Thursday, June 16, 2016

Love For Suffering

So, tonight a friend was talking to me about the Lord just teaching him His suffering. And like most of us, he wasn't all that stoked about it. When out of my mouth came the following, "I love suffering! If it wasn't for the suffering I have experienced I wouldn't be where I am right now."

I went on to recount how one thing happened right after another. Having everything I had, everything I had worked for be taken from me or collapse. Friends, family, ministry turning their backs on me or just being gone. Keep in mind I'm not playing the victim, I'm by far not perfect, just laying down the perspective of where I was at. I had come to Nashville on a crazy trip of glory and miracles and everything I had built, almost every relationship I had made, gone. In a couple of months.

I had come to this city with prophetic words of grandeur and the more I believed what God had spoken, the more I seemed to lose. I was at what seemed to be the end of my rope. I lost everything and almost everyone leaving me with a 1 hour walk in the morning to the bus stop, followed by a 2 hour ride to work, to work 8 hours making cold calls trying to sell stuff, just to take the same return trip home. That was my life for a few months. Having just enough to get by.

So, I learned perseverece. I refused to quit. Most mornings I would walk and pray in tongues or thank God for the words he had spoken over my life. I'd would listen to worship and do the best I could to change the atmosphere over my life. And about a year later, my life has completely changed. I have a new job, I've been in the top 5 enterprise wide at my job for a couple months in a row now. (We have over 1500 callers that I'm ranked with.) I have several business opportunities I'm working on. I wake up alive and full each day letting heaven flow out of me into others. My life has completely changed.

So yes, I love suffering. Or maybe better yet, I love the fruits of suffering. Everything is just a perspective away. Change your perspective. Change your life.

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Worshipping in the Storm

I'm chilling here tonight listening to an old recording of a meeting I went to a little over a year ago. That day I had just stood up for some friends and it cost me and them greatly. I didn't handle the situation perfectly but we were definitely thrown under the bus in the whole ordeal.

I'm amazed at our response. It's exactly what you'd hope it would be in the face of such pain and opposition. We worshipped. We blessed those who cursed us and chose instead of focusing on our pain and the injustice pointed our direction to fix our eyes on heaven. We chose to see the goodness of God and live in that reality regardless of our circumstances. I'm listening to us sing these songs and we didn't worship to change anything. We didn't sing to try to hype ourselves up. We sang knowing there was more for us on the other side. We sang because we knew we had a great and glorious advocate and vindicator and didn't have to make our case before men.

Looking back it was such an incredible, albeit, intense day. Heaven is only a perspective away. It's here and present constantly. It's there to step into and expereince. Does that mean things will always be easy or perfect? Haha. Heck no! Just means that no matter what happens, we have access to the goodness of heaven. And no matter what hell, no matter what tears, no matter the pain, God is still good and is ready for us to let him in and invade our day, whether it be good or bad, and make it better.

Thanks to the friends who are faithful. Thanks to the family who never quits. Who maybe loses touch but in a crisis would be the first ones there. To help in anyway possible. In word or in deed. You know who you are.

To everyone reading, wealth isn't measured by the number in your bank account or the worth of your assets. It's measured in the quality of friends and family you have. People are the only eternal currency. Invest much. Invest often. You will die full and happy when your time comes.

Sunday, June 12, 2016

A Weekend to Remember

So, I posted a video on Facebook Friday morning talking about this weekend being something special. I ended up sending messages to several friends on top of that as well. I was beyond excited. Well, it didn't take long for things to surpass my expectations. I get to work that morning and find an email asking me to start the interview process for a promotion i was pursuing. Awesome. Then that night I got to chill by the fire at a friends birthday party all evening. Now for anyone who knows me, you know i ADORE fire. Just something about the flames that mesmerize me. I don't know. And before you throw out the term "arsonist" I'll have you know I much prefer Pyromaniac. It has a much better ring to it. Haha.

Anyways, back to the crazy goodness of the weekend. I get directed that night, or maybe it was the night before to some training videos that really helped unlock some things in me heading me towards my destiny. Yes. Even more stoked. Roll to Saturday night. I head to a meeting at a friends house and get to encounter heaven like I haven't encountered heaven in a very long time. The presence was so strong I dropped to the floor on more than one occasion. I was refreshing to be so overcome by the love and presence of God again. It had been sorely missed.

Today I wake up to take care of a couple things and go pick up my brother and get new phones for the both of us. Which, another huge blessing since both of our phones were starting to fritz out on us. Yes! Just keeps getting better. I head to church after a quick lunch and afternoon backing up and restoring information to and from our phones. Because I was tired, I almost didn't go. But, once again, the presence of God was so great during worship i almost lost it again several times. It was wonderful.

I sit down after the music is finished and I get caught into a vision or a trance whatever you want to call it. I encountered heaven in a way I never had before. I played out several scenes and saw them so intimately. I didn't just witness it, i experienced it. I was there. I come out of it and am so compelled to write down what I just saw. I get out my phone and am frantically typing the encounter I just had for the whole time the pastor was speaking. Music starts back up again and as i'm putting my phone in my pocket, I look up to see the band prophetically singing this song:

"You write a beautiful story
 You write a beautiful story
 Beginning to ending
 And in-between"

I literally just got a download of scenes to a book God's giving me and he confirms it with the song he's having the band sing. Wow! Incredible how God works through his people doing the same thing through many who aren't communicating with each other but only with Him.

Believe it or not, that wouldn't be all that happened this weekend. I get home from church and bug my roommate to come hang by the pool with me. As we're sitting talking by the pool, we come up with a business idea that's just super exciting and that I'll be sharing more about in the future.

I share all of this to say that God speaks. Here is proof that he does. Well, proof to me at least. He told me to expect this weekend would be off the chain with surprises and that a shift would happen. I didn't know if it would be just in the spirit or if stuff would happen right away in the natural. I know this weekend's events were not just for me. I would love to hear your stories of what God did for you over the last weekend and what things shifted in your life. I'm excited to hear all the good reports of God unlocking your identity and destiny!