As I walk around, make this place a place of praise. Let my steps reflect You… I read those words the other day and have been considering them as I have been driving about and walking throughout the building on various tasks. Operating in a place of praise and peace despite it being a time of uneasiness or unrest is no small task. It requires every bit of effort to maintain an attitude that projects peace and positivity. Admittedly, I am not always successful at it, but it is my desire. There is so much going on and it is just the end of the first month of 2012! Amazing really. But the Lord is moving and changing things in my heart and that is not a bad thing.
Things at Voice are changing. It is inevitable because we are a ministry that is always evolving because the Lord is always pushing and prodding and moving us to greater depths of intimacy with Him, and naturally that is going to cause change. I think it is a good thing, and I think it is a necessary thing. Dave Ramer has been speaking for the past three weeks on Overcoming Deception at the End of the Age. It has been so powerful. He is changing. He is stronger, more confident and obviously even more connected to the Lord and it has brought so many people to places of exposure, brokenness and healing. Dave Ramer is an awesome man who loves Jesus and it has been great to really have so many good conversations with him because I always go away encouraged and I so enjoy his perspective.
Deception is so deeply rooted in so many of us and it is no wonder why we act and react how we do, because we have so many lies embedded in our spirits that need to have the truth of Jesus revealed. The enemy is a master of deception and loves to get us at an early age and keep us in bondage for years. But the awesome thing is that my relationship with Jesus Christ is the antidote to deception! He is the one who can come in and replace the lie of the enemy with truth and set us free! But you have to want it. You can’t talk someone into getting healing. Believe me, I have tried many times. It does not work. #1. I can’t be the Holy Spirit. He is way better at that job than I am. #2. Dave Ramsey likes to quote his grandmother — “Those convinced against their will are of the same opinion still.” You can’t force healing. When you try to talk someone out of deception, they often refuse to see the obvious thing that is hindering their walk with God.You can have all the facts and figures and charts and graphs, but if they are steeped in a lie, they will not see it. It takes a break-in moment where the light of truth hits them like it did the Apostle Paul on the road to Damascus. He was, as the old song goes, blinded by the light. And it shook him to his core. I have had a few moments where this has happened and I got some significant healing. I know there are still areas in my life that need healing, and I always pray that God will reveal where they are so that I can get free of any deception that binds me!
And that is a big part of what Voice is about and always has been since the beginning. I don’t think we will ever shy away from that. It is in our DNA. Being a place of healing. Being a place of hope. Being a well for those who are thirsty and desiring something deeper. Not that we have achieved some sort of higher plane of spirituality, but that we are seeking Jesus and to know Him more and want to share that reality to those who come. I love that our perspective is eternal, because a short-term “now” perspective without the end of the story in mind will never get you far. “I know the end of the story, and this is not the end of the story,” Misty Edwards often says. Voice is about the end of the story. That’s what our name signifies… a Voice crying out, prepare for the return of the King! People get ready, Jesus is coming! Get Oil (Mt 25). Don’t wait.
I remember listening to an old song – Bob Dylan wrote it, but we listened to Peter, Paul and Mary sing it… some of the lyrics go like this:
Come gather ’round people Wherever you roam And admit that the waters Around you have grown And accept it that soon You’ll be drenched to the bone If your time to you Is worth savin’ Then you better start swimmin’ Or you’ll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin’.
There’s a battle outside And it is ragin’ It’ll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin’.
And once again I am reminded of the verse that we often quote… “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be when the Son of Man comes…” The times are changing, the winds are blowing. And the question that comes again to me so frequently is, Am I ready?
Gosh, I have rambled a bit here, and I don’t know if this makes much sense but all I know is that my journey is long from over, and I plan to stay on that narrow road — rocky and curvy and steep as it is — and let my steps be steps that praise Him.