 12 below). Your brother or sister who goes to church with you, they have a purpose in life to discover, just like you. They have daily, HOURLY, SECOND-ly challenges, JUST LIKE YOU. They need someone to understand and someone to be loving and merciful...uh huh, just like you. They need a kick in the butt sometimes and correction with love, just like you. Having said that, how can we express compassion to our fellow sisters and brothers in God, keeping in mind the burdens we bear and the hope of a righteous life?

Moving along...speaking about the environment where the body of believers are on one accord, understanding that where they've been is NOT it...understanding that where they are going is a FANTASTIC place of greater respect, greater value, and a more intense worship experience with The Creator...Many of us are standing in an extremely uncomfortable place... a place of transition. That place when you've got five minutes left to your workout and after all that sweat and HARD WORK, you are considering quitting early. That place when you've declared if my boss does this ONE MORE TIME, "I'ma give him a piece of my mind"...and he's doing it--one more time. That place where you've put in your two weeks notice, because you got a new job that pays more...but you've still got two days left on the job--that you now HATE. That place where you are sick and tired of being sick and tired...where you've been expecting God to show up for HOW long now? And you still don't think He's performed to your liking...That place where if GOD doesn't, you don't know WHAT you'll do? That place where you've served your fellow brother and sister, in and out of church, and you are just about burned out. That place where I've waited so long for the right one, and the right one is STILL M.I.A...That place where you know God is bringing you back to something good, then He takes every good thing you thought you had going away from you...then tells you to wait, there's something better ahead. Yeah that place, where you are afraid to "womp" God, because He's God...and you've dedicated your life to Him...but you just don't understand!

You know where "that place" is. I dare ask, when you are in the darkest, coldest space of "that place," what kind of mindset do you have? Do you expect to get up out of there? Are you determined to believe that God hasn't brought you this far to let you down? WHERE is your FAITH? Where's that faith you had when you were just a baby in the things of God, but you just knew He died for you and had something better for your life? That faith that said I'm going to do this in response to what I think God is saying, and then He blessed you... That faith that led you to make that right decision last time that kept you from losing your marbles? I don't know where you are, or what your faced with, but I do know God is faithful and He is just. I want that kind of faith that LITERALLY moves mountains! I want that faith that believes for me and my family, when their faith is gone. I want that faith that only God can drive into my heart...that EXPECTATION that God MUST do what He said for His own namesake!

I've seen people with great faith. My own spiritual father believed God for changes in my life when I wasn't even on the right page to know I needed changing! But God changed me. And now I know. I used to doubt a lot of things, but I asked God to give me the faith I needed for Him to do what He needed to do in me. I have greater faith now than I used to! I had no faith in myself to change my "foolish ways." So I put a demand on God, I told him what I thought I could do and promised to do it...and for those other things, I had faith that He'd remove the desire for me to do things I shouldn't. And God simply changed my desires. [see Ps 37:4 below]

See there are somethings you must be patient with, like changing 2,000 preferences and habits to go from looking like YOU to looking like GOD. You should also be patient with other Kingdom children you know who actually strive to look like God. On the contrary, there are somethings that require your immediate response, and sheer obedience. I believe God is going to move in a way that the body of Christ hasn't seen in a long time. He longs for us to understand what lives of true worship looks like. And we must be truthful about our faults and do our VERY BEST to correct our selfish behaviors, and turn our hearts and lives toward Him. He created us to commune with Him and to have dominion in the earth (shining in HIS glory, representing Him). God has his own government, it supersedes any government worldwide. He is wise, all-knowing to establish long life in and through us even in the presence of opposition.

I pray that as believers we will expect God to increase our faith. I encourage you to take some time to encourage yourself! Take 5 minutes to STOP and sort through your own life experiences, and remind yourself that God is indeed sovereign, and remember how He has ruled in your life for your own good. Take those positive memories and FUEL YOUR OWN FAITH. Talk to a buddy about their experiences with God showing up [and showing out :)] in their lives. There's nothing more attractive to God than your faith in Him! Transitions are only a PART of the process in going from one thing to another. Don't get stuck on the pains of the transition and forget about the great and favorable expected end!

Walk with me over into the land of milk and honey (goodness and healing) where we can celebrate God in a new level of freedom! #GoJesus

(The Amplified Version)

Exodus 3:17 And I have declared that I will BRING YOU UP out of the affliction of Egypt (the familiar place) to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, to a land flowing with milk and honey (where you are intended to be).

²¹And I will give this people favor and respect in the sight of the Egyptians; and it shall be that when you go, you shall not go empty-handed.

²²But every woman shall [insistently] solicit of her neighbor and of her that may be residing at her house jewels and articles of silver and gold, and garments, which you shall put on your sons and daughters; and you shall strip the Egyptians [of belongings due to you].

Joshua 3: ⁵And Joshua said to the people, Sanctify yourselves [that is, separate yourselves for a special holy purpose], for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.

¹⁶Then the ^[a]waters which came down from above stood and rose up in a heap far off, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan; and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt [Dead] Sea, were wholly cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho (to the place they were intended to be).

Psalm 37:3 Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed.

⁴Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

⁵Commit your way to the Lord [roll and repose each care of your load on Him]; trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) also in Him and He will bring it to pass.

⁶And He will make your uprightness and right standing with God go forth as the light, and your justice and right as [the shining sun of] the noonday.

⁷Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself because of him who prospers in his way, because of the man who brings wicked devices to pass.

⁸Cease from anger and forsake wrath; fret not yourself--it tends only to evildoing.

⁹For evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait and hope and look for the Lord [in the end] shall inherit the earth.

I Corinthians 12:4

Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments (gifts, ^[a]extraordinary powers distinguishing certain Christians, due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit) and they vary, but the [Holy] Spirit remains the same.

5 And there are distinctive varieties of service and ministration, but it is the same Lord [Who is served].

⁶And there are distinctive varieties of operation [of working to accomplish things], but it is the same God Who inspires and energizes them all in all.

⁷But to each one is given the manifestation of the [Holy] Spirit [the evidence, the spiritual illumination of the Spirit] for good and profit.

⁸To one is given in and through the [Holy] Spirit [the power to speak] a message of wisdom, and to another [the power to express] a word of knowledge and understanding according to the same [Holy] Spirit;

⁹To another [^[b]wonder-working] faith by the same [Holy] Spirit, to another the extraordinary powers of healing by the one Spirit;

¹⁰To another the working of miracles, to another prophetic insight (^[c]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose); to another the ability to discern and distinguish between [the utterances of true] spirits [and false ones], to another various kinds of [unknown] tongues, to another the ability to interpret [such] tongues.

¹¹All these [gifts, achievements, abilities] are inspired and brought to pass by one and the same [Holy] Spirit, Who apportions to each person individually [exactly] as He chooses.

¹²For just as the body is a unity and yet has many parts, and all the parts, though many, form [only] one body, so it is with Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

¹³For by [^[d]means of the personal agency of] one [Holy] Spirit we were all, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, baptized [and ^[e]by baptism united together] into one body, and all made to drink of one [Holy] Spirit.

¹⁴For the body does not consist of one limb or organ but of many.

¹⁵If the foot should say, Because I am not the hand, I do not belong to the body, would it be therefore not [a part] of the body?

¹⁶If the ear should say, Because I am not the eye, I do not belong to the body, would it be therefore not [a part] of the body?

¹⁷If the whole body were an eye, where [would be the sense of] hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where [would be the sense of] smell?

¹⁸But as it is, God has placed and arranged the limbs and organs in the body, each [particular one] of them, just as He wished and saw fit and with the best adaptation.

¹⁹But if [the whole] were all a single organ, where would the body be?

²⁰And now there are [certainly] many limbs and organs, but a single body.

²¹And the eye is not able to say to the hand, I have no need of you, nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

²²But instead, there is [absolute] necessity for the parts of the body that are considered the more weak.

²³And those [parts] of the body which we consider rather ignoble are [the very parts] which we invest with additional honor, and our unseemly parts and those unsuitable for exposure are treated with seemliness (modesty and decorum),

²⁴Which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so adjusted (mingled, harmonized, and subtly proportioned the parts of) the whole body, giving the greater honor and richer endowment to the inferior parts which lack [apparent importance],

²⁵So that there should be no division or discord or lack of adaptation [of the parts of the body to each other], but the members all alike should have a mutual interest in and care for one another.

²⁶And if one member suffers, all the parts [share] the suffering; if one member is honored, all the members [share in] the enjoyment of it.

²⁷Now you [collectively] are Christ's body and [individually] you are members of it, each part severally and distinct [each with his own place and function].

²⁸So God has appointed some in the church [^[f]for His own use]: first apostles (special messengers); second prophets (inspired preachers and expounders); third teachers; then wonder-workers; then those with ability to heal the sick; helpers; administrators; [speakers in] different (unknown) tongues.

²⁹Are all apostles (special messengers)? Are all prophets (inspired interpreters of the will and purposes of God)? Are all teachers? Do all have the power of performing miracles?

³⁰Do all possess extraordinary powers of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?

³¹But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces (the higher gifts and the choicest graces). And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one that is better by far and the highest of them all--love].

I Corinthians 13:1

If I [can] speak in the tongues of men and [even] of angels, but have not love (that reasoning, intentional, spiritual devotion such ^[a]as is inspired by God's love for and in us), I am only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

²And if I have prophetic powers (^[b]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, and if I have [sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love (God's love in me) I am nothing (a useless nobody).

³Even if I dole out all that I have [to the poor in providing] food, and if I surrender my body to be burned or^[c] in order that I may glory, but have not love (God's love in me), I gain nothing.