Gift

How much of God’s love do you want?

/ Jana / Leave a comment

How much of God’s love are you willing to receive? Uhhh. Is this a trick question? Some? Enough? All?  We humans play lots of mental games with God’s love. It often circles around our sense of worth or lack thereof. Perhaps it’s an unspoken belief that He likes other kids more than us, so we should be grateful and don’t bug God by asking for too much. Perhaps we have been extensively taught about suffering and sacrifice, which is good and true, but we have not been given permission to experience His lavish love.

Lavish is His word. Not mine.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1 NIV)

Believe it or not, this very difficult question was the second question in my wild conversation with the Lord last night.  It came on the heels of a memory with my friend Crystal. She and I (and many others) had just prayed her into a miracle house. She kept saying over and over, “Why me, Lord, why do I get this house?”

And His answer was so simple. “I picked it for you. I  know what I planted in you. And, I really like you.” 

“The thought that He would do something so big, so extra just because He loved me so much, really stretched my faith,” Crystal said. 

It was a love gift.

Boom. There it was. 

I had heard those words before. A love gift. God had given me and Chuck a love gift. An outrageous gift purely as an expression of His love. The Overflow House, a beautiful place in Pensacola Beach. This is part of much bigger story, but the words pierced my spirit like a needle full of medicine. Did I remember how to receive a Love Gift from God?

God is lavish in His gifts to express His love for His children. Me and you, we be da children. If we know how to do it, He does it so much better. 

If you, imperfect as you are, know how to lovingly take care of your children and give them what’s best, how much more ready is your heavenly Father to give wonderful gifts to those who ask him?” Matthew 7:11 TPT

As uncomfortable as this thought is, now try to imagine the gut punch of the first question. 

Am I your Lover or your business partner?

I mean, what a way to start a conversation.

Lovers do things for each other. We share and sacrifice for the other’s good without a second thought. We enjoy each other. We call each other silly names and giggle and smile for no apparent reason. No task seems too big or small, because well, it’s just an excuse to be together.  Rain or shine, all we need is love. Perfect Love, that is.

But business partners? That’s a little more clinical, don’t you think? You have your role and duties. I have mine. And please, stay in your lane. Don’t tell me what to do, I will return the favor. And then there is the pressure. I sure hope this proposition works out because we have poured a lot of time and money into it. We have to produce results after all.

Gut. Punched.

You know what I love MOST about Jesus, God, and Spirit? The Holy Three-in-One so completely adores, enjoys, loves, roots for, and is 1000% committed to my heart and soul, and yours, that They would zing me in quiet hours just to correct my course.

God is unwilling to just be our business partner. Don’t nit-pick me here. When Perfect Love is on the scene He does bring wisdom, insight, and guidance. He is the best Person to have involved in any field, home, or country. BUT. BUT. BUT.

He does it all for love, for us. To be with us. He is lavish. He gives good outrageous gifts to express His Love.

So why am I doing it? Why are you?

Let me give you the two questions again: Am I your Lover or your business partner? How much of My Love are you willing to receive?

I am just going to let that sit there for you and our Beautiful God to sort through. It has broken some serious wayward thinking as He and I approach this outrageous Love Gift that is on the horizon. I hope it gets you a little more free too. 

Faith to Faith

/ Jana / Leave a comment

How do we get more faith?  It might be easier than you think and yet much more costly. Before you check this box, listen to my story.

 

 

I sat across the table from a prophet the other day. We came to celebrate a mutual friend who had told me about her crazy friend who was really prophetic.  However,  once he opened his mouth and began sharing God stories, I saw the stark difference between having a gift and having a mantle.

The prophetic gifting is the ability, granted by the Holy Spirit, to know or see a thing, and to declare a thing that will happen in the future. Think of God sending people postcards from far-off places. Only instead of saying, “I wish you were here,”  He sends them pictures, words, insights of places or things and says “You will be here.” 

Whew. That’s wild. It’s a lot to take in. And it is 100% biblical.

We all have the ability to be prophetic if we have the Holy Spirit. Even our kids! They have 100% of the Holy Spirit. Not some kind of  Junior Holy Spirit,  like a Whopper Jr. 

But, this guy at dinner, instead of just being prophetic, was a prophet. Meaning God would tell him things to tell other people. Good and seemingly bad things.  Even the bad things turned out to be blessings because God was always working for the hearts and the success of the people targeted by the messages. 

I noticed a couple of things as I soaked in every story he told.

1) God is alive and well and moving mightily all the time for those who will a) stop and ask Him and b) do what He says.

2) God doesn’t blink an eye at making humans uncomfortable in order to lead them to wholeness and outrageous faith. Whether it is the prophet speaking or the receiver of God’s message, God happily shatters our comfort zones.

3) God is supremely patient with stubborn and disobedient children who don’t listen, until He isn’t. He offers counsel and wisdom and then He practices holy tough love as we temporarily suffer from our self-made consequences.

4) We have permission to grab hold of every God story we hear for ourselves. I literally kept praying as the prophet spoke, “Lord I would like that too please.”  It’s part of the prophet’s reward.

5) God stories (or faith stories) beget other God stories. As the prophet shared stories, my mind filled with my own stories. I shared a couple of my own, and you could see both of us reveling in the power and mystery of this Beautiful God. 

There is a right standing with God. The bedrock of that right standing is faith. 

Do you need an extra dose of faith? Recall what He has done for you. Act forward on what He has said is coming. And. And. Share your God stories and listen to others. That will fill up your tank in no time.

For the righteousness of God is revealed in it from faith to faith, just as it is written, “But the one who is righteous by faith will live.” Romans 1:17