What’s Love have to do with February? Everything!

Imagine the month with the least days, stirring up the most emotion in our hearts. Think about the view that God has concerning His love for us when it is eclipsed each February by whether or not we have a Valentine? There is a Gospel song entitled, “There is no greater love” but do we really believe that? Do we believe that the category of love that God has for us should be so fulfilling that we go into February grateful? Are we lovesick for God? Do we long for the time that we will spend with Him for all eternity? I asked these questions to begin a discussion on a Love Story that goes far beyond February 14th. What is it really for God to say, “I will never leave you nor forsake you?” My brother, my sister, we can be with someone who is a Gift from God, sent from Heaven, but he or she will still fail us. They will miss the mark. They will at times, leave us bewildered, but the One who is able to make that statement and back that up is not as thought about or sought after on Valentine’s Day.

Why is that? When I ask that question, do your thoughts immediately go to me being unreasonable and making light of the longing of companionship? If your thoughts did, I am happy to park there for a moment, and even pay the parking meter. A great soldier not only knows their game plan, they become knowledgeable about their enemy. We have a real Enemy, who makes attempts to come through anything that he can. It can be a holiday, a wedding invitation, or even fears of not having desires met. The catalyst to being able to navigate through feelings that are precipitated by holidays and occurrences that trigger various things in us is to hit it head on. It is about genuinely addressing and replacing those feelings with a fruitful exchange. God has a way of making us whole and filling voids in our lives. If we are really honest, do we choose to skip that class, because we either want to wallow in those feelings or we want to help God out in the area of relationships?

There is this interesting dynamic that can happen in the heart to feel the need to share that you have been chosen. This year, I was hit with one of the most sobering truths. I remember telling people, although I have never been married, a wedding ring was purchased for me. I held on to that for years. Until God unearthed that statement recently. What was near my bedrock of my foundation was the feeling of, “Well, at least a ring was bought.” So, I go on thinking, we are one category higher than someone who never had a ring purchased for them. Intimacy with God will unveil a plethora of safeguards that we have around our hearts. The painful truth was that for years, I was not focused on how much I let that relationship move me away from God, because the prize was the ring. The major focus was not about two becoming one to impact the Kingdom for God, I was more concerned with let me at least get something out of all I felt I had gone through.

There are some heartfelt conversations that you can have with yourself as you approach February. The Divine Work & Pray will be geared to placing the mirror front and center, a telling glass that has become cloudy with an image that does not reflect the positioning of your heart. The best healing comes from a vulnerability that shares an unsightly truth. Isaiah 61:3 tells us that God will give beauty for ashes. It is just like God to be able to take the ugliest moments of our lives and with a repentant heart, take what was meant to kill us to be a part of our testimony for His faithfulness. At the end of the day, your purpose is far greater than making a decision on February 14th that will negatively impact the remaining 321 days! God has given Believers, who are single the gift of knowing that you are loved; you’re so profoundly loved that He gave His only begotten for you to experience everlasting love.

Divine Work & Pray:

WORK: Utilize the Divine Design Journal to jot down thoughts that have plagued you for years, as February 14 approached. Identify scripture that becomes an answer of triumph to those thoughts and emotions. There are a number of activities that you can do on February 14th, such as: schedule a dinner with friends; visit a Senior Citizen Assistant Living facility and gift them with flowers and cards; or spend it with your first love, Jesus Christ and read from the greatest Love Story ever told.

PRAY: To the Lover of my Soul. The plans of the Enemy will not work this year concerning a day that you have made. February 14th belongs to You. I am so grateful for the people whom you have put in my life, who are an extension of Your love. I will no longer be plagued with the thoughts of lack on February 14th, because there is no lack in You. Every void in my life you have filled; and if and when there is an area that You allow someone else to be a part of - my greatest love will still be for You. May I remain lovesick for You and You alone. Give me a mature love, a love that is so contagious and plenteous that it shows the work that you can do in a surrendered heart. That I may go through life not always on the defensive, but offensively telling of Your goodness and enamored with Your ways. This is my prayer, in the Name of my first love, Jesus Christ. Amen.

“To Trust or Not to Trust: Is that really the Question?”

Trust is an interesting phenomenon when coupled with emotions and experience. When trust is betrayed, it can become Alcatraz in the heart. An impenetrable place until it is escaped. In 1962, three men escaped a place that was lauded for its fortified wall. The place that was once a penitentiary is now a National Recreation area for tourists. In the natural, a place that was meant to keep people out is now an open door for the masses. The Word of God tells us in Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.” How many times do we attempt to bring our emotions and experiences in the equation of trusting God? Our hearts were never meant to be a place of Alcatraz concerning God. There is no protection that we will need concerning a loving and long-suffering Father.

Life is this continual classroom. It is this place where we cumulatively learn how to navigate and assess. I have found that being a Believer is its own educational tract. It entails constant tests, where the Greatest Teacher of all time prepares us through His Word and our time with Him. Intimacy is a gift that we have been given to learn the heart and character of God. He so beautifully shares the answers to living a surrendered life. In the natural, those men who had to surrender and acquiesce to the requirements of Alcatraz often times attached surrender to a negative connotation. As we know, we do not have to be incarcerated to share the same sentiments as them. A violation of trust in the natural, most certainly can impact how we trust God.

Trust translates to hope, reliance and confidence in Hebrew. We can rely on the reliability and strength of God. There is no one to compare to His ability and attributes. We may find ourselves going down memory lane to attach occurrences of placing our hope in something and it not coming to fruition. Could it be, the pain is so intense, because we were never supposed to place our hope and confidence in people? It is wise to want to have truthful relationships with each other, but how much do we look at the individual over the God in them? It is God who keeps us; it is God who will allow us to carry out the act of being trustworthy. Our greatest flex as Believers in Christ is to show up with Him heavily impacting our motives and actions because we are becoming the new creature, who is now able to give Him Glory through our lives.

I ask you, is the question really whether to “Trust or Not to Trust” or does it have to do with us placing God in a category with those who have either violated our trust and ultimately the fact that they were never supposed to be the ones we placed our trust in? If we are painfully honest, we have betrayed our own trust by poor decision-making; yet when it comes down to it, we still will bet on ourselves, even if you never step foot in a casino! Trust in God is this maturation process of relationship and faith. It is this waltz dance that feels uncomfortable until we allow the rhythm of His Words to permeate our hearts. He is the perfect Instructor, who actually becomes the perfect Partner as He takes the floor with us and syncopates our heart movement and actions with His!

Divine Work & Pray:

WORK: Identify and Journal what has been incidents that have hindered you trusting God with all your heart.

PRAY: “Heavenly Father, You are the only wise God. Your plans exceed my ability to dream or fathom. I am absent of having a case against You. You have been throughout the Ages, constant and trustworthy. Your character places a demand on my life. I choose to remove the netting, because I choose to place my whole weight in trusting you. You are deserving of my trusting in You with my whole heart. Forgive me, for attaching logic and failed experiences to what is required of me. I thank you for the awareness of areas that have taken the wheel from You. There is no where I want to reach where You are not trusted and you are not in the Operator’s role.

In Your precious and matchless Name, I pray. -Amen.

Encore on Desires: When Heaven is Moved!

Encore on Desires: When Heaven is Moved!

How honest are we about how our desires can drive us? How they can aide or interrupt our flow? Hannah for years, was plagued with the thoughts of not having any children, while Peninnah stayed in birthing-mode. Infertility issues were Hannah’s lot until God said differently. Through the series of unfulfilled desires, the posture of Hannah should be admired. In life, we can add insult to injury by how we react to disappointment. Unfulfilled desires are quite real and can leave such a massive sting that it makes us feel like medical attention is needed. God will allow our hearts to break, but He will also be there to make sure it does not bleed out!

The story of these 2 women, Hannah and Peninnah have interesting parallels when we probe deeper into their unfulfillment. Peninnah bore several children for Elkanah, the priest, but she never really had his heart. The Bible tells us that Elkanah would give Hannah a double portion, because he loved her. Two women with unfulfilled desires, but one chose another route to her unmet requests.

Do we think of prayer and worship in moments of despair? Is it the first or last option that we think of in our time of need? Hannah cried out with her supposition and still had God in mind concerning her desire. She promised to bring her son back to be dedicated to the Lord. Prayers that get the attention of Heaven have God and His Will woven throughout them.

What I am learning in this Christian Walk is the necessity to leave room for God to say, “No.” His sovereignty by default speaks to the view He has concerning our future. Do we really believe that He knows what is best for us? It is important that we do not go to the other extreme and move to choosing not to share our heart’s desires for fear of an unfavorable response.

Life has an uncanny way of either maturing us or having us move to a remedial place because of our responses. God can hurt our feelings, but He will never fail us? It is impossible for Him to be a failure at anything. One of our biggest flexes as Believers in Christ is being able to pivot

once God speaks concerning our lives. If He tells us a season is over, can we trust the One who is able “to do exceedingly, abundantly above what we can ask or think?” -Ephesians 3:20

Work & Pray:

Work: Take the next three days journaling your heart’s response to desires that have remained unfulfilled. Jot down what may be the reasons for the non-responsiveness of God.

Pray: Father God, your care for me is immeasurable. There is no one who has the capacity to know my beginning from my end, and order my steps in a manner that aligns me with your perfect Will for my life. Keep me mindful of your infallible nature so that when my thoughts are failing, my ability to perceive is not hindered. Make me ready to hear Your response concerning a matter. Let my relationship with you be my reminder that You have always had my best interest! Gracious God, I thank you for your attention to detail concerning me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Living a Blessed Life: In the midst of unfulfilled desires.

“Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” -Psalm 37:4

This is an affirming passage of scripture and rightfully so, but nothing concerning God is just face value.

A thought may be to focus on giving God what He wants to get what we want, but Living a Blessed Life is so much bigger than checking off what heart desires have and have not been met. That passage goes on to say in verse 6, “He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.” There is a beautiful transfer, yet uneven exchange that takes place when we surrender to Christ. Wrapped up in the gift of New Life is God’s ability to take an unrighteous heart- one that became dull and functioning at a subpar level to one that shines and pumps vindication.

I remember a time when I connected being blessed by what I had obtained. I took the measures for the sprint up the corporate latter and as I climbed, my ambition to do so was eclipsed by getting to know Jesus Christ more intimately. In the relationship going beyond face value, I began to see the value in what He considered being blessed. To live a life poured out and to give Him Glory. To touch the lives of others in a multi-faceted manner where they experience His love for them through you.

As we begin to delight in God, we find enjoyment in Him. When we incline our hearts, we find where the true blessing lies. There may have even been prayers that we prayed 5 years ago, and we Thank God today that they were not answered according to our desires. They say hindsight is 20/20, but acceptance of the Will of the Father gives us an undeniable foreseeing into the future.

We begin to see the process of embracing what delighting in Him produces. It becomes less reward-seeking and more appreciation-giving. It moves us from simply submitting with motives, to truly appreciating Living a Blessed Life. We most certainly have an opportunity to share our petitions before the Lord. However, how many times has the weight of being blessed been changed on the “scale of life” based on if our desires were met? We often move to quantitate what Heaven has actually qualitatively given us.

5 Ways to Prepare Your Heart

1. Prayer

   Often times prayer is seen as a last resort, when it should be our leading option. Surrendering our lives to Christ is about settling our hearts for His Will because we know ultimately, Our Sovereign God knows what is best for us. Prayer can give us the resolve needed to be obedient and accepting.

2. Meditating on the Word of God

   Take the time to reflect and contemplate the Word of God to gain a greater understanding of the ways He creates a masterpiece for your life. There are great benefits in getting still in God. We have created filled trophy cases off of being able to multi-task. This is why it is often challenging to maintain a laser beam focus on our study time and fellowship with the Lord.

3. Fellowship

   Connections are not simply vital in the boardroom, they are also essential in our Christian Walk. Wise counsel allows us to hear words that are approved by God and that can aide us when our judgment is skewed.

4. Journaling

   Writing has a cathartic element and allows us to recalibrate to become more responsive, rather than reactive to events not aligning with our desired will. Journaling can become our memorial stones of growth and remembrance for how God orchestrated our lives.

5. Acceptance of God’s Sovereignty

   It is one thing to understand God holds our future, it is another thing to wholeheartedly accept His desires for our lives. He is the Ultimate Author to our autobiography. Accepting the way in which He pens our lives creates this endless reminder of truly Living a Blessed Life!

Divine Work & Pray:

WORK: For the next 5 days, journal your heart’s desires and present them before the Lord.

PRAY: “Father God, to the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. I come grateful for the opportunity to present my desires to You, Abba Father. I posture my heart to hear your plans concerning my life. My greatest accomplishment will be delighting in You. I live a blessed life through obedience to You, for as Psalm 34:6 says, ‘You will make my righteous reward shine like the dawn, and vindication like the noonday sun.’ Thank you for the desires you have fingerprinted in my heart.” In Your Matchless and Mighty Name, Amen.