As I began reading the story of Moses this morning, my mind immediately skipped to the frustration I always feel when reading about the behavior of the Israelites.  I am often left baffled at what appears to be lack of faith.  They see a miracle one day, and then worship another god the next.  They see provision from Heaven, then ask to go back to Egypt because they are afraid of starving to death.  When simply reading the story, it seems crazy…until this morning.

As I was pondering all the above thoughts, I felt the Lord stir me.  “Hope deferred”, He said.  They were hope deferred.  Do you remember what scripture tells us about that?  Let’s read it again.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.  Proverbs 13:12

Now, your first thought may be, “Well, they were being led out of Egypt!  They were seeing the promise unfold in their lives.”

While that is true, what is also true is this…the promise took a long time to unfold and met much resistance along the way.  Take an honest look at your own life and compare it to theirs…have there been times when you’ve been marching out of your own captivity and toward the fulfillment of a promise only to hit resistance, and then just gave up and returned to your normal?

Be honest.  I imagine we’re probably all guilty of this.

When the going gets tough, sometimes that old feeling of hope deferred floats back up to the surface and bobs in our mind like a buoy.  Offering some sort of false comfort…”This always happens to me.”  “I never get to see the goodness.”  “I’ve suffered long enough.”  “Why would God do this to me?”  Tell the truth, have you had these thoughts? 

I was shocked and convicted when the Lord spoke to me today, because here I am walking away from the Egypt of my own life and into the Promised Land; yet still when resistance hits, I have to fight away the thoughts of defeat.  I am much quicker to fight them off than before and I can tell that I am stronger now, but they still come.  I wonder if they always will, or if one day I will be so certain of the Lord that the enemy will simply stop trying to beat me up with them?  I don’t know the answer, but as long as the defeating thoughts come, I must keep fighting back. 

Hope deferred is like poison.  Trusting in God, and believing His promise is life.  I often find myself admonishing my own heart to not be an Israelite; to keep focused, hopeful and to always recount the many times that God has been faithful in my life. 

God, please forgive me of any grumbling and complaining I’ve done.  I DO trust You.  Please help me to be more faithful to You.  I am sorry for any time that I haven’t noticed a blessing.  Please open my eyes and heart to always see when You are blessing me.  Help my heart to overflow with gratitude every day and in every season.  I love You.  In Jesus’ name, Amen. 

A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not respond to rebukes.  From the fruit of their lips people enjoy good things, but the unfaithful have an appetite for violence.  Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.  A sluggard’s appetite is never filled, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.  The righteous hate what is false, but the wicked make themselves a stench and bring shame on themselves.  Righteousness guards the person of integrity, but wickedness overthrows the sinner.  Proverbs 13:1-6

While praying for a friend recently I had a vision, and when thinking about what devotional to write for today, it came into the forefront of my mind.

As I prayed for this friend, I saw him standing behind a big boulder and he was attempting to push it up a mountain.  Then I saw him lose his strength and the boulder rolled back down and over him in the process.  Lest you feel discouraged for him, keep listening.  Next, I saw the Lord put my friend on top of that boulder and then the Lord effortlessly moved the boulder up the hill to the top, all the while my friend stood and enjoyed the ride. 

What a spectacular vision.  What an encouragement!

This is the parallel of a life lived in our own strength, compared to one lived fully dependent on Him.  I choose the latter. 

Our firm Foundation is everything.  He makes light work of heavy things.  He turns impossible into abundantly possible.  He turns death into life and sadness into joy.  He makes all things new!! Let me tell you about my God!

He is the first and the last.

He is the beginning and the end.

He wrote every life story in His book before one was born.

He meets with us.

He leans in.

He is God of the universe yet is fully interested in my heart…and yours.

He is greater than the greatest man that ever lived.

He is infinite yet meets me in each moment.

How can my mind possibly conceive Him in His fullness?

My firm Foundation. 

Friend, if you’ve tried doing life on your own power and with your own plans, I get it, I’ve done it too.  But there’s a better way.  In the letting go, there is untold freedom and success.  When God is my every victory, then I never have to fear loss.  When He is our firm foundation, then there is no limit to what I can achieve.  There’s no mountain too great or valley too wide.  Nothing is bigger than my God.  Today is a great day to surrender fully…or surrender all over again. 

“Look, I am coming soon!  My reward is with Me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.  I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  Blessed are those who was their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.”  Revelation 22:12-14

I don’t know about you, but I have realized I have a problem…I keep finding myself stuck because I am afraid of making a mistake.  Choosing, can be a challenge for me sometimes because something inside of me doesn’t trust myself.  I know this feeling has roots in some childhood interactions I had, but for whatever reason, I still wrestle with it despite having prayed through it several times. 

I no longer want to be stuck.  I have been challenging myself to just “do”, and to trust God to correct me if He needs to do so. 

Do you know… I mean…truly know…that God loves you unconditionally, and that He is a good Father?

As a good Father, He will protect.  As a good Father, He will direct with patience.  As a good Father, He will guide you and me.  As a good Father, He will encourage and celebrate.  I don’t know what your earthly father was like, but I DO know that when You ask Jesus into your heart, you become grafted into the family tree of Heaven.  God is your Father now.  Not only that, but Jesus is your brother and Holy Spirit is your comforter, counselor, and friend.    Once you are saved you have a complete family in heaven, even if you don’t on earth.  You lack for nothing.  There is no reason to live stuck.

The Holy Spirit is always moving.  There is no such thing as “stuck” in the Holy Spirit.  Holy Spirit is life, movement, and creativity.  Holy Spirit creates a slipstream for us. 

Two definitions of slipstream are:  1. An assisting force regarded as drawing something along behind something else.    2. Travel in the slipstream of someone, especially in order to overtake them. 

If you are feeling stuck in life, or in a certain area, then dive deeper.  Dive deeper until you feel the slipstream overtaking you and let go.  The times we move forward faster are the times when we just let go. 

Are you ready to be propelled into the next step?  Are you ready to give up the fight and just be consumed with Holy Spirit?  To trust the Lord and submit to being shaped and molded while moving forward…?

Lord, I choose to trust You.  Help me to take one deliberate step forward today.  I know that You will watch over me and guide me.  Thank You for loving me so well.  Forgive me for anytime that I have not trusted You with myself.  I surrender all, even the fear of my own wrong decisions, because You make all things beautiful in their time.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors.  Deuteronomy 8:1

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up.  And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.  We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.  Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame.  Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.  Hebrews 12:1-2

Once, when I was awake at night, wrestling with the spirit of fear I had a vision…I saw myself in a noose and when I fought against the noose, it tightened.  Yet, when I relaxed and was peaceful, I was able to slip out of it. 

This was a powerful encounter, but also a great reminder. 

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  John 14:27

I’ve discussed in the past how peace is a weapon.  Gentleness is an active violent weapon of warfare.  The kingdom of God often appears opposite of what we expect.

I hear people discuss their struggles with fear and anxiety on a daily basis, but what I don’t hear, is them realizing that it’s a spirit, therefore we have authority to cast it out.  When we give anxiety or fear a voice in our life, and when we allow ourselves to become its victim by taking it on as if it’s a personality flaw or something requiring medicine, we give it a stronger foothold.  Others even seem to wear fear and anxiety as if it’s some sort of badge that they are proud of…something that makes them “relevant” or something.  I can’t fathom it and refuse to agree with that. 

Knowing that anxiety and fear are spirits, allows me to fight them when they try to bother me.  Most often they come at night.  This is no surprise because the enemy wants to steal our rest.  Why does he want to do that?  Well, because to have a sound mind and sharp reflexes we need rest.  Rest is from the Lord.  All throughout the writings of Jesus’ time on earth, we see Him retreating for rest moments.  He went away to pray.  To regain focus.  Anxiety and fear are the enemy of focus.  Can you now see that the enemy uses fear and anxiety to distract us from being the powerful weapons that God has made us?  We are MORE than conquerors.  In Christ, we have all victory.  If this is true, then what can you do differently?  I’m going to tell you.

When the enemy comes snarling at us, the best thing we can do is respond in the opposite spirit. 

When fear comes, peace is the answer.  When anxiety comes, trusting God for the future is the answer.  I have often read that when we fear, it’s because we are imagining a future absent of God.  If you’re honest with yourself, you’ll realize this to be true.  Next time you feel fear or anxiety over a situation, I challenge you to stop and invite God into the thoughts.  Then, thank Him for already being in the future.  Thank Him for going ahead and making your way.  Remember His name, Jehovah Shammah…God is there.  He is in tomorrow.  He is in next week.  He is in the future and in today.  He holds your future in His hands…of course He cares about it.  You can trust Him.

We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do.  We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.  We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God.   2 Corinthians 10:3-5a

Over the weekend, Hannah and I went to the track, she rode her bike while I ran and walked.  As I watched her ahead of me, I often found myself thinking, “I have to keep running so I can keep an eye on her, I can’t let her get too far out of my sight.”  Like a thunderbolt, I realized this was a reflection of my hope for our future.

Oh, how I long for the days when my children’s walk with God surpasses that of my own.  But even when it does, I want to keep running until I run straight into Heaven.  As long as I walk the earth, I want to be moving forward in my life with Him.  For many years, I have been hotly pursuing Him.  I’ve always allowed my children to watch and learn and grow with me, but just recently their pursuit of Him has begun to develop into their own.  It’s becoming more to them than just something mama does, it’s become part of their DNA.  It’s also becoming a choice that they make, not just something I lead them to do. 

There is no greater joy in this life.  All of this encourages me to keep up the pace. 

As I mature, I find myself running after God even more.  I see everything in life through partnership with His eyes.  When things happen or inconvenience comes, like today…our heat stopped working…I have a choice.  I can partner with fear, or I can lean in and trust.  When it first happened and I had to call a repairman, I went off alone and said, “God, I need You.  We don’t have finances to cover a big repair right now.  And we are wanting to sell this house within the year and need to do many other costly repairs.  It feels like a resistance toward us, and our desire to move forward.”  Then I grew silent and shut my eyes.  He spoke, “Trust Me.”  Like a white dove those two words flew down and landed on my shoulder.  As I sit in my bedroom, wearing a coat and waiting for the repairman to come, I keep saying, “I trust You.”

It’s always going to be a choice.

Keeping pace with the Holy Spirit is always going to be a choice.  Leaning in and expecting good news, is a choice.  Letting go of the whirlwind of thought and choosing to ask for blessing, is a choice. 

I choose to keep up the pace today. 

One thing I am confident of…I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.

Teach me how to live, O Lord.  Lead me along the right path, for my enemies are waiting for me.  Do not let me fall into their hands.  For they accuse me of things I’ve never done; with every breath they threaten me with violence.  Yet I am confident I will see the Lord’s goodness while I am here in the land of the living.  Wait patiently for the Lord.  Be brave and courageous.  Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.  Psalm 27:11-14

If you carefully obey the commands I am giving you today, and if you love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and soul, then He will send the rains in their proper seasons- the early and late rains- so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil.  He will give you lush pastureland for your livestock, and you yourselves will have all you want to eat. Deuteronomy 11:13-15

Some people are in our lives forever.  They provide stability and connection.  They weave into the fabric of who we are and become part of our legacy, but others are for a season.

For me this has always been a painful scenario.  I am a deeply connected person and I invest fully in the people within my inner circle.  I often assume that we will walk together forever and grow old, learning about each other and loving our relationship.  All too often, this is an unreciprocated feeling.  Not everyone is a deep connector.  That’s ok.  It’s also ok that I am. 

While pondering the end of another round of relationships, I had a vision…in this vision, I saw myself floating to the ground from the sky and I was wearing a parachute.  In the air, the parachute kept me from free falling and helped me to land safely, but when I reached the ground it just drug behind me and resisted my forward movement.  Then I saw a wind come up and it caused the parachute to tangle me up.  The Lord immediately helped me to see that this is what relationships with people can do if we’re not careful.

A relationship we needed while navigating a certain season, could very possibly serve as a hindrance in the next.  Are you getting the point?  Can you see the connection?

I hate this lesson, but I know that it’s true. 

I’m letting go.  This time I’m releasing people who were called to walk with me for a season, but aren’t called into my next.  Likewise, others I’ve walked with during their hard season, and now they no longer need me.  It’s hard, but it’s life.

This whole concept used to cause me so much travail.  I would wrestle with feeling sad and unvalued, etc., but now I see it’s just another one of life’s cycles, so I’m trying to embrace it.

Lord, today I release all people from my life that are not called to be in my next season.  I thank You for Your Sovereignty in my life.  I trust that You know better than I do, who I need to walk closely with.  I also thank You for those people whose lives I’ve poured into in this past season.  I honor that position You gave me and say thank You.  I release them into their next season too.  I know they simply don’t need me anymore.  That’s ok.  Tend to my heart in this letting go process and don’t let any bitter root grow.  Keep me pure in heart.  I ask now that You would draw new people into my life.  I stand ready to receive new relationships.  I also am open to ministering to new people as well, and I stand ready to receive them too.  You are my faithful Friend.  Thank You for always loving me.  I love You.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Jesus Christ is the same today and yesterday and forever.  Hebrews 13:8

But You are the same, and Your years have no end.  Psalm 102:27

“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but My steadfast love shall not depart from you, and My covenant of peace shall not be removed.”, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you.  Isaiah 54:10

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:28

Our whole lives can change in an instant.  Before you begin to think this through in a negative way, let me say that this devotional is a declaration of how God can redeem your whole life in one moment.  Where did this thought come from…I’d like to show you.

Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I hereby put you in charge of the entire land of Egypt.”  Then Pharaoh removed his signet ring from his hand and placed it on Joseph’s finger. He dressed him in fine linen clothing and hung a gold chain around his neck.  Then he had Joseph ride in the chariot reserved for his second-in-command.  And wherever Joseph went, the command was shouted, “Kneel down!”  So Pharaoh put Joseph in charge of all Egypt.  And Pharaoh said to him, “I am Pharaoh, but no one will lift a hand or foot in the entire land of Egypt without your approval.  Then Pharaoh gave Joseph a new Egyptian name, Zaphenath-paneah.  He also gave him a wife, whose name was Asenath.  She was the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On.  So Joseph took charge of the entire land of Egypt.  Genesis 41:41-45

And

During this time, before the first of the famine years, two sons were born to Joseph and his wife, Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, the priest of On.  Joseph named his older son Manasseh, for he said, “God has made me forget all my troubles and everyone in my father’s family.  Joseph named his second son Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful in this land of my grief.”  Genesis 41:50-52

We all know the story of Joseph…how he had dreams of his future and shared them with his older brothers, and they were so jealous they wanted to kill him, but instead sold him into slavery.  Then he ended up falsely accused and in prison.  Then in one God moment, everything changed.  He was given position, authority, new clothes, transportation, a new name, a wife and soon after 2 sons.  Wow…that’s a lot.

I wonder, are you positioned to receive the life changing blessing of God? 

We all say, “Yes.”, but often when things begin to take a turn for the better, we fight against success or feel guilty for an outpouring of physical blessings.  Why is that?

God gives earthly blessings, as well as, spiritual blessings.  Both are from Him.  I am so ready to have that one moment of extreme change.  I’ve caught a glimpse of it in the past.  When Chris was early in his oil and gas career, we had just such a moment.  He was promoted from one position to another and then a chain of very fortunate events occurred.  We were walking out success beyond our imagination. 

But I do have memories of wrestling with it at times.  As we moved up, I often felt guilty.  I distinctly remember the magnitude of these feelings and how some people in our circle seemed to despise our success even though we weren’t flaunting it, but instead used it to lavish on our family and others.  We gave freely and invested in other’s futures too. 

As it stands, I can fully see how God has used our desert seasons to increase our capacity to receive the bounty of the next season of fullness.  Very clearly. 

I stand ready to receive.  I will never again feel guilty of success.  I’ve learned that the only people who hate your success are those who are jealous for it.  That’s not from the Lord.  He made wealth.  He granted success to His people, time and time again in scripture. 

Lord, grant me success in all I do.  Anoint my husband to walk in extreme amounts of success.  Let us advance Your kingdom on this earth as we walk in the influence that success brings.  I know it’s all for a purpose.  I know You desire to have Your people in every position of influence.  I say, “Yes”.  My family will openly, and without shame embrace the fullness and extravagance of the success that You give us.  And we will always remember where it comes from.  You are our success.  You are our first and foremost focus and we love You.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

I keep having this vision…

I see myself with a noose around my neck.  When I struggle against it, it grows tighter and chokes me, but when I stop and take a breath and relax into peacefulness, I slip right out of it. 

This is an analogy for the difference between living from fear, and walking in the peace that surpasses understanding.  The peace that surpasses understanding is a weapon.  Do you realize that?

Let’s read those old familiar verses…

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7

Peace stands guard over us.  Isn’t it amazing that something that seems so passive is a weapon?  A guard? 

When we consistently live life from a place of anxiety, we are breeching those walls of protection and giving ourselves to the mind of the enemy over our life.  When we believe the stressful and fearful thoughts that the enemy shoots our way, we are living a life out of alignment with God.  God is peace.  Jehovah Shalom. 

As I re-read the words I have just typed, I saw myself outside and digging my fingers deep into soft, fresh dirt, while breathing in deeply the fresh air.  Digging into this word feels like that.  It feels like such a grounding.  A breath of fresh air.

The simplest things can often become the most profound.  Remember this verse?

The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.  The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.  Psalm 19:7

Life can truly be as simple or complicated as we make it.  I have learned that the more I simply obey God and make decisions to live from peace, the more life becomes rapidly simple.  Simplicity.  It’s the word for this hour of the earth.  When the world is over complicating everything…calling bad, good and good, bad…when they even want to dispute the most basic of facts…simplicity and truth are like banners of peace waving over us.  Stand firm in that.  Resist the pull toward complicating everything and just live from peace. 

I imagine a church where it’s not about parking spaces and creating comfort, but about meeting Jesus, and whatever that looks like, that’s what is pursued.  A church where the Spirit resides so heavily that people even stand outside to listen when it’s too full inside.  A place that is real.  Not a business. 

Think I’m crazy?  This happens in other countries.  We know very little about real sacrifice here. 

Don’t get me wrong, I am SO grateful to be able to worship freely, but in that I must guard against becoming a slave to the comfort.  The gospel is uncomfortable.  Sometimes, it hurts.  Other times, it scrapes scabs off my heart and causes me to bleed, but I know that is part of refining and I am always grateful.  It’s time to stop watering down the gospel and to let it do it’s work…all the while remembering it is the gospel of peace. 

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage- with great patience and careful instruction.  For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.  They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.  But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.  2 Timothy 4:2-5

And with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.  Ephesians 6:15

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.  John 14:27

Many times, over the last few years, I have heard, “This is a Job season.” in my spirit.  I am aware that my life has been nothing as extreme as Job’s was, but we’ve had moments that felt close.  It actually brought me a feeling of relief when I heard God confirm to me what I’d been feeling…by saying it was a Job season.  At one point the “left field” craziness that was happening became so extreme that I started laughing.  That laughter ended up becoming part of the shifting.  It is a marked moment that began a taking back of the territory that had been stolen.  The enemy did his level best to knock us down and then kick us every single time we tried to stand again.  Yet, we stood.  One thing is certain, I know we have a lot of tenacity.  A whole lot.  This season has uncovered new levels of steadfastness within Chris and I that I never knew existed.  From the ashes we rise. 

Today, I wanted to talk about something God showed me in the spring of 2021. 

I was out walking and spending time with Him and thinking about all that was happening.  I was wanting to reach out to someone, and I felt a pause.  God said, “Stop.  Look around for a minute and think about which friends of yours have reached out to you lately.  Who are the ones who check in on you and have helped to bear these burdens with you?  You are investing in the wrong relationships.”

Imagine my shock, when suddenly I realized that those that I texted and called most often never, ever reached out to me.  They never asked how I was doing unless I came to them.  They weren’t the ones bringing me groceries out of the blue.  They weren’t the ones coming to my home and worshiping with me and sharing our life stories through tears of joy and sadness.  No, I was investing in the wrong people.  Then He told me not to reach out to those people anymore, and to see what happened.  Well, as you can probably guess, I never heard from them again.  Ever.  Clearly, I wasn’t missed.  Obviously, there never was a real relationship to begin with.  This revelation brought a lot of sadness, but also freedom. 

From that moment on, I became much more deliberate with my relationships. 

I don’t want to spend all my time reaching out to people who can’t walk through the valley with me.  Those same people won’t really celebrate my mountaintops either.  Not to mention, I want reciprocated relationships.  I want to know what my friends are going through and to cry or celebrate with them too.  I became acutely aware that that hadn’t been happening either.  In fact, the person I had invested in most, hid most things from me.  It was time to let go.

I had 3 solid local friends after this encounter with God.  He brought 3 quality people alongside me.  Those I could live and laugh with.  Those who shared equally with me.  This is one thing that helped me navigate this tough season.  Not to mention, I want close friends who tell me the hard truth.  I don’t want fans or people who flatter me.  I want people who say, “Wow, that’s hard, but keep going.”  I want people who don’t tolerate self-pity.  Thank You, God for real friendships.

Today I encourage you to take an account of the relationships in your life.  Are there some people who you count as close friends, that you now realize aren’t?  Instead of investing in those places, is there a person who is steady beside you that you may have not noticed before?  Invest there.  If you don’t have any close friend relationships, then pray and ask God to bring some people to walk alongside you.  He will be faithful to do so. 

Do to others as you would have them do to you.  Luke 6:31

One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.  Proverbs 18: 24

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.  Proverbs 17:17

One day when I was praying about this year’s devotional writings, I had a glorious vision…I saw myself standing in front of a large, old fashioned looking vault.  I wondered how to open it, when suddenly, it just did.  Opening wide, I stepped inside, and it appeared to be a room covered in beautiful red velvet material.  I saw a series of open front boxes, much like mail slots.  I reached up and grabbed a scroll out of one of them.  Then I felt God showing me that each slot contained words I would release.  They were already written, and just waiting for me to pull them out and read them.

Then I heard, “It’s the glory of God to conceal a matter, and the glory of kings to search it out.”

That has been my approach to this year.  I search His heart, and push past where I normally go to reach into His presence further.  I believe we can all see and hear prophetically.  I just imagine that some people pursue it more than others, but we are encouraged to pursue it in the New Testament. 

When is the last time that you truly reached into the Presence of God?  When is the last time you refused to leave the quiet place without hearing a word from Him?  Today is just as good a day as any to begin again.  Read this scripture…

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.  As the heavens are high and the earth is deep, so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.  Proverbs 25:2-3

Do you desire to search out His secrets?  Follow me, He’s this way…

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.  Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?  If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him!  Matthew 7:7-11

Father, I am coming to meet with You.  I have no deeper desire than to know more about You.  You are the greatest reward.  Knowing You is beyond all other things.  Forgive me for any time I have neglected to pursue Your voice.  Forgive me of all my sins and lead me on paths of righteousness, for Your name’s sake.  I long to be held by You.  To hear You more clearly.  Today, will You lean into me as I lean into You?  I long for the deeper places.  I want to know more about You and more about Your kingdom. 

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.  For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God.  Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.  but the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.  Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church.  I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy.  The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.  1 Corinthians 14:1-5