God Gave Her a Stable

In the last year and a half my husband and I have lived in three different homes, none of them our own. In none of these places did I have my own furnishing or things and in none of these places did I hang my own pictures on the wall.  As the New Year approaches, I am once again packing a suitcase to live out of for the next few weeks until we once again move into a home we will use but that is not ours.  As a woman, this has been hard on me.  The constant transitions, moves and travel make me feel unsettled and like I can’t “make a nest” or “put down roots.”  I miss being part of a more permanent community of faith.  So, like I often do, I was complaining to God about it the other day.

Gently, and with much kindness, the Father directed my attention to the Christmas story and more particularly to Mary’s story.  In Luke 2:7 we read “She gave birth to her first child, a son.  She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them”(NLT). Some translations use the phrase “there was no room at the inn.” 

I began to reflect.  How did Mary feel about not being able to give birth in her own home, with family all around?  How would I have reacted had I been Mary?  Honestly, I’m pretty sure I would have been complaining, frustrated and a bit angry about this.  Angry with Joseph for not providing me a better place, for not planning ahead more. Angry with God- Is this the best you can do for me LORD? When I was obedient and submitted to your will? A stable and a manger?  Really God?  I thought you were good! 

Not Mary though.  She shows no indication of anger at God’s unusually simple and temporary provision for her at this time.  She was content. It was this contentment that enabled her to recognize and enjoy the incredible miracle of her son’s birth.  It was her submission to God, her acceptance of her situation, that released the grace to delight in the Presence of Jesus and in His miraculous birth.

How many miracles do I miss because of my dissatisfaction, anger, sense of being unjustly treated, my offenses with others, my lack of contentment and my longing for something I don’t have instead of delighting in what God is currently giving me? 

God’s provision was very basic.  He gave her a stable.  Why?  That is easy for us to see now, thousands of years later.  The stable makes it possible for anyone to relate to Jesus.  He is a King, but was born in a humble and very simple place.  It was part of God’s much bigger plan, something so much bigger than Mary and Joseph and their personal desires and needs.  So it is for me, and for you.  God’s provision is always best, is always good, and His love is always there for us.  Sometimes we don’t understand why our circumstances are such as they are.  Like Mary though, I want to trust God and be grateful for his goodness, even when it is different than my fleshly ideal.  I want to receive from him the grace to be content in every circumstance. Then I won’t miss the miracle of His Presence. I won’t miss the history changing events He is working all around me.

This Christmas, I want to rejoice in the miracle of His birth as Mary did; as the shepherds, the angels and the wise men.  Lord, please don’t let us miss the miracles you are working all around us.  Let us surrender to your cosmic plans and purposes that are bigger than our understanding.  Let us be fully at home in You; content, grateful, and with hearts full of joy and wonder as Mary’s must have been.

Discipleship isnt a weekly meeting

Discipleship doesn’t happen in a weekly meeting.  Discipleship happens when we do life together, when we become a community of Jesus followers who challenge, encourage, support, push and help one another to grow in following Jesus, becoming more like him, and in making more disciples in our spheres of influence.

Im a great lover of strategies and structures.  They help a lot.  Having the right system, the right structure can facilitate a lot of good things being released.  Weak and ineffective structures can harm teams, relationships, churches and ministries creating unnecessary conflicts, problems, gaps and issues.  Controlling structures can quench the Spirit of God among us.  So structures are good.  If we need to change our structures and systems to be more releasing, or more effective, I believe we should.  Structure needs constant evaluation based on fruitfulness (effectiveness).

Having said that, I also firmly believe that changing structures without changing heart, attitudes and beliefs really doesn’t accomplish much.  They are the foundation from which true discipleship and fruitful ministries flow.  So I want to address a belief here.  The false belief is- We can make strong disciples if we meet people once a week and teach them something.  The new belief I’d like to suggest is this- Making disciples requires time and effort to build deep and intimate relationships with one another.   

Many of you know that in the last few years I have been promoting something called T4T (Training for Trainers).  It’s a great system….a great structure.  I really like it.  The T4T meeting structure includes all the important elements that are so vital to multiplying disciples; celebration/accountability, member care, worship, the Word, goal setting, fellowship.  Like I said, I really believe in and like this structure.  Not only do I like it, but it’s a proven structure that has produced great fruit around the world.

Having said this, T4T is just another structure that will not produce fruit if it is not overlaid upon a deep commitment to relational discipleship- to going deep with those in that T4T circle.  If there is no time spent with those disciples outside of the T4T meeting, if no intimate and real relationship of love develops between those people in T4T, Im pretty convinced it won’t work or produce a lot of fruit.

Making disciples requires a lot of us.  It means taking a risk to love people deeply and pour your life into loving them.  That is what Jesus did with his disciples.  They lived together, spent lots of hours around the fire cooking fish and eating together, they did ministry together and Jesus spoke into their lives not only as a group, but one on one.

Part of YWAM’s success in making disciples has been the DTS model.  What is it about the DTS model that has worked so well in leading to transformation of lives?  Is it the topics?  The quality speakers we bring in?  No, it is the relational aspect of discipleship.  By living together in DTS, doing work duties together, praying together, learning together…deep relationships of trust are formed.  In this environment, students are able to be confronted and held accountable, loved on and ministered to, prayed with, challenged to grow, etc.  This is one of YWAMs great strengths.  Most people find their DTS a life changing experience having never been a part of that kind of a “community” before.

Our T4T groups, the churches we plant, need this same kind of relationship and trust so that those we are discipling to disciple others, are truly transformed people who are becoming more like Jesus everyday- in heart and in actions.  The T4T group has to have that kind of loving relationships or we can’t really call them churches.  We want to reproduce disciples who are absolutely transformed people, who regularly have deep encounters with Jesus, who love one another deeply.  Please don’t think that a new structure will create that, no matter how wonderful it is.

If you only have time to run a T4T group once a week, but you don’t have time for any further relationship with those in the group, I am pretty skeptical about whether or not you will see the results you hope for by using this “system.”  Our busy lifestyles are one of the greatest barriers to us making strong disciples that will reproduce, that will multiply and make more disciples. 

In the midst of structure and system changes in YWAM and in FM, let’s make sure our hearts and beliefs are also changing and that we don’t loose our greatest discipleship strength- intimate, open and real love relationships between disciples.  T4T together with relational discipleship…wow!  That is a very powerful combination that can lead to some incredible increase. 

Needing Strength?

“Search for the Lord and for his strength; continually seek him” Psalm 105:4. 

What comes into your mind when you hear the word STRENGTH?  I think of Samson and how he pushed on the pillars and made the temple collapse.  I think of a huge ox plowing a field, or a long distance runner finishing a long race running hard and strong.  I think of the martyrs who refused to give up their faith and were stoned.  I think of a single mother, raising a child alone.

There are many kinds of strength we need; physical strength, emotional strength, strength to endure, strength to overcome, strength to fight, strength to believe, strength to start again.  Whatever the strength you need today, He is the source we must turn to. We can’t do it alone.  Our strength comes from Him alone; from taking time to be in His Presence, to worship, pray, hear His voice whisper words of love and affirmation to us once again. “You are my beloved child.  I love you.  I accept you.  You can do this.  I am with you.” Can you hear him speaking these words to you today? 

The enemy wants us to remain weak, defeated and fearful. He continually accuses us and tells us lies about ourselves and our situations.  God wants to strength us, refocus our perspective and to fill us with fresh hope.  He wants to enable us to look beyond the natural into the supernatural.

Let us continually seek Him! May He strength you today; body, soul and spirit.  May He fill your mind with truth and give you peace that passes understanding.  Declare with me out loud- The Lord is our strength! He has given me victory!

Beliefs exercise for Church planting teams

What do we believe?  Not what do we say we believe, but what we truly believe deep down inside.  Sometimes its hard to acknowledge what we truly believe inside.  Identifying our deep beliefs is really important.  If we aren’t seeing the results we want, we need to look deeper than just at what we DO, we need to examine what we THINK and BELIEVE.

-          Do we truly believe movements of Jesus followers in our people group and location are God’s will and desire?

-          Do we believe they can and will happen?  Yes or no?  Why or why not?

-          Do we believe God wants to use us to release them?

-          What do we believe is necessary to see the release of a movement in our location?

Some Common answers to the last question:

-          Someone with more gifting and anointing than me is needed for a movement. I don’t have what it takes.

-          This place is too hard and the people too resistive to ever see a movement happen

-          If we had better believers with more talent and commitment, we could see a movement

-          Im content to just see a small church started here.  Its okay if we never see a true movement.

-          I need a bigger and better team and more financial support to see a movement happen here.

What we believe dramatically affects the results we see. What we declare and speak out makes a difference. How do the above common answers reflect false beliefs?  What scriptures do we know that say something different?

I encourage you to do this exercise with your teams.  Examine your beliefs.  List the answers to these questions. Try hard to answer honestly.  Then pray and ask the Holy Spirit to shine His light on these things. As he shows you some areas that are false, repent of false thinking that is not in line with God’s word. Choose to truly turn from them. Begin to declare the truth into your team, location and situation.

For example, if you said “this place is too hard and the people too resistive to see a movement happen” you might declare out the scripture “Jesus said- lift up your eyes and see the fields are ripe unto harvest!”  Or you might declare in prayer, “Father you are releasing movements in places much more difficult than mine, in places like Iraq and China.  I know you can do that among these people too. Your word says, Nothing is impossible for those who believe.”  You get the idea.

Stir up your faith by declaring the truth and getting rid of the wrong thinking (lies) we are so tempted to believe. 

As we reallign our minds and hearts with God’s truth and begin to believe the truth, His Kingdom and power will follow. We will see a change in our actions as well as our results.

Thankfulness Exercise- Remembering the Goodness of God

I’m stuck the last few days in Psalm 103.  I’ve been meditating especially on verses 2 and 5 which say “Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me…He fills my life with good things.  My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!”-NLT

Being Thankful on a run together!

How important it is that we take time to remember THE GOODNESS OF GOD!  If you are like me, sometimes we forget the good things He has done for us.  We forget or don’t really think about all the ways He has filled our lives with good things.  Thanksgiving is a powerful weapon of spiritual warfare and truly important as we encourage ourselves in the Lord! 

Sometimes my husband and I find ourselves grumpy or complaining, especially when we feel tired and weary.  The problems seem large and overwhelming.  I wonder if they will ever be able to be solved.  Then we remember the goodness of God in my life and He renews our strength.  We’ve started doing what we call a Thankfulness Exercise.  Sometimes we do it while going on a walk or run together.  I ask him “What are you thankful for?”  He says one thing then asks me “What are you thankful for?”  We go on like that for 5 or 10 minutes and suddenly life seems better.  Take time to remind yourself of His Goodness.  Speak it out loud.  Let praise fill your heart.

Keeping ourselves encouraged in the Lord is SO KEY in having the strength to press forward toward Supernatural Increase, Greater Fruit, many generations of believers, and the release of hundreds of Movements.  He is good!!

Why do we do what we do?

Why have we given our lives to the cause of seeing unreached people hear good news?

It’s not a bad question to ask ourselves from time to time. Knowing why we do what we do is important.  We need to remind ourselves! It’s not money, it’s not success. It’s not status. It’s not even the excitement of seeing miracles or great progress that motivates us to do what we do. No, it’s not those things.

Paul summed it up well in Romans 1:5, “Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority as apostles to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.”-New Living Translation

Passionate prayer changes lives

We do what we do… because it is a PRIVILEGE.  We have been chosen by God as His ambassadors, His apostles- as Sent Ones.  We go everywhere and tell the unreached what God has done for them!  What an honor to be chosen for this task. Today, do you see this as a “privilege”?

We do what we do… because we have been given AUTHORITY.  As sons and daughters of the King of Kings, we go with His power and anointing to bring about change in people groups and communities.  As we find the person of peace, as we heal the sick, as we proclaim the Kingdom of God…things happen!  Lives change!  The Kingdom is manifested through us. Today, are you exercising your apostolic authority?

Lastly, we do what we do… because HE DESERVES THE GLORY and praise of all peoples and nations.  As the song says, “He is Worthy of it All.”  Our passion for His glory motivates us to continue, to press on, until we see all nations bow before His throne. Today, how strong is your passion for His glory?

Staying Focused on our Primary Callings

“Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people” Jesus told the fishermen (Mark 1:17).  This call of the Master was a major turning point.  It began Simon and Andrew on their journey of learning from Jesus- both how to live, and how to “fish for people”. 

Along their journey, Simon (later renamed Peter) and the other disciples had many high and low points.  They saw the deaf hear, the blind healed, the dead raised.  They saw five loaves and two fish feed five thousand.  They saw their Master attacked and killed by the religious leaders of their day.  At times their faith was high and at times it was low.  There were also times when they were deeply saddened by their own personal failures to follow the Master well.  The call of Jesus never changed though.  He continued to call them... Follow me and fish for men. 

After Jesus’ death and resurrection, in his discouragement, Simon Peter declares “I’m going fishing” (John 21). He went back to what he thought he knew how to do.  He wasn’t very successful.  He fished all night and caught nothing.  Then Jesus showed up on the beach and told them to throw their net on the other side of the boat.  Suddenly- lots of fish!

After eating breakfast, Jesus takes Peter aside and repeats once again his two primary callings to him.  Follow me…and feed my sheep. In spite of his failures and mistakes the Master calls him back to what’s important.

 

It’s easy for us to be distracted from these two primary callings. Our disappointment with ourselves, with others, lack of progress, or even our excitement about the miracles we see can cause us to forget the basics.  Follow Jesus and Make Disciples. (fish for men, feed his sheep). 

We must continually refocus our lives on these two things.  It’s not about how many meetings we attend, or programs we run, or even how many church members attend our fellowships.  Are we Following Jesus (doing the things He did and acting like Him?) Are we making true Disciples who also follow Him well?  Disciples that both follow Him and also make more disciples?