Write down the revelation...

I absolutely love it when I’m at church and the speaker is leading the congregation in prayer and instead of finishing the prayer him or herself, he says, “And all God’s people said?” Then, the congregation speaks jointly and says, “Amen.” Not only do I value being included as one of God’s people, but I love the collective agreement to what was spoken to God. Amen means, ‘so be it’, it is an expression of concurrence or assent ( dictionary.com ). For years, I misunderstood 2 Corinthians 1:20 to be, “for all God’s promises are yes, and amen in Jesus,” but as the Lord is opening up the mystery of intimacy with him, things that were hidden or unnoticed prior are now seen as if for the first time. I more fully understand the verse. I don’t even have to change the translation I read to see the full meaning. The verse actually says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”   ...

This week I returned from a leadership conference, and I could have left before it begun. There is nowhere I could park my disappointment; nor would I even say I was disappointed. Before I went to register and sign-in, I spent some time with one of my favourite men in the whole world. He’s like a father to me but because we live in different countries, I see him two or three times a year. While he was speaking, he said something which made my world stop. He said, “The Presence [of God] is the invitation to intimacy.” Boom! I spent 12 hours driving and had been in Redding for less than 24 hours but I knew I could have driven home at that moment because I had just received everything I needed to hear. Do you have seasons where God is teaching you something but you don’t have language to express what it is, and then when you finally hear the language, the idea becomes fully formed in you? That’s what happened for me in that moment. I am in a culture where I hear spe...