1 Thing – A Vulnerable Heart

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“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.” Psalm 27:4

Why do you think David made the presence of God his number 1 Thing? 

Here’s what I think! I believe his heart had been made vulnerable. If you read the story of how God called David to be a shepherd king over His people you will quickly notice that the qualifications were upside down compared to our world’s standards. Even the seasoned prophet Samuel was searching for someone tall, dark, and handsome, who had experience and wisdom to lead God’s people over the cruel enemies attacking them. God reminded Samuel that the His credentials are different.

“Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart,” (1 Samuel 16:7).

Crazy thing is Jesse, David’s dad, had his 7 other sons come before Samuel and God kept shaking His head no. God wanted the one with the right heart as greatest of qualification. Finally as an after thought Jesse said there was one more, “he can’t be the one you want, he is the runt of the family, just taking care of stupid sheep!” Ouch!

Right there you see how David’s heart was formed for 1 Thing. In the crucible of a lonely childhood, the youngest of eight brothers, feeling discarded by his father David took his wounded heart and became vulnerable before a Heavenly Father. As an insecure teenager David sought security on a higher heavenly mountain than the hills of Bethlehem. He learned in this season of pain to pick up his harp and express his heart to God in song. He sang of his pain and heaven heard and would turn the pain into praise as God’s presence drew near. You can almost imagine how God gathered the angels around David and pointed out the shepherd boy from Bethlehem giving a concert to the sheep saying, “this is the one I want to lead my people, look at his beautiful vulnerable heart crying out from the depth of his soul for MY presence to help him.”

This story reminds me of a young person who recently got very vulnerable with me and shared struggles and sins that came out of childhood pain. Yet how God used the ache in their heart to drive them to the Cross of Jesus and claim the blood that washed their sin and guilt away. Such love experienced awakened a passionate desire to live the rest of their days in the Father’s presence, in His house.

1 Thing people are those whose hearts have been made vulnerable by sin, struggles, and the pain in life. They have learned to lament and cry out for the presence of one who will forgive and surround them with arms of love forever. 1 Thing people have learned the Father’s house is their true home and are willing to forsake all to live in the identity of being sons and daughters of the King.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Thing – “After My Own Heart!”

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What is greatest compliment you have ever received? You’re a wonderful mom, or you are a good father, an excellent student, excel in athletics, successful at work, a loving and kind person, a true follower of Christ?

I believe the greatest compliment ever given is: “I have found David, son of Jesse a man after my own heart” (Acts 13:22). God the Father declares a shepherd boy to have a heart similar to His, a heart that filled the Father with joy and pride. In essence it was like a proud father saying, “that’s my boy!”

Why would God give such a compliment to David? If this boy David, who later became King of Israel, had been living today I would be visiting him in prison, as he would be serving a life sentence for murder and deception. And there are a whole lot of others things on his rap sheet that seem to disqualify him from such an honor.

This June I have the privilege of taking a group of teenagers from Parker Lutheran and Regis high schools to Lesotho Africa. As part of their preparation I’m challenging them to memorize a verse from a song David wrote:

“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,” (Psalm 27:4)

Why this verse? Because this is why David was called “a man after God’s own heart.” Yes, David sinned and messed up royally at times, yet he would continue to return to his greatest passion “1 THING” which was seeking the presence of the Lord with all his heart. God’s greatest desire for His children is a relationship with Him. More than going on mission trip, more than doing good works and even more than being a King of a country…..He wants our hearts to be all about “1 THING!”

Anything we do for His Kingdom must be birthed out of living a life of “1 Thing,” having hearts that go hard after His glorious presence. In a world saturated by scores of distraction the Spirit is crying out for a new David generation that will be about “1 Thing.”

So I thought I would put out the same challenge to you as I have given to the team going to Africa, put Psalm 27:4 to memory and ask the Holy Spirit to stir in your heart to become a person of 1 Thing! There is no greater compliment than to hear that you are man or woman “after God’s own heart!” To hear your Abba Father say, “That’s my boy, that’s my girl! They love me with all their heart, and live for 1 Thing!”

The Father was so honored by David’s “1 Thing” heart that he would birth His only Son Jesus from the seed of David, the True King who would open up Heaven’s door for us to live in the glorious presence of God as His sons and daughters now and forever. What would the Father birth out of our lives if we returned to being a people of 1 Thing?

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah 29:13

 

 

An Open Door – “Little Strength”

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During my recent trip to Africa I was invited to preach at the Christian Revival Church in Lesotho. Sharing God’s word is one of my favorite things to do and I was excited to share with these precious people all that the Father has been teaching me from the Revelation 3:8:

“See I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and not have denied my name.”

I opened by sharing how a recent prayer service held on a rainy Saturday in the Los Angles Coliseum attracted thousands of people to gather together to pray for Revival in America. My family and I watched he live-streamed worship, prayers and speakers. Daniel Kolenda, an evangelist and a part of a ministry called Christ for the Nations was one of the keynote speakers. Daniel presented a powerful gospel message and many responded to the call to receive Christ. It was amazing!

The ironic thing about the keynote speaker Daniel Kolenda is that he was discipled by a German evangelist named Reinhard Bonnke, who birthed Christ for the Nations in Lesotho Africa in 1974. Reinhard worked diligently to share the gospel to the people in Lesotho but it was a tough go. At times he struggled with it all, yet in the midst of a difficult season the Lord gave him a reoccurring dream with the words, “Africa will be saved.” As Reinhard pondered the dream and the message he wrestled with how this could unfold as he knew first hand how difficult evangelism seemed to be in this small and relatively unknown country of Lesotho.

Yet, God brought Reinhard Bonnke to the passage from Zech. 4:6, “Not by might nor by power but by the Spirit says the LORD Almighty.” Reinhard began to pray into the dream and the passage knowing he had “little strength.” One Sunday when a special speaker from South Africa was a no-show Bonnke was the one to fill in. This Sunday when he had nothing prepared, and was filled with weakness and fear, this is when the Holy Spirit showed up and many people were saved and healed. This day was the day of the Open Door and because of that day Christ for the Nations was launched. This Sunday a door opened and from it birthed the first fruit of literally millions of people being saved over the enormous continent of Africa.

Out of weakness, in one of the smallest countries in the world, a door was opened by the power of the Holy Spirit to start a fire that would spread over all of Africa then jump the Atlantic Ocean and journey to LA Coliseum where I watched in my living room a young man preach the gospel with passion and power that led many to King Jesus. As I shared this story with the good people of the CRC church there were claps and cheers as they know are a congregation of “little strength” due to poverty, the pandemic of HIV Aids, and a corrupt and unjust political environment.

When “little strength” people surrender to King Jesus in the midst of the impossible, “Guess what?” Sails are raised to catch the powerful wind of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God. If you have “little strength” take heart! This is the heart condition that Almighty God loves to use in order to Open Doors for His Kingdom to invade your life with the life giving power of His Holy Spirit! Get Ready!

An Open Door – Obedience

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0026622321680 is a telephone number. Yes an odd looking number if you are living in the United States but a life changing number that altered the course of my life and many others. As I write this blog I’m viewing the beautiful baby blue ocean. I am inspired and in awe to be spending some time with a dear brother and sister who call South Africa home. This past week of preaching, ministry appointments and planning for three high school teams from the States to come out in June would not have happened without this crazy looking number.

A few days ago I was walking around the grounds of Beautiful Gate Care Center and was again overcome by God’s Kingdom breaking forth into the world through the staff and precious children who were once abandoned but are now thriving. I praise God for that phone number and how it ultimately has been the link to every trip to Lesotho. I often wonder what my life would have been like if that number was not given to us by John Boyd, a former Mission Aviation pilot in Lesotho. Back in 2002 John had just moved to Redlands, California and was the new president of Mission Aviation Fellowship and I was pastoring at a church nearby when our paths intersected. Somehow he heard that two pastors from The River would be in Lesotho on a World Vision Trip and he shared about a new care center called Beautiful Gate.

The mind-boggling thing is that number would never have been called if everything “went as planned” on our trip. But because the van to pick us up from the hotel was running two hours behind my stepdad Pastor Bill Bierling called the 13 digit number and the rest is history as we were introduced to Ray and Sue Haakonsen the directors of this new ministry.

As I type these words from Ray Haakonsen’s office and reflect on the past 13 years I am beyond blessed seeing small and big acts of obedience by John, Bill, Ray and Sue, and many others have led to the Father’s Kingdom breaking into my heart and the hearts of countless others. Little did John Boyd know when he was nudged by the Spirit to take the time to write down the 13 numbers and deliver them to us, that this small act of obedience would cause a ripple effect that continues to exponentially multiply.

I’d like to challenge you to listen to the nudge of the Spirit one small act of obedience may change a life and cause an unstoppable kingdom movement! So write the email to a friend who needs encouragement, send a donation to a student going on a mission trip, pray for that hurting person God has placed on your mind, share the story of what God is doing in your life with someone God brings your way and who knows the fruit that will come from your simple act of obedience.

“Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him and we will come to him and make our home with him,” John 14:23.

 

An Open Door – Turning the Knob – Repentance

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My son TJ spent his spring break in a small Texas town with other college students at a ministry for ex-offenders. Of all our phone conversations over the past three years away from home none was like this. TJ carried 90% of the conversation as he shared how the Spirit of God broke out in a powerful way among both college students and those in the re-entry program at the ministry.

Heaven opened and invaded hearts during the group’s times of prayer and worship. Students began to share openly with one another and sins were confessed as a spirit of humility and brokenness took over hearts. After four days of this intense work of God one of the students, who wasn’t even supposed to be on the trip, surrendered his life to Christ. His walls were high and thick caused by past pain, but as others shared their personal struggles with sin and their own spiritual battles cracks formed in his soul and the light of Christ broke in and brought everlasting love and salvation.

A few days after this young man’s conversion, the team from Northwestern College led worship at a maximum-security prison with one of the largest populations of lifers in the country. The young man who just received Christ got up in a crowded chapel and shared his testimony with the inmates. TJ said the whole experience was so powerful and the worship so anointed! College students and inmates alike belted out the words to the song, “I am a Child of God.” Truly each of one of them experienced God’s presence, which transformed the room with the joy of the Lord.

As I reflected on my conversation with my son and what their team encountered it is clear that one of the ways the knob to the door of Heaven is turned open is through repentance. As the Northwestern group shared their struggles with sin, confessed them to each other, and called out for mercy and grace to come from the blood of Jesus, Heaven opened. The gospels echo this idea of repentance through the ministry of John the Baptist. John came as a “voice in the wilderness” calling people to encounter the “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin,” Mark 1:4, this act would ready hearts to experience the gift from Heaven, who is Jesus Christ.

Jesus identified with our sins and was baptized by John in the Jordon River. Mark 1:10 says those present saw “heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him (Jesus) like a dove…” True Repentance turns from sin to a forgiving Savior, tears Heaven open for the Spirit of Christ to come and change hearts for eternity. Pause and paint that picture in your mind! Now that is power! I want that Open Heaven above for me!

Go ahead and turn the knob of repentance. It takes courage to look at one’s heart and see the “stuff” we need to confess. BUT repentance leads to forgiveness and the fruit will be absolutely unbelievable. Our Father is on the move as evidenced from what happened to these college students in Texas. I don’t want to miss it! I’m praying that God would give His beloved people a spirit to confess our sins and turn once again back to Jesus. He is the only one who has the power to turn the knob of Heaven’s door and allow His Spirit to bring Heaven to earth.