Tag Archives: Revival By Design

Don’t miss a thing

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It’s #FiveMinuteFriday and the word prompt is miss. You can read other takes on this word in which we are to write for five minutes with little editing, just for the love of writing. Be blessed!

This weekend, I am away on another Revival By Design trip for a seminar somewhere in the great state of Tennessee. A reprieve from endless hotels, we are blessed to be with friends and staying with their friends. Confused much? The point isn’t the WHO but the HOW. This hostess with the mostest doesn’t miss a thing.

This home truly looks like something from Southern Living magazine, with a touch of a coastal theme. Gorgeous is the word for the entire property. You will just have to envision it; I didn’t ask permission to share!

Some just have a knack for hosting…they are born that way. They know how to serve and make everything just right for the guest. The coffee bar is set up for you to use when YOU get up and want coffee. Some in our party, like me, need/want coffee before 6:00 a.m. Others in our party chose to have breakfast at 10:30. That’s brunch, people!

But this doesn’t frustrate a true hostess or servant. They can accommodate everyone because they live to please and want each guest in their home to feel at home. From the carefully placed guest towels with all the extras in case you have forgotten something, to the carafe of filtered water and matching glasses, not Styrofoam (which I am perfectly fine with!), and the list goes on, a perfect hostess makes her guest comfortable and wanting nothing.

“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!” Philippians 2:6-8 NIV

The scripture says Jesus made Himself nothing by taking on the very nature of a servant. His greatest service was our salvation! He gave of Himself, completely, so that we would have eternal life, conquering death, hell and the grave.

But the verse right before this is what I don’t want us to miss:

“In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…”

Don't miss a thing

What was that mindset? He made Himself nothing and became a servant to those around Him.

In our everyday relationships, we can afford no less! We cannot become caught up in office gossip, assembly line slice and dice or any other kind of ridicule where we tear down those we were called to serve. Just as my hostess didn’t miss anything in the details of our stay, the food, the supplies, the amenities, she also didn’t miss true hospitality. Her southern smile would warm any weary heart. When you walked into her home you wanted to stay, you wanted to leave your worries and cares outside the door and REST.

This is also our Savior. He offers US rest from the world, forgives us and then fills us with His spirit so we are like Him. Then it is our duty as servants to go out into the world, our everyday world, and BE like Him. If we spend time with Him then He begins to “rub off on us” and we do reflect His personality. We become as servants; touching, blessing, lifting burdens from the shoulders of others, offering to pray, actually praying and anything else we can do to let them know that Jesus came to save.

My sweet hostess didn’t miss a thing this weekend; she planned everything around her guests. Jesus has done the same for us, He wants to give us all we need for a victorious life here but intended for us to share this Truth and realize it isn’t all about us but it is all about those who do not know Him.

Let’s make sure they don’t miss a thing!

For the kingdom

Gathering the scattered

Gathering the Scattered

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Gather. Such a funny word when you look at it and say it over and over again. Every time I hear it spoken out loud I envision the one saying it with their arms stretched out and then pulling everyone, and everything, in to them.

Gather. Come together, assemble or accumulate. Here is another version which just makes me smile:

Bring together and take in from scattered places.

“Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” Matthew 12:30.

In our Revival By Design teaching around the country, we encourage others to become Gatherers. Some might be teachers, some leaders over a larger group; some are helpers, pastors, etc. But EVERYONE is a Gatherer!

“He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” Isaiah 40:11.

A Gatherer is someone who is bringing together and taking in from scattered places. Reaching for the lost, the outcast, the down and out and yes, even the lowly. Jesus was the ultimate Gatherer. He said if we didn’t gather with Him then we were scattering. What does that mean?

To cause to separate and go in different directions.

If you aren’t gathering then you are scattering.

“As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness.” Ezekiel 34:12.

Gathering the scattered

Jesus went after the scattered flock. He looked for those that had been cast aside or forgotten about. He rescued them and gathered them back into the sheepfold!

In these last days, let us turn our focus to gathering. We must be peacemakers in difficult situations. We need to reach a helping hand to those that have hit rock bottom. And we must be willing to open our hearts and open our arms to all of those that need Jesus. The only view they may have of HIM is you and me.

Do they see us as a Gatherer; ready to take in those that are hungry for a life change? Or do they see us as a Scatterer; one that causes confusion and division in the Body of Christ?

Praying today that I would have the mind and heart of a shepherd who is constantly caring for his flock and desperate to go after any that have scattered.

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I took this picture of The Sweetheart in the country of Estonia at a beautiful outdoor museum. Everyone a Shepherd, everyone a Gatherer!

Blessings, friends. Feel free to comment on your take on gathering and scattering. I would love to hear!

 

Kingdom2

Sharing with Sunday Stillness

 

Apostle Paul took a boat, we’re taking a plane: Malta

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Friends, we are heading to Chicago to board our flight to the island country of Malta in the Mediterranean. We covet your prayers for safe travel. We have a long layover in Vienna, Austria (I know, right?!) and hope to get out of the airport a few hours to at least see Old Town. Then we will be with the Parker’s, Missionaries to Malta, for the next three and a half weeks. While there, we will be teaching and sharing Revival By Design, a Biblical blueprint that will help a church prepare for the revival God wants to give. If we are not prepared to handle them then we will definitely lose them!

Did you know that Malta, which was formally called Melita in the New Testament, is the island where the Apostle Paul was bitten by a viper? There is a rich history of Christianity in this island country, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world! And it was brought by the Apostle Paul himself around A.D. 60.

He was being taken to Rome to stand trial, (along with some other political prisoners), and ultimately, eventually, he would become a martyr for the cause of Christ.

He was in the hands of a capable man. Julius was a centurion who was the commander of a cohort. A cohort is a band of soldiers between 400-600 men. This was a large ship and quite full! The end of the chapter tells us there were a total of 276 people on board.

“Now when much time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the fast was now already past, Paul admonished them, And said unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. Nevertheless the centurion believed the master and the owner of the ship, more than those things which were spoken by Paul.” Acts 27:9-11 KJV.

Here is the dilemma: God had revealed to Paul that the weather was to become perilous and for them to stay where they were. Paul warned Julius, but do not forget that Paul is also a PRISONER. Julius was in quite a predicament. He had the experience of the pilot and captain in one ear, and this man of God in the other.

What they wanted to do doesn’t sound so bad. It would have only taken them a day to get to Phoenix and that didn’t seem like such a risk. It was a bigger town. It was close to Fair Havens and better protected from the weather. The sailors would be thrilled because there was more to do there.

But God said, “Stay. Abide.”

 

How many times do we go ahead and do what we want to do even though God says, “STAY.”

He wants us to wait, listen, and trust Him. But we insist on doing our own thing anyway.

So the ship sets sail.

“But not long after there arose against it a tempestuous wind, called Euroclydon.” Acts 27:14 KJV.

This wind was so strong that it had a name: Euroclydon. Things started happening quickly. The second day they begin to lighten the ship, throwing things overboard.

“On the third day, they threw the ships tackle overboard with their own hands.” Acts 27:19 NIV.

Now, they were getting rid of some of the ship’s gear. Desperation had set in. If only they had listened to Paul.

“When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.” Acts 10:20 NIV.

They were in trouble; big trouble. They should have listened. They should have stayed in Fair Havens to begin with but they didn’t. All hope was gone as far as they were concerned.

How many times have we all been in the same situation as the crew of this ship? How many of us, just like Julius, have rejected the voice of God and did things our own way, only to fail miserably?

Did God make us come crawling on our hands and knees begging Him to take us back? Never, and He doesn’t require it of these men either.

He shows mercy.

Paul stands before them and brings them good news. “And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee…for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.” Acts 10:22-25 KJV.

Even after he gave them this great news, the storm grew worse and some of the men tried to abandon the ship. We may have done the same in a state of panic! But Paul tells Julius and the soldiers, “Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.”

The next morning, Paul urged them to eat because it had been 14 days since they had begun fasting. They needed their strength.

He reminds them that God had promised that not a hair on their head would be harmed as long as they stayed in the ship!

After they had eaten, those 276 souls lightened the ship even more by throwing over the wheat.

Get rid of those things that would keep you from walking with God, that would pull you down or drag you under. A little hindrance, a stumbling block…nothing is worth losing your soul.

The ship began to break apart in the back and the prisoners and crew grabbed hold of pieces of debris and broken planks to swim to shore. Not one of them perished!

“And so it came to pass, that they escaped all safe to land.” Acts 27:44 KJV.

Paul had been fasting, he was a man of prayer, and he had been shipwrecked two times previously. He trusted God when he heard His voice. He was strengthened by his time of prayer and fasting. God gave him wisdom to handle this situation and hold everything together.

Why else would a commander of an army trust a prisoner to give direction?

Only God would allow that to take place.

If you decide you want to abandon the ship your safety cannot be guaranteed .

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Paul brought the Gospel to the island of Malta all because of a shipwreck. “Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold.” Acts 28:1, 2 NIV.

If you feel your life is a mess, that your shipwreck and chaos can never be put back together again, remember Paul. He brought the Gospel to an entire country because of a shipwreck!

God speaks into chaos and calamity and uses it for His glory.

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Believe that today. There is safety in the ship. Trust Him with the storms of your life and watch His will unfold.

Would you pray for not only our safety but for anointing, wisdom and favor? We do not take these trips lightly, we appreciate everyone who helps support us and give these opportunities to share around the world the Good News that Jesus saves. Stay updated with our Faith Journey adventure here on the blog and Instagram! And yes, you can still donate to our missions journey via Paypal below. Blessings.


chaos and calamity

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