Tag: choice

brave?

Karla Lees

For the last 24 hours, I have been hearing the words ‘brave’.

Watching the Disney movie reminded me that we can be brave in hard circumstances when we know we are loved.

Hearing the song “Make Me Brave” by Bethel reminds me exactly who the real brave one is, and it isn’t me.

At least, not on my own.

On the outside, I may appear, as many of us do, to have it all together.

On the inside? A whole other story!

Usually I am trying to rely on my own strength and ability, and when I do so, I fail to make it anywhere close to bravery.

More like a chick who won’t leave her shell, content to hide where it is safe until trouble passes by.

The trouble is, trouble never passes us by for long.

On the flip side, God knew we would have trouble, and designed us to be brave.

He did, honest.

But it’s not brave the way the world defines it.

It is bravery despite the world.

The world says:

“Grin & bear it.”

“Be a real man”

 “That’s not something a women should do”.

” Take it or leave it.”

“You can go your own way.”

God replies:

“I am more than enough for whatever you are facing.”

“A real man or woman  follows My call & purpose for their life.”

“Listen for My voice.”

“I will never leave you or foresake you.”

There is a path that leads to life, and another leading to death.

Which road you choose determines where you end up.
The fork in the road between the two paths?

It’s shaped liked a cross on purpose.

It is time to make the decision.

Live brave.

God is calling us out beyond our comfort zones. The cliff ahead may seem daunting, the waves rushing to crash against the shore.

Knowing God is with me is enough to remind me it’s because of Him I can be brave.

Knowing how much her mother loved her was enough to make Mereda brave when it counted.

God loves us so much Jesus laid down His life for us.

Jesus was able to be brave when it counted, knowing it was part of the plan which brought Him to earth, with the purpose of showing us just how much He loves us.

God can do no less for you and I.

In fact, He is just waiting for us to come to Him, so He can love up on us.

It is that love, and knowing what He has for us to do, that together makes us brave.

Its up to me, to you, to choose…

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life is choice

Karla Lees

If love is an open door,
life must be an open road.

Both involve choices.

The path you end up taking depends on your choice, and no one else’s.

When you make a bad choice, you veer off the path you were meant to take, and enter a door you were meant to leave shut.

Both have consequences.

Being in the wrong place at the right time can leave you scarred, hurt, in pain, alone, pregnant, hungover or find you waking up somewhere you never expected.

Aligning yourself with the negative can drain the positive until before you know it, you are running on empty.

But you have never gone too far down the path for God to bring you back.

You can leave that room and close that door once and for all.

I am living proof.

When I have hit my lowest, God has been there to remind me just how loving & powerful He is, and how much bigger He is than the situation I am facing.

Not being in the drivers seat is a blessing in disguise when the Driver has perfect up close & long term vision.

Spending time with Him at the wheel helps us to safely navigate what might otherwise cause us to swerve and crash.

Taking the time to wait and pause before making major decisions is also one of the best ways of opening the right door. So is heeding when you are told not to go through a door.

If God has plans for us to prosper, bless and flavour us, why do we tend to rush on in without waiting?

I think most of us are afraid life will pass us by, and we will miss out.
We will miss that one thing we are meant to do, and as a result, miss our purpose for being here.

If you are spending time in His presence, listening for and to His voice, and living life in His Kingdom, you will not miss out.

He promises we will inherit. Those who press in for Him will find Him. He gives wisdom to all who ask.

Life can be a highway to those of us going too fast, moving at our own speed.

I think life is more like a back road passing through a community, connecting us with purpose, help and family.

But most importantly, love is an open door.

The single most important decision you can make in your life is opening the door of your heart to allow God in.

The choice is up to you.

How your life will unfurl depends on it.
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free to choose

Karla Lees

Freedom has been calling out since losing Eden.

With the beginning of work came the lie of self sufficiency.

We can do out all on our own.

And when we fall, over and over, freedom stands nearby, waiting for our word to step in and help us out from the pit we created.

We have to choose freedom.

The Prodigal son choose to go his own way.
His Father waited for his return.
And oh how they celebrated when he returned, having learned a hard lesson as he strayed from what his father taught him, raised him to be.

God wasn’t, isn’t content to sit back and wait for us to return home. No loving father can take their mind off the child who is fast from home and up to who knows what.

Love longs for the one it loves.

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He decided in one holy extravagant outlandish gift to settle the matter once and for all.

Jesus broke through, revealed the love of God up to and beyond His death, and released us from the kingdom of darkness and bondage into the kingdom of heaven.

Heaven. Where love, truth and freedom rule.
24/7, 365 days a year, for eternity.

When we seek freedom, finding it through its Source, heaven reaches down and loosens our shackles.

Who the Son sets free is free indeed.

IS FREE, not will be.
If God has told you that you are free, you are- even if you can’t see any discernable difference.

Is free IN DEED.
Jesus’ selfless act was the deed that sets us free.
He died so we could live free.

Is free INDEED.
The use of the word ‘indeed’ was intentional.
in·deed has two meanings:

1. used to emphasize a statement or response confirming something already suggested.
So your freedom is confirmed, as indeed emphasizes…
And…

2. used to introduce a further and stronger or more surprising point.
Indeed, your freedom is nor only here waiting, but it is complete and finished once and for all because of Jesus.

Freedom ultimately is a choice.
God made His in offering it to us.

The choice is now ours.

Do you want to live free?

Do you want hope right now in the pit you find yourself- whatever it is?

Do you want to be cleaned from the slime of the pit?

Do you have wounds that need binding up?

Freedom is calling.

How will you answer?

actions vs words

Karla Lees

Actions may speak louder than words
but words can hurt longer than actions.

Heather Palacious @wondherful

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Where are your words leading you to live?

There are only three options when it comes to words:
Destruction
Edification
Fluff

When we use words, they are either used to build people up, tear them down. Just passing time doesn’t really fall into either of these categories, so I will lay them to rest now and stick with the main two purposes of words:

Bless or curse.

Words with purpose find a place to perch in their listener.

Some warm the heart, encourage the soul, build up the hopeless, comfort the lonely, refresh the weary, heal the wound.

Some strike ruthlessly, drawing blood, deepening already open wounds, adding poison to previous hurts. Some knock the stuffing out of you, leaving depression in their wake. Isolating, controlling, lying words that fester as they suck life from your soul.

We are all going to be held accountable for our words and their intent one day.

Will your tongue release life or death?

It is ultimately your choice.

Just keep in mind….

What you speak becomes where you live.

speak

Karla Lees

“When you speak, speak words of truth and life and love. All around you are parched souls longing for the living water of the Holy Spirit, and your words can guide them to the place where the water flows.”
Memory’s Door, James L. Rubart

There is literally life or death in the words we speak.

The snares and traps that we fall into are likely heavily influenced by the enemy reminding us of words spoken over us:
You’re stupid.
Ugly.
Fat.
Skinny.
Geek.
Nerd.
Jock.
Artsy.
Moron.
Loser.

Part of the trap and all of the pain comes from the delivery.

Even jokes can hurt.

And they don’t have to break our bones to leave a lasting impact.

I can still recall the embarrassment and arrow to my heart from publicly being declared ‘homely’ by one of my supposed best friends during writing class.

Being called stupid by a loved one for being upset over a hard breakup with my boyfriend at the time.

It has taken many years to remove the festering enemy darts out of my wounds so they can begin to heal.

The opposite is also true.

Being told I had a wonderful mind for history by one teacher, a natural tendency towards writing by another.
A gifted voice for melody and harmony by both a musician professor and a professional soundman.

Those words stuck with me in a positive way, giving me hope that there might be good things planned for my future, even if I couldn’t see them at the time.

The first time my husband, my daughter, my son told me they loved me.

Hearing the good news that my husband’s back surgery was a complete success.

Having friends say they are proud of me for staying the course during blistering storms.

More importantly, hearing God whisper my name.

My true name, not what I call myself- the name I am becoming with His help.

How much He loves me.
Treasures me.
Wants to hang out with me.
Has plans to prosper me, to give me hope, a bright future.
Reminding me He is always with me.

There is no negative name that you can be called that God cannot redeem you from.

Set you free from the cages of lies, destroying the enemy plot to sink us into the mire of stinking falsehoods.

Release you to fly high on His promises.

For He is truth.

And the truth came to set us free.

Next time you go to speak, think over whether you are blessing, positively correcting OR negatively putting down or cursing the person you are speaking to or with.

Use Holy Spirit as a filter, to catch the attitudes you want to remove, letting only the truth and blessings to flow from your mouth.

God is always waiting to speak to us.

May we treat one another as precious when we speak to one another.

Think blessings, encouragement, honoring, respect.

Who couldn’t use some more of those kinds of words?

Who knows what lives will be changed as you speak with more care?