It's Day Two.....also known as the middle. It's the day between what was painted as defeat and what God painted as victory.
The middle in the Grace story was only one day, but sometimes the middle can be longer. Day two in the Easter story was a day when it looked hopeless in the natural. For what they could see, it looked like defeat had won. They couldn't see what was going on in the realm they couldn't see. Oh for you see on that day two, the middle, the day when it looked dark and the blahs were possibly starting to set in.....God was still at work to set things in motion for the miracle that was about to take place.
Y'all let that sink in for a minute......The middle may look dark (and full of blahs), but hang on God's still at work. He's setting things in place that are going to be more than you can ever imagine. I think sometimes we lose sight in the middle, what we feel in the natural overtakes us and keeps our focus from the fact that victory is coming. The same God that set the world in motion still controls what is going on today. He was in control then and still is now. (If you can let that truth take root...the fruit that is about to come is limitless).
I wonder if those closest to Jesus remembered His words on day two. I wonder if they remembered that He said what would happen on day three. I wonder if they remembered all that He had done when the walked with Him. I mean if He raised Lazarus.....
How many times as Children of God today do we forget? I don't know where you are at in your journey, but hang on if you are in what looks like Day Two. God has not quit working and victory is closer than you can see. While you are feeling in the natural, God is moving in the spiritual realm and setting things in order for the victory He planned for you before you were born.
Happy Resurrection weekend readers!
Saturday, March 31, 2018
Wednesday, March 28, 2018
Wednesday wandering
I guess I've had what you could call writer's block this month as far as blog posts go. I've sat down multiple times over the last few weeks and gotten out a paragraph or two, but nothing that was finished to post. There's been a thought here, a thought there....but nothing that would piece together for a post. It's Spring Break week...and I was sure that there would be multiple posts this week. (Umm ya'll it's Wednesday and not yet...) Hear my heart, God's been faithful and is still talking, but I'm learning sometimes those words are just for me right now and not for behind the screen.
Sunday I laid down for a nap asking God if I had missed Him with the steps lately (Transparent moment: I'm not a patient person(especially with myself).....God's working to develop that fruit and I've resisted for a long time. I know my steps are ordered by Him and His timetable isn't mine, but there are moments when it takes my head some time to catch up with my heart and to just plain hush). Doubt and insecurity are close cousins, and I've struggled with insecurity longer than I care to admit. (That's a blog for another day). So I woke up from my nap with the story of Peter walking on the water on my heart.....it was all about His focus. He knew who had told him to get out of the boat, but when the feelings of what was going on around him started to overwhelm him, he took his eyes off of where they should have been. Faith is focusing on the One who has called us and is faithful to do it (1 Thess 5:24)....even when we don't feel it.
Monday night I laid awake, trying to sleep, but God was talking...Psalms 46:10 says Be still and know that I'm God. (In other words.....He's got this and is working it all out). Tuesday I pulled out The Circle Maker again and started drawing some circles again. I looked back at the dreams and visions I had written down when I first read the book, the ones that in my mind are all bigger than me, but that means they are the right size for the King of Heaven. You see if my dreams are something I can reach on my own......than I'm not relying on Him. I want to dream crazy dreams that take a crazy faith to accomplish. I've seen what God can do with crazy faith...and even though it scares me (yeah God and I are still working on the control thing..), it's the season God's pouring out. Moments that matter and that make an impact outside of our own hands is what God's calling His children to walk in. It's about knowing the only label is that we are His child and that is enough. (If you know me well enough, you know that's not my strength. I have to stop myself from overanalyzing things and just trust God's ordered my steps before and is doing so now.) I'm a work in progress.....
Today I found my prayer journal from 2004. That year in itself is a blog post, but there were moments written down on those lines of things I had asked of God....with answers on the back. There were moments that took place that year that are a part of my story that only God could orchestrate and write. Looking back over those requests, stirred something up on the inside of me. One of the promises in God's word is that greater things are still to come. If God did what He did then, then why should I doubt the details now? I've seen what God can do and seen Him show up and show out in ways that only He can get the glory from. He's the same today as He was back then and that's enough to make any Jesus girl shout.
If God promised it to you sweet reader, He will bring it to pass. If He's given you the vision for it, write it down and keep circling it. Sometimes we give up just short of the miracle because we are worn and weary. We let the overwhelmed, insecurity, anxious feelings steal our focus. Hear my heart...those moments are going to come. Let's let those feelings though drive us closer to the Healer of the Feelings. Let's let them drive us so close to Him we feel His heartbeat as we lean up against Him. (It's a choice when the feelings hit....and I know it's not easy some days, but it's worth it to press through). I don't know where you are at reading this. Maybe you have been feeling like you have been in the wilderness somewhat, kind of going God I know you are there taking care of things...but I'm ready to see where this is headed. Hang on sweet friend...God has the steps ordered for those dreams and visions He has placed on the inside of you. He doesn't see what others see, or even what you see....and that right there is enough to stir up some peace on the inside. Stay faithful to what He's speaking in and step where He says to step, The Promised Land is closer than you think.
Sunday I laid down for a nap asking God if I had missed Him with the steps lately (Transparent moment: I'm not a patient person(especially with myself).....God's working to develop that fruit and I've resisted for a long time. I know my steps are ordered by Him and His timetable isn't mine, but there are moments when it takes my head some time to catch up with my heart and to just plain hush). Doubt and insecurity are close cousins, and I've struggled with insecurity longer than I care to admit. (That's a blog for another day). So I woke up from my nap with the story of Peter walking on the water on my heart.....it was all about His focus. He knew who had told him to get out of the boat, but when the feelings of what was going on around him started to overwhelm him, he took his eyes off of where they should have been. Faith is focusing on the One who has called us and is faithful to do it (1 Thess 5:24)....even when we don't feel it.
Monday night I laid awake, trying to sleep, but God was talking...Psalms 46:10 says Be still and know that I'm God. (In other words.....He's got this and is working it all out). Tuesday I pulled out The Circle Maker again and started drawing some circles again. I looked back at the dreams and visions I had written down when I first read the book, the ones that in my mind are all bigger than me, but that means they are the right size for the King of Heaven. You see if my dreams are something I can reach on my own......than I'm not relying on Him. I want to dream crazy dreams that take a crazy faith to accomplish. I've seen what God can do with crazy faith...and even though it scares me (yeah God and I are still working on the control thing..), it's the season God's pouring out. Moments that matter and that make an impact outside of our own hands is what God's calling His children to walk in. It's about knowing the only label is that we are His child and that is enough. (If you know me well enough, you know that's not my strength. I have to stop myself from overanalyzing things and just trust God's ordered my steps before and is doing so now.) I'm a work in progress.....
Today I found my prayer journal from 2004. That year in itself is a blog post, but there were moments written down on those lines of things I had asked of God....with answers on the back. There were moments that took place that year that are a part of my story that only God could orchestrate and write. Looking back over those requests, stirred something up on the inside of me. One of the promises in God's word is that greater things are still to come. If God did what He did then, then why should I doubt the details now? I've seen what God can do and seen Him show up and show out in ways that only He can get the glory from. He's the same today as He was back then and that's enough to make any Jesus girl shout.
If God promised it to you sweet reader, He will bring it to pass. If He's given you the vision for it, write it down and keep circling it. Sometimes we give up just short of the miracle because we are worn and weary. We let the overwhelmed, insecurity, anxious feelings steal our focus. Hear my heart...those moments are going to come. Let's let those feelings though drive us closer to the Healer of the Feelings. Let's let them drive us so close to Him we feel His heartbeat as we lean up against Him. (It's a choice when the feelings hit....and I know it's not easy some days, but it's worth it to press through). I don't know where you are at reading this. Maybe you have been feeling like you have been in the wilderness somewhat, kind of going God I know you are there taking care of things...but I'm ready to see where this is headed. Hang on sweet friend...God has the steps ordered for those dreams and visions He has placed on the inside of you. He doesn't see what others see, or even what you see....and that right there is enough to stir up some peace on the inside. Stay faithful to what He's speaking in and step where He says to step, The Promised Land is closer than you think.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
When feet are no longer stuck....
If I wrote this blog before today the title would have probably been, so what do you do when the blahs hit. February was an exhausting month even though it held several moments that made me smile. Worn could have easily been the word for February.....There is a difference between worn and exhaustion. Exhaustion goes away most times after rest. Worn takes time to restore and renew. Worn is one step away from autopilot, from the motions of just pushing through the day. That being said...God can take anything and use it for His purpose...IF we let go of it and give it to Him. If ya'll could have been in my head over the last month, there were some days I walked in fear more than faith. Staying real....I used to tell my Sunday School kids when I taught that fear and faith were antonyms. It's like a light switch, you can't have it on and off at the same time. That's how it is with fear and faith....we can't walk in both at the same time. How many times though do we switch throughout the day or even the week? (Hands raised because I've been there). We get so caught up in the cares of this world that we lose sight of who cares the most. We get so caught up looking ahead that we forget to look inside the moment. We get so caught up noticing the planks that we lose sight that the speck is causing things to become blurry for our own walk.
If you have read any of my posts lately you know I've been in the middle of a process of freedom. I could call it a journey, but this whole walk with Him is a journey. I knew I had one area where freedom was still lacking, one place where I still needed God to do something. Timeout for a second...this had been a matter in my prayer journal for MONTHS! I knew there had to be a change somewhere. You see I've been in places where I've seen God move mountains. I've been in the back of an ambulance and been told to prepare for the worst and then reach the hospital and see God show up and out. I've seen God speak life into situations that the enemy had spoken in something else. I've seen God take the darkest day of my life and work a Romans 8:28 story through it. I've had prayer times with God at home that well only God knew what I was asking because my flesh was out of the way. I've seen God move in meetings where the power of God fell so strong that you didn't want to leave. I knew what God could do because I had seen it.....but yet I still had a grip on an area of my life. I was looking through a blurred lens and the enemy was loving it. I was on the verge of becoming lukewarm because this back and forth was exhausting. Fast forward to the last couple of weeks...some days we get our running shoes ready and God says hang on a minute. He knows our heart and knows that if we are running anywhere it better be towards Him. Nevertheless, the shoes were out, but God was getting through. I'm thankful God knows I'm stubborn, but He also knows how to get me to listen. Twice in the last few weeks, I had heard two different sermons on the same set of scriptures twice. (So four total sermons from different sources, two on one set of scriptures, two on another...) The theme of not quitting when you feel like stopping and obeying even when it doesn't make sense was starting to sink in. It's one thing to hear the word, it's another to do what He's asking you to do it.....
Two weeks ago I was in Nashville at Restoring Hope and it was altar call time. My heart needed my feet to move, my head said no. There was a battle in my head between well me and me. My spirit knew what to do, the rest of me was insecure and full of fear. I looked at my friend next to me and said my feet won't move...to which she replied well you are the only one that can do something about that. That moment a shift took place...and what she said was more prophetic than she knew. The fear of missing out on what God was wanting to do in the moment became stronger than any other fear...and my feet started to move. God showed up and showed out that morning. God had to ingrain something on my heart that morning that would take root. The week after while I was still "stuck" in one area, God sent two words that began to take root...and finally yesterday I got still and said okay I'm listening. Sometimes we have to slow ourselves down after some physical rest and go make it clear God....(Hear my heart if you ask to be able to see it clearly, be prepared for the answer and to then move on it). I wanted to know what had stopped the flow....and God was pretty blunt, it was me. I don't swim in the natural and I was struggling to swim in the spiritual. Stay with me...ya'll know I'm visual. I was almost all the way in the float ready to go wherever the river took me, except for this big toe I had stuck in the sand keeping me grounded to a place where I could float and still touch the water. God wanted me to swim....and He knew at some point with the flow all around me I'd listen. So that was His word yesterday...it was me and my big toe still digging in the sand of control that was holding me back. It didn't have anything to do with anyone else...but me.
I had to let go of control in this last area and trust that He would handle the details. Those things I had been praying for and asking Him for, those desires that I thought He was answering in other places...He wanted to answer them how I asked them, but I had to let go of me first. I had to move when He said move ....and listen when He said listen. There is a blog in itself on that part of the process to come later. I'll say this though, God is faithful and when we can take our eyes off of the distractions of the crowd, we will find the hem of His garment and healing. (and yes feet did move this morning at home and the fear of missing God was stronger than any other fear)
I don't know where you are at today, but I know where God is. If you are a Child of His, He hasn't left your side even if it feels like He's far away. He's been working out details and fighting battles that you didn't even know about so that you could walk in victory. God knows our heart....and there is a peace that only He can usher in when we walk in obedience. There is a healing that can be found when we start to live life simply as who He has called us to be, focused on seeking after Him, and knowing that the rest really will fall into place.
Have an amazing week! More to come later ;-)
If you have read any of my posts lately you know I've been in the middle of a process of freedom. I could call it a journey, but this whole walk with Him is a journey. I knew I had one area where freedom was still lacking, one place where I still needed God to do something. Timeout for a second...this had been a matter in my prayer journal for MONTHS! I knew there had to be a change somewhere. You see I've been in places where I've seen God move mountains. I've been in the back of an ambulance and been told to prepare for the worst and then reach the hospital and see God show up and out. I've seen God speak life into situations that the enemy had spoken in something else. I've seen God take the darkest day of my life and work a Romans 8:28 story through it. I've had prayer times with God at home that well only God knew what I was asking because my flesh was out of the way. I've seen God move in meetings where the power of God fell so strong that you didn't want to leave. I knew what God could do because I had seen it.....but yet I still had a grip on an area of my life. I was looking through a blurred lens and the enemy was loving it. I was on the verge of becoming lukewarm because this back and forth was exhausting. Fast forward to the last couple of weeks...some days we get our running shoes ready and God says hang on a minute. He knows our heart and knows that if we are running anywhere it better be towards Him. Nevertheless, the shoes were out, but God was getting through. I'm thankful God knows I'm stubborn, but He also knows how to get me to listen. Twice in the last few weeks, I had heard two different sermons on the same set of scriptures twice. (So four total sermons from different sources, two on one set of scriptures, two on another...) The theme of not quitting when you feel like stopping and obeying even when it doesn't make sense was starting to sink in. It's one thing to hear the word, it's another to do what He's asking you to do it.....
Two weeks ago I was in Nashville at Restoring Hope and it was altar call time. My heart needed my feet to move, my head said no. There was a battle in my head between well me and me. My spirit knew what to do, the rest of me was insecure and full of fear. I looked at my friend next to me and said my feet won't move...to which she replied well you are the only one that can do something about that. That moment a shift took place...and what she said was more prophetic than she knew. The fear of missing out on what God was wanting to do in the moment became stronger than any other fear...and my feet started to move. God showed up and showed out that morning. God had to ingrain something on my heart that morning that would take root. The week after while I was still "stuck" in one area, God sent two words that began to take root...and finally yesterday I got still and said okay I'm listening. Sometimes we have to slow ourselves down after some physical rest and go make it clear God....(Hear my heart if you ask to be able to see it clearly, be prepared for the answer and to then move on it). I wanted to know what had stopped the flow....and God was pretty blunt, it was me. I don't swim in the natural and I was struggling to swim in the spiritual. Stay with me...ya'll know I'm visual. I was almost all the way in the float ready to go wherever the river took me, except for this big toe I had stuck in the sand keeping me grounded to a place where I could float and still touch the water. God wanted me to swim....and He knew at some point with the flow all around me I'd listen. So that was His word yesterday...it was me and my big toe still digging in the sand of control that was holding me back. It didn't have anything to do with anyone else...but me.
I had to let go of control in this last area and trust that He would handle the details. Those things I had been praying for and asking Him for, those desires that I thought He was answering in other places...He wanted to answer them how I asked them, but I had to let go of me first. I had to move when He said move ....and listen when He said listen. There is a blog in itself on that part of the process to come later. I'll say this though, God is faithful and when we can take our eyes off of the distractions of the crowd, we will find the hem of His garment and healing. (and yes feet did move this morning at home and the fear of missing God was stronger than any other fear)
I don't know where you are at today, but I know where God is. If you are a Child of His, He hasn't left your side even if it feels like He's far away. He's been working out details and fighting battles that you didn't even know about so that you could walk in victory. God knows our heart....and there is a peace that only He can usher in when we walk in obedience. There is a healing that can be found when we start to live life simply as who He has called us to be, focused on seeking after Him, and knowing that the rest really will fall into place.
Have an amazing week! More to come later ;-)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)