All Aboard

I had another dream last night (11/16/19). 

In this dream there was a TRAIN and it was 

FULL STEAM AHEAD WITH LOVE! 

There were parcels lined up in what seemed like a never ending row and on every.single.package was written:  

L O V E

In big bold letters. 

Every FREIGHT CAR was also FILLED with 

L O V E 

The train was WEIGHTY with the mighty power of HIS Great love. 

God was inviting US to partner with Him in carrying these PARCELS. We are invited to partner with Him in this beautiful process of CARRYING this MESSAGE of the GOSPEL PARCEL 

L O V E! 

And the words 

ALL ABOARD; its FULL STEAM AHEAD WITH LOVE! 

Rang through the air like a beautiful invitation! 

These are the scriptures the Holy Spirit immediately began highlighting in my heart after waking... 

Matthew 22:37 

Jesus declared, “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’

Song of Solomon 2:4

He escorts me to the banquet hall; it’s obvious how much he loves me

You led me to your banquet room and showered me with love

“Suddenly, he transported me into his house of wine— 

he looked upon me with his unrelenting love divine.”

‭‭Song of Songs‬ ‭2:4‬ ‭TPT‬‬

Isaiah 52:7 How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!

Romans 10:15 

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

I hope that this dream also fills your heart with joy and excitement to share the good news, as it did mine! 

Dream and Gods Voice

During the past 40 days I have intentionally entered into times of seeking more of God’s face and heart. God will often speak to me through visions or through His creation, but only on a few occasions have I met with Him in my dreams. During this time, I began to seek Him for more of His voice in my dreams. I was specifically asking Him to speak during my dreams and so when He did, my heart was SO full with joy and excitement.

Over the last year and a half or so, from around the end of 2017-2019 I felt the Lord has been very clearly speaking to my heart about His hand being on the winnowing fork.

“Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire. He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork. Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭3:10, 12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

I know these are scriptures that we often will glaze over or intentionally leave out or know are left out of messages purposefully. Yet, it is the Word of the Lord and though it seems quite direct and difficult to swallow, this is a day the Lord says is coming. So, what will we do with this if it is true? We should ponder the state of our roots. Are we strong, dug deep, sturdy, ready to bear fruit? Or are we shallow rooted, damaged roots, a system unable to establish depth that will not grow and bear fruit.

He has shown me He has been sifting our hearts, sifting out the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats, the true Bride from the counterfeit.

“But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world. For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

“Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’

“And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭25:31-36, 41-43, 46‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Again, very difficult words to swallow and not very often that we discuss these truths because they may seem so harsh and almost upsetting. Yet in love, I share these truths, because to truly and unashamedly share the reality of what Gods Word says is in store for our future is the most loving thing we can do for our friends and family. Not to hide, hinder or muddy the truth to the comfort of tickling itching ears, but to be HONEST and COMPASSIONATE and share the cautions of the Word of God just as well as the JOY THAT AWAITS all those who come to Him humbly admitting their need for a Savior!

He has also really shown me that He is in the process of developing a HUNGER in His Bride. A hunger for more of Him, more of His Word, more of feasting upon Him and being
Filled
Fueled and
Growing
Than ever before!

He says in Matthew‬ ‭5:6, “God blesses those who HUNGER and THIRST for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”
‭‭NLT‬‬

It is interesting to me how much we LONG for and SEEK AFTER satisfaction. Job satisfaction, marriage satisfaction, academic satisfaction, accomplishment satisfaction, buyer satisfaction etc etc etc... yet all of these longings still leave us SO empty SO often! WHY?! Why do we give up so much for temporary satisfaction/fullness when the long term and eternal satisfaction Jesus talks about by being HUNGRY and THIRSTY and coming to a Well that never runs dry and a Feast that has all the delicacies is what will TRULY satisfy?!

I want to share this first dream during this special time of drawing in to Gods heart that He encouraged me with. Ironically, or should I say appointed by God, it “just so happened” that the same passage He impressed upon my heart when I woke that morning around 4 am was the same verse that YouVersion used later that morning as their “verse of the day”. I am always awestruck at how the Holy Spirit confirms and reaffirms His Word when God is speaking, by demonstrating repeated patterns throughout various sources! God is always speaking!! Are we attuned to His voice?
The dream...

11/13/19

I just woke from a dream that filled me with excitement... 

My dreams final words: “This season” is about to come to an end. We are entering the new season. The season of 

•The Rapture Is Coming Soon• 

So I sought the Lord, God tell me more about this new season of •The Rapture Is Coming Soon• ... and He said to my heart

This new season is all about PREPARATION. He said, the Bride is called to be preparing herself for the coming of the Groom. Get rid of all the distractions! Set aside lesser loves! Yeild your heart! Draw in to My heart! Be about the WORK of PREPARATION! Buying the gown, dressing herself in the jewels, ordering the cake, BEING READIED! 

Prepare your heart for the King of King’s and Lord of Lords, CHURCH! People get ready Jesus is coming soon we’ll be going Home! 

“Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭33:3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

May His spirit minister life, joy, peace, understanding and a hunger and thirst in your life like you’ve never experienced before! 

-Abi

These Two Things

These TWO Things 

To Know Him and Make Him known 

Over the course of this first few weeks of school there had been tears and sighs and outbursts... no not from me 🤣from my sweet oldest girlies. Venturing out of the homeschool world into public school the past two years has brought two things into our lives that have made for a real feeling of injustice and wanting to venture BACK into the realm of being a homeschool-only family. Those two things are: HOMEWORK and TESTS! 

Now don’t get me wrong here. I think some homework would be fine every once in awhile or on a particularly busy day at school when goals weren’t met... but seriously?! The amount of homework these students receive is absurd! They are already giving the public school a near 8 hours of their day. Then they have another hour or more of homework during the afternoon and evening?! And what about kids who play sports? On top of school, they have to find time for studying and getting homework done too. Oh, and somewhere in the mix of all of THAT—-MAYBE spend just a FEW moments resting and catching up with their family! 🤦🏽‍♀️ 

Now, don’t get me wrong about test taking either. Tests are a wonderful way to assess growth and knowledge. They’re a very “normal” part of life and school. However, when there are days on end of test after test after test—ESPECIALLY for students who face very real test anxiety in the first place, this just seems like cruel and unusual punishment. How about a rule of thumb one test per subject per month?! It seems instead the tests are daily or at the very least weekly. The anxiety that tests provoke is just not necessary to inflict on students so frequently. Just my opinion 😉But as someone who struggled with intense test taking anxiety in school myself, I personally know that the tests rarely reflected my total comprehension of a subject anyway. Could we not have found better ways of assessing overall comprehension by now? 

OKAY homeschool mama rant over 🤣 

Now that we got THAT out of the way 🤣

So, back to the tears and sighs and outbursts... with all the test anxiety I was beginning to feel at the end of my rope for
 encouragement to offer my girlies. One morning a week or so ago we headed in to school and during the morning drive instead of having any time to connect or listen to scripture together on the Bible app, Seana was hurriedly and overwhelmedly studying for a math quiz. When we pulled in to the middle school, I could feel the burden weighing on her shoulders to achieve. I looked at her and with everything inside of me I said, “Seana, I do not need you to get A’s. I do not need you to do amazing. I don’t even care if you fail, so long as you are giving it your best effort. Work hard, and give your best for God’s glory. BUT at the end of the day, pass or fail is not my utmost highest goal for you! Because ultimately, I believe that even if you fail time after time, if God truly has created you to be a veterinarian and called you to do that, He will provide ways for you to accomplish that even through the struggle. But, do you know what my highest hopes for you are? My biggest goal for you and your siblings is not your achievements, it is for you to do TWO THINGS. 

Two things, alone. 

Know Him. 

And, 

Make Him known. 

That is it! TWO THINGS. If you do those two things to the best of your ability my heart will be so full of joy and gratitude to God because those two things are the most beautiful strivings this life has to offer us!” 

After those words came out of my mouth, I knew they were from the counsel of the Holy Spirit encouraging our family to find peace and release, rather than stay stuck in anxiety and striving. 

I know anxiety still wages war against us, but we will choose to strive for Holy goals and surrender every other striving into His strong, affirming and faithful hands. 

So, I hope my sharing this today encourages your hearts to hold onto THESE TWO THINGS... 

Know Him and make Him known! 

Blessings, friends 

“All of your works will thank you, Lord, and your faithful followers will praise you. They will speak of the glory of your kingdom; they will give examples of your power. They will tell about your mighty deeds and about the majesty and glory of your reign.”

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭145:10-12‬ ‭NLT‬‬

A Bloody Ear and Surrender

So, what might a bloody ear and surrender have to do with each other, you might ask. I believe the Holy Spirit has a clear message for the Body of Christ in this word from Luke 22. 

For many years, whenever I heard this passage in part, it was said to be a passage concerning the pacifism of Jesus. 

Luke 22:50-51

⁵⁰ And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

⁵¹ But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

It would make sense to come to this conclusion. After all, Jesus does seem to demonstrate this was not acceptable. 

However, if not read in context, scripture as a whole can be very easily misunderstood and misrepresented. I believe strongly the Lord is asking His Church to be steadfast in pursuing accurate understanding of the totality of Scripture. Not in part, but the WHOLE. He is calling us to SEEK Him out in this season. To know in full and be fully known. In this SEEKING there will be a beauty, joy, peace, hope like never experienced before, because of the new depth of KNOWING and being KNOWN. 

Now, back to the full message of Christ through this particular passage. 

Lets look at the context. Just before this occurrence Jesus was meeting with His disciples in the upper room, sharing His final Passover meal. During the meal the disciples and Jesus have an interaction which sets the stage for Luke 22:50-51.

Luke 22:35-38 

³⁵ Then Jesus asked them, “When I sent you without purse, bag or sandals, did you lack anything?”

“Nothing,” they answered.

³⁶ He said to them, “But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. ³⁷ It is written: ‘And he was numbered with the transgressors’^[b]; and I tell you that this must be fulfilled in me. Yes, what is written about me is reaching its fulfillment.”

³⁸ The disciples said, “See, Lord, here are two swords.”

“That’s enough!” he replied.

Furthermore, in continuing to search this passage we find that Jesus then led His disciples to a place of prayer. It is in this prayer that I believe we see the full context for the interactions we witness in verses 50 and 51. Here in verses 42-44 we see Jesus, both fully man and fully God in a place of WRESTLING with SURRENDER. Jesus, in His flesh, crying out for a different story. While also, in His flesh, crying out for God's WILL to be accomplished! FULLY SURRENDERED. Surrender, as we see it played out before us in this passage is weighty, hard, painful, testing and a place of prayer. 

⁴² “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” ⁴³ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. ⁴⁴ And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.^[c]

After I read this passage in it's entirety I felt the Holy Spirit speak very clearly to me...

THIS is NOT a passage about the pacifism of Christ; rather, it IS a passage about the SURRENDER of a SAVIOR! We also see Jesus' foreknowledge on display here. As He knew Scripture had to be fulfilled of Him. 

Many times over the last year of my life in particular I have wanted to "Take things into my own hands". I have been "Tired of living life in a place of being betrayed, lied to, wounded and hurt". I have been WRESTLING with SURRENDER. Yielded-ness is a place of two-fold work. The work of bending under weight but not being broken. A place of being open but not torn off. A place also of bringing forth a crop. The place of birthing. Something new comes forth in the yield. THIS is the place God longs for His church to be! The place of FRUITFULNESS. 

When Christ reached over and said, “No more of this!” I believe we can see now more clearly His heart for US--HIS BODY--saying, 

BE SURRENDERED

BE YIELDED

BE FRUITFUL

Do not try to take things into your own hands and manipulate your circumstances. Do not strike against God. Do not stand in opposition to His plans. Do not stand unyielded to whatever the call of God on your life, whether small or large, easy or difficult, whether the crowd comes at you with clubs in hand or with praise on their lips or with a false greeting of the betrayers kiss; no matter what may come, SURRENDER. 

Let's pray... God, this message for Your Church is a hard pill to swallow. We long for comfort, for peace, for good. So often, this is not what we face. We face death, we face betrayal and heartache, sorrow and misunderstandings, we face difficulty and pain... but through it all Lord, whatever may come our way, may we stand or sit on the altar and not get off of the altar in unyieldedness, pride or rebellion. Rather, let us be on the altar, hands raised high in surrender, fruit bearing plentiful because of our roots deeply planted in the fullness of Your Word. Thank you for Your great mercy God. You are so powerful, able and worthy of all our heart, mind, body and soul. Please keep speaking to us through Your Word. In Jesus name, Amen! 

Thanks for joining me today in leaning in to God's Word and prayer. If I can support you in prayer today please know I want to pray for your heart to be yielded, as I also pray for mine. 

Blessings,

Abi

Off The Altar...

Last Sunday Pastor Bobby spoke on the difference between Spa and Spur from Hebrews 10:24-25 which says, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

He displayed the physical action of what it looks like to actually SPUR someone on... he went on to share a personal experience with what it looks like when in Christ we try to spa one another on versus spur. Often in the church we see the term love being described in soft and gentle terminology. It could be very easy to dismiss the term spur as 
Insensitive 
Harsh 
Hard headed
Intolerant
Stuck in the mud
Traditional
Evangelical 

Because along with the term spur we often see people who are willing to call into question Biblical morality and sin. Not sin of the world, but sin within the Church. Deviation from Gods call on us as Christ followers. Let me not get off course. This message spoke directly to me. How I have needed a spur. There have been critical points where over this past year I have felt I was being coddled and “spa’d” rather than spurred. 

Grieving, anticipatory grief, painful personal experiences and deep wounds from those I thought were friends but lied... these circumstances brought me deep emotional, psychological and spiritual wounds I have had to find healing for. In the midst of seeking that healing though I allowed myself to become angry at God. Rather than continue trusting Him and His plans I became upset He had NOT intervened in several deeply troubling circumstances I truly believed on Him to do so... and instead I was disillusioned and honestly felt several times that I was dying in so many ways.

I think that’s actually exactly what God intended though. In the death of so much of what I thought I was clinging to and where I thought I was, God has brought me back into His arms of grace, He has sought me and spoken truths to my heart. He has shown me the way everlasting. Psalm 25:4 Show me the right path, O LORD; point out the road for me to follow. The people in my life, like my counselors, have brought the spurring I needed to find my way back. 

Pastor Bobby ended the message with this poignant reminder; and tearfully I sat to ponder. 

“Have you gotten off the altar?” In other words, have you tried to take Gods place away from Him and been unwilling to surrender your life, your body, your hopes and prayers, your everything to HIM? Saying, I am Yours Lord! Tears filled my eyes and I willingly got back on the altar. I am done being angry at the One who is worthy for me to sacrifice everything for the sake of His purposes and will for my life. I am done trying to be hyper vigilant in anything other than prayer! 

God keep bringing me back! Your MERCY in view is what calls me to offer my body and my life, everything to You as a sacrifice—my spiritual act of worship! Romans 12:1-2 

I don’t want to ever get off of the altar again. I am Yours Lord! My life is a sacrifice. Thank you for the deep, wide, unimaginable mercy of Christ. I am unworthy of such a sacrifice. Thank you for not forsaking me. In Jesus name, amen. 

TakeAways From The Weekend To Remember

I wanted to share some key takeaways from our time at the Weekend To Remember. So, here goes:

Difficulties will challenge your resourcefulness, not your commitment to your marriage. Difficulty should lead to the question, “What did we learn?” Have a plan in place to move through difficulties without rejecting or withdrawing from your spouse.

Communicate emotions with emotions and facts with facts. Adjust your communication style to your spouse's. Levels of communication:


1. Non-sharing

2. Sharing what you know

3. Sharing what you think

4. Sharing what you feel

5. Sharing who you ARE. Complete transparency


Trust is a barrier to increasing levels of communication. If you or your spouse are low in the levels ask the question, " What is causing the barrier or lack of trust?!" Past hurts, current depth of relationship, broken trust etc...

Listen with acceptance and understanding. Proverbs 24:3 By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established. Most communication (55%) is non-verbal... carefully chosen words/body language are the best way to express thoughts, feelings and desires. Prov 10:19, 15:23.

Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.

A person finds joy in giving an apt reply—and how good is a timely word!

Oneness reflects the character and unity of the Godhead. There is beauty in the differences-don’t try to change your spouse. The differences we possess compliment each other like well coordinated colors. The contrast brings out the beauty. Companionship is developed by driving your relationship deep into God’s Word and prayer first! Our differences are not hindrances to achieving God’s purposes in our marriage! Marriage's purpose to make us HOLY, not HAPPY!

We will always be under spiritual warfare because our unity and oneness reflect a divine Creation and Calling of God—so how are we armed and ready for battle? Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

PRAYER and the WORD are KEY to being ARMED! Proclaim and declare truth despite feelings!

Becoming a helper fit for my spouse is a WORK of God! Genesis 2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

God does the work! So lean into Him for this help and work! When we KNOW God it helps us to trust Him and His provision of our spouse to us and us to them!


To truly experience oneness in marriage we must first experience the power that comes from oneness with God!

I can’t say enough how much this resonates with me—unite with God first (the Word and Prayer) to experience deeper connection with my spouse! C.S. Lewis said, “There are lots of things you can do with sand; but do not try building a house on it.” Oneness with God should be motivated by a desire for RELATIONSHIP! Same with our spouse, seeking oneness out of a desire to know and be known! The Holy Spirit is our Helper to developing an ongoing relationship with God.


We grow by:

1. Reading and studying the Word
2. Praying... Be a woman of prayer!
3. Becoming active in a church that teaches the Bible
4. Spending time with other Christians in successive mentorship relationships
5. Understanding the ministry of the Holy Spirit. John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

Conflict: Is inevitable within any human relationship... But, if it is the state of our relationship=

STOP IT or get some help! Choose your battles carefully-it is to your honor and Gods glory to overlook small offenses. Proverbs 19:11 In conflict, prayer first seeks God’s wisdom, then helps us seek understanding with our spouse and lastly gives God the place of resolving and helping heal the offense.

Be a spouse who actively brings a blessing in marriage!

A wise woman embraces God’s design for her home. Helper is a title of value and worth... God even uses this term Helper to describe Himself and the Holy Spirit. It is not a lowly or menial place, but a place of great power, value and dignity!


CHEER him on! We cheer for our team whether or not it’s making big wins, we cheer with HOPE and EXPECTATION and COMMITMENT! Be his biggest fan! Respect demonstrates LOVE to my spouse! We often think of love as unconditional, but respect as something that is earned. Yet to a man, respect demonstrates love, so with this in mind I can choose to demonstrate respect to show my unconditional love. Respect him by not questioning him in front of the children. Intentionally encourage him, catch him doing good and point it out! (A concept effective in parenting too!) Submission is mutual and first to God then one to another. Like a dance, to remain in step we must be yielded to one another in trust. Resist the urge to be critical.

Effective parenting communicates and instills family values!! So years ago Sean and I wrote up our top five core family values. Though we have functioned from them, we have not taken time or opportunity to instill, instruct or Biblically stand on these values with our kids knowing, learning and working on them with us regularly. So, we spent time last night as a family discussing qualities and character traits we DO NOT LIKE... that led us into the qualities and character traits we WANT to see and live in this home!





Effective parenting focuses on a relationship with God-knowing and being known by Him is a first priority! That is done by Reading and Studying the Word and through Prayer! Oswald Chambers said, “Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work. ” Prayer models dependence on and submission to God! Pray their sin is found out because exposed sin can be confronted, hidden sin can grow. Exposed sin offers opportunities to rely on the working Grace of God! Rules without relationship cause rebellion. Allow for “do overs”, knowing you will make parenting mistakes... little steps lead to big change! Do not parent from emotion!

Steps to a thriving oneness in marriage: Be willing to work on ME first! Be involved in a church teaching the Bible! Find and establish accountability and successive mentoring relationships (Be a mentor and be mentored). Identify and practice God's Biblical principles! Develop oneness with God through studying His Word and Praying FIRST! Speak with honor and respect! Pray and study the Word together daily! Live by Family Values!

Final takaway: HAVE MORE ROOM SERVICE 😄🙂🙂

New Year, New Goals

Each new year for the past five years we take time as a family to sit and discuss goals individual and family goals for the coming year. It’s so important to take time to truly reflect on the past year, the ups and the downs, the accomplishments and the failures, the trials and the triumphs.

This past week, as I sat with God on what He has for me this coming year I felt Him saying this is a year of paths. There are two paths we can take in this life; one is broad and leads to destruction. The other is narrow and leads to LIFE! I felt God asking me to follow Him onto the path of LIFE! Not just the eternal sense of that passage, but the very minute and small moment to moment sense of the passage. I felt Him asking me to be conscious of choosing my path wisely in the mundane and in the moments. See, each decision we make, whether large or small, steers us into one of those paths. When we are rude, unfaithful, faithless, say or think things that aren’t praise worthy, when we become harsh and hard hearted, when we choose in small ways to leave the narrow way over time we carve out ruts that lead us deeper into a path that has led us into sin or at the very least a path of lesser good and lesser value to our good.

I want God to take the reigns and lead my life. That is going to mean taking every opportunity and every circumstance as a chance to CHOOSE!

I choose which path I am walking down and not just in the eternal sense, but also in the moments. I want to choose the path of LIFE-abundant life!

So I want to leave you with the same question I asked my kids and husband last night...

What goal do you have for 2019? In what ways will you choose the narrow path this year?

May we choose our path eternally as well as making the most of every opportunity too!

Blessings,

Abi