health
Endless energy
Endless energy, boundless strength (Ephesians 1:15 MSG) Doesn't that sound attractive, appealing and plain amazing?
Well, endless energy is not normally the first thing that comes to mind when describing a new mum as I am. Quite the contrary, sleep deprivation is often worn as a badge of honour!
Nevertheless, endless energy was what my husband recently spoke over me to describe what he believed God would do for me in this season. Clearly he possesses the spiritual gift of faith 😜 (he actually does) and I do want to claim that word 🙋♀️Anyone else?
Energy is defined as 'the capacity for doing work' and it's God-given:
"It was God giving me the work to do, God giving me the energy to do it!" 1 Corinthians 15:10 MSG.
We've all been given a portion of energy to steward and we're promised that "...your strength will equal your days" Deuteronomy 33:25 NIV.
Our spiritual, emotional and physical energy levels are affected by how we steward it. When we spiritually keep ourselves ablaze, emotionally guard our hearts and renew our minds, and physically choose well regarding diet and exercise, we reap energy. Our energy is also positively affected by passion for what we do and can be negatively affected by mental or physical illness.
I 'm not naturally an energetic person. Part of me is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire, as Eugene Peterson paraphrases Mark 14:37 in the Message Translation.
Therefore, it encourages me that any believer can be energised for good works by the power of the Holy Spirit:
"Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God. That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you, God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure" Philippians 2:12 MSG.
Imagine one believer living like this, and then imagine a body of believers living an energetic life of salvation. The passionate energy of the church can make hell run out of breath! ( like it says in Matth 16,18 MSG"... a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.")
We can be like Stephen who "... brimming with God's grace and energy, was doing wonderful things among the people, unmistakable signs that God was among them" Acts 6:8 MSG.
We can be like Jesus who felt energy discharging from him when people came to him for healing and restoration (Mark 5:30 MSG).
We can spend our energy to get along and encourage one other as the apostle Paul encourages us to (Romans 14:19 MSG).
Practically, we can choose to fill ourselves with His living Word which will fuel us: "For we have the living Word of God, which is full of energy" Hebrews 4:12 MSG.
Are you ready for a Winter full of endless energy?
Then I pray that God will make you fit for what he's called you to be, and that He'll fill your good ideas and acts of faith with his own energy so it all amounts to something (2 Thessalonians 1:11 MSG).
Endless energy, boundless strength (Ephesians 1:15 MSG) is your portion in Jesus' name.
Picture by Sophie Vestergård.
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Your delivery has arrived
Have you ever been waiting for a package delivery?
When ‘track-and-trace’ updates me it's time to check my mail box for an arrived package, I get excited, and when the delivery is on time, it's just the best!
However, sometimes delays happen that cause anxiety as to when I'll end up receiving the product I ordered and is expecting.
The same anxiety can show up in our spiritual and emotional waiting room of life whether the delivery is something we're about to be given (like a package), something we're about to give birth to physically or spiritually or we're waiting for something or someone to deliver us!
For me personally, I'm waiting for the delivery of our baby who is due tomorrow! However, I don't know when that delivery will happen exactly so this bible-dive into what the scriptures have to stay about delivery and deliverance is timely for myself.
What kind of delivery are you waiting for right now?
It could be that you're waiting for restoration in a relationship, a healing in your body or a promise/ dream in your heart to be delivered to you?
Whatever the type of "'Your delivery has arrived'- email" you're waiting for, I believe we can do three things in the meanwhile to stay in hopeful expectation!
Metaphorically speaking:
- We can check our package order request to see if it's correct
- We can check the email spam filter to make sure the right message is reaching us
- We can check the order confirmation and promise the store has given us.
Let's dig deeper below.
1.Check your order request
The first thing I do when my package delivery is late, is to check my order to see if I got the right memo about the date and if I ordered the product to the right address.
I believe we can do the same when we're waiting in expectation for God to deliver something to our lives. We are encouraged to make our requests known to God, so what have you requested of God? Or what do you need to request of Him you've only wished for this far?
"And all the time you don’t obtain what you want because you won’t ask God for it! And if you ask, you won’t receive it for you’re asking with corrupt motives, seeking only to fulfill your own selfish desires" James 4:2 TPT.
When we "check our order" metaphorically speaking, we can make sure we've actually asked God and not only wished for it. We can also give God access to search our hearts to make sure we requested a delivery to our lives with the right motive. Sometimes, we might also already have received what we asked for but we haven't had eyes to see it because the delivery arrived in a different package than we expected it to look like.
One thing is sure. God is always active in our lives as these scriptures reveal. He is sending out orders and working for our good:
"God sends angels with special orders to protect you wherever you go, defending you from all harm" Psalm 91:11 MSG.
"He sends out his orders throughout the world; his words run as swift messengers, bringing them to pass" Psalm 147:15 MSG.
"He established the cosmos to last forever, and he stands behind his commands so his orders will never be revoked" Psalm 148:6 MSG.
God is in the business of sending special orders out to protect us, and what He orders for our lives will be impossible to change.
2. Check your spam filter
One of the more frustrating messages to receive when trying to deliver an email is this one: "Delivery Status Notification (Failure) I learnt that one of the reasons for this delivery fail is because the email is landing in a spam filter!
I've been reminded of the importance of having an internal spam filter in this season of waiting to deliver my baby into the world. An internal spam filter is helpful in sorting out unhelpful comments from taking root in my heart and mind.
Whether the negative comments have been about bad birth experiences, comments on the belly or others simply projecting their fears on me, my internal spam filter has helped me let the good opinions, comments and remarks stay and the negative ones go.
We can't put our hope in people's words to deliver us: "Give us help against the adversary, For deliverance by man is in vain [a worthless hope]" Psalm 108:12.
When our spam filter is working, we set ourselves up for a win so only the authentic and real, honourable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind (Phil. 4:8 TPT) words gets to stay and get attention in the inbox of our hearts and minds.
Let your mental spam filter help sort what words to hold on to and which ones to let go of as you await in hopeful expectancy on your delivery.
Even when our own deliveries fail to be sent properly, we can rest knowing that God's deliveries to our lives never get lost in a spam filter. His deliveries are timely and we need open hands and hearts to receive the new He has for us:
"Is anything too difficult or too wonderful for the Lord? At the appointed time, when the season [for her delivery] comes, I will return to you and Sarah will have a son” Genesis 18:14 AMP.
3. Check the promise
To stick with the package delivery-example, I do check the order confirmation whenever my delivery is delayed. I make sure that what I think has been promised from the store is actually what the order confirmation-email says I can expect.
I believe the exact same principle goes for our relationship with God. When we haven't received what we've been waiting for, it can be helpful to go back and check what God actually promised? Did he put a date on it? He rarely does as His ways are not our ways. If your journal entry does not recount what He has specifically promised you in the area you're waiting for a delivery on, go to the bible to see what He has promised in terms of deliverance.
When I did a word-study on "deliverance", I found that God is the ultimate deliverer! He delivers us from death (Psalm 30:1), God delivers nations (Isaiah 27:1), God delivers justice (Hebrews 10:30) and He has delivered us from the consequences of sin (Ephesians 4:30). This general, big perspective on deliverance helps me wait on the specific deliveries!
Costly deliveries
I must admit, I certainly have my favourite delivery service! That would be free, express delivery right to my door! No cost, short waiting time and no hassle to pick up the package is such a joy.
However, this is not always how our packages arrive, and it's not always how our other deliveries in life come. For example, I don't expect my birth delivery to be with no cost and with no waiting time. I'm prepared that there will be a painful cost to pay in birthing my daughter but I trust it will be absolutely worthwhile and beautiful anyways.
Even if your spiritual/soul/physical delivery might come with a cost, know that God's presence will go with you. He will battle for you. You just need to stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you (2 Chronicles 20:17 NIV).
If He has brought you to it, He'll enable you to go through it:
“Shall I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery?” says the Lord. “Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” says your God" Isaiah 66:9 AMP.
Surprise deliveries
Another favourite delivery service of mine would be surprise deliveries. People have been kind in this pregnancy journey to surprise us with deliveries of clothes and baby gear we didn't expect to receive.
Jesus himself came as a surprise delivery through a virgin birth and what He continually does in people's lives around the world are surprise deliveries - the exceedingly, abundantly above our wildest requests-kind of surprises. He has done these surprise deliverances since he entered the scene as the prophet Isaiah prophesied:
"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. For those who lived in a land of deep shadows— light! sunbursts of light! [...]The abuse of oppressors and cruelty of tyrants— all their whips and cudgels and curses— Is gone, done away with, a deliverance as surprising and sudden as Gideon’s old victory over Midian[...]For a child has been born—for us! the gift of a son—for us!" Isaiah 9:2 MSG.
I pray for the last three months of this year that you’ll receive surprise deliveries that would be the kind only God knows you're longing for; the kind that'll be infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination!
These kind of surprise deliveries energises us as we wait for full deliverance.
Full deliverance
While you wait on your delivery, know that the hope set before us as Christ-followers is not only the specific deliverance you're waiting for - it's the full deliverance of heaven in the not-yet kingdom where there will be no more tears and pain!
"All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance.
That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy" Romans 8:22 MSG.
Be encouraged! Deliverance is here already, deliverance is on it's way, and deliverance will come!
“Pay attention, my people. Listen to me, nations. Revelation flows from me. My decisions light up the world. My deliverance arrives on the run, my salvation right on time" Isaiah 51:4 MSG.
As you await your specific delivery, check out your order request, check your spam filter and check out God’s promise to you. He’ll provide for the costly deliveries, He loves to surprise you with His deliveries and He is a God who has secured your full deliverance through Jesus.
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Keys to receive a blueprint part 2
You can read part one on blueprints: "A blueprint for the new year" here.
In the last post, I unpacked how a blueprint is more than a vision. It is a plan on how to live it out. There are countless examples of this in the bible.
God revealed to Noah how exactly the ark was to be built to carry out God’s rescue plan from the flood for the righteous: "This is how you are to make it: The ark will be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high..." (Gen. 6,15 CSB) David received the exact blueprints from God to pass on to Solomon to build the temple of God: "The plans contained everything he had in mind for the courts of the Lord's house, all the surrounding chambers, the treasuries of God's house, and the treasuries for what is dedicated" 1 Chronicles 28:11 CSB.
And on and on the instructions go.
Like Noah and David, we can position ourselves to receive a blueprint for an assignment we've been given so we can partner with God and not only fulfill our assignment, but fulfill it in His loving, wise ways.
For you, God might want to give you a blueprint for the vision He has given you for 2019 whether it be for a certain project, a blueprint for your team structure, or your family's rhythms for example.
What were Noah, David and Jesus' blueprint for?
Noah's blueprint was for building an ark that could rescue the righteous from the flood God had sent to wipe away the wicked from the earth. The purpose was to partner with God for a reset on earth that would serve the future generations.
David's blueprint was for rebuilding the temple of God. After the Israelites had resettled in Jerusalem after the exile, they needed to reconnect with their identity as the people of God. The temple should direct them back to God's presence in their midst. The temple would later remind many Christians of the importance of the presence of God.
Jesus' blueprint on how to pray in Luke 11 served the purpose of intimacy with the Father and it showed the way for other people to connect to God.
In all three examples (the reset on earth, the rebuilding of the temple and the model of prayer), the blueprints helped serve other people, the future generations and forge relationship with God. 🔑
Let's look on some other keys in scripture that unlocked a blueprint from heaven:
- Ask 🔑
"He was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray..." Luke 11:1 CSB.
A new testament example on a blueprint is Jesus teaching us a model for prayer in Luke 11. Before Jesus prayed, "Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come..", he was asked by one of his disciples to be trained on the 'how to'.
Where do you need to ask God on the 'how' to carry out a certain assignment, face a challenge, or maybe reconcile a broken-down relationship?
2. Walking consistently with God 🔑
"Noah walked with God" Genesis 6:9 CSB.
Noah is described as a man walking with God and David's faithful heart towards God is also evident many places in scripture. When we walk consistently with God, He can align our hearts with His, and He can speak to us about the specifics on how to carry out His heart in a timely manner on the earth.
A blueprint is not about getting a plan and then moving on with the job without God. No, God shares His secrets with friends who consistently abide in Him.
3. Failure does not disqualify 🔑
"Then David prayed, “I have sinned badly in what I have just done, substituting statistics for trust; forgive my sin—I’ve been really stupid.” 1 Chronicles 21:8 MSG.
Before David received His blueprint he had just been seduced by the enemy to make a prideful leadership decision in counting his warriors.
The key is David’s hearts after his failure. He repents for his lack of trust in counting his warriors and in obedience he builds an altar to worship to God. Like Noah, He is walking with God, not perfect though, but with a repentant heart, willing to bear the consequences of his stupid choice. After David repented, he did not cut corners in building God an altar (1 Chronicles 21:18)
Failure does not have to qualify in partnering with God when we repent and in obedience goes forward with what He has called us to do, now done in His way without cutting corners.
4. A grateful attitude 🔑
In David's prayer (1 Chronicles 29:10 CSB), we see David go public with his honor to God: "Then David blessed the Lord in the sight of all the assembly" and we see David explain how they had received provision from God to carry out the blueprint of the temple: "Lord, our God, all this wealth that we've provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand..."
When we do receive a blueprint from heaven, we can learn from David's example of telling his testimony publicly and recognising where the provision for the blueprint came from. A grateful attitude is pleasing to God.
Promises attached to the blueprint
1 Chron 28:19 tells how God not only gives David the blueprint on how to build the temple, but also the understanding on how to then carry it out: "By the Lord's hand on me, he enabled me to understand everything in writing all the detail of the plan."
That's a comforting fact. We can in the same way believe God not only to give us a blueprint but also to give us the understanding to carry it out.
Let's learn from Noah, David and Jesus and...
- Ask for a blueprint,
- Walk consistently with our Father
- Remember failure does not qualify when we repent
- Carry a grateful attitude
Bless you,
Sandra.
From watch-watcher to map master
Have you ever impatiently waited for the clock to turn to the time you wanted it to turn? When we are aching for a moment to come about, it feels like time can only go too slow.
At Easter I went with my family to Geneva where we visited the famous Patek Phillippe Museum. The museum showcases thousands of different watches. The first pocket watch was made in 1540.
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There is a market for watches, obviously because they can be pretty accessories and a fine piece of craftsmanship. But there is a market for watches because we all care about time! We don't like being behind or even too far ahead of ourselves. We want to be right on time. We are watch-watchers, watching the clock and waiting, dreaming and hoping for something to come to pass.
I think this desire to be right on time is godly. We are created to follow a rhythm of grace and a timing.
What is not godly is when we try to take the matter of time into our own hands.
Jesus told the disciples in Acts 1:7-8:
“You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”
Because timing is the Father's business, we'll benefit from loosing our glance on the clock and follow the directions of a map instead; the map of the word of God. <3
Psalm 19,7 MSG tells us that the life-maps of God are right, showing the way to joy. The directions of God are plain and easy on the eyes. God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold, with a lifetime guarantee. The decisions of God are accurate down to the nth degree.
Proverbs 4:11 MSG also tells us, "I am drawing a map to Righteous Road. I don’t want you ending up in blind alleys, or wasting time making wrong turns."
I personally know the pain of being a watch-watcher, staring down the clock for the minute hand to move in areas like starting to date, get married and finishing up studies.
The result has been the same - wasted time and ending up in blind alleys, as the Proverb above teaches us.
When I change focus from passively being a watch-watcher to actively studying the map of God's transforming word, I set myself up to receive what I'm hoping for in the Father's perfect timing.
Below are three keys which can help us see why and how we must go from being watch-watchers to becoming map masters:
1 - Sow your seed
"Go to work in the morning and stick to it until evening without watching the clock. You never know from moment to moment how your work will turn out in the end."
(Ecclesiastes 11:6 MSG)
This verse speaks about hard work and persistence. It speaks about us not needing to evaluate our job every single day to check if it's producing the fruit we are hoping to see from our labour. Instead of evaluating if we are getting the results we want, we are better off getting on with sowing the seeds that are moving us in the direction we are heading to. That will make sure we are not living short-sighted, but for the long haul. (even though getting regular wins are key as we move forward.)
As my pastor, Thomas Hansen, will often so brilliantly say, it's not our position in life but our direction that counts. As we sow the right seeds in the direction of God's principles mapped out in the bible, we will eventually get where we need to go in His timing. Our job is sowing the right seeds. His is the timing.
2 - Map it out
What do you already have in your hand that God has given you? For the Israelites, they had been given Jordan, their promised land, and a courageous leader in Joshua, who asked them to map the land, so the seven tribes yet to receive their inheritance could get their portion:
"So the men set out. As they went out to survey the land, Joshua charged them: “Go. Survey the land and map it" Joshua 18:8 MSG.
The bible speaks over and over about the principle of offering God what we have, and then God will add His miraculous power to it. So whatever you have been given, map out how you can best put it to use, just like the Israelites mapped out the land they had been given.
The meaning of mapping something out is with other words to outline, plan a route or course of action in detail, sketch out, rough out, block out, draw up, formulate, work out, frame, draft, plan, plot out, arrange, design, programme, think out, think through and to organise.
This is right in line with the scripture in Habakkuk 2:2 MSG that frames it this way:
"Write what you see. Write it out in big block letters so that it can be read on the run. This vision-message is a witness pointing to what’s coming. It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait. And it doesn’t lie. If it seems slow in coming, wait. It’s on its way. It will come right on time."
When we map out our dreams and resources, we can do what God tells us. We can walk in the paths He shows us. We can follow the life-map absolutely. We can keep an eye out for the signposts, His course for life set out in the revelation to Moses; then we’ll get on well in whatever we do and wherever we go (1 Kings 2 MSG).
3 - Expect His timing to be only good
When I fell into being a watch-watcher recently, I was tempted to doubt God's heart and if He even wants to give me what I purely and godly desire. When I started doubting in the waiting, my mum wrote out this amazing encouragement to me: "We must learn to trust that God will give us what we need, when we need it. He is ALWAYS timely."
That dream of yours you might be watching the clock to see happen, remember so much more is at play than you can even imagine! God is attentively, intimately aware of your heart's longing and aching in the waiting and at the same time He is working hard to connect all the dots. Because when your dream comes to pass, it will help a lot more people than you imagine! So many puzzle pieces will be put together for the kingdom to advance in and through you, and the testimony will be wild!
"What a Day that will be! No more cold nights—in fact, no more nights! The Day is coming—the timing is God’s—when it will be continuous day. Every evening will be a fresh morning." Zechariah 14:6-7 MSG.
The timing is God's for your life, and the timing is God's for the bigger picture it's speaking about in the verse above on that day when heaven comes to earth for good.
Our part is becoming great map masters of His word & revealed will, so we can align ourselves with what He has for us in the future.
His love is poured out for you and His timing is only for your good.
So let's dare going from being watch-watchers to becoming map-masters in Jesus' name.
In this together,
Sandra.
No doubt about it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sv_8e8fSMNg
To watch the message, click above⬆
To read the message, continue below ⬇
Have you ever entertained doubt in your mind? Doubt about the future, doubt about your abilities (self-doubt), doubt about your relationships, doubt about your direction? Doubt can show up everywhere and it can be debilitating.
Doubt comes up for me, especially in waiting seasons. Big dreams and vision are awesome and without them, we perish. But in the in-between-space of dream becoming reality, our minds can easily spin into, 'Did God really say?', 'How will this come about?' and 'Have I missed anything since it has not happened yet?'
Rarely will these kind of questions do our heart any good. We'll start reason our way into a downward spiral, jumping to conclusions on how our future will become reality and we'll afflict our life with self-doubt about the seeming gaps in our lives.
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I think Jesus wants to ask some of us: "Faint-heart, what got into you?" Jesus asked this question to Peter as he started to doubt and sink down into the water he just so bravely walked out on to follow Jesus.
So sweet, amazing faint-of-heart-you, what got into you?
No matter what kind of doubt has taken hold of you, it's a gift for us that the topic of doubt is covered many times in the bible!
Let's look on three keys that can help us combat doubt when it starts to damage our day:
1. Simple trust
In this story below, Jesus is appearing for the first time to the disciples after His resurrection. Despite the disciples' doubt, Jesus had been true to His word. He was teaching them simple trust:
"While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you.” They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death. He continued with them, “Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands; look at my feet—it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe (Luke 24).
When doubt arises, instead of acting on our doubt, let's wait and watch how God will come through. We might not see the bigger picture right now, but that's where we got to trust God's timing. A delay does not mean denial. Mark 9 tells us that there are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen. Therefore, watch in expectation what He will do.
Wait and watch for God - with God's arrival comes love, with God's arrival comes generous redemption. No doubt about it - He'll redeem you, He has bought you back from captivity to sin. (See Psalm 130:7)
3. Ask for help
Let the walls fall
Have you ever thought you were smart, later to find out what you have done has been silly and had the total opposite effect of what you actually pursued? I've tried this many times when it comes to creative processes. When I embark to paint something (which rarely happens), this is my experience. I'm thinking what I'm up to will turn out exactly as I envisions in my mind, and because of using the wrong painting tools and not having the regular practise, it ends up looking silly in comparison to what I pursued!
I think this goes for our hearts too sometimes. It's my heart experience at least. 🙋
For years, my heart was surrounded by thick walls built of destructive bricks. Bricks of insecurity, self hatred, control, perfectionism, people pleasing, unforgiveness, bitterness, and that's even only to name a few.
Sin, like these bricks are, always promises us satisfaction and safety, but ends up stealing from us. I thought each brick would build a wall of protection from getting hurt, but instead I built a destructive prison of isolation. What I envisioned would be good for my heart turned out to be silly, even traumatic. Just like my painting efforts.
My heart result was a numb, masked and superficial life filled with addiction. A life lived in denial about the real condition of my heart. I would pretend to be completely fine while I was dying from the inside; isolated in the shame of wrong thoughts which led to lots of negative emotions! Thank God our heart is not static but is ever shaped into His likeness.
So, how do we let the walls fall? How do we let light in?
My experience is we allow ourselves to feel it to heal it, we let Christ take over and be strong for us, and we bring others with us - holding the torch lighting the way for them to be set free as well! ⬇️⬇️
- Allow yourself to feel it to heal it
An important step in my healing process was to allow myself to feel again after years of suppressing my emotions. For a season I would write to my mentor every day and simply put into words how I was feeling.
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It was an exercise in being aware. Waking up. Not faking it for myself or others anymore. Coming out of denial. I began to express instead of living to impress.
It was a tough and humbling process to acknowledge my own weakness and not pretend to be strong when I was actually hurt. Daring to ask for help. Smashing pride in the face. Receiving grace. Letting the walls fall.
My mess was met with love and no sense of condemnation. It was so incredibly healing to realize that emotions are not a curse. They are gifts that make life colourful.
As I submitted my emotions to the authority of the wonderful word of God, the great exchange happened. An exchange of what was momentarily true about me for that which is the ultimate, forever truth about who I am in Him! He lowered my walls brick by brick so I could receive His steadfast love that melts lies away.
2. Let Christ take over and be strong for you!
As my walls came down, I began to come in contact with my own fragility and weakness, which is rarely a fun experience for anyone! It’s humbling for sure! But, I keep practising to just let Christ take over. And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become. (2 Corinthians 12:10 MSG)
What a crazy thought! The weaker we get, the stronger we become. This kingdom we are part of is truly upside down!
That’s why we especially as leaders as well need to lead upside down. I once heard someone say: “Before I trust you as a leader, show me your scars.”
How profound. Jesus, our perfect leader, modeled this when He showed his scars to Thomas after His death and resurrection.
When Jesus let Thomas touch His scars, doubt was turned into belief. Jesus showed that His leadership was trustworthy because He could sympathise with humanity. He knew pain. He knew humiliation. He knew weakness. And conquered it all!
May we be people who dare to do show others our scars so that Jesus’ strength can shine forth and be revealed in our human weakness.
3. Bring others with you - hold the torch!
We cannot take people where we have not been ourselves. When we allow the Lord to do the amazing work of wall breaking in us, we become carriers of the freedom and restoration we have received ourselves. We become lighthouses.
Figuratively speaking, we become like the Statue of Liberty; holding a torch of freedom in our hand that lights the way for others to follow.
Free in Jesus, we become people not focused on building walls to protect ourselves but rather people focused on building bridges to reach the lost!
God wants to bring our strongholds to ruin. (Psalm 89:40 NIV) With Him it’s safe to let the walls fall and let LOVE rush in.
So the question is: What do you want gracious Jesus to do for you? Will you dare to lower your wall brick by brick?
He is eagerly waiting for your request. He wants to break through for you.
Trust your heart ❤ to the One who sees hearts like we see faces, who hears ache like we hear voices, and who touches wounds like we touch skin. (Ann Voskamp)
Love you and it it together,
Sandra.
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A bud is coming forth 🌱
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDxaDQ36NqY
To watch & listen to the message, watch the video. ⬆️
To read it yourself, continue below. ⬇️
Have you ever had a melt-down? Like a shaking ugly kind of meltdown? Where it’s all flowing – snot, tears and of course the loud sobbing? It’s definitely not the glamorous moments of life I am talking about here. I’ve had a few lately I must confess, and my behaviour started to worry me. Why am I breaking down like this? Am I a crazy person? Taking on too much? Processing too little? Not able to adapt to changes? What’s going on?
The questions were valid and necessary but brought to calm this morning when there came a turnaround in my perspective. Through reading a book, the Holy Spirit reassured me how okay it is to grieve and mourn. It was the exact permission I needed to just let the sadness flow. Feel it and grieve it to then release it.
It is okay to cry out like David: “I’m hurt and in pain; Give me space for healing, and mountain air” Psalm 69:29 MSG. ⛰
Mourning is not only for people who have lost loved ones. It is also for the ones of us who have experienced death of a friendship, death of a season, or death of an expectation. Disappointment in ourselves, in others or a dream is a real pain and it demands to be felt and mourned. As Jesus followers, to experience death is actually necessary for new life, the life of Jesus, to spring up in greater ways in our lives.
For me, this reminder gave me freedom to grieve. When something is cut away from our lives, whether it’s a loss or change life throws at us or something we voluntarily give up, it hurts. Even when we ourselves know it’s time and right for something to be cut away because it has been good this far but will not be sustainable for where we are going in the future, it’s hard because we might not know the new provision that’s coming for us. The cutting of a __________ (relationship, ministry, dream etc…..fill in the gap) leaves just that – a gap.
Therefore, with this post, I want to encourage you, as I was encouraged myself, to be free to grieve the loss, and also know that a cut is part of a pruning process in our Christian walk.
The likeness of our inner lives being pruned as Christians and the pruning of beautiful, yummy-smelling roses, like the ones in the top of this post, is actually astounding! 💐 Roses too need pruning to continue to flourish.
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When I realized this connection, I spent time looking for rose pics for my inspiration board on Pinterest. 🌹 As one beautiful rose came up one after another on the Pinterest dashboard, in between came also descriptions of how to do some succesful rose pruning. I learned that rose pruning is defined the following ways:
- To reduce something by removing things that are not necessary.
- To cut off branches from a tree, bush, or plant, especially so that it will grow better in the future.
- A proper pruning cut is made just above a growth bud ✂
- Seal every significant cut with glue to speed the healing of the cut.
This definition reminded me of the pruning truth John 15 speaks about in the context of Jesus being the vine and us being the branches. Like rose pruning, God is at times removing things in our lives that are not necessary: “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit…”
God also cuts off branches in our lives in order for us to grow better into the future He has prepared for us: “…while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (Rose pruning point nr. 2 ) 🌿
I know it can feel like a shock when we are cut from every side in a time where we have just gotten used to an extent of flourishing in life. But, there is so much hope. Because God prunes us the same way a rose is cared for. God makes the cut just above the bud. This means that while it may seem like we are left empty handed in the cutting, we never are. He has already given us a bud, a signal of hope and new beginnings. Jesus is our patient pruner who is not scared of seeds, buds, and small beginnings. He is excitingly gardening and landscaping our lives into a beautiful, flourishing salvation garden (James 1:21 MSG), and is with expectation awaiting the nice, new bud to come forth!
After every significant cut, Jesus seals it with glue to speed up the healing, just like roses are treated after a pruning (rose pruning point nr.4) Jesus is our glue; He holds us together and in His presence we are healed when life takes us unexpected places. Jesus redirects our growth, He is our Healer and in the pain of the healing process we can take comfort in the fact that Jesus Himself learned obedience by the things which he suffered (Hebrews 5:8 NIV).
Let’s trust His heart when something is cut off from our lives. God cuts just above the bud so that the new and better will spring forth! He is giving us a new assignment and redirecting our growth. The cut is a promise of a launch into a new season of effectiveness, influence and fruit, which is exciting.
Trust it’s a nice bud coming! He has got you. 🌹
Dance to the tune of His revelation 💃🏼
Have you ever found your life going into autopilot? You wake up in the morning, eat the same breakfast as usual, go to the same workplace, meet up with the same friends? Rhythms and routines are great in life and necessary to put down roots and be established.
However, sometimes stuff we have done for a long time just don't serve our life anymore. It's like life begs more from us... This could be our soul yearning for a new level of devotion to keep us well fed in the Word of God even though our current devotion has been working fine for us until now. It could be a fine-tuning needed in areas of diet, exercise, friendships, family investment, job situations and on and on it goes. The scenarios are countless really.
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It's like when walking barefoot has served our lives perfectly in the Summer days but if we keep walking barefoot as the weather changes, our feet will turn blue and cold. A change in the season calls for a change in how we carry ourselves. To not hurt ourselves, get sick and slow ourselves down, we need to put on some shoes. The same applies to our spiritual and emotional prosperity. What worked in a previous season won’t necessarily work in a new one.
I find adjusting is key to staying flexible, fresh and fired up for what God has for our lives in the current season.
Why is this necessary?
Since God is the one who changes times and seasons, who He removes kings and establishes kings, (Daniel 2:21) we want to be people who are constantly tuned into the gospel message and who dance to the tune of His revelation, like King David did. (Psalm 119:70 MSG) When He changes the season, we want to change with Him. We are kept safe as we listen to Him, readily recognize what he wants from us, and quickly respond to it.
We are not the only one who pays attention to the seasons in order to stay aligned with our purpose. Certain birds do the same as they migrate to warmer, foreign skies during winter, and for them it is a matter of life and death. We may not apply the same life-and death urgency to our season shifts as birds but we can sure learn from then. Their example can definitely propel us forward in adjusting accordingly to successfully walk in our new season and assignment.
2 - We change wineskins
"And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved" Matthew 9:17 MSG.
I was sent this verse by a friend right before major transitions in my life; stepping into marriage and a new ministry. The old ways of doing things wouldn't work in the new God had for me. I needed a new mindset, a new resilience, and a new level of devotion to Jesus to sustain the growth and blessing He was adding to my life.
The ability to adjust and adapt is something we can totally do! Why? Because we have a High Priest who is modeling this by being perfectly adapted to our needs (Hebrews 7:26 AMP). Let's in response align and go with Him into the adjustment that's required to receive the new He has for us. Let's test all things carefully so we can recognise what is good, and hold firmly to it.
How do we continue to dance to the tune of His revelation?
3 - We do what we can, not what we can’t.
In transition, not all things are in our own control. How people perceive our change, or the doors that open for us are examples of that. It's not up to us. But what we can do is regulate our heart, and as we regulate our heart, our hand will follow!
Even if your situation does not consist of a major transition, our hearts need regular heart-checks to stay diligent and not grow weary with what you have already been given to steward. This is necessary to keep dancing in tune to His revelation and will keep the assignment and commitment to it fresh.
To dance to the tune of His revelation, we need to know our season. Once the commitment is clear, we can do what we can, and leave what we can't up to God.
We can do what the musicians did when they were singing in the book of Nehemiah as the wall in Jerusalem was dedicated, and praise was sung to God. It says that "the musicians were under the king's orders, which regulated their daily activity." (Nehemiah 11:23 MSG)
Let's in the same way let our daily activity be regulated by our King's marching orders! Let our hearts be aligned with Him and are hands will automatically follow. We are most safe living in His will, in His way, for His glory.
Let's adjust by listening to the Holy Spirit, by changing wineskins and by doing what we can, not what we can't as we regulate our heart and hand to dance to the tune of His revelation.
Love,
Sandra.
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When life treats you tight
Have you ever been in a tight spot?
Have you experienced a tight financial situation or have you felt tight on friends? Have your to-do lists and deadlines been so tight that it feels like they are teasing you and about to squeeze the life out of you? Well, no matter what kind of 'tight' you are experiencing, our tolerance sure gets tested when the treadmill of life seem to treat us terrible or tight trials arrive.
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All this tightness we can experience can threaten our trust in Jesus or totally trash our trust. Thanksgiving becomes tight. The thrill of being alive becomes tight when we have a hard time imagining the transformation that's truly possible for our situation. The tenacity we once had turns tiring.
Synonyms to the word 'tight' are words like unyielding, solid, compact, compressed, stretched, strained and stressed. Life can definitely feel that way.
It did for me in the Summer of 2017. My sense of overwhelm was enormous with the responsibility of leading a newly started department of church, building a new marriage, intense health issues arising, having to move apartments and on top of that finishing a four year education, and not having the vision of what awaited me afterwards. In all of this, I felt God pruning and taking away stuff in my life; it was an excavation of my life. God was tilting the soil of my heart which exposed all sorts of ugly stuff in my character. I felt a spiritual battle going on for my future and I felt like I had no energy to fight it. The tightness was tough. And for me, I was dancing around the edge of burnout.
So what do we do when life throws that at us? What's the good news in all of this?
The word 'tight' has synonyms like to fix, fasten, and be closed firmly; hard to move, undo, or open. I believe that's the exact kind of TIGHT that GOD is holding you with! He is holding tight to you in this hour - his firm hands are strong and not letting go of you. It may look like you're surrounded, but you're surrounded by Him!
"If anyone stands in your way, if anyone tries to get you out of the way, Know this: Your God-honored life is tightly bound in the bundle of God-protected life; But the lives of your enemies will be hurled aside as a stone is thrown from a sling." (1 Sam 25,29 MSG)
Remember He is fighting the battle for you. Even when the path you know God has for you seems rough, don't doubt that He is holding you tight to Himself, even when the trials seem to hold you tighter. Call out to Jesus, and let this be your testimony, like it was David's:
"When I call, give me answers. God, take my side! Once, in a tight place, you gave me room." (Psalm 4,1 MSG)
What kind of room do you need in your life? Room to have fun, to rest, to create, to unload some burdens, just to breathe? Ask Him for that and see Him do the divine exchange He is so famous for doing; giving us His rest for our heaviness, His joy for our mourning and His comfort for our angst.
God brought me out of a tight place that Summer and into a revelation and sense that He was holding me even tighter to me than what was coming against me, and it gave me room to experience joy and rest again.
Side note is, I do still feel overwhelmed every day! There is nothing wrong with that in and of itself. But what I am learning is to be more overwhelmed by Jesus than whatever task is at hand, the art of bending without breaking and to rejoice in getting to live a big life and embrace the crazy that comes with it.
Can I encourage you, when you feel like life is tight, keep your eyes open, hold tight to your convictions through those circumstances, give it all you’ve got, be resolute, and love without stopping. (1 Cor 16:13-14 MSG.) Let the lines of purpose in our lives never grow slack, tightly tied as they are to our future in heaven, kept taut by hope. (Col. 1,3.5 MSG)
This prayer from King David I've made own, and you can do that as well <3
"With your very own hands you formed me; now breathe your wisdom over me so I can understand you. When they see me waiting, expecting your Word, those who fear you will take heart and be glad. I can see now, God, that your decisions are right; your testing has taught me what’s true and right. Oh, love me—and right now!—hold me tight! just the way you promised.
Now comfort me so I can live, really live; your revelation is the tune I dance to. Let the fast-talking tricksters be exposed as frauds; they tried to sell me a bill of goods, but I kept my mind fixed on your counsel. Let those who fear you turn to me for evidence of your wise guidance. And let me live whole and holy, soul and body, so I can always walk with my head held high." (Psalm 119,73-80 MSG)
Hold tight to Jesus. He is holding tight to you!
Love,
Sandra.
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"Head and not the tail" pt. 2 - Head towards your promised land 👉🏻
(For pt. 1 in the "Head and not the tail"-series, click here.)
Have you ever been in a frustrating situation, dreaming yourself away to another reality? Most likely you've already experienced this in 2018.
That was me a couple of days ago. Let me set the scene for you. I was waiting on delayed public transport and in that extra hour spent on the station, I saw a bus driver being kicked and screamed at and then having to continue his work teary eyed. A gang of guys were also making waiting passengers feel unsafe with their angry behaviour. Minus degrees did not help the situation either. Topping the situation off with being a woman on an empty station late at night made it plain uncomfortable.
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As I was freezing and going in circles in a seven eleven-shop to keep warm, I looked to heaven and desperately wanted it to come down in the midst of my frustrating circumstance. It was like heaven bent over and whispered back: "Freeze frame this moment for it will not always be like this. 🖼 To be the head and not the tail is the desire I have for my people."
The bible speak about it like this:
"The Lord will give you great prosperity, in the offspring of your body and in the offspring of your livestock and the produce of your ground, in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give you. The Lord will open for you His good treasure house, the heavens, to give rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hand; and you will lend to many nations, but you will not borrow.
The Lord will make you the head (leader) and not the tail (follower); and you will be above only, and you will not be beneath, if you listen and pay attention to the commandments of the Lord your God, which I am commanding you today, to observe them carefully. " Deut. 28,11-14 AMP.
The purpose of Deuteronomy was to provide guidelines for the new covenant community - the generation of Israel entering the promised land - to enable them to live obediently before God and to carry out His intentions for them. In the same way, we will be prepared for the promised land God has for us as we obediently follow his guidelines above. If this is not fully your reality yet, don't despair:
Do not get weary in the waiting
There is a season for everything, and a process until a promise is prepared to prosper in your life. Perspective, knowing that what we are sowing now is not in vain, is crucial. If you are hustling several jobs, paying off debt and just getting on with what you know is right for building the right foundation, good on you. God does not despise small beginnings. He delights to see the work begin, and so should we. He delights in seeing you put healthy habits in place over hurried hustling. Gain a healthy irresistable desire for His promises to become part of your life. And then hold the tension. Because where you are now is significant for that future to become present tense. Praise Him in the middle. Build your vision from the ground up. Steward all that's in your hand the best you know how to, and then watch what God will do.
Freeze frame this moment
How does your life look if you took a freeze frame now? What beautiful lessons would leak from the photo that would be of service to your future not to forget? As God is elevating us in life, we must never forget where His rescuing grace brought us from. There are gifts inside of you that has not been fully manifested as of yet. When these gifts are brought forth, you will be the head and not the tail. Don't forget how tail-living is for when you are brought out of that, you will have to go back to that mental snapshot and remember and have compassion for those still trapped in that mindset. Your testimony will be a bridge others can walk on over to the other side. As they cross the bridge by loyalty to their current assignment, they will see the promise come about and enjoy the process because they will start living in a "head mindset" long before it is a reality in their circumstances.
There will be an end to this.
Your current reality does not have to be your final destination. God has so more for you. This does not mean we won't be facing hardships anymore in our lives as we are entering our promised land. Far from that actually. We are promised by Jesus we will have trouble. But as we obediently put one foot in front of the other, walking closely with Jesus, and apply wisdom, understanding and wise counsel to the journey, our lives will prosper and in due time, we will reap a harvest. Tail-living is not where we settle when God's intention is to make us 'the head.' What your eyes have seen this far is only the beginning. Where do you need to believe, "there will be an end to this?" Is it to believe you can become an owner, not only a renter? Is it believing for a time where your passion becomes your fulltime job instead of having to make ends meet with working several jobs? The scenaries are countless, and rarely even about money. Whatever it is, listen to hope, and remember, true success is being obedient right where you are.
All my love,
Sandra.
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