"OPEN THE BOX!"

I often hear the term that we often "box God in" or "put God in a box”. I've even used the term myself and almost did again. But then God dropped something in my spirit this week when I was talking with a friend who’s facing a tough season. Here it is, may it bless you.

We’re so busy worrying about what we don’t have or what everyone else has or how we wish things were different, or if our life could just be like theirs, or if my past wasn't so bad, or if I hadn't suffered this or that; living as if this is the best it'll ever be. Often being told, "stop boxing God in" or “stop keeping God in a little box, He's bigger then your problems”. (Which is true, He IS bigger than where we've been, where we're at or where we're headed! He'll turn it ALL around! But here's the thing, "boxing God in???"; yeah, that's not going to happen. Because in ALL actuality, God just wants us to realize that HE doesn't live in that little box we pretend to tuck Him in……WE DO!! WE are the one's boxing in our own lives, boxing in our own selves. You can’t box God in! He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, the ONE TRUE GOD! Boxing Him in is impossible! 

HOWEVER, we can most definitely box ourselves in; closing the lid on our lives, giving up hope, keeping the bondage in, the strongholds in, the pain in; staying in our comfort zone of misery. All the while praying for better days, better life, better circumstances or perhaps not even praying at all. We’re too scared to lift that lid for fear of what’s out there, fear of how hard it will be, fear of what people will think when we come out, fear of change. Sometimes we feel we don't deserve to come out. We tend to believe it’s just easier to live with the darkness than to face the fears or face the change. So we hope maybe it’ll just happen one day, life will just get better "IN" the box so we don't have to go come out or through the unknown. Or we wish that one day God will come along yank us out of the box since we can't bring ourselves out (which sometimes He does) OR that God will come in the box with us and make it all "okay in there". But God is not in there, nor is He going to take up residency with us in that box! He wants us OUT! He wants to show us that while that dark, closed in, secluded box seems safe, familiar, comfortable....it's not the life that IS planned for us. He’s too great, too powerful, too big, too awesome to be boxed in! His grandness is too much for a box and He has grand things waiting for YOU! 

We need to do ourselves a favor and take a peak outside our box. He’s JUST outside of it, waiting patiently for us to simply crack the lid. ALL He wants is for us BELIEVE Him, surrender our lives to Him, give Him a chance so He can walk us through to the other side, healing us of all the junk that’s inside our little box! He wants us to come OUT of the box and all its darkness; to see ALL the greatness He has waiting for us. We don’t have to desire the lives or circumstances of others, because God has designed a perfect life of our very own! Just for US, each and everyone of us! A uniquely designed and planned out purpose! Nothing inside or outside of someone else’s box can even compare to life God has prepared for you and is READY to give you! Let's get out of our boxes….God’s not in there! Whether it's your box of financial hell, emotional hell, spiritual hell, past pain hell, physical hell, marriage hell, divorce hell, wayward children hell, addiction hell, broken home hell, promiscuity hell, lack of self worth hell, or all the above and some...you CAN get out of that dark holding cell, that box of lies, bondage and darkness. The "box" is our heart, our mind, our soul and our spirit. We have to open them up, make room for Jesus and watch the LIGHT engulf ALL the darkness. We have to get the junk out and let faith in!

Is it always an easy journey?......no. But wouldn't you rather be pressing and digging through a dark tunnel with a glorious, life giving light at the end of it, than to sit dormant, inactive and trapped in a dark, cold, caved in tunnel with NO sign of life or light ever? You don't have to. No one can close the access to your heart, mind and soul but you. No matter what you've face or are facing, it will only cave in on you and trap you forever if YOU give up, stop moving and close the lid....because God never gives up on you. He's waiting, open the lid. 

If this is you, even if it's just ONE small area of your life, I pray you'll lift the lid on that struggle. Maybe all is great in your life, God is moving...but you still feel in one small area of your life you are held back, tormented, in darkness, hopeless, can't win; open the lid to Jesus in that area. Let the Lord of Lords come in and bring victory to that area as He has in every other area of your life. Think back, remember all He's done. He'll do it again and more!

Father God, bless every person reading this. Let this speak too them as they are YOUR words put in my heart for delivery, not words of my own. If this is not applicable to someone reading this, but they took the time anyway, I pray they'd use what they receive from it as you will them to. They aren't reading it by accident, so may they use what you speak to them through it to bless the person you've placed or will place in their path. God I pray that lids be OPENED, that your love would draw them out of their boxes and into your loving arms. Lord do what only YOU can do through these paragraphs written by just a simple girl; as my words mean nothing without the love of YOU behind them. And Jesus, I love you so, I love you people and I thank you for how you have loved me, embraced me and healed me as I've left my MANY boxes over the years and continue to do so. With every box we climb out of and kick away YOU are there, YOU are faithful. So God, give them the mustard seed of faith, the courage they need to come out from their box. I pray that every future box kicker reading this sees your glory in and through their lives to the FULLEST! In Jesus name....AMEN!

Be blessed......all for His glory,

D.

"SAVED vs SURRENDERED"

"SAVED vs SURRENDERED"

There IS a difference!

"To surrender from worldly perspective seems like weakness; but in our relationship with God it is the strongest thing we will ever do" - Dena C.

My mind reels and so another blog.....

I've been on this spiritual journey for a good minute now. And I have to say, there is one most amazing revelation I've received and to this day I am most thankful for in my Christian walk. It was the awakening in my spirit to the truth that there IS a big difference in being "saved" and being "surrendered".

I spent many years as a non-surrendered "Christian". I'd said my salvation prayer. I had my "ticket to heaven" so to speak. But for the life of me could not understand that if this whole Christian walk is SO great and this Jesus character is SO good and loves me SO much....WHY am I still struggling, still hurting, still broken, still in chains?? I went on for years as what I call a "clueless Christian". Yes, I was a believer. Yes I was redeemed. But I had no real clue WHO my redeemer really was. Or the depth of what being redeemed really meant! I knew I believed in Him, because something just felt different. But I knew nothing about the character of Christ, His story or how deeply He loved me. This was IMPORTANT information after all! 

In the many years to follow, I set out to really go deeper and learn just who exactly this Jesus, this Savior was. Not just based on what the pastors said at the pulpit on Sundays said, or my mother's version, or the opinions of other believers (which are ALL valuable), but I realized....I needed to know what JESUS wanted to say to ME about WHO He is and who I am IN Him. This took time, fellowship with other believers, prayer, groups, more church, cleaning out skeletons and more! The process of seeking Him, leads to HEALING, and eventually brings you to total surrender! The more I learned of who He is, and how very much He loves me; I wanted MORE! I learned that He has plans for me....GOOD plans. Not the struggling plans I'd been wading through on my own and trying to fix on my own! But, I also learned very quickly that in order to live this abundant life, to walk in ALL that He has for me, I would have to not only believe in Him, but totally and completely SURRENDER to Him and His will for my life. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". That is God's word, God's promise, for US!

I think so many of us just don't quite get it or understand what that looks like to be completely surrendered. We are taught by our culture to "look out for number one", "trust no one" and "get yours"! It's hard to surrender to something or someone you don't trust. Well, I can tell you that the more you get to know WHO He is and HOW He is......the more you'll trust Him. Think about a roller coaster for example. (I use them because I LOVE them!!) If I'm at a theme park and there's a new ride that has NO harness to protect me, I'm not going to trust it! Even though the ride attendant assures me it's safe, the latest and greatest new ride. I don't know this ride, it sounds scary and it's unfamiliar. I don't know if I can trust it, so no way will I get on it! But I see the other ride that I've rode on many times, it has a harness,(while quite confining) something that I know will make me feel safe, I'm going to jump right on! Even IF I'm still a bit nervous. I know there's a thrill attached to it and it's certainly safer than the "other" option right??? Much like my Christian walk, I believed in Jesus with all my heart....just like I'd believe that unharnessed new roller coaster is right before my eyes. But I didn't trust that coaster with my life, no more than I truly trusted Jesus for far to much of my Christian walk. So I stayed on that same ride through life. 

I couldn't see any protection on that new coaster. It was unfamiliar to me, intimidating, scary even. Much like a Jesus we don't choose to get to KNOW. He can be unfamiliar, intimidating, scary even. So we stay on that familiar ride, the one we've been riding our whole lives. The one we thing WE can control. We have a thrill here and there, but the ride always ends and the thrill is always short lived. 

The thing with surrender is, once you've gotten to KNOW Jesus. Really, really, intimately know Him; you begin to trust Him, you learn that His ways are always better than ours and you can't help but WANT to surrender to Him and His will for your life. Because it's better, it's safer, it has greater thrills and the BEST part is the thrills never end!

Being saved is AWESOME! And we should want that not only for ourselves but for everyone. It secures us eternity in Heaven with our heavenly Father when we die. No more suffering, no more struggle, no more pain. 

But being surrendered is PRICELESS! You see, while being saved is oh so awesome for your eternity; surrender is oh so priceless for your present! Our God is loving God and He doesn't want us to WAIT until we get to heaven to finally be free of pain, struggle, hurts, suffering.....NO! He wants us to live FREE and WHOLE right NOW! Just being "saved" won't get you that. But being "surrendered" most certainly will! John 10:10 tells us: "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly." You see, the Lord died on that cross so that we could live life to the fullest, not just after we die but right now; for His glory and our joy!

I won't even pretend to tell you that this surrender concept is easy....but I can promise you it's worth it. Is my life without trials and struggles? Absolutely not! But is my life FULL of peace and joy during those trials and struggles? Yes! You can bet all you have on it! Now that I've lived on both sides; the "saved" side and the "surrendered" side; I just can't imagine my life any other way than surrendered to Jesus Christ! 

How do we know what surrender looks like? Ask yourself some real basic questions. The answers will get you off to a great start to knowing how well you really know your Savior and how much you trust Him. Depending on the answers, you may find you need to spend more time in His word, in worship and getting to know Him. Or you may find you know Him very well and even trust Him, but the sin of pride is dominating where the Lord should be.

Ask yourself: "When bad news comes my way, when a car cuts me off in traffic, when I find out someone got the promotion I wanted, when I have broken relationships in my family, when I'm sinning and just can't seem to stop, when I'm broke and don't know how I'll make it to next payday, when I pray and God doesn't seem to answer.....and so on....HOW do I respond? 

If peace, love, joy and a sound mind are not in the answer...then that could most certainly be a sign of a lack of surrender. 

I spent far to much of my life trusting in my own abilities or the empty promises of others to be my answer for life's issues. It was only when I understood who my Lord was and what total surrender looked like that I became free! I have no exclusive patent on this freedom....it's available to us all!!

I don't know who may read this. Nor do I know where you may be in your walk. But I do know that if you're reading this....it's for a reason. HIS reason, not mine. This simple little blog of my random thoughts/feelings will not answer this issue of "saved or surrendered" for you. But I do pray that it will get you thinking, searching, self reflecting so that the Lord can move in your heart to bring you into the abundant life He has waiting for you NOW. 

SAVED is great, but SURRENDERED is priceless! 

God bless you in your journey & seeking.....He will be there to find! 

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight."

Lord I never again want to lean on my own understanding....I trust in YOU!

D.

When God Is In It.....

I'm finding often, much more recently, I'm given the privilege to pray for and over others. Prayer has become such a huge part of my spiritual journey. God continues to show me over and over again the POWER behind the prayers of His followers. It's breathtaking, it's earth shaking, it's LIFE CHANGING! To know that we have a heavenly Father listening to every petition from our heart....wow, incredible! 

I'm learning that in prayer, I have to put myself OUT of the picture. And that any envisioning "I' may have about how this thing will go down is irrelevant. This week, I was asked to go pray over a young lady (only 17 yrs old) who suffered a severe asthma attack which caused her to go into cardiac arrest. The hospital then had to induce coma for her so they could stabilize her heart. When they stopped giving the meds to keep her in a coma, it was expected she'd awake pretty immediately  That didn't happen. She was responding VERY little to anything. But would not wake up. So of course I agreed to come to the hospital to pray over her. 

Now, I think naturally we tend to have a pre-envisioned idea in our minds of how things will go down. A fellow sister in Christ was meeting me there. In my mind, we'd go into the room, greet the family, ask for any specifics they'd like us to pray for etc..and go from there. Well, as I mentioned above, we have to get out of the way because God's plans are ALWAYS higher than ours. Here's a perfect example of that:

We arrive at the hospital and upon getting off the elevator, there is a waiting room FULL of people, 15-20 easy. There were 4 other members of our church there who were friends to this young woman. They are the one's who'd asked us to come pray with them. So we are standing with them, talking and catching up on the status of the young woman. On the other side of the room there was very obvious divide, tension even. Many folks kept walking in and out of the room. Some speaking to some, others speaking to others. I had just an overwhelming sense of a room not only divided with family issues, but spiritually as well. Was very odd and uncomfortable.

Much time passed and there was talk of one side of the family not wanting anyone to go back to the young woman. It was nearing time that we all were needing to leave. It was very awkward and I just remember thinking to myself, "OK Lord, this isn't exactly how I envisioned this going down....what are we supposed to do here, we obviously aren't even going to be able to get back to her!" My heart felt overwhelmingly from the Holy Spirit, PRAY RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE! Well, the group of us decided "ok, we're here....the Lord knows why, He can work a miracle whether we're in the room or not, so we'll say our prayers for her right here in this waiting room". One of the ladies with us said, "should we ask the family/friends if they like to join us in prayer?" Absolutely we all agreed. (Mind you....the awkwardness was still very thick, no one had even spoken to us really at this point). So she let the family and friends know that we were going to say a prayer for their loved one and they were more than welcome to join in. 

Now, just to give you an idea of how my mind works...I'm a very "visual person". Photos & music speak to my spirit on a deeper level than most things. I'm VERY observant of my surroundings. Most specifically the people God places around me. I love to watch them as deeply as possible. I love to see their hearts, regardless of where their heart is. It builds compassion, perspective and love in my heart for them, for WHERE they are. Hard to describe, I'm wired weird I guess....but hopefully that gives you a glimpse into this mind of mine. I'm a true "people watcher" as they say, but for much deeper reason. So as I try to explain how this went down, I'm going to break it down how my mind, heart and eyes saw it.

As we told them we were going to pray, many of them had a sudden beam of joy & hope and said YES immediately. (Especially the precious grandma who was there...I fell in love with her spirit!) But, what I noticed most were the others who looked somewhat perplexed but agreed hesitantly anyway. I mean, afterall....it seems the "right thing to do". Right? Who says NO when half the room is about to pray. So I felt many agreed for that reason alone. What happened next, was too beautiful to adequately describe but I'm going to try. 

We all formed a circle (baffling a few who shuffled into place with uncertainty as they realized what we were all doing). We each held hands. (Again, awkward for many). Here we stood, easily a circle of twenty. Bowing our heads. I spoke a simple prayer that started out for the young woman in a room down the hall, but QUICKLY my spirit steered me to change gears, to pray for the family. For comfort, for peace among them, for them to FEEL His presence, for strength, for healing, for encouragement, for love. I'm not the most glamorous at prayer by any means, it was simple, to the point and from my heart of what the spirit placed there. Then....it was over. As we lifted our heads and opened our eyes, I saw AND felt such a different energy in that room. People were hugging each other, hugging us, thanking us for praying, tears were streaming down many faces, tensions & hardness had soften to more gentle demeanors. It was so amazing, so beautiful to watch. Upon leaving the room and approaching the elevator, the sweet grandmother was waiting in the hall and she hugged me, said thanks to us all and looked me in my eyes and said God is saving my family, this was for my family, God is so good! 

Now, as I said before, my mind is wired kind of crazy I think at times. I'm a deep thinker and think DEEP about almost everything. I believe there's a deeper meaning to all things that happen, even that which seems small and insignificant. So, a part of me on the ride down the elevator thought to myself "Wow, was that just as deep and meaningful as I felt or was that just "my mind" making it deeper" LOL, I talk to myself this way alot. But as we made our way down and off the elevator, the sister of mine from church who met me there comes alongside me closely, grabs my hand and whispers something along the lines of "wow, wow......that was incredible, did you feel that...you could FEEL it in the room!" Thankfully God reassured me through her that YEP, He did it, it happened and I'm not just some crazy deep thinker and deep feeler! Thank you Lord! LOL. 

The point is, no matter what we think a situation should look like or is going to be like; no matter how we think a situation is going to go down, it PALES in comparison to what our God has planned! We can never prepare completely for what God wants to do. We just have to be available, trust Him to show up and prepare to be amazed! That mission to go down to that hospital and pray wasn't about that young woman as much as it was about that family and the brokenness that exists there. We were never supposed to make it to that room! The waiting room is where our purpose was. So as awkward and confusing as it was when we got there, as much as it was "not what we were expecting"; it was totally orchestrated by GOD!

It is with sadness in my heart for those left behind that I must say the young woman did pass away. And I'm sure there is still much work to be done in the hearts of much of the family. But I do know that in those moments, on that day, the presence of the Lord was felt by all and HE will water that seed. I will continue to lift and believe for this family. I pray for their peace and comfort as they grieve the loss of their loved one, but most importantly....I pray they will allow God to use this loss to draw them closer to him. 

Things are not always as they seem. When God is in it......ANYTHING can happen. Much like the picture that I posted to accompany this post, our hearts must face the ocean with the world behind us. Allow me to explain what I mean. The ocean has by far always been one of my most sacred places. A place where I feel so close to the glory of God. The enormous ocean that He created. He controls. He tells the water how far it can go. It's just majestic to me and shows how mighty, wonderful, beautiful and powerful He is. I don't know how anyone can stand beside the ocean, look out and still NOT believe there is a God. I don't make it to the ocean as much as I'd like because of where I now live. But it used to be a daily or at least weekly thing for me. Lots of tears, joy, brokenness and healing has taken place on the ocean for me over the years. Many conversations with God I'll never forget, especially in my darkest of days. But since the ocean is not as accessible to me as it was then, I have found a way to still enter it's beauty in my mind and heart. I can simply look a a picture of it, or imagine I'm there with my eyes closed or as I pray I see me and Jesus sitting on the ocean together. The ocean is so significant to how I approach much of my life. You see, when I enter into any situation be it going to pray for someone as described above, or if I'm dealing with a personal struggle, trial or storm; I simply picture myself standing in front of that ocean. As I stare out, I see God, I give the control over to Him, I cast my cares out to sea and into His arms.I TRUST Him with whatever it is just as much as I trust Him NOT to unleash that ocean to swallow me whole. The same way He STOPS the ocean from drowning me, He also stops the cares of this world from drowning me. He does the SAME for YOU! The world, the struggles, the prayer request, the needs, my pains, my trials....sure they are all still there. BUT, instead of of looking at them, trying to tackle them, face them or approach them in MY ability....I stand before that majestic power, beauty and love and allow HIM to tackle them in HIS ability. I allow Him to work through me, just as the ocean breeze blows through my hair as I look out upon His glory. HE leads me by HIS wind which way to go. He fills my sails and directs my actions. Whether my flesh envisioned it this way or that way....doesn't matter one bit. Our flesh naturally wants to predict and control, but if we surrender to HIS will, it ALWAYS ALWAYS turns out BEST and for HIS glory. 

Ultimately....that's all we should ever, ever want; to do all things to bring Him glory.

Let the Holy Spirit be the wind in your sails, be the driving force and power  behind all you do! Be willing to BEND to that wind and leave what your flesh envisions so you can allow yourself to be redirected in a moments notice to what the Lord of Lords wants you to do. Not only will YOU be transformed, He will use YOU to transform the lives of others too! ALL FOR HIS GORY! 

Be blessed......

ysiC,

D.

"Comfort Zones" = Way Overrated!

Comfort zones. We all have them right? Surely I'm not the ONLY one. They are called comfort zones, I think, because they ARE actually VERY comfortable. Healthy??? Not usually. But they are comfortable! They are familiar, they are "known". There are no surprises. They feel safe, hidden from change or challenge right? Much like the picture you see to the right, I've always loved this picture. There is much beauty to it from many different angles. But what I notice the most is how it relates to my own life. the familiar, safe, hidden shadows at the bottom of the staircase. 

Now, we know there is life at the top of those stairs. We see the light. We know those stairs must reach "something" right? Could be wonderful. Exciting. Answers to prayers. But what if what's at the top of those stairs is scary, intimitating, rejects us, or worse....isn't what we thought or hoped it would be? It's the "BUT's" and "WHAT IF's" that generally keep us locked in our comfort zones.

If we really sit and think about it though.....isn't the even SCARIER thing NOT knowing what life could be waiting for us up there? I recently was blessed to hear a message from the incredible Hillsong Church Pastor Brian Houston about "Living the un-lived life" inside of us! This actually prompted this blog. Here's why......

I want to live my un-lived life. PERIOD! I don't want to miss a thing that Jesus may have for me while I'm on this eart! For years my passion has been writing. Not books, nothing fancy.....just my throughts, inspirations, passions and feelings. Be it's only been expressed in my private journals, be it on my Myspace (WHATSpace??? I know, this was YEARS ago...I've evolved, no worries), later on to Faceboook/Twitter post and now this. I've had many, many people tell me for years that I need to write. I don't quite know what that looks like for me. A book? A blog? A devotional? A columm? I really don't know. But I do though that over the past few years, I've learned that passions in our hearts, accompanied by promptings from the Holy Spirit to DO SOMETHING with those passions is not to be ignored. 

In September 2010, the Lord gave birth to a passion that he'd hidden in my heart for a very long time. To begin leading a small group for women. With the goal of loving them and walking through life with them. Helping them find their indentity in Christ; helping restore them from brokenness and painful past; to help them see their absolute beauty; encouraging them & empowering them in the Lord! While the passion was there for a while, I dismissed it. Fear, lack of courage, etc.. BUT today He has blown my mind at what He has done with that passion! While I was scared and it took me a good minute to BE obedient.....I finally got OUT of my comfort zone and am forever changed because of it. You see, I considered myself "unqualified". But I didn't need to do anything but TRUST the Lord ability to work through me and be ready to act in love toward others! We are ALL qualified if we allow Christ to do HIS work through us. It's not about us.....at all. Understand that the LACK of qualifications we think we have, do not disqualify us as vessels for God! 

I find myself at an all too familiar place again. THAT place. A passion, a desire followed by that "prompting". But don't quite know what to do with it. I don't want to be dismissive to the Lord again. EVER. And although I don't know what this is supposed to look like for me and what writing will actually be done, I'm stepping out of that shadow again, and taking a step. So.....it's starting here. I've found a place to "write", in a way that will hopefully be a blessing to others. Am I wired or destined to write a book? I don't know....but what I do know is that IF I am, God will lead me from here; this small step out of my comfort zone; to THERE, wherever that may be. If He's called me, He'll lead me. 

So as I begin this journey and I open up my heart, thoughts, inspirations and feelings to this blog, I pray it pours out love and blessing you. That is serves it's purpose. With NO intention of sitting in front of my laptop tonight and setting up a website.....here it is! (Jesus did it! That's all I can say) Am I a little unsure, uneasy, even scared....you bet. But I'll never know where He wants to lead me if I don't move out of the shadows of my fears and start climbing those stairs! 

What's stopping you from grabbing the banister and stepping OUT of the shadows that keep you in your comfort zone? Is it fear? Is it a past you need to deal with? Present struggles you need to work through so your vision can be cleared? Whatever the next step is for YOU, I encourage you to take the steps. If I can do it, you can. I believe in you, but more importantly..God believes in you! He has plans and a purpose for your very existance. Besides...if you slip or fall, you have the BEST security blanket to wrap you up, dust you off and set you on your way again. His name is Jesus! 

Jeremiah 29:11 has changed my life and is a verse I live by among many. But by far my favorite verse. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us: " 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

We can trust that, we can walk confidently in that! 

ysiC