For His Glory

I just want to speak the name of Jesus over every heart and every mind. I know there is peace within your presence. I speak Jesus. I just want to speak the name of Jesus ‘Til every dark addiction starts to break, declaring there is hope and there is freedom. Your name is power, your name is healing, your name is life. Break every stronghold. Shine through the shadows. Burn like a fire. I just want to speak the name of Jesus, over fear and all anxiety. To every soul held captive by depression. Shout Jesus from the mountains, Jesus in the streets, Jesus in the darkness, over every enemy. Jesus for my family. I speak the holy name, Jesus!! – The Newsboys

I am speaking Jesus, I’m going to speak Jesus, and nothing or no one in this world will stop me. You’ll never break my faith; you’ll never take this treasure from me. He is my God, and I am his child. I have nothing left in this world to look back on. The direction I am going is the direction I want you and all my loved ones to follow. The direction I am going is led by the king himself, it is Jesus.

Now, I’m not saying you have to be perfect as some would use the excuse, “I’m just not ready, or I’ll go to church and serve Jesus after I am done being young and restless.” Jesus is not about church or religion, or rules. Jesus is about a relationship with the creator, the one who paid it all for us. And just like any other relationship isn’t perfect, your relationship with Christ won’t be perfect, but the one you will have a relationship with, is Perfect, and he wants you to know, his love is enough for you, for he says to you, “My grace is sufficient, for I paid it all.”

You see we don’t deserve Grace or Mercy, but God loved us so much that he sent his son to die for us, showing us Grace and Mercy. And not only that, he send’s Jesus sometimes daily after us, when we wonder away from the fold.

 And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. –Exodus 34:6-7

Think about it. As humans some of us are relentless. We are always searching, and always looking for something to satisfy us. We have this gut feeling of what we need and what we don’t need, and what we should and should not do, but yet we choose to do what feels good to us. Think about those that followed the crowd on crucifixion day, the on lookers. Think Peter. He denied him thrice, but yet, Jesus raised him up to lead a multitude to him, in fact Jesus spoke to Peter, and told him ” And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18 “

Jesus also went on to say “ So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.  He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep. John 21:15-17

You see just like Peter in the bible, we all have denied Jesus, me included. I am guilty, sometimes I deny him as soon as I get up in the mornings, I am so busy that I often forget to say, “Thank you, Jesus for waking me up, I love you!” And just like Peter, I have said, I don’t know the man, just to blend in with the crowd, ouch, that hurt someone. Let it fly.

Are we afraid of who we are in Christ, or who he is making us to be. That relentless generation, that no longer conforms their identity to this world, but is rather made new daily in the eyes of Christ. I don’t know about you, but like I said, I am not flawless, and there’s always something Jesus can fix or work on when it comes to me and well you too!

Just like Peter, Jesus looks at us and says over and over again “Do you love me, if so, I have work for you to do, go and feed my lambs (the babies in Christ and the children who are following your footsteps, and also feed my sheep, I’ll give you milk for the lambs and meat for the sheep. Just like milk feeds a newborn baby who is born from the womb, milk feeds a newborn Christian, who is come into the newness life, and just as we transition from milk to meat as we grow, we do the same in Christ Jesus. The meat is a little stronger because they’re a little more mature in my word.” (me paraphrasing John 21:15-17)

Just like Peter, we can walk on the water, as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus. Now I’m not telling you, to go outside and attempt to walk on a water puddle (and if you by any means decide to, I want to see pictures. ❤ ) , its spiritual. The water, waves and storm symbolize all of life’s up and downs that we’re going to face, and the way we are to get through them. As long as we have our eyes fixated on Jesus, we’ll walk on the water, over the mountains, and when more waves come, we’ll take off running and laughing without fear, and know we are held on to by the master.

That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. –Hebrews 6:18-20

You see, if we want to get through these later days, we are to get closer to Jesus. We say we hope in him, but where is communication, where is the trust, where is the pleading, where is the “Hi, hello.”

I have to go back and read this. I have no idea what is written. That is often my way of letting lose and letting God lead.

Before I bring this to a close, recently I found out a friend of mine passed away. He was one of my residents, one of my babies, who became one of my closest of friends for some moment. I hadn’t spoken to him since around February of this year. After his passing I remembered, in one of his last messages he had sent me a song,

Have you been praying and you still have no answers? Have you been pouring out your heart for so many years? Have you been hoping that things would have changed by now? Have you cried all the faith you have through so many tears? … Don’t forget the things that He has done before
And remember He can do it all once more. It’s like the brightest sunrise
waiting on the other side of the darkest night. Don’t ever lose hope, hold on and believe, maybe you just haven’t seen it. You’re closer than you think you are only moments from the break of dawn. All His promises are just up ahead. He had the solution before you had the problem, he sees the best in you when you feel at your worst, so in the questioning don’t ever doubt His love for you ‘Cause it’s only in His love that you’ll find a breakthrough. –Danny Gokey.

Thank you, brother, for continuing to feed God’s Sheep even after you’re gone.

If ya’ll need me you know where to reach me

Christie7373@halfwayhomeministries.com

Remember I love you, and Jesus loves you Most!!

❤ Christie!

I come to tell you he’s alive, and that he dries every tear that falls! -Becky Townsend.