Abundance

God reminded and revealed the most beautiful thing to me last night as I was falling asleep! When Christ died He took all our punishment. He bore it all!! That means that God never punishes our sin. Sometimes our sins punish us, but in Him there is only freedom! That means that God doesn't take away things or hurt us because of our sins. He just doesn't!! Everything that is taken away from us is not punishment! When good things are taken away, they are stolen by the enemy. He has come to kill, steal, and destroy, but Christ has come that we might have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10). God never desires to hurt us. However, just as a loving Daddy will take away something that will hurt us, our Abba is watching out for us diligently. His desire is never to make us miserable. He hates to see us hurt. That is not His heart's desire, but He sees the big picture and desires to take us to the most abundant place possible. Sometimes we kick and scream. And consequently, sometimes He leaves us to what we think is best for us. After all, He never desired for us to be robots. He gives us free will. Just as Moses made decisions that kept him from ever reaching the promised land, we can choose to not move forward into the destiny God has for us. But... if God has the best for us, why would we not want that?? Why would I not want to follow Him to deeper and better places? He has promised abundant life. He has promised to restore the years the locust stole (Joel 2:25). When we seek Him, He doubles the portion that the enemy stole (Job 42:10). But wait-- He doesn't promise it will be easy. It's often in the valley that He speaks to us (Ezekiel 3:22), but He promises to walk through that valley with us (Psalm 23:4). He calls us His. He calls us precious and honored, promising to never leave us in our trials (Isaiah 43). The way is narrow. It's not always easy, but it's good. Because He is all good and desires to lead His children to abundance. Praise Him!

Makenzi the Bold

Last spring, I hit a turning point in my life. It happened one night after a school event. Insecure and hating to mingle, I quickly dashed back up to my dorm. I knew I was probably missing out by having not stayed around, but I said, "Oh, I'm just shy." I'm just shy. The words I had used as a crutch my entire life. Suddenly, I was fed up with it. I had heard my pastor and a leader within the College saying that we weren't meant to be shy. Sure, some of us are more outgoing or introverted than others. We all have a personality, but God never meant for us to be SHY. If you think about it, that excuse never worked for anyone in the Bible. It was always, "But I'll be with you." So, on that night I decided I was no longer Makenzi the Shy. I was Makenzi the Bold. Since that day I've been declaring that over myself, and it has worked wonders. I am much more confident in group situations than I ever was before. God made me to be His bold daughter. I am meant to boldly proclaim the work of the Lord. I'm also called to community and to a life of joy!! Today, I read something that put this idea into powerful words. I thought I'd share = )

"Our relationship with God is always extrovert. No matter our personality type, we are called at some point to shout, sing aloud, rejoice, dance, and declare enthusiastically who He is for us.... Joy has no introversion. It is exuberant, ardent, earnest, excited, fervent, hearty, lively, wholehearted, and zealous. It is passionate, vehement, and fanatical in it's appreciation, value and impression of God... The point is, we must develop our relationship with God across the extremes of personality. Initially its tough, eventually it's fun. The Father did not make me to be an introvert only. He made me to be an introvert with joyful, passionate, exuberant intimacy."
-Graham Cooke
"Qualities of a Spiritual Warrior

So if you're ever tempted to draw back in insecurity. Or if you think God made you to be shy. NO MORE! Start declaring that you are his bold son or daughter!!!

Falling Into Deeper Waters

Faith. If there is one word to describe this season of life it's faith. It's a time of uncertainty. I haven't the slightest idea what my future is going to look like. All I can do is have faith. God is good. And He gives good gifts. This is a time of character building, trials, molding, and oh so much growth. It can be scary, but it's so so good... So here I am in this season, and I'm taking the plunge. I'm going into deeper waters calling out to Him. He has said that the flood waters will not overwhelm me (Isaiah 43) so I choose to go deeper and deeper. I want to get more lost in Him.

The attached video is the best I could find of a song we've been singing at church lately. I love the lines "We're falling into deeper waters calling out to You" and "I've got a river of living water; a fountain that never will run dry." I'm choosing to take the plunge.

"W" Looking Pants

Tonight my family an I watched home videos. Last Christmas we had all of our videos put onto DVDs and I love watching them together. But tonight one of the scenes gave me something to think about... It opened to a 3 year old me crying and Mom talking to me. After listening for a moment you realize that I'm upset because in a picture I drew, the pants looked like a "W" so I got angry and "teared it up.". Both Mom and Dad are trying to make me feel better, reasoning with me that I draw very well for a 3 year old etc etc. However, you can tell they're trying not to laugh. Finally I just curled up in Mom's lap and wanted to be held.

I couldn't help but think about how God must see us and our problems. We act like the world is coming to an end, and may even feel that way. He isn't condescending or rude. He doesn't tell us to shut up because our problems are no big deal. Rather, seeing that we're making a fuss out of something that is going to turn out okay in the end, He reasons with us, speaks identity over us, asks us to go try again, and finally welcomes us when we go to be held. He knows it's going to be alright. He sees the big picture. He has a plan. He isn't stressing out about what to do or how he's going to fix our big mistake. All He does is listen and love. Man, that's a beautiful picture. I had to share. Hopefully it touched you like it did me. So if you ever feel like everything is going wrong, remember the "W pants" and run to Abba. He'll take care of it...

The Root of Self-Hatred

If you don't already know, I'm at One Thing in Kansas City, Missouri right now. Last night a man named Allen Hood BROUGHT IT and I HAVE to share! He approached the root of self-hatred as I've never heard it approached. Let's see if I can sum this up...

"I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." Genesis 3:15

When man fell, God made it known that He was sending His son through a woman- through a human body. Out of a human body would come the incarnate God to CRUSH the great rebellion of Satan. Because of this, Satan HATES the human body. He hates it!! So what does he do? He defiles it with sickness, with hunger, with perversion. He loves to see us sin against our body with a poor body image, sexual immorality, self-destruction. He wants to see you hate your body like he does. And these lies have infiltrated our culture. Bathrooms have become false places of worship where Satan feeds us lies then steals our dignity. We need to stop spending so much time in front of the mirror and realize that we are letting a demon of fear speak to us about our identity and especially about our future spouse. We need to tear down alters and demonic powers from lies of the enemy. We need to renounce self-hatred in the name of Jesus and receive the blood of Jesus. It's time for us to bless our bodies. It's time to redeem our bathrooms by speaking His truth, His word and His praises that it might become a place of worship rather than of temptation. It's time to stop wearing rags and start wearing the robes of royalty!!

"The king will desire your beauty... All glorious is the princess in her chamber with robes interwoven with gold. In many colored robes she is led to the king... With joy and flatness they are led along as they enter the palace of the king." Psalm 45:11,13-15