A new shift to our assignments!

As most of you know the Upside Down group at the core is about caring for others. It's about recognizing that in our fallen state we are selfish individuals who care more about working toward our own good than taking the time to help others. Despite living in this fallen state we choose to recognize that this is not the plan our creator has for us. He created us to focus on him and his creation to take care of his creation. With that in mind we have chosen to take the challenge and live that life. It is a process. We try to teach ourselves how to best live in this way. It's challenging, the only thing we know for sure is the best way to live this way successfully is to focus on our God and do what he tells us to do. Too many of us have lived this scenario backwards and as a result we have begun to burn out. We do do do do and then look back to see how happy God is with us then we do some more. But this isn't what God ever intended and what's funny is WE KNOW THIS ISN'T WHAT HE INTENDED! But we for some reason do it this way anyway. I remember about a year ago I was asked a question. It caused me to try and create a picture in my mind of what my life in God was like. I pictured God on his throne and me in front of it looking away from him at the world and doing what I could to help them. Painting the picture in my mind I was finally able to see what I was doing and I didn't like the picture. I knew it was not the picture God wanted. So I asked God "Help me to see the picture that you would want. Suddenly there was a slight shift. You see God was still there on his throne, the world was still out there and I was still in the picture. So it had all the same elements but the difference was my location. I was sitting on my fathers lap. Not only was I sitting on his lap but my head was resting on his chest. Do you remember doing that as a little kid on your parents lap? There was no place safer and no position more comfortable. After sitting like that for a little while I saw God reach out his hand and point. I sat up looked and saw who he was pointing at then I looked back at him and God gave me a little nod as if to say yep I want you to go help them. So I got up and went. That picture has become a goal for my life and my passion for the upside down group. Can you imagine that? An army of kids sitting in daddy's lap enjoying his presence and waiting for him to point.

Can we learn to enjoy our time in daddy's lap? Can we learn to willingly get up when he calls us to go? When he tells us it's time to stop and rest in him again will we learn to listen? I've found myself on all sides. Working tirelessly when he is telling me to rest, Refusing to get off his lap when he gives me an assignment, and resting in him waiting for the assignment. I know which is best and I know which gives me greater contentment. Yet I know even with this how easy it is to lose focus. This blog and these weekly assignments where created to serve one purpose they were created to help us as a community grow closer to our loving God and Savior and through that encourage us to effect our community and world through him. One thing I've noticed in passing out these assignment is that sometimes God will tell me to assign something the community as a whole needs to hear (Last week is a good example) But usually the assignments are a window into how god is working directly with me in my life and while these assignments are always a good thing to do they are not always what God is calling you to at the exact moment. Remember my goal, the dream of The Upside Down Group is to create an army of Gods children focused on and resting in him an army that is waiting for the call and jumps when they hear it (Sometimes he will call us to act as a group and others he will ask us to move individually.) That is why I'm giving you this window into my soul. Not because I think I have something you need to hear or because I'm this spiritual dynamo (Far from it) By watching others in process we learn and are encouraged to dive in as well. I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for some very dear friends that I've watched seek God and grow leaps and bounds. I've also watched them struggle, fall and God pick them up again. It has helped to truly understand and embrace Gods grace.

I didn't realize I was going here when I began to type but once again God somehow took control of my fingers. You are going to notice a slight shift in these assignments once again. On weeks that I think God has given an assignment specifically for each of us. I will say "This is an assignment for the group" other weeks you will hear where God has been working in me. I will still give an assignment and I challenge you to do it. It will help you to grow. But you know where God has you and if the assignment is to act but God has you in a place of rest do not let satan or anyone else guilt you into it. The flip is true as well if God says rest and we say act then rest. God always carries the trump card!

One other thing you will see. In about 6 weeks the look and feel of this blog will most likely change dramatically. I will try to still update once a week but there may be times when the updates span two or three weeks the suddenly you will see four or five updates back to back. Hopefully we will have a video option by then as well (Probably just on You Tube) You see I am going on a little trek. The last week in Sept (Unless God throws the trump card) I am planning on grabbing a backpack, hopping on my motorcycle and heading to the NW. Washington to be exact. I will spend a month in the mountains Just God and I for the purpose of seeking him sitting in his lap and checking to see where he is going to point. After our month in the Mtns we will hop back on the bike and work the coastline. No set schedule or planned stops other than Bethel church in Redding CA for a time. But the goal will remain the same spend the time God and I looking at his creation and watching to see where he points. Once the weather turns and spring is in the air my plan is to begin my journey back this way and begin steering The Upside Down Group in the proper direction. While this is a personal journey I believe there will be lessons in it for all of us so this will remain a public blog.

I ask for your prayers in this journey that God would protect me from harm, keep me and my bike healthy, and provide financially. I do plan on finding work here and there as well as I run out of money.

This leads me to our assignment for the week. This week I would like to challenge you to simply pray. Each day of the week go to God and ask him who you should pray for and ask him how he wants you to pray. Then pray! It's that simple. Set aside a prayer time for just that. Praying for others.

Alright my friends thank you for sticking with me on this incredibly long post and I promise I will try to not be so long winded from here on out (No guarantees though). Have a great week and as always Lets live it Upside Down!

Alright gang here we go one more week one more assignment. I promise this weeks wont be as long as the last few actually it's sort of a repeat. Since beginning this blog we have I believe given out assignments that have to do with protecting your friendships 3 times now. But here's the thing each time we do someone writes back and says "Thank you for challenging me in this way. After reading the assignment I instantly thought of someone a friend that has grown distant because of a misunderstanding rather than confronting it I found it easier to let the distance grow. After your challenge I knew I had to give my friend a call..." Sometimes these go on to say "Our relationship has been restored" other times they say "It is now a work in progress" and I've seen "We have chosen to go our separate ways" But every time they were glad to finally take the step. It was a release they needed that they didn't even realize they needed. It's been a few weeks since posting an assignment like this but we still continue to hear stories. This tells me that we have hit on an area that Satan is attacking pretty hard. He is so subtle in this attack that we don't even realize it. He starts rumors that have no foundation on truth, he uses one word taken out of context and mixes it around to create a war between two groups of friends, Someone forgets a party and is now "choosing others over me", He must be mad at me he didn't say hi" You get the drift. These things that seem so terrible there can't possibly be an explanation... Until you talk to them and find out she had been sick and accidently slept through the party. He didn't say hi because he didn't see you. When you saw someone laugh and point at you they were telling someone else a joke that you had told them.

My friends, friendship is not something to be held lightly. Why do you think Satan is attacking them so hard. He created the phrase "Divide an conquer" Jesus nailed it when he said in Matthew 12: 25 "Every Kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. Now this is in a slightly different context than the situation he was speaking in but the truth still stands. He said "EVERY" "EVERY KINGDOM", "EVERY HOUSE". We are of the kingdom of God and when we stand together for him great things will happen. So Satan desires to divide us. As a community of believers grows strong they become dangerous. I don't know about you but I want to be dangerous and I know I can't do this alone. Why else do you think the author of Hebrews said in Chap 10 verse 24, 25 "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching. When we gather together as believers we stir up Love and Good works. We feed off of each other. I personally don't think this is a call to corporate worship (Even though that is very important as well.) I think it is a call for believers to intentionally get together as friends so we can lift up and support each other.

So your assignment this week is to once again "Fight for your friends" confront anything that could be dividing you RIGHT NOW! Do not hesitate! Pick up the phone or send off an email to whoever and ask to meet with them this week. The longer you wait the easier it will be to just forget it. Yes this could be a matter of life and death. I am not exaggerating the point.

If you are a blessed person that at the moment is not struggling with this issue your assignment is to pray this week for these people. Pray for restoration of families, communities and friends. Ask that God place on each of our hearts someone that we need to talk to and that he give us the courage to follow through.

I hate to tell you this my friends but we are at war. It's an invisible war but a war all the same. It's time we treat it as so and strengthen our ranks. One last statement then I will let you get back to your day. If you are asking yourself "Is this someone that God wants me to reconnect with?" Ask yourself one more question? "Is this person a follower of Jesus Christ seeking to grow his kingdom?" If the answer is yes then let me be so bold as to say YES! THIS IS A PERSON GOD WANTS YOU TO RECONNECT WITH! It doesn't mean you need to be best friends relationships come in all shapes and sizes. Remember Matt 12:25 God is not a God of division so use that as a guide.

Alright, I broke my promise and grew long winded hopefully it was worth your while. Have a great week and of course "Lets live it upside down"

Don't be a freakin Idiot!

Ok gang stick with me on this one I know I seem to be getting long winded and I promise to try and keep them a little shorter but this week is a challenging one. One that blew me away as God pointed it out. Hopefully this is just a reminder for everyone else because it seems so simple at the conclusion.

Let me set the background for you. We have Solomon the wisest King to ever live. God blessed him enormously because of his father David and because of his humility during the beginning of his reign. But over the years he lost his focus on God and allowed his wives to bring foreign Gods into Israel. 1 Kings 1 – 11 is the story of Solomon’s reign. At the end of his reign God told Solomon that he would hand Israel over to another King because of his unfaithfulness (1Kings 11:9 – 13). This is where we begin today. God Chose Jeroboam as the new king over Israel and sent a prophet to tell him this. The prophet even went as far as to tell Jeroboam why God was taking the Kingdom from Solomon (Because they turned to other Gods 1 kings 11: 29 – 40) In that same section God tells Jeroboam “Walk in my ways… and I will build for you an enduring house”.

God follows through on his promise and gives Jeroboam 10 out of 12 tribes of Israel leaving 2 for the family of David. Here’s the part that kills me (1 kings 12: 25 – 32) Since the temple is still in Jerusalem (Not a part of his new kingdom) Jeroboam fears the people will return to the house of David when they go to Jerusalem to worship so he sets up “Replacement Gods” for them to worship so they wont have to leave. Yes you are reading this right. God gives Jeroboam a gift and he is so afraid of losing that gift that he chooses to replace the very God that gave him the gift. This seems like a worse offense than that of Solomon who simply allowed other Gods into the kingdom (Still definitely not a good thing.) I read this and was shaking my head thinking “What a freakin idiot!” Then I remembered Everything in the old covenant speaks of the new. Israel is symbolic of all Gods family today. This means I am a part of Israel. Have I done what Jeroboam is doing? How much has God given me and rather than trusting that he will continue to provide I seek to find ways to secure it. God gave me a community of friends rather than trusting these friends will love me as I am I hide certain things about me from them. God gave me a business rather than trusting he will bless the business I do what I can to keep it going even if it means taking advantage of my employees or customers, He gave me a job but I take credit for someone else’s work to get ahead or I talk about my coworkers so I can look better. He gave me finances and asked that I give a small part of them to others but instead I keep it all because I fear they wont use it right or to safeguard the house and car he gave me as well.

Here’s the thing. Not trusting God to continue to care for us does two things it hurts us and it harms others. Jeroboam lost his kingdom (1 kings 13: 1- 7) and Israel turned their hearts to other Gods. But by trusting God you will receive blessings that you would not have otherwise and it will bless others as well. 1 kings 17: 8 – 16 Elijah goes to a widow and asks her to make him some food. The widow tells him she is about to make the last of her food for her and her son after this they will starve to death (They were in a famine) But Elijah said make it for me first and you will be fine. She does and then finds that her oil and flour didn’t disappear. It says they ate for many days and the oil and flour never disappeared. Elijah listened to God and went to the widow and he, she and her son were all blessed. But Elijah had to go first for that to happen. The widow listened to Elijah and made him food before she made herself and son food then Elijah, her and her son were blessed but she had to make the food first. If you continue in the story you see another blessing that would not have happened if the widow did not trust God. Her son grew sick and died. Elijah raised him from the dead. Again this would not have happened if sometime earlier the widow had not decided to give Elijah the last of her food.

All this to lead you to your assignment of the week. “Trust God” Duh, I’ve heard that before Larry and I am daily trying to do just that. Ok lets give it a specific. One thing to grab a hold of. What has God given you that you are holding onto too tight? Maybe your finances? You don’t trust God to provide if you give back 10%. This week find someone in need or a few people in need and give them some money. Maybe it’s your friendships. This week it’s time to open up. Maybe it’s your car. Loan it to someone who needs a ride. As we recognize Gods gifts and as we realize that God is not an “Indian Giver” we will learn to trust him more and we will get more blessings in return.

Have a great week Gang and as always. Lets Live it Upside Down!