Bearing the Mark

So, once again, I'm jumping out of Joshua and following the Scriptures to where the Holy Spirit is leading me, and I'm okay with that. Joshua will still be there tomorrow or the next day -- whenever I get back to it.

This morning, I slept in. As in, instead of getting up with my alarm at 4 a.m., I didn't get up until 5:40 a.m., and I only woke up because my phone, which sits in stable, resplendent glory in the middle of my nightstand found its way six inches or more to the edge of my nightstand and clattered onto the floor.

I decided that the Lord was reminding me that I needed to be awake. 

So I sat down on my couch and asked the Holy Spirit where He wanted to take me this morning. He reminded me of a post I had shared yesterday from Dr. Kynan Bridges on Facebook. The post itself has a bit of a click-bait title, and I normally avoid click-bait links, but for whatever reason, I went ahead and opened that link.

I'm glad I did. It led me to Galatians 6, and I'll start in verse 9. "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers."

Okay, so here's the deal: I'm tired. You know? Not physically tired so much (although I slept in, likely because I went to bed late last night), but tired like Elijah. 

Quick review: In 1 Kings, Elijah allowed God to work through him to do this amazing, incredible thing: bringing fire from heaven to burn up a soaking wet altar and the meat on it in the presence of all Israel so they could know that God is the one true God. Then he organizes the decimation of the false prophets of Baal, the ones who have been leading Israel into paganism for years. Then he goes off with his servant to pray for rain, since there's been a drought in Israel for three years, and he sends his servant to look for the cloud he's praying for six times. On the seventh time, the servant reports a cloud the size... of a man's hand. Hardly inspiring... and yet. And then... Elijah outruns King Ahab's horses and chariot all the way back to Jezreel. 

All of these are good things that the Lord is doing through him.

Then... Queen Jezebel is so mad at him for all the good he's doing, she declares that she's going to kill him, so he runs to the mountains and hides. While he's there, God comes to him and asks: "What are you doing here, Elijah?" And Elijah says: "I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected Your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too" (1 Kings 19:14).

God's response? First, He tells Elijah: "Go back the way you came." He gives Elijah his servant some instructions to carry out, and then the Lord reminds Elijah: "Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel--all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him."

Y'all, I have felt so tired. I love getting into the Scriptures; the words that they hold in them are my lifeline. And I love having the ability to jump online and head to this place here, this little blogspot and video feed, and pour out my heart in hopes of encouraging people who are also walking through similar things. 

Last night, I was reading over some of my past blogs, though, and I thought: I have been doing this nearly a year now. My first official blog, I posted on August 31, 2020, and I've posted a new one every day since, because I heard the Lord calling me to this ministry. But I had been writing thoughts for an online prayer group for a few months before that. 

And I'm tired. I'm tired of trying to make a hole in the water. Some of my friends have described it as "screaming into the void." ;) I don't think I'm screaming, but I get the feeling. Like Elijah, I throw my little temper tantrum before the Lord: I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. 

And the thought wanders through my mind: Am I the only one left?

Of course I'm not. But the enemy loves to make us feel like we're alone, doesn't he? He surrounds us with a forest of obstacles so that we can't see out, and we each wander around in our own issues and echo chambers hearing only our own voices, while we allow the discouragement to eke through those obstacles like poisonous gas.

And the Lord, watching us from His vantage point where He knows all things and sees the bajillion ways He is working "all things together for good to those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose..." He's not going to leave us wandering through the forest alone.

I have reserved seven thousand... or more. The Lord has a purpose for each one of us, and He will lead us away from the obstacles, back the way we came -- toward the place of our purpose, so we stop wandering around in the desert.

Feeling discouraged? Eat and drink, take a nap (both of which Elijah did), and then head back the way you came. God's not done with you yet.

And then this: Paul -- in Galatians 6 -- goes on: "Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised obey the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your flesh. Y'all (my own addition for emphasis), may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation." May I never boast in vaccinations. May I never boast in mask-wearing. May I never boast in righteous living. May I never boast in the number of blogs I post. May I never... oh Lord, I have been guilty.

What counts is a new creation. Paul ends this gut-punch with a final parting shot: "Let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus."

Because I, you know, slept in... I've run out of time to really dig into this... and I don't know if I could ever do it justice anyway, because there's so much here. 

But I want you to see this, because this is what the Holy Spirit was leading me to this morning: Dr. Kynan Bridges' video yesterday began with what the Word says about the mark of the beast. There's a lot of confusion in the church, a lot of guesswork regarding the end times, prophecy, and what it all means, right? We all know this. Some people think there will be a literal stamp or tattoo on the skin. Some think it'll be an implanted microchip, etc. 

Dr. Kynan blew past most of that and said this (a summary): We each bear the mark of our master. In the Old Testament, if a slave loved his or her master so much that at the end of his or her period of service, he or she chose to stay with the master, the master would pierce his or her ear as a sign of lifelong servitude. They chose to take the mark of their master.

Paul, in Galatians 6, bears the "marks" of Jesus: persecution, stoning, beating, illness, etc. All of these things gained because he had dedicated himself to a lifetime of servitude to Jesus Christ. 

So whose mark are we bearing? To whom are we sold out? We reflect the mark of our master. Y'all, I don't want to hide my mark. When people look at me, I want them to say: "Oh, there goes a servant of Christ." Y'all, even if it's the enemy, I want the servants of the enemy to look at me and say, "Oh no, here she comes again. She's got His mark. She spends time with Him, she knows Him, He's her master."

In Acts 17, there's a story of some Jews who were trying to drive out demons from demon-possessed people, and they were doing so in the name of Jesus. However, they did not have the essential undergirding relationship with Christ; they were not bondservants of His, because when they went to drive out a demon in the name of Jesus, the demon answered back: "Jesus I know, and Paul I know about... but who are you?" And then, the guy with the evil spirit in him beat them all up.

Y'all, "I know Whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day" (2 Timothy 1:12).

Here she comes. She bears the mark of Christ. Check your mark. And then... check out the One Who gave you the mark. Are you bearing it well?