Peace, Be still

I hate not being in control. I hate being in a situation and not being able to do anything. Bottom line, I hate being helpless. I hate it when I feel I need something to happen, someone to show up, situations to change, but it just does not.

I love being in control. Visualizing and making things happen. Reaching far beyond and achieving. I love it when things go my way, Who doesn’t? I love it when seasons are in favour. And when they are not I question the reason why. .

I do not know how to give up or give in. I better choose to throw my hands in protest than just sit and be calm. I know my rights and I will fight for them till the bitter end.

But

God had been teaching me otherwise. To shut my mouth when I really think I should not. To sing a song of praise when in my mind I should be pointing fingers. To be grateful when the situation is only bringing out bitterness. To need, but only need Him. To acknowledge that I do feel empty, and that only Him can feel that void. To relinquish control cause Babe, He got all this figured out even before I was born. Why am I running ahead of myself.

What is stillness? The dictionary defines it as the absence of movement or sound. It goes beyond silence. It requires discipline. It means you are in one position and I often use the Hebrews 12:2 The fixing… Your eyes are fixed on the author, absolutely no movement, no sound. It gives you a chance to focus. A chance to internalize, a chance to just see the picture as it is. No additions, no filters.

In the stillness, a peace, a certain kind of tranquility sweeps over. You are ready for it. Resisting the devil and watching him flee comes with a certain level of submission, mastery and stillness. Be ready to look dump in this season since everyone is expecting a reaction. But who cares, the things of God will never make sense to anyone who is not in Him. Remember Stillness is a quality of just being

Stop getting caught in the rat race. I have been caught up in the dogma more times than I would love to admit.Allow God to grant you rest. But, that can NEVER happen when so many voices are speaking. Be still and allow the only voice that Matters to speak.

Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” – Psalm 46:10

In prayer, do you ever reach the still place? Where you stay still for the master to speak or you just pour out your problems and other people’s problems then conclude with a hurried Amen and off you go? Most of the time, God’s voice is usually swallowed by the thunder in our life that we never get to hear it. Remember Elijah?
Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice. ( 1 Kings 19: 11-12)

You can only experience God in your stillness. Anxiety, stress, pain, depression takes a back seat once stillness sweeps over. You draw near to God, and, the more nearer you are, the more His voice can be heard with clarity. The raging storm will calm down once the master says ‘ Peace, Be still”. You can only hear His voice and see His hand in everything once the noise surrounding you is done with. Noise can be physical and spiritual: Verbal and nonverbal. You may not be verbal, but you may be making too much noise with your actions and distractions that the Holy Spirit cannot be heard clearly. That God cannot penetrate to you. That He has to fight for your attention. You may be the one blocking the flow of conversation with God. We cannot enter into His stillness till when we quiet the clatter.
He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Psalm 107:29

Even when His manifest presence goes before you, He requires you to be Still.
The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still. Exodus 14:14

It has been my heart’s desire as well as my goal to stay still at His feet. Sometimes life becomes so fast that we end up doing things that everyone else is executing and consciously forgetting to do as Christ desires. Even in Ministry. We end up with good deeds that are not God deeds and are too drained to do anything meaningful. All this can be avoided by just being still.

Stillness will provide rest. A sweet rest in Christ’s bosom. Safety is part of the deal and all you need is to focus on just being and becoming.

God loves you

God has all this figured out

Be still and watch Him work His mistakes.

Peace.

Be still.

Love

Deb

Lord, Kill it

I hope you are all well and God has Kept you. I pray that His peace has been upon you and His love has engulfed you.

I have been so busy hence time has been limited but that is still not a good enough excuse. I promise to do better, and be better. At the worst scenario two posts a month but as the Holy Spirit leads, I will accept His order.

The reason I have been away is because I have been handling personal issues that were heavy and shook me to the core. There is a difference between knowing that the fight will be there and being in this battlefield. This field where the devil sends his best fighters and you know all you have is in you. The battle has varied since the start of this year. Some days are too intense, others, not so much that if you are not careful, you may end up lukewarm. The devil is like a roaring lion and when he goes too silent sometimes, prepare for a bigger battle. March and April were the worst but as you know, we always start from a position of victory.

Yet, in all these things, we are more than conquerors (Romans 8:37)

Most of the time, we always conceptualize battles as things that will come to us. The scenarios are always something coming at us. Something that is external. My battles have been more internal. And beware, these can kill you. The battles of the mind, heart and the internals is one as a Christian you have to be well prepared for. Yes, you can quote scriptures and lead Bible study but can you remember to apply this when in a battlefield. When the devil comes for everything about you, are you strong enough? When he comes for your calling, when he makes you question your anointing and the promises God already confirmed concerning your life and purpose? Are you ready to face him eye to eye and tell him, “you picked a wrong one? ” and back it up with action?

When I rededicated my life, I knew I got myself in a battlefield for the rest of my life. I remember asking God to train my hands for war. To equip me that I may be ready when that day comes. Just as David says, “He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms” (Psalms 18:34)

What I wasn’t mentally prepared for was the battle from within. That battle that requires total submission of the flesh to the Spirit. That battle that comes for you till you go back and ask God, did I hear that from you? That you start giving God conditions and ultimatums to reconfirm what He already confirmed through His word and through witnesses. John 10:10 says, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly“

This thief came for my purpose, my anointing, my relationships, my family, my business and my life. It was choking depressing and tiring since at first I had not really seen it that way so I fought back instinctively in the way I thought was best. At that moment I didn’t know that was the same reaction that the enemy expected. And he worked me up thoroughly. There is a huge reason why in 1 Thessalonians 5:16- 17, Paul says, ‘Rejoice always, ^{pray without ceasing}..”

For the moment you cease, the thief understands that the watch is off guard and attacks you first subtly then goes more full force. And what I have learnt is that he will attack you with what is familiar. What you know. What you entertain. And he will come for everything. Absolutely.

I have learnt to lay bare each and everything to God so He can order everything. I have learnt to let the Holy Spirit dig deep into those places I felt were too private. I have learnt that my spiritual antennae can never flip, they have to remain alert. I have also learnt the importance of having people that pray with you and for you. People who cover you when you cannot cover yourself, people who hold you together in prayer.

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12

But the biggest thing I have learnt is to allow God to take full control.

To empty me of all the things that are not of Him

To kill everything that is in that is not of Him.

And how amazing it has been going back to my Author. How amazing

Lord, Kill it.