Lion Chaser: This is You

I'm back on the lions kick guys. I just can't seem to get away from it! And lets be honest, lions are pretty awesome. This morning I went through a box of books we've yet to fully unpack and pulled out my copy of Mark Batterson's "In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day". I think I may have talked about this incredible read before, but whatever, it's totally worth a re-visit. The book starts off by introducing you to an incredibly powerful and courageous man, whose decision to chase fear instead of run from it elevated him to a position of great authority and influence. That man is Beniah, who went on to become one of David's mighty men I believe. (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong lol.)

The whole encounter described in Mark's book is absolutely epic and paints a picture for us of how we should trust God with our fear knowing that what's on the other side of that fear is breakthrough and blessing. If you know the story of Beniah, you know that he came face to face with a lion, on a day when the ground was covered in snow, and decided to chase the lion down in to a pit where he would kill it with his bare hands. This accomplishment, on top of a few other very noteworthy happenings, built quite the resume' for Beniah and scored him a position serving directly under King David. Had he chosen to run in fear from the challenges he faced, which would have been totally understandable and actually quite logical, he would not have seen the incredible blessing and legacy that God had for him.

So I guess I just want to ask what you're facing right now? What's your lion? And I want to encourage you because that lion staring you in the face does not own you. That cancer does not own you, that depression does not own you, that addiction does not own you, that broken marriage does not own you. You were created to be a lion chaser and are branded with the name of Jesus! His name is above EVERY name! His name is above the name of cancer, depression, addiction, and broken! His desire for you is not just "good" but "great".

Get ready lion chaser. Destiny is staring you in the face. Will you chase it?

Identity: Your New name

This morning was one of the first mornings in a long time that I woke feeling truly rested and refreshed.  It's been a bit since I've felt that way, mostly because life just gets busy, and crazy, and busy again, and then moves back in to being crazy.  It's crazy busy, so lets just say that I have a "bazy" life lol.

You probably know as well as I do that "bazy" living can get you distracted from your core (your core being Jesus).  You start taking a little less time each day to pray and ingest His word, and pretty soon you end up where I found myself.  Dry, dazed, frustrated, and tired.  I started falling back in to some old habits and was becoming more and more sick of myself until I finally just stopped liking myself all together.  I was completing losing sight of the fact that Jesus love for me is FAR greater than my habits.  I was forgetting that He calls me His and there is nothing I can do to remove that label from my heart.  I'm signed and sealed "HIS".

When life gets crazy it becomes easier to lose our identity in all of it.  So lets take a second to remember who we are.  To do this I want to share with you something I did about a year or so ago that completely rocked my world in the best possible way.

I was reading an AMAZING book, the first of 3 or 4 I believe, called "Soul's Gate".  In a nut shell, the main characters in this book are brought together by a prophetically gifted, wise, mentor for the purpose of training them how to intercede and war for the people around them.  The book paints an incredibly interesting portrait of spiritual warfare and what it means to pray.  There was a particular section in the book that really hit a home run for me.  Royce, the teacher, was training these 3 individuals to trust in God in such a way that they were doing some crazy supernatural things as they warred over the people God pointed out to them.  Part of their training was to gain an understanding and perspective on who they are in God's eyes.  Royce gives each of them a pad of paper and pen and then sends them in to the woods surrounding the training grounds telling them to ask God for a new name.  He sites the scripture in Revelation where it talks about the white stones etched with a new name for those who receive them.

Each of them are branded with a new name, a couple of them with more than one.  Why is this important?  Because the truth behind their identities came straight from the Father and when they heard Him speak, understanding that this identity could only have been given by Him, they experienced a drastic shift in they way their faith operated.  They started walking as the warriors God branded them to be.

I read this part of the book and thought Huh.  Why not me?  I immediately set the book aside, turned on some worship music, and started pressing in, asking God to show me how He sees me, and to give me a new name.  I guess I didn't expect him to answer right away, but he did, and with 3 names.

Joshua: This one struck me hard.  All my life, even as a little guy, the people around me have accidentally called me by this name.  i had a teacher in grade school that used to mix me and another kid (whose name was actually Josh) up all the time.  I never understood why until now.  This was a small whisper from God.  He has been calling me by this name my entire life and I never realized it!  Here's a little bit behind the name. Joshua was a warrior with extreme faith in the Lord.  A leader.  He was also the one God chose to lead the Israelites in to the promised land after Moses died.  God chose him to complete the promise He gave to His people.  He is a completer of promises.

Goku: Now this one struck me, but not in a good way initially lol.  I am a HUGE nerd and LOVE all things super hero.  I grew up watching a show called "Dragon Ball Z" which was about highly trained warriors defending the earth from all sorts of evil attacks and threats.  The main character, Goku, is an alien whose DNA causes him to become exponentially stronger when ever he his pushed to the brink of death.  This means that every time he's beaten, he returns 100 times stronger than he was before!  The name Goku also happens to be Japanese, meaning "Sky".  God caused me to think about this fact and recognize that the sky is a limitless expanse, and whispered to me "you are limitless son."  I still giggle at this name when I hear it.  The nerd in me just goes nuts! lol

The third name is one I'm going to keep to myself for right now.

Who are YOU?  I know this may seem "out there" to some of you, but what if God is just waiting for you to ask?  What if He is ready to unlock something in you and all you have to do is ask "Lord, what's my name?"  You already have identity in Jesus, so let Him love on you and unlock the things he built inside you!

Do I believe this is the only way to learn about yourself?  Absolutely not.  But this is a great way to be reminded of how much God loves you and to learn more about how He sees you!  Look through His eyes at the mirror and get ready!