The True Value of Our Lives

I was walking through the historic cemetery in our town when I noticed a sign with the word "Pauper." In the 1800’s, sections of cemeteries throughout the United States had dedicated areas to bury the poor. There were other signs in these cemeteries that defined the burial plots for fraternal organizations and religious affiliations. It was the sign with the single word “Pauper” that caught my attention and tugged at my heart.

A dictionary definition notes a pauper to be “a person destitute of means, a very poor person who relies on charity.” We don’t use the term anymore. Though the word seems antiquated, it can still define the financial and social status of some people.  While there are people of faith who struggle for the material needs of daily life, their real value is never determined by the social designations people attach to their life. Every human being deserves dignity, not designations.

Our true value is only determined by God, not by any cultural placard placed over our life. I know that in the pauper section of the historic cemetery lie buried followers of Christ who did not have much in terms of physical wealth or social status. These believers were wealthy beyond human measurement because they were loved by God. Today, many of their graves are unmarked, but in the life to come, they will be wearing crowns studded with the gems of their faithfulness. That will be the ultimate and final declaration of their value and the only true measurement of how they lived this life. 

“But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2: 4-7).

Where Real Change Occurs

The most profound change in a human being takes place at a deeper level than the imposition of a law that forces compliance or in a group dynamic where your acceptance is based on your agreement. These changes take place in the sphere of human passion where we respond to life out of our commitment to God to be a responsible parent, a faithful friend or a trusted co-worker. Unless this personal passion is ignited by the Spirit we will remain unchanged.

In this place of deeply held personal conviction is where the Lord does His most profound work. When a righteous passion rises to meet the passion of the Lord, no social or personal ill can resist its transforming power. 

Until we experience this passion for personal and cultural transformation, we will not commit to the struggle required to bring about change in our lives and in culture. Without a Spirit-empowered passion we will not have the emotional and spiritual strength required to move forward in our calling.

Ask God to align your passion with His passion. When that shared passion is realized and experienced a pure passion fueled by the Spirit will begin to rise within you to transform not only your life but the lives of those around you. 

“Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list” (Matthew 22:37 The Message).

Spiritual Bushwhacking

Explorers explore unknown territory. Exploration must take place before the pioneers can arrive. Pioneers come to settle a place discovered by an explorer and announced as available for settlement. Explorers will try many different ways through unexplored territory before they can establish a safe path that can be used by the pioneers. Not all the paths an explorer takes are intended to be the final route. Their mission is to weed out the failed routes to provide safe passage for those who would follow. That is the nature of exploration.

When I moved to Montana as a young church planter, I heard the term “bushwhacking” for the first time. Bushwhacking happens when you leave the known trail and set out overland and hike where no trails exist. I can remember crossing parts of the Rocky Mountains where there were no human footprints or any evidence that anyone had ever traversed the distant canyon where I hiked. On a few occasions, I took a wrong heading and had to backtrack to find a safe place to cross the spine of the Rockies high above the timberline. These failed navigations did not mean I was wrong or ill-informed. It is simply the nature of exploration. You try something to see if it works. If it doesn't, you adjust your route and move on.

In life in the Spirit, some are called to be explorers. Explorers leave the trail of the status quo and set out to find a way through a challenging theology or try to discover a point of passage through a difficult moment in culture. These explorers need a lot of grace, especially when they have to backtrack because their spiritual bushwhacking failed to find the right path. Backtracking is not a sign of weakness. It is wisdom. 

Treat the explorers in your life with respect. Bushwhacking in the realm of the Spirit carries with it a John the Baptist anointing. Making a way in the wilderness is never easy.  Give explorers grace and they will show you the way forward when no way seems possible.

Re-Wilding Our Faith

Recently, the Lord asked me to unclutter my life and ministry. The Lord began this process so I could be free to focus on just a few things that would release the greatest potential for Kingdom impact. 

In the de-cluttering, I discovered a new term, “re-wilding”. Re-wilding is a process of returning land and creatures to their natural environment. It has been used in over-worked farmland and with species of birds that were released back into the wild after being restored to health following an injury. New habitat and bio-diversity are created as the result of re-wilding.

I have experienced four personal Pentecost moments over the last 40 years. Each time God had to come and set me free from the non-essentials I had accumulated. These encounters with God re-wilded my faith. He returned me to a simple, Spirit-empowered environment. In that simplicity, a reordering took place that brought with it the blessing of a refocused life and mission. 

In these encounters, I returned to the habitat of the Spirit, a place of miraculous possibilities we can miss because the clutter of life has wrapped itself around us binding us emotionally and spiritually. We become like an animal trapped inside a piece of discarded plastic trash. 

If you feel bound by the clutter of life, ask the Rescuer to come and set you free. Give Him permission to re-wild your faith. God will be faithful to nurture you back to health and release you to fly in the Spirit over new terrain you thought impossible when the clutter of life had you bound. 

An Off-Leash Faith

Shortly after rising this morning, the word “unleashed” came to mind. It’s not a word I typically use in my vocabulary so it got my attention. I let it rest. Then it came to me again. I had a general idea what the word means but went to a dictionary to unpack its definition thinking the Lord had something He wanted to say.

To unleash something can mean several things. It has been defined as,  “to let loose”, “to set in motion forcefully” or “to free from a restraint.” Leashes are not always visible. Some of the most dangerous and controlling leashes are only seen in the realm of the Spirit. Those under the control of a leash may not even know they are being controlled thinking being controlled.

A leash can be a physical restraint placed on someone by a controlling person, group or institution. It can also be a mindset of fear as strong as a heavy chain leash that weighs down our hope so much that we give up and walk away from our destiny.

Today, unleash your life from any and every restraint not directed by the Spirit. You were meant to live off-leash only responding to the sound of the Master’s voice. Any controlling presence leashed to your life needs to be removed. You were created to run free within the sphere of God’s revelation.

Reading the Terrain of Your Life

As you begin to read these words, I want you to pause for just a moment and pray this simple prayer, “Father, open my eyes to see my life and the world around me with your eyes.” That is an important prayer because so much is standing between our eyes and the reality of who we are in Christ. We all need the depth of insight only a Spirit-led revelation can provide to help us see through all the things of life that occupy our sight.

There is a technology called, LIDAR, an acronym for “light detection and ranging.”  LIDAR is a surveying method that illuminates a target with a pulsed laser beam then measures the distance between two objects by measuring the reflected pulses with a sensor. LIDAR is used in a wide variety of applications. It has replaced the old radar guns used by police officers to determine a vehicle's speed and by the military to guide stealthy missiles. 

One particular use of LIDAR caught my attention. LIDAR can map terrain, helping geologists find hidden earthquake fault lines not always seen with the naked eye. This technology can see down through the treed canopy of a forest and underbrush to precisely interpret and then create a detailed map of the Earth's surface. The images appear as if everything on Earth was shaved away down to bedrock and topsoil like a man shaving his beard for the first time. On a shaved face you might see a scar that was hidden under the beard. A scar, like a hidden fault rupture from an earthquake, will remain hidden until revealed.

I asked you to pray for a reason. Some of you are interpreting your life based on what is manifesting between you and your true identity. The forest of emotions and changing circumstances are not your identity. If you look at your life with natural sight, you will only see the trees and underbrush, not the substance of your true identity. You need a version of spiritual LIDAR to see the true terrain of your life.

Faith is not always summoning enough spiritual juice to do something monumental for the Kingdom of God. Some of the most profound acts of faith take place when we look down through the trees and underbrush of our life and see for the first time who we truly are in God. That bedrock identity is what will remain unchanged no matter happens in the forest.

Healing Our Outlook

When we are delivered to a new place in life our tendency is to try and define what we think we see. In that new place, wait for the Lord to speak before you begin to craft your definition. You will have brought with you the fears that created the negative, fear-based outlook in the old place. That outlook and its accompanying false definition of reality need to be healed before you can fully enjoy where God has placed you. That healing will be more important than your arrival in the new place.