About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.  Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken.  At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.  Acts 16:25-26

Life for me right now feels like a midnight hour.  So many things we are waiting to see unfold, in so many different areas.  Yet we wait.  We are waiting on the moment when we are too busy praising and worshiping God to notice our troubles anymore, and in that moment, God will break open every door and loose every chain.  I believe that with all my heart and soul.  My spirit bears witness and my history with God testifies to this faithful truth.  He will come through, and every single time I begin to worry, I feel Him gently holding my face in His hands and asking me to stay present.  To live the moment I am presently in and leave the next moment completely to Him.

Why is this so hard?

Why does He have to remind me so often?  Then in a flash I am reminded that I am doing much better at this than I did previously.  In the past, I wouldn’t have even noticed His gentle direction.  Some level of the spiritual battle over my peace has been won and I’m off, pressing into the next victory.  Praise You Jesus!! My soul is literally rejoicing as I type these words because the revelation is so sweet.  So encouraging.  So needed.  He knows when I need to be reminded how far I’ve come.  He’s always so willing to reminisce with me.

I am calling out to those of you who are living in what feels like the “midnight hour”.  I am sending out a clarion call and asking you to battle through with praise and singing to God!!  I am calling for you to arm yourself with Psalms of thanksgiving.  I am calling you to walk past the battle line of fear the enemy has placed before you and walk into the weaponry of praise and worship.  Come!  Unite with the saints who praise Him in heaven.  Let your worship mingle with the angels as they sing in unison with you.  You are not alone!  You are not defeated.  The One Who saved your soul, will also save you in your moment.  You can trust Him.

(I keep hearing the following words as a song in my mind, so I am sharing them with you….)

In the midnight hour, I will sing my praise to You

In the midnight hour, You are the One Who sees me through

In the midnight hour, I will not fear the dark

Because You are the Sonrise and Your love pierces through the heart.

Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name; make known among the nations what He has done.  Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts.  Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.  Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.  Psalm 105:1-4

 

 

(Before I begin this devotional let me be completely real with you.  I did not want to publicly share this story, but God laid it on my heart and I have promised Him I will hold nothing back.  So, this is an act of obedience.  Please be kind to me.)

Years ago, God told me to start running, so I did.  I began with an app on my phone called “C25K”.  It gently led me into running.  I highly recommend it for anyone who has never been a “runner”, but desires to try.  As I ran longer distances I noticed some issues with my stomach.  Back then, I had a sack of skin leftover from having babies and I didn’t yet realize it, but I also had a hernia.  One day after running, I leaned over to catch my breath and when I did I felt like my guts were going to fall out and I had to grab my stomach, near the belly button, and push everything back inside.  It made me instantly feel sick to my stomach, and I knew something wasn’t right.

Shortly after, I went to a plastic surgeon to discuss removing the excess skin I carried, and at first glance he exclaimed, “You have quite the hernia!”  I remember standing in front of him, fully exposed, and asking with desperation in my voice, “Can you fix me?”  His quick reply was, “Yes, of course I can.” He was so kind to me during this invasive and humbling process.  I will never forget his gentleness with my emotions.  God is in every detail when we include Him.

After surgery and recovery, the Father led me to start running again.  So, I’ve run ever since.  I run because He meets me there.  I enjoy it and I feel so good after I’ve done it, but somewhere along the way, I began to feel a slave to being little.  I am not sure when it happened, but I lost so much weight without setting out intentionally to do so, then I began to feel stressed that all of it would return if I wasn’t super careful.  I noticed that my body image was distorted.  I could look in the mirror and instead of seeing my slim self, I would see myself as larger.  It’s unreal to me how skewed our body image can become.

God didn’t call me to run in fear of gaining weight.  He called me to run with Him.  To meet Him while I run.  To focus my spirit as I focus my body.  I am constantly renewing my focus now, and returning to the first reason, Him.  It’s something intentional that I have to do, and I think honestly, all of us have to do so intentionally.

Why am I sharing these intimate details of my life?  Because it’s the intimate details that make us who we are and define our walk with the Father.  It’s the intimate conversations and internal dialogue that color the way we see the world and interact with others.  I guess my question is, have you considered your inner dialogue?  Have you allowed God to have free reign and full access to all of you, all the time?  I never thought God would meet me through plastic surgery on my stomach, but He did.  He orchestrated every moment of the process.  I have never, even for one second, regretted it.  It’s actually improved my quality of life, because now I can run and move with ease.  What a blessing!  But it wouldn’t have been if I had not been open to Him when He first nudged my heart to look into having the surgery.  I was so embarrassed and worried about what others would think, but it led me to really lean into what He says and going where He leads, no matter what, because that’s where I find freedom.  Have you found that freedom?

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.  Psalm 32:8

Now that I’m living (for a brief time) in my hometown, many memories are flooding me as we drive to different places and do different things.  Like a movie reel they parade before my eyes.  Some of them are good.  Others aren’t.  Then I noticed that even though I have become a different person as I’ve grown, both in age and my walk with Jesus, I sometimes have default reactions to things when I’m in my hometown surrounded by all the familiar things.  It spurred an internal dialogue between Abba and me.

What I began to see was this, I must learn how to investigate what foundation I’m responding from.  Am I responding from my new identity in Christ?  The one where I am being transformed by the renewing of my mind, and I am a co-heir with Christ, which means I’m fully accepted.  Or am I responding from my old self, who was insecure and carried a spirit of rejection?  It’s shocking to realize that I must learn how to walk here in the confidence I’ve gained while living elsewhere.

It’s been very sobering.  It’s also caused me to realize that I must be more deliberate and use that fruit of the Spirit we keep circling back around to, self-control.  There is that word again…self-control.

My responses are my responsibility.  Period.  End of story.  I am responsible for how I act and react.  Nobody else can force me to have a negative or positive response.  I must operate in self-control and stay close with the Father, to train my responses.

Yes, train them.  Have you ever thought of it that way?

We can actually train ourselves to respond gently instead of forcefully.  We can train ourselves to respond in kindness instead of being rude.  It’s really a choice.

Some of us have deceived ourselves into thinking, “It’s just the way I am.”  Which, by the way, is a form of blame shifting.  That’s like saying, the whole world must cater to my faults because I am unwilling to change.  Let that soak into your heart for a minute.  It’s truth.  God did not place me in this world to make sure others tow the line.  No, He put me here with a purpose and if I will focus on walking out my calling and letting Him have continual access to my heart, then I will begin to desire to be a light and to spread encouragement and joy into the world, instead of correcting it.

This is a hard word, but it’s burning in my heart and I know it’s from the Father.  I pray He wraps this word in a gentleness that makes it palatable to your heart.  I am not condemning anyone.  I am simply stirring up a place that many of us deny exists.  God wants more for your life than to live bound by rejection and fear.  He wants you to partner with Him.  He wants to use you to spread word of His Kingdom into the earth.  You are necessary.

Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.  Correct me, O Lord, but with justice; not with Your anger, or You will bring me to nothing.    Jeremiah 10:23-24

Finally, all of you, be likeminded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult.  On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.        1 Peter 3:8-9

There was a season when God really helped me learn to focus during worship.  It was the time when I discovered that I could worship Him no matter who was leading worship and how good or bad the music was, and I really learned to focus my heart and mind.  When worship would begin each Sunday service, I would remain seated with my head bowed and eyes closed, and I would continue that way until I saw God’s face, then I would rise with that face in view and worship the King fully.

It was a good and significant time for me.  I have learned that many people are so outwardly focused during worship that it is almost impossible for them to find intimacy in a group setting, but they could if they tried.

I began to remember all of this over the last couple of weeks because life has looked so different from normal.  I am used to waking up to a silent home and having quiet time with God before anyone else is stirring.  I am accustomed to sneaking off to my room for additional bits of quiet throughout the day and often worshiping at my piano.  None of that is my current reality.  So, I have found myself returning to the practice of waiting to see His face, only now I wait to see it before I walk out of my room in the morning.  I find Him and then I remain in Him throughout whatever my day looks like.

None of us should ever use our situations as an excuse not to be intimate.  It is possible at any time and in any circumstance.  Jesus always knew how to find the Father.  He often retreated for a quiet time.  Why shouldn’t we?  That is sacred time.  To me it’s more sacred than Sunday church because it’s the launching pad for what I bring into church with me every week.  It’s where I receive my storehouse and then go to church to share and grow with others.

Sadly, I think many only look for the Lord on Sunday and then wonder why Monday through Saturday are so hard.

We need Him.  He tells us to seek His face.  It is the highest of priorities.

I encourage you to seek His face this Sunday morning.  Before you head out to church, spend time with Him and then let Him accompany you to your service.  When worship starts at your church, first take a moment by yourself and seek Him out.  Ask God to show Himself to you and really focus your worship where it should be focused.  Not on the band, or the quality of the singer leading you, but on the Father.  The One we adore.  He is the beginning and end of our worship. Or at least He should be.

 

My heart says of you, “Seek His face!”  Your face, O Lord, I will seek.  Psalm 27:8

Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.  Psalm 105:4

If my people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  2 Chronicles 7:14

I can’t stop having a certain vision.  I keep seeing an egg that’s hatching.  Whenever I see it, I know something new is about to happen.  I know God is about to break through.

In a time when our family is in such a limbo, I can’t tell you how comforting this vision is to me.  We are so grateful to have my parents open their home to the kids and me while we wait to sell our PA home, but the truth is it’s hard to not have our own place.  No matter what, that’s hard on a person.  We long for normal.  Maybe I struggle with it more than most, I don’t really know, but I long to have our own landing place.  Our own escape.  To cook in my own kitchen and sit alone for quiet time.  To play my piano and worship.  To tuck my kids into their own beds.  No matter how grateful we are for God’s provision during this time, I would be lying if I said I didn’t long for the next step.

So, isn’t it gracious that God keeps this vision right in front of me?  He loves me and knows me so well that He knew I needed an encouragement.

The last time I went to our PA church, a friend came up to me and said God had woken her in the middle of the night and had spoken to her about us.  Do you know what He said?  He said He would give me a nest.  He woke her in the night just to reassure me that a new home would come.  Jesus loves me, this I know.  Yes, the Bible tells me so, but also His actions of constantly reassuring, tell me so.

Have you stopped to notice the times when God tailor makes certain events in your life, just to speak love to you?  Like finding a little handwritten love note from your spouse tucked into a place where they know you’ll find it, God uses little things to speak love to me.  I only had to learn how to notice.  When I began to discover my value to Him, then I could better see and receive His love for me.

Have you discovered your value?  Did you know He truly cares for you enough to shower you with His affirmation?  It’s true.  But you must learn to stop shrugging it off because it makes you feel uncomfortable and unworthy, and just embrace it.  Some people, I used to be one, have so much trouble receiving kind deeds from others because they can’t imagine anyone wanting to love on them.  Or they can’t stop seeing all the bad, long enough to believe for the best from others.  You must train yourself to believe for the best from others.  Not in a naïve way, but in this way.  I trust God enough to trust Him to protect me from others, so as a result I am more open to receiving love.  Trusting others directly stems from our willingness to trust God.  Let that soak in a bit.  Trusting others directly stems from our willingness to trust God.

 

So, do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.  Isaiah 41:10

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace.  In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.  John 16:33

Cast your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.  1 Peter 5:7

Yesterday while leading worship at a friend’s church, I kept having a vision of a concrete slab.  The slab then cracked, and God showed me the concrete was some hearts and He wanted to crack the concrete so His spirit, which was already inside of them because of their salvation, could be released through them.

It was a powerful vision and I couldn’t escape it.  I saw that many of us have God bricked into our insides and refuse to let His spirit come out.  Sometimes people do it because they are hurting, sometimes because they don’t like to feel emotions.  Sometimes it’s pride, because when we let the Spirit move in and through us, we must surrender, and we are afraid of what it will look like.

Whatever the reason, I pray that right now, in Jesus name, any concrete in your heart would be shattered and the Spirit of the risen Lord would pour in, around and through you.  I pray a tidal wave of His Spirit would consume you.  I pray that all the pain and fear of the past would be drowned by His Spirit and you would surrender to the waves as they reset your thinking and your emotions, in Jesus name.

Lord, You, are the fountain of life.  You are the One Who brings our hearts to life.  You alone surround me with Your Spirit, so I can know victory.  I am created to walk out victories of all kinds.  Let it be so in Jesus name.  Remove any hindrance between me and You.  I love You.  In Jesus name, Amen.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, that one may avoid the snares of death.  Proverbs 14:27

They drink their fill of the abundance of Your house; and You give them to drink of the river of Your delights.  For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light.  Psalm 36:8-9

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Romans 15:13

Take some time this morning and rest in the fountain of life.  Let the waters God released inside of you begin to bubble up and fill your spirit with freshness and joy.  Let joy be the wellspring of your day.  I feel like God wants you to learn how to walk out life as a celebration.  Finding joy in every moment and in every situation.  Are you willing?  Let the joy of the Lord be your strength!

Lord, You are a fountain, where Your goodness always flows

Lord, You are a river, that leads me from my foes

Lord, You are an ocean, that drowns out all my fears

Lord, You are a creek, Whose waters are so still

Lord, I will rejoice for Your mercies are complete

They wake me up each morning awaiting to be received

Lord, I know You’re faithful.  And me, You’ll never leave

Lord, I will be faithful too, and follow as You lead.

Tremble, O earth, before the Lord.  Before the God of Jacob.  Psalm 114:7

You believe that there is one God.  Good!  Even the demons believe that- and shudder.  James 2:19

I have always read and known that darkness trembles in the Presence of the Lord, but the magnitude of what that truly means doesn’t always sink in.  When we are walking with the Lord, the enemy will flee, and darkness will tremble.

This all makes me wonder why we struggle with fear so much.  There is nowhere we can go and not be in His covering.  Recently, God took me through some memories of my past, you know, the times when I had invited Him into my heart already but didn’t know how to walk with Him.  He showed me how in all my rebellion, He never removed His covering from over my life.  I see now, in hindsight, multiple times where He clearly protected me from others and even myself.  I am so grateful.

I know some people are very concerned with staying under the covering, but honestly what kind of loving Father would God be if He refused protection to you while you are walking out your salvation?  I have definitely walked out consequences of poor choices, but His hand never left me. See, even in those times of extreme rebellion that I had, He showed me I was like a baby learning to walk out my salvation. At that point I was living life with so much pain in my heart that I couldn’t process anything clearly.  I didn’t know what anything was really supposed to look like, and I had a lot of hurt to sort through.  So, He gave me covering as I began to unravel to my end, so He could begin His work of restoration within me.  It takes some of us longer to reach the end of ourselves than others.  I’m sure many people wondered if I would ever get there.  Still His covering remained.  I’ve seen His covering as a constant throughout my life.  Something I can count on.  It’s not something I earn, it’s something He gives.

So, if I know all this, should I ever fear?

Probably not.

Lord, I long to walk in confident trust.  In the moments when weakness floods my heart, Lord breathe Your promises over me again, so I can be strong and full of life.  I want to represent You well God, so help me to be mindful of Your process in others so I don’t judge their hearts.  You alone have that privilege.

Praise the Lord!  He is good.  God’s love never fails.  Praise the God of all gods.  God’s love never fails.  Praise the Lord of lords.  God’s love never fails.   Psalm 136:1-3

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation.  And Your right hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great.  Psalm 18:35

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and He helps me.  My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him.  Psalm 28:7

I have had a lot of real estate terms on my mind lately, as we have our PA home on the market.  I think about equity frequently.  One day as I was praying, God spoke to me, “Lisa, you have a lot of equity in Me.”

Then I saw countless times that I have spent worshiping and loving on the Father.  I saw all the hours I have spent in the quiet place.  I saw the ministry I have done.  All the obedience.  All the sacrifice to follow Him.  Can you believe it matters to Him?  It’s actually hard for me to fathom.  Most of the time I just assume it’s part of what’s supposed to be done, not really something to be celebrated or rewarded over.  But He’s God and I’m not, so if He calls it equity, then who am I to argue?

There are a few definitions for the word equity.  We all know one which applies to real estate.  It’s the value of a mortgaged property after deduction of charges against it.  But equity also has another meaning that I was unaware of and it is, the quality of being fair and impartial “equity of treatment”.

That sounds like a description of God, doesn’t it?  The quality of being fair and impartial.  The synonyms are: fairness, justness, impartiality, objective, balance….

Wow, it really describes Him.

I’ve said it before, and I’m saying it again.  When you hear God speak a word to you, don’t try to qualify it.  Instead, trust Him and then go search out the definition and let Him speak to you through it.

God is just and impartial and fair and balanced.  Likewise, when you spend time building a relationship with the Father, you are inevitably going to be rewarded, like equity on your mortgage.  It’s really impossible not to, because nearness to Him is a reward.  Dwelling in His presence will leave a residue of Him on you and you will carry that into the world.  It will likely result in favor over your life because you walk closely with the Favored One.  Much like if you spent time with a celebrity.  When people saw you with that person, they would treat you better as well.  And if they saw you together frequently enough, later when they saw you alone, you would still be treated better because of association.

Well, why wouldn’t it be the same with the Father?

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us- yes, establish the work of our hands.  Psalm 90:17

The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame.  You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.               Isaiah 58:11

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”  Psalm 91:1

You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.  Psalm 32:7

When Adam and Eve were still in the garden, God would walk with them in the cool of the day.  Can you imagine knowing that every day, God would come and take a stroll with you?  Can you see yourself walking and talking with Him?  Or even just walking in the silence and observing the nature He had just created?  It is an awe-inspiring thought.

As a child I loved the book “The Secret Garden”.  The idea of a hidden place of beauty to discover and then enjoy delighted me then, and honestly, delights me still.  I long for those hidden places.  I love finding secret nooks of beauty and intimacy with God, much like the secret garden.

Lately, as I navigate unknown territory, and everything is in transition, I find myself retreating to a place deep inside where peace is found.  It’s like following your veins until you reach your heart, I am daily needing to reconnect to the peace at the center of my spirit.  That place where God is found.

Have you learned to find that peaceful place?

When life is uncertain and others in your path are feeling the burden of the unknown as well, can you keep yourself centered on that peaceful place where the Father dwells?

Right now, I hear Him knocking.  The thing is, He’s not knocking from the outside, He’s knocking from deep inside of me.  He wants me to let the Christ in me come to the surface and teach me to walk this out in peace.

It is possible to walk out life from a foundation of peace.  We can walk on water, even during a storm.

Take a moment and access your heart.  If you have Jesus in your heart, then you have a built-in place of peace inside of you, the place where Jesus dwells.  Then take a moment to find it.  Allow your heart to connect with Jesus.  Asking Jehovah Shalom to fill your heart and mind.  Then any moment you feel that peace leaving, stop and ask God to bring you back to that foundation.  At first, you may need to do this a lot, but over time you will become more and more settled in that peaceful place.  There’s enough turmoil in the world, what we need and what the world is desperate for is peace, and that only comes from the Father.

Jehovah Shalom, flood my heart and mind today.  Drown out all fear and doubt.  Let me be brimming with peace no matter what circumstances swirl around me.  You are my peace.  Thank You for loving me.

God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.  1 Corinthians 14:33

The God of peace will soon crush satan under your feet.  The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.  Romans 16:20

May the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance.  The Lord be with you all.  2 Thessalonians 3:16

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.         Isaiah 9:6

Today after I led worship at a church service, I was sitting and reflecting.  During that time I began to think of all the times when I have felt too embarrassed at church to let my guard down and cry or ask for prayer, etc. and I was asking God why I would ever feel that way because most often I’m not afraid of being vulnerable and immediately God spoke to me, “Lisa, embarrassment is a form of pride.”

Wow.  Like a shot to the heart, I felt holy conviction mixed with a revelatory understanding pierce my soul.  Past situations of embarrassment flooded my mind and like peeling the layers from an onion, I began to see the root of it all was, in fact, pride.

Have you ever thought of that before?

Embarrassment is a form of pride.  Just let that sink in a minute.  It hurts to swallow that thought, doesn’t it?

God, help me to never again suffer from the pride of embarrassment.  Let my only concern be to do Your will.

Whoever acknowledges Me before others, I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven.  But whoever denies Me before men, I also will deny before My Father Who is in heaven.                        Matthew 10:32-33

This scripture pierces my heart.  There have been countless times when I would want to share some of the gospel in one public setting or another, but embarrassment would hold me back.  How long have I been controlled by this?  Unfortunately, it’s been happening for as long as I can remember.  Yet another place to push past my comfort zone.   I want to be as proud of the Father as He is of me.

Today I challenge you to allow the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any place where pride has masqueraded as embarrassment to fool you into holding back.  Let the Father melt off that fear of man and pour out His Spirit upon you.  Repent for anytime you have been ashamed of the gospel of Christ.  Repent for anytime you failed to share with others, your affection for the Father.  Then let the Father bring restoration to your spirit and receive the boldness to lovingly proclaim the gospel.

Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.  Ephesians 6:19-20

He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance.  Acts 28:31

Let us all find the courage the apostles had when proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.