Contending for Advancement by Pastor Susan Fochler

We are continually grateful to Jesus for His decision to descend from the perfection of Heaven and join us in our confusing and sometimes brutal world. He provided everything necessary for us to become One with Him as a brand new creation in Christ, with a new identity as a holy child of the One Most High. A moment’s choice on our part to say “Yes”, results in a radical response from Jesus to make all heavenly resources available to us. What exactly that means takes a lifetime to learn to unpack.

Stewarding our own Hearts
Accessing those resources is something we need to learn. Now that we are His, it is our turn to step up and steward what has been so generously provided for us. Stewardship means cherishing and nurturing the territory of your heart that Jesus purchased with His own blood. We cannot do this in our own strength and understanding, however; we need to co-labor with the One who created us and knows us better than we know ourselves. 

Russ and I are planning to put in a new garden in our backyard. The plans look fabulous! It’s a bigger job than we can do on our own, so we are hiring a landscape company to put it in for us. But we also know, after the initial work is done, the long term work to maintain that beauty will be on us.

Is not about Knowing Everything, but Knowing the One
In medical school, students are told that becoming a brilliant doctor isn’t a matter of knowing everything, but in knowing where to go and how to get the understanding that is needed. Similarly, as believers, our goal is not to know everything there is to know about God, but to discover where to go and how to get what we need from Him. One of the best “where to go” in God places I know is in discovering an aspect of His personality expressed by one of His Names. In the essence of Who He is, we encounter every answer for any problem or deficit we could possibly have.

Here is an a excerpt from an article that came across The Elijah List this week from Angela Greenig, where she exhorts us to Contend for the Top of the Mountain:

It is time for the tearing down of strongholds and, even if you can't see your promises right now, believe that darkness is crumbling under your feet in the name of the Lord Jesus. It is happening!!! We are as in Isaiah 45:1-3 where the word decrees:
"Thus says the Lord to His anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held to subdue nations before him, and I will unarm and ungird the loins of kings to open doors before him, so that gates will not be shut. I will go before you and level the mountains [to make the crooked places straight]; I will break in pieces the doors of bronze and cut asunder the bars of iron. And I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, so you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, Who calls you by your name."

What Does God Need to be for You?
He is our Healer, our Peace, our Provider, our Shepherd, and our Friend. Our Comforter, our Teacher, our Deliverer, our Helper and the source of all our Wisdom. Our Strength, our intercessor before the throne, our Strong Tower around us and our Almighty One. And many, many more. 365 at a minimum according to John Paul Jackson. Who do you need your Jesus to be for you? How does your heart need to shift in order to make that space available for Him? What would it mean for your life to discover that He really does want to help you in your area of need?

I Love Being on this Journey Together with All of You!


Susan