"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)
In a few days, friends, we will be moving into a brand new year. But as we do, may we look back on the year that has been 2021 – not to stay stuck in what we are gearing up to wrap up, but rather to reflect & learn so that we can grow as we go. For me personally, this year has been both, difficult + monumental. It has had me traverse the roughest terrain, navigate my way through snakes and adders, but it has also seen the Lord’s hand move me through my pain so mightily that it has grown me closer to His heart than I have ever been.
I call this the art of finding the ‘beauty in the brokenness.’
It will need us to get alone with Jesus for some time so that God is invited in to clean up the lens of our perception and show us the glory of what has been as He takes us into what will be in 2022.
The Father has good plans for us. For each and every single one of us. I believe that with all my heart.
For Jesus writes the script of our lives with grace, hope and promise. He does not plot our pain, but He does use it to evolve us.
So as we prepare our hearts this time of the year, let me leave you with some thoughts.
What was may not have been easy, but I bet it transformed you. I bet it gave you greater grit, purer faith and more strength of character than ever before.
I bet it developed things on the inside of you that couldn’t have been developed any other way.
I bet it taught you to turn your back on the inferior and pursue the superior.
I bet it introduced you to a version of yourself that reflects the image of its Creator better than it ever has.
And I bet that that’s worthy of celebration, sweet friend.
I bet that’s reason enough to tie a bow on 2021, receive the glory it carried and let that fuel us into the next.
“Christmas doesn’t have to be spectacular for us to experience Christ, but because we know Christ, we can experience Christmas to be spectacular.”
Bunny slippers – Hot chocolate with whipped cream – Advent Devotional by Hannah Brencher – Elizabeth, my beautiful new, red tree – Outdoor walks & conversations with Jesus
aren’t just ‘a few of my favorite things,’ but some of the most wonder-full things that have made my Christmas full, thus far. Having begun Advent this year thinking it would perhaps be bleak, my story reveals the opposite is true.
For it is a knowledge of Christ that enables a spectacular experience of this season, and not necessarily a spectacular experience of Christmas that enables our knowledge of Christ.
The latter can help, of course. But it isn’t a necessity to behold the reason for the season.
A small, sharp look at the snap shots and I reckon the things listed aren’t too big of a deal. But when viewed through the lens of a personal walk with the Messiah which reveals His fingerprints all over the roadmap for this season, the dynamic changes.
Where I wrote, ‘bleak,’ He wrote, ‘wonder.’ Where I wrote ‘barren,’ He wrote ‘fruitful.’ Where I wrote ‘dormant,’ He wrote ‘latent.’ Where I wrote ’empty,’ He wrote ‘beauty.’
And this is why I love Jesus. This is why I love this season. Because He changes everything.
He flipped the script on its head 2000 years back when God became man and came as a humble babe in a manger.
The Light in the darkness. The Hope in the despair. The Miracle in the mundane.
And He is the same even now.
Because ‘knowing’ Immanuel – God with us – is the real celebration.
May we trace Him. May we behold Him. May we adore Him.
“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”
(Revelation 3:20, KJV)
I will talk about the Table today, friends. But let me start with the door.
When we open the door of our hearts to receive the Lord, He enters in and from that moment on, we are His home, His very own dwelling place. A lifestyle of communion – intimacy, fellowship and family has been ushered in and we are no longer orphans, but cherished Sons & Daughters in the family of God.
We belong at the Table.
The Lord’s Table.
The Lord himself spreads the Table out for us and offers us a seat. We each have our own reserved space and unique place at the Table. There is a six course meal for each child of God every single time we go to Him as He calls us close to dine full at His Table.
As I eat, I recognize that my portion is entirely mine and your portion is entirely yours. Mine does not take away from yours, and yours does not take away from mine. What is mine is mine, and yours – yours.
The place that is in the Father’s heart for each child is equally unique. The place He has in His heart for me is uniquely mine and only I can ever take it. And the same holds true for you, my friend.
The place that He has in His heart for you is uniquely yours too.
This pattern of wholeness plays out not only in the matter of our identity as God’s very own children, but also in the realm of our destiny. We each have a unique gift mix and set of skills, talents and abilities that God spins together in His masterplan for our lives. For His plan for every single one of us is as unique as is our design.
God is a Master Creator, and He paints as He wills, with our best interests at heart, on the canvass of our lives. He made us, redeemed us and only He can use us for His glory in the right way.
The value He places on each child of His is infinite, and at our best, I do not think we can even comprehend it. But what I am learning is that what we cannot comprehend, we can always trust simply because we know who our Father is.
Our Father sits at the Table and calls His children together to feast in fullness. Here at the Table, there is no striving to be more for each child is aware of their own unique significance in the Father’s eyes. They know that they are the apple of their Father’s eyes, and the grand setting of the Table is only a revelation of that great love.
Here at the Table, there is no comparison or competition. Each child sits enthroned at the Father’s right hand as royalty. They not only know their own value, but also that of their neighbour. Any need to be ‘better than’ is done away with as each child is secure in the Father’s Love, and is only motivated by how well they can love one another in response.
In fact, the level of internal security within the hearts of God’s children is so intact that they are looking around to see who they can share their extra portion of fresh oranges and strawberries with!
There is truly no dearth at the Father’s Table.
For this is a place of abundance of resources and generosity of spirit.
Jealousy and envy have no share at the Table either. The abundance of love and the supply of riches is so extravagant that there is a remarkable internal rest among the children of God here. They are dining full at their Father’s Table and know deep within their hearts that what is for them, is only for them.
They know that their Father does not compromise on His love, His power or His faithfulness. He is a man of honor who keeps every word he speaks. He has written the screenplay of their lives in the blood stained ink of Calvary, and is going to supply them with everything they need to walk in the fullness of who their Father has created and called them to be.
Here at the Table, every Child of God’s story is copyrighted by the Lord. It’s script is uniquely written for each and its set to the soundtrack of authenticity. God did this so that each child of His would have the blessed privilege to discover what it is that the Father has for them – what it is that has their name on it.
God will never deliver our mail to our neighbour. He is faithful, and will always deliver our goods to the right address, in the right way and at the right time. And quite honestly, truth be told, He doesn’t need our help in manifesting our destiny. He only needs our obedience.
Children at the Table therefore, have a revelation that any manner of strategizing and striving to fulfill their destiny is not needed. Let me repeat myself here –
They know who their Father is.
A deep experience of their Father’s Love, His impeccable nature and character has assured these children that their Father is faithful. He is worthy of their complete trust and come what may, He will never leave them nor betray their confidence. On the contrary, He promises to richly reward their faith in Him. So they wholeheartedly comply because they trust that He who promised is faithful.
In response to the outcomes of victory that their beautiful Father has promised them, these beloved children have decided to give themselves over to the power of the process that their Father has laid out for them. They know where their hope and strength lies, and they press in more and more.
Not to accomplish more or accumulate more.
No.
They press in to know Him more. Their beloved Father who is so worthy of it all.
And the funny thing is that the more they press in to know their Father, the more secure they get. Eating full and drinking deep, they are both – completely satisfied yet longing for the more of Him.
For their thirst for the things of this world has been replaced with an appetite for the Kingdom.
They know the value of dining full at the Father’s Table where their portions are always to the point of overflow. They are content in what they receive and no longer distracted by the temptations of the world. In fact, should they find themselves wanting, they look only to their Father.
A counterfeit won’t do for these blessed ones, for they have tasted and seen that the Lord is good.
And the Good News for us here is that we are those children.
Yes.
You and me.
We are these blessed children that are called to sit at the Table for we are the absolute desire of the Father’s heart. It is us who get to dine full here, feast on the abundant supply of His riches in glory and find ourselves both – completely satisfied yet longing for more.
Because every need we have is met only in Him and He never disappoints.
So the next time we are tempted to feed on the lesser things of this world, whether its the snare of worldly validation, vain glory or selfish ambition, may we do but one thing.
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!
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?
“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
(James 5:16, NKJV)
I have slowly allowed myself, friends to develop the habit of praying instead of fretting.
My natural bent, I admit, would be to worry. But having walked with the Lord thus far has enabled me to realise that because He is with me, I have no reason to worry or be anxious anymore.
No legit reason whatesoever.
Now does that mean that I don’t get anxious?
Absolutely not. Of course, I do.
But I have no reason anymore to stay that way.
I can instead, pray.
Prayer, quite simply, is close connection and communion with God. It is a chance to engage in a relational dialogue with the Father and get real with Him. It is an opportunity to express my truest feelings and let myself flow in the beauty and the authenticity of the freedom that my relationship with Jesus inspires.
It is also a place where I am shaped and forged. For it is in the secret place where I get to yield my will to His and exchange His thoughts for mine. It is here that I know I can lay down the burden of the ‘performance anxiety’ that I am feeling and instead, let myself grow into the gift of the full acceptance of the Father. It is here that I am able to embrace my imperfections and my vulnerabilities simply because His strength is made perfect in my weakness.
It is also in prayer that I can transact and bridge the gap between what Jesus has died for me to receive and my current reality. Here faith is the currency of exchange as I seek to draw from what Jesus has already put in my account, and I need only ask, seek and knock till the door is opened for me.
Prayer is when Heaven touches earth and nothing is going to be the same any more. But isn’t that the reason why the Gospel is called ‘Good News?’
I reckon.
In prayer, I assume the responsibility of partnering effectively with the King of glory as well as tap into the delight of being a much loved Child of God. I rejoice in the Lord who has gone before me and call down things that are not as though they are. I learn what it is to walk by faith and not by sight.
I prophesy so that I can testify. I believe before I see. I trust even when I can’t understand.
Here it is that I meet my Creator face-to-face, skin-to-skin, bone-to-bone as I work out my salvation with awe and wonder.
Ok. Coming back to my tendency to fret.
Let me share a verse from Scripture, friends.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
(Philippians 4:6-7, ESV)
The Word of God here is talking of a beautiful barter exchange – an exchange of our yoke with His.
We give Him our yoke which is oh-so heavy and burdensome, and receive His in its place, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. He offer Him our worries in prayer and cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us. Joyce Meyer says something quite profound,
“Cast your care, but not your responsibility.”
So what is our responsibility?
To pray, to trust and to partner.
To do what He shows us to do, and trust Him with the results. The process is our responsibility, the outcome is His.
And He is Faithful.
Takes the pressure off, doesn’t it?
So as a result, I am honestly doing much better than before, friends. When I find myself even starting to get anxious, I am learning to still myself in His Presence and pray instead.
I am so delighted to share with you a FREE RESOURCE that I believe will be a sure blessing in your faith journey in Christ.
It is a tiny capsule of 32 wonderful, life-giving Biblical truths that convey the message of the infallibility of God’s promises, in direct co-relation to the perfection of His character which inadvertently assures us of the certainty of His ways.
There are 4 pages in all, and I have attached the image files here for you. The link is below, friends to enable print out for you to get your own personal copy. So I invite you to just dig in!
I hope that it serves to bless you, and should you desire, stick it up on a wall or a journal. Give yourself permission to get creative with how it can serve as a daily reminder to you about the Truth that God is Faithful.
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!
These two precious snails yesterday taught me to trust the timing of God, friends.
For a few days now on this side of the globe (I live in India!), we have been sitting in the bliss of some very welcome monsoon rains. The trees have been washed and cleansed, the soil rendered moist, and the snails, loose.
So I took a long stroll hand-in-hand with Jesus last evening. A newfound leap in my step betrayed my joy with the kindest intentions. And with each step forward, my eyes started growing wide with wonder.
I began to experience the awe of God in a fresh new way.
In a way that showed me where a few days back, we were primarily held hostage indoors due to the intense heat and humidity, we were now experiencing such joy and bliss alongwith the freedom to be able to truly enjoy the beauty and splendour of creation, and the difference between the two scenarios was, what we call, a shift in seasons.
“He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them.”
(Daniel 2:21)
Candid confession time, friends.
As a believer, I honestly struggle and wrestle with God to be able to accurately discern the times and seasons that I orbit in and out of. He is faithful, I am happy to testify, and lets me in when I seek Him. So it was this time too.
Transition change.
A season of dryness morphing into showers of blessing.
Naturally.
And I am beginning to suspect even spiritually.
Ok.
Let’s get back to the snails.
With their home on their backs, these two precious snails were positioned right next to one another when I, still within my apartment’s complex, received a gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit.
“Let’s take a few steps out.”
Yes, Sir.
So off I went following His leading. And just a couple of steps through the gate of my building was awaiting me this exquisite sight.
Two precious snails carefully aligned next to one another. Five minutes here and two minutes there – I would have missed it! For one champion was headed up north, while the other downtown. Different destinations assigned to each comrade, yet carefully juxtaposed with one another in this one moment of time.
Divine timing .
Isn’t it amazing friends?
Isn’t it amazing how our Heavenly Father is so intimately involved with us, even in the smallest details of our lives?
Helps me to know that He never misses a thing.
He is present. He is intimate. He cares.
He cares about His Beloved finding these two precious snails forming a yin-yang all their own to let me know that even my seconds are carefully timed so that whatever it is that He has for me, never misses me.
All we need to do is pay attention, friends and there are tiny miracles all around us.
Including what we call, a shift in seasons.
Yes, even spiritually.
With a timely downpour washing clean both, creation and the children of God; I felt a deeper stirring in my soul, and as I continue to write, it nags me all the way into faith for more.
For more of the awe of God.
The God who changes times and seasons, translating a dry and arid time into a season of fresh outpouring, blessing and favour; is the One I am wanting the more of.
For being in awe of Him, captivated by His majesty serves to heal my heart and reignite hope.
Hope for a season that brings us into a fuller manifestation of all that He has in His heart for us is what I am beginning to let myself have faith for.
So as I was soaking in the Word today friends, I found myself praying and prophesying some tender and potent truths over myself in a spontaneous outburst of Psalm 89.
I felt it on my heart to share with you too what I believe He has released, so that together we will walk into a bountiful future.
A future that is full of the bounty of heaven, both spiritually and naturally.
Paving the way forward, I am sharing now a benediction for Showers of Blessings based on the Promise of God from Psalm 89, The Passion Translation. I encourage you to personalise Scripture and confess it over your life as the very heart and words of Father God concerning you.
Personally.
Friend, the Lord loves intimacy in a way that is up, close and personal; dares vulnerability and demonstrates trust.
So let’s go.
This is what I believe Father God says to you,
“I have chosen you, ____________________ , Beloved Child of God,
as my loving servant and exalted you. I have anointed you with the oil of my holiness. I will be strength to you and I will give you my grace to sustain you no matter what comes. None of your enemies will get the best of you nor will the wicked one overpower you. For I will crush your every adversary and do away with all who hate you. Because I love you and treasure you my faithfulness will always protect you. I will place my great favor upon you and I will cause your power and fame to increase. I will set your hand over the sea and your right hand over the rivers. And you will come before me, saying, ‘You truly are my Father, my only God, and my strong deliverer!’
… This covenant will be an unbreakable promise that I have established for all time.”
Says the Lord.
In my experience friends, the best way to respond to God when He gives us a promise from His heart is to pray in alignment so that we can see the manifestation activated and fulfilled.
King David did this, Scripture tells us when God gave him a promise that his son would be the one to build the temple of the Lord at Jerusalem and that David’s dynasty would indeed be established.
I’m guessing we can too.
Join me friend, won’t you?
“Dear Heavenly Father, I am so thankful that you love me and I want you to know that I love you too. I thank you that you have given me access to some truly precious and great promises concerning my Identity, sustenance, protection, vindication and favour. I receive them with praise and ask that you will activate all that is needed in the unseen realm so that the seasons up ahead will testify to Your Faithfulness in my life as Your beloved child. I thank You that He who promised is Faithful and I wait in confident expectation to watch You move. Keep me close, Father and give me eyes to see and ears to hear so that I may know you deeper still.
The Word of God is both, a skillful scalpel and a mighty sword.
Talking of God’s Word today friends. Speaking of which, I humbly realise that no matter how much we say, it will never be enough.
But I told Jesus I’d try.
Thanks for your time.
Let me start with the story I believe He laid on my heart last evening as I began to churn with creative ideas for this post. If you have spent some time studying God’s Word, you may be familiar with the story of Elijah and the widow of Zaraphath recorded in 1 Kings 17. If not, no sweat. I’ll break it down for you.
Ready?
Elijah, friends was a prophet of the Lord in Old Testament times. When the nation of Israel became rebellious and idolatrous by worshipping gods other than Yahweh, the net result was not only moral decay but also the inevitable circumstantial consequences that followed their disobedience towards the Lord.
Led completely astray under the leadership of Ahab, an extremely evil king; Israel found itself in grave trouble. That was when Elijah stepped onto the scene and prayed for the Lord to shut up the heavens to get the people to a point of realisation and repentance so that they could be restored.
So what culminated as a result was a drought which lasted three and a half years. Even at great personal cost, Elijah put the purpose of God at the center of His life and persevered to see Israel turn around.
Israel eventually did and the drought was lifted. But that’s not the point of this story.
The point of this story is the power of God’s Word.
“So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.”
(Isaiah 55:11, NKJV)
During the drought, Elijah was supernaturally supplied with food and water. The Lord sent him to a place where Elijah drank from a brook while God arranged for ravens to bring him bread and meat in the morning + evening.
However, the brook soon dried up.
But the good news is that the provision of the Lord did not.
The Lord commanded Elijah to go to a place called Zaraphath where God said He had already commanded a widow to supply him with food.
I am sure Elijah must have been surprised at this because widows in that time were presumably poor. Yet, how often do we see God provide instruction in a way that perhaps makes no sense in the given moment?
A test of faith.
Elijah’s story testifies.
Zaraphath was devastated by the onslaught of drought and famine. Starvation threatened the lives of people. These were indeed some desperate times, friends. And to top it all, God decides to send Elijah to a poor widow for provision.
Elijah at this point I believe summoned all his courage and asked the poor widow who did not even have enough firewood and was found by him collecting sticks.
Yet, Elijah did as he was told.
As the poor widow told Elijah that all she had was only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug which she was preserving for her last meal to be had with her son, preparing thereafter to die; Elijah audaciously interrupted her plans.
He told her that before she could cook a meal for herself and her son, she would first make a loaf of bread for him.
It was a request, actually. A very bold one.
What prompted him to say this, I hear you ask.
The Word of the Lord.
“For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.'”
(1 Kings 17:14)
God promised Elijah a never-ending supply of provision from a tiny jar of limited flour and a tiny jug of limited water.
And so it was.
“For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.”
(1 Kings 17:16)
Friends, whether I see it in the case of Jesus multiplying the two fish and five loaves of bread in the New Testament so much so that there were twelve basketsful of provision even after the crowd had eaten, or in the case of Elijah and the widow of Zaraphath in the Old Testament having more than enough to fill their stomachs even in the midst of an impossible drought and famine situation; one truth stands out to me:
Our limited resources when entrusted into the eternal hands of our Multiplying Master become a superabundant supply of God’s riches.
For our limitations are His opportunity.
All we need is a Word from the Lord.
Because the Word of the Lord goes forth like a mighty sword to manifest that which He has spoken and pull down strongholds that are contrary to His will.
It is designed and anointed to contradict, challenge and change the state of our circumstances.
Till our circumstances are brought into alignment with His will.
For His will is revealed through His Word.
Our part, friends in God’s story is to believe, receive and steward His Word.
For this is what God says to us,
“Open your mouth with a mighty decree; I will fulfill it now, you’ll see! The words that you speak, so shall it be!”
(Psalm 81:10, TPT)
Father God encourages us to speak His Word, friends.
To boldly declare it as a mighty sword in our mouth that is able to pull down strongholds in oppositional circumstances till our circumstances begin to align with the truth of that which He has spoken and the realm of His Kingdom is made manifest.
On Earth as it is in Heaven.
That is what God’s Word does in the context of our circumstances. But what about the condition of our hearts, friends?
Our inner world matters.
“For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
(Romans 10:9)
God’s Word, friends falls first on the ground of our hearts. So it is important that our hearts be soft and supple so that they can easily receive and believe what He is desiring for us to hear and implement.
But that is really not how we start with Jesus.
Because above all else, Jesus invites us to come to Him, just the way we are. Bound and shackled up. Shamed and discounted. Hurt and heartbroken. Hard and bitter.
He doesn’t really care how much of baggage we are dealing with, as long as we are willing to humbly surrender it all to Him and watch Him do what only He can do.
“Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit”
(Zechariah 4:6)
For the Lord is famous for taking the broken and fragmented pieces of our lives, and weaving them all together in the masterful way that only He knows to, ultimately resurrecting a master piece from the inside and out so that it brings glory to His Name.
Well known evangelist, Christine Caine often says,
“Your history does not define your destiny. You can start bad and finish good in and through a relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Our God is truly a miracle working God, friends.
He takes our brokenness and gives us wholeness in exchange. He translates our pain into purpose and brings beauty from ashes. He heals the anger and bitterness in our hearts by teaching us to forgive. He promises us justice as we agree to put our trust in Him. In fact, the Bible calls him the Restorer of Broken Dwellings. So it shouldn’t surprise us when He starts with first holistically healing and restoring the broken condition of our hearts, minds, bodies and souls for New Testament says that now we are His holy temple, the habitation of His Spirit.
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?”
(1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
We are now His beloved children, holy and blameless in His sight. And guess what every good father cares about when it comes to His kids?
Their peace, their joy, their hope.
And anything that interferes with the kind intentions of God is dealt with.
Foremost of which, are the lies that we have believed, friends which affects the ground of our hearts.
Yes. It’s true.
Lies that we have believed about the nature and character of God. Lies about ourselves and our identity in Him. Lies about the world that we are called to touch and transform.
Lies designed by the enemy to keep us in deception and bondage.
But Christ came to set us free.
“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
(John 8:36)
So where do we turn to receive Truth that is able to set us free, remains a valid question.
The Word of God.
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
(Hebrews 4:12, ESV)
God’s Word consists of Truth that are words anointed by His Holy Spirit, possessing the power to pierce and heal with the surgical precision of a scalpel.
It completely counters the lies of the enemy, reveals the authentic heart of God and brings His children into the light.
The light of the true nature and character of God, the light of our true identity in Him and the light of the truth about the world we are called to touch and transform.
The Aramaic language calls it, “noohrah” – the revelation light of God as well as the glory light of Christ.
This is the light of God, friends that pierces the dark, dismantles lies, reveals Truth and sets the captives free.
The light of God which sees us as a chosen people, a royal priesthood and a holy nation – forgiven and redeemed as the righteousness of God in Christ.
The light of God which deems us radically loved, fully known, carefully understood and deeply valued as the very family and household of God.
The light of God which draws a line in the sand through the blood-stained path of Calvary and demarcates between the counterfeit roar of the enemy (fear or intimidation) and the holy roar of the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Perfect Love which casts out all fear and breeds inner rest, deep assurance and complete security).
Psalm 36:9 says it well,
“For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”
The power of the Word of God.
Both, as a skillful scalpel and a mighty sword.
Where can you apply the Truth of God’s powerful Word today, friend?
SoulandSubstance27 