HER OWN SPACE IN MY HEART

Haylie Anne.
Her name means Hero of Grace.

Baby girl would be 32 today. I imagine she’d be a mix of my other two daughters—beautiful, kind, tender hearted, loving, aggressive, God loving—an amazing vibrant woman.

30 years ago I held her for the last time. Sometimes it seems like yesterday.

After she died I wanted another baby so bad, my arms literally ached. One year later I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. It was then I realized, each child has their own space in my heart. He had his place and it was overflowing. Haylie’s place  was still empty. Over time I learned to let Jesus fill this space in my heart.

Today, August 11th, I woke up to that tug of emptiness. Come Jesus.

As I sipped my cup of tea, I reflected on her and the last 30 years—I cried. I am always amazed that there are those moments that I still cry. But then, sweet Jesus reminds me of that place in my heart owned by her. And whispers “it’s okay.”

I am honored that I was chosen to be her mother. This “Hero of Grace” swept through my life and changed me forever. And I am grateful.

The three most dominant things that were gifted to me by her life and death are:

One:  The awareness that everyday—every person—my family, is a gift to enjoy to the fullest. I never know about tomorrow, so I won’t waste today.
Two:  Only Jesus can fill and heal my empty brokenness.
Three:  To live with passion against the enemy of my soul. After Haylie died I was angry at God. I saw myself shaking my fist at Him. In His faithfulness He addressed my anger. He gently said “Why don’t you shake your fist at your enemy, where it will do you some good.” Since then I am beyond passionate to stand in faith for what I believe in, to fight for my family’s destiny and not give in—not one inch, to the plan of darkness that comes to kill, steal and destroy.

In so many ways I have been given beauty for ashes.

Isaiah 61:3 says
To comfort those who mourn
To give them beauty for ashes
Joy for mourning,
Praise for heaviness;
They will be called trees of righteousness—the planting of the Lord, for His glory.

Look at all this beauty—all these trees! Thankful, I am.

Today please be encouraged to seize the day! Hug your kids, hug your parents! Tell them you love them! And please give Jesus every empty place in your heart. Lastly, stand in faith for your family’s destiny—it’s worth it!

 

 

 

POTENTIAL

 

Do you ever grapple with the truth about your potential?
Take a look at my garden in its current state. Beautiful, right?

I know it resembles a tremendous amount of weeds, but take a closer look. These “weeds” are all flowering plants that died last year. I am in the process of removing the old flowers off of the dead plants. Why? Because each flower pod contains seeds. 

In fact, each pod has enough seeds in it, that when sown, will produce 20-30 flowering plants. Therefore, each dried up plant has the potential to produce about 150 new plants.

Pods

Seeds in one pod

It’s a really long process of retrieving the pods and separating the seeds. There’s no rushing it. Believe me, I’ve tried and end up losing valuable seeds.

The above photo shows the abundance of pods and seeds retrieved in a six foot space. Imagine their potential!

To the natural eye this garden looks useless. Only the Gardener sees its potential. With the proper process, these seeds will produce a beautiful, extravagant garden.

We are all in process. It may be a tedious and sometimes long process but well worth the effort.

Today, please be encouraged to know that you have great potential. Parts of your life may resemble a lifeless garden but Jesus, the Master Gardener, knows your potential.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11

ACCORDING TO YOUR FAITH

Do you ever get frustrated because you feel as if your prayers aren’t being answered?

Do you realize your prayers are answered according to your faith?

This revelation was a game changer for me. As you read this post, ask the Lord to give you a revelation of His Word regarding faith. In Matthew 9:28-30, two blind men came to Jesus for healing…

Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.” Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” And their eyes were opened.

Arriving at the understanding that your prayers are answered according to your faith can be encouraging or discouraging. Encouraging, because you may only need to make a few minor tweaks to your faith, to have the kind needed to move mountains.

Discouraging because you see your lack of trust in Jesus, and that your prayers aren’t really being answered—do to your own lack of faith. And now you know, it’s up to you to take courage and fortify your faith.

If it discourages you, do not despair—God’s grace is here and it’s enough to get you where you need to be. If your faith is weak, please know that making the choice to strengthen your faith and believe beyond a shadow of a doubt in Jesus’ faithfulness, is the most important decision you can make. Do it today! (Click here Fully Convinced to read how to strengthen your faith.)

Basically you need to seek a change of heart, and change your perspective about Jesus and His Word. You have to determine to believe that He is trustworthy and absolutely faithful.

When I realized that my prayers were answered according to my faith I was going through a period of sickness and decided to write healing scriptures on the mirror in my bathroom. Every time I walked into my bathroom, I could see the words on my mirror and I would repeat them to myself, pray them over my body, and thank God for His healing. As I did so, Matthew 9:22 came to life, it says,

“Daughter, take courage; your faith has made you well.” At once the woman was made well.” (NASB) 

I began to understand that my faith is the key. Jesus’ power—His victory on the cross has already purchased the answers to our prayers. His power is available to everyone—our faith is what accesses it. All of a sudden I found more and more scripture that basically said the same thing—let it be done to you according to your faith and nothing is impossible for those who believe.

“Because you believed, it has happened.” Matthew 8:13

“Your faith has saved and healed you.” Mark 10:52

“”Your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was instantly healed.” Matthew 15:28

“Oh, woman, your faith is something else. What you want is what you get!” Right then her daughter became well.” Matthew 15:28 (MSG)

How would you like Jesus to say to you “What you want is what you get?” It is completely possible!

This is so exciting!

Be encouraged to seek Him—seek to strengthen your faith today!

No Want

What would your world be like if you had no wants? Is it almost too hard to even imagine? But doesn’t a want free life sound inviting? Want, is so much a part of who we are—it’s part of our culture. But, it is not part of Gods culture.
Read for yourself…

Psalm 23:1 says

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

Psalm 34:8,

Blessed is the man who trusts in Him. Fear the Lord, there is no want to those who fear Him. Those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.

Philippians 4:19

My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

In others words, We have no lack—no need.

This is a really bold statement. Think about it for a moment.

The gist of this truth is that when we fill our heart and soul with Jesus and allow Him to be our Shepherd—our Lord, then all our wants and needs are met—we are full. We do not want or need anything else. Jesus is enough.

I’m not just referring to spiritual needs. No, this kind of faith meets all needs, spiritual, mental, physical, financial and relational.

Often times when you read verses like these you tend to think. “Yes, one day, this will be my reality. One day, (hopefully soon) God will supply all my need.” Or “When God gives me what I want, then I shall not want”

The problem with this mindset is that it causes you to focus even more on your want and need. When the fact is God has already come through. Jesus—the cross—the empty grave, have come through and made a way for these scriptures to be your reality right now. Believing this truth causes you to put your focus where it should be—on Jesus.

People who live by the standard of culture, or their own human nature, do not believe unless they see. People who live by faith, believe before they see, and take the Bible at face value. Bible believers know that it is against Jesus’ character to lie or be unfaithful. Therefore, if His Word says I have no want, and all my needs are supplied, then they are. Regardless of circumstance.

This truth is made fluid by living with the understanding that Jesus is enough. Enough for what? Absolutely everything!

Either God’s Word is true, or it’s not.

Please be encouraged to live a life of no want, by taking God’s Word at face value.

Link to the song “I shall not want” http://youtu.be/VRnFVMn0uZw

Hebrews 11:1

The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see.

De-Clutter Your Heart

It’s Spring (thank God) and time for Spring cleaning! Let us not be like the Pharisees who merely cleaned the outside of their cup (life), but let us take care to de-clutter the inside of our life as well.

The next portion of this blog is taken from my book Thirsty Heart, (which by the way, is almost out of the rewrite stage and is simultaneously being edited—it will be For Sale really soon!).

“The process of seeking God first and Him adding all things to us (Matt.6:33) is done by de-cluttering our heart and life. Removing the clutter that crowds our heart—the obstacles that keep us from living in close proximity to Jesus—junk that holds us back from a victorious, intimate life with Him—a life free of self and all the worries that accompany a selfish lifestyle.

This clutter includes bad heart attitudes, un-submitted self-will, emotionalism, unbelief, offences, un-forgiveness, pride, bitterness, judgments, mindsets, double minded-ness, self-limitations, self-disqualifications, labels, past failures, fears, independence (doing my own thing) and addictions, etcetera. It also may include other things such as relationships, activities and hobbies that are not necessarily sin but they do crowd our heart leaving little room for relationship with Jesus.

I like to illustrate removing the clutter with this story:
In my house when I’m not sure what to do with something, I usually (much to my husband’s dismay) put it in the garage. Out of sight out of mind right? Well almost.
When my kids were young we drove a huge dark grey suburban—it fit the whole family! In Idaho it’s best to park your car in the garage during winter—this way you do not have to scrape the frost off your windows every time you want to go somewhere. Well, our huge, old ranch style house had a little tiny one car garage. Our massive Suburban and all the clutter could not co-exist—there just was not enough room. In order to park in the garage, the junk needed to be cleared out. This meant we, my husband and I, (mainly my husband) were going to have to deal with this clutter—the stuff I did not want to deal with before—now had to be removed.

Are you starting to get the picture? God wants to fully occupy our heart—so we must make it vacant of all else.

We begin to de-clutter our heart and life by first choosing to live a lifestyle of submission to Jesus.

The word and concept of submission is usually something people oppose. It definitely brought conflict to my flesh! I like to call it the “S” word, because when people hear about it they treat it like a curse word—I know I did! But that was mainly because I misunderstood its true meaning and value. Don’t fret, if someone as strong-willed as I was, can learn to love submission you can too!”

Please be encouraged to take time to pray, asking God to show you any clutter in your heart, soul and life—then do a little spring cleaning!

To learn more about submission check these blogs out: The S Word and Submission as a Lifestyle

Limitless Possibilities

Have you ever felt bound by limitations or impossibilities? How would your life change if you had no restrictions, boundaries or obstacles to your faith?

 

I’m in this state of bobbing in and out of a very important—life changing truth.

And I have this suspicion the forces of hell are pretty worried! Because once this truth takes hold—there is no stopping me!

This truth is the fact that nothing is impossible for those who believe.

The concept of the word possible means to have a knowing inside of you that you have the ability to act and the power to accomplish anything you set your heart and soul to do. Think about this—ponder it—say it over to yourself out loud a few times—Nothing is impossible for those who believe!

The truth of these words grip me and when I’m in it’s grasp—all is clear and I know I’m invincible! I get this overwhelming excitement that says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me and I begin to marvel at all the limitless possibilities for someone who lives, knows and owns this truth. My heart and soul soar with expectation! I celebrate—the sky is the limit!!!

Then suddenly with out notice my head goes under. It’s as if one moment my head is above water and the next my ankles are yanked and down I go into the muddy waters of a different kind of being overwhelmed—the dreaded one that lays all your life situations out before you and whispers the word “impossible”.

The struggle is real.

But I know how the story ends—I win! You win!

I am victorious, you are victorious. I can do all things, you can do all things. Nothing is impossible for those who believe!

Galatians 2:20 tells us
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

This is our reality. Christ conquered sin, death, hell, sickness, poverty, fear, doubt, worry—you name it He conquered it! And that same power is in us, if we will only believe. (Ephesians 1:18-19 & Romans 8:11)

Think of all the possibilities.

If you are like me your next question will be—how? How do I live this truth out?

By faith.

At this point of the struggle, I know what the battle is all about. It’s a fight for my purpose—therefore it’s a fight for my faith.

I know there is great purpose and destiny for my life and for yours. I also understand that if we can absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, believe this about our life then we will accomplish all God created us for—we will accomplish the impossible. That’s why faith is the answer to the how question, that’s why it’s a struggle for our faith.

The devil wants to keep us living average lives—wandering aimlessly—no doubt, but I hate status quo—I wasn’t created to be average—what about you?

Faith closes the gap between promise and fulfillment. There is a great promise on our life and every promise prospers in God’s hand. If we are anchored in relationship with Christ the possibilities are limitless.

When I think about the struggle—the bobbing in and out of the water. I kind of get excited knowing it’s temporary. Each time my head emerges I stay up longer and the longer I stay up, the more this truth becomes my reality.

But how does faith close the gap between promise and fulfillment—how do we stay above the enemies plan to keep us under?

Matthew 17:20 says if we have faith—in Jesus—the size of a mustard seed nothing will be impossible for us. Romans 12:3 says everyone has a measure [a seed] of faith resident within them. Romans 10:17 informs us faith comes alive by hearing the word of God.

We all know seeds only grow if planted. We must take the measure—the seed within and apply it—we start by setting our heart, will, mind and emotions to trust God. We nurture the planted seed with God’s Word and further acts of faith.

Be encouraged to let your faith out of the box of impossibilities, dare to believe that nothing is impossible for committed believers who understand their authority and know the truth of Gods Word—all things are possible for you!

Mark 9:23 “Everything is possible for one who believes.”

17:20 “Jesus said to them, ‘Because of your unbelief; for assuredly I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you'”

Matthew 19:26 “And looking at them Jesus said to them, ‘With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.'”

Luke 1:37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Don’t Waste the Wait

Does anyone enjoy waiting?

When was the last time you waited and un-sarcastically gave thanks for it?

We live in a microwave quick—give it to me now society. Our culture has trained us not to wait. But have you ever noticed how unavoidable waiting is?

In this journey of strengthening my faith I have come to a huge reality, which you can read about in my last blog The Real Story (click to read). This reality is faith closes the gap between promise and fulfillment. Once the lights go on and we grasp this reality—we are likened to a blind person receiving their sight—everything takes on a new perspective. The blinders have fallen off and we realize all things are possible!

Then we come up against “The Wait” that beautiful time in between promise and fulfillment.

Ugh.

I was going to title this blog post “Hating the Waiting” but decided to be more positive.

On that note I want to encourage us in our waiting. Since waiting is inescapable we must come to the conclusion God is in it and not waste our wait but instead view it as the valuable treasure it is.

I understand how challenging this is—so why not rise to the occasion? Let us resolve within ourselves to hold waiting in high esteem, to recognize its value and absorb its truth.

One truth about the wait is—it will affect us—either positively or negatively—with this in mind, let us allow the wait to etch beauty on our heart, soul and life.

We start first by asking God to change our heart in regard to waiting. Seeking a heart change will help us to not fight the process. Fighting the waiting process opens many doors—namely bitterness and unbelief.

Secondly, we need to ask God what He wants to accomplish in us during the waiting period. We do not wait in a void—no, waiting is proactive. If we don’t know the purpose for the wait we will wander and grow disillusioned.

The waiting process requires patience. Not always our favorite—I know. The best way I’ve found to acquire patience is to get more of the Holy Spirit. Since patience is a fruit of the spirit—the more we are filled—the greater our fruit.

Another requirement in waiting is we must take care not to misuse our time in the process by tossing and turning in worry. The definitions for the word worry are horrific! Listen to this—to torment with cares, devour, to harass by repeated biting. That’s lovely, or how about this one—to seize by the throat with teeth and shake or mangle. YIKES! I know that one! No wonder the Bible tells us not to worry!

Here are some truths about waiting that will help us in not wasting the wait:

• Waiting does not change the truth about God—He is still faithful
• There’s beauty in the waiting process—you just need to look for it
• Waiting brings change—let it change you for the better
• No matter what season we are in—waiting will play a part
• Embrace the wait—it’ll ease the pain
• Waiting is not an interruption to God’s will—don’t try to avoid it
• Waiting diminishes self-absorption—we find it’s not all about us
• Waiting brings a greater dependency on God—we stop trying to do life our way
• In waiting we find rest—worrying our prayers to God can end
• Breakthrough is on the other side of the wait—don’t give up
• Waiting will draw us closer or drive us further from God—choose wisely
• Waiting reveals our heart attitude—adjust your heart appropriately

How to find beauty in the wait:

• Stay thankful—don’t grumble and complain (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
• Worship God—He is always worthy (Psalm 42:11)
• Stay in the Word—believe it’s truth (Romans 4:20)
• Speak truth—life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21)
• Expect God to be true to His character—He can be nothing but faithful (Numbers 23:19)
• Take every thought captive—don’t agree with the devils lies and accusations (2 Corinthians 10:5)
• Wait on God as a waiter waits on those he’s serving—serve God and others (Romans 12:10-11)
• Pray—don’t worry (Philippians 4:6-7)
• Strengthen your faith—don’t wavier in unbelief (Romans 4:20)
• Hold tight to God’s promises—be fully convinced He’s faithful to accomplish all He’s promised you (Romans 4:21)

Waiting is not necessarily a trial but it does test our faith in God, and weighs our dependency on Him. Our main objective in waiting (and any other situation in life) should be to know God more—to snuggle in under the shadow of His wing, resting in the truth that He is all we need.

Whatever waiting process you may be in, please do not let it steal your faith. Be encouraged to surrender to it—allowing yourself to find God in it.

Don’t Sit on the Sidelines

Do you ever find yourself sitting on the sidelines in life? What makes people sit on the sidelines? For me it was fear—it kept me at a distance from life and from living a faith dominated lifestyle.

The opposite of fear is faith…ponder this a moment—if in any area of our life we are fearful—it’s a trust issue and the antidote is faith. The bottom line is—when we have true faith in God there is no room for fear.

As I’ve mentioned before I’ve been on a giant (wonderful and sometimes painful) journey to strengthen my faith. The amount of fear in my life was the tell-tale sign that lead me on this expedition in search of unmovable—relentless faith.

On this mission I first had to come to a major conclusion, which was God’s Faithfulness is Not On Trial  nor should it ever be. Yes, I have walked through many heart breaking adventures in my life, but God was never to blame.

Oh but the enemy of my soul was ever present to accuse God with subtle allegations, that unfortunately over time created a bed of comfort for me—a place in the midst of pain where I found a bit of shelter.

The bad news is when we agree with the devil it never turns out good! The good news is when we wander from truth, our gracious; long suffering shepherd always provides a way for us to return.

A good thing to realize about lack of faith is that it’s a heart issue—it’s a place in our heart needing to be perfected in His love. A place that simply needs to be let go of—a place where we make a beautiful exchange—our fear, pain and doubt for His unrelenting love and freedom.

Who wants to be partnered with fear anyway?

The Bible tells us,

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

I started off this blog intending to write about my big adventure this past weekend, but ended up writing about the my bigger adventure of acquiring deeper faith. The two adventures really do go hand in hand and the lesser of the two would not have been possible without the first…

One way fear effected me was that physically I was not very courageous. My husband and kids they are beyond courageous—they are borderline thrill seekers! And I normally just sit, watch (pray) and take pictures, but not this weekend!  Well…a third of this weekend—they participated in three courageous events and me—only one (maybe next year)!

I found myself fearless when on our family vacation, I decided to make the one hundred foot rock climb to a beautiful crystal clear waterfall. Yes friends I did it without hesitation!

Each step upward was made rock by rock. And when the climb got intense my husband and sons were before and behind me, ever faithfully holding out their hands, and pointing out the best places to next set my foot. Even when a snake popped his head out of a crack in the rocks and when another slithered on top of one sons foot, I kept going—even when spider webbed rocks where unsecured and shaky, yes even when the moss was slippery and the freezing waterfall pounded on my head and shoulders as I maneuvered across a one foot  wide, one hundred foot high ledge—I, by God’s grace, simply choose not to give fear a second thought!

The climb reminded me of my journey—my life. There always has been and always will be reasons to fear, but God in His unending faithfulness is right behind me—right behind you—and He’s ahead of us, holding out His hand, pointing out the best way to go. Encouraging us to take life one step (rock) at a time, never allowing us to fall—even when our feet land on unstable ground. And when the devil (that snake) rears his ugly head threatening us, we must realize all we have to fear is fear itself. And fear is really nothing but a facade. God’s the real deal and if we allow Him to perfect us in His love we can walk in the freedom He gave His life for, we can get off the sidelines and we can experience the waterfalls of life—crystal clear and refreshing.

Please be encouraged to strengthen your faith (click here to read how: Fully Convinced)—to say no to fear and all its restrictions and yes to God’s faithfulness!

 Simply beautiful—so glad I did’t miss out by sitting on the sidelines!

Here are some pictures of my family doing what they do…being adventurous! These are the ones I didn’t participate in!

       
The kids climbing down huge rocks leading into a vast canyon and beautiful oasis.

  Girls jumping off a bridge.

My husband and son sitting on top of this bridge before jumping off.

 

God doing what He does best…just being Himself.

 

 

Word In—Word Out

Do you ever feel stuck? Do you desire to live a life that over comes? More than likely most of us can say yes to these to questions.

I know a simple—but life changing way to get out of the stuck rut and live a life that not only over comes but thrives. I’m not saying I’m an expert at life nor that my life is bad—just saying in living and applying this concept—the days of feeling wedged-in by the cares of life are fleeting.

The concept is Word in—Word out.

It’s as uncomplicated as it sounds. Put the Word of God in and speak it out. What’s difficult about this is remembering to do it throughout our day.

Because we are human and live in a consuming and busy culture—doing this once a day is not as effective as doing it all day. All day?? Yes, all day! We do it all day every day because we need the Word’s truth to be our truth.

The Word of God is alive, active and creative, (Hebrews 4:12, Psalm 33:6 & 9). When ingested it cleanses, comforts, heals and creates. The Word brings life to every thought and situation it touches.

When we take the Word in, we are in essence taking in the presence of God—inhaling Jesus Himself. And when we speak it out, we are breathing the life of God to every situation with our very words. So not only does it change who we are, but it creates new life to all we speak it to.

Most importantly this concept increases our faith. As we speak it out of our own mouth, our ears hear it and begin to believe it.

The way it works (mechanically) is instead of letting our thoughts run wild or consume us, we instead use our idle thought time to take the Word in—and speak it out. A good way to remember is to write an applicable scripture on a note card or sticky note and post it where you’ll see it.

As you put the Word in and speak it out remember to believe it. Believe the truth—the truth that it cannot enter your heart and soul without creating change and imparting hope—hope that changes our perspective causing us to see the beauty of our life through the eyes of Jesus.

Please be encouraged to draw nearer to God by breathing Him in and speaking Him out!

Fortify Your Faith

Do you ever marvel at the countless times our heart and soul need encouragement, reassurance or a simple reminder of God’s faithfulness? I do. The baffling truth is—human nature always causes us to forget God’s faithfulness and revert to old thought patterns of doubt and self-reliance. This is one reason we must daily fortify our faith. We don’t read our Bible and pray everyday out of religious routine, we do it because we need continual downloads of truth that strengthen our belief—drawing us nearer to Jesus.

I’ve been in a huge battle, a battle that’s generations old, not just on my side of the family but on my husband’s side as well. I mentioned in a recent blog, the victory I’ve had over the fear of lack and lack its self. I truly believe it’s been defeated, but of course it regularly tries to remind me otherwise. This week is one of those times.

What did I do?
First, I ‘ll tell you what I didn’t do, I did not agree with it—I’m choosing not to listen to lies and accusations.
Second, praying and reading the truth and choosing to believe it!
Third, asked for help. I have two friends who live hundreds of miles away—they always have my back. With assurance I sent out an email asking for prayer. We never have to fight our battles by our self. Both replied with encouragement, one friend sent the following response. With her permission I’m sharing it with you, it was too good not to!

As you read it let your faith be fortified. It’s written by Cathy Brookshire, my friend, sojourner, mentor and sister.

“Remember – Jesus asks you to find Him today – in the moment and to be thankful – right now – for His presence and His provision.

It is always when we start living in the past or the future when “old friends” [fear, worry, doubt] come to visit.

Is the manna He has given enough for today? Will He provide the necessary manna tomorrow? The Israelites didn’t know. . . so they had to put their trust in God, believe God, rest in today’s provision and trust if there was no manna in the morning then God was going to do a new thing.

Their trust could not be in the manna – the provision – the whole reason manna was provided was so their trust would be placed on God and God alone and they would find everything they needed in life right there, right in the middle of nothing, right in the middle of the desert.

The Israelites did not need one thing added to their lives because they had the very presence of God. All God wanted them to do was to see Him, know Him, love Him receive His love for themselves and to be satisfied in Him to taste and see that He is good.

God is asking us the same question: “Am I enough?” My circumstances do not ever have to change – only my heart – only my perspective – if God is with me then I am satisfied. I am whole. I am healed. I am provided for. I am cared for. I am loved. I can not stay the same if I choose to sit in His presence. I am changed. I am transformed. I have no need. Everything that is not of Him has to flee.

Today I choose God. Today I choose satisfaction in Jesus. Today I choose rest in His presence. Today I choose peace that surpasses understanding, as I hand over every prayer/need. Today I choose to be loved and to have His love fill me, heal me make me whole.

God is looking for His people to put their trust in Him and Him alone. . .come Lord and may Your presence be enough to satisfy our souls.”

Please be encouraged today to make Jesus enough—to trust in Him—not in what He provides!

Romans 4:20-21 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.