ALL Things…

It has been an amazing couple of weeks! I have been feeling God’s loving mercy and grace in so many ways…sometimes not even directly in my life. We often (if we are wise) praise God because we see Him in our own lives, but how often do we praise Him for the work He is doing in the lives of the people around us?

We can see the hand of God all around us, in all things, in everyone, if we just look for Him. Ever praise God for your friend who is getting married (even though you may not be there yet)? Or praise God for the friend who called because their mother was in an accident and she only got a broken nose and fractured knee? Or praise Him for the unimaginable, undeserved affection you receive from someone who just recently came into your life? I, unfortunately, normally don’t, but today I choose to. I choose to love, adore and praise my God for all the things He chooses to reveal to me about Himself through my friends!

I have been Blessed in my life many times over, but through my friends is when the Lord shows off!! Thank you all for being Jesus to me!! I love you all so dearly!!

I could sing of His love forever!

Sometimes words cannot explain it…sometimes all you can do is cry! Have you ever really thought about how much He loves you? That despite our constant denying who He is and who we are in Him, He continues to Be. He continues to be Love! Pure, overwhelming, feel His hand on your heart Love! I was there today….

I was at work and out of the blue, I get love notes from my Savior! Reminding me how much He loves me, how He is with me. I could literally feel Him loving my heart! I was so overwhelmed by it, I had a constant flow of tears for some time. (Luckily, I don’t work in a large office.) The notes were coming via friends, but I knew the words were from God Himself. The Sovereign Creator chose to woo me this morning and, boy, was I like putty in His hands!

Unfortunately, the overwhelming feeling of love soon faded and I continued on my day. I wish I could be in that moment again, but I understand that I could never be fully in that moment as long as I am here on Earth! Although we are His children and have full access to Him, our humanness limits how much we can access at a time!

I shared this feeling with a friend and we began to discuss how unimaginable His love for us truly is. If we actually knew at all times what it was to feel His overwhelming love, we wouldn’t be able to function…all we could do would be to sing “Holy, Holy Holy!” as the angels in Isaiah did.

I cannot be back in that moment, but the memory of it is so strong, I pray I never forget it and get to experience it again! Thank you, Lord!

Not of me, but He who lives in me!

I can’t share how amazing it feels to know I am worthless and I can’t do anything. It is great knowing that whatever task is placed in front me, I will completely mess it up. Most people tell us that we have to believe in ourselves. We need to believe that “we can”!

The enemy reminds us day in and day out what failures we are; how we are just good for nothing; that our mistakes and our past will never allow us to be seen as anything more than mediocre. And if you sit and think about it, as much as you want to believe he is lying, he isn’t!

I have learned that until I realize I am what the enemy and people tell I am, only then will I truly realize how much I need Jesus! How much I need to fully rely on Him for guidance, protection and purpose. I am nothing without Christ living in me. I am prone to mistakes and failure, but my Savior is not!

This weekend has already been so amazing! Yesterday, I got to spend time with some girlfriends. It started up as a fundraiser, and ended up being a hair salon! Gotta love it when girls get together! As fabulous as last night was, I can’t even begin to imagine what the rest of the weekend holds!

Tomorrow is the 39th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade. Many of you know my story and know I feel called to help others find the restoration I have found in Christ. I feel the Lord calling me to blow the door down on the subject of abortion…and it begins this weekend at my church, Calvary Baptist!

With the support and encouragement of my Pastor, he and I will speak candidly about abortion…during his sermon. We will also have a table set up with more information on the study I lead, Surrendering the Secret, and details how to begin the journey towards healing and forgiveness that we can only find through Christ!

I am not worthy of this calling. I am not worthy to be used as the voice of the many children that are with Jesus because of our poor choices, but I can say the Lord has called me to this and only through Him who lives and strengthens me, can I be a light in the darkness of abortion!

I invite you all to attend any of our 3 services: Saturday 6:30pm, Sunday 9:15am and 11:00am, 110 North McMullen Booth Road, Clearwater, FL 33759. Also, please keep  in your prayers those who will hear this message. My prayer is that seeds will be planted, watered or given the strength to break through the ground as we “surrender our secret”!

We will be starting a new Surrendering the Secret study in February. If you are interested in joining or finding out more information, please contact me at 727-687-4693 or at secretsurrendered@gmail.com.

 

Forty Years or Eleven Days?

Got this via email today and just had to share…

“It is eleven days’ journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea.”Deuteronomy 1:2

Without broadcasting my age to the world, let me just say I am “well-seasoned.” I’ve been around a while . . . I’m in those “sage” years of my life.

The best years started when I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior more than 35 years ago. But as I look back over those years, I realize I spent most of them in the wilderness, just like the Israelites. And all the while the Promised Land was only an eleven day journey away!

Only six or seven years ago did I start learning that because of Christ I can have more than a ticket to heaven! Jesus actually made it possible for me to have a victorious life now! So I started digging into the Word and learning how to appropriate the promises of God that He makes possible for us today.

It took me a while . . . I had to work through feelings of unworthiness and doubt.  But as my faith grew I started asking the Lord for specific needs and He provided! I admit, at first I was shocked! Wow, Lord! You really do answer prayer! Since then I have learned more and more about praying for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

I continue to learn and God continues to be Who He is, the Faithful One. And now I am ready to get radical about every area of my existence. I want my life to be such a powerful testimony for living a Spirit-filled life that people want what I have! Not because of me, but because of Jesus!

The Daniel Fast has served as a powerful wake-up call for me. I don’t want to live in the “natural” anymore. I want a “supernatural” life. I won’t let the enemy knock me around like before. I am a child of the Most High God and I plan to claim every promise, every protection and every right that my inheritance affords me!

We are walking into a new time . . . the world is shaking in many ways. But we must take hold and claim what is ours! We can be consecrated and separate for a season . . . or we can make it the way we live – Spirit-led, victorious and shining examples of the Way of Christ.

We’ve wandered in the wilderness long enough! The Promised Land is waiting for us. But we have to take the journey to get there. We must know what the Word of God says about us. We must align our lives with God’s Way. And we must think, act and speak as Jesus taught us.

Of the 1.5 million Israelites that left Egypt, only two crossed the Jordan and entered into the Promised Land. Of the millions of Christians around the world today, how many will accept the challenge and make their way to the promises and victorious life made possible for us because of the cross? I am determined to be one . . . and I hope as you read these words, you too will commit to the journey. No more wilderness-living for us. We know a better place and we’re on our way to the land the Lord gave us! Hallelujah!

Susan Gregory

The Daniel Fast Blogger

www.DanielFast.wordpress.com
www.Daniel-Fast.com

Knight in Shining Armor

This has been a difficult weekend. I have been deceived by the enemy when it comes to friendships and I can honestly say, I didn’t see it coming. However, like my Knight in shining armor that He is, the Lord came on his white horse and saved me…Actually, He sent a friend in a white Lexus!!

With the move to Guatemala, I have been struggling with wanting to hang out with friends, but not wanting to get too close because I am leaving soon. I want to spend as much time as I can with them, but I don’t want to have too much fun, that it will be even harder to leave. Yes, silly, I know!

So, this morning, I was at church and I was just…depressed! I normally say hi to everyone and make an entrance when I walk into the room, instead I sat in my chair quietly before service writing in my journal and then snuck into Life Group. I really wanted to blend in, but for someone like me, being quiet isn’t blending in…it brings more attention to me.

I had a couple of ladies (separately) come to me and ask what was wrong. I shared a bit of what was going on, but  planned on wallowing the rest of the day. The Lord had other plans. One of my friends asked if I wanted to join her at the beach and, if you live up north, you would’ve said “heck no”, but we live in FL, so I said “sure”!

We spent time chatting about our lives and often just laid there listening to crashing waves and the annoying birds! It was perfect!

The Lord is so gracious! He wants me to learn to fully depend on Him, but He also knows when I need my friends around and allows me those moments. When in Guatemala, I will not have my “girls” to call on whenever I get down, so I do need to learn to rely on the Lord to be my BFF.  So, I do praise Him for teaching me that lesson here where I can learn it in small doses instead of cold turkey…He knows how much hand holding I need!

I love how the Lord allows the enemy to get to it just so He can save the day! Such a show off! 😉

In Abundance!

Remember a few weeks ago (could’ve been my last post or even a FB status) when I was struggling with finding the correlation between obedience and blessings? Well, the Lord has been revealing Himself in more ways than I could even imagine…

As many of you know, I have been underemployed for quite some time now. The hours at the hospital were very few and far between. However, I am Blessed to live at Shepherd’s Village, a Christ-Centered Residential Ministry for Single parents, which allowed me to work to pay for my rent. Although a huge Blessing, this wasn’t quite making due because I needed more hours in order to pay all my bills and since Shepherd’s Village is a not for profit, the money being used to pay me could’ve gone to more needed things.

In addition to not being able to pay my bills, Christmas was looking to be non-existent in our home. I know people will say that it’s not about the gifts under the tree…but come on, do you really live that way? Not many of us do and I can admit that not having any gifts was going to be difficult. Not only for Jake, but for me as well.

Lastly, my underemployment was affecting my relationships. Friends wouldn’t invite me places because they knew if it required money, I wouldn’t be able to go. This may sound harsh, but having to say “no, thanks” all the time, not only hurts you, but it hurts your friends because they don’t have the means to be able to include you (and they know me well enough to know that I would say no anyways). It also affected my already rough relationship with Jake. The stress of not having money and always saying “we don’t have the money for that” can bear down on any relationship. Most importantly, my relationship with the Lord was affected. I was so busy trying to “work things out”, I wasn’t relying on Him as much.

Well, the solution for many people would be: find a job, Jen! I thought the same thing, but the more I looked, the more doors were shut in my face. I wasn’t getting any interviews which was a Blessing in disguise because in an interview when they asked me where do you see yourself in 1 year, I couldn’t very well say…Guatemala! So, finding a job or finding anyone who would hire someone for 6 months is pretty much impossible…for me! This is when it starts getting good…

In my desperation for a job, I asked a group of missionaries from Indian Rocks I have been meeting every month with to pray for me. I sent them my resume and asked if anyone knew of anything, I would greatly appreciate it. Within a few days, I got an email from a friend of the leaders of the group. He said he had some connections and would do his best to find me a job. (I had my very own personal head hunter.)

He reached out to a few of his connections, let them know my situation and background and within a week, I had 2 interviews. I got a job offer from the first interview I went on and the second was good, but the hours weren’t many. I gave my “notice” to Shepherd’s Village and the Monday after Christmas, I started working full-time.

While all of this was going on, Jake and I (and the other Shepherd’s Village residents) were being showered with Christmas gifts from local businesses, church groups and private donors. We actually had some pretty great gifts under our tree!

Fast forward to today: I just completed my second week of work and received my first paycheck and I can’t tell you how amazing it is to make a budget and know that you will have money to execute it.

How does this answer my question about the correlation between obedience and Blessings? Well, the Lord showed up this past month in an Abundance! He provided a job, Christmas presents even a brand new laptop…and what have I done? Absolutely nothing! Nothing at all! During this time when I should’ve been spending lots of time in prayer or growing closer to Him, I was numb. I wasn’t even worrying. I knew He would provide, but even if He wanted to share with me how He was going to do it, I wasn’t open to hearing Him.

His Blessings have NOTHING to do with our obedience! He CHOOSES to Bless us because He LOVES us!! We are HIS children and He finds joy in Blessing His children!! I thought I knew this, but I really had no idea!! We, truly serve an AWESOME God!! All Glory and Praise to the Only One!

P.S. I haven’t been online the past couple of weeks for a few reasons: 1. My Macbook screen decided to only work at a 15° angle which becomes very difficult to type. 2. The internet only works when you pay the bill and when your money is limited, you direct it to more important things, internet wasn’t one of them. 3. (But most importantly) The Lord didn’t want me online. He knew I would be blogging and FBing about everything that was going on and He wanted to limit my resources. He wanted me to share my ups and downs with Him and Him alone. Now, that I’ve somewhat “gotten” it, He is allowing me to share it all with you! 🙂