I had a dream the other night. It was short and simple, yet quite powerful. In the dream I was drawing a diagram of the tribes of Israel and how they set up their camp as they were traveling through the wilderness to the Promised Land. I was teaching students in a classroom setting and I was focusing on the tribe that surrounded the Ark of the Covenant--the Levitical tribe. I was there along with one of my Pastors and after I was done explaining, her and I began dancing in worship to God. And that was it!
As I was pondering this dream a couple days ago while sitting in church, I began getting a download of what it means and why I had it. In those days, each tribe was determined based off of blood line and lineage. Which ever tribe you were born into determined the assignments you had in relation to how you served God and how you served your family. Some had a much more "up close and personal" role that involved attending to things like atonement of sins and sacrificing animals on behalf of the other tribes, as well as facilitating worship to God. The tribe trusted with such responsibilities were the Levites. The priesthood itself was established through the tribe of Levi. Why does this matter and how is it relevant to us? Well, as I began meditating on this dream I kept seeing the diagram I was teaching from over and over again. I saw the circle that represented the tribe of Levi surrounding the Ark and then I saw each layer of every tribe coming after it, and all of the tribes were centered around one thing--the Ark of the Covenant. In those days, the presence of God and the worship of God was mostly centered around this Ark. This Ark was sacred and carried with it the power and fear of the Lord. Only those who God Himself chose could come near it and only those who consecrated themselves through washing and blood sacrifice would be able to come close. Though we act like it, the presence of God is not any different today. Sadly, the normal for the American church has become quite casual about "the presence of God" and I believe most of those who are so casual about Him have never actually been close enough to the real presence of God to understand the intensity and realness of it. Which is where my dream comes into play. I believe something that God was revealing to me through this dream is that there is nothing stopping anyone from being a Levite (since the New Covenant was established through the blood of Jesus). God is inviting all of us to come that close and we either choose closeness or we choose distance. It's no longer up to blood line and it isn't up to lineage to determine which tribe we settle in. Now, it's about our decision. Will we get close enough to see? Will we consecrate ourselves to be able to see Him? Will we not settle for anything less than experiencing and encountering His living presence? He began showing me the difference between those who are camped around the Ark and those who are camped on the outskirts of camp. Those who choose to camp close can see God and their every decision and physical reaction is impacted by being so close to God's presence. The more they see God, the more exuberant their reaction is to Him, the more they have to change because being next Him is the most compelling thing they've experienced, the more they move their lives around to follow the One Thing that is giving them life and breath and everything they need. But the further away a person camps, the less they see God. They don't know what He's doing, they can't hear what's going on or what He's saying. They miss out on being with Him and knowing Him in the more detailed and specific ways He moves. They only get a glimpse of what's happening around the center of His glory and they are closer to everything else that is happening away from His presence--the wars, the danger, other nations. See, in HIS presence is the fullness of joy (Ps. 16:11). Because of Jesus, how close we get to Him is determined by how much we want Him. And however close we are determines how much of the glory we see. As human beings, we respond to glory! The closer we are, the more we see, the more we're able to genuinely respond. If we're far away, why would we respond to something we can't see? God is longing for many, many Levites who dare come close enough to see the glory. When we see it, there's just a natural response to His beauty and presence. It's not about different people having "special" places or positions or who gets to be in what tribe... it's about who dares come close enough to see. Who dares to walk in a level of purity that welcomes them into a place where they're set apart and can see Him? Who dares lay their flesh clothes down and come into His presence to be clothed with glory? We choose our closeness. He made a way for all of us to be the Levitical priesthood. We choose if we would rather see from a distance or get up close and personal. Don't be surprised if, when you come close, you see Him--you might just dance at the excitement of experiencing His glory. Believe it or not, we are made for His glory and when we truly experience it, we can't help but contain ourselves!
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Lately I've been realizing I've been afraid to post out of fear of getting it wrong. What if I post something and it's incorrect? I've had a lot of opinions over the years--some that I've been quite obstinate about that I later come back and realize how wrong I was.
But what if I spend the rest of my life choosing to not express my thoughts out of this same fear? The reality is that we are all in a process. I might want my thoughts to appear refined and profound. But what's the fun in that? A value of mine that I've always held so dear is authenticity and rawness. What a joy it is to have this website to log my thoughts and express myself externally yet in a semi-private manner. Only those who really want to hear the inner thoughts of Janelle will read these. Or it will be a fun "journal" of sorts for me to look back on. ------------ So, what's with the title? Today I met with a friend and we chatted about some pretty serious and deep stuff. Stuff I will leave to my personal journal. But I had a thought stem from my time with her. As human beings, we all experience pain from our childhood. Sometimes we get really good at hiding it or blocking it out, but the truth still remains--we have issues. Whether relational, sexual, emotional, personal. And maybe you've never heard there's a connection between your upbringing and the things you have a hard time with in life. See, we all have a worldview. And our worldview is shaped by the way we were taught to see the world. (crazy, huh? lol) But everyone's experience with that is different. And this is where we can run into issues in our relationships with other human beings. To try to make this short, I'll get to the point. Many of us have experienced hardships, rejection, abandonment, anger, abuse even, in our upbringing. As some of us grow older and choose to face some of these pains from our childhood, we are presented with the opportunity to forgive those who have wronged us. This path of forgiveness frees us to view life and people from a perspective that brings freedom and peace. So here's my thought for the night. Do you ever wonder "why me?" I think as we mature in the Lord we ask this question less and less and we begin trusting that everything that happens to us is for our good, but tonight I had a whole new thought. What if every terrible thing that has happened to you is an opportunity that's being given to you to knock out evil that has tried to plague your family line for decades? Think about it. What if you are the one who has been trusted to handle this pain and sin, submit it to God, and write a new story for your kids and the generations to come after them? What if you succeed? What if you take out the enemy and his plans to ruin you and your kids? What if you are the one who presses in to God and destroys the ability for satan to impact your kids and their kids to come after? How cool would that be? So, someone's got to take the fall. Someone has to stand up and say 'enough is enough'. Why not you? It's the exact same scenario as Esther being in the palace 'for such a time as this' to save the Jews. What if what your parents did to you, through their pain and their parents failures is an opportunity given to you 'for such a time as this' to deliver your entire family line from the plans the enemy has to steal, kill, and destroy from the generations to come? Seeing it this way frees you to have grace on those who have hurt you. In fact, it makes you hurt for them and feel bad for them. They were the ones who had to take the fall, they were the one's who fell susceptible to the sin in your previous generations--it could have been you! But instead, you have been given the opportunity to forgive them and usher in the power and blood of Jesus to write a whole new story for you and your family. Don't let those who have hurt you, abandoned you, or rejected you continue the persistent path of pain in your family line through repeating history--be the one who forgives and follows Jesus into a new path of opportunity and hope for your kids that changes your family line to come forever! There's a difference between discipline and religion. It's important to discern the difference. Being someone who is disciplined and who chooses what's best for them, rather than what they are feeling or wanting, is important and doesn't make you religious. However, discipline can turn into ritual. You can be disciplined to want to be closer to Jesus or you can be disciplined to want to look like you're closer to Jesus. There's a huge difference between the two. God is looking for those who simply desire to be closer to Him.
Let’s just have a moment of honesty. Why are people so drawn to the world of secular music and TV shows? The kind where sex is the center of every lyric and every drama in the show. I think the general consensus would be because the beat is catchy or, for TV shows, because the story line is entertaining. Most Christians say, “Oh I really don’t listen to it because of the words” or “I don’t watch it for the sex because when you can get past that, it actually has a really good moral to the story.” I’m going to share a quote with you and then tell you something you’ve never heard in your life before. The quote goes like this: “Why are Christian teenagers watching the same movies and listening to the same music as their non-believing friends?” –Nancy Pearcey (from her book Total Truth) What if I told you that the reason people do watch and listen to these things is, indeed, for the sex? No matter what your mind is convincing you, you’re attracted to the physical stimulation and the emotional high it gives you to watch other people interact inside the bedroom and outside, the flirting and growth of the relationship, that lead up to being inside the bedroom. Now that’s a pretty steep accusation. You may say, “Well, Janelle, maybe for you and for others, but I can personally handle it.” But the reality is this… NO ONE CAN HANDLE EVIL. And if you can, you’re not living like you are called by Jesus to live. Jesus says to come out and be separate. To be in the world but not of it (John 17:16). That doesn’t mean you have to blend in to be a witness. It means be different so that you CAN be the witness. If you think you need to use your own personality to draw someone in so you can tell them the gospel, then your faith is in yourself and not in the power of Jesus to use Him and Him alone to share His love with others WHILE being separate from the world. We should not blend in. I spent the first eight years of my Christianity “walking out the Christian life” while at the same time dipping my toes in the realm of secular music and X rated movies. God has recently woken me up to what living life looks like with Him. That living for Him means staying as far away from evil as possible.
choosing to separate yourself from being in relationship with that perfect, never ending love. The actions that a person takes toward sin is telling God that you don’t desire His love. God wants you. And He wants ALL of you.
If we struggle with these things, we need to take a serious look at whether we are walking with Jesus or not. These things deserve our immediate attention. Not just my generation but ALL generations and the message is urgent and needs to be spread. The best way to spread it is by living it out! It isn’t easy to separate yourself. Jesus says, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) He tells us to be separate SO WE MAY HAVE PEACE. But then promises us that there will be trouble. I still struggle to keep myself separate when it comes to conversations and being fully bold walking for Christ. And each choice I make to shy back away from God and what He is done for me, I tell God I don’t want Him and His intimate love. I have to fall before Jesus every day and ask Him for His help and forgiveness. Jesus says in Matthew 5:48, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." This kind of pursuit of Jesus requires reliance on Him every day. Reliance on Him makes us desire to give up the things that are daily separating ourselves from Him. And thank the Lord that His mercies are new every single morning (Lamentations 3:23) If you’re feeling like you want to be separate, yet each day you wake up, you feel like a power overtakes you and you find yourself back living in the same mistakes you were making yesterday, I’ve been there. And I know it’s not easy. It’s frustrating, in fact. But you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Philippians 4:13). If Jesus has called you to be separate, then by all means, He will equip you to be separate. Have faith. But having faith means moving forward in the actions He has called you to make, and you will be surprised by the power that you find yourself having in your pursuit of Jesus. Jesus can get you out of sin but you never can. It’s all about Jesus. When you do, the freedom you experience is exhilarating. Freedom from addictions and the stepping into the lifestyle of Christianity where your entire emotional, physical and spiritual self is sold out for Christ. If Jesus can equip me to do it, He can equip you too. Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6) If you’re already walking this path with me, then be encouraged that there are others out there with the same desires. Are you weird? Yes. But totally normal in Kingdom standards. Keep boldly pursuing Jesus. I’m proud of you. You’re the new person.
Everyone wonders if you’re really legit or if you’re just going to bail after the first hard thing that comes your way. Are you genuine? Are you a real Christian? These are things people think when you’re new walking into a church. Wait… let me rephrase that. These are things YOU think people are thinking about you when you walk into a new church. Here is a great quote: “You wouldn’t care how much people thought about you if you knew how seldom they did.” Something I struggle with so much is thinking people are thinking about me when in reality I’m the only one thinking about myself. With the desire to fit in, I ironically end up being the odd one out being the only one who is thinking about ME. Oops. The greatest thing we could ever think about given by Jesus goes like this… Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37) What an amazing call. I’m writing this right now about to head to church… I’m singing on the worship team, I’m new, and I’m hopefully going to work for one of the church members who owns a company outside of church if she desires to hire me. While there may be a lot of people that don’t know who I am, it doesn’t mean they’re thinking about me all the time wondering about what kind of a person I am. I only have a few chances a week to get to know them and serve them and love them. If I always think they are thinking about me, my outward characteristics will prove coming shy of what purpose I was meant to live out and I won’t be loving my spiritual family the way I’m called to. The bigger picture is so important. It’s not about me. And even this post is not about me. Everything is for the Kingdom. Look to the Kingdom. |
AuthorIf you want real talk, you came to the right page. Janelle will be straight forward and down to earth discussing topics with you from her heart. ReadYou will find topics regarding culture, sex, hardships, nuggets of hope, and love presented in a direct yet encouraging way. Be blessed Archives
April 2024
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