I AM FREE

It is said so often how amazing, how awesome and how good God is, it is over clichéd if that description could be used but the fact of the matter is when you experience His hand in your life there are no words...

HE KNIT ME TOGETHER IN MY MOTHER'S WOMB AND HE KNEW EVERYTHING ABOUT ME BEFORE I WAS EVEN BORN!

HE KNOWS MY NAME AND HE HOLDS EVERY FIBRE OF MY BEING!

I AM SATURATED IN HIS SWEET ANOINTING AND I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE ON PURPOSE AND FOR A PURPOSE!

HE GAVE ME HIS WORD THAT IS LIKE A COOL BREEZE ON A HOT SUMMER'S DAY, IT IS LIKE THE SWEETEST HONEY BUT YET ALSO THE SWORD I USE TO OVERCOME EVERY OBSTACLE AND WIN EVERY BATTLE

Today I am not so much amazed by what God has physically given me or the "natural" things He has done or given, those things that can be seen with the eye. Today I stand amazed at how He has taken me, shaken me, pulled and prodded and changed me. There have been 2 moments in the last 8 months of my life where I have literally felt a shit in the spirit world as it relates to the changes that are taking place in my life. I believe that everything that happens in the natural is a result of what is going on in the spiritual, the world that we cannot see with the eye. The result of those shifts in the spirit, that I felt, have been major major changes in my life, the greatest being the changes within. In this short space of time God has been working on me so much so to the point where, at times I feel like a woman who is in labour, a very long labour, painful, uncomfortable, horrible and at times I want to say I cant anymore, I don't want this anymore, just make it stop; but I know I am about to give birth to something wonderful!

Those things I thought would make me happy and give me peace, God has slowly taken my focus off that and shifting it towards Him, to where true happiness is at. I always say that we must take everything to the feet of the cross but recently discovered that is where I want to be ALL of the time because that is where the action is! There is never a dull moment at the feet of the cross. But when you stay there He carries you, O, how He carries you. It is so hard for me and my sinful pride, my self-righteousness, my selfishness, self-pity and self-indulgence; to just let go of everything, to crucify ALL my fleshly desires and just simply follow Him.

Think of it in terms of walking into a shop, any shop, knowing you can buy anything you want. You don't have to worry about money, cost, anything, you can walk in and just get anything your heart desires... BUT freedom is walking into a shop with not a cent in your purse or in your bank account, walking down the isles looking at all the stuff on the shelf that you so desperately need, the essentials and must-haves as well as the things you simply desire to have; and walking out again, unmoved, unshaken and not bothered in the least. Now that is freedom, perhaps even proof that you are no longer a slave to money because money or the lack thereof has the power to change who we are, it has the power to make us happy, sad or depressed, the power to determine how emotions are swayed.

Freedom is having peace in the midst of the biggest storm, the greatest battle; knowing without a shadow of a doubt that because of the cross even if you were to die in that storm or battle, you have an eternal home called Heaven with a Father who awaits with arms wide open... In my lifetime I only lost one person who means so much to me that it saddens me each time I realize he is not here anymore, a very dear uncle, he was a second dad to me, I miss him so much and there are times that I think I wish he was here to experience life with us but the reality is that life here on earth is so short, but life hereafter is eternal so after this life you and I have an eternity with God and the loved ones we lost, isn't that so comforting... 

 

I AM STILL STANDING!!!!

"...I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thou seed may live." -Deuteronomy 30:19

I have a choice to make a difference or miss an opportunity.
I have a choice to speak a loving word or a word that hurts.
I have a choice to build a relationship or to destroy it.
I have a choice to be content to complain.
I have a choice to show compassion or o judge.
I have a choice to love or to hate.
I have a choice to bless or curse.
I have a choice to avoid temptation or to yield to it.
I have a choice to understand or to condemn.
I have a choice of life in the Cross or death!

YOU ALSO HAVE A CHOICE.
CHOOSE THE CROSS.
CHOOSE LIFE!

-above piece written by Beverly Courrege -

I have been through many challenges in my life time and there have been times that I thought I wouldn't make it but in those challenging times I always chose the cross. Even as a little girl, facing things that no little girls should have to face, I chose the cross and it is only through the cross that I was able to overcome. One would think that by now the enemy knows me well enough to know that it is not in my nature to back down from a spiritual battle; and each time that he hit me with his best shot and each time that life throws all it can at me, I bounce back stronger and more determined. At the same time I am grateful for my challenges because it is what brings me to the cross each time and it reminds me what the source of my strength is because I know that I cannot do it in my own strength.

The person I admire the most; the one person in this world who truly chose to live His purpose and not for one second to lose focus of what that purpose was, even though his purpose was to die so that we could live... Jesus Jesus Jesus O what a wonder you are. You boldly stood alone, facing death and not even a glorious death but instead a brutal, shameful death in the way you were treated in the final hours of your life... you paid the ultimate price so that I could live, you paid the ultimate price, you gave your life so that I may live a life of abundance. You didn't die so that I could live my life on medication for sickness, mental illness, my addiction, my pain, my sorrow; you didn't die so that I could live in poverty and in bondage; you died for my freedom, you died so that I could live a life free from illness and pain and the bondage of addiction. You died so that I could live an abundant life, a prosperous life!

And just like you Jesus, I choose to follow my destiny, the one that was set out for me before I was even born! I praise God that I am able to choose life, to choose to live the purpose for which I was created!

I CAN BE SURE THAT ALL MY NEEDS ARE MET

"The Lord who watches over the sparrow is committed to watch over us as well. We all have basic physical, emotional & spiritual needs. Our world is filled with endless opportunities and material blessings that past generations could not have imagined. Yet even today our faith can still be challenged to trust God for the most basic physical needs of shelter, food and clothing."

"BECAUSE OF THE CROSS GOD HAS PROMISED TO SUPPLY EVERYTHING THAT I NEED."

"Not only does He meet our physical needs, but He meets our spiritual and emotional needs as well. Christ died so we can have the riches of God's gifts of grace, joy, emotional well-being and life. Christ paid the ultimate price on the Cross so that I would not have to ... in Him all my needs are met."

Quotations by Beverly Courrege - Because of the Cross

After dropping off the kids this morning, meditating on the scripture in Matthew 9:28 where Jesus encountered the 2 blind men wanting to be healed and Jesus said them "do you believe that I am able to do this?" I have read this scripture so many times but received a new revelation about what it means... in an instant these men were healed because they believed that Jesus was able. I don't have to wait for days, months years, for my healing to take place, for my needs to be met, for my dreams and desires to be fulfilled in the land of the living, for my double portion, to reap what I have sown. As a believer who accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and savior, as a believer who lives my life and the decisions that I make and the way that I raise my children, according to the principles set out in the word of God, living a life of obedience to His word and everything in it; because the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ was my choice, this morning I believe and receive the word of God as my benefits package in that it clearly states what my benefits are, as a born again Christian... This morning I believe and I am expecting great things to be released through the activation of my faith, believing without a shadow of a doubt, that He is able to do this, the question is do you believe that He is able?

I CAN LOVE

The more I get to know my Father (in heaven) the more I want to share Him... I grew up in a Christian home with parents who ministered Jesus to us day and night, so this is all I know and my mind cannot conceive how anyone can manage this life without His love, His mercy, His grace to carry us through the valleys and over the mountains. Where would I be without the love of God, where would I be???

"Love is most divine when it loves according to needs, and not according to merit"

"The love we have for our spouse, children, parents, families and friends is often love based on who they are, what they mean to us and how they make us feel. The Cross changes that love. It becomes deeper, unconditional love that loves even when those we are closest to to hurt us or make mistakes. It loves at all times... in all things... regardless of how we feel.

BECAUSE OF THE CROSS WE CAN HAVE THAT SAME LOVE FOR OTHERS WHO TOUCH OUR LIVES, OFTEN FROM A DISTANCE.

We can love the ungrateful, the unfair, the unjust, the imprisoned, the lonely, the homeless, the liar, the cheater, the thief, the murderer, the abuser, the adulterer, the addict, the disgruntled, the opionionated, the unlovely, the unloved.

 

Only through the Cross is it possible to love ... and be loved ... UNCONDITIONALLY!"

When your heart is in God it can never be broken ... my life is a living testimony to that!

How can I love and still love after all that I have been through, experienced, endured? How can I be loved after all the mistakes I have made? Disappointments, hurt, heartache, emotional pain so unbearable that it feels sore??? How can I still love when I have been violated, intimidated, lied to, rejected??? How is it possible for a heart that was so torn up by anger & pain and lies and deceit, to be healed in an instant? How is it possible for a relationship that was so broken, to be restored in an instant?

It is possible! BECAUSE OF THE CROSS!!!!