The Dog Days of Summer

No, the title isn't a statement of complaint. It's just what God whispered in my ear this morning. "Jen, write about the Dog Days." I'm not a folklore buff, so I didn't exactly know what "dog days" are. I had to go online to find this out and here's what I found:

The Dog Days are defined by astronomers as the 40-day period from July 2-August 11 when the Northern Hemisphere experiences weather extremes. Because of the earth's tilt at this time of year, we feel intense heat, humidity and general discomfort! Here in the south, especially, we find no comfort in the shade, usually there are daily thunderstorms and it's even difficult to breathe at times. If you happen to work out of doors at this time of year, it can seem there isn't enough water to quench a thirst or enough breeze to cool you down. It's just a very INTENSE time to be doing anything! It's draining, and it seems you just can't do anything quickly enough or easily enough.

Another definition of dog days is given by the good folks at wikipedia.com:
Dog Days can also define a time period or event that is very hot or stagnant, or marked by dull lack of progress.

I found this to be fascinating. Immediately, the Holy Spirit quickened a scripture to me from Galatians (ch. 6:9 NIV)
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

If ever there was a scripture meant for the "dog days" of the soul, this is it! In every believer's life there comes a point in time where we ask ourselves, "What am I doing this for?" We lose sight of the reasons we pray and seek God, we forget that our individual lives DO impact others, this city, this nation, this world! In times where we observe little progress and our ability to produce seems to be failing, we forget why choose to do what we do, meaning living for Jesus.

I have experienced the dog days of the soul. I have plopped down into my easy chair, disgusted, disillusioned and despairing, "Why did I choose to do this? It could've been so much easier if I'd just done the surface thing and not given my all to this call on my life." Every pastor, teacher, worship leader, evangelist, every believer who has surrendered his will to God's has felt this way.

I am here to encourage you, though. The astronomical facts are this: the dog days of summer precede the season of harvest. That is the way the planet works, in the natural. It has been my experience that the natural parallels the spiritual. If this is true and you, personally, are experiencing the DOG DAYS in your spirit and soul, know this: THE HARVEST IS APPROACHING!

Don't stop! Those two words are what I have to say to you this week. Keep on keeping on! Yes, these times are a trial, but what did Peter say about trials? They work to perfect (that is, complete) us. These days are what make us true women and men of God...but only if we persist and press through the stagnation and the oppressive "heat" of the situation. We must not stop, though we feel we are slogging through the mud, getting nowhere fast! It's all about perception. Will you go by what you FEEL or will you go by what you know to be TRUE?

One thing I read today, as I was studying this out was about the ancient Egyptians. They considered the dog days a sacred time. It marked the beginning of their calendar year, and they knew (astronomically/meteorologically) that this period of time preceded the flooding of the Nile. Once the dog days hit, they moved to higher ground! I think there might be something to this.

Once the stagnation hits us, spiritually speaking, we want to do what we FEEL like doing: plopping down in that easy chair and grumbling! But I think what we ought to do is what the ancient Egyptians did-take it to the next level! Ask the Lord how we can move it into the next phase to get ready for the breakthrough He is about to pour out on us! Prepare ourselves for the deluge of His presence and power! This stirs me so! WOW! It's the complete opposite of what the enemy expects us to do! Instead of bowing out and saying, "Nah, I just can't do this any more." we take the onset of these doldrums as a sign that we're right at the door of our harvest! Are we ready for the haul we are going to take in if we don't pass out and give up???

This is exactly what Paul was telling the Galatian congregation. I pass these words onto you, as well, beloved. It would be easy to sit down and say, "Once this season passes, I'll pick up where I left off." But I'm telling you, please hear me, you don't get to stop cultivating the crop just because it gets to be too much. That is what God gives us grace for-the things that are too much for us. I read something this week from Joyce Meyer that really hit me between the eyes. She said, "We are not given the Holy Spirit to do easy things. We are given the Holy Spirit to do the difficult things." (Check out her book, "How to Succeed at Being Yourself").

The power of the Holy Spirit that raised Christ Jesus from the dead dwells in you, beloved! Read that again! Read it until you GET IT! It brought a man back FROM THE DEAD! Do you know what they do to people whose hearts have stopped? They send powerful electric charges directly to their hearts to jolt them back to life! The electrical voltage is so high, that if you are touching the body when the shock is given, it can kill you! That's what happens TODAY! We can wrap our minds around that, we understand that.

What I'm trying to get you to see is 2000 years ago, there were no defibrillators. There was no other way of bringing back a dead man or woman. Only the power of the Holy Spirit could do that-only the jolt of life from the heavens could do that! If there is enough power available to us from the Spirit of God to quicken the dead, then how simple is it for the Spirit of God to empower and enable you do make it through these days of delay and discouragement? You have so much in you, so much available to you and you don't even realize it!

Please don't stop! Don't throw it all away because it's hard right now! Keep on slogging through the mess and the discomfort! It will be worth it. I assure you, once you see the harvest that awaits the end of this trying time (40 is the number of trials in the Bible...) you will realize the investment was worthwhile.

Before you leave the site today, I ask you to take time to listen to the video presented below. This has become my theme song for the year and I think it will minister to you. I am praying for you, I am praying for me. I am praying we will persevere and see what God has promised us come to fruition. He is faithful. He has promised us we will reap if we don't lay down and quit. Please DON'T STOP!
Keep on keeping on. It will be worth it, beloved. It will!

Jennifer Barnes
Uplift! Today Editor

Freedom isn't Free

"The blood of Jesus is too precious a price to keep hitting the roof~blow the top off it, Jen!" The Holy Spirit 6/2008

As I sat in church last Sunday the Holy Spirit began to speak to me about being truly free. Since this is July 4th and we in America are celebrating our heritage of liberation and democracy, I felt I needed to share some of what God has been trying to get through my head.

Firstly, I don't think freedom, in a spiritual sense, means we throw off all restraint and just live any way we want to...I want to preface the rest of this post with that being stated. Holiness is a part of the Christian walk. It is what defines us as people~what Peter called, "peculiar people". (Not weirdo, but different from the environment around us). However, holiness is not about tying ourselves up in a bunch of legalism and control. For so long, those of us nurtured in the Pentecostal movement have been brainwashed into believing that holiness requires a hyper-vigilant stance on daily living.

We wore certain clothes (I had to stop wearing shorts when I was 8 years old...), we didn't cross the threshold of certain places (I wasn't allowed in a movie theatre until I was 19!) and we didn't hang out with certain elements of society (anyone who wasn't like us/believed like us/dressed like us...) My folks, God love 'em, didn't even allow us to chew gum, simply because the organization we were affiliated with was so stringent on the whole, "...abstain from the appearance of evil..." thing. (Our gum chewing could have been misconstrued as tobacco use...)

I know. I know...it's craziness!

And can I be so bold as to say, this is not what the blood of Jesus was shed for! No, my Savior did not die a horrendous death of His own accord for goofy stuff like shorts and bubble gum. He died to spare me a life of misery and a death suffered in agony. He wanted me with Him for all time...me, an imperfect, painfully flawed, lost-as-a-goose little girl with more problems than she could shake a stick at...He wanted to be with ME! He gave Himself so that we could be intimately involved, eternally connected and never be apart from one another again.

"So," you ask, "what then is this freedom for?" What are we, as Believers, supposed to do with this new found freedom from the expectations, rules and traditions of men? Oh, I am sooooo glad you asked!

Let's start here: 1 Peter 1:19-21 (The Message) "Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ's sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately-at the end of the ages-become public knowledge, God always knew He was going to do this for you. It's because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raise from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God."

Your spiritual freedom cost God so much. And the thing we must realize is this: He never hesitated to offer Jesus up for us, and Jesus never hesitated to go for us. Not once did He say, "Nah, I just don't think this is the thing I need to do." He had a moment in the Garden of Gethsemane where He asked if there was another way, but He knew this was it. If we were going to live with Him and for Him, His sacrifice was the only way that was going to happen. Like any soldier worth his salt, He took the mission, completely disregarding the personal cost to Himself. It was His purpose.

I find it so amazing that Deity took on the flawed countenance of humanity to save humanity~and when we (humanity) come into a relationship with the Deity who sacrificed Himself for us, we do all we can to shed ourselves of our humanity! I think we do this because we believe He will want to be closer to us if we are less human and more perfect. Folks, if that were the case, then we would have had to find a way to get to Him! He wouldn't have made the effort~the unbelievable sacrifice~ to get to us!

He knew we needed Him. The fact of the matter is, God is God all by Himself. We are not needed, in the sense of we give Him purpose. No, He gives us purpose. We are in desperate need of a relationship, of fellowship and intimacy with HIM! He chooses (every day) to bring us next to Him and be involved in our comings and goings, in our "uprisings and down sittings", as David put it.

So, back to the question at hand: What do we do with this freedom? First, recognize its pricelessness. We do not take it for granted. Secondly, we learn to live in it FULLY! So many Believers will accept salvation, yet still live as though they are condemned and bogged down under a load of guilt and shame! WHY!?! Blood was shed for you by an innocent, perfect man so you could live life to its fullest! Why would you go around all hang-dog and self-flagellating because you don't get life right every day?

This is where most Believers get stuck. They believe in Eternal Life (hallelujah, when I die I'm going to heaven!) but they cannot embrace Abundant Life (hallelujah, I'm gonna live a good life while I'm here!) Every Believer deals with gaping holes in their soul. It is the result of living without Christ. We are all born with holes in our souls. It is an outgrowth of the fallen state of humanity.

But, when you come into this life-altering relationship with Jesus, the process of rebuilding your spirit, soul, and body begins. It happens in that order. Your spirit is instantly restored and brought back into its rightful state, and then the work begins on your soul...the mind/will/emotions begin to be realigned. It never stops! Do you understand? That process will never end. Healing of the soul takes a lifetime, because we live with unredeemed people on an unredeemed planet and we are going to be wounded no matter how much we try to avoid it. Stuff happens.

Thank God He never quits with us. The precious blood of Jesus was shed to keep us from being entangled in the drama and confusion of living here. That's what it means to live in the world, but not be "of " the world. Yeah, bad stuff happens, but we have a hope that tomorrow, life will be better. God calls everyone of us to live well. That means our lives reflect His goodness, His rest, His peace. If you are walking around in a state of frustration, fear, anxiety and exhaustion you're not living abundantly. If you are not living abundantly, then that is a choice YOU have made! God already did His part, now it's time for you to do yours and TRUST HIM! (That's another post for another day...)

Lastly, this freedom is not to be hoarded by us. No, this is one of those things that is for everyone! God wants us all to live free! Once you have experienced true freedom in your spirit and soul it becomes contagious! I know I am living abundantly when I have people telling me, "Jen, I so want whatever it is you have!" I've actually had people ask me if I'm taking something! (HAH!) I have to smile and tell them, "No, I'm just a very fulfilled woman. I have a great life." That gives me an "in" to share with them what God has done and is doing with me and then I let them know they can experience this too!

I want to say this before I close today. As I sat in service Sunday, the Lord showed me a Jack-in-the-Box. Instinctively, I knew this was a representation of my self~it signified my spirit-man. In life, there are those we encounter who will do their best to keep our Jack in his box. Some of them are well-meaning, they just want us to be careful and not do anything too crazy. Let's face it~everyone isn't like those of us who just live and deal with whatever comes down the pike at us!

But then, there are those around us who are just plain uncomfortable with who God created us to be. Our lives seem out-of-control and chaotic to them. We are unrestrained and we are passionate about life and living and that causes others to want to put a lid on us. We scare them. There is something about us that they feel the need to suppress. Their agenda is jeopardized if we are not brought under submission to what makes them feel better, more at ease and in control. We all have people in our lives like this.

The statement I opened this post with was what God was trying to show me with the Jack-in-the-Box. He asked me, "Who is turning your crank? Who is trying to keep your Jack in his box? Why are you letting them? How much longer can you stay in the box?" I wept. He continued, "The blood of Jesus is too precious a price to pay for you to keep hitting the roof~blow the top off it, Jen." I felt such resolve in my heart at that moment.

Folks, God gave His all, His very best so you could live out the life He created you for. Your freedom in Him, your freedom to be who He created you (dare I say who He NEEDS) you to be, cost more that we can ever fathom. I, for one, will not toss that aside and be boxed into living beneath my status as His Beloved. I just will not do that anymore! I can't. As I stood with the rest of the Worship Team onstage Sunday, God showed me how He was removing the duct tape off my Jack-in-the-Box. "Jen," He said,"I'll take the tape off, but you have to choose to come out. I can't make you do that."

Will you do that? I want to do that. I want to come outta the box! I want to live the abundant life, to its fullest. He did what He did for me to live that way. What about you? Will you live your life and be who He made you for His glory and His purpose? Please, please say yes! Freedom isn't free, please don't squander it. My prayer is you will be courageous enough to live outrageously in the love and acceptance you are offered in Jesus Christ. Wow! I cannot wait to see what He will do with you and me!

Be Blessed, Beloved! Be who He made you to be!

Jennifer Barnes
UPLIFT! Editor