Part of Me

"I know that no matter where life takes me to, a part of me will always be with you."

-S Club 7

This song came on the readio the other day. I am slightly ashamed to admit that I listened to the whole thing... and even more ashamed that I knew every single word. For some reason, as I was belting out the chorus, something struck me. I realized that one of the reasons I am not experiencing complete victory in my life is because I am allowing parts of me to be with things that are in my past. God says this:

"Commit yourself to the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart."

-Psalm 37:4

My past is the fuel that keeps on the emotional, manipulative, controlling and fearful war path. I call it a war path because that is exactly what it is: destructive. If I want to see the physical manifestations of the desires of my heart, I cannot leave parts of myself anywhere except in the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.

My past may have held me back for awhile, but not anymore. I am picking up the pieces and moving forward. I am so thankful that my present and my future are securely wrapped in God's incredible favor, blessing, and love.

No Lack

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

1 Corinthians 2:12

Sometimes it is hard to receive things, isn't it? It is even harder to receive them when they are unearned. God wants us to have "Prodigal Son Home-Comings" every single day. He wants to shower us with an abundance of everything we lack when we do not deserve it.

Do you need to be forgiven? He died for you to be free from the bondage of sin and the law. Do you lack finances? He wants to make you prosperous. (Philippians 4:19) Do you lack health? He wants to restore your body. (1 Peter 2:24) Do you need wisdom, peace, self control, and joy? He offers them.

We must stop coming to him through begging, pleading and self-centeredness. He does not want His children to lack anything. Through the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ - we have everything. He is waiting for us to FREELY accept these gifts. If you are trying to obtain these things through the spirit of the world, you will probably get what you want, but it sure won't be free. It will cost you something... maybe everything.

Be Bold

Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16

I really struggle with approaching God during times of need. These times usually mean I have acted in the flesh. (When you are walking in the Spirit, you are not led to a place of need.) Guilt and condemnation keep me in my frustrating situation and exhaustion escalates as I try to use logic and human reasoning to figure everything out. Sound familiar to anyone?

These cycles of defeat do not cultivate boldness.

This verse promises grace and mercy - both are completely undeserved. Our relationship with God cannot depend on our own performance. It is not about us. I am tired of the defeat. It's time for some victory.

I am going to start approaching grace boldly. Who's with me?

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

The LORD leads us to beautiful places - green pastures, quiet waters, and paths of righteousness. We walk ourselves into the valley of the shadow of death. When we put our faith in our circumstances, our emotions, or the advice and example of others we become frustrated. Then, we want to blame God.

God is not in control. Not everything happens for a reason. God does not want us in the valley... broken... confused... frustrated... defeated. He desires for us to be restored beside the quiet waters. The most comforting part is that God is with us even when we are not where He wants us to be. When we do not let Him lead, He follows us... gently loving us out of the valley... reminding us of His promises... showing us that Jesus lived and died for us to be in the beautiful places.

What an awesome, faithful God.

Settlement

"Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord." - Psalm 27:14

Awesome things are happening.

Anthony went to settlement on our lot Monday afternoon. I cannot tell you how thankful I was to be sitting at the table in that attorney's office. We went out there yesterday just to admire what God has done. When I stare out over that land all I see is health, prosperity, a strong marriage and beautiful children. Those two acres of land represent God's faithfulness to me. They represent freedom and sacrifice. Anthony is awesome. He is one of the greatest blessings of my life. We love each other and patiently anticipate our future together.

This spring was the start of a new life for me. I walked away from dreams and plans I have been holding onto for years. It is amazing to see how much I have come alive since I learned to face my fears. I know my God. I am content in the Lord and confident in His leading.

I let Him lift me out of some deep, dark pits this year... and the sunlight up here is breathtaking.

Freedom of Choice

It took me two days to take the McCain/Palin sign down from out front yard.  Everyone keeps saying, "God is in control."  If that is the case, why did my stomach move into my throat when I read, "President Elect Obama" on Fox News later that evening?  God just gave me the answer:

 "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does."  James 1:22-25

I was looking for the next President to get us out of some of the messes we are in.  I was looking for a change... for hope... for protection and security.  I was forgetting that those things do not come from government.  They come from Jesus Christ.  Forget what Fox News is saying.  Forget about the parties liberals are throwing and forget about the hatred being flung around by conservatives.  Look at what GOD says.  He is saying that if you put him on the throne of your life, you will be blessed.   God is not in control.   We cannot accept this mantra made popular by a Christian song artist.  We have more responsibility than we want to admit.  Each one of us must acknowledge God as the Lord of our lives.  As Joshua 29:15  says, "Choose for yourselves this day who you will serve." 

So in contrast to lots of things I have posted in the past, you will not hear one word of hatred or disgust toward President Elect Obama from me in the future.  I will be in submission to Romans 13... not for the sake of the governing authority but for the sake of serving God.  

So taking down those yards signs today was much easier than I thought.  I trust in His sovereignty more than I trust in the White House.  I trust in his promises more than I trust in tax plans, foreign policy, and solutions to the housing crisis.  I trust Him.  

After all, does any politician you know have a track record you can trust more than His? 

As Full as You Want to Be

Right now, you are as full of God as you're believing to be. He doesn't determine how full of love, joy and peace you are; you do! God is always willing for every single person to be healed, delivered and prosperous. It's never the Lord who's not moving in your life; it's you who aren't receiving from Him. Therefore, I want to encourage you in how to receive.

Wherever you are right now, there are television signals around you. You may not be able to perceive them, but they are there. If you plugged in, turned on and tuned in a television set, you could perceive the signal. However, when you turn on the receiver and experience the sight and sound of the picture, this isn't when the broadcast began; it's just when you started receiving it.

That's the way it is with the Lord. God is healing every person who ever needs to be healed. He's giving love, joy and peace to you constantly. The transmitters of heaven are beaming twenty-four hours a day, every day of the week. God is never the one who's not blessing you; you're the one who has either turned off or are not tuned in!

I'm for revival, but the way most people are seeking it isn't the way it's going to happen. Praying, "Oh God, send revival!" and believing that it's up to Him how much of it we experience, is wrong. It's not God's fault that there's isn't more of an outpouring of His power and Spirit in our land. He hasn't stopped pouring out the Holy Spirit upon believers since the day of Pentecost!

We just aren't very good receivers. We're the ones who are short-circuiting God's power and blessing in our lives. The Lord wants massive worldwide revival. He wants everyone to receive salvation. But since we aren't turned on and tuned in to Him, we aren't receiving as we should.

- "Staying Full of God" by Andrew Wommack.