DO YOU SEE WHAT I SEE?

Breakthru Byte for December 2018

From Bondage to New Life: Featured Podcast

I recently had the privilege of speaking as a guest on Danna Demetre's Podcast, "The Makeover Mentor."  Check it out!

ARE YOU IN BONDAGE?

 

God Desires to Set Us Free
He always does His part - but we must do ours.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN

Lisa Newmeyer describes her childhood as a painful time where food became her best friend as she struggled with shame and rejection. She saw herself as stupid, uncoordinated and fat - unacceptable in a family of seemingly perfect siblings and parents who did not share her dyslexia or eating issues. From withdrawn child to angry teen - Lisa's relationship with food took a dangerous turn into the hidden shame of bulimia - a disorder that was close to killing her until she had a powerful and life-changing encounter with God. 

Her story will encourage and inspire you - no matter what bondage or life challenge you may be encountering in this season of life.

This Christmas, Embrace what He's Entrusted to You!

One December night in 2009

as I was walking home, bundled up against the wind, rain and 48 degree temperature (that is "San Diego Freez'n"  for those who live any where else!) a "picture" of Mary, cradling Jesus against the frigid wind popped in my head.  It hit me like a blast of cold air - Jesus came as a baby, totally vulnerable, totally dependent!

Wow! God trusted Mary with His Beloved Son! 

Of course this was not new information, what was new was the question it put in my heart:

"Father God, why is it that You  would allow Your Son to be vulnerable to humanity?" 

He showed me that He trusted Mary and Joseph with the life of His Son.  The reality of that that hit me in a profound way.  He had been speaking to me for years about His desire to re-establish trust with us by sending Jesus Christ to earth to "show us the Father" to prove to us that He is trustworthy no matter what our life  experiences have been.  But this other side of the trust issue stopped me in my boots!  He trusted Mary and Joseph enough to put His Son in their care!  He allowed His Son to be vulnerable to people for His very survival!

In a flash, a part of the huge picture of God's restoration of His relationship with us opened before me.  God choose to restore the trust that had been broken by Adam and Eve when they were deceived and gave away what He had entrusted to them in the Garden.  The way He did it is a stunner.  He came to Mary and Joseph and entrusted them with the life of His Beloved Son Who would redeem back all that had been lost!

As I marveled at what He was revealing, I saw in a whole new way the fact that God knew that to fully restore His relationship with people, not only did people need to know He was trustworthy, they also needed to know that He would trust them!

As I pondered this amazing fact,  and opened the door to get in from the cold, this question slipped out of my mouth-

"Jesus, what have You entrusted me with?"

"I have entrusted you with this..."

  Even as the word's left my mouth, I realized how "big"  

  that question was, and I almost did not want to know His

  response. 

  "I have entrusted you with this..."  

  As He continued, His gentle reply was not clear words,

  but a sense of my "carrying", nurturing and protecting"-

  how He's shown me to come along side people, to help

  them "hear" Him, and have a real, intimate relationship

  with Him.

  "I have entrusted you with this..." I was awestruck and

  deeply humbled as Father God, Jesus Christ and Holy

  Spirit so lovingly told me that They trust me with

  the people and things that are so precious to Them!

  But could I do it?  How does that happen?

  Like Mary, God is the One Who comes to us and talks to

  us about what He's entrusting us with.  With Mary, He

  did this through Gabriel, and an angel of the Lord

  appeared to Joseph in a dream.   God's

  message:  "Don't be afraid,"  along with His explanation

  about what He was doing and how they could trust Him

  in it.  He told them their part, and sent the Holy Spirit

  do His!  I love that fact that God told Joseph that he       

  could trust what was happening in Mary because it was

  a result of the Holy Spirit!(Check out Matt. 1:18-25)

   Part of the

  wonder of our 

  miraculous new

  life in and with

  Jesus Christ is

  when we

  believe in

  Him, we are

  entrusted to

  carry the

  Holy Spirit!

 I don't know about you, but some days I don't trust my

 self to carry milk, let alone the Holy Spirit!  BUT GOD

 DOES!  God relies on us to carry the Holy Spirit of His

 Son, Jesus Christ, just as He entrusted Mary carry the

 Person of Jesus.  Jesus Christ was filled with

 the Holy Spirit to enable Him to carry out His call, He

 entrusts us to do the same.  Together, God and us, get to

 "carry" and "carry out" whatever the specific call we are

 given.

    God trusts you

  with His Holy Spirit.

  Ponder on that 

  for a while.

  Mary's interaction

  with the angel

  Gabriel is a great

  way to reflect on

  this reality.

  (Luke 1:26-38)

 He trusts you with the Holy Spirit BEFORE He entrust

 you carry out His "call."   Why?  Because it is the Holy

 Spirit alive in us and us responding to Him that enables us

 to be trustworthy with our call!  The awesome thing is if

 we believe in Jesus Christ as Our Lord and Savior, we

 ARE in the process living out our "calls" WITH HIM!

 In Jesus' life we see God's process of imparting,

 preparing and empowering Him with the abiding Holy

 Spirit and Him responding by seeking Father God and His

 ways to bring His heavenly will to earth.  We get to join

 Jesus  in the ways we walk out the call He created us to

 fulfill, for our good and His Glory! 

___________________________

 Let's look at what Bible says

  Jesus was not only conceived by the Holy Spirit, the Holy

  Spirit come upon Him after He was baptized to abide with

  Him and empower Him for His call. (Matt. 1:18-25, Matt.

  3:15-17; Luke 1:26-38,3:21-22)

_____

  After His Resurrection, Jesus told His disciples to "wait

  for the Promise of the Father" before they moved out in

  the call He had given them. (Luke 24:44-49, Acts 1:4-8)

_____

  Peter continued to proclaim the way God restores His 

  abiding relationship with people after he received

the Holy Spirit on Pentecost:    

  "Repent, and let everyone of you be baptized in the

  name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you

  shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit." (Acts 2:38-39)

_____

 Have fun discovering what else Scripture says about God

 sending the Holy Spirit to abide in us and then sending Him

again to come upon us in fresh ways to empower us to walk

with Him in  His ways.

 Lord Jesus Christ, Moses, David,

the leaders and remnant in Judah in the book of Haggai,

Mary, Elizabeth, John the Baptist, Peter, the Disciples, Paul,

the believers Samaria and Ephesus

in Acts 8:14-17 and 19:1-10,

etc. 

   __________________________

 God entrusts each of us with different things, all are very precious to Him: family, business, ministry, home, clients, patients, students, etc.  Our calls are as unique as we are.  No matter what He is "called" us to "carry" in the different seasons of our life's, we can experience the deep joy of knowing that He is trustworthy in giving us the call and filling us with the Holy Spirit to fulfill it!

 Like Mary we can delight is His goodness toward us and others.  As we step out in the things that are far beyond us, we get to ponder "I wonder what He'll do with this?"

 For me, His trust of me moves me to want to be trustworthy with what is so valuable to Him. That is only possible in and with Him!

 It moves me to pursue WHO God is even more.  To know Him and His Word even better.  It motivates me to ask Him for fresh fillings of the Holy Spirit as often as He knows I need the them:  being filled with His love, His power, His wisdom, His ways of doing life and working with people.

 His response?  He comes through with His love and goodness every time!  I have the joy of seeing God met people and speak to them in ways only He knows will restore their trust in Him.  I watch Him break off shame, so they know they are loved and welcome in His presence.  He cleanses defilement, mends broken hearts, give dreams and visions for the days to come and revives ones that seemed dead and buried.  The process can be wild and not always fun, but it is always "God's Wild Ride"!

-"The Flight into Egypt"-

Mary and Joseph, with Jesus, on "God's Wild Ride"!

 The stunning thing is He does not stop there! He pours out His Holy Spirit, and restores their trust in themselves!  I see them embrace the reality that God is trustworthy, and He has gifted them with His Holy Spirit.  Growing in what that looks like in their everyday life, they come to know the reality of "The Promise", the abiding Holy Spirit in them, 24/7, no matter what their circumstances.

 From mom's with crazy schedules bringing conversations with Jesus into their drive time with their kids, to business owners who now KNOW that they and Jesus are doing business together, to children who are talking with Jesus about their schoolwork - God's precious "kids" are living out the reality of trusting God and being trusted by Him.

 To me, this is Gift of Christmas everyday.  God trusted Mary and Joseph with His Son's life, so Jesus could restore humanity's trust in God!  In Jesus, we get t open God's gift of restored trust everyday:

Our trust in Him and His trust in us! 

 Tonight sitting here all bundled up, I am reminded the "San Diego Freez'n" evening four years ago and precious conversation I had with God.  I am so grateful for what God has given me - the joy of getting to come along side each of you, helping you get to know Him, trust Him and embrace what He's entrusted to you!

  As we celebrate this week of new birth and new beginnings, I pray you experience God's fresh embrace, and rejoice in the stunning thing He did, entrusting us with the gift of His Son!

  In His Love,

  Lisa