Momentum

I sat in my favorite chair, praying over my lackluster state and confessing the selfishness and self-centeredness that had crept back in to my life the last week. I felt ashamed of how I'd handled many things of late as well as how I'd lost my focus on God. Not a pretty picture.

Without focus we wind up running on our own steam. And that's when I received a clear picture of momentum from God. It's like being in a soapbox racing cart at the top of the hill. You get that push to get you going and then you sail down the rest of the way, relying on the steepness of the road and gravity to keep you going as long as possible.

But then things level out a bit and your momentum begins to wain. Before long, your cart peters out and you come to a stop.

As I received this imagery I could hear God say, "You went back to relying on your own strength." Yep, I did. And I didn't even realize it until my cart came to a stop.

That's one of the dangers we have to be aware of. We have these great starts in whatever area God is calling us to walk. All the pieces seem to flow together and we can see so clearly the path God is calling us to walk. We move forward and take off, but then seem to lose our oomph.

Somewhere along the line we've shifted from functioning in God's strength to using our own. It's subtle and sneaky. I think this is one reason why God doesn't give us the complete picture when He draws us to a path because He knows how easily we switch to our own ability and perspective.

Our reliance on Him for every step may feel like weakness, but I find it takes greater strength, commitment and focus to wait on God in this manner than to barrel forward with my own plan.

And waiting on God is by no means a lack of movement or direction. It is our most challenging state of action as Believers in Christ and our highest form of trust and worship.

You know, God has the best ways of letting us know He's right there with us. As I sat and worked through this and prayed for His strength, my phone buzzed.

This was on the screen: "@JesusStrength is now following you."

I’m shaking my head and laughing. God even uses Twitter. There are no true barriers to God's presence and strength. I'm reminded again of that verse that says we have not because we ask not (James 4:2-3).

I firmly believe God loves it and is highly honored when we ask for more of Him, of His strength and His presence. He knows our own momentum will only carry us so far and He loves us so much that He will allow us to peter out to understand the difference between His unending strength and momentum verses our own limited capacity. In fact, I sense His great delight when I step back into His presence and ask Him to take over again. And that delight never seems to wain or diminish either. No matter how many times I have to ask.

Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. — 1 John 3:21-22

And what are His commands?

This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. — 1 John 3:23-24

I think we complicate things sometimes, thinking we have to meet a performance standard. I know I still struggle with this at times. I judge the state of my relationship with God with how I feel, what my circumstances look like and from my own perspective of how “well I am doing things.”

Where is my focus when I do this?

God breaks it down so easily for us. Believe Jesus and love each other. It’s all about abiding in Him, focusing on Him. This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about keeping our focus on God and it won’t be the last, I’m sure. We need constant reminders.

So, my precious friends, I leave you (and me!) with this mental image as a reminder. You’re in that go cart and God is about to give you a mighty shove down the track. That cart holding and protecting you along with that surge of excitement is the Holy Spirit in and around you. And Jesus is there at the finish line, cheering you on. As long as you hunker down (abide) and keep your eyes on Him (focus), you won’t lose momentum.

Grab your helmet and get ready to fly!


Love you!

Dineen

Image credit: 3quarks / 123RF Stock Photo

Weekend Worship — God Won't Let Us Go!

My friends, how has your week been? Have you faced some "giants" this week? I know I have and I'm feeling a little battle weary, but gave me such joy through it this week. I love how our God does this, right in the middle of our circumstances. 

I want to share a little verse I stumbled upon this week and find HUGE meaning in it. 

"What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs." — Matthew 10:27

Jesus spoke this to the Twelve as part of what He instructed them to go out and do. In this I see two key truths. One, remember what we know to be true. God spoke this to my heart this week when I cried out to Him in a dark moment, "What do you know to be true." It came not as question but as a statement. This is our strength, to take the truth and speak it out. It brings God's light into the darkness. 

In this moment, I literally spoke out loud—God is good, God is in control, God is an equipper and God is a redeemer (Romans 8:28). The darkness lifted and my peace was restored.

And two, that's what I'm doing right now. I'm proclaiming the truth from the rooftops of the internet, namely our blog. We can share God's truth more easily now than ever before. We live in amazing times!

So, my friend, remember what you know to be true and go shout it from the rooftops! God won't ever let us go!

Love and treasure each of you so very much!
Dineen 

How Does God Prepare Us?

So often we look at our circumstances, trials and challenges as contrary to what we think or thought God was doing in our lives. We see them as setbacks, deviations and mishaps—out of our control and seeminly out of God’s.

But lately I’m seeing the seemingly out of control chaos of life in a different light and I think many of you are starting to see this too, in terms of being mismatched.

We’ve talked a lot about how God redeems not only us but everything in our lives as well. Good and bad, He uses it all. But what I’m trying to get at is, what if we looked at even the hardest parts of our lives as preparation for whatever it is that God has called us to? What if in our attempts to just persevere we’ve limited ourselves to just the next step when God is working on our lifetime picture?

I want to show you some incredible examples right from the Bible—ones you and I are familiar with but sometimes need to see as a whole and in a slightly different perspective.

Specifically, God’s.

Take Esther. Her story is definitely ours. God put her in a position to move from simply being one of “the people,” an Israelite, to a queen who would use her influence to save her people. She went through a year—an entire year!—of preparation to step into this position. And God prepared the way for each step with His favor and provision in the form of a eunuch who saw her potential and a king whose heart was softened by her gentle presence.

How about Joseph? God gave Joseph a glimpse of his future purpose in dreams. His brothers’ jealousy led them to throw him into a pit, which led to slavery. As a slave, Joseph learned to run the household of an Egyptian official.

Joseph most likely learned the customs, culture and laws of this foreign land during this time. He organized and ran everything for Potiphar until his lust-driven wife falsely accused Joseph of assaulting her.

He’s thrown into prison where God’s favor leads the captain of the guard to put him in charge of an entire prison. All of it, including those incarcerated there. Joseph must have taken what he’d learned in running a household to now run a “household” of a much larger scale. Here he meets the cupbearer and the baker whose dreams most likely remind him of the ones God gave him as a youth.

Two years later the restored cupbearer remembers Joseph and suggests him to Pharaoh as a dream interpreter. Joseph is brought from managing a prison to now running an entire kingdom! All that he has learned again is crucial to managing the biggest “household” of all.

His journey begins and ends because of dreams and everything he’s endured, suffered and experienced has prepared him for what God first showed him—to be the saving presence and provider of a race of people. From pit to prison to palace, Joseph’s legacy would go on even after his death.

And what about Moses? He grew up in a palace and saw the workings of a kingdom managing its people. He’s then “thrust” into the seemingly menial task of managing herds of sheep for forty years. He’s gone from being an observer to having hands on training in managing masses.

All this was his preparation to step into leading over a million people from slavery to their promised land. From 40 years of corralling thousands of sheep to 40 years of managing an entire people population.

I’m sure at times these people must have wondered how God was working, just like we do. Or was God even in the picture! Just like we do at times when we see only the impossible standing in front of us so much taller than we are.

But what if instead, we faced down our giants? What if we began to see the potential instead of the purgatory? What if our entire mindset were to shift from just looking for how God would get us through to what is God preparing us for? Teaching us?

How is He growing me through this so that I am equipped to manage and do what He has next for me?

Many of you have shared in the comments recently that you are seeing how your mismatched marriage has drawn you closer to God, and that you even wonder if you would have gone so deeply and craved God’s presence otherwise.

I say let’s not waste time wondering but instead expend that energy asking God to show us what we can learn and jump in with both feet with expectation for what comes next.

Because this is our trust in action. This is our faithfulness to God. And right now I am astounded at how strongly, greatly, massively (I can’t find a better word) God responds to even the smallest step of faithfulness on our part with His great and overwhelming faithfulness to us.

We walk with the Holy God of the impossible. My friends, let’s walk like we believe it. I know it’s not easy—trust me, I’m struggling to do this myself right now, but the more I determine to do this and see things from this perspective, the more I walk in the Spirit and the joy of the Lord.

I begin to see what is impossible for me as POSSIBILITIES with God!

These are exciting times. We are living in a time of great revival, awakening—whatever you want to call it, God is doing it. And He’s preparing us—each of us—for our unique part in this great movement. Right now, right where we are. We are in training.

Let’s look for and walk in His presence, my friends. Every day. Every moment! Call out for Him to pour out His Holy Spirit over all the nations, over all His people, over all of us, and especially for those who don’t know Him.

Now is the time to get ready. God has big stuff for us!

Love you all so very, very much. You have my heart!
Dineen

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My friends, no matter where I go I keep hearing this same message. Special thanks to a friend who shared that a specific verse was on her heart and mind. When I read it, I knew it was meant for us and for all of God's daughters whom He's calling forth in amazing ways right now all over the world.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, Gods special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. — 1 Peter  2:9

Right before the last conference Lynn and I spoke at, God gave me a dream that I shared with the women who attended. I've had prophetic dreams before, just a couple that were directed just to me. But this one, this is the first one I've received that related to a global scale. I believe He wants me to share it here as well.

I was half awake, half asleep (it's possible it was a vision...I honestly don't know). I stood before a tall crop—corn I believe. Jesus stood next to me.

He gestured to the crop and said, "This is the Great Harvest."

I said, "Lord, I can't see past this, can you show me more?"

Suddenly I was up higher and could see tall mountains in the far distance. The crop spanned all the way to the mountains!

My friends, pray and seek God for how He is calling you forward. These are exciting times! God is moving in such a large scale right now. Many of us are hearing the same things! Share in the comments what you are hearing. I'd love to hear your thoughts and impressions of what God is doing.

I am so thankful for each one of you. That I can share this amazing journey with my fellow SUMites. God has so much and even more for us! 
Love you dearly!
Dineen

This is the entire worship session with Jesus Culture from the 2013 Power & Love Prophetic Conference at Bethel Church in Redding. Listen to all or bits and pieces, but do listen to Beni Johnson's message at about the 59 minute mark. You will be blessed with hope!

Trusting God is Like Building a Puzzle

My friends, I have to tell you I wrote this post partly on my iPhone as I did my walk and pray. I can only imagine that my fellow walkers and joggers thought I was a text addict, but when God has something to say, I’ve learned not to rely on my memory and write it down.

I went out on this walk with the goal to hear God on a particular issue. I needed answers, or at least an answer. I believed I’d received part of it during my quiet time, but I needed more.

You see, I’m in that place where you think you’ve heard what God is telling you to do but it’s pushing you to a whole new level of trust and dependence upon Him and you just want to be sure. As I prayed and sought God in this, He began to show me how trusting Him is like building a puzzle.

When God thought of us, created us and thinks of us, He sees a complete picture—who we are created to be and this reflects God’s heart for us. Yet we live in this world of brokenness and evil that has fractured our picture into pieces. Our faith walk is a journey to find those pieces and put them where they belong until we have the complete picture. I believe this is a life long journey and we see the full picture when we go home to heaven.

So in the meantime we have these puzzle pieces and each one represents an area of our life or situation that God asks us to trust and walk with Him. As we do, each piece goes into place and we begin to see more of the big picture and have a better understanding of God’s plan. This also gives us reference and inspiration for the next area or puzzle piece.

Sometimes the areas we work on start outside of the puzzle frame. You know, when you work on a section of the puzzle and build it part way until you see where it fits in the bigger picture.

Right now I’m in one of those areas. I can see only this small section that I’m working on and it’s a crucial area to the bigger picture. It involves not just me but my hubby as well. You see, there’s something I could do to help solve part of this problem but God is asking me to wait and let Him do this. I have no idea how, only that He’s asking me to trust Him in a whole new way.

As I walked and prayed God spoke to my heart and said, “We’re building the picture together, Dineen.”

It’s a big challenge to trust God in this, but I am willing. He’s proved Himself faithful over and over again. But I realized that staying this course of trust means I will have to explain to my husband why I’m waiting and not implementing this solution. The question then came, “do I fear my husband’s displeasure more than God’s?”

Yet another area and opportunity to trust God. I will have to wait to see how this plays out and trust God here as well. Get the picture?

Thankfully, God already knows the big picture. After all, He created it and everything He does in our lives is intended to add to this picture to bring it to completion, because everything He starts He finishes (Phil. 1:6). He could do it all Himself but then where would that leave us? Mere spectators? A flat picture on a table with no substance or depth?

Just like when we sit down to actually build a puzzle, we know the end will result in a complete picture. We study each piece and come to appreciate its detail and significance to the completed image. All the pieces are there and Abba is working right there with us to put it all together. He’s asking us not only to trust Him for each piece but for the whole picture as well.

This is the adventure of faith and trust and belief. We don’t know how all the pieces fit together but God does and the picture is vast because it’s not just our own picture we’re working with God to create but also the areas of overlap where our lives intersect with the lives of those we love, those we pray for, those we care about and those He calls us to serve.

It’s about building the picture of a lifetime.

Walk in trust, my friends. God won’t let you down and He is by far the best puzzle master I know. Share in the comments what your “puzzle piece” is right now and let’s pray for each other.

Love you with the passion Jesus!
Dineen

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My precious Sumites, I love this song by Chris Tomlin because it's about the surrendered life and the JOY of living like we belong to Jesus. Because we do! We are His and He is ours. This is also what Scripture means when it says, "the joy of the Lord is our strength" (Neh. 8:10.)

When we walk in this place of surrender and obedience, we know freedom, joy and peace. To the world it makes no sense, but we know better, don't we? And oh, my spirit longs to share this with everyone! We want everyone to know our amazing healer and comforter, Jesus. Especially in light of the horrible events this past week.

We have the Holy Spirit and God is calling us to share Him! Have an amazing weekend, my dear sisters and brothers in Jesus. May His presence fill and rest upon you, may His blessings rain down over you and your family and may His strength, courage, love, power and authority reign supreme in your life!

We adore You, Jesus! Amen!

Love you so much, my friends!
Dineen

 

Trust + Surrender + Obedience = Breakthrough

My friends, a few weeks ago I talked about A Step of Faith. In that post I said “we will have to take a believing step of faith to activate the promise we’ve been given.” This was all about trusting God and moving in that trust (faith) to step forward.

Nearly a month later I wrote a post about The Surrendered Life. In that post I shared, “The better I know God, the more I trust Him. And the more I trust Him, the more I am able to surrender to Him.”

Now God has me on the next stage of this journey to understand obedience. I see it this way. As we come to know God and truly believe He is good (Think about that right there and see if you truly believe God is good. Remember, He’s not capable of an impure motivation. He is just GOOD and works for our good. Always. Read Romans 8, specifically verse 28) we are able to surrender more and more of our lives (the outward manifestations of our actions and desires) and more of our hearts (where our desires and motivations behind our actions are birthed). I hope that makes sense.

So we have knowledge and understanding from experience, which enables us to trust God more, which then enables us to surrender more.

Then comes obedience.

Often times our surrender will require an act of obedience. Sometimes it’s more inward, like surrendering our control over our lives. We make a choice, we give this to God and then our actions and choices thereafter reflect this choice. Remember the power of choice.

But sometimes God wants us to specifically move in obedience in a particular way, especially when it comes to strongholds in our lives where we have to surrender a thing, a dream or even a person. Anything that holds more importance in our lives than God is an idol. Even if it’s something we see as being good for us, if we make an idol of it, God can’t give it to us, whatever it is because it’s not in His GOOD character to lead us into sin.

I have walked most of my life with a particular stronghold in my life that I have asked God over and over again to remove. If you’re thinking of Paul right now and his struggle, in which God told him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness,” then you’re right on target with me. Just call me Paul (grin). God gives me that verse frequently. I’ve prayed for years for God to take it out of my life, yet now I’m realizing the truth of this quote I read in a devo from Rick Warren:

“The secret to changing your life is not willpower. It’s God giving you the will and the power through the Holy Spirit to do what needs to be done.”

That means we have to make the choice to follow God wherever He takes us. Yes, we can ask God to move in us and change whatever we are battling within ourselves, but now I’m discovering I can’t keep reverting to my willpower when I don’t see results fast enough and I can’t just sit there and expect God to do all the work.

I knew this already, but for some reason, I was still holding onto to what I wanted and doing it myself instead of surrendering it completely to God and trusting Him to do this change in me. It’s a daily walk of obedience.

The amazing thing is, since I have made this choice to be “all in” and do it God’s way, I already feel stronger and more resolved. My choice has activated the promise (God asking me to trust Him to do this in me) and I feel the will and the power through the Holy Spirit already in action.

This is the start of my breakthrough and I’m praying for more. All this that I’m sharing here today is true for everything we walk through, whether it's a stronghold, a trial, or even a dream God has set in our heart. God wants us to walk fully in this will and power through the Holy Spirit.

It’s a life long journey and adventure, that’s for sure. Not easy but challenging and exciting. It’s that verse from Psalm 34, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man (and woman) who trusts in Him!”

This is truth behind the path of faith, the surrendered life, the abundant life, the intentional life—of Jesus, who is THE WAY, and THE TRUTH and THE LIFE!

Can I get an amen?

Love you like crazy!
Dineen

Image credit: alvinge / 123RF Stock Photo

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My precious friends, I know we're mourning the loss of Rosheeda and celebrating her new home in glory! Ro is the one who inspired me a couple years ago to surrender to God and to seek to live and understand what a surrendered life looks like. She lived and breathed it. She lived and breathed Jesus. And that's what we shared about her at the conference, that she lived an intentional life for God.

Our conference was a huge success—successful just as God wanted it to be. Lives and hearts were healed and Lynn and I were allowed to be a part of that and witness it. I'm still amazed and astonished at what He did—what He spoke to my heart would happen just before the conference. Why am I surprised? We'd prayed for it, asked for it for months, weeks, then days before.

There would be healing. And there was.

Truly amazing—I can barely find the words to describe my awestruck wonder at how God does that. We began the day in ashes and up from those burning embers rose such beauty and restoration that we could only stand in wonder and be there in any way God called us to.

God comforted, sustained and worked through us to bring His Kingdom to Earth as it is in Heaven. What a glorious tribute to God's presence among us, not only there but among this community too. So many of you prayed for the women attending and for the weekend to bring so much to their lives.

And God heard every prayer.

This community is so amazing. Our hearts are joined in so many ways, but mostly in our love for Jesus, for our Abba and by the same Holy Spirit the dwells in each of us.

This morning as I went on my walk and pray, I followed my usual path and felt God’s nudge to take several pictures of my path. Strange, but as I did He showed me what He wanted me to see and share with you.

Sometimes God asks us to change direction, yet the new path He’s telling us to follow isn’t visible. And it won’t be unless we continue forward, trusting that the path is there and that He’ll make the way clear.

We walk a little further and the new path that was once indiscernible to our own eyes now becomes visible and makes sense. With renewed confidence, we quicken our step and continue on.

Until we see a turn in the path. What’s around the corner? Even though it’s unexpected to us, it’s not for God, Who tells us to keep going and trust Him for what’s yet again invisible to our eyes. We remember the start of this journey and God’s faithfulness then, which has increased our faith to trust Him again and continue forward.

And then we reach the final destination of our journey—this place God purposed us to be all along. He always knew the way and could have told us the full picture but instead He wants us to trust Him for each step as He gently guides us through each unexpected curve or those places where we have to trust the path is there even if we can’t see it.

That’s when we get to look back and see all the curve and twists that brought us to this new place, this new territory in our lives. We catch a greater glimpse than where we started of God’s faithfulness and care for us. We begin to understand that just because we can’t see the full picture, it doesn’t mean our life is out of control.

And to see this faithfulness so clearly in our lives is to know God better, to understand His great heart for us, and to grow in trust. This is the path that births big faith within us and brings God’s presence more visible around us.

So, my precious friends, God’s heart is for you to take the next step. Whatever that may be. Trust that the path is there. Trust that God has prepared a way for you. And trust that He is walking every step of it with you.

Our SUM community is a special part of His provision along the way. We are here to cheer each other on when the journey gets tough, here to lend a shoulder to the ones too tired to keep going and here to celebrate all seasons of life, and death, with each other.

As Ro so beautifully dubbed us, we are the SUMites. 

I love you all so very much,

Dineen

The Surrendered Life

My friends, Lynn and I are just days away from meeting some of you at the Intentional Life Conference. I am so excited to finally meet you in person and give you hugs! This community (SUMites as Ro called us!) is so precious to me. Those of you not coming, I feel like I’m carrying each of you in my heart to this conference.

These last few months we have witnessed God do some amazing things right here in our online community. I’m excitedly anticipating what God is going to do this weekend in the lives of all of the women attending. We are praying down the heavens to rest in and upon the church in Kingwood, their precious team working so hard behind the scenes to put everything in place, and for each and every woman who attends to leave on Saturday with a fresh anointing on their lives and new freedom that will manifest on a daily basis.

Just as we pray SUM community here too because Lynn and I want so desperately to see each one of you walking in this place of power and freedom in Christ because of what He's done for us and who we are in Him.

The week before Easter I was struck by the complete and pure example that Jesus presents as "surrendered." We think we “giving up” so much when we surrender to God—the world certainly thinks so and the enemy has convinced us of it too—but I’m discovering that when we surrender our lives to Jesus, that's when we WIN! We receive our complete birthright and inheritance in Him! In light of this holy dignity and His righteousness, who would want pride-based dignity before men and rights the world determines and changes on an hourly basis?

Some things we surrender once and we’re done with it because we have chosen to follow God. Some things we surrender for a time, waiting patiently and expectantly (or at least try to!) until God returns it to us in His promises and miracles. And some things we have to surrender on a daily and even hourly basis because our best choice is to trust God.

Surrendering isn’t always easy, and most definitely is always a process but the more I do it the more I embrace this amazing truth in my life.

My friends, SURRENDER = FREEDOM!

When I have surrendered my pain, God brought healing. When I have surrendered my grief, God brought comfort. When I have surrendered my expectations, God filled my needs. When I have surrendered my wants and dreams, He has given me more than I ever hoped for or imagined. When I give Him my heart, my worship and my trust by stepping out in faith, He has given me Himself.

This is the surrendered life. It’s not easy but it’s worth it. It’s not for the hero but the humble at heart. It’s not always what you want but it will always be exactly what you need most.

It’s about finding the heart of God and resting there. My friends, this is our peace that surpasses understanding in the storms of life. In this place, we can do anything and everything with and through Jesus, who’s Holy Spirit strengthens, guides, comforts and loves us, and know JOY even when everything around us is chaos.

The better I know God, the more I trust Him. And the more I trust Him, the more I am able to surrender to Him. I’m learning to leave off the “buts” and just believe.

Just believe.

Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, Father God, I pray that every woman and man who reads this prayer would receive a fresh anointing of faith. I pray that doubts would fall away, fears would flee and every day would bring new and stronger belief in You! Lord, open our eyes completely to Your presence in Your Word, the world and in us! Forgive us our unbelief and help us BELIEVE! You are the God of the impossible. Help us to walk every day with the expectation that You are present and working all around us. We stand ready to take the next step, Lord! Show us the way! In Your powerful name, Jesus, amen!

I love you all so very much, my friends, and I am praying and believing with you!

Dineen

God Set Me Up!

A couple weeks ago I wrote my post about the Israelites crossing the Jordan as a step of faith in their journey to claim their Promised Land. I also wrote about how this is our story as well, that we too have Jordans to cross and Jerichos to march around in order to claim the territory God has promised us.

I wrote that post from the comfort and safety of my home, from my favorite chair where I sit and meet with God each day, feeling quite content with the Jordans and Jerichos I’d already put behind me (yes, there will be many in this life of growing in Jesus!) and without any thought or consideration that God might just be setting me up.

Well, He did. Big time.

Let me back up to last fall and tell a snippet of a story from when Lynn and I were at the conference at Bethel. During the first night of worship, God gave me a small glimpse (thankfully because I think more would have crushed me!) of His heart and put a calling on my heart.

My friends, I honestly wasn't sure what to do with what I heard so I've been praying over it ever since, asking God for understanding and guidance, for people and training—whatever I would need to move forward in this calling.

Saturday the first answer to this prayer presented itself. And it scared me. Here was the door opening to an opportunity to be educated and trained just as I’d asked. My Jordan was my fear. Would I dare to move through it to walk through that door?

My fear ran the gamut, my friends. From going to a place unknown, both physically and spiritually, to how it would affect my family as far as the time commitment. I saw all kinds of reasons to justify not taking that step of faith.

And only one reason to take it. Obedience. In my prayers I'd told God I'd move forward if He sent me what I needed. He kept His part of the deal and now I will keep mine.

So here I sit in my comfy chair again writing this post with a whole new perspective on Jordans and Jerichos because this is a big one for me. Am I still scared? Yes, I am. I've always struggled with the unknown, as I imagine so many of you do. We want to stay safe and comfortable in what we know. But to do so would mean sacrificing what will most likely be one of the greatest adventures of my life because God never disappoints. He’s big and awesome and, praise Him, completely in control.

I am stepping forward—my trust in God is putting my faith into action.

I don't know what the Jericho is in this story yet. Just as the Israelites didn't know the full picture until the walls came down, I suspect I won't either until the fuller picture comes into view. I trust the waters of my family and time challenges will part as God makes the path clear for me.

My friends, I'm closing this post with the hopes that you will be inspired to take that scary step into the waters of the Jordan before you. God has big stuff in store for us. Let's take this next step together!

Love and TREASURE you all so much!
Dineen

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