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There are different oppositions we are faced with in this life and like David, who confronted and took out Goliath, we are meant to destroy our giants as well.

Yet, because of fear and unbelief the majority of believers find themselves tolerating what God means for them to take down.

If you are wondering what giants you have been faced with, then identify what you often struggle with and why. That identified persistent struggle is your giant.

However, where we fall short in overcoming these giants in our personal lives, will be the very things that God will call us out to wage war against.

He does this for a few reasons.

God wants us to learn how to overcome in Him. He wants us to see where we are weak in order for us to step aside and allow Him to become our strength in that area. He desires us to learn how to fully depend on Him and not ourselves.

People who tend to tolerate what God longs for them to conquer walk in fear, refuse to understand their true identity and have not yet grasped what they are capable of with the Lord.

It’s an issue of unbelief, doubt and lack of courage.

In the book of Revelation, Jesus rebukes the church in Thyatira for their toleration of Jezebel. And because there is either a fear of confrontation or of what others will think, this church had not yet overcame their giant to slay. To tolerate something is to allow the existence and acceptance of something you do not really like or agree with.

Fear of confronting our giants is us giving permission to them to reign over and defeat us. David did not fear Goliath, though all of Israel did. Israel’s fear gave Goliath and the Philistines the upper hand. So God had to search for a brave and unfearful heart to destroy the Israelites stronghold.

Whatever stronghold you have in your life is meant to be the place you become most victorious over. Do not be afraid and let the Lord enable you to take out what you’ve been tolerating.

 

Sharing my experience with having to make one of the most difficult, yet life altering, decisions in my life. That decision was choosing to leave an unhealthy, toxic and abusive relationship.

There is a grace God provides after you have willingly stepped into obedience to what He has asked you to do.

What seems for others to be  a burden if they had to walk in your shoes, comes to be fulfilling and somewhat easier for you. This is because you have the grace to do what’s been asked of you. It is also because God has provided you different seasons in your life that has helped to train and prepare you.

Discovering what the Lord has created you to do is also its own journey. For myself, I’ve leaned towards the skills and talents that came easier for me naturally and grew in those areas. Over time I discerned gifts the Lord gave me as I felt His grace on me, allowing those gifts to flow.

And even though there’s a grace on us to do what’s been asked of us, there is still a responsibility on our part to put into practice those gifts. If we believe by faith that God has placed within us certain giftings, then it is by our faith that compels us to do them.

The other day I looked at my full calendar, and feeling the weight of a busy schedule, I began to feel overwhelmed. Feeling overwhelmed is something I’ve struggled with since burning out serving the Lord overseas. My brain is just trying to protect me from re-experiencing that burnout and I’m fully aware of it.

But this is a different season for me and a season of stepping into deeper purpose. So I cannot allow my emotions, and my brain’s attempt at protecting me, to hold me back from what I know God has given me grace to do.

And I hear the Lord say, “You will run and not grow weary.” All of the promises He has spoken to my heart for this season, and found in His Word, come to mind.

We each have our own obstacles to overcome as we walk out this life of obedience, but we will overcome them. One day we might have a victory high like Elijah on Mt. Carmel, seeing amazing things of the Lord, and the next day find ourselves fleeing for our lives from the threats of a Jezebel, also like Elijah.

But it doesn’t mean His grace isn’t on us. It does mean we are human and we have a real need to rely upon our God to remain faithful and obedient to Him.

You will run and not grow weary.

The Lord’s eyes are on those in this season that He is wanting to uproot out of either a toxic environment, toxic relationship or both. When He is desiring this for you, He will begin to provide a way out.

However, we still have free will and that is honored by Him. We will need to make a choice to take advantage of this open door or not. God will not force our hand.

A lot of people will cry out to God for help and deliverance, yet refuse to see Him provide what we are asking Him for. I am praying the Lord opens your eyes to see what He is doing and that you would have His strength and wisdom with how to respond.

You are not alone. He is with you.

As God’s children we are formed and refined in the fire of opposition.

Much like a young tree that gains strength from the winds produced by storms or a mother bird destroying the nest when it’s time for her young to learn to fly, are we faced with our own trials.

Though meant to take us out by the enemy, God uses this opposition to form us into fierce, resilient and faithful sons and daughters. It is because of the opposition we are faced with that creates in us want for deep reliance on the Lord and a building of real intimacy with Him as well.

All I have today with the Lord, and who I am as well, was formed out of opposition from the enemy and out of traveling the low valleys in life. My prayer life is as strong as it is because of relentless attacks. My empathetic heart, created from enduring much pain and heartache, would not be able to relate and minister to others as I do today.

And as each wave of fight makes its way against me, the only tried and tested response is to always first fall on my knees before my Lord Jesus.

He gains all credit for the warrior I am today for He has taught me much, formed in me strength beyond measure, and birthed in me a devotion to Him that only grows stronger through these fiery trials.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

James 1:2-4 NIV

Rejoice, as Paul encourages us to, when you are faced with opposition as well. Allow what comes against you to become the instrument God uses to shape you more into His likeness. And allow it to produce in you unshakeable faith, strength and boldness.

And let the fire of opposition only draw you ever nearer to the Lord.

When you are about to step into what God has been preparing you for years to do, or He’s about to raise you up to a higher position because of your faithfulness to Him, it is not abnormal for spiritual opposition to come rearing its head.

And when it comes, the Lord will prepare your heart to withstand such opposition. This encouraging prophetic word calls us to be strong and determined when familiar enemies rage chaotically behind us as we move forward in obedience to Him.

And the act of trusting God to fight for us is put to the test as it was with many who have come before us.

Remain obedient within this opposition and watch God fight for you!

I’m sitting here looking at our Christmas decorations still displayed, realizing it’s the second day into the new year already. My husband and I have definitely started the new year running hard, spending the first day in January already focused on projects we let lie during the holidays. Yet, we made no time to take down the festive decor that welcomed in our Christmas. And I hear the Lord say there are some who also have neglected removing signs of their past season, trying to carry baggage that should have been released before stepping into this new season.

The problem with holding onto what happened in your previous season instead of working through it and giving it to the Lord, is that those difficult experiences or relationships can color over your new experiences and opportunities, and your judgement becomes tainted. You could miss out on what God has planned for you, trying to guard yourself from all future pain and not be willing to move forward.

And if you are noticing that not only the decor of your past season is still up, but multiple seasons are still displayed haunting you still, then it’s a wise choice to do some heart de-cluttering.

Sit down with the Lord and take those challenging things from past seasons and slowly begin to work though them one by one. You can recognize if something is still an issue and a pain in your heart when your mind continues to fall back on it. And reflecting on that time still feels very painful.

Allowing those things to be worked through and healed and released to the Lord will return to your heart healing, joy and energy needed to live your new season to its fullest.

Having studied theology in college, served on the mission field for some years with my husband and currently running my own ministry focused on faith and inner healing, there is no other topic I am most passionate about, and also I am most quiet about, than my personal call to preach His Gospel.

(video below)

I know what the Lord put in me at a young age and because of the pushback I received when I would share my calling, I ended up finding creative outlets that allowed this gift to be lived out in ways that were more acceptable by the church culture I was often in.

The Lord has done a huge work in my heart since, placed my husband and I within an amazing body of Christ and I am being challenged by Him to step further into this calling, whatever that may look like.

In hopes of encouraging other women who feel a similar call, I also share in this video biblical backing of women teaching, preaching and even being leaders within those early house churches. It’s a beautiful realization of seeing God’s heart for women to be a part of His greater mission on this earth.

May this video encourage you if you are a woman and are also called to preach!

I do share a part of an article that gives clearer understanding to the long debated 1 Timothy 2:8-15 passage. That source is cited here: https://www.fuller.edu/womeninministry/

There is a reviving of lost dreams and visions right now as we step closer to a new year. God has been and will continue to stir up desires and hopes we’ve held onto in our past but have been lost under piles of unmet expectations, hurts and loss.

The enemies rampage against God’s faithful will be met with angelic armies released from His Kingdom. God has specific plans and a timeline He has set that remains solid and firm in His hands. This is His goodness, His faithfulness and His sovereignty put on display.

For some this will be a reviving of pursuits dropped off years ago, years long forgotten where your young heart dared to dream big and grand. Despair and hopelessness has settled too comfortably in some of our hearts and God is challenging those mindsets to change towards hope and optimism once again.

(Prophetic Word In Video Format)

 

God gave me a dream, a vision, and resurfaced for me an older worship song where I had once allowed its words to set my heart ablaze with full child like faith and hope in Him. The dream revealed a more youthful part of me receiving heart surgery from all of the heartache I endured in a short time span. God showed me how He is not only healing those wounds, but restoring a part of me that I lost over twenty years ago. God is wanting and willing to piece back together our broken hearts and souls.

I woke up this very morning with a vision from the Lord once again sharing how many of the prophetic words and promises He’s spoken to my heart are in motion and will be fulfilled soon. I feel a burning in my heart and spirit right now as I prepare this word for you.

I hear the Lord say to hope and dream again, to dare to dream big and dare to trust Him with failed desires, to allow Him to set you and your heart apart for Him alone, leaving altars of gods never meant for your attention and worship.

I have wondered, after having the dream where a part of me received heart surgery, what that would mean for my heart’s desires and wishes. What have I forgotten that were God given desires in my heart long ago? How did I used to see this world before all the hurt and despair came in? Where have I settled for less in my life because I began to believe lies of the enemy?

And with your heart, if God did heart surgery in you what would that look like and what revived dreams would return for you?

In order to partake in this renewing of dreams, your heart has to believe and trust Him with them again. Walk boldly into where He’s leading you and rejoice in the fact that a reviving of a lost and hopeful part of who you are is indeed returning.

I woke up one morning having trouble emotionally. My alarm didn’t go off as planned so I woke up with my husband’s alarm. I reluctantly got out of bed remembering an awful and triggering dream I had in the night that brought on a sense of hopelessness as a result. But with my morning habits built in my brain I walked out each step of my routine by sheer discipline. When I sat down to take in my morning coffee while attempting my time with the Lord, I still had this strong negative emotion I was struggling with.

Pressing on I played a worship song on my phone that was waiting in the wings of another song I just listened to. When I played the video I saw the scene of a beach cove and heard significant lyrics that reminded me that I belong to God. The words rang out beautifully, “I am Yours and You are mine.” The beach scenery warmed my heart as well because when I converse with the Lord I always imagine us on a beach cove with cliffs hanging above us. It’s my safe space I created during the days I went through trauma therapy.

I immediately knew this song was put into my rotation by the Lord. I felt comforted by Him and loved, and the hopelessness and shame I was feeling fled. God saw the enemy coming against me in my sleep, but He had my time with Him in the morning planned to bring me comfort and healing. He was steps ahead of the enemy, guarding our time together and using His comfort to help me align with Him.

The Lord sees it all. He sees what the enemy is up to and faithfully counteracts those evil plans with His own.