Driving to the Kia dealership, Hebrews 11 and giving a book away.... Just any old morning of mine

So there weren't as many hits on the ole snooze button this morning.  Awaking to a morning that is the beginning of a very full day, I got up with purpose and thought through the few things I was going to do in order to help Jim with getting the kids off to school.  Clothes, hair, teeth.. etc etc etc.. Then throwing my jeans on and shooting my straightener through my bangs I grabbed my purse and backpack and headed for the door.


As I was leaving the house I saw the box to my right that has a bunch of extra copies of this book that my pastor wrote and I felt the Lord tell me to grab one.  I thought again for the second time in the course of a few days, "oh that's just me of course I would always think that someone could use a copy."  I wrote within another blog post ( http://walkingthepassage.blogspot.com/2013/05/ill-spare-you-details.html )  recently how I teach people to go with that first thought. To not dismiss it but to walk with it and I wrote about the four questions that are a good idea to ask instead of assuming it is "just me."

The four questions:


1)  What am I seeing or hearing or sensing

2)  Is it good or bad.. (talking source here.. is it Heavenly or not)  I can write more about this in another post.

3) Why am I seeing or hearing or sensing this?  What is my role?

4) How do I participate in this moment?


But I digress...  So I got to the driver's seat and it was then that I opened the door and got out and went and got a copy.. Why?  You might ask..  Well, because I felt the Father say (and I know Him well enough to know that this would be true) That if I didn't go and get another copy of the book I would be giving away my copy which has my pastor's signature alongside a note he wrote.


As I drove to the dealership passages of scripture from Hebrews 11 filled my heart and I smiled.


I entered into the waiting room but had forgotten the book in the car.  Again I sat down.  The Lord had me look at the other woman in the waiting room and said, she will be the recipient of your copy if you don't go get it out of the car right now.  It was full of His love but also pushed my butt once again out of the seat.


Reaching for my car door before the technician  could bring it back into the garage.. I felt His smile. I trusted that which He was saying.  I could feel the importance that this was to Him.  It was not at all about me.. it was about this woman.  His love for her... His knowledge of her and where she is at and how He wanted to love on her in this moment.  I felt His smile and I was warmed by His affection.


I sat there now with book in hand. Thinking through how to approach this.. when He shared how she was going to be getting up soon and that I needed to give it to her...  indeed her name was called... she walked past me and before she could get out of the door I said, "ma'am I don't know how you are going to feel about this, but I honestly felt like I was supposed to bring this book to the car dealership today.  I walked in and saw you and knew it was for you.  Can I give it to you?"


She reached for the book and looked at me as tears filled her eyes.  She spoke words of gratitude as I explained that it was an amazing book written by my pastor and that in very real and natural and down to earth ways it speaks so eloquently on the heart beat of God.  The book if you are wondering is called, Prototype, written by Jonathan Martin.


I watched her leave and I was grateful that she wasn't leaving with my copy :)  oh how easily it could have been.  Trying to learn more and more to always listen to that which He expresses as the flow of His heart.


So I leaned back and then knew I was to read Hebrews 11.  The verses that had filled my heart earlier on in the morning and the book itself...


I have been seeking the Lord to grow my faith .. these are some of the questions I have put before Him...

What does it mean to have faith that moves mountains?

What is the faith that Jesus wonders if it will be upon the face of the earth when the son of man returns?

What does it mean to have child like faith?

What is the faith of the Centurion?

How does Thomas fit in?

How do these things play out in our lives?  How in very real and practical ways do they play out in our lives?

I had read Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.


But as I took my bible in my hands and looked to the entirety of that chapter I would begin to fight back tears as my whole being was filled by the reality of that which I knew He had been instructing me on for months.

His question became what is your confession?


The answer found in Hebrews 11:13-16.

All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out,they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. ThereforeGod is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.


And I was reduced... Because to have the living God.. the Creator of all things.. to have the assurance that He is NOT ASHAMED to be called my God!  It UNDID me!!!


I have been thinking about the nature and character of things; the nature and character of the Lord, of the world, of our enemy.  I have been laying a hold of my Father and trusting that He is who He says He is and letting that be that... pushing aside all hindrances and just trusting and believing not because situations and circumstances were any different but because He is that He is that He is and that is enough for me...


I have taught about how my citizenship is not of this world per se but of another place and it is upon us to know and partake of that other place.  Reading this verse I say my own declaration.


I am called to live in the world.. I am called to be what I am called to be all the days I walk upon this earth.. But this earth and its ways are not my Father's ways and I am a stranger and an exile upon the earth.... 


My beautiful church in Charlotte, NC, Renovatus, has given me a vision statement called the Renovatus Manifesto that is amazing and full of life and as I think upon this morning, I smile.. I smile and think of the print that Jake Page created for some of us of parachutes coming down into Charlotte... We are a people who aren't looking to escape the world:  We are not looking to escape the world, but to re-make it. We believe the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it. We anticipate His kingdom coming and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven. We will not be done re-making the world until the final restoration of creation. (Matthew 6.10, Romans 8.19-23)

I'm not looking to escape the world.. rather I AM THOROUGHLY enjoying living in it as His daughter... What a fabulous life I get to live... amidst all that comes my way.. no matter what I am His and He is my God and He is not ashamed to be that.. and that makes me oh sooooo very glad.

Oh so hey this is the Manifesto Renovatus follows.. it is so incredible.. You can purchase Prototype at bookstores, on Amazon... etc... and hey buy two copies at least so that you can give one away:)  Believe me it won't be the only one you give away...

We are a people under renovation. We are in an ongoing process of growth, change and development. We will own up to where we are, but we won’t stay here. (2 Corinthians 4.16)

We are a community of liars, dreamers and misfits. We are a house of mercy. We will advocate for broken and marginalized people everywhere, inside and outside the Church. (I Samuel 22.1-2, Matthew 9.10-13)

We are people from the future. We act in fearless conviction that the rules have changed and that we are partnering with God to make that change visible. We will not be reactionary to anything or anyone, because the apocalyptic event of resurrection has already transformed the world. (Matthew 27.45-54)

We ARE your grandmother’s church. And your great-grandmother’s church. And your great-great-grandmother’s church. We embrace continuity with the Church’s past. We seek intergenerational and cultural diversity. We will harness the classic spiritual practices and truths that transcend time and place. We are a local representation of a timeless community. (2 Timothy 1.5)

We will practice the liturgy and the primal shout. We will incite worship that engages both intellect and emotion, believing that the head and heart are to be integrated and not divorced. (Joshua 6.10, 15-16)

We will build altars in the world. We will collect and tell stories. We will celebrate and honor the people, places and things that God chooses to use.(Genesis 28.10-22)

We will reach out without dumbing down. We will challenge you to think hard about God, Church and culture. We will not treat you like a consumer, but as a co-conspirator in the re-imagining of the world. (Mark 12.30)

We will embrace flesh and blood. We believe life in the Spirit has to be lived in a body. We celebrate the Eucharist as the full expression of God’s use of flesh to accomplish His purposes. Our own bodies are now broken with His for the sake of the world. (John 1.14)

We are not looking to escape the world, but to re-make it. We believe the earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it. We anticipate His kingdom coming and His will being done on earth as it is in heaven. We will not be done re-making the world until the final restoration of creation. (Matthew 6.10, Romans 8.19-23)