Whose Measuring Stick?

Here's something simple that the Lord put on my heart the other day...

Whose measuring stick are you measuring yourself with?

Are we measuring ourself (and others) with the world's measuring stick, or with God's measuring stick, according to His word?

So often we tend to look at our lives and feel like failures... Or I suppose some people might look at their lives and feel like a success... But the question rolling around in my head is... What is God's definition of success? What is God's definition of failure?

Even as Christians, I believe we have too often adopted a worldly perspective and even have allowed it into the Church... You have the Christian "celebrities" who grace the covers of Christian magazines, some deservedly so, but what does God think? How does He view this? I am not going to pretend to have the inside track on this, but it does cause me to look at what (and who) I tend to admire and to question it...

I think when we get to heaven, we're going to be in for some surprises... I read this in the New Living Translation this morning....

In Matthew 19:30 Jesus says about the Kingdom of God...

"But many who seem to be important now will be the least important then , and those who are considered least here will be the greatest then."

When this life is history and eternity is now, how many big name ministers devoid of their bodyguards and entourage will be seated at the lowest place, while seated at the seat of honor will be the little old lady who sat in the back of the church, who received no fanfare when she entered the house of God, who prayed diligently for that big name minister and for the people of God and who served faithfully behind the scenes, where no one saw........but Him. Which of our works will be considered wood, hay and stubble and will be burned up... and what will be considered gold? I believe the wood, hay and stubble vs. the gold, silver and precious stones represent the heart's motive behind the works.

Again- the world's measuring stick vs. God's measuring stick...

But on the other side of this same coin- How does our heavenly Father view us? What does His word say? We may not have much of what the world values... money, prestige, fame- but are we known in heaven? And in hell?

When the seven sons of Sceva were casting out demons "in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches", the demons answered "Jesus, we know and Paul we know about, but who are you?!" and then promptly proceeded to jump on them and give them a good thrashing... (I always felt sorry for these poor dudes)... I digress....But Paul was known! In heaven AND in hell! Whoa! He was not a rich man, or a movie star, but he was great in God's sight! How are we viewed in heaven? I have to remind myself constantly... man's vote doesn't count in heaven... Only God's does! And guess what? He LOVES us and sent His Son to die for us. We are valuable enough to Him to warrant the precious blood of His Son!

As I was reading in Exodus for the hundredth time, the account of Moses being called, I saw something I'd never seen before... Moses obviously knew he was called... Although he'd been raised as a man of privilege in Pharaoh's own house, somehow he knew he was meant to deliver the children of Israel. But he went out on his own to try to help his fellow Israelites... When he saw one of the Hebrews being beaten by an Egyptian, he killed the Egyptian... The next day he saw two Hebrews fighting and he tried to correct his fellow Hebrews... but their response to him was, "Who do you think you are?" and they proceeded to tell him that they knew about him killing the Egyptian and then Pharoah found out and yada yada yada, he fled to Midian where he hid out for 40 years, watching another man's sheep... A far cry from the favored prince of Egypt! Very humbling. In the world's eyes he looked like a failure. In his own eyes he viewed himself as a failure because when the Lord called to him from the burning bush... guess what his response was? It was the same basic questioning of his value that was used on him years before by his unappreciative kinsmen- He said, "Who am I Lord to appear before Pharoah?" Later after the Lord finally convinced him to go to Pharoah and he reluctantly came before him to present his request, guess what Pharoah's initial response to him was? "Who do you think you are?" Moses' fellow Israelites, himself and Pharoah all measured him with one measuring stick... but God measured him with another...

"Who do you think you are Moses?" Wow. So it's not just us whom the enemy torments year after year with the same lies! We are in good company! But thank God we don't have to be limited and hindered by the enemy's lies about our worth and the true measurement of who we are!

Obviously God's measurement of Moses was different than man's... For later on it says that God thought of Moses as His friend and spoke to him face to face!

When Gideon was threshing wheat in the basement for fear of the Midianites, the angel of the Lord greeted him this way,“Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!.. Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”” To which Gideon replied,“how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!” Again- the Lord obviously used a different stick...

God chose David, the youngest of his brothers, whom his father didn't bother to mention when asked by Samuel about his sons. God made the clear distinction that He measured differently than man...

And the Bible is full of such examples...

So how are we measuring our life and ourselves? Whose measuring stick are we using?

The Bible says for us to find out what pleases God. If we do, we will find it to be far different from what pleases the world... One look at the broken lives mocked in the entertainment section of the news, will show us the legacy of those pursuing the wrong system... A measurement system that may seem right for a while, but in the end will come up short in eternity!

I for one want to use the right measuring stick!

God bless! Kayla

Dreams...

I have been dreaming a lot lately. I don't tend to get 'words from the Lord' like my husband does, and I can count on one hand the number of visions I have had, but I am a dreamer... I dream a lot. Now some dreams are just plain silly, but on occasion I will dream something that gets my attention... or I will wake up with a phrase that I know didn't come from my brain. Very often my dreams are from the Lord... Anyway, I wanted to share a couple of these recent dreams with you. Would enjoy any feedback...

The first one was this past week: I dreamed that we were coming to church. We were on time, not early or late. Anyway, as we walked into the building, we could hardly move because there were so many people. People were everywhere! If I were to turn around to go out I couldn't have done it because of the crowds of people streaming in. Like at a football game or the stores the day after Thanksgiving.:^) People were even streaming in from the church across the street! Goodwood Boulevard was nearly blocked by the people (on foot) coming in... They were lined up. Of course when we got inside to go to "our pew", ;^), it was already taken. There were people with Bibles, papers and coats laid down to save seats. We were so surprised- like, "what is gonig on?" So since the church was so full, we went up in the balcony to sit. As we were up there, I thought about how George used to sit up there and I looked back at where he used to sit... and that was the end of the dream...

Then last night I dreamed about my nephew Billy (my sister Cathy's son). For those of you who don't know, Billy is autistic and almost completely non-verbal except for parroting what you say to him. I dreamed that our family and my sister's family were about to go somewhere- I think church... Billy began to get a bit fussy and my sister decided they didn't need to go wherever it was we were going. I asked her to give me a minute with Billy. I went in there and started talking to him. And he began to smile and to talk to me back. We just sat there and held hands and carried on a conversation. I wish I could remember what we talked about. Then we began to sing together. We were having a great time... He was very happy, very peaceful and normal. He wasn't "stimming" like he does, but was completely aware, looking me in the eye, talking to me (not parroting), and acting almost like a normal boy his age.... Then I left and went to wherever I was going and then that was all to that dream...

As I was waking up, this phrase kept going through my mind... "Supernatural Sabotage"! "Supernatural Sabotage!" I woke up wondering... is that a good thing or a bad thing? I kind of felt like a good thing. Like the Lord sabotaging the evil plans of the enemy. Since I didn't know, I prayed all morning for the Lord to sabotage the assignments of the enemy, and that the enemy would not be allowed to sabotage the plans and people of God... Anyway, I'm not sure if that had to do with Billy or not, but I prayed for him as well... Lord bring justice for Billy and his family!

I looked up the word "sabotage" in the thesaurus and one of the words that came up was "undermining"...
The Lord led me to this scripture that talked about false prophets in the Body of Christ. I thought about the "feel good Gospel" that is so prevalent these days in the western church... How so many are saying , "peace, peace" when God is calling us to repentance...

Ezekial 13: 10 " 'Because they lead my people astray, saying, "Peace," when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, 11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. 12 When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, "Where is the whitewash you covered it with?"
13 " 'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. 14 I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it [b] falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the LORD. 15 So I will spend my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, "The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, 16 those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign LORD." '

God raise up righteousness and expose wickedness... beginning in our own hearts!

Let's stay alert and aware. I prayed this morning that the Lord would alert the watchmen and call the intercessors to pray this through if it is a call from Him.

Here are some scriptures I found that go along with the thought of the enemy having evil plans for us and the Lord sabotaging them for His people's sake.

Ps.35:7-9
7 Since they hid their net for me without cause and without cause dug a pit for me,
8 may ruin overtake them by surprise— may the net they hid entangle them, may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the LORD and delight in his salvation.

Ps. 57:6
6 They spread a net for my feet— I was bowed down in distress. They dug a pit in my path—but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah

Ps. 141: 9-19
9 Keep me from the snares they have laid for me, from the traps set by evildoers.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets, while I pass by in safety.

Pr. 26: 24-28
24 A malicious man disguises himself with his lips, but in his heart he harbors deceit.
25 Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart.
26 His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it; if a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him.

Encouraging! But we need to be watchful and not unaware of the enemy's schemes! For our God is bigger... and He loves us!!!
God bless you all. Kayla

Majoring on the Majors!

I heard Jason Upton interviewed on God TV. Something he said has been sticking with me... He was asked something like, what advice would he give young Christians... (and I guess this would apply to "old" Christians too :^)... Now for those of you who are familiar with Jason Upton, you know that his music and worship style is anything but traditional... He is my alltime favorite worship leader. I guess because he is so real, and so unaffected by trends and the opinions of man. He just gets out there and worships his heart out and might be seen by the mainstream as "different". He definitely is what I'd call "deep". So much so that he's sometimes over my head... but his music always touches my heart and I believe it also touches the heart of God.... So when he was asked this question I was very curious how he'd answer... I figured it'd be something deep and mysterious... but actually what he said surprised me. He (basically) said that there are so many mysteries in the Bible that are meant to remain mysteries... and so often we cause divisions over these mysteries when we don't even know for sure what they mean... denominations are often formed because of them... But there are so many things that are NOT mysteries in the Bible. Things that Jesus was very clear about and are not the least bit mysterious. Things we are to obey and yet we often ignore... We need to go back to the Sermon on the Mount and learn how to live the Christian life and not get caught up in all these controversies... " I thought this was good advice! And this "old" Christian is going to take it!

It's weird but right around the time the Lord began to speak to me about this, I had a dream. In the dream someone in the church called the church and was complaining about some really insignificant thing and making a huge fuss about it. (I think it had to do with the Christian flag that was displayed in the sanctuary or a banner or something) and I said by the Spirit, "we need to quit majoring on the minors and start majoring on the majors". Nothing so eloquent that you'd frame it or make it into a refrigerator magnet but I think that in it's simple way, it is profound. And I am seeking to do just that.

Not that we ignore the mysteries in the Bible... Proverbs 25:2 says, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings." But I think all too often we spend more time searching out the mysteries and ignoring the obvious!

At the Onething conference I just attended at New Years, Mike Bickle taught on the Sermon on The Mount. He called it the "constitution of the Christian faith", the "core values of the Kingdom", the "litmus test to measure our success in this life". He said that our foundational calling is not ministry but to live out the Sermon on the Mount.

It's about our relationship with God and how that is lived out in our daily life. That is our "internal calling". Our "external calling" is our assignment while here on earth. We spend way too much time worrying about that and neglecting our "internal calling" to love God, to have a relationship with Him and to be a faithful disciple of Him. If we make this our main focus, we will fulfill our "external calling".

Our time on this earth is our internship for eternity. We will not be floating around on a cloud playing a harp. We will rule and reign with Christ. We will have assignments then. We need to not content ourselves just to "make it" to heaven but to live our life here on this earth for Him and HIs Kingdom's purpose. If we do, we will be rewarded in eternity. I know we are tempted to think that that sounds kind of selfish to think of eternal rewards. But the Lord talks about it in the Bible. He wanted us to know about it because it was important to Him, so it should be important to us as well...

It doesn't matter if others think we're successful or dedicated...they don't get a vote! It only matters what the Lord thinks. He's not going to judge us on the size of our ministry but on our relationship with Him, our heart of fascination with Him.

I for one was challenged with this. I admit that in the past I have sort of skimmed through the Gospels and although I could quote lots of Jesus's words since childhood, I didn't give them enough thought... but I am going back and re-examining them with new eyes... It's now like "Wow, Jesus actually said that!"

So I want to invite you to join me in re-rexamining Jesus's words, especially in the Sermon on the Mount. I don't want to just know it, I want to live it. That's a tall order, but the Lord doesn't instruct us without equipping us.

God bless... Kayla

Go LSU!

LSU- National Champs!!!!!

GO LSU!!!!!! There's some celebrating going on at my house tonight!!! Yay!!!!

The One Thing Conference!

Snow!

The guys!

Cold!

Awesome women of God!

Happy!

I wanted to share about the conference… by the way, let me know if you guys are still out there. I haven’t had a comment in a long time ;^). (sniff, sniff) No, seriously, just wondering…

Anyway, about the conference… Every year I look so forward to attending. Now let me be clear that I realize that there are no “Meccas” in the Christian world. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit and God resides within us. So we don’t need to go somewhere to meet with God. We are capable of meeting Him wherever we are…in the car, washing dishes, at work, at church, etc. But I think it is wise to take the time out of our busy lives and to steal away for a season from the ringing phones, responsibilities and distractions to meet with our God and to focus on Him and to hear what the Lord is saying from other members of the Body.

This is my third year to go. The Onething conference is put on by the International House of Prayer which has been going night and day nonstop 24/7 with prayer and worship for eight years! The conference is one of many hosted by the International House of Prayer and it bases it’s title and theme from Psalm 27:4 which says,

“One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple.”
And when Jesus confronted distracted Martha and said to her in Luke 10: 38
“Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
This is no little ‘feel good’, entertainment conference. It’s serious business. It is geared towards the younger generation (ahem, yes I know... but I went anyway ;^) They major on God’s love, which we’ve got to get a foundational understanding of so our service to Him will be from our heart and not out of a religious mindset. Our inner calling is to love Him and to be loved by Him… all things will pass away but only love, our relationship with Him, will remain. But they balance it out with the call to live holy and blameless before Him. There is also a constant reminder that we are at the end of the age and Jesus will be returning sooner than we think. There is a clear call to “Wake up church!” I was stirred once again with the urgency that there is a lost and dying world out there and although Jesus delighted to save me, He also didn’t do it just for me to sit on my behind and keep Him to myself.

The last day, there was The Call with Lou Engle. Oh my! I have never been so convicted and stirred. The Call is to fast and pray for our nation! Every year millions of babies are aborted. He likened it to the Holocaust. It horrifies us to think of what went on then and we think we would have tried to prevent it had we been alive during that time. But where is our horror now? Here we, the Church sit, mainly silent, with a crisis at our doorstep, as millions of children are aborted each year. The blood of these millions of unborn ones cry out to heaven for justice. It was sobering to realize that there will be judgment at some point for America. It was a solemn time. Thirty thousand saints crying out together for God to end abortion in America and crying out for God’s mercy. Powerful! I so esteem Lou Engle’s ministry, The Call. He pleaded with us like one of the prophets of old. You could see that his heart was breaking, pleading with the urgency of the hour. He shared how we, as Christians, have got to vote, not along party lines necessarily but to vote for candidates that are pro-life. Yes the other issues are important, but millions of murdered babies a year, gets heaven’s attention more than any other issue. That is paramount. That has to sway our vote more than the economy, more than the war, more than health care… who will stand for the unborn? There is no greater issue. He didn’t endorse any candidate. He just asked us, as Christians, to not be yoked with those who would sanction the death of millions of unborn babies. And to fast and pray! I encourage anyone reading this to please- whether you are Democrat or Republican- it doesn’t matter- just please vote pro-life. And please pray for God’s man to be brought into office. Pray for the Supreme Court judges. We have got to get more pro-life judges in there. Prayer accompanied with powerful fasting will be key (check out an earlier blog of mine titled- "One of God’s WMD’s" which is about fasting.)

All this and I haven’t even mentioned the worship! Oh my! I feel like I was just transported into the heavenlies with the high praises of God. We came home with lots of new songs for the worship team to learn ;^). These heavenly songs are birthed in an atmosphere of 24/7 prayer and worship. No wonder they are anointed! I don’t mean to sing the praises of the conference… I came back singing the praises of my God. He touched me. I got adjusted and refocused on the only One who really matters, who I exist for. I needed that. I can't explain it... but I was changed...

And the prayer room! At IHOP they have a prayer room that (as I already mentioned) goes 24/7 with worship and prayer going on continually. They somehow brought the prayer room to the conference center and as the conference was going on, you could go to the prayer room if you wanted to skip a session or something. I think for many of us, the times in the prayer room were our favorite part. Wow. To be in that atmosphere, saturated with 24/7 worship and prayer... oh my! I know God is in us, but can I tell you there are levels of His presence we've yet to know! And in the prayer room I met with Him in a deeper way...

In addition to the awesome teaching and worship, I think the fellowship with my precious sisters and brothers was so rich. The conversations on the way home in the van were meaty and as anointed as some of the sermons I heard… Robin Waites and her children, my sister Cathy, my son Max, Mary Klumb and Will Lapointe all went. It was so much fun! And it snowed! We were so excited! But it was SO cold!!! I was NOT prepared! Ankle socks don't cut it in the snow! Thank God my sister- who is like a Boy Scout, prepared for any situation (and her large amount of luggage testifies to that fact :^) loaned me a scarf and some warmer socks... And as cold as it was, Robin forgot her coat! Thankfully Max had an extra jacket that she borrowed and he decided that she looked like a Jedi Master with her white hood on. It's been a while since I've laughed as hard as I did on this trip. Mary got us all going one night when we were tired and delirous singing rhymes back and forth... You had to be there. But it was hilarious...take my word for it... :^)

Okay, I’m done for now. I plan to share some of my notes once I get them compiled. (Hopefully I can read my own handwriting :^)… But I want to encourage everyone, at some point, to get away from your routine, your home and get off somewhere, anywhere, with God, whether it be a conference, or a quiet time alone in a cabin with just you and Him. With this busy, crazy life we each have, it’s so easy to get caught up in the world’s way and to forget that we aren’t of this world. We are only in an internship here, preparing for eternity. We had better wake up! And getting away sometimes does that to us. You and those in your life will be better for it. :^D God bless! Love, Kayla

P.S. I plan on transcribing and posting the prophetic word Keith gave this Sunday morning at church once I get the CD.... so stay tuned...

Happy New Year!

Hey all. I just recently returned from the annual Onething conference held in Kansas City, Missouri every New Years. I have gone the last three years. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to go this year but thankfully I was able. As time goes on I will be hopefully sharing some of the things I gleaned from the incredible teaching we received there. So stay tuned… Anyway, I wanted to say Happy New Year. I enter this new year with a lot of hope. Hope in Him! For He is Good and His mercy endures forever! God bless. Kayla