MOMENTUM - Part I

MOMENTUM - Part I

Now hear this: Your opportunity-of-a-lifetime only takes place during the lifetime-of-the-opportunity.  In other words, your God given assignment has a very definite shelf life.  In light of this, David prayed fervently, “Teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” (Psalm 90:12) “Carpe diem” is a Latin phrase coined by the poet Horace, which literally means “seize the day.”  This classic truth says as much about our FOCUS, as it does about our TIMING. 

As Kingdom Kids, it is an indispensable mandate to seize our GOD-GIVEN MOMENT (our vision, our assignment, our anointing) while it is still OUR SEASON.  The Word declares that a blessed man “shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth fruit IN HIS SEASON.” (Psalm 1:3) In all matters of life, TIMING IS KEY!  Even though GOD IS ETERNAL, i.e. from “everlasting to everlasting,” He works out His perfect will for us within the context and framework of TIME. (Psalm 90:2) So I repeat, TIMING IS KEY!

What are the practical applications here?  We should avoid becoming stagnant and stuck in any negative situation, or even in any level of success.  Obviously, we do not want to get mired in our failures, endlessly reliving them and continually constrained by ‘the paralysis of analysis.’  But neither should we become stuck on (or in) our successes.  It is possible to complete a specific Kingdom assignment and then fail to move forward to the next – all due to our natural sense of comfort in the things that seem easy and familiar.

To wit, GOD OFTEN CONSTANTLY CALLS US OUT OF OUR COMFORT ZONES.  God never changes; however, His appointed seasons for us do change.  Whenever God’s clarion call is trumpeted and a clear command ensues to ‘move the camp,’ those who are trapped by ‘failures’ or ‘familiars’ just might be left behind.  That is, the human resistance to CHANGE results in a spiritual resistance to RHEMA (a fresh ‘NOW WORD’ from God), and causes one to miss out on the present day move of God and the unveiling of His future plan. (Jeremiah 29:11) Let s/he that hath ears, hear what the Spirit is saying to the church. (Revelation 2:7)

During the years of my personal walk with God, I have observed that The Creator has ingenuously imbedded spiritual truth within nature, itself.  Allow me to offer one example.  Sir Isaac Newton’s FIRST LAW OF MOTION informs us that an object at rest tends to stay at rest, while an object in motion tends to stay in motion.  [Gee, and I thought I would never use those physics classes in real life]!  This law is often referred to as the LAW OF INERTIA or the LAW OF MOMENTUM.  It explains why it might be more difficult to ‘start something’ and why it seems relatively easier to ‘keep it going’ once it has begun.  Think carefully about that.

As a student of church history, it is clear to me that it is challenging for us to ‘START’ moving in the direction of God’s perfect will when we become acclimated to the status quo, and then (once moving) it is just as difficult to change our course whenever The Divine Navigator decrees new compass settings.  For example, every major denomination in the history of the Christian Church seemed to start off on ‘the good foot.’  Typically, crystal-clear vision was present early on.  Which means there was a initially sharp discernment of God’s will and way, along with profound dedication to living under the sovereignty of God’s Word.  But typically, by the third or fourth generation of adherents, there is the customary pattern of shifting and a drifting away from the plan and purpose of God.  This is not due to God’s silence.  God always speaks to us, whether we are listening or not.  But all too often, we turn deaf ears to His voice (His Word), becoming acclimated and comfortable with our own word, will and way.

Historically, God chooses human agents to give voice to revelation and redirection in crisis moments such as these.  It reminds me of an old movie entitled “Field of Dreams.”  It’s not a perfect parallel since I am not an avid proponent of ghosts-and-such, as portrayed in the screenplay.  Albeit, Kevin Costner plays the main character who loves baseball with all his heart and desperately wants to experience in rural America what was mainly accessible to urban areas: to watch live professional baseball games.  But there is no baseball diamond, i.e. no FIELD OF DREAMS, on which any baseball game could ever be played.  While contemplating the unlikely possibility for changing this unhappy rural circumstance, an otherworldly voice whispers challengingly to him: “If you build it…they will come.”

And now I find myself wondering if someone reading this devotional is hearing the inner voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to you in similar fashion: “IF YOU BUILD IT…THEY WILL COME.”  How is He speaking (uniquely and clearly) in your situation, causing you to hear Him beyond all doubt?  And how are you responding?   Is it a response that is calibrated by fear or characterized by faith?  Stay tuned…more to come tomorrow.

Sisters and brothers, be continually blessed, and please (above all else) MAKE SURE YOU ARE READY TO MEET OUR SOON COMING KING.  Maranatha!