Tears rolled down my cheeks yesterday morning while talking to my Bible-study group about this particular scripture. Even though her story lives in antiquity, Anna’s witness has become a fresh word for my heart in this season, shifting my soul and moving me forward with deeper conviction.
Soul-shifts. A movement of God that relocates the soul, the heart, and the mind to a new location. A higher level. A better way of “thinking, doing, and being” that is reflective of the heart of Christ.
Have you had one lately?
I have. It’s crept in over time. Subtle on the front side of its arrival but now more obvious to me as I’m in the midst of this sacred relocation. Undoubtedly age and experience have aided in bringing me to this point of transfer. Pain has also wielded its certain influence. And who can forget faith… always faith, working itself through the filters of time, experience, and pain. Faith being refined over time, through experience, and in the midst of pain. Indeed, all combining together to serve as the fertile soil for a soul-shift. An Anna soul-shift. One that…
• daily lives in and tends to the temple;
• comes forward to embrace visitors at the temple;
• speaks boldly about the Christ-child who is building us into his living temple.
A soul-shift that simply and profoundly believes myself to be Jesus material, and then, out of that knowledge, begins to witness that understanding to others by believing them to be Jesus material as well.
Perhaps my soul-shift isn’t great revelation for you. Perhaps you’ve been living at this location for years—always seeing others through kingdom lenses. I’d like to tell you that this has been my default response to everyone I meet, but it’s not. There’s still a lot of judgment lurking beneath my flesh. Not everyone I encounter receives the kingdom appraisal they deserve. But that’s beginning to change for me.
There’s a deep appreciation growing inside of me for all of humanity. For the least of these to those who deem themselves to be the best of these. My tolerance for God’s created is increasing in swift measure along with the boldness of my convictions. With each day that passes, each moment of actively making faith deposits into my spiritual bank account, I become more impassioned and empowered to minister God’s kingdom to others. This doesn’t mean that I always get it right; it just means that I’ve become more willing to try. Instead of passing the ministry “buck” onto someone else, I’m owning the responsibility and holding it as personal privilege.
I get to love others. So do you.
So… do you? Love others? All others?
What conditions are you placing on your love? Where does your love begin… end? What keeps you from embracing humanity? From speaking about the Christ-child to others? Have you tended to your temple today… taken stock of your reserves—the surplus and the need? Is your “thinking, doing, and being” reflective of the heart of Christ? When did your soul last shift in favor of the kingdom?
This is it, friends. Our one opportunity at loving the Jesus way. When we get home to heaven, it will be too late to live our todays differently. We won’t get a do-over. We’ll simply get a look-back—a reflection of what was… perhaps even what might have been. I don’t know about you, but I want those moments of look-back with Jesus to be moments of kingdom loving. Moments of remembering how I embraced others with the arms of Jesus. Moments when I spoke with others about the truth and love of the Christ-child.
That would be glory to me… to bring glory to God through my loving. Accordingly, I take on this soul-shift. Receive it, believe it, and promise to tend to it as this new season unfolds. I pray for the strengthening of my convictions, for boldness to speak those convictions, and for a Jesus-love that builds a safe and certain platform for ministry to his people. I pray the same for you.
Live the kingdom like you mean it, brothers and sisters, and let the love of Jesus be your guide. As always…
Peace for the journey,
~elaine