The other day while the kids and I were sitting on our deck, we all noticed this beautiful bird. When it was standing on the ground, it truly looked like nothing special at all. In fact, it looked very unimpressive, but when it began to fly it exposed these lines of white that interrupted the black feathers you saw in its standing position. It was truly breathtaking to watch. We gasped the first time we saw it take flight. It was so unique and special and a feast for our eyes, but we never would have seen that if it hadn’t decided to fly.

Then it hit my heart, I also look like nothing special when I’m just sitting. In times when I am dormant and have made decisions to not be me and to not release into the earth what God has created me to release, then I look like nothing special. But when I make choices to walk in my calling and anointing, I become beautiful. You do too friend.

The world needs your particular anointing. God made you a certain way so you could do something on earth that otherwise might not happen. God needs you to be you.

How is it that God has created you to fly?

If you don’t yet know, now is a good time to ask. It’s never too late to discover that thing for which you were created. You will never feel more fulfilled than when you walk in right identity. It’s the most invigorating thing in the world. And you always feel God right there. Right there in that place of release, is where God resides.

Prayer Moment: I encourage you today to find a quiet place, and even if you already know what you are called and anointed to do, ask God to speak your calling and anointing over you again. I recently did this and spent the next week having powerful encounters with Him. I am so grateful that I took the moment to ask Him to reconfirm what I am here on earth to do. The visions and words He spoke over me that week will carry me. I will reflect on them repeatedly and hold them close to my heart, and if there is ever a question that comes, either from others or myself about if I’m doing what I’m meant to be doing, I will open my hand and look at them again. They will be a banner over my life. Today, I encourage you to receive your own banner. He loves to reveal these types of things to us. He wants us to search out our reason for living. What an exciting time!!

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:31

No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. Isaiah 62:4

 

After I had the release that I detailed in the devotional from yesterday entitled, Bubbling Up, I received some amazing things. Whatever it was that needed to die within me during that weeping, made room for what came later that day.

First, I received the word of encouragement from my sister. This vision she had about Chris directly related to some of the things I was grieving. I had a choice when she shared with me. I could have remained bound in my grief and refused to let go of the sadness and receive the good word, or I could do what I ended up doing and that was I paused my heart and recognized that God sent that phone call to minister to my grief in that specific moment. Holy Spirit was so near.

Have you ever been around someone who seems hell bent on not receiving a positive word because they always trump it with another sorrow or trouble that they have had or are currently experiencing? It can be ridiculous. I can feel in my heart when someone simply refuses to be encouraged. It’s such a shame, and a complete waste of time.

This release and receiving was only increased when Chris called me later that day to report an impending promotion and raise he would be getting!

If I had been determined to hold onto the past and my list of grievances, then my heart wouldn’t have appreciated the good news in the same way. Because I had released the sorrow, I received Chris’ news with full joy and began to praise God.

We must make room in our hearts and minds for God to pour out His goodness. We must empty of the negative in order to receive the positive. It’s a beautiful exchange.

Prayer Moment: God, I thank You for Your goodness. I thank You for always preparing good things for me. You are worthy. Help me to never hold back my emotions from You and call it faithfulness. Help me instead to come raw and real before You every day and in every way. I long to honor You with all that I am because You alone are worthy. In Jesus name, Amen.

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.   Proverbs 17:22

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless You. The Lord is God and He has made His light shine upon us.                    Psalm 118:26-27

This week I was confronted with some unresolved grief that was stored within my heart. I was completely unaware that I had dammed up that place until…

I received an email asking for some information for a former employee of ours. When I read it I began to feel small pangs in my heart. When I reached out to the former employee to confirm it wasn’t a scam email (those are pretty rampant right now) I discovered he was getting a permanent position with the Oil and Gas company that Chris and I used to work for. We were with that company as sub-contracted labor for almost 10 yrs.. The funny thing is, I have zero desire to live in PA again, and Chris has zero desire to have a 9-5 desk job, but this pang still occurred. It took me completely off guard because Chris and I are so happy here and we see and fully acknowledge that God is doing some big things for both of us currently.

Still there was that pang, and after I filled out the form for that employee and sent it in, the tears began to well up in my eyes. Then I heard God say, “You haven’t grieved the loss of that job and that dream yet.” I spoke out loud to Him, “I know.” I texted Chris and said, “I don’t know why but filling out that form was a struggle.”

I immediately went down to the piano and sat in silence for a moment, then I felt led to begin to play and worship to a new song I’ve written. As I played and sang that song, I felt the presence of the Lord consume me and some gentle tears began to flow. I could feel God using the words He’d given me for the song ministering to my own heart. The gravity and beauty of that exchange was definitely not lost on me.

Then Chris facetimed me and as soon as I saw his face and he said, “So it was a struggle to send that form?” And the dam broke. Tears began to flow like a flood. There was no sense trying to hold them back. I was weeping and speaking out all the feelings I was having. Chris just listened quietly and lovingly. Then I said, “I don’t really know what I’m feeling, but I know it’s real.” He replied, “Oh, I can see it’s real from your tears.” During our phone call, I got another call from one of my sisters. I declined the call until Chris and I finished and when I called her back, her first words were, “I want to tell you what I saw when I prayed for Chris last night.” Immediately, I knew God had orchestrated the timing of her call, to bring blessing and comfort to my heart. It was an intense moment where I didn’t need to define my feelings, I simply needed to release them, and this was that moment.

Prayer Moment: Do you ever feel emotions well up from within you, and instead of engaging them and asking God about them, you stuff them back down inside? Today is a great day to ask God to reveal to you any wounds or unresolved grief that you are needlessly carrying. God desires to walk out these things with you. It doesn’t have to take a long time to release these things to Him. If you will just sit into those feelings and speak them to Him and ask Him to move in that deep place, then He will meet you there.

I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation. Shouts of joy and victory resound in the tents of the righteous; “The Lord’s right hand has done mighty things! The Lord’s right hand is lifted high; the Lord’s right hand has done mighty things!” Psalm 118:13-16

 

As we walk through life and are every day growing older and increasing the distance between our now and our childhood, I have noticed that far too many of us lose our childlike wonder and faith in God.

The Bible says in Matthew 18:3-4                                                                                                       And He said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Recently, God has been reminding me to continue to walk through my life with wide-eyed wonder. He has drawn me back to the childlike faith that I had in the beginning of my walk. This is something that I have to deliberately decide to maintain. I have to intentionally keep myself in a childlike posture of faith. I’m sure it won’t be any surprise to you when I say that the only way to continue to focus your spirit in this innocence and trust, is to have moments of pause. Being still is crucial. It is key to so many facets of our lives, but to find true focus and to work deliberately on our walk, pause is imperative.

When I stopped, I realized that I had lost a measure of that childlike awe, but the wonderful thing was, because I have remained sensitive to listening to His voice, I was quickly able to reset and restore. What was lost for a moment, was found in a moment.

That’s my encouragement for you today, if you have discovered that you have lost any part of your walk or relationship with Jesus, it’s so easy to stop and find it again. This is that moment. Take this pause and step back into your rightful place. Place God back on the throne and remember that even though you grow older, you don’t ever want to lose this childlikeness. Never lose your wonder.

Prayer Moment: God, help me to never stray from the innocence and wonder of childlike faith. Help me to stay near to Your heart and keep me tender enough to always immediately recognize when I need to come back. God, even when I’m 90 years old, help me to continue to walk out childlikeness before You. Keep me near. Help me to always follow Your heart. I adore You. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simplehearted; when I was in great need, He saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you. Psalm 116:5-7

Tonight, I found myself up at 2am and I was stirred to go and worship. I decided that if I was called to worship right now, in this moment, then God will not let it disturb my sleeping children.

I went to the piano, secured the mute peddle and like a room being flooded from somewhere inside, I could feel the spirit come out. All I needed was already right there inside of me.

Most flooding comes from an outside source and floods into the space. This morning as I worshiped in the wee hours, I was flooded straight from the center of myself. I tapped into the Source. Holy Spirit within me. Christ within me.

As I worshiped with my eyes closed and my heart surrendered to heaven, I saw myself. There I was in a space that seemed like I was alone, playing and worshiping from a beautiful black grand piano. I knew God was showing me myself in heaven in that moment. He was watching. He was listening. He was being glorified.

In that moment, in the wee hours, I heard Him speak to my heart, “You are a watchman on the wall.”

I then realized that there have been quite a few times lately when I am awake at very unusual times. In the middle of the night around 2am I find myself waking up after rolling back and forth in a disturbed slumber for a while. When I have been waking up at these nighttime hours, I have not been feeling tired, rather I wake up feeling very alert and ready to go. In the past, I would’ve fought for the sleep I thought I needed without realizing that God had a purpose for my sleeplessness. The difference is, right now when I wake at those unusual times, I get up to see what God has for me.

Why do I share this with you?

Because I wonder how often we miss out on intimate moments of God-connectedness because it is an inconvenient time. How often have we missed walking out our calling because we missed the midnight moments?

It was a midnight moment when Paul and Silas were found worshiping God and He suddenly caused an earthquake to come and it released all the prisoners. All the cells were opened and then as a result of all of this, the jailer and his entire family were saved, right there in the middle of the night. In the inconvenient hour. In the time when most people hang up their “Do Not Disturb” sign.

But in my life, there have been multiple seasons when God has wanted to make use of this strange time of day. I know from my history with Him, that many battles are fought in the midnight hours. I am trying to be much more deliberate to participate in these battles. These wars aren’t fought with screaming and yelling, they are fought in the sweet and intimate moments of our lives. They are fought and won at the piano in the middle of the night, simply singing a tender love song to God.

Prayer Moment: God, help me to never turn away from Your call to battle. Forgive me for the many times when I’ve heard that call in the night, but I’ve been too selfish for sleep to engage. I am Yours. I’m so sorry I haven’t always been an active warrior in the night hours. You’ve called me to be a night watchman, so I will trust You to make the sleep I get seem like more. I trust that I will face each day feeling rested, because only in Your Kingdom can warring bring rest. I am so thankful for You. I love You. I am Yours. In Jesus name, amen.

At the end of seven days the word of the Lord came to me. “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.” Ezekiel 3:16

Lately, I have said multiple times that it feels like the world is on fire. Just now I had a powerful vision.

I saw myself and there was a great cloud of smoke above me as I was on my hands and knees. I felt the Lord showing me that I would survive this great fire by dropping to my knees. He was promising me that He would get me out of it. “Stay below the fire.” I heard.

Sure, some of the fire I was experiencing was from current world situations, but in all honesty, some of the fire was from our normal family matters. Things we’ve been walking out for a long time and wounds in family members that are being aggravated and/or exposed by this time of long trial.

All morning before I received this vision, I was interceding over some very specific family matters. I had journaled about them this morning and spent a lot of time mulling it over, and here came my answer. No, it didn’t feel particularly comforting, but it was real. As I pressed in, I asked God what all He was referencing in this vision, and I could see it was for me personally, but it powerfully conveys to all of us.

Friends, not every vision from God will be what I call “warm fuzzy”, but I do believe that they will all carry a peace that surpasses understanding. So, even though this particular vision was weighty and sobering, it carried a sense of protection and provision and reassurance that God is with me and on my side through whatever comes.

When there’s a fire we know what to do. First stop, then drop. You must stay below the fire in order to find the air to breath. After falling to your knees, you either wait for help or crawl to the nearest exit. Apparently, this is where I’ve found myself. Just now I see that God is burning off some old things from a certain family member and while He’s doing this, He’s telling me not to intervene, as I would normally try to comfort them,  and in the past have ended up carrying this person through storms, when I wasn’t ever meant to do that. He’s inviting me to trust Him enough to take a different posture and then to allow Him to keep me from being consumed in the process.

I wish I didn’t need to be so vague about this, but trust me there is so much emotion wrapped into this devotional today.

Prayer Moment: God, I thank You that I can trust You to deliver me from anything and everything. You are my only Provider. You are my true Father. I lay all I have at Your feet and surrender to Your purposes. I am Yours. Lord, give me the strength to walk out this next season. Encourage my heart. Hold me. I am weak, but as I rest in Your strength, I know I can do all things. So, I lean into You. You are my all in all. I trust You. In Jesus name, amen.

Stand firm, and you will win life. Luke 21:19

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

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.                                2 Corinthians 12:10

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. Romans 12:6-8

We have all be infused with certain giftings. We don’t choose them, God does. He planted them within us upon our creation. They were part of His master plan before He even put them inside our little bodies. Giftings come from God and there are many different ones. We are not all made to operate the same. In fact, God deliberately made us different. Why? Well, I ultimately believe He did it so we could work together. He made us all different and He also made us with the need for fellowship and interaction with one another, with the plan that we would have all needs met when we come together and each move within our own gifting.

In other words (and this is also spoken to myself) stop trying to be like everybody else.

We need all the giftings to be used in order to function in wholeness. Each gift should be celebrated for what it is, none is truly greater than the other. I notice in the body of Christ that there is a “run” on the popular and upfront positions, while people shy away from the less glamorous positions. This behavior can and has led to a deficit. But something else it’s led to is far more dangerous, people operating in positions that they are gifted to operate within.

During my time within the church I’ve come across many people who were clearly serving in the wrong positions, whether it was out of selfish ambition or because the church simply needed a position filled. Honestly, I feel that’s a great tragedy, and ultimately it doesn’t serve the person who is making the compromise or the church.

There is a cycle that occurs when we place people in a position for which they are truly not gifted to operate within, and it goes like this: a person is wrongly placed in a position and this causes the person who could properly fill the position to believe that there is no need for them. While the wrongly placed person may thrive in that place for a season, it is inevitably short lived, or the person is truly miserable doing what they’re doing and just won’t say anything. Either way it’s not God’s best for our body. He made the body complete, we only need to trust His placement of people and His timing.

Prayer Moment: Today I challenge you to make a very honest assessment of the positions you currently fill within your church or the body of Christ at large. Have you found yourself simply volunteering for any position where there is a need or do You go to the Father before committing your time and talents? Years ago, God really convicted me to stop and press into His heart before I rush out to be “the guy”. You know, the guy who always says yes and fills any gaps in service. This is not God’s best for anyone. We all should go to Him and ask, “Is this where You want me to serve?” before we accept any position. Likewise, we shouldn’t be afraid to step out if He asks us to step into a position for which we had never considered moving into before. Be brave and be smart.

 

For by the grace given me I say to everyone of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. Romans 12:3-5

In our current culture, it is all too easy to think more highly of ourselves than we ought. Unfortunately, we find ourselves traveling against the current when we make the decision to look at ourselves with sober judgment, but it’s a must.

Jesus Himself demonstrated a depth of humility that I struggle to even fathom. This One Who chose to come to earth in the form of a baby, imagine the humility in this act. He was already God and He loved us so much that He decided to be born of the Holy Spirit and an earthly woman to be brought into the world as a baby. Have you ever really thought this through? God always existed. God has always been three in one. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. It’s not as if Jesus didn’t exist before He was born on earth. I know this is so hard to comprehend, but to live in full reverence and sober gratitude, we must take ourselves into this thought and fully appreciate what occurred. To further embrace the gift of our salvation, don’t we owe it to Jesus to remember where He came from? I think we do.

Likewise, we should all remember where we came from. Being born in our own sinful nature, none of us could be saved on our own. None of us was born saved. We are all born sinners who must be saved by grace. When we remember our origin, I think it brings a sober humility to our day to day interactions with others. We are to never consider ourselves to be more than others and remembering our own sin nature can help to remain sober in our outlook.

We must also look at each other with this same sober mindedness. For instance, our own kids are not perfect. They are not born perfect. They are born with a sin nature and must also be saved by grace. That grace which is strictly a gift from God. When we act as if our own kids are incapable of being sinful, or if we simply believe every word they say and don’t listen to God and weigh what our kids recount to us, then we not only do others a disservice, we also do our kids a disservice. They don’t need the burden of our always believing they would never falter, and this type of behavior can actually serve as a hindrance in them realizing they need Jesus too. We are ALL born sinners who must be saved by grace.

Prayer Moment: Today I encourage you to take a moment and with reverence take a look at all God has done for you, especially Jesus coming to earth so you can be saved. Thank Him for this amazing gift. Then take an honest assessment of yourself and the way you see yourself and those around you. Maybe you’ve erred in the way you see yourself or others. Maybe you’ve fallen into the trap of seeing your kids as perfect at the detriment of them realizing they too must be saved. Maybe you’ve been too hard on yourself and others and need to revisit the grace that we received even though we don’t deserve it. Whatever the case, take a minute and let God tarry over your heart for a moment and have an honest conversation with Him.

 

Throughout my adult life I have been called resilient over and over again. The first time it happened, I remember taking a step back and wondering if it was a compliment or not. It is funny how perception can change. Now, I very clearly see that it’s a wonderful attribute to have. I see it as something that every believer is called to be.

Resilient: able to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. Able to recoil or spring back into shape after bending, stretching, or being compressed.

Isn’t resilient a great word to use?

As followers of Christ, we should be able to recover quickly in difficult conditions because we know Who our source is and that we are held in His hands. Believers should all be able to spring back into shape after bending because the Bible assures us that He will save us from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. The Bible doesn’t promise that we won’t face the snare, but that we will be saved from it. That’s an important point to notice.

He will always rescue us, and that knowledge alone should make us extremely resilient.

I have been rescued by God more times than I can count. My history with Him provides me with so much comfort, as I have always been held and provided for. I have never wanted for anything that I truly needed. He meets my every need according to His glorious riches and I find great comfort in that.

When we find ourselves lacking in resilience, it’s undoubtedly because we have bought into a lie somewhere. The only time we find ourselves lacking is if we begin to view our future without God in it. He makes ALL things possible.

Prayer Moment: God, I thank You for Who You are. I thank You for making me resilient. It’s been a hard fought battle to get here, but it’s been so worth it. Never let life rob me from being consistently resilient in You, Abba. I need You and I know that I always will. Help me to never forget that You are the Source of all my resilience. You are my everything and apart from You, I am well aware that I am and I have nothing. God, bless my life. I long to be eternally connected with You. I want to know You better every day. I am Yours. In Jesus name, amen.

May the Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, Who loved us and by His grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to Your word.               Psalm 119:28

 

I went for a run on a very windy day recently. As I had to literally lean forward into the wind in order to keep moving forward, I had a powerful vision.

I saw myself leaning into a gale force wind and the resistance was intense. It was so strong that at times I went down to my knees. Yet each time I was able to rise again and start moving forward. The wind was intense, but I was relentless as I moved forward undeterred. Then I heard God say, “This resistance creates strong muscles within you. This resistance is for your own good. It’s to create strength within you.”

Some might argue that a life free of problems and devoid of resistance is much easier, if not completely desirable. Some might say that if God loved us, then He would allow us to navigate life without having to face opposition. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, God assured us that we would have trouble. But He left us with the encouragement that He has overcome the world.

Our lives are filled with the specific kind of resistance that God knows will build the right spiritual muscles within us, so that we can face the challenges He knows we will have. He is like the ultimate trainer. When some people moan that they don’t understand why this or that keeps happening to them, I see it as an opportunity to train spiritual muscle. God knows what we need. Just like a trainer at the gym, sometimes we won’t like the type of exercise we’re being asked to do, but if we trust the trainer we will do it because we know it’s building the muscles we desire and it’s keeping us fit.

God works in a very similar way. We can trust Him to give us the exact “work-out” we need in order to build the proper muscles for us the face life’s challenges.

Prayer Moment: Do you find yourself resisting God’s training, or do you meet the day to day challenges with a trust of God that allows you to learn and grow every day? It’s never too late to make a decision to trust your Trainer.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.           Hebrews 12:1

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7

Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:26-27