His Business

I'm thankful for midnight conversations with a God who loves me more than I love myself. I'm thankful for truth that is spoken in regardless of feelings and that He knows what I need. I'm thankful for a sensitivity to what He wants even if my flesh would rather it go another way. I'm thankful for His heart period. I'm thankful that He has seen my tears this week and spoken words of truth. It hasn't always been the words I wanted to hear, but what I needed to hear. Honestly I wanted God to speak to my flesh, I was honest with Him about that. He knew what I needed though and He spoke to my Spirit. Truth is always what is needed and will always, always, always squash the enemy's distractions. The enemy knows your weaknesses, the things you have surrendered and the things you have not. The enemy doesn't want you to be about your Father's business. Distractions, Hurts, Fears, Comparisons are all things that can keep us from being about our Father's business. Oh how thankful I am though, that my God doesn't waste a moment and everything can be used to make us more like Him if we are willing to leave it in His hands. I'm thankful for kingdom connections that God uses even through technology to speak life and to push and encourage you to be who God has called you to be. 

This week has been draining, but God has been faithful to fill. I've asked Him for some very specific things this week. He's answered a lot of them and others He has spoken truth to that has hushed the feelings that were screaming. God saw the hurt that the week had thrown my way, He asked the question....are you going to let it take root or let me have it? I've come too far with Him for the roots of anything that are not His seeds to grow, but my flesh had a hard, hard time letting go. God is faithful....He knew my heart was determined to stay moving forward, to not go back to a place of bondage. Last night He took me to the story where they found Jesus at the temple. The other people had gone on their way, even Mary and Joseph were focused on the business they needed to attend to. When they noticed Jesus was missing, they backtracked on their journey. They went back to where they knew they had last seen Him, only to see that He was doing exactly what He was called to do. We have to stay focused on what God has called us to do, it's time to be about His business. Being about His business doesn't leave a lot of room or time for being about anyone else's business. Hurts will happen, disappointments are going to happen, our choice is what we do when they come our way. Are we going to focus on what the enemy is doing or are we going to focus on what God is doing, on His business? Take some time to let that sink in....

There is an expectancy in my Spirit for this year. I know God is moving, I've felt Him, I've seen Him move, and I've heard His voice. I've also seen how the enemy is throwing and doing his best to distract. God knows the distractions better than we do, why not leave them in the hands of the One who can cover them and give us the strength to move past them. Oh may we be found faithful to be about His business....

Your position in the courtroom

In the courtroom of life where are you found? Are you sitting in the jury box discussing with others the verdict that needs to be handed down? Are you behind the bench with the gavel in the position of judge? Are you sitting at the defense table letting your attorney speak? or Are you taking the lead as the attorney and stating your own case before the judge? 

Stay with me for a minute....God's been painting this picture for a week or so and last night (well around midnight) the picture was beginning to become clearer. We can only be in one place in the courtroom. If we are all honest with ourselves, we've found ourselves in each of those positions. We've all passed judgement even though we shouldn't, discussed the fate of someone else with others, and even tried to plead our case to the judge on our own. It's just been in the last couple of months, weeks really that I have found the peace that comes with sitting at the defense table. I walk a fine line with moving away from the table a lot during the day, and end up moving away at times...but God lovingly redirects me back. I want back what the enemy has stolen and I'm taking the promise that God has in His word that says He is the restorer and re-payer. When we are sitting at the defense table, we are letting our advocate (see 1 John 2:1), our defense, plead our case. He intercedes with us with the judge and takes up our defense. When we are sitting at His table, all we have to plead is the blood...and He does the rest. Let that sink in for a minute....

We can only be in one position in the courtroom. When we try to play the role of judge, jury, or even defense attorney I truly believe He stands there going oh Child....would you just let go and let me take care of it. How long have we tried to do it our own way, thinking we were doing our part, but all the while not letting Him do His? With every time I have listened to the song "How Can it Be", God has painted a little piece of this picture each time. Last night He finished when I was in Hebrews and reading about Jesus being our High Priest. When the Old Law was around, only the High Priest could enter into the "courtroom" so to speak and he had to act as the defense attorney for the people. The Old Law was done away with when Jesus died on the cross. 

God is pouring out His Spirit like never before, these truly are Joel 2:28 days that we are living in. God's looking for Children of His to pour into. If you aren't sitting at His table, He's inviting you to come. He's seen how hard you have tried and worked at the other positions and He says sit with me for awhile. Once you have sat at His table, saw what Him pleading your case, taking your cause on is like and feels like...grace reminds you when you move away from the table and says come on back. 

I'm not perfect, far from it...however I am a Jesus girl that has finally grasped the truth of who she is and what being a Daughter of the Most High entitles her to. 

Tuesday Truths

War clothes on...

It would take multiple, multiple blog posts to put the last two days into words. This time of the year is always hectic, and it seems it has started even earlier this year. There have been moments where my feelings almost got the better of me, but God intervened. I love it when He does...even it tears are involved. It's His way of telling me He gets it. He understands when we have given the day our all and the day gave it back to us. He understands when we seriously end the day just plain tired. He also understands the bigger picture, the battle that's going on that we can't see. He knows the distractions that lay ahead in tomorrow and the ministry that is planned as well. He knows that what He has planned for your week far exceeds what you do. He knows your heart and beyond what you think you can do, He knows what you can do.  The enemy also knows what you can do, and it scares him. You Child of God are a threat to what he wants to accomplish this week. Squash him by continuing to keep giving your all, even when you don't feel like it or feel worn out.

Daniel 7:25King James Version (KJV)

25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.

Just me for a minute...Today could have easily gotten the better of me(There will always be "those days"). It was draining and to say I was worn out would be the truth. God reminded me though, it's all about perspective. I can feel worn out and all of the feelings that go with that and let the day take root, or I can give Him the feelings and stay focused on what He says about the day. I can stay focused on the battle that is raging in the spirtual realms.When God is blessing, the enemy is messing. Stay focused Child of God! War clothes on and keep pressing forward....

The layers

I've been quiet this week....God's been pulling back some layers. Layers I thought I had already dealt with (guess not), layers I had tried to ignore, layers that needed to be His. He's in the details and this week has not been any different. He's been in a lot of the details, details of which lead to the pulling back of layers. Feelings, Reactions, Thoughts, Actions...He knew what would need to be dealt with all before this week even occurred. Now at the end of it looking back, that truth makes me smile. Nothing that happens to a Child of His takes God by surprise. Our steps are ordered by the One who created our feet to take them. The One who knows just how long our stride is, how fast we can take that step, and the pace needed to keep up. He truly does know us the best and loves us the most. Let that sink in tonight....whatever you carried through this week, leave it at His Feet. Not sure you can leave it or let it go just yet? Then crawl up in His lap....listen to His heartbeat, and let Him peel back the layers. A band-aid coming off is never pleasant, but when exposed healing begins. We will never truly be all that He made us to be until we let Him clean the me out of our mess. He has a plan and a purpose for our lives. It may not always make sense ( in fact in the middle it probably won't), but the cleaning out, emptying process is purposeful....less of us means more of Him.

So "life hasn't gone according to plan" ...yep God and I had a long, long, long conversation about some of those plans this week. The truth that I came away from all of that, through the tears was that none of this has surprised God. The plans may have taken longer than He anticipated at first (hello 11 day journey that turned into feeling like 40 years), but He's patient. He knows what is on the inside of us from the beginning and is going to do what He has to to bring it to the surface. At some point in our journey God brings us to the point of revelation where it really is about what He wants, not what we want. God knows how you feel about that want, but trust Him to do what you need. Don't think I haven't gotten pretty specific with Him this week in my prayers too ;-) Thankful the want is still there though, because I know that He knows my heart. The hardest thing to do is to leave something you truly, truly want and desire in His hands....knowing that if it's meant to be, it's going to have to be Him.

So "not good enough" ...yep welcome to another conversation between God and I over the past couple of weeks. The enemy has thrown this phrase in my face more times than I care to count. I wish I could tell you that I rebuked him each and every one of those times, but not immediately. Sometimes that thought ping ponged it's way through my mind....and made its way to a feeling. It was on its way to taking root, but God. I'm thankful He steps in be it a night when He restores through sleep so you can hear Him clearly or just a song that comes on your iPod that you have listened to a 100 times before. God is always on time with a word. Truth is I'm not good enough and will never be. I won't feel good enough and to some people I may not be, but it's not about a feeling or actions by others. It's about Him being enough and knowing that He is louder than feelings, stronger than actions, and bigger than the lies of the enemy. The enemy wouldn't keep feeding this lie, if he weren't scared of what will happen when God gets a hold of your enough and turns it into His enough. You know what's on the inside of you, the promises God has given you, the word spoken over your life, the calling and anointing you have.....He is more than enough to take care of any lie the enemy throws your way (and to even remind you ...when the feelings are screaming that You are Enough because He said so).

I spent too many years just complaining my way through the layers that I was very quick to put the band-aid back on and attempt to keep moving. God's working for a reason and the revelation isn't by accident. Take what He shows you and step into it.  Your Promised Land awaits you this year and waking in the promise of "Greater things will you do" is still to come to pass. The song on the iPod this week was "I'd rather have Jesus". I heard this at church a lot growing up, and then The Crabb Family started singing it about ten years ago. Sometimes God uses a song to pierce through with a question that only He can ask, Would you rather have me more than _______? I'll let you fill in the blank for your own journey. I had a list by the time the song finished. Tear filled eyes, He knew my heart's answer...it really is all about Him.

Keep seeking after Him reader....The best is still to come!

Truth is I'm tired....

I have a CD that has been a mainstay in my car for the last two months. I haven't listened to my Satellite radio or anything else for the past two months. I call it my fight CD. It's given me the push more times than I can count and it continues to do so. This morning was another one of the days. The enemy has been pushing this week. The liar has brought up things that God has already covered, but apparently he likes to still run his mouth and do his best to get me distracted. The liar knows my weaknesses, I know that....but I also know that God is stronger than those weaknesses. God understands my inside better than I do (Thank you Lord!). God knows when the enemy pushes, I'm gonna need Him to rise up to push back. He's been faithful every step of the way. You may be reading this going, what does she know about struggles....oh sweet reader if you could only see what's played inside of my head this week. The moments when I have pulled myself into His lap because I didn't feel confident to do what I knew He was calling me to do. The moments when I laid out my self worth, insecurity issues in His lap and asked God for His mirror please to see myself the way He sees me. The moments when the scripture that was balm to the wound....was what I read in my quiet/war time with Him. The moments when I didn't feel like doing anything, but being on an island and staying to myself. The moments when my flesh wanted to react to a hurt, but revelation from Him said I had to release that in His hands. Then there was that moment this morning...when this anxious flesh of mine was not my friend. God is always, always on time. My fight CD was in and the song started....the tears came and God started speaking peace to my soul. The sweetest moments over the last few months have been those prayer times when my flesh had no idea what was being said, but my Spirit was praying for what I needed. This morning was one of those moments. My drive to church isn't very long, but this morning it was just what I needed. God knew what my soul was hungry, crying out for...and through a song that I had listened to countless times already...He spoke past my feelings, past my doubts, past my emotions, and past the lies the enemy was shouting. God spoke to that part of me that understood who He had called me to be. I've grown in Him over the last six months and this week was another one of those "moments" where God says...you are stronger than you think because you are strong in Me.  Strength that is a feeling is not a strength that is healing. 

The title of the blog is a line from the song "Take me to the King". If you have never heard it, Google it and listen to the lyrics. There will be those moments when we are just tired, we have poured out faster than God has poured in. It happens especially in this world we are living in today. The people we are coming into contact with are hungry and seeking after something more than a feeling, but something that is filling. There will be moments when the strength we need to fight is buried under the layers of the week. Those are the moments I have found, when if I can just get still for a minute..my Spirit takes over and speaks for me. Those are the moments when flesh aside...I just need Him. So many times we are seeking after what we want God to do instead of what we need God to do. There is a difference. We may want God to move in a certain situation, but we need God to move in us. 

Child of God, God knows when you feel tired. He knows those moments in your day that drain you and the moments in your day that fill you. He knows when you are seeking after wants or seeking after needs. He knows the inside of you. He knows what you can do if you will just let Him do it through you. He knows that He is the only One who can take care of those doubts, those fears, those insecurities, those feelings. Oh if we could truly grasp how much He loves and values us as Children of the Most High. He has a Promised Land journey for you this year. Are you ready to move forward and take back what the enemy has stolen from you? The Israelites spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness, complaining, and worrying about how the little things. They were so focused on where they had been, they couldn't see the steps that God had ordered to bring them to where they were today. They were content to go around the mountain when God had greater things in store. 

I don't know what your week holds, but God does. He knows how you are going to feel, what you are going to say, and how you are even going to respond to those moments that make you count to 10. God has already planned a way out of those difficult spots, Him. Are you going to listen to your feelings or His truth? One can be draining while the other is full of strength to keep moving forward. Trusting doesn't mean knowing how it's all going to work out, it means knowing whose job it is to work it all out. 

Me for a Minute blog...

The moment when God speaks a truth straight to your Spirit that your flesh isn't happy with, but you know it was from Him....because it was needed. I'm thankful He knows what we need and doesn't always give us what we want. Our flesh wants what we want, but our Spirit is satisfied with what we need. Our flesh wants a quick answer that will make us feel good in a moment....our Spirit knows that the answer needs to reach a part of us that fills not just feels.

My confidence level seems to be a target for the enemy over the last couple of weeks. To say I've doubted myself and felt discouraged more than once would be an understatement. I think we all have that spot that the enemy pushes...that place where we need Him to show us how to fight back. Last week I remember crying out in my quiet time...help me God. His reply was I already have. I am sure He saw my face because I was like..ummm, how. See that's when the revelation of all that was on the inside of me started coming into view. God knows when we are ready to fight back in our prayer time, He knows when our Spirit is ready to battle in a realm that only it can. He knows when we are strong enough to fight back with truth and not let feelings win. Hear my heart for a minute...God is always there to help when His children call out to Him, but there comes a time...just when Peter had to trust that he could walk on the water...that we have to trust Him as well. There is a season when help is God reminding you of the power that is on the inside of you and then saying tap into it Child.

I still don't feel very confident right now, but I am working on not dwelling on that. Several days in my prayer journal have ended with the I'm not confident in what I can do, but I'm confident in what He can do through me. I'm confident that God finishes what He starts and this good work is only beginning. We have to get to a point where the truth of His word is our focus and our heart's confession...not what lies the world sends.

God has a plan and a purpose that only you can do. He has someone in your path everyday that need what YOU can pour into them. He has people that He has laid on your heart that need you standing in the gap for them and interceding on their path. There is a battle in the Spiritual realm that the army of God is being called to fight. God didn't pour into you for you to put a lid on it.

I don't know how your week has gone or if any of this even makes sense. This is just a snippet of some of the conversations that God and I have had over the last week. I have had to fight my flesh not to let my feelings be louder than His truth. God has a plan and a purpose and a calling for me to walk out....That has to be my focus (not how I feel). Maybe you can relate...If you are stuck in the middle of a feeling moment, ask God for a truth to calm the feeling. It may not be what you want to hear, but it will be what you need. His word is balm for our soul. God has a purpose for the feeling...if you'll leave it with Him. As much as it doesn't make sense to you, it makes perfect sense to Him.

The Power to Receive

There is an army rising up in 2016. An army that knows their purpose, their calling, and most of all an army that knows the power that is on the inside of them. An army that knows the battle that is before them, but they know that no weapon formed against them shall prosper. (Notice the word didn't say weapons wouldn't be formed, but that they wouldn't be able to last, to grow). An army that knows the enemy is present in the battle, but they know how to defeat the enemy through truth and prayer. An army that marches forward, not looking back on the past, but knowing that their commander has already won the battle. An army that knows the distractions will be there, the feelings will come, but they know they have the authority to speak to those fears, those feelings with truth and time spent with Him. An army that is no longer a slave to the chains of before, that has circled the mountain long enough, that they are ready to march into their Promised Land and claim what has been theirs all along. An army that knows who they are in a spiritual sense, but most of all Whose they are and that makes all the difference. An army that has been covered in the blood, marches on with truth, and a faith that says My God has got this.

I've learned more in the last six months than I could ever put into a blog. I've tried to do it as I processed the revelation etc, but honestly there is still more than I could put into words. My journal is full of words that have yet to be connected, prayers that I know will be answered at some point, and a battle plan that I've had to refer back to more than once. 2015 was the year the blinders to the chains the enemy had latched on fell off. God not only broke them, but He took control of the memories attached to those chains. It's a freedom that I still try to put into words. It's a freedom that He so lovingly reminds me if I start to look back at my Egypt so to speak. I'm not going backwards. This week the enemy pushed some physical buttons. I had a headache that felt like an elephant was sitting on it and my self confidence was not being my friend at that moment. The enemy doesn't play fair and if you think he does...well that's a lie straight from him. God spoke a truth in that moment though..A truth I had never heard, Fighting something in the physical means we aren't focused on the fighting in the spirtual. When we are physically not feeling ourselves, it's a focus. It makes it harder to fight in the spirtual the attacks that we can or cannot see that are headed our way. The enemy attacks our confidence because he knows if we don't feel like we can fight or make a difference, we won't. Hear my heart....you can not feel confident, and still walk confident. You can not be sure that you can do something, and know that He can do it through you. That is a truth that is finally starting to sink into my soul. A truth my Spirit has known all all along. This week I found myself in my war time telling the enemy that I was confident in what He could do through me and that He always finishes what He starts, and my God was just getting started with this Jesus girl. Fight the lies with the truth of God's word. (If you aren't to the place in your journey yet where you feel like you can fight on your own...find someone who knows how to fight and let them pour into you how to do battle)

Child of God...He wants to pour into you this year. He wants to speak life to you, yes you that aren't sure what the year holds just yet. He wants to breathe life into your bones and show you what is on the inside of you. On the inside of you Child of God is the power to do more than you could imagine. Have you received it yet? Have you flipped the switch and watched what God can do through a Child that is all His? God's raising up an army of Children who with outstretched arms, say I'm Yours God. I'm done with being comfortable, I'm ready to be what You've called me to be. The steps He has planned may not always make sense in the moment. I think back to the bus wreck and in that moment I had no idea what God was doing, but He did. It took five years, but His truth of my steps being ordered was engraved on my heart. What you are going through right now may not make sense, but you have on the inside of you the power to trust. Child of God, don't you see...God wants to do more through you than you could ever ask or imagine, but He's waiting on one thing...you!

Tuesday Truths vol. 12

6 The Lord our God said to us at Horeb, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Break camp and advance into the hill country of the Amorites; go to all the neighboring peoples in the Arabah, in the mountains, in the western foothills, in the Negev and along the coast, to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, as far as the great river, the Euphrates. 8 See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.” (Deuteronomy 1)


What has kept you going around the mountain over the last couple of years? What have you let go of only to pick back up the next day or even later on that day? The enemy wants you circling the mountain because that keeps you from your promised land. I can't tell you specifics of what your mountain looks like, mine had a lot of different names. It's that thing, that situation, that circumstance that is keeping you from being all that God has called you to be. Spend some time asking Him what your mountain is(that is if He hasn't already revealed it to you). God's saying "Child 2016 is your year. You have stayed long enough on the mountain. Break away from whatever is holding you back, keeping you in bondage, and causing you to be on that hamster wheel you feel like you are on. Greater things are still planned for you to do, Your promise Land is on the other side of the mountain."

It's time for us to take back what is ours this year in 2016, claim our promise Land and walk in the confidence and victory that God had planned for us from before we were born.

Take it out of the box

We just came out of the Christmas/New Year season. A time of giving and receiving, a time of moving out the old and bringing in the new. A gift with the lid on has a hard time being used. A gift that hasn't been taken out of the box has a hard time being used. Stay with me....but this paints a picture.

When you received God's gift of what He did for you on the cross, when you accepted that it was more than just to know He died on the cross, but that He died for you...you received more than just salvation. With that salvation came power, I'm not talking about a physical power, but a power in the spiritual realm. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives on the inside of you. The power can only be seen when we choose to plug into the power source and stay charged, but that's a blog for another day. God also gave you gifts to fulfill the purpose and calling that He picked out just for you before you were even born. You may have always seen your gift in a box as something that can only be used on special occasions or when you get to be a certain age(you know those warning labels that say not for certain ages etc.). Let 2016 be the year that you not only take the lid off of your gift, but you take it out of the box. (Then throw away the box...but I digress). God is pouring out His Spirit, but He needs you to take your lid off, to open up, to surrender...so He can fill you. It's hard to fill a container if the lid's on. There are no warning labels on your gift, if God gave it to you...He means for you and you alone to use it. You can't use it if you just keep it in the box. He designed it to be a part of you...so He can use it to flow through you.

You don't have to be a certain age, married, gender, or at a certain season in life for God to use you. He calls all of His children and has a plan for all of them. Don't let the labels of the world and denominations keep you from using the gifts that God has given you.

God have your way this year in the lives of your children. We trust you and know that each step is covered in your blood. Pour into us Lord....lids are off, hearts open, and arms outstretched...It's not about what we can do this year, but what you can do through us. Thank you Father for loving us like you do.

Empty or Full?

It's a new year ya'll! I am so excited for the possibilities, the open doors, and the best that it is still to come. I've got an expectation for this year and for what God is going to do. The foundation was laid in 2015 for what God is building on in 2016. Vessels were emptied that are being filled. Fires were lit that had been just a flicker. Lives were set on course that had been drifting and focused on distractions. Blinders were removed and revelation of the power that comes with a relationship with the Most High was received. Yes 2016 is going to be an amazing year. Last night in my prayer time, my first war time of the new year...God was pouring out His purpose for this new year. When we ask God for an answer, we need to be ready to listen and obey. God gives us the desires of our heart, especially when our desire is to seek more of Him. John 14: 12-14 Greater things are still to come because He went to the Father. Boldness this year readers, boldness to pray specifically, boldness to plead the blood, boldness to walk forward knowing God's already walked every day of this year (all 366 of them) and ordained each and every step we should take. 

So last night in my quiet/war time God led me to the parable of the wise and foolish virgins(Matthew 25). God was speaking about this year and being wise. It had been a couple of months since I had heard a sermon preached on this parable...but that moment when God was putting it all together taught me something. When we receive a word in our Spirit...when God says this is for you, save it away...there will be a time when He brings back that word to remembrance. A moment when He connects the dots and says "Here's my glasses for a few Child, can you see it now". Thankful for revelation, for a clear purpose, and for a fire that was lit by the One whose flame is eternal. So back to the parable....for so long I saw this as a picture of those with Jesus and those without Jesus on the day of eternity. That is the picture on the surface, but there is more to the parable when we go deeper and let God speak revelation. The sermon that came back last night was on the oil being enough. For the five whom were wise, their oil was enough. They had prepared and filled up in preparation for the bridegroom coming. For the five whom were foolish, their oil was not enough. Is your oil empty or full? As we walk forward into this new year, is your oil full to the brim and ready if He were to come back tonight? or Is your oil empty? Have you sat in His presence, listened to His heart, and let Him empty you of you? Have you given Him you? I'm not talking about receiving His gift of salvation, that's the first step...the next is surrendering control. Giving ourselves to the One who knows us better than we know ourselves and loves us more than we love ourselves even on our best days. The bridegroom is coming back readers. His return is closer than we think, if you don't think so...look at the news and what's going on around us in the world. We are living in the last days, the days when God promised to pour out His Spirit on all men (and women!). God's pouring out, I've seen it, felt it, and experienced it in a corporate setting and personal setting. This year I want to be so full of Him that there is no room for me anymore. It's not enough to just sit in His presence weekly, He wants to walk each and every moment of 2016 with you. Let go and Let Him....