The Power of Encouraging Words

Featured

Posted on by

I was struck today by the power of simple words of encouragement. As you may realize, most of the time these kinds of reminders come in the simplest forms. So it was today.

IMG_1928[1]I was folding some T-shirts that had dried in the warm Brazilian air. And as I was folding my T-shirts, the words of my wife echoed in my head. A few weeks before she died, I was doing the same chore… folding my T-shirts, and she made the simple comment, “You fold those so nice and narrow.” It was a simple statement, but now eighteen months after her death, her words come to my mind. Seven simple words. She could have told me I wasn’t doing it right. She could have said I need to do it a different way, but she simply said she like the way I folded them “nice and narrow.” Simple positive words that actually come to my mind every time I fold my T-shirts.

How easy it is for us to forget the power of our words. Especially if we happen to be task oriented kind of people. We have a certain way of doing things, we know how things need to be done, and we have no problem telling other people how they should handle this or that task to be more efficient. And in our desire to “do things right” we often miss the golden opportunities to enrich someone’s life. Countless stories are told my people who had just one teach in school who spoke encouraging words to them and made all the difference in the direction of their lives. The simple power of encouraging words.

Scripture is full of reminders of this. Proverbs 25:11 tells us, A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold In settings of silver. (NKJV)  Paul reminds us in Philippians 4:8-9 (NKJV)  Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy–meditate on these things.  The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.  Even the Lord Himself is an example of this. Psalm 85:8 (NKJV)  states: I will hear what God the LORD will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints;

positivewordsEvery once in a while it is good for us to stop and take inventory or our lives. How is it with your words? Are you speaking words of encouragement to those around you? Are you focusing on things that are true, and noble, and pure, and lovely, and praiseworthy as you relate to your co-workers and your family? As you speak to the clerk in the grocery store? You never know what effect simple words of encouragement can have in the lives of those you encounter.

Start today to keep a watch over your words, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you to be a person of peace and encouragement. There is power in those simple words.

Share this
Pin It
Email Forward to a friend

2012 Year End Ministry Perspectives

Featured

Posted on by

Your Servant in Christ Ministries

Steve Loopstra

 2012  Year End Perspectives

 Paul writes to the Ephesians, and in Chapter 5, verses 15 -17,

 So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise.
Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.
Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. (NLT)

The exhortation of “…be careful how you live” has the idea of looking around, being aware of your life and what is going on around you and then “redeeming” or making the most of every moment as you understand what the Lord would have you to do with those moments He has given you. The year 2012 was a year where I desperately tried to live that way.

The year 2012 has been a year like no other in my life. The year started, still in shock and grief over the loss of my dear wife, Marilou on September 3rd. December of 2011, I took her ashes to Brazil, and returned home just before Christmas.

January of 2012 was a time of trying to find my orientation… “who am I,” “what do I do now?” I was determined not to fall into a victim mode, but to “redeem” this new season of my life. It was a time of asking and seeking from the Lord the direction He would have me to take. In December when in Brazil, Bishop Eneas Araujo, pastor of First Baptist Church in Valentina had asked me to consider coming and working with them in Brazil. In January, this was still only a seed beginning to germinate.

February brought some greater clarity to this, in a telephone conversation with a prayer/revival leader, who in the midst of our conversation told me that as they were praying for me, they had the sense that the Lord had put a “Macedonian Call” on my life. He explained,  “When a nation calls, you do not take it lightly.” It was a powerful confirmation for me of what had been stirring since that December invitation.

 In February, I conducted a “College of Prayer” in Wisconsin, and then began to investigate what would be needed for me to move to Brazil. I also began to seek opportunities to preach, and raise an income, since the income from The Sentinel Group had dried up back about the time Marilou died.

In March, while having coffee at Caribou with Pastor Scott McClure on the subject of prayer, he leaned over to me and said, “You need a family.” It was exactly what I needed to hear. Thus a personal and ministry relationship began with Monroe Community Chapel, who would later sponsor Your Servant in Christ Ministries, which began that month.

In April I had cataract surgery and began the process of a check list for what I needed to do to get a “Missionary Visa” to go to Brazil. I continued to work on the mission and message of Your Servant in Christ Ministries, and raise an income by preaching in various chuches.

From April until July was a matter of waiting, preaching, praying and doing what I could to prepare to move. On July23rd, the last document I needed for my visa arrived.. the FBI report arrived. I immediately made my online application and made an appointment to take the application to the Brazilian Consulate in San Francisco. The appointment was for July 30th at 11:00 am. On July 25th, I drove to California. I stayed with my good friend Mark McPherson over the weekend, and on Monday drove to San Francisco to the Consulate. I had investigated many options for my visa. The website said the processing time was 90 “Business Days” which means you exclude weekends, and Brazilian as well as American holidays. My estimate according to those figures was early December to be able to arrive in Brazil. I arrived an hour early and by my appointment time, I was heading out the door of the consulate, and the girl said I would have the visa by August 10th . It arrived the 9th.

In September I made a wonderful trip to the Twin Cities to visit friends and try to rest the rest of my support.

October was full of packing, selling and preparing to leave on October 25th – MOVING to Brazil.  I arrived here in Joao Pessoa, Saturday, October 27th at about 2:30 am.

The last two months have gone by so very quickly, and much has happened. I am working on language study, and learning the culture…sometimes the hard way.

When I began plans to come to Brazil, the Lord gave me a passage in Psalm 71, verses 17-21, which says,

 O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.  Also Your righteousness, O God, is very high, You who have done great things; O God, who is like You? You, who have shown me great and severe troubles, Shall revive me again, And bring me up again from the depths of the earth. You shall increase my greatness, And comfort me on every side.                                          Psalm 71:17-21 (NKJV)

In many ways the Lord has already begun to fulfill this word to me.

I have a house to live in, and right above the House of Prayer… The people of the church have been so warm and made me feel a part of the family from the beginning… I LOVE the climate… no shoveling snow here!!… and…I have a wonderful “connection” with many of the youth in the church, and have had opportunities to begin to invest into their lives.

What an honor that is. I have seen multiple ways in which the Lord has confirmed over and over that I am in the right place. He is bringing me comfort on many levels, and I consider myself among men, greatly blessed.

Thank you for your interest in Prayer Transformation Ministries and my ministry in Brazil.

Only the Lord knows what awaits in 2013, but we can know that His desire is to bless us with all His heart… Jeremiah 32:41. Thank you for praying. Please continue to lift this ministry up to the Lord that I might was, as Paul says, redeeming the time that He gives me.

 

Share this
Pin It
Email Forward to a friend

Different Christmas Reflections #2 – Fullness

Featured

Posted on by

Different Christmas Reflections – #2 – Fullness

Another different perspective on this Christmas season for our thoughts and meditation… Fullness.

I know what came into your mind… and this has nothing to do with Christmas dinner, Turkey, stuffing, or Pumpkin Pie, although we do “stuff” ourselves with the Turkey … after we stuff the Turkey!!

 

No, this fullness has to do with the coming of Emmanuel… but it does not involve physical food. I want us to look at the fullness that Paul says we are to have in his reference in Ephesians 3:16-21 –

  (NKJV) …that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height– to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. (emphasis mine)

This fullness is to be filled with all the fullness of God! Emmanuel came, yes, to pay the deadly penalty of sin, but He came for so much more! He came that His own life should fill us to the max. One of the words that Strong’s uses for the word “filled” in verse 19 is, “crammed.” We are to be crammed full. Full of what? We are to be “crammed full” with “all the fullness of God.” What does that mean? The New Living Version puts it this way, “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

Imagine! Your life, my life lived every day, with all the fullness of life and power that could come from the very life of God living in us! This is not triumphalism. Paul certainly was not one who was without trials, persecutions, and even doubts at times. No, not triumphalism, rather a realization of the purpose of God in our lives. This is the way Jesus lived. It is the way He desires us to live.

You ask, “How do I get this fullness?” Paul does not leave us to guess. He says he wants us to be strengthened in our inner person so that Christ will be at home in our lives, and we will be growing in our understanding of His love for us. A love that is so high, and deep, and wide, and long that it is impossible to comprehend it, yet available for us, each day. When we are growing in our comprehension of the love of God through Christ, we will be able to live in that kind of fullness.

But this means, “knowing Christ.” It means cultivating my relationship with Him through regular Bible study, prayer, worship, witness, humility, dependency, and humility. It means that Jesus’ advent was for so much more. Maybe it means that I have not been realizing the full potential of the life of God in me. Maybe I have not been living in the Fullness of all the completeness of God’s character and power in my life each day. Maybe, just maybe there is more to this Christmas story than I had connected with the manger.

And just in case you thought it might be quite impossible for you to live such a life, Paul makes sure that we understand that what God intended for our lives in His Fullness, He is quite capable of accomplishing… so Paul reminds us in verse 21, Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen That is a pretty strong reminder that God is able to accomplish this in  your life and in mine if we live in the place of knowledge and intimacy with Him. Do you feel your heart being stirred, and drawn deeper? Me too.

This Christmas season as we remember and celebrate the advent of Emmanuel, God with us, let us remember the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 3, and seek after the greater Fullness that Christmas brings to us.

May the Lord bless you with all His Fullness this Christmas Season and each day of the New Year.

 

Share this
Pin It
Email Forward to a friend

Different Christmas Reflections

Featured

Posted on by

Some “Different” reflections on Christmas…

 “Different” Reflection #1  – A Foreigner

This weekend before Christmas 2012, I will have been here in Brazil for 2 months.

Over the past year, the Lord has done some pretty amazing things to confirm that He wanted me here, and He has demonstrated that in supernatural ways. You can read more of the story on my ministry website at, www.yourservantinchristmnistries.org.

And, my reception here in Brazil has been truly a blessing, and very humbling. The people have welcomed me and opened their hearts and their homes to me in wonderful ways.

But the reality is, that I am a foreigner here. I am trying desperately to learn the language. I am still praying for the supernatural gift of language, but in the meantime, I’m working on it.

I tried to explain to the folks here when I first arrived that “everything you don’t even think about, is new to me.” Everything. Food, cooking, shopping, cleaning, customs, expressions, bathroom things. And with the newness comes the stresses of trying to learn and get things right.

There is the issue of communication. Not only the challenges of language, but making sure that we really do understand one another. The presumption on other’s parts that I know what is going on… the schedule, the routine, the way to dress, all of the things, again that others take for granted, it is most of the time forgotten that I have not clue!

Consider the fact that I live in a house by myself,  without much means of transport other than my feet (which over the years have not been  used to going barefoot or with sandals), so I am isolated here and completely dependent upon others for most things. My last haircut was 6 weeks ago… I really need a haircut, but I have no idea where there is a barbershop near where I live, and I am not ready yet to just wander the streets looking. I am dependent on others for the shopping needs other than what I can get at the store that I can walk to. But they do not have some items I need, so I am dependent upon others and their schedules to take care of those issues.

The isolation also plays a role in my own feelings. I have to remind myself that it has only been 15 months since Marilou died. Part of our relationship was we could just “be” together, we could talk about things. Now, there is no one most of the time. And those who are here, because of language and culture do not understand and cannot connect with the things that I feel deeply. So this deepens the sense of isolation.

Now, what does that have to do with Christmas? Maybe you have already gotten the connection. The Apostle John puts it this way in his gospel, He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him.  John 1:10-12 (NLT)

The Christmas story is multi-faceted. We so often talk about Emmanuel, God with us, but John reminds us that the reception of this “foreigner” was not without difficulties. Matthew records the words of Jesus Himself in Matthew 8:20 that Jesus did not even had a place to rest His head.

He had communications issues too, even His disciples did not understand Him most of the time. The religious leaders certainly did not.

Emmanuel, God with us was a foreigner in the world He made by the breath of His mouth. A word of comfort to all who may feel like strangers in this world as well. Indeed, we are made for a different world, and Peter reminds us that we are pilgrims and strangers here (I Peter 2:11).

This Christmas season, let us take great comfort in the truth that the One who was a foreigner in His own creation has gone before us to prepare a place for us with Him where we will never be foreigners, or strangers, or alone, or isolated. It is all part of the story of Christmas.

Share this
Pin It
Email Forward to a friend

Brazil – One Month In

Posted on by

Brazil – One Month In —

It’s a little hard to believe that one month ago I was sitting in the airport in Rio on my 12 hour layover before making the final leg of my journey here to Joao Pessoa, Brazil.

There’s a song by Matt Redman called “Never Once” that says;”Never once, did we ever walk alone. Never once did you leave us on our own. You are Faithful, God You are Faithful”  That is certainly true in this past month of my journey.  To listen, click here….

I arrived in Joao Pessoa, Brazil on October 27th at about 3:00 am to a tear-jerking reception by member of First Baptist Church of Valentina. Here is a short video of that reception – Click here...

The first weekend I stayed with my dear friends Marcio and Claudia Chaves. Then moved in with the pastor of the church, Bishop Eneas Araujo, and his family while we prepared my house.They were so very gracious to take me in.

I spent time at the house painting and getting things ready… but…

With the pending arrival of guest speakers, the work on the house became more focused, and on November 14th, we spent 12 hours of intensive labor finishing painting, assembling kitchen cabinets, and a crew from the church came an cleaned up.

 

 

 

It was a great blessing to be on the receiving end of such loving labors to help get the house ready. People in the church donated beds, sofas, refrigerator, microwave, sheets, towels and kitchen necessities. It’s been pretty amazing!!

Well, as the crew finished, I showered and prepared to speak at a youth conference that night to about 1500 young people at a different church. It was an electric time and I was truly energized… even after working 12 hours at the house. It was the first confirmation of the verses from Psalm 71: 17-18 that the Lord has given me for this season of my life;

Psalm 71:17-18 (NKJV)  O God, You have taught me from my youth; And to this day I declare Your wondrous works. Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Your strength to this generation, Your power to everyone who is to come.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I am moved into the house, and the things that I brought in my four overweight suitcases are making it feel like home. I’m very comfortable and at peace. I feel like I belong. 

 

 

 

 

 

And so, “Brazil – The Adventure” continues, now with language study, learning everything new, from how to shop, to how to prepare the new and different foods that I buy, to how to clean the house and take out the trash. Everything…EVERYTHING, is new. But this is part of the Adventure that the Father has invited me on, and as that Matt Redmond song says, “You are faithful, God you are faithful.”

Thanks for following along on this journey with me. I pray that as you see the faithfulness of God it might encourage you to trust Him for those unknown, or impossible things in your life.

The Journey Continues…

 

 

Share this
Pin It
Email Forward to a friend

A Visit to The Twin Cities…

Posted on by

Here is The Schedule for My Twin Cities Visit – September 25 – Oct.3

I am looking forward to my Twin Cities visit !!! September 25 – Oct. 3 …
I hope I can visit with many of you while I am there…
Here is a list of the meetings where I will be sharing. You are welcome to come and join with us. I really want to see as many of my dear Twin Cities/ Minnesota friends as possible before I head for Brazil. Come and join us…

—————————————————————————————–

Wednesday, September 26th – 7pm –
Northbrook Alliance Church
Pastor Bruce Hobbs – pastorbruce@northbrookalliance.org
612-554-2836
6240 Aldrich Ave. N.
Brooklyn Center, MN 55430

Thursday, September 27th – 6 PM –

River of Hope Church –
Tom Oestreich,
840 Ohio, St. Paul
651-222 – 4132

Friday, September 28th – 7 – 9 PM –

Trinity Works – Men On Fire,
Bethel Christian Fellowship
1466 Portland Ave. St. Paul, MN

Saturday, September 29th – 10 AM –

Seed of Abraham Messianic Congregation,
9500 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, MN 55426
(Calvary Worship Center Building)

Saturday, September 29th – 5 – 8 PM –

Pot Luck Dinner and Meeting –*** PLEASE RSVP TO THE CHURCH SO THEY KNOW ABOUT HOW MANY TO SET UP FOR… Thanks
Rosehill Alliance Church
2105 Roselawn Avenue West, Saint Paul, MN
(651) 631-0173 • rosehillcma.org

Sunday, September 30th – 6 PM –

Pastor Dan Erickson
Abundant Grace Fellowship
1055 109th Ave Blaine MN 55434

I am looking forward to being back in the Twin Cities I have missed you all!!!!!!

Share this
Pin It
Email Forward to a friend

The Adventure Continues…

Posted on by

The Adventure Continues…

Hezekiah put his whole trust in the GOD of Israel…  He held fast to GOD—never loosened his grip—and obeyed to the letter everything GOD had commanded Moses. And GOD, for his part, held fast to him through all his adventures. — 2 Kings 18:5-7 (MSG)

Indeed the Lord is faithful to hold us fast as we follow Him on the adventures He has ready for us. In December of 2011, the Lord invited me on an adventure with Him. The invitation came with the picture of a motorcycle and sidecar.  He was driving the motorcycle, and I was in the sidecar. My job is not to drive, but to trust Him as He drives. My job is to stay in the sidecar.

Thanks to Daron Otis for this totally awesome depiction of my adventure…and more to come!

Some time after that I looked up the definition of “Adventure.”  At Dictionary.com, adventure is defined in this way:  1) an exciting or very unusual experience. 2) participation in exciting undertakings or enterprises: the spirit of adventure. 3) a bold, usually risky undertaking; hazardous action of uncertain outcome.

And certainly this new adventure is full of the spirit of adventure, exciting undertakings and actions of uncertain outcome! From the very beginning, God has proved Himself faithful and has reminded me that He is holding me fast…even as I never loosen my grip on Him.

On October 25, 2012, I will board a flight that will bring me to the city of Joao Pessao, Brazil, and the People of First Baptist Church of Valentina. A people I have come to love and cherish over the  past four years of my travels there. Their story is the subject of my book, “When God Transforms the Desert.” 

And true to the definition, there is the element of uncertain outcome. Who know what lies before me on this adventure? I certainly do not, but my “Daddy” does. And wherever He takes me, it will be good.There have been many confirmations along the way. The phone call in which I was told (by someone who was not aware of the invitation from Pastor Eneas for me to join them in Brazil) that I had a “Macedonian Call” on my life. The time as I was driving, feeling overwhelmed, said out loud, “Jesus, we need to have a talk.” And at that very moment, a bright green…  you guessed it, motorcycle and sidecar drove past on the other side of the road. Yes, He has proven Himself Faithful over and over again.

I want to take a moment here, and encourage you to believe God for your adventure. The one God has in His heart for you. To join Him on this “Great Adventure,” do not fear, He knows all about you, He has an adventure that is tailor made for who He made you to be.

If you accept, you will find the road, unknown, challenging, “adventurous” yet so wonderful because He is there with you all the way, never loosening His grip on you. Showing you facets of His wonderful character and faithfulness that you would never have know if you had not accepted His invitation to join Him on your adventure.

I do not know what your adventure might be like, but I know if you hold tight, and stay in the sidecar, it will be a ride you will never regret.  Ask Him what your adventure might be.

 

 

 

Share this
Pin It
Email Forward to a friend

FOCUS

Posted on by

Focus –

 

Ok, I admit it, I can sometimes be very distracted. It just seems like all around me are things that scream to be completed, or demand attention. Bills that need to be paid, a lawn that needs to be mowed, dishes that wait to be washed, the list seems to never come to an end. In fact it seems that as I get two or three items checked off the list, four or five are added.

Plus, even in the midst of working on one task, if I walk to get a drink of water, there are two or three things that grab my attention on the way there or back! At times it is just maddening.

We live in a society, and in a day when one of our major battles is the battle for focus. And this is certainly true among believers today as well. And it is one of the major reasons for our inability to get to that place of intimacy with the Lord that brings us into the place of loving Him with all our heart and soul and strength and mind (Matthew 22:38). There is no way we can nurture intimacy with God if we do not make time to spend focused on Him, His Word and His character. It is an essential to the development of an intimate relationship, time and focus. Jesus said, “Abide in Me…abide in My love” (John 15:7,9). Love is more than an adjective that describes God. The love of God is God Himself: “God is love” (1 John 4:8). The love of God here is His presence around us. That presence is cultivated and grown as we spend dedicated time with Him. We cannot cultivate the depth of relationship without spending focused time in His Presence, and learning about Him.

We suffer from such a level of distraction that it is almost impossible at our usual pace to spend enough time to be able, as the Scripture states, to,..”be still and know” that He is God – or who He is, develop that relationship of intimacy (Psalm 46:10). Because of the pace of “modern” society, it takes a great deal of discipline and motivation to say “NO” to the myriad of voices that cry for our attention. This is a two-sided dilemma for us. On one side, we cannot deepen our intimacy without time… yet when we spend time, we find the intimacy that motivates us to spend more time. When we neglect the time, we lose the intimacy and the motivation to spend the time we need to grow the intimacy. So how to be deal with this issue of distractions?

Each of us have different areas of distraction. A mother with young children will have totally different points of distraction than a retired person living alone. However, for each of us, may I suggest that we find, “Anchor Points” in our days that we can tie our lives to.

An “Anchor Point” is some physical location within our home, or perhaps our yard, or some other location, that is dedicated to be the place we spend time with Him. An “Anchor Point” is also associated, not just with location, but with memories. Memories of times when the Lord has touched us or spoken clearly to us. Touch points that draw us back in anticipation of hearing from Him, meeting with Him. In Song of Solomon 6, the Sulamite knew that her beloved could be found in his garden. Find or make some “Anchor Point” for you to dedicate to be where you anticipate His arrival, listen for His voice, and long for His touch. He will come and meet you there. Focus on him, and you can say, “You who dwell in the gardens, The companions listen for your voice – Let me hear it!” – Song of Solomon 8:13.

Share this
Pin It
Email Forward to a friend

Integration

Posted on by

Integration

I had an interesting conversation yesterday afternoon that started with talking about God’s character, and turned to the question of “integration.”

The discussion focused on the reality that we as believers, and maybe especially in Western culture/ mindset., like to Pigeon-hole things. In other words, we like our lives to be broken into manageable segments. We have the “work” part of our lives, the “family” part of our lives, the “religious  or church” part of our lives, and on and on it goes. This includes God. We have the tendency to keep Him safely in His own room, but we don’t necessarily let Him wander around in the other parts of our lives. So we are ok with leaving Him out of the workplace, politics, recreation and sports. He belongs in church on Sundays. He has His place. We don’t say it that way, but we live that way.

That might seem a bit crass, but the reality is that we tend toward that more than we care to admit. Our conversation eventually turned to the issue of how tightly we hold to our theological convictions. Whether we are a Calvinist, or an Armenian, pre-Trib, post-Trib or whatever… sometimes we argue these convictions as if God’s future, depended on it. It seems sometimes that those who argue the most vigorously seem to do so out of an insecurity that if their “system” were ever to not fit together perfectly, it would all come crashing down around them. There is no room for “not knowing.”

Now before you get all hot and bothered and think that I am against systems of belief and theological understanding, let me assure you that is not what I am saying. My major in seminary was in Systematic Theology. Paul wrote the book of Romans, inspired by the Holy Spirit, as one of the greatest books of theology we have in the Bible. It’s not “having” a system that is the problem. It is holding to a system so tightly that we act, whether we mean to or not, as though we have God all figured out. And when you say it like that, most of us would realize that is the height of arrogance. Let us make sure that we first of all allow ourselves the reality of not knowing everything about our infinite God. And secondly, let’s tear down the walls that we have built to keep God in our tightly organized boxes. It’s ok not to know!

What does this have to do with integration? It goes back to my initial premise, that when we talk about revival and transformation, we must begin at the beginning, and that beginning is what Jesus called the “First and Great Commandment,” to love the Lord with ALL our heart, and ALL our soul, and ALL our mind. I would say that is pretty much integration. God is not interested in being kept in a box in our lives, whether that is a box of moral exclusion, or a box of theological systems. Why is it that people like George Barna keep showing us as believers that we are really not any different in our lifestyles than the “world?” It is because we are not integrated. Or better put, we  have not known how to integrate God into every area of our lives and allow Him the freedom to be God in every part. It is because we do not love Him with ALL our being, every part of who we are. And maybe we don’t really believe that He loves us enough that whatever He does an allows in our lives have the ultimate purpose of our best.

Our first reaction to this idea of integration might be to resist it, or think we don’t need to deal with it, Jesus is Lord of my life, thank you very much. But this is where it gets a little tricky. Webster defines integration as: coordination of mental processes into a normal effective personality or with the individual’s environment. If we add to that the spiritual processes, then we begin to see the challenge to allow the “who” of who God is to be what coordinates all of the part of our personality, and environment. You see? Love the Lord with ALL… integrate His love, His ways, His Grace, His Mercy… ALL of who He is into ALL of who we are. You see, God is totally and fully integrated in Himself. We are created in His image. He made us to be wholly integrated. The effects of sin have chopped us into separate pieces. A part of His redemptive purpose is to make us once again whole and integrated.

How is it with you? Are you in the process of allowing God to be integrated into every area of  your life? Take some time to ask Him to show you where there is still fragmentation. He will delight to show you if you are sincere in asking. His will is for you to be wholly integrated and be able to love Him with ALL your heart, ALL your soul, and ALL  your mind.

…till next time…

Share this
Pin It
Email Forward to a friend

Loving God – It All Starts Here

Featured

Posted on by

Loving God – It all Starts Here

Bring up the subject of God, and loving God, even in the Church, and you can come across all sorts of differing reactions. I have had people tell me that they struggle to love God, or understand His love for them. Some people struggle with talking of having any kind of intimacy with God. Perhaps it is hard to break through the stereotypes that attach themselves to us from our past relationships or out past religious experiences. Perhaps we cannot get past thinking of God as a theological concept, and so intimacy with God is not even a consideration for us. Our minds and our emotions create great filters through which we “filter” our relationship with God.

Yet, loving God supremely is what Jesus called the “First and Great Commandment.”  Taken from Deuteronomy 6:4-6, Israel, remember this! The LORD—and the LORD alone—is our God. –  Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

He repeats this command in Matthew 22:38 in response to the question, Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? In this Old Testament and New Testament reinforcement, Jesus says to us that our love for the Lord must be primary, and comprehensive…

 All Your Heart…

We must love Him with all of our heart – all of our emotions, all of our motivations, all of our affections, all of our allegiances. Whatever comes first in any area of our hearts keeps us from loving the Lord with ALL our hearts. We are to overcome every and all blockages or misconceptions in order to love Him with ALL our hearts. That seems like a pretty tall order!

 All Your Soul…

But in addition, we must love Him with all our soul.  That means that our love for Him trumps all of our neediness, our desires for comfort, all our inclinations for ease and for the pleasures of self and the flesh. He is to be at the very top of our “life hungers,” and our love for Him is to be the center of our life’s security. As David, we are to hunger and thirst for him as we would hunger and thirst for food and water in a dry and weary land (Ps. 63).

 All Your Mind…

But we must also love Him with all our mind. Our thoughts, our aspirations, our contemplations, our meditations are all to be centered and rooted in our love for Him. Our thoughts are to be filled with love for Him that infects all of our decisions, and reactions to lives circumstances.

Now, if the Lord put this first thing before Israel at the very beginning of their “relationship” together, and if Jesus said that this is the first and great commandment, that would seem to indicate that God desires for us to understand that this is important to Him, our love for Him. Not because He is selfish for people to love Him, or lonely and needs affirmation. Of course not. He is God, He is infinite, perfect and complete in Himself. He needs nothing. He knows that for us to be complete, He must take first place in all these areas of our lives. Not because we grudgingly obey a law, as stopping for an inconvenient stop light. He made us for relationship, and for relationship with Him. We will talk at a later time about how to fall more in love with Him, but for now, He knows that we will  only be complete as He made us to be if our first and primary love is for Him.

Let me ask a question of all of us… Have we spent some time lately truly and honestly assessing whether our love for God has that kind of priority in our lives? I mean, not just our lip service, but is it reflected out in the way we live our lives, what we long after, what we think about, the decisions we make?

 

Take some time this week to purposefully set aside time to ask the Lord to help you answer this question:  “Lord, as you see my life, am I loving you with all my heart and soul and mind?” Allow Him to tell you how He sees your love for Him. And if there are some things He gently reveals to you that could be changed, write them down, and ask Him to show you how to change them.

 

Loving the Lord with ALL our heart, and soul, and mind, is not optional, it is not up for a vote to see where on the list it should be. By God’s repeated insistence, it needs to be first in our lives. Let’s start here in our quest for transforming revival.

 

 

Share this
Pin It
Email Forward to a friend