John 15:11 says “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with My joy.  Yes, your joy will overflow!”

Isn’t that great news??  When God talks to you, it will always increase your level of joy.  Always!  Even if it’s something hard to hear, such as discipline, or a different answer than you hoped for, God has this incredible way of talking to you, that will still bring joy.

God’s nature, the very essence of who He is, is displayed in how He communicates with us.  He IS the fruit of the Spirit, He can’t be any other way!  So all He does, including how He talks to us, is drenched with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

If you are hearing any voice that does not reflect the above attributes, it is not God.  This does not mean He won’t correct us, but it will be in a way that is still consistent with His nature, spoken in love, seasoned with grace. 

His words bring peace.  They are spoken with the utmost kindness, and gentleness, with the fullness of His love and faithfulness toward you.  All He says is reflected from His great heart toward you. 

Even if it is a behavior that needs changed, it is done from the place of “Beloved, why have that thought, or attitude, or response, when I have a brilliant one for you to have instead?  One that will bring life, and blessing.”  God cares deeply for you, and wants you to have life abundant, so when He corrects us, it’s because He wants us to succeed, not make us feel horrible.

Romans 8:1 says “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.”  God is not going to condemn you when He talks to you, He will not bring shame or guilt, those things do not come from Him.  If you feel that way, it is not God you are listening to!

Friends, when discerning if God is speaking, always remember His words are designed to bring you joy!  Know that you live under His smile, and let Him put a smile on your face!  He delights in you!

Captivate our hearts; draw us into a place of intimacy that we could hear the kind voice of God.  Let us be drenched in the love of God, soaked through and through.  Grant us from heaven a stunning experience of your personality, love, grace and goodness.  Please take over our thinking, inhabit our hearts in a whole new way, may we be thrilled and enthralled by who you are. 

Please teach us to read scripture in such a way, that the glory of who you are and what you have planned touches us incredibly.  Show us how to live a life that is attractive to you.  We say yes, to wherever you lead us.  We don’t want to be ordinary, not when you are offering something so incredible.  We want to be amazing, because we want people to be amazed by you.  We want to believe you for outrageous things, and we want to be trusted for outrageous things.  We don’t want to be mediocre, we want to be excellent.

Holy Spirit, we invite you into our lives again today.  Teach us, train us, equip us, be to us all that heaven allows.  Touch our eyes so we can see the way you see.  Touch our ears to hear the word of the Lord.  Teach us how to worship you, instruct us how to pray, reveal to us how to partner with you in your plans for heaven to invade earth.

We love you, with all that we are, as much as we know how. Enlarge our hearts to love you more. Thank you for your favor, for your presence with us, and most of all for your great love and astonishing nature.  We are truly amazed by you, and forever grateful for the kindness, compassion and grace you’ve shown to us.  We are choosing the life Jesus died to give us, we are choosing you. Have your way in our lives, we commit it into your capable hands.

In Jesus Name, Amen.

God has been teaching me lessons of abiding for a while now.  But it seems as now He has upgraded the assignment, I must learn to cease striving too.  This is probably one of the most difficult things to ask of me.  I even strive at not striving!  I try, and try, and try.  I’m the little engine that could..I think I can, I think I can, chug, chug, choo choo!

Really though, it’s not easy for me to just abide.  To just be.  To completely, totally, utterly release my concerns, fears, plans, dreams, into His capable hands, and just worship.  I can’t wrap my mind around how not striving produces results.  Yet you see this so many times in the Bible.  God’s ways don’t ever make sense to us!  He is not rational, we can’t comprehend Him logically.

The more I grasp this idea, that there is nothing I can do to fix things, or make things happen, that my job is simply to worship, adore, rest and abide in Him, the more I do see certain area’s in my life beginning to thrive.  I am a LONG way from where I need to be, but it’s exciting to see progress, and I love how it has changed my relationship with Him.  He has so much to offer me!  And I’ve been so busy trying to give to Him, I haven’t stilled myself enough to receive what He has to give to me. 

Of course it’s good to work hard, and serve Him and others, that’s not what I’m saying.  But I think that sometimes it becomes a focus and a distraction.  Too often in my devotion times, I strive…I sing, and play, and write and read in my time with Him, which He adores, but I’m finding that what He adores just as much is loving on Me!  He doesn’t just want me to do all this stuff for Him, He wants to be with me!  He wants to sing over me, hold me, speak to me, love on me.  It’s a relationship, and in healthy relationship, love goes both ways. 

That’s part of abiding, letting Him love us.  Receiving all the brilliant things He has to offer: perfect love that drives away fear, joy unspeakable, peace that passes understanding, grace that captures us, a renewed mind and restored hope.  These are just a few things He so generously longs to lavish on us as we abide and receive.  He loves when we do for Him, but He loves to do for us too.  It’s another example of the majesty and mystery of an amazing creator, who is a hopeless romantic at heart!

Let’s work on this together, not striving, just abiding and therfore thriving!  Let’s rest in the Father’s amazing love, and receive all that His great heart desires to give us as we abide in Him.

God is always the same.  He never changes.  Which means, I know that I am always His Beloved.  He is always delighting in me.  I don’t have to worry about coming to Him and Him being angry, He’s dealt with that at the cross.  I know I’ll always find grace.  I know that He is always with me, always for me, and always accepting me.

Everything is constantly changing.  Circumstances, relationships, life.  But not God.  He is my one constant, true security and stability.  So when the landscape of my life is shifting underneath my feet, I can stand in the consistent, amazing, nature of My God, and know my identity is secure in Him, which brings immense peace to my soul.

Remember today, that the same is for you.  No matter what is going on, or how you feel about yourself, or even how you feel about God.  It doesn’t matter. God loves you, adores you, accepts you, and is for you.  His heart is full of affection for you, and I pray that you find rest in that revelation.  May you feel the extravagant love of the Father embrace you, and His precious peace surround you.  May He bring you full confidence, that you too, can always know where you stand in His great heart.

So I decided to begin to pray differently. I began to pray “God, please distract me with You!” This prayer has changed everything! The Holy Spirit loves his job, and he is having a blast distracting me with thoughts of God. I can’t keep him off my mind! There is a deep longing to hide away in the secret place. I feel lovesick. I crave the presence of God. Nothing else seems as important anymore. I try to work, and I’ve got worship songs stuck in my head. And for me, I can’t keep it in! I’ve got to let all the worship out!

Everything I do reminds me of Him. There isn’t a single topic that comes up anymore, in work, in school, on TV, in life, that doesn’t take me back to God. He’s taking me deeper into His nature and His amazing heart through the normalness of everyday life.

He is definitely distracting me with Himself and His Kingdom. And you know, I love it! It seems like it’s harder to get things done because I keep running off to spend time with Him. Yet, I’m actually getting just as much done, and with a much better attitude (I’m sure my husband is thankful for that!) I’m not nearly as stressed, there is a peace and even a joy that is carrying me through my days now. It is one of those laws of the Spirit that we don’t understand; as Matthew 6:33 puts it “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.” The more distracted with Him I allow myself to be, the more effectiveness my time seems to have.

As I’m learning lessons in abiding, this is just another step. Being distracted by God, not from God. Great fun, try it!!

So many times, we see our devotional time as a “to do” item, a chore, a duty.  It is very good to be disciplined, but beyond duty, it is our joy and our privilege to spend time with God… if we approach it properly.  I don’t know about you, but I find myself rushing through my time with Him because I have so many other things I have to get done.  I feel guilty if I take too much time with Him, after all, I have so many other pressures clamoring for my attention.  In my heart, that is NOT my desire, after all, He IS the most important thing, and deserves our priority.  But I am ashamed to say, that I let the guilt, and the overloaded schedule, push out what God has intended for a luxury to savor and enjoy. 

When we take the time to truly focus on Him, it is the most amazing thing we can do!  The most relaxing thing in this world is to rest in Him.  To be swept away by His love, captured in His grace, filled with His joy.  For Him to embrace us in His sweet presence, to restore our strength, to renew our hope, to refresh our perspective.   In those intimate times of connection, when I truly surrender to His love, I lose track of time because I am so enthralled by His majesty, nothing else seems to matter.  I find myself awestruck, lost in wonder, love and praise.  All seems well in my life again…

Since that is how our time with Him is supposed to be, it’s no wonder it feels like a luxury, an indulgence!  It’s also no wonder the enemy tries so hard to make us feel like we can’t take enough time to truly encounter the Father.  And why there is such a sub-conscious guilt for escaping the pressures of this life and ascending to somewhere heavenly. 

But as God is urging me, beckoning me, and I urge you-take the time to indulge!!  It’s worth it.  Everything else will still be there when you’re done, and chances are, you’ll be able to tackle your to do list much more effectively after some luxurious time with the Creator of the Universe! 

God has granted us permission to indulge in the luxury of His presence, any time we want, with NO guilt allowed! So what are you waiting for?  Indulge!

This quote, has truly changed my life! It has revolutionized the way that I look at my circumstances. This can be difficult to do, because human nature is to focus on what we don’t have. But there is tremendous freedom, encouragement and power in learning this discipline.

When I take the time to reflect on all that God is doing, I can’t help but become thankful. Thankfulness leads to praise, which then leads me to magnify the RIGHT thing. It’s also in our nature to magnify, and we are always magnifying something. We either magnify the problem, or we magnify God.

This doesn’t mean that we don’t still present our lists of what we need, our cares, our concerns, etc. to God, of course we do. In prayer, with thanksgiving. (Phil. 4).  We just don’t focus on them. We release them to Him, and meditate on what He has already done and is currently doing.

Be encouraged today, and every day! Just find what He IS doing…even though on some days it may be more difficult than others…but I promise you, the effort will be worth it!   I know Him, He’s always doing something brilliant!

God has been revealing to me the worship cycle, and how crucial worship is, to move forward in Kingdom ways, and to accelerate all that He has for us.  It is the key to living life abundantly, and in fullness.  As we worship, as we adore our Creator, as we thank Him, and rejoice, we draw near to Him, and He draws near to us.  And His glorious presence is revealed. 

All sorts of wonderful blessings come with His amazing presence.  In His presence we find rest for our weary souls.  In His presence, His perfect love melts away all our fears, anxiety, cares.  He surrounds us in His perfect peace.  His presence brings fullness of Joy.  Joy becomes our strength.  Strength leads to hope, confidence, trust.   As our faith is increased, we have the boldness to step out where He is leading us.  And He always has His blessing and provision waiting for us, as we take a step of faith, and move toward our destiny.  As we meet the provision He has waiting for us, it ignites our heart to worship in new and fresh ways.  We are upgraded, and stand in awe of the miraculous things He has done for us, and we can’t help but be thankful and rejoice!  And thus the cycle repeats itself.

The cycle is broken when we give in to fear, to doubt, to discouragement, hopelessness and depression.  BUT, God is so merciful, and there is abundant grace!  All we have to do, is just worship again, and we have the privilege and pleasure of jumping back into this brilliant cycle!

This is just the tip of the iceberg to describe how essential worship is, in our everyday life, as a constant habit.  There is so much more wealth to discover of the power of worship in every aspect of our lives.  There are many reasons that Philippians 4:4 says “Rejoice in the Lord ALWAYS, and I say it again, Rejoice!”

But then I had a moment…you know, the ones where you are too tired and overwhelmed to care?  To try?  To believe?  I gave into the weariness, which led to a whole mess of negative emotions. Depression, discouragement, fear, anxiety, doubt, panic.  Before I knew it, within a matter of hours, my whole entire world seemed to be falling apart, hopeless, pointless, just full of darkness.  I was a mess.  I snapped.  I was crying, eating way too much chocolate, complaining, venting, getting angry, frustrated and all those negative feelings rose up.  It was this vicious spiral downward.  It was a terrible day!  I even asked God if He was even real.  He just laughed and said “Obviously you believe I am, because you just asked Me!”  That did make me giggle a little, it’s funny that I am so attached to Him, that it’s instinct to ask Him for the answer, even to a question like that!

The next day, I was still in such a dark pit, I decided to go back to my usual approach.  There are countless examples in the Bible that teach us to encourage ourselves in the Lord.  To strengthen our inner man.  To rise up.  So with all the strength I could muster (which wasn’t much), I made a simple choice.  “God, I am going to worship you today.  I am going to choose to trust, even though I don’t understand how things will work out.  I know You, and You are Faithful, You do not change-which means that at least I have security in where I am in Your heart and Your affection, in Your kind intentionality, and that alone gives me reason to worship.  I can be thankful because I know You love me, You are with me, and that You are for me.” 

The more I began to declare, and pray, and worship, the better I felt.  Surprise, huh? J  But within minutes, quicker than I even fell into the pit, I was out of the pit.  I remembered all the reasons I can be thankful, all the reasons I can trust, all the reasons to worship and rejoice.  Joy returned, hope was restored, strength renewed.  Peace surrounded my heart and mind, and confidence was back.

It was then God reminded me, that emotions never, ever, travel alone, which is why it’s critical to choose our mindsets very wisely.  Fear, anxiety, worry, stress, panic, weariness, hopelessness, depression, discouragement, doubt…they all come together as a package deal!  Once you give into one of them, all of the others will surely follow.

But the same is true for the opposite:  Thanksgiving and worship travel with rejoicing.  Their companions are peace, rest, joy, trust, faith, strength, hope, confidence, courage…life giving.  It all comes down to a simple choice!

Which “friends” do you want to travel this life with?

Are you able to find rest for your soul? If not, than perhaps it is because you do not see Jesus as your Prince of Peace. Seeing Him as your personal Prince of Peace, means you’re not allowed to worry anymore! Anxiety and peace, simply cannot co-exist.

If you see God full of grace and mercy, slow to anger, and abounding in love, you will be able to approach Him with confidence, and enjoy time with Him. You’ll see yourself as a lover of God, who occasionally sins. However, if you only see Him is as judgmental, you will see yourself as a sinner struggling to love God, and constantly be caught in legalism and shame.

Do you see your hard circumstances as a punishment?  Or do you find them exciting, knowing that God has an incredible plan for your good, and that there must be a blessing, upgrade and provision somewhere in the midst of them? 

How do you picture God when you are praying?  Do you perceive that God is leaning an ear toward you, hanging on your every word, interested, and delighted to hear from you?  Or do you feel like you have to persuade or manipulate Him into listening?   How you view God, will radically affect your prayer life, making it either a joy, or a chore.

Jesus asks the question in Matthew 16:13-20 “Who do you say that I am?”  After receiving 4 distorted views, Peter answered correctly. This immediately resulted in an upgraded call on Peter’s life, and increased his faith and focus.   Peter’s correct view of God sustained him through the trials of his life.

God is unchanging and consistent.  He loves us passionately, unconditionally, and always 100%.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.    He is faithful, merciful, full of goodness and kind intentionality.  His grace is more than enough to cover every situation, and His joy and peace are always offered to us as a gift.  His heart towards us is magnificent, and He loves being brilliant!  He is the one, true, amazing God.

God is asking you today, “Who do you say that I am?”