SET CAPTIVES FREE (vision)

As I ran this weekend God showed me a vision of a multitude of runners.

The running crowd all carried weights, like shackles or large unlocked key pads on their bodies. Some only a few, many carried multiple weights. They were as rod iron looking, heavy padlocks. The runners were hindered by these weights. But they ran so close together like a crowd in a marathon that soon I noticed as they ran they were actually unlocking one another's shackles as they ran. In fact, the closer they ran one to another, the more and more pad locks fell off.

Why?

Because community matters.

Intimacy matters.

Vulnerability and honesty and truth and grace matter.

And a willingness to "run alongside" matters. To be willing to not "run ahead" and willing to stop "lagging behind" and instead a willingness to partner, to support, to be one with each other.

IT WILL SET YOU FREE! IT WILL SET US FREE!

Then I saw devils. They were grasping tightly around the feet of those trying to run, weighed down by many shackles. And each demon had their finger up to their lips "shushing" and quieting the truth tellers. Some were blinding the crowd. The blindfolds could very well say any "good" thing because the demons were using "good" to darken the eyes of those in bondage and captivity.

Then I saw some of the runners in the crowd holding on the weights and padlocks too, like the demons were... But they were proud and were inciting the pride of those they were keeping in bondage by glorifying the locks and chains. As if they were something glorious to be boastful in.

My heart began to cry out NO! Set them free! Why would we keep them in their captivity? And a heaviness and burden for those in captivity swelled within me.

WE ARE CALLED TO SET THE CAPTIVES FREE!

WE ARE CALLED TO BREAK CHAINS TO LIBERTY!

WE ARE CALLED TO SET THE CAPTIVES FREE!

And this passage rang through my ears like bells of freedom, like a trumpet call!

Malachi 4:2New Living Translation (NLT)

2 “But for you who fear my name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in his wings.[a] And you will go free, leaping with joy like calves let out to pasture.

GO FREE! Do not any longer hold fast to the chains weighing you down. 

GO FREE! Do not any longer look back to the things of old that held you back. 

GO FREE! Do not any longer be distracted by the worries and lies. 

GO FREE! Do not hold onto anything of this world, not your mother, your father, your sister, your brother, your son, your daughter, your wife, your husband, your home, your land, your sexuality, your gender identity, your gifts, your friends, your wealth, your possesians, your future, your past, your present... More than you hold on to HIM! 

LET not lies, distractions, lesser loves, an illusion of good, an illusion of love, enslave and capture us into lofty and worldly thinking that keeps us enslaved to the sneaking demons grasping at our feet to hinder our run! Let us not partner with them in their devious scheming but let us go and... 

SET CAPTIVES FREE!

~blessings

Abi J. D.

Vision, Are You Seeing Clearly?

Vision.

Are you seeing clearly?

Or, are you struggling?

Vision impairment?

Yesterday I had the joy of spending time with a wonderful friend of mine. She is a spectacular mother and filled with so much love and care. I admire her strength and beauty in the way she has dealt with one painful situation in particular. Her daughter was born with vision impairment. She struggles with a genetic condition that has affected her ability to see. That has not slowed this sweet beautiful little girl down too much though, she fights to still do as much as possible. And she is a fighter. In many ways it has affected her life and shaped her. But not only her, it has also shaped her mom, and their relationship.

As my friend shared with me yesterday, my heart began to break. She shared about the difficulty in their ability to bond early on. Normally around the age of two months old an infant will begin smiling in response to being smiled at. Three days ago we spent the evening with my brand new niece, born in January,  who is already responding to being smiled at by giggling! So precious and joyous! But my friend never had the joy of experiencing that with her sweet little girl. Because of not being able to see well, her daughter also struggled with fear, especially of fast moving objects or animals. Because of her vision impairment, there is often difficulty to face and struggle to overcome. Yet, the good news is she recently had surgery, which has made a huge improvement and difference for her. Instead of walking in fear and instability and struggling with balance, she now can walk and run with more confidence and less falls! She smiles when smiled at!

 She can see more clearly!

Her vision changes everything!

God began speaking to my heart and reminding me of some things He has laid on my heart. He reminded me that, like this precious little ones vision impairment affected her ability to trust, to walk securely, to find joy and peace and safety and a feeling of bonding or closeness, so too, our ability to find these things is affected when we remain blinded or vision impaired spiritually.

Spiritual vision impairment affects our entire being. It affects our ability to trust in God or anything around us. It affects or joy. It affects our peace. It affects our ability to walk without falling or run without fear, or live without limitations.

So how do we receive vision improvement or vision surgery?

We cling to God! We strive to KNOW Him better so that we can trust Him more BY seeing Him better! We see Him more clearly by seeing who He is in His Word and by connecting with Him in prayer! When we get to know God better we fear less, we walk more securely, we bond more deeply with Him and we find more joy!

God wants us to find the joy, peace, deeply satisfying relationship and security that come from seeing without impairment!

Vision.

Are you seeing clearly?

Blessings,

Abi

Intimacy

Jesus wants all.

He does not just want a small corner of my heart or life.

He wants every piece of my heart and life to be fully vested in Him and His callings!

So how...

How do I create what He desires to create with me-intimacy?

Intimacy, when I consider it with regard to the deepest intimacy I have ever experienced, would be something like the context of my marriage.

Intimacy does not just happen on its own.

Intimacy is created. It is developed within a context of deep and abiding love. It occurs within the context of trust. It is created within the context of wishing to express trust and love.

Intimacy is woven deeply within the contexts of a Sacred unity. A oneness that is treasured and kept sacred. Sacred through uniqueness, through time devoted, through communication, through closeness, through vulnerability, enjoyment and pleasure and through the ability to trust ones devotion, ones motives, ones love.

How do we create this type of relationship with God, with Christ, with the Holy Spirit?

We have to cultivate a heart filled with trust.

The only way to do that is to KNOW God better.

The only way to do that is to READ His Word and Pray.

I desire intimacy with God.

But sometimes that also, for me, means much surrender and sacrifice. It often, for me, means giving up things I wish I could just involve myself in without care or cause for pause.

But because I desire to create intimacy with Christ, I have to pause and reflect often on the things I involve myself with or place before myself. Not always because something is "bad" but rather, because Jesus is "best" and instead of allowing myself to be distracted, sidetracked or drift slowly away I have to keep my heart single focused.

The single focus of an intimate relationship is eyes on that person alone. Again, I think of my marriage. Could you imagine desiring intimacy with your spouse and coming to realize all along their desire for intimacy was with someone else? How deeply hurt, confused, betrayed and wounded would you feel?

This is how God feels when we allow ourselves to be swayed by other loves. When our devotion is split between Him and the five other things we consider highly desirable and valuable.

I don't want my spouse to desire others to be intimate with.

I don't think God wants my heart divided either.

Yet sometimes, if I am honest, it is So difficult to be sold out-eyes set-single minded for my Jesus.

I have to be willing to say God is first!

If I desire intimacy with God, then I have to cultivate our relationship, water it, till the garden, plant the seeds, and water it!

And then, even when doubts creep in, I must CHOOSE to trust and believe the best in God!

Trust!

God, please develop deeper trust within our hearts that we might cultivate and develop an intimacy with You that is fulfilling, lasting and special! You are our love, our first love, the only love that satisfies! Thank You! I love you so much God! Please grow my love deeper still and help me continue laying aside the things of this world that wish to steal away my intimacy with You! You're worth the sacrifices! Praise you God for Your mighty love! In Jesus name, amen!

Blessings friends,

Abi

Indents...

This is a word I feel God literally IMPRESSED upon me a couple weeks ago. A word of spiritual insight for someone...

This is what happened to my knee (after only a few minutes) a couple weeks ago. As I sat for awhile over at middlecreek wildlife area and let the kids sit on top my me something began to take form, shape and place because of my positioning.

INDENTS...

When we sit on beliefs and thoughts and patterns of living for long times they begin to create grooves and marks and INDENTS...

When we initially sit up, straighten those legs and begin to stand on new ground in a new position there is pain. It hurts! There is no way around it!

BUT, we can trust that God is at work in and on us and allowing those indents to slowly fade and new fresh smooth places to be revealed again!

Keep trusting Him even when you can't see the changes right away!

Keep trusting Him even when it hurts!

He is at work!

Blessings sweet friends,

-Abi

My vision of The Lord speaking

Recently my YouVersion Read Through The Bible in a Year plan has had me through Exodus. Exodus is so deep and so deeply unbelievable... It has been amazing me lately, as I study these portions of scripture, just how many times God spoke directly, plainly, and with precise directions to Moses and the people and yet how on almost every occasion still they disregarded, completely ignored, disobeyed, forgot, and neglected to carry out Gods desires and orders. Even after He blessed, healed, protected, freed and fed the people, still they worshipped other gods, denied Gods goodness and power, and directly disobeyed His Word and directions.

As Sean and I pray and seek to know Gods will and call on so many areas of our lives we often spend time speaking TO God. When we do that, we also end up spending much time waiting and asking Him to speak TO us! More recently that has led to us ather often in our big decisions we are making, asking God to speak.

One of these times in particular recently I remember we finished praying and Sean said, "I just wish God would speak audibly, ya know?! Like tell us exactly what He wants us to do!"

It was during this that God gave me a very very brief vision and physical sense of what exactly that would be like to actually hear the audible voice of God-our Creator.

I cannot describe it very well in word, but I will try.

Immediately, a weight sat upon me. The intensity of the moment was overpowering and I felt as though I may die. His glory was too miraculous and supernatural to describe. His voice, like I've seen described as thunder, echoed throughout my being. My body felt stilled and yet trembling all in the same moment. It was like a fire overtook me. I could not stand it... I could not stand in the holiness of His presence.

And this was all in a moment.

Imagine if God had an actual conversation with us... Or tried to explain His plans and will to us. We would melt like wax before His holy presence. We would be unable to move or breathe for the immense power, goodness and glory He is consumes us!

I did not even want to share this with anyone but Sean because it truly was indescribable and overwhelming. But I've decided, I want to share it. I want others to hear what my heart needed to hear.

It is this...

So many times we beg God to speak.

We long to hear His voice.

To know His will.

To know His plans for us.

To walk a path we feel is drenched in darkness and to do so with more light upon it.

But God is saying this...

I am sparing you the gravity of all I Am, for it is too much for you to comprehend and too great for you to know. I want you to seek me in my Word and come near to me in the stillness of your quiet place and to trust my still small voice, to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and to get to know Him well! I am with you! I am speaking to you!

The Lord knows how even angels make men tremble. He wants us to walk so near to Him that we can hear Him even when all He does is whisper. If we choose to walk distantly from the Lord, even His shouts are muffled and unclear.

God wants us to hear His voice. His voice is greater than thunder though, so may we walk near, near enough to hear His whisper, near enough to know His promptings, near enough to feel His presence!

Have you heard Gods voice lately?

Blessings as we listen!

-Abi

New Living Translation (NLT)

Exodus 33

18 Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.”

19 The Lord replied, “I will make all my goodness pass before you, and I will call out my name, Yahweh,[a] before you. For I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.20 But you may not look directly at my face, for no one may see me and live.” 21 The Lord continued, “Look, stand near me on this rock. 22 As my glorious presence passes by, I will hide you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and let you see me from behind. But my face will not be seen.”

The Story behind the song, "I Belong"

Back around September 2013 God began speaking to my heart about ministering to women at somewhere like the YWCA in Lancaster. I had a vision of singing and sharing my heart and having other women sharing too. I dreamt of leading women closer to their Maker! I had reached out to some contacts at the YWCA of Lancaster though, and it was not seeming to be an open door. I also reached out to another woman and friend regarding this vision but to my disappointment, I did not hear back. I was

sad and disappointed, but God had other plans and He was still working. Flash forward 3 years and here I am leading worship once a month at the Good Samaritan Shelter in Ephrata. It is a Christ-centered homeless shelter for women and children. Everything about the dreams and visions God was placing in my heart have come to pass. It is beautiful. It confirms to me yet again that if you have dreams and visions in your heart it is God who places them there, so pursue them, work at them, and purpose to achieve them to His glory!

And, even beyond that dream coming to pass has been the most recent beautiful dream coming to pass of studio-recording my very own song... Now no full album yet, but it's a start! 

About a month ago now I received an email from my dear friend Lora, who works at the Shelter and was in charge of coordinating the upcoming fundraiser banquet. The email came through while we were at our daughters basketball practice. I only read the first few lines... something about key or keys and I immediately closed the email and prayed. "God, if she is going to ask me to be the key note speaker at the banquet please give me strength and ability..." Only to open the email back up and see something SO much more incredible and thrilling for me... And so much less anxiety provoking, ha ha! She was asking me to write a song specifically for the banquet which would become the background for the video for the banquet. She wanted it to include something about the word keys since this was the word God spoke to her heart to be the theme of the banquet. Although she did not know exactly what that looked like or why that should be the theme at the time, she ran with it. Following that decision, a woman living at the shelter went through a time of feeling completely unlovable, unworthy, and like she had nothing to offer. One of the interns, Hannah, saw a key ring sitting on the table in front of them and in order to drive home the message a couple of the ladies were trying to encourage this woman with about how she is made intricately and designed with purpose and intention and special qualities and beauty unique to her alone Hannah grabbed the keys and began describing very beautifully how every notch and groove in a key is made specifically to fit just the right door and all the pins have to fall just the right way for the door to actually unlock and open. After Hannah found out in the next couple days that Lora had chosen the theme keys for the banquet everyone was blown away at how God was beginning to speak. Lora reached out to Shane, who has graciously been a videographer for the shelter and was helping design the video for this years banquet, and told him all that had been happening. He then brought up the idea of searching for a song to accompany the video and theme. After that, Lora reached out to me. The rest is history! But seriously, I just LOVE this story and how God worked!! Here is a picture of the four of us last night after I had the blessing and privilege of performing the song live for the women and children at the Good Samaritan Shelter...

So back to when I received the email, I began praying and asking God to speak to me, lead me, write this song for these women on my heart... And so I began writing... I wrote a lot of poetry about this concept...the word keys and how we are designed intricately-like a key-with every notch and groove having a design, a purpose and that we fit in God-He is where we belong! (She had not used these exact words, but this is what God began speaking to my heart) 

And then I sat at my piano and as I sat, there was darkness surrounding the keys, but as I looked closer there was a space between the keys and a light shone through... And God spoke the opening song lyrics and melody to my heart: 

I was in a dark place 

A key without a door

'Till the Light broke through 

That Light was You

You shone Your beauty

You shone Your grace

You told me that I have a place where I belong... 

And then my heart began to worship! Not only do the women of the shelter need a place where they feel the belong, but so do I, so do we! We all have times we struggle with knowing where we belong or feeling inadequate, insecure, insufficient and like we don't fit in... But with God, we've been created BY Him and FOR Him! We belong in Him! So I sang the chorus: 

I belong, I belong, I belong, I belong

I belong in You, You are, You are 

My new song

You're the Door that I can open

The place to put my hope in

I belong in You, You are, You are 

My new song 

And then the next verses just flowed... 

With every notch and groove (like a key whose design can only fit just the right pins to unlock the door) 

You prove Your perfect love for me

Such love for me 

And I have found the place, the place where I belong

Where the lock is broken, I am set free (free from feelings of inadequacy, guilt, shame, insecurity, doubts, fears, isolation--free to find peace, joy and hope!)

(Pre Ch, Ch) 

Bridge

I will trust I was made for You,

Made for You

I will trust I was made by You, 

Made by You (repeat)

Like a key that's found its door

My heart is open now

To all You have in store 

(Pre Ch, Ch) 

Maybe someone reading this today is feeling like you've searched and searched for where you belong. We try to fit in at a job place, in a career, in society, in our family, with friends, in a home, at church... But nothing can complete us like Christ can. We belong in Him! He completes us! He fills all the empty spaces that are left in our hearts in this life. Won't you consider making Jesus your Door you enter into and find the peace, joy, security and fulfillment you so long for?! 

Much love, Abi 

Holy Yummy Yeast-Free Pizza Dough and Pizza Recipe

Holy Yummy Yeast-Free Pizza Dough and Pizza recipe

4 cups all purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cup coconut milk (I'm partial to Goya Coconut Milk) 
Almost a cup of canola oil

Mix well, roll into a ball and then roll out dough on a flat and well floured surface. Cover with sauce (I'm partial to Francesco Rinaldi meat sauce) cover with cheddar and mozzarella cheese and sandwich pepperoni from the deli and top with Parmesan cheese, oregano, and garlic powder. 

Bake for about 8-12 minutes at 425* on a greased pan. This recipe feeds our family of 6 with leftovers! I LOVE serving pizza with applesauce and celery:)  

Enjoy!!