50 Day Genesis Challenge, Day 13

"Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you." Genesis 13:17

This is a verse I think about whenever I drive from one place to the next in my evangelism ministry, or whenever I’m working with local churches and helping to train them in prayer walking.  As I drive across the county lines or as I cross into the city limits of a community I will be preaching in, I pray and claim the Authority and Dominion of Jesus in every place I travel to. As I walk throughout a community when leading or teaching prayer walking, I pray and claim the Dominion and Authority of Jesus in and over that community. In every case, and in every place I go, I choose to believe that God has given me favor and blessing as I do whatever He leads me to do in the places where I get to go and do ministry.

In 2018 I completed the mission of praying in every County and at every County Courthouse in Kansas. Now, whenever I go wherever I go in this great State, right here in the heart of America, God reminds me that I’ve already prayed for this place, for these people, and that I can trust Him to bring forth fruit from my efforts in ministry. It’s an amazing blessing of confidence that I am now able to walk in because I trusted Him and completed the mission He gave me. What if you asked God to give you a place to pray over, around or through? Your home, workplace, school or community, perhaps? I believe God wants to move powerfully in us and through us, but in many cases He’s waiting to see if we’ll trust Him enough to take that first step.

I believe that now is the time for a New Great Awakening! And, I believe that it’s starting right now, in the heart of America, and in the hearts of the people of God right here in the center of this Nation. A Nation that God will literally give us if we’ll trust Him enough to go...

Father, please raise up a New Generation of people who believe, who are willing to take You at Your Word, and who are willing to "Go" wherever You lead them to go, Do whatever You lead them to do, and Be whoever You lead them to be in order to reach someone for You. - Amen

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50 Day Genesis Challenge, Day 12

"Now the LORD said to Abram, Go forth from your country, And from your relatives, And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you;"

                       - Genesis 12:1

I love this verse for so many, many, reasons. One, I love it that the first word is "Now," which is a reminder to me of the timeliness of God’s Word. It comes to me in the "Now" of my reality whenever I read it. Two, it’s a reminder to me that God lovingly speaks to us and guides us even before we are officially "believers." And, Three, the words "Go" "from" and "to" are all reminders to me that God knows exactly where we are, where we come from, and... that where He is leading us, what He has for us, and what He ultimately wants to "show" us is so much better than anything we could even begin to come close to having, finding or gaining for ourselves. All we have to do is trust Him and Go...

Help me Father to be a man who trusts You enough to Go wherever You lead. Let my life be a life You have complete access to, Whenever, Wherever, However... no matter what. - Amen

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50 Day Genesis Challenge, Day 11

"And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built." - Genesis 11:5

This verse makes me wonder what Jesus would say to me if He walked in my front door. What would He say of my life, of my family, of what I’m doing with all that He’s entrusted me with?  

This verse reminds me of the little book written by Pastor Robert Boyd Munger called "My Heart, Christ’s Home." Here is a link if you’d like to check it out: 

(https://www.usna.edu/Navigators/_files/documents/MHCH.pdf)

Lord Jesus, as You see me, my life, and all that I am, my prayer is that what You see is pleasing and honoring to you. Correct and Redirect me Lord, in any way that is not so. I trust all of who I am and all that I want to be, fully into Your hands.  

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50 Day Genesis Challenge, Day 10

"These are the families of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, by their nations; and out of these the nations were separated on the earth after the flood."  

                           - Genesis 10:32

This verse stands out to me from chapter 10 because of the word "families...". The family has always been of immeasurable significance to God. And, as the family was the agent through which mankind fulfilled God’s command to be "fruitful and multiply," the family is also the context into and through which He himself put on flesh that He might Save and Redeem His creation.

Father God, let my family be a place in which my children see and feel the reality of Your presence. Let them grow in their faith that they might live to personally know and faithfully fulfill the purpose for which You put them on this earth. - Amen

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50 Day Genesis Challenge, Day 9

"Every moving thing that is alive shall be food for you; I give all to you, as I gave the green plant." Genesis 9:3

The hunter and fisherman in me truly loves this verse. And, without question, as I look back over my life, the time that I have been given and spent in the outdoors, in the pursuit of these moving creatures (in the context of hunting and fishing) are some of the most positive, memorable, and life-giving experiences I have ever had. And, to literally feed my family with the wild game I (we) have pursued and that God has provided (it’s literally what we eat every day)... I just consider it to be a tremendous honor, privilege and a blessing. And, theologically speaking, it is also a continuation of the fulfillment of the "Noahic Covenant" (Genesis 9:1-19).

Thank you Lord, for hunting and fishing, and for the time You spend and speak with us in and through Your Creation, as we experience and enjoy all of the bounty and blessings that go along with it.

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50 Day Genesis Challenge, Day 8

"Then God spoke to Noah, saying..." Genesis 8:15

This verse stands out to me today for a few reasons. One is because it’s the first audibly spoken Word from God since the week in which Noah and his family entered the Ark. Think of all the time that has passed, and all that they have gone through from that point until this one, without a spoken Word from God in between.  

Another reason is because it is evidence that God still has more for Noah. That the best God has is still to come. That, though He’s completed his mission, God is still speaking. He’s fulfilled his calling, but there’s more to live for, to do, to be, to become. God’s not done speaking to Noah, and He’s not done speaking through Noah. This verse is a reminder that, what God leads us TO, He will also see us THROUGH, in order that we may become fully WHO He has created us to be. It’s ALL for a reason... Everything. And, there’s more...

Finally, I guess I just have to wonder, what was the tone of God’s voice in what Noah was about to hear? How was He about to speak and what was He about to speak? As a parent, I know that my kids know my "tones" of voice. Really, there is a tone for every verbal interaction I have with them. And, many times, my tone is intentionally communicating something my words don’t even come close to saying.  

The timing of this verse feels to me as if it is leading to a tone of intimate, personal, approval, affirmation and encouragement. At least, that’s probably the tone I would have chosen as a parent for this moment. A tone that communicates a combination of "I love you so much!" / "Way to Go!" and "Dude! That was Totally Awesome!"

Speak to me Lord, today. Help me to not only hear, but to also receive in my heart everything I need to make it through everything that is still to come. I trust You. I believe in You. I choose to know that the best You have for me is still to come, and that I hear in my heart Your tone of encouragement as I Keep on Keepin’ on in Jesus.

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50 Day Genesis Challenge, Day 7

"And it came about after the seven days, that the water of the flood came upon the earth." Genesis 7:10

I don’t want to write about this verse today. I just don’t want to do it. I want to write about 7:5. Something quick, short, and tweet-able... But, I feel like God is saying something to me about 7:10. So... here it goes.

Something tells me that those were an unimaginably difficult seven days for Noah and his family. Seven days of choosing to continue to believe. Seven days... following a century of the relentless pursuit of the fulfillment of an "impossible" task, of choosing to press daily into the toil of his heavenly calling, of willing himself into persistence, of embracing tenacity, of choosing faithfulness decade after decade, year after year, month after month, week after week, day after day... and now it comes to this. Seven days of waiting and just looking at this... Ark. Seven days of waiting for God to do what He said He was going to do. In those seven days was Noah thinking to himself "Will all of this really happen just like God said it would?"

As I think about those final seven days of waiting, I wonder about myself... Would I have even made it that far? Would I have "pitched" the "Ark" idea long before, and left it for something more practical, feasible, plausible, doable...? What would my wife have thought about all of that Ark Stuff? What about my friends? Would I have remained faithful to the heavenly vision no matter what or who it cost me? Could I have been like Noah? 

In reality, all of us who love Jesus and who are living for Him now, are actually in the same "boat" as Noah and his family. Aren’t all of us in a season of waiting? Ultimately, aren’t all of us as followers of Jesus, waiting for Him to come back, waiting for God to fulfill His Word to us, waiting to see if it’s all going to happen like God’s Word says it is? In the mean time, have we received a life-task, a vision, or a calling, from God? If so, are we choosing the relentless, tenacious, faithful pursuit of its fulfillment? If not, why not? And, if not, are we in fact forgetting, or maybe even dismissing, or disregarding... the Great Commission itself?!?

Our lifetime’s today don’t allow us to fulfill a one hundred year construction project, but they do allow us the building of a network of people we are sharing or are attempting to share Jesus with. Are we doing that? After those last seven days, Noah and his family had an Ark that they had built that they could enter and be spared in as the flood waters were unleashed upon the earth. Do you and I have a network of people we have reached out to and poured into who will be with us when Jesus comes back? Is there even one? If there is one, then couldn’t there be two? And if there are two, couldn’t we make it four? And, if four, why not eight? Is there really any limit to how many people God wants us to share Jesus with?

I guess my point is this, or maybe it’s God’s point, the task you and I have been given today is so much easier than Noah’s. All we have to do is pray for and then talk to the people we know and love, about Jesus. Will we? There’s still time you know... at least there is now, at present, in this moment and in this day. Let’s do something with the days we have left.  

Waddya say?!?

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