Oftentimes, one can remain average due to fear of making it great. It is easy to remain at a place that appears average because it may also appear to be easier to maintain and can require less risk.
I like to remind myself that good is God’s starting place. It is the place where He starts, it isn’t at all where He lands at completion.
In the beginning, God created, and everything He created, He saw as good. God started at good He didn’t end there. He is a perfect God with a perfect view and, perfect intentions, in|on all things. Perfection and completion is, where He intends to end all things. God started all thing with a perfect view in mind. He knows the end from the beginning and has made room and provision for your greatness.
God will never be the one who stands in the way of you making something great. He’ll never be the one discouraging you in your pursuits for His will on your life and|or businesses|endeavors. God is the One who will champion your cause. He is the One constantly reminding you that He is the God of every great Bible story of the past and that He intends to write greater stories into the future of those who believe Him to.
“greater things you will do”
some of the words among Jesus’s last words.
Do you believe Him?
the One worthy of your belief
Be encouraged!
There is more to come! C R E A T E like it matters!
For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities — all things have been created through him and for him.
God is the WORD and the WORD is Him. Before anything was created GOD WAS, and before anything was created, THE WORD WAS. Nothing existed before God existed, and nothing existed outside of God creation of it all.
He is in the beginning, and before all things and He will exist after everything as well. Nothing created Him, and nothing created, could ever claim to have known (of) Him before it’s being created. God, THE CREATOR of all things, has made all things, through Him and nothing exist outside of Him. He is the God of the Bible, He is fully God; and through Him, are all things.
A question that has been nagging at my spiritual core lately is:
Do you believe all of what the WORD OF GOD says?
OR
Are they just another bunch of words?
This question and it’s implications have really been challenging me. They have challenged my thoughts on God’s word, and have challenged my thoughts towards the words of others.
“For, from You are all things and to You are all things. God deserves the glory!”
“He is worthy of it all, He is worthy of it all.”He is worthy of all of your praise and He is worthy of all of your worship. For, everything, not some things, were created by Him. In heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, all things were made by Him and for Him.
Nothings has ever existed before Him and nothing will exist after Him. Do we understand the implications of this truth? Do we understand the implications of how big of a God we actually proclaim and profess as our very own? Do we understand the implications of His glory, all alone? Not His glory alongside someone else’s, but only His glory.
You and I were made in His image and to, reflect His glory. Can you fathom the true and full glory of God if everything that has been created is just, a mere reflection of His glory?
I don’t know about you but I have seen some seriously glorious things on this side of life, and I hope to see so much more. But, if all of the glory that ever covers the earth is only a reflection of God’s truest glory; thoughts cannot be formed to imagine all of His glory and all of His splendor, in and of Himself.
Minimizing God, and all of who He is on a rampage in the present day and age; and I am determined to wrap my thoughts and all of my existence up into who, HE truly is. God’s true glory and presence can be minimized in and through the mere everyday existence, but it wasn’t meant to be this way. Your existence is meant to reveal, His glory, not minimize it. Your existence is meant to behold His glory, and not ignore or bypass it. Your existence is meant to trace His glory, and not extinguish it.
There are so many ways that you can benefit from your view of GOD, as THE WORD and THE CREATOR OF ALL THINGS. Don’t minimize that. Don’t minimize the way(s) that you might benefit from the nature and person of GOD, His titles, and what He does or has (already) done.
From Him are all things, and through Him are all things, and for Him everything exist. Don’t miss out on the ways that your personal existence is, for God’s glory, revealed in all things, through you.
John 1:1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was with God in the beginning.
All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created.
Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and were created.”
Isaiah 44:24
This is what the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb, says: I am the LORD, who made everything; who stretched out the heavens by myself; who alone spread out the earth;
Hey. So here’s a question that I am willing to pose…
What God have you gone the distance with?
Is it the God of your fears?
Is it the God of your reservations?
OR
Is it God, The Creator of The Heavens and The Earth?
According to the God you go the distance with, is the harvest you will reap.
I more recently had to remind myself through several weeks of floating through the psalms that it is, indeed God, The Maker of Heaven and Earth that I have decided to go the distance with. I look to a God who nothing created, but He created everything.
It sounds simple, it sounds easy to grasp and it sounds easy to comprehend.
For the believer, of course, He is the God we profess and look to; He’s our God, right?
When looking at your actions:
Do you truly believe that?
Do you truly believe that you are lead and in agreement and unity with the God of the Bible?
OR
Are you in cahoots with the God of your fears? What rules and drives your existence? Who have you put in the driver’s seat of your life, who is not the God of the universe?
The results of your faith should resemble the God you have gone the distance with. Evaluate the truth of the matter until you are clear on the God you have decided to run with. Consider and reconsider your allegiance, and petition the God of the universe until He responds to your claims and your devotion, regarding going the distance with Him, your God, your Maker; and Creator of it all.
Deuteronomy 6:4
“Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Psalm 86:8,10
Lord, there is no one like you among the gods, and there are no works like yours.
For you are great and perform wonders; you alone are God.
Be encouraged!
There is more to come! C R E A T E like it matters!
Whose word can you trust? Whose word do you believe for and towards your life?
Is it your own words? Is it the words of others? Is it God’s word?
Whose word sticks concerning your life?
The Bible teaches that in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.
Before anything was formed, God was the word. Before anything existed, THE WORD existed. And it wasn’t just any word|s, it was the word of God, the same words that spoke everything, the earth and all of the galaxies into existence.
I rarely discuss my son in these new found brides club blog postings but, he is a huge outer space fan. He loves all of the details and intricacies of the topic and has had me delve into it more than I’d like to admit that I have.
What I have come to realize is that space is so vast, light years and times and distance are always being mentioned to describe its vastness.
There are numbers that scientists don’t even bring up regarding distances in outer space. They use specific words to explain the broad scopes and places that separate things. And with that being said, God made it all, with HIS words.
Now with that being said:
How have you underestimated God’s word and its power lately?
How have you looked at scripture like just another book, with just some more pages to read?
God, the Creator of the universe, spoke and not only did He speak, THE WORD (His word) has never missed a single moment in history. It has been there since the beginning, and it has been there all along.
Whatever can be shaken, THE WORD of God is not one of them. Whatever can be moved, GOD’S WORD will remain. Whatever can be hindered, GOD’S WORD has never not accomplished.
We can oftentimes give attention to what is unnecessary and untrue and in that forget the power and truth that God’s Word holds. It has always been there and will always be there, even to the ends of the ages, God’s Word is everlasting.
It can be the most trusted thing to you and I if we choose to believe it. It is fully God and it fully accomplishes, leaving nothing at all undone. God is fully able to put into you the lasting Word that is truth. He wants us to live off of His every Word of His. He wants us to take Him at His Word and to be fully convinced of it all.
Have you decided to lay down your doubt in exchange for the truth of all, of THE WORD?
WHO HAVE YOU GONE THE DISTANCE WITH THAT YOU WERE NEVER MEANT TO GO THE DISTANCE WITH
Going the distance can, and, at times be costly. Which is why it is so important that you choose your distance and to whom you go the distance with, wisely.
A short question, but it might be worth the ask:
Who have you gone the distance with that you were never meant to go the distance with?
Who have you pledged yourself to? Who have you vowed to that may not have been the best vow|s to make?
Who have you sworn by that might have been better off not swearing by at all?
The Bible teaches that it is better not to swear by heaven or by earth, but to simply let your yes be yes and, your no’s be no.
(Matthew 5:34-37)
Do you struggle with your no’s? Do you find it difficult to maintain the boundaries that you have set in place for yourself?
Here is your reminder that if you have gone the distance with one or something you should not have, you can always find the nearest exit, and use it. You are allowed to exit what is not right for you, and you are allowed to exit what is no longer suited for you as well.
You are allowed to let go of a season, you are allowed to move forward and progress. You are allowed to move on and let go. You are allowed to say, “This is where this ends, and where a new chapter begins.”. You are allowed to grow, and you are allowed to change.
You are allowed to up the price of access to you, without apologizing for it. You are allowed to walk away. You are allowed to have clarity in partnership and relationships. You are allowed to say no if reciprocity, peace and, good fruit is foreign to the equation and|or relationship.
The Bible teaches the following words, “free yourself”. Free yourself like a gazelle caught, to be specific.
(Proverbs 6:5)
Free yourself from that relationship that causes more harm than it does good. Free yourself from the trap and the lie that you’d have to be bound to anything or anyone outside of Jesus in order to move forward.
You belong to a God who knows no limits or bounds, you are His heir and you are called to be an imitator of that same quality.
(1 Corinthians 13:7-10) J.B. Phillips New Testament
Be encouraged!
There is more to come! C R E A T E like it matters!
I once heard that the name “Christ” is not exactly Jesus’ last name, but that it means and represents the anointing of God.
“[one who is] anointed”
How could one deed? How could One being? How could One Name, solve all the problems that ever existed? How could One Name hold so much glory, meaning and purpose in it?
Christ, is the power of God.
Christ, is the wisdom of God.
How could Jesus Christ be the meaning and reasoning behind the Christian resolve? How could One Name be all of the power of God and, all of the wisdom of God all at once?
Isaiah 55:8-9
“My thoughts are not your thoughts,”
“For as heaven is higher than earth…”
That is precisely how;
God created the earth with His words (Genesis 1), and some think a cosmic bang might be more of a sensible reasoning to credit.
God said, that He has loved you so much, that He gave (John 3:16); while most would hoard and hold onto the things that they love and hold dear to them.
Jesus Christ, being the One who is all powerful, could have displayed all of His power here on earth and skipped the cross;
and yet, when He came to the earth the Bible says that “He humbled Himself by becoming…” (Phillipians 2:8)
After displaying such humility on earth, many would discard Him, but not God. God gave Him the Name that is above every Name and exalted Him to the highest position in, over and, among all. (Philippians 2:9)
That at the Name of Jesus every knee would bow and every tongue would confess that Jesus Christ, is Lord;
and that at that Name all power and all wisdom of God would be held together and displayed.
Christ, is the power of God
Christ, is the wisdom of God
But how does that benefit you? How does it benefit His bride?
It does, in so many ways, but I’ll start with this:
You no longer have to look elsewhere for anything you’ll ever need. You can look onto the One who made you, you can look to His Son.
The One who holds all power and all authority, the One who all wisdom, glory and honor belong to.
Once you have come through Jesus there is no looking elsewhere for what you need. He supplies it all, and then some. You don’t have to wander because you find all you need in Him and by His anointing.
Who has recently encouraged you that good is good enough? Who has told you that you might possibly be going too far? Who has told you that you, are just too much? Who has told you that you, just shouldn’t be in the lane that you are in?
Who have you believed regarding your own greatness, and why? Are they encouraging you to pursue more for you?
OR
Are they encouraging you to settle for what you’ve got or for what you will get?
Which voices are you listening to? Which voice has the steering wheel of your life?
Which voices do you pause and discern? Which voices do you take at face value? Which voices do you tell to get behind you? And what voices do you heed as if everything depended on it?
It is so important for you to know when and what enough looks like in your own life. It is imperative that you have the right individuals around you, ushering the call of God on your life.
Do I believe that everyone is called by God? The answer to that is simple, “Yes! I believe that everyone has a God given calling on their lives”. (Matthew 22:14)
Now whether or not we adhere to this call, is up to us. We get to put the speed as well as the breaks on the call of God on our individual lives, business(es) and|or endeavors. We are the ones who stop, pause and give access to the flow of God’s living water and occurrence(s) in our lives.
Who told you that good was good enough?
Genesis 1:31
God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
Genesis 1:27
So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female.
Good is God’s starting point, as it relates to a human life. He is adamant about revealing and revitalizing His perfect will in the life if every believer. Greatness and glory are His speciality.
So can I ask you again:
Who has convinced you that good was good enough?
Be encouraged!
There is more to come! C R E A T E like it matters!
When you hear of the word resurrection what are some thoughts that come to mind? How about the word life? What other words immediately spring up at you because of the mention of the words life and resurrection?
In John 11:25, the Amplified Version:
Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, relies on) Me [as Savior] will live even if he dies;
Jesus says “I am” and His “I am” might possibly be the most meaningful “I am” anyone will ever read, resight and|or hear.
He is the “I am”, He is the God who has been resurrected as well as the God who possess and holds all life.
He reminds the woman that whoever would believe in, adhere to, trust and rely on Him as Savior will live even if they die. Jesus isn’t talking to just anyone in this passage. He is speaking with His friend. The difference between talking with a stranger and conversing with a friend is one of a few things. Familiarity being one of them, Jesus was speaking with His friend, someone who was quite familiar with Him.
They knew about His miracles, they could recite and tell the tales of all that He had done; which is why it is no small thing that Martha would respond:
“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
““Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.””
“Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
It is easy to believe that something is the source of life in a general sense, but hard to grasp that just One being, could hold all of life and all of resurrection in their possession.
We look to a God who holds both resurrection and life in the palm of His hand.
We look to a God that could ask the question “Can these bones live?” and fully mean His question and still be able to respond in conversation with the words
“prophecy to these bones…”
Ezekiel 37:3-5
Then he said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live? ” I replied, “Lord GOD, only you know.” He said to me, “Prophesy concerning these bones and say to them: Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you will live.
We look to a God who rose again from the dead, on the third day, and who continues to call others to rise again, right along with Him.
We look to a God who literally defeated death. We look to a God who took the keys of sin and death, never again for them to be returned to the adversary.
We look to a God who holds all power in His hand; a God who is not bashful about His claims and ability to do. We look to a God who specializes in bringing dead things back to life. We look to a God who is both physically and spiritually able, to revive all things back to its rightful state and stature, and if not an even better one.
We look to a God who boldly proclaimed:
John 11:41-42
So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. I know that you always hear me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so that they may believe you sent me.”
As Jesus took on a human body knowing all too well who He is, has been, and would always be…
I imagine that through His lens, it might of been a bit frustrating at times.
How many times would He have to reiterate who He truly is? How many miracles would the people have to see? How many witnesses would have to tell of all He has done in order for all to come to the knowledge of the truth? Who else would have to be brought back to life in order for others to believe?
Jesus is and will always be The Resurrection and The Life. He has been given the titles since the beginning of time. He will always be known for who He is by those who acknowledge Him as such.
The call to endurance. Contrary to what this life may imply, God has always called His people to endure. Contrary to the idea presented to you concerning “tapping out”, my encouragement to you is this; you have always been called to endure.
What I am not suggesting, is that you pursue erroring on the side of exhaustion or exasperation. And although, God can meet you at each of those locations, He’d much rather meet you at your faith.
You have been called to live by faith. You are not called to operate outside of that. There is a God and He goes by the name Author. He is the Author of everything we know of that is pleasant, pleasing and perfect, on this side of life. He is the God who does not put His pen to confusion. He is the God who writes the most beautiful love stories and gives them each a special place in history. He is the God who is awakening hearts and minds to His very Own presence. He is the God who transforms souls according to His own authority to do so.
He is the God who’d Author your existence to perfection if you’d let Him. He is the God who has set a portion of His will aside just for you and intends for you to walk in that will.
There is a God who is the Author of the faith welling up on the inside of you; but He doesn’t stop there. He does not stop at leaving an undeniable hope and belief towards the future, alive, and breathing on the inside of you. He also says that He will take that same hope, no matter its size, and bring it to completion; just for you. He is the God who has desired to accomplish what He has willed on the inside of you.
Which is why the Bible says “looking to” (Hebrews 12:2). There is no way that one would be able to fulfill what the Author planned for them without looking to Him. Could you imagine words trying to get on a page without someone actually putting them there?
Could you imagine yourself not looking to Jesus to accomplish His plan for your life and then actually getting to the desired destination, according to His perfect plan and will? I am almost certain that the answer would be the words, “probably not”.
Some things can get done without your acknowledgment of God, but not everything can. Not everything can just happen without the acknowledgment or recognizing of the Author of our faith. Not everything can happen without the acknowledgment of the triune God. Not everything can happen without the acknowledgment of the Finisher of your faith. Not everything can happen without acknowledging that you, were never the one who deposited hope and faith into yourself to begin with. And not everything can happen without your acknowledgment that you need the Author of all things, in your story, in order for all things to go well with you entirely. He is the source and the perfecter of our faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Is it just me, or does this thought arise within anyone else?!
Whenever I hear the word “pursuing”, I immediately think of high level intensity and extreme things, and scenarios. Yeah, similar to, and along the lines of the words “high speed chase”. Yes, that intense!
Was that too much, or have I been tuning into one too many action packed movies and|or television shows as of late? I’m guessing, we’ll never really know?
I mention this to say that “pursuing”, although a word that can imply many adrenaline filled instances, risk taking and|or heightened levels of speed; doesn’t always have to be in full gear. Similar to a vehicle, our lives, if we choose to can and more than likely will, operate within different gears.
Sometimes, the “proceed with caution” signs are necessary. Other times, pursuing with more intermissions, for the purpose of evaluation and assessment is necessary as well. Sometimes, pursing wisely is the best kind of pursuit one can choose for their own lives.
Pursuing doesn’t always mean, to intensely pursue. And passion isn’t always measured by levels of intensity either. You can commit to the same level of passion and be equally as intense; with an even, consistent and moderate temperament, as well as with a level of ease about you.
Pursuing doesn’t always equal high intensity, and high intensity doesn’t always equal pursuing.
1 Corinthians 9:27
Instead, I discipline my body and bring it under strict control, so that after preaching to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
1 Corinthians 9:26
So I do not run like one who runs aimlessly or box like one beating the air.
Is it possible to pursue without aimlessly being intense? It is my belief that it is.
Is it possible to be outwardly intense in your pursuits and still, extremely and completely accurate? I believe this to be true as well.
I believe that it is equally as important to be driven by the right aim, have the right passion(s), be consumed with the right motives and|or will; in order to be moved along the right path(s).
I believe that we should evaluate and carefully consider the path(s) we ought to take; and if one is always in a rush to “pursue”, it will be virtually impossible to do the former.
Proverbs 4:26
Carefully consider the path for your feet, and all your ways will be established.
Be encouraged!
There is more to come! C R E A T E like it matters!
TrulyArielleA 