God wants to make you unrecognizable. He wants to transform you from the inside out to the point where the people who are familiar with you will no longer recognize you. He wants to transform your mind and thinking. He wants to sharpen your spiritual gifts and natural gifts. He wants to bless you tremendously and raise you up to a higher position of authority. He wants to do all these things through you. However, you must let him...
As the year is coming to an end, many people are writing their goals for next year. Many people, in good faith, make plans to improve their lives. However, many fail at changing. Why? Because they are trying to do the work with their own power. Don't get me wrong. There are things you can do and should do that God already gave you the power and instruction to do. However, those internal changes (character changes) need God's power. You're asking for God to make you more like Him. You're asking for God to mature you. You're asking for God to make you more productive. You're asking for God to give you a heart and mind like Him. You're asking God to make you more business-minded. You're asking for God to make you less fearful, etc. And guess what! He is. He is doing all those things for you. However, a lot of times we slow down His process when we try to play God and rush the process by interfering with the work He's doing in us.
Philippians 1:6 says, "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ."
I've quoted that scripture many times throughout my life. However, God gave me a fresh revelation on it the other day. The other day, I found myself frustrated. I was working hard on the things God called me to do and was thinking about how I lacked certain skills to do those things. I became weary and frustrated like how am I going to run these businesses--how am I going to become influential--how are people going to read and purchase my stuff--what do I need to study--what courses should I take or books should I read--I was asking question after question frustrating myself, then God dropped a bomb on me. He said HE who began a good work in you shall complete it until the day of Christ. He asked me, "Did that scripture say you were the one who was going to complete it?" I said no. God is the one who began the work in you, so let God finish it. Let God guide you. God didn't give you a glimpse of your future and the things you're called to do to stress you out. He shared it with you to show you the path He's taking you on to give you hope. Trust Him to order your steps. You will run yourself ragged trying to do everything in your power.
God gave me this word a few weeks: Take your hand out of it and let me handle it. He then gave me an illustration of a parent with his/her child. Let's say the parent is making holiday cookies with the child. I envision the parent with a bowl, stirring the batter and the child either sitting on the counter or in a tall chair by the counter watching and helping with little, small assignments along the way. However, the child isn't satisfied watching the parent stir and demonstrate. The child wants to do more than little tasks. The child wants to takeover, and, therefore, keeps sticking his/her hand inside the bowl, which interferes with the parent's work, and, therefore, slows down the process. The parent has to keep stopping to correct the child. The constant stopping slows down the process, and the task ends up taking longer than it initially was supposed to take because the child kept dipping his/her hand into the bowl.
You are slowing God down by putting your hands in the situation.
There are some situations that require you to sit back and let God do the work in you. You may ask, how can I change if I'm not doing things to change? Good question. It goes back to my first blog post--go to the mountain. All God needs is for you to go to the mountain. Lay down your will--lay down those sins and things that easily beset you--lay it all out at the mountain. The mountain is that secret place of prayer. God wants you in His presence. In His presence is where transformation takes place. Remember, Moses came down from the mountain glowing after seeking God for 40 days and 40 nights on that mountain. Also, the transfiguration with Jesus took place on the mountain. Transformation happens on the mountain--in prayer--I mean deep, intimate prayer--not those quick, rushed, rehearsed prayers you may say every morning or every night before bed. I am talking about those prayers where you worship God, you seek His face, you sit in His presence, and listen to all He has to say--where you come for no other reason than intimacy with Him.
Your only job this season is to go to the mountain. Make it your goal and mission to be in His presence. That is where you will come back down unrecognizable.
Does that mean sit down and do nothing all day other than pray? No. Don't neglect your responsibilities. And God may even tell you while you are in His presence what tasks you should be working on for that day. If you're starting a business, He will tell you each day what you should do or focus on. Work on those things diligently. The key is to seek Him for guidance.
We end up burning ourselves out by trying to operate in our own strength. And that's why so many of us don't see anything come into fruition. We work so hard for about a week or two and then fall off. We haven't spent time in His presence, allowing Him to change us. We haven't taken time to listen for instructions. We are just making aimless moves, wearing ourselves out, and that is how we grow weary, tired, and eventually bitter. Then, we get mad at God, but God is like I didn't tell you to do all of that. If you had been in my presence you would have known that.
I sit back and think about all the time I wasted pursuing things that God didn't even tell me to do--growing weary from things and people that weren't my assignment. If it's draining you, ask God these two things:
Is this my assignment?
If so, what steps do you want me to take? (Ask this daily)
God didn't intend for the assignment He has for you to wear you out. He gives you the grace to do it. However, we must come to Him daily for instruction. We must get to the point in our lives where we don't want to make any decision without Him. We must get to the point where we crave His presence, not just for things and instruction, but just because He is God, and we're so in love with Him. That's the key to transformation. While everyone is stocking up on self-help books and manuals to perfect themselves and their assignments, make it your goal to spend more time in His presence--daily.
Do you remember how God provided for the Israelites while in the wilderness? Remember, he rained manna (a bread like substance) from heaven daily. He gave them instructions not to store up the manna but to, instead, take what they needed for that day. This is an illustration of what God wants for His people. God wants us to depend on Him daily. God wants us to come to Him daily. That's why the Lord's prayer says, "Give us this day our daily bread." It's a daily pursuit. Never get too big-headed that you feel like you don't need God daily. We tend to do that. We tend to be in His presence strong for a day or two and then feel like we stored enough and don't need to go back to His presence for a while until we run out and then we run back. God doesn't like that or want that. He wants us in His presence daily--but not out of duty. God wants us to the point where we know we cannot go a day without being in His presence. That's the point where I'm at now. But how did I get to this point?
Have I always craved God's presence daily? No. In fact, prior to November of this year, I didn't seek Him daily. I would have some amazing days in His presence and then ignore Him for a week or so. It wasn't consistent. Why not? Because I didn't have the urgency and knowledge to understand how important and necessary His presence is. Yes--I knew it in my head--but I didn't know it in my heart. There's a difference. When you know something in your head, you can say it and share it with others but not live it. You know when you believe something in your heart by your actions. When it's in your heart, you act on it. Well, how do we get it in our heart? Being in His presence. Wait. You mean to tell me, Sis, that in order to crave God's presence daily, I have to be in His presence daily. How does that work?
Look sometimes you have to push yourself in the beginning. Sometimes it's a sacrifice to be in His presence, but once you're there, and you see how much it changes you, and you see how much it gives you, you don't ever want to escape it. Sometimes it takes you being desperate. That's why God sometimes allows hardships in our lives. Hardships push us in His presence. Sometimes God gives you a little provision each day so that you can come back to Him the next day for more. God wants us that bad that He will give you little by little just to have some time with you. He won't bless you with overflow until He trusts that you will continue to seek Him afterwards. Don't be fooled. God knows our hearts. He knows whether or not we will continue to seek Him after He blesses us. You can say what you want with your mouth, but God searches the heart. God has to trust you before He will bless you with more. This is why so many anointed and blessed people fall hard. At one point of their lives, they sought God daily. Then God blessed them with so much money, power, wisdom,and influence. Then, they started slacking in their prayer life. Before you know it, they no longer sought God because they felt like they already had it all. Then, they fell. It's not that God makes them fall. They fall by their own pride. Because they weren't in the presence of God, they didn't get the daily instruction. They didn't get the insight about that bad business deal. They didn't get the insight that that person was sent by Satan to destroy them. They didn't get that direction to invest. They invested in the wrong thing and lost it all. All of that could have been avoided had they continued to seek God--had their heart been in the right place.
This season, God is only blessing those who have a heart for Him--who are in His presence daily.
Those are people God is using in this season. We are in the last days; therefore, God needs vessels that He can trust. We are coming into the days of Noah. We are coming into the evil day. We are coming into the days of anti-Christ. God isn't using wishy-washy Christians right now. He needs true sons and daughters that He can trust, who are willing to lay everything down for Him, who know they need to be in His presence daily, who know not to make decisions without praying first, who know the word and study it and live it. He has called many of you out of darkness and into His presence. Some of you don't know why you've been so compelled to fast and pray lately. This is why. You are the chosen. You are the called. He is going to use you in these last days for a great work. But you have to be consistently in His presence. There are no off days in His presence because the devil takes no off days. If we are going to truly operate in the power God has given us--the power of the Holy Spirit--then we must take no days off from His presence.
That is the key to survival in this season, but not just survival--it's the key to power, authority, influence, financial blessings--it's the key to the kingdom.
You may be saying God, change me. God, make me desire your presence. God, help me to crave you again. God, change my heart. Take out any unpure motives. God, more of you and less of me. He hears you. That's why you stumbled across this post. God says that He will transform you and make you unrecognizable. The people who are used to you being lukewarm, who are used to you cussin' and getting drunk, who are used to you being broke and struggling, who are used to you being timid and fearful will be in for a surprise. Go to the mountain, seek God's face daily, let Him transform you from the inside out, let Him speak to you and give you instruction, work on those things He tells you to work on (and nothing more), let go of those things and people He tells you to let go of, and watch the transformation take place. You will shock yourself, and it will happen faster than you could have made it happen in your own power. You're going to know it was God who changed you, not you or your self-help practices. It was God!
Now go ahead and go in His presence...
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