Welcome to another anointed week brothers and sisters!
I hope this past week has been a blessing for you as much as it has been for me! Seeing how much God has continued to pour into my life in the physical, mental, social, emotional, financial and spiritual fills me with joy and assurance that can be fleeting for some. This week has allowed me to continue to lock in and work hard with the skills God has blessed me with. I read a quote in preparing my weekly news wrap-up for unpromotedsounds.com coming from Jay Yang (jayyanginspires on Instagram) that read as follows:
"Most people won't support you at the start. Not because they hate you. But because they can't see what you see. They wait for proof. For applause. For others to believe first. If you want to build anything great, you have to master the skill of cheering for yourself. Because by the time the world finally gets it, you'll have already made your vision a reality."
It struck me after reading this quote - that those of us who get the most out of life will see this relationship develop with God at some point. We might have not supported God from the start - because we cannot see what He sees. Some of us had to wait for proof or applause, and others to believe first - where I want to sit for a moment. A lot of people are waiting until the end of their life to confess God on their deathbed and go to heaven, but that's not how faith works. Doing that is like bringing God your worst fruits when you had good fruits to give Him your whole life. Those who experience the most fruitful life are those who see God's vision for everything before it comes to pass - those who make His vision their vision.
At the end of 2024, I made the commitment to God after He showed me His vision for my life; to use the gifts He blessed me with to get into spaces and bring people there to knowledge of Him and His love for them, expressed on the cross. Since then, every day of my life has been taking steps towards building a life that will knock doors down so Jesus can flow into the lives desperately hungry for the bread of life He brings - without knowing of their need for it. One thing God has been revealing is that it is a road less travelled, unconventional and off the beaten path - paved and cleared by the work I do to worship His name - trusting what He sees now and I cannot see yet.
In all of this, God has been continuing to show me that with every decision, there comes a trade-off. Every step off the beaten path sends someone trying to pull me back to the main one - maybe because they can't see the vision God shared for my life. Their vision looks different than what God has shown me, even though it has the same destination.
This week, I wrestled with in the past week with skipping a 10-night event at a church I attend. Part of me wanted to make it out to one of the nights, but make no mistake - I had no intention of attending. Not because of anything trivial or any issues with the church - I believe it is one of the strongest in our region respectfully. I chose not to attend because I trust God's vision revealed through my relationship with Him more than a general one to encompass a large group of people (no disrespect intended). I had multiple people reach out to ask if I was attending, but I trust God's guidance in the form of the Holy Spirit to push me strongly to where I am supposed to be, and the push I felt was up to my room to continue laying the foundation for a platform that can bring people to Christ.
Additionally, the event was positioned as a time to "wait upon God and seek Him" - when I've begun to learn through reading the Prayer Of Azariah (better known as Abednego) from my Ethiopian Orthodox Bible is that God is present wherever we are - and all of Him is present wherever we are. He is not with me at home to "rescue" me from it and bring me back to church - He is there with me to guide, instruct and empower me to do things that honour Him in that space, as we are to do wherever we go! Ecclesiastes states how there is a time for all things (3:1-8), and God has shown me that to bring His vision for my life to reality, the time is not to wait, it is time to act. Seeking God can happen outside of the building of the church, through time of meditation on His Word, prayer and worship. I know for myself, I continue to seek God and more of Him every day, which is why I sought out the Orthodox Bible. While God is responsible for guiding people to create a space where they can feel His presence uninterruptedly, He also meets people where they are, and I know God has been with me every time I enter my workspace to labour on things that will bring the Gospel to those in need of The Life.
Scripture Reading
WOW! What a long introduction. Let's get to some Word, shall we? I referred to "The Life" above, so let's dive into the passage in which Jesus declares this title; John 14:6.
Jesus said to him, “I am The Way, and The Truth, and The Life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
We tend to focus on many things in this passage. Some of us look at the absolute Truth that is Jesus. Some of us look at The Way to heaven that He provides for us by going to the cross with our sins and rising again in victory. Some of us see that there is no way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven except through accepting Jesus in our lives and dedicating them to Him. How many of us have focused on "The Life" when reading this passage?
As we know, Jesus offers us a trade like no other: we give Him back our lives (as it is from God that we have life on earth to begin with) and He gives us The Life - The eternal Life. The blessed Life. The anointed Life. Whatever "great" life we can get, it doesn't come from us, it comes from Christ. This week, I challenge you to focus on what Jesus as The Life means for yours. What do you think of when you hear Jesus as The Life?
"What's new with C.O.E. and Evan this week?"
This week has been another busy week, with our first-ever devotional study being published here on CrossOver Everything this past Monday! It speaks on the difficult topic of "hiding in the church to avoid hard work" and can be read in full by clicking "C.O.E. Studies" in the menu bar above.
An unfortunate development is that "Christ Trending Freestyle" has been delayed again due to distribution issues. Any prayer that these would be resolved and this song could be released officially would be much appreciated, as this song has been one in the works for nearly 100 days now.
Our next long-form video will be arriving on Monday (the 12th) and will be covering the topic of discouragement and identity. Be sure to tune in for this video, as there is chain-breaking theology contained within!
Finally, a word from Evan - "Excited to announce exciting opportunities available for social media marketing to our team, praying that we can leverage it to build community on another level!"
Prayer Break and Encouragement
We have a few prayer requests that have been brought to our attention this week.
Join us in prayer for the sick, as winter is seeming to spread yet another bout of flu and fever up here in Ontario to those around us. Pray for those who need to stay healthy to provide for their loved ones, and those already sick that God would seal off any contagious elements of their sickness from reaching others.
From Evan: "I'd like to ask for prayer for a friend of mine who just moved to a place closer to church and work for him. Please pray that the move will bring an increased feeling of God's presence in His life to fight off any demonic influence trying to seize him. For myself, I pray that God would break the chains of having a guilty conscience. I tend to aggressively blame myself when things go wrong, and I'd like to be free of it in 2026. Finally, prayer for more time to work on music in the evenings as well to stay ahead of the curve. God is good!"
Please join us in praying for the leaders of our nations around the world, that they would receive the Gospel and Jesus in their lives. Due to their status, this is a very difficult thing to see happen, but we believe God can move in a way that will soften hard hearts.
May God continue to make your paths straight, reveal His will for your life to You and bless you and your loved ones abundantly. In the name of Jesus, Amen!
~ Evan aka 3VAN aka yourman3VAN
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