Intimacy

Genuine intimacy requires transparency, vulnerability, truthfulness, and commitment.

Intimacy is a process. It takes communication, time, and awareness of the other person.  A question you need to ask yourself is, “How much of God do I really want?”

God wants an intimate relationship with you. You spend intimate time with your husband or wife, and friends. God wants that intimate time too. He wants you to mediate His Word, and spends time in worship telling Him how much you love Him. Not what He can do for you, but Lord what can I do for you. God is waiting on us to want Him more than anything.

God doesn’t want a one night stand. It’s a lifetime commitment to the One who loves you. We were created to walk and talk with Him everyday. Thank Him for what He’s already done in your life. He doesn’t need you telling Him everyday what you need and want. He already knows all this.

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. Matthew 6:31 (NIV)

He knows how many hairs are on your head. He created us.

For me personally I have always had a desire to have that intimate relationship with God. I just did not know how. Now I spend that time talking to Him. Praying in tongues, and being real with Him just like I am with other people. I love it when I hear His voice and know that He is listening to little ole me. Nothing compares to His voice and that’s the way it should be.

~Tammy Sanders

Image Credit © Tammy Sanders

Prized Possession

Once upon a time, there was an old man who kept his most prized possession locked in a small wooden box which was displayed proudly in his living room. He kept the contents of the box a secret; never opening it or telling anyone what was inside.

A neighbor boy befriended the old man and spent many days at his home. The boy was very curious about the box, but the old man would not allow him to look inside. With a gleam in his eye, the old man would only say that it held his most prized possession.

Relentlessly curious, as young boys are, the boy tried many things to convince the elderly gentleman to share with him the secret of the box. The boy did household chores, ran errands, and sat listening to the man tell tales about his own youth, all in the hopes that he could earn a peep into that tiny, magical, wooden box. On occasion, the boy would beg and plead with the man, but the old man remained stoically determined to keep his secret. The boy never saw inside the box.

Many years later, when the old man died, he left that wooden box to the neighbor boy. The boy, now a grown man, was deeply moved that he was chosen, after all these years, to receive this prized possession. He slowly opened the box and found inside an old, cheap pocket watch. Disappointed, he picked it up and turned it over slowly in his hand. “How could this cheap thing be a prized possession?” the young man wondered aloud. As he returned it to its place in the box, the young man noticed a small, crumbled note in the bottom of the box. Tears filled his eyes as he read the old man’s scribbled words: “The most important thing in my life…my most prized possession…was the time you gave me.”

Like the young boy in this story, I once thought material goods were the most important things in life. I bought into the idea that others valued us for what we could do for them or what we could give them.

Through the years, I have changed my tune. As I’ve grown older, and hopefully wiser, I have learned that TIME is the most important thing we possess. We only have so much time. You can always make more money, buy more cars and get more education, but you can’t replace the time that you have lost.

We all have people in our lives that value our time and try to spend as much time with us as possible. Likewise, we all have people we would love to be able to spend more time with than we are able. What is stopping us from taking the time to spend with our loved ones? What keeps us from sharing our time with those in need? It’s because we still value those other “things” more than we value time.

This really shows up in the time we are willing to give God. Think about it; He came into the Garden everyday just to spend time with Adam. He created us for fellowship with Him. He desires our time, our greatest possession, but He’s left it up to us to decide how much we will give Him.

It’s an awesome thought to know that my relationship with God is my responsibility to maintain. As I become more aware of the importance of time with Him, I seek out more and more ways to be with Him. Sure, we all think about spending time with Him through the Word and in prayer and worship. But, I’ve learned how to spend time with Him at work, as I fellowship with my family, and as I do other things that require my attention. After all God has done for us, and prepared for us, shouldn’t we give Him our time?

 

~Guest contributor, Bev Vaughn

Don’t Flinch!

Little baby chicks are so cute and small. But when I had the opportunity to reach in and touch one, I instinctively said, “I don’t want it to bite me!”

Isn’t that what we usually do with people? We don’t want others to hurt us, so we hold back. If we are brave enough to start building a relationship, we flinch and pull away as soon as others try to help us. Admit it; you’ve had someone give you constructive criticism and you’ve flinched. You instinctively pulled away from that person the minute you thought you might get “bitten.”

Sometimes we pull away from the very people we need in our lives the most.

Pulling away from them isn’t going to change our situation. It will only distance us further from our lifeline. If you were drowning, would you swim away from the rope? No! You would swim furiously until you latched on.

Hopefully we will all realize the importance of having someone in our lives that loves us enough to tell us the truth. God has given each of us an opportunity to latch onto His lifeline. He plucks us out of situations when we seek Him, but He uses the people around us to do it. In order to grow, we need to face the truth and not shy away from it. Instead of flinching in fear at what might happen when God sends people into your life, embrace your new opportunity for change!

~Madison Sanders

Uninspiration

Not really knowing what to blog about this morning, I decided to check out what was Freshly Pressed on WordPress to see if I could winkle out some inspiration. There was the usual stuff… blogs on decorating, exercise, techno-geeks, parenting, travel, food…none of it very inspiring (quinoa and beet pancakes?? really??). I did enjoy Janna T’s post from yesterday, as she recounted a terribly embarrassing moment and its role in her development as a writer. After all, a little bit of angst goes a long way in bringing out our inner author. But still… uninspiration abounds.

And then I realized that uninspiration (I know it’s not really a word, but I like it) is actually a good thing. Jesus used the mundane things… the truly uninspiring scraps of life… to teach valuable lessons to His disciples. The more I thought about it, the more I realized He used some of the same things that are currently “hot” (or lukewarm) today.

Jesus on decorating: “Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” – Mat 5:15-16 NKJV

Jesus on exercise: “And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.” – Mat 5:41 NKJV

Jesus on techno-geeks: “Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that’s wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?” – Mat 23:23 The Message

Jesus on parenting: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me”. – Mat 10:37 NKJV

Jesus on travel: And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” – Mar 16:15 NKJV

Jesus on food: “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” – Mat 6:25 NKJV

The Jews looked for a King and found a Carpenter.

Life is life…we have to learn to find our inspiration in every fold of it.

~Linda

Violations of Protocol

“…Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses?” – Numbers 12:8

Miriam and Aaron had a problem. They didn’t like Moses’ wife. So they decided, “Hey, God has spoken through us. Moses isn’t the only person who hears from God around here. We don’t like the way he does things, so we’ll just handle it from here on our own.” Sound familiar? They knew they were leaders. They knew that God had used them to speak prophetically to the people. But what they didn’t know was that they were in direct violation of God’s protocol.

Protocol is a code of conduct; it involves the customs and regulations dealing with diplomatic formality, precedence, and etiquette. In other words, protocol is the way we are supposed to conduct ourselves. There is a right way to approach God, leadership, and our fellow man. A violation of these protocols results in allowing the spirit of strife loose in our lives.

God came down in a cloud and chastised Miriam and Aaron. Yes, it was true that God spoke to His prophets through dreams and visions, but God spoke with Moses face-to-face. God asked the jealous siblings, “What were you thinking? Moses is the one I have appointed as leader. Why did you think you could speak against my leadership? Do you think I won’t do anything about that?” And He did…Miriam was instantly struck leprous.

Aaron repented for their insubordination, and Miriam was healed after a time of confinement outside the camp. But watch what happened next. In the 13th chapter of Numbers, Moses sends the 12 spies into the Promised Land to bring back a report. We know what happened…ten of them brought back an evil report and the whole nation of Israel rebelled against God, resulting in forty years of wandering and death in the wilderness. Where did that come from? It came from a violation of protocol. The people had been complaining about their leadership from the time they left Egypt. Even their leaders began to complain about Moses. Their words and actions were in violation of God’s protocol.

We must watch our words and our attitudes towards others. If we don’t guard our hearts and our mouths, we open the door to strife. If we break protocol by speaking against leadership, whether it is in the home, the workplace, the community, or in church, then we open the door for strife to destroy us and those around us. Let’s purpose in our hearts to do as the Bible commands: to love and pray for one another and for those in rulership over us. When we DO the Word, we close the door to the spirit of strife in our lives.

Stay in the Tent

Exodus 33:11 – “The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young aide Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.”

Moses had a unique relationship with God. As Larry Munson would say, “Get the picture”… Moses would go into the “tent of meeting” to speak with the Lord. A pillar of cloud would descend and stay at the entrance of the tent while Moses and the Lord had a conversation. Now Moses didn’t just play a worship CD, read a Psalm, and pray for a while…the Lord actually spoke with Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp. But Joshua stayed in the tent.

Moses had to shoulder the weight of leading God’s people. He had a responsibility that most of us couldn’t possibly relate to. Not only did Moses have to hear clearly from God, but he had to be God’s mouthpiece as well. Great! But, what in the world does this have to do with me?

Well, I believe that our church is a “tent” that God has provided for us. We get to come and hear God speak first-hand, and then we get to see Godly leaders apply what He says in a public setting…but we just get to stay in the tent. No one is throwing stones at us, and no one is writing newspaper articles about us, and for that I’m thankful!

Despite what you might think, you are NOT ready to be Moses yet, or you’re dream would’ve already happened. Some of you may think the “Moses” in your life is just getting in the way. Remember, you probably wouldn’t even know about the Promised Land if it wasn’t for that leader in your life! Think about it… David had about 15 years of preparation before he became King. Joseph was groomed for about 13 years before his dream came to pass. Jesus, the Son of God, didn’t start his ministry until he was 30 years old. So what makes us think that one good idea, one good performance, or one good compliment qualifies us for promotion?  God probably has called you to lead somebody into the Promised Land at some point, but for now… STAY IN THE TENT!

Q: What tent has God has placed in YOUR life? Are you taking advantage of every opportunity for preparation?

How to Eat an Elephant

How do you eat an elephant?

One bite at a time, right? WRONG!

The correct answer is – you don’t! Not by yourself. The meat would go bad before you had enough time to eat the whole thing!

It’s the same thing with vision. If the vision in our lives is truly from God, it’s bigger than we can accomplish alone. We have to have people around us who will grab hold of the same vision and run together with us after it.

This is one of the things that God has been speaking to my heart. We write the vision and make it plain so that those who read it can run with it. Well then, why are those who are reading it not running? What’s stopping them?

One thing that is stopping them is the mindset that they have to be perfect BEFORE they can ever start running. And while I am talking about the Church in general, I’m also talking about Gateway in particular. A decade ago, we had a very high standard that precluded many from participating in ministry in our house. One had to be pretty highly developed in their gifting before they could minister. Well, that has changed over the years… at least in the minds of leadership. The problem is, many of those working throughout the ministry still have the old mindset that their gift has to be fully developed BEFORE they can be used by God. NOT!!

An example comes from the singers on the Praise Team who have had these overwhelming mindsets:

“I’m not a good enough singer to lead service.”
“I don’t measure up to your standard.”
“What if I miss Holy Ghost?”

I have such a hard time understanding these mindsets, because NONE OF US are good enough, NONE OF US measure up and EVERY ONE OF US misses Holy Ghost! The breakthrough I had in leading the worship service came when Holy Ghost told me that I wasn’t important enough to mess up a whole service by myself! Our house operates under a CORPORATE anointing – that means that one person can’t create the anointing and one person can’t mess it up. WHAT A RELIEF!

As leaders, I think our job is to combat the “I have to do everything just right” mindset. As we pray for the people God has entrusted to us, we can also speak to that mindset and cast down those imaginations of inequity and every high thing that creates an unbalanced importance of ourselves, causing us to exalt ourselves above the knowledge that God is bigger than our failures. His grace is sufficient for every task. Therefore, we can bring into captivity every thought that says, “I’m not good enough” to the obedience of Christ. The voice of our spirit says, “It is Christ in me and not myself who lives. I am good enough, because I am in Christ. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”

Q: So… what’s the elephant you are trying to eat by yourself??

No Parking!

 

Imagine traveling hard dusty paths through the wilderness, having no home, no sense of “place,” no real belonging. You eat the same dry thing, day in and day out. You go through the same motions. You have no real relationship with God – only fear that you will be swallowed alive by the earth or bitten by poisonous snakes if you don’t obey. What kind of existence would that be? Can you imagine the RELIEF you would feel to know that the Lord has said you are finally ready to cross over from this barren existence into a lush, rich land of abundance? A place you can call your own, set down your roots, and experience rest? A place where each day is a fresh, new experience with God and with those around you? What would you do to get to such a place? You’d willingly leave behind all the things that kept you in that wilderness place, right? All the old habits of mind and action; all the old ways of thinking and doing? Of course you’d be willing to give that all up in order to live in the Promised Land!

Or would you? There were two and a half tribes of Israel that decided not to cross over. They had become accustomed to the routine, to the dry and stale. They were used to a distant relationship with God. They were used to living by the miraculous, rather than by faith and actions. They lost all of their God-given drive to conquer, to obtain, and to have dominion. In other words, they lost their fight. They were willing to see others obtain an inheritance of faith while they settled for an inheritance of the familiar.

God has said we have crossed over. In this time of possessing our new territory, don’t look longingly back to the old and familiar. Don’t park on the brink of obtaining your inheritance!

Q: What is keeping you stuck? What circumstances are keeping you from crossing over into all that God has already provided for you?