Tag: move

move on or love up on – the crossroads we all face

Karla Lees

We each face a crossroads when confronted with a situation, person or comment which is unexpected, uncalled for or unwanted.

We can choose to ask God what to do, or take matters into our own hands.

There are times when God does call us to turn the other cheek, forgive and move on.

There are others where He calls you to move in and love up on the offender.

Both responses bring a shift of atmosphere into the situation, if we follow as He leads.

Matthew 7:7 reminds us:

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.

When faced with a crossroads, are you asking for His wisdom and discernment?

God reminds us He gives wisdom to those who ask for it. He will guide us if we choose to follow.

How we choose to respond is based upon how whom we choose to listen to.

If you are seeking <peace in a tumultuous situation, your Abba will give it to you if you keep seeking him first.

If you are asking for clarification Holy Spirit will prompt you if you ask.

If you are knocking on the door of heaven to know how He would like you to bring heaven down, Jesus will answer.

Our part is to choose to follow, which begins with the choice to
ask,
actively wait,
accutely listen, and
attentively obey.

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are your roots showing?

Karla Lees

I recently has to get my hair done.
Because I have very curly hair, i can’t always tell when my roots begin to show, until they are pretty bad.  Like over an inch or two.

Because I am transitioning back to my natural dark ash blonde, (which is actually a lighter brown but the boxes & color wheels say is dark ash blonde, so I guess technically I am still a blonde!) now that I had a lot of roots showing, I needed a new game plan. Where am I headed now? More highlights & lowlights to keep transitioning with each cut, or dye my whole head to match the roots, then add a few highlights for fun.

I went with option b.  Because I am not ashamed of my roots.  I like the color, and want to work with the body I’ve got.

How long are your roots?

Are they subtle and barely noticeable, or obvious to everyone who sees you? 

Are they hidden because of how you carry yourself?

The roots to which I am now referring?

Your rootedness in God.

Do you spend more quality time with Him than anyone else you are in relationship with?

Can other people tell you are depending on Him in your day to day life?

Can you remain standing when the storm hits?

God is unshakeably dependable, our Rock of Ages.  Nothing shocks Him, ever. Nothing can move Him out of His position as Lord over all.

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There is living water & wisdom to feed the souls of those who dig deep and draw close to Him.

And the closer you get, the deeper you become His, and the more He steadies you.

So unlike your hair, these roots are the ones we want to be visible in our lives.

We want Him to look at us and see we are standing on His Word, trusting in His ways, and seeking Him in every moment.

We want roots so deep we are constantly strengthened by Him, grounded in His Promises, & in His Presence.

May we look beyond the superficial, find the courage to let our root grow, and not be afraid to let them show.

only part of the story

Karla Lees

Oh as you run,
what hindered love
will only
become part of the story.

–Steffany Gretzinger, Come out of Hiding

A few weeks ago, I took part in a night of prophetic teaching, and one of the words spoken was the lyrics to this song.

It snuck past my defences, and opened my heart to receive the words God wanted me to hear. My tears, oh how they flowed!

I have lived my life with too much fear & regret, feeling like there are too many chapters I wish I could rip out of my story.

But looking at my life from my perspective is not what I am meant to do.

I am meant to lean into God, and press in for the promises and purpose He has for me.

Not to take a long look back at what was, but to keep my eyes fixed on Him & what He has ahead for me.  I am not a waste, or the sum of my mistakes.

Part of sharing my story is how God is shattering my vision, removing my faulty lie lined glasses, and let me see His vision instead.

God doesn’t use an eraser, or liquid paper, or start our story over.

He takes away the hurt, the pain, and restored the broken places of the past chapters, and helps us write each day moving forward with his help & strength.

He doesn’t remember the past.

At all.

Its a new day, every day with Him.

And because of that amazing mind-blowing aspect of His character…..

My story isn’t finished yet, and neither is yours!

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We can have hope, because what the enemy intended to use against us becomes only part of our story in God’s hands & plans.

With His grace, we can live our story unhindered!

Its time to step into the light of His grace,

gaze on His face,

and move into the place

He has waiting for us!

#pressingin

#thestorycontinues

#comeoutofhiding

#hopeinHisPresence

wide open spaces

Karla Lees

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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called to go, do or be?

Karla Lees

We were, and are, all called for a purpose.

Typically, most of us (myself included) tend to think of this call only as an action.

We are to go out & make disciples in all nations.

Absolutely.

We miss the key point when it becomes about where we go and what we are doing.

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We are not primarily called to DO SOMETHING or GO SOMEWHERE, we are called TO SOMEONE.

-Os Guinness

When Jesus spoke about what we were to do, He reminded us Who was to be with us to the end of the age: God.

If it becomes all about the action, we miss the heart behind it all.

The heart that loved us, everyone ever on this earth, so much He put on flesh, took up His cross & died for our freedom.

The hands that made all of humanity, painstakingly handcrafting each of us, in His image.

The mind that knows what each person is feeling.

The eyes that see everything, everywhere all the time.

The ears that hear the cries of His people, and the those crying out for justice & freedom.

The Living Word who inspired the bible, recording our interactions with the God over all.

We need to be spending time with Him, the One who made it all, gave it all and loves us all in order to live out our call.

Drawing close to Him is the number one priority to finding our what it is He created you to do.

Getting to know Him will reveal who He is, how He can equip you to the task at hand, and help you reflect Him to the world around you.

Our number one purpose, our call?

To worship Him.
To know Him.
To be known by Him.
To press in close to Him.

Because God?

He isn’t stagnant.
He is constantly on the move.
Keeping watch over His flock, seen & yet unseen.

As we spend time in His Presence, we will see where He is wanting us to move, what He is wanting us to say, where He desires for us to go, how He wants us to help.

Staying close to the God over all will reveal more of His character and His loves.

The more time we spend with Him, the more we will become like Him.

Poured out for the purpose for which we were called, just like Jesus.

Jesus didn’t compromise time with His Father in getting all He was to do done.  When He died on the cross, up to that moment – everything He was to have completed was finished.

And God was with Him, as He sought hard after God in prayer and presence even though the crowds pressed in, even though He had a long hard road to travel.

Not sure what you were called for?

First and foremost, as a worshiper.

In His Presence, all the rest will fall into place.

You will fulfill your purpose when the One who called you speaks the way.

Tuning in to the right frequency is required.&n The closer you come, the clearer the reception.

We were not called primarily to action, but His Presence.

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touchy touchy

Karla Lees

There are moments when we don’t want to be touched.

When we want to stay entrenched in our fury, stand on our injustices and refuse to allow the pressure to  release.

When we want to be right even though a little voice may be poking us to tell us we aren’t.

When we have lost what feels like our world from beneath us, our grief emanating from the depths of who we are.

When the pain radiates so strongly that the lightest of touches feels like a bee sting.

When we are too touchy and prickly in our woundedness.

These are the very moments God came to touch us in.

I have had several car accidents (as a passenger) that have left my neck & shoulders exceptionally tight.  I can feel relaxed everywhere else, but not in those two spots.  Prayer helps with the pain management, yet the work I do typing daily doesn’t help. 

I need the strong touch of my massage therapist or physiotherapist to help get the knots out, and smooth away my tense muscles.

If I go too long in between, I feel it.

In the same way, we were not designed to be solitary creatures, keeping ourselves removed from God’s loving touch.

We were meant to reach out and touch God. Our bodies, minds, emotions & spirit need His touch in order for us to let go of what needs to be uprooted or sloughed off under His soothing gentle yet firm touch.

Let God help you release the tension….
Get rid of that knot of burden you refuse to take off your back…
Help your stiff neck turn towards Him again…
Soothe the raw nerves as only He can….
Bring deep penetrating rest into the areas you may not even consciously be aware need it…

In the Old Testament, God kept Himself apart, and required distance from direct contact with His people.

Jesus arrived, and turned this on its head!

Jesus touched people everywhere He went…
the hurting,
the diseased,
the paralyzed,
the lonely,
the beggars,
the lepers,
the outcasts,
the grieving,
the children,
the ones seeking their last hope,
the untouchables,
even the dead.

Against all traditional beliefs in how God should treat people, God in Jesus touched lives beyond what we believed possible in a holy God.

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He touched our hearts as He did.

For all the world to see, Jesus reached out and embraced the cross. That touch reverberated through out known time and space, rippling out into heaven and eternity.

When He allowed man to touch Him, wound Him over & over, and crucify Him, He knew intimately how some touches can devastate us.

When He rose from the dead, He knew how much those He had left behind, His disciples & followers would need the real touch only a loving God can bring:
compassion
forgiveness
mercy
love
grace
kindness

He still offers this to us each and every day.

Are you ready for God to collide with you right where you are at? Embrace you, holding you closer than you can dare to imagine?

God’s touch brings the hurting, broken and dead areas in us back to life again.

Reach out and touch His outstretched hand.

All it takes is one touch for your life to change.

entrenched in guilt

Karla Lees

Being entrenched in your guilt is like standing in cement and letting it set around your feet.

#TheMercifulScar

Guilt does nothing but lock you into place, keeping you from moving forward.

The only way to combat guilt?

Admit the issue that you are feeling guilty about.

Sounds simple enough, but when you shove something to the back burner over long period of time, you can almost convince yourself the guilt is just part of your daily makeup.

I know a few people who are literally stuck in holding pattern over their feelings of guilt.

Did something you shouldn’t have?
Didn’t so something you should have?

The apostle Paul could relate… He struggled with those very two questions (Romans 7:15), even referring to sin as a prison (Romans 7:14) and how we can’t live just by the law.

Because we needed help, Jesus not only settled the score for our sin, He gives us His Spirit to clear the air and set us free to live.

No longer stuck in sin’s concrete socks.

There is no guilt without sin.

Just as there is no fire without an ignition or spark to set it off, guilt doesn’t happen without an action behind it pulling your emotional strings.

Its time to get light, break free from the concrete, address the guilt by figuring out its source, then talking it over with God.

As Edmond did with Aslan in the Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe, its time to clear the air, deal with the weight caused by our sin, and align ourselves with living free.

Walk again.

Guilt can only keep you captive as long as you refuse to deal with the root behind it.

Uproot it to kick guilt out, and move into the freedom that awaits you.

Its time to take flight again.

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