Tag: Jesus

Being Vulnerable.

adatmarie1 Comment

To give in to God, is to willingly let yourself be loved. I have a feeling that’s why most of us take so long to come to Him. The fear of being completely known. Exposed and unfiltered. Nothing hidden.

The truth of the matter is, most of my generation, having been long desensitized by popular social norms growing up, the myriad of wrong influences from television and other forms of impressions… we don’t KNOW what Love IS, actually. We have the superfluous and incredibly dangerous translation of what it is.

Well let me speak for myself from this point onward. Maybe after I’m done you’ll be able to take a closer look at your personal definition as well.

To be honest though, this post will be more of a journal entry than anything else you may have categorized and come to expect based on my previous posts.

🔹🔹🔹

Over the last few years and the last year in particular, Abba has been stripping back the covers of my life and removing the scales from my eyes. Showing me what IS and what isn’t of what I thought was. He has been graciously teaching me through His Word in the Gospels and real life experiences, what True Love is. What it looks like, how it feels and what He intended it to be. He has also taken the opportunity to set standards and boundaries for me personally so I know what I should and shouldn’t accept from the people in my life.

But what I’ve found as a blaring truth through the whole thing, was how scared I am to be truly loved. I take every opportunity to run away or push others away. This stems from past hurts of course, yea. But what Abba also revealed to me, was that the genesis of my aversion to affection truly stems from childhood issues of inadequacy. So if I feel I’m ultimately going to fail, or that you obviously have cognitive mis-calibrations in actually considering anything with me, I give us both a break and help YOU dodge the inevitable proverbial bullet!

Imagine the shock of that revelation. Thank GOD that He is gracious and patient with us even in His revealing.

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Being loved by my Heavenly Father has no doubt been one of, if not THEE scariest things He’s walked me through thus far. I can honestly say though, it’s been the most rewarding.

To know that despite my personal flaws (they be many many…), and despite my unwillingness to let Him in, in that way, He STILL pursues me, EVERYDAY.

Now, He has taught me self worth & self love; that neither of them are selfish but actually the opposite. They show honour and actually glorify Him in that I now treasure my self, in that I AM His earthly temple! He’s taught me what to expect and what not to take. How to handle uncomfortable situations and how to respectfully maneuver life. ALL things a loving Father teachers His Daughter.

I’m grateful for His courage in me to tell Him “yes” daily. It is not always easy, but ALWAYS worth it.

Thank You Abba-Daddy.

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Coming to God

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I sat up as The Lord began speaking to me. He commands my attention with yet just a whisper and a firm peacefulness that the world can never hope to give.

“Speak with confidence, as you know I will Hear you and I will Answer you. You are my Favoured Child. Once you come to Me and align yourself with My Will, there is nothing I won’t Do for you. So Come.” – Abba

As Abba had finished speaking to me,  He reminded me of a verse from Hebrews.

16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” – Hebrews 4 v 16 (ESV)

Let me point out, that while I have read The Book of Hebrews, I have the memory of a ladybug (I like ladybugs, they are entrancing).  So it stood out to me right away, the fact that the scripture,  after I went looking, used the same strong language in the form of the word “confidence”. Another translation uses the word “boldly”.

16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (KJV)

While still strong language, it doesn’t exactly convey the same meaning. One can be bold yet not confident in what they are doing or asking. Confidence by virtue of definition, begets Trust. Trust is developed over time, often through constant and reliable interaction whether in person or otherwise. A bond is formed. You KNOW you can Depend on the one whom you have placed your Trust in. The one whom you’ve developed Confidence in.

I have been seeking, believing, and praying, and waiting on God. What I realize now though is that i haven’t been Trusting. My confidence in Who He is has been waning. Simply because I’ve been so focused on the how’s and what’s and what if’s of what I’ve been asking Him to do. Never mind that God is the one that put the desire for these things in my spirit in the first place, and that He gave me the very words to pray. Even with all that, and being as aligned as a row of match sticks jammed in a tiny box,  I still had No CONFIDENCE!

How do I know God put these desires in my heart and spirit? Simple, they scare the crap out of me and they are things I never… ever dreamed of for myself nor even thought them to be remotely possible. So maybe I secretly don’t want them to happen and since God knows the hearts of men, He’s withholding until I’m fully aligned? The thing is though, God doesn’t have to work too hard once He’s gotten our attention. So if He’s already brought me over to His side and shown and revealed unsearchable things,  convinced me that He has a plan and a future for me and transformed and renewed my mind by making me into a new creation, I’m basically 80-95% aligned with His will by default. The other 3% is my submission and the remaining 2% that often goes un-calculated or forgotten, is our Confidence that God can actually DO this NEW thing that He has told us He wants to do AND has even already started doing! Half the time I miss the fact that He’s already started the new thing, until the new thing is just about in my face or it probably flew right over my head and I’m just chasing after it trying to catch up.

This walk with God requires us to walk WITH Him. So He will take measures to keep us in stride with Him. This is where boosting confidence comes in. I had been really waning on this point. You Pray, Believe, Hope, Wait, Pray some more, Doubt because nothing seems to be happening, and then confidence slips away. Well meaning family members start to question your judgement and confidence slips a little further down the lane. Rejection letters start coming in or no correspondence at all, which, to the world is also a rejection by default and confidence is now at an all time low, cant get any lower right? Then you start worrying, savings is now depleted, family is definitely looking at you sideways now and therefore “encouraging” you to consider other options. Whether these persons are also on this Faith Walk with Christ or not is another matter entirely and you’re purely just trying to stay afloat and not drown.

Then, in between your inward and silent sobbing, a still small whisper reminds you,

1 The Lord who created you says,
“Do not be afraid—I will save you.
I have called you by name—you are mine.
2 When you pass through deep waters, I will be with you;
your troubles will not overwhelm you.
When you pass through fire, you will not be burned;
the hard trials that come will not hurt you.
3 For I am the Lord your God,
the Holy God of Israel, who saves you.”             Isaiah 43 (GNT)
The Lord reminds you, that you have been specifically Graced for your particular journey and that He is Always With you. The peace that surpasses all understanding returns and you remember to smile.  God’s Got You.
This is Trust. This is reliability. This is Confidence budding in all its nodular glory. Because it has to start from somewhere. It has to grow from somewhere. It has to be rooted in the one thing, the one person that will never fail. GOD.
During and after each trying situation, He maintains His presence with us whether we feel Him near or not. He never leaves us. That dependable knowledge that God IS going to show up and help us through, builds confidence.
However when we get so enthralled with what we see or don’t see, what we hear from others and what we think things should look like by now, we forget that God is still the God of Excellence and Right Timing. (Isaiah 60 v 22)
He takes precision and care to ensure that EVERYTHING works together for the good of not just ourselves, or our personal situation but for ALL that Love Him. (Romans 8 v 28) Our situations affect those of others, just as much as theirs affects ours. And if things haven’t changed yet, that means God is STILL perfecting. He doesn’t do things half way and He is not partial to one of His children over the other. He is the epitome of Neutral. Waiting and testing the heart of all that they may yet turn and come to Him. (Jeremiah 17 v 10)
Soooo, if things haven’t changed yet, re-boost your confidence. Remind yourself, not just who or whose you are, but remind yourself of Who God IS.
He is…
.Just
.Patient
.Kind
.Loving
.Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent.
He is our Counselor and our Comforter. And He will always hold our hand, every step of the way on this journey of walking in our Calling.
Be Blessed. Hang in there. Breakthrough is coming.
Remember leave your prayer requests below!

God has a standard for us.

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This morning I woke and read Exodus 17. Exodus has been a “peculiar” book to me for a long time. pretty much because I watched “The Prince of Egypt” movie ….over and over again (I love the soundtrack) and figured, “hey I know it… why read it…again?” Forgive me Father for my ignorant soul has sinned against You and You alone.

How often does that happen to you though? You’ve watched something or heard something or been through an experience before so you think… “why rehash what’s already been covered?” Well the answer is, because God is constantly rehashing, and not for His sake either. He does it for us. God is constantly replaying scenarios and working out the best outcome for us. But we’re sitting in the corner pew down the road across the street thinking “been there, done that!” The reason He rehashes is not to show us our folly… but to show us our folly. (Hear me out)

GOD does Not condemn…He teaches. Being the daughter of two teachers and ultimately having a childhood surrounded by a myriad of different teachers, all with their own unique style of getting across to their students, one tends to pick up a few things. 

Remember now, God is our ultimate forgiver. He loves us and put His only begotten Son…Him ONE bwoy pickney! (oh yea…I’m Jamaican lol) on the cross at Calvary to prove just how much He loves us. He is showing us He would do anything to relate to us and to have us come back to Him, never to be separated again. (John 3 v 16, on second thought, read the whole chapter) Right! So when God rehashes or brings us back to our folly, it is not to condemn us, but to Teach Us. How else would we know where we went wrong unless He shows us. This may look like Him stripping some things back, allowing precarious predicaments to occur or even creating mirrored walls all around us called solitude. All to get our attention and to have us refocus on Him. All in the name of realignment.

The human experience. for the most part, now a days is a deeply selfish one. One that promotes “Self Made” agendas and a predominantly self driven focus with a dash of “victim” mindset for additional quirks. To break us away from that and to show us ourselves, Our Abba-Father has to remove the distractions. That is, anything that would take away our attention from HIM and the lesson He is trying to teach or reteach us for that matter. We were distracted in the first place with the wrong mindset, hence the need to bring us back around for another go.

To teach effectively one has to have intimate knowledge of 3 things:

  1. The student
    • “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” – Jeremiah 1 v 5
  2. The “problem”
    • “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”- Romans 3 v 23
  3. The Desired Outcome or Solution.
    • “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” – Romans 3 v 24
    • “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” –  Jeremiah 29 v 11

Who else but GOD, our Abba-Father is wise enough to have such intimate knowledge of every aspect of us and our lives? So who else could we possibly trust to straighten us out, not by condemning us, but by lovingly guiding us. Be it a firm reprimanding (and uncomfortable situation) or a gentle leading. It can be very daunting, yes, to consider that The Creator of the universe is there watching our every move. I personally find it extremely comforting. His desire is not to judge nor ridicule nor condemn, but to guide, love and protect.

To fix a problem we must be made to face and appropriately address the problem. We can’t do that if we’re going around ignoring that we have said problem. This is where He comes in and encourages (at first),  or forces us, if we’re stubborn, to address our folly. Be mindful that as a teacher He has to be unbiased. Yet as our Heavenly Father He is nurturing and kind. We get the best of both worlds!

9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! – Matthew 7 v 9-11

So if you have recently found yourself in the same cycle of procrastination, for example, and not following His cue to do that task that you know you need to get done, take the hint and do that task. Otherwise you might find yourself in a downward spiral of delays that could have been avoided. (Take it from me, not fun.)

While God IS a miracle worker, He is The God of Standards. The standard of Excellence. The standard of Obedience and Rightful Authority. The standard of Humility, Honesty and Integrity. He will not sit by and allow us to constantly feed our bad habits by bailing us out every time. This does not mean that when we call on Him in our failure or down moments, He won’t answer. He will ALWAYS answer us when we call on Him. It just means that when we do call on Him, He is going to uphold us to those standards He has set. If we don’t measure up, He will pause our situation just long enough to teach us, show us our folly and remind us of what we, as His children, are called to live up to. So that we can get back into alignment with Him and His Standards.

Is this uncomfortable? Yes. Is it painful? Sometimes. Will you live through it? Of course! Just because a situation is uncomfortable doesn’t mean it’s not God. Sometimes growth is uncomfortable. It is a necessary discomfort.

We only grow when we learn. We only learn when the effort to understand and do better is made. THAT, is what He will help you with. When we openly seek Him out, admit our downfalls, our wrong-doings known and unknown, and repent of those things, THEN we get His attention in a way like never before. His ear is turned specially to us in that moment. Our desire to understand, to know more about Him, turns His heart to us and our situation. We should always strive to live in this posture so that we can be acceptable in His sight. By mirroring His attributes of Excellence to the world around us, the world can get a taste of The One True God that we are so blessed to call Abba. This sincere heart posture, gets God’s attention. The desire for wisdom.

King Solomon could have asked God for any thing in the world, yet he asked The Lord for wisdom and The Lord gave that to him in abundance. However God was not blind to Solomon’s behavior and perpetual sin. (Worse He has wisdom now… he should have known better. but that’s a post for another time.)

God loves us regardless of where we are in this life. He is Gracious to us in abundance, even in our cycles of mediocrity and sin. We can’t be helped unless we are shown where we are and we come to a place of acceptance about where we are. He does not condemn us for falling short. Instead He brings us back to where we started to fall and shows us the better path. Hopefully we learn and decide to take His hand and walk WITH Him this time around.

 

Be Blessed!

 

Prayer Requests always welcomed!

Waiting on God?

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Expect Your Miracle By The Clark Sisters

This morning I woke with many songs on my mind. I find that when ever Abba is trying to get me to a certain point of view He will use any way shape or form to do so. He is lovingly relentless when it comes to His children, communing with them and them relating to Him.

So I woke with the above song. I hadn’t heard this song in so long. Yet, He reminded me of a time when I heard it all the while and believed it to my core and my spirit that I would use it to minister to myself. He then also reminded me of a time when after such ministering, He came through. He is trying to tell me something, and I’m stubborn enough to miss it if I’m not careful.

The lyrics are as follows,

I’m looking for a miracle
I expect the impossible
I feel the intangible
I see the invisible
*
The sky is the limit
To what I can have
*
Just believe and receive it
God will perform it
Will perform it today
*
I expect a miracle every day
God will make a way out of no way.

That’s the whole song. As simple as this song is and seems, is as powerful it is as well. When you have The Truth of God which is The Word of God, coupled with such a song as this, amazing things can happen. Breakthroughs you’ve been waiting on, impossible situations turned around, unimaginable manifestations of God’s goodness suddenly come into being.  God knew what He was doing when He inspired the writer and singers of this song. God is ALWAYS intentional. One just has to pay attention and be willing to see His intentionality in their lives.

So I’m waiting on God for some really big things…. really big. People of the world would say “foolish” or even “impossible” things. Thankfully I’ve long seen and accepted that I am not of this world. I’m merely a yielded vessel of The Lord. Willing to be used for His Glory, passing on through, until His coming.

During my morning reading and meditation The Lord lead me to Exodus 14 and revealed a crucial piece to the Puzzle that is the great I AM.

“Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. 3 Pharaoh will think, ‘The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and ALL his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord.” So the Israelites did this.” – Exodus 14 v 1-4, NIV

I’ve highlighted the bits that are the main focus. This is an idea of how I interpret what I’m reading. I dissect and sort through extraneous detail to find and draw out the main points. This is How God made me. Through this fashion He pointed out one blaring fact. HIS GLORY and His alone, is to be seen. His Name, when on the line, His reputation as THE GOD of ALL and His glory must always take precedence. Our job is to Trust Him. No matter what, despite how things seem or look to those around us. We are to TRUST.

Trust
… His Love for us
… His Position as GOD and Lord of ALL
… His Word to us
… His Commitment to upholding His reputation.

We WILL fail God. That is a given, and an inevitable expectation. ( Let’s be honest with ourselves now. )

But God will NEVER fail us. It’s not in His nature.

So take heart.

His answer(s) will more than likely come in ways we don’t expect and so we think He has forsaken or worse, forgotten His word to us. But He hasn’t. He is simply being an unfathomable awe-inspiring wonderful God.

We just has to pay attention to catch it.

So I encourage you to wait well with me.  ( I know! it feels like you’ve been waiting forever! ) Just hold on tight to GOD.
He’s not done yet.

 

Prayer requests welcomed below!