Waiting in His Love

I wanted to share today two songs that have become anthems for me right now.  The first is a song that became my song a few months ago.  David Crowder Band's "How He Loves Us".  And recently they put a video for it on You Tube.  Now if you are not familiar with David Crowder Band, please don't let their "look" fool you - these are a group of guys that love the Lord dearly and worship Him with abandon.

Here is their video for "How He Loves Us" on YouTube.

The second video is one that I saw for the first in October when we did our 30 Days Mind of Christ Experiment at SUM.  Dineen had posted the video.  I remember the song really touching me then.  It is from the movie Fireproof.  Recently a good friend of mine sent me this song thinking it was bring me some encouragment and hope.  I had completely forgotten about it.  So thank you Gina! 

I feel the Lord impressing this song upon me as well - "While I'm Waiting" by John Waller. 

Also, as I mentioned before, the Lord gave me Nehamiah 8:10 this year - The Joy of the Lord is my Strength!

So there you have it - my theme for 2010 - I will worship and serve the Lord while I'm waiting because He loves me dearly and His Joy is my Strength.

God's Ways (not Mine!)

God's timing is amazing - the way He will give you a word in so many different ways.  Isaiah has been popping up alot for me lately, so I've decided to start reading through.  In the past when I've tried to read this book it has honestly almost put me to sleep.  I just could not make head or tails of it.  But this time the Lord is speaking to me.

The other day Isaiah 55:8-11 popped up in a email from someone.  Then later that same day a good friend of mine gave me a late Christmas present.  A wonderful little devotional book called "Jesus Calling".  It is written in the first person, as if Jesus Himself is speaking to you each day.  As I read that day's devotion I KNEW the Lord was speaking to me through it.  The first words were "Approach this day with awareness of who is Boss!"  That is exactly what we were focusing on back in October when we did a series at SUM about putting God on the throne of our lives. 

It went on to say that if my plans for the day seem to be all falling apart, to look out for Him.  It just might be that He has something better planned for me and that I need to stay in close communication with Him.  Wow!  What a different way to think of a day that seems to just be going all wrong.

At the end two verses were given.  Jeremiah 29:11 and Isaiah 55:9-11.  I could go on and on, but I'll just let these verses speak for themselves.

Isaiah 55:8-11

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your  ways my ways," declares the Lord.  "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

After God's Own Heart Book Discussion

I am so excited and just have to share.  Just before the summer started I felt the Lord impressing upon me the desire to study David, specifically his heart and why God Himself called David a man after His own heart.

At one point I mentioned this to my house church and we decided as a group to pursue this.  We've spent the summer and fall reading through 1 Samuel and are starting 2 Samuel now.

Then I stumbled across a book by Mike Bickle called "After God's Own Heart".  After just the first few pages I knew this book was going to be used by God to change my entire perspective about God's Love for me and how to have a deeper and more intimate relationship with Him.

I've shared what I've been learning and some of the ideas from this book with friends at work.  Three of us decided to read this book together and discuss it as we go along.  We decided to open it up and throw out the idea to the entire building.  I pulled together a synopsis of the book, my reasons for doing the discussion and a couple reviews and sent an email.  Now we have ordered our books and should have them next week (I was reading a copy that belonged to a friend, but kept wanting to take notes in it so I figured I need my own copy anyway.)  We have 11 people who have committed to reading this book and meeting 2x a month to talk about what the Lord is revealing to us!  WOW!!!!  God is amazing and I think He is up to some pretty cool stuff this year.  I can't wait to find out what it all is!

Here is one of my favorite reviews of this book, which I found on the Forerunner Store website  -

WARNING: This book will warp your mind. Do not read it if you plan to live a normal life. It is dangerous. I use to be a normal Christian. But now I am ruined for anything else.  ~ Daniel Erwin

The Joy of the Lord is My Strength

Nehemiah 8:10 tells us the Joy of the Lord is our Strength.  I've heard this a hundred times and Chris Tomlin sings a song that I love that says this.  But until yesterday I never really stopped to think about what this means.  The JOY of the Lord is my strength.

The book I'm reading right now brought this to my attention last night as well as giving me an new perspective on the prodigal son story.

But first, let me ask you a question.  If you were told that tonight the Lord was going to meet you face to face and pronounce His Judgment on you, what would be your first reaction?  What feeling first pops to the surface for you?  Joy?  Or is it dread?

We are told He will search the deepest parts of our hearts.  When you think about Jesus staring into your eyes and seeing the depths of your heart and soul, do you squirm?  Do squirm out of excitement or fear?

I know my heart did a dive into the pit of my stomach when I first thought about this question.  But that is slowly changing.  Why?  Because I'm coming to realize I've always seen my God as being sad or mad in the past.  I know He is a loving and kind Father who forgives us, but that image of a scowling or disappointed God had not really left my thoughts.  So when I thought of facing Him in His throne room I immediately thought of Him examing all the things in my heart that are dark and bad.  I thought of Him going over all my failures.

But as I'm reading scripture I'm starting to realize God doesn't sit up there looking down on me with scorn, disappointment or even indifference.  He looks down on me with unconditional love and enjoyment!  I'm really starting to get this in my heart.  When He searches my heart he find at the deepest part of me that little "Yes" that is determined to follow Him and know Him no matter what it costs me.  No matter how many times I may fail on the way.  And that little teeny itsy bitsy "yes" makes him smile!  (And I'm smiling just writing this and thinking about it!)

I've always thought of the tale of the prodigal son as relating to unbelievers.  Those who don't know the Lord or you have walked away from the Lord.  And this is true.  But last night I started to see this story a bit different.  It is also a reflection of us who follow Him and fail along the way (and in case you're not up to speed yet - that is ALL of us!).  We react the same way as the prodigal.  When we get to the point where we finally admit we have failed and can't go it on our own in our own power and strength anymore, we come to Him on our knees and beg for any small position in His Kingdom.  We can't imagine doing anything other than laying out all our failures and begging Him to take us back.  But you know what He does?  He reaches down, wipes away our tears and engulfs us in the biggest bear hug ever!  He leaps and shouts for joy because we are there with him.  Even when we are at our lowest and weakest, covered in slop from living with the pigs - He looks on us with enjoyment and love.  He desires to gaze on us even when we are covered in filth!  Wow!

And what should I expect.  If I do believe the prodigal story is of someone coming to know Christ for the first time and God shouts for joy and calls for a celebration at that point, wouldn't He do even more so for someone who is sincerely trying to follow Him - even with all our stumbling?  Do I really think His love for me cools and dimishes over time? 

So last night as I heard the Lord speaking to me again saying "My Joy is your Strength" it took on new meaning for me.  I really started to consider what that meant.  What is God's Joy!?  When I am weak I can know that the Lord is looking down on me with love, desire and joy and that is what will hold me up and carry me through. 

Words can't even begin to express the Joy and happiness that fills me with those thoughts.  We truly do serve and AMAZING God!

As I've prayed over this upcoming year the Lord has impressed two words upon me.  Last year was a year of REVELATION - it was a time when the Lord began to reveal this great love He has for me.  He began to open my heart and mind to what this love really looks like and the true nature of it.  His true nature!  That will continue into 2010. 

However, He also impressed upon me the word SUBMISSION.  It is time for me to submit to the love the Lord has for me.  To finally accept it and realize His word is true.  He says He loves me unconditionally and I need to stop trying to put conditions on His love for me.  I need to realize there is nothing I need or even can DO to earn His love.  He gazes upon me with love and enjoyment in my weakness.  I need to understand this and accept it once and for all.  I need to gaze upon Him and His beauty instead of on me and how I can be worthy of His love because the bottom line is I'm NOT worthy of His love.  But that does not matter to Him one bit.  I'm His cherished daughter, the bride of His Son - Period!  End of Story!

Loneliness & Conversations with God

Yesterday morning I had a conversation with God.  A dear friend of my posted yesterday about healing.  She spoke of those of us who struggle with weight gain due to eating in times of stress etc.  She spoke of how things in our past have created bad habits in us and many times the reason why our failure to lose weight is because we are not addressing the root problem.  She spoke of how she has realized loneliness in her past had started bad habits for her regarding eating.

I've struggled for awhile now with my eating habits.  We ate very healthy growing up.  We grew our own vegtables and most of our meat even came from our own efforts rather than from the store.  I ate very little junk food or sugar growing up.  But I do remember sneaking sweets whenever I could and sometimes gorging myself if I had the chance until I was physically sick.  As an adult I've realized that I eat without even realizing I'm doing it at times. 

As I read my friend's post yesterday and she mentioned loneliness, it struck a chord.  I've always had self-esteem issues.  I've had many friends off and on in my life, but never really had any deep relationships with anyone, until recently.  And even now I don't have any of those deep relationships which I so desire.  I want to be myself with others and really let them get to know me, but I have a fear that if I do I will be judged.  So even when I'm transparent with others, there is still something that I'm holding back.  Parts of me I'm not revealing, not because I'm a private person, but out of fear.

Even my posts on my blogs are reserved compared to what I'd like to post.  I want to be transparent and let the Lord use my words to help others.  But I have probably 5 times the number of posts in my head than what ends up on here.  The reason for not posting?  Fear.  Fear of what others will think and the loneliness that will follow as others pull away from me.

As I sat getting ready for my day yesterday, pondering this I began to talk to the Lord.

Me:  God, why did you make me this way?  I have so many weaknesses that I just can't seem to get past.  I want to follow you, to love you and give you my entire life.  However, these weaknesses hinder me.  I could do so much more for you, be so much more productive if you had just created me with more strength, more confidence.  If you had not given me these weaknesses, or allowed them to develop in my life I could accomplish so much for Your Glory.

God's still small voice:  Angela, beloved, in your weaknesses, my Strength shines all the brighter.

Me: But Lord, I can't make these changes on my own.  I've tried and I just keep failing.  I need you to transform me.  I'm so lonely, even surrounded by so many people in my life.  I need you to change me, to comfort me, to drive out this loneliness.  To help me get past all these insecurities in my life that hold me back.

God's still small voice: That's what I've been waiting for, my child.  That is all you ever had to do, just to ask me instead of striving yourself.  Be still, rest in Me.  That is all you need to do.  Focus on my love for you, your identify is in Me.  I will take care of the rest.

Gazing on His Beauty

Awhile back I had the desire to study the life of David. Specifically his heart, since he is described by God Himself as being a man after God's own heart.  The more I journey down this path with the Lord the more I desire to have that type of relationship with Him.

As I read about David and his relationship with God, I realize the key to having a heart after God's is to understand God's Heart.  The more I understand how passionately He loves me, even in the midst of all the "junk" in my life - the more I will begin to love Him.  The more I will desire to spend time in His presence and to follow Him.

For too long I've allowed my perfectionist tendencies to drive me to try to be righteous and holy.  The problem with this is I am focuing on myself instead of Christ.  I've focused on being a "good" christian for so long and when I've stumbled I've focused on how much of a failure I was because of it.  I've heard for so long how I need to focus on Jesus and not myself, that God loves me no matter what.  But it was not until this last week that this finally clicked for me!  I've been preaching this concept to others but without realizing it I was not living it myself.  I was still focusing on my failures and running from God when I failed instead of running to Him.  I was still focused on my efforts to be "good" for God, trying to earn His love.  A love that is greater than I can even begin to imagine and which is already wholly mine - no strings attached!

Now, instead of expending so much energy on being a "good" christian I want to spend my efforts gazing upon God, understanding His emotions and His love.  The rest will happen naturally as I fall more and more in love with this amazing, awesome God who loves me.

Remember your first love?  The giddy feelings?  How you wanted to know as much as possible about the person and could not stop thinking about them.  How your heart would flutter everytime you saw them.   Remember how when they expressed their love for you, it would increase your love towards them?  Our relationship with God is to be like this, but soo much more.  And more permanent.  It is not a fleeting feeling that fades after a few months when we get to know each other.  There is always more to learn about God and His love for us.  There is always something new to inspire us.

That is how I've been feeling lately.  I've been giddy with excitement for no apparent reason.  I'm excited to spend time in His Word, praying, worshiping and just sitting in His Presence.  I crave it and run after it.  I want more! 

Do you feel that way about your Lord and Savior?  If not, ask Him to begin to reveal His heart to you.  Ask Him to show you His beauty and to give you understanding of how great is His love for you.  How passionately He pursues and woos you.  Ask Him to give you more understanding of Psalm 27, to truly place this desire deep within your heart.

Psalm 27:4
One thing I ask of the Lord; this is what I seek:  that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.

One book I'm reading right now that I recommend to anyone who wants to take this journey is "After His Own Heart" by Mike Bickle.  I leave you now with a quote from this book:

"The heart of God is a wonderland, a universe of beauty like no place mankind could dream up.  All beauty on earth is merely a reflection of Him..."

Finding Yourself

"Finding yourself" or understanding who you really are will never come from examining yourself.  Looking within yourself, looking at your heart, your surroundings or those you know will not bring true self-understanding or true purpose to your life.

Our identity flows from Him, His heart.  The only way to truly find yourself is to find Him.  Understand Him and His heart and you will truly find yourself! 

Instead of focusing on trying to "find yourself", focus your energies on understanding our God and His heart and He will reveal who you truly are and your purpose.

Jesus = Passionate Bridegroom
Me/You = Cherished Bride

"Intimacy with God is not just an option, but it is the very essence of true Christianity."  ~ Mike Bickle

Anchored in His Word - Fowler's Snare & Deadly Pestilence

I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."  Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.  Psalm 91:2-3

What are the fowler's snares and deadly pestilence in your life?

I asked myself this question last week when we began memorizing these verses in a group of which I'm a part. 

Fowler's snares - traps of the enemy, lies he tells me that I buy into.
"You are not loved.  You are not cherished.  You don't fit in anywhere.  God can't/won't use you..."
The list goes on and on.

Deadily Pestilence - sin or distractions I allow to keep me from God's Presence.  Too much time on the computer, watching TV, even spending too much time doing things that are "good" such as preparing thing for homeschooling my kids.

Question:
Do I truly believe that He is my refuge, my fortress?  Do I truly trust Him?  When I'm in need of shelter from the storms in life, when those snares block my path, when the deadly pestilence stalks me, do I turn to Him?  Or do I turn to myself or other things of this world?  How do I further develop that trust?

Answer:
The same as any other relationship, by spending time with Him.  The more time I spend with Him, the better I understand His character and know that I can always trust Him.

Anchored in God's Word

Isn't it amazing how the Lord works to pull a bunch of separate events in our lives together into one big beautiful picture?  The Lord has been speaking to me lately about being anchored in His Word.  He has done it through a book I'm reading, verses I'm memorizing and through my every day interactions with people in my life.

We have always been told that we should memorize God's Word, that we should be reading Scripture daily in order to fight the enemy.  That we should be putting on the armor of God everyday.  But do we really understand why and the great importance of it?  God is working in His people right now, He is preparing us for something and if we are not anchored in Him and His Word we very well may be left behind in the dust when it all breaks loose.

Here are some tidbits I've "gathered" the past week about this.

Rick Warren - Don't ever try to argue with the Devil.  He's better at arguing than you are, having had thousands of years to practice.  You can't bluff Satan with logic or your opinion, but you can use the weapon that makes him tremble - the truth of God.

Psalm 91:1 - He who dwells in the Shelter of the Most High shall rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

This is KEY!!  I need to rest in God and His Word.

I'm also rereading The Final Quest by Rick Joyner.  I found it very profound the first time I read it but this time it seems to be speaking to me so much more.  In the first part of the book Rick is part of the army of God fighting the army of the Accuser of the Brethren.  The Lord's Army is on a mountain with many ledges during the fight.

Ephesians 6 speaks of the armor of God.  The Word of God is our sword.  This is our weapon to fight off the attacks of the enemy.  It is also our anchor.

In The Final Quest the ledge Rick is on is narrow and slippery, so he uses his sword to anchor himself.  He drives it into the ledge and ties himself to it.  When he does this he hears God say:

"You have used the wisdom that will enable you to keep climbing.  Many have fallen because they did not use their sword properly to anchor themselves."

Then later he writes "I spent every free moment that I got trying to drive my sword deeper in to the ledge, or trying to tie myself more securely to it.  Every time I did this, Wisdom would stand beside me so I knew that it was very important."

This is after he describes some on the ledge using the swords to drive off the vultures attacking them but being more easily knocked off the ledge.

**  We MUST be anchored in His Word!!  **

If this was not clear enough I then received the weekly Facts of the Matter email. Last week started a 3 part series about Truth, Identify and Purpose. This first week was about Truth and talked specifically about being anchored in God's Truth and living it out in our lives!

As I continued to read the Final Quest later in the week there came a point in the book where some of the Christians wanted to go down and fight the enemy.  After discussion they decide to stay where they are. When they make this decision Rick hears the voice of the Lord say, "A second time you have chosen wisdom. You cannot win if you try to fight the enemy on his own ground, but you must remain on My Holy mountain."

We need to make sure that we don't try to fight the enemy ourselves - we must do it while staying within the Lord's protection.  For me this was in line with my verse for the week (Psalm 91:1) and the quote from Rick Warren which I had read.
At this point Joyner realizes that they have once again made a huge and important decision with just a discussion amoungst themselves. He resolves at this point to make no decisions in the future without prayer. He realizes how without prayer we can so easily fall. As he makes this decision Wisdom grabs his arms and confirms that he must consult the Lord in prayer before making decisions. As Wisdom confirms this he pulls Joyner towards him and at this point Joyner realizes that without even knowing it he had strayed over to the edge of the ledge he was on. At this point Wisdom says to him "Take heed when you think you stand, lest you fall. In this life you can fall from any level."
 
So last week's theme, at least for me was "Be Anchored in God's Word!"  I don't know how the message could be clearer!  God's Word tells us in the end many will fall away.  I believe this is because there will be so many messages out there that we will not know what to believe.  And I believe God will start working in ways that are outside of the boxes we have put Him in.  Many will be offended when He does not do things they way we expect Him to (since when has He limited Himself to what we think!?)  My concern has been how can I be sure that I'm not offended when God begins to move mightly in this world.  How can I be sure that I don't fall for the deceptions of the enemy and walk with the Lord.  As Rick Warren points out above, the enemy is very wise and deceptive.  I can't in my own human wisdom discern what is Truth and what is his twisted version of truth.  How do I set aside my expectations so I am open to whatever the Lord wills for me? 
 
The only answer is to be anchored in God's Word.  To spend so much time with Him and in His Presence that I will easily recognize His Voice when He calls to me.  He is my shepard,  He is your shepard.  Do you know His Voice?
 
But wait!  There's more!
 
To be continued . . .

God's Transformation Process - Part 4

Below is my last post on SUM for the 30 Days - Mind of Christ Experiment.  However the journey continues until Saturday (31st).  And to be honest this is just the beginning, this is an ongoing journey of revelation from the Lord.  If you want to go through the 30 days yourself please visit Day 1 at SUM and then follow through the posts. 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  * 

Over the past three weeks I’ve shared with you the “stages” the Lord has taken me through as He has begun a major transformation process in my life. I’ve walked you through how He revealed His great abiding love and began to help me to truly understand it. How He began to dive deep into my heart and soul to uncover the deepest, darkest and ugliest parts of my life in order to bring healing. And I’ve shared how He has begun to reveal to me the truth about standing with Him while loving others. I pray my transparency regarding my journey will help you in yours. I know that just writing these posts has blessed me tremendously.


I wish I could say the transformation process is over, that I’m a finished and perfected clay vessel. But if these past three weeks have confirmed anything for me, it is that we are all continuous works in process. There is always more to be revealed. These “stages” I’ve shared with you are not a 3 step process that results in a fully transformed mind, heart and soul. Instead they are a cycle which the Lord will take you through repeatedly for the rest of your life. You’ll be able to look back and see how far you’ve come and rejoice in it. And you can also look forward and know you have a lot still to learn. But don’t let this be a discouragement, instead it should be exciting, a sense of expectation. The Lord will continue to transform you as long as you allow Him.

As you continue to yield your life to Him each day and to step down off the throne of your lives, He will reveal His love for you anew, He will reveal the darkness in your heart and heal you, and He will give you His eyes and His heart to see and love the world as He does.

Randy Alcorn wrote a book I love called Edge of Eternity. It reminds me quite a bit of Pilgrim’s Progress. In the story the main character is traveling along a road. As he does he sees two cities. The closest is beautiful and full of wonderful things. At the top of the many tall buildings, he can see that each citizen has their own throne upon which they sit surrounded by vast riches. Far off he sees another city, but it is dark and depressing and only has one throne. However, as he travels farther down this road, his goal being to reach the King’s City, his perspective begins to change. The city in front of him, the one that was depressing and only had one throne begins to become stunningly beautiful, more so than he ever could have imagined. Behind him the city he had thought so beautiful before has become dark. He realizes the thrones that each person sat upon were really tangled webs that held them captive. The people living in the city thought they were free and powerful, but in reality they were in bondage. I read this book a few years back, but this image has stayed with me. It is a powerful picture of our lives.

In your journal today, ask yourself - where are you on this road? Which city do you have your sights set on? Lynn has asked many times during this journey if you are still waking each morning and coming before the Lord on your knees, stepping off the throne of your life and handing it over to Him who truly rules. This is so powerful!

As I sign off on my last post for this 30 day journey I first want to thank all of you. I came into this praying the Lord would give me words to help others and bring Him glory. He has done far more than I could have ever imagined. In some ways I’ve grown as much in the past three weeks as I did over the two years which I’ve shared with you. You have all been part of this transformation for me. I love the way the Lord uses us and our weaknesses to bless others. Isn’t He amazing?

I also want to leave you with a few tidbits the Lord has reminded me of and impressed upon me through this journey.

First, as I said above this is all a transformation process that will continue until we meet our Lord face to face. Look over how far the Lord has brought you and rejoice. Look forward to all that He still has to reveal to you with expectation and excitement. He will continually take you through these stages in one form or another. There are always more layers to peel back as He reveals Himself to us. Always remember He loves you and only wants what is best for you. He has a destiny for you, Beloved. You just need to give Him control of your life and He will lead you there.

Second, God looks at our hearts. I am doing a study of David with my house church right now. Or more specifically we are studying David’s heart. Have you ever wondered what the difference between Saul and David was? Both were anointed by Samuel per the Lord’s instructions, both were filled with the Holy Spirit in a time when the Holy Spirit did not make a habit of indwelling in people, both sinned quite grievously. However, in the end the Lord left Saul, never to return again, but He never left David. Why? It has to do with the heart. God knows that we will mess up at times. This is not an excuse for us to sin or to ignore the promptings of the Lord to confront the sin in our lives. However, please remember beloved, God knows your heart and that is what He honors, that is what pleases Him. Even when your flesh is not able to conform fully, He knows the desire in your heart to be fully transformed. He honors and is pleased by your heart!

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearances, but the Lord looks at the heart.” ~ 1 Samuel 16:7

The Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek him, he will be found by you. ~ 1 Chronicles 28:9

If you are like me you may read that last part above and think, “Ew, I don’t want Him to judge me based on my heart. I know my intentions are not always pure.” If you’ve ever felt like that or maybe do right now, I have a little secret for you that the Lord revealed to me. Are you ready for it?

Recognizing that your intentions are not always pure is part of what He is looking for. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve prayed – “Lord, I desire you and only you. I want your will, not mine to be done. “ And then I pause and have to add - “And if there are any intentions in my heart or desires that are not in agreement with this, please reveal it to me and transform them!”

Even while knowing I desire the Lord, I know there are still parts of my heart that are selfish. I might as well admit these things to God, because He already knows. He knows my heart better than I do. And He is well pleased with us when we are able to be truthful with Him about what we know is in our hearts. That willingness to acknowledge the darkness in our hearts is what God desires of us. That is what pleases Him. David was called a man after God’s heart. Take some time and read David’s story and the psalms he wrote . He readily admits that his heart is not pure, that he had evil and selfish desires. The difference between David and others such as Saul, is that he acknowledges these things and lays them at God’s feet and asks for God’s Mercy and Transformation. That is a heart in which the Lord will be well pleased.

Today as you journal and pray acknowledge those intentions of your heart that are not pure. Ask the Lord to reveal any areas that are not pure and then confess those things and ask the Lord to transform them. Don’t be ashamed of your weaknesses, instead take them to the Lord and trade them in for His Strength. If you do you will hear Him whisper to you “Well, done my Beloved.” and you like David will be considered a man/woman after God’s heart.

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” ~ 2 Corinthians 12:9

Blessings upon each of you and many thanks for allowing me to share in this journey with you.

Resting in Him,

Angela