Remember who I am...

This morning as I was praying about what to share with you, I simply heard God say, “Remind them…” Okay, God, what do you want me to remind them of? And He said, “Remind them who I am…” So today is about encouraging you to remember who God is and what He has said concerning you.

You see, a reminder is a message or communication designed to ensure that someone remembers something. Sometimes when your circumstances get really hard, you need someone to remind you that you will make it. When your symptoms are flaring up and you find it hard to remember your faith, you need someone to remind you that you are healed. When your bank account is empty and you have no check on the way, you need someone to remind you that you are provided for. Well, today, God wants you to remember who He is. He wants you to remember that He’s the God that met the Israelites at the Red Sea. He wants you to remember that He’s the God whose eyes go to and fro in the earth looking for those that He can show Himself strong for. He wants you to remember that He’s the God that saw you before you were in your mother’s womb and knew that you would be great. Today, He wants to remind you of who He is.

It’s interesting that God is asking me to remind you about who He is because a majority of Rhema readers are already strong Christians. You know how to pray and how to seek His face. But God said to me that you are the ones that need it most. You are the one that pours out the encouragement to everyone else. You are the one that fasts and intercedes on the behalf of others. You are the one that people ask for advice and wisdom. But you are also the one that struggles to believe for yourself. You are the one that the enemy constantly attacks in your mind and in your body. You are the one that has had to endure hurt and betrayal because of your calling. So today, God is reminding YOU that He is with you.  He is reminding YOU that He is for you. He is reminding YOU that He has your concerns before Him and your name written in His palm.

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable.” (Is. 40:28, ESV) Sometimes when issues and situations go on for a long time, you can get concerned that God has forgotten your plight. But the word says that He doesn’t grow weary or faint. He is the great God that stays with you until the end. “It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deut. 31:8). God is reminding you that you don’t have to be afraid or concerned. He is with you and for you!

Don’t you love that God wants you to keep His promises at the forefront of your mind? Don’t you love that you serve a God that wants you to remember who He is so the enemy can’t stop you. Don’t you love that you serve Elohim, the almighty God? So as I’m closing, the Lord gave me this last passage to give you. I pray that it reminds and encourages you of where you stand in Him. I don’t care what you are facing. Grief, unemployment, stress, betrayal, loneliness, divorce, financial struggle…God is a present help in your situation and He wants you to always remember who He is. He’s big enough for every challenge or test.  “Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. “See, all your angry enemies lie there, confused and humiliated. Anyone who opposes you will die and come to nothing.  You will look in vain for those who tried to conquer you. Those who attack you will come to nothing.  For I hold you by your right hand—I, the Lord your God. And I say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid. I am here to help you.” (Is. 41:10-14, NLT)

Remember who He is…AMEN

Clean sweep...

When God gave me Rhema, He talked to me about wholeness and freedom for people. Every message was basically a charge or encouragement to live your best life. In most cases, that required some form of self examination or honesty. Sometimes, they would be sweet, soothing posts of gentle pushing; while other times, I would be shocked at what God was giving me to say. At the heart of it, He was calling you (and ME!) to deliverance from what has held you bound. Well, today I heard the phrase “clean sweep”. I immediately got nervous because that phrase just sounds deep, doesn't it? Well, that's because it is! God isn't playing anymore. He's not playing with you and He's not playing with me! He has put some pretty clear instructions and assignments on the table and He is ready for them to be picked up and completed. It's time to get in position and that old stuff that you keep going back to? Well, it's got to GO! Time for a clean sweep…

 
So as I sat down to write, I wondered what scripture He was going to follow that up with. But before I could finish forming the question, He reminded me of a couple key verses and I sat up straight! He's not playing FOR REAL!  But before I get to the scripture I need to say this. As I mentioned last week, a lot of times, people generally don't like to admit to needing to be delivered from anything. Church folk are especially guilty of this! It's easier to say that it's for other people than to admit that you struggle with something. I believe that God wouldn't let me move away from this topic because some folk still dismissed what He said last week as “being for somebody else.” Well let me make this really plain! You ready? We all need deliverance from something! I'm so sorry if that hurt your feelings! But if you are still walking around mad at your fellow church member for something they “did” to you 10 years ago or holding onto what your ex-husband did and it's keeping you from moving on? You need deliverance! If you have to be in charge of what's happening in everyone else's life so that it lines up with your plans or no one can tell you anything because you know everything, you need deliverance! If you look in the mirror and can’t celebrate who is looking back at you or you have to downgrade someone else so that you can feel better, you need deliverance. You see, God wants to get into all of the cracks and crevices and get all those things that we won't name or acknowledge.  He wants to get the anger, the feelings of rejection, the heartbreak that have held you in place. He wants to free you of the memories of your past, the loss and the grief that kept you from being all that He called you to be. He wants to release you from the jealousy, the fear of failure and the expectations of people that have affected how you live your life. Time for a clean sweep…

 Everyone likes to quote Peter when he says in 1 Peter 2:9, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;” Remember that? Well earlier in the chapter in verses 1-3, Peter challenged his Christian audience to come out of all that wasn't like God and be whole. The Message version says, “So clean house! Make a clean sweep of malice and pretense, envy and hurtful talk. You’ve had a taste of God. Now, like infants at the breast, drink deep of God’s pure kindness. Then you’ll grow up mature and whole in God.” (1 Peter 2:1-3 MSG) Don't you want to be mature and whole and really live up to your position in the royal priesthood? God is willing and able to create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit within you. He is prepared to transform your heart and renew your mind but it is up to you. You must take action towards your own deliverance and freedom. That verse required the people to drink deep of God’s goodness!They had to act, they had to take a step, they had to touch God! Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for a clean sweep…

As I close, I want to encourage you to walk in truth this week. Ask God to get out His flashlight and go through your heart. Ask Him to reveal to you the areas that have kept you stagnant and unmoving. Ask Him to show you the root of issues instead of just the symptoms. I hear you asking, why would I want to drag all of that old stuff up? The answer is actually quite simple. If those things still have the power to stop, hurt, or control you, they aren't really gone anyway. I will warn you though! As God begins to deal with your heart and sweep those old things up and out, you must replace them with the Word! You must fill your spirit with what God says about you. God is calling you to great things and He doesn't want old things to stop you from experiencing the new things He has in store for you! Time for a clean sweep!

 

Amen…

 

Will you be made whole?

This has been a week of self-examination for me. God has been taking me back to different situations and showing me how I responded to them. He’s been making me go beyond the emotion and look at the root. I started to see places where I rested and places where I got stuck. I saw places where I stood for the right and places where I fell for a trick. I saw places of maturity and places where it was blatantly missing. I saw ME. I know that God has been taking me through this process because things are changing in me, around me, and with me. What God has for me to do, requires me to be in a place of truth. And so it is with you! I don’t know where you are right now and I don’t know what God has been saying to you but I know that He is calling His people to wholeness and truth so that the world can be taken for the Kingdom. This might sound deep but it’s true. God is speaking and moving and if you don’t get on board with what He’s saying, you are going to miss it! This isn’t even what I thought I was supposed to be saying but this is what God is giving me. It’s time out for stale worship and bound up spirits. Freedom and deliverance are available and God wants you to take advantage of it! He wants you whole so that you can do what He has placed inside of you!

I know that this is making some of you nervous. When you say the word deliverance, people tend to get uncomfortable. There is a perception that it is all throwing up and exorcisms and that you have to have a demon to need deliverance. Wrong! There are times when that is very much what happens with deliverance but at the heart of it, it is a rescue from bondage or danger. It is to be set free from what has held you captive or bound up.  Some of you are walking around bound up because you are under the misconception that deliverance isn’t for you. If you are still dealing with memories and the effects of something that was done to you in your childhood, you need deliverance. If you are always angry and don’t understand why, you need deliverance. If you lie all the time, you need deliverance. It’s not just addiction and depression, those just tend to be visible. But God wants you free of those hidden things, those things that come up in the night, and those things that you secretly relive. You were meant to live a SOZO life which is saved, delivered and set free!

When David was on the run from Saul, there was a point when He was a captive of the Philistines and he had to act crazy to get away from them. He was at one of the lowest points of his life and God delivered him. He wrote Psalm 34 during this period and his words are speaking to me this morning. “When I needed the Lord, I looked for Him; I called out to Him, and He heard me and responded. He came and rescued me from everything that made me so afraid.  Look to Him and shine, so shame will never contort your faces.  This poor soul cried, and the Eternal heard me. He rescued me from my troubles. The messenger of the Eternal God surrounds everyone who walks with Him and is always there to protect and rescue us.” (Ps. 34: 4-7, VOICE) God is listening for your voice! He’s waiting to hear you and respond, if you just trust Him enough to cry out for deliverance, for rescue.

Folks, God is speaking truth and wholeness! Do you hear Him? Is He challenging you to deal with some hard issues in your life? Is He pressing you to look internally and evaluate what you see? You cannot fully walk into wholeness if you can’t be honest with yourself and God. There has to be acknowledgement in order to move to deliverance to then move to wholeness. My prayer for each of you today, is that God will give you clarity to see yourself, a willingness to be delivered from anything that has held you bound, and the lasting joy of freedom and wholeness. I pray that every hard place would be softened and every old hurt erased. I pray that peace would replace chaos in your spirit and joy would reign in your life. And no matter what you face, remember that “many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Ps 34:19, NKJV)

Amen

Ok, God...

This morning, I was in my bed and I was doing an odd mixture of praying, listening and drifting and I said out loud, "None of my plans are working the way I want them to." I didn't really say it to get an answer but was just stating a fact about my current situation. Well, clearly God was participating in my weird moment because I immediately heard, "You're doing too much. All you have to do is listen and obey." I snapped out of everything and sat up. First, I wondered if God talks to everyone like that and then I had a mini panic attack! For those of you that might be planners like me, you understand how terrifying a statement like that is! It snatches away every ounce of the imagined control that you like to think you have and leaves you squarely back at trust. There are a couple of responses you could have but the one I'm encouraging you to go with today is really simple..."Ok, God."

As I have been on this journey this year of fully walking in my purpose and calling, I have had SEVERAL trust tests to keep me moving in the right direction. God knows me and knows that I would much prefer to not do most of the things He tells me to! So He constantly has to remind me that what I want and what He has planned are not the same thing. I'm pretty sure I tear God's nerves up on a regular basis! But even when I fall back to trying to make my own plan, His answer is still the same..."Listen and obey." In case I needed confirmation, Proverbs 19:21 hit me right in the face today, “We humans keep brainstorming options and plans, but GOD ’s purpose prevails.” (MSG) All of the translations hit just as hard, but feel free to look!

So I'm telling all of my business to say, it's fine to make plans but understand that God's purpose for your life will always take precedence. Your plans tend to be set up for your convenience whereas God's are set for your growth and destiny.  That means they won't all be easy or necessarily enjoyable in the moment but they will definitely work for your good. Isn't that what the Word says? "All things work together for the good of those that love shod and are called according to His purpose." (Romans 8:28) A lot of the stress in your life would be greatly reduced or even eliminated, if you would seek out His plan instead of relying so heavily on your own. So let's practice! God: "My child, go back to school, start that business, answer that call, move to XYZ..." You: "Ok, God..." Now keep practicing!

Amen

Recognize your season!

Happy Thursday, saints! This is the day that Lord has made and I pray that you are rejoicing and glad in it! God is amazing in His timing. He always knows what you need, when you need it. I’ve just come back from my Rhema Retreat and it was awesome! God stretched me and allowed me to see some of what He has called me to. I almost couldn’t believe what took place over the course of that 48 hours. When I returned home, I was reminded several times of different prophetic words that people have spoken over my life over the last several months. They were words of breakthrough and victory, fresh anointing and deliverance. I heard them and hid them in my heart but if I’m honest, I don’t know that I really believed them because my circumstances didn’t back them up. But today, God said to me, “Recognize your season.” He said, “If you recognize where you are in Me, your circumstances can no longer dictate where you stay.” Whew!! How many of you have been stuck in one place because your situation didn’t look like the promise? God basically said that if you begin to believe and walk in what He has promised, you can speak to your circumstances and see them change. You can tell them to line up and come under subjection to the Holy Spirit and the word of God. The key is recognizing where God has you. What has He been saying to you about your life and your purpose? What has He been leading you to and showing you? If God is saying breakthrough to you, you need to set your mind and your mouth to breakthrough. Close your eyes to what your circumstances are saying and focus on your faith.

I was reminded of Daniel and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in Daniel 1 &2. You might remember that they were in captivity, living amongst the Babylonians but they were in an interesting position. God had blessed them with favor and such wisdom that they were considered among the wisest in the kingdom and were often sought out by the king. When Nebuchadnezzar had a difficult dream, he sought out the Babylonian wise men for interpretation but none of them were able to do it. They said, “There is not a man on earth who can tell the king’s matter; therefore no king, lord, or ruler has ever asked such things of any magician, astrologer, or Chaldean.  It is a difficult thing that the king requests, and there is no other who can tell it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” (Dan. 2:10 -11, NKJV) This sent the king into a rage and he decreed that all wise men be put to death, including Daniel and his friends, because they had proven themselves to be wise. Daniel asked his friends, to pray that God would reveal what the dream meant so they could live. Well, to make a long story short, God answered and gave the interpretation. When Daniel presented what God said to the king, it blew his mind! In response, Nebuchadnezzar honored God and promoted Daniel to governor and gave him permission to elevate his friends.

So you might be asking, what does this have to do with recognizing your season? Well, I asked the same thing and God told me to look at their situation. It all became clear. Their circumstances said bondage but their season said promotion. Daniel grabbed hold of what God was saying and his circumstances had to line up with God. Recognize your season and walk in it. If everything you hear God saying about your life and purpose are saying victory, grab hold, obey and watch God move what He has to in order to bring it to pass. If Daniel would have gotten stuck on what his situation said, he would have been dead. Instead, He knew the God that He served and decided to trust Him. Everything he had been seeing in his life during this time told him that God was with him, so his circumstances had to line up with that. After God gave him the interpretation, Daniel acknowledged God’s ability by blessing Him, “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His.  And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.” (Dan. 2:21, NKJV)

Do you see? God is in control and has the wisdom and the power to shift what is needed to bring about His plan. He can move people and He can give you the intelligence and discernment to do whatever He wants you to.  My challenge to you today is to recognize the season that God has you in and walk in it. If He is saying move, don’t let your circumstances make you stay. If He is saying promotion, don’t let your situation say downgrade. If He is saying step out, don’t let what you see say isolate. God has such great plans for you and He wants you to trust who He is so that He can use you to accomplish those things. Recognize your season and watch things begin to line up in your favor.

Amen