Breathlife

Seeing, Faith and Moving Forward

I have found in my journey with God that it isn’t always clear whether he wants me to move forward or camp. Why doesn’t He make it just as easy for me as it was for the Israelites?

Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tent, the people of Israel continued their travels; and they camped wherever the cloud stopped. At the order of God, the people of Israel traveled; at the order of God they camped.
Numbers 9:17-18:

He gave them a cloud and fire, those were very clear and definite signs. The cloud appeared during the day and fire was lit at night, both rested right on top of the tabernacle in plain sight for all to see. There was close to a million people in the desert keeping watch for His movement. I’m sure His movement couldn’t have been missed when there were so many eyes paying attention to him. But, Hebrews 11:1 and 6 give us a clear reason why he doesn’t use a cloud or fire today. It doesn’t take faith to follow a cloud or pillar of fire, it takes vision. He was trying to teach the Israelites how to follow him through seeing his movement, but for us, faith is the requirement.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”
Hebrews 11:1:

Faith is conviction of things not seen, which would be hard to obtain if we are using our eyesight to follow a cloud or pillar of fire. We have assurance according to Proverbs 16:9 that the Lord will establish the steps of of our plan. Steps require action. It’s pretty hard to have God establish our steps when we are standing still and waiting for a sign.

Walking forward in faith means that we need to believe that He exists and hope in the plans that He has for us. Walking forward in faith is understanding that we don’t need signs of His direction as much as we need to believe that He is with us and that the steps He has for us are safe, protected, good and secure. When we see our feet moving it is a movement that has been triggered by our brain, so how can it be a step that is directed by God? How do we know that the steps we take forward are His and not our own? Because scripture says He directs our steps. Is it that simple? I believe it is. If we have a heart for the Lord and have committed and surrendered our lives to Him as our King, then we can also rest assured that His word is true. If His word is true, then according to Proverbs 16:9 He will direct our steps and that is a promise we can stand on.

The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps
Proverbs 16:9

Where our decisions get a little cloudy in our walk is when we start to waiver in our trust and belief in God. If we stand assured in our belief, then we can also stand assured of his directing our steps. However, if we aren’t secure in our belief then our steps become a little more shaky. But this is not God’s fault. He has made His position pretty clear. Without faith, it’s impossible to please him, so faith is a requirement. But this requirement also brings assurance of those things we hope for. Hope is an expectation of a positive outcome in those things we DON’T see. So, then it seems we should be more assured of those plans we can’t see than those we can. Because God has assured us that if we have faith, that our hope is secure and our reward is coming. Contrarily then, those plans that don’t require hope because every step is clearly planned may not be as secure because we are using our eyes to walk it out and not our faith.

“And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
Hebrews 11:6

Another important consideration: The first generation of Israelites that Moses led out of Egypt relied upon their vision to move forward yet most of them did not make it out of the desert alive. God gave us a gift in Jesus that they did not have. If we want to make it out of the desert alive, then it would be smart to follow Jesus.

Jesus’ prayer of love for us

One of the final prayers Jesus spoke in the garden prior to his arrest can be found in John 17. First Jesus prays for himself to be glorified so that God too can be glorified. He then prays to God on behalf of his apostles. He asks for their protection, holiness, truth and for unity. He then goes on to pray for us. Those of us that believe in Jesus through the message of the apostles. This starts in verse 20:

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one. Father, just as you are in me, and I am in you…I in them and you in me. May they be brought into complete unity to let the world know that I have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17: 20, 23

This year is the first time in history that during Passover and Easter almost the whole world is held inside. Much of the world commerce has stopped and we are inside with alot of time to focus on Easter and/or Passover without the worldly distractions.

Could it be the answer to Jesus’ prayer in the Garden? Could it be the one time in history when we are all (all nations, religions, Gentiles and the Jewish) are united in recognizing and celebrating the one true God? Recognizing his love for us? Praying for unity and knowing that he is Lord of all? If we come together in that belief and in recognizing Jesus as our Savior then we are united to him and through him we find Gods love. This love so great that he gave his one and only Son to die for us so that we may celebrate eternal life of glory to God through him.

Through Jesus we are a fellowship of believers. Called to serve and worship our King. This call is eternal and ignited by love. This love will bring the world into unity just as Jesus has prayed. His words will not return to him void. No greater love has ever been unleashed so receive it, celebrate it, and share it. The world needs to know about it and our Lord gave his life for it, so lets make love happen.

Over our lifetime many of us have sent thousands of prayers to Jesus asking for help, maybe it’s our turn to answer his prayer for once.

Tell your story and TRUST God will provide the words

Matthew 10:19-20 “Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but The Spirit of your Father speaking in you.”

I was given the opportunity to speak in front of the attendees of the Inspirational Breakfast. Dustin (the leader of our KW Market Center) had opened the door and I received it. I was not sure what God wanted to chat about and he did not give me much revelation as he had in the past when I was given opportunities to speak. At the end of the day, it was pretty clear that he wanted me to chat about God, Family and Business and the importance of that alignment.

I’m not a natural when it comes to public speaking, actually instead fairly shy and insecure when it comes to this. In the past, I have had to take much time and study to prepare for such an invitation, and I felt responsible to do this, but I was not really inspired to do that this time. The Lord has given me several opportunities to speak, and most of the time I would spend hours in prayer and study getting ready for what He wanted me to share. Not only so I would be solid in my teaching, but also making sure that I was in alignment with his will. If I’m speaking for God, I better take time with him so that I know what HE wants to say, and not use my own words. I didn’t change my approach, I prayed constantly to the Lord for a direction and a script, but this time, the only thing he gave me was “God, Family, Business” which is actually appropriate considering these are the values that KW professes.

Although, God did not give me a clear script this did not rattle me too much. However, I would be lying to say I wasn’t nervous. But I had experienced God enough to know that if I am within his will, he does honor his word. His word says in Matthew 10:19-20 “Do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but The Spirit of your Father speaking in you.” God did give me a few idea’s on what he wanted me to share, but he did not give me a structure or a strategy, so I really had no choice but to show up and just depend upon him. I got up early to pray, worship and study. He did give me a few topics to think about but no real depth. Not really enough to build an hour of engaging content. It was my heart that all who were there would experience God and be engaged, the last thing I wanted to happen is to disgrace God and bore his people.

Well, I was a little nervous, but kept going back to the Lord. Knowing that if it was his will, which I was convinced it was, that he truly would share what he wanted heard. I just needed to be his vessel. I have been on a journey with God for a very long time, so He has given me plenty of stories to tell. So even if all I had to share were some experiences, I knew I had enough to tell. I stepped in front of the group and shared about alignment with God and the importance of keeping him in the forefront. Also, that family comes right behind him and if we do these two things first then our business will also be blessed. I intermingled some life experiences in this and personal testimony. Honestly, I can’t remember what I really said, but at the end of the hour, I guess it went pretty well. The people who were there said they enjoyed what I had to say and I even received several encouraging notes afterwards.

It truly is foremost in my heart to walk out my destiny with the Lord. I believe he wants all of us to jump into an adventure with him and take risks. He wants us to learn who we are in him so that we can live to the full potential that he has designed us for. Most of us are stuck. Stuck trying to figure out who we are to our family, our friends, our co-workers, our boss, our clients and to ourselves. Leaving very little time, if any, for figuring out who we are to God. The first step towards figuring that out is surrender and trust. Two VERY big steps towards God. I can’t say those steps are easy, but I can testify that when practiced a few times, God is faithful. He shows up EVERY time and it does get easier.

There is only one route to take in this quest to discover our personal destiny and that is to surrender all that we know to be all he has created us to be through him.

The New 49er’s

They rise up and move forward. Unafraid of what is before them or around them knowing that they are covered by the Spirit of their Lord.

Servants, obedient to their call. Looking for those to release healing upon, serve or give the message of salvation.

Though the darkness of death surrounds them, they move forward with the light of Christ. Their feet lit by the lamp of God.

Venturing into new times and territories unknown. Unafraid because their Lord has called them and they know and trust in him.

Standing firm on the promises of truth they have read over and over again. Words of scripture that carry the promises and assurance of their King playing over and over again in their minds, encouraging them to journey forward.

They do not know the plans of their Lord, but they do know His plans are good for those called according to His purpose.

Marching forward they go, looking for the next opportunity to pray, worship or serve those the Lord has appointed them to meet.

It is dark under the shadow of the wings of the Lord, but their light shines and they continue to move ahead in love, trust and hope knowing there are good things ahead.

²¹They preached the gospel in that city and won a large number of disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch, ²²strengthening the disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.”
Acts 14: 21-22

It’s in the waiting…..

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight.
— proverbs 3:5-6

I don’t know about you, but for me I’m tired of going down the wrong path.

When I was younger it seemed that I had a billion years of life ahead of me so I wasn’t too concerned about making the wrong decisions. Unless of course, the decision may cause me some pain, put me in debt or land me in front of a judge. As I have gotten older, I have realized that it is a lot better to make the correct decision from the get go then it is to recover from a wrong decision. Often times, we don’t even realize we are making the wrong decision until we come to the end of our path and discover that the outcome we were hoping for didn’t happen. Depending upon the decision it could take a long time to make that discovery, and then we need to decide if we are going to make a correction or start new.

Another consideration of this decision making process is the influence of our past, friends, family and culture. Lets face it, sometimes we let a lot of factors influence our decisions, some of which aren’t healthy. Unhealthy influences have a tendency to create unhealthy decisions. I don’t know about you, but as much as I don’t mind learning from my mistakes, I now believe its much better if the mistake isn’t made in the first place. Sometimes the best way to do this is by getting rid of outside influences.

There is only one way to avoid outside influences and that is to only follow the lead and the direction of God. How do we do this? By trusting him and acknowledging him and its very difficult to do one without the other. Trust is always gained through time, so we need to begin to acknowledge God in our decisions in order to develop trust in him. Acknowledging him is allowing him to be an active participant in the decisions we make and not leaning only upon our own understanding. Leaning not on our own understanding can be very difficult when we have trust issues. Many of us have been hurt, so trust becomes a barrier to understanding because we don’t know how to allow God to work in our lives without the fear of getting hurt. If we are afraid of God, then our understanding of him is skewed so its difficult to lean in on him. All of these factors; trust, understanding and acknowledgement work hand in hand when we are allowing God to guide us.

So, if you are tired of wandering in the desert then start working on trust, understanding and acknowledgement of God. Start with acknowledging God exists, loves you and wants the best for you. Practice doing this every day and you will soon uncover trust. Once trust is uncovered then you can test God by allowing him to coach you in your decisions. Practice hearing his voice and allowing him to reveal his ways. Once you trust his voice and start practicing his ways you will gain understanding of how he works in your life. As these three factors are developed and worked together you will quickly discover how God creates a straight path out of your decisions.

All of this requires presenting our choices to him, waiting on his response, listening to his response, acting on his response, and then working through the outcome of acting on his response. Are you patient enough with this process? If not, start there.