Some days are harder than others…when everything is coming at you all at once…when you’re barely holding on…it may not be a great calamity or a major crisis…sometimes it’s just the cares of life…the little things that overtake us and like bricks being piled one on top of the other…eventually…there is a landslide…and everything comes toppling down….that’s how some days are…have you ever had days like that?…where you are simply overwhelmed…with the many things that you are required to do…and then there are issues at work …and there’s tension in the home…and even the traffic seems to be against you…what do you do when life comes at you…when all you want is Peace…well…we have this amazing gift…of a “Peace Pilot”…He resides on the inside…the Holy Spirit invites us to tap in…when we are feeling “overwhelmed”…and “out of control”…He reminds us…”I am your Helper…I will assist you in navigating through this day…I am your Peace…talk to me…and I will lead you back to peace…I will speak to what is overwhelming you…and restore you…you need only to stop long enough to remember..I AM HERE on the tough days…I AM HERE on the pleasant days. I AM HERE”…NOW BREATHE…

“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever”

John 14:16

Jesus be exalted! Jesus be exalted! Have you ever uttered those words in prayer? Have you ever felt overwhelmed by His power? By His presence? Have you ever wanted your life to exemplify all that you know about Him? So you cry out…Jesus be exalted in my life! This prayer is not for the timid…we are exclaiming the exaltation of Christ in ALL things…Awww yes..it is easy to exalt Him when life is humming like a fine symphony…but how do we exalt Him in the discord?…when the music of our lives is out of tune and there is no harmony? I thought back to a time in my life when I could not even perceive a melody..my life had just been thrown off it’s axis by a cancer diagnosis…after regaining my spiritual footing…amazingly…my prayer was…”Jesus…don’t let me dishonor you in this”…wait? what? My spirit was not turned toward me…but toward the One who would walk me through this new fire in my life…I cried out…”Jesus be exalted”..my lips were trembling…because I was frightened…but the more I embraced exalting Him in the fire…the more the flames seemed to subside…this is where the rubber meets the road…can He be exalted when we don’t understand? When the trial seems unfair? When everything screams “step away from your faith…it’s not working”…that’s when the glory comes…when we have that “Job kind of attitude”…though He slay me…yet will I praise Him”…or that Mary Magdalene kind of faith…”I will wait at the tomb of a “dead promise”…I have no other plan”…Jesus be exalted…in the good times…in the bad times…and everything in between…Why? Because Jesus You ARE good..regardless of what my eyes see…it is what my heart and soul knows…You will see me through whatever I’m in…and I will not wait to exalt you when I’m out…I will exalt you while I’m still in…Jesus be exalted!

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” Philippians 2:9

Have you ever thought about how much time we as women spend finding the correct dress to wear?…and then…the search for just the right shoes…which leads to accessorizing with perfect precision…and the makeup…it must be flawless…did I mention our hair? This is a ritual that we do daily…if it is a special occasion…this process is amplified to the 100th power…we will search for days…weeks…even months for just the right thing to wear…I awakened this morning with this on my mind…I wonder how powerful we would all be if we pursued God the way we pursue outfits…and hairstyles…and nail salons…and gyms…and diets…and shoe sales…and make up tips…the lists goes on and on…please don’t get me wrong…I’m that girl too…but all of those things will fade away…they do not remain constant…our bodies and faces will change…our hair will change…the only constant is the One who never changes…who remains the same…yesterday…today and forever…our admonition today is to increase our time with Him…to put our energies into the one thing that will give us true and lasting beauty…Jesus…the Redeemer…seek…search…pursue…and when we give the excuse…I just don’t seem to have time…remember your last shopping excursion…or your hair appointment…or the time spent at the nail salon…the harsh truth is…we make time for those things that we feel…”make us beautiful and better”… well..spending time with Him…is time well spent…and it certainly makes us better and much, much more beautiful❤

“Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised”

Proverbs 31:30

We have just celebrated the most amazing time in the life of a Christian…we have acknowledged the incredible power of Our Great God…we see Jesus crucified….buried and then the crescendo of His being raised from the dead…His Resurrection…we shout…we dance…we scream…we cry…we sing…But do we participate? We hear it heralded that yes…we can live this type of life…that as believers we are not designed to continue “hanging on the cross”…we must complete the cycle…crucified…buried…resurrected…it should happen again and again in our lives…but we must surrender to death…and then we must allow time for that death to be fully processed… then comes resurrection…it will be a part of our journey more than once…no…it is not a one time event…it is a requirement to achieving maturity and intimate relationship with the Father…we cannot stay on the cross…where we wail about our circumstances…nor can we stay hidden in the tomb…feeling the hopelessness of death…we have to complete the cycle and trust that the stone of whatever this particular challenge may be… will be rolled away and… ascension will follow…if we embraced the truth of this life cycle of the true servant of God…we would live fearlessly and full of all the freedom that the ressurection life brings to us…our faith would be strengthened as we complete each cycle…the glory of God would not be an event that happened sometimes…but rather would be resident in the servant that yields to the process…of being crucified…buried…resurrected…again and again…and sisters that is the prayer that I have for us all…”Lord help us not to resist the process…because there is growth…and peace…and purpose…and power…and joy…in the process of being crucified…buried… and resurrected…Help us to yield..teach us that surrender is power…and the only thing we give up is a distorted sense of independence…teach us to depend soley on You”❤

“I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

I woke up this morning feeling invincible….I marveled in the fact that I am….”More than a Conquerer”….I am a “Difference Maker”…I am an “Atmosphere Shifter”….I am a “Glory Container”…I am a “Friend of God”…I am “A Royal Priesthood”…I am “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made”…I am a “Light Bearer”…I am an Answer to a Problem”…I am “Seated in Heavenly Places”…I am a “Citizen of the Kingdom of God”…on this day…on Good Friday…I fix my eyes on the cross…I am not conflicted…I know today is a day that is marked with the darkness of death…it is a day that is filled with the agony of Christ…but I am not deterred…my joy comes from the knowledge that His death was a down payment for my freedom…He is a God of completion…so my eyes don’t stay fixed on the cross…they remember that there is more to this great story…and I shift my eyes to the tomb…there is where my hope is hidden…and where my joy originates…I am filled with anticipation that both the cross and the tomb represents my new life…my restored position with the Father…and my confidence is resurrected as He is resurrected…that every dark thing that tried to bury me…must be rolled away…and the grave clothes of my old life no longer confines me…I am filled with the Good in this Friday…my debt has been paid in full…I am free…and that sisters is better than good…that’s great!

As we prepare for one of the most significant days on the Christian calendar…as we make our way to that triumphant day…as Easter is about to be celebrated…I love to review the account of our saviour and His great love for us…to walk the road that He walked…to hold on to every word that painted this picture of amazing sacrifice…I marvel at the savior’s incredible obedience to suffer silently…to quietly contain the power that if released could have changed the entire trajectory of our world…He kept silent..and endured the atrocities that were inflicted on Him…How can this be? How can someone with power that cannot be measured remain controlled and non- assertive? I have asked myself this question each time I read the painful story…what gave Him this resolve? Of course it was His great love for us…and His absolute obedience to His father…but I also believe it was a calm surrender…He did not panic…and fight His captors…He did not curse them and cause a scene…He certainly had every right to do all of those things…but instead He chose to calmly surrender…to give in to the plan that was His alone…He was not just dying on a cross He was teaching us how to die…to calmly surrender to the power and plan of GOD for our lives…to stop fighting the plan…to stop cursing the plan…and to stop making a scene because the plan seems like it will cost us something…you see…His calm surrender was easy because He trusted the one who created the plan..and He knew that although the plan called for His death…there would be a triumphant resurrection to follow…He knew there was More…that His father would always leave Him better than when He found Him…that His plan required His death…that was His part…but the surrender was calm because…the resurrection was His Father’s responsibility…and He knew that at first glance…the plan seemed impossible…but as He peered deeper…He knew that there would be great triumph in this…and so…calmly surrendering made perfect sense…because greater was coming…I wonder if you’ve considered calmly surrendering? I promise you…when you do…greater is coming!

“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Galatians 2:20

We have power…we have incredible…amazing…life changing power….we have the ability to encourage someone to leave the darkness and experience light…we can increase the kingdom of God with the way we use our power…we can change generations to come because of this power…we can become pioneers in our own families…we can be the first to live a life filled with purpose and passion…we can show the way…we can model “God success”…we can be the quiet still brook in the wilderness…we can be the light that shines and breaks through the darkness…we can be strength that overpowers weakness…we can be peace that shuts the mouth of doubt…we have power…to pull down strongholds…to silence trauma…to paint color on the places of blight that try to disguise the beauty of our Father…we have power…to sing when we want to cry…to stand when we want to give in…to gather up the pieces of a broken dream and make it a platform that declares the power of a God that desires that all that see us would long for this same power…Sisters…we have POWER…WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH WHAT YOU’VE BEEN GIVEN?

“And He called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases” Luke 9:1

Nothing wasted…the God who can use anything and anybody is not shaken by our past…He knows every detail of our lives…He knows the things that we have done that make us feel ineligible for the kingdom…He knows the reckless things we did…He still says…”Forgiven…now let me use all of that”…God how could you want to use the things that made me shrink away from you?…always thinking that the only thing you saw was what I had done? How could that filthy thing be anything that you would want…as we back up more and more from Him…we can sense Him…moving closer and closer to us…with His hand extended…saying…”I can use that…hand me the broken pieces of your life…and let me bless every one of them…because every piece is significant to the plan and purpose that I have for you..I will use the thing that tried to kill you… to give life to others…they will hear how I delivered you from it…and then you can introduce them to me…the thing that looked dark will shed light and give them hope…I waste nothing…I use everything…I simply need you to give it to me…when you place it in my hands…I can turn what appears to be useless and dark into something that brings glory to my kingdom…everything you’ve ever been through…every trial…every defeat…every misstep…yes…even the things that caused you to feel ashamed…I will take those things that you desire to throw away…and create a beautiful mosaic that shouts of the glory…goodness…and grace of the Father….I waste nothing!”

“And we know that for those that love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”

Romans 8:28

Will you keep doing it…even if no one applauds? Will you keep going even if you are not thronged by the masses? Will you keep praying the same prayer even though your knees are tired? Will you keep speaking what He said even when you do not see any evidence of what He said? Will you keep expecting even though you don’t see anything? Will you inspire yourself when others say there’s no more hope? I was in my sister circle last night…and a quiet voice spoke a loud truth…she said…a doctor had told her to not expect much from her son’s life…(he had been born with several disabilities)…she was at yet another medical appointment…and the toll on her had been great…but she mustered up enough courage to say to the doctor…”no one….including you will ever make me lose my hope…so if you cannot offer hope…perhaps you are not the correct doctor for my son”…that quiet voice…spoke such a loud truth in the room…my heart grabbed that…my hope should be untouchable…because it was given by God…therefore…no one has the right…or the authority to take it…where does your hope lie?…what things have you given up on?…who spoke death into the thing that He said would live? How often have you rebuked someone like my friend…and said…”If you cannot offer hope…than perhaps you are not the correct person…for whatever it is that you were called to do in my life… Sisters cherish hope…guard it…for it is one of the greatest gifts Our God has given to us…thank you my sister friend for that wonderful truth…I have attached it securely to my heart.

” Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:1

The next time you are feeling fearful…the next time you feel diminished by life….the next time someone’s words crush your spirit…remember that you carry “The Authority of God“…wait…what? How can someone who feels so weak and impotent be equipped with that kind of power? We have often chosen to ignore what is in our “benefits package”…we succumb to the lies of the world…that because of some life circumstance we are unable to “do” anything…I’ve fallen prey to those lies from time to time myself…when something or someone seems invincible…I have heard myself say…well…”It is what it is.”…. That is not a truth for the believer…it is never what it is…why? Because we have the authority of God resting like a sleeping giant resident in us… What am I saying? That it is our belief that God Can…that releases the authority…when I trust that His power…His truth…His wisdom…is all that I need to conquer the giants in my life…then all that is God consumes all that is me..and it is no longer my authority…which is diluted and is dependent on my ability…but it now becomes the Authority that is my Father’s transferred to me to allow me to operate in a power that I don’t possess..but that possesses me….sisters…this is a truth that we must embrace…it will remove fear…and cure timidity…when we recognize that wherever we go…it is with the authority of the Father…we will see strongholds broken…walls will fall…and bridges will be erected…because we believed…that He has given us more than we are activating…I don’t know about you…but…I am positioning myself to do all that He has said that I can…by His Authority… how about you?

“And His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength.” Ephesians 1:19