THE GOD WHO SEES
Someone needs to declare this over themselves today. “YOU ARE THE GOD WHO SEES MY NEED!” Say it until you have faith for it.
THE GOD WHO SEES
THE GOD WHO SEES
- Encouragement, Godhead Parenting
LET THE CHILDREN FLY
Have you figured it out yet? Who are the ‘Children’ in Let the Children Fly? Let _______ Fly!
YOU ARE ON A JOURNEY
God wants you walking in wholeness because you will naturally parent out of that place of hurt or freedom. God is not mad at your anger. God understands why you need to use control to feel safe. He understands the frustration you feel. Jesus has not left you in your mess. You have not ruined your children. You are a on JOURNEY! Your triggers are your road signs revealing what is going on inside of you.
Having a hard time believing that? Read Hebrews 12:2 and position yourself on His truth that it is HIS job to write your story and finish it.
LET HIM WALK WITH YOU
I just spent some time walking with a father who is dealing with the trauma (and horror) of his pre-teen daughter being groomed and seduced by an online predator. Seeing him take every step with Jesus in the process has been breathtaking. Jesus is not afraid to do the messy and hard things with you. He wants to carry the burden, the grief, and the fear and has so much to say and give you in exchange.
HE IS MY ANCHOR
My goal is to take your hand and place it in Jesus’ hand so that you walk this out together with Him. He is the One who sees, knows, and holds the keys to your freedom. He is the One who purchased your forgiveness, healing, and wholeness. He is the One able to heal, redeem and restore. He is the One who loves you far beyond what your mind can grasp. He is the One who understands. Jesus is your friend. Holy Spirit is your guide, and Father God is your anchor.
Invite Him by praying, “Holy Spirit, I welcome You to come and reveal whatever it is You want to show me. I ask for an increase in Your peace and presence. Open my eyes to see what You see. Open my ears to hear what You have to say. Open my heart so that I can receive all that You have for me. In Jesus’ name.”
THE WHOLE PARENTING
You can’t take the parent out of parenting. A parent’s journey matters because they will naturally parent out of that place.
I’M SO MAD
Instead of partnering with condemnation or moving into behavior modification, listen to what your anger is really saying. Jesus wants to hear the voice under the emotions.
CLEAN VESSELS
When I travel, I intentionally spend time with the Lord once I get to the hotel to be in His presence and allow Him to align my heart to whatever He wants to do. While I know my message enough to do it in my sleep, I want HIM to show up, interrupt me and feed the people through me in whatever way He chooses.
As I was sitting with Him, I sensed strongly that I was to ask my daughter (then 9), who was with me, “Jesus, is there anything we need to confess before ministering this weekend?” The question felt out of the blue, but I trusted He was doing something. As we asked, my daughter became agitated. She was wringing her hands together and didn’t want to talk. Oh my. I told her that she could have some time to process it, but that Jesus was highlighting something for a reason. An hour later, she was still upset and shut down. I felt conflicted about what to do as a ministry leader and also as her mother. I heard God say, “How would you respond if she was a team member,” and I knew immediately if a team member was struggling with unconfessed sin, I would allow them time and freedom to work through it but would not invite them to minister. Why? Because while we all fall short of the glory of God, Jesus was highlighting something specific that He wanted to deal with BEFORE we ministered. It would not be loving of me as a leader or mother to allow someone to walk on a platform if they had something the enemy could use against them.
I told her, “Baby, you can take all the time you need to gain the courage to work this issue out with Jesus, but I love you too much to have you minister with me tonight. There is no pressure to be anywhere other than where you are right now, but as your mom, I need to cover you.” It was hours later that she finally, with great effort, came to me and told me why she was struggling. Whenever she goes to bed at night, she gets these sexual thoughts in her mind. At first, she knew she should take them captive, but they kept coming at her. She stopped taking them captive and allowed her mind to ‘see’ things. She was very emotional. I asked her what she thought she had done wrong, and she replied, “Mom, I wasn’t pure.” Oh, no, no, no, baby. You were being tempted by the enemy and needed some help, but you didn’t do anything wrong. The enemy was using it against her even though he was the one doing it, not her. There is a world of difference between something coming from within and something coming on you. I helped her walk through forgiveness for the things her eyes saw, and we asked Jesus if He forgave her. We then asked what lie she was believing because of it, and she heard, “Something is wrong with me.” We asked Jesus how He felt about her.
Hours later, we were on stage together ministering, and guess what God did during ministry time? He had me go after sexual purity. Jesus was showing us there was something in her that needed to come into alignment BEFORE we could go out and fully be His instruments. Could you imagine me calling that out when it was an area she was walking in shame? The enemy would have used it against her. Jesus is so smart, and we can trust Him to lead us.
PURIFYING SEASON
As a watchman on the wall for families, I can tell you that you are one of MANY who feel flattened by circumstances and profound inner turmoil. God is purifying us – you are not alone. The topic may be different, but the battle is the same. This is God cleaning us in and out of anything that isn’t of Him. Seriously, count it pure joy that you are being so radically transformed. Do not let the enemy speak an ounce of lies to you that you are the only one, can’t handle it, or won’t make it. God’s got you, and He WILL finish the work as He prepares His Bride.
GOD IS FUN
I hear this all the time – “I believe God is good and loves people, but I don’t think of Him as this fun God. I grew up with a picture that God is always very serious. His Kingdom is serious in that it’s life-changing, but the idea of playing and engaging with Him seems foreign.”
If this is your view of God, I want to invite you to sit with Jesus, His Son. Ask Him, “Jesus, will You please give me a picture of the FUN side of Your Father?” You might want to set an alarm on your phone and ask Jesus to introduce you to this part of His Father every day until you can begin to see and experience this part of YOUR Father, too. Yes, God is Almighty and serious and powerful, but He is also the most fun-loving, tender, and engaged Father.
HIS COMMANDS COMFORT ME
I was so struck while reading Psalm 119:143 – “In my distress and anguish your commandments comfort me.” I was reading commands as in obedience, but as I sat with this longer, the revelation came. What does God command us to do? To praise, not fear, rejoice, and give thanks. Whoa!
Praise – gets our eyes off our circumstances and on Him. We become whatever we set our gaze to.
Not fear – fear sabotages our faith.
Rejoice – means to partner with.
JOY – joy releases a natural chemical in our brain that restores our passion and fight.
Give thanks – focuses on what He has already done (and is capable of doing again).
The nature of distress is extreme anxiety. The nature of anguish is server suffering. God’s COMMANDS bring us back to the reality that He sees. He is in control; He is able; He has done it before and can do it again. Yes, His commands comfort me.