I walked you through the pages of my journal, making sense of the scribbles I had jotted down as fast as I could that morning. I still have 2 pages to share with you today, if you would let me, as I believe these words from God to me are not be kept secret but rather to be shared and proclaimed so that they can encourage and inspire my brothers and sisters - YOU - and build them up in their faith so we might join forces and live boldly, courageously, passionately, purposefully TOGETHER.
I closed out yesterday's blog with a commitment to go wherever God sends me, to do whatever He has for me, to be the woman He envisioned when He first thought of me before time ever began. I look again at my journal and see
"Here am I, Lord, send me..."
"YOUR will be done..."
At the top of the next page I continued:
Jesus is all I need.
My identity is in Him. Alone.
Delight myself in Him.
Desire Him.
NOT what He can give me or do for me.
Just want HIM. Alone. Above all else.
In HIM only will I find satisfaction
joy
fulfillment
purpose
meaning
hope
EVERYTHING my heart longs for
NOTHING ELSE WILL DO!
NOTHING!
God then began to bring Scripture passages to mind, confirming the stirrings in my heart were indeed from Him and foundational to the dreams He is putting deep within my soul.
He seemed to whisper Psalm 73 first, so I turned there to see what He had to say. My eyes were taken to verses 24-28...
Whom have I in heaven but YOU?
I desire YOU more than anything on earth.
Those who desert Him will perish, for You destroy those who abandon You.
But as for me, how good it is to be near God!
I have made the Sovereign Lord my Shelter,
and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things You do (hence I am writing this blog post)
As He had been doing all morning, God lead on an amazing journey through His Word. My next stop was to be Psalm 16:11
He also had me visit Psalm 21:6, "You have endowed me with eternal blessings and given me the joy of Your presence."
That pointed me to Psalm 68:3, "But let the godly rejoice. Let them be glad in God's presence. Let them be filled with joy."
I then took a turn to Psalm 89:15
God then had me do a U-turn and revisit a familiar passage to me, as if He were telling me I should probably CAMP OUT there this year, in Psalm 34. As I am dedicated to living boldly, passionately, courageously, yet scared out of my mind to step out and put the rubber to the road, God showed me verses 4-5,
"I prayed to the Lord, and He answered me.
He freed me from all my fears.
Those who look to Him for help will be radiant with joy;
no shadow of shame will darken their faces."
As I surrender my hopes and dreams to God, He will replace my fears with confidence.
As I trust Him, He will fill me with His strength and power.
As I follow Him, He will guide me.
Along the journey, He will transform me, making me like HIM.
I have a feeling Psalm 37 will be another destination on this adventure where we stay put for awhile.
"Put your hope in the Lord,
Travel steadily along His path."
The repeated promises of God being there for those who trust Him, the assurance that whatever may come, He will never leave you. The road may be rocky or steep or narrow or all of the above. The path may seem impassable, but God will make a way. HE IS THE WAY. You may stumble or trip along the way, BUT God will never let you stay down. He will pick you up and carry you if need be. He does not promise an easy journey, but an incredible journey it will be for sure!
I had to think back to some trials and difficulties I have faced and overcome with God's help. Though I thought my life was falling apart, crumbling before my very eyes, I was reminded then and still hold fast to this promise found in Psalm 62
By no means am I a talented singer, but I couldn't help but quietly hum the words to Building 429's "We Won't Be Shaken."
Then, as if to wrap up my time with Him that morning, God has me re-visit Psalm 16, this time setting my sights on verse 5, "Lord, YOU are my inheritance, my cup of blessing."
Through all these precious truths, God seemed to be grounding me in this principle of utmost importance, laying a solid foundation on which to build the plans and purposes He has for me in 2015:
No matter what your hopes and dreams,
No matter what goals you set,
No matter your accomplishments,
No matter what you achieve,
No matter my rank with It Works,
No matter how many books I write or if I am ever a published author at all,
No matter how many stages I set foot on,
No matter how many lives I touch,
No matter how God chooses to use me to manifest His glory and brin about His kingdom,
this ONE THING is for certain:
JESUS HIMSELF IS MY DREAM.
Everything else is just icing on the cake...
And so I wrote out a prayer:
Use me to make YOU known,
to spread YOUR message of reconciliation.
Bring people to YOU, Jesus, through me.
May my life be a sign pointing them to YOU.
May I show them the Way - for YOU are the Way, the Truth, the Life.
Thank You for choosing me to be Your child.
Thank You for calling me to be Your ambassador.
Here I am.
Take my life and let it be used fully, wholly, ALL for Thee...
My heart was poured out to my God, laying all my dreams at His feet, relishing in the promise that in HIM all my dreams will come true!
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