I just couldn't *S h A k E* it!

I woke up in the middle of the night (3 am) with this on my mind and can't shake it:

"If you're gonna grow - you need to let go!"

So I have been praying about it since.
This can be applied both to our individual lives and to our leadership lives in the church ( and other places)
There are a few single words that come to mind when I meditate on this phrase).
Trust, Faith, Patience, Rest, Burden, Release, Fear, Control, Glutton

Bottom line.....are we hindering the work of the Lord by not Delegating?
Are we keeping blessings from others by not letting them in on the ministry work?

Wow....I really don't want to go back to my secular job today....the Lord is speaking so clearly to me this morning....I want to keep going.

Shalom

Are you a Hugger or a Walker?

Are you "embracing your calling"?

or

Are you just "walking out your calling"?

 There is a difference. If I had to pick only one word to describe the difference between the two that word would be "fullness".

You see when you are embracing the call the Lord has placed on your life there is fullness of joy, there is fullness of peace, there is fullness of love, there is fullness of contentment, and list goes on. May I go a step further to add that this fullness over flows from the one who is embracing their call to those with whom the call is being shared.

i.e. If an Apostle then with the church at large; if an Evangelist the churches he is preaching to...a Pastor then to his flock, a teacher those he is teaching, a Prophet those he proclaims to on behalf of God.

 When you are simply walking out your call in sheer obedience you are missing out on the fullness of the blessing that comes from the gift that God himself has designed for you. Just the same on the flip side by going a step further, when one simply walks out their call from God, they are keep not only themselves from the fullness of blessings of God but all who the Lord has intended for them to minister to.

 Why would I ask this? Some may be wondering at this point....some have known far too long and don't wonder any more. :) 

Well, as the Lord would have it, I have been talking with Him about my call for a few months now. Here just recently He has picked up the pace and began to speak to me through outside sources. (meaning pastors, teacher, friends lives and sources other than His Holy word). Confirmations all of them, as to what He has been speaking to me about the ministries of the Body of Christ; and in particular mine.

Through much prayer, hours of prayer, and searching in His Word and waiting on Him. I have always come back to same thing. (I may or may not share with you, I haven't decided yet...still waiting on the Lord) However, today is a day set aside, an entire day....I wish it were an entire week..:)...I may take one soon.

Anyway....as I sit here with the Lord, Holy Spirit began to speak to me about the differences between "embracing" and "accepting"....Both in certain circumstances are needed and can worked with....but one is better.

The Lord chose to use the arranged marriage as an example. (go figure  )

He spoke so very clearly to my spirit and my heart.....He said,

"My AmyColleen, see," I could actually see in minds eye as the Lord spoke all He described,

"Do you see this couple how happy they are?"

I actually saw joy on their faces. It was beautiful. The Lord went on to explain to me it was because they had decided in their hearts they embrace their parents decision and their families culture and they would trust their God to bring them someone just right for them. It was really incredible they way the Lord explained it....really. It was almost as if He wasn't talking about physical marriage.

Then the Lord showed me another couple and the Lord said to me,

"My AmyColleen, do you see anything different in their faces?"

He waited for my answer.

I did actually. They were a beautiful couple, just as the other couple were. They too had families that loved them. They too loved the Lord and much faith. It was almost an identical situation....but something so small was different. They were kind to one another and loving towards one another. Something was missing. So I answered the Lord,

"I don't know. Something seems different but everything looks the same."

The Lord answered back, 

"My precious AmyColleen, the first couple has put their faith in me...not knowing what lies ahead and has embraced the choice that the family has made for them. In this they have found the fullness of love before it has even bloomed.

The second couple have followed the culture of their fore fathers and have accepted the choice their families have made for them. They have been obedient and are struggling to trust in God on the inside."

Both couples know me and love me the first have embraced the second accepted."

I realized at this point the Lord was talking about our call to ministry....as we had been talking about it all morning long.

I also saw the married couples in a totally different light when I realized the Lord was making a point about ministry. 

I saw them as US and JESUS.

 There is so much more I can't possibly go into it here, now. I will ask again,

Are YOU "embracing your call"?

or

Are you just "walking out your call"?

One way to help figure it out is to listen to the words you speak....I know for the longest time I kept hearing myself saying, 

"No I am not____." or 

"I never asked to be a_______." or

"The Lord hasn't called me to be a ______."

I am not the only one who uses that language, I have some very dear friends who are currently all over the globe being used of the Lord in mighty ways in areas of ministry they never expected who were at one time "JUST WALKING" in their call and not "EMBRACING THEIR CALL".....I know some that still NEED to EMBRACE.

Dear Lord Jesus, Help us to see and know what you are calling us to in our own personal life to do for you and give us the GRACE TO EMBRACE it! For YOUR GLORY !!

Amen

I WILL choose.....

Oh how Glorious is the Lord God of ALL creation!

Oh how marvelous is His Holy Name!!!

Oh how Beautiful is He!!!! How Wonderful....There is not one that can compare to His Majesty, to His greatness! He alone is GOOD and He alone is JUST and He alone is LOVE!!!!

Oh my dear Lord....my Holy Father, my precious Lord and Savior.....I love you!!!! With a desire and a passion that is liken to nothing else in this world!! I give you ALL that I am.....you have give to me everything...You have made me who I am and again have given me eternal life by giving YOUR life as a ransom in exchange for MINE

What love, what love. How can I possibly love YOU back as YOU have loved me? But I will live my life as a living sacrifice from this day forward to love you back.

Come Lord have me..I willfully surrender to you and ask you to possess my very spirit being....My very life itself all that I am and have and shall become I give to you.

I no longer wish to let the enemy of my soul have any of me.....at all. 

I know that I am slave to to what ever I give myself over to...be it sin and world and the prince of darkness or holiness and you o' Lord of Heaven.....and I choose to be solely yours.

To live a life of purity. To live a life of holiness. To live a life set a part for your purpose.

To life a life in eternity with you as you have designed for the beginning of time. 

Thank you for revealing to me the lies of the enemy of my soul, Satan.Who prowls about seeking whom he may devour. Thank you for opening my eyes in the spirit realm so that I may see your love for me and Satan's very real hatred and desire and plan of eternal destruction for my life. Thank you for making a very clear way for me to walk in peace with you and know you, my creator and know your love for me....your desire for me.

You are my desire. I love you.

Complete surrender

Total death to myself

Nothing left to live for

Except that which you have died for

Come take me as I am

Make me what you will

Burn me up with Holy fire

Every bit of sin and mire

Purify this vessel Lord

Made of silver and gold

Fill my veins with Holy blood

Yeshua’s shed for me

Take me Lord

Make me Lord

All I am meant to be

Nothing less for you

Than that I was meant to be

Now Lord…show me how

I need you to do it

See me through it

I give you all I can

All I am

Complete surrender

© AmyColleen 

Who's Report will YOU Believe?

Whose report will you believe?

Will you believe the report of man or the report of the Lord?

It’s easy to SAY we will believe the report of the Lord; but when tough times come a knockin’ at our door is that in fact the case?

Take for instance the Israelites….traveling through the dessert all those years. Having been through so much with the Lord already having experienced so much at the hand of God…..so many miracles, signs and wonders…and still they found it so easy to NOT believe the report of the Lord when they finally reached the Jordan and it was time to cross over into the Promised Land; the land flowing with milk and honey that the Lord had promised to them. Do you remember the story? They had finally reached river banks and were nearing time to cross over into the Land flowing with milk and honey. God had told Moses to send spies ahead and surely they did. They came back and reported that it was as the Lord had promised, “A land flowing with milk and honey…” but the word of God also tells us they saw giants in the land and saw themselves as grasshoppers. Below is an account from the scripture.

Numbers 13:25-33 

²⁵ At the end of forty days they returned from exploring the land.

Report on the Exploration

 ²⁶ They came back to Moses and Aaron and the whole Israelite community at Kadesh in the Desert of Paran. There they reported to them and to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. ²⁷ They gave Moses this account: “We went into the land to which you sent us, and it does flow with milk and honey! Here is its fruit. ²⁸ But the people who live there are powerful and the cities are fortified and very large. We even saw descendants of Anak there. ²⁹ The Amalekites live in the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live near the sea and along the Jordan.”

 ³⁰ Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” (I love this! Such faith!)
 ³¹ But the men who had gone up with him said, “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are.” ³² And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. ³³ We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”


Wow!...so what happened here in this situation? The Israelites chose to believe the report of the men, the spies who were filled with fear and who themselves chose not to believe the Lord and grab hold of His promise. In fact the Bible tells us that only one of the men was seen by God to have a different spirit and serve the Lord wholeheartedly. This was Caleb.


The Lord said that not one of those who saw his glory and the signs he performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed him and instead tested him ten times, not one of them would ever see the land that was promised on oath to their ancestors; but instead because his servant Caleb had a different spirit and followed him wholeheartedly, him would bring him into the land he promised to, and his descendants would inherit it. (vr22-24)


Sounds to me like a very good reason to believe the report of the Lord over the report of man! Those who choose to have faith and believe God will reap a reward worth it and those who don’t won’t!
Also, just this morning as I was hearing all this is my heart I was also thinking about how the Word of God instructs about the power of the tongue.

“The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Proverbs 18:21

Have you received some news recently that is less than encouraging?


Have you brought it to the Lord in prayer?

What does the Word of the Lord have to say about it?

A Word from the Lord - 01/12/11

In this season obedience is everything for you. You need to heed my voice.

Listen and obey. Others will not understand; that’s okay; they may tell you otherwise to what I say for you to do; but you must learn to obey my voice.

Do not be moved by your emotions. Obedience is far better than sacrifice.

Where I am taking you, you will need to be able to hear my voice and obey it without hesitation or wavering.

This is a season of the spirit man;

A season to see with your spirit eyes and to hear with your spirit ears; 

A season to walk in the spirit.

 

Remember – the power of my Holy Spirit abides in you to My Glory; the very power that rose me up from the grave and took me to my Father’s side in Heaven.

Obedience ~ Sheer obedience.

Who’s Report will You Believe?


I will choose to believe the report of the Lord.