God Has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life - the Cross....

Eph. 2:10: For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

It has often been said (as quoted in the "four spiritual laws") that God has a wonderful plan for our lives. This is most definitely true, but I think that we have not consistently looked at this statement through the lens of scripture and reality, but mostly through the lens of western cultural thought. We need to rethink all of this to get to the essence of true living and kingdom impact that the Lord intended for us in fulfilling His desires and plans, and in being fulfilled in our destinies.

The above scripture is clear that we believers are His artwork - His masterpiece of poetry and art - that He desires to use to impact the people, culture and world around us. This does not only mean living according to "moral" good works, but the using of our lives, time, talents, graces, giftings and anointings to put His glory, power, beauty and redeeming/restorative love on display in creation. It means being fully developed in the image and likeness of Christ that all we are becomes the vehicle of His kingdom and will in heaven being manifest and done on earth. But, as is likely with most western thought, even though it's been religiousized by quoting scripture or put in elegant or exciting sermons/teachings, this "God has a wonderful plan" has in many ways, been turned to be a self-centered, self-serving opportunity to do our own independent thing apart from wholehearted submission and obedience to Him as Lord and King.

My question is: Where is the cross in all the "wonderful plan for your life" teachings? Has all the teaching about God's "wonderful plan for my life" (albeit true in its core meaning), been turned into a justification for self-serving ambition and "finding myself?" Where is the cross of self-denial and self-sacrifice in all the "wonderful plans for my life?" Where is the call to lay down our plans and pursuits to fulfill His heart, His will and His plans for His glory alone? Is it possible, like the past generation's Dr. J. Harold Smith, that one would go to medical school and graduate, only to be called by God to preach and evangelize and never spend one day seeing medical patients? This is not to say that God never wants us to be happy or fulfilled. Just the opposite. But, the joy, happiness and fulfillment we are ever striving for can never be found in finding satisfaction in anything that pertains to the old Adam or the old creation. It seems the enemy does not have to tempt us with overt evil and rebellion with "worldly" things any longer. There is a subtle temptation more prevalent than ever that plays upon the "unfulfilled self" that even scripture is now being used to justify.

My greatest talents, even though God-given, and even those spiritual gifts that He bestows at salvation or Spirit-baptism, will never produce His fruit, life and kingdom until they have been purified by the cross. Death purifies everything from sin and self.

As God's masterpiece (workmanship), am I trying to paint a picture, write a poem, preach a message, sing/play a song, ad infinitum, FOR God? Or am I allowing Him, by yielding myself, my talents, my ambitions, my desires, etc., to an inward cross, make me into a masterpiece in the midst of a world gone ugly? I guess it depends upon your perspective....

A Sabbath Year Rest

Lionheart Restoration Ministries/The Prayer Furnace of East TN is starting what we call A Sabbath Season of Rest and Renewal. Effective immediately and for the next five months, our focus as a ministry will be to allow the Lord to bring rest and refreshing to members and associates, and our staff. Though this might seem like a sudden shift of direction, in the context of the larger season the Lord has had the body of Christ in, renewal makes sense.

At the beginning of 2010, during Lionheart/The Prayer Furnace’s annual 21-Day fast, the Lord began to speak about the formation of a “new/old” wineskin in the Body of Christ. This mysterious phrase was grounded in Matthew 9:17:

“Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

The Lord revealed that He was taking His church through a time of transition like never before, where one of the keys to shifting into the will of God for this new season would be reconnecting with the original designs of His calling (“new/old”). Because of this word, and many other confirmations, the Lord guided the leadership of Lionheart/The Prayer Furnace to shift in several dimensions as a ministry. This included changing our name and adjusting several aspects of individual ministries within Lionheart.

This is what I feel the Lord is speaking to the Body of Christ and to Lionheart/the Prayer Furnace, specifically. In order to handle the new wine the Lord is about to pour out, and the new battles we are about to face, we must make time for renewal. It is time to soak in the oil and water of the Holy Spirit to bring back our original elasticity. It is time for a Sabbath.

The Sabbath of the Seventh Year

Our current season is similar to the nation of Israel as the Lord trained them in the wilderness. As the Lord prepared the nation of Israel to inherit the Promised Land, He told Moses to instruct the people to keep a Sabbath year every seven years.

"1 And the LORD spoke to Moses on Mount Sinai, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give you, then the land shall keep a Sabbath to the LORD. 3 Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard, and gather its fruit; 4 but in the seventh year there shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a Sabbath to the LORD. You shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 What grows of its own accord of your harvest you shall not reap, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine, for it is a year of rest for the land. 20 And if you say, “What shall we eat in the seventh year, since we shall not sow nor gather in our produce?” 21 Then I will command My blessing on you in the sixth year, and it will bring forth produce enough for three years.” (Leviticus 25:1-5, 20-21)

Note that the Lord’s purposes were larger than simply the comfort of the people. God gave Israel the Sabbath year to provide rest for the people, but He also desired rest for the land. Over-farmed land loses all nutrients after so many seasons. In His wisdom, the Lord designed a time of rest for both the stewards and the stewardship.

At the same time, we should consider that this was a command from the Lord, not just a good idea. As a part of the original covenant with Abraham, the land of Canaan was God’s promise to Israel and a blessing for them, but it was also Israel’s responsibility to steward properly. Part of all Godly stewardship is accounting for and fulfilling the need for rest. For Israel, the stewardship was the natural land, however, for New Testament believers our stewardship can be whatever the Lord has called us to accomplish and/or have dominion over. And as with Israel, we are in sin to neglect the need for rest.

Recently in prayer, I heard the Lord say to me, “The rest of the year is to be a Sabbath year of rest.” I also felt the Lord spoke in terms of the Hebraic calendar, which ends in September with the Feast of Tabernacles. As a confirmation of this word, Lionheart Restoration Ministries has just entered its seventh year of occupying our current facility.

So in accordance with the wisdom of the Lord in scripture and in prophetic indication, Lionheart Restoration Ministries is starting what we call A Sabbath Season of Rest and Renewal until September 2010. During this time, some of our services will change; others will take a break completely and return when this season is over. The ultimate desire of this time is to experience the renewal process of our spiritual “wineskin,” to be soaked in the oil and water of the Holy Spirit allow the Lord to bring back the elasticity and flexibility of a new wineskin.

Here are a few of the initial changes that will take effect beginning April 12, 2010:

• The Prayer Furnace of East TN will be open on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays only. On these three days, we will cut back on our intercessory watches and hopefully add more devotional watches. While the exact adjusted schedule is still forthcoming, the desire is to make more time available to minister to the Lord and to simply enjoy His rejuvenating presence.
• Tuesday night Corporate Intercession will become a time of training. Look for upcoming teaching tracts.
• The current Friday 7pm-9pm Prophetic Intercessory Watch will become a time of worship and renewal, where anyone who needs refreshing is welcome to come and enjoy the presence of the Lord. Starting at 7pm every Friday night, the Lionheart Worship Team will minister and a ministry team will be available to pray for any who need ministry. Also look for special upcoming speakers to minister during this time.
• Lionheart Fellowship services will continue as normal. Our Sunday morning service begins at 10:00 am. We will be having combined Care Group meetings on Sunday afternoon/evenings usually at 6PM, but may vary with the planned activity.

So we encourage you join us in seeking healing, renewal and refreshing of the Lord during this time. We trust that when by the time this season is over in September, the Lord will have refreshed us and our stewardship where we will be stronger and better able to fulfill His calling for us.