Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Quietness of God

I sit.
I wait…
for the wind of His Spirit to touch my face. For heaven’s breath to awaken my dreary soul. For holy hands to loosen the grip of black fear that suffocates my every night.


I sit.
I wait…
for His gentleness to clear away yesterday’s cobwebs. For His tenderness to whisper mercy to every space of my soul. For His enthralling love to bring me back to the passion I once knew.


I sit.
I wait…
for Hope to enter courageously. Peace to dwell deeply. Life to flourish purposefully.


I sit.
I wait.


It’s quiet.  He is quiet.  But I know He is near.
He is here.  With me.  In all I do.  In all I don’t do.
He loves.
Me.
Quietly.
As I sit.  And wait.

What are you waiting for?

Here or somewhere…be real.
Share your journey.


Relevant Worship
Always by Kristian Stanfill
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb4VvNq8WEM&feature=related

While I’m Waiting by John Waller
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb7TSGptd3Y

I’m Waiting Here for You by Christy Nockels (Passion)
http://www.godtube.com/watch/?v=9CFF01NU


Reflective Scriptures
Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord. Psalm 27:14 NLT

Be still and know that I am God.
Psalm 46:10 NIV

I waited patiently for the LORD; He turned to me and heard my cry.
Psalm 40:1 NIV

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Tomorrow Had Come

Have you ever lived a life gripped in fear? I know I have. The relentless fight of life and death in every moment makes one insecure and weary. I get that life. I’ve known that life. But I’ve also known freedom. In this week’s post, fellow blogger Jessica Kirkland, shares her story of receiving God’s tangible promise in the midst of real fear. Read on—it’s powerful.

Tomorrow Had Come
by Jessica Kirkland

In every season of life, the Enemy would whisper the lie that I would “never make it” to the next.


I believed it.

Time and time again, I thought his words held power. As a young child, I never thought I would live to see my school years. Once I entered school, I never thought I would live to see the next day, next grade, or milestone in life. I listened to a very real enemy, even though I didn’t want to. Even though I came from a strong, Christian family, I felt powerless to stop the lies. Fear gripped me, stole from me, and taunted every careful step I took.

I gave my heart to Christ at six years old, yet fear still held me tight. Though I had renewed hope, the whispers and lies continued to flow and drown out truth through every season. When, I heard the words that burned a hole straight through, I was nose-to-nose with what appeared to be the sum of all my fears.

“Mrs. Kirkland, you have congestive heart failure. If your babies are born now, they will probably not live or be severely impaired.”

I was twenty-six weeks pregnant with triplets. In the beginning, I had been pregnant with quads, but had lost one child at 14 weeks. I never imagined we might all go meet Jesus on the same day. I mourned the thought of my husband walking through life alone. I grieved for the children that would either die, be disabled on this earth, or grow up motherless. And I burned with anger, not just because of the oxygen mask strapped to my face as I struggled for breath and life, but for twenty-five years of allowing Satan to tell me that I would never make it to tomorrow.

Tomorrow had come.

As nurses whirled around me, I prayed Acts 17:25 out loud, “…You give life and breath to everything, and satisfy every need.” I pleaded with the God I personally knew through a relationship with His Son, Jesus. I knew He had a plan for my life that was good according to Jeremiah 29:11. In my humanity, I struggled with the thought that death might be His plan for us on that day.

Today, we are parents to three healthy five-year-olds. You would never know they were born nine weeks premature. The joy that Satan has stolen from me in 30 years, through a spirit of fear, is great. I imagine if you strung each lying sentence end-to-end, they might wrap the globe. Yet, I have promised to tell others of God’s miracles in my life and do my part in setting captives free.

Tomorrow had come, but so had Jesus, and it is He who has defeated the grave.

“For God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7

Are you living life or living fear?


Here or somewhere...be real.
Share your journey.


Jessica Kirkland lives in Southeast Texas with her husband, Robb, and five-year-old triplets. She is an author and speaker whose greatest passion in life is to see young families grow deeper in their walk with God. Jessica's newest adventure includes launching Christian Apps 4 Kids, which seeks to draw
kids closer to Christ one app at a time. A recent release is a book app that addresses fear and scary nighttime sounds called The Sounds of Night, designed for kids ages 2-8. It is currently available on iPad, iPhone and all Android devices. When Jessica isn't writing, you can find her cheering her boys on at the soccer field, or watching her little girl at the dance studio.

To find out more about her current writing projects, connect with her at: http://www.christianapps4kids.comor on her personal blog: http://www.jessicakirkland.com
Click here to purchase The Sounds of Night at iTunes.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Hope?

Sometimes I feel like giving up.
Sometimes my heart goes to sleep—and I forget…

There is Hope

Sometimes I just have to sit and be—me in front of Him.
Sometimes I have to remember who He is—before I can know who I am.
Sometimes I have to push away from my stuff, put my pen down—and listen.

Maybe you do too.

Listen in to the anthem of Hope. It’s for me, but I have a feeling it’s for you too.

HOPE'S ANTHEM by Wlliam Matthews

He's awakening the hope in me
By calling forth my destiny

He's breathing life
Into my soul

I will thirst for
Him and Him alone

He has come like the rain
That showers on the barren plain

So my heart and tongue confess
Jesus, Christ the Hope of man

My hope is in you, God
I am steadfast
I will not be moved

I'm anchored, never shaken
All my hope is in You

He's bringing hope to the hopeless
And giving His heart to the broken

And sharing His home with the orphan
He is the joy, He is my joy

He is the hope of the nations
The Father's heart we're embracing

He is the song we're declaring
He is the joy, He is my joy

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Feel the Numbness

Here’s the deal. Sometimes I go numb.
Those once passionate convictions of my faith subside along with my smile and excitement to worship. It doesn’t mean I don’t love God. Nor does it mean I don’t trust Him a little still. It doesn’t mean I’ve lost my faith—or have given into the enemy’s schemes.

It means my spirit has paused.

Within the pause a deafening silence moves in. It’s a silence I can barely stand. Understand I never strive for this—it just happens. And I certainly would never strive to stop the numbness.

I must feel it.

I must let emptiness wrap around me and the deafening silence come over me. It’s part of the process. A process that must move at its own pace—one that should never be interrupted. I will not snap out of it, get over it, or even push through it. I will sit in the terrible painstaking silence from heaven and feel the numbness. I’m ok with that. Anything else would be an interruption of the holy work God wants to do.

So I sit. And I wait. As I feel the numbness.

This is the authentic life with God.


Have you ever felt numb?
Here or somewhere…be real.
Share your journey.