Book Release: In His House

I love the Church, and I love church. What I mean by that is I have great affection for both the people known as the Body of Christ as well as the local places where these people meet each week. My own life has been greatly impacted by being part of the Church and attending church. And I have witnessed some of the most beautiful relationships and spiritual growth among the Church as they do church. That’s why the message of this book is so very close to my heart. 

The Father’s house is the place where we come together as a body of believers to worship, pray, and fellowship. In His house is where we get to do family and discover life as the Father intended it to be. In fact, it’s the place He designed for us to flourish and thrive.

I first published the message of In His House: Plant Your Life Where God Designed It to Thrive, my most recent release, back in the spring of 2019 under the title Flourish. There were a few things that happened all within a few months of its publication that negatively impacted the release of that book. The thought of the message not getting its best opportunity for dissemination tugged on my heart as I felt a strong burden from the Lord to rightly steward the message. So, when given the opportunity to release the message of the book under a different title and then include questions for personal or small group study, I just couldn’t pass it up.  

It’s my hope that you will give yourself not only to the reading of this book, but that you would also plant yourself in the very rich soil of the Father’s house. My heart’s desire is that you would be like the tree of Psalm 1, planted by  “streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither” (v. 3). Accordingly, may all you do prosper as you flourish and thrive in His house.

–excerpt from In His House

The Day the Revolution Began

One of the most compelling texts that speaks to the heart of the Church’s mission is the book of Acts. Each time I delve into its pages, I feel a rekindled passion ignited within me—a fire that is essential for every believer. I have discovered that reading the book of Acts monthly is not merely beneficial but imperative for maintaining alignment with my divine calling.

If I were to lay out for you a blueprint and say, “Here’s how to spark a revolution,” it would not be Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto. It wouldn’t even be The Federalist Papers. It would be the book of Acts. The book of Acts depicts how heaven—how the power of the Kingdom of God—invaded earth. 

120 people were gathered in the Upper Room in Jerusalem that day when the Holy Spirit appeared as tongues of fire, resting upon them, and they all began “to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts 2:4 ESV). This was the start of the revolution. As Jesus had told them, this enduement of power would make them witnesses of the power of life in Christ Jesus, starting first there in Jerusalem and then onward into all the world (see Acts 1:4–8 ESV).

A Blueprint for Revival

The book of Acts is not just an historical account; it is a blueprint for revival. In a world teeming with chaos, this text stands out as a testament to how a small group of ordinary individuals transformed an empire through the extraordinary power of the Holy Spirit. It chronicles how the early Church, under relentless persecution and against all odds, turned the world upside down—everything from local communities to entire nations experienced radical transformation.

Let’s be clear: This isn’t merely a story from the past. This is a living example of how God’s will can manifest through faithful followers. Each chapter stands as a challenge to demonstrate what is possible when hearts are ignited and minds are steadfast in purpose. Here we stand, roughly 2,000 years later, with a staggering 1.6 billion believers—an unmistakable revolution sparked by the Acts of the Apostles, which serves as the bedrock for our faith today.

The extraordinary outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the uprising of the Church in Acts set precedents for us as followers of Jesus Christ. These lessons are invaluable, equipping us to embrace our roles as transformational agents in our communities. If we truly desire to shine His light amid the darkness, we must remember the foundation set forth in the book of Acts. It’s fasting and prayer. It’s waiting for the power and the Presence of the Holy Spirit to equip us. It’s declaring the wonders and greatness of Godto a lost and dying world.

Let us fervently hold onto that fire. I need it. You need. And the world needs it!

Return to Your First Priority

Jesus entrusted His Church with a singular, paramount mission: the Great Commission. This is not merely a suggestion or an optional task; it is our core calling as followers of Christ. If you identify as a disciple of Jesus, know that this Great Commission is your duty. It isn’t just one among many—it’s the only commission that matters. 

The Great Commission

In the last chapter of Matthew, Jesus said to His eleven disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19–20 ESV). While Jesus delivered this profound directive with four distinct components, it remains one unified mandate.

Regrettably, recent studies reveal a troubling trend: Over the past two decades, the Western church has drifted from this essential priority. We have become preoccupied with secondary matters and have, in many ways, reformulated Christianity into a self-improvement initiative. Instead of embracing Jesus as our Savior and the gospel as our means of salvation, we have relegated Him to the role of a life coach or a motivational speaker and the gospel to a self-help message. 

The alarming truth is that if you were to pose the questions to six out of ten Christians in America today—“What is the Great Commission? What should be the foremost priority of Jesus’ Church?”—the majority would struggle to respond. This is troubling, especially considering that this mission encapsulates the ultimate directive Jesus imparted to us. Yet, despite its clear significance, we’ve allowed our commission to fade into the background as we focus on lesser priorities.

We must urgently return to the one mission that Christ implored us to embrace. When Jesus returns, He will not inquire about our behavior modification plans or our self-improvement efforts. Instead, He will ask these vital questions: “How did you employ the time, talents, resources, and opportunities I granted you? Did you leverage them to reach the lost?”

Winning Souls

Proverbs 11:30 (NKJV) tells us that the person “who wins souls is wise.” Right now, at the start of the new year of 2025, it’s time for us to recalibrate our hearts around this first priority of winning souls, for it sits squarely in the heart of God.

Unmistakably, the singular passion of God is people. Jesus did not come to earth to establish a temporary institution; His mission was to seek and save souls—real individuals like you, me, and those across the globe whom we may never even personally encounter. He laid down His life not just for a select few, but for the entire human race—people from Africa, Europe, Asia, etc. We must grasp the immense value placed on every individual through this unparalleled gift.

Such a sacrifice—God’s only begotten Son—indicates a love so profound that it cannot be dismissed or ignored. This reality compels us to love others and dedicate our lives to the very mission that God cherishes. Yet, in honesty, we must confront our tendency to become complacent, even calloused, toward the staggering reality of lostness in our world. Many have never encountered the name of Jesus or received a clear presentation of the gospel.

We must scrutinize why God has placed each of us in this particular time, culture, and geography. We are positioned here, right now, because there are multitudes who have yet to embrace Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This task calls for our commitment to the Great Commission—an urgent mandate on God’s heart.

People are desperate for healing, for good news in a world rife with despair, and for freedom from bondage. They need spiritual sight to grasp the profound truths of the gospel. Let us return to this our first calling—to the Great Commission—being fully aware of the weight of our responsibility. It is incumbent upon us to step into our roles as ambassadors of Christ, bringing light to those in darkness, hope to the hopeless, and the transformative power of the gospel to every corner of our society. The time for complacency has passed. Now is the moment to act decisively and intentionally for the sake of those who have yet to hear. The task is monumental, but so is our purpose. We must go into all the world, disciple nations, baptize them, and teach them to be and do everything Jesus commanded.

Christmas Is About Beholding

Christmas is still recognized in our culture. Many households throughout America will have some form of celebration this month. But what’s ironic is, even though we Christians are celebrating the birth of our Savior, we may not be seeing Him accurately or may not be seeing Him at all during this season. With all the shopping, merrymaking, and hubbub around Christmastime, we can miss what the holiday is all about. You see, Christmas is God’s invitation to us to come and behold Him. Undistracted by all the trappings that come at this time of year, He wants us to see Him. Uncluttered by all the things we, our culture, and our society have put on Jesus, He wants us to see Him as He truly is.

It’s interesting to hear people talk about Christmas. They say things like, “Sure, we celebrate Christmas, but we’re not religious. It’s more the spirit of Christmas we’re celebrating.” And my question is what is that spirit of Christmas that people who say such things are celebrating? It must be more than generosity. It must be more than family. It must be more than kindness. If we take all the clutter, like all the wrapping paper and the bows and the tags and the stuff that is probably littering our bedrooms and homes—if we can just remove all of that—what are we left with? It’s Christmas, the celebration of the birth of the Savior of the world! And if we could just see Him and behold Him for who He really is, it wouldn’t only change our view of what Christmas is all about, but it would change us.

“Come and Behold Him”

In the Luke 2 story of events surrounding Jesus’ birth, we read about shepherds who were watching over their sheep at night: “And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them.... Then the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:9–12 NKJV). The angel of the Lord wasn’t simply telling the shepherds where to find the Savior just to inform them. This was an invitation that the angel issued to behold the “Babe in a manger.” As we often sing this time of year, “O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant, O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem. Come and behold Him, born the King of angels,” this is God’s invitation for us today. He wants us to come and behold Jesus, His Son.

The word behold is very important because it means to perceive in order to comprehend, to come and to look in such a way that it helps us fully comprehend or understand. To behold Jesus is to gaze or observe Him. It’s more than just seeing Jesus. Beholding Him means coming away from all the distraction and gazing upon Him, waiting upon Him to reveal Himself to us. And if we come to Christmas this year and accept the invitation to come and behold, to come and see, it might change how we see Jesus. Remove all the clutter, get rid of all the distractions of the season, and we might actually see that Jesus is God’s gift; He is God’s goodness.

“Good Tidings of Great Joy”

Jesus could have embodied judgment, but instead this Baby that was born embodied God’s mercy and His goodwill. Goodwill, peace towards all men, goodwill and peace. This is God’s mercy. He could have first sent Jesus as the Judge, but He first sent Jesus as the Savior. This is the “good tidings of great joy,” what we call the good news. Jesus embodies that. Jesus embodies God’s kind intentions, His kindness, or His “goodness that leads [us] to repentance,” to change, and to shift (Romans 2:4 NKJV). Why? Because, while God could have allowed history to go on the way that it was and leave us in a weary world, His intentions were to redeem us back to Himself. His intentions were to do for us what we could not do for ourselves.

So, when we come and behold Jesus, we will see God’s love is wide. Jesus Himself said He did not come for the healthy, but He came for the sick (see Luke 5:31 NKJV). He didn’t come for the righteous, but He came for the sinner. He didn’t come for those who have it all together. No, He came “to heal the brokenhearted” (Luke 4:18 NKJV). Why is that? Because Jesus alone can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. And God’s love is wide. He loves the whole world. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 NKJV). This is God’s wide love.

Personal Encounter Leads to Personal Transformation

Jesus as a baby was given and placed in a manger, not on a throne. The announcement of His birth was to shepherds, not to kings and priests, because shepherds were the unassuming, silent, marginalized people. But they were the ones to whom God first proclaimed the announcement of the good news. He started it with the ones that no one would expect. God’s love didn’t start with the popular, the perfect. God’s love wasn’t and isn’t offered only to the religiously put together. God’s love isn’t offered and His forgiveness isn’t given to those who deserve it. He starts wide, and He works His way in. 

Why is it important for us to behold Him? It’s because beholding Him is how we have a personal encounter with Him and with Jesus, His Son. When it becomes real for us, each of us, to consider Jesus, to really look at Him, just like the shepherds looked at Him in the manger, that personal encounter with Him will lead to personal transformation, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJV).

The Mystery of Generosity: Part 2

Last time, we addressed three effects of generosity in our lives and the lives of others. We discovered (1) generosity is contagious, (2), generosity destroys covetousness, and (3) generosity sets into motion the law of sowing and reaping. Picking up we’re we left off, let’s look at the final three supernatural things that the mystery of generosity does.

It’s a Result of Kingdom Vision

Cheerful generosity is the result of Kingdom vision. It’s a result of how we look at things like our possessions, our jobs, and all the other stuff we have. If we see God as the One who provides for us—the One who has generously given us the many blessings we have—then we tend to see what we’ve been given through a Kingdom perspective. This can inspire us to look for opportunities whereby we can do and give more for the Kingdom of God. And seeing the Kingdom of God advancing is something that produces joy and gladness in our hearts. With our Kingdom vision, then, we can be generous and cheerful givers.

The apostle Paul wrote, “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7 NKJV). Foreseeing what the action of Kingdom giving today produces in the future will cause our hearts to be joyful. When we see our money as seed invested in the Kingdom of God and how that brings about Jesus being glorified, we can gladly and cheerfully sow it. 

It’s Convinced of God’s Sufficiency

Our generosity flows out of a heart attitude and conviction of God’s sufficiency. It’s not based on self-sufficiency. True generosity doesn’t flow out of my or your ability to give. Remember, it’s a grace gift from God. And any operation of grace in our lives operates by faith in God and in His sufficiency. In 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NKJV), we read, “And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.” This is God’s promise to us that He is able! What is He able to do? Well, in this case, He is able to make all grace abound toward us! 

To really understand 2 Corinthians 9:8, we must understand what grace is. The word grace means God’s unmerited favor. It’s just God’s goodness to us. It’s not based on anything we have done to deserve it. The second thing grace means is God’s empowerment. God empowers us beyond ourselves. I like to say grace is God’s wind in our sails and His supernatural bias on our behalf. This is what God promises us when we put our conviction and our trust in Him to be our Provider and not see ourselves as such. So, if we have a deep conviction that God is our Provider, this is where we begin to see the grace of God and the empowerment of God act like wind in our sails. 

What does it mean, then, for God to prosper us and for His grace to abound to us? It means having everything that we need to fulfill our purpose on earth with enough left over to be a blessing to others and assist them in theirs. That’s basically a biblical definition of prosperity, too. God wants you and me to have enough to meet our needs and something to give others to help them on their journey.

It Brings Glory to God

Ultimately, generosity brings glory to God. And that’s really what it’s all about. Every aspect of our lives must be for the glory of God and not for our glory, not for our name, not for our preferences, not for our achievements. It’s all for the glory of God! And look at what Paul said in 2 Corinthians 9:10–11 (NKJV): “Now may He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.” You see the way we live, liberally and generously giving to others, brings glory to God because it impacts other people’s lives so that they, in turn, thank God.

Generosity impacts the lives of people in ways that cause them to thank God for answering their prayers and meeting their needs. So, the grace of giving is all for God’s glory. It’s not about us. It’s not something that comes naturally to us. It’s something that comes supernaturally, this gracious gift. And when we give cheerfully and generously to others, to God’s Kingdom, God deserves and receives all glory, honor, and thanks. “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen” (1 Timothy 1:17 NKJV).

The Mystery of Generosity: Part 1

Did you know that generosity is a grace? It’s the grace of giving. Scripture tells us that Jesus, “the only begotten of the Father” is “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 NKJV). Scripture also tells us that we receive “grace upon grace” from Him (John 1:16 ESV). The grace of generosity, then, is supernatural in origin as it comes from God who is the most generous and benevolent Giver of all. He loves the world so much “that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16 NKJV).

Not only is generosity supernatural in origin, but there are also things it does in us that are supernatural in orientation. This is what I call the mystery of generosity. I want to talk to you about six supernatural things that happen when we’re generous or when we operate in the grace of giving. Oftentimes, when we talk about giving, we’re focused on what our giving does for others. But I want to show you what happens to us as well as to others when we walk in generosity. In this blog, we’ll look at the first three supernatural effects of operating in the grace of giving, and in “The Mystery of Generosity, Part 2,” we’ll talk about the final three. 

It’s Contagious

Generosity is contagious. When we live generous lives, it becomes contagious to those who are around us. It stirs, it inspires, and it imparts zeal for things that are important, things that are Kingdom oriented. Such zeal provokes others to give, and it even continues to inspire and provoke us. Generosity becomes contagious because we all want to be a part of something that’s making a difference. 

It’s important for us to know that generosity is not just the action of giving; it’s the attitude of giving. In the natural, we think about generosity as the thing that we do. The thing that we do, however, is give. But generosity starts in the heart. It’s the overflow of wanting to be a blessing. When you are generous, you are never more like God. God is all generous. It’s part of His very character. He gave everything for us. Yes, you and I never look more like Jesus than when we step into the current of generosity. So, the first thing that generosity does inside us and inside others is it becomes contagious and sparks us and others to want to give wholeheartedly and joyfully.

It’s a Covetousness Destroyer

The second thing that generosity does is it destroys covetousness. Said another way, the antidote to covetousness is generosity. If you were bitten by a rattlesnake, you would have a limited time to get to the hospital. You would have a limited time to receive the antivenom that would destroy the snake’s venomous effects on your neurological system and on your respiration. Eventually, you would die if you did not get the antivenom. Covetousness, like the rattlesnake’s venom, requires an antivenom, and that’s called practiced generosity.

Now, what is covetousness? Well, the Tenth Commandment addresses it. God said, “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbors” (Exodus 20:17 NKJV). To covet is an inordinate desire for wealth and possessions. It’s wanting to have or lusting after what someone else has. Jesus talked about covetousness. He said, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses” (Luke 12:15 NKJV). In other words, we need to watch out for the deceptiveness of covetousness because if we’re not on guard against it, we’ll be deceived into thinking that success in life is measured by how much we have. Furthermore, we will compare what we have to what others have. Jesus exhorted us to watch out for this.

You see, covetousness is an internal opposite. It is the counterfeit spirit to the spirit of generosity. That’s why the only antidote for it is practiced generosity. Proverbs 11:24 (ESV) tells us, “One gives freely, yet grows all the richer; another withholds what he should give, and only suffers want.” This is a scripture often quoted in our house as we wanted to make sure our children understood the importance of living generously. Now, the verse is not saying that the generous soul is going to be financially rich. It is promising a richness and a wealth of abundance in life and joy and peace and contentment that come when we live a life of generosity. We experience richness in this life as we keep our hands open in giving rather than closed in withholding.

It’s a Bountiful Reaper

Generosity sets into motion the laws of sowing and reaping in our lives. The Bible tells us that, what we sow, we will reap (Galatians 6:7 NKJV). This is true in the natural. But there is a spiritual law of sowing and reaping as well. The apostle Paul zeroed in on what happens when we sow. He said in 2 Corinthians 9:6 (ESV), “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” We will reap bountifully if we sow bountifully, but what is bountiful sowing? 

To answer that question properly, I want to dispel what I believe is the American Christian idea of bountiful sowing. We typically think it means that we must be big givers. In the New Testament, we find a different ideal. I’m thinking of two examples of generous, bountiful givers. These two people didn’t give a lot; they just gave all. One is the little boy with his lunch—the boy who had a couple loaves of bread and some fish (see John 6:1–15 ESV). He willingly gave them to Jesus, and a multitude was fed as a result. The other example is the widow whom Jesus observed giving in the temple (see Mark 12:41–44 ESV). As Jesus was sitting by the offering bucket, watching people come and give, He saw this widow come and give the equivalent of about a penny. And Jesus had just watched people drop big money in the offering bucket. But He wasn’t impressed by any of their giving. Oh, but He was astounded at this woman’s giving! Again, it wasn’t not the size of the gift that impressed Him, but it was the size of her sacrifice. You see, she was giving 100 percent of what she had out of her poverty. Jesus noticed that.

So, the law of sowing and reaping is an immutable principle that what we give and how we give set us up for our future harvest. And it’s possible for us to be givers and not be generous. There is a difference between being a donor and being a giver. Being a donor, you have an expectation of the person that you’re giving to. You have an agenda that, if you donate to this, you get something in return. But to be a generous giver, you have Kingdom of God vision, and your expectation is in the spiritual soil that you’re investing into. And you’re trusting God to provide for you. That’s the difference. Therefore, be a bountiful sower, and you’ll be a bountiful reaper.

God’s Unilateral, Unconditional, Everlasting Covenant with Israel

To the most casual reader, it’s obvious that the Old Testament is a telescopic story that begins with God choosing Abraham and then expanding His unilateral covenant promises to Abraham’s descendants along the line of Isaac and Jacob (later renamed Israel). Israel, God’s chosen people by sovereign election, is the subject of God’s dealings in the Old Testament. God’s ultimate desire is that, through this covenant relationship, all the nations of the world would be blessed.

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1–3 ESV).

When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates” (Genesis 15:17–18 ESV).

God dealt with Israel unlike He did any other nation. Not because He was unfair or simply because she was His favorite, but because Israel had a special relationship (a covenant) and, therefore, a special responsibility. As the Israelites walked before the Lord according to His will and covenant, they experienced blessing. When they rebelled and went astray, God sent prophets and judged them. When they hardened their hearts and refused to hear His call to repentance, He would allow them to go into exile until such time as they once again called upon Him. 

This judgment of exile was actually merciful, in that God would not allow them to change the conversation. Too much was at stake. Not just for Israel but for the world that would be the recipient of the overflow blessing through Israel as a light unto the nations. As God said to the Israelites through Moses, the great deliverer who led them to the Promised Land:

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the Lord will drive you. And there you will serve gods of wood and stone, the work of human hands, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell. But from there you will seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the Lord your God and obey his voice. For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant with your fathers that he swore to them(Deuteronomy 4:26–31 ESV).

Part of the covenant that God made with Abraham and with the descendant Jews was connected to the physical land of Canaan. God’s goal for Israel was to be a servant nation to the other nations of the world. For Israel to be this kingdom of priests and a holy nation that would provoke the Gentiles unto jealousy and draw them, Israel had to be faithful. Her people could not become swept up into idolatry. Unfortunately, they were over and over again—even after the Twelve Tribes possessed the Land of their inheritance in Canaan. 

When they were unfaithful, as the biblical text shows us, God removed them from the Land. When they repented, God restored them to the Land. It was never an issue, though, or even a thought in God’s mind that Israel would be permanently removed from the Land. That was not His plan.

—excerpted from An Overview of Why Israel Matters by Lee Cummings

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God is Not Finished with Israel

Even though by and large the Jewish people did not receive their Messiah due to their false expectations of how He would come and reestablish the Kingdom, God’s purposes and promises to Abraham remain intact. In fact, God will fulfill all His covenant promises to Israel proclaimed in Scripture.

In AD 70, Israel was taken captive into the nations of the earth and her Temple destroyed. This exile was longer and more extensive than previous periods of judgment. The rejection of the Messiah came with greater ramifications, resulting in a partial hardening and spiritual blinding taking place.

What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened, as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, down to this very day” (Romans 11:7–8 ESV).

In the natural, it seemed as if God had forsaken His people and completely rejected them. This hardening occurred as the New Covenant was being spread to the Gentiles for over 2,000 years, fulfilling God’s eternal purposes from the beginning through His faithful Son and descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. If that had been the end of the story, we could easily say today that Israel, after the flesh, no longer matters or plays a significant part in our current moment or future. But Scripture shows us that this is not the case:

I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace (Romans 11:1–5ESV).

In the mystery of God’s eternal purposes and election, He has promised unconditionally to return His attention to the Jewish people and bring them back from the farthest corners of the nations. He will deal with them one final time until His controversy with Jacob is resolved. 

Isaiah 34:8 (KJ21) declares, “For it is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion.” This controversy of Zion is the ever present and consistent frustrations of the nations over the Jewish people themselves, the Land given by covenant, and more specifically, the city of Jerusalem. The controversy is God dealing with the nations while also dealing with His people until they are finally faithful to Him.

One of the most significant prophecies fulfilled from the Scriptures is the recent return of Jews from the nations back into the Land of Promise and the restoration of their national identity. Prophesied thousands of years ago, we have seen and will continue to see one of the greatest miracles witnessed in human history: God bringing His people back into the Land of Israel from the farthest corners of the nations as the world is nearing the return of Messiah Jesus at the end of the age. The recent return of Jews from the nations is even more miraculous when we realize that their return is while they are still in the state of unbelief. God has sovereignly gathered them for the purpose of His ultimate dealing with His covenant people.

—excerpted from An Overview of Why Israel Matters by Lee Cummings

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The BIG Test

Abraham’s faith in God was tested time and time again. But the BIG test of his faith happened after he and Sarah had received their son of promise, Isaac. In this next test, the test of all tests, God asked for Abraham to place that long-awaited promise on the altar. He was testing Abraham’s heart. For Abraham, this was a test of radical obedience as well as a test of trust. Would Abraham obey God and offer up his son of promise? Would Abraham trust God to make provision once again?

You see, Isaac represented provision. He was the provision of protection because Abraham was old, and he needed someone to protect him. Isaac represented the provision of prosperity because someone needed to tend to the herds as well as attend to the crops for the prosperity to continue. So, Isaac represented the provision of protection, prosperity, and promise for Abraham—the promise of the blessing that God would bless Abraham, and it would flow through him and bless the rest of the world. It was Abraham’s legacy. But God wanted Abraham to trust Him with it all—with the provision of EVERYTHING. God was asking for something BIG.

The BIG Offer

The story begins with a dramatic and unexpected command from God: “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (Genesis 22:2 ESV). This command is startling, not only because it asked for the life of Abraham’s beloved son, but also because it seemed to contradict the very promises God had made. Isaac was the child through whom the divine promise of a great nation was supposed to come to fruition. Yet, here God asked Abraham to surrender the promise itself. This would be a BIG offer from Abraham that required faith on a level probably few of us have ever had to exert.

Abraham’s response to this command is striking in its immediacy and resolve. Early the next morning, he set out for the region of Moriah, taking Isaac and two servants with him. The journey to the place of sacrifice was fraught with internal struggle, yet Abraham proceeded with unwavering determination. The journey is a metaphor for the arduous path of faith, illustrating that true obedience often requires us to walk through valleys of uncertainty and pain.

The Altar of Provision

Upon reaching the designated mountain, Abraham built an altar and arranged the wood. As he prepared to bind Isaac and place him on the altar, a profound moment unfolded. Isaac asked his father, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” (Genesis 22:7 ESV). Abraham’s response was a declaration of faith: “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son” (Genesis 22:8 ESV).

Abraham wasn’t merely stating a belief, but he was proclaiming something marvelous about God’s provision. It carried prophetic impetus regarding not only a lamb for Isaac but the Lamb of God for the world! Even in the face of a command that seemed to demand the very thing that was supposed to be the fulfillment of God’s promises, Abraham held fast to the conviction that God would provide what was needed, even if that meant the resurrection of his son afterward (see Hebrews 11:17–19).

The Divine Intervention

As Abraham raised the knife to sacrifice Isaac, an angel of the Lord intervened and stopped him, saying, “Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him” (Genesis 22:12 ESV). In that instant, Abraham’s faith was rewarded, and his obedience was affirmed. He was provided with a ram caught in a thicket to offer as a burnt offering instead of Isaac. This ram symbolizes the provision of God, coming at the precise moment of need, and it serves as a powerful reminder that God’s provision often appears in ways we do not expect.

The Significance of This Test

Of all the tests Abraham went through, this test was a profound exploration of faith, obedience, and divine provision. At its core, it challenges us to reflect on what it means to truly trust in God’s promises. Abraham’s willingness to offer Isaac on the altar is not just an act of obedience, but a deep, trusting response to the divine nature of God’s provision. It teaches us that faith involves surrendering not only our immediate desires and fears, but also our understanding of how God’s promises will be fulfilled.

The altar where Isaac was to be sacrificed becomes a symbol of God’s provision, illustrating that true faith requires us to place our most cherished possessions, dreams, and even our understanding of God’s promises on the altar. It is in this act of surrender that we often discover that God’s provision is not just a response to our needs but a profound revelation of His nature.

Building Your Faith One Test at a Time

Tests are not necessarily bad. Though we often have bad responses to them, tests are actually good for us because tests reveal to us two things: (1) They reveal what we know, and (2) they reveal what we don’t know. 

James 1 tells us about a certain kind of test. It’s a faith test. Verse 2 reads, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds” (ESV). And verses 3–4 tell us why we can find trials or tests joyful: “For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect, complete, lacking nothing.” In other words, when testing or trials take place, and we come through them, we increase our capacity to become—to grow and mature. Going through a faith test in a way that pleases God deposits something in us that we did not have before as well as reveals something about ourselves we may not have known. In the end, it builds our faith. 

When our faith is tested, we discover what we believe and what we don’t believe. It’s in the testing of our faith that we see different aspects of God we’ve never seen or known before. This was Abraham’s experience in the tests of his faith. We want to look at the different tests he faced and recognize how each test prepared him for what came next.

Test 1: Leaving His Homeland

Abraham’s journey began with what seemed like a simple command from God: “Leave your country, your people, and your father’s household, and go to the land I will show you” (see Genesis 12:1). This call was not just a geographical relocation but a radical departure from everything familiar. Abraham was asked to leave behind his ancestral heritage, social status, and economic security. This initial test was about trust—trust in the unknown and trust in the God who promised to make him a great nation. It required a faith that could see beyond immediate comfort and security.

Test 2: Famine and Sojourn in Egypt

Shortly after arriving in Canaan, Abraham faced a severe famine that forced him to seek refuge in Egypt (see Genesis 12:10). The move was practical but posed its own set of challenges. In Egypt, Abraham’s faith was tested further when he misrepresented Sarah as his sister to protect himself from potential harm. This incident was a lesson in the complexities of faith under pressure and the human tendency to rely on one’s own strategies rather than on God’s promises.

Test 3: Separation from Lot

Another significant test came with the need to separate from his nephew Lot (see Genesis 13). The land could not support both Abraham’s and Lot’s flocks and herds, leading to a disagreement between their herdsmen. Abraham’s response to this conflict was marked by humility and generosity. Abrahamgave Lot the first choice of land, trusting that God would provide for him (Abraham). This act of faith demonstrated Abraham’s confidence in God’s provision and Abraham’s willingness to put others’needs before his own.

Test 4: The Covenant and the Promise

In Genesis 15, Abraham receives a divine vision and a covenant from God, promising that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. However, this promise came with its own test. Despite the assurance of a great nation, Abraham and Sarah remained childless for many years. The challenge of waiting and trusting in God’s timing while faced with an apparent contradiction to the divine promise tested Abraham’s patience and faith.

Test 5: The Birth of Ishmael

The impatience and doubt about God’s promise led Sarah to suggest that Abraham father a child with her maidservant Hagar (see Genesis 16). The birth of Ishmael was a result of this decision, and it introduced additional complications into Abraham’s life. The situation with Hagar and Ishmael tested Abraham’s ability to remain steadfast in faith despite taking matters into his own hands.

Test 6: The Covenant of Circumcision

In Genesis 17, God established a covenant with Abraham, symbolized by the act of circumcision. This covenant was a physical and personal commitment that involved both Abraham and his descendants. It was a sign of the profound relationship between God and Abraham, demanding obedience and marking a new chapter in the divine plan. The requirement was both a test of commitment and an affirmation of God’s ongoing relationship with Abraham.

Test 7: The Promise of Isaac’s Birth

Finally, after years of waiting and struggling with doubts, God promised that Sarah would bear a son, Isaac, through whom the covenant would be fulfilled (see Genesis 18). The birth of Isaac was a monumental fulfillment of God’s promise, and it came after many trials. This moment underscored the truth that God’s promises are faithful, even when circumstances seem impossible. Abraham’s faith was thus built one test at a time that prepared him for the biggest test of his life. We’ll look at that test in the next blog.

Could Have Been heroes

The Bible is full of heroic men and women who are examples of courage, loyalty, and sacrifice. Heroes like Joseph, Moses, David, Esther, Deborah, Daniel, Peter, Paul, and John provide inspiration for us today. They show what’s possible when we live lives surrendered to God and empowered by His strength, mercy, and Spirit. But their example as well as that of many others is not the only example we see in Scripture. I’m thinking of those whose names are never mentioned. More specifically, I’m thinking of three guys who are simply referred to in Holy Writ as “someone,” “another,” and “yet another.”

We read about these three men in Luke 9:57–62 (ESV):

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom.”

I call these dudes could-have-been heroes because Jesus gave them each an opportunity to become significant followers. Each one could have responded to Jesus’ invitation to follow Him the same way Peter and John did. Each could have followed Jesus like Mary and Martha did. When the could-have-been heroes saw a particular price tag to follow Jesus, however, they didn’t choose to pay the price. They doubled down on the things that were significant and important to themselves and not what was important to Jesus.

Unwilling to Pay the Price

We aren’t told specifically in the Luke 9 passage or its parallel in Matthew 8:18–22 that these men walked away from Jesus that day. We can, though, infer from Jesus’ responses to them that they would have a problem paying the respective price Jesus put before them. Remember Jesus knew what was in the hearts of men and women (see John 2:25). His response to their statements tells us the respective impediment to someone’s, another’s, and yet another’s following Him. He knew these to be common costs even self-avowed followers could be unwilling to pay.

Someone’s price was not having a place to sleep, which represents comfort in life. Jesus told the first guy that he would have to live as a sojourner without a home. Someone needed to see that Jesus would be His comfort—that embracing the comforts of this world would make him adapt to the culture of this world. 

Another’s cost was going home to bury his father, which represents more than handling his dad’s funeral. Another was talking about being responsible for handling not only the arrangements involved after his father’s death, but the financial and physical inheritance he would receive. Another wanted Jesus and his father’s inheritance. It would have been inconvenient for this man to forsake his inheritance of wealth, maybe even his reputation or business to follow Jesus and “go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”

And yet another’s cost was saying goodbye to his family. Yet another’s number one concern was he wanted to go home and make sure those closest to him approved his decision. He didn’t want to reap the consequences of not having received his family’s approval or bear under the fallout of their opinions of His following Jesus without having honored them first.

True Heroes Pay the Price

Each could-have-been hero was unwilling to pay the price that all the other heroic men and women listed in the “hall of faith” in Hebrews 11 paid. The real heroes of the faith, the true followers of Christ, are willing to sacrificially obey when their wills and their desires go against the will and desire of God. True followers lay down their lives in radical obedience to the Father. They go where He sends them, they do what He tells them, and they love how He loves them. What about you? If you were to tell Jesus today, “I’ll follow You wherever You go,” what would His response be to you? 

Friend, you don’t want to be a pronoun that someone reads about a hundred years from now, an example of a could-have-been. No, you want to be listed—to be named—among the true heroes of the faith, among those “who through faith, conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, … were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight” (Hebrews 11:33–34 ESV).

Dream Carriers

You are a carrier of a dream. I may not know what your dream is. Maybe you don’t even know what your dream is. But I know God has given you one. It’s actually His dream for you. He has a dream for each one of His children. As one of God’s children you are highly favored by Him; in fact, there is a grace upon your life to bring His dream for to reality.

A dream is not just your imagination processing information when you’re asleep. You can have dream while awake. You can receive God’s dream via a prophetic word or vision that becomes planted in your heart. Sometimes during a season that produces angst in your life, God’s dream is revealed as you realize the very thing that’s working you over is part and parcel of your destiny. Whichever way the dream comes, it’s God’s way of communicating something of His purpose and His life, depositing it into your heart and imagination.

A dream is a time-released seed of eternity that’s planted in the temporary to bring about your destiny within the context of your history.

As you know, a seed contains DNA, and when it hits the right soil and environmental conditions, it becomes whatever it’s supposed to produce. An acorn grows into an oak tree; it can’t become an elm tree because it doesn’t contain the DNA for that. In the same way, a dream carries the heavenly DNA or God’s blueprint for your life. It’s a gift from God for you to become who He wants you to become, being and doing what He wants you to be and do.

The Process of Maturation

Our dreams must come to maturity. Maturity is the process of growth. It’s the process of achieving and becoming. Not only do our dreams need to mature, but you and I must mature with and for them. I’m reminded of Polaroid cameras that shoot out a photo that you and I watch develop before our eyes. Well, when you first see the photo come out, you see something chemical moving about without form. Once it’s gone through it’s two-minute-or-so process—voila!—there’s a complete portrait or landscape.

Sometimes I wish the process of maturation of both me and God’s dream for me would happen instantaneously. How about you? The truth is, however, it’s more like what the apostle James said when he was talking about the testing of our faith. He said, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing” (James 1:2–4 ESV).

That testing James is talking about is like the photo process happening on the Polaroid photo. It must go on for a while in our lives. No quick turnaround times. No instant gratification. The testing of our faith in God to bring about the vision or dream He has placed in our hearts—and even the very dream itself—must have its “full effect.” Only then will the dream come into being. Only then will you and me and God’s dreams for us “be perfect and complete lacking in nothing.”

I want to encourage you today to embrace the process of maturation. I want to encourage you today—you dream carrier—to be steadfast, loyal, constant, patient, devout, true, and tenacious in the process, knowing that the Creator of the Universe put His DNA that will be realized in your life. He has every intention of seeing what He implanted into you in seed form come to pass, so let the testing have its work and full effect in you. Soon, your dream, like the Polaroid pic, will be in full view for you and those around you to enjoy.

Ready to Deploy, Engage, and Enforce

The Christian life is not like a battle. It is a battle. In fact, it is a war zone with a very real, present, and active enemy. He prowls around, looking for those he can take down, take hostage, or take out (see John 8:44; 2 Timothy 2:26; 1 Peter 5:8; Revelation 2:10 ESV). And in these days of acceleration, where everything is ramping up toward the end of the age and the return of the Lord Jesus, the spiritual warfare we are experiencing from our adversary the devil is escalating. Unfortunately, it is only going to increase until our Lord comes again. 

There is good news, however. The devil has limited authority and power. Jesus, through His death, resurrection, and ascension, destroyed “the works of the devil,” “disarmed principalities and powers,” conquered death and the grave, and “led captivity captive” (see 1 Corinthians 15:54–56 ESV;Ephesians 4:8 NKJV; Colossians 2:15 NKJV; 1 John 3:8 ESV).

Jesus secured our victory for us against our enemy! Our job is to stand ready to deploy, engage in battle, and enforce Jesus’ victory. This means we live in that victory. We walk in that victory. We “put on the whole armor of God” so that we can “stand against the schemes of the devil” (Ephesians 6:11 ESV). We “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12 ESV). And soon, Jesus, our conquering King, will return, and the devil’s defeat will be complete. Until then, we live in the tension of the “in-between”—of the “already but not yet.” We live in what C. S. Lewis called “enemy-occupied territory.”

Enemy-Occupied Territory

You see, when Jesus came the first time, He inaugurated God’s Kingdom on earth. As Lewis wrote, “The rightful king . . . landed.” But when He comes back, His Kingdom will be fully manifested on the earth. In the meantime, we’re supposed to do what Jesus taught His disciples to do—to “occupy” until He comes (Luke 19:13 KJV). We’re to occupy in the occupied zone.

I’m reminded of the last several months of World War 2. As part of a last-ditch effort that would eventually win the war for the Allies, the Allied leadership orchestrated a top secret operation called Operation Overlord, the codename for the Battle of Normandy. Under the cover of darkness, they would launch an airborne and amphibious assault on the beaches of Normandy on what would become known as D-Day and later result in “the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Europe.”

On June 6, 1944, over 150,000 Allied troops landed on Normandy beaches. Over 18,000 of them were paratroopers, “dropped into the invasion area to provide tactical support for infantry divisions.” These troops engaged in some of the most intense battles over the next eleven months as they continued to drive deeper into the Axis-occupied zone. 

A second invasion was launched “from the Mediterranean Sea of southern France (code-named Operation Dragoon)” in August of 1944, which liberated Paris. Eventually, the Allies’ continued push concluded on May 8, 1945. This day, Victory in Europe Day (VE-Day), marked “the formal acceptance by the Allies of . . . Germany’s unconditional surrender of its armed forces.” The victory that the Allies and the world celebrated in May of 1945 was won tactically in June of the previous year.

All Things Under Our Feet

Beloved, it is as if we’re living in a similar eleven-month period—a time between the D-Day of Jesus’ inauguration of His Kingdom on earth and the VE-Day (Victory on Earth Day) of His return and the full establishment of His Kingdom. Like the Allies of World War 2, the Church must fight from a position of victory. Tactically, the war has already been won. That’s the kind of mentality we must have in these last “in-between” days before Jesus comes again. It is the mentality shift that we need to have in the Body of Christ.

On the one hand, we must know, for example, that the enemy we face is real. Demons are real in this occupied territory. Spiritual warfare is real. The kingdom of darkness is real. But it has been disarmed! And it has been put under our feet. The psalmist David said, 

What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet (Psalm 8:4–6 NKJV).

The writer of Hebrews further clarified David’s words for us when he wrote, “For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus” (Hebrews 2:8–9 NKJV). Simply because we don’t see all things under our feet today, they are, nonetheless. And on “the great and magnificent day” of the Lord, on His day of victory, Jesus will split the eastern sky and ride upon the clouds—“and every eye will see him” (Acts 2:20; Revelation 1:7 ESV). We will see Him! So, we don’t have to fear the devil and his schemes, but we do need to be aware of them and ready to resist them.

Jesus’ first coming was D-Day, an invasion behind occupied enemy lines, but VE-Day is only around the corner. Heaven will execute a full-on counteroffensive as Jesus comes and makes all His enemies His “footstool” (Psalm 110:1 ESV). He will reclaim what He won at the cross, but for now, you and I are still fighting battles in the midst of waiting for His soon return. 

So, yes, we live in the war zone in this “present evil age,” but we’re not fueled by this present age(Galatians 1:4 ESV). We’re fueled by the age to come—the Kingdom of God. You may not know it, dear saint, but you are from the future. You are a citizen of the Kingdom of God that is “already but not yet.” The power of the One “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty,” is within you because He dwells within you by His Holy Spirit (Revelation 1:8 ESV). And as John the beloved said, “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4 ESV). Christ in you is greater than the devil and his fellow occupiers.

The Ultimate Motivation

Motivation plays a crucial role in our leadership. It’s the driving force that fuels our actions and decisions, and it’s also the tool we use to inspire and propel our team toward achieving common goals. Here’s how motivation factors into leadership:

• Motivation provides a sense of direction. A motivated leader has clear goals and objectives, guiding their actions and decisions. This clarity can help the entire team stay focused and aligned.

• Motivation boosts performance. Leaders who are highly motivated tend to be more productive and efficient. They set high standards for themselves and their teams, leading to better overall performance.

• Motivated leaders inspire their team. They communicate their enthusiasm and commitment to the team’s goals, thus inspiring team members to put forth their best effort.

• Motivation fuels persistence. Even when faced with challenges or setbacks, motivated leaders remain committed to their goals. This resilience can help the team stay motivated in the face of adversity.

• Motivation is key to building a strong team. Leaders who are good at motivating others can build cohesive teams where each member is committed to the team’s success.

In essence, our motivation influences not only our own actions, but also the performance, morale, and success of our team. As Christian leaders, we understand there is something more to being motivated by success for success’s sake, however. We know we can do the right things the right way for the wrong reasons, and that’s when things can go sideways. There’s something greater we have that we need to keep as the primary motivation for all we do.

The Impact of a Spiritually Motivated Leader

Christian leaders should possess a higher motivation. It’s a spiritual motivation, and it can significantly impact our team. As spiritually motivated leaders, we have a broader perspective and a deeper sense of purpose that goes beyond ordinary business objectives. We tend to be driven by our Christian values and principles that we adhere to, which can inspire team members to strive for the same. We often lead by example, demonstrating qualities like integrity, compassion, humility, and resilience. This can foster an environment of trust and mutual respect within our team, motivating individuals to contribute their best efforts.

As spiritually motivated leaders, we can help cultivate a team culture that is more empathetic, understanding, kind, and supportive. We are likely to encourage personal growth and development among our team members, recognizing that everyone has unique, God-given strengths and potentials. This can lead to higher levels of job satisfaction and employee engagement. Also, we may show a high degree of emotional intelligence, being aware of and caring about the feelings and well-being of our team members. This can lead to a more harmonious work environment, with reduced conflict and increased collaboration.

What Is the Spiritual Motivation of a Christian Leader?

Put simply, our spiritual or “ultimate” motivation should be the glory of God. It should be the driving force and inspiration for all we do. The apostle Paul commanded the Christians in Corinth, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV). God’s glory, then, ought to be our highest and greatest motivation and passion.

When we talk about the glory of God, it’s interesting to note that God put His glory in us. It’s beautiful, in fact. Think about that. It’s the hope of glory, Christ in us (Colossians 1:27). We carry His glory within, but here’s what’s dangerous. In business or ministry, if we lose track of why we do what we do, we can hijack and hold hostage the glory of God. We can then become motivated by the pursuit of our own glory. That can create a toxic work environment, discouraging growth and development of team members as well as introducing more infighting and disrupting teamwork. Worse yet, it could lead to our own spiritual destruction or demise.

Satan offered Jesus the glory of the nations in the temptation in the wilderness (Luke 4:1–12). When Satan tempted Jesus, he basically said, “Bow down and worship me, and I’ll give you all the nations of the earth. I’ll give You the glory of the nations.” In that moment, all Jesus had to do was shift His motivation from obedience to the Father, which would glorify the Father, to self-satisfaction. But what would Jesus have received? The glory of the nations. And what would He have lost? The glory of God the Father. 

We must be careful to keep the glory of God as our number-one aim and motivation in everything we do. Christian leaders don’t start out with the intention of becoming corrupt or going down a pathway that leads to self-glorification. We don’t walk around thinking, I’m going to steal the glory from God. It’s over the course of time that this shift happens. We can forget the why behind the what. We can begin to use the world’s idea of success to drive and motivate us and our team. And we can begin to use the world’s metrics as a measure for our success. It’s only through intentional and continued self-examination that we recalibrate our hearts and mindsets to our primary pursuit. We must examine the motivational force driving what we do as leaders. Is it money? Position? Fame? Power? Or are we motivated by what motivated Jesus—the glory of His Father? 

We each have been blessed of God with certain abilities, strengths, and gifts. We want to steward them well, and we want our team to learn how to do the same. We want to find success in whatever goal we are working to achieve, and the ultimate way to do this is to keep the main thing, the main thing—to keep the glory of God as our motivation. As the apostle Peter said:

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (1 Peter 4:10–11 ESV).

Arise, Shine, For Your Light Has Come

God is on the move in a unique way in our generation. I believe we’re seeing the beginning of things that God is desiring to do in His Church. Obviously, we are living in challenging times, yet these are great days to be alive because of the great things God has in store. If our focus is only on the darkness of our day, we can become overwhelmed by it. But if we recognize that, in God’s economy, darkness is not the end but is just the beginning, it changes our perspective and outlook. In fact, it changes everything. Let me explain.

If we look at Genesis 1, where we read about how God created everything, what does it say He created first? Verse 3 tells us the answer: “And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And God separated the light from the darkness.” So, when God created everything, the first thing He did was call light out of darkness. When we look at darkness, we tend to think that means things are going in a negative or bad direction. We fail to see darkness as the place for beginnings with God. We miss that His great work is manifest by turning darkness into light. We must remember He’s the God who said, “Let light shine out of darkness” (2 Corinthians 4:6 ESV).

All Is for His Glory

In Isaiah 60:1–2 (ESV), we read, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.” We can see in these verses that, once again,darkness is only the beginning. Where darkness blankets everything, the light and glory of the Lord rises on God’s people. 

I think we are at a place in the earth where darkness is covering the world as well as the people in it. That word darkness in the original language is not just a physical darkness, but it is an emotional and spiritual weight or heaviness that weighs or pulls someone down. It places a yolk of depression, oppression, anxiety, and fear upon people. That’s what darkness does. And it’s interesting that darkness exists on the people and on the nations of the earth, yet God speaks to His Church and says,“It’s time to arise and shine.” So, though we’re living in unprecedented times in “gross darkness” that’s weighing us down, we must see this as a divine setup for what the Lord wants to do among us. And to understand this, we need to look at another word that appears in Isaiah 60. That word is glory.

In Hebrew, the word glory is kavod, and it means weight or weightiness, but it’s a different kind of weight than the Hebrew word for darkness. Kavod is the weight of God’s Presence. In His Presence, there is light. In the absence of God’s Presence, then, there is darkness. And when we are separated from the Presence of God, separated from the life of God, it produces depression, oppression, anxiety, and fear in us. That’s the burden or yoke I mentioned earlier. According to Isaiah 10:27 (NKJV), however, the anointing oil breaks the yoke. Oil is representative of power and the glory of God or the weightiness of God’s Presence. That’s what breaks in upon people and sets them free. It’s in the Presence of the Lord where joy, freedom, and faith are produced.

God’s heart is for those living in darkness in this earth to experience the light and glory of His Presence. He wants every chain and yoke broken and people released to walk in freedom, joy, and faith. This is what the Presence of the Lord produces. He says to us today that He wants us to arise and shine out of darkness because He is going to put His glory upon us. And when the weight of His glory comes on us, it will break off depression and replace it with joy. It will break off oppression or possession and release freedom. And it will remove fear and replace it with faith. And this is what God says He wants to do in the Church in these last days.

The apostle Paul closed out Ephesians 3 with these words: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (v. 20 NKJV). And we love to declare that verse and exercise faith in the truth it proclaims. It’s even very applicable to what I’m talking about regarding what God wants to do in this hour. There is, however, one more verse that is an important part to Paul’s closing, and it says this: “to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Ephesians 3:21 NKJV). Paul was saying to the One who does “exceedingly abundantly” more than we ask or even think—to Him—“be glory in the church … to all generations, forever”! We see God’s eternal purpose for all generations is for His glory to be in and upon His Church. 

Our Mandate

Each year in May, we at Radiant host a conference that draws church leaders from all over the United States and beyond. But we don’t hold this conference just to host a conference. The reason for starting our Arise Shine Conferences (ASC) several years ago was due to the calling Radiant has to arise and be a prophetic light to the Church, inviting brothers and sisters in Christ to come and to see a model, though imperfect as it may be, of a praying and a worshiping church. We also wanted to see those who attend receive an impartation to go back to their churches and begin to call their people back to the place of first love, first priority, around the Presence of God in prayer and worship.

Beloved, that’s not just our mandate in this hour. It’s the mandate for the Church: to receive the glory of God in the Church, on the Church, so that we can exhibit His glory to a dark culture. It’s time to call the American church to be a praying church. Because prayer at the end of the day is not just about the act of prayer. Prayer is for the glory of God. That’s what we exist for. We don’t pray out of some religious obligation. We pray because prayer centers our lives around God’s Presence. And when we’re centered around His Presence, His glory come upon us and dwells among us. And then we’re able to go into the darkness and dispel it.

Now, we’re not to make prayer the end-all because that means we would be making it an idol. No, all is for His glory—“that in all things He may have the preeminence” (Colossians 1:18 NKJV). That’s what we do anything and everything for—His glory! Prayer is about Jesus. It’s about the One we love and serve. 

We want to see God raise up praying churches across America and beyond that are defined as being those that are centered around the Presence of God, have developed a genetic code of prayer, and are experiencing His glory that dispels the darkness around them. It is key to revival. And if we will arise and shine because our light has come, the glory of the Lord will come upon us, and we will see our nation and the earth changed. This is our Malachi 1:11 moment. This is how we will see that Scripture come to pass, where “from the rising of the sun, even to its going down,” the name of the Lord will “be great among the Gentiles,” and “in every place incense shall be offered to” His name.

Calibrating Your Heart

(The following is an excerpt from my book Take Heed, Watch & Pray. To be released in May 2024.)

Jesus said the greatest challenge to Christians in this generation is not the external circumstances that are happening around us. It has everything to do with our inner lives, the preparation of our hearts within us. We can’t always control what is happening externally, but we do have control over what happens to us internally, meaning over our hearts and how we keep them. Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV) says, “Keep [guard] your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” In a manner of speaking, this is what Jesus meant when He said, “Stay awake, take heed, watch and pray” (see Mark 32–33 NKJV).

What did Jesus mean by telling us to stay awake? He wasn’t necessarily talking about physically staying awake. He was referring to spiritual slumber that can overtake the lives of His most sincere and devout believers. Well acquainted with our humanity, Jesus knew that, as our environment grows darker, we tend to grow sleepier. It happens in both the natural and spiritual realms. If we aren’t intentional about calibrating our hearts to the Kingdom of God, when darkness grows darker, we can succumb to spiritual slumber. I like to compare it to the effect daylight hours have on us Michiganders. 

At the beginning of December, the sun goes down a little after 5:00 p.m. in Michigan’s Eastern Time Zone. We have under nine and a half hours of daylight in early December. That leaves us with about fourteen and a half hours of darkness. Between the effects of the cold winter and the earlier sunsetting, many of us go to work when it is dark, we get out of work in the dark, and then we are ready to go home and get in our pajamas because it has been dark a long time. We ask ourselves, How much longer do I have to stay awake? Not sure if I can, but if I go to bed this early, I’ll be up at two-dark-thirty.  

By the time summer rolls around in July, however, we’re getting three to four hours more of daylight, that many less hours of darkness, and we’re enjoying warm temperatures. I mean, we’re out in our backyards, grilling burgers and feeling wide awake as we try to squeeze in more life outside after 8:00 p.m. before it is too dark. We get tired later in the summer because it doesn’t get dark until later.

Daylight vs. Darkness

According to Jesus, the end-time generation (the Omega Generation) will see the end-time signs and evil proliferate in ways that we would have never imagined. And the lines between those who love God and believe in His Word and those who love wickedness and call what’s right wrong and what’s wrong right will become more clearly delineated. A day is coming when it will be like Isaiah 60:2 (KJV) foretold, “For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.” And what will happen to our souls as the darkness around us begins to get darker, quicker, sooner, and more intense is our spirits will come under the influence of a spirit of slumber, resulting in spiritual sleep and lethargy if we don’t do something about it. Thankfully, Jesus gave us the secret strategy to fight spiritual slumber: “Take heed, watch and pray.” These three tactics will help calibrate our hearts to the time zone of heaven, the Kingdom of God. And calibrating our hearts to the Kingdom of God will keep us from coming under the sway of the spirit of the age and its increasing darkness. 

Listen, we aren’t in control of a lot of things, but we are in control of what happens in our own hearts. Nobody else is responsible for our hearts. They are ours to govern. We can submit our hearts to Jesus and His Kingdom, or we can submit our hearts by default to the spirit of this age. Because right now on the earth, there are two things that are at work: the Spirit of God and the spirit of this age. 

The spirit of the age is a spirit of darkness. It is a spirit of heaviness or weightiness. Sin and evil, for instance, often produce an oppressive weight or heaviness on us. Sin is burden, weight, or yoke. It can produce not only oppression, but depression in our lives, which can produce anxiety and fear. 

The Spirit of God, however, is light. He’s truth. He’s revelation. He brings us into encounter with the Lord. He brings freedom to our hearts. The second half of Isaiah 60:2 says that, right during the gross darkness, “the Lord will arise upon [us], and his glory will be seen upon [us].” That’s the light of God shining on us! 

In God’s economy, darkness is not the end. It is just the beginning. If we look back to Genesis 1:2 (ESV), we read, “Darkness was over the face of the deep.” But what is the first thing we read after that? God began His six days of creation. Verse 3 tells us the first thing He created was light. So, when God created everything, He called light out of darkness. He still calls light out of darkness. Darkness is simply a setup for what God is going to do in these last days, which is to show forth His glory through His Church and people as we arise and shine. That’s what we see promised in Isaiah 60:2. 

Additionally, the book of Romans says that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy (see Romans 14:17 ESV). Do you know that you can have righteousness, peace, and joy in your life every single day regardless of how dark the world is becoming? It is because the Kingdom of God is within you. And you can submit yourself to the Kingdom of God. You can do what Jesus said in Matthew 6:34 (ESV) when He said, “Do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself.” 

Earlier in the same chapter, Jesus said not to worry about what you’re going to wear or what you’re going to eat (see Matthew 6:24 ESV). Don’t worry. Don’t be anxious about anything. All the world—the ethnos, the Gentiles, the nations, the spirit of this world—is affected by worry and anxiety connected to tomorrow, but you are not called to live like the world. You were not called to live in sync with the world’s time zone, where its darkness is psyching you out to think it is time to sleep. You are called to wakefulness—to “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things [the things that you need] will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33 ESV). You need to align and calibrate your heart to the Kingdom of God, to the light of God, even though you are living in a grossly dark world.

Stay Awake

(The following is an excerpt from my book Take Heed, Watch & Pray. To be released in May 2024.)

If you want to stay awake during the darkness of the hour, you must never travel alone. There is a reason Jesus sent His disciples out two by two. It was wise to do, for as Solomon wrote:

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken (Ecclesiastes 4:9–12) ESV.

You and a fellow Christian traveler can journey together more successfully than you can individually. You can cheer up each other, help up each other, and back up each other.

Never Travel Alone

Hebrews 10:24–25 (NKJV) provides an eschatological reason for not traveling alone:

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The writer was saying that, as the Day of the Lord comes closer, we in the Body of Christ need each other more, not less. We need to spend more time together, not less. Why? Because there’s strength when we’re together. Because we can stir each other up to love and to do good deeds. Because there’s vulnerability when we’re isolated. 

One of the things I watched during the pandemic of 2020 was how some people flourished as they still found ways to gather together and pull together. These recognized the urgency of the hour and didn’t draw away from others. Then, I noticed people who isolated themselves. These pulled away from others, they withdrew from their churches, and they were harmed by it. Some became depressed, and others grew bitter, allowing the grief that resulted from loss of loved ones and friends to turn to anger against God and His people. A lot of people deconstructed and walked away, departed from the Faith in 2020. They got addicted to porn. They got overwhelmed with anxiety and depression. They took on substances. They began to experiment with other religions, other faiths, reading some things they probably had no business reading. It vexed their righteous souls.

We should never travel alone because we need each other for a safe journey to our destination. In ancient times, they traveled in caravans with more than two people. When somebody became isolated, they became vulnerable to robbers. Our enemy is a robber. He’s a thief. You know what a thief and a con man are looking for? They’re looking for a vulnerable person, an isolated individual. This is why we never, ever, travel through life alone. We need comrades, we need brothers and sisters, we need mothers and fathers, and we need the corporate gathering. We need to be together more and more as the Day approaches because there’s safety in those numbers.

I’m remind of the flying V-formation that geese use as they migrate. Their formation is aerodynamic. The geese take turns being the lead goose and the point of the V. And they honk at each other to communicate. They can fly much farther together than they can fly alone because of their rotation and the aerodynamic form they make. But I see that honking like what Hebrews 10:25 says we should do, and that is exhort one another. 

Exhort is a military command. It isn’t just encouragement. It is calling people out. Think of boot camp, where your drill sergeant or fellow soldier is verbally provoking you to perform, to push forward, to press on. The exhortation is meant to get you to go farther than you’ve done before on your own. That’s exhortation. It is pushing you beyond what you think you’re capable of and is giving you strength.

Never travel alone. You and I need the help of exhortation, the kindness of friends.

Today Matters

I think we have a tendency toward one of two extremes. We’re either preoccupied with the past or fixated on the future. But do you know today matters? And when I say today, I’m not meaning a 24-hour period after which tomorrow comes. What I am talking about is a period in history that is our unique day. It’s a kairos moment, if you will, in the redemptive history of heaven and earth. That’s the today I’m talking about, and that day matters.

You see, I don’t believe God put you and me in the day, the generation, or the hour in which we live only to have our hearts covetous for what we don’t have; namely, past days or future days. Now, we honor what came before us, and we anticipate and want to prepare and set the stage for what is to come, but we also want to acknowledge and recognize and live in this moment. I really think the key to a lot of success in life in different areas, although it’s not the only key, but it’s a very significant key, is living fully alive in the moment. Some people call it “being present.” So, it’s being present in the moment when you’re with your family, being present when you’re with other people, and being present when you’re doing something significant. It’s not thinking about something else or what you need to do next.

Living in the Moment

Not very long ago, President Biden was at Dover Air Force Base as the American flag-draped coffins of 13 soldiers were unloaded. He was caught at that very somber moment checking his watch. When you’re a leader and you’re in the middle of something sacred, you’re going to get busted by the press and millions of Americans. The press and social media aren’t only occasionally watching; they’re watching everything all the time. They’re watching every movement and every miscue and every mistake. Consequently, when you’re standing at attention, when those coffins carrying our sacred dead that we honor and weep for pass by, and you check your watch four times, you’re going to get busted. And rightly so.

The truth is something like this could happen to any of us. It’s not just the president. We can be in a room with people yet not be in the moment. We can be looking past the person in front of us who is trying to tell us something important to them—something we too should value—yet we stare past them lost in our own thoughts. And we can be in such a “got a lot on my plate and have to keep moving” state of mind that we push past significant moments with others. You know, you can have that type of an attitude in your heart, just in general, about the day in which you live, about this generation or hour in history. I’m a student of history. I love history, but I know this one thing: History happened in someone else’s generation.

Gifts from former generations as well as the lessons learned from former generations are seeds for the day in which you and I live. We’re called to build on the foundations of what others before us have laid. When we hand off our responsibilities to the next generation, I want my ceiling to be their floor, don’t you? I want them to build on what we’ve started. So, it’s good to look back and draw from the past and learn, but we want to build on it.

We also want to position the next generation for what we’re doing. And so today matters. It matters, and it deserves to have our full attention because covetousness is not just about things. I think we can actually live our lives covetous of other generations.

Coveting the Past or the Future

We look back, and we say, “Wow! That would’ve been a great time to be alive.” You can read the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—and think, Man, I would’ve loved to have walked with Jesus when He was on the earth. That would’ve been amazing. But guess what? That’s not what God had in mind for you or me. We can learn from the experiences of others written about in the Gospels, but we must not live our lives disillusioned, disappointed, discouraged, or even covetous about something that doesn’t belong to us. We were placed by God in today, not yesterday or tomorrow.

And we can be just as guilty, looking forward in time and anticipating the day that this happens or that happens. It’s awesome to think about the possibilities that are out in front of us—that are in our future. I think we need to have a vision for the future, but not to the exclusion of honoring the day and the hour in which we live. So when David said in Psalm 118:24 (ESV), “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it,” he recognized that he was God’s man marked for God’s hour and that what he did with his life, with the gift of his day and the gift of life right then and there, mattered.

I believe the worst posture that we can take in the current hour in which we live is complacency. It’s complacency that says, “I just don’t care.” And complacency is often what drives us to look backward to the glory days or to become too enamored with what we’re going to do “someday.” We must continue to do what we’ve been called to do in our day, just like Noah did when he built the ark. Noah was building the ark for 120 years. What he was building didn’t make any sense because it didn’t seem to fit the hour or the place. There had been no rain, and he was nowhere near an ocean. But if Noah had been complacent, he probably would not have finished his assignment for his day. Thankfully, Noah was a righteous and faithful man in his day.

Christian, the future is actually what we live for today. We’re continuing the work that others started generations before us. We build upon what they did in the past and do what we’re called to do today in anticipation for what we know the Lord wants to do in the future. So, today matters. What are you going to do with it?

Someone is Praying for You

What is Jesus doing today? Thankfully, He’s doing more than just waiting to come again. Hebrews 7:24 (ESV) says, “He always lives to make intercession for them.” Who is “them” referring to? Believers. It’s referring to you and me. Romans 8:34 (ESV) confirms this for us, as the apostle Paul said, “Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.”

For over 2,000 years, Jesus has been interceding for His children. Today, He and the Holy Spirit are still interceding (see Romans 8:26). So that means we have two-thirds of the Godhead praying for us every single moment of our lives. When we think about that, it’s very difficult to get discouraged. God is praying for us, and God answers His own prayers!

What Does Jesus Pray?

John 17 is known as Jesus’s High Priestly Prayer. His prayer gives us a glimpse into how Jesus prayed for His disciples when He was on earth. It also shows us what He is praying for us today. And contrary to what people often presume, Jesus is not praying for the world at large; instead, His prayers are directed toward us His disciples as John 17:9 (ESV) states, “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.” 

I want us to notice three things from this prayer that Jesus prays for every Christian. He prays that God would keep and protect us, unite us, and prepare a place for us.

Keep & Protect Us

In John 17:11, Jesus prayed that the Father would keep us in His name. That’s significant because a name has authority. Each day, then, Jesus is praying that the Father would keep and protect us. That doesn’t mean we’ll never experience hardship or have challenges. But it means that our soul, our eternal reality in relationship with God, is protected and enshrouded in Jesus’s name.

The name of Jesus is powerful. The enemy has no access to you beyond that name. James 2:19 (NKJV) says, “You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble.” Demons quake at the mention of the name of Jesus. Sickness flees at the name of Jesus. Sin, accusation, and condemnation cannot make their way and penetrate the deepest place of your heart and into your life because you’ve been changed. You’ve been saved, you’ve been redeemed, you’ve been washed in the blood. You’ve been made a son or a daughter of God. You’ve been listed in the Book of Life. You’ve been seated with Christ in heavenly places, and God puts His hands on you and says, “He is mine,” or “She is mine,” and every single day Jesus is praying that over your life. And Jesus is asking the Father to finish the “good work” that He started in you (Philippians 1:6 ESV).

Unite Us

Jesus asks the Father that we would be one like God—“that they may be one,” Jesus said, “even as we are one” (John 17:11 ESV). Jesus wants His people to be united, to walk and live in unity. It’s the greatest witnessing tool to the world because unity is not natural. Unity is supernatural. This is Jesus’sdesire for His Church. 

Ephesians 4:13 (ESV) speaks about a time that’s coming in the future when we all will “attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,” to full maturity. One day, before Jesus returns, the Church is going to be united. We’re not going to look the same, but our heart and our longing for His return is going to be unified, and we’re going to love and appreciate one another. We’re not going to dumb down doctrines, and we’re not going to diminish our distinctives, but we’re going to center our hearts on the knowledge of Jesus. That’s powerful! There is power when the Church is united. 

And Jesus prays that right now. He prays for a unity. Listen, he prays for a unity not just among believers, but even in our households, even in our own church, that we would be one as he and the  Father are one.

To Be with Him

And lastly, in verse 24, Jesus prayed, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.” We see the longing of Jesus’s heart is for us to be with Him, for us to see His glory. And He is preparing a place for us. Jesus said, “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” (John 14:2 ESV). Do you know  that Jesus not only is interceding for you, but He is also preparing a place for you. 

Do you know the mark of true love is when you want somebody to be with you wherever you are—and to be with you forever? That’s the love Jesus has for you and me. He wants us to dwell with Him forever and always. God would unite us together around him. Ultimately, He wants to bring us to Himself.

Friend, we have an amazing High Priest and Intercessor. His name is Jesus. Remember, you have Someone praying for you. He’s asking the Father to keep and protect you, He’s asking the Father to unite you with the rest of His children, and He’s asking the Father to bring you to Him. He loves you that much.

Return to First Love

Jesus had one thing against the church at Ephesus, even though He knew they were doing many of the right things. They were patiently enduring. They were doctrinally pure. They were pushing back against the progressive liberal theologians of their day. They were even persevering in the face of persecution from the pagan culture around them. He saw their works, their service, and their refusal to grow weary in it all. Then Jesus said this: “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first” (Revelation 2:4 ESV). 

We tend to read a verse like this and picture Jesus, as the Judge, striking His gavel against the sound block and pronouncing His sentence, but we need to see this as Jesus, the One who loves His Church, simply saying, “You’re doing the right things, but your heart isn’t in it anymore. I miss the passion that you used to have for Me. I miss you. I miss the way that we used to be. I miss the way you used to worship and serve Me.” Jesus was calling the Ephesians back to the flames of first love. He is calling us today to do the same—to return to the passion and zeal of first love.

Emotions Follow Actions

Sometimes, we can become so busy with serving God that we forget the first commandment is to love God. As Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37 ESV). That’s our first priority. We keep that priority first by doing certain things. Another way of saying this is emotions follow actions. And the way to get the emotions back is to do those actions. If we’ve stopped doing those actions, then we must go back and begin to do them once again.

Jesus told the Ephesians what they needed to do to restore first love: “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first” (Revelation 2:5 ESV).

Remember

The first thing Jesus calls us to do is remember. What was the last time you reminisced about the moment Jesus saved you? Where were you when He saved you by His grace? Or when you were baptized in water? When was the last time you encountered His Presence in such a way that you didn’t want it to end? Remember?

Remember means looking back at a time when your heart overflowed with God’s love for you. The apostle John said, “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19 ESV). Do you know that you are Jesus’ first love? You are His Bride. The reason why Jesus went to the cross was because He loved you. When He was on the cross, He was thinking about you. 

And when you remember His love for you—when you take that step—suddenly your love for Him starts to flow and grow. Recognizing Jesus bore your sins, your shame, your curse, and your death—all for love—rekindles the flame. Passion and zeal emerge fresh and new.

Repent

When you remember that He first loved you, that flame in Jesus’ heart catches onto the dry timber of your own. It strikes and can bring conviction. You can feel Him lovingly bring correction, touching on something that is hindering love. In moments like that, we say with the psalmist David, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139: 23–24 ESV).

So, we let God examine us. We examine ourselves under the light of the Holy Spirit. We confess where we have fallen. We say, “God, I’ve gotten dry. I’ve gotten bitter. I’ve gotten distracted. I’ve gone after other loves. I repent. I ask for You to forgive me. Help me to love You like You love me.” And then we set our heart on a continued journey of pursuit of Him.

Love

I’m reminded of God’s call to Israel and Judah to return to Him. God said through the prophet Hosea, “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6 ESV). He says to us today, “I want your love.” That’s what Jesus told the church at Ephesus. He knows our works. He knows there are some things we are doing that are good and right. He does want us to keep doing those things, but He wants our hearts. He wants your heart, your love. And He will be unrelenting until He gets it.

Jesus said, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37–40 NLT). Above all, Jesus calls us to love. Love Him completely. Love Him wholly. And when we return to first love—when our loving Him is our first priority—that love will go out to others.