Have you ever started a recipe only to find that you are missing one ingredient?
This can be frustrating. You don’t have all you need to make your dream dish. You’re left short. You can’t proceed forward — or so you think.
Some of us feel this way in faith… We feel we keep coming up short. We don’t have giftings others have. We don’t pray like Mary Sue. We feel weak. We can’t overcome that one sin. We keep fearing and worrying. We are missing one ingredient, our breakthrough to peace and joy. Grr…
Ever been there? Have you ever felt like you don’t have all you need? That something is wrong with you?
Friends, I come to you to tell you: There is nothing wrong with you.
Scripture says, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (2 Peter 1:3; NIV).”
His power — has given everything we need for life (in the here and now). His power has given us all the godliness (righteousness and overcoming) we need. This is HUGE. We have it in-hand. Here. Right now.
We are not lacking or sinking, as the enemy would love for us to believe. We have the ingredient we need – Christ’s power. Through our knowing God and by his super abundant and extravagant glory and goodness — we have what we need. It’s all available to you. Just believe.
Don’t allow the enemy liar to lie anymore and to tell you otherwise!
Overcoming is far more easy when you believe this truth — is truth. When you take God’s Word as His Word.
It, then, becomes as easy as getting on Google and searching, “Canola oil replacement.” Here you find jazzy solutions display, like Apple Sauce or Maple Syrup.
When you believe you have all you need- and that there are resources available – you will, by God’s goodness, uncover new paths and new ways. Your hope in the Lord will open up new things, new sight, new paradigms. This concept is huge. Do not read this fast and pass it by. Some of you (myself included), need to more greatly understand this.
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I love you all. Merry Christmas to my fabulous friends that I would love to meet in person one day! Big hugs. I love you all so much. I pray many blessings on you this season, in particular the joy of the Lord, In Jesus’ Mighty-to-Save Name. Amen.
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Let’s pray: Father, I break off the lie that I don’t have what I need. I repent of believing a lie of the enemy. I submit to you and your word. I have all I need for godliness and righteousness in Christ Jesus. I am loved. I am helped. I am equipped. You are the Shepherd of my soul (1 Pet. 2:25). I thank you. I praise you. I lay down my way to find yours. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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When I was a little girl I loved the story of Cinderella. She was the most unlikely candidate, yet chosen. She was raised from a low-standing to a royal position. She was pursued by one and she found love.
Stories like this capture us, don’t they? We love to see the one who is down and out, lifted up. The unlovable, loved. The unlikely, redeemed.
I wonder if you feel like Cinderella before she went to the palace? If you feel unloved? Down and out? Unseen? Unwanted? Perhaps, your marriage feels dead and you feel left behind.
May I encourage you for a moment? The Cinderella story is yours…
“By the purpose and choice of God”, (Eph. 1:1 AMPC) you are wanted.
By Jesus you have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing. (see Eph. 1:3)
By His love, He chose you.
He “[actually picked you out for Himself as His own] in Christ, before the foundation of the world.” Now you are “holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love” (Eph. 1:4 AMPC)
Radiant.
Because of Jesus, you are fully seen and fully wanted. In fact, He “[desinted, planned in love (for you)] to be adopted (revealed) as His own…” (Eph. 1:5 AMPC)
God is not ashamed to reveal you. Just like the prince revealed Cinderella as his own, with proudness…Ephesians 1:5 says, “it pleased (God) and was His kind intent”— to reveal you.
You are His, radiant daughter of the High King. And, God is yours too. He wants you, has adopted you and He freely bestows this love on (you), His beloved. (Eph. 1:6)
Let this all soak in. You are a princess. The daughter of the Most High King. Can you be any more wanted than that?
Prayer: May the truth of this love overwhelm you today. May the fullness of His desire for you — be made known to you. May the beauty of the work of His hands (which is: who He created you to be) be appreciated, as you think of how much He loves you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is what my husband says to me if I am ever feeling down.
Remember when God helped you in that situation far worse than this one…
Remember when you didn’t think you’d ever be healthy again and then you were…
Remember when God answered your prayers and how He showed up.
Remembrance recovers faith.
I believe it is why in Joshua 4, God instructed Joshua to build a memorial with stones. God had just parted the Jordan River for these Israelites, so they could make safe passage. Then, he instructed them to gather 12 stones, for the tribes of Israel and to pile them up, in remembrance.
The Lord of Lords said to Joshua, “In the future, your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.” (Josh. 4:6-7 NLT)
What memorials do you need to remember? What markers and moves has God made in your life that are unmistakable? What made you stand in awe of your awesome God?
Remember back.
You know, what strikes me in this story is that the stones did not come from any old place… They came from “the middle of the Jordan” and then they were piled “at the place were you camp” (Josh. 4:3 NLT).
God wanted them to take the victory with them, never to forget it. Never to part with it. To see it. Understanding this concept, Joshua also built a memorial in the center of the Jordan. There, it would always be remembered — seen or unseen — that God is faithful.
We build altars of praise when we stop, thank, and praise God for doing the unthinkable.
What great thing is God doing in your life, even right now?
It is wise to write down, to mark, or to memorialize the greatness of God. These things encourage us in the future. They build hope. They crush discouragement. They build us up again at the right time.
Breakthroughs of God, remembered, are great reminders that God will move again! They showcase His power and might.
How many of us desire what we do not have? We want a bigger house, a better husband, a different school year, a more satisfying job, a better family situation… then, life would be good.
There are things that I want. I desire them. Badly. Yet, the time isn’t right. Nothing’s changed. I am at a standstill.
I believe, one of life’s greatest hurts is mental fantasies, unrealized. We create storylines about how things should be. Yet, the more they are not the way we think they should be, the more hope deferred we feel.
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick…” (Prov. 13:12)
Our sickness causes us to act out with schemes to help ourselves feel better… We get jealous of others. We demand people do things our way. We take things into our own hands. We bang our head against the wall out of frustration. We retaliate.
“You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them…” (James 4:2)
But, what if we stopped — to pray God’s way?
James 4:2-3 continues on……”Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” (James 4:2-3)
What if God was our greatest motive? Our love for Him, our greatest pursuit? Our hope, His way of showing up? Our belief, who He says He is — Provider, Shepherd, Keeper of our Soul, Comforter, Redeemer. Our steadfast belief, He is greater than any fear or worry we face.
God will show up; it just may not look exactly as we think. Are we willing to surrender our thoughts of how things should be for His best plan?
Prayer: God, let me desire you more than anything else on this earth (see: Psalm 73:25) All other things will fall into place as I trust you. You have a good plan and you are worthy of all my trust and faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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God is Provider. He shows up just on time. He provided His Son, at just the right moment, to literally save our souls. He knows what He is doing. He has a pulse on every detail that we need. He knows everything He is working together. He has us in the palm of His hand.
“Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” (Is. 49:16)
God has us so much so — that we are engraved in the palm of His hand. We are ever-before our Maker. He thinks of us. He has a mind — to mind us.
He also has a plan to provide.
If you’ve lost hope around God providing a way, a means, a hope, finances, or a great rescue for a need, allow Him to renew your hope…
28 Verses Showing: God Provides
And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:19)
And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Heb. 11:6)
I am the LORD your God, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it. (Psalms 81:10)
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. (Ps. 84:11)
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Mt. 6:33)
The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, but he thwarts the craving of the wicked. (Prov. 10:3)
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? (Ro. 8:32)
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! (Eph. 3:20)
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (Ps. 18:2)
Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. (Gen. 22:8)
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Cor. 12:9)
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jer. 29:11)
Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. And as I gave you the green plants, I give you everything. (Gen. 9:3)
The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing. (Ps. 34:10)
And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.” (Mt. 21:22)
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. (Jo. 15:6)
Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. (Mal. 3:10)
Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. … (Mt. 6:25-34)
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (Mt. 7:7-8)
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. (Eph. 3:16-17)
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. (Jo. 14:13-14)
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (John 15:7)
And whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. (1 John 3:22)
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (Jo. 14:26)
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Pet. 3:13)
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. (Ps. 145:15-16)
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work. (2 Cor. 9:8)
For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. (Psalm 107:9)
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“Do you have even the slightest reliance on anything or anyone other than God? Is there a remnant of reliance left on any natural quality within you, or on any particular set of circumstances? Are you relying on yourself in any manner whatsoever regarding this new proposal or plan which God has placed before you? Will you examine yourself by asking these probing questions? It really is true to say, “I cannot live a holy life,” but you can decide to let Jesus Christ make you holy. “You cannot serve the Lord…”— but you can place yourself in the proper position where God’s almighty power will flow through you. Is your relationship with God sufficient for you to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in you.” (Utmost for His Highest, Oswald Chambers)
To answer his questions, I do rely on myself. I think, God got me here. Now I need to figure things out. Or, what will I do? How will I do this?
There are so many “I’s” in my thinking — when it is all about Him.
“The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.“ (Zeph. 3:17).
These words remain true today…
God will do it.
God, my God, is mighty.
God has the way.
God knows my answer.
God knows my name.
Christ’s power is being perfected in my weakness.
Christ’s goodness overshadows what I think is good.
Christ’s victory is sure and steady.
The battle belongs to the Lord.
Today, I am provoked to re-surrender and to let God do things ‘His way’. I am inspired to more FULLY trust Him, believe Him, and to take Him at His Word.
Because…to work by my power is to, often, inhibit God’s power. It gets me ahead of God or it shuts off the mind of Christ, in me, as I run ahead with my own mind and thoughts.
I don’t have to have all the answers – God does. I don’t blaze my way; God does.
I wait, He moves. I pray; He shows up. Sure, sometimes I meet God, through works He calls me to, but aside from that I love God and others with all my heart and leave the results up to Him… I rest, knowing I don’t have to worry or fear anymore. He has this.
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I unloaded my bags in my room, after a 16-hour trip, only to spot BIG black mold on my ceiling. When the experts came to investigate in the attic they found more. A lot more (thank you, in advance, for your prayers concerning protection for my family).
I don’t like health risks. They make me feel nervous and out-of-control. How can I protect myself from a threat I can’t see? How can I keep us all safe? How can I trust — we’ll all be okay?
Do you feel threatened? Maybe you feel attacked by a silent threat you can’t control. Or a person who is out-of-control. Or the sense that you are not in control. I get it.
All I could do last night, as I prepared to sleep in that room with the black-patch, was to open my bible up to Psalm 91. I rest on that Psalm like a pillow, some nights.
There I read:
“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”
This verse reminded me — there are those who choose to live in the shelter and those who don’t. They stay in worry, or fear, or whatever…
I want to be one of those who actively and decisively come under His shelter. Rest happens when I allow God to shelter me. When I want His cover. Worry and fear always wait, however, as an alternative.
Today, I chose to: enter in. When I enter in, guess where His shelter is? Most High. To be high is to be — above it all. Guess what covers me? His shadow. I am not only protected below but I am protected above and all around too. I am lifted up and covered all around.
This picture God gives me is peace. It is rest for my mind that it needs. Now, I don’t have to circle the same fears again and again.
You too — are protected above, below and around — if you’ll allow yourself to be. Nothing can harm you when you are protected by the Most High God.
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I think I need a specific thing. I’ve set it up in my mind as a “must have”. I think: If I get that I will be all good. Then, I can ____.
It’s as if my plan will complete me, but it’s depleting me. I think ahead, verses staying next to God’s plan. I get concerned with what will happen if my hope doesn’t happen and it steals hope. I define what God will do rather than trusting His timing and His plan.
I am looking at a “what” instead of my Who.
“And (a rich young man) came to (Jesus) and said, “Teacher, what [essentially] good thing shall I do to obtain eternal life [that is, eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?” Jesus answered, “Why are you asking Me about what is [essentially] good? There is only One who is [essentially] good… (Mt. 19:16-17 AMP)
The rich man here was focused on what he should do… Likewise, I look at what I don’t have or what I think I should have, when there is only One who is good: Jesus.
The second I place my eyes on a “what” instead of Jesus is the second I create an idol. There is only One who is good. But, when I return to expecting God to show up, instead of expecting a thing to pull through for me, my soul gets rightly aligned.
What “what” are you depending on or expecting to change your life? How have you made it the answer, believing it will quell your emotions or transform your life?
To become complete in Christ, we must set down what competes with Him. This begins, I believe, with laying down our own expectations for how things will happen so we can, once again, hope in His BEST plan.
God does things God’s way. On God’s time. In God’s manner. It may not look how we like, but it just may reach 1,000 instead of 1. Or, heal the neighbors family plus our own. Or, bring our wayward kids back as we become healthy again. Or, give us a whole new perspective on God’s real providence.
Who God is — far transcends — what we think is best. This mindset is a return to peace and true trust in God. At least this is what I am learning…
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All four of us turned our head to look out the car window. Dozens of buzzards were feeding on a dead dear. It’s gross, I know.
They devoured it. They were shredding it. They were ruthless.
All this got me to thinking. . . the enemy feeds on death.
Whereas, “Jesus is . . . life.” (John 11:25)
When I am filled with Jesus, I am filled with life. There is nothing for the enemy to feed on. When I am filled with the Spirit, I abounding in the spiritual. There are no wounds for the enemy to gnaw open. When I am praying to the Father, there is no decay the enemy can use against me.
I realize, for many of us the attacks, the discouragement, the devastating news, the demoralization around us, the lay-offs are prevalent around us. I have seen it too. I know it is hard sometimes.
But, some of us need to do an about-face and look at life again — from a different angle. We need to look to Jesus. Because, the enemy is feeding off your despair, discouragement, and doubt. And, you’ve let Him for far too long.
The tide changes when you look full in Jesus’ face. When you access, remember and meditate on His mercy and grace.
Do something new.
Tell your own spirit, “No more. Then, remind yourself: ‘Jesus is resurrection and life. He can bring back, restore or renew anything.”
Then, focus on His names:
King of Kings
Light of the World
Prince of Peace
Son of God
Lamb of God
Remember what He’s done, look full in His face — and let Him bring you, again, new life.
“Jesus said to the dead man, “Young man, I say to thee, arise!” And he who was dead, sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.” (Lu. 7:14-15)
Prayer: God, give me eyes for you. Above all I see, I want to see you. I ask for you to grant me deeper knowledge of your providence and care. Will you help me to take my eyes off of the heaviness that surrounds so that I might see and seek your face, in full? Give me grace to know and love you more. Come to my rescue. Bring life to what appears dead. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
For instance, when a son arrives home from school, do we come down on him because he had go to school? Do we say, “You should already know this stuff.”
Or, when a kid says, “Why is the world not flat?”, do we berate them for not knowing.
Or, when they make a mistake, like blurting out a comment, do we hold it against them for a lifetime?
No. We know children:
are learning.
are growing.
need grace.
“…For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (children).” Mt. 19:21
Likewise,we are children.
We:
are learning.
are growing.
need grace.
I don’t think God disdains the process of growing and learning as much as we do. He knows we are “becoming” like Christ.
We “are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Cor. 3:18)
This means we don’t already know everything. We will make mistakes. We take off one layer of the onion of __, only to 6 months experience a deeper layer God wants to remove. We find a more complete understanding of God’s Word that sets us free one year, and then it happens to a greater degree 2 years later.
God isn’t angry at us that we had things to learn. That we aren’t perfect. Or, that “only now, are we just getting it”. Or that “we’re so slow.” On the contrary, His process is our progress.
We are becoming, transforming and becoming liberated into the image of Christ. May we not despise the process. May we not run from the crafting work of the Master Creator. May we not think it is because we are ‘bad’ or not good enough. May we not disdain the fact that, like a child, we need Him. That He is helping us understand.
Going to school with God doesn’t mean that you are failing, it means He is growing you, renewing you and readying you for all that He has ahead.
Like a child, be okay with being in school.
“Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding. . .” (Prov. 3:13)
