The Divine Invitation

After years of discontent, feeling a lack of the Holy Spirit’s power and believing for healings and miracles, Frankie Mazzapica was fighting insomnia one night when he decided to look for a book that would put him to sleep. He downloaded Power from God by Charles Finney for his e-book reader. However, rather than sleeping, he stayed up and kept reading until he finished the book early the next morning. Frankie says Finney’s book made him realize that “power from on high” is something that God wants for every believer. He decided to write Your Divine Invitation: Access the Holy Spirit to Complete Your Assignment to help Christians everywhere discover that power. “The belief that only a small few are selected to receive supernatural power is a fallacy. God knows that before we have anything to offer, we must have His power,” Frankie says. “We have the same assignment the disciples did. If they needed power then, we need power now.” Frankie’s mission statement is, “I live to walk with the Lord and share His love and His power.” His conviction is that Jesus’ three-year ministry, where teaching and miracles attracted seekers and built disciples, is the model for today’s church. Believers should not rest until the same power displayed in the life of the Lord’s disciples is present in their lives. Your Divine Invitation includes practical steps every believer can take to position themselves to receive God’s promised endowment of power.

Are you ready to enter the dance of becoming fully alive? Have you ever wondered, if we have the God of heaven and earth living inside us, why aren’t we experiencing more in life? Why aren’t we seeing more transformation in ourselves, or in others for that matter? What does it look like to have “Jesus in me” anyway, as an individual and also as a woman? These are the questions life coach and pastor Terri Sullivant was asking herself when God answered her in a profound, life-changing way. The Divine Invitation provides a pathway to find what your heart deeply longs for in every area of life. It’s a metaphor showing the way for every woman to enter the dance of becoming fully alive. Learning this dance is about developing a relationship with Jesus, like two people dancing skillfully and gracefully. It’s about becoming so entwined with the thoughts, words, emotions, and behaviors of Jesus that the two of you are one. You find that this deep connection transcends all of life, enabling you to live joyfully and freely, come what may.

“Be holy as I am holy,” says the Lord. It’s the most extravagant—and audacious—invitation ever sent: Or in the words of Jesus: “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect.” But can that really happen? Is holiness an achievable goal for sinful human beings? That’s the ultimate focus of this thoughtful, thorough, and engaging study of what it means to be holy. Drawing on the Bible and Christian thinkers through the ages, Simon Ponsonby affirms that because of God’s gracious love and desire for communion with us, he has done what is possible for us not only to pursue holiness, but to achieve it. While we can never count on attaining moral perfection in this life, we need not settle for less than increasing victory over sin. And as more and more Christians choose to partner with God in the ongoing process of sanctification, we set the stage for revival.

"I want to be obsessed with Him so that the things that don't matter, won't matter. I want to be inwardly at rest." From that heart cry, McVey experienced an invitation into intimacy with God.

Did you ever have a conversation with someone that so intrigued you that when you walked away you longed to know more? ...The kind of stimulating conversation that in the ensuing days your mind exploded with deeper thoughts and questions? ...Where there was a divine bond that you knew God was up to something big? What began as a casual lunch between two women resulted in a divine invitation from God. God gave Kyle Roberts and Beverly Plimpton the ultimate invitation to fulfill His call on their lives. The invitation to: ...a friendship orchestrated by a sovereign God ...the deeper life in Christ ...lock arms to disciple and spiritually direct others ...follow God’s call to teach women how to disciple and spiritually direct others onto maturity in Christ We invite you to accept God’s invitation to more! You’re personally invited to live out your divine calling to depth, dignity, and delight in Christ.

Some invitations we desperately want: "Will you marry me?" "Would you consider a promotion?" Other invitations we never want to receive but must respond to all the same: "What treatment do you want for your tumor?" Invitations pound away at the coastlines of the soul with a transforming force. God is also sending invitations. Sometimes they seem less compelling than anything on my to-do list. Why would I want to say yes to the invitation to rest when I'm already so far behind? Why follow when I could lead? Why accept invitations to weep or to admit I am wrong or to wait? Saying yes might slow me down, sabotage my agenda and even undo who I think I am. Adele Calhoun, author of the popular Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, offers a book about invitations like these—divine invitations we miss or ignore because we've said yes to going with the cultural flow. While these invitations from God can sometimes be difficult to accept, they can heal and restore even as they shape where we go, what we do and who we become. What we say yes to, what we say no to forms the terrain of our future. Included in this book are reflection questions and exercises as well as overview charts with recommended disciplines to guide you through each theme. As you attend to the often hidden, quiet voice of the Great Inviter, you will find yourself as God created you to be.

To encounter Jesus daily and have a relationship with Him changes everything; our focus becomes eternal. Experience Jesus in such a way that His love-drenched, others-focused nature shapes your character. The spiritual practices in each chapter will challenge you to go deeper with Him.