Moments Along the Journey
Devotions, Bible Study notes, conversations between God and I, and sometimes just a from the heart blog or bust post
Monday, April 15, 2024
Where is your seed falling?
Sunday, February 25, 2024
"There ain't nothing sweeter than to watch you make a way"
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Back at it...
Sunday, February 28, 2021
When God connects some of the dots.....
Sunday, February 21, 2021
Stir it Up
When you have seen God move, when you have spent that time in His presence....there are moments when you have to stir it up again to keep moving forward. When the enemy is pressing against you and screaming thoughts that you know don't line up with truth, sometimes you have to stir it up. If you are still reading at this point and are like what in the world is she talking about? There are times when you have to encourage yourself and stir up what you know is on the inside of you. I like to say "faith it till you make it". No not fake it, but faith it. Faith doesn't mean you can see where you are headed or even how it's going to turn out, but you take the steps knowing He's already covered the details and gone before you.
Don't wait until you hear the taunts of your Goliath to start stirring it up. Keep it stirred up daily because the times we live in require it honestly. You won't feel like it at times, but you are called for such a time as this. You don't know who is watching that needs to see you continuing on even when hurt should have paralyzed you. You don't know who needs to see you fight through because they will one day have to fight themselves. Apart from Him, we can't do anything, seriously.....if it weren't for His drive and function....we would walk around aimlessly shooting at things that we aren't supposed to aim at.
It's nearing the one-year mark of a lot of things 2020 threw my way and I'm planning on writing out A LOT of blogs, not because I have anything to offer, but because we overcome by the word and our testimony. I've been leading a small group called The Space between the Mess and the Message and I feel like God is leading me to write about some of that in a couple of blogs as well. Not that I have anything too special to share, but it's just what I've learned over this past year on how to fight and testify.
Have those scriptures that you stand on, those songs that take you to that place in Him ready for when you need to stir it up. It's taking the armor of God to a different level, but it's tangible and powerful. I have a playlist that I make each year for songs that take me to that place.
Finish February out strong and press into purpose this week sweet readers! I started writing the outline of a book last year and this week God gave me a timeline on it....so here's to focusing and getting that finished before 40.
Friday, February 19, 2021
"You are close like no other"
We've had a snow week and it was a much-needed break from the pressures that seem to accompany this time of the year. I wish I could tell you I'm all caught up with everything I was behind on when this week started, but I'm not. I am however rested and filled up in a way that I needed. Time alone and with really no place to go or schedule to fill allowed for lots of God discussions. God's been waiting to connect some dots for me, but He was waiting on me to get still enough to hear Him. There is a different level of listening that's required to hear some of those deep things, those things we have been seeking after and going after in His presence. Don't get me wrong, some days God and I have a good discussion in the shower, driving places, or just in quick moments here and there. There is something about the uninterrupted time in His presence that takes it to another level.
I've had lots of time to reflect this week and am still humbled and in awe of just how much God has moved over the last 11 months. I can't believe it as I type this, it's almost been a year. Most people are talking about it's been a year battling COVID, for me this year has held a different kind of journey (mixed in with the COVID mess for sure). Some days my feelings want to question how and why things went the way they did, but then I catch a glimpse from His perspective and I'm humbled and in awe of how things went the way they did. He truly went before me and covered each step of the way (and still is).
The lyrics of this song are powerful...."all my life you've been faithful.." "You've led me through the fire, you are close like no other". I can see so much parallel to the last 11 months in this song. Sometimes we don't understand the rain when it comes because we have lost sight of the seed we have in the ground. That whole revelation is probably a blog in itself to come later. 2020 offered a lot of rain and 2021 has started with rain for so many as well....but without the rain, the seed wouldn't have an opportunity to take root and grow. Keep perspective....I know it's not easy, trust there are still moments when I have to have a pep talk with myself and stir up the faith that I know is on the inside of me. Don't let the pressures of normal cause you to lose sight of what God is doing in you (and anticipate what He is setting up to do through you!)
Wednesday, February 10, 2021
Walking out the healing process.....
I know it's been a month since my first blog, but ya'll January was a wild time to be a teacher. Anyway, there have been lots of notes in my journals over this 2021 time period, but God's just now connecting some things for a blog post. (He's probably been connecting for a while, but I'm seeing it finally).
This has the possibility to be a real and raw post.....I'm one month away from an anniversary day. I have three of them in my life now, but this one stands out a little different. For this one I finally learned how to fight, how to stand, and more importantly how to trust that He had already gone before me to prepare each and every detail. If you are new to the blog, take a look at some of my posts from April on last year.
Yesterday I had a procedure in the process, the last one from what I'm being told. During this procedure, a lot of things started coming together. Sometimes God gives us our healing instantly or suddenly, and sometimes it's a process. It's also our responsibility to steward that healing well. In other words, take care of what God has done in you so He can do more through you. That's a blog for another day.....but yesterday I started thinking. The procedure yesterday wasn't one I had to do, and honestly, I almost talked myself out of it more than once. Yesterday though I saw God bringing things full circle. You see during 21 days I had asked Him for eyes to see as He sees. There are days when all I see our scars when I look in the mirror, and a couple of weeks ago as I was putting vitamin E on them God whispered so sweetly oil for the scars. Stay with me....sometimes things in the natural reflect things in the spiritual. We all have scars, life happens, people hurt us, they let us down, circumstances overwhelm us, the path that was supposed to go right all of a sudden seems to take you left. These moments happen and oftentimes they leave a wound in their place. In time that wound heals, but the scars are still left.......oh but there is oil to help those scars fade. You see over time, vitamin E oil helps scars fade away in the natural.....and over time oil from the Father's flow can help scars on the inside heal as well. It takes time though...We have to stay the course, walk in obedience, and not lose sight that the One who called us is Faithful and He will do it!
I know it's not easy to walk in discipline, but just as we steward our money....I think 2020 has taught us all to steward our time as well. Let's not get caught up in wishing we were back in Egypt when the Jordan River stands before us. Let's not take a glance backward and see what we left behind....all the time risking being a pillar of salt. The plow we've been called to put our hands on doesn't work in reverse. I felt like Jacob last night wrestling with God on some of this, but I was determined not to leave without a word....a connection of some of those pieces that I so desperately needed to see movement on.
I'm determined more than ever to stay faithful to walk in what He's called me to do...
More blogs are coming, I promise (and I know I say that every time...lol)
By the way, if you haven't heard the podcast episode that posted last month on Sarah Johson's In Awe Series, check it out here: http://inawetorise.com/2021/01/episode-106-in-awe-of-melissa-mann-overcomer-series/