Jana Spicka

What God Does in the Desert — Part 2

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Before the desert and the streams, something happens at the beginning of Isaiah 43.  As I wrote in Part 1, this passage is a feast. First, God calls out who we were and who we are becoming. The Passion Translation paints a before-and-after picture. Jacob was created. Then Jacob was formed, or rather, transformed into someone greater, Israel. 

Now, this is what Yahweh says:
“Listen, Jacob, to the One who created you,
Israel, to the one who shaped who you are. 
Do not fear,
for I, your Kinsman-Redeemer, will rescue you.
I have called you by name, and you are mine.
You and I were born, but when we become alive in Jesus, we begin the process of being transformed into a greater person than before. “God is seen here as the One who changes the nature of a man,” said Brian Simmons, TPT translator.

God then implores us not to fear. Why? Because He has redeemed us. He literally brought us out of the land of fearful captivity into a beautiful new reality. He paid every cost for our freedom. And why did He do that? The next verse captures it. Made by Him, He calls us back into His arms. We are His very own.  I have called you by name, and you are Mine.

So when God tells us again ( and again and again…) not to fear, He is creating a playing field where He is ever victorious. It is not a slap on the hand comment. It is a transforming reality that He is bigger and better than anything we could ever possibly face or fear. It brings to mind “if God is for us, who can be against us.” Romans 8:31

As I prepped for the Streams in the Desert event, God showed me three kinds of fears we face: childish, stronghold, and demonic. There are definitely more, but this is what He showed me.

Childish Fears:
When I was 5 years old, I ran around my grandmother’s house. There was a narrow path through a wooded section, and I ran face-first into a huge spider web.  I screamed and thrashed my face and hair, trying to remove the web, and potentially, the spider.  Still screaming, I ran into my mother’s startled arms. My fear of spiders started that day.

Later, I played hide and seek with my siblings. I crawled under a bed in the basement. It was a sure win since I was the only one small enough to fit there. But I froze when I saw it. A huge spider was also under the bed,  on the far side of the floor from where I was hiding. I held out as long as I could, but when it started stretching out its legs, I was out of there.

We all have childish fears. I could name them, but you already know. These are fears that we have because we need time to mature and to grasp a bigger reality. Over time, we learned we are stronger and smarter than we thought. We just needed to practice bigger truths to move past hurdles that stop children, but not adults.

It sounds obvious. I had to learn that I was bigger than any spider and I could kill them with my foot, a shoe, or a broom. Or I could relocate them outside (as my adult compassionate self learned). I had options, but I was the one to decide. My 5-year-old self couldn’t grasp this.

Do you have lingering childish fears that need to be grown out of? Ask God for the bigger reality.

Fast forward two decades. I found myself sitting in a swinging chair with my feet off the floor because I uncovered a huge spider while cleaning. I sat in that chair for two hours until my boyfriend got there to kill it.

My unhealed childish fear had advanced to a stronghold fear.

Stronghold Fears:
A stronghold is a dwelling that is built by the owner of the castle. It is an outpost intended to secure and protect the territory from invaders. The eyes on the horizon to scout impending danger. When these strongholds get overrun by the enemy, the opposing forces actually turn and use the proximity and shelter to harm the castle owner.

This is true in the spirit world, as well. We laugh and say it is like giving the devil air-conditioning, snacks, and Netflix while he attacks us from our own building.

Fear only has the power we give it.  And God has given us the tools to overcome every fear. When we can’t overcome, we have allowed fear to have more control than the Spirit. God has given us power, love, and a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:17) The enemy tries to steal that goodness and leave us with torment instead.

How do we overcome strongholds? Confession and repentance.

Much of today’s emotional and spiritual wrangling is us trying to keep fear and freedom at the same time. We try to doll up our fear instead of confessing it as sin. Unplug the AC in the stronghold. Take away the snacks. Raze the building, if that is what it takes, to clear the enemy out. Meaning, spend time with the Lord to see where the childish fear started and how you have let it go unchecked. Agree that you partnered with a lie for too long, and renounce it.  Then you partner with the greater truth that God is more than enough. You are His own.  You are stronger and smarter than you know.

Spirit of Fear
Sometimes we have done alllll the things, and yet fear consumes us.  Real talk here. It says in the same verse in Timothy that God has NOT given us a spirit of fear… That means two things. 1) There is one. 2) God didn’t give it.

Listen, if we could cast out a spirit of fear, once and for all, we would. But our charge is to displace the spirit of fear with a bigger reality, Perfect Love. Perfect Love casts out, drives out fear.

“Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection.” 1 John 4:18-19

Many Christians keep trying to shape their theology to make pain and fear come from God. But we have an enemy.  And this enemy hates us. His number one goal is to make us doubt God’s love and hate ourselves and each other.

Which is why Jesus summed up the law and the prophets with this astounding comment.  Jesus answered him, “ ‘Love  the Lord your God with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, and with every thought that is within you.’  This is the great and supreme commandment. And the second is like it in importance: ‘You must love your friend  in the same way you love yourself.’  Matthew 22: 37-39 TPT

Let me fast-forward 10 years past the terrified woman in a chair. I am with my daughter at a nature camp. And to my shock, they pull out a tarantula. I am immediately thanking God for knowing His peace now, and for healing that childish fear, and for removing that stronghold. My mind is just a flurry of prayers.

But then they start passing that hairy, huge spider down the line, from one hand to another.  I know God was laughing.

My daughter looks up to me to see if she should be scared. (Selah – don’t pass your strongholds to your kids…)  I smiled at her and told her to be brave, and it’s okay, and God made this beautiful creature! And what did that child do?

She turned around and handed me that dang spider.

I tell you, Jesus was laughing his hiney off. “Well, Jana, how’s that fear thing now…”

Nothing like knowing you are with God and understanding this decision impacts the next generation to make you press in to freedom.  I cuddled that soft, incredible creature in my hands. Her name was Charlotte.

Free indeed.

As you walk out this life full of all the feels, there are bigger realities. We are God’s chosen, dearly loved children. Yes, we walk through deserts and heartaches, but never alone, and never without the power of Heaven inside of us and beside us. Let us press in to experience Perfect Love.

Next time: Forget the former things, do not dwell on the past.

What God Does in the Desert

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Recently, I was asked to speak at an incredible women’s event. It was strategic for me in so many ways. The first of which was to lead me into a micro-desert so I would remember the searing heat of spiritual dryness. The weeks leading up to the event felt like an assault on all sides. Chuck and I were sideways. Both of our cars ended up in the shop. And although the Lord had already given me an outline and revelation for the day, the head noise was loud. Real loud. Then on Friday afternoon, it came.

Streams in my desert.

I had done my part to prepare, or so I thought. I had the scriptures. The post-it notes. Time in worship. I had been interceding for the women and the team. But my heart — it was cracked and thirsty. I needed the river of heaven to wash my mind and spirit once again. The Holy Spirit came in a wave of revelation and comfort of a directed word. I had been sent to harvest where I had not sown. Yes, Lord. I was to release His living water. Yes, Lord. And the words kept rolling over me.

For the event, we used the anchor verse from Isaiah 43:18-19. This chapter is so rich and deep. And so needed.

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.
See, I’m doing a new thing!
Now it springs up. Do you not perceive it?
I’m making a way in the wilderness and streams and the wasteland.

I became a Christian more than three decades ago. I’ve experienced many desert seasons and wilderness journeys with the Lord.  I will say, honestly, they all hurt. But frankly, they’re supposed to. God does things in the desert that He cannot do anywhere else. He has given me several pearls on this passage. Consider this the first of many from these verses.

The Lord told me He uses the desert seasons in our lives for three purposes: Assignment, Refinement, or Realignment.

Assignment.
God led the Hebrew children into the wilderness for a specific purpose. They were on assignment to experience firsthand His provision and protection, and to discover His goodness.  After generations of living as slaves, they were confused about God’s love and care, especially when things went terribly wrong. Sounds familiar. God wanted to build trust and intimacy with them. Why? Because they had been assigned to inhabit the Promised Land. Slaves don’t live in the Promised Land. Only children do.

Jesus also was led into the wilderness for a specific purpose. He was to face the temptations of the enemy. The parallel between their 40 years and His 40 days is incredible. Demanding manna, the satan offering bread.  Making of a golden idol, offering Jesus the world in exchange for worship.  When He came out of the wilderness, Luke 4 reads that Jesus was full of the power of the Holy Spirit and began his ministry. This creates great hope for our deserts. God wastes nothing.

Refinement
Many of us go into the desert looking more like Moses. The assignment may be clear, but the heart of the woman or man is lacking. There is work to be done. Inside of us. The Spirit uses this time to prepare us for our calling; to strip us of ourselves; to heal our bad traits; and to build up the weak places in our character. The calling on our lives has to be upheld by our character.

The hardship and strain of the desert allow us to face ourselves in a way that we couldn’t with all the noise and comforts that we surround ourselves with. The desert is meant to reveal who we are under pressure, without our props, so that God might fill us with His power, not our own.

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Pure. Promises.

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For decades now, I hang a calendar with monthly scriptures placed on beautiful art. It gives me a way to meditate on the word, get a quick reminder of truth, and sometimes a startling wake-up call. Last month, the verse was Psalm 12:6.  “The promises of the Lord are pure.”

At the beginning of November, Chuck flipped it over, and I mildly thought to myself, ‘Hmmm, that’s good. The Lord’s promises. Pure. Yep, got it.’ And went on my way.

Wow! What a month as He revealed truth in the middle of our moments.

His promises. 
We bank our lives and dreams on the promises He gives. We hope — and sometimes barter — and even worse, sometimes demand — to receive God’s promises of good and happy things. We all want a pain-free, problem-free life.  Yet more than a path of ease and entitlement, God promises us His Presence. Whatever we face, His presence is with us in a miraculous, tangible way.

Annnnnd. We have to ask, seek, knock, and receive the presence of God. It’s hard to have Him and everything else. Christ was born for the world, in the world.  Yet not all receive His good news.

Pure.
I kept pondering the word —pure. Promises that are pure in nature, in reality.

“What do impure promises look like?” I asked the Lord.
Human. He said.

Impure promises reek of ego and agenda. We bargain: I promise you this, so you give me that. Full of childishness and My-wayness, they are anything but pure. We sometimes approach God with the same thinly veiled demand, as if He owes us . . .

Yes, we have His promises. Yes, His presence gives us air to breathe and move. But believers, this is His world. His story. Heavenly purity is identified by surrender, abandon, and sacrifice. These postures may not sell well on social media, but they are priceless in the Holy of Holies.

Do not fall prey to a watered-down Christianity where you put in your Jesus tokens and get out some ready-made, shiny, happy life.

Childbirth in a stable was bloody and painful.
Crucifixion on Calvary was bloody and painful.

Both of those unexpected outcomes were Pure Promises from God.

God loves His children so much that He manifests His goodness in the crushing and the fire of the heartaches we find ourselves in.  Every single experience is wrapped in His eternal hand as He leads us into His loving arms.  Then, transformed, we finally see Love’s Pure Light.

Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!

Transition: A Parable of the Pothos Plant

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Transitions are hard. It seems all of creation strains in the tension of no longer. In nature —we glory and grieve the colorful falling tree leaves. In death — we mourn as our temporary physical house is exchanged for our incorruptible eternal home. In relationships — emotions, memories, and future hopes mingle to form what we call The New Normal. Haha. Who are we kidding? Nah, there’s no new normal, because normal doesn’t exist anymore. There’s only New. Transitions are often just trainwrecks that have to be cleaned up.

Just for fun, I looked up the definition of the word. Transition: to make a change or shift from one state, subject, place, etc. to another. I had to chuckle with the Lord. “We shifted from one state to another alright,” I laughed out loud.

As I handed the baton of Greater Things to Emily and the Leadership Team (love those women!) God talked to me about His idea of transition.

Humans tend to think in terms of pain, loss, and cost.
Heaven tends to think in terms of expansion, multiplication, and reward.

Enter my lowly Pothos plant. Charis brought me a start from her plant that actually came from my dad’s funeral. When she presented the small, healthy little vine, she had one instruction: Mom, don’t kill it.

I put the plant in my kitchen window and watered it faithfully once a week. Charis would periodically visit and inspect my project. The plant seemed happy, and long vines began growing from the original shoot. Charis would gently circle it around the pot until I brought a trellis for it to climb instead of my windowsill and countertop.

Charis laughed and praised me. “Mom, whatever you are doing, it’s working. Don’t change a thing.” I followed her instructions for months, as the plant grew and weaved through the trellis.

Fast forward to my return home from the beautiful commissioning service in Knoxville. Needless to say, there were lots and lots of emotions and thoughts to process. I had a fair share of questions for the Lord, too.

In one conversation, He drew my attention to the Pothos plant and said it was time to separate it. The Lord said it couldn’t continue its current good health unless it was thinned out and put into a bigger pot.

I took the plant outside to begin the process of detangling it. I had to be so careful not to snap its tender vines as I pulled each one under and over. The strands were so intertwined, it was a tender and tedious job. I would finally get to the end of a vine and lay it to one side, then grab another strand and repeat the process.

I was amazed when I beheld the plant in its fullness. All that growth and beauty was tucked in one little pot, long and lush and vibrant. Now came the wrenching act of breaking the vines for repotting.

Wait, what? I worked so hard to grow them, now I am breaking them off??

You probably already know where this is going. . . As I was digging in the dirt, the Lord just kept telling me: Pay attention. Pay attention. Pay attention.

I now have my Pothos trimmed back so that it fits appropriately in the pot that it started in. It sits back cozy in my windowsill. Everything that I cut off of it has made this huge draping plant that is potted in a container three times bigger.

Pay attention. God went on to explain the parable to me.

Greater Things, much like the gatherings of people in the Bible, has all these rich, deep teachers growing inside this beautiful container. There is this profound deposit of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. The Lord said there’s not enough room in the current pot, and it needs to be separated and spread out so it can grow freely and fully.

He then did a little flash card journey through the Bible of people who were transplanted: Abraham and Sarah, Esther and Mordecai, Paul and Barnabas, the Jews scattered out of Jerusalem, and the disciples called to different regions.

God used a little Pothos to show me part of why I’ve been transplanted to Florida. Others in GT, like me, are going through moves and shifts. There is a huge Transition happening in the root system because God has a much bigger picture in mind.

But. And. Guess what?
All of my Pothos plants, the original and the new pots, are in shock.

They are literally in shock from the vine detangling, the new soil, the new pots, the disturbance of the roots. Before the transition, I saw fresh sprigs every day. Now it is like all of the vines are taking a deep breath. I asked the resident Pothos Doctor, Charis, and she assured me, “Mom, they are okay. They just need a minute to catch up.”

She explained that they are alive and well, but everyone needs a moment to get the roots strengthened and manage all the change.

Selah.

Remember how we view transition is important.
Human terms: pain, loss, and cost.
Heavenly terms: expansion, multiplication, and reward.

This is a new season of Greater Things. It is alive and well as the plant of origin. It just needs a little time to adjust. It needs a little love and encouragement in the change. Have you personally reached out to Emily and the team, Melissa, Ann, Lindsey, and Robin? They could use a fresh hug and a fresh vote of confidence. God is still blessing this beautiful planting. Are you?

It’s a brand new time for me. God has recently whispered the name of my new nonprofit in Florida.
Wait for it. . . Many Waters

Siiiigh, I LOVE it. Lots of work to still do, but in the meantime, He keeps connecting me to women who want more of Jesus.

The others of GT who are moving are going to places where God has assigned them to impact and invest. Yes, it’s a shock to all of us! We all need a moment to catch our breath. But WE ARE ALL ALIVE AND WELL! We get to be part of planting beautiful, new works with Jesus wherever we are.

Transitions are hard, no doubt. Like gardening, it gets dirty, manure stinks, and digging kills your back. Yet we trust that God plants in good, rich soil (or sand!) and He promises a kingdom harvest with great multiplication. Yes, Lord. We are wherever you plant us!!

Hello Friends! I’m Ba-a-a-ack…

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Dear friends,

I’m excited to let you know that I’m starting up the creative engines again. My main focus is on the upcoming Beach Retreat. Whew, please pray.

But blogs, videos and lots of revelations are on the way. 🎉

Over the years, many of you have stayed connected with me through Greater Things. But now, since my final move to Florida in July (it just took me 2.5 years to complete!), I will again share stories, truth, and encouragement from JanaSpicka.com

Going forward, you’ll receive an email whenever I post something new. You don’t need to do a thing—just keep an eye on your inbox for updates.

That said, I want this to be valuable to you. If you’d prefer not to receive my updates, no worries at all! To unsubscribe, click the link in the footer of this email.

Otherwise, here we go! I’m grateful you’re here, and I can’t wait to share the journey into MORE

!

With deep gratitude,
Jana

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His Blood Speaks a Better Word

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I have this beautiful Jasmine plant outside.  You can imagine my delight when the small white blossoms opened up and filled the air with a heavenly scent.

It has been a frequent topic in my God conversations lately. I thanked the Lord for creating such beautiful expressions in nature. I marveled at Springtime and how the earth just cannot keep itself from declaring new life, life from that which seems dead.

I even shook my head at how this insignificant Jasmine plant was quietly and unassumingly taking over the fence line. With stretched-out tendrils and runners, it spreads its little domain, if you will.

Seriously, we have been talking about the parallels between this little plant and the Kingdom of God— it’s fragrant, relentless, and advancing.

But after looking at it multiple times a day for many days, today when I looked, it caught my breath.

I walked over to it to see what this red leaf was, maybe it blew into the fence from last night’s storm. No. It was very much a part of this thriving creation.

In the moment, the Lord whispered, the Blood is always in the middle of the Beauty.

Selah.

Holy Week is a pathway. From the Lord’s Supper, to the garden, to the trial, to the outrageous brutality, to the cross, to the tomb.  Pause and reflect but don’t stop in any one of these places. Taste the wine, cry the tears, wince at the nails being driven in, feel the breath leave His body, and flinch as rock grinds on rock as they rolled the tomb closed with His body inside.

But don’t stop there.

Resurrection Sunday is the unspeakable joy as the Blood bursts into glorious song.

“He is not here! He has risen just as He said.”

The Blood is always in the middle of the Beauty. Celebrate the Beauty and remember the Blood.

And we have come to Jesus who established a new covenant
with his blood sprinkled upon the mercy seat;
blood that continues to speak from heaven, “forgiveness,”
a better message than Abel’s blood that cries from the earth, “justice.”
Hebrews 12:24 TPT

 

How much Love is Enough?

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I seem to have a hard time loving. Even after all this time, some conflict or some person slams up against a brick wall inside my heart.  On this wall is a big neon sign that flashes “THAT’S IT! I’m done with you.”

To add insult to injury after the said collision, I then somehow conveniently build a case about why I am justified in my unlovingness.  I will even tiptoe into very dangerous territory about whether someone else is “worthy” of love.

Even after all this time, more than 30 years of being loved unconditionally and extravagantly by Jesus. I am still learning how to love.

I got in a tussle the other night and I was so mad. I was spouting off prayers left and right about how I had been offended and betrayed and how much I wanted God to defend me…

Holy Spirit’s answer stung like alcohol on an open wound.

“My blood is enough for you both.”

This is why I am so desperately aware of my need to celebrate the Resurrection every year.  I need the blood of Jesus to wash me clean.  I need the cross to remind me that it was Love that held Him there. He loved me more than my sin. More than your sin. The blood, the water, and the piercing of His side were not to fulfill some morbid code of punishment.

Instead, the cross demonstrates just how much love is enough to save the world.
To save my world and yours.
To save me.
From me.

Likewise, I need the empty tomb to strengthen my weak love muscles. His love in me is stronger than mine alone will ever be.  And just as the song declares, “If You walked out of the grave, I’m walking too.”

I was crucified with Him, therefore, I am raised to a whole new life with Him.  More is always possible with Him.

When Jesus said for us to love our enemies, (which at any moment might be our spouse, our family, our boss, or our neighbor) He wasn’t being cruel. He was telling us that He opened a door to a whole new level of Love that casts out fear. Love that cancels sin. Love that raises the dead. Love that takes down the brick walls inside our hearts.

So I will keep learning and practicing. I will keep going to His love tank instead of my own. He promised He will have His way in me and one day I will love as He does.

Until then, I will fall on His grace as He demolishes every brick wall that still exists in my heart.

Thank you, Jesus.

We are like common clay jars that carry this glorious treasure within,
so that this immeasurable power will be seen as God’s, not ours.
Though we experience every kind of pressure, we’re not crushed.
At times we don’t know what to do, but quitting is not an option.
We are persecuted by others, but God has not forsaken us.
We may be knocked down, but not out.
We continually share in the death of Jesus
in our own bodies so that the resurrection life
of Jesus will be revealed through our humanity.
We consider living to mean that we are constantly being
handed over to death for Jesus’ sake so that the life of Jesus
will be revealed through our humanity.
So, then, death is at work in us but it releases life in you.
2 Corinthians 4

 

 

Help My Unbelief

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The word stopped me dead in my tracks.  A friend was coaching us about decisions that needed to be made and he remarked, “it was presumptive of me to think God would take care of” the situation the way I had planned. He went on to give us much-needed wisdom and insight. But that word nagged me.

Presumptive.

What does presumptive mean?  It describes something that is expected to happen or become true.

I went back to the Lord and vented: “I am only doing what I think You said. Yes, it sounds crazy, but it doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else. And if that makes me presumptive, then FINE! But I would rather be presumptive and believe YOU, than never attempt anything because I couldn’t even get out of the gate.”

Whew. Snort. Okay then.

Once I calmed down, I realized my wise friend was trying to broaden our scope and options. However, years after the conversation, the word still comes up in my mind like a full-blown assault.

It goes like this. I will hear a faint whisper from the Lord about some action to take, or an invitation to some dream He wants me to pursue. As I rally up my faith to hit the first Domino, I hear a sneer from the enemy, “you are so presumptive.”  Translation: You really expect God to come through? You really think He WILL do that for you? This is a stupid idea. It will never happen. You are crazy for thinking you heard God. 

Does this happen to you too? God invites us into more and our own unbelieving thoughts, or the enemy of God, tries to kill the dream before we even take the first step.

Sounds like the garden. Did God really say?

Well. As a matter of fact. YES — GOD DID SAY!

Now, after years of practicing trust and surrender, when I hear that word fire in my mind, it has become a bright flare, like a beacon of evidence.  Ahhh.  It MUST be God if there is this much opposition right off the bat.

I am calling us as believers to rise up in Faith and Boldness.  It’s not God who is weak, but our faith. We must rise up to activate His promises and goodness over our lives and our families and communities.

I want to bless you with one word: Storehouses.  There are storehouses of treasures in heaven. God is waiting for someone earthbound to pull them down. On Earth, as it is in Heaven. I remember Shawn Boltz saying God gave him a vision of a room with body parts with names on them. Creative miracles that God wanted to do on earth through our faith.

Just recently the Lord has been expanding that idea to me that there are storehouses of His goodness that He wants to release on earth and He wants to know who will do the faith journey to be a part of it.

Storehouses of relational healing, financial favor, healing and miracles, generational restoration. I don’t know about you. but I don’t want to miss out on heaven here because I would not believe God to Be God to me.

For the faint of heart (that’s all of us at some point), it’s not about just getting what we think we want. It is our transformation in the process, and being so close with this Beautiful God that we move to what He wants for us.

We bank our whole lives on the belief that God is working for our good. Presumptive. Yes, please.

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”
Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears,
“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!”
Mark 9:23-25

 

 

It’s For Freedom Christ Set Us Free!

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Happy Fourth of July! And God’s favor on the freedom you enjoy today. I can’t help but ponder the 4th because, like most of our holidays, we are removed from the real pain and sacrifice of the individuals who broke the ground before us. It’s embarrassing really. I am trying to decide whether to grill hamburgers AND hot-dogs, as compared to my ancestors who were literally fighting with their lives for the independence I am now enjoying.

As a lover of Jesus, my freedom is doubly significant. He also fought with His very Life for the freedom I am now enjoying.

So what do I do with this outrageous gift?

Paul’s letter to the Galatians has thoughts about it.

“Plant your feet firmly therefore within the freedom that Christ has won for us, and do not let yourselves be caught again in the shackles of slavery.” (Galatians 1:5, Phillips Translation)

Did you enjoy my oh-soft-intro? Let’s heat it up a bit.

Here are the shackles of slavery we have been freed from:

Performance and legalism — futile efforts to try and to earn God’s love.
Politics and public opinions — attempts to deceive and distract us from God’s truth.
Selfishness and Pride — focusing on our accomplishments rather than God working in us
Fear of man’s rejection  — raising others above God’s opinion of us
Fear of death and hell — obsession or denial of a certain act and decided future

We are free from all of these, and so much more, in Jesus.

Which leads to the same questions spiritually we are asking as a country?

Can we maintain our freedom?
How do we maintain our freedom?
Are there areas where we have lost our standing?

“Beloved ones, God has called us to live a life of freedom in the Holy Spirit. But don’t view this wonderful freedom as an opportunity to set up a base of operations in the natural realm. Freedom means that we become so completely free of self-indulgence that we become servants of one another, expressing love in all we do. For love completes the laws of God. All of the law can be summarized in one grand statement: “Demonstrate love to your neighbor, even as you care for and love yourself.””  Galatians‬ ‭5:13-14‬ ‭TPT‬‬

Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

To which the pundits cry, what is love? How do I know if your idea of love is the same as mine?

It’s neither. It’s God’s idea of love because it’s God’s Son who bought our freedom.
We are grateful recipients of a life we could never attain on our own.

“But the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you
is divine love in all its varied expressions:
joy that overflows,
peace that subdues,
patience that endures,
kindness in action,
a life full of virtue,
faith that prevails,
gentleness of heart,
and strength of spirit.
Never set the law above these qualities,
for they are meant to be limitless.

We must live in the Holy Spirit and follow after him.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5:22-23, 25‬ ‭TPT‬‬

It’s for THIS kind of freedom you have been set free. Free to be loved perfectly by Perfect Love.

 

Too Good To Be True?

/ Jana / Leave a comment

If I am being really honest…I mean shockingly honest…the story of the cross sounds crazy to me. I’ve heard different iterations of it all my life. 

One man. A world of Sin. My debt. His sacrifice.

Then there is the part about rising from the dead. I mean, what even? 

And then I met Him. Really met this Beautiful King. Heart to heart and Spirit to spirit. 

Suddenly,  all of the pieces of this God sized, crazy-to-my-brain puzzle came in to place. I was reshaped. Or maybe, I became uncontorted by the world. Either way I found home and peace and this deep satisfying love.

The unbelievers say it’s a religion and a weakness of the masses.
The unbelieving believers say He is confined to a book and put in a box.

But the believing believers, the ones who “yāḏa” Him, who know Him intimately, are surely aliens in this world. Transformed by His love, we pour out our lives advancing an Eternal Kingdom and living for an Unseen King.

We are supernaturally alive in a natural world. Just like the power of love raised Jesus, He has raised us.

We have been raised to life again. Sound crazy? There are millions of witnesses, millions of miracles, millions of redemption stories that make crazy look like the sanest, truest thing ever.

“You will know the truth and truth will set you free.”

We celebrate you today Beautiful Jesus. Be honored in our hearts this Resurrection Sunday. 

Singing, how marvelous! how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be
How marvelous! how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!