Fight Night at Havana Republic was riveting last night. Our new location is fabulous!! Everyone at Havana was so helpful and friendly and their efficiency and kindness and professionalism just enhanced our experience.
God was with us and Lindsay had a powerful message to share. Two words kept repeating- REPENT and FREEDOM. Linz pointed out that 'repent' is an action word and freedom , or at least freedom from sin, will be the result of repentance. Recognizing repentance as an action word is huge in itself. I for one get too wrapped up in 'feelings'. It is important to understand that the kind of repentance - the verb - repentance, is NOT a feeling. It is so easy to feel remorse for a choice. I personally can wallow in that sorrow. You know how a pig likes to wallow and allow the mud to swallow them up? Yeah like that. As miserable as it makes me feel to realize my sin, I feel like it is my penitence to hold on to it...i.e: wallow with it. Like God will be pleased with my suffering. Does anybody besides me see something wrong with this picture??? If we allow ourselves to identify with what Christ did for us on the cross we could be relieved to know that Christ has already done our suffering- the ultimate gift. It requires faith on our part to accept this gift. Faith, unlike repentance, requires us to not do things, but to believe things. BUT to repent, to turn from sin, MUST BE TIED TO ACTION. Following Jesus means more than saying (or feeling) the right words- It means acting on what He says. (Luke 3:7-9) God has revealed to me that my incessant need to hold on and wallow is a complete waste of time and energy. It brings Him no glory and it allows me the wasted opportunity to continually revisit my sorrow and not grow in my relationship with Him.......
In my quest to INCITE THE FIGHT the question is taken from lessons from Solomon's life: Knowing what actions are required of us means little without the will to DO those actions...are you ready?
{ABOUT INCTIE THE FIGHT} Blog posts with incite the fight headers will be directly related to that month's Fight Night. Each Fight Night has a topic so {Incite The Fight} posts will be follow ups that will take the concepts deeper... Cindy and Fiona will be taking the lead on continuing the conversation... we hope you'll join in!
In our little nook of the woods, Autumn is finally starting to spread its glorious reach of orange, yellow and red. We've been chugging back the Pumpkin Spice Lattes for a few weeks there in temperatures well in the eighties and nineties.....but finally......we're starting to feel the chill of crisp, fresh air in the mornings, and the colours around us are changing.
I was looking out my window at some of the trees around my house and admiring the changing leaves, when something very obvious struck me. The trees don't usually have all their leaves change all at the same time. First there are patches of change, before the whole tree is overcome by the Autumnal changes and eventually the leaves fall off.
The science teacher in me had a fair idea why this is, but I did a quick google check, just to make sure. The answer simply is: light. The leaves exposed to the most light change colour first. They change first, and then die first. The same is true of us when we spend time in the Lord's presence - in His light - we are irrevocably changed. There's no denying a person's testimony when they open that door of their heart and the Lord steps in. We are changed from the inside out. And bit by bit, piece by piece, we die to self.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. - I John 1:7
Walking in the light. Sounds a bit airy fairy. Sounds like a lot of 'christianese'. But when it boils down to it - it is what we're all called to do. 'Walking' suggests a journey. A continuation. A process. We don't just wake up one day, make a decision to follow Christ and that's it. No, walking with Jesus is a lifelong process. Sometimes it is an uphill journey, sometimes we're on the downhill slide. We're never alone though.
'In the light'. Have you ever been around someone whose eyes just seem to gleam with Jesus-ness? (yep, that's a new word, people). With Jesus' love. You know you just look at them and know that their love is more than their self - it has to come from the Lord. That kinda outflow and outpouring of love can only come from spending more time in His presence.
That's what I want - Jesus' eyes. To be able to look at someone with complete compassion and understanding. To know that my human limitations are.......limited....but when I run out of the right words to say, the right actions to follow through with, then I can do these things in His power.
You see the more we expose our own self to the light, the more we let Him inhabit every nook and cranny of our lives, the more we are changed, the more we become more like Him. We become fearless as we understand what we're capable of, because Christ is in and through us. We're just the vessels. We're just the empty shells. We become bold in knowing who we are and what we're called to do, for the people around us.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. - 1 John 5:5
Now here's the neat part. This is the part that gives me so much encouragement. This walking in the light business is open to all of us. We all have the chance to grow more patient, more full of self-control, be full of more goodness, be more loving - as these things are guaranteed to happen, the more time we spend in His presence. These gifts aren't just available for a select few. They aren't just for the holier than thou among us. No, this is for us all.
God offers each of us this gift of closeness to him, of nearness. We need only accept and enter into His presence. And we can. We can move closer to Him, by reading His word. The gospel transforms us. Plain and simple. The gospel transforms us. Worship transforms us. As we lay our own agendas aside, and we remember His goodness and as we simply praise Him for all he has done, we are transformed. As we come together with like-minded people, as we sharpen each other as iron sharpens iron and challenge and encourage and be real with each other, we are transformed. As we take responsibility for our own spiritual growth and not rely on the next message, or the next blog post, or our spouses to fill in the gaps, then we are transformed. As we focus on the needs of others and how we can serve them, then we are transformed.
Each of us has the chance to be close to God, to walk in His light. Right now, wherever you are, from the ends of the earth, to the little valley that I live in right now. God is here, and God is near. Wherever you are: coffee in hand, brain a blur with all the demands upon your time, with children shrieking in your right ear, and the buzz of the world in your left ear, you can draw near to him and he will draw near to you.
If you're having trouble with wondering how you can walk in the light more, then play this song, over and over again, until you feel something inside of you shift. Until something in your heart melts. And there you have it. Into the light. Your leaves will start changing. My leaves will start changing. You and I will slowly start dying to self, and become bolder and more fearless.
Meet The Author
I am a legal alien in this amazing country (USA). I desire to be the best wife, mother and friend I can be. I love life and I want above all else, to be used by God. I write to encourage you – to be honest with you – to prove that we are not to ‘do this life’ alone. We have much to learn from each other.
You can read more about Fiona and her journey into the light on her blog: A Little Bit Of Honesty.
I have written before about the twitch I get in my stomach over the "S" word... no not that one, the other one... HMMHMM submission. That was me whispering the word. Why is it so hard to say? Why is it so gut wrenchingly hard to do? I feel like it goes against my core, my human nature, my existence. WHY? Because it does.
A pastor friend of mine told me not too long ago that our reaction to anything in life speaks more about the state of our own hearts than what we're actually reacting to.
In my humanness, when someone tells me to SUBMIT, I put one finger up (my pointer finger people, sheesh) with my other hand on my hip and do the ever rebellious head bob. "Oh heck no," is the cry of my heart. Can you see how this complicates my life, my marriage, my friendships??
As I sift out my need for control, I'm finding it's got it's ugly claws lodged in so many areas in my life. I am so thankful for God gently showing me these areas... even in His gentleness though, even knowing he only wants me to be free to experience Him, I'm on this cyclical roller coaster of letting it go and then white knuckling it out of fear.
If I let go of control, will I lose me? If I submit fully to God and ahemmm my husband, will my voice be lost? Will I be less of a person? Will the me I think is really me cease to exist? This is the craziness that consumes my thoughts lately.
You go through something weird when you get married and have kids. A few years into the journey it feels like parts of you are missing, like your only identity is as his wife or their mom. It's like the fun, bubbly old me was traded in for an exhausted butt wiping puke cleaning shell of a woman. As I am emerging from that stage, having fewer butts to wipe and less puke to clean, I find myself fighting to be the old me again. The problem is... I think sometimes I get confused and unknowingly start picking the wrong fight. Instead of fighting to be me... I should be fighting to find my identity in Him. Fighting to bear the crowning glory of his sacrifice, humility and submission.
In his book Why Not Women, Loren Cunningham says, "Submission to God is the ultimate strength." He goes on to say, "True freedom comes when we submit to one another in humility."
I want this. I want this with God of course but also with my husband. We are called to submit to one another because it mirrors the relationship of the trinity. There's a beautiful harmony to it... it's what makes relationships work, and I want it. It's in understanding the importance and meaning of submission that I finally understand the idea of dying to myself, and becoming less so that He may become more.
{Sitting down, He called the twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all."} Mark 9:35
Lord today I see it so clearly. I see how holding on to this entitlement of control is hurting my marriage and hurting my relationship with you. Thank you Lord. Forgive me Jesus for holding on, forgive my rebellion and pride ultimately rooted in the fear of being unimportant, unloved and not valued. I know this couldn't be further from your heart. Forgive me for seeking an identity apart from you. Restore me Jesus... thank you for tenderly opening my eyes to this barrier between us! I receive your freedom.
I've been thinking a lot lately about the F.E. blog, about fight night and about the dreams and plans God has put on my mind and embedded in my guts. When I think about it all, sometimes I'm exciting and honestly sometimes I wonder if any of it really matters. I know it does down deep but sometimes it just feels like one more thing to sell, and I'm sick of selling. That's when I realize though that I've moved from having the mind of Christ to the mind of Lindsay... I've taken the control back... I've started scheming about how to make things happen my way and in my time and it's depressing because it feels huge and overwhelming and impossible.
Yesterday I felt like someone had sucker punched me in the throat. I felt defeated about everything... EVERYTHING. I'm on my period, I'm flippen sick, my kids were going nuts and I was pretty sure the brown stripe on the sheets next to me wasn't chocolate (a parting gift from one of my monkeys... fun times) annnnnnd that's when I knew I had to choose to laugh and pull back from the situation or I would've had to drink an entire bottle of wine in the fetal position in the corner of my room to recover.
The enemy often tries to get the heaviness of "right now" to cloud our eternal perspectives. But if we continue focus on ourselves and our needs... our entitlements and how we feel... WE will stay stuck. Fear can disguise it's self and the great accuser will use it to twist and distort reality. The enemy will take an atom sized portion of insecurity, anger, or selfishness and blow it up until it feels heavy and threatens to collapse us under it's enormous weight.
Fear is the root of so many things... fear keeps us from growing, it keeps us from moving forward and it keeps us from weeding out the lies that hold us back... because sometimes we don't want to see them.
Going fearless is the very first step we have to take in being truly transformed... it's the first step in smashing the enemy's pull in our lives, it's the first step in showing God we actually believe He can do mighty things in our lives and we're willing to prove it with life instead of just sining about it on Sundays.
Going fearless means everything, because it is everything. It's freedom and adventure and love and joy and everything life should be. Fearless means not being threatened by another's success and pushing others toward greatness while searching for call and giftings IN HIM. Being fearless is not being afraid to risk it all because He tells us He has our backs. The best thing about going fearless though?? ANYONE CAN DO IT! I want to scream:
I am ordinary... HEAR ME ROAR!
Because I am ordinary ANNND I am choosing to go fearless because of Him. Anyone who believes in Christ and His promises can live a life that means something, that's significant, that can change the world and the course of history. My wonder boys can be fearless... no matter what challenges autism and the social ramifications living with a neurological disorder brings... they can still claim victory in Christ and live bold fearless lives... and they do, it's kind of beautiful actually.
Fearless is a battle cry for young and old, rich and poor, man or woman... Living fearless is for you. He's asking you to try it... He's asking you to live it... are you ready??? It's scary I won't lie... you'll have to leave the rules and boxes that make you feel safe... God doesn't live in a box or a building or a set of check lists to follow... and He's calling us to follow... can you leave it all behind for him?? It won't be easy... but you won't be alone.
So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Romans 8:15-17
Ready for freedom? If you're in Southern Oregon come check out FIGHT NIGHT! We meet the second Monday of every month to fight for our families, and for the revival Christ is stirring in our guts!Women are scary! I get that... it can be intimidating to walk in expecting to feel judged but seriously this is a great group of women and we all check our crap at the door! No judging, no false fronts, just realness, grace and love (don't worry I'm not going to break out in a song of Kumbaiya :) Next FIGHT NIGHT: Oct 8, 7-9 at Havana Republic Downtwon Medford.
My friend Kinsy and I were having a deep discussion about prayer and our "calling". How often do our prayers include requests that God banish our fears, fill us with peace, solve our every problem? If I were an opera singer this is where I would interject "ME ME ME ME!!!" Why do we tend to think God has failed, or at the very least , forgotten us when life gets hard? Kinsy shared from Max Lucado's Revelation study this little sumpin' sumpin' that might crack you over the head like it did me:
--The world doesn't revolve around us. Our comfort is not God's priority. If it is, something's gone awry. God does not exist to make a big deal out of us. We exist to make a big deal out of him. It's not about you. It's not about me. It's ALL about HIM.--
We, as weak humans, never want it to hurt or for life to get down and dirty. But put us at the height of a spiritual revelation and we exclaim "Ooh ahh, THIS is what God called ME to do." ...again I puff myself up and along comes Oswald Chambers to 'nudge' my perspective with that needle he often uses to take the wind out of MY sails:
--"For one radiant flashing moment we see His purpose , and we say 'Here i am, send ME!!' This call has nothing to do with PERSONAL SANCTIFICATION, but with being made broken bread and poured out wine. Yet God can never make us into wine if we object to the fingers HE chooses to use to crush us. We say "If only He would use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured out wine in a special way, then I wouldn't object!" But when He uses someone we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would NEVER submit, to crush us, then we object."-- (My Utmost for His Highest)
What is it that makes us continually sing our "ME ME ME ME" song? Why is it so hard to die to ourselves and just give all the glory to God? What is with our self-centered incessant need to always be all that and a bag of chips? We want to be the sun, the moon and all the stars. If only we could just be the moon:
The moon models our role.
What does the moon do? She generates no light. Contrary to the lyrics of the song, this harvest moon cannot shine on. Apart from the sun, the moon is nothing more than a pitch black, pockmarked rock. But properly positioned, the moon beams. Let her do what she was made to do, and a clod of dirt becomes a source of inspiration, yea, verily, romance. The moon reflects a greater light. And she is happy to do so! You never hear the moon complaining. She makes no waves about making waves. Let the cow jump over her or astronauts step on her; she never objects. Even though sunning is accepted while mooning is the butt of bad jokes, you won't hear ol' Cheese-face grumble. The moon is at peace in her place. And because she is, soft light touches a dark earth. What would happen if we accepted our place as SON reflectors? (From It's Not About Me by Max Lucado)
Let me be content to be nothing more than a pitch black, pock-marked rock, reflecting a little soft light on a dark earth.
I’m a 57 year old wife, mother, grandmother and farmer. These tags are important to me, yes they define me, but they don’t incapsulate who I am. I love God, my family and dear friends. I love to garden, cook and talk to my chickens, and in the midst of all of that…I SEE SQUIRRELS! So I’ll use this page to sort that out…. or not. I am the queen of fragmented/run away sentences and my use of …… is it’s own punctuation. I like to write as if no one is reading… which shouldn’t be a problem.
My word or words from God recently have been "RELATIONSHIP" He's shown me how to turn from offenses but also how I have offended others. It is blatant to me now how huge a bait of satan offenses are. OFFENSES DESTROY RElATIONSHIP. God wants our top relationship to be with Him but how can we develop that when other important relationships are crumbling. Anyhoo look at Monday's Utmost For His Highest:
...it was ALL good but I loved/hated this last paragraph: "Never disregard a conviction that the Holy Spirit brings to you. If it is important enough for the Spirit of God to bring it to your mind, it is the very thing He is detecting in you. You were looking for some big thing to give up while God is telling you of some tiny thing that must go. But behind that tiny thing lies the stronghold of OBSTINANCY, (He keeps bringing me back to this) and you say, "I will not give up my right to mySELF"- the very thing that God intends you to give up if you are to be a disciple of Jesus Christ."
People are struggling daily with the people in their lives whether it's friends or family. Someone is always pissing someone off with words or actions or non actions. BUT it is ALL about relationship, relationship is what is destroyed with every offense. The very thing God calls us to is unravelling. I see satan everywhere now. But we as prideful SELF filled and SELF worshipping HUMANS are not willing to give up the one thing it takes to rectify the endless circle of destruction...ourSELVES.
I’m a 57 year old wife, mother, grandmother and farmer. These tags are important to me, yes they define me, but they don’t incapsulate who I am. I love God, my family and dear friends. I love to garden, cook and talk to my chickens, and in the midst of all of that…I SEE SQUIRRELS! So I’ll use this page to sort that out…. or not. I am the queen of fragmented/run away sentences and my use of …… is it’s own punctuation. I like to write as if no one is reading… which shouldn’t be a problem.
"Also is not good for a person to be without knowledge." Proverbs 19:2
You know those times you begin to walk through something and you become very aware that you will NOT EVER be the same? You know that as you have chosen this, thing, let's call it and because you have chosen it you can never go back to who you used to be, and you can never go back what you used to do. Well here I AM standing (well I am actually sitting on a chair at a table) in front of you shouting to the masses...
I CAN NEVER BE THE SAME!!!
I have had many moments of realizing this, sitting in a prayer room as God shows me a picture of something that I later find out has happened in the news over in Egypt...in that moment....CHANGED. That moment was the realization that I have found something worth dying for, a God far bigger and better than I ever could have imagined. I had stepped over the line of mediocre Christianity. Immediately following this moment a friend comes and pray for me and says that the Lord has marked you as a Firebrand of Holiness. WHOA!!! Yeah something happened on that day. My life was the Lord's, He could do anything He wanted to me, so that He could anything He wanted through me. It was a done deal, sealed and marked HIS!!!
I have again come to another line this week. As many of you know, I am participating in a school about Biblical Foundation and Apologetics. This weeks lecture has been about the state of the world. We are not being informed of all of this to scare us, but to bring us to the place where we know the only answer is Jesus. As I watch this movie on radical Islam I am weeping as I was the deception and lies ruin the lives of millions of people. Lord, I am one person how can I help? How can one girl help to shift the nations?
I must decide that the Truth that I hold on to, is the only truth, there can be no other.
I must no longer sit back with my head in the sand hoping that someone else will speak up. I must live my life in accordance with the Scripture and as Linz said yesterday let the Spirit bring transformation in my life. I must be transformed and then the spheres can be. The enemy is so good at sneaking in silly lies in every area of our lives. And so many we have come to believe as truth. In this last week and a half I have been exposed to lies that are rocking my world. They are opening my eyes to a greater need for truth! My heart has been stirred to love and know Jesus, but more than that, to know Jesus with my mind, to look back in history and see that it's repeating itself. I no longer desire to be a Christian asleep at the wheel, holding the truth that could solidify foundations of the world in my hands. The Word of Truth and a life lived led by the Spirit exposes us to the line in the sand....I've stepped over, you wanna come?
God was with us and Lindsay had a powerful message to share. Two words kept repeating- REPENT and FREEDOM. Linz pointed out that 'repent' is an action word and freedom , or at least freedom from sin, will be the result of repentance. Recognizing repentance as an action word is huge in itself. I for one get too wrapped up in 'feelings'. It is important to understand that the kind of repentance - the verb - repentance, is NOT a feeling. It is so easy to feel remorse for a choice. I personally can wallow in that sorrow. You know how a pig likes to wallow and allow the mud to swallow them up? Yeah like that. As miserable as it makes me feel to realize my sin, I feel like it is my penitence to hold on to it...i.e: wallow with it. Like God will be pleased with my suffering. Does anybody besides me see something wrong with this picture??? If we allow ourselves to identify with what Christ did for us on the cross we could be relieved to know that Christ has already done our suffering- the ultimate gift. It requires faith on our part to accept this gift. Faith, unlike repentance, requires us to not do things, but to believe things. BUT to repent, to turn from sin, MUST BE TIED TO ACTION. Following Jesus means more than saying (or feeling) the right words- It means acting on what He says. (Luke 3:7-9) God has revealed to me that my incessant need to hold on and wallow is a complete waste of time and energy. It brings Him no glory and it allows me the wasted opportunity to continually revisit my sorrow and not grow in my relationship with Him.......
