Under the Umbrella
I wanted to share this with you - this morning the Lord commanded that I not have any goals for writing - to just pick up my Bible and take it outside with my coffee onto my porch. Its a beautiful day and I was thankful that I even get to say YES to Him for this.
You see, when the Lord put that on my heart, I had no idea of the outcome and suddenly I was no longer connected to the outcome. When we sit down to write with this daunting writing task and privilege before us being part of a church of excellence, all of us have desires for the outcome. Today, the Lord showed me through scripture and prayer time that we are to step in faith without even considering the outcome. Purely out of fear of the Lord and our Love for Him as we walk in the light - we are designed to just move forward with gospel driven faith.
And no kidding - the Lord spilled out of me one of the most focused messages to date in terms of what I felt Him saying, yet I have struggled trying to frame it in words that I believe would impact others. And as I let go of the outcome in my time with Him, this is what He gave me:
The Lord led me to Phillipians. I have not read Philipians this entire time. Crystal and I have both shared how the theme of "Joyful" obedience and "joyful worship" keeps coming into our hearts. Well, Philipians is joy centered teachings from Paul.
In Philipians 1:6 He promises to complete the work He begins in us. and then Paul says to the people that he loves because Christ first loved Him in the cross and sacrifice, that "because I have you in my HEART" - Paul's obedience to surrender his life all the way to the point of being bound in chains - resulted in longing, affection, for the people with an unstoppable defending of the gospel. He was bound in chains physically and drained from every Earthly convenience, but he was JOYFUL. LADIES - oh my goodness. Look at what the Lord has for us here. Our ordained order for our lives is God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit - then our husbands, then our children - and in the umbrella of that God ordained order there is completeness of joy. We are commanded by God, to walk in the Light, under His ordered steps as wives, moms, friends....and that is where the completeness of joy exists. The Lord tells us in John 15 that apart from this, apart from Him, we can do NOTHING ladies. So NOTHING that we do for other women, church members, volunteer organizations, or our friends, NOTHING good that we do apart or outside of this umbrella passes God's litmus test for what is to take priority in our life - and the outcome that He promises is sure to be less than what He promises we will have - completeness of joy - under His ordained order. His promise is this - "I WILL COMPLETE THE GOOD WORK I BEGAN IN YOU" --- many us as wives learning to submit to our husbands see other women making great money, making a name for themselves, and doing things recognized by our peers and good purposed things, but LADIES that is a PATTERN OF THIS WORLD - and our POINT OF REFERENCE IS THE CROSS - and GODS ORDERED ORDER FOR US - if you think about the times that Jesus was tempted as the Lord prepared Him for the crucifixion - even Jesus said, "LORD, there must be another way but if this is your plan, then I will obey" (:( in so many words) ---- because ITS HARD following the Lord's order ---but we are commanded to do so in order to walk in the light and keep our hearts right to serve Him. You ladies know my battle when it comes to submitting to my husband and God's design for the dynamic of our household, and I fight it everyday because I know I can get out there and be successful, but LADIES that is a pattern of this world - and the Lord tells us in Philipians that the CROSS is where the good work begins - AT THE CROSS - do you know the story of Mary and Martha??? When Jesus came to visit them, Martha was busy doing all of these "good" things like cooking and being in the kitchen and domestic lady sort of things - and she got mad at Martha and asked Jesus why He did not tell Mary to get up and help her serve (physically) serve Jesus. And Jesus pretty much said, "Martha, you are busy doing many things. But Mary is sitting at my feet, and she has chosen the better part/path and it will not be taken from her". OH MY GOODNESS, ladies, we have to sit at His feet. His good work in Us begins at the FEET OF JESUS, and the work He promises to complete is the work that lives under His feet and is gospel and prayer driven. It is not paycheck driven, or volunteer based driven, or good works driven, or achievement driven. ITS AT HIS FEET Driven!!!!! That is where we begin our work, our day, our time, with Him at the foot of the cross.
And look further in Philipians, "because I have you (the people) in my heart" Paul had longing and affection for the people and to spread the gospel. Love for Christ brings forth love for people and for serving under His umbrella of ordained order (serving our families / husbands unexpectant of the outcome) And this love brings knowledge and discernment for the actions and behaviors and lifestyles that are "approved" by the Lord and "excellent" before the Lord. Being FILLED with the fruits of the Spirit results and its all for His glory and not any of our own. What is happening in you becomes only about the furtherance of the gospel and the testimony of what He is doing in you. And by your faith and love prompted work, others speak more boldly and without fear of sharing the testimony with sanctified action that only comes by His grace.
Humility and unity are products of gospel driven joyful hearts willing to be used by God. A joyful heart is a product of commitment to loving Christ without expecting anything in return. Obedience that glorifies the Lord only comes from surrendering to whatever He calls you to do without giving thought to the outcome. How is your existence remembered and are your actions encouraging and uplifting for the furtherance of the gospel? Do the priorities in your day further the gospel?
When God starts a project - He completes it. Even in bondage Paul showed us the good news can be shared. LADIES - THERE IS NOT prescription for righteousness and timing for sharing the gospel. Anyone can share the gospel that has accepted Christ.
Jesus says that if we Love Him first, then we obey his commands. Our love for him as we obey builds love for others and a compelling desire to unify with others that are being transformed into the image of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. You CANT DO LIFE ALONE if you are in Christ!!!!! Look at the "dear children" of God - when your heart belongs to Him and you fully commit - you desire unity with others than are being transformed into the image of Jesus.
Walking in the light - Christ's love motivates obedience to love other Christians and express that love in action. Prayer over people and our love for others is a sign that we first love Christ - and from here, we experience steps to greater knowledge of Christ, His love for us, and discernment for what furthers the gospel and our purpose for life. Love is not based on feelings but what Christ did for us. Emotion prompted action and works is not Christ centered. Emotion prompted action leads people back to people but FAITH PROMPTED WORK THAT BEGINS AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS, AT JESUS'S FEET, leads people back to the CROSS!!!!!!!!!
WHEW.
AMEN!!!!!
Comments
Post a Comment