Life in the Middle

Kay Warren (The Next Big Idea Conference)I had the privilege and honor to sit and listen to Kay Warren share her passion about being a true disciple of Jesus Christ. As I am preparing to go to Egypt, her words pricked my heart, stirred my soul, and will forever remain in my mind. She began by talking about the so-called crowd that followed Jesus. They showed up wherever He was, wanting to be healed, hoping to get to touch His garment, and desperately seeking help from whatever was happening in their lives. Each of these people came to Jesus for what Jesus had to offer. Each of them sought Jesus in a time of crisis. But after the healing came and they were set free, they simply disappeared in the crowd. Then, there were His disciples. These are the ones that followed no matter where Jesus went, no matter what was happening in life, and no matter what was on the other side of the mountain. Meals were shared, tears were shed, and life was lived. These were not just people in the crowd, these were His family.

Luke 9:23 states that “If anyone wishes to come after Me (Jesus), he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Jesus laid out 3 requirements to be a disciple and these are some of my notes from Kay’s talk on this beautiful Wednesday morning as God met me there and spoke straight to my heart.

1. Deny Yourself-
• This means saying no to my comfort, to my “rights” as an American, to my pleasures day to day, to control of what comes next, to my dream of being a wife and mother, to ME and YES to GOD and GOD alone.
• We say we will go wherever God leads, and then we add our own but…I will go here… but… don’t make me leave this behindI will follow… but… please keep me close to my familyI am ready to serve… but… only if it is in a gorgeous placeI will go… but… only on my terms and conditions
• We must be ready to say “Lord, I will go wherever You lead me and I know that You can be trusted.”
• Whatever God asks, I pray my answer will always be YES with no if’s, and’s or but’s.

2. Take up my Cross
• The cross existed for one reason only during the time of Jesus and that was to die upon
• Jesus died for me and I must die (to self and the world) for him
• We often say this illness is my cross to bear or this person in my life is my cross… FALSE
• What is it that so disturbs me that I cannot live with it another second? What is it that I will die trying to solve?
• I get disturbed about everyday things… parking spots… food being cold… not getting my way… but am I disturbed by poverty, dying people, AIDS, orphans, the lost? Am I ready to die in pursuit of solving these problems and spreading the name of Jesus to those that do not know HIM?

3. Follow Me
• The way I spend my time, money, energy, resources reflects what I follow.
• Do these things reflect Jesus in my life or me?
• Will I allow God to gloriously ruin me for the Kingdom or for the world to simply ruin me?

Kay ended with a powerful story about a couple that shared the love of Christ with prostitutes. They would walk the streets and simply say God loves you and we love you. Each day as they walked, one woman would stand in disbelief. But as they continued coming back and eventually inviting the women to their home for dinner, the woman realized that these people do love them. They set the table for women that were selling their bodies to the lusts and sin of the world and made the invisible God visible. Because they set the table, this woman accepted Christ.

Who are you setting the table for? Our task is to make the invisible God visible so that those around us will know His love not only by our words but by the way we live.