Tag Archives: Prophetic

Mar30

Fearlessly

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along the shore,

toes in the sand,

tickled by the tide,

Heart opened wide

And suddenly,

His gaze meets mine,

Hand extends,

“My beloved, come with Me,

And let our dance begin.

I want to show you how,

To move within the depths of Me,

Lean into the motion of my Sea,

All you have to do-

Is Look up and believe.

His rhythms, like waves, becoming mine,

His leadership, steady and constant, keep the time,

Overwhelmed by Majesty,

Connected and loved, completely

Piercing eyes, gazes locked,

Hearts and hands too,

Deeper we dance,Into the blue

When will fear come for me?

When will I sink?

When will I fail?

Questions bombard me

Fingers under chin,

Tilting my gaze back to Him,

Smiling He reassures,

“You are mine, and I’m yours”

New hope blossoms,

Confidence soars,

Going deeper still,

Away from the shore

And suddenly,

The lightning strikes,

The waves toss me to and fro,

How did I get here?

What do I think I know?

I’m stupid, ridiculous,

This wasn’t His way,

Or else I wouldn’t be drowning,

Alone and afraid.

Once more,

His eyes meet mine,

“Don’t quit now, you’re doing just fine.”

New depths reveal deeper truths

New depths require deeper roots.

This can never change,

Nothing can separate,

You are in Me, and I am in You,

No matter how shallow or deep is the blue.

So we dance.

We dance in the storm,

We dance in calm,

The steps change, as does the pace,

As do I, as I look upon His face.

He is really everything,

Everything else fades away,

He is mine! I am His!

He’s making it all new, everyday.

We dance, He leads, perfectly.

Keeping time, making space, abundantly.

Fear comes and goes, as the dance deepens,

But I keep gaining more and more of Him.

I know now, that no matter what,

Wherever He calls I will go.

He is in Me, I am in Him,

Nothing can stop us, now that I know.

“But I’m tired Lord, and overwhelmed

Just let me sink, I’m gonna let you down,”

Oh Daughter, I’ll carry you,

You can rest, we’ll make it through.

True to His word, He makes a way,

I get to dance another day.

This time with His strength,

Having none of my own,

I’m learning deep requires,

The letting go.

I let go of pride, of making my own way,

I let go of the fear of failing Him each day,

I let go of the lie that I’m all alone,

And I pick up love, true love,

Running red love, the victory,

And it is done.

I’m loved-

I’m loved and free-

I’m loved and free and clean-

I’m loved and free and clean and called.

Called to be loved.

Called to love.

His big plan and purpose for me,

To love and be loved, fearlessly.

Sep4

Step out of control and into love.

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I heard this from the Father’s heart recently and I was re-reading it today to find new strength and encouragement. I then felt deeply led to share it with all of you. He is calling us up and out; way beyond our own strengths, abilities, and even imaginations. WE NEED EACH OTHER! I pray these words bring life and clarity in your voyage with Him!

Love,

Jenna

 

You are so beautiful! You are so loved. SO valued and cherished. I can see all that is right about you! I want to tell you of all of your strengths and teach you how to strengthen them. You were not created to be good at everything. Others can fill in the gaps. I specifically designed my Body to need one another. It is all about love- all about relationships. You are currently still learning how to ask for help. It is a process- but all that self-sufficiency that was instilled in you is slowly draining out of your self-proclaimed identity. 
 
Where you are headed, you are going to need help. As you step out with Me further- there will be much void in the places you have filled up until now- and those holes are not meant to stretch you too thin- they are meant for you to delegate, to trust, to lean on others. The holes that you aren’t designed to fill- there are specific others who are- this will teach you more about loving without being in control. It’s not going to go your way- that isn’t what is important- it is going to go My way.
Aug1

Prune out gravity

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John 15

New Living Translation (NLT)

Jesus, the True Vine

15 “I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3 You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

 

Recently, the Lord began to speak to me about what needed pruning out of my life. The list included a few things I had no idea were hindering me, and one thing that I had no idea what it meant, however eight week later I am beginning to have a revelation.

He spoke, ” Prune out gravity. You can SOAR. Prune out any idea of anything you feel is keeping you grounded, rooted, secure other than Me.”

Gravity? Isn’t that something I have in my life everyday, a constant, that I never think about but influences everything about my whole entire world?

My response, “Lord, what am I using as gravity? What is influencing my whole world that is keeping me from freely soaring with You?’

Oh my goodness- I strongly want to encourage you to journal this out with the Lord. Ask Him to show you the answer to that question in your own life, and then be quiet, be still, wait….when you start having some thoughts out of a deeper place inside of you begin to write those thoughts down. Do not worry about if it’s you or if it’s Him, just go with it. Later, spend time in His Word with Him and ask Him to clarify what was from Him. This is so powerful.

You and I were created to soar with Jesus, like eagles. So funny thing about eagles, they use the currents from storms to fly higher. They rise above the storm and go higher than ever before. They also were equipped with eyes to see and while flying to new heights can still clearly see what they are after. God will give you Eagle eyes, He wants you to soar.

What is gravity in your own life? Will you seek Him and journey with Him to prune it out of your life?

Jesus, I want to soar with you to whatever height I was created to. Lord, please help me partner with you, take courage, and be able to journey through pruning out anything I do not even realize is holding me down, keeping me from all that You created me for. Make it evident Lord. Show me Your ways. I am all Yours. I love you Lord! In Jesus’ name, Amen!

May9

The Lion is not afraid

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This is a season of acceleration in learning. Learning comes mostly by experience. He is teaching me so much in this awesome hands on course we call life.

A few months ago, I was chatting with my mentor, and she brought a word to me from the Lord. She began teaching me the difference of intervention(which is what happens once it all falls apart), and interception (which is stopping it before it gets to far.) She taught me how the Holy Spirit, who is alive in me, wants to intercept the plans of my enemy for which the purpose is to destroy and/or  distract me from walking in the fullness of who God created me to be and fulfilling my Kingdom assignment on the Earth.

She went further to help me understand how I need to tune my spiritual ears in and ask Him about everything. By asking Him to help me intentionally listen more carefully, He is revealing truth ahead of time,and by choosing to obey even though I didn’t understand fully, He has kept from a few disasters. The sole purpose of my enemy is to kill me, BUT I have Christ in me….and He came to give me ABUNDANT life. This means as I listen, I am learning( learning-just learning-I don’t always get it right-but in process) to say no to bad things, and good things, and yes only to God things.

What do I mean by God things? I mean when I ask Him, “Is this what you have for me right now?” If He gives a green light, I continue to walk forward, Yellow I wait, Red I stop. There are so many good opportunities to do good, but God has specific opportunities for each of us always, which align us with the right people, put us in the right direction, and fulfill our purpose.

The next thing ( and I believe these are linked), is all about identity. I am learning how important it is to know who God says we are because when an attack on your identity comes, and you know what is true, you will not be defeated, destroyed, or devastated. When I am agreeing with lies, then the enemy can find agreement in me and tackle me all of a sudden.But when I ask Jesus consistently, Who do you say that I am? Who am I in you? And I allow Him to build me up in my core, my foundation is stronger when the storm comes. I will be found standing on my Rock, who CANNOT BE SHAKEN!

And finally the Lord  revealed Himself to me on Sunday as the most majestic, most powerful, most fierce Lion I have ever seen. He laid in front of me and said, “I AM the highest. No one preys on Me. And I have you. You are in Me. You have nothing to be afraid of. I have you covered in protection.”

The very next night, this Monday, I find myself in an emergency room watching my husband crash. His blood pressure and oxygen levels were dangerously low. The nurse had a crash cart placed right outside of his room just in case. For a split second, the attack came. I saw Brendon and I with no Troy, my eyes filled up with tears, and devastation was about to take a seat in my spirit.

BUT……

Because of being aware of interception- I heard the Holy Spirit say- THAT IS NOT TRUE! Think on only what is true-look Troy is alive right in front of you.

The Lord just the day before promised me as I was in Him, He has me covered in protection. Because I was fully confident in the truth of that aspect of my identity, the LIE of death and fear of the unknown could NOT find agreement in my spirit and was KICKED OUT before destruction,devastation, and defeat could get comfortable ruling my emotions.

Instead, I was able to stay calm and peaceful. I was able to pray and be strong for my husband in his moment of need. All of the fruits of the Holy Spirit were abounding in the midst of chaos. IT WAS AMAZING! And the only reason I’m sharing this is because as this is becoming my new normal response to the surprises of life, I am left AMAZED because I know it is only by the grace of God that I have authority to step into being an OVERCOMER. It is only because of the love of God, and the very real presence of the Holy Spirit living in me, that I have been blessed to have dominion over my emotions and allow the Truth to lead me instead of how I feel. This is not shared so you can think I’m some amazing, spiritual person. I simply want you to know this is available to all of us. I want to share the goodness of God, so you can be spared from unnecessary attacks and defeat in your lives. I’m sharing this so we all can step into our Christ given authority and identity as OVERCOMERS so our children and their children would know how to stand up and believe in who God says they are!

This is revolutionizing my life- will you join me? for your sake and for all of those who will come after you?

 

Apr20

Marked by Rest

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Lives marked by rest. This is what the Holy Spirit has been sharing with me. How can this even be possible in our culture? We have this idol we worship called “Urgency”. We get a text message or a push notice or an email comes through, and we  have accepted a lifestyle where there are no boundaries, no healthy working hours, no free down time, no 100% available to my family time, no quiet time with Jesus time. We live in a culture where everything can happen faster, but nobody has any time for anything. WHAT IS GOING ON?

And the Holy Spirit presses, lives marked by rest. What is rest? Isn’t resting lazy? Where is the the balance?

As I am asking, He has really been showing me some awesome stuff (and I know I am only just stepping into this revelation)!

Rest is a lifestyle. Rest is possible when we trust. When we trust in the work of our hands to provide for our needs, we cannot spare a moment to rest. When we trust in Jehovah Jireh, my provider, there is  room for God to show up and show off. When what I believe is , I have to work hard for everything that comes my way, it is still a slave mentality. Under grace,  I work as a servant and receive blessings as a child of God. For if I only get what I deserve, what is obligated as my wages, I would be broke, dead. But in Christ, I’m walking into blessings and favor and opportunity. I do not need more than what He has for me, which is why I can rest, because I am learning to trust.

I do not need more stuff. I do not need anything right now that I don’t have. I do not have any real needs that aren’t being met. The only thing I need is more of Him. I need deeper revelation of His ways, His Kingdom. I need more time in His Presence. I need to be full so I can empty out love to be filled again. The revelation of what I “need” changes more every time I choose to enter into rest.

Rest becomes a lifestyle as I recognize the reason I work is not for gain, but to serve, to love. I do not work because I have needs that aren’t being met. I work because I am called to love those individuals and I have a gift to impart to them, and most often they turn right around and impart a gift to me. I work because I have been given giftings and talents from God and find fulfillment and blessings when I operate out of what He has given me. I work with excellence because the One I am representing, the One who sent me, deserves to be honored. I work because it is a Joy to bring glory to my Father. I do not work for wages, I work to bless, to give. But Jesus always provides, not my work, not my labor.

The other part of rest I am learning about is, although I come from a place of rest everyday, there is also a place for a day of rest. A day where the only thing to “accomplish” is to rest, restore, remember. A day set apart for FUN. A day when all of the hats I wear, all the the things I do, all of the work I have been trusted with, rest also. On this particular day a boundary for me is no cell phone, no making appointments, no receiving or handling emails or texts. It is a day where with my family, and with my Lord I want to be fully available. There is so much rest that comes from not being pulled in many directions at once.

I’m finding that the other six days a week are less stressful, less overwhelming, less monotonous. There is more sense of purpose, fulfillment, excitement, and joy when you know there will be a break, a real break at the end of a full week. Also, I’m experiencing how important it is to not let life continuously hit you at the speed of light. There are so many things that happen in the course of a week and a Sabbath allows for time to process and deal with what flew at you, instead of carrying it into the next week, month, year, years, life. How incredible is our God to know how important rest would be for us, that in His infinite wisdom He chose to first model it for us Himself! He is soooo AWESOME!

As I previously mentioned, I am just beginning to learn about a lifestyle of rest. Rest begins in perspective, choosing to see, trust, and believe that God is providing, not my work. And rest additionally comes in the form of a day completely set aside from the normal pace and rhythm of busy. He says, “I want my children’s lives to be marked by rest.”

Hebrews 4:11The Voice (VOICE)

 11 So let us move forward to enter this rest, so that none of us fall into the kind of faithless disobedience that prevented them from entering.

 

Feb28

Vulnerable….always

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Interesting what you realize as your own strength, power, control are taken from you. For the last few weeks, I have been suffering terribly with fear. Fear is something I have overcome in the past, but all of a sudden I am plagued again. Here is the most interesting part…as the Lord has begun to speak to me about my future, and my hope has risen to really believe what He has will be, the fear has risen simultaneously.

For the last five years or so, I would declare how I totally trust in the Lord’s protection. I would have shared how I completely believe He has sent His angels to have charge over me and I am safe. It also would have been true that I am a pretty strong girl who can move quickly and deliberately when she has to. However, now that I am in a healing process, I have felt completely vulnerable. I have been ridden with fear, because if someone was coming after me, I am not as strong or as fast as I may need to be.

The reason this has caught me off guard is because until now, I had no clue that really in my heart there was a good portion of my belief that was in my own strength, my own power. Although I believed I was totally relying on God, I was also super comfortable with the idea of what I brought to the table. So when what I have to offer to my belief system has changed, I’m surprised by the outcome, and I’m thankful for this revelation.

This is also happening to me in another area of life. There is this one piece of my puzzle that I constantly am tempted to want to relax into trusting what the world can offer me, rather than look completely to God. EVERY TIME I begin down that road, starting to exhale in relief thinking that is being taken care of, that circumstance which I want to rely on is snatched from me. EVERY TIME it is jolting, frustrating, and also humbling. I feel like the Lord is saying, ” Daughter I love you too much to give you something, anything, that will make you feel comfortable, safe, provided for, or taken care of apart from me. I want you to totally and completely rely on me.” I must confess to you, friends, that this doesn’t always feel like love, sometimes it just feels hard. But I know that what I feel mostly isn’t what is true. The truth is, He does love me, and He is love, so His motive over me is ALWAYS love!

This is good. It is good for the hidden shallowness of my faith to be laid out plainly before me. It is good to know how vulnerable I am and always have been, and it always has been Him keeping me. It is good to realize how much faith I have put in things that are easily shaken, taken, or broken. For the path I am on, I will only be able to count on one thing, on One, on God. He is love. He has got me covered. He has it all worked out. This must be resolved now before I journey any deeper into my destiny.

When I asked Him to speak to me these were the scriptures He gave me. First one declaring His bigness, to put things in proper perspective for me:

Psalm 65:2-8 We all arrive at your doorstep sooner
or later, loaded with guilt,
Our sins too much for us—
but you get rid of them once and for all.
Blessed are the chosen! Blessed the guest
at home in your place!
We expect our fill of good things
in your house, your heavenly manse.
All your salvation wonders
are on display in your trophy room.
Earth-Tamer, Ocean-Pourer,
Mountain-Maker, Hill-Dresser,
Muzzler of sea storm and wave crash,
of mobs in noisy riot—
Far and wide they’ll come to a stop,
they’ll stare in awe, in wonder.
Dawn and dusk take turns
calling, “Come and worship.”

Now that I know how vulnerable I am, and yet I am loved, provided for, and protected by the Ocean-Pourer and the one who muzzles the sea storm, He says also:

Proverbs 27:1Don’t brashly announce what you’re going to do tomorrow;
you don’t know the first thing about tomorrow.

What an awesome reminder: STOP BEING BLINDED BY WHAT YOU THINK IS GOING TO HAPPEN and trust Me who KNOWS what is coming. Trust Me who is never caught off guard or suprised. Trust Me who is always FOR you and is working EVERYTHING together for your good. Nothing is too hard for Me!

Before I close with the song that I woke up meditating on tonight (which led to this posting), fIrst let me just ask you, what are you trusting in? What would you be devastated by losing? Your health? A job? A relationship? If you are feeling prompted, ask Him to show you if you are trusting in anything other than Him…..it is the time to know that HE really does provide our protection, our needs, our love. He gave it all FOR us, and He is still giving it all TO us! TRUST HIM! (and not for some outcome you have in mind, but for peace, joy, and love no matter what the circumstance)

“Always”

My foes are many, they rise against me
But I will hold my ground
I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way, my help is on the way
Troubles surround me, chaos abounding
My soul will rest in You
I will not fear the war, I will not fear the storm
My help is on the way, my help is on the way

Oh, my God, He will not delay
My refuge and strength always
I will not fear, His promise is true
My God will come through always, always

I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
I lift my eyes up, my help comes from the Lord
From You Lord, from You Lord

Jan10

Are we really protected by God?

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For a little while I have been wrestling out the topic of God’s Protection. I had a beloved friend share with me a horrible event that happened to her son. My heart filled with anxiety as I listened. “Wait, how could this happen?” I thought to myself, “She loves God, she prays for her children, I know she was agreeing in scripture over their lives……I HAVE A SON, could this happen to him too?” I was completely wrecked.My whole world had been thrown off axis. I needed answers.

I began my journey by asking the Lord to teach me. I had to put my heart back in place in the center of Truth. God is always Good. His NEVER breaks His promise. Nothing separates us from His love. He NEVER leaves us nor forsakes us. He answers the prayers of His children.

I started by talking to my mentor. She said to me, “So Jenna, do you pray to try to control the outcome? Did God not love Jesus because He allowed Him to suffer and die for us? Did God not protect the disciples when they each considered it an honor to be martyred for His Gospel of Peace? What do you do with the scriptures about sharing in His sufferings?”

I did NOT like this response! I did NOT like someone alluding it may be true that because I am in Christ doesn’t mean  harm will not befall me!!!! I did NOT want THIS bubble to get burst. I didn’t want to mature in this area of thinking…..NO NO NO! But God said, Yes, so I continued on.

I spoke with a dear friend of mine and she said, “Jenna I think the problem you are having is that you are trying to understand an Infinite God through finite eyes.” Through this powerful statement ( and I am sure the prayers of others asking God for my heart to be softened to learn His truth on the matter) I was able to remember something the Lord showed me not to very long ago.

I was contemplating His protection one day, as I was studying Psalm 91, and I was thanking Him for innumerable events I could specifically see His protection on my life in. As I finished He responded, ” You are welcome, Jenna, but they number of times Satan has asked to bring things into your life and I have said NO keep them far from her, is far greater than the protection you are aware of.”

As I remembered this, I also considered the truth that God can work everything together for our good. I began to allow myself to consider how we are in a world where sin exists and how everything that happens IS NOT God’s will. He gave us free will, and He will not violate that. However, because He is God He makes beautiful out of our ugly. And man, can it get ugly!

He reminded me of a dream I had not too long ago where I was being tortured in every way because of my profession of Christ and because I would not stop sharing the Love of God. As I was enduring every blow they gave to me, the strangest thing was happening. My joy and peace were untouched and the only thought I had over and over was, “I have been crucified with Christ, therefore I no longer live, but Jesus Christ now lives in me. You cannot take that away, no matter what you do to me.” As I meditated upon this dream, asking Him to reveal to me what I need to learn through it, He was showing me how His protection doesn’t mean we won’t face suffering, it means He will walk through it with us, and we can have Victory in Christ, in our hearts, spirits, and minds even through the trials. That is powerful! That is true protection!

I was allowing Him to mature my thinking, renew my mind, in this area, and one morning I finally said, ” Just show me in Your Word again, affirm to me again what is really true about your protection. Please continue to redefine for me what it means to be protected by You.”

He brought me to Psalm 73. It was remarkable, please read it for yourselves. What I got from it was there is no doubt that God is Good. So even when bad thing happen, God is good. The psalmist expressed, “I almost missed seeing His goodness because I was too busy looking in another direction.” I began to understand how this issue and fear of being protected from evil really isn’t where my focus should be. My focus should be, “Seek first the Kingdom of God…..and all things will be added unto me.” He continued to say, “Although I’ve been ignorant as an ox in Your Presence, I was STILL in Your Presence. And You led me gently, compassionately, and then You blessed me!” What an awesome God, although I was asking questions that were not even where I needed to worry about, He gently led me and blessed me anyway! The psalmist ends by saying, “God You are all I want in Heaven AND on Earth.” As I read that, I thought, “Could that really become the cry of my heart? He was enough, everything, all?” Everything besides having Him is truly icing on the cake?He alone is more than enough for me?

I’m not there yet friends, but that is the cry of my heart. I want Him to be everything. I want to whisper a surprised thanks for everything above the gift of having been saved through Christ. I want to recognize everything as a blessing, a not deserved, not promised blessing from the hand of a good and loving God. I want to get this so deeply rooted in my heart and spirit so that when the next storm comes I do not have a faith crisis and life crisis simultaneously. I am choosing daily to declare, “God is always good, and I am always loved.”

One last thing was when I was talking about this to my counselor, he brought me back to Genesis and how God’s original plan was NOT for us to be concerned with good and evil, but to only eat from the Tree of Life and enjoy Him and His creation. Praise God! I can do that! =)

We can count on Him. He has our back. He is Faithful. He is Trustworthy. He earned my trust on the cross, and nothing can change that. You are divinely protected my friend! It is the TRUTH!

Nov15

Daughter-I love you!

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I drew a crown and wrote Princess inside. Then beneath that I began to write the names of the next generation of God’s Daughter’s rising up and encircled them in a big heart, I believe it is symbolic of His heart. I then began to journal a prayer:

Lord, I thank You for this next generation of Your daughters rising up. I pray a special hedge of protection over their eyes, their minds, their bodies. I pray for supernatural dreams to be given to them by You- where they can understand Your great love, Your unfailing love that protects us, builds us up, defines us. Lord, I pray that they would know so deeply who they are in You that any contrary method or message would be immediately discerned and dismissed. I pray that You are shaping and molding a husband for them who loves You and who can love, value, and rejoice in a wife with a great call and annointing. Bless them with Your perspective. Bless them with Your wisdom to process their experiences. Whatever they may already be attaching to that is not Your best for them, I pray You break that agreement in Jesus’ name. Hold them close, be constantly whispering Your truth into their atmosphere. Give their parents wisdom of how to convey Your love, Your acceptance, Your joy over them, and how joyful and fulfilling Your will is. Bless them now with a revelation of your grace. Be preparing them for ministry and advancing Your Kingdom by giving them a supernatural hunger and love for You and Your Word. Set them free. Keep them. Protect them. Send Your angels to have charge over them. Lord, I rejoice in each life You have created and for the plans and purposes You created them for. I agree with You for their destiny, anointing, and purpose. Open doors Lord that will lead them in Your way. Lock doors which will lead them astray. Teach their parents and grandparents how to pray and agree with You- to rejoice with You over them. Teach them how to speak their destiny in You into existence. Teach them how to love these princesses with Your love. Lord, guard their hearts until it’s time. Let them see themselves how You see them. Bless them Lord. I trust You with their futures. I love You Jesus and I ask all of this in Your name! Amen!

Ladies, I am simply sharing with you what poured out of my spirit and onto the pages of my journal for You, Your daughters, Your granddaughters, sisters, nieces, cousins, and friends, any daughter of God.

The Lord gave me this acronym today and I pray it blesses you!

D-ivine
A-cceptance
U-nder
G-race
H-ow
T-o
E-nter
R-est

He also is beginning to unlock the mystery of His great love for us. He is showing me how everything about Him is constant, unchanging, and that includes His love. His love is constant. His love is constantly in full measure. It is eternal. It is unfailing. It endures forever. It will never grow or diminish. Nothing we can do can ever ever ever separate us from His love. He is LOVE and He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will never reject us. We are eternally accepted! There is no fear in His love. Nothing we can do could make Him love us more. His love is in FULL MEASURE always, every second, not dependent on our actions one way or another.

I am being blown away by this truth because I have lived my entire Christian life trying to maintain His love, to keep it, to make sure I did enough loving others, praying, fasting, ministering, worshipping to keep Him in love with me. But now that I am understanding how He loves me consistently, constantly, not dependent on anything I do or do not do, I am set free. I am free to rest in Him.I am free to fully trust Him. I am free to believe Him. I am free to enjoy Him as a real daughter of God. One who is fully loved and accepted without condition. I have no need to fear rejection with Him.

This is brand new to me, and already I am experiencing shifts in my life I have been trying to make happen without success only frustration.These shifts I have so desired are now happening simply within the flow of His love. I can tell this fresh revelation is transforming me by renewing my mind. I am so excited to walk in the fullness of His love for me, and exemplify this to the ones coming up so this is where they can start! This is what they see, and know from the beginning! Isn’t that a wonderful thought??? No more striving, performing, working like crazy for the generations to come! Simply being His daughter and resting in Him and walking in step with the Spirit. YES! YES! Yes Lord!

Oh! How you love me! How I love You Lord!

Sep21

Overcoming even in the Wilderness

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Can you take a minute to read Luke 4 before going on?
Something that stood out to me today as I read in chapter four was that satan waited until Jesus was really really hungry, probably almost desperate to eat, probably feeling very weak before he started to tempt Him.
It said that Jesus had been in The wilderness for 40 days and had not eaten a thing before satan started to tempt him.
I have personally had this type of experience with the tempter, aka accuser. I have had many times where I was beaten down, at the end of my rope, overwhelmed with fear of the unknown, and just plain desperate and that is when I would get kicked the hardest. I have had many “wilderness” experiences where I felt all alone, and even sometimes separated from God. Satan loves to kick us while we are down. He loves to tempt us when we are desperately fighting, and he especially loves to tempt us with what we are desperate for.
I strongly believe we were given this example because Jesus showed us how to handle every type of temptation we would be faced with. He showed us there is NOTHING satan can throw at us that cannot be defeated by the TRUTH in the Word of God. He showed us that in order to deny satan from defeating us, we will constantly have to deny our flesh, meaning our physical needs, our pride, our need to prove God to others, any desire we have that does not line up with the plans of The Lord on our lives. He showed us that the only strategy needed to live in victory is to be in relationship with the Word, JESUS! It’s serious. He came to give us a perfect example of living a human life completely dependent on The Lord and this was His only and very specific strategy for overcoming every temptation. What an awesome example.
So how can you really apply what Jesus was teaching us? Here is something I try to do. I pray this scripture: Psalm 139:23-24
23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
When I deliberately ask for this, He does reveal any offensive way in me. Often times, it would be something I would never otherwise have paid attention too. But mostly, if they would be left in the darkness to grow, it would take root and be much more painful to rip up and out. So although it is painful to see it at all, I’m grateful when it is revealed to me at just the beginning.
So next I have to make a choice to agree with God and line my heart up with His will. I have free will, so this is my responsibility. I have to choose to say, “Yes Lord, I recognize that is not from You, what are we going to do about it?” Often times, I don’t want to say that, but because I know Him, and I know He is FOR ME, I trust that He is saving me from future pain by revealing it to me. Then as I search the scriptures, He gives me truth to defeat the lie attached to the offensive way. So now that The Lord has made me aware of this thing, I’m hyper sensitive to it. I can now recognize the ploy and I have the specific strategy from The Lord, the specific scripture(s) to defeat the enemy. Together with The Lord’s help, with Jesus alive in me, I can overcome! Praise The Lord!
Lord Jesus, thank you for providing everything. Thank you for being the Truth! Teach me in your ways. Deepen my desire for holiness and continue to make me aware of every offensive thing in me. Cleanse me, purify me, make me more like you! Oh Lord, that is the deepest desire of my heart! I love you and it in in your name, Jesus, I pray. Amen!

Sep20

I’m HOPEFULLY devoted to You!

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So I am reading through the book of Luke with some amazing women and yesterday as I read Luke chapter 1, the Lord really spoke to me. As I was emailing them with what He brought out for me, He made it clear that this was a word to be shared with all. So, here goes…..why don’t you read Luke chapter 1 and then continue reading. (If you don’t have a bible handy, I LOVE biblegateway.com)

So, as I was reading I took notice of Zachariah and Elizabeth. The Lord had said He was going to give them a child. The bible states that they were both very old. Elizabeth had been unable to have a child, she even called this a ‘disgrace’.

25 “This is the Lord’s doing. He has shown his favor to me by removing my disgrace among other people.”

As I thought about this couple, who,”6  were both righteous before God, blameless in their observance of all the Lord’s commandments and regulations,” and had their dreams crushed time and time again. I can just feel the pain of month after month, no pregnancy. Prayers left unanswered. I can feel the sting of constant disappointment and heartbreak. And yet, they still continued to serve the Lord wholeheartedly.

The Lord began to show me how this can apply to all of us. Have you ever felt disappointed because the desire of your heart was not given to you in the time frame you were hoping for? Have you ever been heartbroken by seemingly unanswered prayers? Have you ever given up hope on a dream because it seemed the time had past, the circumstances would never be right again, you had missed your window of opportunity, or maybe feel you are just too plain old to dream a little dream?

Well, what was the Lord doing for this devoted couple? He so longed to give them the desires of their heart. I know He was hurt watching their suffering, all the while knowing He had such an incredible honor and blessing for them. He sent them a child, in their old age, who prepared the way for the Messiah, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior! WOW! AMAZING!

So what I believe the Lord is saying through this awesome example is, He could have given them the desire of their heart on their timing, but He loved them too much to allow them to miss His best for their lives. He chose to answer their prayer in a MUCH BIGGER way than they could have ever hoped for. He chose to bless them in such a supernatural way that everyone took notice and PRAISED GOD for this miracle, realizing that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR GOD. He chose to use their blessing not only to bless them, but all of us for all generations.

EPHESIANS 3:20(NIV)

 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us

I believe what God is saying is that if He makes us wait, it is because the blessing we receive, the answer to our prayers, the giving of the desires of our heart, will be so much grander, and have such a greater purpose than we could ever hope for or imagine, that it is worth the wait!

Also, we can learn from their devotion. They were called righteous, and it was noted they kept the Lord’s commandments. Can you imagine if the one thing you have asked God for, you felt He had asked you to surrender, and having such gratitude and reverence for WHO GOD IS, over who He seemingly wasn’t, and still serving Him with all of your heart? This is a big concept for me. Their example of being righteous, and serving the Lord, despite their hurt, confusion, and sorrow, has definitely caused me to ask the Lord to help me mature, so that this will be my choice in the midst of the storms I will face in life. I believe the Lord could use them for this honor and miracle because of their obedience, their love, and their wholehearted devotion. This lifestyle has become a desire of my heart.

So I guess what I have been asking myself, I will ask you too. Do you really believe, “37 For nothing is impossible with God?” Are we living in relationship with who God is, or with who we have known Him not to be? Are we remaining faithful through our hurts, heartbreak, and let downs?

Friend, we do not have the details of how they remained devoted, but I know the people in the bible are not fictional characters, they are real people just like you and I. I believe they were not perfect, in fact righteousness is a gift from Jesus, meaning: right with God, and that only comes from Jesus. I believe they were able to be real with God,expressing their deepest wounds and finding rest and peace above their pain in His love. This is not a message of :Suck it up and serve anyway with a smile on your face.” This is a message of: take your broken heart to Jesus, asking Him to make a beautiful mosaic out of it, more creative and passionate than the original. Run to Him, not from Him. I believe this is the only way we can remain devoted through our struggles. Lay down your need to understand, recognize He is God and we are not, TRUST HIM, but be real about where it hurts. It is in this vulnerable posture that His love will begin the healing process, and once you have been there and received from this place, you will NEVER want to be anywhere else. This is where true devotion, true righteousness, true deep and passionate intimacy with the Lord begins and never ends. Will you go there? I hope so.

Lord Jesus! Thank you for such awesome love. Thank you for being our healer. Thank you for knowing us so intimately that you can restore everything we have lost in the battle. Thank you for caring about us so passionately, that you won’t give us everything, to ensure we can be available to receive Your best. You are the best. All I want is You! I love You Lord. I need You Lord! It is in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen!