Just As You Are

Luke 9:1-6 TPT
 Jesus summoned together his twelve apostles and imparted to them authority over every demon and the power to heal every disease. Then he commissioned them to preach God’s kingdom realm and to heal the sick to demonstrate that the kingdom had arrived. As he sent them out, he gave them these instructions: “Take nothing extra on your journey. Just go as you are. Don’t carry a staff, a backpack, food, money, not even a change of clothes. Whatever home welcomes you as a guest, remain there and make it your base of ministry. And wherever your ministry is rejected and not welcomed, you are to leave that town and shake the dust off your shoes as a testimony before them.”  The apostles departed and went into the villages with the wonderful news of God’s kingdom realm, and they instantly healed diseases wherever they went.

This passage is one I keep coming back to during this shut down time.  Jesus sent out His disciples, His followers and told them to take nothing with them, outside of the authority that He gave them.  He sent them and said that they were demonstrating and proclaiming the kingdom had arrived.  They took the gospel (good news) and life (healing) showed up wherever they went.

We keep praying for God to bring revival, we keep asking God to DO a lot of things.  Jesus took back the keys from hell, and he gave them back to us, His followers, and said, do as I taught you, and teach others to do the same thing.  Go into the cities and take nothing with you other than the authority I give you.  TAKE ME.... TAKE MY LIFE IN YOU, and life will respond.  Jesus did not send the apostles and tell them to start a revival, but revival was the response to them being sent.  Life to what was once dead, the Kingdom of Heaven arriving.  We are bringing Jesus into every room that we enter, we are bringing the Kingdom of Heaven into every space that we breathe in.  We walk in the authority of the Almighty King of Kings, and in doing so, we should be seeing revival spill out into every space that we touch.

What if we were to leave all of the extra microphones, the extra lens filters, the "production" side behind and we were to show up into these places with no food, no money, no extra clothing?  What if we were to show up in the realness of who God created us, the broken pieces showing, and allow God to shine through us?  What if we stopped looking at how we can make things better and start listening to Holy Spirit and follow His plan?  What if we "just go as we are?"  What if the world has been waiting for us to show our imperfections and rawness along with Jesus inside of us, who is the actual purpose behind it all?  What if, instead of setting up the perfect shot, with the perfect lighting, we sat in our basement, allowed our kids to come in and out and we led those plugging in with us to meet the God we know relationally?  What if instead of bullet points and scripts, we were to sit down on our couch and say this is what is on my heart today, and look for people to respond?  What if as leaders, we step into the places to listen to those who make up our "families" and churches?  What if we stopped looking like Pharisees and started looking like the servant Jesus spent His time on this earth being, and do so in relationship with people?

What if we stopped trying to look like everyone else and listened to what God has for us individually and for us in our bodies of believers?  What calling is individually placed?  What if we dropped the programs and just did life with people?  

My dear husband pointed out that without money, food or a change of clothing, they had no choice but to find someone to connect with.  If they had money they could have found a place to rent, if they had food, extra clothing, they could have stayed disconnected.  Our God is a relational God.  Our God wants us to be connecting in the same way.  

What happens when we leave the rest behind and go, just as we are?  Seated with Christ in heavenly places, Armed with Christ, protected and sealed in Christ?  What happens when we take His good news and walk in the authority that He has placed over us?

What happens when you take your eyes off of the end result and put them on the engaging piece of bringing his Kingdom?