Staying Close to the Truth

Earlier this month I posted a video about the origin of mime and why it shouldn’t be in the church, and it really ruffled some feathers. As with anything I post, I study it out and wait until the Lord leads me to post about it. In this case I studied this particular subject about 16/17 years ago. Social media wasn’t a thing then like it is now. But over the past year or so I knew the time was coming when I need to share about it.

In all honesty, I have great friends who mime, and I didn’t want to hurt them or lose their friendship. I withheld speaking on the subject and even entertained it. But the conviction just was too great to sit on.

Most people will love you when you are dealing with issues that don’t knock on their front door but when it does it’s a totally different ball game.

During this time, I was careful to hear what the Holy Spirit was saying verses focusing on the reactions of people. People’s reactions can be a distraction if you let them. However, I did learn from what I saw from people’s reaction when the Holy Spirit opened my eyes. As I read the different responses, answered the messages, calls and such the Lord showed me people are prone to complacency and refuse to receive new truth when presented if it doesn’t align with what they want, or think is right. They won’t even take the time to ask God how he feels about the matter.

I am not bashing anyone for what they choose to believe but I do want to warn you that if you’re there in your mind, your heart or your walk with God, you’re in danger. As followers of Jesus, we should be open to acknowledging our incorrect thinking, opinions, or error immediately at the presentation of truth. To not receive new truth when presented will cause blinders and veils of deception to come over us spiritually that will eventually cause our discernment to become distorted.

“But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” 2 Corinthians‬ ‭3:16-17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We live in a time where people hold their opinions higher than the word of God, biblical leaders, or anyone in authority. We don’t want to be corrected and think we know better, especially if we been saved a minute. I too have felt that way before, but I thank God for old school leadership who have challenged me to not fall into this reckless pattern of novice, wounded, immature believers.

To be saved and think we have come to a place where we can’t learn more is a tragedy. Or to think we can judge (according to our standards not biblical standards) if what is being presented is right without praying and seeking the heart of the father on a matter is just reckless. Don’t be afraid to let the Holy Spirit challenge your views! Our mind is supposed to be “being” renewed (daily). That means changing the way we think, our attitudes and opinions on all issues. It seems like once we get saved and get a few scriptures under our belts we think we have arrived. But we are supposed to keep growing in our faith.

2 Peter 1:5-8 KJV And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The more we can repent and receive new truth, the more we can grow and thrive as believers.

When I posted the mime video, I was surprised at how many people defended it before even researching it or asking the Lord his heart about it. Why, because it was something they practiced and they took it on personally. It wasn’t an attack against them just an opportunity for new truth to be presented. But, they didn’t slow down long enough to allow the Holy Spirit to minister to them and show them if what was being presented was truth- right or wrong. They automatically rejected it because it didn’t fit into their box of what their Christianity looks like. They rejected truth because it wasn’t what they wanted.

As I drove to the nail shop this morning I stumbled on a post on Instagram that mentioned, songs saying God’s love is reckless was wrong. I immediately felt like, WHAT, no way! I’ve ministered to Reckless Love! This can’t be!!! And when “I” ministered to this song at a woman’s transitional facility, the glory of God fell! Surly, this song is ok. These are literally all the thoughts I bombarded my mind.

As I quieted my spirit, I could hear the Holy Spirit say read on and dig deeper. The post went on to give the definition of reckless and all its synonyms and I was floored.

reck·less

1. (of a person or their actions) without thinking or caring about the consequences of an action.

If our words are important, as we know they are according to Proverbs 18:21, then we need to reevaluate this. I sat there thinking God is not reckless (without caring) towards me. For the sake of this blog not being “foreverly” long I won’t post all the definitions and synonyms, but I challenge you to do your own research. I became disturbed. The Lord showed me how quickly I (we) will jump on something because it sounds, looks, feel good or is popular but it’s not him.

I also realized God gives us mercy in our ignorance with such things until truth is presented and we make the choice to receive or reject it. Some may think ok, now you’ve gone too far but the truth is our Christianity should cause us to dig deeper and be mindful of what we are really doing when we say we serve him.

My point is, we have to be very careful to keep a close intimate relationship with the father to avoid the subtle traps of the enemy. If the devil can’t keep you being a sinner, he will definitely try to keep you lukewarm; following what “you” think is right rather than seeking the Lord for what is right.

Proverbs 14:12 English Standard Version -There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.

I strongly believe if Jesus walked the face of the earth today the “church” would crucify him AGAIN. We naturally want our own comfort. No one wants to feel like EVERYTHING is wrong. I’m saying that because even as I write this the Lord is showing me the hearts of the readers. I can feel the disagreement and resistance to this new truth you’re being presented. But as he told Jeremiah, tell them anyway as a witness against them. Even when we can clearly see it doesn’t align with his will, purpose, or word we will embrace it. Some will even reason it away as being too deep or that the Lord can use anything. I agree he can use anything but is he using that (the issue at hand) or are your emotions deceiving you?

If you are going to dance, sing, flag or whatever you do in service to the Lord, I want to challenge you to cling to the Lord. Search the scriptures daily. Fast to quiet flesh and become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Pray without ceasing! And don’t go into prayer doing all the talking, go sit and listen. When we do these things, we put ourselves in a position to hear clearly from the Holy Spirit and not be deceived.

When we practice this, and get up to minster the Lord has a clear, clean and free vessel to flow through. My goal for this blog is to challenge you to pray and seek the Lord whenever a new truth is presented. Especially if it’s something you do or are comfortable with. Ask the Lord is this correct and WAIT for his answer. What if he is showing you something that needs to change and help many others.

Isaiah 55:8-9 New International Version - “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Be on the lookout for things God may want to show you that aren’t biblical or that don’t honor him that religious people embrace. This isn’t to put anyone down but to cause us to really examine ourselves and seek the heart of God.

2 Corinthians 13:5 English Standard Version Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

When God shows you something you’ve been doing wrong or thinking about incorrectly, quickly repent and receive his new truth. It may be difficult at first but focus on the fact there is nothing we can give up in this life that he won’t reward in the life to come (Mark 10:29-31).

I Almost Gave Up

Discouragement can paralyze us and keep us from doing God’s will. It can impair our vision and change the way we serve. I think the key to solving this problem is getting to the root of why we become discouraged and want to give up.

There are innumerable reasons why we are ready to throw in the towel. Maybe someone you were counting on didn’t come through, it might seem like the same cycle is repeating itself for the millionth time, finances just won’t increase despite the tireless effort you put into it, the list of "why" and "what" keeps growing and getting worst.

I can definitely relate to being discouraged. I find this happens to me when things are not going according to my plans.

Over the past few months, I have been trying to process a word the Lord gave me. He spoke, “It’s time to transition.” I was excited about hearing this word but not so much about what I later found it to really mean. He spoke this word to me 11 months ago and during this time life has seemly gone in the opposite direction.

My transition, which I didn’t know then but know now, was to leave dance ministry (my building, not offering services on my website) to preach the gospel. I received the call to preach 11/12 years ago but I knew it wasn’t time to do it. I was a stay-at-home mom with 6 kids toddlers. They were all very little and needed me to be there for them as mom. During that time, they were my "ministry" assignment. Our first ministry is in the home. So, I willingly put the words the Lord spoke to me on the shelf knowing that in his time it would come to pass.

When I heard, "it’s time to transition", I had no clue I would be leaving my studio. I'd had this building for eight years; it was my second home. I’d been dancing since I was 13 and now, I’m approaching 43, that’s 30 years! Dance was my outlet growing up in a broken home. When I became a believer, dance became my way to communicate to the father when I couldn’t find the right words to pray. During the past four/five years, the Lord allowed me to travel and teaching and training other ministers of dance, but I always felt like there was more for me to do. Each place I went to, I felt the burning passion to help people get delivered and to share the gospel with them.

The passion to preach the gospel began to burn in me like never before. I began to check myself.... Why do I want to do this? Do you want to be seen? Do you want to be somebody? Or do I really want people to develop personal, intimate relationship with the father? During times of discouragement your "why" can easily be lost. The voices and opinions of others can cause you to lose your way. During this time, it was very difficult for me to hear the voice of the Lord because the opinions of others became louder within me until God’s voice became a faint whisper.

I’m the type of person, who can’t function without hearing and being connected to the Lord. This brought me great turmoil. During this time was the Lord was showing me I was trying to control things that only he could do. I thought if I consistently communicated it would show my motives and heart were pure, but I couldn't prove that; God had to. Have you ever been in a place where you want people to know, I’m the good guy or I’m trying to do what’s right? We can’t prove the call or will of God on our lives. Only God can do that. This caused discouragement to grow.

God gave me this word and here I was trying to help him bring it to pass. Have you done that before? When my human efforts tried to birth something supernatural I failed. Discouragement comes when we don’t trust God to do what he said he would do. I know you want it to happen a certain way but that’s usually not God’s way.

As I have been walking the road to “transition” I had to learn who I was in Christ. I had lost my identity in this process by going back to desiring the approval of others. Discouragement caused me to go back to what the Lord had delivered me from years prior. We have to be very careful of this. I was emotional basket case constantly up and down because I lost who I was.

I’m so grateful for sincere friends who are not afraid to correct me and lovingly point out my flaws. I didn’t see these things, a friend brought it to my attention. During this time not only was God trying to transition me he was trying to get me to learn to trust him in a new way and to release control to him.

Can you trust God with what you are praying about, or do you feel the need to “help it” come to pass? At the time I didn’t realize I was trying to do it myself, I genuinely thought I was being lead of the spirit. Being led by the spirit never leads to frustration. The situation could be going all wrong but the Holy Spirit always give you peace if you allow him to.

Eleven months into this process, through much prayer and seeking the Lord I have finding the preacher God is calling me to be. She is still being developed but I have found her identity. She is who God says she is and not who others think she should be. Which frees me to say what he wants me to say, do what he says to do and go, without fear, into the arenas and places he is calling me to go into.

I have released control of trying to fix it. My efforts didn’t accomplish anything but discouragement and let down after let down. I feel the freedom now since I'm letting God order my steps and not having to figure it out. Don’t get me wrong, the "doer" in me really wants to jump in and help God but the Holy Spirt is helping me to stay in my place.

I also learned that these last eleven months have been a wilderness experience. The wilderness can be a place of discouragement because you can feel like God has abandoned you. When the truth is he has you there to purify you. But if you don’t know where you are in the process due to discouragement, you’ll miss what the Lord is doing and have to repeat the test until you understand where you are and pass the test.

At the time I didn’t have language for what I was encountering but I knew what I was going through was extremely difficult. I had another dear friend shared a video with me about being in the wilderness. As I listened to the speaker, I was like oh wow, this is exactly what I’m dealing with, EVERY WORD was line on point.

The wilderness is a place to purify and make you ready for the promise. God made me a promise that I would preach but purification was required. The promise came first and then the wilderness. This was the same for Jesus. God affirmed him then lead him to the wilderness to be tried. Many of us fail here because the discouragement is go great. The Lord has shown me that the way to make it through this time is by drawing closer to him each day.

Are you discouraged right now as you're reading this? If so, go to the Lord and pour it all out to him in prayer. He already knows where you are, he wants you to be real with him. As I drove home from San Antonio the other the day, I was fighting discouragement and the Holy Spirit draw me into prayer. It was such a powerful moment. Within about twenty minutes it lifted!

If we want victory and not to quit we have to fight issues that come up God’s way with his tactic and methods. We are not fighting flesh and blood. I’m sure there are many more lessons for me to learn in this process, but discouragement will no longer defeat me and cause me to throw in the towel. Say it out of your mouth, “discouragement will not defeat me!” We have life and death in the power of our tongue! Speak LIFE!

Get before the Lord, ask him what he is doing with you and why has the discouragement come. Whats making you want to quit or give up? Then wait for his reply. It may take some time, but he will answer you. Don't give up before the answer comes. Be open to how he answers, remembering you are not in control of the process. When he shows you why, don’t just sit on it ask for strategy how to move forward or what he wants you to do next.

This is not a quick process; it will take time! But know that God is faithful and he cares about you!

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

Have You Made the Sacrifice?

As I was reading my Bible Devotional the other day; I ran across this scripture and literally had to pause.

2 Samuel 24:24 Living Bible

But the king said to Araunah, “No, I will not have it as a gift. I will buy it, for I don’t want to offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that have cost me nothing.”

The background to this story is this: The anger of God flared against the people for their consistent sin and rebellion, and the Lord sought to deal with them because of this. God lead David to conduct a censes. A census in itself wasn't sin but the pride to know how many subjects you have was a big no no. David conducts the census after warnings from Joab, his army commander and friend. However, David ignored the warning and forced the hand of the Lord to move. The Lord spoke to the prophet Gad, about his displeasure with David's actions, and sent him with a message of consequences. They were, 7 years of famine, 3 months running from his enemies or a 3-day plaque. David, being the man he was, decided to let himself fall into the hands of the Lord and let him do what he deemed best. With that being said, the Lord chose three days of plaque where seventy thousand men in the nation died. David saw the death angle and cried out to the Lord in repentance and the Lord sent the prophet Gad to instruct David to build an altar on Araunah's threshing floor. Araunah, wanted to give the land and animals for the sacrifice to David but he refused to accept something that had not cost him anything.

I'm blown away by this passage because to the natural eye it looked as if it had costed David seventy thousand of his countrymen. It looked like it cost him the guilt and sorrow for all the families effected by this great tragedy. But David, being the man he was, a man after God's heart, knew how to entreat the Lord. He knew his only hope was in the presence and favor of God. David went the extra mile to love God and show others how important his relationship with God was.

Have you ever seen a person who seems to be going the extra mile with things? What I mean is, they give cards, gifts or prepare meals for others just because- no occasion or reason necessary. They’re being thoughtful. Not being boastful, but I am that type of person. I love for others to feel thought of or to feel special. I like bringing flowers, send random have a good day text messages, or giving small gifts to let people know they are cared for and that they matter.

I think David was so in love with God that he developed this kind of thoughtfulness towards God. He knew that sacrifice was key to coming into God’s presence, so he was willing to go the extra mile to make a sacrifice at no matter the cost.

After David cried out to the Lord, God wanted to meet with David in worship. Side note, I think we are so opposite of what God desires (in our flesh) because after a mistake, usually a small one, we run from God. But here we have a man who made a major mistake that cost the lives of seventy thousand of his countrymen and he went unafraid to worship God. There is so much in this passage to learn. God is concerned about us, even when we mess up and longs to be in a relationship with us no matter what we do or don't do. He is forgiving and merciful, and longing for unbroken, unhindered fellowship with us. God punishes sin but he reconciles us back to himself to keep the relationship growing and thriving.

Other thoughts I had reading this passage was, why this place to worship the Lord? Some commentaries say that this threshing floor was the very place Abraham offered Isaac as a sacrifice and that these were the same hills where Jesus was crucified on. One thing I've learned over the years is that everything God does is filled with purpose. This place must have been special to God for the death angel to stop there in this very spot and David see him. This wasn’t coincidence, it was all a part of God’s plan. This place had already become a place of sacrifice. I also studied and found that this place also became the site where Solomon built the temple and years of sacrifices were made there. Wow, just wow.

If David would have accepted the field as a gift and not paid for it, the sacrifice would have been the givers sacrifice and not David’s. Learning David’s character from scripture this could never have been acceptable to David. Remember he is now for being, "extra," concerning his God. Whenever real love for Jesus is present a sacrifice accompanies it. Some sacrifices many seem small and insignificant, but nothing is unimportant to God. He honors all we sacrifice to honor him.

What situation have you been in recently or may be in now where you have to make a sacrifice? Maybe you had to sacrifice a getting a job that pays less so you can have Sundays off to attend church or maybe you sacrificed being trendy because you chose to run with those pursuing God and not being popular. Whatever the case may be, know that God honors sacrifice.

I want to encourage you that you'll never make a sacrifice, and God not see it, make note of it and honor it. Over the years I’ve sacrificed much and seen the rewards of it. I remember many years ago, I became a stay-at-home mom so I could be the primary influence in my kid’s life for Christ. I had to count the cost of what changes this would make to our household. My job was the primary income of our home at the time, and I loved working. More than that I loved getting a paycheck. This would mean there would possibly be many things I wouldn't be able to do, buy or go. 20 years later, I can testify I've never missed a beat!!!I've never gone without and never missed attending something due to the lack of funds. At that time, we had two kids and I was expecting baby number three but we went on to have three more kids. I had no peace knowing my kids would spend most of their day at the day care center. The primary influence in their life would be the daycare staff and not me as their mom. My husband and I discussed it and prayed over the decisions that needed to be made and moved forward in faith. We both were in agreement that the best decision for our family would be for me to stay home and nature our children in the Lord.

The first year was the hardest; finances were tight and career girl (me) fought the feeling of loneliness. I knew all the Barney songs and PBS kid cartoon characters. I missed the office environment and my co-workers. I missed adult fellowship! But as time went on I began to embrace this new journey and learned God in many new ways. He taught me how to be a mom and how to pray and get results. My call to intercessory prayer was birthed in that season. I stayed home with my kids for 7 years and when baby 6 went to school I went too. I became a volunteer and then ended up joining the staff. Even though my kids were school age I knew I was still supposed to be there for them and thats what I did. I was only a classroom away and for some years, they were in my class. Those years were priceless. The sacrifice of my career and goals allowed me to build a relationship with my kids that is strong. I got to instill in them our christian faith. They are strong believers and take their walk with God very seriously. They aren’t perfect and make mistakes, but they try really hard to honor God in all they do and that’s all I could ever ask for. I've been rewarded and blessed! I want to note here that the motive has to be to honor God not just for a reward. But honoring him does bring blessings.

This may not be your sacrifice, but you have one that has to be made. Don't allow fear of the unknown stop you from making life altering sacrifices. Joyce Meyers has a book entitled, “Do It Afraid.” That may be the thing you need to do. Make the sacrifice and watch God move. Don't allow fear of the unknown stop you. Many doors have opened to my family and I because we were taught the art of sacrifice as new believers and built our lives around it.

I ask you to search your heart and see what sacrifice you need to make. Pray and ask the Lord for the strength to make the sacrifice and stay committed to it. Things may seem worst before they get better but hold on the reward is coming.