“Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 NLT
Give it to Him. Whatever that thing is that is holding you captive, stealing your thoughts, and shadowing all that you do. He’s ready to take it. He will hold you up, strengthen you, and give you courage for whatever lies ahead. Be encouraged! Jehovah Jireh, the God who provides, has you well taken care of and He goes before you in victory. Trust Him with you. You are loved. Peace be with you.
“The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.”
If today has some unexpected twists and turns that bring fear, heaviness, and anxiety along for the ride, remember to run to Jesus. He is our protector, savior, and the lover of our souls. We are safe with Him. He is the light for our path and rest for our souls. You are loved. Peace be with you.
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” Psalm 32:8 NIV
The loving eye of God on me. Let that soak in for a second. The Lord of Heaven, God of Creation, King of Kings – His eye is on you and me. Tight, tense shoulders can drop. Fast, shallow breathing can slow and deepen. Overwhelmed, exhausted minds can let go and rest.
His eye is on you. He sees what is swirling around you, holding you captive to fear. He feels the heaviness of heartbreak in your wounded heart and spirit.
He will counsel you. He will show you the way to go, how to move forward, and how to let go. He sees the beautiful way ahead that He’s set up and planned just for you. Imagine His joy in knowing what is coming for you just around the next bend in the road, twist in the path, and over that next hill. He sees it and He is leading you toward it.
Right now the way He’s leading may not feel good, happy, or safe because you aren’t in control of it. You can’t see around the bend or over that hill, and that is so frightening. But remember, He can see what’s coming. Don’t miss the part of the scripture that says His loving eye is on you. Eyes full of love that see you exactly where you are on this life-road. Eyes filled with compassion, mercy, and love so great you can’t fathom it. Eyes full of hope, healing, and so much joy. He won’t let you miss it and He won’t take it away. He already set in motion the blessings, the good, the rest, the victory, and the peace. He’s got you.
Do you have that tiny bit of faith to trust Him? I think you do. It’s in there. He sees it. His spirit is fanning that tiniest of sparks into a flame with holy, eternal breath scented with heaven, joy, and His presence. His loving eye will never look away because you are His and you are so very loved. Peace be with you.
I’m very excited to reveal the blurb for book #4, Divine Presence…! I’m proud of this book and can’t wait for it to be in your hands, speaking exactly what God tucked into the pages just for you. I believe that each of my books in the Divine series have a little nugget or two for everyone.
Stay tuned for the cover reveal very soon… it won’t be long before I send this book out into the world
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139:23-24 NIV
It’s no easy thing to ask God to look into our hearts and see all of our thoughts, feelings, and those secret things we think we are keeping hidden. Exposure feels so vulnerable and raw. How awesome it is that we have a God who already sees and understands our fickle and ever-changing hearts and loves, adores, and delights in us despite what He finds there. That isn’t to say it doesn’t hurt as He sifts, cleanses, and burns away all the debris and messiness we hold on to so tightly. But doesn’t it also feel freeing, healing, and safe knowing that this cleansing and exposure will bring about peace, joy, and gratitude? We can finally rest and let go of all the striving and hiding. We are welcomed and looked upon with holy eyes that see beyond the chaos of our hearts to the beauty, purpose, and masterpiece that He created when He had you and He had me on His mind. You are loved. Peace be with you.
“When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet.” Proverbs 3:24 NIV
Wishing you all a peaceful night with deep, gentle sleep. You are safe in His hands tonight, my friend. Let Him soothe you with heavenly songs whispered to your spirit as your eyelids grow heavy and His angels encamp around you. You are loved. Peace be with you.
“Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” Proverbs 16:24 NLT
The words that we speak have a profound impact on the hearer. Our words literally hold the power of life and death. What we say to others and to ourselves creates eternal ripples with consequences that we will have to answer for. How we use our words will come back to us, as is said in Proverbs 18:21 NLT “… those who love to talk will reap the consequences.”
Some of the words I read and hear on social media are heartbreaking. The way certain groups of people are spoken about, the names they are called, and the things assumed about them are deeply disturbing. Those words and names are not from God, but directly from the father of lies, the enemy of our souls. God created these exact humans in His image and called them masterpiece and beautiful. His breath was breathed into their lungs exactly the way it was breathed into mine and into yours. How He must feel when mere humans in pride, fear, and arrogance speak hate, judgement, and terrible things about those He took time to create in His image.
Don’t we understand by now that God is not on one side of man- made political parties? Isn’t He so much more than that? He is King of Kings. He is the Prince of Peace. He is the Son of Righteousness. He is the beginning and the end. Vengeance in His. Isn’t it His job to convict of sin and bring forgiveness and healing? It isn’t my job and it isn’t yours. He said to take the log out of our own eyes.
It is holy, beautiful, and so healing to witness someone speaking kindness to another – spreading healing, love, acceptance, and acknowledging their existence as one so loved by God that He sent Jesus to die for them. One act of kindness, one kind word, one selfless decision to help another, stand up for another, and love another simply because Jesus told us to, sends ripples of hope, healing, and belief that there is still good here. I want to be on the side of good, of healing, of hope. I want to be on Jesus’ side.
Lord, help me put kindness at the forefront of how I act and speak. Help me to understand the full impact of the words I choose and how I treat those I cross paths with today by your divine plan. Forgive me for the times I wasn’t kind and my words wounded one that You deeply love. Holy Spirit, guard my mouth and fill me with Your words and actions so that I uplift and heal rather than divide and wound. Keep judgment from my heart and blanket me with peace as I walk with humanity today. Please let Your presence and love be the things I leave with those I come in contact with today and each day. Amen.
“I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will never be shaken.” Psalm 62:1-2 NLT
It’s hard to wait quietly when there are pressing questions that need answers and God seems to be taking His sweet time. When that certain situation, relationship, or issue is taking up more and more space in your mind, and your heart feels like it can’t expand anymore to contain the constant thinking, feeling, and waiting. When self-sufficiency rears its head and invites unbelief and diminishing trust that God’s got this, He’s got them, and He’s got you. The belief that you have to fix it, manage it, and predict the outcome by incessant rehearsing and overthinking. It’s just so hard to wait on Him.
But…
God says that the victory, the answers, the rest, and the fixing come from Him. Just Him. It is hard to wrap our minds around it; that He already knows the outcome, where the bend in the road leads, how that hard conversation is going to end. It’s hard to trust when the wait time seems too long and it feels like we have been forgotten in the mass of humanity calling out to Him non-stop.
I suppose this is where we decide if we truly believe He’s for us, sees us, loves us, and we decide to trust Him with ourselves. We either do or we don’t, right?
He is our safe place. He is our strong tower and our fortress. We will likely feel the wind, the waves, and the uncertainty of living life on this planet. But maybe today, we can try to trust Him, believe Him, and relax our white-knuckled grip on that “one thing” holding us captive to fear and doubt. Maybe we can release it to Him and simply see what happens. Maybe we can do our best to live in the moment and enjoy being in His presence, looking for the good, the joy, the hidden delights, and the victories. Those things are all right there waiting for us to change our perspective from one of striving and self-reliance to humble dependence on the One who created us and envelops us in His peace and protection. Give it a try. You are so loved. Peace be with you.
Hello everyone! These are the current 3 books that I have published on Amazon as Kindle, eBook, and paperback. They are also available from other online retailers.
I would love for you to check them out! In each book, I firmly believe that God has something for each of you that will speak to you right where you are in whatever circumstances and life season you may be in at the moment. He loves you and wants you to know Him on a deeper, intimate level. He speaks to everyone in such a unique and beautiful way that I am confident there is something in each book for everyone.
I will soon have book #4 Divine Presence…launched and published. I’m so very excited to get this 4th book into everyone’s hands and see what God has tucked into the pages for you all.
“And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.”
Have you ever felt so bone-deep tired from circumstances and hard life seasons that the thought of putting together coherent thoughts, words, and ideas is just too much? I have, several times, and it’s not a pleasant place to be.
This verse brings me a lot of encouragement. When I do not know what or how to pray anymore over a certain situation and simply do not have the energy, the Holy Spirit knows. He knows. When human words cannot express the longing, the need, the fear, the hope, the Holy Spirit speaks in heavenly languages straight into the Throne room, interceding on our behalf. That is beautiful. That is love. That is power and compassion that swirls in mystery and bathes us in the supernatural.
If you are in this season now and simply can’t find the words to pray, be encouraged that He hears you, He knows, and He is acting. Let the sweet blanket of hope and mercy fall on you, cover you in the language of heaven, and rest, my friend, just rest. He’s got this. All is well. You are so loved. Peace be with you.
Extravagant Hope 