Chasing After Dreams......Separately

****I want to address this before I begin this post.  This is by no means a boastful post.  This is not to demean or minimize anyone else or what they are walking through.  This isn't for selfish gain or any other ulterior motive but only to share a part of my life that most don't get the privileged of seeing and to bring honor and glory to our Father.  Please see my heart through this expression of words.......lets begin......****

 Chasing After Dreams......Separately

Growing up I had this image of how marriage would be.

Wonderful, bright, beautiful.....

Truth be told-I'm really a sunshine and rainbows kinda girl.

I knew there would be trials and hard times but nothing 

prepared me for reality.

My husband and I have been married for 8 1/2 years.

We have been together for 10 1/2 years.

Our entire formative adulthood has been spent together.

When we met I was 20 and he was 19.

I knew within 3 months that I was going to marry this man.

He was everything I never knew I needed.

The only thing was he was an unbeliever.

For most people that would be a deal breaker.

But right before Mike and I met, 

I had walked away from God.

(As I have mentioned here.)

So what once was such an extremely important detail 

in my life now was the last thing I was concerned about.

We got married when I was 22 and he was 21.

Goodness, to say that we were young is an understatement.

Mike and I are two completely different people.

He is an adventurer, a dare devil of sorts.

He loves anything that pushes the envelope to the edge 

of excitement.

He has traveled to many countries.

Spent time in hostels, climbing glaciers, and hard core camping.

Discovered far away places for weeks at a time.

His free spirit is his greatest attribute yet his biggest enemy 

at the same time.

I am cautiously adventurous.

I love stability and order.

I like to relax and not be on the go.

I am a closet dare devil.....I long to do the impossible

yet oftentimes fear it as well.

I like having a home and roots.

I've never traveled the world (yet!) other than to

Haiti for my yearly mission trip to the orphanage

and one cruise in my life.

I haven't been out of the South (yet!)

and I was raised pretty sheltered.

These two personalities oftentimes clash.

But as we have grown up together,

I have found myself very grateful, humbled and in love

with the spirit that is in my husband.

Shortly after we were married, 

I completely surrendered to God and have walked with 

Him every since that day.

There was a lot that had to be broken down and rebuilt in me

about who I thought God was and what He thought about me.

The first few years were spent repairing all of the cracks and chips

in the spiritual foundation that had been laid for me throughout my life.

8 years later

and my husband is still an unbeliever.

He has yet to fully come into the amazing Love of the Father.

AND THAT'S OK!!!!

I use to spend days worrying about him.

Sometimes trying to preach to him.

Thinking I was going to be the Way, the Truth and the Life for him.

But, hello!, that is not my job!!

My job is to love this man!!!

To honor this covenant that we made before God.

And to hold on to the Promises from the Lord that have been spoken

over me, my family and my husband.

Each and every day.

Intentionally.

During my walk with God the past 8 years,

I do have to say this,

there have been few people in my life that have been

such an accurate, authentic representation of the Father's heart.

And my husband is one of those people.

He is in the top 3.

He has shown me the love of Jesus when he was 

completely oblivious to it.

You know we hear all the time this-

"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

For the husband is the head of the wife, as also Christ 

is the head of the church; and He is the 

Savior of the body.  Therefore, just as the church is 

subject to Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands

in everything."

Ephesians 5:22-24

I hear people preach on wives submitting...

and doing...

and sacrificing everything...

and pleasing their husbands in all ways...

And I get this picture of a small mousy woman,

who has no identity,

no voice,

just invisible 

except when something is needed.

This is not the blue print for marriage.

Many times people will not go into the next verses-

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church

and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her

with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to 

Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any

such thing but that she should be holy and without blemish.  

So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies;

he who loves his wife loves himself."

Ephesians 5:25-28

Do you understand the magnitude of this?!!!

It says husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church

and gave Himself for her.

Christ DIED for the church.

He died for you.

He died for me.

He died for each and everyone of us.

Husbands are commanded to die to themselves

for their wives.

This is a two part command where the husband dies to himself

while the wife completely submits to her husband.

In doing these two things you become one,

in order and covenant with The King.

My husband and I have completely different passions,

aspirations, dreams and destinies.

While we keep each other at the center of what we do,

we both chase after our dreams.........

yet separately.

My husband is my biggest cheerleader, encourager,

and motivator.

Never once has he made me to feel guilty or condemned me 

for chasing after my Passion.

He sacrifices extra time in the week so I can 

be a part of the ministries I'm called to.

He sends me on missions trips while keeping our lives

here at home flowing in my absence.

He makes me stop and go spend time with The Father.

He knows when I am walking in close relationship with 

God and when I am struggling to hold onto the hem of His garment

while life throws its arrows of distraction and deceit at me.

He chooses to die for me daily.

And I choose to submit to him daily.

This man balances my gift of being a mercy giver

with truth and grace.

He will stop for the one.

(He may kill me for this.)

He has called me on so many occasions

telling me of a need he sees that he has to do 

something about.

Of someone who is in dire need and he has to help.

He has such a heart of compassion yet can bring balance to 

both of us with his amazing gift of discernment.

He shows me Jesus.

He points me to Jesus by the way he loves

and sacrifices.

Yes, we have gone through absolute hell....

we have been so close to breaking at times...

that is what marriage is...

but we have never given up on one another

and the Grace of God is always enough.

So even now.....

years later,

I can say,

Yes!!!,

marriage is 

Wonderful,

Bright,

and 

Beautiful....

When you allow Him to come in and 

be the one who completes your marriage.

He will show up in the most unexpected places.

When you focus on Him, everything else fades away.

And you can love and show love and see love in everything.

Grace Runs Deeper

"Where there was sin,

Your Love rushed in.

Where sin ran deep,

Your Grace runs deeper."

-Seas of Crimson by Bethel Music

How great the Father's Love for us!!

His Grace knows no bounds

and by this Grace we, 

all who have accepted Him and believe,

are His righteousness!!!

Romans 5 is such an amazing book in the Bible.

It explains how Adam's sin made us all sinners

but Christ's death made us all righteous.

"Yes, Adam's one sin brings condemnation for everyone,

but Christ's one act of righteousness brings a 

right relationship with God and new life for everyone.

Because one person disobeyed God,

many became sinners.

But because one other person obeyed God,

many will be made righteous.

God's law was given so that all people

could see how sinful they were. 

But as people sinned more and more,

God's wonderful grace became more abundant.

Romans 5:18-20

That right there is THE Good News!!

Those verses explain so clearly the heart of God 

and the reason Jesus died on the cross for us.

I believe we are in a season where we are going to 

encounter the Grace (Jesus!!) of God in ways that have 

yet to be unveiled on Earth until now!

Sin is running deep all around us.

Every newspaper, media outlet, social media platform....

daily we see the sin and evil that has consumed the Earth.

BUT where sin runs deep,
His Grace runs DEEPER!

HALLELUJAH!!!

So take heart during this time we are in

as a country and know that He isn't finished!!!

This is only the beginning!!!

It's time to arise and declare The Word!!

To respond instead of reacting.

To let the Holy Spirit guide us

and not let our emotions run wild and free.

To trade hate for Love.

And to stop condemning and start reflecting the 

heart of our Father!!!

AMEN!!! 

Going THROUGH the mission.....

"Going THROUGH the mission is part of 

getting TO the mission."

It is so easy to become discouraged with life.

Especially when we know that we have been created for 

so much more than this.

To feel like we are running in circles,

that we will never reach our destiny.

To feel like man puts limitations on you 

when you know you are worth more than they can see.

It's hard to keep joy during these times.

Acts 16 is the perfect example of going through the mission.

Paul had a vision that he was going to see a man.

But before he got to that point,

he met two women,

one of which got him and Silas beaten and imprisoned!

But lo and behold, that night in that prison a great earthquake came,

shook the prison and all of the chains on every prisoner fell off!!

When the jailer woke and saw this,

he tried to kill himself!

Paul commanded him to not kill himself and led the man

to know the great Love of God.

Had Paul stopped and turned around and ran the other way,

he never would have fulfilled his mission.

Unfortunately, we can't get directly from point A to point Z.

We have to stop at every letter in between.

We have to go through these trials, challenges,

and faith growing situations to prepare us for 

right exactly where He wants to put us!!!

Take joy in knowing that all of this that we walk through isn't in vain

but part of the great big masterpiece called our life!!

Who Is God To You?---Guest Post by Regan Armstrong

This week's guest post is from a woman after God's heart.

Regan Armstrong has such an amazing, radical expectation of seeing 

people receive and walk in the promises of God and what His Son paid for on the cross.

She has a healing anointing on her life that just pours out of her!

Enjoy this post!!

There is one question that takes precedence over the rest. Its importance far outweighs the deepest theological question one could create. And even more so, it is the answer that holds the greatest weight. So here is the question, “Who is God to you?”

How we answer this one question directly affects our entire life.

The truth is we answer this question every single day by the way we live. By the way we talk to each other, the way we encourage or discourage, the way we doubt or stand firm through trials. See, we could go around the world and always hear a different answer for this question.. But what I’d like to share is who does God say He is to you?

In 1 Corinthians 1:18 it says,  “I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty”

He will be our Father… All throughout scripture God uses the term Father to describe our relationship with Him. Surely He is our Most High King, but more importantly He is our Father.

I believe the reason it is hard for many to accept this intimate relationship with God is because of our relationships with our earthly fathers, which have been faulted with unperfect love.

But our Fathers love is forever perfect towards us..

A friend led a ministry meeting a few weeks ago where he shared a story that will forever bless me. He said he was meditating on Mark 12:30-31 which says, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these.”

While he was resting in the Lord's presence reflecting on His Word, God said to him, “Son, read it from my perspective, as my promise I wrote to you”. When he flipped it around this is how it read.

“And I shall love you will all my heart, with all my soul, with all my mind and with all my strength. I will love you as I love myself.” 

That is who God says He is to you.. A Father who loves you with ALL of Himself.

There is a quote I love that says, “He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as if there were no others.”

For the past year or so the Lord has directed me to a time of resting...  or a time to “dwell richly” as I have referred to it. It has been such a special time of simply soaking in His abundance.. His overflow of perfect love.  And It is only through this knowledge and understanding of who He is to us that we then can proclaim and receive who we are to Him.

We are the precious children of the King, the beloved of Jesus and heirs to the Kingdom. Through Christ we have been given a righteous inheritance. One that surpasses the riches of this world. As believers in Jesus we have been seated in Him at the right hand of our Father. We then, are living from that high place and God sees us in all the glory and perfection as He sees His Son. So, through that knowledge of abundant Grace, let us be bold and truly seek to know Him.

          Ephesians 3:16-19, "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."

Colossians 3:16 says "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

The definition of Dwell is -  To live or stay permanently; to inhabit; abiding.

The word Richly means - In a generous way or in full manner; abounding.

          So to "dwell richly"  is choosing to abide in His love for us. To soak in His promises and to call Christ’s work finished, which seated us in Glory. We must let His Word abound deep in our hearts, so we may hold Him to every word. It is from this place of rest that we will trust completely in His faithfulness towards us; to heal, restore and empower us. We need to stand firm on His promises for our lives, stand firm on the love He has declared towards us.. to the point that we are in a constant state of expectation.. "That we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God".  When we behold His face, we rise above circumstances and rest with Him in heavenly realms. This is the way of peace, living in the light of His presence. The following is a small excerpt from the devotional  "Jesus Calling" by Sarah Young, for me it explains perfectly the relationship our Father has created for us.

 "Learn to live from your true center in Me.  I reside in the deepest depths of your being, in eternal union with your spirit. It is at this deep level that My Peace reigns continually. You will not find lasting peace in the world around you, in circumstances or human relationships. The external world is always in flux—under the curse of death and decay. But there is a gold mine of peace deep within you, waiting to be tapped. Take time to delve into the riches of My residing presence. I want you to live increasingly from your real center, where My Love has an eternal grip on you, I am Christ in you, the hope of Glory." 

The only constant we have in this world is the perfect love of our Father and King who has declared us righteous, holy and redeemed. Who dwells within us to help us walk boldly, stand firmly and love abundantly from our identity in Him. Our Father has only blessings and goodness to give, He has planned a specific calling for each of us that will fulfill our deepest desires for our life. He wants to pour out His blessings in a way none of us could imagine. His best for us far exceeds the best we could ever dream for ourselves. So, let us live from our High Ground, our perfect union with our most precious Father.

You are His sons & daughters in whom He is well pleased...

-Regan Armstrong

Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places---To Love and Be Loved Part Two

Looking For Love in All the Wrong Places

Part Two in our 

To Love and Be Loved Series

One evening I got the chance to escape my children

and go have a very rare treat....a pedicure!

I was so excited about some alone time, the quiet,

and the foot massage!! Forget the painted toes!

Just massage my feet for the whole hour!! ;)

As I am melting my day away in the massage chair,

two men are seated next to me. 

They begin their pedicures and conversations about 

life and relationships and one man says,

"It's just so hard to find someone good to love."

And he proceeded to talk about infidelity in relationships

and his broken relationship with his parents.

In that moment my heart broke for this man.

The evidence of the deep, natural, God-given desire

to love and be loved was so overwhelming.

Where do we get our model for what love really looks like?

First and foremost from The Father.

He demonstrates His love for His children over and 

over in each and every book of the Bible.

Next, 

from our own mother and father.

We, as parents, are called to be a reflection of the Father's love

to our own children.

If we do not show them what healthy, selfless, sacrificial love looks like

then the world will swoop in and show them everything

that it is not, 

slap a big fancy label of deceit on it

and call that "love".

We are to be intentional about the gift that we have been given

when it comes to showing Love to our children.

First, we must examine our hearts and make sure

our motives are pure and have a living, breathing

revelation of Love operating within our own lives.

Next, we must lead our children into all Truth as 

the Holy Spirit leads us.

We must talk to them before the world does.

And last, we must pray over our beloved children always!

We must stand in faith knowing that God will

protect them.

He is their Safe Refuge.

He is their Protector.

He is their Shelter.

And no weapon formed against them shall prosper!!!

Psalms 91 & Isaiah 54