He is doing a new thing!

There are times in your life where God is moving in big ways but you don't always recognize it at the time. Then there are times where He gives you an inkling. I feel as if I am in one of those times right now. I can see the LORD moving in me and my life... stirring up things, good things, God things, change. As if a fresh wind is blowing through and pushing out the old stale air and new life is breathed in. Revival, refreshment, challenge, change and in it all His plan and purpose is for me to thrive, to glorify Him.

I am not saying all this is easy. There have been hard moments in this season, in fact I am still walking through something, but I KNOW, I TRUST - GOD has got this! He has me and He does work all things together for good... He does! Believe it, not just for me but for you. There is a purpose for your life and it is completely tied up in Him. You are part of something bigger, you are part of His grand, awesome story!!! Exciting, isn't it! And in it all I desire to be fully His, to be faithful, trusting and loving Him with all I got! I don't want to complacently walk through this life, I want to really live it. And that is what I feel He is doing... bringing me lovingly to the end of myself. The end of my selfishness, my pride and showing me a better way. Helping me to hunger more for Him, for kingdom things, helping me to love others, and to seize the day He has given me. To not just exist in it but to thrive! To seek out and seize every opportunity He has for me in each new day and to trust Him that He is enough! He is enough, for me, for you - for all we need, for every circumstance, for every pain. He will see us through, even more He is our strength! He fights for us and He is victorious, and so are we in Christ Jesus! Praise Him!

Have you read through Romans 8 lately? If not, and even if you have go back to it and meditate on it! Man is it loaded with some good stuff! Promises, truth, life! My prayer for you is that whatever you are encountering right now that you will believe God and trust Him. Trust Him to be enough for you. Wait on Him and cling to His promises and above all keep your eyes, your heart laser focused on Him! If you do that - wow! Our God is incredible and there is NOTING He can not do!!!

I am not who I was - praise Him! And I am not who I am going to be, but He is in me, He is working and I am more! And He is more than enough! Blessings!

Riding out the storms

Earlier, there came a sudden storm.  The wind was blowing & some rain was splattering about and I felt God was speaking to me through it.  There is no storm now.  It is as if God whipped up one to teach me something and then once I got the gist of it the storm stopped.  However, He kept right on showing me things... and I just kept writing it all down. And at the end the tug came on my heart to write it out for you here. 

First off let me ask - when the storms of life hit you, where do you seek shelter?  Are you already sheltered under His wings or are you running in the opposite direction hoping you can ride this one out on your own?

I love storms... that was my first thought strange as it may seem but I do.  There is something about sitting safe and sheltered inside and watching a storm (rain, snow, wind, whatever it may be) raging outside.  Storms can be beautiful and tragic.  But what came to my heart was the beauty of watching a storm while safe & secure, with peace & calm surrounding and filling me.  It is a poetic example of our spiritual life in and apart from God.  With God we are sheltered under His wings, safe, secure, at peace, calm in the midst of a storm raging around us.  Whatever those storms may be (uncertainty, loss, confusion, etc.).  Whatever comes against us we are sheltered, shielded, safe and surrounded by Him who loves us, who is faithful, sure, true, strong - Mighty is my God to save!

Now without Him, you are out in the storm... needless to say let your imagination run with what all that means.  It brings to mind the story of Jonah who instead of obeying God ran in the opposite direction and well a big storm came a brewing!  (Just read through Jonah ch. 1-2).  It is amazing to me that even when we have deliberately disobeyed Him, He still will look after us.  Yes, there may be consequences - being thrown over board into a raging storm, that suddenly stops and being caught safe in the belly of a fish.  Um consequence - your in a fishes belly surrounded by stomach acid, stink and ... ugh!  But you are still alive and once repentant and willing to obey you are spit up safely on land back where you need to be to get going in the right direction!  How awesome is our God! 

It also brings to mind other stories of storms raging & Jesus calming them.  Check out Matt. 8:23-27, 14:23-33. It even reminded me of Elijah when all the "storms" came by but God was not in them... He was in the gentle blowing. (1 Kings 19)  God made sure Elijah was cared for, He came and spoke to Him and told Him what to do... He provided.  God is near, are you listening expectantly?  Do you believe He cares about you and will take care of you? In Christ we are His beloved, cherished, the apple of His eye... How amazing is His love!  How great is His faithfulness!  How tenderly He deals with us... we who are not deserving are chosen, blessed, redeemed, forgiven, adopted, accepted and continually being transformed to be more like Christ Jesus! Amazing! Inspiring!

But will this do more? Will it... Not only amaze and inspire you but also provoke you to action?! To love? To faithfulness? To obedience? To not stand still in complacency? Will it get you moving, going forward to walk with Him, follow Him, obey Him?!  There is so much more - are you ready?!  Can YOU wait EXPECTANTLY on Him?  Will YOU CHOOSE TO OBEY?  When all is said and done and you leave this earth what will be said of you? What will be remembered? What is your legacy?  Where did you invest your heart, time and giving...?  Was it in the eternal, the lasting? Was it in doing Kingdom living? Was it for Him? Loving and serving others? I am not by any means where I would like to be or think I have attained it... oh no, but God is working on me!  And what I cannot do, what you cannot do on your own - we have a God who can!  He can do anything! And we can do anything through Christ who strengthens us!

Jesus - God made flesh, came to earth - amazing in itself is that fact, but even more He came for us! To serve us. He lived for us. He came to teach us, to save us, to heal us, to help us, to redeem/ransom us.  He literally gave His life while living and in death and in rising again to life for us.  What is my response to that?  How will I live? Love? Serve?  Where is my treasure?  Is my greatest treasure Him or in earthly things?  I know and you should know that He is our greatest treasure!  Will I, will you - choose Him? My portion and inheritance - all I ever want and need... all you could ever want and need too!

He who paid so great a price to ransom us all - to call us His children, His beloved, to take away our sin and make us pure, holy and right before God.  In Christ we are a royal priesthood, given power and authority to bind up the enemy, to tear down strongholds, to fight the good fight (that is not against flesh and blood), to stand firm and be equipped with every offensive and defensive weapon and shield we need - we are victorious!!!  We can be strong and courageous because God is for us, so therefore who can stand against us!  Certainly not the defeated enemy... Think about it!  Believe it and live it out!  Through Him we can do the impossible because we are not doing it, He is!  We are partnered with Him and a vessel used to do the miraculous!  What is more, He does the miraculous in us... making us a new creation in Christ Jesus... free from sins hold and alive, victorious - free! Wow!  How much better can it get!

In this world let me not cling to old ways, thoughts or be held back from full out victorious, abundant living!  Not because I can do it but because He who is in me is greater & HE CAN!  Let's do it - no holding back, but holding on to Him as we take the most exciting and wildest, most wonderful ride of our lives!  And the thing we cannot even imagine or fathom is there is soooo much more ahead.  When we see Him face to face, when we are with Him in His kingdom - everything we now know or see pales in comparison!  Are you ready - grab on and hold on tight to Him, cling to the Rock and follow Him for the greatest adventure and more to come!  To His glory and for His name and His purpose and plan and Kingdom...  Come Lord Jesus, come!

Reign in Me

My Savior, My God – desperately do I need you… always. You are my Strength and all that is good within me … Desperately, continually I need you.


When I think I am doing good; I have things under control… I am so wrong. That is my pride talking because I am not in control… I cannot work all things out for good… only God can. It is God at work in me that brings forth the good. When I abide it is the fountain over flowing and when I try in my own strength I am drained and dry. Maybe I am speaking to you right now or maybe you have no idea what I am talking about…?

Recently, I have been diving back into the Book of Romans … and today really what I want share with you is from Rom. 7 and 5. If you can take a few minutes to read them for yourself before continuing on… I will include some excerpts below for you.

4 Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. Romans 7:4-6 (NASB)

Have you died to the Law? Things to think about … Am I living for the Law or for God? Am I under the Law or under Grace? Where is my heart here… Am I striving for perfectionism, being legalistic, seeking my own glory? OR is my life, my passion about love – about God, for His glory?

Verse 6 says serve in the newness of the Spirit not in oldness of the letter…. What does that mean to you?! The law does not deliver you, it does not save you…It shows you your need for God, your sin. It is in Christ we are saved, redeemed… it is the Spirit who gives us a new and divine nature… the Spirit that enables us to overcome, to persevere. The Spirit that frees us from sins hold and from death. Freedom from the law does not mean we are free to sin; freedom from the law instead frees us to truly serve. Freedom to experience grace and to show it to others… To know love and to give love… Serve in newness of the Spirit is what will happen; it is fruit that will be born from a redeemed life. A redeemed life is Spirit filled and led and thus it will say “Yes” and be in agreement with the Law. You will see a life that is the spirit of the Law, one that seeks the best – the utmost. Not out of legalism and condemnation but of love, truth and righteousness … desiring that others know and experience that which can only be found in Christ.

Have you read Romans 7:15 18-19, 21-25 … If you have that is me! That is my struggle… especially when I am trying to live rightly for God in my own strength… I can’t do it. I need God! When I abide and live according to the Spirit the LORD is my Strength and my guide and places my foot upon the right path. I am free and at peace, I do not fear… For I know who I am (Rom. 8:15-17).

So that brings me to my choice – today when I wake and tomorrow and the day after that… will I awake and say LORD reign in me today, have Your way?! That is my hope and my prayer and my choice that Christ will reign in me. May my life show that Christ reigns and I am living victoriously. Am I living as if I am defeated? If so arise, that is a lie of the Enemy for we are victorious through Christ Jesus who has given us the Holy Spirit. We have been set free… We are now conquerors… We are a Royal Priesthood… We are heirs… Stand up, Stand in the gap and remember we are called to pray! Remember that you are a warrior of the Most High and put on your full armor (Eph. 6:10-18) and take up your offensive weapons which is the Sword (The Word of God) and prayer! It is power!!! It is like dynamite to the enemy when you pray and pray speaking the Word, promises of God… The Enemy trembles and the heavens rejoice! I encourage you and myself today to reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ!

17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. Romans 5:17 (NASB)

Who I am ... In Christ

A few thoughts ...

LORD, who am I that You should love me; that You should care? Who am I that you would save me...? I am Your creation - You knew me before the foundations of the world - You knew me in my mother's womb and brought me forth safely.

You created me with a purpose... I am unique and created in Your image. I am a child of God, bought with a price (the blood of the Lamb of God, my Lord & Savior - Jesus Christ). Through You I am loved, blessed, chosen, adopted, accepted, redeemed, forgiven... I am part of Your royal priesthood, made pure, blameless, a bride. I am gifted, filled with Your Spirit - my body is your Temple - a dwelling place of the LORD God Most High!

O LORD great is Your mercy, love and faithfulness! I am not worthy of You, of any of this... Yet You call me Yours, You know my name. You love me! There is no greater love than Yours. There is no greater treasure than You - to know You, to love You, to serve You - my LORD, my God, my King. I rejoice in You, in Your love forever! Amen.

Thank you Jesus!

Thoughts after reading Psalm 77:19-20:

At the Red Sea's parting God's footprints may not have been visible but He was there! He was there leading His people like a Shepherd leads a flock. God was there - He is here now - He surrounds us, protects us, saves us, delivers us, redeems us, leads us in the righteous path... He leads us to our glorious inheritance in Christ Jesus!

Blessed, blessed are we to be called His! Praise Him!

Victorious!

Last night before I went to be I felt led to read out of Ps. 32... Verses 7-8 stood out to me and I wanted to share my thoughts on it with you.

For you are my hiding place;

you protect me from trouble.

You surround me with songs of victory.

The LORD says, "I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.

I will advice you and watch over you."

Psalm 32:7-8 (NLT)

When I read verse 7, Col. 3:3 immediately came to my mind.

"For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God."

Col. 3:3

It also reminded me of the victory we have in Christ:

"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

1 Cor. 15:57

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us."

Romans 8:37

"for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."

1 John 5:4-5

First let me encourage you to look up these verses and read them all in context... there is so much more to all this than what I have time to say right now... But in the simplest way - these thoughts, these words brought me peace, hope, and a joy beyond my understanding. I am hidden with Christ in God, the LORD is my hiding place!!! He protects me and in the NIV v. 7 says he protects me from trouble and surrounds me with songs of deliverance! NASB says God preserves me from trouble and again says deliverance. God delivers, God saves, God gives us victory!!! Oh, let that sink in!

In Christ we are more than conquerors! We are victorious!!! Victorious over death, victorious because there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus! We can overcome the world! Victory! Victorious - shout it out, let it sink in deep into your heart & mind & spirit... We are free - we are loved - we are safe - we are secure - we are protected - we are victorious in Christ Jesus!!! Oh how sweet is that! Again, I say let that truth penetrate deep into your heart!

And lest I forget v. 8 - He will guide us along the best pathway for our lives, He will advice us and watch over us. What have we to fear?! Oh, blessed, blessed are we! Open your ears to hear and your eyes to see... abide & let the Spirit led you & advice you. He will show you the best way!

My prayer for you & I today comes from Phil. 1:9-11.

How great and awesome is our mighty God! He who saves! He is the Eternal, Everlasting God - full of mercy and a love so great we can not even fathom it! Seek Him, know Him and love Him more and more every day!

To Him be the praise and the glory forever! Amen!