Be My Witness

Y'all know I love belonging. Its so important to me. Can I offer today that belonging matters not only the one who belongs but the one who does the belonging?

A week ago I heard a message called Be My Witness. It was about this very idea.

The scripture comes from Acts 1:8 and reads thusly

But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. 

So....I was going one direction with this but looking over my notes it seems I'm going two! I love how He does me like that!

These are my thoughts on Pastor's sermon....

If you have been though something and had to honestly, sincerely, and desperately call on Jesus, then you know who He is, what He is, and what He can do. I've been in this place. When I was broken, and Jesus became my literal refuge. He was where I felt safe because if I knew nothing else I knew that He was, is, and always will be good. His will for me will always be what's best for me. His will didn't feel good at the time and I got a little confused as to how His will could be so uncomfortable but I look back on what I'd prayed for and I know the discomfort was for my good. He loves me despite who I am, because of who I am, and more than I'll ever be able to. I was sure of a few things even if most of my life looked like chaos. In that chaos, I clung to the truth of who God is.

Nowadays, I talk about it. God doesn't need me. I need God but it matters that I talk about what I've been through through the lens of a child of God. It matters that I say "You know I fasted and prayed my way through that" or "you know I had to listen to gospel and let the Lord tell me who I am to Him just to get out of bed." Why? Because God has called us to profess our faith in Him. He's called us to tell other's about the God we serve. Not only do we belong to God but He belongs to us. He wants us to claim Him. He's our deliverer. He's our creator. He is in us. The belonging goes both ways.

I'm convinced that telling people about my personal interaction with God is powerful. You know me. You can see me. I'm telling you of someone you can't see. The fact that I can say "This being you can't see has been instrumental in my life in ways I can see" helps unbelief. It even helps my own doubt to see the hand of God clearly moving in my life.

Now the walking on His will thing... when you belong to Him and He's in you and He's told you what He wants you to do, He's going to give you power to walk that out. The Holy Spirit will give you ability or make it so that its possible for you to do what He's asking of you. I'm not the person you think you see on this blog. I'm this person because I let the me in me decrease and the Him in me increase. I'm not very good at it but I sure do want to be. This very scripture is talking about the power that comes with being in His will. The other thing about that is that He's clearly say, as you walk out my will under the power I give you and with the Holy Spirit guiding you, your walk, your lifestyle, your ministry will be a witness to others about who I am. So I guess I shouldn't be surprised that other people are watching me huh?

Let's back track a little. The third word in this scripture matters. Shall. What does shall mean? It means its coming. You know exactly where I'm going don't you? Waiting. Yup we're back to waiting. Shall means its going to happen it just isn't happening right now if the Holy Spirit isn't upon you. If He's not in you, invite Him in. The power you need to be in His will, requires you and Him to do some very intimate exchanging of ideas. I've got to know Him to be in His will. I've got to trust Him, that whatever He has for me is ultimately for my good. What I love about God is His word doesn't return void and thus we can believe for things we don't have.

Now if you're believing Him for something you don't have, much like I am, you have to have a promise from Him. To have a promise you've got to be open to His will. The thing about promises from God is they may not be exactly what you want. When the Lord has told me something, it was because it wasn't something I necessarily would have picked for myself. Howard....wasn't something I would have picked for myself. Other areas of my life where I'm believing God for what He's promised me aren't what I would have picked for myself. What I love about this though is that it allows God to move so obviously in my life. It challenges me to grow my faith. Why? Because a promise isn't tangible. Its a going to. Its a yet to be. So often, I want to do my own thing and I pray about that and God's always saying the same few statements to me

"Do you trust me?"
"All things, not some things."
"I've got purpose here"
"My grace is sufficient"
"My will for you is My will"

The Bible says but if a man loves me he keeps my word and my father will come unto him and dwell with him and the comforter will come and will teach us. This is why the indwelling is so important. This is why relationship matters with God. I can't do what He's calling me to if He isn't in me. I don't have the power to walk that out. I'm unable. He's able.

When I think about the indwelling of the spirit, I'm acutely aware of the fact that I had to give up a lot of the control I had in my own life so that my life could be on purpose. All I want to be is in His will but I can't know His will if I don't ask and I can't be in it under my own power. I've got to let Him do it in me. For a long time I was chasing the promises of God. I wanted what He promised and I thought I should have them right then. What He's taught me is that His timing is not only perfect but that I've got some work to do in the mean time. I'm not actually ready for Him to fulfill the promises He's made me. He's made them to grow my faith in Him but that entitlement thing I had going...yea no. He's bringing me everything that's His will for me. I can't be in front of what God is doing and in the mean time, He's empowering me to wait. He's growing my faith and my devotion.

I've got to talk about what God is doing. I've got to tell people He's making a way for me and even when I'm unsure my steps are ordered. Even when my feelings don't align, my feet are in His will. I'm not who I used to be because the process of How God gets you to His will changed me and continues to remold and remake me. I am being continuously redeemed and made better by my relationship with God.