We are all messes in progress and that sweet reader is what keeps us reliant on the One who not only knows the details of the messes (after all He made us), but He can see the message that mess is turning into. We were not created to do life alone, that being said insecurity can come in a form of a pride that keeps us from opening up to those God has called us to do life with. That's a blog in itself that has yet to be written. I'm thankful though... (I had this first part written last Saturday night and then it just sat). With two snow days, I was like okay good God's going to put some of these pieces together. I knew there were about five blogs He was writing, but the words were only coming a little here and a little there....and nothing that seemed to make sense for a full post. God didn't want to finish a post when I was ready, but when He was ready. It wasn't about when it was convenient for me, but more so when it wasn't. We can become so accustomed to God pouring in that we take for granted when He does. Oh, may His glory and His presence never be taken for granted or something we grow comfortable with? I need Him to show up on a daily basis because let's face it if we take inventory and get real with ourselves....it's uncomfortable living in this flesh if we are trying to walk in the Spirit. It's that uncomfortable that keeps us seeking after and looking for Him to breathe on us. Sometimes it's just the breath of God we need, it's just the simple presence where you know He's walking and talking with you, even if the pieces still seemed jumbled and the picture not so clear. Faith covers our fears of not knowing what the end result of our steps is going to be. There is a release when you realize God's not only restoring what the enemy has taken, distracted you from, or tried to discourage with you....but God's going to take it up a level if you are willing to take a step in it. When we realize the limitations we place on ourselves are just that our limitations, there is a freedom that opens up....and God brings back to remembrance those dreams and visions He gave you long ago. Those things you thought would never come to pass simply because they haven't yet, but the truth is we have gotten distracted by words and lost faith in His timing. It's taken me years for this to begin to take root....but if God spoke it to you or shown it to you (and let's face it if it is not anything you can see yourself doing in the natural....chances are it wasn't you dreaming it), it's going to come to pass. I think God stands by just waiting for us to have that flashback, that stirring of Him going....remember Child.
That desperate feeling only breeds discouragement if we take our eyes off of Him and walk by feeling. God knows what He's planned for you, what He's poured into you, and what He's longing to do through you.....He's just waiting for you to see it through His eyes. (That's a blog in itself). A month or so ago, I woke up with a picture of a girl turned upside down in a well. I didn't know where God was taking that picture...I figured it was the start of a blog to come, so I just filed the image away. Last week after Freedom conference, God finished the picture. So many times we have those moments with God, where we know He was there. He poured it out and we received. The journey continues, but what was flowing seems to have run dry. It wasn't that God stopped pouring it out, it was that we hit a level of junk in our well and the flow got blocked for some reason. We have all have those levels, and we get them cleaned out (at least we think we do..) only for God to go hey there's another layer. We can give up or keep pressing in knowing that the source of the flow is what may seem like the bottom. (Think back to the picture of a well). Layers take work to go through and clean out junk, but when we ask Him for deeper, there is a price, but there is also grace. God doesn't do something in you, to not do something through you. Sometimes you get to the bottom of clearing out the layers in that well....hear my heart for a minute, the enemy wants you to see it as the bottom, but God says turn around and look up. For you see that's the place with arms wide open when God can pour out all that He has longed to pour into you. It's a place of gracefully broken.
I woke up with a song in my Spirit(the link is below). This isn't meant to be a long post...but God's pouring out to His children today. You may see yourself as a mess, but God sees the message He's working to bring through you. So many times we focus on the mess and we lose sight of the message in progress. God didn't intend for life to be lived alone and someone needs for you to see your message despite your mess and share it. We keep people at arm's length sometimes because all we can see is our mess and lose sight that God has a plan always....you aren't where you are by chance doing life with who you are by chance. (ouch....this whole post may have been to get me to type out that last part #blogforanotherday).
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 1:6-8) Washing dishes tonight and God started writing a blog....lol. Yesterday I posted some thoughts on my word and verse for the year. Then last night I watched an amazing watch/prayer service to ring in the New Year....there is something incredible about bringing in the New Year with the One who made it New. Anyway on to tonight's blog... I love the passage of scripture from Deuteronomy that I included above, but I've never looked at it in terms of a New Year. Usually, this is the passage God takes me to when it's time to move on a from a spot that I seem to keep circling. I'm good at that, but anyway. I don't know what 2017 held for you. I know for me it involved a lot of layers, a lot of looking at some stuff that I had stuffed away and getting real with myself and God. It involved some transparent times where I had to go this is my circus and these are my monkeys, now God what do I do about it. If you are going to ask God what to do about it, then be prepared for Him to not only tell you, show you, and nudge you to that place. He'll get you as close as He can....before you have to take the steps to keep moving forward. God moved mountains in 2017, He parted waters, made paths straight, and restored what only He could. I've still got a post or two to write about all that He did...Maybe you still have some prayers you need to be answered from 2017, maybe you are still waiting on God to give you feeling back in your legs so you can walk forward and not be carried, maybe you are waiting on the door to open for that thing you've been praying and believing for...We make resolutions, goals each year at this time...some are the same as we have made year after year. We start off strong and then find our strength fading when the drive of the new isn't there anymore...and we end up circling the mountain again. 2018...God's saying You've stayed long enough on that mountain. We are living in Joel 2:28 days. If you haven't experienced it...get where He's pouring out. God's looking for a people that are ready to quit circling the same mountain and take the promised land, those things He said were ours for the taking. It's time for the greater that's been promised, for the miracles, signs, and wonders. It's time to stop being the dry bones and being the one who speaks life to the bones around us. It's time to take the promised land that He said was ours..... This was a preaching to myself moment before I ever started to type. So many times we carry things from one year to the next when God's looking to release more to us...but our hands are full of yesterday's junk. This is the year of Release..... (Hear my heart for a minute...Life is a process and we are all works in progress. I know a lot of that "junk" isn't something you can easily let go of sometimes. It takes precision to pry fingers off of things and to let go of what may have been in your grip for way too long. That's a conversation for you and God....take the time to listen to what He's saying sweet reader and then do. This is the year of releasing messes to Him for Him to release the message through us.
