Today’s preparation for tomorrow’s purpose.

I recently talked with a brother in Christ, who, due to certain circumstances, was moved by Jesus to another state. The job the Lord used to get him out of CA, however, was not the job the Lord had for him a year later. God prepared him for tomorrow’s purpose in a way only God could do it.

The Apostle Paul was in the exact same position on his second journey. Paul repeatedly tried to get into certain regions of modern-day Turkey. When he couldn’t, he moved on to other regions. Where again, after repeated attempts, he was denied entrance by the Spirit of the Lord. (Acts 16:6-10)

At this point, the Spirit gave Paul a vision of a man begging Paul to come help him. This man, however, was on another continent! Yet Paul was now in a much better position to go where the Lord was moving him all along.

God was preparing both my friend and Paul for the “Oh, now I see it!” moments. Both could finally see what God was doing. He was using today’s apparent obstacles to move them to where He was preparing them to be in both character and location.

Obstacles are real. Disappoints can be confusing, sometimes even hurtful. Yet, maybe, just maybe, it’s time to look back on your life a little differently. Maybe the Spirit is using today’s obstacles and disappoints to prepare you for tomorrow’s purposes.

Hmm? Just something to think about. I know I am.

“Faith is the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” Martin Luther King Jr.

Faith. The Roman centurion had so much faith that he knew Jesus could heal his servant even at a distance, which happened. Jesus admired this person’s faith (Matthew 8:8-13).

Faith. Peter gets out of the boat believing it was Jesus calling him to walk on water, only to sink after being on the water. Jesus said good job for having enough faith to get out of the boat. (Matt. 14:25-33)

Faith. The disciples asked Jesus how much they should forgive someone who hurt them and repented. He said every time. Their response was, “Lord, give us more faith!” (Lk. 17:3-6)

Faith. A leafing barren fig tree withered after Jesus said it would never again bear fruit. His disciples marveled at what He did. Jesus said, “If you had faith without doubting, you could do it and more, say move a mountain.” (Matt. 21:18-22)

After having exercised saving faith in Jesus (Eph. 2:8), we’ll fit into one of the above four scenarios on our journey of Spirit-led life transformation.

Sometimes our faith will be large enough to bring instantaneous life change. I’ve heard stories of this happening in an area of that person’s life.

My experience has been in the last three categories. If this has been your experience as well, here is the encouragement. Jesus never rebuked them! He simply encouraged them to expand their faith in Him and in what He could do.

Therefore, “Lord, increase our faith from none to some, from some to more, and/or from more to life transformation.”

Getting up and starting again quickly is a sign of faith.

What’s missing in the following statement, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come…will be able to separate us from the love of the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

What caught my eye was the word “past” was not included. Previously in Romans 8, the Spirit wrote that the Father already justified us based on the fact that Jesus died and gave us life based on Jesus’ resurrection.

So why is the word “past” omitted? The moment when 0900 hours turns to 0901 hours, what happened at 0900 was covered by Jesus at the cross.

The 0901 hour, then, is another chance to follow Jesus in what we failed to do at the 0900 hour. This possibility comes through the life Jesus offers due to His resurrection.  

The Father is all about fresh starts. Lamentations 3:22-23 reveals that God’s mercies are new each morning. Romans 8:38-39 emphasizes this truth for each moment. Your past – minutes, days, months, years, decades ago – are no longer relevant in the moment because of the Father’s faithfulness.

Your next moment is the chance to erase the satanic lies put into your head in the past through following the Spirit given truth in the present new moment. As you do, you’re taking steps toward a renewed mind and a transformed life.

Don’t wait until the 0001 hour tomorrow to experience new mercies. Choose by faith to experience them in the moment called right now.

Jesus is the end all of all.

It was only after God told Moses that He wouldn’t go with Israel to the Promised Land that Moses made a bold request.

Moses had just seen the people in an out-of-control party to the god whom they thought brought them out of Egypt – a cow. Moses and the Levites then executed judgment on the nation for that choice.

It was what God said next that sparked something deep inside Moses. God said that He wouldn’t go another step with the nation. Instead, He would send an angel to lead them home.

The LORD knew the people coming out of Egypt were stuck in their ways (“stiff-necked”); and, because of their future choices, He would have to destroy even more of them. So out of mercy, an angel, rather than Himself, would lead them.

This is what drove Moses to make a huge request, “Show me Your glory. Show me more of who You are.”

Moses had already been up the mountain four times where he “saw” the LORD. So, why make this request now? He needed more of the LORD to keep going forward in the task that he was given.

He’s saying, “I can’t do this. And if I’m to take another step, I need to know more of Who You are.”

Just like Moses, sometimes we all need a fresh vision or understanding of who the LORD is. It’s not necessarily about leaving something behind as it about who we are moving toward that provides the motivation to keep going.

We simply need more of Jesus. “Father, give all those who read this entry a fresh insight into who Jesus is that will move them in such a way to want to be more like You.”

True freedom only comes through dependence on Jesus.

Only three humans have ever had the freedom of choice – Adam, Eve and Jesus.

God gave all three the freedom to love Him through obeying His commands. Adam and Eve had only two: Enjoy life and don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Jesus had it a bit harder. He had 613 commands summed up in two: Love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself.

All three had the freedom of choice to love God, even when attacked by Satan. Yet, Adam and Eve failed; and then, passed this failure onto the rest of mankind (Ps. 14:1; Rom. 3:23).

Only Jesus, however, was successful with the freedom of choice. And because He was, He could restore to all mankind what Adam and Eve lost by paying a humongous cost. His sinless life and horrific death made this restoration possible.

Once a person puts their faith in who Jesus is and what He did for them, the freedom of choice is restored. They can now choose to love the Father through every choice they make using His nature (Col. 2:11; 2 Pet. 1:4), His mind (1 Cor. 2:16) and the Spirit’s power (Zech. 4:6; Eph. 6:10) given to them.

Daily life transformation depends on this truth: The freedom of choice didn’t come free; but it did come!

Therefore, praise Jesus that He paid the price to give you the freedom of choice. Thank Jesus for giving you such a life-changing gift. And then, stand firm in this truth as you rely on the Spirit in the same way Jesus did (Is. 11:1-2; Matt. 4:1) when the evil one attacks.

Let others see Jesus in you, a transformed life, by using your God-given freedom of choice in the here and now. Why? Because in Him, you can!