You are the Lord's Delight
There’s a part of me that really wishes I could have been at OneThing in Kansas City this year, although I’m really glad I got to be a part of what God was doing here in my region, and I think I was exactly where I was supposed to be. Still, some things I kind of wish I could have seen in person. Thank God for YouTube.
Anyway, I mention OneThing because at one point during the conference, Mike Bickle shares this dream that he had of the Lord speaking out over the congregation, saying, “Tell the people their name is Hephzibah, for I delight in them.” A few days before I saw this, I had an encounter with God* where He said that the move He is doing in the earth right now is to cement the church in their identity. Everything in the church right now is geared towards trying to convince people of who they are in Christ. And the heart of the Father is not for us always to struggle with identity. He wants us to get it once and for all so that we can move into deeper places in Him. False identity stops us at the door. We don’t walk into the fullness of what Jesus paid for, because we don’t believe that we are joint-heirs with Him. We might say that we believe it, and it might make us feel nice and warm when we say it, but belief is seen through action. Are we living like joint-heirs? Do we approach situations in our lives like the same power that resurrected Jesus lives in us? More and more we are starting to be able to say, “Yes. Yes, I do live like that. It isn’t just something I say, I am that. I really can do all things in Christ. He really does set a table for me in the presence of my enemies.” And as this revival turns into awakening, God will cement that in once and for all so that we no longer struggle with it.
“For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns. The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord will name. You shall also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah, for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”
— Isaiah 62:1-5 NKJV
This passage is saying a lot. You’re probably gonna want to take this into your secret place for a while and gnaw on it, because there’s so much good stuff here, and you’re not gonna get it all from reading a blog post! I feel like a lot of the Christian content out there is kinda like, “Hey, I’ve got all the answers for ya, just read this,” but I feel like a lot of what we get out of this stuff is meant to woo us into the secret place with God where He can give us even more. I can do my best to help, but at the end of the day, you’ve gotta take this stuff to Him directly and let Him make it a part of who you are. I can’t do that for you.
Anyway, the main message here is that you are God’s delight. You, person that is reading this, are the delight of God! He doesn’t just put up with you. He is satisfied by you. He loves your presence, He loves spending time with you. Even when you mess up, or disobey, or hate Him, He still delights in you and the desire of His heart is still to draw you near, not to push you away. You are precious to Him. Think about this for a second. 1 John 4:9 says, “In this the love of God was manifested towards us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.” It says might. That means it is possible that it was not guaranteed that we would live. Because of the existence of free will (Calvinists, predestination and free will can coexist. If you want I can write about that another time. Like a lot of the things of God, it isn’t “either/or”, it’s “and”. Satan causes division over stupid stuff, it’s high time we moved past it. I honor ya’ll for sticking with Jesus and for your focus on His sovereignty, He will continue to reveal truth to us all), it could have been the case that no one would have chosen to surrender their lives to God. And still He chose to come and live through the worst punishment possible. Beyond the pain of the cross, He was forsaken by God. And you could have been the only person who He saved by going through that. And He still would have done it.
The love of God towards you is no joke.
This kills so many things that we have given place to in our lives. It kills comparison, which is a horrible tool of the enemy that he uses to try to get us to tear each other down or think less of ourselves. You are the Lord’s delight, why compare yourself to anyone else? The Creator of the Universe who invented the very concept of beauty is delighted by you. Who else is there to impress? It allows for true holiness; as the Lord’s delight, you don’t resent the commands of God, you love them! They’re not words from an aloof taskmaster, they’re instructions from a Father who loves you in such a powerful way that your mind is unable to fully comprehend it. knowing our identity also opens the door to authenticity and vulnerability; if God is delighted in me where I am, where is my shame and guilt that causes me to isolate myself? Nowhere to be found! I am able to bring all things to the light and receive transformation and healing. The door is also opened for us to truly love all people. His desire is to be with all men, not just us. Just as much as He loves your presence, He also loves the presence of your neighbor, or your best friend, or your coworker, or your worst enemy. He’s after their heart too. He wants to lavish good things on them too. The Father wants the leaders of ISIS before Him day and night just like He wants you. He wants the racists, the bigots, the pedophiles, the rapists, and the murderers. The love of God is different like that. Allow yourself to see through His love and move as He does, not as the world does.
Where we’re going in God requires us to really get this. And I know it’s hard. The enemy really doesn’t want you to understand this, because once you do, it’s curtains for him. But we must press on towards the mark. I would encourage you all to declare over yourself that you are the Lord’s delight.open your heart and allow Him to reveal to you the fullness of what that means. Ask Him to explain it to you if you don’t get it. Let go of all of your old mindsets that keep you from experiencing the fullness of joy and peace that you were built to experience. Allow the Father to fully transform the way you see yourself, and the way you see the people around you, so that your first response is always love, because love never fails. The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God, but perfect love casts out all fear. If you have a problem with someone, the love of God is the solution.
I know this article is a little all over the place, in future posts I’ll unpack some of this stuff in more detail. I just wanted to give you a sort of overview of your identity as the Lord’s delight, and I really feel like the next step for you is to go into the secret place with this. That’s where God really wants you. If this spurs any of you to go and engage with Him for yourself, then I think it has done its job. If you have questions or comments please leave them down below and I’ll respond to those. There are no stupid questions! And if you wholeheartedly disagree with anything I’ve said, we can talk about that too.
Love you guys!
- Kaleb
*This is why you gotta get in the secret place, kids. That’s where encounters with God happen. They’re not just for special people, they’re for anyone who wants one. So when I say I had an encounter with God, I’m not trying to elevate myself at all. They’re for you too. God loves to talk to His kids. False prophets use stuff like that to try to put attention on themselves, and I want to avoid the very appearance of evil. Go to the secret place.