Tag Archives: Prophetic

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!

Sep15

Step by Step, Day by Day

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GENESIS 1:3-4 (NLT)

 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.4 And God saw that the light was good. 

GENESIS 1:9-10 (NLT)

 9 Then God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear.” And that is what happened. 10 God called the dry ground “land” and the waters “seas.” And God saw that it was good.
 
The Lord reminded me this morning about something He showed me about five years ago. He was speaking to me about progress and completely shifting my perspective.
 
He said to me, “The expectations you have placed on yourself, are not from Me. In fact, they are actually distracting you from the very plans and purposes I have created you for!”
 
He began walking me through a journey of saying, “I do not have to be a perfect_____________.” You can fill in the blank with any hat you wear. Mine included wife, daughter, sister, friend, hairdresser, Christian, among others. I would literally look myself in the mirror and speak this truth over myself until I began to feel a shift in my spirit, in my belief system, and in my atmosphere. 
 
What He was undoing was my attitude towards myself which constantly left me dancing faster, working harder, and always feeling as though I was in a state of playing catch-up. I felt like I could never make it in time, or be good enough at the right time. And while I can tell you plainly today that is how I was feeling, and I can also tell you while I was enduring this “Performance Mentality” I had no idea I was suffering with it. This was a completely subconscious cycle that was not made known to me until it was tested against the TRUTH in God’s Word.
 
The Lord made me come completely unglued one day because He spoke to me, “You do not have to DO anything to earn my love or approval. I am proud of you simply because you are my child.” It took a long time for me to start understanding this. Actually, it took motherhood because I am so incredibly proud of my son, and he did not have to earn it. That came natural along with the unbelievable amount of love I have for him, also which he did not have to earn. 
 
So the next thing the Lord said was, ” Your goal is no longer to get there, reach there, achieve this, perfect that.” I had no idea what to say or think or do because striving had been the only way of life I had ever known. So I simply asked, “Then what do I do?” He so lovingly replied, “You do a little better today then you did yesterday, and then you CELEBRATE IT!” That is when He showed me His example of when He was creating the Earth. Each step He did, it states, “He saw that it was good.” He took a moment to celebrate His progress, even though it wasn’t finished or complete. He celebrated every step in the right direction.
 
And lately, He has been really bringing me to a new level of freedom because He has taught me to seek Him for my daily bread, and not to worry about tomorrow. He has been encouraging me that progress and change occur by consistent small right choices. I had always tried to make big huge change, to be left disappointed because I had no foundation for them to succeed on.
 
So I would just like to encourage you today to seek Him, ask Him what He wants from you. Ask Him to redeem any wrongly placed expectation you have been striving for. Ask Him what small right choices you can make with His help today that will encourage lasting change, and really break negative cycles in your life. And then tonight, reflect on your progress and take a minute to see that it was good. CELEBRATE your progress with the Lord. You do not have to wait to ARRIVE before you are worth celebrating!
 
This is a new prayer I have found myself praying daily:
Lord,thank You for this day that You have made, I will choose to rejoice and be glad in it. Lord I ask today that you would provide everything I need for today. And Lord I ask that you would bless me with supernatural wisdom that I would be able to make the most with every opportunity to place in my way and make wise choices with my time, resources, food, and words. I acknowledge that You are God and I am not, and I am utterly dependent on You. Lord please meet me in my weaknesses and strengths. Please be strong where I am weak and strengthen my strengths. You are an awesome God, and I love You Lord! It is in Jesus’ name I pray, Amen! 

MATTHEW 6:11(ESV)

 11 Give us this day our daily bread,

MATTHEW 6:34 (AMP)

 34 So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.
Sep11

Ask! ASK! AAASSSKKK!

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Ask ask ask! The Lord keeps reminding me, ASK SPECIFICALLY. He shares with me a message to give to someone, “Stop settling for what you can see, I have more for you than that, but you have to ASK.”

I feel led to send a friend a  picture text with a word of encouragement about her gifting and talents from the Lord. She replies, “Thank you! This is an answer the a very specific prayer.”

At the leading of the Lord, I have been asking Him much more specifically when I am in prayer, and He is answering specifically. I almost feel like He is showing off. =) All kidding aside, this is for us. This grows our faith. Everything He does is because He loves us and has our best in mind. He is always for us!

So, when He first said, ASK SPECIFICALLY, I got a little nervous. I almost felt like I would have more opportunity to be let down. Once I realized I was believing this very sad lie, I started seeking the Lord as to why I initially felt this way. Basically, the root is fear. I was afraid of really believing God for miracles because I didn’t want to give Him the chance to hurt me, let me down, or make me feel really stupid for believing with all of my heart. I begin wondering who else do I have this attitude towards, but that’s a story for a whole other entry! =)

Why are there times when we ask, ask, ask and it seems like none of our prayers are being answered? Or maybe the opposite of what we have asked for is what happens? I believe what the Lord has showed me is how He is God and we are not. There are times when we will have to surrender the need to understand why something happened, or didn’t happen, and recognize that there is a bigger picture and all things will be worked together for our good. It is also important to realize the effect of sin. We do have free will, and so does everyone we love and pray for. There are consequences for sin, and we need to be careful not to blame God when sin is the cause of destruction. He is way bigger than sin, but we have to come to Him, and ask for forgiveness, turn to God and away from sin, be redeemed by the blood, to walk in His Will for our lives.

The next question I had was, “How do I know what to ask for?” There is scripture that deals with asking according to His will. then also, there is the one about delighting myself in Him, and then He will give me the desires of my heart. He is teaching me to ask Him to show me what He is up to, before I begin asking for what I think I want, in any given circumstance. It may go something like this:

Lord Jesus, thank you for so and so. Lord I know you created them fearfully and wonderfully. I know you have a plan and purpose for their life. Lord I know you love them. Would you show me what you see when you look at them? Would you show me your will for their life? Would you teach me how to pray for them? How to love them? What is Heaven’s heartbeat over so and so?

Usually, after I ask this way (and often this prayer is about myself and my circumstances) He totally changes my perspective. Most of the time there is at least a sliver of judgement in my heart, and He totally undoes that by humbling me with His incredible love for each person (including me) that I pray for. There is power in agreement, and this shift in my prayers has allowed me to come into agreement with the Father’s heart. It is when I come from this place, that I do not feel afraid to ask specifically, because I feel confident that whatever He wants for whomever is totally possible.

So today, I want to encourage you to allow Him to upgrade your relationship with Him. Allow Him access to the part of you that you have been saying, “I’m not ready to go there yet.” If He is prompting you, it will be worth it. ASK ASK ASK. Do not be afraid. Find out what His will is, what His perspective is, and come into agreement with His heartbeat. You are about to see specific answers to specific prayers that is going to grow your faith like crazy!

P.S. I wanted to share a bunch of scripture on asking, but felt led to take them off because He was telling me that He wanted you to dig for them. Have fun excavating the truth! There is a treasure to be found for sure!

Aug25

Nothing to be afraid of!

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Recently I went through the Lord asking me to surrender my business back to Him. At first I felt a little sad, but then relief set in, which led to guilt. Why did I feel relieved from doing what I felt God was asking me to? He is sooooo good, because the book I was reading at the time was all about being, “pruned”.

John 15 (NLT)

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.

There was a chart which describes how we know the difference between being pruned and disciplined. At the emotional level on this chart, the author described the emotion directly related to being pruned at relief. As soon I read this, I knew that I was bearing fruit, but God has more fruit in mind. With this truth now in front of me I went from guilt and feeling like a failure, to excitement to see what God has in store.

I’m sharing this to show you just how much we cannot trust our feelings alone. God did create us with feelings and they shouldn’t be ignored, however, we must check them according to the truth of His word! Sometimes our feelings are out of our flesh, and if we “follow our heart” instead of striving to be “in step with the Holy Spirit,” we will end up way out of the will of God for our lives.

Galatians 5:25 (NLT)

25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.

He has good plans for each of us. It may not always make sense to us at the time, but we know that He loves us and is for us. We also know He is trustworthy and faithful. He gave up everything for us before we ever even thought about sacrificing anything for Him. This is a love that is worth following and investing in.

I also just want to touch on “fear of failure.” One thing I did ask of the Lord when He asked me to surrender my business, was to walk me through every memory and teach me every lesson I could possibly learn out of this experience. I made many mistakes being this was my first time trying, and I wanted them to be beneficial to everything else I will be called to do in my lifetime on Earth.

Before embarking in this business, I suffered terribly with “fear of failure.” The Lord spoke to me through the account in Numbers 13-14 where the Israelites were about to take the Promised Land, and Moses sent spies into the land to scout it out. The reports came back where all but two spies cried out in fear, “There are giants in the Land, we will surely die!” But two spies said, “There are giants in the Land, but GOD has promised us this Land so we should enter into it!” After hearing this account, the Lord spoke to me and said, ” Right now you echo in perfect harmony with the majority, but I think you are one of the two!” Just knowing God believed in me, made me want to believe in myself, that together with Him nothing is impossible, so really what is there to be afraid of?

Matthew 19:26 (MSG)

  26Jesus looked hard at them and said, “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it.”

1 John 4:18 (MSG)

 17-18God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.
So once He dealt with my fear of failure, I was more open to His leading. And now, I am leaving this business which I can plainly tell you there have been parts of that I failed at. And guess what? I’m failing forward! I’m in process, and I’m learning. Failing is NOTHING to be afraid of because in fact it makes you smarter and stronger. It definitely has not destroyed me, which is what I always thought it would do! If this would be the only lesson I received out of this business venture I would feel satisfied, but it’s not, there have been so many more!
Can I encourage you today, if you are dealing with the paralyzing fear of failure, read the account of the spies. Then seek the Lord and ask Him to identify the root of the fear.  Write out what you are really afraid of and then seek the scriptures to find truth to override the authority of your feelings. God planted greatness in the very core of you when He knit you together in your mother’s womb. Please do not allow a fake giant of fear to keep your greatness, your unique expression of Christ in you, from being illuminated to this world. Face your giants, and if you have to, do it afraid!

Jeremiah 29:11(NLT)

 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

Colossians 1:27 (NLT)

 27 For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.

Deuteronomy 31:6 (MSG)

 6 “Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”
Aug16

Misunderstand….ing?

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One day not too long ago, the Lord began speaking to me about being misunderstood. He said, “Do not worry if others misunderstand who you are, or why you do and say the things you do. You are in good company with me, because most of my creation will never understand me.” His tone was loving with a hint of sadness. I pressed in for more. He continued, “Especially Holy Spirit, most of my bride will never fully accept Him. Jesus wasn’t even received when He came in your form, and how We are the Trinity, most people accept but never understand how beautiful that is.”

This got me thinking about how much it hurts when you just want people to “get” you, and you  can’t seem to find anyone on the same page. There are a lot of people who accept others, but I know for me there is a deep desire to find others who will invest in understanding me, getting me, loving me. Could it be that the Lord feels the same? We accept Jesus as our Savior, but does it stop there? Do we invest in Him, getting to know Him, figuring out why He works, acts, speaks the way He does? We accept that the Holy Spirit lives in our hearts, but again are we inviting Him to be intimately involved in our every moment or are we basically ignoring His presence? Do we ever consider the mystery of the Trinity? Three in one, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, working together in perfect relationship to love us flawlessly, this is incredible!

As I looked up scripture on this very topic, I discovered an interesting twist as to how we act on our misunderstanding, but first the scripture and then I will share the revelation.

John 8:43

43 Why do you misunderstand what I say? It is because you are unable to hear what I am saying. [You cannot bear to listen to My message; your ears are shut to My teaching.]

This is Jesus speaking on how we would listen to what He said, but not hear Him.

Matthew 5:17

[ Teaching about the Law ] “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.
This is Jesus speaking on how we could not even understand His purpose for leaving Heaven and humbly coming to Earth to save us.
Matthew 12:31-32
 31-32“There’s nothing done or said that can’t be forgiven. But if you deliberately persist in your slanders against God’s Spirit, you are repudiating the very One who forgives. If you reject the Son of Man out of some misunderstanding, the Holy Spirit can forgive you, but when you reject the Holy Spirit, you’re sawing off the branch on which you’re sitting, severing by your own perversity all connection with the One who forgives.
This is the one I would like to expand on. When I looked up other versions, the misunderstanding which leads to rejection is put into the word, blasphemy.

Blasphemy:

blas’-fe-mi (blasphemia): In classical Greek meant primarily “defamation” or “evil-speaking” in general; “a word of evil omen,” hence, “impious, and irreverent speech against God.”

Then the Lord began to speak  about how when we simply misunderstand something, anything, for any reason, our normal reaction is to reject it and then speak out against whatever that is. We often do this to each other with we have a disagreement, we often call it a “misunderstanding”. So I began to ponder some areas in my life where I have some pretty strong opinions but not a whole  lot of facts. Could it be that I simply do not have an understanding, and to protect myself I have an opinion, completely unfounded? Could it be there are things about the Lord which I do not have an understanding for, so I manipulate scriptures to make Him understand’able’ to me, and tell everyone else they are wrong if they don’t agree with my understanding? Or how about others who think, look, and act differently than I do? Could it be that somehow I think only my way is right and until they conform to what I understand to be right they will remain ‘misunderstood’ in relation to me? Is that how Jesus loved? I believe Jesus loves each of us for how different we are. I do not remember  ever reading about Him trying to fit any square pegs into round holes. =)
So I urge you today to ponder if you are in a misunderstand…ing with anyone, including God in all of His uniqueness. Ask Him to open your heart to a deeper understanding of others and of Himself. I believe we will find freedom and more than likely, stumble upon a few more people who will end up ‘getting’ us. Be blessed today Friend.
Father, Your love is amazing. Your acceptance of us is incomprehensible. But the desire you have to be in relationship with us is what continually blows my mind. Lord would you bring to my attention any area where I have built a wall, a prejudice, a rejection that is against you or anyone you love. I ask Lord for you to soften my heart and help me have a teachable spirit. I do not want to hold on to anything that doesn’t encourage or uplift. Lord, more than anything teach me more about You. I want to be more and more like You! I love you Holy Spirit. I love you Father God. I love you Jesus. I love you my Triune God!