Monthly Archives: August 2014

His Power Made Perfect In Weakness

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“And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2Corinthians 12:9)

I was so encouraged by a conversation that I had today with a dear friend who God has recently brought into my life.  We discovered that we both share something in common – we’ve both been diagnosed with serious mental illness and have experienced many similar symptoms.  As we encouraged one another on the phone today we both shared our desire to not over sleep and to be able to just get out of bed and face the day.  It may seem like a simple enough task, but to someone that has struggled with the effects of mental illness it can seem like moving a mountain to get out of bed. Therefore it takes faith because without it mountains cannot be moved – it’s physically impossible! So as we were speaking I was blessed with a wonderful idea to write us a love letter from God that we would read everyday upon waking up to encourage us to get out of bed despite how we may feel.

I’ve decided to post and share the letter in case there is anyone reading this who can relate.  Please feel free to copy it and use it for yourself or even to give it to someone who you may know that is struggling.

Good Day My Beautiful & Precious Daughter,

I hope that this will be the first thing that you read every day upon waking up, not because I desire a religious commitment from you, but so that you can be reminded of how precious and valuable you are to Me. It is My will to be your help and to grant you the desires of your heart as you delight in Me. As you open your eyes and prepare to face the day I would like to encourage you despite how you may be feeling today. Remember that your faith is not based on your feelings and that your feelings may not always be representative of the truth. The truth is that no matter what you may feel right now I have chosen to give you the precious gift of life today. Every breath you take on this earth is a precious gift from me to you my beautiful daughter and the fact that you are breathing means that I have a purpose and a plan for your life that is filled with hope. Know that while you may feel absolutely powerless over the ability to get out of bed, I am your strength and my power is made perfect in weakness. Depend on Me and know that through Me you can do all things. Know that I am with you every step of the way. I will always love you no matter what. Even if you stumble or fall, I am here waiting for you to run back into My arms so that we could walk again and if need be I will carry you. I don’t want you to feel ashamed or to condemn yourself if you fail. Come to me and even in your mistakes I will be glorified. I don’t expect you to be perfect, I just desire your trust in Me, your perfect Saviour whose blood covers your iniquity. Hebrews 9:14 says, “how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to the living God?”

Today is a new day and behold in Me all things are new, including My mercies. This is the day that I have made, be glad and rejoice in it my daughter. As you prepare yourself to face the day I want you to know that I love you and accept you and approve of you as you are. I am your God and I am with you. Do not fear what the day may bring because I am your strength and your refuge. Lean on me and I will be your help, walk in the Spirit by faith and overcome the flesh.  

You can do this! Believe in Me…

Here is some Scripture to meditate on:

Psalm 90:12  

So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Ephesians 5:15-17

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Psalm 90:14

Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all of our days!

 

I love you My precious daughter…

With all of My love, from your Heavenly Father ❤

 

How thankful I am for having met such a wonderful friend.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 says,

The Value of a Friend

 Two are better than one,
Because they have a good reward for their labor.
 For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls,
For he has no one to help him up.
Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm;
But how can one be warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him.
And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

 

I’m Dreaming Again… of Unconditional Love!

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“This is my command: Love each other.” ~Jesus Christ (John 15:17)

Have you ever felt so incapacitated when it comes to love, especially the ability to truly love others? …without expecting anything in return?  Have you ever felt sick and tired of being sick and tired? …being stuck in a vicious cycle?  Well if your answer is Yes, then know that I feel you! I can certainly understand what it feels like to feel incapacitated and to be sick and tired of allowing that to rob me of pursing my God-given dreams. One of the dreams I had before I even entered into a relationship with Jesus was to be able to experience true unconditional love and then to express that love to others.  Interestingly enough the two greatest commandments are to first love God and second love others.  Tonight God gave me a bit of a reality check in the sense that I’ve realized that I can be a selfish person at times.  Most of the time I’m consumed with “me”.   Consumed with what’s going on in my life, what going to go on in my future, what I look like, how I’m feeling, how I’m growing and maturing in my faith, how I can keep myself busy so that God-forbid I don’t risk being/feeling alone, blah, blah, blah, me, me, me…  I’m not saying that it’s wrong to think or reflect on oneself but even in that it should be done do the glory of God.  I’m realizing that I’m way to consumed with myself.  Please excuse me if I come off as being hard on myself it’s just that I’m writing from that place of “sick and tired”.  I want change, I need change.  I want to stop caring so much about myself and what others think of me and start thinking more and caring more about others.  The good news is that I’m at a place in my life now where I can finally be free to live out my dream.  Not only have I been introduced to true unconditional love, but now as a grateful believer in Jesus Christ I have God’s Holy Spirit living on the inside of me which empowers me to not only love God, but to love others as well.  God has loved me so much that he sent Jesus to die for me and now through the awareness of that love, I’m willing to die to my selfish ways so that I could love God first and then others for His glory.  It is His love in me that enables me to express it to others, it is not of my own power or ability.   I’m excited to step outside of myself and allow God to use me to share His love with others and to share the reason for my hope.  I’ve already started looking at volunteer opportunities in my area.  I’d love to actually go on a missions trip at some point in the future when the timing is right, but for now I want to start right here where God has placed me, serving in my everyday life.

If you have a desire to love and help others, but you just haven’t reached out yet, maybe out of fear or insecurities or even selfishness then I encourage you to take the focus off of yourself and to place it on God.  Look upward and not inward.  Step outside of yourself and ask the God of the universe to show you His love and then to show you how to love like He’s loved you.  Don’t sell yourself short of the life that God has planned for you and don’t give up on your dreams.

 

My prayer tonight is taken from the song lyrics of Hosanna:

Dear Lord, I come before you and confess my selfishness and pray for your forgiveness and mercy.  I thank you in faith and ask that You would change me Lord for your glory.  I pray that you would show me where and how I can love and serve others and that Your will be done.  I also ask the following prayer in the name of Jesus:

Heal my heart and make it clean

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart for what breaks yours

Everything I am for Your kingdom’s cause

As I walk from earth into eternity

Amen ❤

I’ve included an awesome remix to Hosanna! Hope you enjoy…

I Give Myself Away… for Glory!

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“We are the women who make our lives about the cause of Christ, not the applause of men, live to express the Gospel, not to impress the Jones’, live not to make our absence felt, but to make Christ’s presence known.  We are the women who know it’s not about us and all about Glory.” ~Ann Voskamp (The Song For All The Women)~

God is very much present and active in our relationship with Him.  I’m in complete awe at His mighty works.  I had a brush with the fear of death tonight.  For a long minute, this fear came over me that God was going to take my life because maybe He no longer has a purpose for me being here any longer.  Honestly my first thought was a selfish one – will “I” be missed?  I couldn’t quite understand why this fear suddenly came over me, but after some prayer, I opened my book (Love Idol by Jennifer Dukes Lee) and God answered through the quote above written by Ann Voskamp.  When I read the words “live not to make our absence felt, but to make Christ’s presence known.  We are the women who know it’s not about us and all about Glory.”, it all made sense.  God revealed His truth to me in a real way that I could understand.  We are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God.  Romans 12:1 says, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God…”  1Cor6:19-20 says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Once again, God is teaching me that it’s not about me, my very life is not about me but about Glory – His Glory ❤

Matthew 10:39 says, “He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”

When I read that quote earlier my first thought was in the form of a dream – a dream to be the woman this quote speaks of.  To die to me, myself, and I and live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.

My prayer tonight:

Dear God, thank You dearly for this revelation and for teaching me that truly Jesus You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  Please forgive me for my selfish response to the fear of death and thank you for showing me that I need not to hold on to my own life but instead to turn it over to you and hold on to You for life.  Lord I offer myself to you as a living sacrifice and I ask that You would grant the desire of my heart to walk in Your freedom.  Lord thank You that Your perfect love casts out fear.  Father for every day, hour, minute, second that you bless me with life I pray that You would be glorified.  I pray that fully knowing that I am not perfect but that even when I stumble or fall, in my failures and mistakes that even in that Lord You will be glorified.  Help me to live every second free from fear and regret and enjoy the abundant life that You have intended for me.  I pray that You will bless me with a teachable spirit so that I can continue to learn and grow in You.  I love You Jesus & I thank You for fulfilling Your Word & Your promises. In the precious name of Jesus I pray. Amen ❤

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ld1cXry5nyM

Overcoming Depression With A Good Word!

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Overcoming depression with a good word!… what does that even mean?  Let me share that I just made a conscious choice right now not to wallow in my feelings of loneliness and sadness but instead to acknowledge that they are there and they are valid, but they do not rule me.  I have a choice to allow myself to give into these feelings and head down a path of  negative thinking which will only cause anxiety about my current situation which really isn’t bad or anxiety about the future.  My choice is to look upward and not inward; to step outside of myself and entrust what I’m feeling to my Saviour.  As I turned to God for sweet comfort and relief, I came across a Scripture which inspired me from the book of Proverbs chapter 12 verse 25.  It reads: “Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.” God is so faithful, He never fails to provide what we need just when we need it!  So I’ve decided to turn to His Word, His truth to bring me (and you) comfort and relief while weathering these stormy waves of loneliness and sadness.  The first Scripture that comes to mind is Psalm 46:10 which says: “Be still, and know that I am God.”  We’re actually applying this Scripture right now by turning ourselves and our feelings over to the care and trust of God knowing that He can comfort and bring relief and that we can find gladness for our hearts in His Word.  I find it most helpful to address specifically what we’re feeling with Scripture that speaks truth to counter the lies that our feelings may lead us to believe.  For example, I’m feeling lonely right now but does that mean that I’m alone? No, so I will read and meditate upon a Scripture which speaks truth into my being. In Isaiah 41:10 God says:

“Fear not, for I am with you;
Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you,
Yes, I will help you,
I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

I also know that I never have to worry about being alone because as a born again believer in Jesus Christ, He has promised to never leave me nor forsake me.  “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

Finally there’s one more Scripture I’d like to meditate on and that’s from Jeremiah 29:11:

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” 

That is one of my favorite Scriptures because it offers so much hope about a future that is unknown to us but known to God.  During these emotional times we have a choice to let our feelings rule us and lead us into anxiety and depression or turn to a loving God who is in control and knows every detail that lies ahead.  I choose to trust! I trust that as I choose to trust God I will be blessed – maybe not necessarily with what I want when I want it, but definitely with what I need when I need it.  He knows my needs better than I do  and He is a faithful provider.

I’d like to pray tonight for anyone that may have an anxious heart…

Dear Lord,

Thank you for Your mercy and love for us.  You truly are compassionate and you care enough about your children to want to carry our burdens and give us rest.  Lord I pray for all the anxious hearts tonight. Father please gives us the rest and peace that only You can provide as we surrender ourselves, our feelings and our emotions completely to You.  Please give us the strength Lord to lift up our heads even though we may feel so low and to look upward and not inward so that You may shine Your glory upon us and bring us sweet relief and comfort during this time.  Father I pray for your protection so that we may not be led into the temptation to give into the enemies tactics to use our feelings against us by feeding us lies.  Help us to turn to You through Your word so that we may equip ourselves with Your armour so that we may withstand and share in Your victory.  Father God, thank you! To you be all honour and glory.  In the name of Jesus, Amen. ❤

For those who feel alone who do not know Jesus as your personal Lord & Saviour I pray that you will turn your heart over to Him who will love and rescue you from eternal separation from Him.  He loves you and cherishes you so much that He died for you.  Hear that… Yes you are worth dying for! Romans 10:9-10 clearly says “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” I urge you, don’t wait another minute! Run into the arms of Jesus right now and allow Him into your heart. Ask Him to forgive you of your sins and to give you His gift of eternal life.  You are loved!   

Only God’s Unconditional Love Can Satisfy the Deepest Craving of my Heart

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“As long as I keep running about asking: “Do you love me? Do you really love me?” I give all power to the voices of the world and put myself in bondage because the world is filled with “ifs.”  The world says:  “Yes, I love you if you are good-looking, intelligent, and wealthy.  I love you if you have a good education, a good job, and good connections. I love you if you produce much, sell much, and buy much.” There are endless “ifs” hidden in the world’s love.  These “ifs” enslave me, since it is impossible to respond adequately to all of them.  The world’s love is and always will be conditional.  As long as I keep looking for my true self in the world of conditional love, I will remain “hooked” to the world – trying, failing, and trying again.  It’s a world that fosters addictions because what it offers cannot satisfy the deepest craving of my heart.” ~Henri Nouwen~

I am so thankful for having come across this quote tonight. It both whispered gently and firmly shouted truth into my soul.  This was me for so long – addicted to trying and failing and trying again to satisfy my deepest craving through the world and myself.  I was “hooked”!  I just feel led to pray right now and if this quote speaks truth to your soul then I invite you to join me…

Father,

In the name of Jesus and through the power of Your Holy Spirit I humbly approach your throne of grace and mercy tonight and confess that I have been hooked and addicted to seeking satisfaction for my deepest craving for unconditional love and acceptance from the world and myself which offers merely a false substitute of what only You alone can provide.  I ask for your forgiveness and receive it in faith knowing that Your Word says that You will forgive my sins if I repent and confess.  Lord, I ask that you free me from this bondage as I surrender myself to You.  I ask that You take Your rightful place and be seated in the throne of my heart so that You will forever be my King and that I will worship no other.  I acknowledge that I am completely loved and accepted unconditionally by You and that Your love is more than enough.  Lord, please help me live out this truth daily resting in the assurance that I am completely safe to be the person you created me to be and that  I am free to live a life that isn’t driven by fear but by the power of Your love.  You are awesome God and I thank you for the freedom that You have provided for me through Your Son Jesus.  My heart longs to fall deeply in love with You, to trust You and follow You wholeheartedly all the days of my life and forevermore.

Love Always,

Your precious daughter

Amen ❤

Isaiah 61 reads:

The Year of the Lord‘s Favor

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
    he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
    and the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
to proclaim the year of the Lord‘s favor,
    and the day of vengeance of our God;
    to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion—
    to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness instead of mourning,
    the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit;
that they may be called oaks of righteousness,
    the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.
They shall build up the ancient ruins;
    they shall raise up the former devastations;
they shall repair the ruined cities,
    the devastations of many generations.

Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks;
    foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers;
 but you shall be called the priests of the Lord;
    they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God;
you shall eat the wealth of the nations,
    and in their glory you shall boast.
 Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion;
    instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot;
therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion;
    they shall have everlasting joy.

 For I the Lord love justice;
    I hate robbery and wrong;
I will faithfully give them their recompense,
    and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
Their offspring shall be known among the nations,
    and their descendants in the midst of the peoples;
all who see them shall acknowledge them,
    that they are an offspring the Lord has blessed.

 I will greatly rejoice in the Lord;
    my soul shall exult in my God,
for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation;
    he has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

For as the earth brings forth its sprouts,
    and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up,
so the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise
    to sprout up before all the nations.”

My Greatest Dream: True Love

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WoW! Where do I begin… I could write a book to share this story, but I’ll do my best to keep it short & sweet 🙂

As long as I can remember I’ve always dreamt of finding true love.  I was for most of my life a hopeless romantic looking for love, acceptance and security in all the wrong places.  I hurt myself and others along the way trying hard to get my fill.  On this quest to find true love I thought a man was the answer, my knight in shining armour, my prince, my hero.  When failed relationship after failed relationship and feelings of rejection and abandonment resurfaced over and over I started to look elsewhere.  I needed answers and at the time the world was giving me the wrong one by telling me that the answer was ME… I had to first love myself before I could really find true love or that true love was loving myself?? huh?? So I tried to love and accept myself and provide myself a false sense of security that I so desperately needed.  I failed miserably! Who am I apart from God who is Love Himself to be able in my own strength to provide anything for myself.  I am an imperfect human being created to be loved and cared for by my Creator.  Only I was so lost so far away from the truth, yet He never failed in His pursuit for me.  I was so far gone, so far from Him but I was desperate for His love.  I was lovesick in need of a Saviour and a cure.  In fact I was so lovesick that I became mentally sick. Aside from having suffered with undiagnosed anxiety and depression most of my life, I then developed a mental illness called Psychosis for which I was hospitalized on numerous occasions for having had multiple episodes and relapses for which now the diagnoses is Schizoaffective Disorder.  Unlike most people with this disorder, I am high functioning and by the grace of God doing well and relapse free for almost 3 years.  Undergoing these psychotic episodes was the most terrifying experience of my life.  I literally thought that I had died and gone to hell….but Jesus!  Yes, Jesus came to my rescue!  I cried out to Him and called on the God of this universe and begged Him to rescue me and He did.  He answered and my life has never been the same since.  He was the answer to my greatest dream and my greatest desire to be loved, accepted, and secure.  He is True Love.  True Love found me!  I came across a passage of Scripture today from Psalm 12:5 that reads,

“FOR THE OPPRESSION OF THE POOR, FOR THE SIGHING OF THE NEEDY, NOW I WILL ARISE,” SAYS THE LORD, “I WILL SET HIM IN THE SAFETY FOR WHICH HE YEARNS.”

That’s me! I was the oppressed poor person sighing in need to be rescued – to be loved and secured.  God performed His word and He did rise up and set me in the safety for which I yearned.  You see God is so faithful, even when we aren’t, He is.  It has been 3 years since True Love has found me and I’ve wandered so many times still looking for love in all the wrong places, but He never gives up on me.  He pursues me daily bringing me back to Him – my first love.  I feel like finally now I’m waking up to the reality that it isn’t just a dream anymore – now it’s a dream come true and I am safe and able to fall freely in love with my Saviour, my Hero, my Knight in shining armour, my Prince…

Thank You Jesus… I love You 🙂

Disclaimer: Please know that I’m not discounting the importance of human love and affection. In fact it’s the second greatest commandment which is to love one another.  I’m just acknowledging God as the primary source of love since He is Love itself and we cannot love or be loved without first getting it and giving it through Him.  First and greatest commandment is to love God:)

P.S.  I’ve included a worship song that is dear to my heart and in keeping with the theme of this post. I hope that you enjoy it! If you have already been rescued by our Lord & Saviour Jesus Christ then my prayer is that you will continue to fall in love with Him more deeply and follow Him more closely.  If you happen to be reading this and you haven’t personally called out to Jesus to rescue you then I encourage you to take a leap of faith and call out to Him and He will answer and rescue you. You are loved and accepted! God Bless 🙂

Inspiration

“I wonder how many Kingdom dreams have died at the feet of the enemy, who convinces people that their work might be criticized or rejected.  Fear has a way of carrying God-planted dreams into dark corners, while the Accuser hisses a single, debilitating word: Coward.  Heart thumping, you remember how you’ve failed before.  You remind yourself of false starts.  Fearful of repeated failure, you tame your marvellously delicious dreams.  After a while, you forget that you had those dreams in the first place.  You coax them into submission, until they become slippery mirages.  And then eventually, your dreams slink away, disappearing behind the baseboards of your bedroom wall.  They are nothing anymore.  And no one will ever know the difference.  Because you never told.  And you never tried.” ~Jennifer Dukes Lee (Love Idol)~

 

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