Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Who I Am

Below I've listed some of the things of what God has put in me. My core values, my guiding beliefs, the vision for my life and my mission while I'm on this earth. It should be what you need to know about my perspective.

Here are my four core values that dictate the decisions I make and the way I choose to live my life.
1. God is ALWAYS good. Always.
2. Nothing is impossible (see above).
3. I stand from a place of victory.
4. I am significant.

Here are my guiding beliefs that I will choose to put into practice in my life for the rest of my days:

I. Having correct priorities (in order)--
1. God - my relationship with Him
2. Family - my husband, then my children, then other family
3. Ministry - I'm a Christian first and foremost
4. Job - my responsibility on this earth
5. Recreation & Hobbies

II. Being FULLY dependant on Holy Spirit
1. Living my life as Jesus lived His - a human in right relationship with God, fully dependant on Holy Spirit
2. Walking in Humility - I will know who I am and how great the Lord has made me, and yet I will choose to elevate those around me above myself

III. Everything done in Love.
1. Every word spoken and every action done through the revelation of the Father's heart.
2. God is not angry.

IV. Inheritance
1. Everything I have must be passed off to the next generation in order to consider my life successful.
2. Input and Output - in order to avoid fruitlessness I will build up the "river inside me" but giving out what the Lord gives me

V. Culture of Honor
1. Honor every authority placed in my life in order to stay under the spiritual covering of blessing the Lord has given me.
2. Submission -- come under the mission the Lord has given me through those in authority over me.

VI. Foward moving
1. The Kingdom of God is always advancing, never retreating so I will live my life accordingly.
2. I am always looking to others to work in unity. I am not a one man show.

VII. Kingdom living
1. I will give to the poor and the widows and I will tithe faithfully because I know I am called to be financially blessed in this life and the next.
2. God is never in lack of anything. I should live my life representing Him in such a way.

VIII. Holy Saint, Child of God
1. I am no longer a sinner saved by grace -- I am a Saint and the devil cannot touch me.
2. I am Holy and set apart -- I am Spiritual Royalty. I have the keys to the Kingdom.

These are the lenses through which I view the world:
1. Prophet-- The Prophetic lense: The Lord is speaking. He is revealing His heart. My job is to declare who the Lord is to a world that doesn't know Him. Period.
2. Priest -- The Worship lense: I am created to worship so it is what I will do through my life, my love, and my song. I will forever sit at His feet and minister to Him in worship and adoration for all of my days.
3. King -- The Apostolic lense: Everything is done in my life to change the world. I am a world changer. I am called to effect the kings of this world and disciple nations.
[Jesus was a Prophet, a Priest, and a King. So am I.]

My Vision (my ultimate destination in this life):I am one who has an intimate relationship with God to change the world for Him through a life of worship and stewardship.

My Mission (should I choose to accept it --my movement towards the vision):
1. To have a close and personal relationship with God
2. To prepare His bride to be pure and spotless
3. To affect the world with His kingdom.

Pieces of Him

Here's something the Lord showed me the other day. It was one of those things where I was prophecying over someone and this just kept coming out. Do you ever have those moments when after you're finished saying something you think, "Man, that was good. I better write that down!" That's Holy Spirit.

I was sitting on a hammock at my friend's house about a week ago just talking to God. I wasn't having the greatest day of my life so I knew I needed a pep-talk from my Father. One of my friends noticed that I was all by myself so he came over and sat next to me. Normally I would have been kind of annoyed, but I could tell that the Lord was up to something. My friend started talking to me about different things, nothing too deep... but then the Lord began speaking to me about him. I was prompted to ask him why he had red hair (he had red hair, by the way). He looked at me very confused for a moment and then laughed and answered, "Because it's a dominant gene." But the Lord was saying more. I was again prompted to ask him, "No, but why do you have red hair? I mean spiritually speaking." He seemed confused, so I continued. Here's what came out.

Every person carries a different manifestation of the glory of the Lord (pieces of Himself --who He is). We each contain a different part of Him. Most of the time we think about the things (gifts, talents, etc.) that the Lord gives us as "Oh, He just had so much extra He gave us some." But that isn't how it works. God chose to give each person a piece of Himself. A piece of His glory with which we become the stewards.

That's not all -- the best part is that we usually manifest God's spiritual glory in a physical way. The Lord mentioned to me that the reason my friend had red hair was because He carried the passion of the Lord as his piece of the glory (red = passion; hair = glory). My friend seemed to agree with the word and took it to heart. After he left I began thinking about what I had just experienced.

I began to disect it. Someone has red hair because they carry the Lord's passion as part of their mission in life. God didn't just give him red hair because it was genetic. He designed every part of him to somehow relate back to God.

Take me, for example. I've known for a long time that my name held specific meaning. My name literally means "God is Gracious." However, I realized that day that God actually gave me a piece of Himself manifest in my physical name. I carry the Grace of the Lord. I've been previously told by the Lord on several occassions that my mission/purpose in this life is to be a steward of His grace for others. I never made the connection that the way I was physically created had anything to do with the spiritual purposes God created me for. I just figured, "Hey, I look this way because my Mom looks this way!" [I Love you, MOM =)]

It also got me thinking about one time when I asked the Lord why I had such broad shoulders (since, as a girl, I figured it was a little annoying -- though great for sports!) He had explained to me at the time that it was because I was design to carry others burdens before the Lord and lay them at His feet. At the time I thought, "That's nice... but it doesn't help me." Over the years I've constantly asked the "Potter" why he made me like I am... and usually I'd get the same kind of response. "You were made with your hands and feet this way because of this supernatural reason, etc..." I've only now begun to put it together.

God didn't make anything about me on accident.

Everything about me -- from my name, the way I look, the gifts talents that I have, and even the sound of my voice was created with a reasoning behind it. I was created to manifest the glory of the Lord is a way specifically my own. WOW.

Read Psalm 139. Don't just browse it, though -- meditate on it. If you can imagine all the grains of sand on the OCEAN floor and realize that what it is saying in this passage is that God's thoughts about your life -- the way you'd look, what you'd do, who you'd meet -- outnumber those grains... you'd think twice about your life.

Here's my point -- we were created with a purpose. Therefore, we should live with a purpose. We should live our lives intentionally... not as if anything about us was accidental.

A month or so ago I wrote a blog about identity. This is the biggest thing you will ever face in your life. Seriously. Begin asking the Lord why you were created the way you were -- I bet that he'll begin to show you who you really are and what you're calling is simply by pointing you to the mirror. It's a very humbling thing.

This is my favorite quote now (I don't remember who wrote it but I read it somewhere... so if you know please remind me!): "You aren't allowed to hate any part of you because you didn't make you. If you had made you, you could hate you. But you're the work of someone else's hand - so, sorry, but you don't get to hate anything about you."

Seriously take some time to think about this one -- begin living your life with a purpose knowing that you were created that way. I think it will rock your world.