Meet me at the Crossroads

Many of you are at a crossroads. If you turn left, you could literally fall apart but if you go right, your breakthrough could smack you in the face because it’s just that close. God wants you to know today that He is in the business of restoration. He’s a pro at healing. He has a long history of mending broken hearts and calming frantic minds. He is the God of peace and has the power to speak to storms. He is the God of right now. He is Jehovah Shammah, present with you. The question is do you trust Him at your crossroad?  When you don’t know what to do or how to act, can your faith sustain you? Right now, in your tired moment, your frustrated moment, your hard place, can you look up and know that you serve a God that will do what He promised you? These are not easy questions, even for believers, because life is real. The enemy is real and if He can get you to lose your focus, he can cause you to step out of alignment and position. But God wants you to know quite simply that He is able. The key is you activating your faith and seeing His power working in you and in your life.

I have heard so many people quote part of Ephesians 3:20 and shout. I mean it’s definitely “shoutworthy.” “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think…” Yes! Hallelujah! But we have to read the whole verse. The last section of that verse says, “…according to the power that works in us.” That sounds to me like God has the power to do beyond amazing things but you have a part to play as well. You have to be open to His power. You have to believe that He has this awesome power and that it will work through you. Paul was writing this letter from his own hard place, a prison cell. But I love that he highlights unity, encouragement and spiritual redemption throughout the book of Ephesians. To me, chapter 3 speaks to your hard place. He lets you know that God has a plan for the Gentiles, the non-Jews…you! “And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus” (Eph 3:6 NLT). You have a right to see God move miraculously in your life! It’s a crossroads moment…

I believe God gives me essentially the same message every week. He wants you to know that no matter at what place you find yourself in, He is there and working. When you arrived at your crossroads, He was already there and knew that you would be at that place at that time. The problem comes in when you choose your own way instead of listening to the voice and direction of God.  Think about it. Most of the times you wound up in a mess came from you moving forward with your own plan. I can look back over my own life and pick out all the times that I refused to wait for God to move and took matters into my own hands only to end up with a mess. But you have a chance now to make a good choice. You have a chance to go right towards your breakthrough. Do not let the enemy trick you into abandoning your path. It may be that the scenery is not how you would have drawn it or the script how you would have written it. Okay…that might have been too artsy. Let me make it clearer. Maybe it’s not the man you always pictured in your head but he’s hardworking and showing you the love you desperately want. Maybe it’s not the picture perfect pregnancy you believed it would be but it’s a reliable adoption agency with children that need your love. I’m not saying you have to settle for anything but I am saying that God has a plan for you and your life and it’s not always the way you pictured it being. Don’t miss His perfect will because the package is wrapped differently than what you expected. It’s a crossroads moment.

I want to end with Paul’s prayer from Ephesians 3. This is my prayer for you as you make the choice to let God lead and direct you. Oh yeah and He is ready to do that exceedingly abundant work that He promised! “I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” (Eph. 3:16-19 NLT)

AMEN

 

 

 

 

Keep Pressing On...

Today was one of those silent days! All I heard was crickets and empty space. Was I distracted? Had I missed something? Why wasn’t the Lord saying anything to me? Have you been there? It may not be that you are trying to write a blog but perhaps you’re trying to talk to a friend or deal with a situation and you’ve prayed but you have nothing. I asked God if I should just take a week off. I didn’t want desperation to set in and I start just looking for something to say. Just as I made up my mind to wait until next week, I was reminded of this vision I saw earlier this morning of a hallway. It was a long hallway with lots of doors and there were boxes stacked up in various places along the way. There were lots of things to stop and look at but at the very end was a door. At that moment God said to me ‘your journey may have lots of things that will slow you down or distract you but the goal is to keep going until you get to the door.’ Okay, God! I immediately remembered John 10:9 “I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” (NKJV) Today, I encourage you to keep going until you get to the Door!

Life is definitely a journey. There are ups and downs, curves and straightaways. There are stopping points and jumpstarts. There are battles and times of peace. Sometimes it’s easy and sometimes it’s a press just to get up. It’s actually pretty amazing to see where you are today. Seriously! Look back over your life at all that you have survived! What about all that you have accomplished?! No matter what your circumstances currently look like, you made it over. You made it to today and that’s all God. God then took me to 2 Corinthians 4. I love this chapter and have read it often but I will tell you something.  By the time I finished reading this chapter today, I was ready to push on! I was excited in my spirit! Paul was speaking to the Corinthian church in what is a very personal letter. I’ve read in commentaries that this book shows who Paul is more than any of his other writings. He runs the gamut of emotion and hits on everything from spiritual strength to rebuke. To make it plain, he keeps it real!

So as I read 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 in the New Living Translation, it spoke to the journey and why we have to keep pressing on. “That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.  For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” Did your spirit jump?! What you are experiencing right now is nothing compared to what is coming! What you have gone through in your marriage, with your children, at your job, in your waiting season is NOTHING compared to what God has in store for your life. You must keep your eyes on the door at the end of your hallway. If God promised you something, it will come to pass.

“We’re not keeping this quiet, not on your life. Just like the psalmist who wrote, “I believed it, so I said it,” we say what we believe. And what we believe is that the One who raised up the Master Jesus will just as certainly raise us up with you, alive. Every detail works to your advantage and to God’s glory: more and more grace, more and more people, more and more praise!” (2 Cor. 4:13-15 MSG) What do you believe today? Do you believe that your journey has been worth it? Do you believe that God has your life in His hands and He desires your life to be victorious? If so, then I challenge you to stand up with me and declare your victory! Look at your journey and see that God has been with you the entire time! Think of all of the times that He spared your life and saved you from yourself. “But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place!” (2Cor. 2:14 NKJV) Your journey has purpose and it has value! Keep pressing on, saints…

AMEN

After this...

Writing Rhema is probably the most interesting assignments The Lord has ever given me. It's also the most challenging. I have had to be transparent to the world in a lot of cases with things I had no desire to share. 95% of the time, the word has ministered to me before I ever hit send to post for you all. Sometimes, the word comes quickly and sometimes it's a waiting game filled with a bit of stress and pressure as I fight against the urge to throw in the towel or just wait for another day. But every week God allows me to see the purpose. Someone will say that they really needed that particular message and I am reminded that spirit comes before flesh.

Isn't our life with God like that sometimes? There are times when the answers and the blessings come quickly and you are grateful and excited. Other times you look at your life and wonder if God is paying attention to you when you pray. It's in those times when you must dig in and wait for God to move. Not an easy task.

 God showed me today this vision of a dark sky. It was completely black, not even a few stars. But then all of a sudden, there was an explosion of purple light and it cascaded down and then would go away. It happened several times and truthfully, I had no idea what I was looking at. But then God said to me, "That's My glory. I want to share it with you all the time but it's often blocked with the darkness of distraction." He then instructed me to share a challenge.

Today, as many may be home due to weather, is an opportunity to spend some quality time with God. He has given a specific task. First, He reminded me of a recent situation in my life.  I had a lot going on at the time and missed an important time in a close friend's life. No matter how unintentional it was, it was hurtful to her and our friendship suffered for it. You could say our season was over but in actuality, it was neglect. I was caught up in what I had going on and missed all the signs. It took me a while to come to the realization that I had gotten it wrong because all I could see was my stuff. Distraction is a powerful thing.  As God reminded me of this, He said 'this is what happens everyday with My people.'

So here's the thing. God has so much He wants to share with you but you are missing it. So today, the challenge is to examine yourself, your life, your situation and see what you may be missing. Have you made it easier for yourself by shifting the blame to someone else? Perhaps, you have heard God tell you to do something but ignored it because it wasn't comfortable. Maybe you have even looked at yourself through rose colored glasses and refused to walk in your truth. Whatever it is, it's time to come out of it. "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Rom. 8:18 NKJV) You see? It's worth it to answer the challenge. It's worth it to go through so you can get to the glory. 

Saints, this life in itself is a challenge. Everyday we have to get up and fight a battle between our flesh and our spirit. We have to make decisions that affect how our lives play out. God truly wants to give you all that you desire but there are things you have to do. Don't lose out on intimacy with God because you are neglecting Him. Don't miss revelation from Him because you are distracted by life. Take the challenge! Matthew 6:33 says "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you." It's worth the examination. It's worth the hard questions. It's worth the revelation. What you gain will make it worth all of the effort. Be encouraged...there shall be glory after this!

Amen

My New Thing

Today I want to talk to the survivors…the overcomers. I want to encourage those of you that have weathered some of the roughest waters of your life and you’re still swimming. I want to speak life to those of you that are currently in the midst of a battle and you’re still fighting. God told me to tell you that a new thing is coming! Isn’t that exciting? I know it blessed me this morning! Even though it’s hard sometimes to think about anything new when your current situation looks bleak or your past seems so close, God has been watching your press. He has seen your faith and He wants to encourage you to continue to look to him because “what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory He will reveal to us later.” (Rom. 8:18 NLT)

This morning as I prepared to write, I saw miles and miles of dry, cracked dirt. It was a deep orange color (probably because I grew up in Orange County where all the dirt is orange!) and filled with cracks and crevices. It looked like a wasteland of dead trees and open space. There was no wind, no green, no sign of life anywhere. It was just still. But as I scanned the horizon, my eyes happened upon one plant. It was a beautiful bright green. It stood tall in the midst of dryness. I began to wonder how it was possible for this plant to grow in this type of environment. As I looked at it, the green began to spread until the whole vision had changed from drought to life. The Lord began to show me that this was a picture of His Word at work in your life.  He said, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” (Is. 43:19 NLT) You see? God knows! He knows about your situation. He knows that you have been struggling to find purpose in what you’re doing. He knows that you’ve been fighting a long time for your family. He knows that you have been waiting on that promise. He knows that despite all of that you kept going to church, kept praying, kept believing. He wants you to know that He is doing a work in you that will transform your life. He is creating and nurturing a new thing that will water your dry places. Do you see it?

In this season, God wants you to be whole, restored, and renewed. He wants you to walk in your purpose and calling and believe that if He brought you to it, He will equip you to go through it. God is doing something new in you. It does not matter what your circumstances look like, what they are saying to you, or what they feel like. God is doing something new. He keeps saying this to me. It’s time for you to trust Him at His Word. It is a life giving, life changing, life restoring word. You already have the fight in you! You already have the survivor spirit! So now call up every bit of faith you have and turn it up! God is watering that plant and it is spreading. Do you believe the transformation that is taking place in you? Well then I challenge you to stand up and declare with power: MY NEW THING IS COMING AND I RECEIVE IT!

May God continue to restore and renew your spirit in Him. May His love wash away the dirt and the blood from the battle so that you come forth as shining gold! Keep pressing…the transformation has already begun!

AMEN