Whether I realized it at the time or not, my musings around Independence Day 2005 were very much related to the subject of independence. And...they are very pertinent to me now. Then I realized them theoretically, but now as I look back I realize these are the very things that are being measured in my life literally. May I continue to keep the faith!
I feel like I got a Word last night for a church where I'm attending. I find the wellspring for it in the Bible passage (got to find it again) that has God explaining to the Israelites that He will give them the Promised Land a little at a time, not all at once. If He'd given them the land all at once, the wild animals would have been too numerous, destroying the people. So they received it as they were able to receive it.
We to this day receive our portion of the Kingdom in this way, both as individuals and as churches. It is all ours, but we possess it and inhabit it a little at a time. This is not a bad thing. It is God's grace and His sovereignty.
When churches or individuals seek intimacy with God, that intimacy finds its reality in this place of "possessing land" much as these Hebrews knew it. God opens a gate and says, "I'd have you take this portion next." But, often it is tempting to want to settle. It would be easy to say, "But, God, that land out there is wild and uncertain and dangerous. This country You've already given into our hands is beautiful and certainly large enough to meet our needs. We're not greedy for more! Plus, we're safe here, why put us to such risk and send us to such a dangerous place?"
But that's the lie speaking. The irony. For the dangerous place is the one that seems safest--where you stand in the place most familiar. You know that place like you know what coin is in your own hand. (Remember the Case for Faith analogy referenced earlier?) Therefore, this place does not exercise your faith. Familiarity breeds complacency, and complacency breeds contempt, pride and weak faith in the very area where beforehand God gave you strength. So tempting to rest on the past.
On the other hand, going forward to subdue a land that still has you facing great enemies, ferocious lurking animals, and only then to turn your hand to break up a wild land for cultivation--what of this? Here is the greatest security, for when you come into this country, you come into a place that you do not know, so your walk hangs necessarily again on faith. You don't know your adequacy, nor that of your neighbor. You must find all your assurance in God alone. Humility is not an effort, it is natural existence. So...being in that place, going when He calls "It's time!" is recognizing His purposes to make your protection against the real dangers as natural as possible.
Many churches...many people...will not go, and so they begin to die. But if you go, you will receive the hope of a new revelation of the beauty of the kingdom. For once you possess that portion, it will be as beautiful a place as the one you possess now, which you willingly leave behind as God opens that gate to reveal New Country.
And do not scout that land based on the perceptions of your current strengths and powers. Let us rather be like Joshua and Caleb, who would take what God presented as long as it was God presenting it!
There may be new country to possess ahead of my little family. Very real new country! I am ever astounded at the timing of the prompts to come to this blog and this journal review.
Little miracles prove big miracles in their intimacy! Thank You for the guiding hand, O Lord!
Whoa!!
ReplyDeleteDeb! Yesterday I read the following in the Beth Moore, James study, that was obviously not out when you first journaled these thoughts:
ReplyDelete"I told her to listen to God and watch for Him to open and close doors, but I also shared with her that, try as you may, you can't rush training.
Really, what I meant was this: you can't rush God. You can't push Him. You can't pull Him. You can't tug Him or taunt Him. If He has a mind to linger right where He is, you can't budge Him one inch. You can, however, try to go without Him; but, chances are, you'll come back because, if you really have a heart for God, you'll be miserable beyond His blessing.
From a throne's-eye view, the point is not just getting us into our proverbial lands of promise where we bear much fruit. The point is developing the spiritual muscle on our way so once we receive it, we are strong enough to keep it. The hardest part of possessing the land is defending it. A person has hardly begun to have a real fight on her hands until she starts serving in her full-throttle giftedness and effectiveness. She who proves a threat earns an enemy you can bet will do everything he can to make her sorry. Nothing in the visible realm is a greater reality than the unseen battle raging over our heads."
God continues to blow my mind with the timing and relevancy of your entries here!!
You're right, and I've not read any Beth Moore, but I do know this: when God sends down a word, He doesn't just pick "one special person" to receive it. I think the Spirit pours it out like rain, and one of the "signs" that He's the author is that measure of redundant synchronicity. Thanks for sharing that here!!
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