"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)
Friends, I live in India. And quite honestly, it isn’t very Christmassy this time of the year this side of the planet. But as I walk this season out with the Lord, I am reminded by him that He is the reason for the season.
So I reckoned what it must be like for my friends in the family of God in cultures that do celebrate this season in a way that’s nothing short of spectacular.
The gingerbread cookies come out the oven, the sound of carols & hymns hangs in the air, ferry lights and candles light up the space, and the beautifully ornamented Christmas tree looks delightfully inviting.
Yet, as I ponder this, I am sensitised by Jesus to the revelation that each culture comes with its own set of limitations and challenges this season.
Whether its for someone like me where apart from some evening lights, the world seems to go buzzing by; or for someone located where its such a big deal that the busyness of it all threatens to drown out the wonder of the reason for the season; the Good News is that Redemption for both of us is found in one place –
The Person of Jesus.
So whether the season looks bleak or busy for us, I feel like the Lord is encouraging us to find rest & renewal for our souls as we behold the wonder of who He is.
For He is the reason for the season.
He who was, who is and is yet to come.
Christ in us – the hope of glory, is the real Christmas treat & treasure for us, friends. As I dig in and find nuggets that leave me in awe, I am reminded that to be present to His Presence is the truest Christmas present we can present to ourselves and to Him this season 🎁
Letting Him in, and letting His light so shine, I pray!
Friends, I made a journal for myself this year in April to record and remind myself of the promises that God has made concerning me and concerning those that I care about.
It is one of my absolute favorite things to dive into this journal from time-to-time to read, confess and release the power of God’s Word over my life.
Why do I do that?
Because like Mary in the Bible, the mother of Jesus, who pondered and treasured the words God had spoken about Jesus being the Saviour of the world, anointed and appointed, to take away the sin of humanity; I do believe that we too have the same privilege.
The same privilege to receive, believe and steward the Word of God so that it is the Lord’s narrative that we are intentionally choosing to partner with and eventually see made manifest in our midst.
So I felt it back then, friends.
I felt an urgency, an impulse, an unction of the Holy Spirit to make myself a journal that would allow me to organise all the wonderful, prophetic words that God has given me thus far, in one neat place. One click on Amazon got me this babe:
I think she is fearfully and wonderfully made!
Ok.
So my jouney with Jesus through this brand, new journal began. I divided it up into a couple of different sections and promptly began decreeing the Word of God over my life.
Happy to report that not only have I seen the Holy Spirit move and manifest God’s will time-after-time, but also that the Lord continues to add more and more promises to my bounty.
Pastor Bill Johnson often says that we attract what we value. The Bible puts it this way,
“For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
(Matthew 13:12, NASB)
God here, I believe, is talking about the sheer value of stewarding the revelation of His Word. He guarantees, that should we commit to this process of discovering and consistently releasing the sound of His Word into the earth, it is sure to have a domino effect and reel in even more abundant revelation, simply because we show that we value the sanctity of what our Holy God has decreed.
Like rain drops filling up a bucket.
Or like the missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle being consistently and increasingly put together by the Hand of God.
That’s what the Promises of God do.
The promises of God can be likened to the missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that God is putting together behind-the-scenes.
The things that most puzzle and confuse us are these ___________________________. Fill in the blanks, literally. Questions about our identity, our purpose, our destiny. Questions about our family, household and community. Questions about God’s plan for us, individually, corporately and globally.
But what if we learned to take these questions to God Himself, instead of trying to figure things out in our own limited strength, with our own limited wisdom and our own limited resources?
What if we stopped trying to simply ‘fix’ everything ourselves and dared instead to entrust our matters to The One who is sovereignly in control, confident in battle and more than capable of bringing resolution to the very things that confound us?
God truly is who He says He is, friends.
I have always, always witnessed that whenever I am challenged by a trying and impossible circumstance, God always, always shows up.
He may not do it the way I expect or would like for Him too, or even on my timeline. But I can testify that He always, always does show up and show off.
Imagine a scenario, friend where you find yourself in what appears to be a snow-covered wasteland. For as far as your eyes can see, the land looks completely barren and desolate. You are fully geared up for a trek, equipped for the harsh conditions in front of you. Donning a long, furry overcoat to keep you warm and gum boots to help you plough through; you are good to go.
Yet, you can’t.
You feel lost for direction.
Now imagine the same scenario through the lens of the pilot of a chopper overhead. He can see that if you only take a few steps forward, turn right and walk for about a mile, you will be warmly greeted by a kind and hospitable old, godly couple who even have a guest room to spare, warmly lit with an inviting fireplace and a steaming cup of hot chocolate milk.
The pilot of this chopper overhead has insight into things that are obscure to you because he has a higher vantage point.
Yet, you do have the option of connecting to him through your cell phone device. You can choose to pull it out from your pocket, press the right buttons and connect!
One call away.
That’s how I believe it works with God too. He has insight into the road and the route ahead that will be instrumental in paving the best way forward, but we have to be willing to connect to Him using the cell phone device called the Word of God.
For the Word of God is our GPS to help navigate life.
“Jesus answered, ‘It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
(Matthew 4:4)
Spending time in the Word and receiving His insight into the plans and purposes that He has for us is precisely how we trek through the snow-laden terrain of the broken pieces and parts of our lives.
All we are tempted to see and believe in the moment though, is that one piece of the jigsaw puzzlethat we find ourselves in the midst of. But God knows the whole picture!
And believe me, its a good one that He’s painting.
Things may look unanswered and incomplete to us in the natural, but we can take heart because we serve a supernatural kind of God.
“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
(Matthew 19:26)
The God who knows the end from the beginning, already has the answers and the redemptive solutions our lives need. He reveals these hidden plans and purposes of His heart through a revelation of His Word by the Holy Spirit.
What He does require in the process is for us to put down the bricks of humility, vulnerability and complete dependency on The One who is perfectly faithful and absolutely trustworthy. The assurance of His Perfection is the fuel that empowers us to bring the broken pieces of our lives to Him so that He can begin to do what only and only He can do.
“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.”
(Zechariah 4:6)
The promise friends, on the other side of our obedience is, that God will raise up a wall with the modest bricks that we have put down so beautically and monumentally that it will not only leave us astonished, but even those that we care about.
The truth is that God is the Architect of our lives, friends. As He has taken the complete charge of bringing about the complete restoration of our lives, I like to call this a process of ‘re-membering,’ i.e, rearranging, reassembling and realigning the different parts and pieces of our lives into the Grand Masterpiece that He has in His heart and mind concerning us.
So as He ‘re-members’ the different parts and pieces of my life, I find it incredibly helpful to in turn, ‘remember’ the truth of that which He has spoken and decreed.
☆ The Book of Rememberance ☆
It can be a file, a folder, a journal, a diary because the goal is to have a place to document and rehearse Truth.
Friend, for the Lord to ‘re-member’ our lives, we must remember what He says.
The devil is a liar, and in the absence of Truth, it is easy to believe what the world says. It is easy to believe what the media says, the government, or even our family and friends. Therefore, I find it so vital to be intentional about my time in God’s Word so that I can literally dwell in the Truth that He has spoken over me, letting His narrative shape and frame my reality, and not a lesser word.
So simply put, The Book of Rememberance is a space friends, where we get to put down God’s dream for our lives, and through the power of a loving partnership together, watch Him make it a reality.
Activation: Friend, I would like to invite you to ponder some questions with the Lord in your own, unique miracle-in-the-making story. Letting God come into every dark and obscure crook, cranny and crevice of our lives is key to a lifestyle of ongoing holistic healing and good success.
I’ve learnt this much, and I know its true.
Any part of our life that is kept from the Lord will become an open door for the enemy.
While there may be areas of your life that you perhaps don’t feel comfortable addressing with the Lord yet, I encourage you to start opening up bit-by-bit to the Goodness of God. He is good, He does good, and He works all things together for good.
So friend, consider asking yourself the following questions:
What has God spoken concerning me? What has He spoken concerning my health, my family and my calling?
If you feel unsure about these questions, it’s time to press in. Its time to pray and seek God to reveal His heart and mind concerning the things you care about. Its time to let go and let Him step into your life and do what He is best at – make all things new!
Friends, as I pen this down after a whirlwind of insane happenings the past 11 days, I’m still learning to grow into a fuller revelation of what it means to be pleasantly bewildered.
I wouldn’t say that we need very many spectacular things to know that the season has shifted, and though chaos still ensues, what I’m learning is that the Lord is able to manifest goodness, blessing and favour in the midst of it all.
“Pleasant bewilderment.”
On googling the meaning of the term, “bewilderment,” I was met with the following statement,
“a state of being perplexed or confused.”
I’m sure I am not alone when I say that the past few seasons have come with more than a fair share of trials and traumas. There has been heartache and suffering, pain and brokenness. Unfair situations have kept coming up from time to time, leaving us with one question,
“Is it ever going to get better?”
I have wrestled with this question. I know I have, and perhaps friend, you’ve been there too.
But it is how the Lord meets us in the midst of despair that lifts us up and redefines our journey.
He has been teaching me much, and as I write, I hope that the nuggets I’ve gleaned from His heart serve to help you make sense of your own story and walk with the Lord.
So here goes.
As important as it is to acknowledge our feelings friends, I am learning that we don’t go by them. We are called, “believers” for a reason. Not “feelers.”
I don’t mean to be insensitive, quite the opposite really.
For the truth is that though we may feel the pain and heartache that are an inevitable everyday reality in some shape, way or form; we are not defined by it. We are only defined by Love, for that is our Identity.
It is God-given, and irrevocable.
But we do have a part to play in protecting that which He has given us. So how does that work?
Ahem.
Let’s see.
My feelings should never get in the way of my faith, I believe. Therefore, it is so vital to acknowledge them and process my experiences with the Lord. He does not dismiss my brokenness, so I don’t have to either.
The key lies in not stifling my emotions nor stuffing them away. It lies in not denying nor dodging.
For a humble acceptance of truth goes a long way.
So friends, I’m wondering,
“What if instead of burying that which needs addressing, tending and healing, we slowly learn to do just that? Address, tend and heal?”
For whatever is not revealed cannot be healed.
But whatever is brought out into the open, in the safety and security of God’s presence, can be and will be healed by Him. His Love and Truth are a healing salve that nothing can diminish the potency of.
So what if we started to unpack our backpack in front of the Lord? That which we have been carrying for years now? He delights in getting in the dirt with us. To help us sort and sift through our baggage. To show us what lessons of wisdom to pick up, and what toxic emotions to let go. To empower us to forgive the pain of our past, and to trust Him with the new story of Goodness, Grace and Glory that He is writing for our lives.
Sometimes, it is us who remain hesitant.
However, I do beseech you friend, that regardless of where you are in your own story with Him, you would take the time to get in the dirt with Him. In the safety of His love and presence to receive the healing salve of His love and truth that nothing can diminish the power of.
Not a past that looks worse than a trainwreck, and not even the worst sin you can think of.
Nothing.
For when we bring into the light of His face, everything that holds our hearts hostage to guilt, shame, bitterness, anger and unforgiveness, His mercy meets us, understands us, heals us and shows us the way forward.
Suffice to say, if we are truly going to walk in health and wholeness in the midst of a world that is anything but healthy and whole, then it remains important that our feelings, both good and bad, be acknowledged. It is in that that we truly honor our design, and the value thereof.
It is then that we learn that pain and hope can co-exist. It is not “either-or.” Rather, it is “both-and.”
Sorrow AND celebration. Grieving AND rejoicing. Feelings AND faith.
Hope is at the heart of our faith, and healing is the children’s bread. There is no hope without healing, and there is no healing apart from hope.
For my experience convinces me that they are in fact, two sides of the same coin.
It is when I am emotionally healthy that I am spiritually powerful.
And yes.
It is an everyday journey, a step by step walk with the Lord.
Healing paves the way toward hope.
Though nothing can take away from our Hope that is in Christ, things can certainly threaten to dim our consciousness of it. For anything that is unprocessed is ill-processed, and whatever is ill-processed is under the influence of a lie.
Truth and Love can never be divorced, and neither can Love and Hope.
To protect and cultivate our divine design which is Love, it is important that we know the Truth for it is only the Truth that we know that can set us free. And wherever there is freedom, there is power.
Power to be redeemed, be restored and be pleasantly bewildered.
Not because everything is perfect, but because we are free.
Free to love. Free to heal. Free to have hope.
Hope for a future that though obscure is only safely tucked away within the heart of our Saviour.
Only so that in the fullness of time, we will look back and say,
Hershey’s and peanut butter- strawberry sandwiches were my favourite this winter. A change in season saw me unwittingly stash away the chocolate sauce in the refrigerator.
But again.
Seasons change.
The lunar eclipse yesterday was a pretty stunning sight. A big saffron ball of light hanging low in the evening sky caught my attention like little else does.
Realising something was peculiar as the lights shining on the mountains my window overlooks had this uncommon companion last evening, I reached out for my lenses.
Yes, it was indeed the moon hanging lower than usual. A saffron ball with craters that billions across the planets had looked eyes on.
Slowly, the ball began to rise. Bit by bit till the hue changed to a bright white and the moonlight was, now that I was back in the safety of my room, shining from underneath my curtains.
I looked, I smiled, I worshiped.
Beholding the beauty of the moon through the eyes of the Father till joy bubbled up and my childlike wonder, reawakened.
Till today’s evening meal saw me toss aside the boring, mundane menu in exchange for some delicious mouthwatering Hershey’s chocolate sandwiches.
An epiphany.
Seasons change, friends. But we often miss the turning of the leaves.
So as I hasten to a close, I hope you find the courage to find your own miracle in process, because you yourself are one.
You’ve gone through the fire and the flood, the test and the trial, the mire and the mud.
I found myself saying this to The Lord yesterday. The season He is walking me through is stirring within me an awe of The Lord that I believe He will be cultivating further.
We all who have experienced the Love of God through a Christ encounter naturally love God. He has our affections because they are now tethered to Eternity. The Word says that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also, and in my Bible, I seem to have written, “my heart is Home.”
That speaks to a love of God; a Father of unending Love, Grace and Mercy. But lately, I have sensed a reverential awe of Him, not a fear, but a reverential awe in a way that says,
“Your thoughts are higher. Your ways are loftier, and with You, ANYTHING is possible.”
Yes, friends. With God on our side, literally anything can happen that works for our good and brings Him all the Glory. If He promised it, He will do it. If He spoke it, then well, it has already been created. I have thus, realized that when He does give us His promises, we might as well receive His help with our unbelief, repent of it and continue to believe what He has spoken over the current state of our circumstances. We might as well pray in accord with The Father’s Heart and in time, see His Purposes manifest for not just ourselves, but even those that are connected to us. We might as well decree and declare His Word and watch circumstances change and come into alignment with Heaven’s mandate.
At times, I feel, it is our sense of not feeling worthy or adequate enough that can come in the way of His Promises seeing full manifestation. It is precisely at such times that we need to remind ourselves of Grace. Grace, which is a free gift and an undeserved favor of God. Grace, which chased us down even when we were dead in our transgressions. Grace, which finds us one way but leaves us, quite another. Grace, which by its very nature, upends us for His Glory. Grace which can never be earned or deserved, because it is just that: Grace.
It is Grace that calls us, “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” It is Grace that says we are the righteousness of God in Christ. It is Grace that says we are forgiven and are now heirs to an inheritance that is fully ours through Christ’s sacrifice and God’s magnanimity. It is Grace that ultimately renders us worthy by The Blood of The Lamb and the word of our testimony in order that we may fully lay claim to all the promises of God that, in Christ Jesus, are “Yes” and “Amen.” It is Grace that has set us free.
Will we use this freedom to gratify the desires of the flesh or The Spirit? I believe that a reasonable revelation of God’s Love will propel us into the things of God, simply because our motivations are now anchored in love, not fear. We know how passionately He has loved us, and our corresponding response to that is not something I need to even write. But the awe of God is what will temper us. It will teach us to partner with Him for His Purposes. It will show us where our part ends, and His begins. It will reveal to us that He will contend with those that contend with us. It will etch out the Truth that wherever God calls you, He sustains you. It will illuminate within us a desire to forgive, let go and let Him.
Let Him provide. Let Him fight. Let Him win, because He already has the Victory.
All we have to do is walk in the freedom and victory that He has already purchased for us at Calvary which is something that we get to do with a hybrid of both, an awe and an affection towards Him.
Personally, I am beginning to experience an awe of who He is as He is slowly revealing to me that He is who He says He is. INVINCIBLE! And He will do what He says He will do. UNDEFEATED!
In the midst of our brokenness, He is wholeness. In the midst of our darkness, He is Light. In the midst of despair, He is Hope. In the midst of chaos, He is peace. In the midst of confusion, He is promise. In the midst of famine, He is provision. In the midst of death, He is Life. In the midst of life, He is Eternity.
He may take His time in the process, because the fulfillment of promise has more to do with who we are becoming than the intended outcome. God always honors our obedience. So as we steadfastly continue to believe Him for things that seem exceedingly, abundantly above and beyond what we could ever dream, imagine or think, I hope and pray that we will do so with a mixture of both:
SoulandSubstance27 