so here's a little/gigantic truth about god's word: if we declare it and believe it...it WILL happen, because it's POWER.
so i've started doing that lately....i got some great tips from an amazing girl, christa black, about declaring and praying god's word. i've read a TON of the stuff she's written and it continues to change my life. anyway, she gave some suggestions, and now i do this during my prayer time each day. this declaring of god's word that i learned from christa looks a little something like this....god, i declare that my body will line up under my soul....my soul under my spirit. i claim that perfect peace will sanctify me through and through (1 thes. 5:23). i declare that the riches of the storehouse of heaven would open up so wide in heaven that there wouldn't be enough room to hold it all (malachi 3). i delcare that my body of sin has been DONE AWAY WITH (romans 5). i declare that i am a woman of virtue, honor, authority, kindness, prosperity, and peace (prov 31)" and then of course i elaborate on certain things that pertain to each thing i speak over my life.
also, another hard, but refreshing thing to do is look at yourself in the mirror and start declaring freedom from the past, from addictions, from compulsions, and from insecurities. we have to reach into the unseen like our father did to create. his word is that powerful!!!! the earth was formed by the DECLARATION of god's word. he spoke where there was nothing and what we now see was formed, just from what he spoke. we have that same authority!!! because we have his word, so all we have to do is start claiming it and speaking it, and the unseen will begin to be formed.
when you declare that you will not believe the lies satan has told you for so long, and you DECLARE the truth over your life, you start looking like what you're speaking. it's that freaking easy!!! and sooooo COOL!
for me, i've always just begged god to make me the woman he wants me to be, but i never understood until now this truth of declaring his promises over my life. it makes me really happy all day long, just knowing that ALL the promises of the bible are mine and i can just begin claiming them over my life and things will begin to change because HIS words are so powerful. my words....not so powerful....his words.....LIFE-CHANGING!!!!!!! ahhhh...i just want to rest in that....
i want to encourage everyone to just pick out your favorite chapters and verses in the bible...go through them and write down every single promise you see for your life, then claim it.
for example, i started reading jeremiah the other day and just from the first four chapters i found these promises...he promises to tell me where to go, and what to say. he promises that i don't have to be afraid of a soul because he'll always be right there, looking after me. he promises that he has put his words in my mouth, that he's given me a job to do among nations and goverments. he promises that he's making me as impregnable as a castle, immovable as a steel post, solid as a concrete block wall. he promises that although people in the world will try to fight me, they won't even scratch me because he'll back me every inch of the way.
it keeps going....he promises that he is committed in love to me. he declares that he is our true husband and that he will cause us to increase and prosper. he promises to give us choice land that godless nations would die for....that he would bless us so much that those who don't even know him would get caught up in the blessing and see how much he's blessed those that are so in love with him. he promises that if we obey him we will be his people and our lives will go well. WOW!!!! all that from just four chapters. so i pretty much just claim every truth and promise that i read. do it!!! please! you won't regret it. if all that was in just four chapters, just think what the rest of the bible holds for us to claim.....
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
faith's true colors
i am currently, as i type this, discovering the true colors of my faith.
i will be leaving with seven other people from elevation to go to nepal on monday. i'm a little nervous, but more excited than anything. here's the only thing....i still need to pay quite a bit of money before friday.
when i first decided to go on the trip, i sent out support letters and a TON of money came in the very first couple of weeks, and then it stopped. so here i am, just a few days before we leave, and desperate before god, waiting for him to provide. he has already shown himself faithful through two gorgeous friends of mine. i believe that the money they gave me was just a glimpse of the rest that god WILL provide this week. although, i have to say, i wasn't this positive yesterday. i got pretty freaked out for a short season. but then as i was spending time with jesus this morning, he brought me back to a chapter in the bible that has been so faithful to encourage me over the past few years. it was james 1 and i just can't get over the promise of god to take over and provide when i have faith. james 1 just talks about how the trials given to us are a sheer gift and as we are tested, the true colors of our faith are revealed. i want SO MUCH for the colors that are revealed through this to be beautiful to god, my daddy who absolutely loves me!!!!
it feels good to have this kind of faith, because honestly, the past 6 months have been so far from this that i'm living right now. right after christmas, i defintely went through the lowest valley i've ever been through, and it was hard. i wanted to give up. but as i was talking with my beautiful friend katy, i figured out that the reason that valley was so low, was because i had just come off of the highest mountain ever! before that valley god revealed himself so much to me that it was overwhelming! i was just a sponge, soaking up all he had for me while i abided under the faucet of his love. so here i was, FULL of all this new knowledge and wisdom and energy and vision, but when i hit the valley, i FROZE. i couldn't for the life of me put all that god had poured into me, into practice. so i pretty much just hated my life, and wallowed in selfishness for the last 6 months. the strange thing was, i couldn't ever actually put my finger on what it was that made my life so horrible. i just all of a sudden wasn't happy.
now, i can put my finger on one thing for sure....i had begun to put my eyes on myself and i had taken my mind off of the vision god had given me. back when i was on that mountain, i was so in love with god and expectant of the future he had for me, that i couldn't even go to sleep most nights. but when i quit dreaming, and serving, i was miserable.
all that to say this.....i'm back on the mountain! i don't have a clue how it happened, but because of that valley, although i'm going to thoroughly enjoy my time onthe mountain, i'm going to be so prepared for the next valley. i realize that i was tested, and i failed. not that i regret the past six months because i spent a lot of hours being honest before god, just crying out to him, which is really refreshing. i just know now that to pass the test, for the beautiful colors of my faith to come out, i have to put into practice ALL that he teaches me on the mountain!
so here i am on the mountain, and this is my prayer from james, part of what i'm beginning to claim over my life everyday..."god, i consider it a blessing when challenges come my way...i don't want to get out of anything prematurely because i want to see my faith perfected in you, and i know that takes time. i'm praying BOLDY, BELIEVINGLY, AND WITHOUT SECOND-THOUGHT. i believe that the reward is LIFE and MORE LIFE if i meet these challenges head on, as i fall even more loyally in love with you!"
pray the word....it works! i could go on forever about praying god's word...and i think i will...tomorrow :)
i will be leaving with seven other people from elevation to go to nepal on monday. i'm a little nervous, but more excited than anything. here's the only thing....i still need to pay quite a bit of money before friday.
when i first decided to go on the trip, i sent out support letters and a TON of money came in the very first couple of weeks, and then it stopped. so here i am, just a few days before we leave, and desperate before god, waiting for him to provide. he has already shown himself faithful through two gorgeous friends of mine. i believe that the money they gave me was just a glimpse of the rest that god WILL provide this week. although, i have to say, i wasn't this positive yesterday. i got pretty freaked out for a short season. but then as i was spending time with jesus this morning, he brought me back to a chapter in the bible that has been so faithful to encourage me over the past few years. it was james 1 and i just can't get over the promise of god to take over and provide when i have faith. james 1 just talks about how the trials given to us are a sheer gift and as we are tested, the true colors of our faith are revealed. i want SO MUCH for the colors that are revealed through this to be beautiful to god, my daddy who absolutely loves me!!!!
it feels good to have this kind of faith, because honestly, the past 6 months have been so far from this that i'm living right now. right after christmas, i defintely went through the lowest valley i've ever been through, and it was hard. i wanted to give up. but as i was talking with my beautiful friend katy, i figured out that the reason that valley was so low, was because i had just come off of the highest mountain ever! before that valley god revealed himself so much to me that it was overwhelming! i was just a sponge, soaking up all he had for me while i abided under the faucet of his love. so here i was, FULL of all this new knowledge and wisdom and energy and vision, but when i hit the valley, i FROZE. i couldn't for the life of me put all that god had poured into me, into practice. so i pretty much just hated my life, and wallowed in selfishness for the last 6 months. the strange thing was, i couldn't ever actually put my finger on what it was that made my life so horrible. i just all of a sudden wasn't happy.
now, i can put my finger on one thing for sure....i had begun to put my eyes on myself and i had taken my mind off of the vision god had given me. back when i was on that mountain, i was so in love with god and expectant of the future he had for me, that i couldn't even go to sleep most nights. but when i quit dreaming, and serving, i was miserable.
all that to say this.....i'm back on the mountain! i don't have a clue how it happened, but because of that valley, although i'm going to thoroughly enjoy my time onthe mountain, i'm going to be so prepared for the next valley. i realize that i was tested, and i failed. not that i regret the past six months because i spent a lot of hours being honest before god, just crying out to him, which is really refreshing. i just know now that to pass the test, for the beautiful colors of my faith to come out, i have to put into practice ALL that he teaches me on the mountain!
so here i am on the mountain, and this is my prayer from james, part of what i'm beginning to claim over my life everyday..."god, i consider it a blessing when challenges come my way...i don't want to get out of anything prematurely because i want to see my faith perfected in you, and i know that takes time. i'm praying BOLDY, BELIEVINGLY, AND WITHOUT SECOND-THOUGHT. i believe that the reward is LIFE and MORE LIFE if i meet these challenges head on, as i fall even more loyally in love with you!"
pray the word....it works! i could go on forever about praying god's word...and i think i will...tomorrow :)
Friday, January 19, 2007
my Daddy loves me :)
i recently went on a retreat to a wonderful place called mountain harbor. although it rained all weekend, it was beautiful and perfect.
i was just talking with my mom a few minutes ago and telling her that i would love to be able to go back on that retreat again tomorrow. it was life changing for me and i want to relive it. but you know what i've realized? some things were revealed to me there about myself, but now it's time that i learn more about it and put it into practice.
what i learned.....well, my entire life i have been in church. it almost makes me tired just thinking about it. because it was not until this summer that i actually understood what it's all about. I AM MY FATHER'S OBSESSION. if you know me at all you know that i've been saying that phrase over and over. but i just can't get over it. i am my father's obesession. his thoughts for me outnumber the grains of sand. i could go on and on. so it was this summer that i learned that, but it wasn't until this weekend that i learned something else that i believe is going to change the way i do life.
there have been very few times in my life that i felt completely free during worship. my heart has always had this kind of heaviness to it. i've just always felt that there was something in my heart that needed to be taken care of, but i didn't know what it was...until this weekend. i realized that the reason i had always felt that way was because i was performing. that's it. i wasn't in it to know god more. i was in it to impress people. to make my parents proud of me. especially my dad who is the most like jesus i have ever seen a person be (well him and nelson from the dominican republic....he was alot like jesus too) i just wanted to prove to my dad that i cuold be like him....so crazy...because he flat out loves me. i don't have to perform...i don't have to say the right things or do the right things to make him love me...he just does. i can mess up and still go sit in his lap, at 21 years old, and he will tell me he loves me and that he's proud of me.
but my mom on the other hand...although i know she loves me with all her heart, has given off the vibe that i DO have to do and say and be the right things to get her approval. she's even taught me that i have to be all the right things to be accepted with friends...and just in the world in general. that's where this whole "prove yourself" mentality came from. i want you guys to realize how messed up i've been. even now as i write this, i keep thinking about..oooh who will read this? will it impress them? that is crap. i started off wanting to write this so that maybe some girls could learn from what i'm learning. but my mind is so messed up that i start thinking the wrong way. i am training for a marathon. but today i had to sit down and decide if i even like running. i had to decide if i was doing it because i loved it and for my health, or if i was doing it to show people how "cool" i can be. i know that sounds dumb but that's just how my mind has been working for the past 21 years. but that's all going to change during this season of learning and brokenness. i want god to break me...take out all the junk that's keeping me from being real and honest in life. i don't care if it's painful. it's time for me to change.
god revealed that to me....where my lifelong heart heaviness came from. now all i have to do is let him fix me. let him show me that it's not the opinions of others that matter. it doesn't matter if i am wearing the right thing, or if i'm feeling skinny, or whatever. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER. my god loves me. he treasures me. he calls me out into the wilderness and speaks tenderly to me. he longs to bless me. I AM MY FATHER'S OBSESSION.
i was just talking with my mom a few minutes ago and telling her that i would love to be able to go back on that retreat again tomorrow. it was life changing for me and i want to relive it. but you know what i've realized? some things were revealed to me there about myself, but now it's time that i learn more about it and put it into practice.
what i learned.....well, my entire life i have been in church. it almost makes me tired just thinking about it. because it was not until this summer that i actually understood what it's all about. I AM MY FATHER'S OBSESSION. if you know me at all you know that i've been saying that phrase over and over. but i just can't get over it. i am my father's obesession. his thoughts for me outnumber the grains of sand. i could go on and on. so it was this summer that i learned that, but it wasn't until this weekend that i learned something else that i believe is going to change the way i do life.
there have been very few times in my life that i felt completely free during worship. my heart has always had this kind of heaviness to it. i've just always felt that there was something in my heart that needed to be taken care of, but i didn't know what it was...until this weekend. i realized that the reason i had always felt that way was because i was performing. that's it. i wasn't in it to know god more. i was in it to impress people. to make my parents proud of me. especially my dad who is the most like jesus i have ever seen a person be (well him and nelson from the dominican republic....he was alot like jesus too) i just wanted to prove to my dad that i cuold be like him....so crazy...because he flat out loves me. i don't have to perform...i don't have to say the right things or do the right things to make him love me...he just does. i can mess up and still go sit in his lap, at 21 years old, and he will tell me he loves me and that he's proud of me.
but my mom on the other hand...although i know she loves me with all her heart, has given off the vibe that i DO have to do and say and be the right things to get her approval. she's even taught me that i have to be all the right things to be accepted with friends...and just in the world in general. that's where this whole "prove yourself" mentality came from. i want you guys to realize how messed up i've been. even now as i write this, i keep thinking about..oooh who will read this? will it impress them? that is crap. i started off wanting to write this so that maybe some girls could learn from what i'm learning. but my mind is so messed up that i start thinking the wrong way. i am training for a marathon. but today i had to sit down and decide if i even like running. i had to decide if i was doing it because i loved it and for my health, or if i was doing it to show people how "cool" i can be. i know that sounds dumb but that's just how my mind has been working for the past 21 years. but that's all going to change during this season of learning and brokenness. i want god to break me...take out all the junk that's keeping me from being real and honest in life. i don't care if it's painful. it's time for me to change.
god revealed that to me....where my lifelong heart heaviness came from. now all i have to do is let him fix me. let him show me that it's not the opinions of others that matter. it doesn't matter if i am wearing the right thing, or if i'm feeling skinny, or whatever. IT JUST DOESN'T MATTER. my god loves me. he treasures me. he calls me out into the wilderness and speaks tenderly to me. he longs to bless me. I AM MY FATHER'S OBSESSION.
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