Releasing Inspiration for the Uninspired

Are you feeling uninspired today?  Like your brain just closed the shutters and decided to have a little siesta.  Where there was once an overflow of creativity and momentum, now it seems to lie blank...unstirred.  

I'm here to tell you...don't fear.  This is your day of rest.  Even God needed a day of rest after a mighty outpouring of creativity that brought the Earth into being...you were made in his image so what makes you think this wasn't for you too?  It's good to say yes to this...as he prepares you for what's next.  It could be something huge...or a time to change gears completely.  If you are ready to move forward, spend some time right now, in this moment being present where you are...take in your surroundings...be grateful.  Hear your heart again...be sure you're listening to that still small voice inside of you.  And most times in order to hear it, you have to be still and small too...maybe even humbled.

Give yourself permission to rest.  You were not created to operate at high levels of intensity all the time.  Give the creative reserve some time to fill itself again.  Your gifting won't leave you...sometimes absence makes the heart grow fonder.

(see picture at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/98938523037617146/)

Releasing a Change

What do you do when you need a complete change...a turn around for the things you hope for?  You know you can't force it...it's not in your power to do so...and even if it were how quickly might it fall apart if done without the natural flow and rhythm of life...and the blessing of your Creator?  But just the same, if something doesn't give soon you're not sure what you'll do.

It's a tough place to be.  It feels like the universe is continually insulting you in your vulnerable state.  It feels like the successes of everyone else reflects some sort of a failure in you.  You try desperately to hold it together on the outside but it's all crumbling on the inside.  Your health emotionally is now affecting your health physically...it's all connected...and you're longing to connect with the person you lost long ago. 

I know where you're at.  It's mucky and foggy. Your energy feels depleted and your eyes grow heavy as your spirit sinks deep into this place of believing you'll never be filled with enough to sustain.  You might never find peace again...and you wonder, is it possible to shift your thinking and live like nothing is a mistake and that the trials of today are the stepping stones for tomorrow's achievements....tomorrow's graces that will be lavishly bestowed upon you.  To recognize that everything in life is a gift...not one moment that passes is a mistake and to walk away from a circumstance with life still intact is a miracle.  And if you begin to change your vocabulary, purposefully, to words of love and life...you speak life instead of curses even in the valley of the shadow of death,  I guarantee you your spirit-man will rise again...will spring to life regardless of the things you can't control.  

When your mouth overflows with life your heart will follow suit.

(see picture at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/98938523037565924/)

Releasing Proverbs 3:5

The pain from plans failed.  I really thought I had calculated meticulously...but when I look back now I can't help but wonder if my head was really on straight.  I've messed this up bad and have nothing to show for what I thought was good.  On the surface level, I can confidently say, I am a mess.  I try not to be, but it's in my DNA.  My bloodline is proof of this...and it all began back in the Garden...where perfection was attainable until we asked too many questions, got too offended, and made one too many bad choices.  As heavy as this blame and this marred life lies upon my shoulders, my bloodline has been redeemed from the past failures...and so has yours.  But just the same, I have to surrender my best laid plans for something completely out of my control.

My errors come from making plans, setting my own drum beat, desperately trying to attain a life that was never meant to be mine....it doesn't work!  When I'm finally fed up...and I finally shut up, that's when this beautiful, miraculous thing can begin to take shape... because His purpose is what will prevail (Proverbs 19:21).  All my good intentions, my good qualities and good fortune account for nothing when, at the end of the day, He is in control of my every breath, my every moment, my everything.  I may have the choice to flit and fly where I like, but wasting time doing my own thing is a waste of sweat, and tears and heartbreak. And many times, that is what I have been left with at the end of the day.

 

So instead, I become Proverbs 3:5 and use my energy for that which will last....take the risk and give up my plans for something that will fill me up and is fail proof.  Trust Him with ALL my heart...even when I don't understand...even if I seem to have a better way...even if the oceans rage and I'm taken under by the tow.  I know that I will rise above it as He lifts me to His heights...to His way...to His plan.  

Into His Glorious Right...out of my desperately wrong.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.  In all ways acknowledge Him and he will make your paths straight.  - Proverbs 3:5-6

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. - Proverbs 19:20-21

(see pictures at  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/98938523037509571/   http://www.pinterest.com/pin/98938523037509351/)

Releasing Another Dream

I had a dream of the front door of heaven.  A vision of the miraculous...the gateway into a new life where your weaknesses are made whole and all pleas cried out on this earth and questions that gnaw are all answered in their entirety.  

I saw a homecoming...of broken souls reunited to their fullness...to their true identity and character...to Christ.





The masses stood in a crowd while one by one each were called out and brought forward...a moment of attention brought to each life...one at a time.  I braced myself as I waited for the mallet to drop and the deeds done to pay their price.   But the judgment I waited for...each sin and weakness to be revealed...was not disclosed in the way I expected.    Instead I found deep in my spirit that for each life I somehow already knew what that soul had endured in their lifetime...that I was connected and tuned-in in some supernatural way...and the revelation and compassion that flowed from my heart came from the One Crowned with jewels and beauty before us.  My heart and all the others around me were connected to the Royal Facilitator of this ceremony... connected by a beam of light flowing from His Heart.  He stepped off his throne and came toward the single life before Him.  The soft smile He wore never escaped his face....especially as He removed His royal cape and cloaked the chosen one in front of Him...it gave Him such joy to do this as His love gesture.  The touch of His hand on a weather-beaten forehead gave off great light as he spoke out truth and identity...fullness restored...all shame and regret burned up by a fire of acceptance and wholeness.  

I bear no recollection of hearing judgment pass from His lips for the life passed, but He gave truth and words to build up...to assist in stepping into a new life....an everlasting meaning that made sense of  where each person had been and how with His royal command it was all changed...but not as in "completely different" ...because there was still beauty at the core of  each life...containing a unique finger print to their identity...but the parts that, at the time of leaving this life, were raw and worn clean through and marred by lies and daggers were made full and strong completing the identity puzzle...it all made sense.  

Every last moment of this life that ticked away with the second hand of the clock....millions of moments that made up life as we know it...but they were only the beginning, to form the complete fullness to be lived in the eternal.  Those of us that watched bore witness to this transformation and celebrated with overwhelming joy for a life restored and truth set free...as if the truth were our own.

One by one I saw the same display...the Royal One didn't seem interested in placing blame, but gave pieces of His royalty to each...acknowledged the life lived and passed, and provided the road-map for the life thereafter with clarity...with beauty.  With GRACE...His grace.

I saw you in my dream, my friend...and my heart beats with love...much like His... for your fragmented story.  Because I know, one day, He will bring you from pieces to completeness.

(see picture at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/98938523037478102/)

Releasing Some Focus

I make this life as if I am at the center of it all...how I feel, what I do, what happens to ME.  It keeps me navel gazing, feeling sad and in pain from the arrows that pierce...annoyed with everyone because they can't seem to read my mind!  Allowing jealousy and anger to fester and grow because it's just not fair!  Allowing the spirit of laziness and comfort to infect and take over my spirit-man who holds life and passion and an ability to reach out and make a difference.  

Allow my boredom to lull my heart of fire and fervency to sleep...and when they are extinguished my vision becomes narrow...all I can see is my own reflection...all I can hear is my own selfishness begging for something to fill the void...ANYTHING.  

I turn to vices... momentary idols to soothe.

Darkness surrounds us...everywhere.  It's a part of life...it's a part of bearing flesh and bone.  Being influenced by the darkness is a human condition.  Any living thing can tell you that hanging out in the dark is fatal.  You can't grow or be nourished, you can't see and often times it's  isolating and lonely...leading to demise...but light and life come from a different place.  We may be influenced by darkness, but we don't have to be overcome by it... light can only be found in One place...A place where life is abundant, where  you can grow and stretch and find truth...where the impossible becomes possible, where disease is made well, where chains are broken and sadness can't rule a beautiful heart brimming with life any more.  Where darkness is pierced...by Light.

When I focus on the Prize, on the One who is saving me and who longs to bring me into the light...where burdens are lifted and failures are erased...where forgiveness wipes the slate clean no matter what the deed, no matter who you are or where you are...when I focus on this I find the distraction of things of this world shrink and begin to matter less...perspectives change...idols shrink...hearts open and the ME I strive to soothe becomes less offended.  It makes the darts easier to dodge... less painful to take when I focus on embracing healing, being saved, made better.  

There's a purpose in all of this.  A purpose to live for and it has nothing to do with the superficial, and everything to do with what He's planned and how He's gonna fulfill it.  And if you only believe one thing today, you NEED to know that if you're here, then without a shadow of a doubt there is plan with your name on it...to be fulfilled...Guaranteed!

But the superficial...how it looks and feels...can sometimes nag away.  But know that this life is not about that...it's in the FACE of that, that I find freedom and His plans unfold.  Regardless of my circumstances...my stiff joints, my graying hair and my worn out shoes... things are always easier to get through when you can focus on the outcome...the purpose at the end of it all.  A woman giving birth, an addict going through rehab, a patient booked for surgery...a Saviour heading for the cross.  When you can visualize the purpose and the glorious ending it makes the pain slightly more bearable, and the focus slightly less narrow.  And maybe you don't know exactly how things will unfold or what the final product will look like, but you do know the One who is taking you there is good and He's promised that he'll make all things good for those who love him (Romans 8:28)...and that's you. So focus on Him...focus on His goodness...and His perfect plan...He's the outcome in your life.

He's gonna break through the darkness that plagues you...whatever it might be...nothing is too big or too dark for Him.  But He wants you to rest in His ability...bask in His light...believe in His sovereignty...focus on the Great Physician and let him do the HEART surgery.

(see picture at http://www.pinterest.com/pin/98938523037448132/)