Consecration Week Introduction

con·se·crate
‍"to make or declare sacred; to devote or dedicate to some purpose".  

"When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you"
Jeremiah 29:13,14

Hello Church family,
The deep freeze is over. Within 24 hours we will see a 20-25 degree shift in our external temperature.  

Extreme weather shifts like this remind me that there are things we can’t control and things that we can.  I can’t change the weather, I cannot control the seasons, but I can chose how I will interact in them. I can layer up and brave the cold days or on hot days, I can de-layer and jump into a cool lake. I can stay indoors in front of a warm fire with a hot liquid, or if it is hot out, sip a cool drink.  I can’t change the weather, but I can choose how I will interact and engage with it.  

Reminds me of my relationship with God – I can’t change him, or get him to do things I want, but I can position myself on how I will interact and engage with Him.  I can layer up my heart, hibernate or I can strip down, engage and seek him.  "When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you"

Tomorrow when we gather together, we will invite one another into a week of consecration. Consecration simply means, “to make or declare sacred; to devote or dedicate to some purpose”.  We are in simple terms, inviting ourselves to make next week ‘sacred’ by being purposeful in exposing ourselves before a loving amazing good Father.  We are inviting ourselves to purposefully strip down ‘things’; activities and comforts in our lives, so that we can have time to be fully present with God and one another.  

One might ask, “To what end, what is the outcome of a week like this?”  The answer depends on how comfortable you are with the truth that God wants the best for his children. Our destiny is to be like Christ – to be sons and daughters to God - which He is totally focused to help us with.  

As our true father, he wants to prosper us. He has a rich inheritance for us; he has promises uniquely defined for each of us.  God is completely committed to helping us become free – free enough that we can discover and fulfill everything we were created to be and do.   Taking a week together, saying yes to de-layering ourselves from our comforts and disconnecting from the ‘weapons of mass distraction’ positions our hearts to ‘see’,  to ‘hear’ what He is doing in us, and through us.  

See you in the am…  
Cheers,

Brant

"I admit that I haven’t yet acquired the absolute fullness that I’m pursuing, but I run with passion into his abundance so that I may reach the purpose that Jesus Christ has called me to fulfill and wants me to discover. I don’t depend on my own strength to accomplish this; however I do have one compelling focus: I forget all of the past as I fasten my heart to the future instead."  - Philippians 3:12-13 TPT

‍