"I will not keep silent because of Zion, and I will not keep still because of Jerusalem, until her righteousness shines like a bright light and her salvation, like a flaming torch." (Isaiah 62:1)
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“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.”
(Romans 8:17)
Honesty Hour – A key nugget in being made whole through Christ
Entitlement is an offspring of the orphaned spirit, whereas contentment and gratitude are the hallmark of the Spirit of Sonship.
Father, take us higher in our awareness of the Truth that we are not orphans any more, but your Sons & Daughters. You are not the care taker of an orphanage who gives us barely enough to just get by, rather You are a Perfect Father who delights in us, celebrates our gifts and always provides MORE THAN ENOUGH to empower us to fulfill our destiny.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen 👑❤
If He says you’re worthy, then you are!
Peace 🤍💞
Dear Friends,
I write today to say God is Good.
He is a Good, Good Father who delights in the desires of our hearts. Yes, even those tender ones that we are tempted to discount. For me, this has meant a beautiful amalgam of Loops + Journal + Bible Study these past few days.
I first saw these loops earlier this year on Jenn Johnson and I immediately knew that I would very much like a pair for myself. Was it the best time for me to indulge?
Honestly, no.
So I laid it down.
Soon after, I saw this journal in the shop next door. It caught my eye, as only some things do. I immediately knew that I wanted to purchase it, yet I wasn’t too sure. Not sure if it was needed, not sure if it even fit my budget.
But I had it in my heart. So I laid it down.
Fast forward to August. I get my hands on this awesome Bible Study by Hannah Brencher and yes, I knew I wanted to dive in. But I wasn’t so sure yet again. I was in a trial and my focus was different.
So I laid it down.
Come September 》New Beginnings
Come September, and God starts to reveal Himself as the Father He always has been, but in a whole new way.
Tender, Gracious, Extravagant.
A Father who is so intimately involved in the details of His Daughter’s life, that even when she forgets, He remembers.
He remembers the what, He knows the where, He orders the steps.
To put it bluntly, the past few seasons have been dark. Staying close to Jesus, I have learned to navigate murky waters and make my way through the fiercest storms. I didn’t know if I could even take it at times, but He carried me anyway.
And He has brought me safely through.
Come September, and God starts to reveal some tender, new truths that suddenly bring a ton of light into my life. He keeps me sensitive to the fact that times and seasons do change, and He is, in fact, Faithful. He tells me to burn the bridges to the trauma of seasons past, and create space for Him to build some new bridges in my life instead.
Some new bridges that will connect the dots… from where I am to where He has promised to take me.
But this also needs faith at a whole new level.
As surely as I have needed faith to sustain me in times of warfare and difficulty, I now also need faith to step into the breakthrough He has fought for me to receive.
“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
(Luke 9:62)
So I decide now to not look back, and instead, to let go of what was so that I can step into what is and what will be..
Legacy as the Script is in the hands of a world-changing God.
So guess what He is doing?
A new thing within the New Thing.
Revealing Fatherhood. Growing relationship. Building bridges..
… for the bridge that links my present to my future is made with the bricks of authenticity, vulnerability and transformation…
And it needs me to open up. It needs me to let go. It needs me to listen to His voice.
It needs me to listen to the still, small voice within. Cliched as it may be, but oh-so-true!
And if I pay attention, I can hear Him.
I can hear Him rap ever so gently on the door of my heart, beckoning me to open up. I can hear Him take me by the hand, inviting me to release control and choose to trust Him instead. I can hear Him bring to rememberance things long forgotten, but only until such a time as this.
Because the Truth is that times do change, desires do come to fruition and promises are made manifest.
And when its time, He can’t be stopped.
“He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them.”
(Daniel 2:21)
He is a Good, Good Father whose unrelenting Love will chase us down till we get it ..
His heart for us that is as true as the still, small voice within.
The tender whispers, the gentle musings that come up, seemingly out of nowhere, and remind me that its time for the loops to be bought, for the journal to be filled in and the Bible Study to be printed.
All because my Father knows. My Father sees. My Father cares.
Which brings me to another point.
The Word of God tells me that He will give me the desires of my heart. No – He won’t give me what I want, but rather what to want. And when He does, I know that He doesn’t give me the desires of my heart to frustrate them, but rather to fulfill them.
Whether it’s a beautiful amalgam of loops + journal + Bible study today, or may be a seemingly more important issue tomorrow, I’m beginning to realise that God is involved in the details of our lives.
After all, everything is small for a big God like Him.
All of this to say –
On the day that marks the beginning of the last quarter of 2021, may we pause and listen for His whisper. And as we do,
May we consider. May we follow. May we rejoice.
May we rejoice in the voice that wades through our thoughts, pierces through the dark, debunks all lies and brings forth light.
May we rejoice in the voice that lifts our spirits, cheers our hearts and encourages our souls to believe at a level that though seemingly outrageous, is only our normal.
May we rejoice in the voice that serves as our GPS and tells us to go another route even when we are convinced that we know what we are doing, and sometimes I think, precisely then.
May we rejoice in the voice that tells us enough price was paid for us to have the permission we need to be free, to be healed, to be whole and to be prosperous.
May we rejoice in the voice that tells us having seen all that you have, you haven’t seen nothing yet.
May we rejoice, friends in the voice deep within – so still, so small, so gentle, so tender – till it becomes the loudest in our lives. Till it is bigger than the narrative and clearer than the noise. Till it redefines reality and manifests life.
Till it is the sole thing that moves us, and as it does, we move mountains.
Till we let that voice win – every single time. Amplified by the sound of our obedience, and not diminished by the clanging of our fear or unbelief.
Till we let that voice have the Final Word.
Because I read the end of The Book, and my Bible says this:
Love wins.
So as I bring this letter to a close friends, I just want to ask you to heed that voice that is deep within you. It may be a tiny flicker, but as you fan it into a flame, know that it only takes a tiny match to set a forest on fire. He is in you and you are in Him – there is no more separation, but only the closeness of relationship. Father and Child enmeshed in Love, proclaiming Victory and rewriting Destiny.
You are a world-changer, just like your Daddy.
And don’t you let anyone tell you otherwise.
Here’s to Loops + Journal + Bible Study! And the treasures of wisdom that go for all eternity!
Love you more than most,
Simran.
👸📚🍁
On my walk last night, I clicked this. And some thoughts.
Despite the shadows that lurk, nothing stops the flower from blooming.
It still smiles. It still shows up. It still endures.
Much like you and me, eh?
I’m guessing we’re in good company.
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I found myself saying this to the Lord the other day, friends.
Though I am not sure why exactly I said this, but it sure was liberating. Writing thus, I am reminded – it is the Truth that we know and stand on that makes us free.
Foxes
I think that we all do subconsciously battle with expectations – what people perhaps expect from us. What they think about us and how they may perceive us. What they think we should do and what they think we shouldn’t. It happens very subtly really – but if we pay attention, we will catch these foxes.
I call these thoughts ‘foxes’ because that is what they are. They slowly sneak in to steal our peace, our joy, our hope, our freedom and before we know it, we find ourselves in a battle that we were never designed for.
For we were designed for Freedom.
Freedom freely given
“And the Lord God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.'”
(Genesis 2:16-17, emphasis added)
When God made man, He gave him explicit instructions to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil so that he could be free – free to be himself, free to enjoy a loving communion with God and free to abide in the Tree of Life.
We all know what happened next. The crafty serpent slithers in, sows doubt in Eve’s mind and deceives her. She eats the forbidden fruit and the whole trajectory of human history takes a turn.
Sin enters the world, and we now need a Saviour.
What am I saying all this for however?
Not sure, friends. But maybe somewhere there is a connection.
When God said – you are free – He meant it.
Adam and Eve were designed to be free, but they also had a part to play in order to protect that freedom.
They had to put up boundaries.
Protecting Freedom
When God began teaching me about boundaries earlier this year, He told me something very important –
“Boundaries are to inspire your Freedom, not take you deeper into bondage.”
See?
The enemy wants us to believe that God asks us to guard our hearts and establish healthy boundaries in our lives because He wants to rob us of our Freedom.
Nothing could be further from the Truth.
For the Truth here is that because our Father cares so much about our Freedom that He sent His one and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to purchase it back for us – He tells us to establish and honor boundaries.
So we can protect that which He has freely given to us.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”
(Galatians 5:1)
The Dual Thief
Friends, in the fast-paced world we live in, we can easily feel burdened. We can feel burdened by the cares of this world – by things like living up to the expectations of man which is a mind-set fuelled by the dual thief of comparison and competition.
We can scroll through social media and easily feel ‘less than.’ We can feel like we don’t have it all together while the rest of the world does. We can judge our struggles by someone else’s highlight reels and feel that life is unfair. We can lose sight and have a distorted view of things if we don’t take care to take our thoughts captive and do what our Father tells us to –
Put up boundaries.
Putting up boundaries is key in learning to navigate emotional and mental health challenges. And the sooner we realise how the tricks of comparison and competition designed by the enemy of our souls are vicious tools to distract us from our destiny, the better off we will be.
And perhaps even more willing.
Even more willing to protect the good, good gift of Freedom that our Father has purchased for us.
Truth that makes us Free
It’s quite simple really.
Our job is not to live up to the expectations of man, our job is to live out the call of God on our lives.
And the call of God is simply this –
• to love God
• to be loved by God
• to love ourselves and others in a godly way.
Friends, we are called to love and serve one another, not compete or contrast against one another. We are each a masterpiece, the Designer’s Original. We each have a specific plan, purpose and destiny assigned to us by God and only we can ever fulfil it.
But we can fulfil it only when we embrace who we truly and authentically are as unique, individual expressions in Christ. We cannot fulfil it if we get distracted by the dual thief of comparison and competition that is always trying to get our focus off of Jesus and onto ourselves.
No.
We have a superior calling.
To fix our eyes on Jesus – the author and perfector of our faith.
For the goal of our salvation is to be transformed into the image of Christ.
He is the Alpha. He is the Omega.
He is our reason for being.
He is the One with whom we lock eyes because He is the One who has eyes like flames of fire. He has the answers we need because above all, He is the answer we need.
He it is who loves us, affirms us and tells us we matter. He it is that fills up the void we feel all the way to the overflow. He it is who validates us, authenticates us and identifies us by name. He it is who comes with both, hope and healing in His wings.
He it is that sets us free and He it is that sends us to then set others free.
But the Truth is that we can only ever give from the abundance of that which we ourselves have fully received. For the good, good gifts that our Father has so graciously given to us can be dispensed only from the point of overflow – an overflow of peace, an overflow of joy, an overflow of hope.
So the foxes have to flee and the thieves have to leave. For whom the Son sets free, is free indeed.
Freely we have received, freely we will give.
These good, good gifts.
🎁
Activation
Where do you feel tempted to compare, contrast and compete friend? How can you be intentional about choosing authenticity, freedom and truth instead?
Post #400 – Yipee Yay & Thank you!
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Having penned down 400 posts on WordPress, I rejoice. I celebrate you, friend for being a unique part of my beautiful journey. I thank you for each time that you have taken the time to read, like or comment. I love you and praise God for your life.
I also take this as an opportunity to affirm you. You are a precious Child of God who has a very special place in the Father’s heart. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
I do hope that all my writing serves to connect you to His heart and truth. I ask you to share testimonies + experiences with Jesus that you have as a result of being on here.
Joy, when shared, only multiplies!
So as I draw to a close, I will leave you with one last thought –
This cyber space, friend is a safe landing place for you – a precious corner of the Internet where you are seen, valued, encouraged, covered and prayed for. Here, you are fed slices of the Living Bread till rivers of living water spring up from your innermost being.
When life gets hard, you are welcome here. When life seems good, you are welcome here. For Jesus says,
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”
(Romans 12:15)
And wherever you find yourself on the map of life, I just want you to know that God loves you. He cares, and He has a good plan, purpose and destiny for your life.
Wrapping my arms around you,
Simran
🤗🖤
“And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'”
(Matthew 18:3)
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“Don’t you ever forget his miracles and marvels.
Hold to your heart every judgment he has decreed.”
(Psalm 105:5, TPT)
The Lord laid this verse upon my heart a couple of months back. He gave me the desire to make a post with it alongwith this photo which I took around the time. I thought I would do it sooner, but no matter how much I wanted or tried, I couldn’t.
But today I did.
What happened in the gap?
I like to reflect and learn, friends so that I can learn what I need to as I go forth with the Lord. Wisdom is the wellspring of life, to gain which I must go to the Lord.
Looking back, I realise that holding on to the testimonies of the Lord’s faithfulness always gave me courage in the face of opposition, and fastening my heart on to the promises of God always inspired my hope.
For hope in God does not disappoint.
(Romans 5:5)
The verse I began with today encourages us to never forget the marvels + miracles of God. These speak to the works of God in our lives. Meditating upon His wonderful works – those that He has already performed – is the very way that we begin to cultivate Faith for whatever it is that we are needing Him to outwork in our lives and in our world next. For reflection paves the way forward towards the manifestation of revelation.
Tending to the garden of our hearts, I call it.
Soil = Faith + Hope + Love
For the Promises of God are always prophetic in nature. They speak to the end and will not prove false. They are ‘Yes and Amen.’ They are our Hope.
So what am I saying?
Maybe this.
Love looks back, cultivates Faith and latches on to Hope.
Kingdom.
Love is humble like that. It always trusts, always perseveres, never gives up. It looks back and recognizes the intervening Hand of God. It looks forward and knows that He will do it again.
And that is the Truth of who we are and who we are becoming.
Love.
So as we continue our personal journeys friends, let us be still long enough to look back on our lives and regurgitate the works of God displayed and demonstrated thus far.
Cultivating Faith to be able to lay hold of Hope as we behold and become Love.
The path of the righteous always winds upward friends, as we go from glory to glory. But to walk in the fullness of the life more abundant which is our inheritance in Christ, we need to become a people that pause, reflect and realise that if God did it then, He will do it again.
Because He doesn’t change.
He remains unchangingly Good, True and Faithful. Our seasons can change, our giants can change because our God never will. He is unchanging and indestructible, a solid rock that endures forever and an anchor for our souls – firm and secure.
He Himself is our Hope, and I tell you what?
Hope will never let you be ashamed.
Activation:
How can you recall the Lord’s faithfulness in your life today? How can that help cultivate the faith you need to believe Him for what He has promised to do next?
Chin up, friend. The best is yet to come.
🌄
SoulandSubstance27 