A Week of Preparation
The word that God has given me for this week is 'prepare'.
When I first heard it in my spirit, I thought, "Ok Lord. What are you
trying to tell me?"
Well, He didn't answer the way I expected but that one word
just kept resting in my spirit. Prepare. So I started meditating and asking for
clarity and looking for scripture. Lemme just tell you, the thoughts that came
to my heart were so unexpected and so pertinent – especially for this community
of believers at this time.
That's what I want to share with you today.
To 'prepare'. To make ready in advance. That says to me that
we are to be looking forward to what lies ahead and to position ourselves (or
allow ourselves to be positioned) to navigate the new territory that's comin'
our way.
In all my reading, two passages of scripture just jumped
stood out for me. The first is this one:
Matthew 4:1-3 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the
wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after He had fasted forty days and
forty nights, He then became hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to Him,
“If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
I've read this several times before but this time what stood
out to me is the WHEN of the temptation. It hit me like a ton of bricks that
the whole point of taking Christ to the wilderness was to tempt him BUT THE
TEMPTATION DIDN'T COME UNTIL HE WAS MADE READY to face it head-on. He was
tempted AFTER he fasted. The purpose of his 40-day isolation was to make him
ready to be victorious in battle when his tempter came upon him.
This should let us know a couple things: fasting is most
likely going to INVITE the battle, not calm it. But fasting will also help you,
if you are willing to submit to the Spirit's leadership to confront the enemy
courageously and confidently instead of running from them. It positions you to
act from what may SEEM to be a position of weakness, but what really is a
position of great strength.
But that's not it. There is one more verse that was just as
profound to me:
Romans 5:8 But God
demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us.
Again. Seen it before and was moved by what a selfless act
of love… but this time… oh this time… here's the nugget:
Christ acted IN ADVANCE to give us life – even before we
knew we needed it or were in any way
ready to receive it.
When I read this, I immediately thought of our community.
How much we are to live life with respect to the needs of our loved ones, how
vigilant we are called to be so that, when they're ready, the road is already
paved. We can't save our families, but we can live in such a way that when
they're ready, we're ready for them.
Think on this ya'll. Really spend some time with God today.
Let Him make you ready. Let Him give you HIS heart for your family. Let Him
teach you how to walk in such a way that when the ones you love most answer His
call, you'll be ready to walk with them down the road of new life.
I love you and I'll see you tomorrow!
Ro
Bio: I've been on this unorthodox road with God for 7 years this
year and I've seen Him blow my mind. I'm living the life He has for me with a
passion and a boldness I never imagined. I'm learning daily to love the man
that God has chosen for me, growing every day in my ability to love him and to
let him love me.
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