To Be Changed!

I’ve spent some time pondering what I would write for my next blog. I was starting to feel a bit sorry for my readers, because everything I write tends to come back to the same point. If you’ve had enough of my message, feel free to skip this one. The thing is, every believer has a life message. It’s the thing that God plants in your heart when you are awakened into His Kingdom. For some it is simply a message that is lived out- a witness by example. Your life IS the message. For others, (like me), it is a message that burns in your heart in such a way that you must speak it out. Jesus modeled both, and we should strive to BE and SPEAK the message God plants in us. 

The message that burns in my heart is that we can truly KNOW God. We are not victims of an ‘arranged marriage’. Too often in the western church, the Wedding Feast of the Lamb is some obscure metaphor from the book of Revelation. There is a tendency to minimize that aspect of our relationship with God. If we do talk about it, we tend to picture something of a traditional arranged marriage. That the Father chose us for the Son, and that we will be the shy, new bride, timidly walking down the aisle to an unknown groom. The veil is lifted, and we see Him for the first time. The first part- the Father choosing us for the Son- is true, but sadly for many, if the wedding were to happen today, the rest is how they would feel, because they haven’t taken the time to get to know Jesus. We truly are His bride. Praise God, there is an awakening to this relationship in the Body. The difference is, the Father chose us, but when we said yes in response, an amazing thing happened. The Son, our Groom, began to pursue us! The relationship we should strive for with Jesus is close, intimate friendship. He will pursue you, regardless, but imagine what joy could be yours, if you would turn and let Him catch you. He wants to share His plans with you. In fact, He wants you to be a part of the planning! Anyway, like I said, the message burns in my heart and must come out. I will reign it in for now, and get on with what I wanted to talk about today.

I was remembering something that happened when I went on my first mission trip. I feel like God gave me some fresh revelation about it. I went to Haiti in 2002 for two weeks. It was completely set up by God. I had no desire to go, and in fact I was scared to go. God confirmed several ways that it was definitely His plan, (an amazing story I’ll share some other time), so I began to pray into going. I began to picture revival hitting Port-Au Prince, and I could see a vision of God’s presence with us like a mantle as we flew to the island. I was stoked. I expected conversions and healings, and all sorts of power encounters and miracles. After a week in Haiti, I was depressed. I had prayed for very few people, with no obvious results, and I felt like I wasn’t having an impact at all. During worship at a church service, I was asking Jesus about it. I was whining, really. I was thinking, “You sent me here for this? I haven’t done anything!”

Then Jesus said something to me that changed my whole trip- and my life. He asked: “Did you come here to change the people, or to be changed?”

I was so messed up at that point, that I didn’t even know how to answer. I had become too discouraged by my expectations not being fulfilled to see the point of why God had taken me there. The recent revelation I had is that God took me there to change me. Feel free to groan and shake your head that it took me almost ten years to get it. I wanted Him to change me, I just didn’t realize that changing me was the whole reason He took me to Haiti. The thing is, when God leads us to do anything, it is to change us as much as for any other reason. I needed a paradigm shift. I got it in Haiti, I just didn’t understand fully the lesson God was giving me. 

Too often, we approach things like missions and ministry focused on how we are going to change people. Like I have some magic revelation that they don’t, and they definitely need it to be more like me. Like I have it right, because otherwise God wouldn’t send me to them- obviously they need to be more like me. Hopefully, you don’t think I’m a horrible person. I don’t really approach ministry thinking this, but obviously, subconsciously, the thought was there. I went to Haiti thinking I was going to save people. I was going to change the world, starting with Port-Au-Prince. My motivation was wrong. Going with expectations was wrong. God couldn’t line up power encounters and miracles for me, because it would have reenforced my bad paradigm. Instead, when I was humbled and ready to be changed, He was able to show me how wonderful the Haitian people are. He broke my heart for that nation, and gave me a deep love for them. 

Our motivation for ministry- ALL ministry- has to be based out of our love for the Father, and to please Him. We should do all mission and ministry work with our gaze focused on Him. I should want to pray for people and to see people get healed because it will please the Father, and so that the people will encounter Him. It seems so basic, but ministry is not about us or the one we minister to. It’s all about revealing God’s love to people, because we love Him. Bill Johnson says, “Evangelism in it’s purest form is an overflow of worship.” So ministry should be an extension of adoring the Father. 

Okay, I better throw some scripture in here, like a good Christian preacher.

“Do not conform any longer 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

The pattern of this world is self-glorification. It has been since the fall. The pattern of the world is to please self, and to change everything around you to please you. I agree one hundred percent that the renewing of your mind is studying God’s word, but I believe there is way more to renewing your mind than reading the Bible. First of all, (back to my life message again), we are in a relationship, not a religion. Seek His face. “...we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.” -2 Cor. 3:18. It’s about gazing into His eyes, and hearing what He is saying right now. 

I can know all about a person, and not truly know them. I happen to really admire Audrey Hepburn. I have read biographies about her, I own movies she starred in, and I have even painted a portrait of her. That doesn’t mean I know her. It just means I know about her. If I were to meet her on the street, (she’s dead, but let’s just say if she weren’t), I would know who she was. I would know some things about her, possibly even personal things, but if I approached her, she would say, “I don’t know you.” How many of us live our Christian life as a ‘fan’ of Jesus- knowing all about Him, but not really knowing Him as a friend. I don’t want to get too heavy here, but that’s the scary part about Jesus’ story about separating the sheep from the goats. (Matthew 7:21-23 & 25:31-46) They were both ‘saved’ by outward appearances. It seems that the ‘goats’ have pretty powerful ‘ministries’, too. They prophesy, cast out demons and perform miracles. The scary part is how Jesus says, “I never knew you. Go away from me.” The important thing is not the doing but the relationship.

One last thought on renewing your mind. When we say to renew your mind in the Word, the common paradigm is to study the Bible. Please don’t think I am opposed to this. The Bible is awesome and I love it. But what if we could renew our mind in the ‘current’ Word? Ephesians 6:17 says that our sword is the word of God. The word ‘word’ here is the greek word ‘rhema’. Rhema is a word that is spoken right now. It is an ‘utterance’, or a ‘pouring forth’. So, if our weapons have divine power to pull down strongholds, it is important that our sword is sharpened as much (or more) by what Jesus is saying right now, than with the Bible alone. It is important to engage in conversation, so that we get to know His voice. In each situation that requires you to stand against the enemy, don’t picture your sword as yanking out your Bible and quoting scripture at the enemy. Instead, ask Jesus what He wants to say to that situation. That’s real power. The power is in Who you know. Renew your mind in your relationship with Christ, and you truly will be transformed.

Anyway, I really am changed. And I’m ready to change more and more, from glory to glory, until I have been transformed into the image of Christ. What makes my heart happy is to know that the transformation happens through beholding Him. *blissful sigh* Man, I love Jesus!! God bless you!!