Waking Up To Praise and Promises

Life around me has had me turning inside out recently where I'm even unusually haunted in my sleep.

Something precious is happening though the past few mornings.
Before I even open my eyes, there's a verse of a song on my heart loop playing. I'm calmly awakened by it and then I realize it's a song. There's nothing playing in the background and they're not songs I heard before falling asleep.

Maybe it's God singing over me....or is it me, in my most open and unhindered state, praising Him.


Either way, what a sweet way to surrender and wake up.


Father, you are soo good to me.






John 14:27  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

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God, You Can Steal My Show. Yes!

"So I'll step out the way.

I'll give you center stage. 

Need you to steal my show. 

Can't wait to watch you go."

I just absolutely LOVE this song.

Our lives are a show as well. A show of God and His truths to those around us. We were created to testify, 

but we have the choice of what we testify. Some may havea  problem with giving over control, 

but it's spoken that we must choose a side whether by decision or undecision. There's nothing wrong with being a puppet folks. :)

The issue is whose puppet are you?

Father God, it's all yours. What we really need is you. you've freed and filled us to overflowing!

I want my life's spotlight to be on you. It's is soo pleasing to me. ♥ ! ♥

God, You're Beautiful.

It all breathes you. It lives as we live. All your creation knows you, God. 

From the heavens to the waters, from that which thrives off the land to that which seeks and chooses you.

Your loving mysteries abound

gift wrapped just for us 

through your word

and from all that was formed by your hands. 

It all proclaims you 

 though words

or through sunsets

through heads bowed

or through sunrises

through upraised hands

 or through even the beauty in the storms. 

In the rebirths, in the deaths, in the ever flowing rivers

and winds whispering your name.

It all knows you. 

We Are God's Advocates To All

I awoke to a dagger to my heart, but I chose... I struggled, but chose to turn to God and let Him take it out. Had I struggled with it in my own way, I would have caused more damage. With each loving stitch I felt, I was reminded of the scar tissue already there. Not as haunting memories, but of God's faithfulness and His love soo deep. He wrapped me in His arms and reminded me who I was in His eyes. I handed over the pain and said "please take this. I'm trusting you with this. Now what do I do."


*tears*

Through God's overflow in me, He said

Forgive.
and Love
because I love them..... like I love you.
Pray for them...... not against them.
Be my advocate.
Now .... I'm trusting you with this.



Father, thank you for trusting me with the opportunity to cover a soul for you. It's not about me. I know. Thank you.

You are soo good to me and you bless me and yes, I am very much yours. Your Will is what I desire.

My Prayer For You Now

You're still seeking happiness, self vindication, but you'll never find it in the anger you hold onto so proudly. Even if I had chosen a different path by joining yours, you still would not have been satisfied. Your spirit must be so weary from a lifetime of trying to find a place to lay the burden on. The burden of being completely accepted. The weight of trying to mold your own path. The strain that you feel the need to take - in order to gain. There's only one rock that can take the complete wieght of your pain. Not only hold it off your shoulders, but transform it for your good. That rock is God. Your value lies in Him - Not your parents, not your significant others. You will never be satisfied through people. Until you realize this, you will continue to close yourself off and destroy anything in your path - even those that try to help. You were so broken before I came into the picture. I wasn't your problem. I just became a part of the problem. I'm soo sorry that I was too broken myself to help guide you to God our healer. There's hope though. Only one hope, and that's in a God that loves you unconditionally yesterday and tomorrow. So, keep shooting your arrows at me. Yes, they make me stagger for a second still even today. Today, though, I choose to stand and face you and allow you to shoot however more you need to release till you're exhausted. I'm just praying even harder now and my prayers WILL come into fruitation. Prayers for your soul in eternity. In Jesus name, because I'm not not praying against you anymore, but for you.



Arrows from old love,
how they hit so devastatingly.
Once binded to me by you,
Now seeks to destroy me.


Father stop this bleeding.
Block them at the gates.
Shield my heart.
Break this soul tie’s hate.


It’s binding was broken long ago.
But I am yours alone, Father.
You alone have access to me.
None other.


Where I fail and can no longer give,
You will finish in him.
Take hold of your wounded creation
And draw him to you.


God, have mercy on him.
Poison eats at his core still.
His eternity is at stake.
Establish, in him, your will.




 

You Were No Mistake

You are soo beautiful.

You were created with loving hands. 
He smiled through tears of joy as He dreamed of you
and how you could love Him out of a willing heart.
A love for Him unique only to you.

He spoke words of destiny into and over you.
He whispered your name as he quietly sang His song over you
telling you what His plans for you are.
Everything about you was thought out.

He gave you a name that you would one day hear after some time -
A draw to Him that would be familiar to you.
You were defined before you were in your mother's womb, and no one
has the ability to take that from you unless you give it to them.
They will try,
but don't you take heart to it.

God makes no mistakes
and He makes everything perfect and He makes everything for a purpose.
It's no mistake that you're here
and my my
you are soo loved.

Confidence In God Isn't Shaking In Your Boots. Speak To That Mountain and Tell It To Move.

Confidence in God isn't knowing how to avoid a fearful situation.

Confidence in God isn't standing up to fear while crossing your fingers with high hopes and closing your eyes like you expect to be blindsided.

I've decided today to not tiptoe around fear aka these "mountains" anymore. Instead, I've decided to speak to these mountains and tell them to MOVE, in Jesus name. I'm going to stand tall with my eyes wide open because my God is soo much bigger than what's in front of me.

We are not going to hope that it will turn out alright.
We are not going to beg that it will turn out ok.
This mountain WILL move because God said we could tell it to move.

We already know how this story ends! and it's NOT for our doom. We are going to be humble and confident in knowing that God's path for us continues on the other side of this. We're going to walk in faith towards God's plans even now because we believe in Him that much. God's good for us was already planned and in motion before we heard Him speak to our hearts for the first time. So we are going to walk right up to fear and speak God's authority to it without hesitation or grimacing and tell it to get out of our way. We are not going to hope God will come through for us. He already has. It's done. There's nothing to question. Our God doesn't need to avoid, tiptoe around, hide, nor run and neither will we, His obedient children. Amen

Prayer For Restoration In A Person/Relationship

Father God, we hold onto your promise that you will restore us as the church and as individuals as well and also the relationships we are involved in. 

What you have joined together and created is YOURS. 
What we have committed to you is YOURS.  
What we submit to you is YOURS.  
We are YOURS because YOU created us.  

Those of us who have returned, use us to strengthen the weak.  We will be obedient and not care what attacks us.  We will not focus on who attakcs us.  We will not hand over our energy to the enemy.  It's all just outward attacks because the enemy ultimately has NO authority over what is yours, God.  Be our shield physically and emotionally.  

Those who are lost or running, draw them to you.  Your plans are irrevocable.  You are a jealous God for our hearts! and we pray in agreement as you go after the lost ones running from you, from themselves, and from their families.  We pray loving conviction and protection over them.  In the meanwhile, we that are stronger will not join the world in condemning them. We will not tear down what you once built up.  We will have faith and prepare for healing and restoration in them before we see it.  We will praise you in the rain.  Draw your prodigal son/daughter to you, God.  Soften their hearts, Lord. Reveal yourself to them.  Give us the strength to pray continuously for them in word, in song, in prayer, and in thought. 

God, YOUR WILL be done adn NONE OTHER. Amen

When There Seems To Be No Hope, What Would You Do?

"I believe in the sun, even when it's not shining. I believe in love, even when I don't feel it.  I believe in God, even when He is silent."

These were the words found on a wall inside a concentration camp, after the war. This story is the inspiration for this song by the BarlowGirls.  In the dark, when all hope seems lost, do we shake our "fists at God, or do we write words of faith on the walls" surrounding us...

No matter the outcome here on Earth, God, your glory awaiting us is worth our last strength here.  Powerful and soo humbling. Father god, there's so much more to all this than us and these daily things we call "struggles".  In the grand scheme of things, we are still so blessed even on our worse days. Help us to really embrace you at all times.  Help us to see the deep faith out there that is possible to have given to us by example by those soo unshakable and devoted to you.

The Vision Never Left

Philipians 1:6   ...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.


1 Thessalonians 5:24    Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.



Romans 11:29    For God's gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.



The only thing that would stop these promises is if you absolutely refused to want them.

So if you're trying, keep trying. The dream, the desire, the hopes, the vision of you being a key person in God's kingdom and feeling the fulfillment of who you were meant to be...they're not gone. They weren't missed. They weren't taken away. They just need to be picked back up. God had plans for you before you were even born and it doesn't matter if you've never really sought Him before. If you are now for the first time, it's still something that was already in motion. You're on track if you're seeking. Praise God! ♥Praise God! God, you are wonderful!  <3

When There's Nowhere To Look But Up

There's someone on my heart this morning and it has me thinking about the dark pit it seems they are just starting to wake up to. Having been "there" before myself, I'm trying to find the right words that can give actual hope. The only lasting and true hope is through God, but if anything might help it's this. This is also for anyone that can relate to this.

If I can think of one truth from my own experience that is worth sharing, it's this:

I know there's nothing anyone can say that would truly ease this pain and diminish that gut feeling of not knowing what's ahead, but this I promise... Hold onto to this God you've heard about your whole life. Jehova God. Even if you don't have a clue how "all this works" (faith and life with God), just a mustard seed of faith is all He needs to start showing you. God loves you, and He sees you right now. He's ready if you are. Sweetheart, this darkness you're in that feels like the end of the world, is really just the beginning of something new in you. ♥ This dark around you is not because everything seems to be gone but rather it's a clean slate..a new beginning. It's a moment for you to build the foundation of you on the right stuff this time around. If you're praying or hoping for something around you to drastically change, allow God to first change and renew the person that has access to this situation...you.

Drawing Close To God

The easiest way to discern if something is a counterfeit is to know what the real thing looks like. The better you know the Lord, the less likely you are to be fooled by someone or something falsely representing him.// Pastor Duane Vander Klok

So true. And this brings to mind the whole process of getting to know the "real thing". I've thought on this soo many times in my life - frustrated over and over again wondering how we are to discern things, how to know what examples to leave- how to "get to know God".

In the past, I'd give up repeatedly using a pathetic excuse of "if they want me to understand, it should be easier to understand". I'd flip the bible open, but then close it just as quickly. I wanted something instant with no effort on my part. Mind you, we don't earn salvation, but building a relationship follows and building any kind of relationship takes some work. You have to put some effort into it and go into it with a sincere mindset and a positive expectation. Get into the word truly expecting, by faith, that you're going to get something out of it. Even if you don't understand it, read it, speak it, and claim it. You'll be surprised at how the confirmations start coming and how complex things become simple.

 I've learned that it's not by my own understanding that I will become closer to God. If that were true, then the ability to get to know God would be limited and different for each person. That's not what is promised to us though. It's by our true desire and blind step of faith that God reaches out and draws you to Him. It's about your heart!  Where is your heart at when you begin to seek? Are you doubting before you've even started? Are you skeptical? You'll get out of it what you put into it. Go in with your heart ready. If not by choice, than by circumstance: you will eventually find yourself on your knees with no other place to look. 

There's no better way to understand a book than to get to know and understand the author. Seek Him first, and all the rest will be given to you. Allow an actual relationship with God to develop - and you'll know what isn't of him, and you'll want nothing but Him. ♥ If all you know to say and can understand to say tonight is "Father, I want to know you. Show yourself to me", than you've said it all.

Are You Stewarding Well What You Have Right Now?

Sometimes it's not that extra blessings aren't available to you, but rather God is waiting for us to show ourselves good stewards with what we already have right now on our own.

He's not teasing us by holding back. God's pulling for us wanting us to be in the right mindset so He can start pouring it on so that we can share it according to His plan.

Remember, it's always always about His plan for us and others, and He has to make sure things develop in order to follow that plan. He's not holding back on you. He just needs you READY. So maybe the answer or blessing we seek isn't what's best for us. Maybe it's that we aren't ready, but we can change that. Pray for guidance and courage to use what He has given you today according to His will. He can't wait for you to be ready in stewardship because that means blessings for others. ♥

　

Can God See Your Current Struggle?

We have to stay focused on God's spiritual truth while we are here in order to keep moving forward.

The truth is that we are just visiting here. :)  There's a saying that I just love, and it goes like this:

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.." Teilhard de Chardin

It's true. This...all this around you, is temporary. The bigger picture is that we are spiritual beings who have a certain amount of time to get eternity right while here on this physical Earth. God does IN FACT care about your daily struggles even if you can't "see it". But you see, God sees in the spiritual. God sees what you will need most in the long run. He knows what you need now to get you to the ultimate spiritual finish line, not just to earth's tomorrow. Have faith that He will provide, and be comforted that He is also taking care of your soul at the same time. He cares that they (our struggles) in some way lead us to Him. He does not cause us harm, but He will turn it into good. We have to understand what ultimate good is in God's mind, and that is getting you into heaven with Him for eternity. His picture of good for us is so much bigger than we can truly comprehend. It's much bigger than meeting that goal today or having this and that taken care of by next week. It's soo much bigger because He knows there's soo much more at stake than we can understand sometimes. Have faith. Stay strong because even though you struggle today and you don't quite understand God's movements in your life, He's loving you into eternity. ♥

God Already Knows That Thing You Hide. Let Him Have It And Get Free.

The enemy wants us to think that when we submit things to God that we think we are hiding from God, that we are done because it shows weakness according to the world's standards or that condemnation ensues. The enemy does so by trying to make us feel ashamed or afraid.

The truth is that the opposite happens. The more we submit to God, the more He heals. The more God heals, the stronger those areas become. We take on God's mindset and God's confidence. We become free to be who we were meant to be. We are free to see who around us is for us. We are free to know that we don't need anything less anyways! INSECURITIES DISAPPEAR BECAUSE THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO HIDE! There's no Godly reason for the feelings of shame or embarrassment in this physical realm other than that the enemy puts those feelings on us because he wants us as ineffective as possible in the spiritual realm.

If you have spent a lifetime of holding onto shame or the fear of rejection...I'd love to see what God's plan is for you because apparently "somebody" REALLY doesn't want you fully walking in Christ. The enemy doesn't attack you with feelings of inadequacy because you're supposedly weak or unloved. You're attacked because you're capable of doing some major damage to the enemy's camp. So kick the enemy away from your ear, and get FREE.

Eph. 6:12 Do, but don't stress. The War Is Already Won!

Watch this --> Eph 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers. Col 2:9-10 For in Him (Christ Jesus) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are COMPLETE IN HIM, who is the head of ALL principality and power. //



 In other words, take prayer seriously because we ARE at war, but don't stress about it because GOD IS LORD.



Amen!!

God Strength Through Our Weakness Is Only The Beginning

We sing and yell out proclaiming how great God is and how much He does through us in our weakness - in times where we aren't even looking to be used or provided for.
Have we ever thought, then, what we could accomplish if we walked in His strength- if we made purposed decisions at our spiritually strongest...

♥ Miraculous in our weakness. Impossible to stop at our strongest.

　

My Google Search For Inspiring Articles For "Single Christian Woman"

Singles/Single Parents: I was looking for something to encourage me on how to stay refreshed spiritually as single christian woman. I did three searches using "single Christian women/Christian single mothers", and each time more than 2/3 of the results were geared toward how to attract a husband. This was the basic topic in the top three results each time. Things are rated at the top because they are the most searched or the most posted about. I have to say that I was a little saddened by this. I desire a companion like the next person, but these aren't the results I was hoping to find today. I'm saddened that there's soo much focus on this instead of an overwhelming desire to be Christ minded on our own.

I'm sorry, but I'm not going to put off planning for the future because "I'm waiting for a husband". That means I would be making him my future. There's no assurance in that. I'm not going to miss the significance of the moment right now thinking that my life will only be significant with a husband beside me. Isn't this moment going to create who we need to be anyways? Therefore, this phase you're in is very significant.

I'm not going to spend my heart's energy so strongly focused on something when I claim to leave everything up to God and His timing. We either have submitted it to God or we haven't. I would someday "like" a godly husband and to be his godly wife, but I NEED God right now and in all my tomorrows. There are soo many other things to spend our powerful prayer on daily.

I'm tired. I feel like I'm running in circles sometimes against the wind. For moments, I get a glimpse of the lie that there is no hope. I have the enemy side-swapping me at times with flashes of guilt over being single with children.

My heavenly father is the ONLY anwer to these circumstances.
 
I'm going to take care of myself because I deserve to feel good today and yes it's possible being on my own. I need daily supernatural refreshing so that I can perform above and beyond the roles God has placed me in right now. I find joy like no other in this very special relationship that is just me and God. Get rest. Get refreshed. It's ok to be filled with joy. Be motivated. Change the world around you today, and all that may take is someone seeing you rested and smiling in your current situation.

Loving Everyone Regardless Of Opinion

"I believe He wants us to love others so much that we go to extremes to help them." // Francis Chan


“God's definition of what matters is pretty straightforward. He measures our lives by how we love.” // Francis Chan


When I worried about what others thought of the people I spent my time on, I was always alone and unmoved in my faith walk. (That has sometimes included disagreeing opinions of other believers.)

Now I love, keep close, and go after more those who NEED IT regardless of opinions around me. ♥ I've never felt a more moving and deeper love than for those who currently walk the shoes I use to walk. ♥ Don't get me wrong - correction and advise is always welcomed, but I refuse to listen to critics tell me I shouldn't share the same love and grace I've been given. Isn't that what we are here for? To draw in and welcome those who don't believe? I'm not talking about living a double life style. I'm talking about making people feel welcomed and loved just as they are in their moment of
unknowing and need. This is not a game nor a club. Souls are at stake. We can't be willing to miss opportunities to show God to people. As women, we have a God given characteristic to nurture people. We're GOOD at this loving thing. Don't waste it! What "image" are you portraying? The image the world thinks you should have, or the image and example Christ gave us to follow? Be blessed today by being a blessing.


Mark 12:30-31 NIV  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.