Thursday Thoughts

This blog has been forming since midnight this morning...I would have written it then, but I needed some time to process what all God was speaking in during my war time with Him. I needed a word, I was at a point where I knew I was smack dab up against a wall again and I wasn't moving till I got the word over, through, or I'll move it. God pulled back some layers last night and started asking the tough questions, I can't say I was surprised...I asked Him to. God's always faithful to give us the word we need to keep doing what He has called us to do. It's up to us with what we do with that word. For me I've been asking for a couple of requests for months now. Sometimes if it seems God's not answering, it's because He's already answered and is waiting on us for our part. He's not going to drag us kicking and screaming to the revelation, but eventually that neon sign becomes so bright you can't ignore it anymore. God knows what is draining our time and our energy. He knows what we are involved in that needs to be pruned so that the fruit He has planned for us can be planted. If we keep tending to dead branches, we will never have any time or focus to put on the branches that are ready to be connected to the vine. I asked God last night why I didn't notice this one thing until just recently.....I'm so visual He had to show me a picture. Sometimes God has that thing covered for a season, the drains aren't a drain if someone is covering the hole. Let that sink in.....

Martha time has it's purpose, but we can become so consumed with being Martha that we forget to stop and spend time being Mary. He doesn't want us to be focused on spending time doing for Him that we forget to spend time with Him. If we will be with Him we will be filled to do life with Him. We can become so stuck on doing for Him that we don't spend enough time with Him. The more He wants to pour in, the more we must sit with Him period. The deeper we go with Him, the more time we will need Him to pour in through His word, through prayer time, through songs, and through those friends that God has placed in our paths to be the fan to our flame. Don't neglect things that fan your flame...it leads to a worn and weary and let's be honest that's not how God wants us to be. He needs us to take the time we need to pour into ourselves, to keep our flames fanned...so that we can fan the flames of the people He has put in our path. I've learned this lesson the hard way....when I carry things for too long, it begins to weigh me down...when my give out is gave out and on it's way to burn out...my flame is on it's way to a flicker. If I let those go on too long...it wears at me and eventually wears me down. Sometimes we just need someone to come along side and say Hey I'm praying for you. The enemy wants us to "feel" alone in the battle we are pushing through. This life was never meant to live alone....we need to pay attention to those who God has placed in our path. The enemy seeks to wear out the saints of God.....let's not let Him. We will all have seasons of weariness and worn out.....it's going to happen as God refines us to rely on those times for His strength. As Christians we have got to do better at looking outside of our cliques and circles (yep they exist #beinghonest), to those in our daily walks....and coming along side of them to be that Aaron and Hur when they are tired. We are all going to have battles to fight and yes God is fighting them for us, but in the natural we are going to to get tired....(especially those of us who don't pay attention to our limitations and let our give outs become gave out). Spiritual warfare is real and it's here.....it's time to join together and take care of the people God has placed in our lives.


So back to the wall I knew I had hit again last night....the fumes were real and the tank was past empty. God whispered last night(well midnight), that the wall was Him....because this going around the same particular mountain was over. God has brought me too far in the last six years for me to let the enemy slip back in through motions and "good works". This tired is the enemy's attempt to steal my focus....I have a purpose and a calling to do each and every day. I have flames that are looking for me to fan them period. Then God used a Sunday School lesson I taught a couple of weeks ago to speak into the season I've been walking in.....it's pruning time. (ouch)....God's faithful to come through and take care of cutting them off of your tree, but you have to clear them away. Until you clear them away, you'll keep stepping around and through those things that may easily entangle you...if it's not bearing God fruit..you have choices to make. Just as there are blooms that God doesn't want to see bloomed in your life, there are fruits that He doesn't want to see produced either....let that sink in. (frustration and exhaustion are not God fruits....)

One last thought....I read this quote last week and I've been chewing on it ever since. It is possible to be in a room full of people and feel alone. Proximity and activity don't always equal connectivity. It's possible to be doing somewhere and never feel like you can be there. There is more to this in a blog to come, but God's still writing it. I've lived way too much of life in a box designed by other people. It's a box with walls that God didn't design and I've finally reached the frustration point where I've got to make some changes. There is God fruit that needs to be nurtured and other fruit/branches that need to be laid at the feet of the Only One who knows what to do with them. I know I'm nothing without Him....but when you can finally look and see the you He sees......whew! That's enough to make this Jesus girl shout and take a run

Different kind of blog tonight....but it's been that kind of week. God's moving and the enemy is distracting. I'm thankful for tired moments that lead me to His lap.....I'm thankful for weary moments that He uses to remind me He's just getting started. I'm thankful for worn tears that He uses to remind me of His purpose. I'm thankful for ministry scars that remind me that God's anointing will always cover and protect. I'm thankful for a flicker that He uses to remind me that what He has lit will never be extinguished. I'm thankful for moments where I feel like nothing that God uses to remind me He is everything. The battle is real, but the victory is bigger. Is your focus on the Goliath in front of you or the God within you? Quit trying to put on other's armor, pick up your stones covered in truth, and march on......Don't rely on whether you feel like it or not, rely on the truth that the One who has called you is Faithful and He will do it! The fields are ripe...and it's harvest time!