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PREPARE YOUR LOVE PT. 3

/ joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

For some reason I have forgotten to post this last devotional thought own preparation. I thought about just skipping it all together but God keeps bringing it back to mind. By way of explanation… our church has been given a direction that we are to fast and pray that we would be prepared. We have also been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

Here is the 21st devotional thought in the series on preparation.

DAY 21- Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).

Photo by Harrison Haines on Pexels.com

WELL THIS IS IT! 21 devotionals have now come and gone and we are at the end of our talking about preparing. But we are at the very beginning of the actual acts of preparation God will require of us. I hope you gleaned something from these brief comments over the last 21 days.

As we launch out into what comes next here are some thoughts from our study in the Book of Revelation.

8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name Rev. 3:8

Remember we don’t need to create doors. We don’t need to kick down locked doors, either. God is going to open the doors for us. We just need to prepare our hearts to walk through them when He does.

LORD PREPARE US FOR WHAT LIES AHEAD!

THE BATTLE SINCE JANUARY

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

Life has really changed this year. In January my mother went into hospice.

My sister came home to walk with the rest of us through the process.

In February we almost lost mom to some kind of violent attack that left her completely bed ridden.

In April Mom passed.The week my mother died our last uncle had a heart attack and since has been dealing with very delicate health.

At the beginning of May one of my daughters was diagnosed with cancer. My other daughter was struggling with gall bladder disease.

In June my daughter had surgery to remove the tumors.

In July my other daughter had emergency surgery to remove her gall bladder and the family cat, our little flerkin, died all in the same weekend.

Also in July my sister took several financial hits due to tax changes because of her Dutch immigration status.

In the church Since January we have faced many very serious situations: severe illness, severe money issues, accidents and spiritual falling away. It has felt like a war of attrition. It feels like we are the besieged army sitting inside the castle walls and the enemy is trying to starve us out.

I realize that this is the exact opposite of how it really is. This feeling of being hemmed in and harried is not how the Scripture depicts the position of the church. We are not the besieged army at all. We are meant to be the attacking army…

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock[a] I will build my church, and the gates of hell[b] shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[c] in heaven.” Matthew 16:17-19

I have to admit, all these attacks on our family life have left me feeling a little destabilized. It is time to fix that. So I have reached out to my spiritual presbyter ( a spiritual director if you will) and I am getting ready to take the fight to the enemy.

I realize this is not a time for shrinking back. It is a time for pressing in. But the battle must be fought with spiritual weapons. Prayer, faith and The Word of God are how we are to fight. It is time to overcome!

PREPARE YOUR LOVE PT. 2

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

This year our church has been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

seven prepare statements will be broken down into three brief devotionals a piece to give us 21 devotionals to share over 21 weeks.

TODAY IS DAY 20- Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open.

Photo by Liza Summer on Pexels.com

Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew 5:43-48

We are being called to prepare to love those who disagree with us. I will be the first to point out that just because a person disagrees with us on something, that does not necessarily make them our enemy. But in our hyper-tribalized society, we are quickly becoming a people who view it that way. In fact we are raising up a generation that thinks that in order to love someone you must agree with and accept everything they think. That, of course is not the truth. Love is something that flows through agreement or disagreement equally well, because it is not based in our comfort, logic, emotion, or will. It moves through those things but it is based in and flows from the Spirit.

WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO LOVE THROUGH A DISAGREEMENT WITH RIGHT NOW? PRAY FOR THEM? WHAT GROUP DO YOU HAVE THE GREATEST DISAGREEMENT WITH RIGHT NOW? PRAY FOR THEM.

PREPARE YOUR LOVE PT. 1

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

This year our church has been given direction, from the Lord, through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. Our leadership has boiled this direction down into a congregational sentence. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

I am breaking down these seven prepare statements into twenty one brief devotionals. This post is devotional number 19.

DAY 19- Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open.

Photo by Kristina Paukshtite on Pexels.com

I have used this Scripture before, but it bears repeating, “

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not [b]puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, [c]thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails.  1 Cor. 13:4-8

HOW ARE YOU DOING WITH LOVING THE PEOPLE IN YOUR DLT GROUP? HOW ARE YOU DOING LOVING PEOPLE IN YOUR TOWN WHO ARE NOT PART OF THE CHURCH?

A DAY OF PRAYER

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So today was or is not really a Sabbath day. I have called our church together today for a day of corporate prayer and preparation for the work that lies ahead of us as a church. I have had this increasing burden in the last weeks that this work will need us to rely on God more fully than we ever have before. Soooo……prayer together tonight for three hours. Jon Bauver from THE WORSHIP ROOM HOUSE OF PRAYER is helping us tonight for the three hours. I so appreciate the help!

HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PLACE OF PRAYER IN THE WORK OF THE CHURCH.

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” 
― St. Francis of Assisi

“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.” 
― Mother Teresa

“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.” 
― Abraham Lincoln

“Let us never forget to pray. God lives. He is near. He is real. He is not only aware of us but cares for us. He is our Father. He is accessible to all who will seek Him.” 
― Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes

PREPARE YOUR HOPE PT. 3

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

This year our church has been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

I am breaking these seven prepare statements into 21 daily devotional thoughts which I am sharing once a week. We are currently on…

WEEK 18- Prepare your hope and faith( think hope, speak hope, act in hope).

Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com

We have established that thinking in hope and speaking hope in the days ahead is going to be absolutely necessary. But there is something more… James writes, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

If we want to change ourself we must change how we view ourselves, how we think about ourselves. But if we want to change the world (which is part of our mission statement by the way) then we have to change the way we speak and change the way we behave.

WHAT ARE SOME ACTS OF HOPE YOU ARE BEING LED TO DO?

PREPARE YOUR HOPE PT. 2

/ joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

This year our church has been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

Each of the seven prepare statements will be broken down into three brief devotionals each over 21 weeks. We are currently on week 17.

WEEK 17- Prepare your hope and faith( think hope, speak hope, act in hope).

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Jesus said, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Luke 6:45

The reason it is necessary to change our minds towards hope may be self evident. A life filled with thoughts of hope is preferable to a life filled with hopelessness, but changing the way we think is only a part of the battle. What we think only changes us not the world around us. If we would change the world around us we must speak the change and act the change. What we say is vitally important to changing the world.

The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. Prov. 18:21

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.  Rev. 12: 10,11

WHAT WORDS DO YOU NEED TO START SPEAKING INTO YOUR WORLD TO CHANGE IT TOWARDS HOPE?

Prepare Your Hope Pt. 1

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

This year our church has been given direction from God that we are to fast and pray that we would be prepared. We have been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

I am breaking these seven prepare statements into 21 weekly devotionals. This is week 16.

Prepare your hope and faith( think hope, speak hope, act in hope).

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Hope is not a wish. It is a confident assurance in a certain future. It is big picture thinking. Our hope is not in this present age. Our hope is not in this present kingdom. Our hope is not in this present culture. Our hope is in the sure and certain future Jesus has promised us.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.JOHN 3:16,17

the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.[a]

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.[b] That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen. 2 PETER 3: 10-18

To think hope means to contemplate the coming of this future kingdom. It means to put away thoughts that get us stuck in this present time of trouble and turmoil.

WHAT DOES THINKING IN HOPE LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

NOT BUSY

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

This was one of my meditations yesterday.

When I thought about it yesterday I thought this statement was only about the need to stop being busy and the need to slow down life.

Tonight I walked into the church feeling tired from the day and my friend Jody, who was practicing the keyboard asked me how my day had been…. My first reaction and what I said to him was, ” It was busy!”

I immediately felt guilty not because I thought it was untrue but because I thought I should think differently about today because of yesterday’s meditation. I am realizing it is going to take more than a “hot minute” to turn that ship around, because of what “I’m busy” really says.

I think that part of the issue is that “busy” has become a placeholder and shield to hide what I really think about the day. It’s easy and non committal to say “busy”. Everyone can agree with that and nod their head and still not understand one iota of how a person is doing. We’ve been taught to like it that way.

What I should have said instead was “brutal”….”difficult”….”gut-wrenching”… or “It made me want to cry”.

Sometimes when I say “I’m busy” what I really mean is “productive”….”Exciting”…”a battle I won but which exhausted me.”

I am beginning to see that “I’m busy” means nothing, says nothing. Everyone is busy and no one wants to talk about what is making us that way because that would cause us to take down the walls that we have built between ourselves and expose ourselves to a level of discomfort our society has taught us we need in order to protect ourselves.

Our church is doing this thing we call “DOING LIFE TOGETHER”. I am beginning to realize that there are catch phrases I use in my communication which actually cause me not to do life together with people. “I am busy” is one such.

WHAT ARE COME OF THE THINGS YOU SAY TO PUT OFF ACTUAL CONVERSATION WITH PEOPLE?

PREPARE YOUR WITNESS PT. 2

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

In 2024 God has given us direction that we are to fast and pray that we would be prepared. We have been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

I have broken these seven prepare statements into 21 daily devotionals which I am posting here on Mondays. This is week 14.

Photo by George Dolgikh on Pexels.com

DAY 14: Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example).

Last week we talked about earning the right to speak by building relationships with the people all around us. We talked about being an example of Jesus love to all men. The easiest way to build relationships and share our example is according to our gifts. “Gifts” is what the Bible calls them. In today’s terms we would probably use the words “personality traits” instead of the word “gifts”. We are not talking about talents or abilities like guitar playing or being good at football. We certainly aren’t talking about Christmas presents or birthday presents. We are talking about our character traits.

We will build relationships easily when we build them while going with the grain of our character. Let’s talk about the 7 most prominent “gifts” or “personality/ character traits.”

We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your[a] faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead,[b] do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. Romans 12: 6-8

The Prophet’s personality- is focused on what goes on under the surface. They are sensitive to people’s emotions and spiritual conditions. Prophet’s should focus on building relationships out of their empathy and desire to see people grow emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Prophets love to sit and have deep conversations based on feelings and thoughts. They love helping people bring context to their feelings.

The Servant’s Personality– is focused on helping. “How can I help?” is the servant’s natural and desired first response. The servant builds relationship by helping people where they need it. It is often what they do not what they say that causes people to know and love them.

The Teacher’s personality– is focused on helping people acquire knowledge. The teacher builds relationships best with people who want to learn. Teachers do well when they are helping someone discover something new in life.

DO YOU RECOGNIZE YOURSELF IN ANY OF THESE “GIFTS”? IF NOT DO NOT WORRY THERE ARE MORE GIFTS TO COME.