The Next Steps .... Are you Ready?

PSALM 24

³ Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who may stand in His holy place?
⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
Who has not lifted up his soul to an idol,
Nor sworn deceitfully.
⁵ He shall receive blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.
⁶ This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face.

PROVERBS 3

³ Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
⁴ And so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man.

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

I don’t know about you, but you might be where I am. The next steps count. And for me that means if the job/post/position/function/role has nothing to do with what I am called to do in ministry, it would be a waste of time for me to pursue it – no matter how attractive it was.

What is my purpose? It is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with demonstrations of His Kingdom, through the multiplicity of media outlets to which the Lord has given, and is giving, me access. No longer can I do something solely to make money. I could have had gobs of it if it did not feel wrong and compromising, and that I was trying to be what I was not. Pretending has never been my strong suit and having to do it is …. well, you get my point.

Let’s face it, we all have a part of the old man that wants to hold on to something because it means a level of control. I get it. That is why the Word says we are working out our salvation with fear and trembling. It's a process. But, guess what? He can and will use us in the process. No one is exempt from doing the work of the Kingdom in some way. But our flesh often holds us back from moving forward. That’s what this whole walk of sanctification and transformation is about – putting away the old man.(2 Cor. 5:17) 

Was your old man shy, a blender, a compromiser, a blabber, too [something], not enough [something]…? That is why we cannot live without Holy Spirit. He is the only One who can help us overcome our issues. Yet, on the other hand, we are each called to these “ridiculously” influential places for His Kingdom and glory that are ‘scary’ and  so we have difficulty:

1)  Wrapping our minds around it

2)  Focusing on it because it’s incredibly hard and the enemy is fighting us

3) We know how difficult a road it will be

4) We don't like the thought of persecution or that people would think you either nuts or   stuck up (Who does she think she is?). [Many of our persecutors have not a clue what it is to “pick up their cross, deny ourselves and follow Christ”]

5) Our own minds war against our motivation to do the difficult thing

6) Our faith waivers that it could actually be God and be attainable and more

7) Believe it or not welcoming our own success [many sabotage themselves with things like procrastination and a lack of discipline....that would be me

8) Being still and knowing that He is God (regardless of what others say or do)

It takes a tremendous amount of resilience, patience, endurance. and perseverance to stay on the path and land our destinies. But guess what? We are not alone in this pursuit. That is why Holy Spirit is here. It is more important to God that we take His designated path than it is to us. And that is why we have each other. In my case, 

I tend to do things because I have the ability to do it or can easily attain it. That means, that during that time, I am really going against the counsel of Prov. 3:3-6. Instead I need to trust Him first, not lean on my own understanding or strengths. If I do that, I’ll invariably end up at the wrong destination. Keeping in mind that at the wrong destination I could be successful in the eyes of men but an utter failure in the eyes of God. We have to start with Him first, then He uses our strengths AND weaknesses to accomplish His will. Then He directs our paths.

Proverbs 2 and 3 would be great to study now. It's all about wisdom. As a matter of fact, this is a great time to do a Bible study on wisdom. It is the key to all success because it begins with a fear of God.

I propose that we hold each other accountable to do that thing which God has been whispering but is perhaps tedious, makes no sense, too menial to mean or accomplish anything, etc. So, what if it is the thing that will cause you to “punch through” your ceiling or wall or whatever is blocking your progression to the next level? What is keeping you tethered to your pass? A failure of some kind, a bad relationship, a job, a habit that is sucking the life out of you? What is it? What is Holy Spirit putting His finger on RIGHT NOW?

Getting into the presence of the Lord alone is crucial, hence the reason I recently took off. I needed answers. I believe this is a crucial time for the remnant who will say, “I don’t care what you say or do to me, I belong to Christ. His will alone I will do and no other.” Then we need to move with the singleness of heart of our Model, and Big Brother, Jesus Christ did. Knowing what He would face, yet knowing it was His destiny to face it and His reason for being, He set His face like flint (with full determination and laser focus) as He headed towards Jerusalem.

And since no man is an island, we also need godly counsel and trusted advisers whom we know hear from God and walk in wisdom. I will pray for each of you to get your “key” to your destiny, or the next step of it, and to shift onto the path to your purpose. It just might be the next thing you launch into it. YOUR DESTINY AND THE PATH TO IT IS UNIQUELY DESIGNED TO SCARE YOU SO THAT YOU WOULD RELY ONLY ON THE ONE WHO CAN ACCOMPLISH IT – JESUS.

Our ‘problem’ is that we have a lot of ability and that’s great and may suffice in the lower plains of life. But when it comes to “ascending to the hill of God” (Ps. 24) it is not enough.

We need wisdom to secure the next steps of our ascendancy up to the hill of God. It’s time.

So I guess what I am doing is calling us all out and UP! Yep, it’s time! No more hiding under a bushel! Our Father says, “come out, come out, wherever you are (course He knows exactly where we are.)

He is ready.

Are you?