L3~Learn/Live/Lead.

Here's the set-up for this post:

Some of the verses God has been speaking to me through this week in the L3 Journal.

What they each apply to, in regard to what L3 acctually stands for: Learn, Live, Lead.

And lastly, how you can apply them to your life.

Here we go!

Galatians 4:9 (NCV)

"But now you know the true God. Really, it is God who knows you. So why do you turn back to those weak and useless rules you followed before? Do you want to be slaves to those things again?"

This verse was first brought to my mind a few weeks ago when I was finishing up "Forgotten God" by Francis Chan, which is about the Holy Spirit's role in our lives. The chapter it was in was talking about fear, and how easy it is for fear to rule our lives instead of the Holy Spirit. So when I read this verse again this week, in my L3 journal, I skipped right to the prayer and just talked with God about how much this verse just cuts me to the core. I just journaled to Him that ... Why, after knowing You and being known by You, as a Beloved wife is known and she knows Her husband, would I ever want to go back to my old self? ...

In the L3 formula (Learn/Live/Lead), this was live for me. I prayed for God to help me to live for Him, with open hands, knowing that I am no longer bound by all those things, but that I am a new creation, created to know Him and to be known by Him.

Do I want to be enslaved again? Or do I want to have a love relationship with my God?

Ephesians 1:9-10

"...making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ, as a plan for the fulness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in Heaven and things in earth."

In the L3 formula, this verse was learn for me. I didn't even write down my prayer, because I filled the page with notes! :) So here are those notes.

• "His will/His purpose"--found in context

vs 4: "He chose us in Him that we should be holy & blameless before Him"

vs 5: "He predestined us for adoption"

vs 6: "to the praise of His grace"

• "Set forth in Christ"

vs 7: "in Him (Christ) we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins"

• "to unite all things in Him (Christ)"

To raise us up from the Fall (of sin entering the world)--He actually raised us up higher than what we fell from. We were just creations--now we can be adopted a the sons and daughters of God!

So often, we ask, "What is God's will for my life?" Well, if start by learning HIS will and HIS purpose, then we can align ourselves with that and not our own self-seeking will. His purposes & will--Adoption, sanctification (making us more like Him), Glorification (of His name). Once we ourselves are adopted, our will becomes His will, and we are simply called to follow Him in it--He desires that all might be saved (adopted) and become like Him (sanctification), for the glory of His name!--So we follow that through in whatever area of life He places us in.

If we aren't living for Him...what are we living for?

Ephesians 2:22

"In Him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God in the Spirit."

In the L3, this was my lead verse. Didn't realize that at the time, but God used the time I spent in His word to bring it to remembrance and share it with a friend tonight, which was really cool, being used by Him.

This verse has a lot to do with a word that I really love and want to (quickly...this post is getting long) break down a bit with you: Sanctification. It's a big word, for good reason. I simply stated it before as "God making us more like Him." And that is true, but that sounds a bit easy. It's totally not easy!! It is literally a work within us. Work on the outside is hard enough, but on the inside, where we cannot see what is going on or the big picture of our hearts and what it's going to look like when He's done working! Only He knows what He is doing and what it is going to look like. And that's tough...trusting Him, that each and every poke and prod and change and tweak is going to make you look more like Him and less like our ugly human selves. Tonight, I was thinking about that and I've been talking about it a lot with a friend who is learning some of the same things I am. So I sent this verse in a text to her tonight, saying at the end, "Rome wasn't built in a day." :) Neither does sanctification happen overnight...it's a long (rather drawn out) process, that really, our flesh fights against every single moment of every single day. But if we are striving to find ourselves naturally in His arms every moment, falling in love with Him more and more...it will happen. And the end result will be worth it...it won't be the most popular thing ever--but being like Jesus never has been. He said that the world will hate us, but not to worry, it hated Him first!

But we have to allow this work to happen...like I said, our flesh (our old selves, prior to Christ) fights against this. We have to say "Yes" to God daily, but it's more like an "I Do," because all of His work within us is based on love. He loves us so much. And He loves the world so much. And He wants us to join His purpose to love the world so that they can see how much He loves them. But if it's just us loving them, what is that? But if we are loving them as He loves them, by daily becoming more like Him; if we are joining in His purpose, then we are truly living for something worth living for. So are we allowing God to work on our hearts? Are we becoming more and more like Him?