Erykah Badu sings a song, “Window Seat” where she describes the feeling of wanting to escape the life you are currently living, wanting to experience something new but struggling with leaving the familiar behind. In the song she wants to get away but she wants someone to love her enough to make her stay. She sings:
So can I get a window seat
don’t want nobody next to me
I just want a ticket outta town
a look around
and a safe touch down
Can I get a window seat
don’t want nobody next to me
I just want a chance to fly
a chance to cry
and a long bye bye..
Are you in that window seat, looking out so that you can hide your pain from others? Are you looking out of that window for reassurance that there is a better life for you somewhere out there? I have been in that seat plenty of times. There was activity all around me but I kept my face to the window so that no one would see my tears. I wished for a different life and a different me. I wanted to escape the life I had created for myself.
There was a young man in the Bible named Eutychus who secured himself a window seat as Paul preached one Sunday evening. I imagine Eutychus sitting off to himself in that window pondering Paul’s words and wondering if he could really have the life that Paul said he could have. As Paul’s message carried the congregation well past midnight, I think Eutychus must have been deep in thought or began daydreaming because he drifted off to sleep and fell from the window, three stories to his death.
When Eutychus fell, you can imagine that everyone was alarmed, but Paul ran down, threw himself on the young man’s body and declared, “Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.” Acts 20:10 (NKJV) The congregation celebrated and rejoiced that the young man was alive, and Eutychus received an opportunity to live.
Paul said, “his life is in him.“ You may be searching for something to change or complete your life, but the Spirit of the Lord is saying to you right now, “Your life is in you.” You can change the location, the people and the circumstances, but you will still have the life that is within you.You will still have the choices that you make that render your relationships with people dysfunctional and your circumstances unbearable. You cannot change your location and thereby create a different life. Your life is in you, therefore you take that life with you everywhere that you go.
The question is, will you transform the life that is in you? You can be the person you desire to be and live the life you desire to live by taking actions that are in line with what you want. You can be who God created you to be. You do not have to sabotage yourself with sinful behavior and destructive thought patterns. You do not have to try to escape.
Simply be. If you want to be a writer, then write. If you want to be honest, then start telling the truth. If you want to be faithful then be faithful. Don’t do the things that are inconsistent with who you want to be. For example, if you want to be physically fit, don’t lay around on the couch watching TV all day every day.
Build yourself up in the life that you want to live. Read about it, talk about it, be about it, be around others who want the same things for themselves.
Don’t lose your life by pondering it away in that window seat. Get up and live!
Acts 20:7-12 (New International Version)
Eutychus Raised From the Dead at Troas
7On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 8There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “He’s alive!” 11Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
I just completed a 10 part seminar series over the last four months that has truly transformed my life. Our final lesson was “Acknowledgment.” It is so important to express appreciation for the people in your life who help you accomplish your goals. The truth is that none of us make it through life successfully on our own, we have people holding us up at various times and assisting us along the way.
The year 2010 has come to represent a year of completion for me. I have successfully navigated through the testing phase, and matured to the point where I am being promoted to the next level in several areas. I completed my MBA studies, completed my Landmark Forum In Action Seminar and will complete my life as a single woman this summer. I couldn’t be more pleased with the way my life is going right now nor with the network that I have been plugged into.
I acknowledge many people for their input in all that is going right in my life. My loving family, my wonderful fiancee, my children – natural and spiritual, my amazing friends, awesome co-workers, inspiring people that I have shared classrooms and seminars with, my Pastors, teachers, mentors, the people who prayed for me and held me up during times in my life when things were not going well, all the new people I have met who offer encouragement and support, the people who think they have done me wrong but have actually given me valuable lessons.
This may be contrary to popular belief, but the world is full of beautiful people who have much love and support to share with others. I’m grateful to be on the receiving as well as the giving end!
Hebrews 12:1-3 (New King James Version)
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Are there things that you need in order to shape your life into what you want it to be? Do you have a list of items that are simply lacking or need to be replaced? Do you find yourself looking at others who seem to have all those things that are missing in your life and wonder when it will be your turn to receive?
If you are wishing and waiting for your turn to receive all these things that are “missing”, then I would like to remind you of the universal law of sowing and reaping.
Too often we get into the mindset of “lack” and begin to hoard whatever it is that we do have in order to preserve ourselves. We become stingy with everything out of fear that there will not be enough. Other people’s problems have nothing to do with us, we say we have enough to worry about. We say we cannot give to help another nation when we are starving ourselves.
While that perspective may seem perfectly logical, it simply does not work. The more one looks out for self, the more isolated you become. The more isolated you become, the list of things you lack begin to grow. When you cannot give of yourself, you cut yourself off from love, nurturing, support and countless other resources. When you feel you are entitled to receive help because of your circumstances yet are unwilling to help others, eventually your well will run dry. You will deplete your resources and be in an even worse state.
You may say, “I have nothing to give.” Too often we equate giving with finances. Every person has something to give. You can lend your time to help another person or people in need. You can donate your services when you have special talents and abilities. You can be a friend to someone who needs support. As you do this, you will become a bigger person as the seeds of love are watered in your heart.
Not only will you become bigger, you will become connected with likeminded people who want to help. Suddenly the things you need are being placed in your hands. The support you wished for is now readily available. With the help of others you have the strength to accomplish things you never dreamed of.
If you are in need, give something of value away. Test this principle in your life and see how it can change everything.
Mark 4:24-25 (The Message)
“Listen carefully to what I am saying—and be wary of the shrewd advice that tells you how to get ahead in the world on your own. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes.”
Luke 6:38 (New International Version)
“Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
What are you willing to be in order to have the life that you want?
For years I said I wanted to be married and have a family but I was unwilling to be committed. I also wanted peace and happiness in my life yet I was not obedient to the will of God. I formed this belief that God was somehow angry with me and wondered if I would ever please Him.
Have you done this? Have you wished for your life to be different, yet failed to do what was necessary to bring forth the change?
Jesus told a wealthy young man that it was easier for a camel to enter through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. I suspect that it is not the riches that prevent someone from entering the kingdom of God, but their unwillingness to give up their way of doing things.
You can be loving and have the relationships that you want. You can be creative and have the businesses that you want. You can be compassionate and make a difference in your world.
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Matthew 19:23-26 (New King James Version)
23 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When His disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
26 But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Restoration has taken place in almost every area of my life in the past year. Everything is so different than it was just one year ago. I believe I would have missed out had I not turned to God and submitted my will to Him.
Prior to that it was almost like I was going through the motions. I said I loved God, I knew His Word, I knew how to pray, but I did not trust Him as I should have. I continued doing things my way expecting to get the result I wanted. Can you relate?
The prophet Isaiah talks about how God’s people looked like they had it all together but their prayers were not getting any further than the ground! He said everything they did was to benefit themselves. They were cruel and hardhearted, yet went around talking about how humble they were. God said He was looking for true humility where they cared for others, took care of the homeless and clothed the needy.
God said if they did this, their lives would turn around and He would answer their prayers. Verses 9-12 of Isaiah 58 in the Message Bible sum it up well:
“If you get rid of unfair practices,
quit blaming victims,
quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
make the community livable again.
Lord, my prayer is that we Your people would increase in humility and service so that You will be able to restore our foundations, heal our land and build us into the nation we were created to be. The stronger we are, the more effective we can be for You! Lord, thank You for making the path to restoration plain and accessible. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
Isaiah 58:8 (New International Version)
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard.
Earlier this week, I wrote about a vision I had in which God showed me how sin infests someone’s life by slowly entering through a rip in a screen and a slightly cracked window.
The cracked window is the opportunity for temptation that we allow in our lives by meditating on impure thoughts encouraged by things we see and hear. I also wrote about how the company we keep can encourage sin. People who share our weaker tendencies come along and push the window all the way open like a floodgate for sin to abound.
To remedy this sin problem, we can be careful about what we see, hear and read. We can also spend our time with people who will edify us and encourage us in our Christian walk. Doing these things will decrease the opportunities for temptation in our lives however, they do not resolve the root of the problem – that rip in the screen.
The ripped screen represents sin that has been passed down to you through generations, other people you have spiritually bound yourself to or actions and judgments you have made that have taken root within you because of life’s circumstances.
Perhaps all the men in your family are abusive and you are too. Maybe all the women in your family are alcoholics and somehow you find yourself struggling with the same problem. Your father may have abandoned your family so you judged that men are no good and you spitefully use them. You fear rejection because of your childhood so you toy with people’s emotions then leave them before they leave you.
These scenarios indicate that you need God to come in and repair that rip in the screen so that you no longer have to worry about unwanted patterns of sin in your life. You need Him to come in and remove the negative things that have infested your life. If you want to begin the path to healing, pray this prayer and study God’s Word concerning the thing that you struggle with:
Lord I pray that You would reveal hidden areas of sin that have taken root in my life. I want my life to be pleasing to You and I repent for things I have done that hurt You. Lord, I forgive those who have hurt me in the past and I release them right now. Lord please break any emotional connections I have with people that have become windows to sin in my life. Please burn away every wicked desire in me and make me brand new. I pray these things in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Matthew 13:24-30 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Weeds
24Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27“The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28” ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29” ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ “
Excuse me, I would like to introduce myself to you. My name is Victory. I have been through the fire and I have been through the flood. I have been abused, scorned, ridiculed and neglected. I have been foolish, careless and just plain wrong. I have been so miserable that I wondered why I was even here.
But I stand before you today a new person. Sometimes I almost forget who I used to be because everything is so different now. God came in and performed a wonder in my life. My joy runs deep, my peace is sustained and I am full of hope for tomorrow.
Life is so miserable without hope. But Christ in us IS the hope of glory. Because I can see where He brought me from, I know that He is not finished with me yet. My struggles of today will not be my struggles tomorrow for I am being changed from glory to glory.
Be encouraged today that the Lord will fight your battles and bring you through victoriously. I see God’s hand in the lives of so many people. What has He done for you? How many times has your life been threatened but you are still here? Against what odds are you still breathing today? There is a reason why you are still here. Even if it seems the whole world is against you, God is on your side and yes, He still has a plan for you.
Believe Him for your victory and give Him the glory for the things He has already done!
Romans 8:28 (Amplified Bible)
28We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labor] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.
Romans 8:36-40 (Amplified Bible)
36Even as it is written, For Thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we are regarded and counted as sheep for the slaughter.
37Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.
38For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers,
39Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
I asked the Lord to search me and He showed me that there were some areas that I was stubbornly holding onto, not allowing Him to fully penetrate and bring the change that I desperately need.
Sometimes you can be in bondage to something for so long that it begins feels a bit normal to you. You may even find pleasure in it and not want to let it go. You may fear you will lose part of who you are if you give that thing up because you are so used to being that way. You may have even justified that thing by saying, “I have to be me.”
It is such deception to believe that anything short of God’s best is who you were created to be. Accepting brokenness as a part of your identity is a sign of someone who has given up because they have tried to rely on their own strength to change.
We must fully submit to God’s changing Power. We have to lay down our will and be truly ready for Him to come in and clean house, especially if we want to reach our destiny in Him. My prayer today is simply Lord, “Take all of me!”
Romans 6:12-14 (New King James Version)
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
The Word of God contains instructions that if followed, guarantee the outcome that it describes. That is why the Bible is so essential for victorious living and personal growth.
Even more amazing than that is how the Holy Spirit will illuminate Scripture to you that you may have no prior knowledge of. I can testify that there are times I prayed and received God’s answer and later was led to the Scripture that contained the same words I heard in answer to my prayer.
There were times I feared that God would turn His back on me because even though I told Him I wanted to serve Him, my actions told Him otherwise. He reminded me that He would never leave me nor forsake me. I could not understand that. But even as I wondered how that was possible, He told me to keep seeking and desiring His Will and I would indeed find Him.
God truly does understand the condition of a person’s heart and mind. He knows our issues, He knows all the difficult things we must overcome and He knows if a person sincerely wants to change and live their life for Him.
Be honest before God and actively seek Him. Talk with Him about the things you struggle with, about the things you feel are keeping you from serving Him. Tell Him that you want to do better but you need His help. He will be there for you and with you. He will lead you to the help and deliverance required for you to be free. He will be the change you need!
1 Chronicles 28:9 (Amplified Bible)
9And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father [have personal knowledge of Him, be acquainted with, and understand Him; appreciate, heed, and cherish Him] and serve Him with a blameless heart and a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts and minds and understands all the wanderings of the thoughts. If you seek Him [inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him as your first and vital necessity] you will find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever!
“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.” (Isaiah 43:18-19)
Just yesterday the Lord gave me that scripture and right now, I sit here overwhelmed, realizing how on time that word was. He said He wanted me to have faith not just for what the future holds, but to believe that He is making a way today. I believe God, but if I allow my mind to meddle in it for too long, I start to get back into that “comfortable” mentality that one day, it will all work together for my good.
But GOD said, not one day, NOW it springs up! He want us to understand that He has not left us in that dry place. He is right now, making a way in the desert of your situation and streams of life are bursting forth in your wasteland. I may be in what looks like a dry place but the streams have pierced through the surface tonight! Even as I said, “the Lord is opening up streams”, He said, “No, I am opening up Rivers!”
Stretch your faith with me. Witness how God transforms your life as we enter this season of harvest. What a mighty, awesome, powerful, loving God is He!
Lord we praise You and thank You for how you bring living water to our dry places. You bring us from a land of lack to a land of prosperity; from a place of mourning to a place of joy, from discouragement to hope, from loneliness to comfort. Bless Your Holy Name God! We love You!
Isaiah 41:18 (New International Version)
18 I will make rivers flow on barren heights,
and springs within the valleys.
I will turn the desert into pools of water,
and the parched ground into springs.
