HEARTBREAK

Unwanted guest stops by today

Out of the blue

I should be used to this by now

Each time, the hurt just amazes me

Each tear hurts more than the last

You heard my cries

 

Unwanted guest stops by today

This one took my breath away

Can’t talk, even hurts to think

Questions, don’t understand

You felt my pain

 

Unwanted guest stops by today

Anger this time!

Only one word, WHY?

Hurt & pain are my new friends

You understand my questions

 

Unwanted guest stops by today

It’s been a while but can’t forget

Wounds turn to scars

Still hurts like it was brand new

You see me

 

Once again the tears come

I sit in silence

Hearing only my long deep sighs

I know it will return again

Cannot be avoided

Each time ends the same way

Tears dry as I feel your presence

Surrounding me with your love

No words needed here

You know my heart

I have felt yours

Because of this, I can stand

 

One day, someday soon

The hurt will be replaced with joy

The tears will be happy tears

Our prayer will be answered

 

Until then, I learn to let you hold me

 

TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT?

 

PSALM 22:3 AMPC – But You are holy, O You who dwell in [the holy place where] the praises of Israel [are offered].

PSALM 22:3 KJV – but thou are holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.

I have heard this verse all of my life, God inhabits the praises of His people. Just recently this verse came to my mind & the word “inhabit” stuck out to me. The Amplified version says dwell in. So I did a bit of research just to gain a greater understanding of this verse.

The word inhabit means – live in or occupy.

The word dwell means – to live or stay as a permanent resident; reside

Now we are taught at a young age that when we are saved, God is living inside of us. As adults we realize this means His spirit lives within us continually. Since the Trinity (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) are three in one, this means that God in the spirit dwells inside of me.

As Christians, God dwells within us, but do you take the time to invite Him into EVERY aspect of your life? God is a gentleman and will never go where He is not invited or welcomed. He will never force himself on anyone.

You may not realize it but your time of prayer and devotion is a form of worship but it is not quite the level of actual praise and worship. This can be in the form of worship songs, like you would sing in church, or taking your favorite verse of the bible and putting it to song. Or simply just expressing to God just how much He means to you.

When we take the time, outside of normal prayer and devotion time, to truly worship God, you are taking the time to acknowledge and adore Him just for who He is. That is going above and beyond the day in day out norm. Now your consistent prayer and devotional time is extremely important. The Bible calls the word His bread. We definitely need spiritual food to keep going.

For example, the individuals that you live at home with, your spouse, kids, parents, siblings etc. Do you take the time, every now and again, to let them know how much they really mean to you? If you never did that person might begin to wonder if you really loved them. Now if you are living with a roommate for a temporary amount of time, then you would not take as much stock in that relationship because that is not quite the same level. But with God, He is a permanent resident in our lives, and we must take the time to acknowledge Him and all that He has done for us and let Him know how much we love Him.

Our Heavenly Father longs to hear from your heart. He wants more than our so-called grocery list of things we want from Him. Take the time today to simply just LOVE ON HIM.

WALKING IN QUICKSAND

 

Ephesians 3:20 AMP – Now to Him who is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly more than all that we dare ask or think [infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, hopes, or dreams], according to His power that is at work within us.

I have recently had something pop up in my life that has been an enormous struggle for me. It is not the first time this issue has come up, but I have literally just felt as if I was walking in quicksand.

Through the last few weeks, I have been praying & trying my best to give it all to Him & have faith, but I don’t think I have been doing a very good job. I have just been going through the motions trying to convince myself that it would be ok & an answer was right around the corner. Well, that corner has not yet come around.

The enemy has tried his very best to keep me in a fog to the point that I could not see past the point of my own “storm”.  The enemy wants to distract me from where I should be focused right now.

JOHN 10:10 AMP – The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]

After receiving a very timely message from a friend, I felt God speak to me that all I had been doing was just trying to survive & get by. God does not want me to just get by. He has bigger & better things in store for me than I could ever imagine. Like John 10:10 says “to the full, till it overflows”.

That is quite literally God’s desire for us is to live our life in abundance until it overflows to others. That is the entire purpose here. We must be living our lives to the point that it does affect others.

JEREMIAH 29:11 AMP – For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you, say the Lord, plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.

I also realized that I was thinking & praying way too small. God is in the little things, yes, but His desire is for us to thrive not just to get by. That is thinking way too small. We must think, pray & live much bigger. There is nothing that my God cannot handle. There is no prayer too big!!

LUKE 1:37 AMP – For with God nothing [is or ever] shall be impossible

STUBBORN FAITH

 1 THESSALONIANS 5:17-18 AMP – be unceasing and persistent in prayer in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. 

    We all go through “stuff” in our lives. Sometimes it comes in just a small inconvenient rain shower & then there are times when it is an all-out hurricane. Regardless of the type of situation you are in at the moment, be sure that you have the mindset of NOT GIVING UP. 

    We have all heard this before. You are going through a tough time & someone says “don’t give up!” But they honestly have no earthly idea what we are going through & how hard this situation really is. I mean how in the world could they say that if they really knew how bad it was, right? 

    I totally understand that thought process but I can say this, that person that is trying to encourage you, may have possibly been through a lot more intense “stuff” than you have so they might be speaking from experience.

    Most of the time we don’t really know what it means to NOT GIVE UP until we have been through a serious hurricane of a situation in our lives. Then & only then can you really truly grasp the meaning of these highlighted verses.

    I have heard people question the meaning behind these verses and ask, why does God want you to keep praying? Did God not hear me the first time? God definitely heard you, everything has to be in His timing. There is also a verse that says our thoughts are not His thoughts & our ways are not His ways (Isaiah 55:8). A lot of times we pray about a situation & do not see results we think God is either mad or is telling us NO. That is not the case at all. His timing is most definitely different than ours. That is where faith comes in. We have to keeping praying about that situation & have faith that God hears us & will work it out in His timing & according to His will. Keep in mind though that we must retain an open heart & mind & pray for HIS will to be done. If we are praying that we want Him to do it our way, we are tying his hands so he cannot work at all.

HEBREWS 11:1 NIV – now faith is the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance about what we do not see 

PSALMS 40:1 NLT - I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry

    We must not give up, back down or stay quiet. We must keep praying, keep pushing forward & remain in faith. We must develop almost a stubborn faith. One that refuses to back up regardless of how hard it gets. Because God will not forsake us & we will make it through.

PSALM 37:25 NIV – I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging for bread

    So yes, it is ok sometimes to be stubborn! Regardless of what the world says or does around us, you will not go under, you will make it 

ISAIAH 40:31 KJV - But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

week 6 - GOD SAYS, “IT’S IN ME!!!

 Colossians 1:15-17 Amplified Bible 

15 He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator] of all creation. 

16 For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him. 

17 And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.

    After praying for a friend just now God dropped this phrase in my spirit, IT’S IN ME!! I kept hearing this over and over and over in my spirit. Then I searched & found this verse. 

    There is nothing outside of God. He is everything. He was before everything & will remain after everything. He created it ALL. All of it was created by Him and for Him.

    This is when I hear people say, “well if that is true then why did this or that happen?” There is no way that we can answer every question of that nature because there is no way that we can know all of the ins and outs of every situation. There are so many aspects that we cannot see or know about. But God is all knowing & seeing & in all places at once. Just like the friend that I was praying for. She was in a terrible car accident recently. She has asked God that same question, why did this happen to me? She has quite a lot of physical & neurological issues as a result of the accident. As I was praying for her God reminded me of the verse in Genesis 50:20 where Joseph was telling his brothers that what they intended for evil God intended for good in order to bring about this present outcome. The enemy intended to kill my friend that day but God had other plans. As a result, her testimony will go on to reach tons of people that have lost hope because of the lies from the enemy. And God is bringing people into her life & blessing her & her family is ways she could never imagine. 

    We don’t ever know what each day will bring but have faith in God that He knows what is best & will get you through whatever it is. He is our ALL IN ALL. There is nothing that we need that we can find outside of Him. He is it!! There is nothing else that we need

    It is a tremendous freedom that you can feel once you can come to this realization & live by it. Yes, life throws curve balls, yes the enemy is out to kill, steal & destroy but Jesus came that we may have and enjoy life and have it in abundance, John 10:10. 

    There is literally nothing that the enemy can throw your way that God cannot bring you out of. And He will give you the peace to walk it out. 

     Philippians 4:19 Amplified Bible 

19 And my God will liberally supply (fill until full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. 

He knows what we need even before we do. He will supply that need liberally!! 

IT’S ALL IN HIM!!!

WEEK 5 - SHOUT!!!

 PSALMS 32:7 AMPC – YOU ARE A HIDING PLACE FOR ME; YOU, LORD, PREFERVE ME FROM TROUBLE, YOU SURROUND ME WITH SONGS AND SHOUTS OF DELIVERANCE. SELAH (PAUSE, AND CALMLY THINK OF THAT)

 

              This is one of my all-time favorite verses in the Bible and has been for many years. But this time when I read it, I had a whole new outlook on it.

              The Amplified version gives us a bit more info to go off of. One particular juicy tid bit is the part about SONGS AND SHOUTS OF DELIVERANCE. Ok so just now the thought hits me, first of all why does God even need to shout? This is a God who literally speaks things into existence. I imagine He can just point or even think it & it will be done. So, what is the need for shouting here? That is when I looked up the meaning of the word SHOUT

 

SHOUT – verb - (of a person) utter a loud call or cry, typically as an expression of a strong emotion.

 

            We all know that there have been times in our lives where shouting was either necessary or a result of a very intense situation. The reason for our shouting in every day life will be strong emotion, either in anger, deep sorrow, love or extreme joy. For instance, have you ever been in a situation where you loved an individual so intensely that you felt the need to shout to get a point across or to get them to understand you or even to stop doing whatever? Also, have you ever stopped to think about how intense God’s love for us is? He loves us so deeply that it is simply humanly impossible for us to comprehend the vastness & extent of His love for us. So, in this particular verse, I believe that God is shouting because of His great love for us. He is shouting over us resolutions to conflicts, ideas to solve problems, speaking answers to prayers, speaking miracles into our lives or giving orders for his angels to go & protect you from a particular individual or circumstance that we have no control over. Can you imagine the Creator of man & the universe, needing to shout anything? If we could even possibly hear that shout it would probably cause major if not fatal injury due to the intensity. I sit here & imagine Him shouting over me numerous things in my life to the point that His voice is all that I can hear. It drowns out all of the lies, deception & destructiveness that the enemy tries to speak over me. There is absolutely no way that the enemy’s voice can override or silence the voice of my God, my Abba Father.

            So, take heart today, that whatever situation you may be in, God is shouting over you & your life. As a result, you will experience deliverance.

 

Trust in Him today that He loves you enough to NOT be quiet when it comes to you & your life

WEEK 4 - BE STILL!!

 

PSALMS 46:10 NIV – HE SAYS, “BE STILL, AND KNOW THAT I AM GOD; I WILL BE EXALTED AMONG THE NATIONS, I WILL BE EXALTED IN THE EARTH.”

EXODUS 14:14 NIV – THE LORD WILL FIGHT FOR YOU; YOU NEED ONLY TO BE STILL

 

I have never been one to just be still regardless of what I am doing. Even in church, I have the whole leg shaking thing going on. I am moving constantly, even when sitting down or reclining. They call it restless leg syndrome. I call it an aggravation!

Then there are those times, that I feel a huge desire just to sit with my eyes closed & just breathe. No agenda, no thoughts, no sounds except my breath. This does not happen often but when it does, it is one of the most relaxing, calming moments ever. It actually causes things to be put into perspective all of a sudden.

That is God’s desire for us is to just BE STILL. Just to stop the mad rush of the daily routine & just be still. There are times when you can think of God’s goodness & love for you. There are other times that you can simply just not think, just be still. To be this still is meditation on a totally different level.

For instance, today, I started the day in a very sad somber mood. About middle of the day, I was mentally overwhelmed, so I just stopped, closed my eyes, & for several minutes did nothing but breathe very deeply. I did not have an agenda to think on God or His word or anything along those lines, but as soon as I stopped & was just still for several minutes, He started speaking to my heart. Reassured me of several things that I needed to hear. He was just waiting for me to simply BE STILL.

We are so busy in our day to day rituals that we forget to allow HIM to speak. He cannot do what He needs to do in our lives until we learn to stop, let go & let Him do it!  

So often, I hear people say (I have said this myself many times), I just don’t hear God right now. I am not sure why He is not speaking to me in this situation. My question is, have you taken time to stop & LET Him speak? There are times when He is truly silent but a lot of times it is simply because we are too busy that we do not allow Him to work in our lives. 

Take that time today to just BE STILL. You will be so surprised as to how much better you will feel.

Also, you just might hear God whisper something you really have been longing to hear.