Tag: speak

what a Word

Karla Lees

Words have the power to bless, uproot, encourage, surgically impact or curse.

Sometimes all in the same day.

And when words are both your primary love language and part of your job, words can pierce far beyond the speaker’s intention.

There is One, however, who knows the power of words.

He not only inspired the writing of His written Word, He is continously speaking life, instruction and hope in the here and now.

For He is the living Word.

God also knows the power of a hurtful, deliberate word, for He spends many resources helping us to see how forgiveness can restore us from their negative impact.

There is one Psalm I turn to when I need a reminder of how much words matter to God.

Psalm 119.

The longest Psalm, it encompasses us from conception and beyond, from pain and hurt to life, from walking a wayward path to one of purpose.

Nor only is His Word is to be our guide, which the psalmist refer to,  but He Himself is to be our guide.

The Living Word as contained within the Word.

For the Word is just a bunch of words if you refuse the Living Word access to you, to change you through His words as He speaks life into you. All the weary, wounded, wary or wandering.

Without the Author pointing out the words He has for you to change your circumstances, meet you in the moment, restore your footing on the Rock…. the Word becomes just beautifully, skillfully written poetry or history.

The Word doesn’t want His Words to return without blessing.

He wants us to hear and see Him in the Word. For it is a reflection of who He is,  what he can do, where He wants to take you, what He has its store for you, and why.

The Living Word poured Himself into His Word….

●So we would know we are not alone when we feel disconnected.
●So we would see His heart when ours has been ravaged.
●So we would hear His direction when we are at a crossroads.
●So we would sense His Presence despite our loneliness.
●So we can taste His goodness when all we see appears to be dark.
●So we can experience Him more deeply as we get to know who He is.

His Word is relevant regardless of your age, stage, looks, quirks, status or race.

As He has made us all, His Word is designed for us all.

Take a hold of the gift He has given us and invite Him to make His Words come alive to you in a such a way you know you have connected with him.

If you need to chew on one or two verse, do so.  Create a graphic, doodle the words, print them out and post them to memorize them.

Allow His Words to come alive within you and bring you back to life.

The living Word is waiting for you within every page of His Word.

The situations may have a historical place in time, but the God revealed and contained within them is beyond time and place, for He is alive!

Invite Him to speak, and wait expectantly for His Words.  God has never stopped speaking His love to us since Eden, and will never stop until each of us are home with Him where we belong.

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Intertwined

Karla Lees

I love reading the Psalms. In fact, I am about to embark on reading the whole book for the 4th time in just over two years.

As Eugene Peterson has said, the psalms encompass the whole scope of human life in one book.

And I am about to read it again for the first time!

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I have now read the Psalms through in the NIV, ESV and the MSG translations.

I am about to rack open the Passion translation, and I can hardly wait.

For me, reading a different translation helps me take in thr Psalms afresh, and invite Him to speak through them to me again, as if it’s the first time!

But even more than that becomes the way I am learning to see the Word as a whole interwoven through out the Bible, the more I study the Psalms.

When I read Psalm 1:1 and am reminded how my delight comes from Him, it reminds me how much he has shown His love to Israel, His chosen people and how He delights in us, Zephaniah 3:17. How we can please God with our worship and praise the pleasing offerings mentioned in Numbers 29:2 & 2 Corinthians 2:15.
David’s many psalms, including Psalm 62:8, remind me to be fully honest and pour my heart out like water before the Lord, again mentioned in Lamentations 2:19.

I could go on and on, and I am so glad he continues to reveal Himself to us through His Word as we invite Holy Spirit to be our guide!

For even though I am focusing on thr Psalms, the living Word is continuing to focus on me, a day reshape me as I interact with Him!

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hearing what isn’t being said

Karla Lees

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The emotions are the distraction. Take a moment to hear what is not being said and proceed from there. -Melaniece Lovejoy

When our emotions are on high alert, we can tend to get distracted as we listen, or think we are hearing things which aren’t actually being said.

At times, we may seem like we have temporary amnesia.

We don’t hear or see what is really being said, but instead get caught up in the whirlwind inside our hearts & heads.

God reminds us so many times not be afraid, and how much He loves and cares for us because we tend to forget the truth when we are stressed out, burned out, weary or just plan down and out.

How long may be the predominant tune playing in your mind, woe is me is echoing within your heart, or your senses may be resonating with anger.

Help me remember You love me when my thoughts deceive my fragile heart. I know that You’re for me even when my worlds fallin’ apart.

God never stops trying to get past our blockages to meet us where we need Him most, deep within….where our thoughts are swirling, our heart is beating wildly and our body is more tense than a tightrope.

Do not fear– 415 times He reminds us of that truth in His Word. Love is mentioned 668 times in the NIV version of the bible. Specifically God’s love &  His care for us is expsed several times.

Because He knew we would need a tangible way to be reminded of His love and care which we could grasp beyond our feelings.

So on those days where I temporarily lose sight of the truth that we the Beloved all have in Him?

I open His Word, and let His truth speak as it soaks into my spirit, beyond my frazzled emotion, battered heart and weariness along the journey.

Its time to wake up.

Its time to say no to falling into the enemy pit of temporary amnesia.

Its time to choose to fix our whole being upon the truth of who He is, and the truth of who we are in Him.

No more reacting based solely upon our emotions.

The choice is ours to lay what we feel and think in the natural down at His feet, and invite Him to show us how He feels and guide us to respond in the supernatural.

With You there is no worry, yeah, You plan my life from the start. So what do I do? I choose You.

Lyrics in italics from Group 1 Crew’s song, Wake Me Up (Amnesia)

after the noise

Karla Lees

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Noise comes in many voices.

When we don’t turn down the voices we are not needing to prioritize, we can miss out on hearing His voice.

The One voice we are most needing to hear.

Pain may be using a megaphone, your kids may be clambering for your attention, or you can’t take the wait so you keep the TV or radio on to drown out the silence.
Or it could be the list of everything you have to do, or what ifs which are speaking loudest in your mind.

Through it all, God waits.

He waits for our attention, after doing all He can to capture ours.

Today has been a weird day for me.  I have been trying not to multi task, and have been able to hear the difference voices competing for my attention.

I want my attention to always be for Him.  Not in the way a child may learn to do something wrong in order to get any attention. I  want to give Him my all.

All my attention, all my affection.

May we all learn to tune out all the loud voices so we can hear His precious whispers when He speaks to us.

God is….Incredible

Karla Lees

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This week, my church is running a Blast from the Past Vacation Bible Camp for our community.

I can’t help but get excited about what God is going to do through the willing hands serving & revealing His character to the children who will be attending.

So this week, I felt led to post the main themes of the week, especially coz not only is my son going to be volunteering there, but because God is stirring within me to remind me of these/His five characteristics being taught, and I pray, caught!

God is….INCREDIBLE!

We not only see how incredible He is through creation & caring for His chosen ones, but incredibly, He initiates contact with us!

He pursues us, and reveals Himself to us!

We tend to think we are the ones initiating things with God, that we are in control.

Not.

The incredible Maker of all things wanted to set His people free. Despite many turning from Him while in Egypt, He heard their cries for deliverance, and arranged for His deliverer to be raised by the very household He would overturn to set His people free.

Moses was not only Israeli born in captivity, He was adopted into the royal family who were enslaving Israel.  Talk about awkward.  It’s not surprising that he would have had conflicted emotions, and been stirred by His Maker to have compassion on his birth family.

Because God stirred up His compassion within Moses before they met!

They didn’t meet in church, or while Moses was praying, or because someone introduced them face to face, although I suspect Jethro was praying fervently for Moses, married to his daughter, as the priest of the Lord in this area.

God showed up while Moses was watching the flock of sheep he has been entrusted with by Jethro.

Think for a moment about that whole scenario.

God was about to call Moses, raised & educated to understand rule, who has lately been working exclusively with sheep. 

God calls His people His flock, the sheep in His care.

What better balance to his royal training than to be hands on with stubborn sheep?

How better to prepare Moses for the leadership role God had to come for him?!!!

God is truly incredible!

Flash back to Moses with the flock. Doing his usual job, he has led the flock near Horeb, the mountain of God.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to to him…

Say what? Just that alone is incredible!!!

in a flame of fire….

Okayyyyy… God’s got my full attention now, and I am sure Moses’ too in the moment!

Out of the midst of a bush. Moses looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.

INCREDIBLE!

God used an ‘average joe’ bush out in a desert as the basis for His Presence to reach Moses!

Moses’ response was to draw closer to this phenomenon. Once we get to know him a lot better as his character becomes more revealed, we learn he is very fearful, and uncomfortable speaking in public.

Unusual for someone raised as a royal…

God knew that this set up, the burning bush, while Moses was away from other people, was the best way to intrigue him to draw near.

(Incredibly, He meets each of us exactly where & when we need Him most, and that encounter is tailored uniquely to do so by the One who made us and knows us sooo well! But I am getting off track!)

When Moses did, God called him by name, and invited Moses to draw close & talk with him, as He revealed Moses to be His, and His deliverer. (Exodus 3)

INCREDIBLE!!

And despite his fears and apprehensions, God went on to guide Moses as He asked him to lead His people out of Egypt.

Moses became one of the most talked about stories in the Bible, in no small part because he knew how desperately He needed the God who never failed to move in His behalf, speak with him, and empowered him to lead His people.

INCREDIBLE!

God uses ordinary folk & does the incredible through their willing hands!

And He still does the same today.

May we dig deeper in the Word to catch all the glimpses of our INCREDIBLE God He reveals to those who still seek Him today!

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name the doubt & grab His hem

Karla Lees

I am more than a bit timid when it comes to asking God for something i want for myself.

In fact, I tend to ask for myself as a tag along, or add on at the end of praying for other people’s needs.

Which isn’t a healthy symptom at all.

You see, that likely means i am not submitting to the fullness of what God has for me.

By struggling to try and cope on my own, i miss out not only on the strength He has for me, but experiencing His care and growing in our relationship.

And I am oh so tired of caring for myself on my own.

I remember reading the verses about the woman with the bleeding issue when i was first a believer, and relating to her:

And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her.  Luke 8:43

I too have had an issue with cysts and heavy bleeding since i was 14 years old.  No one has been able to stop it here on earth. I am thankful that it has slowed with medical intervention & eating a healthier diet (staying away from too much caffeine along with all soy & dairy has helped develop less cysts and keep my hormones more in check), but it has not been healed so far…

And today, I acknowledge to myself, God and all of you,  my heart has stopped believing in my dream…. to be able to say the following as part of my testimony:

She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. Luke 8:44

Boy, putting that into words both hurts and feels freeing to my spirit.

I say i believe, but my trust in His best plan for me has waffled over this issue….literally, of blood.

I believe, I know He can heal, for I have both seen it and experienced it in other ways.

But will He?

The Word reminds us God is our healer in many places, and how He has the best in store for those who love & follow Him.  I believe in that truth deep down.

His capability is not in question in my mind or heart.

His will is for me to be whole, fully restored, and healed.

But will He heal me in this area?

Ultimately, I know when I meet Him face to face as i enter eternity, I will be the me He planned for me to be since creation.  And i do draw comfort in that actuality, that fact yet to pass.

But will He heal me in this area now?

Timing becomes the question… I want His healing now.  I am weary of having spent 20 years of gross frustrating embarrassing and exhausting at times handling this issue.

And that is the crux of the problem.

I have been gripping this issue too tightly.

I have not fully let go of it and gripped on to His hem.

I am tired of trying to hold it all together, Lord.

I am letting go of my timing, my desires for You to heal  me on my terms.

I am grabbing the hem of Your robe, pressing in and refusing to let go.

Because I KNOW You want me healed.

I speak this out right now, I believe You’re my Healer.

You can, You want to, and You will heal me.

And until Your timing is released for this issue of blood to be removed from me, You will be more than enough to keep me in the midst of my struggle.

You have been for me since before I was born, and always will be.

I surrender my doubts that You don’t care about me enough to heal me, You may not ever heal me while I am here on earth, and I am not worthy to be healed.

Because of what You did on the cross, Jesus, You have made me worthy through the covering of Your blood. I can approach with confidence because the veil has been torn, and You invite me to come.  The One who rose from the grave? He is more than able.

And like the daughter in this story, I do not go unnoticed. You are keeping Your eye on me.

I pray that how the story ended for the woman in Luke 8 ends the same for me, but I am determined not be hiding when You do heal me, God, but shouting it from the rooftops. May You build in me the Rock solid faith I need for my healing to come to pass because of Your touch:

 “Who touched me?” Jesus asked.  When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.”  But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.” Then the woman, seeing that she could not go unnoticed, came trembling and fell at his feet. In the presence of all the people, she told why she had touched him and how she had been instantly healed. Then he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace.”

Reader,  did you know its okay to have doubts?

Its not okay to keep your doubts hidden.

We need to bring them out into the light of His presence, so He can help us seem them in alignment with His truth, and who He is.

Doubts hidden become strongholds of the enemy, giving him space in our minds where he was never meant to roam, and begin to trap our spirits in chains from the pit.  

God made us to long for more.

Come as you are to God. He loves us as we are….whether wounded, broken, hurting, doubting, fearful, angry, insecure, lonely.  He never makes us feel bad for our feelings, but as He pours His love into us, we can be healed and made whole beyond imagining.

He is and always will be more than enough for all we need, and works tirelessly to bring His design for us into reality!

So I will never let go of Your hem God. Because close to You is where i was meant to be.

 

 

 
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resting declares freedom

Karla Lees

Resting is a declaration of freedom. -Kerri Weems

We are meant to wield our rest.

Rest is not the lack of action, but a weapon to choose.

Our choice not to act is in fact an action.

When we fail to choose rest, we find ourselves ever increasingly exhausted, stressed out and not focused on God.  We become trapped on the world’s running wheel,  at a pace we were never designed for.  We become captive to the action of go, through our lack of understanding in just how much of a blessing to us rest actually is.

The bottom line is this….if God Himself rested after a busy week, why do we think we can keep going? The Maker of the Universes & all that is in them needs to nap, but His creations don’t?  Everything God created has seasons of planting, growth, pruning, harvesting and last but not least: resting.

When we deliberately choose to rest, we free ourselves from the enemy’s mindset that we have no other choice but to stay in the whirlwind of busyness.   In answering His invitation, we find His rest, true restorative rest deep within begins to seep into our mind, body and spirit:

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me and work with Me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly. – Jesus, in Matthew 11:28-30

In choosing to go to Jesus, and choose rest, God not only restores us, but gives us the weapon we can use to protect ourselves from the enemy: deliberate choice to sit at His feet, and rest there.

In His Presence, we learn to unwind, de-stress, listen to His voice,  and follow His graceful leading.  When we stay resting in Him, we keep free, and our spirits remain refreshed.

Rest is not only about sleeping, but the laying down of ourselves before Him, allowing Him to fill us with His love, peace, joy, hope.

We find our true selves at His feet.

We find the refuge, the shelter, the safe place, our true Home in Him.  Where we can fully become the “us” He designed us to be, and be released to live the life God intended for us!

The enemy knows that if we draw close to Him, he will have less access to us.

If we keep His words in our minds, and live our lives in His flow for us, the enemy has less of a battleground to attack us from.

For when we rest in Him, we are drawn into the wide open fields of freedom God has for us, like a bird released from its cage who immediately heads to the currents of wind where she was meant to soar.

Like Mary, we were meant to let go of what the world tells us we must do, and choose the best yes by remaining at Jesus’ feet.

Now before you start complaining nothing will ever get done if i do that (been there, thought that!), let me tell you that somehow in the design of time, spending the time in rest with God seems to make me more productive.  My purpose for the moment seems clearer, and i get more done in less time with less errors or distractions.  I am less stressed out when emergencies pop up, and keep my cool way longer than i am capable of naturally!

I don’t get it, but i don’t have to! I just need to choose to grab hold of rest, and wield it as He leads me to use it!  When I seem headed back onto the never-ending to-do treadmill, prompt me early God to use the rest You have given me to break the tentacles of busyness and stress from reattaching themselves to me.

Lord, may we pick up rest  today, and use it as You lead us to in the coming moments, hours, days.  Because of Your actions on the cross, You declare us free, and desire for us to stay free in You.  Help us to draw close, lay our burdens and to do lists before You. May we pick back up that which You desire for us to complete each day, and may we never stray far from Your voice as we live out the purpose for which You called us.  May our preoccupation ever be Jesus!

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Sunday Psalm: Be Still, Seriously?

Karla Lees

Oh Lord
Inside I am racing
like a car engine revving up
for its heat in the big race,
go go go
get ‘er done
check it off the to do list
Peace is feeling farther & farther away with every new task I take on,
with the situation I face
causing me to spin in place
until
miraculously
i hear Your whisper
Your voice breaking through
the chaos of my bustle
the anxiety of my hustle
and You simply say
Rest.
Be still
I got this.
You are in My hands.
Nothing can take you
away from Me.
Nothing you can do
will make Me love you more
Nothing you can say
will change My love towards you
You had your chance
to do it your way,
now its time for the best
to be released
My way
My timing
My help
in My strength
with My purpose for you.

Had enough of spinning your wheels?
Come to Me
and rest.
Tired of a listless spirit?
Come to Me
and live.
Weary of what’s holding you back?
Come to Me
and be free.

Ready to make the change
to never be the same
to live fully in My Name
as i rearrange you
from the inside out?

Seriously,
its time to be still,
and let Me in the driver’s seat.

I know where you are headed.
I know the safest route.
I know how to guide you
through every turn, dip or stop.

Come,
be still.
Rest in me.
Lay your burden down.
I am here waiting for you.

Our next part of our adventure
together is waiting
for you.

Come,
just come.
I’ll take care of the rest.

You only need to be still.
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holding back?

Karla Lees

You never lose by loving.
You only lose by holding back.

@WomanDoItAll tweet

part of me
is curled tight
clenched within
the very core of who I am

it started as a seed
but instead of planting
it to let it grow,
unfurl in Your presence
I buried it inside
away from Your light…
letting it starve
from lack of connection,
lonely from
a lack of love

I hold myself back
so well
all the enemy has to do
is point to the road ahead
and my imagination
runs amok
pondering all the possibilities
fear, worry and loneliness
can conjure when
the faith within
has been held back
out of reach from
Your loving,
healing touch

as I learn
to trust You even more
i led down the
guard I built within
the wall to keep
what I feared out
but in reality
locks part of me
within
away from the very hope
it needed to deepen
and mature

in one whoosh
freedom is released
like a rushing wind
blowing out the
shards of pretense
and enabling
Holy Spirit to move on in
and remodel the place
He loves to live in

‘No more holding back’
He gently whispers
to my soul
‘I want you free
the way We designed you to be.
Flying high,
trusting deeply,
letting us lead,
increasing our Glory
as you walk out
Our story
through you’

My eyelids
begin to close
and down droops
my nose
as my head bobs
to almost touch my chin
as Your peace floods
into my heart,
confirming what I knew
from the start

I already know You
will win, God
help me live out the truth
that
I will never lose
by letting You love me
inside & out,
i only lose
when i hold myself back
from the fullness
You offer
in Your Presence

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GREATER

Karla Lees

This morning, I drove my eldest to the train station as she headed off to school. And again today for the third day in a row, this song came on the radio station we usually listen to.

The cool thing, we didn’t drive at the same times…so that led me to believe God was trying to get my attention. I heard You, Lord.

So, today I am going to share the overall lyrics of the song Greater by Mercy Me one paragraph at a time, and then ask God what He has to say to me about it. Note: The song lyrics are bolded, and will be credited at the bottom of the blog, along with a link to the Mercy Me video 🙂

Bring your tired, bring your shame. Bring your guilt, bring your pain.
Don’t you know that’s not your name?
You will always be much more to me.

I tend to label myself, don’t I God?
But my name is Beloved, Redeemed.

And everyone else out there
needs to hear this message too:
Stop labeling yourself
with the negative,
stick to the positive.
God does!

Every day I wrestle with the voices
that keep telling me I’m not right,
but that’s alright….

God, You know
i struggle with
staying grounded in You
instead of what I do.
But that is no surprise to You,
is it God?

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‘Cause I hear a voice
and He calls me redeemed,
when others say I’ll never be enough.
And greater is the One living inside of me than he who is living in the world.
In the world, in the world.
And greater is the One living inside of me than he who is living in the world

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God, You continually call to me and speak my real name.
I am enough because of You, and You are SO much greater than the one living in the world….
coz he too is Your creation,
which makes You Greater!

Bring your doubts, bring your fears.
Bring your hurt, bring your tears.
There’ll be no condemnation here
You are holy, righteous and redeemed.

It doesn’t matter what I bring to You. Not only can I safely be real before You, You continue to speak out how You see me: holy, righteous, redeemed, forgiven.

Every time I fall, there’ll be those who will call me a mistake- well that’s ok….

Long term, it doesn’t matter if other people think I am a mistake, or call me names. Because what You think of me matters for eternity!

There’ll be days I lose the battle
Grace says that it doesn’t matter
‘Cause the cross already won the war
He’s Greater, He’s Greater!

I won’t do everything right or perfectly, nor win every day.
Your grace says no big deal, because You already made everything right on the cross.
You win, every time.
You are the Greatist, Lord!

I am learning
to run freely
Understanding
just how He sees me
and it makes me
love Him more & more
He’s Greater, He’s Greater!

God, thank You to teaching me
I can run free
when I accept how You see me.
My heart & spirit
jump with gratitude.
You truly are
the GREATEST thing
to happen to me,
and to everyone
who meets you!

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Greater written by songwriters:
Bart Millard, Mike Scheuchzer, Robby Shaffer, Barry Graul,
David Arthur Garcia, Nathan Cochran, Ben Glover.

Hey, if you need a morning pick me up song to remind you who He is and how He sees you, I would recommend you watch the video below, buy the song or CD, and for an extra boost of God Greatness, watch the story behind the song.

Greater video by Mercy Me

MercyMe “Greater” Story Behind The Song – YouTube