Overcoming Insecurity!

   The Why!           For explanation of "The Why" I refer to myself.
    In future blogs it will be all about the One who I allow to set me free from my insecurities! 
Jesus Christ, my Rock my Salvation, my Vine!

For many years I have known that God was instructing and propelling me to write, not for my own gain on any level, but simply because He chose me. I have been very hesitant (ha – insecure!) because I was so inhibited by my own need for validation or approval from people. One day not long ago in prayer, it finally dawned on me that people are not calling me. God is calling me. People are not needing me. God is wanting to flow through me. People are not using me. God is using me. What more validation could I ask for? The usual suspects voice their opinions in my head, telling me - “People will wonder who in the world you think you are.” “People will think... !"… and on and on! Well, there you have it! It is what it is. I am doing that thing which God has asked of me… and let the critics fall where they may! I believe everyone hears these voices when they begin to do something effective for Christ! “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” Philippians 4:13


       Almost daily I pray this prayer because I need to hear His promises spoken through my own
       voice!

 “Lord, You are the author and finisher of my faith.

  In you I live and move and have my being.

Without you is not anything done that is done.

          But I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me!”

This prayer combines parts of a few of my favorite scriptures

and it equips me to do what I must for each day. It covers ALL!

So the “WHY?” is because we must overcome. We must conquer our insecurities, our low self-esteem. No matter how it got there, or what life events have contributed to our fears, we are to be overcomers. By the word of our testimony and the Blood of the Lamb, we are equipped. (Rev. 12:11) If we cannot climb over these little hurdles, how do we expect to bring salvation to others in ALL the fullness of life that God has available? We must be actively walking in joy. No one who is steeping in insecurity or fear of failure is walking in joy! He wants us to walk in freedom! Freely and actively pursuing the blessings of life and the successes that He wants to place in our hands! Our flesh gets really comfortable just sitting on its laurels doing nothing productive, nothing to reach out or help others. We must daily die out to this selfish nature.

He made us to be productive entities who show growth and are fruitful and who multiply! You see… He is the vine and we are the branches. The branch grows the way the vine dictates that it should, unless something outside gets in the way and hinders the process. Let the VINE be in charge and when the briars and brambles try to grow around you and squeeze out the very life blood flowing from the vine, you must prune, and untangle yourself! The only way to untangle yourself from the briars is by the pruning of prayer! Simple prayer is the key to it all! Prayer must work with a willingness to proceed though. If you will just ask God to help you overcome and do that thing which you picture self accomplishing in VICTORY and FULFILLMENT, HE WILL DO IT! He has already equipped you if you are picturing yourself doing something! He expects you to multiply the gifts He has equipped you with. Maybe the gift itself seems so insignificant and weak to you because you do not realize the full extent of all that God wants to do through you! He doesn’t have to reveal the tomorrows of our gifts to us. He alone sees tomorrows! It is today that He is calling you! He equipped you yesterday! He needs your today though. He needs you to be WILLING today to be fruitful!

If you are actively growing and being fruitful, the briars will not have opportunity to entangle you. The “I Can’t” fox is always close by looking for a surprise attack! Be vigilant! Don’t give him opportunity to catch you! Be ye strong in the Lord and in the power of His Might!
        John 15:5 -“I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in Him,
                            the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing!”
Ahhh… In HIM I live and move and have my being! YOU CAN do all things, because CHRIST HIMSELF wants to abide in you and strengthen you to do it!

• Every attempt has been made to keep the content of this blog in its entirety originally written material by Lori Maxwell solely. Great length has been taken to avoid any copyright enfringement.  No direct quotes have been used, other than from the biblical references, without express permission and any which seem to be so are purely coincidental.

Thank you Lord, for inspiring my dear friend, Lori Green to create this graphic and send it to me at just the moment I was feeling the effects of my attack on insecurity! God does all things well and He knows just when we need a push of confirmation!

Long time no see!

Well, it's been awhile since I've been on here. Alot has happened and I have been completely out of my game. I do believe I have finally begun to get back into the game tho! Since I last wrote the wedding has taken place (3 mos ago) and I am just now finding myself after it! What an experience! One day after I am fully recovered I will blog about it, but not right now. I just wanted to get back into blogging today and I have achieved my goal!
I have been thinking alot about "Opened Doors" this past week and thought I would put my thoughts down here before they scatter never to be remembered again!
We tend to get into the habit of thinking that the only opportunities that will come to us have to come through an open door. And that door has to be opened by someone else, or we have to be led to it. I am beginning to think I can open my own doors as long as I am asking for the direction of the Lord! I must be willing to do some footwork and allow God's directing hand to guide me, but it can and will be done if I exercise patience and perseverence! I hear so many people talk about those who have been given opportunities through their parents and through kin or people they know. We never stop to think, that yes maybe there are those who have been given great opportunity, but maybe their door was opened too soon because of that golden opportunity!
If God is leading your heart to feel a longing toward certain vocations or careers, or directions, then He alone is the very best OPEN DOOR you could ever ask for. If He is not opening it yet, then it is not your time. Wait for it! ha.. even after all this time ... still stuck on "waiting"! All good things come to those who wait! I still believe that. I don't believe that the opportunities I could have been given were I born to a different family, or had I followed other dreams earlier in life, would have been any better than the opportunities the Lord is leading me toward right now. Time will come that the doors He has opened for me, will be the greatest blessings I could have ever hoped or dreamed of. I am tired of "if only's" stopping people from realizing their hearts dream. If it is a dream born of God then it is a dream that He will open the door to! Just WAIT for it! amen and amen!

Expecting...

Expecting…

Today as in long ago we wait for the Lord. We await His direction. We await His healing, we await miracles, we await His Soon Return. We wait for Him. Sometimes it seems as though He will never show up. What we often forget in times of waiting is that God is already right there on the scene. We just have to trust.
They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Teach me Lord, teach me Lord, to wait.
Whenever we are asked to wait we often have an ungodly response. These are the days of speed dial, microwave, texting all giving us immediate gratification. Therefore when God causes us to wait, we become impatient, full of strife, bitter and disobedient. We must not categorize the workings of God into the world of speed which we now live. If we try to do so, He will not fit, and our mind will become disillusioned to the supernatural power and will of God. Waiting on the Lord is an act of obedience. God commands us to wait upon Him. Contrary to popular opinion, waiting is not an act of irresponsibility. It is meeting a requirement of the Word of God. To wait patiently upon God requires us to have a trusting heart and patience in the works of His hands. He does not work on our time frame, nor will He be manipulated into releasing a blessing unto us sooner than He is ready to give. He will not bend or bow to our will or circumstances. He works in His timing and in His readiness. To wait upon Him faithfully requires confident humility. The time of waiting when we feel He is not working fast enough can be brutal if we spend it in bitter frustration. We are living in the moments of fear and loss, feeling the pain of eminent destruction and until we yield to His hand and accept His will and let Him be in control we will never experience that peace which passeth all understanding which He so readily gives in our times of struggle. There are no loopholes or shortcuts in the waiting on God times! We must do it obediently as He requires keeping all diligence and faith in Him, keeping our inextinguishable fire of hope alive and burning… no matter what the situation looks like to our mortal eye. Do not lose hope, wait upon Him… He will show up! And He will be all that He as promised... Just as He was the Promised Messiah.. He will be whatever is promised to you!

The All Seeing, All Knowing Eye of God

As soon as I awoke this morning I heard Dan praying in the other room.
In a little bit he came in with an opened Bible and gave me this scripture to read.
Matthew 7: 7-11
“Ask and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone, or if he ask a fish will he give him a serpent. If ye then being evil know how to give good things unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?”

(This was very encouraging to Dan especially this morning because he has been doing a job he hates for another man who is starting his own business, simply because that is all that has opened up.)

Then on the way to work while meditating on that scripture God gave me a vision/revelation.
He took me up to a high mountain and showed me where we would end up, and then told me to look at the pathway down the mountain below me.
Below me in the form of stepping stones going up the side of the mountain were all the gifts, sacrifices, secret donations and offerings we had given going from many years back, of which I was accused yesterday of not having “shown up” to give. The sizes of the gifts were in direct proportion to my sacrifice, not necessarily in proportion to the tangible value of the gift !
The Lord spoke to me while holding my hand and said, “ Sometimes humanity puts himself in a position as your judge and he forgets that he should be your encourager instead of your judge. He only sees what the human eye can see and forgets he is not your all knowing God! Don’t hold it against him. He is frail and human. On the other hand I have seen your labors of love, and I am not man that looks upon you to judge you; I do not look for your face, I look directly to your heart! I am the all seeing, all knowing eye. I am the rewarder and man cannot see what I have seen. Because you have not judged another and have submitted yourself to this journey, I will exalt you to this high place in due season, and people will know, this was my plan all along. Remain steadfast, and I will make sure every sacrifice becomes another stepping stone for you and yours to reach this pinnacle I have created for you to reside at. Those who have falsely judged you will stand in awe of MY Glory, and will be astounded at the works of MY hands. I do have a plan, and it is being fulfilled! The Promise I gave you will be realized for I am not man that I can lie.”
I am so glad I laid a few stepping stones along the way! Remember every kindness you show toward another may just be your pathway out of a long and lonely road, so make every gift/ sacrifice/kindness count!
I don’t have a clue where God is taking us, but I do trust him completely. He has shown us in so many ways He has his hand upon us. He is taking us through this journey. It is not “of the devil”, nor is it of man”, It is a place that He is leading us into. When it is a “GOD” thing, I have learned from past experience, attacks will come on every angle because the enemy will try to stop God’s handiwork.
But God will make a way of escape for every attack! Every judgement he will counteract! He will send encouragement in ways you cannot imagine. Almost daily the last two weeks we have had people contact us saying that they were overwhelmingly gripped by a spirit of prayer for us and that they prayed things in the spirit that they had no control over! That is God in His most AWESOMENESS! We have had many people give us the same exact scripture to stand on! (Hebrews 10: 35-37 )
This is definitely God’s promise to us because it is the exact scripture Bro. Hollie has told us to stand on.
So if you are going through a struggle, and feel like there is no end, just allow God to take you up to the mountain and show you some things. Submit to the journey. Release the anger, and frustration, and bitterness, and be willing to take the journey. God is the all seeing, all knowing eye.
Expect the following:
• You will be tempted to hide from everyone.
• You will feel like no one understands or even cares about your demise.
• You will feel like some are celebrating in your struggle.
• You will notice attacks coming from unsuspecting places.
• Your mind will play tricks on you.
• You will feel abandoned by those who should be rallying around you.
• You will not necessarily receive encouragement from those you have been the most supportive of.
• You will feel let down, overlooked, underappreciated and even completely unloved.


Strengthen your faith by the following:
• Don’t quit the fight. No matter what! Just DON”T QUIT!
• Remind yourself that it’s a day by day struggle! At your lowest points there is only one way - Up!
• Be open to encouragement. Whether it is intelligent encouragement or not!
• Be gracious to everyone! Other people really do hurt to see your hurt.
• Don’t throw away love from anyone!
• Be more faithful than ever to encourage others.
• If possible don’t allow anything to keep you from the House of God. It is your filling station! If you cannot come to church due to illness, listen to CD’s, Internet, any preaching you can find.
• Give your tithe, and don’t forget your offerings.
• Enter into your prayer closet daily!
• Sleep with your Bible!
• Find someone you can vent to that is not in your immediate family! They are in the battle too!
• A friend who is wise and a prayer warrior!
• Don’t buy into the pity party! It is a waste of time and energy!
• Eat chocolate!
• Sing Songs, listen to uplifting music!
• Surround yourself with reminders of God’s goodness.
• Give , give, give! Send cards of encouragement to others, Reach out past yourself!
• Keep your eyes on Jesus!
• Put the song “STAND” by Donnie McClurkin on your Ipod! Or buy the CD The Essential Donnie McClurkin
• STAND!

Immanuel - "God With Us!"

We walk through our daily lives seldom mindful of the One who walks beside us! In the struggle and stress of the daily grind we do not even realize that He is as close to us as the mention of His name! And we only call upon Him when in a crisis! If we could just break down that wall of forgetfulness and realize and know that He is walking right along beside us. Everywhere we go, He is there. He is our “very present help!” Our constant friend and companion ever watching out for our good! There are days we wake up and just expect everything to go wrong simply because we feel bad or didn’t get enough sleep, and generally we were right! But if we could wake up with the thought every morning that… “He is here with me... it’s going to be ok!” we would experience much better days! He has promised us through His Word, and said it so many different ways… yet still we forget! Still we feel alone. That was not His intent when He created man! He wanted to walk with His creation! It is only man that learned how to hide! God is not hidden from us! He said “I will walk among you and be your God” Leviticus 26:12


Hebrews 13: 5
I will never leave thee

Joshua 1:5 as I was with Moses, so will I be with thee;
I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee

Deut 20:1
The Lord thy God is with thee

Deut 31: 6,8
For the Lord thy God, He it is that doth go with thee

Matt 1:23
Immanuel…God with us!

God's Promises NEVER Fail!

In the middle of your darkest storm do not forget that God has given you very specific promises!
He will never leave you nor forsake you even in your loneliness.
He will not put more on you than you can bear even when you’re under the load.
He will be your comforter even in the discomfort.
He will be your provider even in the times of poverty.
He will be your healer even in the sickness.
He will give you mercy, even in your unworthiness.
He will be your light in the middle of your darkness.
He will be your strength in your weakness.
He will walk beside you, and in front of you, and on each side, and behind -
and carry you all at the same time.
He will give you peace that surpasses what your mind can understand!
He will not let you be utterly destroyed even in the midst of destruction!

Without the promises of God, faith has no leg to stand on, but when He has once promised to be your all in all, you can walk in faith and not by sight! You just stand on the Promises of God even though the howling winds of fear assail! By the Living Word OF God You Shall Prevail! Standing on the Promises of GOD!