During our fast in January I felt the Lord impress upon my heart that I would carry the fire of His love to a generation. .
The promise lies before us to draw us into the greater things He has in store.
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The enemy, however, distorts our God-given promise with lies, fear, shame and deep insecurity. It's his only ability, the ability to deceive, to distort truth.
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And I have believed the lies. Too many to name and more yet unrealized.
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However, His promise remains true. Tonight I was reminded. Oh, but for the grace of God that chases us down, pursues us, and overtakes us. .
I have lived in fear of time spent alone. I stay busy, distracted, entertained. I serve, go, do, and stretch thin to avoid being alone.
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Tonight God revealed to me the stubbornness in my heart over this precious time. .
The enemy made me afraid of my aloneness because it was intended to be consecrated.
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So in response, I am committing to 100 days of #simpledevotion. I am turning off tv and signing out of social media. A relaunch. A fresh start. To be just the beginning of so much more. But it starts here.
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Instead I am instilling the daily disciplines of pursuing Christ. Seeking Him first. The powerful Matthew 6:33 that has been my anthem this year. Yes, so used it seems common. But it's not. It's red letters and we'll never fully unfold His manifold wisdom in this age.
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So I pursue so that I can see the promises of God fulfilled. So I'll stop putting off today for tomorrow and hoping for things that have already been promised and are waiting on nothing but simple obedience. .
I've waited my whole life for a grand encounter, not realizing I was missing far more by neglecting the simple things that matter more than all the rest combined. Read "Simple Devotion." <swipe> Put it at the top of your list and read it now. For real. Like, yes. Amazon now. 😊
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Come November my life will look very different. I don't know what all is to come, but because He carries me, it will be good.
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In this with you girl, but I am nothing more than Him in me to have anything to offer you. He is the sum total of all you need. Pursue Him. Today. Forever.
Shelley
See ya in November.
💛💛💛
Bitter into sweet. Like lemons to lemonade with the moving, flowing, washing of His Spirit and the sweetness of His name. "Your name is like honey on my lips. Your Spirit like water to my soul. Your Word is a lamp unto my feet. Jesus, I love you." 🎶 MercyMe
I remember watching my brother-in-law give my niece a slice of lemon when she was a baby. Her face soured and she drew back from that lemon so quick. It was adorable in the way babies are.
When life gives us lemons we often withdrawal. We pull back expecting it's God's punishment, rejection or "just life." Then we build safe guards to keep from experiencing the taste of bitterness, however it came, ever again.
Sound familiar at all?
But the good news is that He turns the bitter into sweet. (also a great song by Amanda Cook)
He takes what was bad and turns it for good. Whether it was our own stupid mistake, life, the devil, or even His correcting as a good Father and turns it sweet. Without the aftertaste or stain of grief.
If life seems bitter, don't pull away. Instead,
press into the Presence of God and pursue Christ even more. This is how living water will pour through your sour spot and bring life back again.
The name of Jesus hold so much more than we could ever comprehend, even honey to heal, sweeten and mend. 🍋☀🍯 #savoringsingle
"What we see is intricately connected to how we think, feel, and learn." Eric Jensen
So what do you see when you watch shows like
Married at first Sight
The Proposal
The Bachelor
The Bachelorette
+ Love Connection?
Because what we see does impact us. It's not just mindless entertainment to fill the background as we scroll through IG and snapchat, or something fun to gossip about between classes.
Instant relationships, "love"at first sight, and long term love on the foundation of short term pleasure all lead down the same road.
Look deeper. Where's this road really going to take you? Where's it taking them? Is there a better way? If so, where do you find it? Like for real. I'm not asking for me, I'm asking for you. #introspection
In this with ya girl,
Shelley
#savoringsingle
Cheap shots bid low. Don't sell your confidence short by placing it on the market for comparison, judgement, and jealousy.
Instead, let your confidence be... Left unnoticed by the wandering eye of comparison.
Left untouched by the weighted scales of judgement.
Left unimpacted by the waftting waves of jealousy.
Left unmoved by the inner pull to hide for fear of being measured.
Our confidence, unbroken, when our eyes are locked on His.
For when we walk in a room, His attention we hold, for He was with us even before we opened the door. And when we are with Him, no other opinion matters.
So take your confidence off the market, He's already won it on your behalf.
#savoringsingle
To be honest, I struggle with the feeling that I am behind in life, a lot.
Behind because I'm not married.
Behind because I haven't finished college.
Behind because I haven't started the businesses I've dreamed, memorized scripture like I want, saved money like I should have or backpacked New Zealand (been at the top of my bucket list since I was 10). Behind.
It makes me embarrassed when I have to fill out yet another job application, defeated when I don't have the funds to start something new and plain terrible when I mention a scripture and by now should know where it's found.
Is it too late?
To late to save? To learn Spanish? To plan a crazy awesome trip without someone to go with? To late to begin again? Get yet another job? Or to go all in on a new venture that may crash and burn or be wildly successful?
It feels too late. Most times.
But feelings lie. And if I listen to them, I'll never do the very things I've always wanted to do, that I just haven't done yet.
Jesus tells us a parable of workers hired early in the day, midday, and near the closing bell. They all got paid the same amount. I know, crazy. (Matthew 20)
I can't say the early worker got a bad deal. He got the experience I wish I had, the time pounding the ground that makes me feel disqualified because I lack.
I feel late to the game. Last one called before the bell rings. In, but late. Working, but still figuring it out long after I should have mastered it.
But the Father, in His kindness and grace, shows me that so long as I start, I won't be left out. That my "yes" now counts just as much as if I had said it then.
So if you're waiting to start because you feel behind, you're not. It's never too late to start unless you never do.
Begin today.
#savoringsingle
We hear the promises of God and want them.
We hear the blessings of God and desire them.
We hear the testimonies of God and want the same for ourselves.
The healing. The provision. The blessing. The favor. The easy way. The better way.
Provision without working.
Revelation without studying.
Presence without pursuit.
Success without sacrifice.
It's not a new tale. And when those around Jesus heard of what He offered, they assumed it was the easy way too. And when he explained different - they got a bit salty.
Because He is healing. He is provision. He is blessing. He is favor. He is the easy way. He is the better way. He is. Him. His way.
But we want His blessing our way.
So when he says the true bread brings life, we say "give us that bread every day." Then he reveals, "I am the bread of life." And we say, "Nevermind." Because we didn't really want it to be spiritual, we just wanted the blessing.
We didn't really want it to be biblical, we just wanted the favor.
We didn't really want to know him, we just wanted the benefits of association.
He cannot be seperated from what he brings, which is why when we pursue Him, we get it all. But when we pursue everything else we end up with nothing.
Thoughts from John 6:33-35
What bread (blessing) have you been asking for? Return to Him, whether or not you get it, and you'll never be left empty handed.
#savoringsingle
