It's exciting to meet someone who gets us. Although we may have an instant connection with those who understand us, no one can relate to us as much as God does. He knows our ins and outs more than anyone else. God gets you.
For the longest time, I spent my life worrying about my desires and needs.
Will I ever meet someone who gets me? Could my dreams and passions actually turn into reality? Is it possible to live each day excited for the next with no worries to hold me back?
I was the one to always believe that my dreams and desires just happened to be put in my heart with no purpose of becoming a reality.
But the moment I surrendered my life to God and obeyed all that he asked, I saw my dreams and desires start to unfold. I realized my desires were actually put in my heart to become reality.
God gives us dreams and desires for the purpose of turning them into reality.
In fact, it is God himself who put those very dreams and passions in our hearts because He made us. Psalm 139:13 says, "You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb."
I've always dreamt to be a writer, author, speaker, and worship leader. I've always desired to find a future spouse who I could do ministry with and had the same passions as I did. I had desires to spread the gospel to the nations and help orphanages all around the world.
But at one point in my life, I convinced myself that the desires I had could never come to pass. I didn't think God knew what was best for me, so I took things into my own hands and lived the way I wanted to live. When God asked me to let go of my past relationship, I said no. When God told me to invest more of my time in ministry, I again said no.
I chose to hold on to what I thought was the best at the time, failing to realize that the whole time God was only asking me to obey so that I could get the very things I longed for.
I eventually realized that my ways were only taking me farther from who I desired to be. I started to obey God and let go of the things He asked me to let go, and invest in the things He asked me to invest in.
Fast forward to today, I've never been worry-free and full of joy in my life. Best of all, I started to see my dreams and desires come to pass.
God started opening doors for me to lead worship on the piano. I'm now in the process of writing my first book, and I am believing he will continue to open doors for more writing and speaking opportunities.
I've also met someone who is everything I've ever prayed for in a future spouse.
While all of this amazed me, God also showed me that He knows my desires to go to the nations and help orphan children. Not too long ago I participated in an outreach and the leader (who I had just met) came up to me and asked to pray for me. While he was praying for me God gave him a vision of me with orphan kids all over the nations.
It was in that moment I realized that God knows even my most intricate desires.
Just as God knows my desires, He knows your desires too.
If there's one thing you need to know it's this: God gets you.
God put those very desires in your heart for a purpose and intends on fulfilling your every desire.
We spend so much time worrying about our lives without realizing that God knows what we need and intends on giving us more than what we could ever ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
We will find rest when we surrender our lives to God and allow him to take control. God's only plan is to take care of us. If we have any other thought that speaks against this truth, it comes from the enemy. Jesus tells us in Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
If you have burdens that you are carrying today, now is the time to give it all to God. Only God is qualified to carry your burdens and give you true rest. God knows your dream spouse, your passions and dreams, and every hidden desire in your heart.
Nothing about you is hidden from God.
Will you let go of your life and surrender it to God? Will you trust that God will take care of you?
Psalm 139:1-4 says, "O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord."
Even if no one gets you, God still gets you. He's seen your every struggle and tear that's been shed. He knows your every thought even if it's not spoken. God is here to help you if you're willing to let him help you. Trust that God has the best in store for you and follow him. So remember, God gets you.
Prayer: Lord, I thank you that you know my every desire and intend on fulfilling it for your glory.
Thursday, February 15, 2018
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Fall In Love With God
We all desire to "fall in love." The emotions of falling in love are beautiful, but the perception is we can only experience this when we are in a relationship with someone. But what if we could still experience this as a single person? Even if we are single, we can still be in a relationship with God and encounter a love like never before. We can fall in love with God.
When I had broken up with my boyfriend, the first couple of months were hard. Every time I saw a happy couple together, I thought to myself, "I'm missing out."
I missed the feeling of falling in love.
When I was in a relationship, my boyfriend was always the first person in my mind when I woke up and the last person on my mind when I was about to sleep. I'd always look forward to reading his texts the moment I woke up, and I'd always hear his loving words before I slept.
He would surprise me throughout the week with gifts or quick getaways. He would always be someone I could go to when I was discouraged.
So when God told me to let go of the relationship, I felt empty. And for a while, I thought the single life was supposed to be empty until I could find someone to be in a relationship with again. But through this experience, God opened my eyes to see that I didn't need anyone to experience falling in love.
God showed me that I could fall in love with him.
The past couple of months have been the best months of my life because I was falling in love with God.
When I had no one to turn to when things were rough, I learned to turn to God. I went deeper into his presence and word. His words and promises were what I held on to morning and night. I even put post-it notes on the walls in my room so that I could remind myself of his love and faithfulness when everything seemed so hopeless.
God became my first thought every morning and the last voice I heard every night. He became my comfort and love when I had no one else to draw from.
As I obeyed and surrendered my life fully to God, he started opening doors for my dreams to come true. He helped me with the resources I needed to start Living Revelations Ministry and brought people into my life who were willing to serve and grow the ministry. He also opened opportunities for me to expand Living Revelation's reach through YMI and the Singles Ministry at my church.
God started using me through the prophetic and I found myself being an encouragement and influence to my family, friends/ministry, and co-workers.
God has been so gracious to me and never fails to surprise me each day. I wake up every day now looking forward to a new adventure with God.
Without me realizing, I was falling in love with God and still am today.
Because I've experienced God's love, I can't stop praising him and talking about his goodness.
Psalm 63:3 says, "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you."
If you want to experience God's amazing love, you must have a relationship with him. Christianity was never made to be about religious acts, but about falling in love with Jesus. We were never created to come to God dreadfully, but joyfully.
Just as we are excited to spend time with our significant other, God wants us to be excited to spend time with him. You don't need to wait until you have found "the one" to experience true love. True love is only found in God. There is no love that surpasses God's love. Psalm 36:5 says, "Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies."
God loved us so much that he came to earth in human flesh as Jesus to die for our sins. Jesus died so that we could have life abundantly now and forever. God wants us to experience his love now on earth.
God's love will change our lives and others around us. I'm only able to love others the way I do now because I've experienced God's love in my own life. We can only give true love when we've received true love from God. "We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19)
Are you falling in love with God? Are you excited to spend alone time with God or is time with God the last thing you want to do on your to-do list?
The most-high God in heaven wants to have a relationship with you. He loves you so much and he wants you to fall in love with him. You don't need to search for love elsewhere because God's love is available now for you.
Will you accept God's love and do life with him?
When you take the effort to build a relationship with God, you will find yourself falling in love like never before. God has the ability to surprise you, encourage you, and love you like no other. So remember, fall in love with God.
When I had broken up with my boyfriend, the first couple of months were hard. Every time I saw a happy couple together, I thought to myself, "I'm missing out."
I missed the feeling of falling in love.
When I was in a relationship, my boyfriend was always the first person in my mind when I woke up and the last person on my mind when I was about to sleep. I'd always look forward to reading his texts the moment I woke up, and I'd always hear his loving words before I slept.
He would surprise me throughout the week with gifts or quick getaways. He would always be someone I could go to when I was discouraged.
So when God told me to let go of the relationship, I felt empty. And for a while, I thought the single life was supposed to be empty until I could find someone to be in a relationship with again. But through this experience, God opened my eyes to see that I didn't need anyone to experience falling in love.
God showed me that I could fall in love with him.
The past couple of months have been the best months of my life because I was falling in love with God.
When I had no one to turn to when things were rough, I learned to turn to God. I went deeper into his presence and word. His words and promises were what I held on to morning and night. I even put post-it notes on the walls in my room so that I could remind myself of his love and faithfulness when everything seemed so hopeless.
God became my first thought every morning and the last voice I heard every night. He became my comfort and love when I had no one else to draw from.
As I obeyed and surrendered my life fully to God, he started opening doors for my dreams to come true. He helped me with the resources I needed to start Living Revelations Ministry and brought people into my life who were willing to serve and grow the ministry. He also opened opportunities for me to expand Living Revelation's reach through YMI and the Singles Ministry at my church.
God started using me through the prophetic and I found myself being an encouragement and influence to my family, friends/ministry, and co-workers.
God has been so gracious to me and never fails to surprise me each day. I wake up every day now looking forward to a new adventure with God.
Without me realizing, I was falling in love with God and still am today.
Because I've experienced God's love, I can't stop praising him and talking about his goodness.
Psalm 63:3 says, "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you."
If you want to experience God's amazing love, you must have a relationship with him. Christianity was never made to be about religious acts, but about falling in love with Jesus. We were never created to come to God dreadfully, but joyfully.
Just as we are excited to spend time with our significant other, God wants us to be excited to spend time with him. You don't need to wait until you have found "the one" to experience true love. True love is only found in God. There is no love that surpasses God's love. Psalm 36:5 says, "Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies."
God loved us so much that he came to earth in human flesh as Jesus to die for our sins. Jesus died so that we could have life abundantly now and forever. God wants us to experience his love now on earth.
God's love will change our lives and others around us. I'm only able to love others the way I do now because I've experienced God's love in my own life. We can only give true love when we've received true love from God. "We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19)
Are you falling in love with God? Are you excited to spend alone time with God or is time with God the last thing you want to do on your to-do list?
The most-high God in heaven wants to have a relationship with you. He loves you so much and he wants you to fall in love with him. You don't need to search for love elsewhere because God's love is available now for you.
Will you accept God's love and do life with him?
When you take the effort to build a relationship with God, you will find yourself falling in love like never before. God has the ability to surprise you, encourage you, and love you like no other. So remember, fall in love with God.
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Press Through The Drought
Drought seasons are a time when we experience a shortage of our needs. While this may seem like the worst season to be in, it's actually the season where we will grow the most. Press through the drought.
As a single person, the thing I desired most was to be in a relationship.
God asked me to stay single last year because there was still a lot he was trying to teach me. He wanted me to learn to depend on him before a man and to trust that he was enough.
During this process, I had met someone who I knew was the one from God. This made me even more eager to want to be in a relationship with him but I reminded myself that I wasn't ready yet.
As January was creeping in, I was preparing myself for the Daniel's fast. I prayed and asked God to teach me to make him my first love and to prepare me to be ready for a relationship. God then told me that in the next 3 weeks he would transform me like never before.
I was so excited to hear that and told myself, "Finally, I can be in a relationship soon."
But God surprised me during the last week of my fast. He asked me a question that I thought I could never say yes to.
God asked, "If you didn't have to be single anymore, would you still be single for the sake of helping others?"
My heart paused. I couldn't answer God. This whole time I thought God was preparing me to be in a relationship so that I could be in a relationship.
But I finally saw the bigger picture. He was teaching me to be whole and free as a single to help others be whole and free.
I could have left the drought season and enter into a relationship, but I chose to press through the drought some more.
I no longer saw the drought season as a time of dread, but a time to dig deeper into God and flourish even more.
Even in the midst of the drought, we can still draw from God.
The heat and drought in our lives are good for us because it makes us go deeper in Christ. Through this, our roots will grow stronger to withstand anything.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, "But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
Even in the midst of our dry seasons, we can still bear fruit for others to see God's goodness because we are drawing our source of hope from God. Our condition no longer is based on external factors, but in Christ alone.
When we are rooted in Christ, nothing can move us. We will continue to be a blessing to all because we are constantly being fed by God's word and wisdom. Only God can provide us the living water that will sustain us through our dry seasons.
I'm willing to press through singleness some more because I know I will only come out stronger than ever. God was right when he told me that he would transform me like never before in a month. If God was to ask me that question last year, I would say no.
But God has transformed me completely. I went from not being able to let go of a relationship to choosing not to be in a relationship when I could have been in one. I finally learned what it means to make God my first love.
I now find joy and excitement to persevere in the discomfort because I know my roots are only growing deeper in God. Now I know why it says in James 1:2, "Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." It's only through perseverance that we can grow strong in God.
James 1:4 goes on to say, "Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
You know you've reached a level of maturity when you appreciate the hardships in your life. You no longer mind lingering a bit longer through the trials because you know you will learn to be unshakable.
David was a man who was firm in the Lord because he chose to be still in God even in the midst of hardships. He was constantly being chased by King Saul who was after his life. David had many opportunities to take things into his own hands and kill King Saul, but he trusted God and surrendered it to him.
David tells King Saul in 1 Samuel 24:10, "This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord gave you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, “I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.”
David could have killed King Saul and not have to live in fear anymore. He could have taken away the discomfort and tension from his life, but he chose to be still in God.
David was still in God despite his circumstances, and so can you.
Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken."
When we recognize that God is in control and is always for our good, nothing can shake us. No heat or drought can take us down. When we put our worries into God's hands, he sustains us through.
God was using David's drought season to prepare him as King. God only takes us through the drought to prepare us for greater things. Our drought season isn't our final destiny - it's the time to mold us to be ready for our destiny.
The Psalms in the Bible were birthed through the trials David faced. God too will use your trials to birth songs, books, and words that will help others.
Will you persevere through the trials of life and not take things into your own hands? Will you trust God to be enough to sustain you through?
Psalms 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." God's help is always available for you. When you're struggling with the deepest doubts, run to God and confess it all. God's strength and peace renew you like never before. So remember, press through the drought.
Prayer: Lord, I thank you that you are able to sustain me through any drought or storm.
As a single person, the thing I desired most was to be in a relationship.
God asked me to stay single last year because there was still a lot he was trying to teach me. He wanted me to learn to depend on him before a man and to trust that he was enough.
During this process, I had met someone who I knew was the one from God. This made me even more eager to want to be in a relationship with him but I reminded myself that I wasn't ready yet.
As January was creeping in, I was preparing myself for the Daniel's fast. I prayed and asked God to teach me to make him my first love and to prepare me to be ready for a relationship. God then told me that in the next 3 weeks he would transform me like never before.
I was so excited to hear that and told myself, "Finally, I can be in a relationship soon."
But God surprised me during the last week of my fast. He asked me a question that I thought I could never say yes to.
God asked, "If you didn't have to be single anymore, would you still be single for the sake of helping others?"
My heart paused. I couldn't answer God. This whole time I thought God was preparing me to be in a relationship so that I could be in a relationship.
But I finally saw the bigger picture. He was teaching me to be whole and free as a single to help others be whole and free.
I could have left the drought season and enter into a relationship, but I chose to press through the drought some more.
I no longer saw the drought season as a time of dread, but a time to dig deeper into God and flourish even more.
Even in the midst of the drought, we can still draw from God.
The heat and drought in our lives are good for us because it makes us go deeper in Christ. Through this, our roots will grow stronger to withstand anything.
Jeremiah 17:7-8 says, "But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
Even in the midst of our dry seasons, we can still bear fruit for others to see God's goodness because we are drawing our source of hope from God. Our condition no longer is based on external factors, but in Christ alone.
When we are rooted in Christ, nothing can move us. We will continue to be a blessing to all because we are constantly being fed by God's word and wisdom. Only God can provide us the living water that will sustain us through our dry seasons.
I'm willing to press through singleness some more because I know I will only come out stronger than ever. God was right when he told me that he would transform me like never before in a month. If God was to ask me that question last year, I would say no.
But God has transformed me completely. I went from not being able to let go of a relationship to choosing not to be in a relationship when I could have been in one. I finally learned what it means to make God my first love.
I now find joy and excitement to persevere in the discomfort because I know my roots are only growing deeper in God. Now I know why it says in James 1:2, "Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." It's only through perseverance that we can grow strong in God.
James 1:4 goes on to say, "Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."
You know you've reached a level of maturity when you appreciate the hardships in your life. You no longer mind lingering a bit longer through the trials because you know you will learn to be unshakable.
David was a man who was firm in the Lord because he chose to be still in God even in the midst of hardships. He was constantly being chased by King Saul who was after his life. David had many opportunities to take things into his own hands and kill King Saul, but he trusted God and surrendered it to him.
David tells King Saul in 1 Samuel 24:10, "This day you have seen with your own eyes how the Lord gave you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, “I will not lay my hand on my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.”
David could have killed King Saul and not have to live in fear anymore. He could have taken away the discomfort and tension from his life, but he chose to be still in God.
David was still in God despite his circumstances, and so can you.
Psalm 55:22 says, "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken."
When we recognize that God is in control and is always for our good, nothing can shake us. No heat or drought can take us down. When we put our worries into God's hands, he sustains us through.
God was using David's drought season to prepare him as King. God only takes us through the drought to prepare us for greater things. Our drought season isn't our final destiny - it's the time to mold us to be ready for our destiny.
The Psalms in the Bible were birthed through the trials David faced. God too will use your trials to birth songs, books, and words that will help others.
Will you persevere through the trials of life and not take things into your own hands? Will you trust God to be enough to sustain you through?
Psalms 46:1 says, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble." God's help is always available for you. When you're struggling with the deepest doubts, run to God and confess it all. God's strength and peace renew you like never before. So remember, press through the drought.
Prayer: Lord, I thank you that you are able to sustain me through any drought or storm.
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