Tag: beloved

What kind of crackpot are you?

Karla Lees

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Years ago, a well known prophetic teacher spoke a word to me which has stuck with me through the hard times.

Basically, it is sometimes hard being me because I don’t fit normal.

And for years I struggled with that very feeling.

Why am I not normal?

Why do people look at me like I am a crackpot for that suggestion?

It has taken several conversations with my Abba to comprehend the reality.

Normal is just a setting on a dryer or a number made up by skewing averages to fit your intended target.

Normal is in reality different for each and every one of us, because we are each different. On purpose.

It’s fine with God that I am nutso for words and music, sisterhood and family, creativity and sensitivity, the prophetic and healing.

Because that is my normal when I step into being who He has made me to be.

Yours may be patterns or numbers, works of your hands, the ability to strike up a conversation wherever you do, cooking like a chef, making baked goods to drool over tinkering with technology, teaching with skill, or organizing the best events…

However we best express His handiwork is to be our normal.

Without His guidance and empowering, our potential, our normal may fizzle into stagnant flatlines.

Today, come to the throne.
Press close to His Presence.
Invite His whispers of love.
Seek His wisdom and direction.
Rest in His embrace.

Then step out into the normal He has waiting for you.

When we take the leap of faith, He catches us. EVERY TIME.

Normal for us is to be the supernatural of Him with us, in us, and through us, Beloved.

It’s time to tune out the world’s loud suggestions of what normal should look like for us, and heed His Words.

Chosen.

Crated by hand.
His.
One of a kind.
Set apart for His purposes.
Empowered.
Necessary to His heart.

Be yourself, Beloved.
Normally living life in His hands 😉

One

Karla Lees

We are made One in Him.
He takes us from every background imaginable and make us His sons and daughters,  all of us.

We become His family.

One family.

And as family, we are meant to gather together as we pursue Him, the focus of our passion.

United.

One pursuit.
One passion.
One purpose.

To know Him more.
Become more His.
To share the good news that we are never alone.

It only took One to bring us back from the outskirts and plant us firmly in the circle of His affection.

Jesus.

One love.
Which spanned the heights of heavens and the depths of despair to free us from the enemy of the One. 

Release the snares of our wrongdoings,  and ushers us into His embrace and family.

One things alone remains forever.

His love for you and I.

Wavering because you don’t yet know what he has called you to do?

Your purpose is clear.
Pursue Him.

Our primary purpose for being on this earth is to know our Maker, and be known by Him:
To worship Him for who He is.
To wonder at what He has done.
To walk where he leads.
To welcome Home the lost.
To work for His glory….
To let His Words come to live within us.
To listen as He speaks.
To love that He loves.
To never lack in companionship.
To learn at His feet.
To laugh at the wonders He displays.

Join me as together we celebrate the One, and become the Beloved He is creating for himself.

One bride, longing for her Love.
Pursuing Him with all she is and has.

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Lover of Your Presence

Karla Lees

I can’t hold it back
my love for You
it bubbles up within
waiting for me to
open my mouth
and release it

I only want to be with You
the Lover of my soul
I long to be always
in Your embrace
gazing upon
Your Holy face
seeing Your love
reflected in Your gaze

I’m a lover of Your Presence
and it’s all I wanna be

Until that day
when I move Home
and there will be no
further space
between us
I will jump
at every chance
to be Your partner
in this dance
as I learn
to depend on You
for everything
and seek You
through this life
laid down
for You

I’m a lover of Your Presence
and it’s all I wanna be
evermore

I sense
You smile at me
as I pen these words
and sing them
from the depths of my heart
You sing back to me
and your reply
shakes me to my core
with love and adoration

I’m a lover of your presence, Beloved, and
all I want
is all of you
forevermore!

#SundayPsalm

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Your choice

Karla Lees

I was struck at the thought this morning that God leaves much in our hands, but nothing astounds me more than…

The ability to choose.

Choice. To head left or right. To move or stay. To say yes or no. To give or take. To forgive or hold s grudge.

Most of our life happens as a result of our combined choices.

And God, in His plans, leaves the choices up to us.

You see, He made His choice.

The cross and resurrection didn’t just happen. They were His deliberate choice to show us a better way. To reveal His heart for all humanity. To give us an option to choose real life versus being stuck in survival mode. To overcome and defeat sin, instead of being led by it.

His choice was us.

All of us.

His choice sets everyone free who chooses Him.

And there is the crux of the matter.

We need to choose Him in order for His choice to apply to us.

Without welcoming Him in, His choice hovers above without ever landing within the open hearts and spreading the Good News that we are His.

Our choices can block us from fully living as His.

And this free will was His choice.

You see, He loves us so much He wants our love freely given in return.

He wants to be our choice as much as He chose us.

Who wouldn’t want the one they love to return their love?

He made His choice when He laid down His life for you.

Now the choice is yours.
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PS. Tomorrow, unpacking our choices….

come Home

Karla Lees

Come home, hope-filled prisoners!
-God

He is always calling us back to Him.

This invitation is constantly being whispered to, sung over, insinuated as God reminds us, over and over, how much He longs for us.

Not just because He wants to be with us, in the romantic sense.

But because He wants us free.
Filled again with hope.
Rebuilt with His love as our foundation.
Putting His gifts within us to use for his Kingdom.

All of which primarily benefitting us.

Did you catch that, Beloved?

When we make it Home, He makes us whole.

The way we were always meant to be. The way He designed us to become.

Our part is to come Home.

Home is where our heart lives

.

And until our heart longs to be with God, we can be easily swayed by earthly pleasures and settle for trivial pursuits.

Imprisoned in a false home of our making.

Today, His heart is reminding you He is your true Home.

His arms wait for you to return, draw close and connect with Him.

The areas of bondage within us will stop at nothing to try to keep us bound, because there couldn’t be more than survival and the way things always are, could there?

I believe this verse gives us the clue.

Come home, HOPE FILLED prisoners.

We may even have to ask Him to stir up that very hope within us to be able to believe there is more than we can see, sense or feel right now.

He will.

He waits.

He loves.

He’s Home.

#songfortheBeloved

comfort in community

Karla Lees

Hi chicks! (that’s what I call my girlfriends in Christ) If you are a bro, welcome.

I know some of you are single, separated, divorced or in a hard place in your marriages.  I know it can and does hurt. I know sometimes you feel you can’t ask people to pray for your spouse, for reconciliation and/or healing.  For you to become whole when you feel ripped apart.

Please do.

Being single does not mean God has abandoned you.  It does not mean His plans for you are always to be without a partner to love beside you on this earth.  He may draw you so deep into Him that you will sense Him as your partner through it all.

You are beloved just as you are, whether you are single, married, divorced, separated, a mom or not. God adores you, and will not leave you or fail to give you hope in your heart’s cry.

Please know its okay to be hurting and say so. We need to be able to be real with one another in the safety of supportive relationship.

I will caution you. Not everyone else believes as you do. Because we are all so different, we may need to share where you are at by starting with “This is where my heart is at. I am inviting you to pray for me as I have requested. I am not asking for answers, but comfort in community.”

Coz we don’t need to speak the answers to support one another, sisters & brothers. 

We need to leave the answers in His hands to be spoken in His timing to our hearts.

Sometimes we just need to know we have been heard, accepted for where we are at, and loved in that moment.

We all need to know we are not alone, and loved as we are. We were meant to find comfort in community.

I pray we will all learn to be better keepers of one another’s deepest longings when they are shared, and continue to point one another to God as we love up on each other right where we are at.

If you are in a state of singleness, and hurting over it, please hear you are not alone.

My suggested best to-do list when you are single, not by choice?

1. Spend more time with God than ever before in prayer, worship and His Word. Press in to Him for your needs, all of them. Ask Him to bring the right people into your life to be part of….

2.  Put together your support group: of sisters (brothers if you are a guy) in Christ, health professionals if you need them, and people who can give you wise counsel. 

3. Allow yourself to be real, but not wallow in your lowest points. 

4. Practice being positive. Speak His Promises out loud over your life.

5. Believe He has good plans for you and they will come to pass, even if you can’t see beyond the pain of today.

6. Remember you are never alone. Stop isolating yourself. Make sure you to be in contact with someone in your support group every day.

Keep pursuing health for yourself in the midst of your hard season. How you make it through can impact you for the better if you seek Him, surround yourself with support and always remember you are not alone.

I also invite you to pop by Whole Magazine to be encouraged as you read:
http://www.wholemagazine.org/posts/5-steps-to-getting-over-your-ex

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there will never be

Karla Lees

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I wish that you could see that beauty is within your heart

Too many of us allow our insecurity or the words of others to try to restamp our value.

Simply put? God only made one of you. You are the only You which will ever exist or be.

He made you in purpose, just the way you are:

And you were made with such care, your skin, your body and your hair are perfect just the way they are

He thinks you are wonderful, exquisite, worth His pursuit.

There could never be a more beautiful you

Whether you are a guy or gal, this is true of you.

Don’t buy the lies, disguises and hoops they make you jump through
You were made to fill a purpose that only you could do
So there could never be a more beautiful you

Don’t like one part of your appearance? God does! He likes the curl which refuses to be tamed, every ounce of extra weight and your baby toe which sticks out a bit.

Because it’s part of YOU!

Beloved, please tune in to His love as He continues to speak truth, freedom and purpose into us.

You are irreplaceable.

No one else is meant to do what God has planned for you to do here on earth.

No one else can bless His heart like you do.

No one else can love Him as you can.

You are the crowning achievement of creation, for you are made in His image.

He is so beautiful beyond description, and somehow we mirror that beauty in a way we may never fully grasp until Heaven.

May you walk, head held high, as the Beloved. A one of a kind expression of His beauty and love wherever you go.

Quoted Lyrics by Jonny Diaz, “More Beautiful You.”

greatly blessed, highly flavored, deeply loved

Karla Lees

Last night was one of those nights.

When you are so tired you can hardly keep your eyes awake, and just as you are comfy in bed trying to fall asleep….

  • hubby starts puking (from something he ate)
  • daughter gets a massive nose bleed
  • hedgehog starts running like a maniac on its wheel
  • cat starts snoring
  • the weight of the money getting tighter with a third car repair in ten days looming ahead

And you think, right there on the edge of losing it, “How will i ever get to sleep?!” before you hear His whisper, “I’ve got you.”

I left go, give it all to Him, and have a wonderful seven hour sleep. 🙂

God has an amazing way of flashing His promises and blessings through my mind & into my spirit when i need it most.

For in Him, as His Beloved, I am:

  1. Greatly blessed.  I am moving in with the King of all that is, ever has been & ever will be into eternity. I have an eternal inheritance as His daughter, His Beloved. Hullo, can I get an amen, soul?!  And if that was not blessing enough, I am never left alone. He is always with me. Even through the worst this world & circumstances can hurl my way.  I can rest in His loving care.
  2. Highly flavored.  I have been hardwired uniquely by the Master Craftsman just so, and my uniqueness when offered to Him & for His Kingdom blessed Him.  He gives good gifts to all His creation. Each sunrise, sunset, baby cry, flower blooming, rain fall – is a gift for us to enjoy.
  3. Highly favored.  Each talent & skill He bestows on us is a visible sign of His favor, as is our ability to walk right up to Him in His throne room & climb up on His lap, to ask anything we want of Him.   As His Beloved, we have especial favor in the eyes of our Love.
  4. Deeply Loved. His Love is astounding. That You choose to shower Your love upon me, breathtaking wonder! Going to the cross to show me just how much You love me- as far as the east is from the west, with no end? Overwhelming joy!

If you too are in the midst of hard times, take the time to draw close to Him again right in that moment when you feel like you can’t take much more.  Allow Him to shoulder your burden, fill You with His peace & love, and comfort you as He walks with you.  He truly shines all the brighter against the dark backdrop in your difficult moments.  Don’t forget to ask Him to remind you who you are to Him.  He loves to love up on His Beloved 🙂

 

 

i am greatly blessed

love letter to the Beloved

Karla Lees

Beloved,
yes, I mean you.
Please look at me.
I am inviting you
to come out of hiding
and enter My embrace
just as you are.

My love for you?
It’s not based on what you do,
for I am not interested in performance as a basis for My love.

My love for you?
Overflows out of me,
because I am Love.

And I felt desire for you
my Beloved,
my Bride,
back before I created
this world & all its wonders.

Do you grasp that I consider you
to be My crowning glory
of the wonders in this world?

I had a glimpse of you
as I laid out my plans for Creation
and although I knew
it would take time
and many many lifetimes
in earth’s time
for you to come to me,
I was excited
for our meeting.

I have been waiting for you
since before time began
to meet with you.

Love cannot help but long for the one it loves.

And You are she to me.

My Beloved.

I know life in its daily drudgery can be hard to cope with some days,
but I hope you know the Truth which accompanies you always.

I am with you, each & every moment of your life.

In the hard times, I bring comfort peace as the jewels of My love for you.

When you are rejoicing, I clap for joy.

When you are grieving, I hold you even closer to my heart.  For I too know the pain of deep loss.

When you finish the race before you, I am the Prize waiting for you at the end.

When you feel discarded or broken by this world, know that I long to reshape you into the masterpiece I saw you as & created you to be from the beginning.

Oh my Beloved,
that you would accept what you may not be able to fully understand on this side of Heaven….
you are loved.

Walk it out.
Be loved.
Allow yourself to be my Beloved,
no holds barred, without restraint.

As you walk as my Beloved,
the fragrance of My Presence you will carry will entrance those who do not yet know they are part of My Beloved.

My Bride awakens when she senses My desire for her.

Be loved, Beloved.

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God has been wooing me with quiet loving whispers to my heart, and reassuring Words to my spirit.  The harder my days seem, the lighter they become when I recognize that being His Beloved is not like work, where you can turn it off or on at will.  His Love is meant to cover us, soak into us, and become part of us, making us over as His Beloved from the inside out. 

Be loved today, Beloved.  Allow Him to speak the words & song the song over you He longs to bless you with.

before me

Karla Lees

You go before me,
and I can have hope
because of that.

The One
who knows all things
ever
is not only
making the rough patch ahead
smooth for me,
He warns me
where to avoid stepping
as we walk
together.

Hope smashes down
the blockades,
setting me free
as He leads me
straight
to the treasures
in store for me.

Hope not only chose me,
He named me Beloved,
making me His
to love & adore.

And if that wasn’t enough….

Hope goes before me
but also beside
& behind me.

He covers me from all sides,
in all situations,
all the time.

Hope loves me,
and wants, desires
nothing but the best
for me.
Always.

(free verse inspired by Isaiah 45:2-8)

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