Ministry
Called. Chosen. Commissioned.
Matthew 4:19
19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me…
Matthew 22:14
14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Matthew 28:19
19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
A little while ago, a local college student asked to get together with me. She was searching for someone older in the faith to disciple her and wondered if I’d be interested. I agreed to meet with her on campus to discuss the idea over a cup of coffee. As we sat down together at a table outside the library, I soaked in the Florida sunshine as she started a monologue about all the things she was doing for the Lord. At some point during her sermon, I interrupted to inquire about her story. She fumbled to find the right words as I asked a few questions about her relationship with her parents, siblings and our Father, Son and Spirit. They weren’t complicated questions. Just simple things that pertained to BE-ing a disciple of Jesus. The conversation stalled, so she quickly changed the subject to her fiancé. They were planning to enter full time ministry together after graduation. She explained that her man recently found a spiritual father because he was struggling with porn, so she thought it would be a good idea for her to have a spiritual mom too! As we talked about their relationship, she admitted they were having sex, and occasionally they smoked weed together at parties.
As our conversation came to a close, I assured her that I was willing to meet again if she understood what kind of spiritual mother I am. I’m a childlike mom who’s filled with compassion and cares for the broken hearted. I feed the hungry and the hurting, because I’m hungry and hurting… and I’m healed and delivered by the love of the Father, the sacrifice of the Son, and the power of His Spirit! I’m not a mom that continually affirms and applauds gifted kids. I’m grateful for God’s grace and the gifts He’s given all His children, but I preach Bible so that good fruit may be produced. I am called, chosen and commissioned to BE and make disciples who love the Lord with all their heart.
Unfortunately, I never heard from that young woman again.
But she’s not the only kid wandering around in the wilderness here. Many have been called to this land flowing with milk and honey. Many live here as orphans. But a few have chosen to follow Jesus down the narrow road alongside spiritual siblings, parents and grandparents. A few have chosen to sit at the generational table He’s preparing for His Kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven.
The sad reality is, there are many breastfed babies being trained for service in the Father’s house, but they don’t have a clue where the kitchen is! They haven’t been taught how to purchase, plan or prep a meal. They haven’t been taught to sit and share with their Savior and Lord. They haven’t been taught how to eat His body and drink His blood every…single… day. They’re hungry. And they don’t even realize they’re starving to death!!!
Question is: who’s gonna feed them?
It’s time for parents, like Peter, to strengthen the body of Christ. Yep, I’m talking to you. I know you’ve been guilty of denying Jesus because you’ve feared man, not God. But let me remind you: He’s interceding for you!
Repent & return to Him.
He’s called you.
He’s chosen you.
He’s commissioned you to GO, make disciples!
Care for and feed the lambs & sheep. Invite them to breakfast, lunch or dinner. Sit at the table and listen to their stories. Tell them yours. Preach the Word of God to them. Pray with and for them. Pursue their hearts. Prophesy dry bones to life in their mind, will and emotions.
You know where the kitchen is. You know how to sit at the table. You know how to eat the scroll. It’s time to share your leftovers with the next generation.
NEW BOOK Available Today!!!
For nearly two decades, I’ve periodically written & posted biblically based blogs @ deepintothewater.com
Never, ever, ever did I have any desire to write a book about my life.
God, however, had other plans.
After hearing His still, small voice, I put literal pen to paper and began pouring my heart out in my journal.
8 years later (a significant number for me), I felt prompted to publish some of those pages.
So, welcome to my house! Come on in…the doors open. Allow me to introduce you to The Restorer of Homes.
A Prayer (fighting the good fight)
1 Timothy 6:11-14
11 … Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses. 13 And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
God, YOU said that when we fight the good fight of faith, it’s not by our strength or our power, but by YOUR Spirit. That means: we have to SEEK first YOUR Kingdom. Then all the things, all the plans for how to resist the devil will be given to us. Only then will we be able to go – and possess the land YOU promised. When we humble ourselves, seek YOUR face and turn from our wicked ways, no power or principality of darkness will harm us. No weapon formed against us will prosper. When we submit to YOU, as children, in childlike faith, we prove that YOU are our Father. A chosen few are doing that. But many that are called are running around like orphans with poopy diapers, swinging swords they aren’t strong enough to handle. Oh, that we would grow up and become spiritually mature sons and daughters!
How many times have YOU forgiven us our trespasses against YOU? In our ignorance we’ve believed we’re grown- just because we’re gifted! Heaven, help us. Many of us are doing good works; using spiritual gifts with gusto as explosive diarrhea overflows our sagging diapers. Our sacrifices have been detestable to YOU. They stink like week old dirty diapers! YOU are not interested in our Simon the Sorcerer routine; performing miracles, signs and wonders for the crowd….without knowing YOU. Without loving YOU! It’s obvious: we love ourselves and others more. The proof is evidence against us: we refuse to obey YOU. We’ve been content performing for love instead of from love.
When will we STOP?
When will we BE STILL?
When will we LAY DOWN and let our parents (the spiritually mature believers YOU have placed in our lives) help change us?
When we confess that we’ve rejected YOU as Father. When we repent for resisting YOUR authority. When we realize we’ve been deceived, doubted and followed the advice of the father of lies. “Don’t tell me what to do!” is the mantra of his children. They’ve declared their declaration of independence in their hearts. They’ve chosen to remain orphans; independent, impetuous and impatient… willing to survive alone, as individuals.
Lord, forgive us. We do not know what we are doing! We need a spanking. We need a time out. We need to be grounded. We need our toy swords to be taken away for a season to rest, recover and be restored to YOU: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We need to become HOLY as YOU are holy! Then we need to be reconciled to our fathers and mothers & brothers and sisters in Christ.
We confess all our crap to you, Lord! We repent for acting like orphans. We repent for being rebellious children. We declare a new declaration of DEPENDANCE on YOU, our good Father. We ask for YOUR helper- YOUR Spirit to lead us into all Truth. Change our hearts as YOU change our diapers! Train us in the way we should go. Potty train us. Teach us to grow up! We wanna become spiritually mature. We want to develop into healthy & holy kids, teenagers and adults. And when we are able, we ask that YOU show us how to parent the young ones as YOU have parented us; teaching us to obey all YOU have commanded.
Amen.
The Cost
Luke 14: 25-35
25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them,26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.
28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’
If.
Then.
IF I want to be a disciple of Jesus…THEN I must essentially hate everyone (including myself).
That doesn’t sound like the bible at all, does it? How many sermon series are centered around this passage of scripture? How often is it shared and liked on social media? Regardless, it is written, in redlettering. There is a cost that is required to follow Him. There is a cost and a cross.
It’s our choice, however.
IF…..
Then.
I’m currently in a “then” season.
I answered another “if” question 7 years ago. The Lord spoke to me in the secret place: “I’m removing your tent pegs….and sending you to a new land (Florida).” (read about it here: https://deepintothewater.com/2020/11/18/uprooting/) I must admit, I didn’t respond with great faith in the beginning, as Mary did when the angel told her she would conceive the Savior of the world by the power of the Spirit. Instead, I asked a slew of questions,
“What about my husband?
What about our kids?
What about our family?
What about our house?”
Still, the Lord was gracious. He gave me the gift of time and testing to build my faith. He gave me the gift of time and testing to count the cost. He gave me the gift of time and testing to face my fear of man. He gave me the gift of time and testing to confront the lies of the enemy. He gave me the gift of time and testing to receive the Father’s perfect love. He gave me the gift of time and testing to obey the Lord. He gave me the gift of time and testing to follow His Spirit.
IF I wanted to be a disciple…THEN I had to count the cost of my relationships:
- My husband initially rejected God’s call to go (which felt like personal rejection).
- Our children initially rejected God’s call to go (ditto to the above).
- Our family & friends initially rejected God’s call to go (ditto, again).
IF I wanted to be a disciple…THEN I had to pick up my cross:
- We closed the ministry we planted and pioneered for more than a decade.
IF I want to be a disciple…THEN I have to follow Him to Florida:
- I have to leave my friends and family.
- I have to leave the house we’ve poured blood, sweat and tears in to remodel.
- I have to leave some of our possessions.
The cost, however, pales in comparison to the reward of knowing the One who has called me by name. To the One who ran out to meet me when I came home to Him. To the One who healed and delivered me from sin. To the One who filled me with Himself.
There must be a call.
There must be a cost.
There must be a cross.
IF we leave everything….AND follow Him, we will see His plan, His promise, and His provision fulfilled in our lives. I’m living proof of it, my friend! His Word has NOT returned void. He said He would take care of all these things to fulfill His promise, including answering my prayer to sell our house, supernaturally.
“Lord, would you pleeeeeease just send someone over to buy our house?”
Yep.
He did.
Our next-door neighbor referred her sisters family.
They came over, walked through, sat and talked with us …and later made an offer.
The rest, as they say, is history.
He’s calling you, my friend. Can you hear Him? He wants an intimate, deep, abiding relationship with you. THAT is the ONE THING He is after: your heart. Do you know Him? Does He know you? IF you want to be His disciple…THEN you must consider the cost to leave your family, your nets, your boats and follow Him.
Trust me, HE is worth it!
Matthew 4:18-22
18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and followed him.
21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.
He Cuts
John 15:1-2
15 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
Today is the official dissolution date of the ministry we planted exactly 10 years ago. There are several reasons why God required us to close, but at the moment, only one matters: “He cuts every branch that doesn’t produce fruit.” Yes, through the years, I believe much fruit grew through the work of the ministry. Individuals, couples, children and multiple generations of families encountered the Lord, and were transformed. Hallelujah! However, in recent months, the Spirit had been revealing through Scripture, prayer, dreams (mine and others) that I had wandered down a path He did not send me. I had rebelled against His leadership. As a result, I had abandoned my first love: Jesus.
The result? Fruitlessness in that area of my life.
I may have turned away from the Son of Man, but He never left me. He has been interceding at the right hand of the Father all along. He has been praying that my faith would not fail as the enemy was granted permission to sift me like wheat. And in His timing, I was able to hear the sound of the rooster crowing in my Spirit- bringing conviction of sin. Like Peter, at the realization of my denial, I wept bitterly.
Repentance is a painfully beautiful gift in our relationship with the Lord. It’s an acknowledgement of the death we’ve been living under, which releases deep sorrow. It’s also a realization of the resurrection life that we have returned to, which brings great joy!
Repentance causes us to realize: He cuts us because He loves us.
A branch has been severed in me. Amen! It is gone. Gone but not forgotten. It is forgiven. Forgiven but not hidden. For it serves as a reminder of the blood that covers all my sin, cleansing me of all unrighteousness, connecting me to the vine which produces much fruit, bringing glory to the Father!
John 15:5-8
5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.
Ministry
Deep Into the Water 