God has been speaking to me throughout this fast about contentment. I am so grateful for the opportunity to write this devotional- it’s made me meditate on contentment more! 

As soon as our new baby gets through feeding, he gets this enormously content look on his face. I can feel his little relaxed body and see his face and hear the warm sigh of perfect fullness come out of his mouth, along with a dribble or two of warm milk. Just the thought of it makes me smile. He knows he has all he needs. And that is the place God is taking me- to where I stay relaxed in His arms, lifting up each thing I need as it crosses my mind, but not dwelling on what I don’t have, or even what I do. Just happy to be where my Father is. What pleasure it must give God when He can feel us trust Him enough to be content with where we are- where He can feel us relax against His chest, trusting Him that what He has given us is truly enough. This is the definition for abiding in the rest- to be there with the Lord as He breathes in…and out…, and again in… and out… With each breath of His life inhaled, we see more of who He is. And with each breath of life exhaled, we give it away. We never stop needing more of either His inhale or His exhale. What is He showing us right now? Where is He going? Whom is He touching? 

But without contentment, without the ability to stay in His arms and feel His inhale and exhale, we miss His blessing. Matthew 5 in the Amplified Version declares these people to be blessed- those who are happy, to be envied, spiritually prosperous, with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation regardless of outward conditions. This definition for blessed is used in each of the beatitudes. One of the beatitudes adds one more thing. The beatitude that promises that the pure in heart will see God says that the word “blessed” also means that blessed people have experienced God’s great grace in a special way. It is impossible to be blessed- to have life-joy in God’s salvation regardless of outward conditions, it is impossible to experience God’s grace in a special way without contentment. 

One example of contentment regardless of outward conditions is this man, Gao Zhisheng. He is a Chinese Christian lawyer who has gone through extreme persecution. You can hear more about his testimony if you like on the website www.freegao.com. This is what he says that about himself. I am optimistic by nature, and I am Christian. Even when I was tortured to near-death, the pain was only in the physical body. A heart that is filled with God has no room to entertain pain and suffering. I and my two children often loudly sing songs together. What a legacy Gao Zhisheng is leaving for his children! 

Again, without contentment, without trusting the Lord to give us our daily bread, we cannot walk in Him. Instead we go scrounging, intensely gazing at the floor for the next crumb to fall as if we, sons of God, clothed in white whom God has seated beside Him in heavenly places, are only orphan-beggars who must find the next meal for themselves. That’s a great mental picture, and it’s easy to say that I would never dream of doing that. But how many times have I gone looking for the next great deal or business opportunity, and wandered off of my Father’s lap because He is just taking too long and I must search for it all by myself? 

Again, without contentment, how can I “do all things through Christ who strengthens me” ? (Phil. 4:13)

Without contentment, I give up all the promises attached to following the Ten Commandments. God has peace and joy and strength to give to us when we follow His ways. One of the Perfect Ten proclaims, “Do not covet.” Of course I don’t covet anybody’s pair of oxen or their maidservant, but what about the time they have available to them, or even the time that used to be available to me? This coveting, this wishing I was in a place that I’m not, robs from the treasure of today, a treasure that God wants to share with me.

How can I walk in the perfect peace of God if I’ve got my eye on somebody else’s shoes? 

So God of peace, I invite you now- come teach me. Come teach me about contentment. 

Jason and Jackie Golden

Is God just chillin? Or is He terribly passionate about revealing His Glory to mankind? Ask someone in your own neighborhood about the church, and if they begin to describe it as some kind of Sunday event, then indeed the church has been hiding under the bowl of its own rooftops. It is God’s design that the church would be earthshaking and beautiful. That the church be taken fearfully serious in all realms of how the earth and mankind is stewarded. That His bride would be made ready for Himself. The church was made to break through walls on a regular basis, ever-demonstrating the potency of God. That our God would be known as THE BREAKER. Our God goes before us. Not because He is interested in what we are planning, but because we believe and partake in His plans. He is not passive. There are walls yet to be broken down in every house and town. Neighbors ought to fearfully have faith in us as a people who regularly embark on impossible tasks only to have God rescue us…parting the waters as if we knew He would come. He likes telling stories about Himself.

God is writing an incredible story upon the life of whomever will allow Him to be Director. When I say incredible I mean impossible. He is NOT writing a self attainable story. It is a story that will undoubtedly point to Him. Yes, He will spend decades ensuring that you know of His endless love for you, but His Greatness is beyond this. Not only does He love you, but He wants you to partake of His Life. A Glorious Communion. Such a Life, that when someone tries to tell your story they are inevitably distracted by God Himself. Are you afraid of the glory? Look! No one is giving David or Gideon more glory than they deserve, it is very apparent that the stone embedded into Goliath’s skull was by the hand of God. You are designed to illuminate a thousand dark places in the minds of those who know you. You live by an entirely different equation. Do you not! Your life ought to be absurd to them… that is until He breaks through.

A thick stone wall stands in the way of freedom in your home, on your block, in your nation. You must then put aside your bad theology of just waiting for a door to open. Ask God a real question, ask Him if you are to move upon that wall and how. And if God Says to Go you must lay aside your own protection and take a run for that wall in great hopes that God will bring it down before you turn to applesauce upon it.

Be reminded that God gave the Israelites the promised land while there were still giants in it. They could have as much as they dared to fight for but no more than they faithfully tried for. I believe we have a blessing coming far beyond what we could ever dream or attempt to earn, but it still must be fought for. Fought for but not earned. It will be a glorious and unfair fight where the small lunch wins. Do not be deceived, it will not just fall in to our laps, we must step forward into “the Jordan” with faith, and then begin to take parts of the promised land together. Whatever is left on the table of fear or indifference will never be ours, this is not where you go to find grace.

Do not be afraid to let your weight bear upon the earth. Bring it, and bring it to the Earth, not just Sunday school, please. Go kill your Bear and then your Lion, and bring it home, so we can glorify God who dwells within you. The world is longing for the sons of God to be revealed.  

Further Study

Genesis 1:28

Romans 8:19

Isaiah 43:1-7

Micah 2:12-13

 Please take a minute to read Gen 8:1-20. 

Noah was definitely in the center of God’s plan for himself, his family AND all of mankind. At the same time he was looking for further direction. It seemed like forever. He could hear the winds blowing but did not know exactly what that meant. He used what was at hand to search for dry land, first by the raven and then by the dove. He was looking for a sign from God. What to do next. Where to go from here. Of course he wanted out of the Ark, his family wanted out, the animals wanted out, the pressure was building but God had not spoken, but God had not forgotten either. Obedience is synonymous with Noah. He waited to hear God speak. He again did what he was directed to do. Noah too, remembered by building an altar to the Lord.
 
I will venture to guess that every one of us had at least one goal for our fast that had to do with direction in our lives. Did God speak? Or not yet? Perhaps 21 days is what it took to soften your heart to hear? Or 21 days for breakthrough in the heavenlies? Regardless of our understanding at this time, we must wait to hear Him speak. The word “wait” in the Greek is more like anticipation, it is not passive. Noah went to the window in anticipation of the voice of the Lord.

Anticipate God will speak to us Spirit to spirit. Do what is at hand, press into His scriptures, pray in the Spirit and pray with your mind also, obey in what He has already spoken, go to the core with each other, anticipate that the Father above wants to manifest Himself to you and has not forgotten you.

God bless you all.

Bonus prayer I heard recently in this song. Listen and see if you agree.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K-wmQuWfrs

We all sing it or quote it often to ourselves “Now I know that all things work together for my good because I love God and am called according to the purpose of God” (Romans 8:28 paraphrased for conversation!) or is it “Now I really wish that God would do something with this really awful situation I am in right now because I think he can, I think he can, I think he can….”

How often do we substitute the word hope for wish or vice versa because we want to give God an out in case it really isn’t in his plan? God has challenged me to redefine hope and declare it over us - Hope is the joyful and confident expectation that God is who he says he is and will accomplish what he said he would accomplish in us and in the world. When Jesus was on the earth, he put his hope and trust in the Father. Knowing the goodness of the Father and trusting in his unchanging love, Jesus obeyed him. Hope can also be interchanged with faith or trust. The believers’ hope is not merely wishful thinking but active faith placed in the unchanging goodness of the Father.

Receive the blessing: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13). How is your hope level? What are you confidently and joyfully expecting?
I joyfully and confidently trust that:
- God will hear us when we pray
- God has good plans for us
- God delights in us
- God’s glory will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea
- God will give us the wisdom to know what to do in this season

Mark 13:11 “And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.” 

Have you ever experienced a time when you felt like it wasn’t you who was speaking, but rather the Holy Spirit was giving you utterance beyond your own abilities? I (Derek) remember sitting in study hall one afternoon when I was in high school, and suddenly an announcement came over the intercom, 

“At this time, all student organization Presidents please report to the auditorium for the incoming freshman assembly.” 

I sat there a few moments wrestling with my thoughts, “I don’t know if I am technically the President of Club121… (our Christian fellowship on campus) besides, what will I say? I wish I had known about this in advance…” But I sensed it was God so I headed down to the auditorium. Just off stage was a short line of student organization Presidents, representing everything from Student Council, the Math Club, and National Honor Society to Spanish Club, AFS, and others. Seated in the auditorium was next year’s crop of freshman, hundreds of 8^th graders getting their first taste of high school at this orientation. Standing in line, I was nervous and scared- I had never spoken to so many people at once. But as my turn came to step into the stage lights and tell them what Club121 was all about, a strong confidence came over me. I can’t remember exactly what I said, but I remember being shocked how boldly the message came out, and I remember many cheering when they heard the name of Jesus Christ declared. It was an amazing privilege to know The Lord had used me that day.

A few weeks ago when I (K-Y) was about to leave the D-house for Kingdom Family night, Julia (the wife of the drywaller) started talking to me. She asked me questions about living around here and then she asked if I was a Christian. It was crazy. Crazy because the transition from small talk to some deep, careful, full of care conversation did not effect its steady flow. The more I talked, it was like the wider her heart opened and the more she wanted to receive the goodness of a God of love and mercy opposed to the God of “go to church to get saved” (the only God she knew before). I was reciting truth I thought was long gone and speaking words with eloquency I cannot recall knowing. His presence was pulsing through me and there was no extra hype or nonsense about it.

Not only did the Holy Spirit give me the words to speak, but He gave eloquency -at no extra charge!” 

The danger with times and memories like these is that we tend to frame them and put them on a wall and say, “Wasn’t that great?” But like the manna in the wilderness, we must bear in mind that we can’t live off of yesterday’s bread. Today is a new day. Is your Christian life like Uncle Rico’s football career in Napoleon Dynamite? Do you sit around remembering and bragging about the glory days, when the reality right now is you are totally undisciplined and unfruitful? 

In this new year, let’s take a corporate step of faith by inviting the Holy Spirit to sanctify our lips afresh. First we must offer God our hearts, for as Jesus said, “…out of the abundance of the heart (your) mouth speaks”-Luke 6:45. The words that come out of our mouths are a big deal to God. If you ever wonder where your heart is truly at, begin to take inventory of the words that you speak- do you notice a trend of complaining, or giving thanks? Of praising idols or praising the living God? James exhorts us that out of the same mouth should not come both blessing and cursing. Is the reason our praise feels inhibited when we gather together because the rest of the week we have been using our tongues to slander, gossip, or speak idly? 

Once we have submitted our hearts and our mouths to God, we can walk in a joyful, confident expectation; knowing that we are not alone in our mission of proclaiming the good news to those who are perishing. 2 Corinthians 5:20 says, “…we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us.” 

The Lord is not looking for someone with all the answers who has it all together. The Lord is looking for a willing and sanctified vessel. The Holy Spirit will give you boldness and wisdom to proclaim the mysteries of God far better than you could ever hope to on your own. Will you trust Him for that? Purpose in your heart to not let fear keep you from opening your mouth in faith at an opportune time. 

Be of good courage.

I have been blessed with images of Christ. I sometimes put them aside as only my imagination, but I have learned to stop doing this. The most precious thing I have is this picture of Christ living within me. I see him being kicked and beaten. I see people cheering him as he enters Jerusalem riding on a donkey. I have to strain to see over the crowd. I see him walking down a sandy beach, leaving footprints in the sand. I see the footprint and think, “This is the word of God made man.”

I used to read the verse in Revelations, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him”(Rev. 3:20), and then I would picture a door in my heart. It was a small wooden door with a rusted doorknob. The room behind it was small, dingy, and cramped. I have stopped seeing that. I now see a broad oak door opening up into a fortified city. This door does not open very often, and not for anybody who wants to come in. It swings slowly under its incredible weight. The streets in my city are made of stone and swept clean. A few blocks into the city is the temple, where my inner being is being sanctified. There are some moments when I can sense Christ is standing on the other side of the door. When I am praying, a moment of fellowship with friends, in a song, in compassion I feel for a neighbor or a friend who is struggling, in the laughter from a child. The enemy is working to see that the door to my city stays closed. When I see Jesus coming, I swing open the door to the city.

There is plenty of room for debate. Did Christ know how the story ended? Did he see everything from his divine perspective up in heaven, kind of like seeing the future? Could he see the road to Emmaus, when it was all over? Did this knowledge make it easier for him to endure? Or did he have to walk in the humility and blindness of humanity, where we “see in a mirror dimly”? Could he know the future glory, or did he have to take it on faith? I will put my interpretation in the latter, for since “children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things” (Heb. 2:14).

Our faith is sometimes weaker because we know the end of the story. The whole story only takes one sentence. Jesus was born, was crucified, and was raised again on the third day. But the mystery of faith is locked up in those moments that Jesus spent battling in the spirit. Imagine that you don’t know how the story ends. It is easy to do because none of us know how our story ends. We cannot imagine where we will be in one year, let alone at the end of the ages. As we walk to our car, or come home and put dinner on, we are walking in faith; that is, the certainty of things unseen. We have to believe, as the scriptures teach, that Jesus walked the earth as a man. He knows what a bellyache feels like. I am not a trained theologian, but I also believe that he lived by faith, just like we do. He trusted his Father to accomplish his good and perfect will. As he prayed in the Lord’s prayer, “your will be done”, He knew what we struggle to know, that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Armed with this faith, the substance of things hoped for, Christ could face the utter darkness of sin and death. There is no greater act of sacrifice and selflessness. We can see the weight of this calling in many places. Beginning with his temptation in the wilderness, where he fasted for forty days. Ending with his anguish in the garden at Gethsemane, where he cried out, “may this cup be taken from me, but not my will but yours be done.” Ending with his crucifixion. He did not know the end of the story, but he knew that it was his Father’s will, so he kept walking. The strength of his faith is a mighty fortress.

He walked through the gates of death. Is there anything on this earth that we cannot face with confidence?

“Faith comes by hearing” (Romans10:17) not by having heard. This implies a continual listening. We can “hear the word of God”; by trusting what He has said in the Bible, by what He says to us through someone else, and what He says to us directly. God doesn’t ask us to pray without ceasing because He has an ego; it’s for our benefit, not His. The more we talk with Him, the more our faith gets to be increased. 

My favorite definition of faith is this: believing something I don’t see because I trust you. 

Faith doesn’t mean a loud show because WE KNOW GOD IS HERE, RAAAA! Our heavenly authority comes from faith that grows in an atmosphere of rest. We’re able to rest because we know that all is well in the kingdom. How do we know that? Because our Daddy is in charge! He is a great Dad!! He told me so. He tells us things like that when we talk with Him. 

So how does this mix when something on this earth doesn’t pan out the way He said, or the way it was supposed to? When we experience a tragedy or disappointing news. The truth is, HE STILL IS GOOD. Only good things come from Him. If these earthly situations determined His goodness and ability to be trusted, we’d be in a whole lot of trouble. He is a God of justice and He requires payment when He gets our vengeance. Even when we don’t see it or understand it, He is fighting for us. 

What hinders us living by faith? What helps us to live by faith? 

May you trust our Father with everything, with your past, present, and future. May you never be afraid. May your faith be increased and your trust in the Father never conditional. May you live from a place of rest. May that rest produce faith, hope and JOY!!

Are you like we are, facing some issues with your flesh, your soul, and your heart over the past few days? Ouch! Our “flesh” is painfully evident during fasting — facing failure, and all the “yuck” that has been illuminated. Yes! Our flesh will rebel!

We read from Romans 7:15-25 (15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do), of Paul’s similar struggle to hold on to what is righteous. Can’t you just hear yourself saying, “I do what I don’t want to do”?

There is a “poser” in all of us. The dictionary says a poser is, “someone who tries to fit into a profile they aren’t; people who try to give off the impression that they are one thing when they are really another”. It’s that part of us that wants to appear one way, when we really are another way. Our “poser” looks for excuses to do it all the easy way. We don’t want to face the challenges or be inconvenienced by others. A poser does NOT want to reveal their “true self” to others.

How can we get off this merry-go-round of our sinful nature and fleshly indulgences? Romans 7:25 says, “Thank God! Jesus has rescued us!” BUT, we must hold on to Him unswervingly. He is faithful, but we need the body of Christ to be able to walk out this hope and MUST encourage each other daily. (See Hebrews 3:13)

Who is the real you? We cannot run this race by hiding our true selves. It may hurt and it may mean re-arranging our lives and being inconvenienced, but that “poser” must go!

Hebrews 10:23-25, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another–and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Spur?? Did we read that right? Hmmm… aren’t spurs what you use on horses to get them going—digging into their sides to goad them on to greater things? Spurs hurt! They demand action. They are hard to ignore. They are not “politically correct”. Other translations use words like “provoke, encourage, promote, stimulate”—all action words. Okay, so we need to spur each other on to lose our “posers” and get real with ourselves and each another.

God has spoken amazing things over this body for both the near and unknown future. We cannot be who Jesus has called us to be if we are “posers”. In our 2’s and 3’s is where those spurs need to be used, all the while “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15). It’s time to be real; to allow the Holy Spirit to work in the very core of our being to bring Him glory. Are you open to being provoked, encouraged, promoted, stimulated—yes and even spurred on to God’s best and highest for your life? Let’s go there together…

 
Provider
As we discern the times, knowing that the Lord is our total provision helps us walk confidently forward, no matter what lies ahead.  In John 6:35, Jesus tells us “I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”  He is enough for our every need, better than the actual food/water that we consume.  We lack nothing in Him.  As the Israelites finished rebuilding the wall, and were gathered together to read from the Book of the Law of the Lord, worshiping and confessing together, they are reminded in Nehemiah 9:21, “For forty years you sustained them in the desert; they lacked nothing, their clothes did not wear out nor did their feet become swollen.”  That physical provision is amazing to think of, in desert conditions nonetheless!  Psalm 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”  He is enough no matter what we walk through.

 
You Were Chosen
As we walk forward with the Lord our God, take heart.  He is our Mighty Provider regardless of our situation.  Our sins have all been paid for; “But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.  And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6).  “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.  For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30).  The Word says, “But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of Him everywhere.   For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing” (2 Corinthians 2:14-17). 

 Know who you are in Christ, know the times you are a part of, rely on His provision, and aim to spread the sweet aroma of the knowledge of the Lord your God.

 
 ”With the merciful, You show Yourself merciful; with the blameless man, You show Yourself blameless; with the purified, You deal purely, and with the crooked, You make Yourself seem tortuous.  You save a humble people, but Your eyes are on the haughty to bring them down.  For You are my lamp, O LORD, and my God lightens my darkness.  For by You I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall.  This God, His way is perfect; the Word of the LORD proves true; He is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him”(2 Samuel 22:26-31).

In the beginning, God created…

So starts it all.  Everything else that follows is a continuation of that one thought, that one impetus, that one action.  God is a creator, but not only that, he is ever creating!  Just as God is love, he is ever-loving and God is holy and is ever sanctifying.  He both is and performs his attributes and is greater than the sum of them.

To me this is an awesome concept, a concept that defies logic and what I would consider sound thought, but yet this is how HE has described himself.

God created the heavens and earth. He created the adamic race. He created the angels. He will create the second earth and he is currently creating his house of worship and praise within us, his body. When we hid from him, HE called out and fashioned clothes to cover our nakedness.  When we became so wicked and corrupt and filled with evil as a race and the floods came, HE called out and created by proxy a way for us to survive as a race. When we had departed from him, HE created a way back. 

Jesus is the most visible example of God Creator.  He embodies that attribute the most fully of the trinity.  John tells us…

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. … He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. … And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. … grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. “–From John 1:1-17

God first reveals himself to us with the act and attribute of creation and Jesus is the instrument and sustainer of creation.  God in essence first reveals Jesus to us and everything that follows is a continuation of that one thought, impetus, action, and revelation.

Think on this as it relates to your circumstance.  Think on it as it relates towards what is in your life, what you struggle with, what you ponder, what aggravates your heart, mind, and conscience.  God Creator, Jesus, IS creating even now, and he is continually creating a way for you to get from where you are to where he has for you.

With blessing, may you see the creation of God within your life visibly and may it be apparent to you.