"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)
This past season I have found myself sautéeing vegetables, cooking quinoa, tossing salami, soaking sprouts and making myself cups of tulsi-ginger tea.
I could never imagine myself in the kitchen a couple of years back, yet here I am. Though I came into this year with Covid, it was precisely this area – physical health, wellness & nutrition – that I found God breathing upon.
Honestly, I have had a propensity to believe that God is a fearsome dude who is only interested in the big moments of my life.
But my experience proves something different.
God, I’m learning, is a Good, Good Father who isn’t just present in the mighty mountain top moments, but also in the ordinary everyday. And he isn’t just present, he cares.
He cares about how I’m doing on a daily basis – what I am consuming and putting into my body. He cares to give me an understanding about my physiology and how it is that he has wired me up to work.
As a result, I have seen myself morph from someone who really didn’t give much thought to food but was mostly seeking ‘food for thought,’ into an identity that cares.
I care about what I eat and put into my body, because my body (and yours) is not a dumpyard, it is a temple of the Holy Spirit – the very house of God.
Having gone from a diet where I barely knew what I was ingesting to a largely organic diet composed of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, leaves and seeds has seen a sure shift in my thinking, believing and subsequently, my feeling.
I feel so much more alive and awake than ever before. I am energised by the scent of wind-tossed herbs, the feel of green lettuce leaves under cool, running water; and the sight of new life as I witness inch-long sprouts freshly emerging from my lentils and red gram.
And new life is exactly what he offers us, friend.
Gathering us, his Sons & Daughters, around the Father’s Banquet Table, Jesus calls us to dine full – receiving generous portions of new life that renew, refresh and revitalize.
I just didn’t realize that sometimes he means it literally.
Not to the next beautiful destination, friend. But to the beauty of what has been thus far in 2022.
And trust me. Though it wasn’t perfect, there sure were some incredibly beautiful spots along the way.
So let’s hone in for a bit.
Shall we?
“The best is yet to come.”
The anthem of hope firmly fastened to my heart was how I entered into this new year.
God had been speaking to me throughout the previous season, and I knew my expectations from life moving forward were good & glorious.
Looking back to reflect & learn all that 2021 had packed within itself, and reaching forward to lay a hold of what 2022 promised was the delicate beam I found myself balancing on as I made my way into Jan ’22.
Ok.
Now brace for impact.
A day into the new year and I was tested positive with Covid.
Really now?
Friends, over the course of 2021, the Lord had taught me not only the power of his Word, but also the power of standing on his Word. Once he speaks, it is finished. The matter is settled.
So though I had begun this year with an unexpected diagnosis, I knew what the Lord had promised. I knew he would see me through yet another valley and that I would come out not only unscathed and unharmed, but seven times stronger than I was going in.
Because that’s how the Lord works. The restoration he brings about is always to a place better than before. As it is says in the Passion Translation,
“And then, after your brief suffering, the God of all loving grace, who has called you to share in his eternal glory in Christ, will personally and powerfully restore you and make you stronger than ever. Yes, he will set you firmly in place and build you up. And he has all the power needed to do this—forever! Amen.”
(1 Peter 5:10)
Friends, the Hebrew word for glory is – kabod. Experience with the Lord has taught me that whatever the enemy means for evil will not only be overturned by the hand of the Living God, but also used by him to bring about the manifestation of something good that releases his kabod, his glory into my life.
Please, Lord. Show me how.
God uses All Things
So though I got down with Covid, I found myself involved with two amazing challenges online – a 31-day Wisdom Challenge hosted by Pedro Adao as well as a 5-day Prophetic Planning Challenge by Roma Waterman.
Honing into the voice of the Lord was the number one thing that I needed spiritually, because where the enemy brings chaos, God brings clarity. So I learnt to lean in closer and hear what the Lord was saying and what I heard back from him, friends has given me much hope moving on, not only for a promised future, but for life as it happens – right here, right now.
Let me try and break down the fruit I have received thus far, from this rather uncommon time here:
1. Facebook Lives:
Watching a dazzling array of powerful speakers like Bill Johnson, Lisa Bevere and Heidi Baker across a time span of 31 days in Pedro Adao’s Wisdom Challenge during this time was the very thing that gave me the unction to go ahead with my first set of FB lives!
Though I was physically battling weakness, I experienced the Lord’s anointing work dynamically to create beauty within and bring meaning to an otherwise bleak landscape. I was truly reminded of what they say,
Every dark cloud has a silver lining.
2. The Book of Proverbs:
It was Dr Brian Simmons who in Jan beginning kicked off not only the Wisdom Challenge, but also my own personal time in the Book of Proverbs. Not only have I been enjoying my time in this book, but it has produced much fruit – challenging me, exhorting me, calling me higher.
Lady Wisdom, it seems, must be pursued. And this past season, I have found myself running.
3. Divine Rhythms of Grace, Rest & Play:
Learning to lay down creative projects for a bit and to prioritize instead my personal healing and recovery has been a huge part of my process thus far, but also a kind of eye-opener concerning the true heart of the Father towards me.
I’m learning, friend, that He isn’t after my works. He is after my wholeness – body, spirit and soul.
Author, Hannah Brencher encapsulates this sentiment beautifully as a part of her own personal journey with Jesus this season as she affirms,
I AM IMPORTANT + I MATTER
So with the right order of priorities, I now am learning to create in a grace-filled, restful and playful way through the Lord’s unforced rhythms that keep me whole, and don’t leave me broken.
Because the truth is works don’t validate me. Love does.
4. Soak-Sprout-Sautè:
I have also been learning from Jesus the art of soaking + sprouting lentils and whole grains. Finding myself in the kitchen – chopping and sautèing – a mixed bag of carrots, beans, cauliflower, capsicum and broccoli has been symbolic of a subtle, but sure shift from my tendency to have processed foods to a much more healthy intake.
Nope, I am not giving a class on cooking, but rather offering on a plate the perspective that my body (and yours) is not a dumpyard, it is a temple of the Holy Spirit – the very house of God.
And what he calls holy ground, I’m learning to too.
5. Switch the Lights:
I also learnt this season a very interesting fact – the white lights that we use in our rooms & homes after sunset deceive our senses into believing that its still day time, which causes us to remain subconsciously alert even after the sun goes down.
This increased brain activity at a time that God designed for our bodies to rest & renew, results in prolonged evenings/nights and crabby mornings.
So what’s the antidote?
A very small change has made a big impact for me, friend.
I decided to ditch the idea of using white lights after sunset, and stick to a yellow table lamp instead. One could actually try candles too. The idea is to create an environment that helps reduce activity and promote rest instead.
Switching the lights can most definitely switch the script.
The God of All Things
Candid confession time now.
Until recently, I believed that God was only interested in moving the big mountains that stood in my way, and didn’t really care that much about my day-to-day life.
But looking back on my experience as I write this today, I am so amazed, friend, at how wonderfully He has revealed himself to me to be both,
The God of the Practical + The God of the Miraculous
My experience in these times testifies that God is a hands-on Father. He is so crazy about His kids that He insists on being involved in the details of our lives.
From hiding tiny surprises for us as He meets our everyday needs to manifesting divine interventions that part the proverbial Red Sea, He is invested in it all as the God of the mundane, but also as the God of the mighty.
So as I wait upon Him to perform the signs, wonders & miracles that I know He has promised me, I am also deeply content in knowing Him as an intimately connected Father who walks with me in the cool of the day, and is hugely interested in revealing His kabod to me – not only one day when, but also right here, right now.
OK.
Enough said.
I’m taking my foot off the gas, friend. We’re almost there!
The ride may have been bumpy at times, I admit. But you chose to stick it out with me, and I commend you for it.
You’ve been brave.
So as I get ready to roll up the windows, I thank you for the priviledge of your company.
I do need you to know that I am proud of journeying alongside a worthy fellow traveller like you. The roadblocks and humps we have needed to manouver were very real, but so was the beauty and the glory that came with the trip.
All because of the reality of a God, who despite my taking leave right now, promises to be by your side forever – without a shadow of turning. So remember to let him in, friend and let him take over.
For its this kind of genius love that gets in the driver’s seat for us, and taking a hold of the steering wheel of our lives; leans over waiting patiently as we settle into the passenger seat, to hand us a steaming cup of mocha with a glint in his eye that lovingly says,
“Buckle up, babycakes. Its your Father who has the wheel.”
Friends, this was my desire since the beginning of 2020. I kid you not.
Ever since I discovered it right next to my home, I really wanted to hop across and sip some coffee with Jesus here, but somehow or the other, I couldn’t.
Today however, was different.
I know that we have hit that time of the year – apples 🍎 or pumpkin 🎃 ?
I personally really love apples. So that was my intent as I made my way to Starbucks today – a slice of apple pie.
Yup, I didn’t know it. But I guess you figured!
Starbucks doesn’t offer apple pie, but what it does offer is a drink of ‘Pumpkin Spice Latte.’
☕ slurp..
Jesus trains us to make the best of every opportunity. So what was going to stop me now?
You guessed it – nothing.
Though I am an apple person, I like pumpkin too and especially when I get to inaugurate Fall with Jesus through it!
‘Pumpkin Spice Latte,’ I am happy to report, was simply super! I realised that I could be equally happy with both – 🍎🎃 After all, the girl in the story delighted in both too. She picked both – the reddest of apples and also, the perfect pumpkin.
So why do we get to choose?
Not sure .. for I love ’em both and as I go into Fall, I am entering with both, a whiff of pumpkin 🎃 but also with the hope of some delicious apple pie 🍎
Hey friends! I’m popping in to say that should you want to download the quotes that the Holy Spirit gives me from time to time, then please feel free to follow my newly made Pinterest account –
“If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.”
(Matthew 10:38-39, MSG)
Setting our hearts on Jesus, and letting His heart pulsate through, what say?
“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.
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?
SoulandSubstance27 