wide open spaces

Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!

2 Corinthians 6:11-13 MSG

It is time to step out of our confines, and hop over the fences we have hidden ourselves behind.

Wide open spaces in His Presence await.

That sentence sent a shiver down my spine, not because its scary, but holy and awesome and amazing all rolled into one.

The freedom to be ourselves out wherever He leads us is a gift many of us are missing out on.

We can’t see how the money will come in to support this wild new adventure, so we don’t make room to let the seed grow, even in our dreams.

We can’t come out from behind our fences because we are trying to do it in our own strength & abilities, and its a supernatural freedom we need to move beyond.

We feel stuck between two camps, the safe where we may be bored but we know what to expect, while part of us is longing for the unexpected adventure that could await us if we took the leap.

And just like you, I am in the same place.

Longing for the freedom to run wild & free beside Jesus, and feel stuck in the quagmire of the day to day.

Today I realized something.

Although I have a to do list (just as we all do) that doesn’t mean I can’t make space & time to go running with Jesus into the freedom He beckons me towards.

Because in this case, freedom is a spiritual thing.

We can escape our inner fences and move into the wonder He has waiting for us, even if we still have the same job, sick kids, bills to pay and mountains of laundry.

We are designed for forever living. Our spirits are eternal.

I don’t know about you, but that truth is wonderously wild and sobering.

We don’t have to wait until heaven to begin to soar.

Today, take a moment and ask God to reveal where you have a fence holding you back from the gift of freedom He has for you.

Ask Him to break you out, destroy the fence and set you free.

Take hold of His hand, and head on out into those first steps into the unknown now ahead, knowing He has your hand tight in His grasp.

God with us means we don’t have to be afraid.

He’s got you.

The wild open spaces are beckoning you to come…you don’t even need to leave home to get there!

Step through the door into the wonder that awaits you.

Live wide!

#pressingin
#echoesofNarnia
#hopeinHisPresence
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holding back?

You never lose by loving.
You only lose by holding back.

@WomanDoItAll tweet

part of me
is curled tight
clenched within
the very core of who I am

it started as a seed
but instead of planting
it to let it grow,
unfurl in Your presence
I buried it inside
away from Your light…
letting it starve
from lack of connection,
lonely from
a lack of love

I hold myself back
so well
all the enemy has to do
is point to the road ahead
and my imagination
runs amok
pondering all the possibilities
fear, worry and loneliness
can conjure when
the faith within
has been held back
out of reach from
Your loving,
healing touch

as I learn
to trust You even more
i led down the
guard I built within
the wall to keep
what I feared out
but in reality
locks part of me
within
away from the very hope
it needed to deepen
and mature

in one whoosh
freedom is released
like a rushing wind
blowing out the
shards of pretense
and enabling
Holy Spirit to move on in
and remodel the place
He loves to live in

‘No more holding back’
He gently whispers
to my soul
‘I want you free
the way We designed you to be.
Flying high,
trusting deeply,
letting us lead,
increasing our Glory
as you walk out
Our story
through you’

My eyelids
begin to close
and down droops
my nose
as my head bobs
to almost touch my chin
as Your peace floods
into my heart,
confirming what I knew
from the start

I already know You
will win, God
help me live out the truth
that
I will never lose
by letting You love me
inside & out,
i only lose
when i hold myself back
from the fullness
You offer
in Your Presence

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