Anointed Impulsiveness: 2019, its time to go to the roof! (Mark 2: 1:12)

2019: It’s time to go to the roof! (Mark 2: 1-12)

Anointed impulsiveness

The word 'impulsive' refers to actions done or commitments made quickly with very little thought or planning behind them. In such cases there is almost no time gap between when an idea occurs and the point at which you carry it out.

Most people learn as they mature that their first impressions are not always right, their strongest instincts cannot always be trusted, and their deepest passions must not always be followed. It’s a kind of healthy self-distrust. However we must never allow our maturity and self-assessment to make us dull or mundane and remove the racial wonder and action of anointed impulsiveness.  

Haste is generally bad practice. When you always have to act immediately, you reveal an illusion that everything depends upon you. "If I don't act soon, my whole life will fall apart. If I don't move now, I lose everything.” This is often faith in yourself and your ideas not in God’s ability to deliver. 

The opposite of impulsiveness is to consider: To consider is defined as: 'to think carefully about something, typically before making a decision.’ Jesus said, "What king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?" (Luke 14:31). This is good advice!

The most important lessons from my M.A. studies was (and i’ll use the fancy term): Critical Theological Reflection. In other words, don’t be reckless and hasty but rather consider, reflect, speak with others…just wait out for a wee bit. Let some time pass. Don’t act immediately. In Crown Jesus Ministries when an important decision is to be made I will often say, let’s sleep on it…give it 24 hours. 

Now I’ve put those paragraphs in place at the start so that my thoughts for 2019 will not be understood as poor advice. 

As I read through stories of revival, miracles, supernatural works of God and multitudes coming to faith in Christ, I see people who are deeply connected with the Holy Spirit and willing to be more than predictable. They are not prepared to wait any longer for the committee to pass the request to another committee. They are not reckless, they simply have an anointed impulsiveness and they know it is time to go beyond the walls of buildings and beyond the walls of our thinking and go to the roof!

When the four men brought their disabled friend to Jesus the house was full but they were not satisfied to simply take him to a meeting, they wanted to bring him to Jesus. They had an unction and an urgency that said ‘This is our time, this is our season’ and the Holy Spirit quickened them into anointed impulsiveness. When Jesus saw their impulsiveness he considered it an act of faith and from it flowed forgiveness, healing and a supernatural witness.

For 2019 may God give us all wisdom, great courage and the ability to move into action. To move from un-anointed impassiveness to anointed impulsiveness.

Note:

So how can you know when to move and when to wait? 
That is inexplicably linked to your intimacy with the Holy Spirit thought prayer, fellowship, bible study, accountability and your daily public witness. check that list before you climb. 


Bible Text:

Mark 2 New International Version (NIV)

Jesus Forgives and Heals a Paralyzed Man
2 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. 2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. 3 Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. 4 Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. 5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Now some teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this fellow talk like that? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?”



8 Immediately Jesus knew in his spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts, and he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to say to this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat and walk’? 10 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the man, 11 “I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home.” 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

Gods Chosen Vessel: A prophetic picture of hope in times of brokenness. Smithereens.

The smithereens prayer. (God's Chosen Vessel)

A picture and word placed upon my heart for  2019/20

I was praying, when I sensed the Lord give me a picture: 

It was a stunning glass vase at the centre of a living room, light went into it in one direction and sprayed out from it, illuminating the whole room.

The glass vessel was crimson red with a mix of deep blue:  it looked like Italian Murano glass. 

As I looked closer I could see that it was made up from tiny bits of glass that had been put back together like a mosaic. Around the floor where other broken pieces in different coloured glass. 

In my vision I asked the Lord what is that made of?

And I heard these words

‘Smithereens: Our best pieces are made of smithereens. Before light can shine though them, these vessels must first be smashed to smithereens. It is a painful moment and a slow process to rebuild them but it is the way of the cross, the way we choose for our light to be carried into the darkness. The glue, the crimson and blue colours; they represent us.’

That is all I heard. 

I  spent weeks marinating in these words, thoughts, the picture and what it means:

With limited editing skills I tried to recreate the picture for everyone to get the idea. But my picture doesn’t do it justice. the light was shining out was much brighter 

This is what I understand from the words and picture:

Here is a great mystery; our mistakes, suffering, chaos and pain can all be used for His glory and purpose. Nothing is wasted, like the fragments of bread gathered into baskets after the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus is illustrating that he wastes nothing. 

We are free to live as broken pieces on the floor, damaged with guilt, sorrow, fear, deep heavy burdens, the unknown, our minds playing over and over the things we could have done differently, the things we wish we had never said, the relationship we could have handled better, the moments we failed… or we can give them over to Father God, invite his healing and chose to see those broken moments as an opportunity to learn, to grow, to recover, and to evolve into something that radiates Christ. 

We are broken, we hurt, we cry, we bleed, we suffer but in doing so God creates endless possibilities for us to shine for him. 

What are you walking through?

Bereavement
Fear

Pain

Sickness

Failure

Shame

In these moments you must give the broken pieces to Jesus. He can not only heal but shape and transform and bring his light to the world.

Truth: 

You are never gonna look like yesterday again. You must choose:

You can either stay broken on the floor or be rebuilt

You can either shut down or let Jesus in

You can remain a shattered dream or become a vessel of light and hope for others. 

As I look at those who have had the greatest influence on my life they are made of the same thing: It’s not steel but tiny little fragments of broken glass that have been masterfully shaped by God.

The finest vessels in the world are merely smithereens placed in the Father's hands. 

My prayer:

That this will make some sense to you and that you will be encouraged and healed. May the light of Christ shine thought you today.

Charles Spurgeon once said, “Whenever God means to make a man great, He always breaks him in pieces first.”

Mitch 

Some words from the apostle Paul to consider:

2 Cor 11: 

I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever.

Phil 3: 

7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Christmas lessons on grief and suffering from my mum.

Two days ago I was at a funeral. Two days from now and it is Christmas day… and right now I’m feeling the tension of both. 

Yesterday I was with a lady who lost her son this year. She just wants to stay in bed on Christmas day and wake up in the new year when it's all over. 

I get that, I feel her pain. 

My mum was a widow, in her late 40’s with three teenagers. I was 14 and facing my first Christmas without dad. That shouldn’t happen.

For many Christmas is not a red sack of surprises and joy but an unstoppable black locomotive train. Hurtling down the track and loaded with a cargo filled with sorry, pain, grief, regret, fear, anxiety and despair.

How did my mum manage? 

I was too young to appreciate it back then…but there are three things that stand out:

1, She celebrated what she had. 

Suffering has a way of altering the trajectory of our lives; gut wrenching, traumatic moments that rob us of tomorrows plans and force us to recalibrate what we have. Mum loved her boys and that first Christmas without dad she poured her life energy into the three of us. We opened our presents, went to church, she cooked the dinner, watched T.V and found some time to laugh and smile. She stood like a superhero against that locomotive and invested her day into her family. She fought the sadness… I remember her crying in the kitchen and I’m sure in private she cried a lot more but she would not allow grief to overcome her and more importantly her boys. She kept focus on us. 

2, She invested her life into helping others who also suffered. 

This was her life-song. She would get the bus to visit someone in hospital, walking to a sick neighbour’s home, go shopping for an elderly relative. She would sit with broken people, listen and love them. Pain and suffering unite people in a unique way. Group meetings like GriefShare.org are special places where you are reminded that you are not alone. A room full of strangers and one word like ‘cancer’ galvanises people into deep communities that you only find through pain. There is always someone you can bless: your pain, your suffering is a curse but it can also be a kind of gift to others. 

3, She found God in the brokenness. 

Not immediately, but in time… God began to answer her prayers and she began to hear his voice and find His hand in hers. The locomotive never stopped pulling up at her station but she learned not to unload it and wallow in it. She suffered in many ways in her short life but in every circumstance she began to know his presence in ways I have yet to experience. Mum found God in a valley of grief and pain that makes my mountain top moments superficial in comparison. He is ‘God with us’ in every situation, every place and everyday including Christmas. 

C.S Lewis put it like this: “Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

What is the picture? 

The picture is of a native American rug. 

Traditionally the weaver leaves a blemish, a few strands lose at one corner. They do this because they believe that it is in the blemish that the spirit enters. 

I like that thought. 

And so my prayer for you all this Christmas:

Be thankful for what you have, find someone to bless and be open to The Holy Spirit invading your life through the blemish of pain and grief. 

‘Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call Him Immanuel.’ Which is translated ‘God with us’ Matt 1:23 

Mitch