Partaking Of His Promises + (Giveaway)

 

 

 

 

 

But Jesus answered, “The scripture says, ‘Human beings cannot live on bread alone, but need every word that God speaks.’” (Matthew 4:4 GNT)

Today’s focal verse is one of my favorite verses in the entire Bible because it’s a very powerful reminder of how vital it is for us to not only partake of the word of God everyday, but to savor, revel in, and meditate upon the truth of its promises to us.

I also love the AMP version of today’s focal verse as well because it adds a bit more depth which makes the words of Jesus a bit more personal to us.

But Jesus replied, “It is written and forever remains written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes out of the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4 AMP)

I’m a genuine lover of the Bible and I have just been lingering in and enjoying it almost every single day for the last 11 years. However, as 2019 was starting to come to a close, The Lord really started to deeply impress upon my heart how necessary it was going to be to truly feast upon and stay rooted in the word of God in days ahead. I had many nights where The Lord would wake me up in the middle of the night and give me a specific verse or passage of scripture to meditate on for that day. And so, all of 2020, I just consumed the word every single day.

That was such a game changer for me because in doing that, I had SO many “selah moments”. Moments where I was just able to intentionally pause, intimately reflect upon, and truly internalize the word of God. And as I did that, SO many of God’s promises took root in my heart and just began to blossom and come alive in my life in ways that I could have never dreamed or imagined.

I share this with you guys because I know that if you were to do the same, you would begin to foster and cultivate this new hunger, appreciation, faith in, and love for God’s word as you witness His promises come to fruition in your own lives.

I leave you with this verse to pause and reflect upon… What a God you are! Your path for me has been perfect! All your promises have proven true. What a secure shelter for all those who turn to hide themselves in You! You are the wrap-around God giving grace to me. (Psalm 18:30 TPT)

Hide yourself in His word and you will partake of His promises.

And don’t for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed.  (Joshua 1:8 MSG)

 

Sunday Soul Kiss 411

1.) As most of you guys already know, I LOVE jewelry and I LOVE the word of God, so “A.S.-K.S.” has partnered to two amazing companies that have used nanotechnology to mount the Bible into beautiful pieces of jewelry. To find out more about Jerusalem Nano Bible and our partnership, please click here. To find out more info about Tanaor Nano Bible Jewelry and our partnership, please click here. When you shop with either company use the code ASKS10 when you checkout and you’ll receive a 10% discount.

2.) The Holy Kisses from A.S.-K.S. online shop is back and we have awesome new merchandise for you all to check out, so swing by the shop here! You can also check out my Etsy shop here!

3.) I have created Daily Bible Meditation Care Cards that you can download here.

4.) You can subscribe to my YouTube channel, Sunday Soul Kiss here.

Sunday Soul Kiss Kingdom Creative/Entrepreneur Spotlight Of The Week

This week’s Sunday Soul Kiss spotlight shines on Lyn Joyfull who is a beautiful woman of God and CEO of Love Yourself Jewelry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I bought the beautiful mystic rainbow topaz ring that you see above from Lyn last year in July and not only did I receive the ring that I bought, but The Lord impressed it upon Lyn’s heart to also send me an amazing prophetic word and a sterling silver band with “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine…” engraved on it. That is from the Song of Solomon 6:3. The Song of Solomon is my favorite book in the Bible because a few years ago I had several supernatural encounters with God that were directly from the Song of Solomon after The Lord had me camp out in that particular book for about 4 years. But just to show you how The Lord works, you would have to be very close to me to know that and I had never met Lyn.

To shop with Lyn at Love Yourself Jewelry, please click here.  If you’d like to connect with her on social media, you may do so through the following links. Instagram / Facebook

Sunday Kiss Book Of The Week

This week’s Sunday Soul Kiss book of the week was written by my great friend/my Sis and simply an incredible woman of God, Monique M. Thomas!

You guys have probably already seen me talk about this book on my social media a few times, but it’s SO good! And if you want to know what it truly looks like to walk with God intimately, this is the book for you! You can purchase it now on Amazon! You can also purchase a signed copy directly from Monique via Cash App: $thebrideofchrist, Zelle: moniquethomas7@yahoo.com, or PayPal.

Happy Soul Kissed Sunday! Sending you all heavenly hugs and holy kisses! You are all in my prayers! I love you guys!

If you need to contact me or if you would like for me to pray for or with you, please click here.

Believe, Be Beautiful, Be Brilliant, Be Empowered, and Be Blessed!

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / YouTube / Instagram / TikTok

Prophesy Life To Your Valley Of Dry Bones

(Ezekiel 37:4-5 NLT – Then He said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to The Word of The Lord! This is what The Sovereign Lord says: Look! I Am going to put breath into you and make you live again!’”)

The NIV of today’s focal verses say, Then He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear The Word of The Lord! This is what The Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life.’”

How electric and life-giving are those words?!

Over this last week, as I’ve sat with Papa God and meditated on Ezekiel chapter 37, verses 1-14, Holy Spirit has just been continually unveiling and wrecking me in the best possible way with new and fresh revelation of The Word of God. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read that passage of Scripture over the course of my life, but wasn’t truly cognizant of how powerful the gift of prophesy is or mindful of the fact that The Word is alive—literally alive. And not only is The Word alive, but it gives life as well. (John 1:1-5)

Just in spending intimate time with The Lord, it has amazed me how notably the truth of those very words have just adhered to my spirit and been a constant reminder of how dynamic The Word really is. And in me taking the time to reflect upon that truth, it reminded me of yet another truth that mustn’t be negated. And that truth is, that our words as in the words that we’re speaking daily are paramount.

The Bible says that death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruits. (Proverbs 18:21) So, the question to ponder then becomes, what are we speaking forth over our lives, our families, our friends, the dreams of our hearts, and our destinies?

The Bible also says, “What comes out of the mouth is what’s overflowing in the heart.” (Luke 6:45)  What that says to me is, that what we say is what we truly believe in our heart of hearts not only about ourselves, but also about those around us as well. I would like to propose that we should intently mull over what we’ve been speaking forth and if our thoughts and words don’t line up with the truth of who God says we are and who He’s created us to be, then we need to replace those thoughts and those words with His truth.

We not only need to meditate on the perfection of the promises within The Word of God, but sit with Him in the secret place, ask Him to speak to us His truth— that eternal truth that He spoke over our lives from the moment that He first thought of us, listen for His voice to sweetly whisper the truth of who we are into our hearts, and then began to prophesy that truth over our lives.

As we position ourselves to start speaking life over ourselves and others everyday, here are 4 powerful little gems/tokens of truth for us to store in the treasure chest of our hearts and minds.

1. ) Before The Lord created us in our mother’s womb, He knew us, approved of us as His chosen instrument, and set us apart consecrating us unto Himself. (Jeremiah 1:5)
2. ) We are fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) (That reference is from the NIV, but I really recommend reading Psalm 139:1-18 from TPT as well because the wording there is much more personal, intimate, and elaborate.)
3. ) The Lord’s plans and thoughts toward us have always been to give us unwavering hope and a bright future. His heart for us is that we would abundantly prosper. (Jeremiah 29:11)
4. ) Jesus came to give us everything in abundance, more than we expect—LIFE in its fullness until we overflow! (John 10:10)

As we enter into this new year, let us hold the truth of those 4 things in our hearts, being fully aware of the efficacy that lies within the words that we speak, and knowing that above all else The Word of God will always stand firm, outshine, and reign supreme over the blatant lies of the enemy.

In closing, my prayer is that we would unequivocally accept and receive The Word of The Lord as the infallible truth that it is and prophesy that truth over our lives, our loved ones, our hopes, our talents, our gifts, and our dreams allowing The Lord to breathe life into, upon, and within our own personal “valley of dry bones”.

“The human voice: It’s the instrument we all play. It’s the most powerful sound in the world, probably. It’s the only one that can start a war or say ‘I love you.'” – Julian Treasure

Sunday Soul Kiss 411

The Lord has impressed it upon my heart to start sharing via podcast and via video, so if you guys enjoy or have been blessed by the content here at “A.S.-K.S.”, please do me a favor and subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking here and please stay tuned for the links to my podcast! Content for the “Sunday Soul Kiss” podcast and vlog will be available on both platforms very soon!

Sunday Soul Kiss Book Of The Week

Click on the following links to purchase: Amazon (Paperback) / Kindle / ibooks!

This week’s Sunday Soul Kiss book of the week was written by my amazing friend, Debbie Kitterman!

“The Gift of Prophetic Encouragement” is on my top 5 list of must reads. I was incredibly blessed by it and I can promise that you guys will be super blessed by it as well. I will be giving away 2 free copies. The winners will be chosen on 1/15/18. If you’d like to enter, you can do so by simply leaving a comment of this post. Debbie also has a really great reading plan on the YouVersion Bible App called #BETHEGIFT Someone Needs Today, so be sure to check it out as well!

Sunday Soul Kiss Album Of The Week

Click on the following links to purchase: iTunes / Amazon Streaming, MP3, or Audio CD!

Enjoy one of my favorite songs from this week’s Sunday Soul Kiss album of the week!

Happy Soul Kissed Sunday and Happy New Year! Sending you all heavenly hugs and holy kisses! I love you guys!

If you would like for me to pray for or with you, please click here.

Believe, Be Beautiful, Be Brilliant, and Be Blessed! 🙂

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / YouTube / Instagram / 

I Pray LIFE Over You

Welcome to week 4 of the “Fridays Are For Faith ‘n Friends” blog hop! I’m honored to have you guys join me again today and I pray that you’ll join me here every Friday for prayer, love, and encouragement. As I explained in week 1, I may not be writing a message every Friday, but I will have a focal passage of Scripture in which I will be meditating on as I write a prayer to encourage your hearts. I will also be available to pray with or for you throughout the day and you can contact me for prayer anytime by clicking here. Also, each week I will share with you my favorite post from the previous week’s link-up.  … So, link-up, be encouraged, and spread the love!

(Job 33:4 NIV- The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of The Almighty gives me Life.)

As I began to meditate on today’s focal verse I felt The Holy Spirit completely consume me. And as I began to personalize that verse and pray it over my own life, my heart began to not just grasp, but tightly grip and take a hold of the beauty, power, and Truth within each and every word. And so, as you are here visiting with me today, know that it is not my chance, but by divine appointment that I get to pray The Life held within this verse over your life today. May you feel His Holy and perfect Presence like never before.

Abba, I come before You this morning asking that You would help us to open our hearts and minds to truly understand, firmly embrace, and wholly receive The Truth that is Your Word. For Father we know that within Your Word lies the purpose and Life that the depths of our hearts so desperately long and cry out for. … Lord, Your Spirit has masterfully made us and it is Your very breath that gives us Life. I thank You for Your Life within us and I ask that with each and every breath we take that You would continually breathe new Life within our beings; mind, body, soul, and spirit that we would operate by Your Spirit, through Your power, and according to Your purpose. I ask that Your Holy Spirit would infiltrate and consume us in such a way that we would become one with You; that our hearts would beat to the rhythm of Your heartbeat. Abba, we long for more You. Fill us with the fullness of Christ and help us to live, stand, breathe, and rest assured that it is Your very Life that lives within us and in You we lack nothing. Father, we love you more today than yesterday. Our love for You is ever-increasing as we come to know the depths of Your heart for us. You are a good Father and we thank You that You never leave us nor forsake us. We honor You and we give You all of the glory. In the mighty name of Jesus Christ, Your precious Son, and our Lord and Savior— I pray, Amen and so be it.

The song below is one of my favorite songs to sing before God as I enter His Presence every morning. I believe that singing is one of the most intimate ways to worship, praise and just love on The Lord. The song says, “Set a fire down in my soul that I can’t contain and I can’t control. I want more of You, God”. I don’t know about you, but everyday I long for more of Him. I want His Spirit to ignite and passionately burn within my soul. And so, everyday, I sing to The Lord and I ask Him for more of all that is Him in my life and the beauty in that is— He never denies me, but freely and graciously gives of Himself. So today, even if you don’t sing, I just want to encourage you to just begin to ask The Lord for more of His Presence in your life and watch how He will amaze you as He begins to reveal Himself to you.

Happy Friday! I love you guys!

Believe, Be Beautiful, Be Brilliant, and Be Blessed! 🙂

 Faith ‘n Friends Blog Hop

We’re so glad you’re here!

This is a place to share faith, make friends, and have fun.

Hosts

Faith ‘n Friends
Blog / Facebook / Twitter

Deb Wolf
Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest

Tai East
Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / YouTube /  Instagram /

by Bonnie Lyn Smith @ Espressos of Faith 

 “Waiting on GOD in the Valley“

Thank you so much for joining the “Faith ‘n Friends” Blog Hop, Bonnie!

The Rules

1.) Follow your hosts via their blog and/or social media channels.
This is not mandatory, but appreciated!

2.) Leave 1-2 of your most recent faith/life posts.
We reserve the right to delete posts that are deemed inappropriate.

3.) Visit 1-2 other links and leave a meaningful comment!
We want to encourage friendship, so please don’t link and run!

4.) All links are randomly sorted – so link as early or as late as you’d like.
The playing field is even!

Each host will choose one link to feature and promote via their social media channels next week.

In order to be featured next week:

Grab a button or link back to Faith ’n Friends.
This is not mandatory to participate, but is required to be featured.

By linking up you agree to let the hosts use your post image
if you are chosen as next week’s feature.

Please link back to the host or Grab the Button
and join the link-up below.

Just Bring The Cup Of Your Heart, HE’LL Supply THE LIVING WATER

(Psalm 68:9 NIV- You gave abundant showers, O God; You refreshed Your weary inheritance.)

The other day, the sky was clear and blue and the sun was shining bright. It was extremely hot outside, yet still an incredibly beautiful day. And then all of a sudden, and I mean in an instance and out of nowhere— rain just came pouring down. Though the sun was shining and the sky was clear, the rain abundantly showered.

However, just as quickly as it had come, in the very next instance it simply stopped as if it had never started. In that moment, The Lord spoke to me and said, “That was just a reminder that when the “heat of life” seems unbearable, I Am there in the midst. And I can provide Living Water at a moment’s notice to renew, replenish, and refresh the hearts, minds, and spirits of the ones I love if only they would enter My Presence.”.

Beloved, Jesus is that Living Water and through His Holy Spirit we have an endless supply if only we would bring the cups of our hearts to Him that He may pour and we may drink.

• (John 4:14 MSG- “Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless Life.”)
• (John 7:37-39 MSG- Jesus took His stand. He cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. Rivers of Living Water will brim and spill out of the depths of anyone who believes in Me this way, just as the Scripture says.” (He said this in regard to The Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were about to receive. The Spirit had not yet been given because Jesus had not yet been glorified.))

Had I not been outside, I would’ve never been able to feel the refreshing coolness of rain in the midst of the heat. The same can be said in regards to our relationship with God. If we never enter His Presence, we’ll never know The Life, Love, and replenishing calmness that is His Holy Spirit when the “heat of life” seems trying and unwavering. The Father says, it is in choosing to seek Him that we truly find Him.

• (Proverbs 8:17 NIV- I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me find Me.)
• (Jeremiah 29:11-13 GNT-  I alone know the plans I have for you, plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future you hope for. Then you will call to Me. You will come and pray to Me, and I will answer you. You will seek Me, and you will find Me because you will seek Me with all your heart.)

Dear Hearts, can I just encourage you to intimately seek Him with your whole heart today? Our Heavenly Father is longing to be in relationship with you. His Word says seek because His heart deeply desires intimacy with you. It is in that intimate and personal time with Him that He can pour out The Living Water that is His Spirit upon you and shower you with His love and grace. It is in that secret place that God reveals His promises and purpose for the beauty that is your beating heart and His breath within you. You are His most treasured possession. (Deuteronomy 7:6 MSG- You are a people set apart as holy to God, your God. God, your God, chose you out of all the people on earth for Himself as a cherished, personal treasure.)

Abba, I come to You this morning on behalf of every treasured being reading this asking and praying that You would help them to seek Your face with the understanding that it is in Your Presence that they shall find true Life. Father, I ask that You would pour out Your Holy and perfect Spirit upon them and shower them with The Living Water that is Your Life, Love, peace, joy, grace, mercy, wisdom, and strength. Let the purpose and power for Your breath within them prevail and every promise that You have for their lives spring forth. Abba, You are worthy, willing, and able. You are not just sufficient, but You are our more than enough. Let Your glory rest upon those that You treasure. I praise You for simply being You and I praise You for their lives.  In the name of Jesus Christ, Your precious Son, and our Lord and Savior— I pray, Amen and so be it.

“Christ is not a reservoir but a spring. His Life is continual, active and ever passing on with an outflow as necessary as its inflow. If we do not perpetually draw the fresh supply from The Living Fountain, we shall either grow stagnant or empty, It is, therefore, not so much a perpetual fullness as a perpetual filling.” ~ Albert Benjamin “A.B.” Simpson

I love you guys!

Believe, Be Beautiful, Be Brilliant, and Be Blessed! 🙂

You can send me your prayer requests by simply clicking here.

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / YouTube / Instagram /

Sharing THE BREAD OF LIFE + (“Fulfilled” Giveaway!)

Before I share with you guys what God has put on my heart for you today, I first want to share with you this little lovely treat, so get excited! Yayyy! Haha! 😉

I don’t usually do book reviews or book giveaways, because when I started “AS-KS”, God gave me a specific vision and purpose for it. However, today I am honored to give away a signed copy of an incredible book written by an amazing woman of God and my sweet friend, Danise Jurado!

Danise is a Women’s Pastor and the Transitions Program Director at the LA Dream Center in Los Angeles, CA. She has a beautiful heart for God and for people. She is truly a gift from The Lord and just an awesome being. The name of her new book is “Fulfilled: Learning To Live The Life God Promised” and I can tell you that this is a book that you’ll want to read and be glad that you did.

Within “Fulfilled” Danise shares The Word of God, her heart, her personal experiences, and helpful and powerful practical tools and tips for life in such a way that it not only captures your attention, but your heart as well. Her words have paved a highway that will lead you to The Father’s heart and to His promises for your life.

My favorite quote from “Fulfilled” is actually from the last chapter of the book where Danise writes and I quote, “God sees the seed of promise He has placed within us. It has been designed perfectly by Him to come to full fruition.”. What a powerful truth!

I really love Danise’s heart, because she loves people so much that 50% of the proceeds from “Fulfilled” will be donated to the LA Dream Center which means that her words will literally be changing lives for the better. To God be the glory!

You can purchase “Fulfilled” on Amazon. The Ebook version/Kindle edition is available right now and the paperback/print copy will be released on Tuesday (8/25/15), but you can pre-order now! You can also order through the following links: Barnes & Noble (paperback), Nook, Books-A-Million (paperback), or iBooks.

Be sure to enter the social media contest! The details are in the image above. And as I mentioned before, I will be giving  away a copy of “Fulfilled”! So, if you’d like to enter to win the signed copy that I’m giving away, you can do so by leaving a comment on this post. I am then going to pray over every person who leaves a comment for two weeks, allow The Lord to guide me to the person who needs it the most, and then on 9/7/15, I will announce the winner and mail the book out to it’s recipient.

Also, please connect with Danise via her personal webite/blog, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

“Sharing THE BREAD OF LIFE”

(John 6:32-35 GNT- “I Am telling you the truth,” Jesus said. “What Moses gave you was not The Bread from heaven; it is My Father Who gives you The Real Bread from heaven. For The Bread that God gives is He Who comes down from heaven and gives Life to the world.” “Sir,” they asked Him, “give us This Bread always.” “I Am The Bread Of Life,” Jesus told them. “Those who come to Me will never be hungry; those who believe in Me will never be thirsty.)

In my last post, I shared with you guys how God has been continually taking me into deeper levels of intimacy in Him and how He has been revealing Himself to me in just the most incredible ways over the last few months, in which a couple of those ways have been through dreams and visions.

Well, this morning He spoke to me through a dream and I pray that I can find the right words to articulate and describe the encounter to you guys on the same level and magnitude that I experienced it.

The Lord called me to Him and when I entered His Presence, I was standing on what seemed like a large white cloud. There was no one there except for He and I. It was almost as if He had met me in a sacred place that was somewhere between heaven and earth. It wasn’t earth because the atmosphere was boundless and empty and all I saw was light all around me. Yet, somehow I knew that it wasn’t heaven either.

Though I didn’t physically see The Lord in front of me, I strongly felt His Presence with me. As I took a few steps forward, there before me was a large, rectangular shaped, wooden table that stood much taller than I was and it expanded as far as I could see both left and right. The table was completely filled with bread. The bread wasn’t in pieces, but instead it was just one large loaf and just like the table, it expanded as far as I could see in both directions. Right above the table was a wooden shelf that just existed in mid-air and on the shelf was a plaque that had the words “Bread Of Life” engraved on it in gold.

After reading the words on the plaque, I heard the voice of The Lord. He spoke to me and said, “In this Bread there is Spirit and Life. It is yours. I have freely given you an endless supply. Share It with My people.”.

When I woke up from the dream, I was a bit frustrated with myself because I knew that The Lord had said more to me than that, but I couldn’t remember it all. So, as I started to write down in my prayer journal what I did remember, He spoke those same words to me again and I knew in my heart that I had remembered what He wanted me to or what was most important to His heart for such a time as this.

After I finished journaling, several passages of Scripture came to mind.

(John 6:32-35 GNT- “I Am telling you the truth,” Jesus said. “What Moses gave you was not The Bread from heaven; it is My Father Who gives you The Real Bread from heaven. For The Bread that God gives is He Who comes down from heaven and gives Life to the world.” “Sir,” they asked Him, “give us This Bread always.” “I Am The Bread Of Life,” Jesus told them. “Those who come to Me will never be hungry; those who believe in Me will never be thirsty.)

(John 6:63 NKJV- It is The Spirit Who gives Life; the flesh profits nothing. The Words that I speak to you are Spirit, and They are Life.)

(John 14:6 NIV- Jesus answered, “I Am The Way and The Truth and The Life. No one comes to The Father except through Me.)

(Matthew 4:4 NIV- Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God.’”)

(Luke 22:19 NLV- Then Jesus took bread and gave thanks and broke it in pieces. He gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you. Do this to remember Me.”)

(John 1:1-4 NOG- In the beginning The Word already existed. The Word was with God, and The Word was God. He was already with God in the beginning. Everything came into existence through Him. Not one thing that exists was made without Him. He was The Source of Life, and that Life was The Light for humanity.) 

You see, The Bread that was before me on that table in my dream was symbolic of The Word of God and The Word of God is in fact— Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. So when God spoke to me and said, “In this Bread there is Spirit and Life. It is yours. I have freely given you an endless supply. Share It with My people.”, what He was really saying is, “I have freely given you My Son and through My Word His Spirit belongs to you, lives within you, and rests upon you. And in His Spirit there is Life. Share that Life with My people.”.

I believe sharing that Life with you means that yes, I share His Word with you. But, I also believe that it goes far beyond just feeding you Scripture. I believe it means that my life should reflect The Holy Spirit of Christ living within me in such a way that when you see me, you should first see Him. I believe means that I must love as He loves and arise to that which He has called in such a way that His glory becomes evident to every beating heart that I have the pleasure of encountering.

Jesus said that His Words are Spirit and Life and my prayer is that I would honor Him and live my life in such a way that my words, like His, would also be Spirit and Life; loving, comforting, encouraging, empowering, and soothing to the soul. I’ve said this many times before, and I am saying it again because I mean it with my whole heart and soul— everything that we need or long for is found in Him. He is the key that unlocks the door to The Life that we were purposed for; The Life that sustains us. Where our hearts hunger and thirst, He is The Bread Of Life and The Living Water that fills, quenches, and satisfies. The fulfilled life that we all seek and desire is as simple as making the choice to partake of The Bread Of Life that is Him.

Abba, I come before You this morning asking and praying that the words that You speak through me would truly be Spirit and Life to the heart and soul of every person reading this. May every word that I speak forth guide their hearts into Your Holy Presence. And in Your Presence may they realize, understand, and truly embrace their worth in You that they may know how precious they are in Your sight. Lord, today and everyday forth, I pray that Your perfect and everlasting love would infiltrate their beings. I pray that Your purpose for their lives would blossom, manifest, and come to fruition that they may thrive above and beyond their greatest expectations. Abba, let Your glory shine and rest upon them. I wholeheartedly praise You for their lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, Your precious Son, and our Lord and Savior— I pray, Amen and so be it.

“Here is Bread, which strengthens man’s heart, and therefore is called The Staff Of Life.” ~ Matthew Henry

 

I love you guys!

Believe, Be Beautiful, Be Brilliant, and Be Blessed! 🙂

You can send me your prayer requests by simply clicking here.

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / YouTube / Instagram /

Our GOD Sings And HIS Voice— Is Beautiful!

(Zephaniah 3:17 CEV- The Lord your God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He celebrates and sings because of you, and He will refresh your life with His love.)

It’s been an entire month since I last shared with you guys, so I first want to start by saying I have missed you all and I love you so much!

I’ve taken the last month and a half to truly seek The Lord more intimately, so I have been fasting, praying, and just asking God to breathe His Holy Spirit within me and to let my breath be His breath.

When I enter into God’s Presence and my heart is crying out to Him, “Abba, please let Your breath become my breath.”, what I’m really saying is, “Father, the very same breath that You’ve used to breathe Your Life within my being, use me as Your divine vessel that I may breathe that same Life into the hearts and souls of others”.

I have been humbly, yet boldly praying in faith that His gift of The Holy Spirit would not just increase within me, but that It would consume me. If you’re an avid reader of my blog, you know that my prayer has often been, “Lord, less of me and more of You”. Well, as He has answered that prayer and allowed me the honor of experiencing Him in a deeper way, my prayer has since become, “Abba, none of me and all of You”.

The notion that God wanted to take me deeper in Him had been lingering in my spirit for months. However, unbeknownst to me at that time, my prayer had actually hindered my level of intimacy with Him because I was praying, “Less of me and more of You”, but He was longing to give me and to show me His more which was so much greater than the more that I had been expecting and praying for.

The Spirit led me to fast and pray because His more required that I seek Him with everything that I am and I needed that because there are some promises that He had spoken to my heart and some as far back as almost four years ago that I have been praying over continuously, but I’ve yet see them to come to fruition. I needed Him to speak to me to confirm those promises again because doubt had begun to creep in. And as a believer, you never want that because doubt is like kryptonite to our prayers. I faithfully live with a heart of expectancy. I know that His Words are true and I believe that He’ll do exactly what He’s promised me. It wasn’t that I doubted Him or His ability, but more so myself and if I had heard Him correctly the first time. I started praying, “Lord, remind me again. Send Th Holy Spirit to refresh me with the power and truth of Your Words”.

So, to say that God has amazed me over this last month and a half would be an understatement because He has been blowing my mind. It all started with me having these dreams of me praying. I would then actually wake up to pray about what ever it was that I had just dreamt that I was praying about and as soon as I would go back to sleep, it would happen again— just a continual cycle. So, all night long, I’m dreaming about praying and then waking up to pray. Getting little to no sleep, but feeling more rested than if I had slept all night. It’s almost as if God was testing me and saying, “Will you obey Me calling you to pray when it’s inconvenient for you? Will you honor My requests even if it means disturbing or interrupting your time of rest?”. That may not seem like an inconvenience to most, but if you truly know me, you know that I have trouble sleeping even when I’m tired, so when I do fall asleep it is a rare and needed treasure.

In me being obedient to His call to wake up and pray, He then started speaking to me through my dreams when I’m asleep and then through visions when I’m awake and showing me specific things about specific people, including myself.  So, in remembering the following passage of Scripture, I wrote them all down in my prayer journal and began to pray asking God to give me revelation of them. (Habakkuk 2:2-3 GNT- The Lord gave me this answer: “Write down clearly on tablets what I reveal to you, so that it can be read at a glance. Put it in writing, because it is not yet time for it to come true. But the time is coming quickly, and what I show you will come true. It may seem slow in coming, but wait for it; it will certainly take place, and it will not be delayed.). I mean, He has allowed me to experience Him in divine ways and some I don’t even know how to put into words or explain.

The more He revealed to me the more I desired to go even deeper and greater, and so much so that I then began to pray, “Lord take me deeper, show me more, increase and enlarge my territory of spiritual gifts. And He then brought this verse to mind, (1 Corinthians 12:31 AMP- But earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces; the higher gifts and the choicest graces. And yet I will show you a still more excellent way; one that is better by far and the highest of them all—Love.) Essentially, what He was saying to me is, ” Desire more, but be careful not to desire My gifts more than you desire Me and don’t lose sight of the purpose to which I first called you to which is to love. First, desire Me because I Am Love and the gifts will follow and overflow.”.

Can I tell you that truly humbled my heart? His purpose for increasing His power and Presence in my life wasn’t just to reaffirm His promises to me, but for a much greater purpose which was to refresh me so that I would to be able to exceptionally do what He’s called me to do— love His people and extend His grace on the level that He desires for me to with no distractions.

I normally start my time of prayer and worship around 12am because that way God literally gets the first of my day, but it was around 10:30pm and I just felt led to pray and worship Him. So, I’m literally pacing the floor just praying and crying. I’m so desperate for His approval that I wanted Him to know that even though I desire His gifts they mean nothing without Him. I just cried, prayed, and laid my heart bare and exposed before Him about that as well as some other things that had been on my heart.

I always sing during my prayer time, and there’s a song that Bethel Music sings called “I Want To Know You”. I started to play the spontaneous worship version of that song which is about 50 minutes long and I just started singing, pacing the floor, and crying out to Him from the deepest desperation of my heart and soul. And I began to sing the words, “Lord, I want to know You. Let Your Spirit overwhelm me. Let Your Presence overtake my heart.” and I just continued to sing that over and over again. And when I say, I want to know Him, I mean better than I know myself. … A few minutes before the song ended they start to sing the words, “Lord, put a new song in our hearts” and I stopped singing just to bask in His Presence. The Holy Spirit consumed me and in the sweetest whisper The Lord started to sing to me, “You know Me” over and over again in the same tune that I had been singing to Him. Those words are not apart of the song. That was just God being God.

As His child, He loves me so much that when there was grieve within my heart, He chose to sing me a lullaby to calm my spirit, celebrate me, and remind me of His unconditional love for me. As He sang to me, I laid down on my bedroom floor face first and I just uncontrollably wept with joy. That is the most intimate and the most beautiful moment that I’ve experienced with God to this date and it brought today’s focal verse to my remembrance. (Zephaniah 3:17 CEV- The Lord your God wins victory after victory and is always with you. He celebrates and sings because of you, and He will refresh your life with His love.) As I wept, He spoke to my heart and said, “Don’t mistake Me lovingly teaching you as Me reprimanding you. You know Me and I love you.”.

He literally refreshed my entire being by beautifully displaying His love for me through the expression of a song. Choosing to sing three simple, yet powerful words to my heart— “You know Me”. I got up off of the floor and I began to praise, worship, and sing to Him like never before. When I stopped singing it was 4:15am, my voice was almost gone, and I had not even realized that so much time had passed by. That’s the kind of time and intimacy that I want with Him every single day.

I’ve shared all of that with you to say this, I want you to know that our God is loving. He loves you with an everlasting love and even if you’ve never heard His voice, know that He is celebrating over you through a song that He’s written just for you. Above all else in your life, desire Him and the beauty and greatness that is Him will follow. (Matthew 6:33 NKJV- But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.) Our God is the same yesterday, today, and always. He is still The God of signs, wonders, and miracles, so know that what ever you have been praying and believing for, He can do! (Mark 9:23 WEB- Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.”)

I’m sharing this song with you because I am praying that as you listen to it, God will impart His divine wisdom upon you and put a new song in your heart and spirit that will replenish, refresh, restore, and remind you of His eternal love for you. Please set aside approximately 50 minutes, listen to it in it’s entirety, and truly give The Lord your all because I believe with all of my heart that God is going to do a mighty, Life-giving, and life-changing work within you through this song.

Abba, I cry out to You on behalf of every person reading this. I lift them up in the name of Jesus and I ask and pray that today and everyday forth that Your Presence would manifest and ever-increase within their hearts and within their lives like never before. Help them to keep their eyes fixed on You, Father and as they do, impart Your divine wisdom, peace, and understanding upon them. Lord, release a fresh wind of Your Holy Spirit within their souls that they may intimately know You and all that you have purposed for them. Abba, within this very moment let Your unconditional love consume them, sing to them, and put a new song in their hearts that they may be replenished, refreshed, and restored unto You. Do a mighty and divine work within, through, and for them. I praise You for their lives! And in the name of Jesus Christ, Your precious Son, and our Lord and Savior— I pray, Amen and so be it.

“You are my Hiding Place from every storm of life; You even keep me from getting into trouble! You surround me with songs of victory.” – David (Psalm 32:7 TLB)

 

I love you guys!

Believe, Be Beautiful, Be Brilliant, and Be Blessed! 🙂

You can send me your prayer requests by simply clicking here.

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / YouTube / Instagram /

The Power Held Within Our Written Words

(Habakkuk 2:2 CEV- Then The Lord told me: “I will give you My message in the form of a vision. Write it clearly enough to be read at a glance.)

As a Writer, today’s focal verse is very dear to me and I truly take it to heart. I believe that just as the power of Life or death lie within the words we speak, that same power is held within the words we write. (Proverbs 18:21 NCV- What you say can mean Life or death. Those who speak with care will be rewarded.)

I journal my prayers every morning and I’ve been doing it for a very long time because there is a sense of freedom for me in knowing that God not only knows the desires of my heart, but that He sees them as well. To me being able to converse with Him through writing is symbolic of that fact that what I’ve written; my dreams, my hopes, my gifts, my goals, my concerns, my worries, my fears are ever before His Holy Presence and I can trust Him to divinely intervene and take care of all of the things that are near and dear to my heart.

Just to show you how awesome God is, yesterday, I attended a women’s conference at my friend Ellie’s church and in the particular group that I was in, the very first session we had was a class where we were journaling our prayers and Habakkuk 2:2 was the focal point of Scripture. My heart just smiled because even before she told us to start journaling, internally God had already given me a vision and my pen was on fire the entire class. I was still writing even as the class was ending.

God values writing. The Bible being a Life-giving token of that truth. … He told us in Habakkuk 2:2 that He would give us His message in the form of a vision and for us to write it down, but I also want to bring to your remembrance that writing was so important to Him that He took the time to write down His vision for us as well. (Exodus 31:18 NLT- When The Lord finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave Him the two stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, written by the finger of God.)

I believe the reason God said for us to write down the vision He gives us is because there is Life in being able to not just envision, but physically see our dreams and all of the incredible things that He has ordained for our lives right there in front of us. Seeing gives us hope and hope radiantly shines light on the purpose for the very beat of our hearts. Meaning what we see has the power to shed light and bring Life to who we truly are and the things we live for. (Matthew 6:22-23 VOICE- The eye is the lamp of the body. You draw light into your body through your eyes, and light shines out to the world through your eyes. So if your eye is well and shows you what is true, then your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is clouded or evil, then your body will be filled with evil and dark clouds. And the darkness that takes over the body of a child of God who has gone astray—that is the deepest, darkest darkness there is.)

I really want to encourage you guys to start journaling your prayers because yes, God values writing, but He values that intimate time with you even more. And it takes us a lot longer to write our prayers down than it does to simply speak them forth. So, just think, the more you write the more time you get to draw near to His heart and simply rest in The Presence of our Savior.

There’s one other thing that I’d like to share with you guys about yesterday’s conference. In all honesty, the entire day was amazing. I loved every minute of it, but this in particular brought great joy to soul.

As we were all gathered together eating lunch, they had a table set up and filled with all of these beautiful gifts that they were giving away. The table had everything; jewelry, scented lotions and soaps, just all of the things that women love. So, if your name was chosen, you got to go up to the table to a choose whatever gift you wanted. Well, because God loves me like that 😉 , my name was chosen and I got to pick out a gift. And out of all of the lovely things laying there before me, my heart was drawn to this beautiful empty box.

As soon as I saw it, I knew exactly what it’s purpose would be. The box was beautiful on the outside, but empty on the inside. That box represents each and every one of us before we surrender our lives to God and allow Him to fill us with His Presence, power, love, hope, peace, joy, and all of the greatness that is the essence and epitome of Who He is.

Just as God fills us with the beauty that is Him. I’m going to write down the desires of my heart and fill this box with my prayers and the beauty that is my dreams. I’m going to pray over it every single day and as God answers, I’ll open the box to remove the answered prayers and continue to seek Him for the unanswered ones. This box will hold not only my dreams, but every vision that God has planted in or spoken to my heart. And I will be faithfully seeking after Him until everything that He has promised me comes to fruition in my life. (Luke 1:45 NIV- Blessed is she who has believed that The Lord would fulfill His promises to her!)

If you are family, a friend, a loved one, someone I’ve prayed with, or someone that has reached out to me for prayer, I will put your name in my prayer box, because I love you and I want you to experience the goodness that is our God. (Deuteronomy 1:11 CEV- God has even promised to bless us a thousand times more, and I pray that He will.)

I want to encourage and challenge you to not only write down your prayers to lay before The Lord, but to use that intimate time with Him to truly revel and bask in His Presence. Prayer may not always change your circumstances, but it will change you. And I promise you that any change made in your life through intimacy with God, you will not regret because it doesn’t just change you for the better, but for His best.

Abba, I deeply seek You this morning on behalf of every person reading this and I ask and pray that You would instill within their hearts how much You value them and love every moment that they spend in Your Presence. Father, give them Your message in the form of a vision that they may write it clearly to be read at a glance and understand in their hearts the beauty of Your intended purpose. Lord, as their eyes set sight on that purpose, fill them with everlasting hope as You work in and through them in order to bring that vision and purpose to fruition in their lives. Lord, draw near to them. Holy Spirit, consume them. Lord, today and everyday, I pray that Your love, grace, peace, and strength would amply abound within their hearts and within their lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, Your precious Son, and our Lord and Savior— I pray, Amen and so be it.

“When you’re writing to God, simply lay the pieces of your heart before Him. He’ll take those pieces and put your life’s puzzle together exactly as it should be.” ~ Tai East

I love you guys!

Believe, Be Beautiful, Be Brilliant, and Be Blessed! 🙂

You can send me your prayer requests by simply clicking here.

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / YouTube / Instagram /

LIFE Within THE WORD

(Matthew 4:4 NIV- Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God.’”)

Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God. … Those were the very words that completely changed my life spiritually. As believers, I think we’ve all had moments or experiences that really solidified in our hearts “Ok, this whole God thing is for real”. I’ve had several things that have happened in my life where I knew that it was only God, but my very first “spiritual aha moment” happened about 5 years ago when I read Matthew 4:4.

I had been attending church my whole life, but it wasn’t until I read that particular verse for myself that I realized that it was The Word that was the missing piece to my puzzle of life. And it was The Word that would complete me and make me whole. Reading that one verse led to me reading The Bible in It’s entirety and from there my whole life changed because that’s where I found true intimacy with God. My heart longed for greater because I belonged to The Greatest. (1 Corinthians 3:23 NLT- You belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.)

So, what was Jesus really saying when He said, “Man can not live on bread alone.”?

Here’s what I believe. We merely exist without the consumption of The Word of God. And so, to truly live and thrive in all that He’s purposed us to be one must feast on His Word daily. Meaning just as our bodies long for food to function and operate at their best, our spirits hunger and long for the peace, strength, and Life that is God’s Word. (Luke 6:47-48 MSG- These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on. If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last.)

I don’t know about you, but I’m completely in love with the phenomenal thought and beautiful truth that through God’s Word— I am built to last. And I pray that you would never lose sight of the fact that through His Word— you too are built to last. … Take a moment to truly allow your spirit to imbibe that truth. Everything we need is found in The Word. Christ is The Word and the more we consume It the more He becomes alive in us.

So today, I just want to remind you that there is Life within His Word and It has the power to love, calm, comfort, strengthen, encourage, inspire, empower, heal, renew, transform, and restore. The greatest gift that we can give to ourselves is to make the choice to partake of The Word and cling to The Life that lies within IT. (Psalm 119:114 MSG- You’re my place of quiet retreat; I wait for Your Word to renew me.)

Abba, today and everyday, increase the hunger of our hearts to seek and embrace the wisdom and truth that lies within Your Word. Give us a greater understanding of the value that It holds in and through our lives. Lord, help us to surrender to the freedom that is found in seeking You and obeying Your Word and Father, in seeking You may we find ourselves and all that You’ve purposed us to be. I pray that we would hide Your Word in our hearts that we would never sin against You. Abba, may our lives always be a reflection of Your Life within us. In the name of Jesus Christ, Your precious Son, and our Lord and Savior— I pray, Amen and so be it.

“Shift from your mind conquering The Bible, down into surrender to The Spirit of God Who will whisper to you what He meant by what He wrote.” ~ Martha Kilpatrick

I love you guys!

Believe, Be Beautiful, Be Brilliant, and Be Blessed! 🙂

You can send me your prayer requests by simply clicking here.

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / YouTube / Instagram /

Wear LOVE Everywhere You Go

(Colossians 3:14 MSG- And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.)

The NLV of today’s focal verse says— And to all these things, you must add love. Love holds everything and everybody together and makes all these good things perfect.

The words from today’s focal verse truly moved me because in a world where it sometimes seems like everything is going wrong, The Word of God says, to truly love has the power and ability to make all things perfect.

The more I seek God and the more I’m praying, “Less of me and more of You, Lord”, the more He makes me aware of the hurt and brokenness of this world and in the hearts of the people around me. I often sense heartache within a person without even conversing with them and sometimes without even knowing them at all.

So yesterday morning when I saw an image that said, “Wear Love everywhere you go.”, it made me think of the following passage of Scripture— (1 John 4:7-12 NIV- Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God Is Love. This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.). 

God Is Love. So, to truly wear love means that we’ve surrendered our lives to The Lord; that we’re so deeply and intimately connected to Him that the people around us don’t see us, but instead, they see His heart, His Love, and His Life displayed in and through our lives.

“Love holds everything and everybody together and makes all these good things perfect” doesn’t simply refer to love as an emotion, but to the perfect and sovereign Presence of God, Himself. What it really means is that, it’s His Holy being that’s holding everyone and everything together and making all things perfect.

I long to love with the heart and love of our Savior and I may not be able to change the world, but I’ve made a covenant with God that I’m going to truly wear love everywhere I go and strive to always let my words be a reflection of His Presence in my life. And in doing that, I’m praying that every heart within “my world” will be changed.

Today, I just want to leave you with this notion: every time we to tell someone that we love them, we are essentially planting the seed of God’s Presence in their lives. So, the more you recognize hurt or brokenness within the heart of another, the more you should tell them that you love them. There is power in the words we speak forth. To simply tell someone that we love them gives us an opportunity to continually water that seed of God’s Presence that we’ve previously planted in their hearts which allows Him to fully blossom in their lives. And where The Presence of our God blooms— all things are made perfect.

Dear Heavenly Father, I enter Your Holy Presence this morning asking that You would instill within our hearts a greater understanding of what it truly means to love one another. Lord, give us the ability to recognize the hurt and brokeness in the hearts of the people around us and capacity to love them according to Your standard, not ours. Lord, today and everyday forth, help us to not only love with words, but through our actions and deeds as well. Abba, through the love that You’ve given us and through Your Presence in our lives, let our hearts beat with a love that honors Your heart. May we truly wear Your love everywhere we go. In the name of Jesus Christ, Your precious Son, and our Lord and Savior— I pray, Amen and so be it.

“Riches take wings, comforts vanish, hope withers away, but love stays with us. Love Is God.” ~ Lew Wallace

 I love you guys!

Believe, Be Beautiful, Be Brilliant, and Be Blessed! 🙂

You can send me your prayer requests by simply clicking here.

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / YouTube / Instagram /

EL ROI— THE GOD WHO Sees Me

(2 Chronicles 16:9 NLT- The eyes of The Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.)

Today’s focal verse reminded me of the sweetest little phrase spoken to me by one of my favorite sisters in Christ during our #RaRaLinkup party yesterday. She simply stated, “El Roi— He sees and loves you with a perfect love.”.

I was immediately drawn to her words because in truly allowing my heart to embrace them I became very cognizant of how abysmal and unfathomable The Lord’s love is for me. Each and every word deeply resonated within my heart.

El Roi is Hebrew for “The God Who sees me”.

How often do we truly think of The Lord as The God Who see us? The One Who loves us so much that out of all of the millions of people in this world, He looks down from heaven searching the entire earth to strengthen that one, longing, individual heart with His unequivocal love? The One Who knows us better that we know ourselves and graciously and selflessly sends His perfect Holy Spirit to guide us to the greatness that He’s purposed for our lives? (Jeremiah 1:5 MSG- “Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you.)

I think it’s sometimes hard for us as mere human beings to conceptualize that our sovereign God knows and loves us personally and individually. Meaning He sees and knows each us to the core of who we are and still His love pursues us. It seeks to capture and consume our hearts and when it does, it’s sufficient, it’s unconditional, and it never wavers.

Yes, our God is mighty and matchless in power as our Creator, but the same can also be said about His love for us as our Heavenly Father. I respect and honor Him as Creator, but I know and love Him as Father; The One Who sees and loves me with a perfect love.

And so, today, my heart’s greatest prayer for you is that you would know, love, and embrace Him as The One Who sees and loves you with a perfect love.

Heavenly Father, help us to comprehend that Your love seeks us personally and individually. Help us to accept and reciprocate such a love that by nature is foreign to us. Help us to understand that it pursues us with the intent to mend, heal, and restore every broken piece of our hearts to the beauty in which You created and intended for them to beat within us. Lord, today and everyday forth, help us to know, see, and believe that You are The One Who sees and loves us with a perfect love. In the name of Jesus Christ, Your precious Son, and our Lord and Savior— I pray, Amen and so be it.

“My trust in God flows out of the experience of His loving me, day in and day out, whether the day is stormy or fair, whether I’m sick or in good health, whether I’m in a state of grace or disgrace. He comes to me where I live and loves me as I am.” ~ Brennan Manning

I love you guys!

Believe, Be Beautiful, Be Brilliant, and Be Blessed! 🙂

You can send me your prayer requests by simply clicking here.

Blog / Facebook / Twitter / Pinterest / YouTube / Instagram /