the holy spirit
november 2, 2018
“Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord- crowds of both men and women. As a result of the apostles' work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter's shadow might fall across some of them as he went by." Acts 5:14-15
The work of the Holy Spirit is so evident in the apostles' work. People were healed of sickness and diseases, prophecies and visions were given, even crowds received the Holy Spirit through the hands of these apostles we read about throughout the New Testament.
Growing up in church I never knew much about the Holy Spirit. He was spoken about, occasionally mentioned in sermons; but, I never knew of His power, His presence, His gifts that He freely offers us in hopes that we might take them and use them with full confidence in Him. I was unaware, thinking, like most people, "Well, I'm already saved. I believe in Jesus Christ, I help out in kid's church sometimes. What more could God really give to me/show me?" How silly I was to think there was ever a limit to what God can give us. And the Holy Spirit was one of those things I totally and utterly disregarded.
I had heard people praying/speaking in tongues growing up in church, although, I never knew what that was about. I was uncertain, scared because I didn't understand. And that's exactly what I think most people feel today. The idea of being baptized in the Holy Spirit seems unnecessary or maybe even scary to you because you don't understand it. You have no desire to get up and share a message in tongues, or share a vision with your entire church family. Even the thought of speaking in an unknown language freaks you out because you only speak one language, the idea of someone else taking control of your tongue frightens you.
I was you, frightened, unsure, thought I could live without it. Until God totally wrecked me one day. Three years ago I attended a youth camp in Northern Indiana, not expecting God to show up in my world and change it forever. One evening service on the last day of that week I encountered God in a way I never thought I would. Friends and leaders gathered and prayed around me, my aunt, I remember was asking the Holy Spirit to "come upon me". I didn't even know what that meant then. all I knew was that I craved God in way that was consuming every bit of me. I wanted everything He had for me and I was ready in that moment to give up everything in exchange for this new life with Him. And that's exactly what I did. The Holy Spirit filled me to a point of overflow. I had never felt so much joy, or peace in my entire life. This was only the beginning of what God was showing up to do through me.
One month later the presence of the Holy Spirit filled my quiet bedroom as I was down on my knees begging God for more of Him. I wanted to speak in tongues as I had heard people doing before. I wanted to pray in a way that only God understood, a prefect prayer to Heaven. And God did what he always does, He showed up. The Word says, "Knock and the door will be opened, seek and you will find.." The feeling of speaking of in a language or utterance I didn't know shocked me at first, I didn't know in that moment that this would change my entire being, my entire relationship with God, the way I saw His people, the way I saw life.
This special prayer language God gifts us is just one of many gifts He offers us. This prayer language is available to each and every one of us. God wants to radically change your life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Since that day, I have an overpowering desire to help people fall in love with God and His Spirit. To teach and share the power of the Spirit through what He has done in my life. My hope for you is that through reading this, God opens your heart to receive His Spirit. I pray that the Holy Spirit comes upon you and fills you to the very tip top of your entire being. I pray that you learn the importance of the Spirit and His guidance and power in the church. I pray that God gives you a new understanding of Him, a new passion and craving for the gifts he has for you. REACH OUT AND TAKE THEM! I promise you won't regret it! Whatever gift/s He gives you is intentional, for a purpose in a season that it is needed. Never disregard that responsibility. There is so much God wants for you.
I like to think of it this way: Whenever I get to Heaven I don't want God to look at me and say, "Great job! You lived a good life full of faith and you served your heart out in the church, you stayed positive and hopeful even in the uneasiness of life, but, I HAD SO MUCH MORE THAT I WANTED TO GIVE TO YOU BUT YOU NEVER REACHED OUT TO TAKE IT. ALL OF THE VISIONS, DREAMS, PROPHESIES, WORDS, MIRACLES I WANTED TO DO THROUGH YOU.. but you never craved them, you never wanted more." Do you even understand how utterly sad that makes me to think of this.
That is why my prayer is continually this: "God I receive all that you have for me, I am open and ready to be a vessel for you. Use me in whatever gift is needed. I will take it and use it in confidence through you. Here I am, Lord. Use me."
These gifts I am speaking of are used for the benefit of the church, unbelievers, or even to strengthen ourselves. Praying in tongues, or in our heavenly language, is to strengthen our spirit. Brings peace and joy of the Father into our hearts.
A list of these spiritual gifts is listed in 1 Corinthians 12 verses 7-11
"A spiritual gift is given to eat of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have."
My hopes are that you adopt this prayer, read for yourself the power and importance of the Spirit. Let Him wreck you, inside and out! I hope you begin to crave God like never before, praying on your knees, begging for more of Him! When you do this I promise He will show up! You may not receive it all at once, but that's the beauty of the Father, the unknown. His timing is perfect. ASK and you will RECEIVE.
God will use you just like he used the apostles. They were open, ready and eager to be used by Him. Willing to do whatever he asked. I have no doubt that God will give you all that you ask Him for. So I say to you now, ASK. Ask for visions, ask for dreams, ask Him to use you in prophecy, ask him for the discerning of spirits, whatever is needed in the season of your life He will surely deliver.
It's time we raise up leaders filled with the Spirit, ready and equipped to go out and work from the Kingdom of God. The next great awakening of the Holy Spirit is happening.. all over the world. Aren't you ready to join?
The work of the Holy Spirit is so evident in the apostles' work. People were healed of sickness and diseases, prophecies and visions were given, even crowds received the Holy Spirit through the hands of these apostles we read about throughout the New Testament.
Growing up in church I never knew much about the Holy Spirit. He was spoken about, occasionally mentioned in sermons; but, I never knew of His power, His presence, His gifts that He freely offers us in hopes that we might take them and use them with full confidence in Him. I was unaware, thinking, like most people, "Well, I'm already saved. I believe in Jesus Christ, I help out in kid's church sometimes. What more could God really give to me/show me?" How silly I was to think there was ever a limit to what God can give us. And the Holy Spirit was one of those things I totally and utterly disregarded.
I had heard people praying/speaking in tongues growing up in church, although, I never knew what that was about. I was uncertain, scared because I didn't understand. And that's exactly what I think most people feel today. The idea of being baptized in the Holy Spirit seems unnecessary or maybe even scary to you because you don't understand it. You have no desire to get up and share a message in tongues, or share a vision with your entire church family. Even the thought of speaking in an unknown language freaks you out because you only speak one language, the idea of someone else taking control of your tongue frightens you.
I was you, frightened, unsure, thought I could live without it. Until God totally wrecked me one day. Three years ago I attended a youth camp in Northern Indiana, not expecting God to show up in my world and change it forever. One evening service on the last day of that week I encountered God in a way I never thought I would. Friends and leaders gathered and prayed around me, my aunt, I remember was asking the Holy Spirit to "come upon me". I didn't even know what that meant then. all I knew was that I craved God in way that was consuming every bit of me. I wanted everything He had for me and I was ready in that moment to give up everything in exchange for this new life with Him. And that's exactly what I did. The Holy Spirit filled me to a point of overflow. I had never felt so much joy, or peace in my entire life. This was only the beginning of what God was showing up to do through me.
One month later the presence of the Holy Spirit filled my quiet bedroom as I was down on my knees begging God for more of Him. I wanted to speak in tongues as I had heard people doing before. I wanted to pray in a way that only God understood, a prefect prayer to Heaven. And God did what he always does, He showed up. The Word says, "Knock and the door will be opened, seek and you will find.." The feeling of speaking of in a language or utterance I didn't know shocked me at first, I didn't know in that moment that this would change my entire being, my entire relationship with God, the way I saw His people, the way I saw life.
This special prayer language God gifts us is just one of many gifts He offers us. This prayer language is available to each and every one of us. God wants to radically change your life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Since that day, I have an overpowering desire to help people fall in love with God and His Spirit. To teach and share the power of the Spirit through what He has done in my life. My hope for you is that through reading this, God opens your heart to receive His Spirit. I pray that the Holy Spirit comes upon you and fills you to the very tip top of your entire being. I pray that you learn the importance of the Spirit and His guidance and power in the church. I pray that God gives you a new understanding of Him, a new passion and craving for the gifts he has for you. REACH OUT AND TAKE THEM! I promise you won't regret it! Whatever gift/s He gives you is intentional, for a purpose in a season that it is needed. Never disregard that responsibility. There is so much God wants for you.
I like to think of it this way: Whenever I get to Heaven I don't want God to look at me and say, "Great job! You lived a good life full of faith and you served your heart out in the church, you stayed positive and hopeful even in the uneasiness of life, but, I HAD SO MUCH MORE THAT I WANTED TO GIVE TO YOU BUT YOU NEVER REACHED OUT TO TAKE IT. ALL OF THE VISIONS, DREAMS, PROPHESIES, WORDS, MIRACLES I WANTED TO DO THROUGH YOU.. but you never craved them, you never wanted more." Do you even understand how utterly sad that makes me to think of this.
That is why my prayer is continually this: "God I receive all that you have for me, I am open and ready to be a vessel for you. Use me in whatever gift is needed. I will take it and use it in confidence through you. Here I am, Lord. Use me."
These gifts I am speaking of are used for the benefit of the church, unbelievers, or even to strengthen ourselves. Praying in tongues, or in our heavenly language, is to strengthen our spirit. Brings peace and joy of the Father into our hearts.
A list of these spiritual gifts is listed in 1 Corinthians 12 verses 7-11
"A spiritual gift is given to eat of us so we can help each other. To one person the Spirit gives the ability to give wise advice; to another the same Spirit gives a message of special knowledge. The same Spirit gives great faith to another, and to someone else the one Spirit gives the gift of healing. He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have."
My hopes are that you adopt this prayer, read for yourself the power and importance of the Spirit. Let Him wreck you, inside and out! I hope you begin to crave God like never before, praying on your knees, begging for more of Him! When you do this I promise He will show up! You may not receive it all at once, but that's the beauty of the Father, the unknown. His timing is perfect. ASK and you will RECEIVE.
God will use you just like he used the apostles. They were open, ready and eager to be used by Him. Willing to do whatever he asked. I have no doubt that God will give you all that you ask Him for. So I say to you now, ASK. Ask for visions, ask for dreams, ask Him to use you in prophecy, ask him for the discerning of spirits, whatever is needed in the season of your life He will surely deliver.
It's time we raise up leaders filled with the Spirit, ready and equipped to go out and work from the Kingdom of God. The next great awakening of the Holy Spirit is happening.. all over the world. Aren't you ready to join?
joyful is my soul
september 16, 2018
"Choose joy." If you grew up in church or are currently involved in a church you hear this frequently. To choose to be happy and cheerful because it is simply better, right? What they don't tell you is that choosing joy sounds a lot easier than it is to actually put it into practice.
This world is full of negativity and evil on every corner. Though there is beauty, good, and positivity as well, our eyes can sometimes become clouded by a negative situation or surroundings.
Your day to day job, your family life, school, friends, etc. There's many things in our lives that could cause us to live a life of bitterness and frustration. For me, one of those things can be my job. Surrounded by a wide variety of customers almost every day, I never know what one customer is going to be like. Just one impolite customer can change my mood and overall attitude for the rest of the day. I let one frustration with one person or situation totally get me down.
God gave me this little word of encouragement on a typical day at work where that exact feeling of frustration was raging inside of me. "Choose joy." This one statement I've heard for so long just hurled it's way into my soul. My immediate thought was, "Okay, I'll choose joy." But it was much more than that..
Choosing joy is more than just saying it, it's a mindset you have to turn on. A decision every day to look at God, to see through His eyes, feel with His heart, and hear through His ears. Choosing joy is allowing God to enter your thoughts and reallign your way of thinking to conform to His very thoughts. When I decided to allow God to align my thoughts I was blown away. I began to sing praises to Him under my breath, smiling because my thoughts were now removed from that one person or situation and completely turned towards Him; deciding to work for Him, and smiling at Him. God's joy gives us strength. A supernatural strength that can get us through anything because it's sole purpose is based on our Father in heaven.
Needless to say, we can either choose to allow negativity and distraught to rag on our minds every day or we can choose to surrender our minds to our Father, who will completely consume you in His joy that surpasses anything you've ever experienced. The kind of joy that makes you laugh at nearly anything, that makes you want to dance, run, and never look back. That is how I want to live my every day life!
"..For the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10b
This world is full of negativity and evil on every corner. Though there is beauty, good, and positivity as well, our eyes can sometimes become clouded by a negative situation or surroundings.
Your day to day job, your family life, school, friends, etc. There's many things in our lives that could cause us to live a life of bitterness and frustration. For me, one of those things can be my job. Surrounded by a wide variety of customers almost every day, I never know what one customer is going to be like. Just one impolite customer can change my mood and overall attitude for the rest of the day. I let one frustration with one person or situation totally get me down.
God gave me this little word of encouragement on a typical day at work where that exact feeling of frustration was raging inside of me. "Choose joy." This one statement I've heard for so long just hurled it's way into my soul. My immediate thought was, "Okay, I'll choose joy." But it was much more than that..
Choosing joy is more than just saying it, it's a mindset you have to turn on. A decision every day to look at God, to see through His eyes, feel with His heart, and hear through His ears. Choosing joy is allowing God to enter your thoughts and reallign your way of thinking to conform to His very thoughts. When I decided to allow God to align my thoughts I was blown away. I began to sing praises to Him under my breath, smiling because my thoughts were now removed from that one person or situation and completely turned towards Him; deciding to work for Him, and smiling at Him. God's joy gives us strength. A supernatural strength that can get us through anything because it's sole purpose is based on our Father in heaven.
Needless to say, we can either choose to allow negativity and distraught to rag on our minds every day or we can choose to surrender our minds to our Father, who will completely consume you in His joy that surpasses anything you've ever experienced. The kind of joy that makes you laugh at nearly anything, that makes you want to dance, run, and never look back. That is how I want to live my every day life!
"..For the joy of the Lord is your strength." Nehemiah 8:10b
the whispers of uncertainty
may 22, 2018
I don't know about you guys but change scares me. Pain and simple. Of course that's something I'm working on so here's a little insight into what God's shown me about change in your every day life.
Four months ago my aunt and uncle asked me to come intern with their church in Indiana. Of course I'm thinking to myself, "WOW! this would be so so cool, I get to work at the church every day, move out, live with my aunt and uncle and new cousin". But, I'm also thinking, "YIKES! Moving out? That means I've got to get a new job, pay for everything on my own, and oh my goodness make new friends". I don't know why but making new friends has always freaked me out. Having to start from scratch and carry on those awkward conversations with people when you really wish you could just become instant best friends like in kindergarten. And YES, I know that being in ministry requires you to step out and meet new people but, man, that is so hard for me!
Soon after this new door starts to open, the whispers started creeping in. Things I was uncertain of started to make me anxious and worrisome. I began to worry about finding a job, how I was going to pay for everything, and I was worried I wouldn't make any friends. There was even a point where I was worried that this opportunity was sent as a distraction instead of a new stepping stone. That shows you there how far the enemy is willing to go to hold us back. I don't know if you know this but... the enemy likes to do everything in his power to keep us from walking forward towards God's gloriously common calling he has for each of us. He likes to fill your mind with every uncertainties' worst possible outcome. "You won't ever find any friends" "You definitely won't make it on your own." "What are you even doing here, do you really think you're helping God's Kingdom by being here" The enemy uses anything and everything to twist your thinking and keep you from accomplishing everything God has set out for you. But, I've got some good news for you! ALL of those things are false, whatever lie the enemy is trying to spoon feed you is mumbo jumbo, my friend. God triumphs every lie thrown our way, each wall kicked down. Like the song "Reckless Love" by Bethel, "There's no wall you won't kick down, lie you won't tear down, coming after me". Listen to the quiet words of love and encouragement from the Lord. Sometimes it's hard to hear in the midst of you worries, but, don't get lost in it, choose the truth. Choose to fill your mind with the promises of God. Counting on each word he says. Knowing he is with you every step of the way, never leaving you, and definitely never forsaking you.
Four months later and here I am; Newburgh, Indiana. I'm so entirely glad I didn't listen to those lies, the whispers meant to destroy, hurt, and confuse me. Instead, I trusted in the one thing, the one person I know is always constant in a world that is inconsistent: MY ALL POWERFUL, ENDEARING FATHER.
He told me GO, to trust in Him. I knew God wanted me to work for Him and help build His Kingdom so I put on my big girl pants, and I went.
As I left my family, friends, and home to run into the unknown with my Heavenly Father it wasn't all rainbows and sunflowers. Though this opportunity is an amazing one, like may others, each season and time comes with its own struggles. A new home, new church, new church family, new job, new friends, God taught/ and has been teaching me to fully rely on Him. To put my trust and comfort in Him. To depend on His presence instead of the people around me. And I can say now, finding contentment and rest in Him has changed my heart, soul, and mind.
So friend, even though the whispers don't stop, and they may never stop. We can either choose to listen to those lies meant to destroy us or we can choose the TRUTH, the sweet affirming words of our Father. Filled with love, delivered with grace, and sprinkled with joy. God speaks with such affirmation. Philippians 4:13 (probably one of the most popular verses) says, "For I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength". God's voice always has and always will trump the enemy's whispers of uncertainty. God gave me a new opportunity, a new adventure, a new territory, new standing grounds. New hearts to love, new lives to speak to, new challenges. Each uncertainty is worth nothing compared to the glorious peace that comes from being obedient to God's call.
Whatever you're facing uncertainty with, if you know deep down that God is leading you with that, DO IT. Forget the worry, surrender that worried thought to God. He has oh so much in store for your precious life and He would be hurt to see you abandon it because of fear, anxiety, or worry.
There is nothing, and i mean NOTHING our God can't do!!
The Promised Land
Do you ever just find it so difficult to wait? I know I do. A lot of our lifetime we spend waiting; waiting to graduate, waiting on that new job promotion/opportunity, even waiting for you future partner. Our lives involve waiting whether we like it or not. And that thing we are waiting on typically requires patience. For me patience is a hard task, most of the time my patience level runs on low. It's one of the many things I continually have to pray for. Waiting is tiresome, it can wear you out even. You wonder if the wait is even worth it, if what you're waiting on is too good to be true.. I want to tell you IT IS WORTH IT.
Thinking on this it reminds me of Mark chapter 3 verses 39-42, "When Moses reported the Lord's words to all of the Israelites the people were filled with grief. Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range hills. "Let's go", they said. "We realize that we have sinned , but now we are ready to enter the land the Lord has promised us." But Moses said, "Why are you disobeying the Lord's orders to return to the wilderness? It won't work. Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the Lord is not with you."
The Israelites were in the midst of being punished to wander around the wilderness for 40 years. They were just prior released from slavery in Egypt, traveling in the middle of nowhere, letting God lead them to the "promised land". Soon after they began traveling, the Israelites began to grow impatient and irritable. They complained about their daily food, the time it was taking to reach the promised land. They found very opportunity to complain and spent no time thanking God for what he was doing in the present.
I feel like we tend to be like the Israelites sometimes, God tells us He is going to do something and we grow impatient of the timing of that promise being fulfilled. We focus all of our attention on that thing we do not yet have, and ignore all of the things we are blessed with daily by the grace of God.
He's always working, he works in the little things, in the big things, in all things.
God has spoken to me specifically about His promises lately. I remember having a dream about something I've been praying about and seeking clarity on and I woke up and asked God what this dream meant, asked Him what He was trying to say to me. He told me, "I'm going to fix things between you and ____ ... just be patient and wait. Don't rush or push." This touched my soul so strongly, His words were so powerful and comforting, yet so authoritative and instructive. That was His promise to me. I often catch myself wondering about this promise, what all it entails, what He exactly meant by fixing things between this person and I. I've noticed He tends to give just enough information to us; not too much that we jump to take control ourselves and not too little that we abandon the promise.
I was praying about this promise I've been waiting on and I just didn't understand why I couldn't receive the "land" when it seemed to be right in front of me. It's so close, yet so far from me still.
I that moment of question I heard Him so clearly tell me, "I have made a promise to you, and you're still doubting me."
This convicted my heart so much right in that moment, I felt as if my heart sank to the deepest pit of my body. It wasn't even a question he was asking, it was a statement, it was true. He made his promise and yet I still doubted Him; His timing, His process, and even His purpose. He even told me a second time, "I have made a promise to you and you're still doubting me.... You're trying to take this in to your own hands.. and you're not ready." He's right I'm not ready.
Just like Moses told the Israelites, "Do not go up into the land now. It won't work." I can't walk into the promised land now, it's not the time, I still must wait patiently and humbly.
What I want to encourage you through all of this is that God has made promises to each and every one of us and he NEVER fails to fulfill even one of them. His promises are yes and amen. His promises and true, they are hope, they are evident, they are tangible. You're promised land may not come when you expect it to or even when you want it to. God opens and directs the way to that land on his timing, with his approval. After all, his timing is perfect, it is necessary, it is sweet. Our timing is selfish, disorderly, sometimes even chaotic. Psalms 118:18 says, "For God is not a man that He should lie. Nor the son of man that he should change his mind. If he said it, he will do it, if he promised, it shall come to pass."
He knows what he is doing, though we don't always recognize his work in the every day, I promise you he is there, he is for for you and not against you. His promise to you shall come to pass. He doesn't tell you He is going to do something just to not do that very thing. God is a man who is true to His word. He keeps every promise, he holds each one dear to his heart.
We can rest assured that God ultimately has our best interest in hand. To rest in the promise he has made, and find peace in the waiting. Focus on Him, he craves your attention, he desires you. Sit quietly with him in this time of waiting and uncertainty, in Him you will find true peace and contentment. Remember His words, trust Him, remain in his hope. Stay steadfast and determined, seeking Him wholeheartedly with everything you have within you. Take delight in Him and he shall give you your hearts desires. Remember that though the waiting may be difficult the harvest is soon to come. His promise is like a seed, waiting to grow and bloom. Water that seed, dig into his word, feed that seed. Let his spirit fill you with the living water you need.
Also, I just wanted to share a song that's really been on my heart that encourages waiting on His promises.
Seasons by Hillsong Worship. It talks about His promise being a seed in the snow. That though the winter is long, even richer, the harvest it brings.
"I can see the promise, I can see the future. You're the God of seasons and I'm just in the winter. If all I know of harvest is that it's worth my patience. Then if you're not done working, God I'm not done waiting. You can you see my promise even in the winter. You're the God of greatness even in a manger. If all I know of seasons is that you take your time, you could've saved us in a second, instead you sent a child."
SO POWERFUL AND SO TRUE!
I pray God gives us the strength and ability to hold on to those promises, to continue to walk in alignment with his spirit, craving the more. I pray that we find peace in the waiting, that we dive deep in the love of Jesus, spending this sweet time being intimate and intentional about our time with Him. I pray he reminds you of the promised land daily and that we live as prisoners of hope.
Thinking on this it reminds me of Mark chapter 3 verses 39-42, "When Moses reported the Lord's words to all of the Israelites the people were filled with grief. Then they got up early the next morning and went to the top of the range hills. "Let's go", they said. "We realize that we have sinned , but now we are ready to enter the land the Lord has promised us." But Moses said, "Why are you disobeying the Lord's orders to return to the wilderness? It won't work. Do not go up into the land now. You will only be crushed by your enemies because the Lord is not with you."
The Israelites were in the midst of being punished to wander around the wilderness for 40 years. They were just prior released from slavery in Egypt, traveling in the middle of nowhere, letting God lead them to the "promised land". Soon after they began traveling, the Israelites began to grow impatient and irritable. They complained about their daily food, the time it was taking to reach the promised land. They found very opportunity to complain and spent no time thanking God for what he was doing in the present.
I feel like we tend to be like the Israelites sometimes, God tells us He is going to do something and we grow impatient of the timing of that promise being fulfilled. We focus all of our attention on that thing we do not yet have, and ignore all of the things we are blessed with daily by the grace of God.
He's always working, he works in the little things, in the big things, in all things.
God has spoken to me specifically about His promises lately. I remember having a dream about something I've been praying about and seeking clarity on and I woke up and asked God what this dream meant, asked Him what He was trying to say to me. He told me, "I'm going to fix things between you and ____ ... just be patient and wait. Don't rush or push." This touched my soul so strongly, His words were so powerful and comforting, yet so authoritative and instructive. That was His promise to me. I often catch myself wondering about this promise, what all it entails, what He exactly meant by fixing things between this person and I. I've noticed He tends to give just enough information to us; not too much that we jump to take control ourselves and not too little that we abandon the promise.
I was praying about this promise I've been waiting on and I just didn't understand why I couldn't receive the "land" when it seemed to be right in front of me. It's so close, yet so far from me still.
I that moment of question I heard Him so clearly tell me, "I have made a promise to you, and you're still doubting me."
This convicted my heart so much right in that moment, I felt as if my heart sank to the deepest pit of my body. It wasn't even a question he was asking, it was a statement, it was true. He made his promise and yet I still doubted Him; His timing, His process, and even His purpose. He even told me a second time, "I have made a promise to you and you're still doubting me.... You're trying to take this in to your own hands.. and you're not ready." He's right I'm not ready.
Just like Moses told the Israelites, "Do not go up into the land now. It won't work." I can't walk into the promised land now, it's not the time, I still must wait patiently and humbly.
What I want to encourage you through all of this is that God has made promises to each and every one of us and he NEVER fails to fulfill even one of them. His promises are yes and amen. His promises and true, they are hope, they are evident, they are tangible. You're promised land may not come when you expect it to or even when you want it to. God opens and directs the way to that land on his timing, with his approval. After all, his timing is perfect, it is necessary, it is sweet. Our timing is selfish, disorderly, sometimes even chaotic. Psalms 118:18 says, "For God is not a man that He should lie. Nor the son of man that he should change his mind. If he said it, he will do it, if he promised, it shall come to pass."
He knows what he is doing, though we don't always recognize his work in the every day, I promise you he is there, he is for for you and not against you. His promise to you shall come to pass. He doesn't tell you He is going to do something just to not do that very thing. God is a man who is true to His word. He keeps every promise, he holds each one dear to his heart.
We can rest assured that God ultimately has our best interest in hand. To rest in the promise he has made, and find peace in the waiting. Focus on Him, he craves your attention, he desires you. Sit quietly with him in this time of waiting and uncertainty, in Him you will find true peace and contentment. Remember His words, trust Him, remain in his hope. Stay steadfast and determined, seeking Him wholeheartedly with everything you have within you. Take delight in Him and he shall give you your hearts desires. Remember that though the waiting may be difficult the harvest is soon to come. His promise is like a seed, waiting to grow and bloom. Water that seed, dig into his word, feed that seed. Let his spirit fill you with the living water you need.
Also, I just wanted to share a song that's really been on my heart that encourages waiting on His promises.
Seasons by Hillsong Worship. It talks about His promise being a seed in the snow. That though the winter is long, even richer, the harvest it brings.
"I can see the promise, I can see the future. You're the God of seasons and I'm just in the winter. If all I know of harvest is that it's worth my patience. Then if you're not done working, God I'm not done waiting. You can you see my promise even in the winter. You're the God of greatness even in a manger. If all I know of seasons is that you take your time, you could've saved us in a second, instead you sent a child."
SO POWERFUL AND SO TRUE!
I pray God gives us the strength and ability to hold on to those promises, to continue to walk in alignment with his spirit, craving the more. I pray that we find peace in the waiting, that we dive deep in the love of Jesus, spending this sweet time being intimate and intentional about our time with Him. I pray he reminds you of the promised land daily and that we live as prisoners of hope.