Truth Revealed 3.0: The Good News

Inspiration is everywhere for me.

My family and friends inspire me. My God inspires me through His word and His world. Books inspire me. And music definitely does.

Time blurs (I really can't believe it's August) but I think it was a few weeks ago that I heard this song and actually listened to what it said. And I fell in love. Hard (this song has been on repeat ever since).

This is a story about the Son of God who hung on a cross for me. But it ends with the Bride and the Groom in a wedding, with shouts of joy ringing throughout the celebration for all eternity.

And I cannot help but sing out, "Holy, Holy!"

This song echoes the Gospel so perfectly.

As you all know, it didn't take Adam and Eve too long to screw up paradise for all mankind. Taking a bite out of the forbidden fruit severed the intimate relationship we had with God. Then sin, shame, condemnation and death furthered the divide between us and God. We were alone in our mess, doomed and destined for hell.

But God intervened.

Jesus came down to us and died for us. He knew what we have done, He knew what we would do and He willingly went to the cross and offered Himself up as the ultimate sacrifice so that we all may be redeemed from death's grip once and for all. 

But please, you have to understand this: Jesus died for you. And He would have still gone to the cross if you were the only one in the world to save. My God loves you that much. Don't believe any lie that causes you to think that He died for the good people or that it didn't cover you or whatever junk. He did all this with you, your past, your hang-ups in mind. Trust that.

You may think that you're worthless but God thinks you're worth everything!

And the good news doesn't even stop there. Not only did He die for our sins, Jesus rose from the dead!! Death could not hold Him back. Jesus bankrupted the devil by breaking out of the grave to sit at the Father's right hand for all eternity, watching over you, ready at the first sign of distress to send help your way.

Isn't He mighty to save?!

The devil, jealous and conniving, planted a seed of doubt in Eve's mind causing the fall of man. Satan thought that was it, that he won, that God would turn His back on us like He did to him but no. God pursued us with such an unfailing love that He gave up His one and only Son to have a relationship with us. We are His forever, you are His beloved for all eternity. He's never gonna let you go.

Unfortunately, the devil is a persistent m'fer. The devil is going to do his best to make you think you’re still chained up by your past, failures, lack and insecurities. He’s going to sweet talk you into carrying burdens God already bore on the cross. 

Don’t let him trick you into thinking that you are still a slave. Instead pick up your bible and cut down those lies, cut down those strongholds. Call on the name of Jesus and send the enemy running. 

But don’t stop there! Stay in His word. Stay prepared. Stay prayered up for the next battle, the next storm. The enemy knows how precious you are to God. He’s gonna still try to knock you down. 

But when you strengthen yourself in The Lord, when you hide yourself in The Lord and His word, nothing can touch you. Nothing can keep you down!

Because when Jesus came, he didn't come to level out the playing field. He didn't come to give you a head-start on the devil. He came with victory. Jesus came to give you an advantage that can never be overcome, that can never be taken from you.

This is why you can look up to God and praise Him! No matter what is going on in your life, the score is known.

You have already won. Walk tall, warrior! Walk worthy.

Truth Revealed 2.0

I didn't plan on writing this post. I thought I would share a poem I've been working on and wait until my muse came calling to come up with another (I'm not even sure what to call it) inspirational prose (?)

But my muse came early and pressed onto me something I think everyone should be reminded of every day:

You are not alone.

You may be physically alone at times. You might not have someone tangible to share your life with, but even on your loneliest days, God is with you.

I was reading a devotional, Get Lost by Dannah Gresh, and it shared Romans 8:35-39 and it got me excited with the truth it held.

It reads:

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!

I don't know where you are in your life but God knows because He's right there in the midst of it all. He is with you. And He will never leave you. He died on the cross and rose from the grave so that you can approach Him with boldness, with certainty that you can and will reach Him.

But you have to receive that truth. Although nothing can keep Him from you, you can be an obstacle between yourself and God.

You might think that you don't need Him. You might be scared of what it may mean to be with Him, to surrender to Him. You may even think that He doesn't care about you, that He has more important things to tend to. But all those excuses are lies!

He cares so much about you. He knows how many hairs grace your head. He counts your tears. God loves you. He is in love with you and wants to be with you. He also wants you to want to be with Him but He gave you a freewill for a reason. He's not going to remove the last obstacle. He's not going to make you come.

God wants you to come of your own accord. That's the only way true love grows. And He wants that. He wants a real relationship with you.

So you have to receive it. Let go of all the preconceptions, all the doubts, all the insecurities and allow God to shower you with His love and His Spirit. Allow Him to be there for you. Allow God to be God, to be your God.

Reach out to Him, call on Him and His presence, His love will envelope you. His peace will transcend all the chaos in your life. He won't hold back when it comes to loving you.

The world is the devil's playground and he's placing stumbling blocks to get you frustrated, flustered, depressed, hopeless but if you remember the truth that God will never leave you, never forsake you, never forget about you, that He is right there in the trenches with you, then you'll be able to see God use those things that were meant to hurt you as stepping stones for the purpose He has for your life.

And He has great plans for you. Never forget that.

Whatever you are going through, don't call it a set back. It's a set-up for your destiny.

Truth Revealed

I'm a battlefield. We all are. We're tattered and bruised from the war within. People and situations chip away at us until we give up, until we stop trying.

For me personally, I'm fighting between complacency and greatness. 

Sometimes, I want to burrow into the wall and not be seen, not receive any type of attention or recognition. Just lie there and be (whatever that means).

But most of the time, there's a voice inside that refuses to let that happen. Each time I retreat, it calls out to me, asking me why am I hiding, why am I afraid?

And I don't have an answer for it, so I ignore it. However, the voice just gets louder and louder until my little corner gets too uncomfortable, too unsettling with echos that I have to move. So I do; I step out from the familiar and walk out into the unknown.

The journey is exhausting because the voice doesn't let me stay in one place. It keeps urging me on, encouraging me to keep up with the baby steps because they are better than no steps. The voice applauds me even when I'm crawling and is patient especially when I turn away.

It's been about four years since I've started this walk and I am changing by His grace.

And the promises He's been sharing with me are too good to be true. But God is faithful. I'm living proof of that and you are too.

You are the child of the Most High. Even if you don't acknowledge His existence, He breathed life into you, knitted you in your mother's womb and claimed you as His own. As His child, you can inherit His power. You are royalty and once you let that sink in, you wouldn't let anything shake you with fear because "He didn't give you a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, love and self-discipline."

This is why I can't stay still. This is why I keep moving. This is probably why there's longing within your soul because you have an inkling that you can do so much more. And you can, through His strength that is readily available to you.

But you have to break that mindset that keeps you enslaved and replace it with truth.

Let this marinate for a bit: Death can't even hold Him back. He conquered the grave with the same power that is accessible to you, so why are you letting the devil lie to you, convincing you that you're nothing?

Learn the truth, learn Whose you are because that changes everything.