Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Hillsong - Beneath the Waters (I will Rise) - with subtitles/lyrics



We must know who we are in Christ.  "My people perish for lack of knowledge.." says the Lord to Hosea.  This is still true of His people today.  Acknowledge who you were as a soul separated from God, then become fixated on Jesus and the life He has given you to live in this world right now.  As you begin to rise, grab the hands of those around you and take them with you.  We are ascending, not descending, live in the freedom and joy Christ purchased for you.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Live

"Nothing brings more glory to Christ than when the church LIVES!" -Paul White

So why do we preach more on dying than living?
These days, if a pastor preaches life people get uncomfortable!
Is Jesus alive?
Did he come to give us life?
Then we should live!!

Israel had dead religion with God under the law so God sent his son to fulfill that law because He wanted real relationships with anybody who would want Him! He yearns to give life to our dry bones!

Everywhere Jesus went He brought life to the circumstance!

Unfortunately too many of us get so caught up on dying everyday, dying to our flesh, looking forward to dying so we can be with the Lord in heaven.
We do die to our flesh and we repent from our sins when we turn to Jesus but after we do that God sees us as righteous forevermore!
We spend more time putting ourselves down instead of letting God build us up and transform us into the image of His Son!
 Jesus didn't mope around and neither should we.
When we focus on our sin we are not bringing glory to God, we are not representing Him on this earth, we are glorifying ourselves.
I hear of so many churches that focus on sin and dying and repenting and so often the people of that congregation live with guilt and condemnation because they are focused on the fact that they are just "no good" and "such a wretched sinner" when all they are doing is disqualifying the work of the cross!
Of course you're not good!
That's why Jesus came!
He is good and He has called you righteous! So get a move on! Start praising God for what He did for you! Then forget about your sin because God's forgotten about it! It's as far removed as the east is from the west! Jesus isn't going to come back and die again for your future sins, they're already covered!
Satan wants you to keep your mind on your sin so you never feel good enough to do what God has called you to do.  He wants to keep you down and God wants you to walk in the freedom He purchased for you.
So church, let's live! Let's show this dying world what life is all about!


"as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.." 
Psalm 103:12


For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
Romans 5:17



Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you[a] free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh,[b] God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.[c] And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirementof the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.
Romans 8:1-5

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Her Story is HIStory- Now Available!!




Wow, it's been a long time since I blogged!  I am excited to let you know that I just published my first book on Amazon Kindle! It's called, Her Story is HIStory and it's only $.99 if you want to get a copy and hear about how God transformed my life!  Here is a sneak peak at one of the poems I include in the book, it was written when I was 21 years old.

His Mess
You’ve caused my blood to run dry in my veins
my liver is corroded
and my heart a shredded masterpiece
my lungs are filled with hatred
and my stomach can’t break down the resentment
You’ve caused my skin to go bone-dry
and your lies have penetrated deep into my bones
I’m an obvious mess
unappealing to anyone’s eye
except for one
A redeemer who spoke this world into place
and sent His son for my salvation
He looks at me with love in His stare
and with one touch restores me to heavenly beauty
Now your tricks can’t fool me
or empty promises hold my attention
I’m no longer your mess
I’m His.


My book is unique in that I include real journal entries and poems amidst the narrative of my life-long testimony.  God is so good and my next book is going to be all about His goodness!  Thanks for following me and hearing me out! If you'd like your own copy of my book visit  this link!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Coming Your Way



Everyday you have choices.  Each minute there is a choice to be made.
Do I get up now or lay here 5 more minutes?
Do I put on liquid or pencil liner?
Do I wear hoop earrings or studs?
Do I say hi when I pass my neighbor or look down?
Do I talk about how much I don't want to be at work right now or do I thank God that I have a job?
Do I do a little extra to help out someone else or do I do just enough to say I did my job?

Choices.

God has given them to us.
He doesn't make them for us, He expects us to choose.
The more we know God and are pursuing Him the more we will choose what He would have chosen.
The more we know how Jesus lived the more we'll do what he would do.

Choose to search Him out.
He's waiting for YOU.
He's as close as He'll ever be, its up to us to reach out, or look up or tune our ear to Him.

Do you want to live an abundant life now?
It's your choice.
Jesus said he came so we could have it.
It's baffling how many people don't choose it though.

The devil wants to keep us distracted so we don't take the time to see all that God really has for us.
Stay focused.
Choose to deny your flesh and live by the spirit.

The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows).
 John 10:10


Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25


The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
Romans 8:15

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Make Me Your Radio...



First of all, I must admit I stole this idea from a friend, but she's not going to blog it so I thought I would!

Picture for a second that Adam Levine is God (that won't be hard for some) and he's singing this to you:

"My heart's a stereo, it beats for you so listen close, hear my thoughts in every note."

God is always speaking to us, wanting to share with us, His heart that beats for us!

"Make me your radio, and turn me up when you feel low, this melody was meant for you, so sing along to my stereo."

God is saying "Tune in to ME!! You feel low?  Listen closely to ME!!! Sing MY words and I will lift you up!"

Most of the time our dial isn't tuned in to God's channel.
Our signals are picking up the words and melodies of other people or other philosophies and we're left empty or confused.
Once we tune in to what God is saying and start singing along, our lives will turn around, our burdens will be lifted, and our joy will return.
He's saying, "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!! CAN YOU HEAR ME??"
But so often we're tuned out.

Listen to the rest of the song and apply the words as if God was singing them to you (give or take some)!
Be encouraged and tune your life channel into His heart station!!








My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. John 10:27-28






 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  1 John 3:1

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Closer


Steffany Frizzell @ Bethel


PLEASE LISTEN TO THIS SONG!!!:)

Close your eyes and snuggle up in God's lap. Express your love and receive His love!!


His love is so sweet.
I want to go deeper and deeper.
I want to know Him better and better.
His love draws me in, keeps me, and yet the deeper I go, the more I realize I've barely scratched the surface!
It's simple but complex.
It's free but the most valuable thing in the world.
Without the love of God nothing would exist.
Isn't it nice to know that YOU are His main priority.
He wants YOU to know how much He loves you.
He's told us about it, demonstrated it towards us and is always reminding us through His creation how much he loves us!
He made us to love us and live with us.
Why don't we get to know Him?
Why do we play church on Sunday but refuse to sit with Him at home and talk with Him?
How has the church become so numb?
So often we confess Jesus is Lord with our mouth but our hearts aren't in it.
I could say I'm married to Josiah but I could live and act so dissatisfied that people would feel sorry for me.
I think that's how the world sees the church a lot of the time.
Rarely do they witness passionate Christians who are genuinely IN LOVE with their God.
Rarely do they witness it because sadly, a lot of Christians don't take the time to fall in love with God and truly get to know Him.
I am just beginning!
I lived as a confessing Christian for 18 years but my heart wasn't in it.
Not until I met people who were so obviously in love with their God did I realize what I was missing.
I want to quit laying on the beach and talking about the ocean of love God has for us, and actually jump in!!
Our love is our greatest witness.
Let's go deeper into His heart and really get to know Him!

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Furious Love




Furious:

adj.
1. Full of or characterized by extreme anger; raging.
2. Suggestive of extreme anger in action or appearance; fierce. See Synonyms at angry.
3. Full of activity; energetic or rapid: the furious pace of the trading floor.

I have come to love this song but while thinking about it I was trying to understand why we say God's love is furious, it sounds like He's pretty ticked off or something.

Description 3 in the definition makes perfect sense to me, His love is always moving and being demonstrated toward us, His love is full of energy, never lackadaisical.  That makes sense! In my search to better understand why we say God's love is "furious" I found a great sermon here and encourage everyone to check it out!  I see his love being angry against sin and evil that is in the world and His love will stop at nothing; He will forever be wooing us and inviting us in to experience it. 

In almost every sermon I've been hearing lately, and the talk amongst the church, the focus is returning to God's love.  Without deeper revelation on this subject we are at a standstill.  When the church doesn't understand the Bridegroom and His Father's love for her she is incapable of demonstrating His glory in her life, in her relationships and throughout her circumstances.  She is too easily offended and timid among her peers because she doesn't really understand, know and believe how much she is loved.

My mom said something great this morning which we have all heard but it sunk in deep today, God isn't just loving, His person IS love.  He can't be anything else.  He demonstrates it beautifully through His son, Jesus.  Jesus made time for all, healed all, sacrificed himself for all to show us how much the Father loves us, his little children!

His love is awakening us, it has reawakened me and when I start to think about it I realize I could think about it for eternity and still would never fully know it!  But the challenge is, and the greatest reward is, to meditate on it, to press in to the heart of God and ask Him to show us more and more of how He loves us and then abide in that love and breathe and move in that ocean of love.  

1 John 4:16-19

Amplified Bible (AMP)
16And we know (understand, recognize, are conscious of, by observation and by experience) and believe (adhere to and put faith in and rely on) the love God cherishes for us. God is love, and he who dwells and continues in love dwells and continues in God, and God dwells and continues in him.
    17In this [union and communion with Him] love is brought to completion and attains perfection with us, that we may have confidence for the day of judgment [with assurance and boldness to face Him], because as He is, so are we in this world.
    18There is no fear in love [dread does not exist], but full-grown (complete, perfect) love [a]turns fear out of doors and expels every trace of terror! For fear [b]brings with it the thought of punishment, and [so] he who is afraid has not reached the full maturity of love [is not yet grown into love's complete perfection].
    19We love Him, because He first loved us.

*Want to meditate even more on God's love right now? Watch this video to the end and be saturated in His love:)

Monday, April 16, 2012

Lovesick



This should be the theme song for my entire blog!!

I want to share a story, it's personal but I only have 7 followers so.... :)

First of all, God is soo good!

His promises, laws and principles are all true I am beginning to discover first hand!

I'll start back in January, Josiah and I participated in the Daniel Fast and quite literally the last day of the fast during a prayer/worship night at my church God spoke a few things very clearly to me.  One of them was that I was going to get pregnant in March.

I was excited! And I was going to make sure it happened! So, without further detail, Josiah and I did our part.

We began thanking God for our baby and constantly spoke that I was pregnant throughout the last 2 weeks of the month.

Alas, the end of March and no period, the stick read "pregnant"!

I almost couldn't believe it, as strange as that may sound...
I began speaking to my baby, calling him Isaiah because Josiah and I have always wanted our first born boy to be named, Isaiah.
As soon as I began talking to him God stopped me and said, "This is not Isaiah, this is Samson."

"Samson?!!!" I replied. I never liked the story of Samson that much and I did not want to call my child, Sam.
"God, are you sure this is Samson?"
"Yes."
"O.k."
I could picture this little fertilized egg wrestling in my womb trying hard to latch on for life, I knew he was strong.

I told Josiah and he was surprised but accepted it.  We began calling him, Samson.
Two days later as we are on the phone to tell his parents our news,  I felt a rush of blood and knew that Samson had entered heaven.

I cried but I was not devastated, the Holy Spirit comforted me and soon almost a relief came and I was more than content not being with child.

Two days after that, while sitting at my computer, God spoke again, "McKenna, think about the story of Samson."
So I did.
I realized that Samson's greatest victory was in his death!
He killed more of the enemy (Philistines) upon his death than he had his whole life.

God told me that Samson was tearing down the strongholds in my mind I had developed about miscarriage.  It had been in my family and I had a deep fear of suffering one.
I am absolutely sure that I will never suffer another miscarriage.  As Samson sacrificed himself, he tore down my uterus "wall" and defeated the enemy that had burrowed in my mind. The bond was broken and I felt absolute freedom!

I praised God that it was never His will for Samson to die, if God killed babies then it would be ok for us to kill babies in the womb, but God knew what was going to happen and turned it around for my victory and my liberty.  He never let me call it Isaiah and get attached because that baby wasn't our Isaiah.  He held my heart and emotions in His hands and was with me throughout the whole experience.

He's been showing me how you truly have what you say! Not just with this but with many experiences this past year.  I've learned that when I am believing for something and I speak it with faith and it turns out to not be God's best for me, He gently leads me out and on to the next thing.

There is nothing like a relationship with the Creator of the Universe, only He can satisfy!!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Prosperity Gospel

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."




Jeremiah 29:11


God said it, not me...:)

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Bill Johnson on Christians tolerating suffering and sickness


"The sufferings of Jesus were realized in the persecution He endured and in the burden He carried for people. He did not suffer with disease. That must be removed from our idea of Christian suffering. It is vain to carry something under the guise of the will of God when it is something that He purchased that He might destroy its power over us. An additional concept to remember is that He suffered that we might not have to suffer. For example, He bore stripes on His body applied by a Roman soldier so that they could become His payment for our healing. 
If this suffering of His was insufficient, then what did it accomplish? This error, if carried through, brings the whole issue of conversion and forgiveness of sins into question. It's true that the sufferings of Jesus are not yet complete, but they have to do with our call to righteous living in an unrighteous world. This brings pressure upon our lives that range from the realm of persecution for living for Christ to the burdens we bear as intercessors before our heavenly Father where we plead the case of the lost. 
There are few prophetic declarations that are more appropriate for this hour than this word from Hosea: "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." -Hosea 4:6 
Ignorance that exalts itself with a false sense of accomplishment for meeting religious requirements is one of our greatest enemiesFor ignorance creates tolerance. And what we tolerate dominates.
When we allow sickness, torment, and poverty to be thought of as the God-ordained tools He uses to make us more like Jesus, we have participated in a very shameful act. There is no doubt He can use them, as He is also known to be able to use the devil himself for His purposes. (He can win with a pair of twos.) But to think these things are released into our lives through His design, or that He approved such things, is to undermine the work at Calvary. To do so one must completely disregard the life of Christ and the purpose of the cross. None of us would say that He died for my sins but still intends that I should be bound by sin habits. Neither did He pay for my healing and deliverance so I could continue in torment and disease. His provision for such things is not figurative: it is actual. 
Furthermore, it dishonors the Lord to disregard His work in order to justify OUR difficulty to believe for the impossible. It is time to own up to the nature of the gospel and preach it for what it is. It is the answer for every dilemma, conflict, and affliction on the planet. Declare it with boldness, and watch Him invade Earth once again."
(scriptures referred to; Isaiah 53:4-5, Colossians 1:24-the word for affliction in this verse is not sickness. It means to put under pressure, as when grapes are crushed for wine or olives for olive oil. Righteous living put us under pressures that bring out the inward anointing and joy of the Holy Spirit., Acts 4:28-29)

This is an interesting article I found and wanted to share.  Think about it, take it to scripture, ask God what He thinks about this subject and take time to let Him speak to you.  If you're like me, you grew up under teaching that promotes God's allowance of suffering so this may be a hard concept to consider.  All I ask is that you do consider the FULL work of calvary and start reconsidering who's fault suffering is, not God's but ours.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

We have Destiny!!



If you normally skip over the song and just read my blogs please STOP reading now and hit play on this song.
Too long?
Don't STOP
Listen to the whole thing!
Please :)

Ok, now that you have listened to it you're probably feeling a little (or a lot) riled up.
I was listening to it while I was doing my make up this morning and had to put down the eyeliner so I could jump and shout along and get crazy.  These words definitely waken your spirit.

I want to encourage everyone to reawaken the dream God has put inside of you.
Those deep, almost lost dreams you had as a kid when you believed you could do anything.
Think on those things, remember them.
These days, your wildest dreams feel impossible don't they?
They feel that way because the enemy, the prince of darkness has broken you down over the years, little by little.
He's sent people into your life telling you that you'll never be able to do that
He's been whispering lies to you that you're really just a nobody and should just lay low and get through life as comfortably as possible.

Well today I want to dispel those lies and tell you the truth:
There is a purpose God has for your life that He has known about from the beginning of time, when the world wasn't even formed yet He was thinking about YOU and designing a destiny for YOU
not just Mother Theresa and Christopher Columbus,
YOU
He set a seed of destiny inside of you that only you can live out! Nobody else can live it out for you.
Now think bigger than yourself:
If you're not in position, doing what God has purposed for you to do, you might be holding somebody else back from their full destiny.
 God's not going to let you ruin someone else's destiny if they are active and living it, but you could be hindering others.

Some people that are reading this aren't Christians but they relate to what I am saying because it's within all of us, we are all created in the image of God and have a longing for more than this world.
You might be wondering what it means, I am royalty? I have been set free? Wha..?
Well Jesus has set you free from sin by paying the price of death for you
and when you believe that you become a co-heir with Christ and a royal priesthood, a son or daughter of the ultimate King of Kings, you are royalty!

Many times Christians forget these truths and live less than the abundant life Jesus came to give them, that's why we have to declare these words and get set free of our "poor me" poverty mindsets by shouting and praising God and getting our perspective back into alignment with His.

I've found a lot of non-Christians to believe in themselves extremely more than Christians do.
I think it's because the church hasn't had the chance to beat these people down telling them they're worthless because of their sin nature and depravity.
Non-Christians take responsibility for their destiny more than I've seen many Christians do, which is weird because it should be the other way around!
Many Christians will use the good ole cop out, "well, if it's God's will then maybe...."
How about you learn what God's will is and then do it!
It's in His Word, He's always speaking, but we rarely take the time out of our day to listen.
We can know God's perfect will for our lives if we transform our mind!*  Once we know His will for our lives we get excited and start living in the destiny He's created us for.

I never knew what I wanted to do with my life. In high school people would always ask me what I wanted to do and I knew I was called to more than just going to college and getting a job because that wasn't the dream in my heart.  The dream in my heart was to help people but I didn't know what that looked like until I started spending time with God and obeying His Word, that's when the vision came, when I was 23 years old!
Some peoples' dream is to go to college and work a job they know they would be talented at and I think that is great! But it wasn't my dream.

Take time to dream with God, open the tomb on your dead dreams and let God bring them back to life.  Ask Him to show you what His idea was when He made you.
Answers might not come instantly but keep pressing in!  The treasure is hidden for kings to seek it out!**
Take your place, rise up and start walking in your destiny, declare truths over your life everyday so you don't get distracted by the enemy and lead off course.

If you don't know God because you don't know Jesus know that there is always an open invitation for you.  He's loved you from before time and has already forgiven your sin so that you can have an awesome relationship with Him and live a life above the status quo of the world.  He wants to give you abundant, everlasting life, all you have to do is believe!  He made it so simple because He doesn't want anyone to die and be separated from Him.  Hell was only meant for demons, not for people, but he's given everyone a free will to chose life with Him or life without Him.  My life has changed for the better since I gave up my own way and accepted God's way for me.  He's never let me down, He's daily showing His love for me and its awesome!


*Romans 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].


**Proverbs 25:2
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a thing.



Ephesians 2:10
10For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), [d]recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Do You Know the Way YOU Move Him?




He is crazy about you.
He can't stop thinking about you.
You are His favorite.
He loves when you think about Him.
He loves when you talk to Him.
He loves when you tell others about Him.
He is excited about the plans He has for your life.
He delights in you.

So often we don't think about these facts.
Too easily we get hung up on our sin and forget that God sees us as righteous.
We are in Christ which means that God takes no account of our sin anymore, it's already forgiven.  
What you do tomorrow is already under the blood of the Lamb so there is no use feeling bad (guilty or condemned) about your mess-ups.

We should be dwelling on His amazing love for us.
Like a man engaged to a beautiful woman, He is wooing us and showing us His love.
He can't wait to be with us completely but until that day He is constantly pouring out His love.

When we first made the decision to die to ourselves and take on His life He was ecstatic.
He was so happy because now He can have intimacy with us, He can show us His love in a deeper way, he can fill us with His Spirit so we can understand His heart and experience the love He has for us.

When we obey His word He sees it.
When we sacrifice for Him He knows it and He loves it because He is going to repay us 100 fold for what we give up for His sake.

He loves us so much and because of Jesus He understands us.
Can you believe that we touch His heart.
We move His heart.
We are involved in this divine romance.
His love in unlike any earthly love we'll ever know, His love is supernatural and the depth and height and width of it is too much for us to ever fully understand.

Remember, nothing can separate us from His love.


Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, evenwhen we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved—

1 John 4:9-11 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

Romans 8:38-39  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Note: Not all of the subtitles are correct on this version of Cory Asbury and Matt Gilman's song)

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Difference


I hope you're not getting sick of Hillsong yet!!

I just love the guy in the glasses, he's my favorite, his energy is so high that I'm inspired every time I see him lead worship.

I love this song because its good news simply put.
I used to live in fear and hopelessness but God's love has made the biggest difference in my life.
I'm beginning to go deeper and deeper into His love and the more I uncover the more I realize how unfair it is!

I literally have to do nothing to be loved by Him.

It's so crazy!
I am blessed and highly favored wherever I go because I have accepted His gift! His son, Jesus.

It's so insane!

The more I go into His heart, and understand His love, the more my life is transformed.
I can forgive sooner because He has forgiven me for all I've done and will do.
My fears are gone because His love has cast them out and I know that I can do anything with God.
There is no room for anxiety because with His love comes His peace and it washes over me everyday so I have no time to be anxious about the future.

What if everyone lived like this?

I'm not saying I'm perfect and I walk around as one big love-filled-zen-ball all the time but I have been looking to Him faster than I used to when a situation arises.
He's paid the highest price so that we can live in His perfect love, we can live in His presence.
Don't let anything steal that truth.
Sometimes I think about my old life and wonder what it would be like to go back to it
then I'm honest with myself and remember the ache for satisfaction that I had, the guilt I lived with and the depression my lifestyle brought me.

Meditate for just a moment on God's love for you and watch your day change.
His love makes all The Difference.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Stay Focused


As we travel down the road of life it is easy to set cruise control, begin to relax and get comfortable in your seat and start looking around at the scenery as you continue on to your destination.
This isn't a bad thing to do once in a while but we can't continue to look around forever, we'll start to lose track of time and sometimes even forget where we're going.
God is telling his people that this is a season where we need to stay focused!  He has given us dreams and vision for our lives and we need to be putting in the work to accomplish the things He's told us to do.
Our work isn't hard, He takes care of the hard stuff, (His yoke is easy and His burden is light) our work is to believe Him and keep our eyes on Him so when He brings the next step or opportunity in view, we won't miss it! 

31But you [Moses], stand here by Me, and I will tell you all the commandments and the statutes and the precepts which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess.
    32Therefore you people shall be watchful to do as the Lord your God has commanded you; you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
    33You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live and that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land which you shall possess.
   Deuteronomy 5:31-33 Amplified Bible

I like this scripture because God is saying "if you do what I tell you, everything will turn out in your favor." He only gives us commands and tells us what to do because He knows what is best for us and He wants it to "go well with us that we may live long in the land which we shall possess."
If He has spoken to you about what you are called to do, make this a season to focus on Him and be obedient to His direction.  If you don't know what you are called to do, ask Him! He wants you in on His plan just as much as you want to be in on it, take the time to listen and hear Him!  He showed me through visions and dreams, and by me seeing what He sees for my life I am caused to walk out each day confidently, knowing that I am doing what He has told me to do.  He created you for a purpose so quit meandering through life and start walking intentionally. 
The good news is that "spring is coming" meaning we will get to enjoy the fruit of our focused labor.  We will live long in the land we possess.  As for now, put away all distractions and keep your eyes on Him.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Freedom



Just sit back and let this song soak in. Begin to meditate and let your spirit engage with the words as they're being sung.


"There is power in the name of Jesus

To break every chain

All sufficient sacrifice
So freely given
Such a price
Bought our redemption
Heaven's gates swing wide

There's an army rising up"

What are you bound by? What chains are holding you back?  Ask the Holy Spirit to search you and reveal addictions, distractions, anything that is holding you back in your relationship with God the Father.

Do you believe that God wants you free? I'll show you that He does:

31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”
 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave[b] to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” John 8:31-38


16 But when one[a] turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord[b] is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord,[c] are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:16-18

 1 For freedom Christ has set us freestand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1

Christ has set us free from the law and free from sin.  It is time to abolish it in our lives so we can begin to set others free.  Are you living in a spiritual prison?  You know God and have accepted Jesus yet are submitting yourself over and over again to a yoke of slavery of some form?
I was.
I was in the bonds of alcoholism for six years.  Now that Christ has broken that chain I want to see others' chains broken.

You can't untie someone else if you're all tied up.

I encourage you to pray about any chains that may be in your life and then begin to declare freedom in those areas. Christ delivers us out of all of our afflictions, go into your prayer time believing that He wants you free so that you can give Him glory.

Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all. Psalm 34:19

3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds5casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ... 2 Corinthians 10:3-5


Recommended reading:  Breaking Free by Beth Moore