All or Nothing

“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved; loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” 

-Victor Hugo

Before we can become more and believe more, we must first know that there is more. Without Jesus, we wouldn’t know the Father’s Heart, and now that we do, we now can go further than we ever have in love.

“We love because He first loved us” -1 John 4:19

God had to first reveal to us our meaning before we could begin to believe what He said is true and start to allow His words to change us into the masterpieces of our Lord’s original intent.

We cannot hope to hope without such revelations, without the Word of God we would have no hope. It is in hope that we find our conviction, our Faith. And this, coupled with the assurance that we are loved is enough to keep us standing no matter what hardships are thrown at us.

Though our bodies may perish our spirit lives on, and so we must mature it and protect it. We must allow God to reshape us into the image of Christ and in doing that both our bodies and minds will be captors of our spirit instead of the reverse. This must happen, we must “die” to ourselves in order to open the floodgates of “more”.

What is the more? They are the miraculous signs that demonstrate the Will of God on earth. Healings, prophetic words, visions, signs, and wonders that show Heaven can and must invade our world, our temporary plane. The words we say must be demonstrated as truth to those whose faith is small and eyes unseeing.

We are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God, and so we must show our King’s intent and good faith to all mankind. We must be a witness to His love and grace, and go out into the world proclaiming it.

Those from another place stand out, their cultural differences stand out as well as how they live and believe. This is the change that takes place in every new believer as the old self dies and is replaced by the new. The two selves cannot coexist, just as one cannot be both saved and condemned to hell. Those who “fence sit” are lukewarm and the Lord spits them out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16).

And so, we must constantly remind ourselves of who we are and what has transpired by time alone with God, and time reflecting upon His Word.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–His good, pleasing, and perfect will.” -Romans 12:2

Now that depression has been squashed, God is taking me to the next problem, the next obstacle that is hindering me. Apparently, the root of my depression started from the feeling of powerlessness in my life. This feeling alone holds me back from walking in authority, I fear failure and so I do not risk!

God reminded me of a dream I had last year, in the dream I was home looking out my front room window at a tornado, quickly approaching. I remember feeling peace because my options were few and the Lord’s Will would prevail. At the time, I believed that His Will was for me to carry out my destiny on the earth, and if I was mistaken in that, the end result would still be one of victory because I would meet my maker face to face.

I stood strong as the vile thing approached, and declared that it would stop in the name of Jesus, that it had to obey the Jesus in me. And just as the words left my mouth, the tornado dissipated, turning to mere mist and gentle breeze before uprooting a single shingle.

It was an all or nothing moment, in which everything is risk and the only option is for God to show up and make a move. I want that conviction in the face of reality when I pray for people to be healed of cancer, I want that conviction in the face of spiritual attack when demons are stirring up opposition against me, I want that conviction when I am faced with death or torture and mustn’t let my flesh consume me.

It is time that what I want becomes what I need in order to really make a difference in this world or even through my writing. Don’t you agree that our best example is set by doing rather than saying? And that before we can teach we must learn?

Faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26).

When will I give my all to this walk? I’m tired of reaping small fruit because of my small sacrifice. If I gave my all wouldn’t it be worth it? We all give our lives away to something, or rather, someone….isn’t the call of God the greatest of these….worth every single part of ourselves?

You want to slay the demons in your life? Then finally, say yes to Jesus…not just “yes” to the belief that he existed, died, and rose again…but yes to the call he has now placed upon you to finish the work he started, the Great Commission. The baton has been passed on to his disciples and if you identify as such you will continue their work wholly surrendered to it, no matter what that may bring upon you or your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Love….is the greatest risk of all. And I would rather love wholly….than not at all.

Nothing hurts us more than love, compassion, empathy….I’ve asked for God’s heart on the matter quite often in my life and because of it, I’ve felt the painful sting of heartbreak…not just personally but in the lives of those around me…I’ve shouldered their burdens, feeling their pain as if I’m walking in their shoes. I know that this isn’t the case, that I do not know what they really feel or are facing. But, God has given me a perspective into their pain, a taste of it, to remind me of His own Heart that is ever breaking and ever whole all at the same time.

Love is a powerful force, and it is the source of our conviction and passion. Let love in and you will be moved to action despite yourself. Hardening your heart may keep pain from coming in, but it will also keep all that is good out as well. We only fully live in the face of love, without it (the ALL) we have NOTHING.