Treasures In Depth

Genesis 37

Not the Reuben sandwich but the Reubens

The ones who will stand between your enemies and last breath

The ones who will so subtly fight for you

The ones who will forward your name for the promotion

The ones who will slide the positive remarks in

They may not fight lions

Or walk between seas

But they care enough to be uncomfortable when you are

Reuben, one of Jacob’s sons was responsible for preserving Joseph’s life

When the swords were up

Armed and ready to kill

He calmed them down

So calmly and peacefully

He fought for his brother’s life

And planned on saving him from the well when the rest were gone

I am in a position to be a Reuben right now

At work, church, family etc

But I’m I utilizing it? I’m I taking action?

Do I fight for that one colleague that everyone seems to not like?

Do I stand for the cousin that doesn’t seem to fit in

Will I at least calm battles for the secluded while risking my reputation?

Or do I opt for the easy way out – Silence and blending in?

It’s time to rise up and be Reubens.

Risk to be uncomfortable.

Risk to be unliked.

Risk to be secluded from the group.

Risk it for another person.

After all, that person is God’s child.

So, it’s worth it in the end.

Prayer

Dear Lord, give me boldness to speak up when it’s the most uncomfortable. Give me vision to see what you see. To see your grand picture. Give me strength to stand up and risk it all without counting it as a loss but as a blessing. I am here for a purpose and for such a time as this. I can stir up change!

^“ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty.  But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

Even if He doesn’t come through

Even if He doesn’t show up at my time

Even if I am still crying

Even when I am drenched in sorrow/grief

Even if He tarries

Even if trials come at me from all directions

Even if He doesn’t.

Even if it’s scary

Even if it doesn’t make sense to me

Even if He allows the challenges to stay on longer than I expect

Even if I don’t fit in

Even if I don’t feel accepted

Even if my lingo is different and He’s not doing much

Even if He doesn’t.

Even if I go through the fire 

Even if I walk on a burning surface of trials

Even if He doesn’t pick me from the pit

Even if I don’t get the miracle

Even if He allows me to go through the long stretch

Even if He doesn’t.

Even if he doesn’t will I worship Him?

Will I still praise with gratitude? Will I bow at His feet the same way I do when I feel like I am deep in the pit; in the valley.

Even if He doesn’t, will I serve unbelief and lack of gratitude on my plate?

Father, let my heart posture be like that of Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego.

“But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”

Lately, I have become so aware of mortality. Yes, death is really the blunt way to say that. We die. We all do. Before my church aunties come for me, let me clarify this. What I mean is the body will at one point stop performing the normal body functions; I am not talking about the Spirit man. We can get a bit technical with these terms but I’ll keep it simple in this series.

I know this is a sensitive topic since many people have lost loved ones through the COVID season. But it’s real.

So many reasons make mortality real to me. Maybe it’s watching Grey’s Anatomy or maybe it’s reading the late Paul Kalanithi’s book – ‘When breath becomes air’. Or maybe it’s empathizing with my friends who’ve lost loved ones. Maybe it’s receiving some material things that I did not have growing up and still realizing, it’s fleeting. All of it. Everything on this earth will only help us enjoy life down here but once the body gives in to death, that’s it. It doesn’t matter anymore.

As a Christian, mortality then awakens the hunger for purpose within me. We all know that material things are fleeting but aren’t we the same people that preach the prosperity gospel? Don’t get me wrong, I am not in any way bushing wealth and material resources. But I am bushing it when it becomes the primary focus.

Yeah, I am going to die one day, and so are you. So, are you living out what God has created you to live out? Are you bringing His will here on earth? Or do you simply get up, secure your bag, have a good time and move on to the next day?

Mortality coupled with purpose makes me wanna be aligned more than anything else. Makes me want to be at the right place at the right time. Because God’s depending on me to do that and shift things down here for Him.

Are you where you ought to be? Are you with whomever you ought to be with? Are your interactions purposeful? Have you been spreading the good news or are you too scared to speak out? Are getting sucked up in pop culture and finding cool yet you’re losing God?

It’s a bunch of things I plan on writing about in this mortality topic that we have started today so indulge me friends.

Ecclesiastes 9:5

For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten.

1 Kings 1:3

God was pleased with Solomon

Because he did not ask for wealth or a long life, he asked for wisdom

His requests were in line with God’s specific purpose for his life

He was called to be a King

He was appointed to rule over the nations

He was God’s choice and he allowed God to use him in that way

When He asked for wisdom, it was so he could accomplish God’s plan for his life

My guess is: Had he been in the army, he would have asked for insight and strength

Had he been a businessman, he would have asked God for business tips and great managing skills

What is my purpose and does my request match up to God’s purpose?

To be rightfully aligned is to desire what God has created me to do

Like Solomon, I pray that my eyes will be open

I pray that I will be rightfully aligned

So that my desires and requests will match up to God’s purpose for me

It could be strength, resilience, trading tips, mother instincts, problem solving skills, long suffering or wisdom

None is greater than the other

It is simply a question of being rightfully aligned.

Prayer

Dear Lord, let me be rightfully aligned so that I can desire in line with your purpose for me. Let me be so aware and awakened to purpose that destructions of the world do not alter my vision or my heart.

Allow me, Lord to see what you see.

Allow me to hear what you hear.

Allow me to walk where you walk.

And let me desire to be where you are.

In line with your will and purpose for me.

Amen.

The Cross

The cross is about connection

Connection vertically and horizontally

There is no existence without the perfect connection.

Connection to God who sent us His only son to save us

Connection to Jesus who was nailed to that cross for us

Connection to the Holy Spirit who either lives in us or is knocking on our hearts longing for the opportunity to find a home in us.

Then there’s the other part, connection horizontally…

Connection to the world

The saved and unsaved

Cultured and uncultured

Connection to mankind

That brings hope, peace and assurance

The warm hug that covers all men in spite of.

Connection that causes us to find the orphans, widows, servants and have a genuine moment with them

Connection that draws our hearts to kings and presidents

The cross cuts both ways – vertically and horizontally…

Loving, serving and giving ourselves to people

Yet surrendering and sipping God’s goodness at His feet

The cross cuts both ways.

That’s the beauty of the cross.

Hey reader. I decided to let you into my journal. God has been wrecking my heart, showing me how alive I am (which isn’t a good thing); showing me how I need to give Him way in my life so He can move through me. We had a little moment and I tried to pen that moment. I pray this moves something in you. I pray that this awakens the desire to give everything up for God. Amidst this dark phase the world is going through, I hope we can all get a glimpse of God’s perspective.

I wanna die

I wanna exchange my breath for yours

I wanna strip off every form of me

I just don’t know how.

Beyond the prayers

Beyond the fasting

Beyond evangelism and mentorship

I wanna own the grave

I wanna be comfortable in the grave

I wanna live, breath and exist 6 feet under

Where my rights and breath don’t exist

I wanna die

So you can live in me

Life wholly, fully, completely in me

Maybe I understand surrender

Maybe I can sniff death

But I wanna desire death

Death of me, All of me

So all of you can take over

“The prize of all of God is all of me,” – Joshua Selman

• 

Galatians 2:20 (TPT)

My old identity has been co-crucified with Messiah and no longer lives; for the nails of the cross crucified me with him. And now, the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed one lives His life through me-we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the son of God who loves me so much that He gave Himself for me and dispenses His life into mine!

Show me how to die

So all of you can live

Die to the pleasures of this world

Die to the flesh

Die to my desires

Die to my passion and calling

Only for you

All for you.

The kind that’s weak enough to cry

Wobbly enough to fall on God’s shoulders

Open to exposing her wounds

To the father and the world

Ready to reach down to find existing wounds

That haven’t become scars yet

Acknowledging that she’s got some shame

Putting her shame at His feet

Remembering the insecurities

Bringing back the tears

Wrecked and damaged

Hurt and broken

Covered and under

Stretched and torn

BUT STILL ALIVE!

Life, Life, Life, Still alive!

Still can blossom

Can still walk above circumstances

Can take some scars

Because she’s allowed the wounds to be healed

Can talk about the shame

Coz she’s left it at Jesus’s feet

Can walk again, live again, breath again

Coz she’s carried by her father

Walking with a clean title

Because the wreck was cleaned out

Free from the pain because the hurt was wiped out by endless love

Restored and whole because her capacity was increased

Above only and never beneath!

Coz God’s holding her hand.

ALIVE & LIVING,

Fearless Woman.

2^nd Corinthians 3:18

We can all draw close to him with the veil removed from our faces. And with no veil we all become like mirrors who brightly reflect the glory of the Lord Jesus. We are being transfigured into his very image as we move from one brighter level of glory to another. And this glorious transfiguration comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

Do I sometimes refuse to let go of the veil?

Because the danger of being exposed sounds more risky than the comfort zone.

It looks like the veil covers me

It feels like the veil shields me

I am familiar with the consequences of the veil

I may not like them but I know how to deal with them

I don’t wanna look in the mirror because I’m scared of what I’ll see

I wanna live in the euphoria of the veil

I don’t want to see the raw me

I don’t want to face the insecurities

I really don’t wanna know where I am right now

I’m fine living in the comfort of the veil

Where I feel like nothing is wrong

And when something goes wrong I know how to fix it coz I am way too familiar with this

It’s a self-inflicted veil

A veil that keeps me from progressing

I don’t need to give credit to the devil for stagnation because I’m pretty good at his job

I’m holding onto the veil

What I don’t know is that the mirror shows me who God is

Because that’s really who I am in Him

Christ IN ME

If only I can let go of the veil

And do that thing James talks about in James 1

Look in the mirror and see freedom

Look in the mirror and see love

Look I the mirror and see perfection because that’s who I am in Christ

I just need to let go of the veil

Trust in Christ and let go of the veil because the fear is an illusion keeping me from experiencing God in totality.

Let go of the veil…