The Red Kite

I’ve grown to love the red kite that adorns much of what I publish. God graciously gave it to me to symbolize our partnership while writing and publishing our book. The kite captures how he calls us to follow him and then elevates us and everything we find to do as his apprentices.

“He lifts the poor from the dust and the needy from the garbage dump. He sets them among princes, placing them in seats of honor. For all the earth is the Lord’s, and he has set the world in order. — 1 Samuel 2:8 NLT

The red kite image was poetic and prophetic, tied to a much larger story.

The arc of the entire Biblical story reveals how God is in the “elevation business.” Jesus self-identifies with the last, the least, the lowest, and the lost (Matthew 25:40). His passion is to take the things the world dismisses and elevate them with his love. He desires to see the broken, poor, and needy adopted as sons and daughters of the King of kings; a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession (1 Peter 2:9). Then, like a kite in the wind, his Spirit carries us ever onward and upward. He imbues our lives with hope, meaning, and purpose, and seeks to partner with us as we run the play daily.

For us, living in a place with so much material abundance, it can be challenging to self-identify as poor and needy. It was hard for the Pharisees in Jesus’ time to see their spiritual poverty as well—after all, they were Abraham’s children. Sometimes the wind carries us into difficult seasons or places so that God can perform spiritual “cataract surgery,” helping us to see our poverty. He longs to turn our upside-down lives right-side up. Who can soar flying upside down?

Another way God reveals our spiritual poverty is by leading us to places and nations where material poverty is prevalent. It’s often in those places that we encounter brothers and sisters in Christ who are spiritually rich. They have much to teach us about faith, prayer, and joy in the Lord amid their struggles. It’s as though God distributed his gifts in this way so that we would discover our need for him and one another, inviting us into a covenant relationship. He has set the world in order.

If this is resonating with you, take the next step of faith. Ask the Father to show you your poverty and how to apprentice yourself to Jesus.



Run the play.


It’s as though God distributed his gifts in this way so that we would discover our need for him and one another,

Finding Our Place in the Story

• What in your life has God “elevated”—not in worldly status, but in spiritual significance?


• How can recognizing your spiritual poverty become the beginning of transformation?


• Who in your life or travels has helped you see God more clearly through their poverty or faith?

P.S. I would like to invite you to join us for a special evening of prayer tomorrow night (May 29th) for the nation of Haiti. Can there be any doubt that Haiti is where Jesus calls those who have been given material abundance to covenant with those who can help us see our poverty? 

As an act of love, we will intercede for them.
Let the red kite remind us—He is still lifting the poor from the dust and setting the world in order. Let’s rise together in prayer.

Please join in Spirit, in person, or both.