Faithful God

God is faithful! 

Isaiah 53:10 - Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

I'm so thankful for the revelation of victory over grief. 

I'm so thankful that Jesus bore my sorrows. I'm so thankful that there's no hole in my heart where my baby girl resides, she resides in Heaven in complete health, peace, joy & perfection. I'm so thankful that He healed me, helped me & set me free from the pain. I miss my girl, but it's only a little while & we'll get to see each other again. What a hope & promise to know she's there waiting on me & her daddy & future siblings with our wonderful Savior. 

My heart isn't missing something, it's actually overflowing with love & gratitude. It's because I've been delivered from grief that I can actually express my love for my baby girl with joy & not pain. I'm just so grateful that I get to love my baby girl, not mourn her!

I will declare, for all my days, look what the Lord has done for me! I am not subject to the ways of this world, I do not have to take a certain amount of steps in grief or live with a hole in my heart for the rest of my days, my God has made a Way & His Name is JESUS! 

My Rescue, my Hope, my Deliverer & my Help! My faithful, loving, precious Father! 

If you're struggling, run to Jesus! In His presence is fullness of joy! In His presence is healing!

Life may not always be easy, but the closer to Him I get, the easier it all gets! 

Isaiah 61:1-3 - The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

FREEDOM

Who the Son sets free is free indeed! 

That doesn't mean that your enemy will shut his mouth, but that does mean it doesn't matter what he says! 

Can I get a hallelujah?! 

I've been thinking so much about this lately. Everyone goes through battles: emotional, physical, mental, etc. There's no new battle for anyone, ever, in the history of the world. The devil's the same jerk he's always been, pulling the same stunts he's always pulled. I'm so glad the Bible tells us that we have the victory through Jesus, we're more than over-comers, greater is He that's in us & no weapon formed against us will prosper! Praise God!!

Did you know that walking in victory doesn't mean your enemy will stop trying to talk to you about the battle? The devil will try to convince you that the battle is still raging, but did you also know that he's the father of lies?! 

Just because the enemy tries to come back at you with something you've been set free from in the past doesn't mean you're back in that trench, it just means your enemy needs to be reminded that who the Son sets free is free indeed. Remember he's a deceiver, he's going to try & tell you that it's back. Right then & there it's your choice who you're going to believe - the devil who's lying to you & telling you that the battle is back, or Jesus Christ who not only defeated satan & took the keys from him, but who set you free to walk in abundant life & Who told you that no weapon formed against you will prosper? Which one will you believe...because you'll have the fruit of that decision. 

If you wait to rejoice in your victory until the devil leaves you alone, sweet loved one, you will never get the opportunity to rejoice. You need to answer those wrong thoughts, words, symptoms, & emotions that are trying to tell you that you didn't win & you're back in the battle. Authority has been given to you & now must be taken by you! Any gift you ever get is of no good to you unless you apply it to it's purpose. God has gifted us authority, now apply it! Speak the Word, pray, repent, forgive, answer, & declare & rejoice in the victory that belongs to you!

Regardless of what you feel like right now, begin to do an act of faith over your situation... rejoice, sing, dance & watch God come into it. The step of faith might not always feel good or even real to your 5 physical senses, but the result of it will be power-packed! 

Galatians 5:1 - For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

-Amie 

- the eye is single -

- the eye is single - 

Huh? What's that even mean? 

My husband preached a message in youth like a week ago & it's still rolling around in my spirit. He was talking on Matthew 6 & the eye being the lamp of the body. It was pretty memorable when he held two phones up to his eyeballs & walked around with the flashlights on. LOL! 

It made an impression on me, because the light didn't illuminate the entire room, it only illuminated what he turned his eyes towards. 

If you go up a bit in the same chapter it talks about your treasure & your heart. You focus on what you treasure & soon after your heart follows where you've been focusing. 

A lot of times I think people feel bad about themselves because they aren't "as spiritual as they should be." (Bonus Tip: Comparison is not the correct measuring tool of spirituality. Look to others as examples to follow & to be inspired, but look to God to be your judge & standard. He's much better at it then your insecure, renewed mind will ever be & don't forget, good leadership helps too).

Anyways, back to the topic. It's okay to be convicted about not living on the level you should, but it's also an easy fix. The eye is single, remember? Change your focus, change your life. Yes, it's that simple, it's just not that quick. 

Your eye is single, meaning your lamp can only focus on one thing at a time. If you're shining your light on the things of this world then you won't be able to maintain your focus/passion/determination & eventually your heart for the things of God. If you hear right, that can be so freeing! You can stop condemning yourself for "being a bad person" & realize you just weren't focused on the right thing. 

There are things everyday fighting for your focus, why? If they can get your focus, they can eventually get your heart. Listen, we've got to step up & take responsibility for our eyes. It's our job to control where we look, but don't let that add pressure because His yoke is easy & His burden is light. You can't do it out of your own strength, but that's why we have the Holy Spirit who is our Helper! Do your part to keep your eyes on God & watch His light yoke begin to unfold in your life. You'll be amazed at the ease of walking with Him... of walking in His light... & walking in the abundant life that He has for you! 

Happy 2018 y'all!!
-Amie

encouragement

Dear Christian, may I offer you some encouragement today?

You have the victory. Not because your body feels better or your bank account looks fuller or your marriage has become happier, but because God has said so in His Word & it's available for you to appropriate.

The devil is defeated. He has no authority over you. In fact you've been given the authority to tread on him.

Understand, he has already been defeated. The only thing he has left is to talk a big game...that he has no actual ability to back up.

This is why it is SO VITAL to know what the Word of God says. It's what we stand on & what we answer the devil's lies with. It's not about our power or outlasting the attack, it's about what Jesus did & what He has given us - that's what we declare over our situations, our bodies, our families, our finances, our marriages....

Simply put, the devil wants to sway you off what you believe. It's your job to stand on what the Word of God tells you is true & keep your mind renewed to it. As Dr Hagin used to say, "Your mind doesn't stay renewed anymore than your hair stays combed." It's a daily thing, a lifestyle, a commitment, a discipline & it's victory. Life never stops, so you can't afford to stop either. It's not a waiting game friends. You cannot wait until the day you feel better, till the devil decides to leave you alone or until someone comes along who will do it for you. It's you, it's IN YOU...HE IS IN YOU & He has given you everything you need pertaining to life & Godliness. No one else can take the steps you need to take to get where you need to go.

Today, right now, take courage!

-Amie

no longer slaves

I'm learning more & more that life tries to dictate, but it's not a very nice dictator. It pushes & demands & pulls from you. Every once in a while it'll throw a crumb your way, but then demand it of you hours later. How do people live like that? No wonder people get worn out with a taskmaster like life!

It reminds me of the children of Israel when they lived in Egypt.

It was never God's best for them to be slaves. You'd think that would be obvious, but how many of us are slaves to life? That's not God's best for us either!

When Israel was in Egypt, they were busy building another man's kingdom, but when they got free & FINALLY got to the promise land where they belonged, they started taking hold of the lands God had for them!

If you let life dictate to you it will always try to suck you dry, but if you let God tell you what to do, who to marry, how to invest, what to say, what to think, how to act, where to go to church, where to work... HE WILL ONLY ADD TO YOU. You might have to fight some giants (in fact, you WILL), but greater is He that's in us than he that's in the world.

I'm not one of those "nothing-bad-will-ever-happen-to-you-Christians," but I am one of those "NO-MATTER-WHAT-HAPPENS-YOU'RE-MORE-THAN-A-CONQUEROR-CHRISTIANS!"

& God's Word & prayer is how you get there.

His Word is a lamp to our feet & a light to our path. When it's alive inside of us, it's like a well that we can draw from in every situation. It builds our faith & TEACHES US WHAT'S TRUE!

When you're at work, or driving in your car, out to eat, shopping, at soccer practice, the vet, etc...PRAYER KEEPS YOU PREPARED. Prayer keeps your heart sensitive to God's voice because it's like a phone line between you & Him. He's talking to you & you're talking to Him.

So when life is good & fun & busy, you're full & you've got a direct line.

& if life gets crazy & hard & busy, you're full & you've got a direct line.

God has called you to overcome & live victorious. The promise land didn't just happen & victory won't just magically happen either, but it can be taken ahold of by faith! Get active, get strong & get all that God has for you.

Praise

Oh the power of praise! 

My friends are you going through a hard time? Look up & praise. 
Are you having the best time of your life? Look up & praise! 

We must fight to always maintain our praise. We must not lose sight of God through the pain & we must not forget Him in the joy. 

I was inspired by Paul today. Always contented; always praising. He learned to be content in every circumstance. He learned to praise no matter what. 

Praise might not immediately change the facts about your circumstances, but it changes you & it changes your vision. Praise ignites faith & faith brings "steadfastness." If I'm being honest, I can't stop there...praise CAN change the facts immediately! It did for Paul & Silas! (Acts 16) Be it unto you according to your faith!

Emotions will convince you that your problem is big, but praise brings God back into focus. The closer you are to something, the more of your vision is takes up. Stay close to God, keep your eyes, your heart, your emotions on Him & you'll see your life, your family, friends, money, etc correctly. 

I love the Psalms because it deals with real life & it brings God into every situation. No matter who is against you or what is attacking your body, relationships, money, or any thing else - there is a song that you can sing & there is an answer from God. 

Praise is the moment your attention belongs to God. As you sing...whether it's a popular worship song or a new song out of your heart...it's about Him. You're not thinking about yourself, your problems, or anyone who might be listening. Your words belong to Him. Your heart feels like it could burst out of your chest because every word you sing holds such weight & yet they aren't enough. God is so worthy, so perfect, so deserving, so wonderful that all your words fall short, but love & awe are pouring out of you & you don't want to stop. Sometimes you can't even say a word & all you can do is stretch your arms high towards Him or dance or yell because how does a mere human express enough love & thankfulness & worship to his Creator, his Savior, his Deliverer?! 

Even as I wrote these words, my focus shifted to Him, to His majesty...I couldn't think about myself when I began to imagine Him, when I began to release my praise, & give Him my words & my adoration. It's like a floodgate. Once it starts, it's hard to stop. 

You might feel like everything within you doesn't want to start, do it anyways! Trust Him, trust His process. There is freedom waiting on the other side of your obedience. There is freedom on the other side of submitting your flesh to His truth. There is healing, there is breakthrough, there is more. 

Psalm 16:7-11 
I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

5 things

Thankfulness.

It's a powerful tool - something that causes an effect whether it's on or off. What does that mean? 

If your thankfulness is on it's powerful & on the flip side, if your thankfulness is off...well that's powerful too. 

Thankfulness increases your heart, it re-aligns your vision, it brings you back into reality & it causes your faith to grow.

When it's "off" life tends to take over. You begin to feel like your missing out, you get critical & you stop wanting to help others because you want to help yourself. 

So like I said, it's powerful whether it's on or off. & guess what? Just like most other things in life, it's our choice! 

The Bible tells us that a cheerful heart does you good like medicine. (Proverbs 17:22) What does medicine do? It heals an ailment. If you have the ailment of stress, being unsatisfied or being critical, the remedy is thankfulness. 

So many times the trick of the devil is to get our eyes off of what we do have & on what we don't have. When the actual reality is that we are blessed with so much. This isn't even a faith statement, this is an actual tangible fact. No matter what you've gone through, are going through or what you do or don't have there is so much to be thankful for. 

Do yourself a favor & make a list. Why do you think God wrote the Bible down for us? Because it helps us to see things on black & white (& sometimes red 😉 ). Write down the first 5 things that come to your mind that you are thankful for. Everyone has got 5 things! You do too, even if it doesn't feel like it.

Here's mine:
1. God
2. My Husband
3. Family
4. Church
5. Friends

Once I started there were so many other things that popped into my brain that I was thankful for - I mean just life itself, being alive, healthy, breathing, walking, talking, seeing...seriously! Or you can go with things like clothes, house, car, furniture, etc! It might seem like a small thing to be grateful for, but it makes a big impact. Just like faith as big as a mustard seed can move mountains, so thankfulness - even for small things - can change your thinking! & isn't that what it's all about, renewing our mind to think like Jesus?! 

So my friends, what are you thankful for?