For many days, I have had the thought, “Man, I wish we could go back to the way it was when I was younger.” The longing inside my heart was deep and throbbed with a sorrow that I can’t explain with words. My longing for the days when I used to feel innocently safe. The days when I was blissfully unaware of any darkness around. When I could ride my bike all over town and always felt safe. When I could trust in certain things being certain, unlike now where it seems that everything is being challenged.

It was in this thought that I heard God whisper, “You can’t go back, but you can partner with Me moving forward and see Me there.”

I do believe, and have heard God speak to me, that He does desire to restore innocence to our country again. He longs to re-establish His principles. To restore freedoms only found within the boundaries of a loving Father.

You see, freedom isn’t found in the lack of any boundaries, it’s found in living within the healthy boundaries of God. Like this verse mentions…

The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely, I have a delightful inheritance.           Psalm 16:6

God gives us healthy boundaries not to prohibit us, but to offer us safety.

No, we can’t go back to the beginning, but we can ask God to re-establish the boundary lines within our own hearts and families. It’s become harder and harder to block out the noise and accusation of the world as we lean in to listen to God so we know exactly where our boundary lines should fall. But it’s still so very important. In fact, I believe that right now it’s more important than ever.

Beloved, take a step back from the screens and all the information being thrown at you from every direction and once again catch God’s vision for your life. If you dare, ask Him to re-establish His boundary lines in your life, and then trust in those. Don’t allow any amount of fear or accusation to cross over those lines. Instead, let them serve as protection over your life. God alone knows what is healthy for you and your family. Don’t be afraid to be different. Don’t be afraid to separate yourself from the world a little more. Don’t fear being irrelevant. Living a Godly life within the healthy boundaries He sets, is completely relevant. In fact, I dare say it would make you even more relevant than ever. People are craving healthiness in life and family. The tip of the spear must go first. Who knows, maybe you are the tip of this cultural spear.

I will praise the Lord, Who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the grave, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand. Psalm 16:7-11

Remember. Remember. Believers remember.

Open your eyes sleepy ones and let the word of Truth arouse your heart and embolden your spirit.

But let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread Your protection over them, that those who love Your name may rejoice in You. For surely, O Lord, You bless the righteous; You surround them with Your favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:11-12

No matter where I am or what is happening, I am under God’s protection, and His favor surrounds me as with a shield. God’s favor is my shield.

We sing about God’s favor. We pray and ask Him for it. We hope to walk in it. But what I see here is that it already exists over those who love Him. He uses His favor as a shield about us. We already walk in it. I think maybe in our desire to walk humbly, we don’t notice all of the blessings that surround every step we take. Some of us, I believe, even are irritated with the favor we carry because it often looks different than what we would expect. But if we are to make it through this life successfully and live our lives to the absolute fullness God intended, then we must open our eyes to what His favor really looks like, and that it in fact does always exist over the righteous.

In this season of my family’s life favor looks like Chris having a job, even though that job has him living 8 hours away from us. See, some would see this as a failure or a testing, but God made it very clear that this was His favor over us.

Sometimes, God’s favor over us may not feel like favor. But that’s because it’s supernatural. And in the very essence of it being supernatural, that means there are parts of it that we may never understand. The One Who sees all things set up His favor as a shield over us. You see?! He’s protecting us from often unseen attacks. He’s also creating room for His spirit to rest on us and build character within us.

During this time of Chris living away, one thing is certain, God has been making good use of the space. Often, He wakes me in the middle of the night and speaks to me for hours, or leads me to the piano to worship Him, or to my Bible and paper for me to write. I wouldn’t be nearly as inclined to get out of bed in the middle of the night if Chris were here laying next to me. But since he’s gone, I know I’m not bothering anyone when I get up and meet with God. He’s also using Chris’ alone time to work in his heart. Just because we are married doesn’t mean we don’t need to grow in God alone. We most definitely do because every individual must have a personal relationship with God. So I see many of the events of my life now as that shield of favor surrounding me and us from things we may never see with our earthly eyes, and I’m grateful.

Prayer Moment: God, make each one of us more aware of your favor resting upon us. Help us to lay aside selfish ambition, jealousy and our own expectation so that we can more clearly see our portion of favor. Open our eyes. Wake us to Your presence all around us. Apart from You, what do we have? Draw us ever closer to Your ways. Thank You for covering us with Your favor as with a shield. In Jesus name, Amen.

In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before You and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:5

 

Today is Sunday. The day we gather and celebrate the Presence of God in our lives. Today, we bring to the assembly all that we’ve learned over the last week. Today, we join together in worship and prayer and watch the presence of God move in the unity of believers. This is an important day, make no mistake of it.

Today I am also reminded that this direction that heaven has given us, is under attack. Suddenly, the American church has become persecuted. Actually, we have been persecuted in small bits over a long amount of time. This is just a manifestation of our lack of resistance and unity.

Nevertheless, we must not forsake our assembling. God ordained it to be so, and He made it clear that when He is for us, then none can stand against us.

Do these thoughts make you afraid? Are you feeling nervous about where this is headed? Remember this…

Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” Let the light of Your face shine upon us, O Lord. You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:6-8

God makes us dwell in safety. Let that promise soak into your heart now.

Does the knowledge of this change anything for you? Does the world look a bit less scary and intense? Rest assured that this world we are currently living in is not “the worst it’s ever been”, as many proclaim. If we return to scripture, we read one account after another that shows the wickedness that has been prevalent since the beginning of time.

Still we are called to dwell in safety. To lie down and sleep in peace.

Prayer Moment: I encourage you today to find time to just lay down and rest. When you close your eyes ask the Father to re-affirm to your heart that He is in fact, your safety.

Let this scripture soak into your heart right now…

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in the depths, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there Your hand will guide me, Your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me”, even the darkness will not be dark to You; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to You.                 Psalm 139:7-12

“Will you walk through the fire with Me?”, this is the question I heard. I saw myself standing in the midst of an intense fire. Flames were whipping furiously around me. I wondered if I was dying. Had I gone astray? Had I fallen into the fire? Then God reminded me, He was with me. Just as in the days of Shadrach and friends, I was walking through a fire season.

I remembered that a month or so ago, He had given me a vision of myself in a room that was completely inflamed and He had told me then that the only way to get through it was on my knees. Then I had seen myself crouched on the ground in prayer. Now I saw myself not only standing but walking with determination.

Then I realized, my season is shifting. I was in a season of surviving the fire from being on the ground and centered in God. Now I am to move forward with resolve, still focused on Him, but with a more aggressive posture now. Now is the time to exit the building, so to speak.

As I saw myself walking through the flames, I was shocked because I saw a fiery resolve begin to take root in my soul. I began to feel powerful and unafraid. I felt a new boldness being forged within me.

Even as I watched the vision, I could feel it’s affects within my present self.

I am one who has been forged in the stillness of the fire, and now as I emerge, I am fully set and resolved to take that which has been taken from me. I am coming to burn down all those lies around me as I follow God with a boldness that I’ve never known before. The once always apologetic me, will no longer apologize for being a powerful, full of the Spirit follower of Christ.

What is your season in this fire? Have you felt a shift? If so, I encourage you to be willing to move forward.

As I’ve said many times before, we must always be aware of when a season begins and when it ends. That’s the only way to keep moving forward and not become stagnant. That’s the only way to walk out prosperity of spirit. We are not called to continue doing as we have always done. We are called to continue moving and growing all the way to heaven.

Prayer Moment: I encourage you today to take an honest look at your season. What part of the season are you in? If you discover you’ve been resisting the pull forward, then I pray that you will simply repent and then allow God to set you back on track. This is the season. Let’s keep moving forward and advancing the Kingdom of God!

From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. Matthew 11:12

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Romans 14:17-18

 

Yesterday, while I was exercising, I started thinking about stretching. When you are working out and need to stretch, it is a slow and steady motion. You must remain mindful, lest you stretch too fast or far and tear a muscle.

While considering this, God revealed to me that this is the same way He stretches us. It may feel like too much is happening at once sometimes, but He is ever mindful of who we are and what we are capable of doing. He will not stretch us to the place where we tear, but with slow, methodical steadiness He will lead us to stretch past places we ever believed possible.

We are in a slow stretch.

Think about this now, what happens when you never stretch? Yes, you become stiff…how profound is that?! If we become unwilling to allow Him to stretch us, then we will become stiff and immoveable. I certainly don’t want that. And I certainly have met people who I now know have fallen into that place and it makes me even more certain that I will refuse to be caught up in that.

Have you ever been to a church that felt stale? I propose that’s probably a place where the Spirit wasn’t allowed to move anymore because the stretching that comes from allowing Holy Spirit in became uncomfortable. I don’t want to fall into that.

So, if I’m going to remain willing and submitted to the Holy Spirit, then I’m going to have to surrender to times when I frequently feel large amounts of discomfort. It’s not because He doesn’t love me, on the contrary, it’s because He does. He desires to know me more, and for me to know Him more. He’s infinite, so that means I will be required to constantly be learning new things because I’ll never reach the end of what He wants to teach me.

Prayer Moment: Today, I surrender to the stretch.  God, forgive me for the times when I have been resistant to Your pull in my life. I give You full permission to move me as You desire. You alone know my every step. You alone know where I am going. You alone know the best path for me to take. So, instead of resisting things that are new and/or uncomfortable, I will relent. I will give in to Your gentle pulling and bending of my life. I am Yours, both now and forevermore.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained. Philippians 3:12-16

I noticed one day that I had lost my joy. As I looked around my heart trying to find it, I realized that somewhere over the last couple of weeks I’d taken on the weight of the world and it had covered my joy. The joy of the Lord is truly my strength, so with this added weight and pressure, I was having multiple side-effects…my eyes felt tired and weary every day, I stopped caring about putting on make-up and fixing my hair, I struggled to find the energy to do as much as I would normally do every day, and I had forgotten how to smile and laugh. It was amazing to me how quickly this heaviness came over me and how I didn’t even realize it was happening.

Have you been feeling it to?

I have no doubt that I am not alone in this struggle. The media makes sure as many people as possible are carrying a weightiness and fear. Our government officials are making daily decisions that directly effect our lives and they are doing so under this same mantle of fear, manipulation and weightiness. They are trying to please an unpleaseable mob. It’s heart breaking really. How do we expect them to make sound decisions when neither side is to be pleased?

Today as I woke up, I heard God tell me I had taken on the weight of the world. This is how I came about this. Immediately, when He spoke it to me, I felt it begin to lift off and I became determined to find my way back to joy.

It’s no mystery who fights against our joy so much. The enemy also knows it is a source of strength, that’s why he fights so desperately to keep a lid on it. He fights to stir up all the negative things. How long will we cater to him?

There is so much happening right now, and I have control and input in approximately 2% of it. That’s ok though, because I serve the God of the universe and He can trump any situation. I will trust in Him today. I always have in the past and it’s served me very well, so why would this be different? It’s not like we’ve reached the end of grace. No, friend we are merely touching the edge of the beginning of His all- consuming grace.

Prayer Moment: Some of us are acting as if God has left the scene. We fret and wring our hands and look to what man can do, but that is not at all the way we are supposed to be conducting our daily affairs. It’s time to snap out of it Christians! Wake up! He is still God. We are still not. We can still trust in Him because He cares for us. Today, I encourage you to take every fear in your heart and lay it at His feet. Watch Him crush that fear under His feet and see that now it’s gone forever. Ask Him then, to exchange it with a measure of His peace. Do you feel the magnitude of this moment? You have found your strength again. Praise the Lord!

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

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  Matthew 11:28-29

 

 

Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please the sinful nature, from that nature will reap destructions; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially those who belong to the family of believers. Galatians 6:7-10

Now is the sowing season. We have so much opportunity to sow good things. Make no mistake about it, just as scripture stated, those who are sowing into the sinful nature right now, will surely reap a bounty of destruction. Look around. Think. Pray. Consider. Who around you is sowing? What are they sowing?

You can dress up poor seed to make it appear as a benefit, but make no mistake, it will still bear bad fruit because a bad seed, even dressed to appear as goodness and justice, doesn’t change the makeup of the seed. It will bear bad fruit. It will become destruction.

So much is masquerading right now as righteousness, and it is absolutely not. It only takes minimal investigation to discover the root is rotten. We cannot afford to be lazy and mindlessly begin to sow with those who are sowing apart from God simply because they are a trusted Christian leader, or because part of their point is valid, or everyone else is supporting it, etc.

We MUST think for ourselves, lest we be led astray. Our thinking must come from the mind of Christ that we are called to have.

We cannot sow based on emotion, popularity, guilt, manipulation.

We must sow from truth. What is true?

One thing is for certain, God has never manipulated me or made me feel guilty. Guiltiness and conviction are two completely different animals. God has never been concerned with popularity either, let’s be honest. If Jesus was alive right now, I hardly believe He’d be concerned with how many re-tweets or likes and shares He receives. No, He’d be out living life and doing things that are real. Just because those platforms exist, doesn’t make them real.

Prayer Moment: So where does one sow? Well, I believe you begin at home and go from there. But remember sowing seed takes time, so it cannot be rushed.

What should one sow? Let’s look at scripture for some guidance.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy- think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from Me, or seen in Me- put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:8-9

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness. See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ. Colossians 2:6-8

That sounds like a really good place to start.

Have you felt scattered lately? I feel like it’s easy to begin to feel that way, especially in the summer. So much of our schedule has been thrown out the window. It’s probably more aggravated right now though, because we were mostly unprepared for the lengthier than usual upending of our daily routines and schedules. This scattered feeling can lead to us forgetting what’s most important if we aren’t careful.

Here are some things to remember.

Find some sort of schedule to keep. Even if it’s just a basic framework for your days. When I know I will begin my day with quiet time, breakfast and then exercise, etc. it makes the day feel so much more productive.

Keeping quiet time sacred, even in this season, is supremely important. We must continue to meet with our heavenly Father every single day if we are to weather this life and continue to grow and thrive in all things.

Don’t take family for granted. With all this extra time spent at home, it can be easy to simply feel annoyed with the people closest to you. They are ever present. It can feel like a lot sometimes. But we must press into God and find ways to remember what a gift they are, every day. Our spouses and children are gifts from God. Gifts that many wish they had, but don’t. We would do well to remember that on the regular.

Don’t forsake the assembly. During the summer it can be easy to find excuses not to join church members for various meetings, but it hasn’t stopped being important. Let me also take this moment to say that God directed this to happen, so I will fear no virus when I meet my church family. God called us to get together, He will protect us. We have nothing to fear.

Look for ways to grow. During this extended downtime I have been pressing into several different creative outlets, I encourage you to do the same. Whatever it is that excites and stretches you, go do that thing regularly. I have found such life and joy in pressing into creativity! When I am pushing into that part of my heart, and God’s, I don’t think about all the other things. It’s like a big release valve. I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Prayer Moment: And as I press in to each one of these categories, I feel the scattered mind melt away and God focus washes over me again. Then I know I’m held. I’m safe. I have nothing to fear. I will make it through this. God has a plan. He is still sovereign. He knows where you are going, and He’s not surprised by anything. Press into His heart over you today and ask Him to bring some focus to your daily life again.

For God is not a God of disorder, but of peace-.   1 Corinthians 14:33a

I wonder when the Christian faith became so passive? When I read about Jesus, I see that He was firm in what he believed. He spent time with the Father frequently, so He really knew what was important. He was uncompromising on truth. He was never afraid or deterred by mob rule, even unto death.

When I examine the disciples and apostles, I see the same steadfastness in them. They knew what was true and they were unwilling to be swayed by half-truths and emotions. Truth is emotionless. Feelings are not truths. Where did we lose our way?

Today, as I watch people being bullied by mob rule and churches being controlled by government, I am appalled. Where did we lose our backbone?

It is completely unconstitutional to demand churches close. Furthermore, demanding they not sing is a ludicrous concept. The separation of church and state was in place for the church’s protection, not the other way around.

Now is the time that churches should be thriving and leading the way out of fear and returning to faith, yet here we are with nobody leading the charge, as far as I can see.

Yes, some are leading worship in public places etc, but what about the pastors of these churches affected by this unconstitutional mandate? Why are they silent?

In my spirit I keep hearing, “Thus far, no farther.” I have had enough. My spirit bears witness to a righteous indignation that is building and building within me.

We, as believers, must know exactly Who we serve. We must know why we do all that we do and stand our ground. It is not unloving to stand on truth when the world has gone mad. It’s the opposite of love to cater to fear and false narratives.  I have spent so much time lately paying attention to what the religious leaders that I once admired and followed from afar are doing and not doing.

God is using this time to prune out of my life dependence upon earthly things, more and more. He’s establishing something within me that I cannot yet define, but I feel the holiness of it all burning in my soul. It feels something like the fear of the Lord.

My fear of the Lord must be greater than my fear of man. A deep and penetrating reverence has begun to pour itself over me as I feel my spirit getting set for something exciting to burst onto the scene. Something heavenly. Something sovereign.

Prayer Moment: Lord, I pray You would burst into our current state of chaos in America and bring a refining that is long overdue. God, I want to be faithful to You. I want to walk in lock step with Your spirit at all times and in all circumstances. Prepare me to walk out the season of the great harvest. I see You laying a groundwork for an awesome revival. Stir up the church. Restore our backbone and certainty in You. You are the most powerful. You are the one true God. You are the Alpha and Omega. Come and dwell among us. Lead us out of this panic and restore a sound mind over the church and also American government. We are one nation under God. We belong to You. In Jesus name, Amen.

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.         2 Corinthians 3:17

 

During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One Who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverent submission. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the Source of eternal salvation for  all who obey Him and was designated by God to be High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 5:7-10

I visited a church recently and the sermon was based upon this scripture. When he read it, it struck my heart like an arrow. There is so much packed into these few verses, and it couldn’t feel more relevant for today, in my opinion.

Let’s look at this part…

He learned obedience from what He suffered

Wow. Isn’t it interesting that in a day and age where everyone wants comfort in all circumstances and parents are called “lawnmower parents” because they’ve gone from hovering over their child’s every move to completely mowing out the way in front of them, God reminds us that it’s in suffering that we learn obedience. Let that settle on your spirit. God didn’t intend for you to have a perfectly neat and easy life. He intended for you to learn obedience in the struggles.

I know, without a doubt, that I wouldn’t be who I am today without the struggles I’ve faced. Yes, at times I have asked God why things have to be so hard, but if you know me, then you know that although I hate struggle, I also won’t back down from it. Over all these years of struggle and learning to become obedient, I have developed a deep-rooted determination. It has also given me a boldness that I certainly didn’t have as a child.

I hate to admit it, but I needed the struggles, and the truth is so do you.

Instead of avoiding all conflict, what if we leaned into God’s heart? What if instead of recklessly running into conflict, we learn restraint and self-control? You see, this is where character is forged. Learning the balance between not running away and not recklessly pushing forward, but instead to remain steady in storms and allowing God to guide our every step. That’s obedience.

I feel like the words in the above scripture and what God’s had me write about them, might feel like such an eye opener, so I will leave it at that for today. I encourage you to re-read that scripture and pay attention to the other lessons we can learn from it because I only chose to highlight one part, but there is so much more to be devoured.

Prayer Moment: God, help me to walk out obedience with You. I don’t want to be rebellious. I want to walk in lock step with Your Spirit. Infuse within me a heart that is so satisfied with Your love that I avoid disobedience. You are my Source, my Strength, my Everything and I love You. In Jesus name, Amen.