Endure to Elevation

Friday, February 12, 2016 I heard…“So many are in the elevation process and don’t even know it.”

Flickr/Markus T Berger

Then I heard…“Endure the process, endure the pruning, endure the sifting, the stirring, the shaking.”

God doesn’t want us to be caught unaware and essentially unprepared. For this cause He gives us unlimited personal access to Himself entitling us to His secrets…

“Everything that is hidden will be made clear. Every secret thing will be made known. You people who hear me, listen! Think carefully about what you are hearing. God will know how much to give you by how much you understand now. But he will give you more than you deserve. The people who have some understanding will receive more. But those who do not have much will lose even the small amount they have.”

Mark 4:22-25 Easy-to-Read Version

Moses brought Israel out of Egypt & to the edge of the Promised Land. Joshua, his successor, brought the 12 tribes into their promise and appropriated to each their own land, where they operated under individual tribal confederations. After Joshua died their behavior warranted God raising up judges to save them and steer them in the right direction.

Samuel was instrumental in the transition of the entire nation’s government. Samuel was both the first great prophet of the nation of Israel and her last judge. He took the 12 groups and made them one, creating a monarchy and ushering them into the age of kings.

Flickr/Mic Cal

When Samuel retired as judge over Israel the people weren’t satisfied. They wanted to be like the other nations they’d seen…they wanted a king.

So the elders asked for a king to lead them. Samuel thought this was a bad idea, so he prayed to the Lord. The Lord told Samuel, “Do what the people tell you. They have not rejected you. They have rejected me. They don’t want me to be their king.

1 Samuel 8:6-7 Easy-to-Read Version

When this happened Samuel didn’t understand why and felt rejected, but this rejection masked the cusp of transition he was in. Transition can sometimes be masked in Rejection and not understanding why seems to make it worst, but as God reassured Samuel all was well then, He wants us to know all is well now.

Flickr/Kristina Alexanderson

After considering the “rejection” Samuel felt, God lead me to Israel’s first king, Saul. Saul’s heart wasn’t pure, he was more concerned with his “appearance” versus what God thought.

Flickr/Minivan1411

The Philistines had just been in a brutal onslaught at the hands of the king’s son Jonathan, but my how the tables had turned and quickly. They increased their forces and stood waiting to ensue merciless vengeance on Israel. The sheer presence of the Philistines caused Israel to scatter and quake with trepidation. Israel’s first king stood crippled along side her. Saul was losing face in front of his troops at a stippling rate 📉📉📉…many had already hidden and continued to slip away (1 Samuel 13:6-7). He grew increasingly anxious waiting for Samuel to arrive.

Samuel was a prophet-priest and able to make sacrifices. As Saul continued to crumble he made the crass decision perform a sacrifice himself. This went against the intructions of Samuel and law of God (1 Samuel 13:7b-14, Deuteronomy 12:5-14, 1 Samuel 10:8)‼️

He couldn’t accept the rejection of man…

Samuel asked, “What have you done?” Saul answered, “I saw the soldiers leaving me. You were not here on time, and the Philistines were gathering at Micmash. I thought to myself, ‘The Philistines will come here and attack me at Gilgal, and I haven’t asked the Lord to help us yet.’ So I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.”

1 Samuel 13:11-12 Easy-to-Read Version

Pressure Reveals Our Spiritual Character.

This was the first of many cracks in Saul’s foundation, revealing his spiritual aptitude and the content of His heart.

Flickr/Jordan Anderson

Still this isn’t where it ends for us. God lead me to consider His acceptance of David. See God desired someone to rule His people that longed to make Him happy. David was that one.

When Samuel went to anoint David as the new king he overlooked him, because he was “rejected.” How? David didn’t look like a king, he was an adolescent and quite comely in appearance. Yet God peeped into His heart…flaws and all…and saw David’s love for Him (1 Samuel 16:1-13).

Heart Matters Take You ⬆️or⬇️.

David was chosen to be king based on the contents of his heart, while Saul was demoted and destroyed by his. ❤️💔❤️💔❤️ When I saw this I immediately sensed that God is trying to get to our hearts or deal with our hearts – our wellsprings of life (Proverbs 4:23).

Flickr/Chinatownkicks

Our hearts need to continually be cleansed and purified. Without this we have no chance of seeing God in this life or the one after (Matthew 5:8). Without this we have no chance of experiencing all He desires to give. Without this we’ll miss His timing, our transitions and potentially our contributions to such a great demonstration of His Sovereignty in the earth!

Quick Dream.

Back on December 3rd I dreamed I was in a beautiful hotel for some event, there I met a friend and someone I didn’t know. Immediately I was drawn to this stranger so we all started hanging out together. We jumped on an elevator to find lodging, when someone suggested we go down and I quickly agreed 🤔🙄😧, with a howling screech the elevator went down. Upon arrival in the basement the elevator’s walls became transparent revealing a room full of pills of different shapes and sizes 💊💊💊. Someone in all white was sweeping them off a platform and walked over saying authoritatively, yet lovingly “I’m going to push the button, okay?” I had such a horrible feeling about being there that although I didn’t respond I was extremely relieved 🙌🙌🙌. God never intended for me to go down and this was evident in the peace I felt going up. I arrived upstairs where men and women of God waited, along with a loving man that seemed like a father or the Father. This is where God wanted me to be, but the matters of my heart, evidenced by what I followed almost caused me to miss the opportunity to transition and for elevation.

What’s endurance? It’s stamina. How do you build stamina? Through exercise. This indicates you must be trained and taught. Who better to teach you than the Holy Spirit through experience.

Rejection causes DEATH 💀💀💀(figuratively)

TO YOURSELF

Your W I L L and D E S I R E S must die so that you may truly experience life. When we love our lives we lose them and when we give them up for Christ we find the one of a kind life He’s creating for us right before our very eyes! 👀 HOW EXCITING⁉️ Letting go of what you “think” you want allows God’s heart, mind and will to live through you.

TO MAN

Lecrae says when we live for people’s acceptance we die from their rejection. This is a trap, ask Saul who melted under the pressure of people “leaving” him. His inability to resolve this underlying issue caused him to ultimately be rejected by God (1 Samuel 15:22-23). God desires to make us immune to the rejection of others, often that happens by exposure.

Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the Lord means safety.

Proverbs 29:25 New Living Translation

Let God acceptance’s of you counter every attack of rejection (Psalm 27:10). David also dealt with rejection and had failures. He developed an immunity to it by accepting God’s affection. He overcame and you too will overcome!
Admit when the rejection bothers you! Confess it to God and/or someone you trust. You have emotions and it’s natural to feel them, just don’t be overtaken by them. Look beyond what it feels like knowing God is pushing something out of you and perfecting something great in you (Psalm 119:71).
Consider it a privilege to share in what Christ experienced. When you suffer with Him you’ll experience victory with Him (2 Timothy 2:12)‼️ Hearing all good reports can actually can set us up for failure, not to mention make us people pleasers over God pleasers. In the Christ life, BE GLAD when you are rejected and endure hardships with a PURE HEART before Him‼️ (Luke 6:22-23;26, 1 Peter 2:19)

So don’t give up, don’t become overwhelmed…