My Birthday

My gift from Jesus - I am accepted in the Beloved.

The Finished Work of the Cross

Silence is Golden

Sometimes silence is golden.  Today I woke up knowing I need to be quiet more and just listen - lean into Jesus and trust - and rest.  Oftentimes my words wear me out. 

Luke 1: 19-20

¹⁹ The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.²⁰ And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”

The scripture above is written about Zechariah the priest who was the father of John the Baptist.  Sometimes, as in this instance, I believe our words get in the way of simply believing and trusting that what God has said and is saying is Truth.

Facts exist and cause our eyes to get off of Jesus and onto our circumstances.  The good news is Truth and trusting that Truth overrides facts.  Facts change but Truth never changes. 

As Our Soul Prospers

As we read the Word of God, it is very important that we ask the Holy Spirit to bring us revelation knowledge.  The Lord began revealing this scripture to me a long time ago but it has taken time for me to truly grasp its meaning. 

 

3 John 2 KJV

 

Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as they soul prospereth.

 

Our soul is our mind, will and emotions.  We are made up of 3 parts - spirit, soul and body.  In the fashion of Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  When we are born again, when we come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, our spirits are instantly renewed.  At that time we still have the same mind and the same body.  Our body is our house.  The place our spirit dwells.  We have to find a connecting point to get what is from our spirit to our body.  That connecting point is our soul - our mind, will and emotions.  We must renew our mind with the Word of God and revelation from God.  Then, as we are truly connected to the spirit man which is made perfect by our relationship with Jesus Christ, we will begin to prosper and be in good health in every area of our lives. 

 

 

Weary

Google's definition of weary is:

feeling or showing tiredness, especially as a result of excessive exertion or lack of sleep.

I have experienced weariness in the forms described above but the weariness I'm experiencing now is the weariness "as a result of excessive exertion".  I try too hard to rest, to live, to trust.  Again, as many times before, I feel like that hamster on a wheel running and running and running and not getting anywhere.  Just going in circles.  Retracing the same steps time and time again.  I do not know how to truly rest.

Today my prayer is -

Father, please show me how to rest in You.  Show me how to rest in the finished work of the cross.  My efforts are exhausting.  I feel so weary sometimes. 

The Word says "take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls".  (Matt 11:29 NIV)

Hebrews 4:9-11 says "There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from their works, just as God did from His.  Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience."

So, I know there is a rest that I haven't entered.  And I believe that rest is the finished work of Jesus. 

John 14:1 says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled.  You believe in God; believe also in Me."

So, Lord, help me believe in Jesus and His finished work on the cross for me just as much as I believe in You.  Help me rest in what He has done and stop wearing myself out focused on me and what I can do.

When Jesus was buried He was carrying my sins and my sicknesses.  When He arose, He wasn't carrying those things any longer.  He left them behind.  Help me leave them behind also.  I believe with all my heart that it is a package deal - forgiveness and healing.  In Psalms 103 the Word says, "He forgiveth all thine iniquities; He healeth all thy diseases".  I don't always feel forgiven but I am.  I may not always feel healed but the Word says I am.  I may not understand everything.  I certainly don't understand everything.  But I know the Word is truth.  So - I will "Trust in the Lord with all my heart, and lean not unto my own understanding."  I will "In all my ways acknowledge Him and He will direct my steps."  (Prov 3:5-6)

In Jesus beautiful and majestic Name,
Elaine  

Still Chugging

I am still chugging along on this journey to freedom.  The Word says Jesus has set me free and I am determined to walk in that freedom.  Slowly learning to still all the voices that pull me so many different ways.  Different preachers, teachers, books, etc.  I am learning to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit as He speaks to me - so softly.  What He says is without error.  I will continue to test everything I believe He is saying to me with scripture and I will keep walking, chugging on this journey to freedom.  Whom the Son has set free is free indeed.

Journey to Freedom

Hello.  My name is Elaine.  I am one bound up chick.  I go from feeling free to feeling like a top spinning out of control in zero to sixty seconds on a regular basis.  If my husband wasn't a saint he would have given up on me years ago.  But he is a saint and he keeps me going by loving me through whatever phase I'm in at the moment.

This battle in my mind is beginning to make a little more sense to me as I think about what I believe God has placed in my heart.  My heart's desire is to love on women.  I want to see every woman set free, healed and delivered.  Feeling like the princess that God created her to be.  So - what better way to keep me from my calling than for me to be bound up in chains.  When I'm bound I'm thinking about myself.  This is a fact Jack.  I get so tired of thinking about myself sometimes I could scream, literally.  And I have.

I have read so many books and done so many Bible studies trying to find the answer.  The one thing that is going to get me to that place of freedom.  All these books and all these Bible studies are written by people who have some kind of issue(s) just like me.  Because no one on this earth is free from issues.  Some visible.  Some invisible.  Some realized.  Some unrealized.  I know down in me that Jesus is the only way to freedom for me.  His Words are the only words that are infallible and not written or spoken by someone with issues and imperfections.  My foundation has got to be Jesus and Him alone.

I have gotten up at 5:00am for years to be alone with the Lord before the noise and busyness of the day begins.  It has been my lifeline.  I can't even begin to imagine where I would be without this seeking of the Lord each day.  Yet still bound.  Still areas of confusion.  Part of that I believe is all the voices around us in the world today.  But that is a different thought for a different post.

One morning in July I was sitting with the Lord.  I had my Bible in my lap and I told the Lord that I sit here every morning like this just searching and digging for a nugget to get me through my day.  To get me closer to that place of freedom that I so desire.  I cried out to the Lord to give me a nugget.  He spoke to me and then He gave me a scripture.

1.  He told me I was punishing myself for areas that I believe I had failed Him.
2.  He gave me this scripture:

Song of Songs 2: 14

My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice;  for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.

Well, after sobbing like a child, I have tried to absorb this.  I have got to forgive myself for my "issues".  He isn't punishing me so I need to stop punishing myself.  And - I have got to come out of hiding and be the woman He created me to be.  He wants to see my face and hear my voice.  He thinks I am lovely and that my voice is sweet.  Who am I to argue with the One that created me and the One who makes all things new.  I have got to be me and accept me and love me so I can help other women do the same.  As long as the enemy can keep me focused on my shortcomings and issues I will stay self-focused and no good to anyone else.

I am on a journey to freedom.  A journey of accepting myself and standing on the Word - the Word written and the Word(Jesus) as He speaks to my heart.  All the other voices have to be drowned out by the one sure Word.

Here's to freedom - one step and one day at a time.  Seeking first Him,...