From the Book: This is My Destiny

True freedom will only bloom in your life when you put on the truth of who God says you are. Knowing who God wants you to be is not the same as practicing who He wants you to be. When life gets complicated and failures abound, turn your heart and mind back to the basics. Remember who you are in Christ, practice being who God says you are, and in time, you'll be walking in the hall of freedom."

- Dennis Jernigan (This Is My Destiny)

It is Time

"You have stayed long enough on this mountain. Break camp and advance into the hill country..."
(Deuteronomy 1:6)

Where have you remained long enough? This verse has been resonating through my mind for days as the Lord has reminded "You have stayed long enough in this place. Break camp & advance."

We love to be comfortable. We can easily enjoy great time with the Lord, hear Him speak a word to our spirit, or enjoy a wonderful season of growth with Christ... and then set up camp there and sit. This can all to easily happen with our perspectives and presumptions as well. We presume God is a certain way (it's the way we've viewed Him our whole lives). We believe God to act a certain way (it's the way our believed God to act). We view life a certain way (a perspective we've seen life through for quite a while).

Oh that we would allow God to take us on from this place. It's time to break camp & advance. God is always after a fresh work in our lives. There is an adventure awaiting us , treasure to uncover, and power to behold... But it will not come if we remain at our tent. Ask the Lord to take up on from the place of comfort today and lead you up the mountain with Him. For that is where the glory of God dwells... and oh we want it.

R.A. Torrey on Prayer

"Prayer is God's appointed way for obtaining thing, and the great secret of all lack in our experience, in our life, and in our work is neglect of prayer. James brings this out very forcibly in chapter 4 verse 2: "You have not because you ask not." These words contain the secret of the poverty and powerlessness of the average christian- neglect of prayer. The men God set forth as patterns of what He expected Christians to be- the apostles- regarded prayer as the most important business of their lives."

-R.A. Torrey (How to Pray)

Lord it is true that post resurrection, after you disciples "got it", their prayers lives, their passion, their influence & power exploded. Prior to your death & resurrection it is clear they hadn't quite "gotten it". They were still full of doubt, fear of man, and apathy. They were not fully convinced of the power & glory of God that was at stake... the glory that they were beholding. Oh Lord may we get it. Let us taste of your goodness, your glory, your power... And may it drive us to the kind of extreme & crazy love it drove your apostles to. Awaken a desire for prayer within your women. There are lives at stake, marriages at stake, families at stake, purpose at stake, power at stake. More than anything we we desire to fulfill all that you designed and created us for. Oh that we would see it begins on our knees & faces before a mighty, consuming God. Consume us Lord.

O Lord guard us...

But as for me....

"Yet I am always with you; You hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire but you.
My flesh and heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart & my portion forever.

Those who are far from you will perish; You destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds."

Psalm 73:23-28

Lord we praise you that you desire to guide us daily. Give us a hunger to walk intimately with you...To talk with you... To hear from you. For your word makes it clear that you guide us when you seek you. Remove the callouses from our spiritual tongues and give us taste buds that savor You and your word. May our hearts truly declare that You alone are our greatest desire & satisfaction. As for me, it is good to be near my God. Be near O God... Be near.

The giant step in the walk of faith is the one we take when we decide God no longer is a part of our lives. He is our life.

-Beth Moore

He Waits to Be Gracious

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him." Isaiah 30: 18

Written by Tiffany Edwards:

As you read through the 30th chapter of Isaiah, you will quickly realize that the nation of Israel (to whom the chapter is referring to) are 'stubborn children', a rebellious people, lying children, unwilling to hear instruction, unwilling and unwanting to hear about the Holy One of Israel. Yet, God continues in the same chapter and the same breath to extend His mercy--His undeserved, unmerited favor, upon a people so unaware of their desolation without it. As I look at my life, I am so aware of the fact I do not deserve grace this morning. Despite my stubborn, selfish ways, God still chose to meet me here this morning and encourage my wayward heart with His principles. May your heart be encouraged in knowing that although we are sinful, stubborn and at times unwilling, our God of mercy and grace is there, waiting and longing to be gracious. Blessed are those that long for Him!

Who Are We That We Can Give?

"But who am I... that I should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand...O Lord our God, as for all this abundance that we have provided for building you a temple for your Holy Name, it comes from your hand, and all of it belongs to you."
(29: 14-16)

Lord help us to remember as King David did- that what we have & what we give are yours. Just as we would be foolish to borrow a friends car and then boastfully return it to them saying "Well you'll be glad to know I decided to bring the car back to you"- may we not think that what you have given with your own hand & blessed us with is ours for the keeping. Thank you that we can give as generously as we can. We are a blessed people indeed. "Yours O Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven & earth is yours." (1 Chron. 2911)

The Voice of the Lord

"The voice of the Lord shakes the desert... The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forest bare. And in his temple all cry, "Glory!"

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; The Lord is enthroned as King forever. The Lord gives strength to His people & blesses His people with peace."

Psalm 29:8-11

Oh Lord how desparately we desire to hear from you today. We confess and tear down any faulty image of you that we have created in our minds. Your voice shakes up, tears down, brings healing, brings life, speaks truth, administers love, purifies, sanctifies, brings wisdom, gives peace...

For the voice of the Lord is "powerful & majestic" (vs. 4). For your great glory speak to your servants.

Dinner with Mrs. Graham

In her book, Just Give Me Jesus, by Anne Graham Lotz (Billy Graham’s daughter) she tells the story of an evening her parents were invited to a prestigious dinner party in London. Her mother was seated next to the former head of Scotland Yard, Great Britians quivialant to the FBI. Fascinated she respectfully probed him for anecdotes. “As he opened up under her genuine interest, he revealed that the departments under his authority had included those for forgery and counterfeiting. When she surmised that he must have spent a lot of time studying counterfeit signatures, he corrected her. ‘On the contrary, Mrs. Graham. I spent all of my time studying the genuine thing. That way, when I saw a counterfeit, I could immediately detect it.’

In a society bombarded with counterfeit messages and seductive lies, we too must spend our time studying the genuine thing- the truth God has made clear to us in His Word- so that we can easily recognize a counterfeit when it comes our way. Cultural attitudes for our marriages, motherhood, jobs, purity.... can easily be accepted as they slowly creep into our mindset. Oh that we would be intentional about seeking the face of God, that He can keep our focus on the real deal & keep us far from any form of deception.

Praying Psalms

"Yet I am always with you. You hold me by your right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.

Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire beside you. My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever...

As for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of your deeds."

-Psalm 73:23-28

Oh the POWER in praying scripture... Speak it. Pray it. Declare it.

Psalm 73 is a great scripture to pray:

Lord I praise you that you are always with me- holding and guiding me with your counsel. Lord I desire your counsel and guidance above all else. Would you drown out every other voice and distraction, that my spirit can clearly discern your leading in decisions we are facing.

I praise you that I can search this world over and find that there is nothing greater, nothing that satisfies like you. Be my greatest desire Lord. What does it mean for you to be the strength of my heart? Teach me by your Holy Spirit what this looks like for you to be my strength. Right now I need your strength in.....

As for me, it is good for me to be near God. Near You. Living in the Spirit and in continual communication with you. Oh I want this more than I want my next breath. Not only is life meaningless apart from you, but I am just steps away from the nearest pit when I am not in the closest of proximity to You. Your word says in John 15 that when I abide in you not only will I bear fruit for your glory, but I can ask whatever I want and will see answered prayer. This is fullness of life... This is freedom... This is the blessed life.

Today be my refuge and loose my tongue to praise You for your goodness & faithfulness to me. Let me praise you, praise you some more, and when I am done praising you... continue on praising & exalting my God. For you are the One who has set my heart free.

It Is Finished

"Who is a God like you who pardons sin and forgives the transgressions of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea."

Micah 7:18-19

Lord we praise you that you delight in restoration. You never intend for us to wallow in the sin, guilt and shame the enemy loves to remind us of. Help us Lord to walk as the forgiven and not entertain the thoughts of the past. When thoughts of our flesh tempt and distract us may we turn our eyes quickly to you and hear the cry of your voice from the cross proclaim "It is FINISHED!" You have tread our sins underfoot so that we may bring you praise & glory with our lives. May we do so even today.

Living In Your Sweet Spot

“Each person is given something to that shows who God is.” (1 Corinthians 12:7)

“Everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by His power, and everything is for His glory." (Rom. 11:36)

*Excerpt from Cure For the Common Life by Max Lucado:

“The breath you just took? God gave that. The blood that just pulsed through your heart? Credit God. The light by which you read and the brain through which you process? He gave you both. Everything comes from Him… And exists for Him. We exist to exhibit God, to display His glory.”

You have been gifted and blessed uniquely. The enemy would love to tell you otherwise. 1 Cor. 12:7 makes it clear that we have each been given “a special way of serving others”. You were uniquely formed and created & endowed with one blessing after another so that we would as Lucado says “make a big deal out of God”. In his words:

Use your uniqueness (what you do)

To make a big deal out of God (why you do it)

Every day of your life (where you do it)

And when we do this, we will be living in our sweet spot.

Lord reveal to me the gifts you have given me. Make me aware of the unique talents, skills, passions, gifts…that You have bestowed, and then help me use them for your glory.

"There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark." -Helen Keller

Are We Fighting or Feeding the Monster?

The following was written in response to a question posted 0n the blogsite http://virtuealert.blogspot.com/.

The question written in to the blogsite regarded a stronghold, addiction, habit, unhealthy desire... that we may pray about and ask God to take from us. Yet even after praying and struggling through it, the temptation is still staring us in the face. Why is that? Is God not hearing our prayer? Why after we prayed and prayed to have it removed are we still battling this same monster?

This one was taken right off our prayer wall and I think it's worth discussing because I think a lot of people are dealing with this. Here is what I have learned the hard way. If I'm struggling with something and it's not getting better, then I'm probably not really struggling with it. I'm probably feeding it. I'll explain.

Let's say this desire to have sex is like a monster that lives in your heart and head. Something in you wants the monster to go away but something else (hello sin nature) kind of likes it and wants it to stick around. So you pray and pray that God will take it away but instead of going away the monster just keeps getting bigger and stronger. What's the deal? You're praying but for some reason God isn't fixing the problem. Has He given up on you or are you not praying right or what? I think the place to start is to look at your actions and see if your actions are working against your prayer. Do you watch sex scenes from your favorite movies over and over? Do you look at things you shouldn't on the internet and TV? Do you let your mind wander into places it shouldn't go instead of taking every thought captive and obedient to Christ like it says in 2 Corinthians 10:5? If you talk about sex with your friends a lot and fill your mind with it via TV, movies, books, and the internet - then you aren't really struggling against it no matter how much you pray. You're feeding the monster and making it stronger so that it has more control over you every day. It's like if you pray that God will make you skinny but you eat 2 boxes of Krispy Kreme a day. Never gonna happen. So my question to you is what are you actually doing, other than praying, to fight this thing? Are you willing to sacrifice the things that keep you focused on sex or romance and shift your focus to Jesus? If you're feeling down on yourself read Romans 7 and you'll see that even Paul had monsters to fight.

When Jesus offers us freedom He always requires that we walk away from our sin, that we stop doing those things that are keeping us in chains. He offers Himself in exchange for the monster but you have to let go of the one in order to hold on to the Other. There isn't room in your heart for both. And remember this - some battles are long and hard but don't ever give up because in the end Jesus always wins.

Written by Jamie Lamb