The Great "I Am!"

Jesus Christ, Our All in All!
Anything we need, He said "I Am!"
"I AM YOUR NEED!" It is ALL in HIM!
He is our security, our insurance, our safety!
He is our source of strength, our power, our steroid!
He is our portion, our supply, our resource.
He wants far more for us than we want for ourselves.
He is our biggest fan, cheerleader, coach, and team mate all in one!
He is proud of his creation!
He wants to elevate us!
He desires for us to reach our full potential in Him.
He is constantly cheering us on!
He is always with us!
Always looking out for us!
He is our constant defender, protector, our guard!
All the strength we will ever need is in Him alone!
He is approachable and always on call! Available at the whisper of His name!
We can just think of Him and He swoops in to share a moment with us!
He always hears our cry and attends unto our need!
He is our rescuer, our retriever, our 'always on time' help!
He loves us with a love that never ever EVER ends!
He is our healer!
He is our provision!
He is our road map, our navigator, our guide, our GPS!
He propels us to our highest possible peaks and walks with us through our darkest lowest valleys!
He carries us when we cannot stand! He gives us rest when we are weary!
He is our peace maker and our peace keeper!
He is the beginning and end of our every breath!
He is the first and the last of all our blessings!
He is the joy in all our successes!
He is the all knowing, ever loving, ever present God of our universe!
... How could we not succeed?
We are completely and unequivocally secure in Him! With the God of our universe at the helm of our ship of life, we wont be lost in a sea of sorrow!
He will bring us into all fullness of joy.
We have the assurance that with Him as captain of our vessel, we can do all!
We are going to make it!
I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME!

"Get UP!"

 “I get knocked down… but not for long!”

In the beginning hours of a new day I was awakened out of a fitful sleep with these words spoken with great emphasis; “GET UP!”  Being startled out of my restless dreams, I angrily looked over at my husband with a “How dare you?” glare only to see that He was fast asleep.  In confusion I lay there for a second as my dazed mind quickly came to realize what had just happened.

I “got up!” … and fell on my face before the Lord because in that instant I knew He was speaking to me and that He meant much more than just “Get up!”. I realized why my sleep was so interrupted and had become a restless fitful lesson in futility rather than peaceful rest.  It was time for me to quit stalling and get about His business.  The talents He had equipped me with were not being used as intended and His patience with me was wearing thin. I had become self-serving and unfulfilled. I had taken my talent and hidden it, protecting it from criticism so that it wouldn't be damaged. I was in great danger because of my selfish desire to protect myself.  It was time to be about The Master’s business if I expected to continue to have the privilege of calling Him my master.  He is patient and merciful, ever gracious, and never giving up on us, but at the same time He will not force Himself through our clutter, nor will He shine through us if we hide our light under a bushel. So if you are willing, walk with me as we dig out our talents and God-placed abilities, and begin to use and multiply them to serve His purpose!

God understands our insecurities and even placed them within us to gain strength through the exercise of overcoming.  He allowed for and expected growth when He created us. However, if we are not doing what we know to do, He cannot flow through us with the intended purpose.  Insecurity is the one thing that will completely stop the flow.  Overcoming is the gateway to our success or failure in His purpose for us.  Insecurity will halt all progress.  If there is an area of my life that I am not giving my all, where my full potential is not being realized, most assuredly it is an area where I have allowed my insecurity to reign. 

Feelings of inadequacy have to be actively dealt with.  Insecurity does not just disappear without any effort. We don't just wake one day and the fear which has frozen our activity is gone. We have to take authority over the wilderness in which we are aimlessly wandering. There must be a physical active acknowledgement and resistance to insecurity before it will ever be conquered.  Whether by honing our skills through education, or through exercise of the knowledge already placed within us, we must physically attack our areas of insecurity. Let me encourage you to face your wilderness, acknowledge it by name, and begin to make steps to get past it!  Don't wander 40 years!  There is a promise ahead! Better to enjoy it now, rather than later! If the hardships of life, rejection, or great loss has got you fenced in your wilderness, I will be more than happy to pray with you to find the strength you need to tear those fences down and walk through the gates with assurance into your promised land.

On that morning of literal awakening, God spoke volumes to me about my lazy response to areas of insecurity that He expected me to overcome.  He showed me His disappointment that I had not progressed further.  I was so ashamed that I had allowed the trick of the enemy to completely rob me of my God-given abilities.  It is one thing to write of insecurity, but entirely another matter to deal with my own feelings of inadequacy, especially in the face of adversity! A feeling of inadequacy will quickly develop into a very real inability to grow if never dealt with. My growth had become stunted and thankfully God awakened me from my self-serving unsatisfying slumber.

Without growth it is impossible to live a life pleasing to Christ.  Let me challenge you to recognize your insecurities, attack them with a vengeance, and grow past them to a place of effectiveness for the Kingdom of Christ.  Over the next few weeks I will be sharing tools which have helped me to “GET UP!”

He alone receives the glory, and praise for being merciful to me and compelling me to share my experiences of insecurity with you.  It is in the sharing that I am overcoming, and in my overcoming that He receives Glory.  It is in my writing and sharing that I am growing and learning.  That is why I share.  If I stop out of laziness, or stubbornness, my spiritual growth stops.  It is not for my own self-gratification that I share my failings.  If left up to me, I would never show my weaknesses.  But He is pushing me, pulling me and prodding me and practically YELLING at me to “GET UP!” and get busy with HIS plan for me. He is showing me that I am not the only one fighting this fight.  Everyone who walks on this earth deals with feelings of insecurity. In sharing we find strength in others who are overcomers walking alongside us on this journey!  I hope in my own transparency you find tools to help you accomplish His dream for you.  When His dreams are being realized in us, that is the only place of true contentment. 

My Prayer

“If you can use anything, Lord, use me.  Don’t let the enemy celebrate my demise, as if He is in charge, but let me offer up to YOU ALONE all the glory as I  become  an overcomer by the word of my testimony!  I need you Lord, and I am realizing that in allowing you to flow through me as you choose,  I find you.  I seek you Lord, and I find you in servanthood. I walk with you and receive your direction because I pursue the plan you have laid out for me.  In denying that path, I have allowed the flow of your spirit to become clogged.  Remove the clutter from me oh, Lord, Show me my heart.  Cleanse me from my self-satisfying ways. Wake me, Lord anytime you see fit.  Remind me that it is not what I do that is effective, but it is what YOU do when your spirit is allowed to flow freely through me.  Cleanse me from the sin which does so easily beset me. Thank you for telling me to “Get up!” I did get knocked down, but this is me getting up again!"

I'm Baaaaack !

Just a little teaser coming this week... "I get knocked down... but not for long!"
I know, it's been a little while but I've been very busy keeping the roads hot enjoying my new grandbaby Landry and his fabulous big brother Mason, who I now get to see as often as I want, thanks to God moving them closer to me! I have some great news to share soon and have been working on new material for this blog which I will begin posting again this week!  I am so excited about the doors God is leading me to and giving me the option to walk through!  Please keep me your prayers as I follow His lead.  I only want to be a blessing and a stepping stone for others needing a word of encouragement! I am willing to be an open book for HIS Glory!  Every time I have faced a mountain He has been my strength! Every time I have walked through the valley low, He has been my guide! Along the way there have been times when a word or two of encouragement propelled me on and I want to pay it forward through the talent He has placed within me and trusted me to multiply.    Thank you all for being patient with me... and thank you to those who have been a little impatient too!  You have made me feel wanted and needed!  It's been a great summer, and I am encouraged and strengthened to write another 100 miles or so! Love you all... see you soon!