I have sought you with all of my heart; do not let me drift away from your commands.

 

“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.” (James 3:13)

James reminds us that unless our faith produces good deeds, that it is dead and useless (James 2:17). He tell us that whatever we say or do, to remember that the law that is at work in our life was intended to set us free. So, by your conduct, not only your heart intentions, are you judged by Him (James 2 12-13).

Good intentions are great. But, if they don’t play out in how we treat others and how we live out our freedom, James asks, what good is this? He brings us back to reality this reality-- you have accomplished nothing. When we hear of the right things to do and cheer them on but fail to live into them, we sin. James 4:17 says that if we know the right thing to do and fail to do it, we sin.

This is not all to be lived out by trying hard in our actions. It should be the fruit from our salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 says, “So from now on we regard no one according to the flesh. Although we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come!”

We are born again and are brand new creatures that have authority in an unseen realm where Jesus has His throne (Colossians 3:1-3). And if everything has been reconstructed according to the Kingdom, it would make sense that it influence our lives. But is it taking hold? Or, are we more like a butterfly that is still crawling on the ground like a caterpillar, refusing to believe it can take flight?

Do we still try to live from our old nature and do things from the flesh? Or are we alive to being made new and life from this? What if people like John G. Lakes are not just anomalies but a reflection of what living from the Kingdom looks like. He stood and held disease in his hand and it died. The unseen Kingdom was so powerful in Him because he allowed God to make him uncomfortable as he put his all into living by it.

Here is one good question around this: are you uncomfortable? Often, living comfortable has to do with going along with the flow of the old. If we are comfortable and at ease, we may be totally missing the mark. Paul says in Philippians 3:14 (ESV), “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” We are to press in toward the goal for the prize. This prize is an upward call of God –pressing in forward and upwards towards Him.

And what we accomplished yesterday is in the past. We cannot live in past victories. We need to be continually growing, learning and gaining ground for the Kingdom of God as we grow into our new lives. Our job is to advance. When we are idle, we are not living into our potential that God has for us. We miss the adventure He has for us and the wonder of living for Him.

One of the areas it is most easy for us to fall into sin is not based in explicit intentionally; rather, it is a failure to live into the gospel with faith and intention. We sit back and feel comfortable and drift. We put my feet up and get into a routine with our spiritual living. In doing this, we are living so much lower than what God has for us.

I see this with some of the ministry leaders we are developing. Some of them have been committed to their development and pressed into all that has been provided to them such as spiritual coaching and executive coaching. There are others however, that have drifted off. They fail to show up and miss the impartation of the key leader. They don’t show up at their spiritual or executive coaching. They are gliding along in neutral.

Why do we do this? It is like we doze off. Perhaps we believe so much in grace, we don’t think that our part matters. For me, I know that I don’t like feeling uncomfortable. I love routine. While we are told to rest and release control, we take this to mean that we are only to receive and not intentionally do.

We also fail to live into the unseen realm we have been born into. When Peter proclaimed we were in the era where people would prophesy and dream dreams, he didn’t say only some. He said that prophesy, dreams, and visions would be available to all! Like the people in the Bible who were guided by their dreams and visions such as Paul and Peter, we are to live into this. We are to embrace the Kingdom that we are born into with joy, hope, expectation and faith.

Years ago, when I volunteered on a suicide hotline, I had a dream that I was helping someone who was in tons of pain and deep need be comfortable. I was with them and caring for them. But at the same time, I was not helping them to get up and walk into their freedom. It took all these years, but I think I finally get it. While it is Christlike to be compassionate, Jesus never stopped in just caring, He stepped in and helped people get up and walk.

In living to be comfortable, I am not living into the Spirit and taking risks. I could prioritize comfort over obedience. For example, last night when I was in church and at our volunteer area, I ran into the lead singer for that night and had a quick conversation. I felt led to repeat something God spoke to me about him. I could tell that it hit his heart and had impact so I just went on and spoke all this stuff that God has spoken to me about him. Suddenly, he has tears in his eyes and then he is asking for me and my partner to pray for him. Then he asked us to go back and pray with his whole band before they went out. He said that he was really encouraged; but the truth is, that I was way more encouraged than him in being able to minister to him. Then when they went out, it was so powerful (at least to me). I could barely stand the presence of the Lord was so full.

What a blessing! I would love to have more encounters with others like this where they hear God through me. But I could have totally missed this opportunity if I would have walked by without saying anything because it made me uncomfortable. It was a risk to step out in faith and speak what was on the Lord’s heart. I had to trust Him to meet me in it and be willing to live into this new realm that I am born into. It would have been way more comfortable to walk by.

My mind told me that it could have been totally opposite as well and he could have looked at me like, what are you talking about? So isn’t this kind of self-protection over self-sacrifice sin? That is part of walking with God. Besides the still small voice speaking, there is a voice that tells you that if you step out, you will fall or fail. There is a voice that will ask, ‘Who do you think you are?’ or “Do you really have something to say or give?” This is the same voice that always speaks to me when I step out to witness and says, “They are going to think you are an idiot and become offended.”

Because of this voice, sometimes I shrink back. I smile and be nice in hopes that I will hint enough that it is the same as telling them about Jesus. But it is not. When I miss taking the risk to step out, I not only sin but I miss the blessing that is available on the other side.

Are we stretching our faith? I have written in my prayer journal from something Steve and Wendy Backlund spoke somewhere: “Great faith is a product of great fights. Great testimonies are the outcome of great tests. Great triumphs can only come out of great trials.”

When the twelve spies looked to the Promised Land, only two of the twelve had the faith to move forward and enter into it. Ten of the twelve people were not able to enter the land at all. They lived outside of the full promises of God for their lives wondering around. What if this is a shadow picture of our salvation? What if ten of twelve who are saved fail to live into the new Kingdom they are part of and die outside of it wondering around?

I don’t want to live my life in meaningless toil or wondering around in so much less that God has for me because I lack the ability to believe and to follow the Lord. I want my life to glorify Him and reflect His goodness. I want to live out of all that He has for me because living by faith is what pleases and glorifies God.

So, if all things are possible to those who believe by faith, what are we failing to believe and step into that God has for us? Where are we complacent instead of pressing in for His Kingdom and also His return? Do we desire more or are our desires being stifled by distractions?

Lately, I have fell into complacency with fasting. I know God has more for me and invites me into more. I also know He is returning soon and has for me to press into this and an outpouring of His glory. Where I used to not miss an opportunity to fast and pray, I find myself giving in and living in so much less than I could in the way of fasting. But at the same time, God has been blessing me. Perhaps even in the midst of it, I am learning to walk in greater faith and trust. I’m not sure why I am struggling with fasting as I truly desire to see more of His glory poured out. I know He is speaking to me to fast more than I am doing.

Sometimes when I fast, my life is really dry. Then after the fast or the end of the fast, I experience this incredible pouring out of His goodness. Other times, I may fast and feel dry and end the fast and still just feel dry. Sometimes it just seems to make me hangry, especially when my life is under a lot of stress. This dryness, stress or discouragement has sometimes resulted in me not living into the full intentions I have for fasting and pressing in for more. What this is about is God bringing to the surface my sins and shortcomings. But rather than repenting and leaning into Him more, I am trying to solve them with my own strength by getting it right. Then when I fail to get it right and it just seems to hard, I get discouraged and quit.

I have heard it spoke, “What God is doing in me is more important in what He is doing through me.” What this means is that the outcome that I am hoping for in seeing more of His glory poured out around me, it is not as important in how I am living into this. So, how can we be more intentional in living into the truth?

James goes on to note many of the things that trip us up, drain our energy, and cause us to live into less. I know for myself, I can see this unseen realm that I desire to live out of but I sometimes let this realm grip me and pull me back or drain my good intentions by the distractions.

It says in James 3:12-18, “ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover up the truth with boasting and lying. For jealously and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealously and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.”

Being jealous and having ambition speaks of what you are looking at. What you gaze upon will draw your heart. Proverbs 23:31-33 says, “Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.”

In Ezekiel 41:18-19 it describes carvings on the wall of the temple. They had cherubim with two faces, one of a man and one of a lion – each facing towards a palm tree on each side. The One with a face of a man and lion represents Jesus as both the Lion of the tribe of Judah and fully man. The palm tree in that day represented flourishing, victory, peace, endurance, and eternal life.

What a powerful image! It is a picture of total trust in the provision of God for flourishing, victory, peace, endurance and eternal life! This is what we are to set our sights and gaze upon. As we do, our hearts are drawn into this.

This is the same with the temple all together. It was in the middle of the people and they all faced towards it to pray. They were to set their sights on the things of God. 2 Chronicles 6:20 says, “May Your eyes be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your Name, so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.”

The temple was a physical representation of the unseen Kingdom of God. We know that Jesus is seated in the true temple. Yet, this physical representation that people gazed towards also was a portal into the unseen realm. It was so much so (an actual entryway into God’s realm) that people would die when they had sinned and entered the holiest of its places. It was a representation but also opened the way into a true heavenly Kingdom among us.

Colossians 3:1-2 says, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

As we keep our eyes fixed on this unseen real where Christ is seated and we enter into it, there is a genuine opening into this unseen realm. It is a place that is most holy and God invites us to enter in by the blood of His Son. We have access to all that it is and God would have us not only gaze upon it but live out of it.

Lord, help us to see the way that You see and live out of this unseen Kingdom that You invite us into. Set our gaze upon You and live in the fullness of all that You have for us. Open our eyes to see more and live more from Your Kingdom realm.