California!

I am leaving tomorrow for JH Ranch in Etna California!! Nothing sounds better than spending two weeks in the beautiful mountains and being captivated by the Lord's creation and surrounded by people who are seeking His face. I pray that the Lord search my heart and draw me closer to His. I can't wait to see how He will move! Father, have Your way.

because He said so

I have been following a reading plan that spends 30 days with Jesus and today, Day 6, was focused on the passage when Jesus calls His disciples (Luke 5:1-11).


Jesus begins by teaching a large crowd of people from just off the shore in Peter's boat, and when He finished speaking He told Peter to cast his nets out. I am in love with Peter's response in Luke 5:5, he says "Master, we have worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because You said so, I will let the nets down."Too many times I find myself having this same conversation with God but stopping after Peter's first statement. Based on Perter's understanding from that slow day and from his lifetime experience as a fisherman, there would be no fish caught that day. Regardless he obediently cast out his nets, just as the Lord instructed simply because He said so.


Our perceptions of reality can sometimes seem more real than the truth of God's Word. Our emotions and bad circumstances have a way of leading us to a place of doubt and mistrust and making us vulnerable to replace the truths and promises of God's Words with lies. You know the type of lies that are... almost true, or the type of promises that could be true for someone else but don't seem like they are true for me.  I do not wake up every morning and feel like God is with me, or that I am loved by God, or  like God knows better than me and has my greatest good in mind. More often than not I wake up and feel like I am the one who knows what is best for me. The fact is God's Word is true regardless of our emotions, circumstances, or uncertainties. Faith is a choice, even though its not always and easy one. If I am going to follow Christ, I must choose to do so. In a way this was encouraging to me because like I said I do not always wake up and feel like God's truth is reality, and I don't have to. I do not necessarily have to like everyone who may be irritating me or everyone who may have hurt me. But I do have to love them, and I do have to forgive them. It is human nature for people to become who they pretend to be. Everyone has seen someone pretend to be someone they are not and eventually become that kind of person. So pretend to have faith, and pretend to be someone who follows Christ and doesn't let emotion or bad circumstances get in the way. God's Truth is greater than our feelings and so I will choose to follow simply because He said so. 




Some truths of who you are in Jesus :) 


 I have life and that life is the light of all men (John 1:4). 
 I have eternal life (John 3:15-16). 
 I have been justified (Rom 3:24). 
 I have peace with God (Rom. 5:1).
 I am loved of God (Rom. 5:8). 
 I have an abundance of grace (Rom. 5:17).
 I reign in life (Rom. 5:17). In Jesus I walk in newness of life (Rom. 6:4). 
 I am alive unto God (Rom. 6:11). 
I bring forth fruits unto God (Rom. 7:4). 
 I have no condemnation (Rom. 8:1). 
I have been made free from the law of sin and death (Rom. 8:2).
I live by the law of the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). 
I am a child of God (Rom. 8:16). 
 I am an heir of God (Rom. 8:17). 
I am a joint-heir with Christ (Rom. 8:17).
I freely receive all things from God (Rom. 8:32). 
I am more than a conqueror (Rom. 8:37).
nothing can separate me from the love of God (Rom. 8:38-39). 
I am sanctified (1 Cor. 1:2). 
I am enriched in all knowledge (1 Cor. 1:5). 
 I have wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30). 
I have righteousness (1 Cor. 1:30). 
I have sanctification (1 Cor. 1:30). 
I have redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). 
 I shall be resurrected (1 Cor. 15:20-22)
I have victory over death (1 Cor. 15:57)
 all the promises of God are "Yes" and "Amen" to me (2 Cor. 1:20). 
 I am established (2 Cor. 1:21).
I am anointed of God (2 Cor. 1:21).
I always triumph (2 Cor. 2:14). 
 I am a sweet fragrance to God (2 Cor. 2:15). 
my mind is renewed and enlightened (2 Cor. 3:14). 
 I am a new creature (2 Cor. 5:17). 
 I have the ministry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18). 
I am an ambassador for God (2 Cor. 5:20). 
I am made the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). 
 I live by the power of God (2 Cor. 13:4). 
I have liberty (Gal. 2:4). 
 I am redeemed from the curse of the law (Gal. 3:13). 
I have the blessing of Abraham (Gal. 3:14). 
 I am a son of God (Gal. 4:7). 
 I have faith which works by love (Gal. 5:6). 
I am blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places (Eph. 1:3). 
 I have been chosen before the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4). 
I am accepted of God (Eph. 1:6). 
 I have the life of God (Eph. 2:5). 
I now sit in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6). 
 I have the exceeding riches of God's grace and kindness (Eph. 2:7). 
 I am His workmanship (Eph. 2:10). 
 I am created for good works (Eph. 2:10). 
 I am built together for a habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:22). 
 I have boldness and access with confidence before God (Eph. 3:12).
I am a shining light (Eph. 5:8).
 In Jesus I am strong in the power of God’s might (Eph. 6:10).
 I have the high calling of God (Phil. 3:14).
I do not worry (Phil 4:6). 
 I have the peace of God which passes all understanding (Phil. 4:7). 
 I have the peace of God which guards my heart and mind (Phil. 4:7). 
I have strength (Phil. 4:13). 
I can do all things (Phil. 4:13).
all my needs are met according to God’s riches in glory (Phil. 4:19). 
I have been delivered from the power of darkness (Col. 1:13).
 I have been translated into the kingdom of God (Col. 1:13). 
I have redemption through His blood (Col. 1:14). 
 I have forgiveness of sins (Col. 1:14).
I am reconciled to God (Col. 1:20). 
 I have all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3).
 I am made complete and perfect (Col. 2:10). 
my life is hid with Him in God (Col. 3:3). 
 have abundant love (1 Tim. 1:14). 
 I have obtained salvation with eternal glory (2 Tim. 2:10). 
 I am saved to the uttermost (Heb. 7:25). 
 I have eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12). 
 I have an eternal inheritance (Heb. 9:12).
 I am made perfect in every good work to do His will (Heb. 13:21). 
 I have abundant mercy from God (1 Peter 1:3). 
 I have a lively hope (1 Peter 1:3).
 I have joy unspeakable (1 Peter 1:8). 
I am a holy priest of God (1 Peter 2:5).
I am settled (1 Peter 5:10). 
I have fellowship with all believers (1 John 1:7).
I have received the anointing which teaches me all things (1 John 2:27). In Jesus I have the Spirit of God (1 John 3:24). I
I have overcome the devil, the flesh and the world (1 John 4:4).
God dwells in me (1 John 4:15). 
 I have the love of God (1 John 4:16). 
I have no fear (1 John 4:18). 
I overcome the world (1 John 5:4). 
 I have victory (1 John 5:4).
I have understanding (1 John 5:20).
I know God (1 John 5:20).

Surrendering

I sat down feeling very distant and somewhat angry at God and I began to pray insincerely, knowing I was holding on to things I wasn't ready to surrender over to God in fear of what He may do with them. After a while of coming up with excuses and reason why these things were better left in my hands, I heard God speak to me and He had me write it down... 

As fallen beings we do not have the kind of strength it takes to hold on to God the way he can hold on to us. We are prone to wander and to be distracted. We justify why some things should be left in our control and withheld from God often times with ease or even out of habit. Complete surrender is what the Lord requires of us, and He accepts nothing less. This includes BOTH public and private actions, our thoughts, our worries, the words we hear, the images we see, the things we say, the influences from other people, and what we put on and in our body. It is ironic that the things we often keep from God are things that God has graciously given to us and could easily take away at any moment. It is the gradual turn away from God that is the most dangerous which leads to our own destruction, and hypocrisy that is most detrimental to the Kingdom. It is the deceitful whispers from the devil that cause us to become distracted and distant from God. The voice that tells you that God doesn't really care about that, you can't break the habit, it's really not that big of a deal, it's not hurting anyone, I can handle it on my own, or I can worry about God later. All lies!

He wants your complete surrender because He knows you cannot handle it on your own. You do not have the ability to hold on to Him the way that He can hold on to you, so what makes us think we can hold on to both Him and part of ourselves at the same time. The good news is that God has a grip on us with His divine strength and even if you are wounded or wandered, you are not too far away for God to rescue you. He WANTS to rescue you. You have to let go, you give complete surrender... which means obedience, so that He can fully heal you and lead you.

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

       Philippians 3:7-14

To attain the power of the resurrection we must be united with Jesus in his death through the death to ourselves. The power that God will give you can heal your wounds and give you the discipline to stay focused and strength overcome temptations and distractions. He did not say it would be easy, or that you wouldn't stumble, but He did say He will be with you. God is a faithful God and He holds true to the promises He has for you. Christ died for the joy that was set before Him, and by surrendering yourself completely there is a greater joy that is set before you too. He has much greater things that are in store for you, when you are seeking Him with your whole heart and not holding anything back. He will reveal himself to you, show you the things you aren't seeing, and you will be overwhelmed by His love. Surrender yourself and He will make you completely whole.