Rise Above All

Issuing this blog was a challenge. Blogs are designed to be personal.
However, the purpose of this Blog is to impart Him and His grace in my life (The Great I am)...
My prayer is that this blog impacts those looking to Jesus. In a humble spirit I will be sharing my revelation of Jesus.

At the age of 12 I accepted Jesus as my savior. I attended church regularly. Relationships and friendships kept me entertained and excited to be a part of something. The sense of belonging enticed me into loyalty to the church. There were experiences that showed me, at a very young age, that there was a powerful and higher being whose love for me made me a very blessed young girl. I felt loved.

My sense of worth at church was an escape to my reality at school and at home. I was always a heavy child and faced bullying for being overweight and my timid character made it difficult to create friendships and bonds in school. Church was a safe place, but I did not have a full revelation of God's love.

At age 14 my mother died of cancer. The church helped my family financially, morally and emotionally. Friends became family. Some of us still stay in touch through social media. We have attended each other's weddings and baby showers. A lot of those bonds are still very much held in high esteem.

At age 18 I left my home to face the world. High school graduate, in love and with hopes and dreams of starting my own family. I felt on top of the world. I started to begin having feelings of, "I know what is best for me, so why do I religiously attend a place where I am constantly feeling controlled and being told what to do and how to live my life?", and this is where my down spiral began.

After leaving home, God in His infinite grace and mercy provided for me. I never went without food, a roof over my head and then a little extra. I had left God, but God never left me.

However, the world (life without Jesus) started to drive me to ambition, addiction and a sense of "never enough". The word of God in Matthew 13:7 and Luke 8:14 compares the word of God to a seed. The parable Jesus illustrates helps us to have a visual understanding of how the desires of this world will kill the power of His word in our heart:

This parable spoke volumes to me and sooner than later I reflected on the deceitfulness of my rehearsed thoughts of wanting more, desiring more and thirst of a picture-perfect painted  image of my career, love life and self image. When I found myself discontent and unsatisfied, the efforts that made me strive for the illusions of perfection and achievements crumbled before my eyes. The things that I called goals had positioned me in a dangerous season of life. The hunger for corporate success drove me to work 12 hr days, my obsession with physical image had me in the gym at 5 days a week and of course  then there were pictures, of a picture perfect painted life, on my social media platform to fulfill my desire to be approved by others. I was led to believe I was a positive influence in other women and supported the belief system of importance of influence with professional peers and believed that to be happy we needed to risk everything. Go big or go home! 

But where was the will of God in all of this? Was I considering HIS purpose for my life? Was I taking time to quiet MY thoughts to listen to HIS whisper? Was I ever conscious of my blessings?

Not at all.. instead my daily focus pointed out my shortcomings and I convinced myself, " If only I could be better, if I could do more", I always felt I was not being efficient enough with the use of my time and "ONLY IF I achieved to finally (whatever the next big thing was)", then I will surely be happy and complete!

Life was exhausting! My heartbreaks and ambitions left me in the verge of panic attacks, health problems, abusive and toxic relationships and depression.

I needed God and I needed HIM desperately.

Life was exhausting! My heartbreaks and ambitions left me in the verge of panic attacks, health problems, abusive and toxic relationships and depression.

How does Jesus fit into all of my mess?

The word of God says in Genesis that God created earth and heaven and he saw it was good. God created nature self sufficient, non-stressful and He perfectly molded the frame of nature. Then he created man.

Adam and Eve ... ...well we all know where that story ends.

In the beginning of time God walked with us, He spoke to Adam on a face to face level.

God walked among us and we had the privilege of a personal friendship.

But our lack of trust in His ability and the persuasion of satan convinced us that maybe, just maybe God was keeping something from us. We trusted our own judgement. We trusted the voice of confusion (knowingly recognizing it was NOT God's voice) and even after all the great things of creation that God intended for our service and designed for us to subdue (sea, mountains, heavens, stars, flowers, plants with veggies and fruits, animals of the sea, land and skies) we doubted He knew best!

And we trusted that even if the outcome was not all that great, what was the worse that could happen? We trusted the voice of a stranger. We gambled. And we lost. Adam and Eve welcomed sin and death.

The word of God says Adam and Eve hid from God because they were naked. They became acquainted with shame and guilt and it separated them from God. Not because God hid from them, but because they hid from God.

It almost feels exactly the same as it did in the midst of my depression and anxiety.

I failed. I thought I knew better and I did not trust that His plans were better than my plans. And then I became consumed with guilt, shame, feeling of failure and feelings of never enough.

But thank God for Jesus!

In Mark 1:15 Jesus tells us The Kingdom of God is at hand! And then He gives us 2 very simple instructions: repent and believe.

This is a second chance to walk with God again. In Romans 3:23 it says, "we all sinned and fell out of the glory of God". Not one of us is found in right standing. Jesus is the second Adam. Jesus gave humanity a do over. Jesus came to help bring us to a reconciliation standpoint with our Holy and Heavenly Father and Jesus came to demonstrate how to reach for the fulfillment of our original purpose. Jesus brought heaven down to collide with earth and because He died and raised again we can have an example that helps us practice being a little more like Him.

Reevaluating

These days if my relationships, goals and dreams aren't aligned with God's presence, peace, affirmation and His perfect joy, then I immediately begin to question what does God have to to say? What is He telling me through the frustration and confusion in my in my mind? What lies am I believing?

Jesus said He came to give life in ABUNDANCE and He also warned that in this world we WILL find trouble, but He reminded us that he conquered the world, so why are our thoughts causing lack of peace and why is our dissatisfaction bringing us to a point of frustration? Why are we not enjoying life today? This is usually a LOUD signal that we need to reevaluate:

The Good Work In me Begins..

The word of God says in Philippians 1:6 "he who started a good work in you will bring it to completion", . The apostle Paul tells us (James 1:2-3) that our imperfections would present challenging trials, but trials will help us built endurance and endurance will help us reach spiritual maturity.

Perfection is impossible, but now I know I don't have to keep waiting for a perfect life to feel the joy of the Lord. Jesus is the answer to achieving the feeling of being fulfilled and blessed. JESUS did it all for me!

What are you waiting for?

Are you facing the emptiness and the void? Are you experiencing depression? Are you experiencing anxiety? Do you feel like your achievements and accomplishments have left you more empty than fulfilled?...

If you answered yes then my next questions are, have you accepted Jesus as your Lord? Have you allowed Him to show you how to reach a more abundant life?

If not then I invite to accept Him by saying a simple prayer, "Dear Jesus, please come into my life and into my heart. I accept you as my Lord and savior. Help me find you. I want to get to know you. Amen"

If you prayed this prayer, please share with people around you that you have made a choice for life with Jesus. Look for a local church. Surround yourself with other Christ followers and feel free to reach out for prayer.