Occupy

Question: Have you ever felt like you have been waiting on what seems like forever on the Lord? Is there a  dream and hope that you've been holding close to your heart? Have your prayers sounded something like, "How are You going to make this happen God and what do you want me to do?" I can honestly admit this has been my request and constant plea before the Lord. 

For a long season I have had certain desires in my heart that I have prayed for, fasted over, and cried about in an effort to move the hand of God. But, the only thing I accomplished were calloused knees, a smaller dress size and smeared mascara. Can I just get honest here?! 

So, I finally asked the Lord, "How do you wait?" I mean, how does one really 'wait on the Lord'? The Lord answered this prayer. He said, "Occupy." Hmm, what does it mean to occupy? Although I've   heard that term a lot recently like 'Occupy Wall Street' or 'Occupy the 99%', I decided to look up the term and found these definitions:

*To engage the attention or energies of or to take up (a place or extent in space). For example, 'This chair is occupied.' Also, to take or hold possession or control of. For instance, 'Enemy troops occupied the ridge.' Or to fill or perform the functions of like to reside in as an owner or be a tenant of. Finally, to garrison, annex, subjugate to colonize, overrun, and to hold.

Whoa, this is groundbreaking to me. There is a parallel here in what the Lord is revealing about receiving His blessings. Even more importantly, how this affects our faith and recognizing who we are in Christ. Thus, I believe this command to "occupy" is more than natural but it's supernatural. We're not only to occupy and subdue the earth but to occupy and subdue the supernatural realm. We are to literally inhabitant the promises of God! 

So, I will decree, I will declare and I will say His Word. I will fill, be in, have and hold down a place once held as a stronghold in my mind and emotions by occupying my thoughts with memory verses related to peace and the promises of God. In doing so the region of my heart heart once occupied by fear and doubt is now claimed, captured and colonized by the power of God in me. I enlist with Christ to take possession of, hold, garrison, and inhabitant the vision and the promises which testify about the future He has planned for me! Can I get an "Amen!"(Jeremiah 29:11)

What 'territory' or promise has God spoken in your heart? What area of ministry do you sense a gifting in and an authority to steward? You may have a vision to start a school or business; to write a book or to travel and spread the Gospel. Perhaps the Lord has cast a vision in your heart to have a healing ministry or to start a family, naturally or through adoption - whatever it is, have faith and occupy it!

I declare today, that you who are reading this, will be fruitful in that which the Lord has spoken to you. You will be made to multiply in it, fill the earth with it and have dominion in and subdue it. That very vision and hope that God has given to you is yours, in Jesus' name, Amen.

“...be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion...” (Genesis 1:28).

Delight thyself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

For we live by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!" And God granted him what he requested. (1 Chronicles 4:10)

#godspromise

*Merriam-Webster

Let the weak say, "I am strong." "When We Honor God, The Storms May Come But We'll Still Be...

She Wields A Sword: Ministry of the Innkeeper

She Wields A Sword: Ministry of the Innkeeper: I recently read the parable of the Good Samaritan and have come to the realization that the Lord could have been speaking of mankind and Him...

Ministry of the Innkeeper

I recently read the parable of the Good Samaritan and have come to the realization that the Lord could have been speaking of mankind and Him. I mean that all of us at one time or another have fallen prey to the enemy's wiles and have been robbed and beaten out of our joy, peace, or health or finances, or know someone who has, as we've made our way along life's journey. Now, I've always considered the priest and the Levite the "bad guys" of the story being perhaps preoccupied with position, decorum and cultural tradition, or maybe just a schedule to keep, to stop and help.
However, what really caught my attention this time was the thought, am I like them? Have I been too preoccupied with schedules to keep, a sense of pride or even fear to stop and help another in need?

Well, we just heard a message last Sunday that ministry can be messy - and it's inconvenient. But, thank God for Jesus. Like the Samaritan, He took pity on me and bandaged my wounds - our wounds - the emotional wounds and more importantly the spiritual wound. He's poured His oil of gladness and the Holy Spirit's anointing upon me, and with the wine of new life has rescued me. So He's already done the inconvenient thing; at the Cross.

I suppose we can place ourselves in the position of any of these characters whether it be the man robbed or the Levite, the priest, or the Samaritan or even the Innkeeper, and then do as Jesus would have us do.

So my question is not so much anymore am I like the Levite or the priest or can I do like the Samaritan, but can I be like the Innkeeper? Can I take the denarii or the gifts He's bestowed and entrusted to me, to love and care for those He has rescued until He returns?


“In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” ‭‭Luke‬ ‭10:30-36‬ ‭NIV‬‬

"The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me." Matthew 25:40

Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. James 1:27

“Tend (nurture, guard, guide, and fold) the flock of God that is [your responsibility], not by coercion or constraint, but willingly; not dishonorably motivated by the advantages and profits [belonging to the office], but eagerly and cheerfully; 1 Peter 5:2

Are We There Yet?

Have you ever felt like you've gone around the block a million times and the scenery isn't changing? Has it ever seemed as if you were in the wilderness making many trips around the mountain? I can truly say that I have. Even more bewildering are my thoughts and emotions at times where I've glanced back over my shoulder, longing for the Egypt I was delivered from because of how long it seemed to be taking to just, get there! I feel like a kid in the back seat of a car on a road trip asking, “Are we there yet, are we there yet?"

Thankfully, by the Lord’s grace, He's enabled me to continue this journey, buckle down and stay the course. It’s not a time to put it in ‘park’ but now is the time to move forward. It's the season of breakthrough and yet it is the season of rest - resting in His provision and resting on His promises.

Today His Grace is upon us to be successful at moving on and I will strike while the iron is hot. I will move through the open door. Surely is a good thing to reach out to the open hand of our Lord and obtain the blessing while it is open and let Him lead us and guide us. He can lead and guide because He knows the way - He's made the way!  He IS THE WAY.

The Angel of the Lord is stirring the pool of Bethesda and I will step down into its waters and be healed. Do we trust Him? Most certainly He will bless us and lead us all the way into the Promised Land.

It is written, He knows the plans He has for us. Plans to bless and prosperous us and not to harm us. To give us hope and future. Jeremiah 29:11

Your beginnings will seem humble, so prosperous will your future be. Job 8:7

For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing; and all the trees of the fields shall clap their hands.
Isaiah 55:12

Unique or Like Others?

After many weeks of busy activities such as travel, commitments, and conferences, I have been attempting to fine-tune my energy output and obtain balance in my life. You see I began to wonder again if this pace and this fatigue level was really leading me in the right direction to what the Lord is calling for me to do? Is what I've been experiencing just the hard work that goes along with the 'program' and I just need to lean into it and keep going? Or am I just spinning my wheels and need to rethink my approach?

You see, I have been passing through a wilderness season (in the exodus from my Egypt-captivity of addiction and abuse) of my life, to cross over my 'Jordan' or place of decision and learning to trust the Lord, in order to resolve to never look back, and to slay my 'giants' of shame and rejection up ahead in my personal Jericho. Then on to enter my promised land – my place of peace and rest and provision from God.

Then, after lots of prayer, seeking advice, and searching the Word, with the Holy Spirit's help, I was able to pause, be still, and listen to what the Lord was saying to me for this next chapter of my life. And so it was. I happened across this book called  *Soul Print by Mark Batterson that began:

"There has never been and never will be anyone else like you. But that isn’t a testament to you. It’s a testament to the God who created you. You are unlike anyone who has ever lived. But that uniqueness isn’t a virtue. It’s a responsibility. Uniqueness is God’s gift to you, and uniqueness is your gift to God. You owe it to yourself to be yourself. But more important, you owe it to the One who designed you and destined you."

I am in awestruck wonder at the goodness and the mightiness of our God! Thank you for answered prayer!  How wrong I was to think it would be easier to conform and to become what others expected me to be. Fear of being unique, as he would say later in the chapter, is hypocrisy at it's worse.

So I give thanks to God for clarity, direction and for inspiration, and I pray and if you are so inclined, join along with me, "Praise the Lord. Jesus I thank you. God Who made the heavens and You made the earth. Lord of heaven's order, King of Kings and Lord of lords. God of all creation, Master of the universe and Darling of heaven. You are the Lover of my soul and champion of souls - our Consummator and my Liberator.  You are the God that created the sun and the moon and the stars, and you also created me. You are the God that completes that which you start and You will perfect that which concerns me. Amen"

“Alas, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too hard or too wonderful for You–”
‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭32:17‬ ‭AMP‬‬

The LORD will complete what his purpose is for me. LORD, your gracious love is eternal; do not abandon your personal work in me.
Psalm 138:8

*Soul Print by Mark Batterson

Independence Day

Last night as I laid down to sleep I said to myself, "Over the course of years I have waiting a long time for different relationships in my life to turn around." (significant others, family etc.) The Holy Spirit  unexpectedly said to me, "Waited? That's called denial." Whoa. Talk about a reality check!

Wikipedia defines Reality as the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined or hope they are – emphasis mine. In the past I had believed the lie that said what's real is only painful so I must cling to 'make-believe' truths. So for years I pursued this fantasy or that, like an addict chases their next fix, of finally being able to arrive in order to be in the right 'space'.  Soon however pain, disappointment, and regret would replace the temporary rush of high feeling that my fantasy life provided because there was no reality, truth or bases to the future I was trying to create for myself.

Thus, my prayer today is, "Lord give me a supernatural ability to accept and believe the truth and to come out denial. Even Jesus said to Peter about believing, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."  (Matthew 16:17) Therefore, it truly is a gift to believe the truth, and I don't want to take that lightly or take it for granted.

Going a little further, in reality, the truth can be about good things and is not always something that is hard to swallow. So today, I accept the truth, God's truth - I have been liberated. I have decided to walk out of the 'wilderness' and receive, whole heartedly and without reservations, the life God has for me. This I know requires trust and I ask for and receive His strength and power to do it.

Wow, talk about Independence Day!

“you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
‭‭John‬ ‭8:32‬ ‭GNB‬‬

“For the Spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead, his Spirit fills us with power, love, and self-control.”
‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭GNB‬‬