“I am your God”

Beloved,

What are you doing? What are you afraid of? What are you worried and upset about? What has you stressed out? Why do you want to give up? Why are you discouraged? Why are you crying?

Lift up your head, child. I AM YOUR GOD.

I am the risen son of man! I am the healer of the broken! I am your refuge and strength! I am your ever-present help! I am the maker of the heavens! I am the bright and morning star! I am the One who does all things well! I am your savior and redeemer who bore the sins of man! I am the beginning and the end! I am the fountain of living water! I am the One who calmed the sea! I am the breath of all creation! I am the One who walked on water! I am The Lord of lords! I am The King of kings! I am the holy lamb! I have overcome the world!

I AM YOUR GOD. You are my child. When you go through deep waters I will be 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. I am there for you. I will harvest every tear that falls. I am holding you in the palm of My hand. Your heart is in My care. Your future is perfectly planned, written with mercy’s pen. You’re surrounded in My unfailing love. You’re enveloped in My ocean of grace. Even when your hair turns grey I will take care of you. I have sent My angels to watch over you wherever you go. I am peace. I am joy. I am mercy. I am love.

So tell me again, what are you afraid of? What are you worrying about? I am your God and I am on your side. Who do you have to fear? What reason do you have to be upset? I have rescued you. I have saved you. I have made you and I will carry you. I will sustain you. I am your portion. You have nothing to fear. You have never been alone, for I will never leave you nor forsake you. I will be faithful to you. I am for you. No matter how good you’re doing or how much you’ve blown it, it’s not about you. It’s about the Son I sent so I could be with you. It’s about the sacrifice and divine love I’ve you shown through the cross. Lift your eyes to the heavens. Remove your focus from the problems and sins of the world. You were created to be complete in Me. I am the spirit deep inside you. I am the word upon your heart. I am the one who knew your every detail, plan, and purpose before you even came to be. I am the only one who can turn your valley of trouble into a door of hope.

And most importantly, I love you.

Now tell me, child, what is impossible when I am on your side?

-God

Isaiah 41:10, Isaiah 46:4, Isaiah 43:2, John 16:33, Psalm 46:1, Hosea 2:15, Psalm 62:2, Deuteronomy 31:6, 1 John 3:1, Psalm 23:4, Habakkuk 3:19, Psalm 91:11, 2 Timothy 1:7, 2 Corinthians 12:10, Revelation 21:6, Romans 8:28, 1 Peter 5:6-7, Jeremiah 29:11

Key Word: Faith

Guess what, guys. Faith can move the mountains. No matter what that mountain may be in your life, if you have enough faith to tell it to move, by the power of Jesus Christ that mountain will crumble. If you ask like you believe it. If you ask like you can see it, God will provide. By your faith, God will be faithful. “God’s power protects you through your faith until salvation is shown to you at the end of time.”{1 Peter 1:5} Declare that there is nothing in your way. Satan will fall; he will remain crushed under your feet. Jesus has the victory, not the devil. So who are you believing more? The lies of the devil or the hope of Jesus?

The name of Jesus is higher than any other name.

“So God raised him to the highest place. God made his name greater than every other name so that every knee will bow to the name of Jesus- everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.”{Philippians 2:9-10}

JESUS is higher than divorce, cancer, death, ADHD, financial stress, heartbreak(,etc.), and any strongholds, chains, or mountains in your life.
 

The name of Jesus is so powerful that every one of those chains are broken, every one of those strongholds are destroyed, and every one of those mountains are nothing but dust under your feet.

Jesus is our freedom! The devils chains that are holding you back can be shattered by the power in the name of Jesus.

The devil tries everything he can to abhor your closeness to God and he is determined to destroy your intimacy with Him. Because of this, we are engaged in massive spiritual warfare. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”{Ephesians 6:12} That’s nothing to be afraid of though, because as soon as we say the name “Jesus“ and ask Him to help us, in that instant the battle becomes His. In that very moment, He starts fighting for you. He begins to defeat the devil and shatter the chains and mountains in your life. All we have to do is be still and trust Him knowing He is fighting for us and He has the victory. “Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you.”{Deuteronomy 3:22}

The devil has no power against the name of Jesus. “The Lord who commands armies has a plan, who can possibly frustrate it?”{Isaiah 12:27} Satan can’t stand that we belong The Lord. He can’t stand that he no longer belongs to God, but we do, and we get to be showered with the blessings he used to receive. He hates how much God loves us; enough to send Jesus to die for us! Satan is jealous of how much God loves us and is always trying to take that away from us. Here’s the good news, God has given us the power to walk on Satan so he can’t hurt us. Want proof? Check out Luke 10:17-19: “…’Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.’ He replied, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.'”

Call upon the name of Jesus, declare that you belong to Him, resist the devil and he will flee from you. “‘No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,’ declares the Lord.'”{Isaiah 54:17}

In order to crush the devil and rebuke the weapons he has formed against us, we need to have faith.

Our faith is made stronger in the presence of God. Spend time with Him in his overwhelming presence and there is no way you will be able to doubt Him and His power. Our faith is also made stronger by remembering the times He has been faithful. He has never failed us, and won’t start now. When we think about all the times He has provided and come through for us in the past, it’s hard to doubt Him. He is the same God today that has performed miracles yesterday.

Once we call upon the name of Jesus, confess we belong to Him, have faith in Him, and resist the devil, we can begin to thank Him.

• We can thank Him that whatever we need has already been provided for us.
• We can thank Him that whatever mountains were in our lives are gone.
• We can thank Him that any chains holding us back are broken.
• We can thank Him that we are healed and made whole.
• We can thank Him that He is restoring. 
• We can thank Him for salvation.

Thank Him like whatever you’ve asked of Him has already been done; like He has already answered, and begin to receive it.

Jesus already died on the cross to heal us, mend us, provide for us, fight for us, and come through for us, so what else can we do but thank Him for it?

At the end of this life I want to be able to say, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”{2 Timothy 4:7} Have faith; persevere. God will come through, always. I promise He won’t delay. Satan will fall and will not have any hold on your life when Jesus Christ has anything to do with it.

If faith can move the mountains, what’s left to do but let the mountains move?

Made to Love

Considering we were created by the Creator of love, we were made to love; love God and love others. Not sure what it means to love others? There’s good news. God shows us exactly how to. We were made to love others the way He loves us. He sent His only Son to show us how to TRULY love.

Because of all the love He’s shown us, we are to give of ourselves to love others.

We need to show the world how He loves us.

“..Those who do not love their brothers and sisters, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have never seen. And God gave us this command: Those who love God must also love their brothers and sisters.”{1 John 4:20-21}

How exactly are we supposed to properly love others though? How can we love the world with THAT kind of love? Those are questions I’m always finding myself asking. Nowadays, “love” is a word people throw around like it’s nothing. “Love ya”: We use this nonchalantly all the time. It’s great we’re spreading love all around but if it’s not true, real, genuine love(the kind Jesus showed us on the cross), then what’s the point? 

We learn to love one another through the love of the Father.

If you want to know how God calls us to love each other, look at all the ways He loves you.

He is gracious and forgiving. He is humble. He blesses us. He doesn’t hold a grudge or offenses against us. He is patient and kind with us. He isn’t quick to get angry with us. He protects. He trusts. He wants the best for us. He has faith in us. He provides for us; wants AND needs. He heals us, and SO much more. 

HE GAVE HIS LIFE FOR US.

HE IS THE KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS AND YET HE WILL WILLINGLY STEP DOWN TO BE A SERVANT JUST TO PROVE HIS LOVE.

The qualities of love are written directly in God’s word for all of us in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous, it does not brag, and it is not proud. Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done. Love takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth. Love patiently accepts all things. It always trusts, always hopes, and always endures.”

He doesn’t just claim He loves us, He has proved it in every way imaginable and still continues to do so. If we all loved each other in the same way God has loved us, this world would be an amazing peaceful place. 

Look at 1 Corinthians 13 again. This time, verses 1-3:

“I may speak in different languages of people or even angels. But if I do not have love, I am only a noisy bell or a crashing cymbal.  I may have the gift of prophecy. I may understand all the secret things of God and have all knowledge, and I may have faith so great I can move mountains. But even with all these things, if I do not have love, then I am nothing. I may give away everything I have, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned. But I gain nothing if I do not have love.”

If we don’t have love, REAL TRUE love, we are bankrupt. We have absolutely nothing. No matter what we think we have or what we believe has value, none of it is any good without love. You can’t fulfill the calling God has for you if you’re missing love. None of the gifts God has blessed you with mean anything when love is absent.

My favorite part is the last of chapter 13 in 1 Corinthians; verses 8-13.

“Love never ends. There are gifts of prophecy, but they will be ended. There are gifts of speaking in different languages, but those gifts will stop. There is the gift of knowledge, but it will come to an end. The reason is that our knowledge and our ability to prophesy are not perfect. But when perfection comes, the things that are not perfect will end. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I stopped those childish ways. It is the same with us. Now we see a dim reflection, as if we were looking into a mirror, but then we shall see clearly. Now I know only a part, but then I will know fully, as God has known me. So these three things continue forever: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.”

Guess what. EVERYTHING IN THIS WORLD WILL END. Nothing is permanent, except love.

It says it right there! Right there in God’s word; 1 Corinthians 13:8. “Love never ends.”

Everything on this earth and in this life may fade, but this genuine love will still abide. No matter what, God will ALWAYS love you with this love. But just wait, it gets better. 1 John 4:16 says, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” GOD IS LOVE. Read it again. God……is…….love.

That means all these qualities of love listed in 1 Corinthians and throughout the bible, they are qualities of God! Check it out; let’s replace “love” with “God” in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:

 God is patient and kind. God is not jealous, He does not brag, and is not proud. God is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with others. God does not count up wrongs that have been done. God takes no pleasure in evil but rejoices over the truth. God patiently accepts all things; always trusts, always hopes, and always endures.

When we are truly loving people we radiate these qualities of love, which are also the qualities of God.

What is our responsibility? If we are to be like God and love like Him, what does that mean for us? If we replace a few words in these scriptures again, we can make it into our very own declaration! I am patient and kind. I am not jealous, I do not brag, and am not proud. I am not rude, am not selfish, and do not get upset with others. I do not count up wrongs that have been done. I take no pleasure in evil but rejoice over the truth. I patiently accept all things; always trust, always hope, and always endure. It should be our goal to get as close as we can to possessing all of these qualities.

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love to us: He sent his one and only Son into the world so that we could have life through him. This is what real love is: It is not our love for God; it is God’s love for us. He sent his Son to die in our place to take away our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us that much we also should love each other. No one has ever seen God, but if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is made perfect in us.”{1 John 4:8-12}

So many people want someone to show them what love really means. What they don’t realize is, people can’t satisfy that desire. Something will always be missing. We, as God’s chosen ones, are to love each other in such a way that it points them to the love of God, not to the love the world has to offer. Real love is not from us; it’s not because of anything we did or can do. Real love is God’s love. His love for us is what real love is. He loves us way more than we can ever imagine and HIS love is the love that never fails; that never ends. We’re human, therefore our love ends and fails daily. With this gift of eternal, unchanging, and relentless love, we can freely love others. We are to love with the love of God that is being made perfect in us. “We love because God first loved us.”{1 John 4:19}

God even clearly commands us to love each other in this way! John 15:12 says, “This is my command: Love each other as I have loved you.” If you were waiting for God to tell you or show you how to really love, this is it. He’s clearly telling us right there in His word. Now, not only does He say this once, but at the end of the same paragraph He says it again! John 15:17, serving as yet another sign from God telling us to love each other says, “This is my command: Love each other.” 

Once you’ve seen just a glimpse of this love, how can you not want to show the world? It’s selfish of us to claim this amazing love as our own and then not share it. It’s not good enough to get to experience the most life changing love in all of existence but then never let others experience it with you. Let’s show the world how God loves us! The world desperately NEEDS to know the love of the Father, and we could be the ones to share it with them. Let’s absorb so much of God’s love that we overflow of that love onto others. This is the love that can heal the sick, mend the broken, lead the lost, and bring salvation so do not hide it! 

Let it Happen As You Say

“Mary said, ‘I belong to The Lord, body and soul. Let it happen as you say.'” {Luke 1:38}

When the angel of The Lord came to Mary and told her she would have a child, what do you think was going through her mind? First off, this girl was incredibly young. She wasn’t married when the angel gave her this news and back in her day, this was bad. Sadly, nowadays, having a child before marriage is not very rare or looked down upon. But in Mary’s time, if she was a virgin and got pregnant she would be stoned to death whilst the child was inside of her. Oh how the times have changed, huh? Anyways, to add to her load, she had just agreed to marry Joseph. As if it wasn’t bad enough to have to worry about everyone else looking down on her, she had to worry about what her future husband would think and believe. Oh, and one last thing. This wasn’t just any child. She will soon carry the Son of God. We’re talking about THEE Messiah, here! Just think about it. Mary’s ears heard, “You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of King David, his ancestor. He will rule over the people of Jacob forever, and his kingdom will never end.”{Luke 1:31-33} Talk about pressure, right? What would you think or say if an angel appeared to you and said that? How would you tell your family and friends? “Oh hey, Mom. What’s for dinner? Oh by the way, an angel appeared to me in the backyard earlier and I may or may not be pregnant with the Savior of the world. And because I know you’re wondering, the baby daddy is the Holy Spirit.” Yeah, I don’t think so.

Mary deserves plenty of credit for keeping her cool here and trusting God wholly. If we just had an ounce of the faith she had here, we would be good to go.
Look at part of what Mary said in verse 38 in the first chapter of Luke.
“I belong to The Lord, body and soul.”
She confidently declared to the angel that she belongs to God. Not only a little part of her, but body AND soul. It was all for Him, no matter what. I feel like so many times we give God only a little part of us. Whether it’s the good or the bad, the healed or the broken parts of us; we tend to never fully trust Him with all of us. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love God with all your heart, your soul, and your might.” God wants us to love Him and trust Him with everything. Our deepest devotion, what we think and feel, and our strength and energy. That’s exactly what Mary did, regardless of circumstances. Just look at the result of Mary’s willingness and obedience. She got to hold the Son of God! The Messiah! The Savior of the world! Because she had faith and knew that God would be faithful to provide, she was blessed. She got to look into the eyes and cradle the one who would save and overcome the entire world. Not only did God always protect her, never leave her, and always provide for her, but she was rewarded. This promise wasn’t just meant for Mary, you know. If we would surrender fully to God and to what He wants to do in our lives, He would still be faithful and we would be abundant in blessings today. “He is the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”{Hebrews 13:8}
Now look at the rest of Mary’s reply at the end of the same verse in Luke.
“Let it happen as you say.”
I know a lot of times we’re uneasy with letting go of control completely. But that’s not trusting and isn’t going to get us anywhere. Mary told the angel to let it all be done to her; no matter what God wanted from her, she was willing to give it. She was courageous enough to surrender herself even though she couldn’t see the end or how it was going to work out. That is what true faith looks like. It didn’t matter if she had fear or worries or doubts because by the power of the living God, she could overcome it. A song I love to listen to that inspires my constant surrender to The Lord is “Lay Me Down” by Chris Tomlin. Declare with me, “I’m not my own! I belong to You alone!” I challenge you to make it your joy to say to Him, “Your will; Your way, always!” Imagine if all of us accepted and were confident to abide in the will He has for us. Not only that, but it was our joy and our pleasure to do so. We would have a whole bunch of world changers out there, I can tell you that much.
Have faith and trust in The Lord. I pray that we all will be willing to surrender ourselves to him as Mary did; body and soul. Because forever, we belong to Him.