Tag: journey

Do You Really Know God?

“You were shown these things so that you might know that the Lord is God.” 

Deuteronomy 4:35 

Sometime ago, I was sure I knew God. I was certain that my life as a preacher’s daughter, reflected the knowledge of God. I didn’t know then what I know now.

I thank God for HIS Spirit, the one that guides and directs us in all things according to the will of God.

It was not until after my baptism, that I realized that I never really knew my heavenly Father. I never knew God. I knew of Him, I talked of Him, I worshipped Him, but I never knew HIM.

Friend, do you really know your heavenly Father?

Or are you so blinded by your religious habits and ideologies that you have failed to see that you don’t really know THAT which you claim to serve and worship?

You go to church, but why?

You listen to praise and worship, why?

You pray every night before you sleep, why?

Why do you do all that you do in the name of God? Do you really understand your very own heart posture towards God as your heavenly Father? Or have you discarded the intimacy between you and God in place of worshiping a Being that you do not really know?

Do you know the voice of God? What does it sound like?

Can you feel the peace of God’s presence? What does it feel like?

Can you see the Hand of God in everything around you? What do you see?

Can you discern when your Father calls or speaks than when the enemy, a master of disguise, pretends to be your Father’s messenger?

Can you tell the language of God apart from the language of men?

Friend, do you really know God?

I urge you today to seek these deeper things because you and I are called to know.

Our heavenly Father has called us to know Him more and to seek the things of God more so we are able to stand firm against the evils of this world, trusting in the knowing of HE who created all things.

I pray that we are encouraged today to know our heavenly Father better than we did yesterday. May we be enabled by the Holy Spirit of God to walk closer to the call to higher knowledge and wisdom so that we may attain the prize of glory that we have been promised in Jesus name. Amen.

When You Can Reach, but Can’t Touch

“All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.”

2 Corinthians 4:15

I am surrounded by faithfulness.

All around me, I see the faithfulness of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, pressing forth towards that which is ahead, that which the Lord has called them to, but the reach is painful.

I see the pain, the struggle, and the burdens of God’s people and I am moved to compassion by the current atmosphere of agony in the individual stretch toward destiny.

We are all reaching for that which we cannot yet touch.

In this season, the Lord is reviving HIS children, opening our eyes, ears, and hearts, as HE calls us yet higher to another realm of glory.

Friend, this is the stretch.

Right now, our faith is being stretched. Our patience is being stretched. Our discipline is stretching. Our hope is stretching. Our zeal is expanding, and our strength too is being stretched. All are called but few are chosen because of the stretch.

I thank God for the grace that HE has given you and I to continue to keep on keeping on in this path to purpose.

It hurts. It is uncomfortable. But it is necessary.

The kingdom of God is a tribe of warriors, and in this season, in this state of vulnerability, we may feel shackled by the hope to touch destiny’s tail sooner rather than later, but I am here to remind you that what is waiting on the other side of your current trial is so much bigger than the discomfort of the moment.

There is a stretch going on inside you and all around you for the sake of purpose. God is shaking all that can be shaken so you know that only HIS WORD can stand amidst the many distractions and disruptions of the world.

Because you stand on the ETERNAL ROCK OF AGES that is the “GREAT I AM,” you will not fall in Jesus name. Your faith is being multiplied even in these moments of tiredness and groan. Even as we are crawling in faith, HE sees it all because HE ordained it all.

We are reminded in Hebrews chpt 4 vs 13 that,

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”

Friend, don’t you know we are prisoners of hope?! We have to be! We have to abide in the hope that He that started a good work in us will bring it to completion. God will never give up on you, so I urge you to not give up on God, nor the purpose He has you reaching towards – the one you see in your reach, but still cannot touch.

I pray for you as I pray for me too, that we receive the clarity and direction of this season. I pray that our Father in heaven grants us brave hearts to continue in our worship even in what feels like weariness for the sake of purpose. May we be strengthened again, may we be encouraged again, and may we once again feel the fresh drops of anointing from heaven on our heads all the way down to our spirits. May our flame for God and His kingdom in us, be rekindled by the fire of heaven in Jesus name! Amen!

“God First”…Is HE Really? – part II

“But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Deuteronomy 4:29

Putting God first takes complete surrender. Putting Him first means putting your thoughts second to His for His ways are so much higher. The wisdom of the creator trumps everything we think we know. HE IS GOD!

Friend, can you imagine how different our lives would be if we actually did allow God His rightful place in our heart, mind, and soul? Can you imagine the transformation that would take place if we give God His due honor and let Him come FIRST?!

I rebuke that spirit that says it is impossible. I cast down that high thing that dares to question the possibility of God being first in our lives in Jesus name! I know that it can be done because the blood of Christ made it possible! We are not righteous by our own strength or might but by the grace offered to us on that sacred cross.

No it’s not easy. It won’t be easy, but it should not have to be easy before we obey. His will be done in Jesus name.

If it was impossible for us to love and obey God with everything we have and to put Him FIRST in everything, HE would not have commanded us to do so through His Word.

I urge you today to consider ALL your ways as I am considering mine too. May the Lord grant us the courage to discard our disobedience and to heed His word. May God help us to cast away all our doubts and fears so we may surrender completely and put him FIRST in all things in Jesus name. Amen.

“God First”…Is HE Really? – part I

“But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Deuteronomy 4:29

“God first.” That’s a saying I have uttered more times than I could ever count. It’s also a statement I have heard more than enough believers say as often as necessary. You are probably one who has said it too.

But Is God really first? Does God really come before any and everything else?

Do your thoughts, your words, your deeds, your attitudes, your behaviors, your friendships and alliances, your job, your career, your lifestyle, and all that encompass your individual air, all put God first?

Or does God just come first when you feel the world needs to hear a believer say, “God first?”

Do we even really know what it means?

Friend, if you are like me, you acknowledge that God wants to be in EVERYTHING we do. God wants to ALWAYS lead us EVERYWHERE we go. So why do we struggle to practice what we so boldly preach?

The word of God is indeed light to our path, but what light or illusion of light leads us when we are not actively living on the WORD that says to put God first?

Before the amazing grace that opened my sight to see the light through the eyes of the Savior, I too in an  absent mind professed that God was first. I professed that God was priority over everything else in my life. I know now that my words could not have been farther from the truth.

The truth was, I wanted God to be first. I also wanted to be in control of my life. I wanted God to always lead and for nothing or anyone to hinder my intimacy with our heavenly Father. I also wanted the alluring enjoyment of worldly pleasures that looked too good on the outside to ignore. I thank God for His grace and wisdom to surrender.

FINISH READING HERE

There Is No Waste In God’s Process – Part 1

waste

“For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the LORD…”

Jeremiah 30:17

When you consider the process that gold or diamonds have to go through to shine in their purposeful form, there is some sort of waste shed during the process.

Funny enough, you and me as children of God, have to endure a similar process for the Glory of God to shine in us and through us in its truest divine form. The only difference between the two processes, is that there is absolutely no waste in God’s process.

Every part of your journey is for the glory of God.

Today, I watched a Netlix documentary titled, Where Was God? – a film that captured the story of hope, faith, and restoration for the survivors of the 2013 Oklahoma tornado in Moore, Oklahoma. 25 people, including seven children at an elementary school, lost their lives.

I was amazed at the power of God in more ways than one.

I first sat in awe at the power of God as I saw the video of the powerful and fatal winds that carried and toppled cars and houses in the blink of an eye.

Then I watched in awe at the rubble after the storm, as a community prepared to recover from loss and tragedy.

The parents of one of the young children, Nicholas, told their story. Nicholas was a gift from God to a father who was told at 16 that he would not be able to father any children in this world. So the love for Nicholas was beyond ordinary…But God gave and took away.

Another 14-year-old tornado survivor recounted the story of the Oklahoma tornado that happened two years earlier in 2011, in which she lost her father and her younger sister.

The film brought tears of sorrow, joy, and hope to my eyes.

Loss is so painful. Read ‘GOD GIVES EVEN WHEN HE TAKES AWAY’

But something deeper is struck when young lives end so soon, so unexpectedly. I wondered myself ‘Where was God?’

After the tornado, something great happened in the community of Moore. Strangers became friends, a community grew through pain and became stronger in faith and hope. Lives were turned around when survivors received Christ as their savior even through discomfort.

God was there, as He is always with his children.

When I first sought the spirit on the direction of this particular post, I thought I only had to speak about the goodness of God even through our worst times in life. But I heard the Word remind me that even as we lay in waste out of confusion, pain, anger, or misguidance, God is there.

Friend, there is no waste in God’s process. FINISH READING HERE.