Waiting to Exhale

Yesterday, I stopped holding my breath. I'm not sure when I started I just know it's been a long time. I've kept going, kept living, kept fighting, kept praying but I wasn't breathing. I never decompressed. I never stopped and really evaluated where I was, I just kept piling. I think a lot of you know exactly what I mean. You have taken on so much "stuff" that you are close to exploding. Sure, you know how to handle your life. You know how to say the right things and even how to pray but you haven't given yourself the time or space to release...to breathe...to exhale. Well, saints, it's time. It's time to stand up in your closet, on your porch, in your yard and take a deep breath. Release all of the weight, the pressure, and the expectation. God said to me yesterday, how can you be filled with Me when there is no room? Sounds strange? It does but He is right! Sooooo right! It is so easy to pack your life and mind with responsibilities, projects and people, to the point where it is hard to slow your mind down enough to pray or meditate or just relax. Today, God wants you to exercise the power of the exhale.

He led me to Psalm 55:22 in the Amplified version this morning and it really made His instruction clear. It says, "Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail)." For too long, you have struggled to hold up under the weight of your position, someone else's expectations, or life. But God did not ask that of you. He wants you to release it to Him and He will handle it and He won't let you fall. It's time out for superhero syndrome. It took some hurt feelings and hard lessons for me to see that I don't have to be everything to everyone but I finally got it. I just have to be Ebony. The same goes for you. Let all of the weight and pressure go and just be you.

Yesterday, I exhaled. I opened everything up and released. Think about this as I close. When Jesus was at the very end of His life, He said the words, "It is finished" and He breathed His last. He signified with that last breath a deep trust in God and His process. At that moment, He surrendered to God's plan and purpose for His life. He was released into His next level. How much more do you think God can and will do for you when you decide that release is better than control. I challenge you today to identify what may have caused you to hold your breath and cast it upon The Lord because He can handle it. Amen...

Follow the Light

I'm just going to put it out there. This has been a rough week in the Bryant household. From car issues to me not feeling well, we have had to make some adjustments in the way we normally do things. I found myself at times asking the age old question - why me? Has anybody been there? I always struggle with this place because so many people expect me to handle all situations with crazy faith, speak life constantly, and bounce back quickly. I, on the other hand, want to have a gloom and doom moment and throw in the towel. But I am grateful for a God that is faithful even in the valley. One who will remind you that if you just endure the night, joy will come in the morning. Where would we be without Him?

 

As I thought about this week, the Lord showed me a vision of the breaking of day…dawn. Dawn is that period right before the sun rises. You know, it's right when you start to see the darkness break and light filter in. Some of you are at the point of daybreak. You have been struggling through a long night season. Finances have been a mess, children off kilter, marriage a little suspect. You've been looking for any sign that the tests and trials are almost over. Well, The Lord spoke to me today and said stay in the fight and follow the light. Sounds kind of cheesy, right? But it really is a set of instructions that can help you get over the hump. You see, the breakthrough may not be what you expect it to be but I encourage you to grab hold to the breaking of day! Pay attention to those times that The Lord shows you an escape route or shines a light on a solution. He doesn't do things by accident. There is a plan for your life and it includes you prospering. The problem we often have is that we don't account for the storms in that plan. We expect sunshine and roses all the time when 2 Timothy 3:12 said that “all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution." There is a purpose for what you are going through. It doesn’t feel good but there is greater coming if you keep your eyes on the light.

 

What is this light? It’s Jesus Christ! He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12 ESV) When it feels like the night will overwhelm you and all you want to do is quit, look to Jesus and let Him lead you out. He is that morning glory! He is that light to your path! He is the only way out! Saints, I encourage you to follow the Light. I encourage you to speak to the storms and darkness in your life and declare Jesus over them. Philippians 2:10 & 11 says “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the father.” (KJV)You have the power of Jesus Christ on your tongue. Therefore, you have the victory! I have the victory! It’s time to get your eyes off the problem and get them on Jesus. He is the solution and the breakthrough. Follow the Light, saints! He will lead you to the joy! AMEN

 

Press Forward

Every week I strive to bring you a word from the Lord to encourage your spirit and it’s usually pretty lengthy. Today, the Lord just said, “Press forward”. That was it. After a long period of prayer and waiting, that was all He said. And so that is what I will share with you.  I know that life has been stressful lately. Bills have been piling up, kids have been going through, and the job has required a lot of you. People have disappointed you and your regular fixes haven’t worked like they usually do. But in all of this, you must press forward. I’m reminded of when Paul & Barnabas were travelling and preaching and making disciples. There was a point where they looped back to some of the people they had previously ministered to in order to strengthen them. Acts 14:22 says, “They encouraged them to continue in the faith, reminding them that we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” Even the saints of old needed someone to tell them that they could make it and keep going despite circumstances and struggles.

You see, this road will not always be smooth but you have to know that the outcome will be worth it. You have to remember to keep your focus on Jesus who cares for you, for there is value in knowing and trusting in Him. Be encouraged by the words of Paul in Philippians 3: 12 – 14. “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.  No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.”(NLT)

Press forward, saints! Don’t allow the expectations of man or the stresses of this world keep you from reaching the goal that God has set before you. He has purposed you for greatness and set before you a future and a hope. It’s amazing what the enemy will do to try and distract you from that. He will use people that you love. He will throw distractions in your path that that will try to throw you off course. He will speak doubt and fear into your spirit. But I’m here to encourage you today to stay the course and continue to press forward. I leave you with the words of Peter in 1 Peter 5:10 and pray that you remember that you serve a God that is faithful and present. He is with you every step of the way as you make your way to victory. “But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen and settle you.” AMEN.

Jesus Joy!

“Jesus, you’re the center of my joy! All that’s good and perfect comes from You. You’re the source of my contentment, hope for all I do! Jesus, you’re the center of my joy!” Don’t you just automatically feel good when you hear Richard Smallwood sing that? If you’ve never heard it, I recommend you hit YouTube immediately! I remember belting that song away and really feeling it before I even knew to really seek relationship with Him. It was that perfect joy that he talked about, that Jesus joy and I connected with it. As I’ve looked around this week, I’ve seen a lot of people missing that joy. Churches don’t seem to have it and the world certainly seems to be lacking it. But where did it go? Today, God is challenging us to put Jesus back at the center of our joy. Truthfully, some of us just need to put Jesus back at the center and the joy will follow.

When the Lord put this in my spirit this morning, He immediately sent me to John 16. Jesus is talking to the disciples as His death looms before Him and He is trying to prepare them for life without Him. He explains the sadness that they will feel when He is no longer physically with them but then a “wonderful joy” will come.  ^“It will be like a woman suffering the pains of labor. When her child is born, her anguish gives way to joy because she has brought a new baby into the world. So you have sorrow now, but I will see you again; then you will rejoice, and no one can rob you of that joy.” (John 16: 21-22 NLT) Saints, we can have that joy right now! We already know that He has died and risen again with all power in His hands! So why do you not rejoice?! Why do you allow church folks to steal your joy? Why do your let co-workers drain you of your excitement? Why do you let the cares of this world dampen your spirit? It’s time to get back to the place where you live in the joy of knowing who Jesus is in your life. The Word says that no one can take that joy away from you.

So many of you are living in a sort of spiritual haze, trying to find your place, understand your purpose or answer your calling. I have been in that place and it’s not an easy place. But the Lord reminded me that Jesus is the star on the map. He’s the answer to every question. He’s the final stop and when you stop searching for answers and just tap into Jesus, the rest will follow. I love what Hebrews 12:1-3 says in the Message Bible about keeping Jesus at the center of your mind in order to make it. “Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls!” This is the key, saints! Keep Jesus and what He did for you in the forefront of your mind. If you do, there is no way that you can’t find that joy!

I encourage you today to intentionally take your joy back! It’s time to put Jesus back at the center of your heart, your worship, your schedule, and your life. It’s not about the good deeds, or money, or even church because none of those things work without Jesus. From this moment on, it is no longer acceptable to just exist and survive. It is time to LIVE! It is time to celebrate Jesus in your everyday life and let that be reflected in everything you do. Richard Smallwood explained it well when he wrote, “You are why I find pleasure in the simple things in life, You're the music in the meadows and the streams. The voices of the children, my family, and my home, You're the source and finish of my highest dreams.” Remember the Jesus you fell in love with in the first place, the One that made you feel like that! If you do, I promise you will see & feel a joy that can never be taken away. AMEN

 

 

 

He's still there...

This morning I had a block. I prayed and meditated. Sat and waited. And waited. And nothing. It was a struggle to hear anything. People were talking to me and I just couldn’t hear anything from God. So, I went outside and walked around until I found a quiet spot and I sat down. As I sat with my eyes closed, I started to hear the birds sing and felt the wind blow across my face. In that moment, I heard the Lord say in a quiet voice, “I’m still here.” I almost wanted to cry at the sweetness of those words. Sometimes, the distractions of life, of ministry, of family can get you to a very dry place. It can be very lonely and frustrating because you know who God is and what He can do but you can’t feel Him. It’s not about a lack of love or even relationship with God, it’s about your joy and your zeal. Today, God is speaking to those of you that are struggling to find your “get up & go”, your motivation. He is saying very simply to you, “I am still here.”

I thought of Elijah and his cave experience when I heard God say that. He was at a point of giving up and wanted to die. You’ve probably read this story many times but there was one part that spoke to me. In 1 King 19 verses 10 and 14, Elijah repeats something I think tells of his frustration more than anything else. He says, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with You, torn down Your altars, and killed every one of Your prophets. I am the only one left and now they are trying to kill me too.” Sure, he was scared of Jezebel coming for his life but it seems that he was more upset because he had done all that he was supposed to do and still he had to face a terrible consequence. Have you ever felt like that? Frustrated because you have done your very best and given your all but it just doesn’t seem good enough. It happens often to mothers and leaders but God gave Elijah a word that I believe will help you find your strength again. He says in verse 15, “Go back the same way you came…”  God tells Elijah exactly what to do from that point but that phrase stood out to me. “Go back the same way you came.” Sometimes you have to go back and remember who God really is in your life in order to get going again. You have to remember why you fell in love with Him in the first place. You have to remember where He brought you from. You have to remember what this journey is really about. You have to remember how real He was to you when you first met God in your cave. He’s still here!

When I asked God how to drive the point home, He immediately sent me to Ezekiel 37. There’s no story in the Bible that so beautifully illustrates restoration like Ezekiel’s experience in the valley of dry bones. I mean, it doesn’t get any drier than bones scattered across a valley. The Lord explains in verse 11 that the bones represented the people of Israel. They were in exile and hopeless. Do you know how that is? To feel out of place but know God has a purpose for you. To know you need to press on but your desire is low? These bones were DRY! God told Ezekiel to speak the Word to the bones.  “Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.” (Eze. 37:5&6 NLT) Suddenly the bones came together but had no life. Then God told Ezekiel to speak to the winds. “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come, O breath, from the four winds! Breathe into these dead bodies so they may live again.’ So I spoke the message as he commanded me, and breath came into their bodies. They all came to life and stood up on their feet—a great army.” (Eze. 37: 9&10 NLT)  Here’s my point. God showed Ezekiel in the spirit the spiritual state of Israel and He gave Him the Word that would bring them back to life. God has a Word that will bring you back to life too. He has the Word that will call you out of your dry place, out of your grief, out of your frustration. He told Ezekiel to tell His people, “I will put my Spirit in you and you will live again and return home to your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord have spoken and I have done what I said. Yes, the Lord has spoken.” He will bring you back to yourself and when you have come out you will know that He has done it. He’s still here!

I know what it is to struggle with a lack of motivation and joy. I know what it is to be disappointed in people and have to fight to get back to yourself. But more so, I know that God is the God of a comeback. He is one that can restore the joy of your salvation. He is one that can breathe life back into your very soul. You just need to trust that He is still in the midst. That even if you can’t trace Him as the old saints used to say, He is right there watching over you and waiting to give you a fresh wind. Sometimes you just have to take a quiet moment and listen so you can hear that still small voice. May the joy of the Lord be your strength today! May you be encouraged to take back your joy and your fight! He’s still here…AMEN