Secret Life
“[A] day is coming when God, through Christ Jesus, will judge everyone’s secret life,” (Romans 2:16, NLT).
This is one of the facets of Paul’s Gospel. God isn’t just coming to inspect the result of our lives. He will have particular interest in that part of our lives no one else has ever seen.
With that said, how are you spending your secret life? If you are spending it poorly, there is grace for you to spend it differently. If you are spending it well, you are bringing joy to your Master.
The important thing is to know how you’re spending it. It’s always better to judge yourself now than to be judged and found wanting later.
Confusion (Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness, Day 4)
This blog has been temporarily overtaken by my Thirty Days To Greater Fruitfulness Challenge. You can find out more by checking out the Introduction.
Hearing the voice of the Lord and being sure about it being God is probably the most difficult part of this whole journey. Let me give you two examples.
One of the things I felt the Lord speak to me about was asking a couple out for dinner and using the time to discuss some things that are coming in the future for both of us. I felt like the time to do this would be Sunday after house church. But last night it became pretty clear that getting together on Sunday wasn’t going to work for them. So did I hear from the Lord or not?
Here’s another example: This morning, I was praying about a couple who just went through some serious burn-out issues with their current church. I felt like the Lord was leading me to buy a certain book and give it to them as they begin their journey into newer things. But later today, when I began to think more about the situation and it was a little difficult to go and purchase the book, I began to question whether I had heard the Lord or whether I had used buying the book as a way to avoid a harder conversation with this couple. So did I hear the Lord the first time or did I hear Him later in the afternoon?
All of this is to say that we make hearing the Lord more difficult than it needs to be sometimes. We’re torn (especially over issues that are close to our heart) and sorting out what is our voice and what is the Lord’s can be hard. But this is the journey we’re on and the only way we learn is through obedience.
And just so you know, I still think I’m supposed to invite the first couple out to lunch, just not tomorrow (Sunday). And after processing the whole thing through writing this blog, I think I’m still going to buy the book and give it to the second couple AND I’m going to not avoid the hard conversation. I’ll let you know how that goes.
But if you think about it, please pray for me that I don’t get distracted from doing the important things and truly obeying the voice of the Lord in this season.
Now, what about you? Have you had any trouble hearing the voice of the Lord? What’s helped you? Let us know in the comments or on your own blog.
Join us on the “Thirty Days to Greater Fruitfulness” experiment. For the rest of September we are spending 30 minutes in silent prayer listening to Jesus and then acting on what He asks us to do. Then we blog about the changes that are occurring in our lives through the marriage of listening and obedience. It’s not too late. If you’re just checking out that experiment feel free to jump in. And if you want more information, you can check it out here.
Photo Credit: Calendar by Adreanna Moyer Photography
Why You Come To Pursuing Glory
Welcome to post number 199 here on Pursuing Glory. You may have noticed that I haven’t blogged here recently, mostly because I’ve been wanting to do something significant for the 200th post. Normally, I’m not a big numbers guy, so I wouldn’t make a big deal over the 200th post, but for whatever reason, reaching that post number has got me thinking about the direction of the blog, who comes and reads what’s here, and what God intends to do through this blog. All of this is motivated me to take a look at my top posts and ask this question: Why do people come and read this blog.
Looking at the stats is a little telling. The number one post here on the blog is "A Summary of the Lakeland Revival." Undoubtedly, this blog post came out during the final months of the Lakeland Revival when controversy was beginning to swirl and so many came looking for information about what had happened. But I also think it speaks of the desire in the body of Christ to truly experience the power of Christ not only in our own lives but in the lives of the lost and dying. This post is significant because you come here believing God desires to pour out his Spirit in a dramatic way that awakens the nations.
The next most popular blog (which is really shocking to me) is called "Mark Driscoll Kicks Terry Virgo’s Butt." This blog recaps Mark Driscoll’s visit to New Frontiers and points you to the blog posts of both Mark and Terry. I’ve been totally shocked by how many times this page has been viewed. What is even more shocking to me is the fact that about half the traffic comes looking for information on Driscoll and half comes looking for information on Virgo. What’s driving those hits, I believe, is a sincere desire to experience and understand true apostolic leadership. Both of these men represent significant movements of believers around the world struggling for the truth of the Gospel to be presented to a lost and dying world. I believe some of you come because you’re hungry for the kind of Christianity where apostolic leadership is welcomed and encouraged.
"While We Slept" and "Wolfgang Opens A Webshop" are two other high ranking posts that feature Mercy and Wolfgang Simson. The content of these posts announce Mercy and Wolf each opening up a presence on the internet. I believe that these posts are visited frequently for the same reason that "Mark Driscoll Kicks Terry Virgo’s Butt" gets traffic. However, Mercy and Wolf represent something different as well. Mercy definitely has a prophetic anointing resting on her life. Wolfgang is definitely an apostolic leader in the body of Christ. But both of them also represent the growing house church movement that is developing all over the world. I’ve never discussed the house church movement in a very structured way but this blog definitely has become a place to discuss the shift going on in many peoples’ hearts to a more relational form of Christianity that meets in homes. I believe some of you come here to catch a glimpse of this transition that is taking place across the world.
Another post that gets some pretty significant attention on this blog always seems to be "Red Moon Rising Quote #2." This blog is a quote that came straight from the book "Red Moon Rising," which chronicles the birth of a prayer movement in Europe that challenges young adults to live lives of extravagant devotion to Jesus in the context of prayer and service. I know people come to this post because of the quote, but I believe that throughout the body of Christ there is a hunger to live lives of deep prayer and consecration to Jesus. I believe you come to the blog because you know that the move of God that is coming will be supported by a revolution in prayer, both individually and corporately.
Finally, Stuff I’m Reading has always been a significant page on this blog. This blog is significant in a way that is different from all the other posts. This page is all about me and what material God is using to grow and mature me. And in a way, I think this page is popular for the same reason that posts like "I Win (And Proof That I’m Not A Bad Sport)" and "Because She’s My Valentine" remain popular on the blog. If I can say this without being self-centered, I think a lot of you come here to stay caught up with me. This to a large degree was and is still the purpose of the blog. As I’ve slowly moved over to Facebook and Twitter, a lot of that personal "what are you doing" sort of content has slipped out of the posts here. However, in my attempt to focus in more on the blog again, look to see more of this as we go on. I’ll explain that later.
So this blog has a lot of people showing up for different reasons. But I believe that God is going to raise up a move of the Holy Spirit marked by radical signs and wonders, lead by seasoned apostolic men, who are extending the Kingdom through prayer, evangelism, and house church planting. I call it “this thing,” and if you’re interested in seeing where it goes, stick around. We’re in for a fun ride.
Cluster Map
Pursuing Glory 