From Weak to Warrior

Today on my day off i was able to enjoy sleep and just quietness :) I found a nice coffee shop in downtown Laurel and it's been so fun to relax and get to read and write for a little bit. I've been asking the Lord what He wants to teach me today and it's been like a download of information. He is always speaking, it's just my choice to have open ears to hear what the Spirit is saying. He lead me to Luke 21:1-4 first. It says:

"Looking up, Jesus saw the rich people putting their gifts into the treasury. And He saw also a poor widow putting in two mites. And He said, Truly I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them; for they all gave out of their abundance (their surplus); but she has contributed out of her lack and her want, putting in all that she had on which to live."

God does not define us by our weakness or our lack, but our willingness to allow Him to become our strength. He keeps reminding me that He does not see as the world sees. He just wants our BEST. Our best may not be want the world considers the best to be. Papa gave His very best sacrifice for me-His Son. Now it's my chance to endure, finish well, and give my very best the rest of this summer. Even when it's hard and I feel like i have no energy left, He requires my best. When we give our best, Jesus always makes up the difference. I love that!! When we are willing, He is strong in our weakness. He loves weak and desperate people, because He has room to be their strength.

I starting thinking about all the people in the Bible who were weak to the world but were made strong by the power of the Lord and were able to do supernatural things. He turned the weak into warriors for His Glory!
-Abraham and Sarah were barren and unable to have children yet was turned into the father of many nations.
-Moses said "I am slow to speech and have a heavy and awkward tongue", but God made him His mouth piece. In Deut. 34:7 it says "Moses was 120 years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor His strength gone".
-David was the youngest, smallest, just tended sheep, not even allowed to fight. As we know, the Lord gave Him strength to fight Goliath and made him a king.
-Esther was a Jewish orphan who saved her people from being killed by risking her own life. Her background did not let that stop her from being a strong warrior.
-Gideon was another example. In Judges 6:15-16 it says "Gideon said to Him, 'Oh Lord, how can i deliver Isreal? Behold, my clan is the poorest in Manasseh, and I am the LEAST in my fathers house.' The Lord said to him, 'Surely I will be with you, and you shall smite the Midianites as one man.'" He hid from from the midianites and asked for two signs from the Lord because he was afraid. He was so afraid of the people that when God told him to tear down the altar of Baal, He did it at night so no one would see. God still affirmed him and was patient with his weakness. He saw the willingness of Gideons heart.

Our ability or circumstance does not have to determine our destiny!
In 1 Corinthians 9:22 it says "To the weak, I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.
He loves being strong in our weakness and making up the difference. He is saying, "If you just say 'yes' where you are now, i will take you where you want to be". I get frustrated with my struggles, my conpromises, and my inabilities, but the Lord is not calling me to be perfect, just willing. I love that He takes us where we are and transforms us into something we could never achieve alone. He loves giving beauty instead of ashes. If we will trade our insecurities and trust Him, He will do "exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think" (Eph. 3:20). I am praying for a transformed mind to not question His strength when He asked me to do something, but just rest in the confidence to know that my weakness is not weakness to Him, just an opportunity for Him to be strong. My ability does not determine my destiny. We serve a God who delights in doing the impossible. He loves transforming weak people into warriors!!
*Isaiah 40:29
*Joel 3:10
*Romans 8:26
*2 Cor. 12:10
*Hebrews 4:15

Identity

The Lord has been teaching me a lot about identity lately and it's something that i need to keep at the forefront of my mind. It is so important to truly know the way the Lord sees us and shut out the opinion of man. I have been praying for a new pair of glasses to see what Jesus sees. If I don't let the Lord define me each day, the world automatically will. He is showing me that it's my choice to decide what I want to believe about myself. Satan wants us to live in condemnation and fear of other people because he is so afraid of who we might become. He knows that if we really knew who we were in Christ, then we would stop listening to his lies and embrace Truth. He wants to delute the Truth as much as he can. It's so easy to listen to get caught up in comparing ourselves or constantly looking for approval, but God has not called us to live that kind of life. He wants a bride who know who she is because she knows who her God is. He wants to set our generation free of false identity. We don't have to look to the people around, the media, or anyone else to define us any more. The fastest way Satan can attack and tear someone apart is through their thoughts. Damon Thompson says "The warefare of your life is happening in your mind." What we think about is going to determine how we behave.
The other day I was cleaning the rooms that the campers stayed in after they left. I was cleaning the mirrors and I hear the Lord say, "What do you see?" and I stopped and thought about a few things going on in my heart for a minute. I can be hard on myself a lot of times trying to please people or live up to a standard that someone else has set. So i felt a little discouraged by my response to His question because Satan was reminding me of negative things. I asked the Lord what He saw and I felt Him say, "I see a jewel. I see a treasure." I was taken back by His words. It changes everything to know what He sees. It changed the whole attitude of my day. He is teaching me how important it is to stay in a place where His voice is the loudest thing in my ears. He wants to drown out all other lovers. He wants us to fling away every negative mindset, every lie, and every bit of condemnation. Knowing my identity in Him is the most freeing thing i can think of because lies just seem to fall off. When we feel not good enough, not pretty enough, not this or that, we have to know the source of those words are not from the Lord. When we know our Shepard, we recoginize His voice.
John 10:4- "And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers."
I love this verse because it reminds me that Satan's lies should be so foreign to us that we immediately are able to distiguish lies from Truth. Jesus is never condeming. He is such a good Lover that longs for His bride to know exactly what He sees. He loves it when we get it and receive His affections.
Im so thankful for His Truth. We don't have to worry about comparing ourselves to anyone else because we are each His special treasure that He created. YOU ARE HIS PRIZED POSSESSION!

The Lord is teaching me that the weapon to fight false idenitity is the Word. Im learning the power in confessing the Word. When i think and speak truth about what He says about me, it changes my attitute and even how I see life.

Daily Identity Confessions!

• I am loved 1John 3:3
• I am accepted Ephesians 1:6
• I am a child of God John 1:12
• I am Jesus' friend John 15:14
• I am a joint heir with Jesus, sharing His inheritance with Him Romans 8:17
• I am united with God and one spirit with Him 1Corinthians 6:17
• I am a temple of God. His spirit and his life live in me 1 Corinthians 6:19
• I am a member of Christ's body. 1 Corinthians 12:27
• I am a Saint Ephesians 1:1
• I am complete in Jesus Christ Colossians 2:10
• I am free from condemnation Romans 8:1
• I am a new creation because I am in Christ 2Corinthians 5:17
•  I am God’s Workman ship Ephesians 2:10
• I have been bought with a price and belong to God. 1 cor. 6:19-20
• I am fearfully and wonderfully made Psalm 139:14

Extravagent Love

Today has been a great day!! I was able to get a day off from camp and just enjoy rest and some Brooke and Jesus time :) Things have been so busy with the biggest camps of the summer here that I enjoyed every minute of this day to rest.
I pulled out some of my old journals this morning and was just looking at how much the Lord has taught me in the last year. There is nothing better than having a personal history with God and see how He has been so faithful. He has been faithful to every single one of His promises. He has taught me so much about my identity and with that this year has come so many dreams. Even this summer, i feel like my dreams are expanding and He is putting new passions in my heart.
Being the summer of "first love", i think "pure love" is what follows. The Lord keeps bringing me back to the story of Mary at Bethany in Matthew 26. She poured out her whole future and life on Jesus. Her alabaster box is believed to be her dowry for her husband. The idea was that the dowry was split 3 ways. one-third was given to the bride's father and then two-thirds were given to the husband and his father. It was PURE nard, which meant that it was not mixed with other things and not contaminated with anything else. Mary was an extravagent lover because she understood the value of pouring her life on Jesus. When she poured her jar of precious ointment on Jesus feet and hair, she was saying "Jesus, YOU are now my future". Jesus loved her worship so much that he scolded those who thought it was a waste and said, "Why do you bother this woman? She has done a noble (praiseworthy and beautiful) thing to Me." (vs. 10)
The Lord is asking me for that pure love to be poured out. With these dreams of being a wife, mother, ministry, amoung other things, the Lord simply wants me to say "No matter what lies ahead, the only thing i know is that Your'e my future. You're my dreams. You have my heart." I want to say Yes to Him and offer Him pure love, not mixed with anything else. I cannot save anything for myself and try to plan things on my own. When I live a life poured out, He then can take control and lead me. Our lives should be a pure fragrance that is relased in the atmosphere that changes things. When we encountered the love the Lord has for us, it makes us fall deeper in love with Him. "We love, because He first loved us."
There is no greater joy than wasting our life on Jesus. He wants a people who will love Him extravagently!! That is my prayer and my desire is to give Him pure love.
Psalm 24:3-4 "Who shall go up into the mountain of the Lord? or who shall stand in His Holy Place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted himself up to falsehood or to what is false, nor sworn deceitfully."

Back from Panama!

I cannot even begin to tell all the wonderful things that happened on the mission trip to Panama. My heart is so full of excitement for what Jesus allowed us to do. It was only through the anointing that we were able to break the yoke of bondage. We went to schools (Elementary and High School), a women's prison, local churchs, public areas, and a indigenous tribe. We would do a different program at each place according to the age level. My favorite part of the service was working the altar calls and just getting to pray for the people. At every place, there were people that received salvation. It was beautiful to watch someone go from darkness into light. I got to pray with one lady in the public plaza that we went to and she said she has seen such darkness before and after she accepted Christ she felt so different. I truly experience the joy of salvation through her testimony! I don't ever want to loose the joy of salvation. It is such a supernatural thing to know that one moment a person is on a path that leads to hell and the next their names are written in the Lambs book of Life and on their way to eternity in heaven. My eyes have been so open to the realness and importance of this revelation. Experiencing  the excitement of hundreds of souls coming to know Christ in just a week makes me want to see that every day. There is something about being apart of God's plan in the earth and being used by Him to accomplish things just makes me come alive. We even saw our bus driver and his friend come to know Christ at the end of the week. It was really incredible!! We saw healing come to the broken, the sick healed, salvation to hundreds, and the captive set free! I feel like i got to minister so much but at the end i feel so ministered to. Jesus is just so real and so fun! I can't wait to see what He has in store for Mobile next!

Here are some pictures of my favorite little girls that i met in Panama. I absolutely fell in love with the kids there and could have taken them home with me. Their freedom and love taught me so much!