How I Feel About the American Church

I was scrolling through Facebook and saw a sponsored ad for a Free Movie Night in my city, Burbank, by a new church. I thought, “Oh great, a new church.” So I proceeded to click on the ad and go to the church’s page to find out who they were, what they believed, etc. 

As I was reading through their Baptist mission and learning about the pastor and his wife and their 3 kids and all the great things pastors from around the country said about them... and their 5 year budget... and their outreach plan... I started to get sad.

 Naturally, I watched their Vimeo promo convincing givers that LA had 19 million people and most of them are lost so they are going to plant a church and save LA and in turn, save the world.

I thought, “Do they realize there are already a lot of churches here? Do they realize there are already a lot of Christians here?”

Yet the attitude was that this one pastor was called to “Antioch” from Woodstock and in 5 years he was going to have a huge congregation (since he had already successfully baptized 1000 youths from his previous ministry) and the money was going to be flowing and the community was going to transform and everything was going to be perfect...

Now don’t get me wrong, it sounds like I am tearing this church apart and I’m slightly exaggerating (though not much) to make my point. The pastor and his family are probably amazing, Jesus loving people. It’s the attitude of American Christians that is starting to frustrate/confuse/anger me. Instead of having 1 million churches with usually 1 or 2 guys running the show, what if Christians started pulling together and supporting the churches that are already in place? Build up what’s already established in a community. Offer your time and gifting for the sake of the body, not so you can headline your Sunday Sermon. America DOES NOT need more churches!!! American churches need unity.  They should support each other.  Why do we need so many denominations?  Because everyone thinks that their interpretation of scripture is the right one so they need to branch out and put a slight twist on whatever theology they were under?  Is pride the issue?  What is keeping the Church from rising in the power of unity? I don’t know if there are, but it would be cool to see a church with multiple teaching pastors. Not just 2, what about 10 or 20? There are a lot of people who are called to pastor but that doesn’t mean each one of them needs their own building and their own worship team and their own staff, etc. I wonder how the early churches really functioned in a city. Back then the gospel was spreading like wildfire so of course there were going to be churches popping up all over the place but we’re 2000 years down the road and the gospel has hit America. Ask a stranger if they’ve heard of the good news of Jesus and I guarantee you they will say yes. Most “lost” people aren’t “lost” they are just turned off. And not by Jesus but by Christians.  They see how petty our arguments are and backwards our priorities are and I think most of those “lost” people opt out. I grew up in the church and have had such a deep and personal relationship with Jesus that I could never deny that he is the Son of God but most of the time even I am turned off by Christians.

All this to say, I wish we could love our brothers and sisters more effectively and unite as the body of Christ. There’s no way we’re ever going to all agree but Christ has filled us with a love that can overlook the minor things. We are told not to judge. Christ is the judge and his verdict is that in Him we are righteous so there’s no need to keep coming up with creeds and sub-denominations and reformations and yada yada yada.  He’s going to come back for us, let’s celebrate that and invite others into our supernatural way of living and loving. Let’s offer the world our lives and leave no reason for anybody to not want to know our God.

Explode

Do you ever feel like you're going to explode. But like, for real. Like if you stay where you are another second you'll just stop breathing.

Why do we feel this way? How did we get so desperate? Lack of love? Lack of allowing ourselves to be in the moment and be grateful for what we have? I believe it's many factors, including those mentioned. The important thing is that we get out of that place and return to a place of peace. We must breathe and return to a state of rest so that we can collect the energy to move forward, and see, again, the vision that is our future. It boils down to a lack of hope. A lack of faith that we will actually get to do what we were born to do.

So hang in there and master the art of whatever you happen to be doing at the moment and continue moving forward in your dream. There is no instant gratification that is worth anything. Value is in the slow burn. Character is in patience.

Where Did You Come From, Where Did You Go?

Ahoy my 8 followers! I have returned!
The past 2 years have been disappointing in my blog world and I apologize!! I was knocked up and now I'm a mom and those two things affected my desire to write.
Also, God has been showing me a lot of new things and giving me a greater understanding of his love and grace so I've just been chillin.
BUT my book, Her Story is HIStory, is selling again and the last page leads readers here so I thought I should be here when they come....if they come....
I have the most beautiful little girl in my life now, her name is Rayah Monet and she is 7 months old TODAY!
It's crazy.
Nobody and I mean NOBODY can prepare you for motherhood.
I was not prepared.
At all.
A  t    a   l  l !!
The emotional toll it has taken on me has truly rocked my reality but I'm slowly recovering...now that I'm somewhat sleeping...
In the midst of the past months of mostly crying and eating I was listening to a preacher named Paul White from good ole Missouri and truth be told as free as I thought I was, God has set me even more free through this guy! You should check him out.
I'm not sure where I'm going to go with my blog from now on, I just want people to know that God loves them and they don't have to do anything to earn it and they don't ever have to feel guilty or not good enough. I want to empower everybody to believe in who they are in Christ. And if you don't believe in Christ, you are as equally amazing because I believe He formed you in His image.
I want to set people free like I have been set free.
I am SO SICK of religion. It breaks my heart and at the same time makes me angry!
Jesus loves you.
That's it.
No more, no less, you are loved!!!
People argue theology all day on Facebook and I'm like, get over yourselves!
We are never going to fully agree on everything so let's cut each other some slack, cut out the judgment and learn how to love unconditionally.
And I can say that because this is my blog.
And I've probably lost at least 7 of you by now.
So if you're reading this, thanks for hanging in there and hopefully my next blog will rock your socks off.

Check out Pastor Paul here

My Birth Story

    I know it's been a long time since I've written on my blog but it's never too late to start again!  I wanted to share my birth story with whomever might be interested.  Unlike most women who opt for the traditional doctor/hospital birth, I opted for a midwife/home birth and wouldn't have it any other way!

After meeting with an OBGYN at Cedar Sinai Hospital I had an unsettled feeling.  There was nothing in particular that seemed off, I just knew in my spirit that I wanted a different experience. I've always hated hospitals and had a feeling that if I chose to have the baby there chances are I wouldn't be comfortable.  I went home and watched the infamous home birth documentary, "The Business of Being Born", on Netflix.  Case closed. I was going to find a midwife and have a home birth! I encourage all of you to watch it and then decided for yourself.  I am in no way against hospital births but would definitely recommend educating yourself about how "the system" works.  Now, on to my story.

   It was 7:00 pm on February 5th when I felt a painful cramp, much like a menstrual cramp and wondered if this could be the cramp I'd been waiting for (quite impatiently) for 9 months!  It turns out it was!  My husband and I had just finished dinner, which consisted of baked chicken and veggies complimented with a glass of red wine (don't worry I only drank a little bit) and were in the middle of  watching "The Godfather 3".  I noticed the cramps getting a little stronger and strangely frequent.  At 7:30 I began to time them and by 8:30 I called my midwife explaining that contractions were coming every 3-4 minutes and lasting for about 45 seconds to 1 minute.  She calmly told me to hang in there and call her back when my water broke or when the contractions were much stronger.  I was somewhat perplexed, I didn't know what to expect, they hurt pretty bad, how much worse were they going to get?! I had a bit of a freak out moment so Josiah sat down in front of me and calmed me down with reassuring words that everything was going to be ok and that I could do this.

  The contractions were getting so intense that I couldn't sit on the couch or the bed any longer so I decided to lay on my side in the freshly waterproofed bedding. After a few minutes on my side I felt the warm gush.  I yelled to Josiah that my water had broken and then went into shock.  It was only 9:30! In my mind the baby was going to come any minute and the midwife wasn't going to be there! My body started to shake uncontrollably and I called the midwife explaining that my water had broken.  She sat on the phone with me through two contractions then said to keep laboring and call her again a little later.  What?! The?! Heck?! I was scared but said ok and hung up. She then called back not two minutes later and told Josiah she would head over to our apartment.

  She arrived after 10:00 p.m and began setting up without interrupting my concentration.  The contractions were so intense I don't really remember what was going on this next hour except having thoughts of, "I can't do this" and "I DON'T WANT to do this!" and "I'm never doing this again!"  Fortunately I have a well-controled tongue and never spoke these thoughts, knowing the power of words and not wanting to give any foothold to fear in pain.  I was on my knees, leaning against the bed, using gravity to my advantage, hoping it might just pull the baby out for me.  Through loud groans and only being able to say/yell the word, "God" as a desperate prayer, I was progressing.  We worried the neighbors wouldn't appreciate how loudly I was progressing seeing as how we shared a bedroom wall with them, but I had no intention of leaving my bedside out of courtesy. (It turns out they weren't even home that night).

  After 11:00 p.m. my midwife's assistant arrived and I was checked to see how far dilated I was.  I was informed that I was about 8-9 cm dilated and was free to push when I felt the urge.

  I couldn't believe it was already time to push!  I jumped the gun and just started pushing since she gave me the green light, looking back I should have waited a little bit longer because I was on the road to exhaustion.

  Now where was Josiah through all of this?  He was right by my side, holding my hand and speaking encouragement.  I squeezed him so tight and didn't want him to leave me alone, even to let the midwife in the door!  I couldn't do this thing alone like I believed I would have wanted to while I was envisioning my labor experience as a pregnant (and ignorant) woman.

  After pushing and being on my knees for about an hour and a half I was exhausted!  I wasn't sustaining my pushes even though the assistant was counting and coaching me.  They suggested I try laying down on my right side and lifting my left leg in the air each push.  It sounded like the worst idea in the world to me but I tried it.  With my head on Josiah's lap, my right hand squeezing his outstretched right foot and my left hand holding my left leg up in the air with his help, I made substantial progress. I knew it was almost time to meet my baby girl. Then I felt the head come down as I pushed and instead of going back it stayed, I was SO close! Feeling a head in your pelvis is motivation to push super hard and get the sucker out as fast as possible.  By next push her head was out and with one more, her body followed.  Before I knew it I had a warm, limp little body on my chest, it was 12:57 a.m. on February 6th, my dad's, and now my daughter's birthday.

  I was expecting a magical euphoric high like I had read and heard about.  I believed I would feel no more pain once I had my baby in my arms and was confused why I still felt quite sore down there as I was trying to enjoy the moment.  The reality that giving birth actually hurts slapped me in the face.  I had envisioned a peaceful, supernatural experience but instead had a mildly violent, carnal, labor and delivery.  I am quite thankful that from beginning to end it only took 5 1/2 hours (for a first child this is almost unheard of), but now I understand the right of passage to becoming a mother.  I'm glad I didn't numb my lower half because I don't think the motivation to push her out that fast would have been there.  I'm glad it was just me and my husband in our home so my body and mind didn't have extra stress placed on them.  I'm thankful for my midwife and her assistant helping me through my pregnancy and delivery by giving me my space, letting me do what I wanted to do and not ever giving me unnecessary cause for concern.  My mom calls me a "pioneer woman" for doing it so naturally.  I realize now that I haven't given myself enough credit, I just had a baby naturally, by myself, and I should be proud of my accomplishment.  I pushed through the thoughts of giving up and brought a beautiful, 6 lb. 6 oz. life into the world. 

  I encourage all of you pregnant women to stay positive at all times by all means because I believe your mind plays more of a role in this process than any part of your body.  No matter what a doctor says, believe that you will have the best birthing experience possible and that your baby will be healthy and whole.  Speak life over your baby right now and envision your labor and delivery going smoothly.  The life inside of you can only be brought into the world by you, so rise up and be proud and excited that you're about to do something extraordinary! It does get scary when you're in it but fight that fear with the reality that you can do it, that you were made to do it! Don't give in to the pain, use it!  There is nothing like having a baby. Literally. Nothing!  I understand that now and feel like a different person, a stronger, wiser, more fearless woman.

   

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.

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, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you^[a] free from the law of sin and death. ³ 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, ⁴ 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.

⁵ 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

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!

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

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

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!

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:)

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!!

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...:)

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 enemies. For 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.

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].

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)

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.

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.