While talking with a friend this morning about faith, words came out of my mouth I had never thought before:
“Faith is like giving birth.”
Even while the words left my lips I thought, “what the heck does that even mean?” God, fortunately, gave me clarity.
Most women, including myself, get to a point in the delivery room when they think, or say out loud in my case, I just can’t do this anymore!
Continue reading “Faith And Delivery”This morning, I received the link to a sermon of one of my clients preaching at a church near me with a comment on how good the teaching was.
This made me start thinking about my client and all I have seen “firsthand” while working for his ministry as a communications contractor. The more I thought about all I have seen, heard, witnessed, and experienced, the more astounded I became at how much God can do with one individual when that person lets go of all limitations and allows God to truly be all He can be in our lives.
In just 20 years, God took this man from an on the road preacher, visiting small mountain towns and hardly bringing in enough money to pay the bills, to a globally known teacher who gives away millions of dollars every year.
How? The man stopped placing limitations on the Lord.
Continue reading “Overwhelming”Last night, I became entangled with concerns for my company. One of our clients hasn’t been responding to emails, has missed meetings and hasn’t done a single thing we’ve asked of them in order to properly fulfill our contractual obligations. Payment is due Friday, but we haven’t received a reply to any of the three emails we’ve sent regarding their invoice.
As I thought about this while trying to fall asleep, my mind began to wander to other clients and soon thoughts of “what if” crept in. What if this client isn’t happy with the work we’ve provided, what if that client is frustrated with what we suggested they do, what if they decide not to extend their contract, what if my company falls apart…on and on my mind circled around all the things that could possibly go wrong. Pretty soon I was in such a state of anxiety I was nearly in tears and knew sleep wouldn’t come any time soon.
Right as I was about to reach for the lamp, the Lord said to me, “you aren’t casting your cares on me.”
Continue reading “Casting You Cares”Something that has been on my mind a lot lately is the individuality of our relationship with the Lord and how none of us can condemn someone else based off of what they do, or do not, believe when it comes to the Word.
One of my clients is a global Ministry. They believe in what many would call “extreme” Christian beliefs, such as speaking in tongues, baptism of the Holy Spirit, supernatural healing, God led prosperity, even, dare I say, raising dead back to life. Many claim them to be a cult and the media absolutely loves to diminish and demean everything about them.
I also have others in my life who don’t believe in any of these things. Who believe God is a creator, but that is the extend of His relationship with His children. They claim prayer makes us feel good, but the fulfillment of prayer is completely up to God. God may choose to listen and provide, or He may not, the decision belongs to Him alone.
Continue reading “I Believe”Sometimes, God shows us just how powerful our words are and how important it is to cover every aspect of our lives in prayer.
Recently, my husband, who owns his own company, has had an awful experience with one of his sub-contractors. The project his company has been working on since May, one of the biggest projects they’ve done so far, was supposed to be finalized by June 21. Unfortunately, the sub-contractor was unable to provide the promised materials by the agreed upon date, so the project was pushed back 5 days, then 7, 10, 15…finally, the sub-contractor said they will not be able to provide the materials until sometime in August!
Clearly, this has caused stress for my husband, and myself. This project was more than just one single job, it was the beginning of multiple opportunities with the client, a very valuable, and influential, resource in the industry my husband works in. Since my husband is the primary contractor it’s his name on the line and his company is the one suffering and whose name has been tarnished. To be weeks late has truly been devastating.
Continue reading “The Power Of Our Words”We live in a very complex and confusing world. What was once right is now wrong and what was once truth is now purely opinion. Different perspectives and beliefs bombard us on all fronts making it difficult to know what to believe, say, think. This bombardment of false information and new “truths” has complicated things to such a degree it is truly overwhelming.
Lately, I have been faced with frustrations and disappointments, resulting in my attitude not being what it should be. I was shorter than usual and found myself getting annoyed with even the smallest things. I realized something was off but just didn’t know how to deal with it. One morning in prayer, I asked God to help me, for Him to send me to a verse that I could stand on and make my own. I opened my bible and sure enough God took me exactly where I needed to go. I began reading the verses He gave me every day and since then everything has been – simple.
My attitude is lighter, my perspective is cheerful and my overall view on life and all that is happening around me is far more optimistic.
Continue reading “Simple”I have had many conversations with different people who are all experiencing the same thing: a frustration with the waiting. Waiting for a career change, waiting for an answered prayer, waiting for their special someone, waiting for the door to open, waiting, waiting, waiting for God to move.
Yesterday, while talking to a friend about this topic, I said something that struck me so much that I have been thinking about it ever since:
Sometimes, God needs us to take another lap around the desert before we are ready to go into our promised land.
You see, God isn’t going to let us walk into a land we are not ready for, even though we may feel like we’ve been ready for a long time. The Israelites had a year long journey from Egypt to Canaan. God had them take a longer route in order to purge them of everything Egypt had tainted them with. When they arrived, Egypt was still very much in them, and they weren’t ready to enter. They felt ready, believed they were ready, wanted to go in and eat of the fruit, but God told them no, therefore they walked around the desert for an additional 40 years.
Continue reading “One More Lap”I rid myself of all but you.
You are the only thing that can sustain me in this time of desperation and deep need.
I need you to flow through me, consume every bit of me and continually be with me.
I need to be filled from the bottom to the brim with you and you alone.
As the world turns from you I want to continually turn towards you, wherever you may be leading me.
I don’t care how unpopular it may be, I will always choose you. I don’t care how much the world belittles me, I will always choose you.
Continue reading “There Will Come A Day”This morning, while in prayer, the word “aligning” heavily struck my Spirit.
I believe God is doing a mighty aligning for His people.
I saw paths that have seemed to lead nowhere coming together to end exactly where God intended them to be.
I saw people who have been downcast, frustrated, confused, sad, angry, depressed because of their current life’s circumstances, suddenly looking backward and saying, “it all makes sense now”.
Continue reading “Aligning”I type a letter to the Lord, my fingers furiously flying over the keyboard: “Why, God? Why?” I write to Him.
Those words, the questions of why, I ask more than nearly any other. There are just so many things in my life I don’t understand, so many situations that make absolutely no sense to me at all. I’m in the middle of one right now, in this very moment even as I sit here and write these words.
While I frustratingly wrote to the Lord, a picture flashed through my mind: Joseph sitting in prison followed by the image of the Israelites walking through the desert. The Spirit then said to me:
“Everyone has their time in the desert. Many have to go through prison to fulfill their prophecies.” Continue reading “Desert, Prison, Promise”
The Lord is moving.
We may not always be able to see it, feel it, touch it, but He is on the move. God is often doing things behind the scenes that sometimes takes weeks, months, years to come to fruition, but all along, He is moving. Continue reading “He Is Moving”
There are so many Christians who have grown weary in their well doing. So many have prayed without ceasing, fasted regardless of difficulty and continued to be sensitive to the Spirit even when the world tells them to turn from Him. So many have continued to stand through exhaustion, fight through discouragement and rejoice in the midst of their continual battles.
It truly is incredible to witness the obedience of God’s Remnant.
Today, I feel the need to encourage those who are feeling the weight of the battles upon their shoulders and the weariness that has crept in on all sides: you will witness your miracle and live your breakthrough.
There are times in my life when I push against the Lord, when I become so frustrated with what is going on around me that I forget the power that is within me. I allow the world to quiet God’s voice and cloud my vision from seeing the Truth.
He has never failed me, yet sometimes I find myself still wondering if whatever current battle I’m in is the one I will lose, the time when my God just doesn’t step in.
This thought process does nothing but harm me and hinder me from doing what I am called to do. If He has never failed me, why would He start now? Continue reading “In The Darkness”
Over the past several days it’s been on my heart to pray against the spirit of resistance. I’m not only talking about the political resistance we see marching on Washington, although that is part of it, I’m primarily feeling a need to pray against the spiritual resistance that’s been infiltrating our daily lives. Continue reading “Resistance”
What is our initial reaction to bad news? Is it terror? Is it anxiety, worry, stress? If we call ourselves Christians and we say we fully trust in the Lord, then when the world bangs on our door, should we, for even a second, worry about what is on the other side? Continue reading “Why Are We Worrying?”
A Woman Standing 