You Can’t Reap What You Don’t Sow!

That seems so obvious, yet it may be a truth that isn’t recognized in times of excess or when we feel a sense of entitlement. Have you heard, or even said, “I deserve that?" Another response is having access to so much that we fail to appreciate the opportunity or privilege we have before us. The notion that “there’s no such thing as a free lunch” is becoming absolutely foreign to us.

I am grateful for the many opportunities afforded me in my lifetime. They are partially an outgrowth of my grandparents and parents having a vision and dream for a better world; a belief that they could make a difference. Their season of life required resourceful thinking to survive in the throes of the Great Depression and WWII. How they lived life and made sacrifices demonstrated their hope and belief.

The spiritual blessings and opportunities we enjoy today have a significant cost that was paid by someone else in prior generations. They endeavored to build a house, a household, a community of believers that would honor the name of the Lord. Their heart's desire was to see their children and children’s children walk in the same, or greater, knowledge of the Lord. Someone from an earlier generation invested in buildings and ministries that we use and enjoy.

In 1 Chronicles 21 & 22 NRSV, there is the account when King David desired to make sacrifice to the Lord to stop the plague that was afflicting the nation. The owner of the threshing floor offered to give him everything he would need to make sacrifice, but David insisted that he would purchase it at full price. David refused to offer something to God that didn’t cost him anything. One of the lessons we learn from this account is innocent people often suffer as a result of the sin of families and leaders.

In Chapter 22, King David lived in a house described as a “house of cedar." He compared the housing for the ark of God as tent curtains. Oh how he desired to build a dwelling place for God’s presence to dwell, but God would not allow him to do that. That privilege would be Solomon’s.

How did David, a man who seemed to do whatever was in his heart, respond to this disappointment? Imagine David’s disappointment. His desire to bless the Lord would now be demonstrated by making preparation for someone else to build the temple.

David identified the place for the temple and gave instructions to gather specific materials for God’s House He stated his vision for the building as it “must be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorified throughout all lands; I will therefore make preparation for it. So David provided materials in great quantities before his death.”

David told Solomon that he [David] had provided materials for the temple “with great pain.” NOW you must add more. . . Now begin the work. Solomon, you are not to build with only what others have gathered, but you are to add to what you receive, and then you will be able to fulfill the vision.

What we accomplish for the Lord is almost certain to require the efforts of multiple generations. We stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before us. BUT, if you are of David’s generation, there is preparation for you to make; if you are of Solomon’s, be prepared to sow into the task and begin the work.

Pastor Allen Baun

Courage

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 NKJV

Let’s talk about courage. When courage dies, creativity dies with it. We all know that fear is a desolate boneyard where our dreams go to desiccate in the hot sun. This is common knowledge; sometimes we just don’t know what to do about it. Let me list for you some of the many ways you might be afraid to live a more creative life:

• You’re afraid you’ll be rejected or criticized or ridiculed or misunderstood or-worst of all- ignored.

• You’re afraid there’s no market for your creativity, and therefore no point in pursuing it.

• You’re afraid somebody else already did it better.

• You’re afraid you won’t be taken seriously.

• You’re afraid your best work is behind you.

• You’re afraid you neglected your creativity for so long that now you can never get it back.

• You’re afraid you're too old to start.

• You’re afraid you’re too young to start.

Goodness. This is only the top of the list and as you can see… fears can become a bottomless pit and a depressing one. Let’s just wrap this part up by stating that everything can be scary!

Please understand that the only reason I can speak so authoritatively about fear is that I know it so intimately. I’ve experienced so many things from my childhood to now that would have me very comfortably sitting in a corner watching others live their lives.

Over the years, I often wondered what finally made me stop being so afraid. A lot had to do with growing up, learning, and securing (within myself) my identity in Christ Jesus. But mostly, I think it was just this: I finally realized that my fear was boring. I somehow figured out that my fear had no variety to it, no depth, no substance, no texture. I noticed that my fear never changed, never delighted, never offered a surprise twist or an unexpected ending. My fear was a song with only one note - only one word, and that word was STOP!

This means that my fear always made predictably boring decisions, like a choose-your-own ending book that always had the same ending: nothingness. True, the volume may vary from person to person, but the song itself never changes, because we were all tricked with the same basic fear package of being afraid of the unknown. But there’s nothing particularly compelling about that. Do you know what I mean? Fear is a deeply ancient, old trick of the enemy, but it isn’t especially smart.

We fixate so much on fear as if it is the most interesting thing in life. When in fact, it is the most mundane thing. It’s time to realize that we have creativity living within us that is original. A personality within us that is original. I have dreams. You have dreams, perspectives, and aspirations that are original, unique, and given to us by our great creator. But my fear was not original. It is something that is just mass produced, available on the shelves of any generic box store. And in truly thinking about it… That’s the thing I want to build my entire identity around? The most boring instinct that I possess? NO. In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37). It’s time to remember who God called us to be.

May the Lord bless you with dreams of remembrance. With new dreams, with tactical steps and measures in how to move forward. May you be obedient to these steps no matter what others may say or what you may even say to yourself. May your creativity be inspired, set on fire, and burning for what God has called you to do. Favor. Grace. Gentleness. Freedom. COURAGE.

Blessings to you,

Cheri Leight

Media Director at The Tabernacle

Uncluttering God's Space

Shalom Aleichem Beloved,

While spring may not officially begin until March 20, we have always felt like the new season truly started with the celebration of Passover, Good Friday, and Easter. However this year, even more so, we have truly felt that something new is being birthed both in the hearts of our family, as well as in the Spirit. As we dig deeper and chase after God’s heart for this season, we wanted to pause and share something that has been sitting heavily in our spirit.

From his grimy cell on Babylon’s death row, King Manasseh looked back on years of unspeakable crimes—worshipping the sun and stars in the Lord’s own temple, shedding the blood of innocent people, sacrificing his own sons to idols. He realized his high-handed rebellion against God had brought him nothing but pain. Then he looked up to the God of his fathers and cried out for help. Interestingly, the Bible does not tell us what King Manasseh told God. Instead, it simply tells us how he prayed. “In his distress he [King Manasseh] sought the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his ancestors. And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so, he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God.” (2 Chronicles 33:12-13 NIV)

Humanly speaking, even God’s holy prophets must have thought King Manasseh had gone too far for the Lord to bring him back. After all, his sins had led the kingdom of Judah so deeply into idolatry that they believed the Lord’s judgment on the nation could not be cancelled. Manasseh’s despair over his wickedness could not bring back to life the people he had killed and the families he had crushed. Yet, because of God’s forgiveness, King Manasseh could come into God’s Temple a forgiven man. Freed from Babylon and given another chance to reign, Manasseh took big, bold steps to show his repentance was real, tearing down pagan altars, restoring the Temple, and worshipping the Lord publicly.

Beloved, if we want to be entrusted with the revival we are seeking; if we want to see God move like never before on this earth, then we need to take a pause and examine our hearts, minds, lives, and spirits for the idols we have cluttered into the space reserved for the Lord. To take it a step further, this self-examination needs to be a spiritual discipline repeated so that we might steward the full measure of God’s glory that He is seeking to pour out.

Caite and I are believing for the youth and our family to step into a season where we cultivate a space that does not need a tidy up, it does not need a spring deep clean, it does not need to be re-arranged. We are believing for a Tabernacle that dances on the idols smashed beneath our feet as we wholeheartedly follow in Manasseh’s footsteps, crying out for God to move.

We ask you, Lord, to come saturate our lives, hearts, and minds until there is room for nothing but the weight of your glory and presence in our lives!

In the love of Christ,

Matthew & Caite Kunkel – Tabernacle Youth Ministry Directors