Give It Away

Last night, we had the opportunity to hear from Pastor Tracey Armstrong. He pastors Citadel Church just right up the freeway in Des Moines. This is the second time I've heard him speak, and something happened within me, at a particular moment in the service. He was talking about saying yes. About saying YES as a church, and showing up with expectation levels soaring, so that God can show up and work through our lives, to reach others.

Tracey is the epitome of passion. Everything he does is purposeful, which is something that is so inspiring to me. I'm drawn to passion. He exudes it.

One of my favorite verses in the bible is from Mark, and Tracey's messages went hand in hand with this scripture. It says:

Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for? (MSG)

Lately I've been hearing so much about being "of the world", and honestly, that's not where I want to go with this post. That would be an entirely different post on its own. I think, when Tracey talked last night about laying it all down, he wanted us to stop wasting our lives living half-heartedly, in answering His call. We're chosen people, and chosen people are purposed to share Him with the world... and each gift may be a little bit different. We can all be shining examples of God, and each of our testimony is different for a reason. Your "harvest" is different than mine. Laying it down means putting aside selfish intentions, ambitious goals for success, and acknowledging our power as a church - as a collective body of Christ.

If someone has been saved by grace, time and time again - then their testimony will reach those who need to understand that you don't need to earn His love. It's impossible. We serve a God of grace, and grace means that no matter our sin, we're saved because of His ultimate sacrifice. But who can ever understand that, if we don't tell our story? The girl who dwells in her shame and thinks she's done far too much wrong to ever earn His love will never understand that his love transcends all humanity... what we've done doesn't matter. What we do, is what matters.

If someone has experienced His power of healing, how will someone else fighting a battle ever understand that our God is a God of miracles? How will they ever grasp that when we give up all hope... then that is when we truly begin to die? How will they ever understand that God WILL meet us at our expectation level. Only if we truly think something to be impossible for Him, will it be.

If I've changed because of God's love... then I need to give that love away. And I'm not necessarily talking in the physical sense. I'm talking about being love. I don't have to memorize scripture or remember the parables, word for word, that Jesus told. I don't have to speak to millions to save a soul. If someone is forever changed because of the love than envelopes them when they're in my presence, I'm living as He's designed me to live.

If, when I walk away, they feel that my presence is lingering around them and that they find themselves wondering, when I'm long gone... "what is it about her?" God didn't love me so I can bask in it alone. He loved me so that I could love others.

What good is His precious gift to the world, if I only take my share and allow others to fend for themselves? If I don't share what I've learned, what I've experienced... then it stops with me. And I won't allow my harvest to die.