From: Lavish Sisterhood
To: Every Believer
To: Every Believer
I have been reminded recently of a dream God gave me one night in the midst of Lavish Conference a couple years ago. When I awakened, I had very clear pictures of three separate objects and very specific details of what each represented. I felt compelled to share with a few people, and I feel like I should share the message from it again.
The three objects were a Mirror, a Cup, and a Set of Scales (the kind that balance on each side). It was as if I could hear God’s voice saying (not audibly): You are to be My Image Bearer, My Cup Bearer, and My Standard Bearer. I believe this message was not just for me, alone, but for all of us who call ourselves Christians!
The Mirror-
When we look into a mirror, it’s usually to check our own reflection. We, as Christians, were created in HIS image and are called to reflect Him! To be His Image Bearer is to look like He does. So what does God look like? Well, we can look to His Word to see how Jesus lived, and we’re told that if we’re full of His Spirit, we will have Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. So look! Check yourself! Are those qualities what you see in your life? If not, you need a Make-Over, and you need to be sure that the One Who MADE you is your stylist, or you won’t bear His Image!
When we look into a mirror, it’s usually to check our own reflection. We, as Christians, were created in HIS image and are called to reflect Him! To be His Image Bearer is to look like He does. So what does God look like? Well, we can look to His Word to see how Jesus lived, and we’re told that if we’re full of His Spirit, we will have Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control. So look! Check yourself! Are those qualities what you see in your life? If not, you need a Make-Over, and you need to be sure that the One Who MADE you is your stylist, or you won’t bear His Image!
The Cup-
In ancient times, a Cup Bearer was an intimate servant and trusted companion whose job was to taste, carry, and serve wine to his master. Like them, I think God asks us to offer Him what’s in our Cup. So what’s in your Cup? I heard a speaker once say you could figure that out if you got “bumped” because whatever is inside tends to spill out! When you get bumped, does rich sweetness spill out? Or is the cheap, nasty stuff, or could it even be poisoned?!? Like I said, the Cup Bearer’s job is to taste the wine in his Cup before giving it to his master. How does what you’re offering your master taste? Is it sweet and good, or is it bitter and poisoned? The beautiful thing about OUR master, if you call yourself a Christian, is that He has offered HIS Cup to us! His Cup is full of the Cleansing He offers and has dearly paid for with His Death and Resurrection. Like the one He asked His Father if it could pass from Him, His Cup might come with difficulties, but if we are willing to exchange our Cup for His Cup, we will be filled up with the richest, sweetest abundance that can only come with the relationship of being His Cup Bearer, His intimate companion!
In ancient times, a Cup Bearer was an intimate servant and trusted companion whose job was to taste, carry, and serve wine to his master. Like them, I think God asks us to offer Him what’s in our Cup. So what’s in your Cup? I heard a speaker once say you could figure that out if you got “bumped” because whatever is inside tends to spill out! When you get bumped, does rich sweetness spill out? Or is the cheap, nasty stuff, or could it even be poisoned?!? Like I said, the Cup Bearer’s job is to taste the wine in his Cup before giving it to his master. How does what you’re offering your master taste? Is it sweet and good, or is it bitter and poisoned? The beautiful thing about OUR master, if you call yourself a Christian, is that He has offered HIS Cup to us! His Cup is full of the Cleansing He offers and has dearly paid for with His Death and Resurrection. Like the one He asked His Father if it could pass from Him, His Cup might come with difficulties, but if we are willing to exchange our Cup for His Cup, we will be filled up with the richest, sweetest abundance that can only come with the relationship of being His Cup Bearer, His intimate companion!
The Scales-
A Standard is something that is used to measure other things against to see if they are of equal, higher, or lower value. A Standard is also a conspicuous object (such as a banner) carried at the top of a pole and used to mark a rallying point especially in battle for both your own army and the enemy to see. Christians are called to be God’s Standard Bearers, living lives so that everyone around can measure their own, not against a fleshly Standard, but God’s Standard! We should be lifting HIS Standard high enough for all to see, both to encourage one another, and for those who are not measuring up to God’s Standard to recognize it so they can adjust or surrender to the only One Whose Standard matters.
All three of these objects call us to the same thing, God’s Standard, which is Holiness. None of us will live a perfect life; only Jesus did that! But when we call ourselves Christians, we need to stop making excuses for our low Standards. When we “wear the Christian t-shirt” so to speak, we live out loud.
A Standard is something that is used to measure other things against to see if they are of equal, higher, or lower value. A Standard is also a conspicuous object (such as a banner) carried at the top of a pole and used to mark a rallying point especially in battle for both your own army and the enemy to see. Christians are called to be God’s Standard Bearers, living lives so that everyone around can measure their own, not against a fleshly Standard, but God’s Standard! We should be lifting HIS Standard high enough for all to see, both to encourage one another, and for those who are not measuring up to God’s Standard to recognize it so they can adjust or surrender to the only One Whose Standard matters.
All three of these objects call us to the same thing, God’s Standard, which is Holiness. None of us will live a perfect life; only Jesus did that! But when we call ourselves Christians, we need to stop making excuses for our low Standards. When we “wear the Christian t-shirt” so to speak, we live out loud.
Maybe it’s time to do a Standard check! Are you reflecting God or the World when you look in the proverbial Mirror? When you get bumped, are you spilling sweetness or poison from your Cup? (The latter is toxic to YOU and those you splash on!) Can others put their lives on the Scales opposite yours to measure whether theirs is pleasing to God? Are you lifting His Standard for those who need to see it?
I’m so thankful when God gives me direction to check myself, and I always want to be obedient when He asks me to share with others. I hope you’re encouraged to look to Him and His Holy Spirit to do the sometimes hard work of rooting out those things that don’t belong and growing all the things that are necessary in living out His Standard. Only through His Spirit can we ever hope to do so! Like Paul ended nearly every letter he wrote, I ask for God to give you the Grace and Peace we need for every day!
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