Tuesday, January 27, 2015

beautiful picture of downtown jackson

made by one of the we will go interns.

so beautiful.

Monday, January 26, 2015

sweet community

Joshua 19

A recurring phrase through this chapter, "...included these towns and their surrounding villages."

Six clans walking into the land given to them. When each clan was given their territory, they were also given surrounding communities to encourage and share with. This didn't just fulfill the promise of inheritance, but it also opened opportunity for everyone to live in community, and unity.

Living in community can be hard. Really good, but really hard. You have to learn how to share, how to be patient, how to be selfless, how to be compassionate, how to be a better giver, and how to serve others with no expectations in return.

The early church worshiped together and lived in community together. A good snapshot of what that looked like is found in Acts 2:42-47. “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

Community starts in your own home. I have learned that, living with others over the last few years. Through this, the Lord showed me just how selfish I can be. But in return, he also showed me how beautiful this can be. There is so much joy when a house is full of laughter and peace and love, and unity. And sometimes you just have to be the one to take the trash out.

Community flows out to those around you. Living in the restored shotgun, former crack houses, on Cohea Street was quite the adventure. I was so close to my neighbors, I could hear them walking from one end to the other. One of my favorite things was the nightly shout out I got from Dwight. He walked by my house every night and would yell out, "Nite Nite Jamie, don't let the bud begs bite" - yes, that is what he said. And the many honks from Terrell as he rode by.

But it didn't stop there. My neighbors on every street around me were included in my community that reached beyond the walls of the house I was in. I've shared meals with people, toilet paper, clothes, and the occasional nap for when they were weary. Kids have taken over every inch of the 900 square feet I had. In that place, on that street, I slept so good every night, knowing Jesus had me in the exact community He wanted me in.

These clans got it. They lived where they received their inheritance, but they also lived in unity with the other clans around them. What a great example we have today, from so long ago.

And then this.

"After all the land was divided among the tribes, the Israelites gave a piece of land to Joshua as his allocation. For the Lord had said he could have any town he wanted. He chose Timnath-serah in the hill country of Ephraim. He rebuilt the town and lived there." 19:49-50

Joshua was the very last to receive his land. He faithfully obeyed God all through this journey, seeing everyone receive their inheritance, until the very end when he was given his. His sense of community expanded beyond the walls of his tent, to the heart of every man, woman, child, clan. The only thing going through my mind as I read this, is this:

"Jesus replied, “Yes, you have followed me. In the re-creation of the world, when the Son of Man will rule gloriously, you who have followed me will also rule, starting with the twelve tribes of Israel. And not only you, but anyone who sacrifices home, family, fields—whatever—because of me will get it all back a hundred times over, not to mention the considerable bonus of eternal life. This is the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first.” Matthew 19:28-30

What does your community look like?

Here is a glimpse of mine. This is part of the Magee clan. They are some of my favorites!

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

proscrastinating through the process.....not good

Joshua 18

"Then Joshua asked them, 'How long are you going to wait before taking possession of the remaining land the Lord has given you?'" 18:3

There were 7 tribes remaining that received their inheritance, but had not actually moved forward to TAKE it. They were so close to it, but didn't reach out and grab it!

It is a little like someone saying - "Hey, I have a big jar of skittles for you." then you say "Great!" but never get it. That's just dumb.

I am known to procrastinate. When I was finishing up my Masters degree I would wait until I was almost out of time, to work on a project. Then I would get super stressed out, frustrated, and fumble my way through, just to turn it in on time. There were many Sunday nights I was up until that very last minute to get it submitted. If I had worked on it ahead of time and not waiting until the last second, I might have ended up with all A's. Maybe.

How often do we delay in doing things that seem way to big for us, far to complicated, extremely difficult, and maybe even boring? When we know there are things to do, that maybe we don't want to do, and don't look very thrilling, we are just prolonging what we know we HAVE to do. Like writing a 10 page paper, or saying YES to what the Lord asks you to do. When we continue to put these things off, it shows just how selfish we are, how much we lack discipline, our poor stewardship, and the worst of all - our disobedience to the Lord.

Through the last few months, the Lord has had to continue ushering me along in this journey. There have been a few things I knew I needed to do, that I would keep putting off. Part of it was due to not having money for them, not having time to do it, and mainly because my faith to move ahead was lacking. Each time I did move forward with something, the Lord above and beyond blessed me. How silly I can be sometimes.

Procrastinating and waiting - two different things. The 7 tribes weren't waiting on the Lord to give them the land, it had already been given to them. They were just prolonging the action to move forward and take residence in it!

One of my favorite pieces of art made by one of the kids. So true. It challenges me to think through other things I am not doing, that I know I should. When we procrastinate and don't receive our blessing, it is because "God did't tap out" - we did.


Thursday, January 15, 2015

ask boldly for what you believe in

Joshua 17

"Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons, only daughters. Their names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They went to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders and said, “God commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our kinsmen.” And Joshua did it; he gave them, as God commanded, an inheritance amid their father’s brothers." 17:3-4


In this Israelite culture, women didn't typically inherit land, it was all portioned only to men. However, Moses honored these women and set them up to receive what was justly their portion of the land. He put justice ahead of tradition. Through this, the Lord told Moses to set a new law that would allow more women to inherit land that was rightfully due them. This is where Joshua was honoring that law.

Sometimes things are just not done because "it's never been done that way before", or "you can't do it that way", but the Lord says "all things are possible with those who believe."

These daughters of Zelophehad were bold to go before Joshua, a priest, and other leaders, and ask for what they believed in. Through their confidence and boldness, their request was honored and they were given their portion of the land. My grandmother always says "you have not if you ask not" (James 4:3). Had they not asked for what they believed in, the land would have been portioned to someone else. Ask boldly for what you know the Lord wants to gift to you!

I asked the Lord to put me in a hard place, send me hard people, let me stand with Him in the trenches. And He is giving me that precious gift. People ask me quite often, "are going to live there by yourself?!" Yes. "are you not scared?" No. "what is your goal?" Salvation and freedom for everyone that I know. It may not seem normal to anyone else what I am doing, but it is very normal to Jesus, and all I want to do is honor Him.

God has not given me a spirit of fear, but "the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed—keep that ablaze! God doesn’t want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible." 2 Timothy 1:7

Part of the inheritance I have received is to know what love really is, through His eyes and heart. The best way I can explain that is to just share this picture of these amazing boys, that are going to be amazing men of God! They have beautiful mama's that I love just as much. They give me a headache, and joy at the same time. We walked through the house this weekend, prayed, and talked about all the fun we will have when it is completed. I can't imagine my life without all these kids, and had I not asked the Lord for this gift, it could have been given to someone else.


and just to throw some Lecrae out on you....



Wednesday, January 7, 2015

receiving an inheritance

Joshua 16

"This is the region from which the people of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim, got their inheritance." 16:4

About 400 years before this...

"Some time later Joseph was told, “Your father is ill.” So he took his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim along with him. When Jacob was told, “Your son Joseph has come to you,” Israel rallied his strength and sat up on the bed. Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me at Luz in the land of Canaan, and there he blessed me and said to me, ‘I am going to make you fruitful and increase your numbers. I will make you a community of peoples, and I will give this land as an everlasting possession to your descendants after you.’ “Now then, your two sons born to you in Egypt before I came to you here will be reckoned as mine; Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine, just as Reuben and Simeon are mine. Any children born to you after them will be yours; in the territory they inherit they will be reckoned under the names of their brothers. As I was returning from Paddan, to my sorrow Rachel died in the land of Canaan while we were still on the way, a little distance from Ephrath. So I buried her there beside the road to Ephrath” (that is, Bethlehem). When Israel saw the sons of Joseph, he asked, “Who are these?” “They are the sons God has given me here,” Joseph said to his father. Then Israel said, “Bring them to me so I may bless them.” Now Israel’s eyes were failing because of old age, and he could hardly see. So Joseph brought his sons close to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them. Israel said to Joseph, “I never expected to see your face again, and now God has allowed me to see your children too. ”Then Joseph removed them from Israel’s knees and bowed down with his face to the ground. And Joseph took both of them, Ephraim on his right toward Israel’s left hand and Manasseh on his left toward Israel’s right hand, and brought them close to him. But Israel reached out his right hand and put it on Ephraim’s head, though he was the younger, and crossing his arms, he put his left hand on Manasseh’s head, even though Manasseh was the firstborn. Then he blessed Joseph and said, “May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked faithfully, the God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day, the Angel who has delivered me from all harm — may he bless these boys. May they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they increase greatly on the earth.” When Joseph saw his father placing his right hand on Ephraim’s head he was displeased; so he took hold of his father’s hand to move it from Ephraim’s head to Manasseh’s head. Joseph said to him, “No, my father, this one is the firstborn; put your right hand on his head.” But his father refused and said, “I know, my son, I know. He too will become a people, and he too will become great. Nevertheless, his younger brother will be greater than he, and his descendants will become a group of nations.” He blessed them that day and said, “In your name will Israel pronounce this blessing:‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’ ”So he put Ephraim ahead of Manasseh. Then Israel said to Joseph, “I am about to die, but God will be with you and take you back to the land of your fathers. And to you I give one more ridge of land than to your brothers, the ridge I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow.” Genesis 48

It is a lot to read, but this is the moment when the descendants of Jacob received their inheritance, a promise was fulfilled! Just one of the many times in scripture we see this happen, there are many more.

It took almost 400 years for this promise to be fulfilled, but it WAS. That is what I am talking about. Promises from the Lord are always fulfilled, regardless of the time in between the receiving and the fulfilling. Hold on to that.

Many times we focus so much on the big picture of a promise that we don't stop and enjoy all the little pieces of it that fall into place along the way.

Today brought a little promise along the way in my inheritance. I finally got the building permit from the City of Jackson! That may not seem like a big deal, but as I am navigating through this journey solo, figuring out what has to be done, it was a big victory for me.

Over the last few days, a friend has encouraged me greatly with the life of Nehemiah - he had a sword in one hand and a hammer in the other. (And we went back to the wall and went to work. From then on half of my young men worked while the other half stood guard with lances, shields, bows and mail armor. Military officers served as backup for everyone in Judah who was at work rebuilding the wall. The common laborers held a tool in one hand and a spear in the other. Each of the builders has a sword strapped to his side as he worked. I kept the trumpeter at my side to sound the alert." Nehemiah 4:15-18) He stayed on the wall until it was completed. He fought off the enemy at the same time he rebuilt the wall. He saw the Lord make promises, and fulfill them through the whole process, all the way to completion.

This was a great reminder to me, that I can't just focus on fixing a house and miss all the people around me, and then, I can't neglect the restoration of this house and just chill with people. It's both at the same time. That is how you fight from a place of victory, and that is where you start seeing these promises fulfilled, the big ones and all the little ones along the way.


Thursday, January 1, 2015

mountain tops to mountain tops

Joshua 15

"The eastern boundary: the Salt Sea up to the mouth of the Jordan. The northern boundary started at the shallows of the Sea at the mouth of the Jordan, went up to Beth Hoglah and around to the north of Beth Arabah and to the Stone of Bohan son of Reuben. The border then ascended to Debir from Trouble Valley and turned north toward Gilgal, which lies opposite Red Pass, just south of the gorge. The border then followed the Waters of En Shemesh and ended at En Rogel. The border followed the Valley of Ben Hinnom along the southern slope of the Jebusite ridge (that is, Jerusalem). It ascended to the top of the mountain opposite Hinnom Valley on the west, at the northern end of Rephaim Valley; the border then took a turn at the top of the mountain to the spring, the Waters of Nephtoah, and followed the valley out to Mount Ephron, turned toward Baalah (that is, Kiriath Jearim), took another turn west of Baalah to Mount Seir, curved around to the northern shoulder of Mount Jearim (that is, Kesalon), descended to Beth Shemesh, and crossed to Timnah. The border then went north to the ridge of Ekron, turned toward Shikkeron, passed along to Mount Baalah, and came out at Jabneel. The border ended at the Sea." 15:5-11

As I read through this chapter, which includes the land allotment for the Tribe of Judah and to Caleb, I was a little bored. Then, it hit me.

Someone prayed some very strong prophetic words over me last year, and I was reminded of part of that when I read this. The word from the Lord was:

"you are among the eagles. you are called from mountain tops to mountain tops."

I remember when those words were prayed over me, I thought it meant I would literally get to go to all the mountains from the Middle East to North and East Africa! And I still hope I can. But, it was nearly two years later that this word from the Lord became clear as I walked through this part of Joshua's journey.

My mountain tops are the allotment of land the Lord is giving me in Midtown. Land taken over by Him. Land full of promise, hope, joy, peace, freedom, and love.

The boundaries and descriptions of the Promised Land are very specific. God was telling Israel exactly what to do, and He was giving them exactly what they needed. They had no excuse for disobedience, and neither do I.

So much progress has been made. So much still left to do. I am back in that place of just going to the house, walking in, praying, listening to hear what the Father says, and seeing the vision He has for this home.

I love this picture of these brothers. I love these boys so much and I am so full of joy seeing them sitting on the front porch, excited about the amazing young men the Lord is molding them to be, and looking ahead to many more days of them coming to this porch.


This is a year for miracles and I am ready for them!
You are the God who performs miracles;
you display your power among the peoples.
Psalm 77:14