His Love

Why do we stray from the One who holds us together in the midst of our brokenness?  His love for us is CONSTANT; we need to receive what He died to give us!

"The eternal God is your dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms.  And he thrust out the enemy before you and said, Destroy."  -Deuteronomy 33:27

"But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation."  -Psalm 13:5

Self-Control

Jesus faced the ultimate battle of self-control when HE was being mocked and shamed on the cross (Luke 23:35-37).  He could have called upon a band of angels to come and free HIm from His suffering and torment, but He knew He had to fulfill and be obedient to His Father's plans, so that we could have a personal relationship with Him! How deep is Jesus' love for us, that He would be willing to sacrifice His own life!  Jesus overcame the battle of self-control, because He had complete faith that God would never leave or forsake Him, and would see Him through to the end when His name is glorified!

Dear Beloved

A dear friend of mine gave me a letter that is to be my constant reminder of the love that Jesus has for me. I pray that it blesses you as much as it has/is me.  It reads like this:

Beloved,

I know everyone longs to give themselves completely to someone; to have a deep soul relationship with another; to be loved thoroughly and exclusively. But I tell you, not until you are satisfied, fulfilled, and content with being loved by Me along, having an intensely personal and unique relationship and discovering that only in Me is your satisfaction to be found, will you be capable of the perfect human relationship that I have planned for you. You will never be united with another until you are united with Me, exclusive of anyone or anything else, exclusive of any other desires or longings. I want you to stop planning and wishing, and allow Me to give you the most thrilling plan existing-the one I have for you. I want you to have the best. Please allow Me to bring it to you. You just keep watching Me, expecting the greatest things. Keep experiencing the satisfaction that I am. Keep listening and learning the things I tell you. You just wait. That's all.

Don't be anxious. Don't worry. Don't look around at the things others have, or the things you think you want. You just keep your eyes on Me or you'll miss what I want to show you.

And then, when you're ready, I'll surprise you with a love far more wonderful than any you would dream of. You'll see; until you are ready, you are both satisfied exclusively with Me and the life I've prepared for you; until then, you won't be able to experience the love that exemplifies your relationship with Me, and thus the perfect love.

And, dear one, I want you to have this most wonderful love. I want you to see in the flesh a picture of your everlasting union of beauty, perfection, and love that I offer you with Myself. Know that I love you utterly. Believe it and be satisfied.

Jesus

Ladies. Hold out for the MAN that Jesus has created for you. 
You are worthy. 
You deserve to be pursued. 
You deserve to be fought for. 
Believe that in your heart! 
Jesus has such a beautiful plan for your life - let Him show you! Surrender your desire to control your own life because it is NOTHING compared to what Your Creator has in store for you! Find your satisfaction in Him alone. Let His love sweep you off your feet! 

Bitterness be gone, in Jesus' name!

"But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hears, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first PURE, then PEACEABLE, GENTLE, open to REASON, full of MERCY and GOOD fruits, IMPARTIAL and SINCERE. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace." -James 3:14-18

Jesus, rid my heart of all bitterness and jealousy.  My flesh is so quick to want to take control.  Help me to surrender control.  There is freedom in surrendering at the cross.  Fill my heart with Your LOVE and JOY!  Jesus, I trust You.

Daily Reminder

What's meant to happen, will happen in God's time! 

Don't rush it. Be patient. Surrender control.

I am in NEED of Jesus

Meditating on this verse:
"He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life." -Titus 3:5-7

We are all so weak, and in desperate need of His mercy! We are all broken, and in need of His grace! We have all sinned and fallen short, but praise Jesus that He did not come to condemn us! BUT even though condemnations are removed, the consequences are not. We all must face the consequences of our sins. It will most likely be hard, and it may not be pretty, but only God can create something beautiful from ashes! We must allow the Lord to come in clean out the places of sin in our hearts, so that we can be filled with the Holy Spirit. He so desperately wants to bless us out of the mess we are in, so that His name can be glorified! 

Overwhelmed by Your Faithfulness

Jesus, Your faithfulness never ceases to amaze me! Here lately, my life has been a whirlwind of emotions. Many times, I have doubted Your presence, not being able to feel You in the midst of it all. But the Holy Spirit kept reminding me of the promise found in Joshua 1:5 "I will not leave you or forsake you." The Lord promises never to abandon us. Even when we feel like no one else understands the pain and hurt we are going through, there is One person who does. Jesus. (Isaiah 53)

A couple of nights ago, I broke out into tears because I just felt so alone in this circumstance that the Lord is bringing me through. This has been nearly a month long journey, and I thought I had run out of tears about it, but I fell guilty to the Author of Doubt once again. I allowed Satan to make me question the Lord's presence and control over this situation. My cry that night was that that Lord would reveal Himself to me in a mighty way because I was just not feeling His presence. He gently reminded me: "I am in control. Trust me." I could literally feel a spiritual warfare going on inside of me because every fiber of my fleshly being wanted to take complete control of the situation. I wanted to take matters into my own hands. This situation has caused me a lot of pain, both physically and emotionally, and I just wanted it to end. How selfish of me to think that I could have handled this better than the Almighty One. Again, a gentle whisper: "Patience." 
The very next morning, I received a phone call that I had been earnestly praying for. One of the people who played a large role in the emotional pain I was going through, called me and apologized over and over for all the pain he had caused me. He said that the Lord finally opened his eyes to everything that was going on. In tears, he told me that he is taking full ownership for his action and has no one to blame but himself. He explained that he has a lot of surrendering to do before the cross, and hopes that one day I will be able to forgive him.

TALK ABOUT AN ANSWERED PRAYER! After I hung up the phone, I was overwhelmed with joy because of the Lord's faithfulness to my prayers! He hears us, even when we feel so alone.

Prior to that phone call, I had lost all trust and respect for him, but the Lord is slowly and tenderly allowing me to gain that back with him. Am I there yet? No. Have I forgiven him? Not completely. But remember the second whisper? Patience. It is going to take a lot of time to gain back trust and respect for him, and the Lord still has a lot of healing to do in my own heart before I can truly forgive and forget. I am confident that the Lord will be faithful to this process, because who am I to keep a record of someone's wrongs? That is not my job, my job is to continue to love him as my brother in Christ, no matter what. That is what I am called to do. Is that an easy task? No. But with the Lord's strength, He will allow me to see him just as He does, and allow me to forgive and forget. Not only must I be patient with the Lord, but I must be patient with myself. I know my flesh is going to want to try and speed up this process, but I have to remember that the Lord is in control, and everything is going to happen according to His will and not my own. I must trust that the Lord knows exactly what He is doing, and He will continue to be faithful. Jesus, thank you so much for revealing Yourself to me in a mighty way. I love you.


The road to forgiveness begins, and I'm confident the Lord will reveal His faithfulness in this journey.