Tag: hope

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A NEW SEASON

I live in Texas.  Rarely do we ever see a full season here with the exception of summer.  Even then, we have those crazy moments.  Like a few years ago, in the middle of July, we are outside in sweaters and coats because it is 40 degrees.  The next day, hot and steamy again.

I’ve recently turned 30.  That was one big birthday!  Kind of hit me a little hard.  But I’ve looked back over my last 29 years of my life and I saw that I’ve dealt with life like Texas handles it’s seasons.  Sporadic, crazy, chaotic.  For me, that is no more.

1 Corinthians 13:11 says: “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”

Will you take this journey with me?  Will you decide to lay down the childish ways of your past and move into a new season of maturity?  Let’s start a new season.  Not just because it is a new year, but because we have only a small time on Earth.  Let’s make it count!

Be blessed everyone!  It’s a new season!  Step boldly into it.

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Lay it down

A new year is quickly approaching!  It is always an exciting season of new things awaiting us.  In preparation – many decide to make goals, resolutions, and plans for great things in the new year. It is a great practice that I plan on participating in.  But that is not what is on my heart right now.  

There are only a few more days left in 2015 and in these next few days, I am starting to prepare my heart for the things God has for me in 2016.  This entailes laying some thoughts, insecurities, and doubts down.  I don’t want the things I plan for my new year to fall by the wayside because I held onto my old insecurities.

It’s time to kill off some adverse things that I allowed in my mind and heart that I know will not allow me to go on to new, better things.  Just as 2 Corinthians 5:17 says,  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Old things must pass before new things can come.  I encourage you to search your heart & pray that God not only reveals the thoughts, doubts, and insecurities that have held you back, but that He takes those things away.  That will require you to lay those things down.

Prepare & guard your heart for a great & wonderful new season!  Great things are ahead of us all.  God is so very faithful!

“Prepare your outside work, Make it fit for yourself in the field; And afterward build your house.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭24:27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Be blessed, dear friends.  Our best is yet to come!  

 Prayer: Lord, help me to lay down the thoughts, doubts, and insecurities that I have held onto for too long.  The things that hinder growth and keep me from better things.  Take these things from me and heal my brokenness so they will not come back.  Thank you for always being faithful. In Jesus’ precious name, amen!

 

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Letting Go

I was trying to find something to watch on TV one night and stumbled upon the show Hoarders.  Have you ever seen it?  I don’t know why I sat there & watched an hour detailing the condition and subsequent clean up of a house filled with trash.  But I couldn’t seem to turn the channel – something about it intrigued me.

As a part of the show, they brought in a psychiatrist to help the person hoarding understand her dysfunction.  Basically, after her husband passed, she just started to throw everything on the floor, so bad that she cannot see the floor in her house any longer.  It was a product of bringing the chaos she was feeling inside to the outside.  It somehow satisfied her.  This went on for 18 years.  It wasn’t until the city prepared to take the house away from her and condemn it did she allow someone to come in and help.

As I watched this story unfold, the Holy Spirit asked me – how many times have you hoarded things in your mind, heart, or emotions until you had to get rid of it?  How many times do you not want to deal with a bad situation so you stuff it down?  How many times have you compromised your health because you don’t want to properly clean up a mess in your mind, heart, or emotions?

We do not have to hoard in order to live an unhealthy life.  We just have to leave emotions, thoughts, problems sitting around long enough for them to start to stink, rot, and compromise our health.  The structure of our personhood – the being God has uniquely created – can be compromised and be set to be condemned; it isn’t then we start to clean ourselves up.

I had the privilege and honor to be a few people’s counselor a few years back.  As I head their stories, I saw how months, years, decades of repressed emotions from past problems have caused their lives to spin out of order.  Now, they come and sit on a couch to ask a perfect stranger for help. 

 There is absolutely no shame in doing this.  God created the act of counseling for a reason and He loves it when His children find healing.  If you find yourself in a place where you think you are spinning out of control, I encourage you to seek help.  But before you do that, before you reach out to your BFF, your mom, or the Internet, consider another solution.

Turn to God:

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

‭‭I Peter‬ ‭5:6-7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Sometimes, we need to get on our knees, seek His face, and ask our precious loving Father to help us clean the mess we allowed to get overrun with hurt, bitterness, and frustration up.  Help us clean up the consequences of our avoidance.  Put us on a track to getting better.  Placing people in our lives who can help us get to where we need to be.  

If you find yourself in a situation like this, you are not alone.  I’ve been there, as well as many others.  There is a solution – it may get hard – but it will get better.  Trust that God has it all worked out as soon as you lay it in His hands.

Be blessed my friends!  Never, ever stop seeking.

   

  

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Speak Life

Words – we use them every day, in every culture, race, gender, and country.  They can heal and they can harm.  We can use them to change the world or destroy it.  Words have power.

Have you ever asked yourself why?  Why can words destroy or repair, raise up or cut down?  How can our words be so powerful?  It’s simple – we are made in the image of God – the God whose words brought this world into existence.  A word from Him can change the entire universe in an instant.

When we understand that, as an image of our Creator, our words can change the course of our destiny, crush a relationship, or bring healing to a wounded soul – we understand the power we have.  You are powerful, my friend. No matter how insignificant you feel, life and death are in the power of your tongue.  Make your words worthwhile – bring life from your words.

So many times, I’ve said to myself – “I know (this) or (that) is going to happen!” and it does.  I just spoke things as if they were, whether it is good or bad.  If what I spoke was negative, I would be in trouble.  After a few hard lessons, I started to watch my negative speak.  I am a human so I fail from time to time, but I know the better I speak life, the more blessed I am.

I encourage you – if you have a bad habit of speaking death over yourself, I encourage you to take the rest of this week by only speaking life over yourself, your job, your family, your husband/wife, your children, and your friends.  Don’t allow your words to stunt you.  You hold the power to a better life – use it!

“Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭18:21‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

  

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You are enough

Be you.  No one else can be you.  You were created for a purpose, a plan, there is a reason you are here.

I stated in my bio that I have always been considered a little strange.  It’s true.  I dance to my own beat, do my own thing.  I have always been that way.  Some people get me, love me.  But I have had my critics as well. 

 As I finish my last few months of my 20’s, I have to admit – I no longer care how weird people think I am because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  Designed by my Father to be who I am.  And so are you!

Be bold enough to be you.  Forget who everyone else says you are.  God holds your true identity.  Let His opinion rule!

I am loved.  You are loved.  Not for the things you & I do, but because we exist, were created, and am who we are.  Do not ever forget that!

“O LORD, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, Even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,” Even the night shall be light about me; Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, But the night shines as the day; The darkness and the light are both alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139:1-18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Be blessed, dear friends, and live fearlessly!

  

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Redemption – part 2

For those that desire redemption & grace must learn to give it.  Don’t allow yourself to be an agent of the enemy.  Let go & move on!!  

We can start a movement.  As I stated in my last post – our society has no place for redemption.  Let’s find a place for it.  Let’s love boldly and unconditionally.  

This is the only way to win the war against our advisory.

Remember: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Romans‬ ‭8:1‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

  

  

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Redeemed

Redemption – defined as “the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.”  A word used in the church, but I think not many truly understand.  That is because our human brains cannot fully wrap our heads (or hearts) around it.  In reality, our society has little space for such a concept.

Have you ever seen a celebrity “fall from grace” and then try to get their life right again – only to be reminded of their past transgressions over and over again? That is the goal of our advisory – who isn’t our neighbor, church member, friend or foe.  It is the work of Satan himself.  He makes it very difficult to walk in grace, if we give him power.

Do I believe there are consequences to every sin?  Yes, of course there is.  But grace says the consequences are not a death sentence.  Once you have given your life to Christ, accepted the gift of redemption through the Cross, and make amends with those you hurt – you should get up and move on.

Don’t allow anyone or anything working for the advisory tell you otherwise.  You are redeemed, made new, whole again.  Walk with your head held high.  Love those who remind you of your past.  Let God fight your battles.  Don’t let Satan win.

If you struggle with this – I encourage you to place these scriptures somewhere you can see them everyday:

“In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” Ephesians‬ ‭1:7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” Titus‬ ‭2:11-14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.” I Corinthians‬ ‭7:23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

“He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians‬ ‭1:13-14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Get the enemy out of your mind & put on the mind of Christ.

Live boldly, dear friends, and be blessed!

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Lies, lies, and more lies

I hate lying.  I have never been good with it.  Most of the time, I get so nervous when I do lie that I know people can read it on my face.  I also hate being lied to.  It happens, though.  That is a part of our fallen nature.  I wish I could say that everything everyone ever tells me is the truth, but I know that is a naive way of thinking and impossible to expect.

The first lie ever spoken to a human being was in the Garden.  It was a lie that we believed almost immediately.  One thing to learn about Satan is he never changes.  He uses the same tactics over and over.  He will always lie to us to make us believe exactly the opposite of what God says.  Even convincing us that He, the one who bled and died for us, is lying to us.  How absurd is that?  Oh, but I can pretty much guaranty that you and I have fallen for his awful lies many times.

Lies are everywhere:

  • Life won’t get better – so you might as well end it now.
  • You are not made right so now you have to change…at all cost – including disfiguring your body to where you cannot go back.
  • No one loves you – no one ever has – no one ever will.
  • You will always be who you were – no one will ever be able to see you beyond who you were when you made that mistake.
  • You will never be as good as you once were – you messed your life up too much now.
  • You are a mistake.
  • You deserved to be treated like that.
  • You were made to be abused and thrown away.
  • You are no longer of value to this world.
  • You will never get married – no one would ever want you.
  • You might as well keep living in and doing that horrible thing.  You will never be good to anyone anymore.
  • Everyone is better than you.  Why do you think so much of yourself?
  • Because you look different, you are not as special as others.
  • Because your skin is a different color, you deserve less.

Unfortunately…I can go on.  Unfortunately, the lies you believe may not be up above.  Unfortunately, you may have lived with those lies a really long time.  But there is always hope!

“For You made the parts inside me. You put me together inside my mother. I will give thanks to You, for the greatness of the way I was made brings fear. Your works are great and my soul knows it very well. My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret and put together with care in the deep part of the earth. Your eyes saw me before I was put together. And all the days of my life were written in Your book before any of them came to be.  Your thoughts are of great worth to me, O God. How many there are! If I could number them, there would be more than the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.” Psalm 139:13-18

“Do not act like the sinful people of the world. Let God change your life. First of all, let Him give you a new mind. Then you will know what God wants you to do. And the things you do will be good and pleasing and perfect.” Romans 12:2

“Christian brothers, keep your minds thinking about whatever is true, whatever is respected, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever can be loved, and whatever is well thought of. If there is anything good and worth giving thanks for, think about these things.”  Philippians 4:8

“We do not use those things to fight with that the world uses. We use the things God gives to fight with and they have power. Those things God gives to fight with destroy the strong-places of the devil. We break down every thought and proud thing that puts itself up against the wisdom of God. We take hold of every thought and make it obey Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Find hope in His words of truth.  Don’t ever allow yourself to be overtaken by the words of the eternal snake, but by the One who designed and created you.  He loves you despite your faults, your sins, and all the things that you hate about yourself.

You are His beloved.  No one can love you like He does.  I encourage you to get into His word and see what He says about you!

Pray this with me: Dear Father, who loves me unconditionally, help me determine the truth from the lies.  Heal the parts of me that were wounded from these lies.  Make me into who I am supposed to be – whole.  Tear down the strongholds in my mind, set up by Satan and all his helpers.  Help me accept me as you made me to be.  Forgive me for believing that you in any way made a mistake in making me who I am.  Help me become not only Your follower, but Your servant.  I want to follow you at all cost.  Thank you for being who You are.  I love you.  In Jesus’ mighty name, amen.

Be blessed everyone!

Lies and truth

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God sweats the small stuff

My goal this year is to read the Bible cover to cover.  There are some really interesting stories in the there.  A lot of stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Most know the story of the valley of the dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14).  I knew little more than that off the top of my head.  When I was reading it, the last few chapters were about the temple that the Israelites were going to build.  There were just figures…square feet and descriptions of what you do in this room or that room…for the majority of those chapters.

I asked God “what was the point in including this in your holy word?  Doesn’t this just pertain to those at that time and not now?”  The Holy Spirit replied “Brooke, I want people to know that I care about even the smallest details.  Don’t you get that from this scripture?  No detail is too small for me to not care about it.”  Boom – mind blown!  What a word…what a revelation! It made me realize that God cares so much about every little detail.  No stone goes unturned with Him.

What does this mean for you and me?  (1) God’s plan for our lives is well thought out.  Yes, there is a reason for everything.  It it has everything to do with how much He loves us.  (2) He sees and counts even the smallest things we do, good or bad.  (3) Nothing is too small for us not to ask.  No matter how small the need is, God cares about it (and us).

The God that spoke the universe into existence cared about the square footage of each room in the Temple.  If that doesn’t blow your mind, I don’t know what will.

I will leave you with this scripture.  Remember that you are special to Him and you can bring all your needs to Him, no matter how small.  Be blessed everyone!

 What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. Luke 12:6-7

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The Feast

The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; he leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever. (‭Psalms‬ ‭23‬:‭1-6‬ NLT)

How many times have you read that scripture?  Probably hundreds…kikr me. How many believe the promises in this Psalm?  Do you apply those promises to your life?

Sometimes God has to remind me that He protects me & prepares a feast for me.  Even when He gives me a peek at great things to come, I have a hard time trusting Him.

 I know I should trust Him, but my fleshly mind wants to try to apply logic where there isn’t, at least earthly speaking.  God works in a different realm than we live.  Because of this, His works rarely make sense to out sheepy brains.

I just went through a season of receiving confirmation after confirmation that something is going to happen…from God…and I was still anxious that it wouldn’t happen.  I knew I shouldn’t feel that way, but these earthly centered emotions got in the way.  My Father (and yours) already laid it all out before me.  I just had to wait for supper time to enjoy the feast.

Are you waiting for something, you know it is coming due to confirmation from the Holy Spirit, but you continue to struggle with doubt and anxiety?  Wait and trust.  The wait is worth it.  Let Him lay out the fine china and make that extra dessert.   It is all gonna be great, I promise.

Pray this with me: My dear Father, thank you for always taking care of me.  No matter how many times I doubt your works, you continue to do for me.  Forgive me, Lord, for not trusting you.  Help me do better. I love you with my entire being.  In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Be blessed, everyone.