Monday, March 3, 2008

Life's ups and downs

I will be totally honest here and say that I haven't really felt like blogging in a while because a lot has been going on that I really didn't want to share publicly. I'm probably not going to give you the entire scoop but let's just say that the Lord is shaking things up in my life. On one end of the spectrum there is the possibility of losing one of my closest friends and companions. The Lord is teaching me to trust Him completely and surrender EVERYTHING to Him because He knows what is best for me. It has been real hard and frustrating and sad, but I have to daily tell myself that He is THE Good Father and His plans for me are so much better than I can muster up myself. My heart is crying out for clarity, for wisdom and for me to completely rely on Him. I need to diligently lean in and on Him for my strength, my joy and my affirmation. I've come to realize that in the past (or basically my whole life) I have relied too much on getting my affirmation from the people around me. Sometimes God does use the people around us to affirm us, but what He desires most is for us to come to Him so He can affirm us and download into us His delight and pleasure for us. This is huge beloved! It carries with it confidence, assurance and joy in walking with and serving the Lord.

We've all read this before, but before Jesus began His ministry, He first had to hear that God was pleased with Him. So it is even more crucial for us to know that we know that we know He is pleased with us. Before we set out on the journey that is our Kingdom destiny, we need to hear how near and dear we are to His heart. Song of Songs has to be rooted deep within us. Beloved, please know that His desire is for you! With just one glance of your eyes towards Him overwhelms Him! YOU are the one that "ravishes" His heart. The Lord has a jealous and zealous love for you. In order to captivate you and return you to your first love, He may shake things up in your life. I am learning this first-hand, and I will be the first to say that it is hard. But again I have to remind myself that "I am His beloved and His desire is for me."

So if this is you, I encourage you to read Song of Songs again, maybe even multiple times. He wants to tell you how much He loves you and how much He wants to be your everything. Please find the time for Him to do this; you will never be the same!

Not all things have been rough and tough for me lately. I played drums at the Wesley Foundation last Wednesday and the Kingdom Expansion Conference was this weekend at Riverstone Church. Both of these events were amazing! Out of fear of making this a super long post (and for the sake of your eyes and attention), I will discuss these later. But I will tell you that the Holy Spirit showed up in a MIGHTY way in Athens last week! More to come soon...

Grace and peace.

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