Am I Ready

I have been working on a blog post for over a week now and every time I think that I am ready to post it something has happened. Some thing has been wrong with it every time that I have read over it and then I found out why. When I went to church  Sunday before last our sermon was about " New Wine Skin" . The reference is  (and I am using the God's Word translation... I loved how it worded this)

Matthew 9:16-17:

¹⁶ “No one patches an old coat with a new piece of cloth that will shrink. When the patch shrinks, it will rip away from the coat, and the tear will become worse. ¹⁷ Nor do people pour new wine into old wine skins. If they do, the skins burst, the wine runs out, and the skins are ruined. Rather, people pour new wine into fresh skins, and both are saved.”

As I sat  listening to the sermon it was like everything that Pastor Scott was saying, he was saying straight to  me. Never in a million years would I have ever thought that I would be at this point in my life. I never thought that  I would come to the point in my life when I was willing to say "What ever the cost." "What ever I have to loose or give up. His presence is worth it all!!"  I can not even explain how I feel about this because it more than a feeling. It is who I am called to be. This is my destiny. This is what everything that I have been through and fought from is about. It is everything that you too have been through and fought from. 

We are called to be more than the sum of ourselves. We are called to be the sum of Christ to the world.  We do not have the the luxury of offense or or hurt feelings.

 I am in no way a "Dooms Day seeker" I do not look forward to the fall of our nation or judgement. I know what well all deserve...DEATH, but I do feel that there is stirring in the body of Christ. God is wanting to do something new in me... In us. In order for Him to do that we have seriously got to get over our selves. 

 

I don't care what religion that you may have been fully steeped in. We cannot be about the religion. We must be about the Father. He is not about your music being loud or conventional, whether you Dance or stand. He is about "HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE ME?" I hear Him now asking me and many that I know..."Do you love me enough to let go of it all? Do you value my presence enough to forsake everything?" 

 It is scary, crazy, and wonderful place. To stand on the verge of something that you know is perfection to the greatest of value, yet look back over your shoulder at what it may cost you.  Even now just thinking about it gives me goosebumps. I want Him to be everything and just something in my life. I know that if I can get to that place where I am willing to say, "No matter the cost...I have to be in your presence.." I know that's the place that He wants me to be. I know that is the place He wants you to be. In His presence.

Fast forward now to this last Sunday... The sermon was "Check Your Oil"....The reference being  Matthew 25... 

The story of the ten virgins, one that we all know, the points are simple:

• Jesus: He is our bridegroom
• The Lamps: our capacity of ministry
• Our calling to be the light in the darkness

These are all key points that we have all heard before , but wait there is more... The virgins that were not prepared had settled. They had settled to "just get bye"....That is what so many of us are doing we are settling and God has called us to a higher calling as His people. We are to be a people of excellence. That same spirit of mediocrity led the Israelites into a kingship that brought with it such a price, yet the people could not see past their own noses. Samuel warned them that if God gave them what they wanted what would happen....(1 Samuel 8:10-18, the massage)

 ^10-18 So Samuel told them, delivered God's warning to the people who were asking him to give them a king. He said, "This is the way the kind of king you're talking about operates. He'll take your sons and make soldiers of them—chariotry, cavalry, infantry, regimented in battalions and squadrons. He'll put some to forced labor on his farms, plowing and harvesting, and others to making either weapons of war or chariots in which he can ride in luxury. He'll put your daughters to work as beauticians and waitresses and cooks. He'll conscript your best fields, vineyards, and orchards and hand them over to his special friends. He'll tax your harvests and vintage to support his extensive bureaucracy. Your prize workers and best animals he'll take for his own use. He'll lay a tax on your flocks and you'll end up no better than slaves. The day will come when you will cry in desperation because of this king you so much want for yourselves. But don't expect God to answer." 

 Sweet Lord He gave them what they wanted and what He told them would happen did!  

When I read that I couldn't help but think that we have done the same thing. We have been so tied up in not hurting feelings that the distinction between us and the rest of the world is a very thin line that is quickly fading. That is not who we are called to be. We are called to be more. Which brings me back to that place teetering on the edge of the canyon. Looking over my shoulder. 

What have I to loose that He would not and could not restore a  million times over with more glory than I have ever dreamt of? What have I gained through the almost 40 years that I have been on this planet that is worth a second in His presence?  What is in my life that I have simply settled for instead of gone after the best and pursued the excellence that he is calling me to? Well....(now for some of you this may get personal and I may lose you here if I haven't already)...

1. My weight and the lack of a healthy lifestyle. My children are watching as well as everyone else and I am choosing to eat myself into an early grave...  IT MUST CHANGE.
2. running from responsibility of leadership. Too much has been poured into me for me to continue running from leadership. regardless of what that may look like. 
3. Commitment to others. It is so easy to say that we are so busy with our families that we don't have time,  but the truth is that we have time for what ever we prioritize.

There is too much at risk for all of us to not  start asking ourselves and the Lord what He desires from us and in us. Whatever the cost. He will not come for a bride that is kind of ready or sort of committed. He is coming for the bride of His dreams. the one who is in total abandoned love with Him. The bride that can't see her life any other way than in His presence and at His feet.