The Space Where IT will happen

I’m letting you in on a little secret… This is the place where all things great and wonderful will happen.  I have an office….Its in another room.  It used to be a multi-purpose “me” space. I would work there, I would read there, I would write there, I would study there, I would cry there, I would hide there.  It had to many purposes and it was very confusing to my spirit.  Every time I walked in that multi-purpose “me” space, there was no telling what was going to happen.  When work happened, my spirit longed to be with Jesus in His word.  When time with the Lord happened, my work was sitting right in front of me.  When crying happened, more crying came because the work was piled high.  When reading happened I was cold, because there is no heat in the multi purpose “me” space.  (but that’s another story) Things had to change.

Today they changed.  Today my little writing desk came.  Beautiful orange/yellow roses where cut.  A sweet smelling candle was lit and the snow fell outside.  This space has been lovingly claimed as God’s desk.  He and I will meet here.  We will accomplish great tasks and we will really enjoy our time together.   How wonderful it is to have this space. 

The other night I was just about to fall asleep when a light bulb went of in my mind and all of a sudden half of a book was written in my head. I didn’t get up and write it down because then I would have to go to the multi-purpose “me” room, sort through the work papers, clear off the crying chair, turn on the light and likely wake up the children.  Alas, the Lord is faithful and the creative file folder in my mind still contains the words that were given that night, but it desperately needs to come out!  It will come out at this desk and the rest can come anytime it wants too…the place is ready.

Something more than a new desk has happened, the heavens have been opened, the flood gates are no longer holding back and the slate is clean. 

Here we go…..

 

Restoration

This year has been declared a year of Restoration.  One of my favorite prophesies comes from Elijah List.  Most recently this word: 2010: A Year of Restoration by Carol Kelley.  In it she says" “the Lord has plans for DOUBLE restoration!  There has been much testing, but there will be restoration”.  This is a confirmation for me of what God has been speaking directly to my heart.  It is no secret, if you read my past blogs that 2009 was a time of great testing. It was a year I’ll never forget. As the old saying goes “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”.  I choose to focus on the best of times and that continues to this day.

 

The Best of Times has been mostly in due to a growing relationship with God.  Prayer and worship has been my calling through ‘the worst of times’ and it was that which brought peace that passes all understanding!  I have come to a place where ‘praying without ceasing’ is more of a reality then ever before.  Prayer is weaved throughout my day in normal activities and throughout the night as I sleep and even as I dream.  Times of worship have become second nature.  I’ve enjoyed the growth and capacity to enter the Throne Room quickly and without hesitation.  I’ve grown in my confidence in my standing with Christ Jesus my Lord and I am richly blessed.

 

Why do I BOAST to you of my relationship with Jesus? 

Psalm 34:2  My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; The humble shall hear it and rejoice

Jeremiah 9:23-24  Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows ME,that i am the Lord who exercises loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

It has been through this growth that I have come to be ANTICIPATING the restoration that is to come.  I have no doubt that it will.  God declares:

"Have complete faith in Me. I am giving you grace; I am redeeming situations for My purposes. Restoration is coming; believe My promises! Yes, restoration of relationships is coming. I will open doors; you will see My promises come to pass! Fuller revelation is coming, as well as the fulfillment of every promise.  I will bring restoration; don’t give up hope! I can still redeem your situations. Hang in there during these transitions; things are almost there! Yes, this has been a time of testing, but also of redemption, grace and mercy. This testing will end in victory! Keep praying, believing, and looking to Me. Receive and walk in My grace and rest."   ( for the complete word, click the words above)

 

I claim those words!  I trust my God and I await full restoration! 

Boasting in HIM,

Tracy

p.s…part of the restoration is for the body….www.thegreensmoothiechallenge.com.  More about that next time:) 

 

Glory Revisited

2009, the year that went down in a ball of fire!

I’m simply amazed at what this year has brought, what I have learned and what Glory has come despite it all.  When I started the year, it started with gusto and the GLORY LIST!  I did the list, I found Glory in every day of 2009.  Truth be told.. as the year went on I kept writing the same thing. YOU GOD.  YOU GOD are the Glory.  YOU GOD bring the Glory.  Only  you God know that which brings Glory. You are Glorious God.

Yes, this year has gone down in a blaze of glory and it will be one of the most memorable years of my life, for all the very wrong reasons and yet for all the right ones too.  I will continue the Glory list for 2010 but I will fill it out in advance. I already know that each and every day Glory will come from our God on high.  I have no doubt of that and I sit rock solid in my faith and completely confident in My God.

So, tonight I’ll share with you three lessons I’ve learned in 2009.  They may help you with your 2010, I know they have made all the difference for me.

1.  You can only make lemonade with lemons.  I already knew this prior to this year but I’ve always pretended that my lemonade came from some mystery source.  I’d hide the lemons, or deny they were there.  UGH…give a shout out to the lemons for goodness sake.  Without them, there would be no opportunity to make lemonade!

2.  If you wait on the Lord  He WILL guide your steps and make your path straight!  Before this year, I would wait on the Lord until I got tired of waiting and then I’d make the best choice based upon what I think God would have me do.  This year I learned to wait on the Lord until HE moved.  And if He didn’t move I just went into His throne room and waited.  I love His throne room and I plan to spend more time there this coming year. Let me tell you that this makes all the difference and you see so much more of HIS GLORY.  It is truly a brilliant plan that God has.  He knows the plans He has for you, let him lay them out.  Wait on Him.

3. When  you think it can’t get worse it can…but have no fear, you TRULY won’t encounter what you cannot handle!  You can’t begin to understand this until you walk through your own dark night of the soul but trust me when I say it is true.

That’s it, enough lessons for me and perhaps just the right truth you need to begin your new year!  I never anticipated I’d be where I am today, or that I would have been faced with the challenges, circumstances and choices I’ve been honored with this year.  I’m pretty sure I screwed many of them up and I’m pretty sure I disappointed many, but I am confident that God is the God that makes all things new.  He WILL make all things work together for the good of those that love him and I am a forgiven child that is loved and even liked by God.  You are too…God waits for you, longs for you, wants to spend time with you!  He does and I know it. 

Child of the Most High King,

Tracy

New Year Resolution for 2010?

 

How He Loves

Contemplating how much HE loves us…..

 

I am amply supplied

“But I have received everything in full, and have an abundance; I am amply supplied…”  Philippians 4:18a

Today I had the privilege of reading the book of Philippians out loud in my home. I call it a privilege for many reasons, one being that some brethren in Christ Jesus our Lord don’t have access to the Word of God or would put their lives at risk to be declaring scriptures out loud.  But also a privilege to have a quiet Sunday morning to seek the Lord. 

As a full-time working mom of 2 amazing, busy, children, and being a woman whose circumstances don’t necessarily shout with Joy and thanksgiving, and being an American in such a time as this….I have been praying that God would open up ample opportunity to seek Him and learn from Him and be in His presence for longer expanses of time.  This prayer, however, comes with the realization that all  the things listed above do their best to press out every last bit of time and energy from my very soul.  Only a God who desires to be with me as much as I desire to be with Him would be faithful to carve out such times.  He has been faithful.

The main “gist” of Philippians is that we/I have been given the All-sufficiency of Christ in any circumstance, good or bad.  Christ is the very meaning of life and death.  And like Paul, I have the righteousness of Christ, I shall walk it out in joy and confidence.  I shall persevere.

So, I shout through this blog, at the top of my lungs with full conviction that “I HAVE RECEIVED EVERYTHING IN FULL, AND HAVE AN ABUNDANCE; I AM AMPLY SUPPLIED….”

It amazes me, rends me speechless, and leads me to worship the KING OF KINGS, LORD OF LORDS, ALPHA and OMEGA.  To the throne room I go, to meet with my King and to thank Him for the ample supply!

 

Change in mindset

I think I need a change of mindset.  I’ve been seeking vision and revelation with the wrong focus.  We can’t get the fullness of God without the fullness of the Holy Spirit and we can’t get the fullness of the Holy Spirit without having a Kingdom mindset.

What if we lived our lives with Jesus as our primary reward?  What if we received our identity based on Jesus not on what we did for him or how we lived for him, but just on Jesus alone?  What if we lived fascinated by the revelation of His beauty, of His majesty?  What would happen to our circumstances or to our greatest desires?

“He delivered me because He delighted in me” Psalm 18:19

Because Jesus DELIGHTED in me HE delivered me.

I’ve changed my mindset.  Not what areas of my life can Jesus deliver me but a complete focus on the whole reason HE delivered me. He delivered me and He delivered you because He delighted in us!  Knowing that the King of Kings loves me makes all other things insignificant.  There needs to be a change of focus from what needs to be fixed or made new, to a complete satisfaction in knowing ‘Jesus Loves Me’.

We sing that song, over and over, growing up and here it turns out to be the only Truth we really need to plant in the core of our being.  Jesus loves me this I know. The primary dream of our heart must be related to our relationship with Jesus not the measure of blessing on our circumstances.

My life’s goal is now not what I can do for Jesus, what can my ministry be, but my life’s goal is to grow in the revelation of the Secret’s of Jesus Heart!  To understand  more and more how much he really love’s me.  To grasp the depth of “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine” Song 6:3

Lord, release the revelation of your Love into my heart. Let it be my only desire to know you!

 

Simple Prayer Furnace

Furnace: An intensely HOT place

Prayer: A reverent petition made to God

Simple: not complicated, easy

So what’s a simple prayer furnace?  Its a place where two or more are gathered offering non complicated petitions to God, the Holy Spirit brings the Heat!

A group of us in Bend, Oregon are going to begin a simple time of prayer on a regular basis.  We will be using the up/out/in model of prayer and worship. 

Its kinda cool actually. 

You start with worship, lead into prayer UP-that is focused on adoration of God, speaking forth the knowledge of who God is. 

Then more worship, followed by prayer OUT-Outward prayer of intercession for others, cities, nations, etc.

More worship…IN-inward prayer for individual needs and for strength in our Christian walk.

More worship….Soaking in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Wanna Join? All are welcome….let me know.

Tracy

 

Sacred Charge

11/11 IHOPU(International House of Prayer University) in Kansas City, the Holy Spirit moved in the midst of the students with physical healings, deliverance and the spirit of joy. The class continued for over 15 hours.  The awakening continues, you can watch it on  live stream at WWW.IHOP.ORG. 

Over the past year, the Lord has brought me to a place of intercession and worship unlike ever before.  It seems to be a movement of the Holy Spirit in the lives of many these days. 

Acts 2:17 –19 & 21“And it shall be in the Last days”, God says, “That I will pour forth My Spirit upon all mankind and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even upon my servants, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit and they shall prophesy. and I will grant wonders in the sky above and signs on the earth beneath….and it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The day is  here!  I have decided  to join the Sacred Charge.  Click the words to be linked to the website that will tell you all about it.  It is connected to the Luke 18 Project which seeks to partner with the Holy Spirit as HE raises up a prayer movement across the globe in preparation of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.  There are 7 charges given to those who dare to step out boldly and partner with the Holy Spirit in this prayer movement.

1. Pray daily
2. Fast weekly
3. Speak boldly
4. Do justly
5. Give extravagantly
6. Live holy
7. Lead diligently

I invite you to join the Sacred Charge with me!  This movement is a corporate movement that takes fellowship and unity.  Be sure to tell me if you’re ALL IN with me;)

In addition to taking up the Sacred Charge, we are starting a “Simple Prayer Furnace” here in Bend. I’ll share with you all about that tomorrow, until then, pray with me as we await the Holy Spirit to fall afresh in Bend, Oregon! 

Tracy

p.s.  check out IHOP.org!  The webcasts are really amazing, they have testimonies and worship.  It has blessed me and I trust it will be a blessing to you as well:)

“…men always ought to pray and not lose heart.” Luke 18:1

 

 

Armistice

~A state of peace agreed to, a cease fire, a truce, an end to hostility.

Today used to be know as Armistice Day, or Day of Remembrance, it is now Veteran’s day.

November 11th   (11/11)

Back in 1918, in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, a stop to hostilities was declared, ending World War I.  An armistice was signed to cease the fighting.

Today, I wonder what do you need to sign an armistice with?  What do you need to stop fighting?  What hostilities need to be declared out of commission?

Today, I declare an armistice a state of peace.  I think we each have something that could use a little(or a big) armistice.  So, won’t you join me!?  Make a declaration to stop hostilities and begin peace talks.  Call down God’s Glory and EXPECT Him to show up.

As I started this day, I had no idea that it would be a day God would make himself known with such grandeur.  I’ll admit I haven’t started many days recently in expectation that God would do anything out of the ordinary.  Sad isn’t it?  When you take a moment and think about how our UNexpectant hearts are leading us to perhaps miss the Glory of God.

I will not share with you the details of the GLORY, however, I will share with you the advice to take heart and open your eyes expectantly when you awake each day.  It is to precious to miss and to important to remain unaware.  Be open to God’s goodness and to the blessing he wants to share. 

I want to be present WITH God so that I don’t miss the opportunities to make declarations that will change the future, declarations that will bring the Kingdom of God, declarations that feed and nourish my spirit, declarations that make a difference in my life and  in the lives of others.  Declarations that bring peace.

Lord, may my heart outgrow my head and may your presence fill me up! 

11/11…The day hostilities were ceased and peace was declared.

 

New journals

New journals are hard for me to start writing in!  I don’t know why….I’m sure my therapist could walk me through some psychological reason why, like I don’t want to screw up the first thing I put down on the pages, or embarking on new things causes anxiety for me, or I just like things to not be messy and I know what I write in journals gets messy sometimes.  But regardless of all the odd reasons why I get hung up STARTING to write in my new journal, I did it. 

This is what I wrote:

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets many times and in many different ways.  But now in these last days God has spoken to us through his Son.”  Hebrews 1:1-2

The Bible is the clearest, most trustworthy revelation and measure of God’s character.  However, this is not all of God’s heart for you.  He wants and intimate close relationship and fellowship with you.  He doesn’t want you to agree with a statement of belief or be content with your own understanding, He wants His heart to be your heart.

I just read this commentary and it said “Right belief does not change the world.  Correct doctrine does not usher in the Kingdom of God.  Your destiny hinges upon a passionate and personal relationship-which is the whole purpose of God’s word.”  Such a bold statement for the church today.  As we all seek out the ‘right’ church for us to worship in, the right set of doctrinal beliefs, aren’t we really missing the point.  Regardless of where we worship or what our church doctrine professes, we need to become passionate believers who, when they read God’s word, they hear his voice booming personally to them.  We need to learn to listen intently to His voice and then walk it out in trusting obedience.  This comes with reading, hearing, waiting and obeying. 

David Wallace said “The Word of God is like a mirror in that it shows us who we really are.  It is like a map because it shows us where we need to go.  It is like a portrait for it paints for us a picture of who God is.”

George Muller said “If the reader understands very little of the word of God, he ought to read it very much; for the Spirit explains the word by the word….The frequent reading of the Scriptures creates a delight in them, so that the more we read them, the more we desire to do so.”

Isaiah 55:11 recorded “The same thing is true of words I speak.  They will not return to me empty.  They make the things happen that I want to happen, and they succeed in doing what I send them to do.”

Jesus came to speak with His words and with His life, about the Kingdom-about the King, about the culture of heaven, and about your place in that Kingdom.  God’s word is alive and active.  I want it to be alive and active IN me.  I want the Holy Spirit to explain the Word of God to me BY the WORD!  For that to happen I need to be in the Word, reading…..Listening for God, hearing…..Resting in His presence, waiting……walking it out, obeying.

Let it be.