Connections that Cure the Soul

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But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus. 2 Corinthians 7:6

Do you ever notice that when things aren’t going well we tend to withdraw from the people we love?

Maybe we find we’re too busy to answer the phone. We ignore texts. We’ll cancel the lunch we had looked forward to with a friend.

When we need people the most, we often run from them. Have you ever considered why?

I have a suggestion for you, a reason why our flesh does all it can to convince us to separate from the people who love us. You know who governs your flesh, right? The enemy of your soul. And Jesus plainly revealed the distinct differences between His desires for us and our enemy’s.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

The thief—who has manipulated our flesh since the garden—wants to destroy us. And as he attempts to facilitate that destruction, he isolates us from the people who care about us. He convinces us to withdraw instead of connect.

Why would he do that?

Because God heals our souls through people. And the enemy doesn’t want us whole.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. James 5:16

Beloved, 1 John 1:9 assures us that confessing to God releases forgiveness and cleansing. But James offers another step on our journey to wholeness. God releases healing as we confess and open our hearts to people.

It makes sense when you think about it. God dwells in perfect fellowship with Himself, and He created us in His image. Life flows unhindered through agreement and unity with the Godhead. Disagreement and division sever that flow.

The enemy seeks to separate us from God and one another to block the flow of God’s life and power through His people.

No wonder Jesus asked,

“…that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” John 17:22-23

When people unite in love and godly purpose, God manifests. Jesus said so in Matthew 18:20.

 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

God longs for people to unite in Him so that He can make Himself known. Which is why the enemy continually convinces us to separate.

But when we connect with other believers, we experience the grace that flows through divine unity.

Even the apostle Paul needed others to revive his heart.

In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy. For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus. 2 Corinthians 7:4b-6

I don’t generally think of Paul as a man who struggled with fear. But his own words testify to a season of affliction that left him afraid. Yet God faithfully comforted his downcast soul.

How did He do it? He sent a man. Titus. And Paul experienced this result. In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.

Dear one, I don’t pretend to understand all the workings of God and why He does what He does. But I have learned to trust His Word. And His Word tells me that He releases healing through people.

So we have a choice to make. Will we continue to let hardship separate us from the body? Or will we unite and experience Paul’s blessing of overflowing joy in the midst of affliction?

Let me leave you with God’s design for His church.

Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. Ephesians 4:15-16

Beloved, when each of us grow up in every way in Christ, we carry divine power to grow others. When working properly, we build up and restore.

Love propels us. Love results. And life flows as God manifests.

Whose Image Do You Bear?

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So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

Why am I here? Every soul seeks an answer to this question. Every heart cries out for purpose. And yet most find the answer elusive. Many live their whole lives without discovering it.

But you don’t have to wait your whole life, beloved. I’m going to tell you today.

You exist to reveal God.

It’s true. God created you to reveal His glory—His very nature. You see, God created man and woman to reveal who He is.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…” Genesis 1:27-28

Beloved, when God repeats Himself, He wants us to take notice. God blessed mankind to multiply and fill the earth with all that He is.

We were supposed to reveal His image, dear one. His love. His joy. His peace. His patience. His gentleness. His faithfulness. His kindness. His goodness. His self-control. His unity. His life.

God created man as an earthly expression of who He is. The same oneness shared by Father, Son and Holy Spirit joined man with God in beautiful fellowship. And life flowed unhindered on earth through our perfect union with our Creator.

Until the serpent slithered into Eden and convinced Adam and Eve to separate from God by disobeying His word. Man exchanged truth for deception, and our enemy planted a new seed—the seed of sin— in man’s heart. That new seed changed the fruit we produce. Now, instead of revealing God’s character, we display His enemy’s nature.

Beloved, the fruit of God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)—given by God to nourish, grow, and produce abundant life—has been replaced by sin’s fruit.

  • Love became selfishness that bred hate.
  • Sorrow overtook our joy.
  • Instead of peace, we naturally worry.
  • Instead of patience, anger erupts.
  • In place of kindness, we hurt people.
  • Evil has overrun goodness.
  • Faithfulness withers into doubt.
  • Harshness crushes gentleness, and self-control is all but lost.

God’s image on earth has been overshadowed, beloved. Instead of mankind revealing God’s loving and giving nature, we bear our enemy’s self-centered one. And devastation increases as God’s blessing over man proves itself.

You see, when God speaks, nothing can render His Word void. And God blessed man to bear fruit, multiply, and fill the earth.

So man continues to bear fruit. And that fruit multiplies and increases. But instead of giving and sustaining life in God’s image, the fruit man produces destroys it.

We see the evidence of sin’s increasing nature as violence becomes commonplace in our world. Hatred divides and separates, and terror claims innocent lives with growing frequency.

Mankind reveals our enemy’s nature with increasing measure.

But here’s the good news. God didn’t leave us alone to reap the consequences of our sin. He sent Jesus to conquer the sin in man’s heart through the cross and restore us to God’s image.

Beloved, Jesus enabled us,

…to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. Ephesians 4:22-24

Christ has empowered us to fulfill our true purpose. We can once again reveal God’s image. Jesus restored our ability to produce godly fruit that reveals God’s character.

Beloved, only the church can counter evil’s rise on earth. Believers must submit to God’s Spirit within them and fill the earth with God’s image. His nature displaying itself on earth produces life and peace.

Only the church can counter evil's rise on earth. Let Jesus reveal His image in you. Click To Tweet

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” John 15:8

I have to ask, dear one. Whose image do you bear? Does the fruit your heart produces resemble God’s character? Or are you still overcome by selfishness, worry, anger, and sorrow?

Christ endured the cross to make your heart love again. He suffered so you could be healed. He gave you His own peace to ease your worry.

Do you experience His gifts of grace? Or have you rejected them in favor of your old nature?

Living from your old nature will only cost you, beloved. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Jesus came to restore you to life.

Don’t live the rest of your life in the desert, dear one. Let God show you who you really are. As you step into your redeemed nature, the life of God will manifest though you. And you will show the world who He is.

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe. Ephesians 1:16-19

Know who you are, beloved, so you can show the world who God is.

Are We “Doing” Church so Well that We’ve Missed “Being” the Church?

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Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

Last Thursday, my husband boarded a plane with our oldest son to take him to Dallas, TX. Steve returned home on Friday. Austin will remain in God’s hands for the next two weeks sharing the Gospel with strangers. I expect when he returns home, he will be changed.

God has planted a seed in our son’s heart to bring revival to his campus and our community. He heard about a movement happening in Dallas, and asked us if he could go serve. He wanted to step in faith beyond his comfort to reach out to people with Christ’s love, and he wanted to learn from the team working there so he could bring the knowledge back and let God use him to ignite revival here.

God is revealing Himself in Dallas-Fort Worth, dear one. The harvest is plentiful, and in an unprecedented coalition of over 300 churches bridging denominations, the workers are not few. The Acts church rises in their midst, laying down laws for love and walking out the Gospel’s call to go and make disciples.

A woman participating in the outreach posted this letter last week. I pray that God uses it to help blind eyes see and empower the lame in our churches to start walking.

 

Friday, May 12, 2017

My Repentance Letter – #ReviveTX

Dear Church –

When I was an 18-year-old Bible school student, I stopped one day by the prompting of the Holy Spirit at a flower stand, and after about an hour of loving, listening, discerning, and responding, I led a French international student to Jesus. I will never forget that moment. It was one of the most exciting moments of my life, because I had just reproduced the Kingdom for the first time.

Fast forward over twenty years and I am still passionate for Jesus. I pursue Jesus and I ask God daily to keep me hungry for Him. Most people in my life know that about me – I am the same person everywhere I go.

I can read off all of my accomplishments – I have run small businesses, I have had favor in politics, led worship for years and wrote songs, given sacrificially into the Kingdom of God, been passionate about foreign missions, ministered in Romania and Guatemala, wrote discipleship books, and planted a house church with my husband – but yet I can only count on two hands the amount of people that I have actually led to Jesus in AMERICA in the last twenty years since I was that 18 year old Bible school student.

I have talked more ABOUT lost humanity – than I have talked TO lost humanity.

I have talked more about evangelism, discipleship, and church planting than I have actually evangelized, discipled, and church planted.

I say that I am a missionary to America – speaking into the lives of amazing elected officials and impacting our nation, yet rarely do I ever go as far as to make sure that people are really born again.

I have been a woman pursuing Jesus and first century Christianity, but there has been a disconnect in my heart toward what He really cares most about – the lost sheep walking about me in my city and my nation every day.

In the last three weeks, only going out three days with Revive Texas, I have been a part of leading 10 people to Jesus – 6 of those saying YES to Jesus for the VERY first time. Three of these people said to me or our team that they had NEVER heard this simple gospel before. They had never read “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God…” They have never heard that “God demonstrated His love toward us that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

I am still in shock at the magnitude of the harvest that is ready in our city and the disconnect that we, the church, have had to go after the harvest. I led a precious lady to Jesus at the gas station by my office on Wednesday just because I took off work to share my faith.

I repent before you today that I have prayed for revival but never fully understood what I was praying for.

I have prayed passionately for the church to be ONE in the spirit of John 17, but never really understood the full purpose of why that was important.

I repent that my eyes have not seen the thousands of people around me in DFW that have NEVER heard the good news that I say I can’t live without.

I am sorry that even in the midst of helping pastor a house church and being a part of the house church movement that desires and teaches the Acts 2 lifestyle that I, in reality, wasn’t living out Acts 2 day to day – seeing people “added to the church daily.”

Friends, I am sorry that I have not led you toward the harvest that is so ripe. It is a beautiful harvest right here in front of us, but yet I didn’t see it. I didn’t really see it.

My life has been radically changed in the last 25 days and I want you to know that I will never be the same again.

My eyes are now wide open, and by the grace of God, they will not be closed again.

The simple Christianity that I have always yearned for and desired – for over twenty years – has been placed before me in the form of a colorful wristband and a colorful Bible.

I am forever thankful to Kyle & Laura Martin, all the missionaries with Time to Revive that have invaded our city, and the local people who I have walked with the last 25 days who are saying “yes” to Jesus. The seeds of revival are being planted in Dallas-Fort Worth and a prophetic voice has come to town, and as for me – I am asking God to give me ears to hear.

My heart will never recover from this move of God and on day 51 of Revive Texas, June 5th (when the 50 days are officially over), my eyes will still be looking for the harvest.

I know that because this is real repentance.

The Bible says that when we confess our sins to one another that we will be healed. Thank you for hearing my confession and being a witness to my healed heart.

I love you all.

Bunni Pounds
Reality Community

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For more information about Revive Texas – go to www.revivetx.org.

Would God Curse His Treasured Possession?

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But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9

Scripture calls you a priest of God, dear one. Do you think of yourself that way? Do you even know what it means?

Peter’s words in our opening scripture echo God’s to Moses in Exodus 19:5-6.

“’Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”

From the beginning, God has sought to create for Himself a kingdom of priests. Perhaps you noticed the contingency mentioned in verse 5. If. We tend to treat God’s promises as though they’re all automatic. I think God would like us to notice our role in bringing them to fruition.

…if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples.

 I can’t help thinking of God’s words over Jesus on the mount of transfiguration.

And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” Luke 9:35

Throughout scripture, God promises blessing to those who listen to Him. And Jesus came as the Word made flesh, calling all people to follow Him. Those truths leave me struggling to understand how so many professing Christians believe we can ignore God’s Word and still expect His blessing,

We shout grace as our justification.  We’re taught that God treasures and loves us regardless of how we behave. We are, after all, His royal priesthood, saved by grace.

But God declared this message to His priests in Malachi 2.

“And now, O priests, this command is for you. If you will not listen, if you will not take it to heart to give honor to my name, says the Lord of hosts, then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings. Indeed, I have already cursed them, because you do not lay it to heart. Verses 1-2

I’m guessing those verses might make you a little uncomfortable. We don’t want to picture our God of grace cursing the blessings of His own people. And yet, there it is in black and white. God disciplines His children who refuse to listen to Him. When we reject His Word, we reject His blessing.

Dear one, we cannot separate the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Right here in the book of Malachi, God confirms His unchanging nature.

“For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. Malachi 3:6-7

God’s blessing departs from His people when we cease to honor and obey His Word. But He also promises that whenever we repent and return to Him, the blessing that flows from Him will return to us.

Like in the days of Malachi, God calls us to return to the sanctity of our covenant with Him. He describes that covenant with His original priest, Levi, in Malachi 2:5-6.

My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him. It was a covenant of fear, and he feared me. He stood in awe of my name.  True instruction was in his mouth, and no wrong was found on his lips. He walked with me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many from iniquity.

Behold the true priest of the Word, dear one. Humbled by the awe of God, he fears Him and lives his life according to His Word. Life and peace follow him, because God is near. God’s Word is in his mouth and on his tongue, and he turns many from their sin.

Do those words describe you, dear one? Do the Father’s eyes rest upon you with joy because your life reveals your position in His kingdom of priests?

For the lips of a priest should guard knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Verse 7

Blessing flows to the one who hears the Word of the Lord and follows.

Lord, empower us to live worthy of the calling we have received. You have consecrated us, sanctified us, and set us apart for your kingdom purpose. Forgive us for living for ourselves instead of for You. Ignite Your Word in our hearts and give us the faith to live by it, turning many from iniquity. May we stand in awe of You, living lives that reveal Your glory.

Dear Father, raise Your kingdom of priests.

You Were Made for Glory

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Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. Isaiah 60:1-2

Glory. It’s one of those words we talk about in church but don’t fully understand. In our human experience, glory represents fame and importance. Renown. And we spend much of our time on this earth fighting for glory that belongs to God.

But glory comprises more than honor and distinction. It also reveals itself through magnificent, radiant beauty. Like the glory revealed in creation, or the dazzling, pure light emanating from our Creator Himself.

Renown. Magnificence. Radiant beauty. Glory.

So what do you think God means when He declares,

“…bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Isaiah 43:6b-7

In these verses, God issues a call to gather His children—every individual who bears His Name. He reveals His purpose in verse 7: whom I created for my glory.

God formed you, beloved—knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13)—with a singular purpose, one the enemy of our souls works diligently to keep hidden. God created you for glory.

I imagine you’ve felt the longing for significance common to all mankind. We desire purpose. We want to be valued, to feel important. We long to be seen and understood. Whether we willingly admit it or not, our hearts long for glory.

And scripture is clear. God created you for glory. But not your glory, dear one. His. God created you to be a dwelling place for His glory.

Consider Jesus’ prayer to His Father right before His arrest and death on a cross.

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one.” John 17:22

Beloved, Jesus has shared His glory with you. The same glory that the Father bestowed on Christ, He gave to us.

Hebrews 1:3 describes Jesus’ glory.

He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.

Child of God, the radiance of God’s glory—the exact imprint of His nature—now dwells within you. Jesus gave it to you when you put your faith in Him. God has given you His own glory, so that you can reveal who He is.

But look at what Jesus linked to that glory: Unity.

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” John 17:22-23

I wonder if you caught the significance of verse 23. God gave us His glory, “… that they may become perfectly one.”

Perfect unity seems an impossible goal. I guess it’s a good thing God specializes in making impossible things possible (Matthew 19:26).

I’m going to take Jesus’ words a step further. Perfect unity within the body of Christ isn’t just possible. It’s inevitable. Why? Because Jesus always prays according to the Father’s will, so He always gets what He asks for. Christ’s church will rise in perfect unity before the end, revealing the glory Jesus gave us. The only question remaining is which generation of believers will experience that promise.

I know one thing. God’s glory won’t become evident while believers seek their own. The world will see it as individuals embrace their true purpose and commit their lives to God’s. We must stop seeking to position ourselves in prominent places and allow Jesus to position us in the place He chose for us.

Beloved, the church is God’s present dwelling place on earth,

… built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:20-22

Scripture teaches that, “…your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you…” (1 Corinthians 6:19). But I need you to notice something. God’s house grows into a holy temple as it’s joined together. Each person carrying the Spirit is merely a piece of the greater structure. When we allow the Spirit to build us together into God’s dwelling place, glory will fill the temple.

Look what happened when God’s last earthly house was completed.

As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house. When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the Lord on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” 2 Chronicles 7:1-3

When glory filled the temple, the people watching knew two things.

God is here.

God loves.

Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane echoes that result, “that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

You were made for glory, beloved. God has given you His glory through your faith in His Son. Now He wants to position you in your place in His house, connected to and supporting other believers on every side. When He finishes building, His glory will once again fill His earthly temple.

And the world will know that He is God.