Rooted in the Word

My confidence comes from the Lord (Philippians 4:13). Following where I left off last week, the Holy Spirit speaks to me about ensuring you know where your confidence derives from. I loved what my intelligent pastor, Pastor Cliff said in church this past Sunday:

“Remember, we are nothing, God is everything. With Him, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26), but without Him, nothing truly has meaning.”

Spiritual Distraction and Divine Redemption

As I ended last week’s message, I revealed how I allowed the enemy to mislead me, as I resigned from the prison in 2006. You see, Satan will strategically place people, things, etc. in your path to distract you, to throw you off. And it’s ok. It’s not ideal, but it’s ok. We must remember this life will always be filled with twists and turns, and rest in our knowledge of a God who assures us He will always be with us, and always use our ashes, to reflect a beautiful outcome.

Looking Back with Grateful Eyes

My personal example of this truth — is that without me leaving my job at the prison, my husband, my children, all the amazing blessings I have today would be void. But I couldn’t see any of that at the time. I had to trust. I had to rest in His plan, even though I didn’t understand it.

These realities allow me to always strive to live my life daily within the principles of God’s word. Without my faith, I would be blinded to the amazing ways the Lord has taken my ashes and turned them into beauty. These are the testimonies, and stories of my life I pray will make a difference in how you look and view your own journey — that you will seek out His motives and His ways of turning your own ashes into beauty.

I promise you, loved one, He will do so!

The Breaking That Builds

After a few odd jobs, post working at the prison in 2006, I decided to take a break and utilize my “retirement money”—the money I had transferred to an investment fund after I resigned—to take time to soul-search. I moved back in with my parents and was extremely thankful for their support; however, I had no job, was divorced, not in a relationship, living with my parents… need I go on?

This broke me.

Friends, sometimes, until we become broken, we have no true conscious of God’s amazing abilities, His desire to make us whole, the reality of a God who is for us, and not against us! The “unseen spiritual realm” is sometimes too hard to grasp until we come to a place of pure submission. Until you are broken, pure submission can be wanted, but super difficult to attain when all is well with life.

Broken Vessels and Biblical Truths

There are numerous examples of this throughout the Bible, and excitedly we will learn about them during our time together.

Do you know who wrote the book of Psalm? That would be King David. David was a shepherd. Biblically described, he was not particularly notable for his physical appearance. I guess a nice way of saying he was not the most handsome, built, brother in the family. In the eyes of the world, he was not one who would have been considered a candidate for the highest position to be held in the Middle East, in Israel as the King, but God…. God was able to look inside of David and see his true potential, despite what the world thought.

There are tons of examples throughout King David’s life, where we clearly see God turn David’s brokenness into his greatest blessings. David, although an imperfect sinner, knew exactly where his confidence derived from — that which was his Heavenly Father.

David’s Confidence in God

His music, and especially his lyrics, which you find in the book of Psalm, reveal his HEART (Psalm 91). He was, appropriately named, the person in all of creation to be known as a man after God’s own heart.

Brokenness, Humility, and Purpose

Our brokenness leads us to humility, which leads us to our communion with God and the importance of such.

Can we be humble and confident at the same time?

We sure can — and with that, we will continue this amazing and revealed truth next week.

A Word of Encouragement

Constantly, I pray for you, faithful follower and friend. Stick with me, and know without the shadow of a doubt, you are here for YOUR PURPOSE!

And speak within your heart, “Amen.”

Enjoy the additional encouragement in song. Click the link to hear the song pertaining to this week’s message of hope: Goodness of God by Bethel Music