Lightbulb In The Chandelier

Light can be defined as a natural agent that stimulates sight and makes things visible. Illumination. A shining of sort. It is no wonder why this word is heavily associated with God in the Bible. For He is who enlightens us with divine wisdom to showcase to the rest of the world.

Life can at many times take you through darkness so that when the light finally shines, you’d learn to cherish it and keep your eyes on it. In fact, in Mathew 5:14 we are called to be the light of the world. In this sense, we must be shining so bright that it attracts those who come into eye contact with it. Influencers to the world. The voice for the oppressed and weak. The hospital for the lame and sick. But what happens when others see you shining and only come around to try and dim what you’ve worked hard to produce and set forth?

We can see a glimpse of this many times during Jesus tenure on Earth as he had Pharisees and doubters often go hear Him speak, but all just to test Him. We can see an account of this occur in Luke 20: 20-26. Self-righteous teachers came over to spy on Jesus to catch Him saying something that would contradict the politics of the time. The societal norm. They wanted to deeply find this flaw to diminish His shine. The shine that was revealing truth to all who listened and followed The Teacher. Always, their question was answered in a perspective they’d never even try seeing from. They didn’t realize the Christ had come to provoke questions in their frame of thought.

In Luke 20: 21-22 this is what we see, “So they asked him, ‘Teacher, we know that you speak and teach rightly, and show no partiality, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful for us to give tribute to Caesar, or not?'” By this verse we can attain that Jesus’ character exemplified impartiality. Their question was meant to try and catch Him practicing the opposite of what He preached and taught. 

There will be times when people will try and be part of your glow. Your shine. They’ll see your light shining bright and want to associate themselves with it, with no invite. With the same sword they knight you, they’ll try to goodnight you. Light is undeniable when it is gleaming. It’s attractive in fact. It will attract all sorts of crowds with all sorts of agendas. But let us see how the Christ deals with those that come with a plot to destroy.

Luke 20: 23-25, “But he perceived their craftiness, and said to them,  ^‘Show me a denarius. Whose likeness and inscription does it have?’ They said, ‘Caesar’s.’ He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.'” That divine discernment to recognize crafty people is essential. There’ll be some who will alway try to make you do things the way the world does and have you abandon your divine calling in the process. They’re used to custom and tradition. Jesus came to innovate.

There are some that will be obsessed with replicating what the world has already shown; and then there’s those who make up the right foundation from the righteous teachings. It is possible to walk in this world and speak the language of divine eternity simultaneously, without compromise. What you have to distinguish is what you’ve heard from God himself for your own life. What has His word revealed, what have his messengers iterated to you, & most importantly, have you meditated on these through prayer and practicality.

God is like a chandelier with the energy to transfer light. We’re the lightbulbs that can light up the room we are in by attaching ourselves to the source of light, the chandelier. If God is the beholder of the treasures for His people, the chandelier is the one that carries the jewels to decorate around its lightbulbs. A chandelier can be very attractive due to its elegant design. So when one finds that this is your source of light, they will try to snatch it from you.

God will give you visions that only make sense to you and your purpose. So unique that even those who may be in the same trajectory to please God will sometimes not understand the calling themselves. That is fine, the instructions weren’t for them. They will even try to make it seem what you’re doing is going against the Father, not knowing that the Father Himself has given you the green light for this vision.

So what happens when they see you succeed with the technique and ways you were called to fulfill your purpose? Let’s look at Luke 20: 26, “And they were not able in the presence of the people to catch him in what he said, but marveling at his answer they became silent.” Silence ensues those who try to bring down the work of the kingdom in you.

Be the light, and shine it. Connect yourself to the source. Do not become discouraged because your tactics may not be accepted in the current climate you may find yourself in. The spiritual always overcomes the politics. Darkness can only make its presence when light is absent.

One Dimension

The first dimension always reminds me of Plato’s “Allegory of The Cave.” In the allegory Plato is having a dialogue develop between his brother Glaucon and his mentor Socrates. They describe a number of people who have been chained their whole lives facing a blank wall inside a cave. Behind them burns a fire and they can see the reflection of things passing in front of it. Their reality is distorted to this restricted point of view. But one prisoner gets freed and has the opportunity to view actual reality outside of the restricted view and the cave itself. As the freed prisoner reaches the light it seems to overwhelm his eyes. He slowly adjusts to the light and sees what he’s be missing and intends to return to the cave to share his experience. Now I know that took a bit to explain and yet I still left out a lot from the allegory. But that’s okay, I trust you will go find it and read it for yourselves, hopefully.

Why are we talking about this and how does this relate to God? Great question. Let me get you there.

I want to talk to the church today, the body of Christ. Stop. Stop being one dimensional. In our views, in our thinking, in our form of listening, in our ways of glorifying the Lord, in our worship, in our prayers, in our bible studies, in our ways to spread the word, and most importantly in our way we view and try to understand our God! Let the bubble burst once and for all. If you truly believe the verse of if our God is for us than what or who shall stand against us, why fear hearing out and trying to understand an opinion that differs with yours. Before I continue, let me make it clear that this is in no way saying to needing to accept anything that’s not theologically aligned with the Bible, but merely listen. There are definitely gray areas of course.

Often I believe that as unique as we are as humans, our minds can create perspectives within us that only we ourselves would be able to describe to others before they can see it themselves. A mistake we make as Christians is that we tend to not want to listen to someone, follower of Christ or not, if their view seems odd to us. We don’t give them a chance to explain why they even think in that way or where the root of their thought begins. Jesus himself hung around with the crowd others rejected because they were different. Jesus hung out with the crowd no one wanted to get to know. Whose lives didn’t exactly reflect the standards of society of the time. But since when has it been more about society’s standards rather than God’s standards?

You see in the “Allegory of The Cave” the foundation of the message is to show us we can sometimes be one dimensional in our knowledge and wisdom. The Bible, the word of God, doesn’t have the answers to everything in life. See the premise of the Bible is for us to gain an understanding of who God is and what He did through Christ to re-establish relationship with man in order for us to be able to even have that with Him and glorify His name. If someone told me the Bible held the answer to how to cook rice exactly like my mother and how much water I must add to it then I will surely be shocked.

The problem stems from living in bubbles. Stop. In order to evangelize we see the Apostle Paul and Jesus go to those who are different with boldness. We see them try to understand who they are and bring a non watered down Gospel to them not only through words, but actions as well. Be genuine church. Be intentional. Most importantly be loving. Can a Christian be a Christian and believe in the Big Bang and Evolution? Absolutely! None of those disprove nor discredit God at all. In fact they compliment each other. Evolution is simply the process of change in biological life. Don’t confuse it with the non-proven ape to man hypothesis. But these statements being made right now will rile a lot of you up. That’s because you’ve put God in a box, in a bubble, in a one dimensional form of thought. God is outside of time. Do the knowledge and realize that some of the stuff us as Christians get so uptight about is actually true and doesn’t disprove God at all. If anything it glorifies Him even more!

I pray we practice the following verse more often in our lives:

James 1:19 

Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak,slow to anger

And for us who are forever a student of the word of God and knowledge I have this verse for you:

Proverbs 18:15-24

An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before the great. The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him. The lot puts an end to quarrels and decides between powerful contenders. A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.

Feel free to leave any thoughts, comments, questions or prayer requests at: thecreationofmagno@gmail.com

Will You Marry Me?

I’ve decided to dust off the lint that’s been on this blog for months. As I also do acknowledge that nobody besides spam and bots probably even click on it to begin with. *This is the part where you may chuckle at my horrible sense of humor* Yes, the young internet blog world can get lonely at times. Life can make us feel the same way and we try to fill that void with countless things that we feel will bring us fulfillment. They can range from success to relationships. But ultimately everything we do must be aligned with the kingdom of God. The title probably has you confused at the moment, bear with me, it’ll all make sense soon.

 

Often times we devote ourselves to a task we want to do for God, right? Often that task involves a bigger picture that can be overwhelming. But often our own desires may be missing the clearer picture. Which is to devote more to less, the small things. The small things that will lead to big things. Once we see the clearer picture, we can work towards the bigger picture.

 

Everybody wants to hit a home run in different areas of life. Whether it’s spiritually, personally, or both. But the thought of the home run comes to them when they have yet to even put on the uniform to be out on the field batting. Let’s take marriage as an example. A Christian will often wonder and look for their wife/husband. Rarely do they think about what needs work in their own lives before they meet said person or commit to them.

 

Attitude/character flaws, selfishness, etc… So in order for them to succeed properly in that area, it must be guided by what’s already victorious to begin with, the divine being, God. You have divorce rates so high in Christian circles because they think a career that will gain them financial security for a bit is enough, aside from the common share belief in Christ. But marriage is deeper than that. Same goes for carrying out the will of God for His kingdom. We are His bride. How are we treating our marriage? We are in a committed relationship with Him. It is deeper than just receiving His grace and spending eternal life with Him.

 

It involves sacrifice, being uncomfortable at times, loving in situations when it seems you can’t. Most importantly, it involves staying faithful to His word at all times. If God were to ever be unfaithful to us we would never let Him live it down. Yet we wake up asking for God to do something for us rather than asking “Lord what can we do for your kingdom today?” So to devote more to less means staying faithful in the small things that will eventually put the bigger puzzle together. I know a lot of Christian men and women who would want someone special in their lives who can inspire them but rarely do I hear them speak about how they can inspire whoever that special someone will be. Rarely are they preparing themselves to be in a marriage where they’ll be giving more than receiving. 

 

You’ve heard this countless times whether Christian or not: “Do you want to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your savior in your heart and recognize that you are a sinner and He has taken up your sins when He died on the cross and resurrected so that you can repent of them all and let His spirit guide you from this point forward?” What if that same question/phrase, Jesus took it, and simply asked: Will you marry me?

 

We must acknowledge what that question would even mean before we can say, Yes! You are agreeing to a life committed to Jesus. A life that will be bonded beside Him and experience everything with Him. A life full of required faithfulness and loyalty. A life that will challenge you and call you out when you’re wrong. A life that at times will lead you to uncomfortable circumstances but will develop necessary growth in you. A life that will make you want to do things that glorify and make others recognize Him. A life committed to someone that you will love through adversity and celebrations. A life that requires your all, no questions asked. Do you know what you’re saying yes to? 

 

See we forget this relationship with God is a marriage. In a marriage one tries to make careful and wise decisions because you are now sharing your whole life with another person. The love for that person motivates you in all areas of your life. Your career, character, emotions, growth and devotion, and we can continue but that would take forever. The point is, life is no longer just about you. Kingdom work? that’s not about you. You live for Christ now! You shall do your part in the relationship as well now! Any fulfillment that’s not for the glory of God and His kingdom is worthless and you’ve achieved and accomplished nothing at all. It would be like spending countless hours for weeks studying for a test that will take 3 hours to complete, and once you complete it and hand it in you see your professor throw it in the shredder without grading it or reviewing it and  tell you you’re free to go. You put in a lot of work and were probably successful, but it meant nothing.

The bigger picture will surely come. But first take the necessary small steps before getting there. Realize that the less everything is all just about you, think about those who your plans may include. Most importantly, where have you placed God in your situation? So if you’re reading this and are Christian or if you’re reading this and are not Christian, how will you respond as Jesus asks you: Will you marry me?

John 3:30:

He must increase, but I must decrease.

For my readers: Feel free to leave prayer requests at thecreationofmagno@gmail.com

You Want A Real Awakening!?!

Forgive me for the delay in blog posts for I had not realized how challenging it would be to maintain it with fresh content on a weekly basis. But we’re back and I bring you a fresh perspective on this yearning for an awakening we’ve noticed around the body of Christ lately. If you’ve been within the will of the Lord you will have noticed those amongst you crying out to the Lord for a fire to spark up their church and go out of their four walls to Go. Go, and evangelize! But in order for an awakening to happen, we ourselves must first be just that, awakened.

Let’s first go right into Mark 14:32-41:

And they went to a place called Gethsemane. And he said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”  And he took with him Peter and James and John, and began to be greatly distressed and troubled.  And he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death. Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him.  And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”  And he came and found them sleeping, and he said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”  And again he went away and prayed, saying the same words.  And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were very heavy, and they did not know what to answer him.  And he came the third time and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come.”

Some of us at one point and time have read this part of the gospel and I’m sure you probably shook your head at Peter, James, and John. Here’s where I’m about to keep it real sincere with you all. The truth is, we’re doing the same even now! You see, Jesus made a simple request, “Remain here and watch.” But in all fairness we’ve all fallen asleep on Christ. We’ve all disappointed Him in circumstances where He has asked a simple request out of us and we haven’t come through for Him. To be honest He doesn’t need us. You see, because the gospel is not about YOU, but more about HIM! Instead it is because of the superfluous love that God is and represents that we have the privilege to serve Him and do His will here on Earth. If you don’t want to acknowledge that, that’s fine, it’s your loss. Just don’t be one that does acknowledge and is still apathetic to your own actions and disobedience.

We scream “Yes, awakening!”, yet we are asleep. We aren’t carrying out the simple requests in our own lives, so how can we help others do the same? How can the church preach Hope, when the church has lost Hope in what Jesus has already accomplished for us? How can we help others see the problem when we don’t see the problem within ourselves? How can we be the salt of the world when we sugarcoat the gospel into something else that is no longer the gospel? Do you not see the damage we are causing? Wake up! You are no longer an infant in faith! You no longer have an excuse to not walk with the spirit of the Lord and do His work!

My first post talked about a move of God. Jesus told his Disciples “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” That’s enough to show us the free will our merciful God has blessed us with. He will not force himself upon you for you to follow Him. he wants you to voluntarily seek Him and give Him your heart and life. See, for the Holy Spirit wants to lead us closer to Him but we rather choose our own path because we think it’s better. An awakening can’t occur when the body is in a state of inactivity.

If the body of Christ does not shine its light, how can one expect anyone to follow it? In the absence of light there’s darkness. In the absence of hope there is worry. In the absence of awoken souls there lies dormant ones. Inactive ones. Start praying, delving into scripture, and continue serving! It is a daily denial of ourselves and carrying our own cross that refreshes us and gives growth to our faith! Let’s stop running away from God or for God and start running towards God! The rest is in Him! Let the spirit keep you awake and active! For the flesh is as much of a liar as the devil is! While in the garden all Jesus had asked was for One Hour. One Hour! Then he tells His disciples to watch and pray that they may not fall into temptation. Let us continue in prayer so when that hour arrives for us we will be ready to be awake and have a true awakening with Christ in the center of it all!

I leave you with the exact words Jesus left His disciples with:

“Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? It is enough; the hour has come.”

For my readers: Feel free to leave prayer requests at thecreationofmagno@gmail.com

First Love

As you sit there and read the title, try and remember your first love. Whether your first love was a passion or a person, don’t worry I won’t judge you……….Ok. Now that we’re done with memory lane(I know, 3 seconds, I know), let’s get right into it shall we.

Mahatma Gandhi said: Where there is love, there is life.

As we revisited all those fuzzy feelings of our first love, for 3 seconds, I’m sure many of you remembered exactly how that was like. At that moment everything seemed perfect and the atmosphere was filled with serene romance. It made you feel like all was right in the world and like you could do almost about anything now. And then it fades…

That’s how some of us get when we first fall in love with Christ. At first our relationship with Him seems all warm and fuzzy but slowly it starts depreciating. The truth of the matter is because we don’t spend enough time with Him to get to know Him.

When we fail to be in communion with God in our personal time, we tend to forget who God truly is. Prayer, studying scripture, and actively serving keeps us connected to the source of life, God. Lack of discipline in these areas lead to a misconstrue image of God in our minds. We start to think of Him more like a genie. We start to think of Him more like He’s present to serve us, rather than vice versa. Eventually the doubts that come into mind about our Lord become inevitable.

Revelation 19:7-9 says:

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

If the Bible tells us that Jesus is the groom of the Church and we are His bride, what exactly does that say about us? We’re the ones who lose love for the Lord, not the other way around. We’re the ones who instead of depending on His word, we try to depend on our own strength. Therefore this whole time we’re the ones who have been unfaithful in the relationship. That is what Christianity is all about, a relationship with Christ. In a relationship where there is no communication, silence can be deadly to the body, soul, and spirit.

Failure to stay in communication with God makes us forget to walk daily with the Holy Spirit. Makes us forget to deny ourselves before Him and fully receive grace. Makes us forget the price we were bought for when Christ sacrificed himself on the cross to give us life. Life we didn’t deserve.

That fuzzy feeling of love is not being felt because of You! You’re the one not staying committed in the relationship. You’re the one not communicating back. You’re the one not listening. You’re the one expecting to receive, rather than give. See a relationship functions properly when both sides give their 100% on each side. Sometimes we barely give God our 50%. We know when the tithing basket comes around we have difficult even giving Him our 10%. But that’s another subject for another day.

A fire stays burning as long as oxygen, heat, and fuel are there to sustain it. Love will stay flowing as long as we’re giving life to it. Just as you were willing to do whatever it took to make your first love happy and stay as faithful as possible, let’s give that back to God.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 states:

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away

The first word I always noticed about that verse was “patient.” I believe that patient being one of the first traits of love is no coincidence. In fact, I think often times we can be too anxious about life that we forget that patience is a major factor that comes into play when we build that relationship with Christ. Things can be going wrong and suddenly it’s like we forget what Christ has done in our lives. Life was never promised to be a cakewalk. Instead let us be patient until the coming of Christ so we can cut that wedding cake and enjoy the feast with our savior!

You want to go back to that first love you felt with Christ!? Well then fight for His love and stay in the path He’s given you! Devote yourself back into His plan for you and be sure you’re giving your 100% to Him!

Psalm 37:7:

Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him

Chapter 1: The Right or Perfect Time

Earlier in 2013 I stated I would start writing a book. Alongside an introductory chapter, a first chapter was also written. This is the first chapter of the book I had started and feel like I should share with the rest of you. If the writing seems like it has scattered ideas, it most likely probably does. I am not a professional writer. Hope I won’t get judged too harshly by professional book writers 🙂 Either way, below is how the chapter went.

Often times I find that we feel like there is a right or perfect time into receiving the grace of God. We’ll say things like, “I have to fix this in my life before I can come to God” or “I have to prove I am worthy to God and be good so that in the right time I can truly start worshiping Him.” I used to think this was the way into getting close to God. Man was I wrong. The problem is that many of us have instilled this very frame of mind in our heads that it doesn’t allow us to truly get to know God.

The Lord says in 2 Corinthians 12:9:

My grace is sufficient for you,

For my power is made perfect in weakness.

  It is true that when we truly look deep in ourselves, the sins we carry make us feel dirty and almost afraid to come into God’s presence in that form. But it is in fact during that time in our life when the Lord wants us to seek Him the most. As he states in Matthew 9:13:

I desire mercy and not sacrifice.

For I came not to call the righteous,

but sinners.

     We feel as though we can be our own saviors. As if we may have the answers to all our problems and the capabilities to resolve each and every one of them. God tells to repent and ask for His mercy. In doing so, He will help and guide us as we humble ourselves to His power and presence. For that, I tell you, there is no perfect time but now. In many instances I’ve looked back and realized how ridiculous it was for me to think that not only could I solve my own problems before bringing them to God, but to also think there was a better time, than in that present moment, to receive Him into my life.

          Accepting God’s grace not only humbles us, but also makes subservient to His command. We place our life into His hands for Him to guide us into the direction of His will and perfect plan. The plans he has for us will ultimately glorify His work in us and through us. The understanding that we exist to simply worship Him will change the outlook of our lives and how we tend to interact with others on a daily basis.

The love of Christ invites us to freely come into His presence as stated in Revelation 22:17. It suggests “Come so you can gain a new life under me, Jesus Christ!” God is gracious and will work within us as we become obedient to Him and His word. Therefore let not this misconception of there being a perfect timing stop you from following Christ.

As believers we also tend to have this flawed idea. When called to serve, we frequently let our own feelings determine the outcome of our decisions than rather listening to the voice of authority in God. We’re quick to make excuses as to why we may feel we are not being called to that certain or specific ministry in the Church. But have we genuinely even asked God if what is being asked of us is truly His will without being biased with our own feelings and emotions being in the mix?

One of the most common reasons as to why we feel this way may have to do with how comfortable we are where we may currently be. The reality is that many times God will ask and command you to step out of your comfort zone. This is where a person of logic, such as myself, has to lean on their faith towards their creator and understand how illogically He works. God’s plan for us is all for good, and if we embed that into our minds then there should be no worries to courageously walk wherever He asks us to walk. Do not let your laziness avoid you from fulfilling God’s work.

Another struggle that as believers we face is actually wanting to carry out God’s will. We see this example in the Bible in the book of Jonah when the Lord sends him to Nineveh and Jonah refuses. Sometimes we may not like the environment or feel at home where the Lord sends us to do His work. As in the case of Jonah he didn’t like the Assyrians or the fact he was sent to minister to them. But if the Lord calls, then to where the Lord wants us we shall go.

Our own selfish egos and fears disillusion us from experiencing the privilege of carrying out His work. As we learn from Jonah it can lead us to get swallowed by the whale. That whale could be our very own pride or our very own insecurities. Let it be known that God doesn’t make a calling for your life and not be there as a supplier for it.

2 Timothy 1:7 states:

For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

             I emphasize once again, be bold. Be bold in the confidence provided by the Holy Spirit to do amazing things for the kingdom of God. Let not timing or perfection be a factor to slow you down. For the timing we are used to was placed on Earth by man. But the timing in our spiritual walk has been placed by the Great Almighty, Jesus Christ.

             Ecclesiastes 3:11:

              He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end.

A Move of God

Salutations!

Allow me to introduce myself and the purpose of why this blog has been given birth. My name is Magno Garcia. A Latino Christian in his 20’s who grew up right across the Boston Tobin Bridge. Ok, that’s all you get……For now.

The purpose of this blog is to engage in conversation about God in various topics. Often I find myself delving into a word of God or a sermon and feel the need to share the wisdom with many around my way. At the same time the platform was never there for me to do it in a more organized and structured way. So the idea of a blog was planted and this is its first day being watered.

Today we discuss the move of God in our lives.

Now you’re probably asking, “What exactly does a Move of God mean?” I assure you, this is nothing like a movement. You see a movement is great for a period of time and then it slowly or drastically fades away into something that once was. A move of God is something that will always be. A move of God is centralized with Christ as its foundation and living out His word in obedience passionately daily. A move of God does not rest. A Move of God puts His will before any human desire above all and generates His love unto others. A move of God gets you out your comfort zone and guides you with the Holy Spirit having full control of every step you take. A move of God is that which desperately wants the world to embody the word in [Matthew 3:2] when it says:

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Francis Chan recently said, “Worship Jesus, not revival.” The grin on my face when that was being preached truly showed my sentiments towards this subject. Enough to make me yell, “Ahhhh!!! Praise Jesus!!!” It has become a trend where I’m observing many in my generation are obsessed with revivals, movements, awakenings, etc. While all of that is great and amazing. I’m more concerned about the kingdom work needed to be carried out. Kingdom work is continuous. It does not fall into a specified time frame or era. It is constantly on the move. The move of God. Let’s not put a box around it.

[Acts 17:26-31] states:

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,  for

“‘In him we live and move and have our being’;

as even some of your own poets have said,

“‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

The problem found with the mindset of revivals, awakenings, and movements is that they can be proclaimed as a move of God but it can truly just be a human desire. Though not necessarily a bad will to carry out for the kingdom, we must ask, “Is this truly what the Lord is asking of us at the moment?” Let’s dig back earlier in [Acts 17:11]:

…….they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.

The Jews around that time were excited to hear the word Paul was bringing them in Berea, but they also made sure to go into the scriptures and let God’s word speak to them through it to confirm it was coming from God himself. This is the habit we too, as believers in Christ, must do daily to make sure our lives are aligning with His will. It is also vital to test the spirits and discern whether or not that is the Spirit of God speaking to us as [1 John 4:1] tells us.

I pray, this new year of 2014, the body of Christ refocuses on the Great Commission given to us. Let us be bold in how we act upon God’s word and have that confidence that He will be there with us at every moment. For it is to glorify Him why we live. Go. Go and be a part of the move of God in your church. Go and be a part of the move of God in your household. Go and be a part of the move of God in your communities. Most importantly, go and be a part of the move of God with your neighbor. Go.

[Matthew 28:19-20]

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.”