Tag: presence

when you are the owner of a broken heart

Karla Lees

Friend, today I am going to share from the heart one of the biggest lessons I have ever learned about brokenness.  My prayer is that the same God who is rebuilding the broken pieces with me will give you a glimpse of hope where you are feeling broken.

Maybe you and I, we’re never meant to be complete. Could we just be broken together? If you can bring your shattered dreams and I’ll bring mine. Could healing still be spoken and save us? The only way we’ll last forever is broken together. – Broken Together- Casting Crowns

Relationships are hard.

Especially the ones with the people you interact with every day.

Because in our own way, deep down within each of us, we are broken.

Some more than others, but no one walks this earth unscathed in some way.

Not even Jesus did.

I have found that when I am feeling broken, I have a tendency to hide away, lick my wounds and brood. Occasionally, a full blown cry fest erupts, leaving me exhausted on top of the broken pieces I am trying so hard to hold together.

But we were designed for community. With our best friends and families, but especially in marriage, if we have been blessed with that gift.

These past 25 years together, my hubby and I have had a lot of mileage into the realm of brokenness. It has been harder than I imagined at times, more painful than I ever thought, and gone deeper than I ever dreamed possible.

Yet together we are stronger because of it, for we can see God moving better in each other at times than we can sense Him moving within ourselves.

Building one another up when the other is feeling low. Being the shoulder to cry on when we need to let it out.

Because the secret to being broken in a marriage and still staying married?

The three stranded cord.

By yourself you’re unprotected. With a friend you can face the worst. Can you round up a third? A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.  Ecclesiastes 4:12 (MSG)

When even one of you invite God into your marriage, He intertwines Himself into it. He becomes the stabilizer, the marriage counselor. He gives you the love to express when you feel empty, yet your hubby needs to know you care. He gives your hubby the strength to just listen & tell you he loves you.

Without God, our marriage would not have made it this far.

Because in our own strength we would have run on empty long ago.

It’s not about having made a bad pick, or being a mismatched pair.

It’s making the one you are with your mate, supported by the Love that never fails, never gives up and never runs out on either of you, or your marriage.

If you know you are broken and need help, pray and ask God to bring you to the right resources, or bring the best help to you.

Your spouse’s brokenness isn’t for you to heal, that is His job. They need your support and love as they face their own brokenness and support you in yours.

God knew when He designed marriage that we would need one another:

In better, in worse.
In sickness, in health.
With wealth, without much.
Whether whole or broken.

The amazing thing I have found? My hubby and I have not been so broken in the same ways that we couldn’t be there for one another. Often not perfectly, but present none the less.

In His mercy, He makes us the mate our spouse needs. Whether we have broken bits or not.

Only God can take what is broken, and shape it to make something beautiful.

  • He is with us, every step of the journey.
  • His Presence draws closer with every request for Him to come and be nearer.
  • His love, strength, grace and mercy are more than enough for what you and your spouse may face today.

He longs to restore and repair where we are broken, and can do amazing things when we place ourselves in His hands.

Broken together with the Potter makes for a beautiful finish beyond belief.

When we give Him all the pieces, He can make us whole again, one piece at a time.

broken together

#broken #hopefortheharddays #hopeinHisPresence

find rest…

Karla Lees

We are all looking for that soft place to land upon when we fall.

We tend to keep ourselves busy to distract ourselves from the fact something isn’t right.

We all need rest.

And some of us need to stop running so we can find it again.

Saying yes to some priorities means saying no to some things we may love, but aren’t important in the big picture of life.

Rest- both physical and spiritual- is near the top of my list.

We are called, actually reminded in the Word, that to rest.

Psalm 62:5 tells us we can find our rest in Him.

Time spent in His Presence brings an inner rest and peace in the quiet place where we meet together….and that connectiveness helps keep me calm when the storms of life hit.

Because we all know storms come and go, as do the sunny days.

My soul needs to be supercharged with rest to help keep me seeking Him despite what is ahead, just around the bend.

Relationship problems?
Work problems?
Health concerns?
Financial stresses?
Relocations?
Death of a loved one?
Unprovoked aggression?

All of these can be seen throughout the Bible….and none more clearly than in the life of Jesus.

Jesus took Himself away from the crowds, even his best friends & family, and sought God in the quiet place.

To seek His face,
to be reminded of His love,
to remember who He really was,
to find rest despite the hard road ahead.

Unsure of things going on in your life?

Press in to the One who is ever present and never changing.

Press in to Him for the rest you need, which only He can deliver.

Respond to His invitation to come and be with Him.  For the rest you are looking for is found on His Presence.

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Take me away…

Karla Lees

Take me away, a secret place
A sweet escape, take me away
Take me away to better days
Take me away, a hiding place

– Natasha Bedingfield, Pocket Full Of Sunshine

My heart started crying out this song to my Abba these past few days.

When life gets tough, my first reaction is instinctively to ask to be rescued, for a quick escape so I don’t have to deal with whatever is currently facing me.

Afterwards, it used to be I would escape into a bag of sour cream potato chips or a sitcom, licking my wounds and berating myself for rolling over and taking a beating yet again. 

We never learn to be proactive and change our ways by just thinking about it. We need to do it.

Instead of being passive and keeping my hurts buried in the hidden spaces within, I am learning to run to the secret place.

His embrace.

I am invited there 24/7.
365 days a year.
And on into eternity!

I stopped short quite some time ago as I was headed down the wrong path of response when it hit me.

Why wait for eternity to fix everything? Why not now?

If we are called to supernaturally live in, through and with Him…then here on earth is where we need to do so.

Just as Jesus did.

Jesus took Himself away at times. Not to kick his wounds or hide away, but to reconnect. Becoming rejuvenated and reinvigorated for the plans He was to walk out with His Father. (Luke 16:16, Mark 1:35)

Jesus never backed down from doing His Father’s business where He saw His Father inviting Him into a situation.

I need to do the same.

Instead of allowing fear and survival instincts to drive me, I need to choose faith and supernatural instincts to guide me.

He promises to always be with us, and show us how to live free.

Our part is to choose to stay in His embrace through our days, and refuse to allow the lure of other pleasures to steal us from where our souls and spirits know is where we belong.

With Him.

He may take you away from a situation by prompting you to remove yourself from it.

He may guide you as to what to pray to shift the atmosphere.

He may tell you what to say to diffuse discord and bring peace.

The whole time, He will be with you.

I would rather be in His embrace in a hurricane than left alone to my own devices.

Lead me away from what doesn’t work, Abba, and keep me headed on the path You have for me. May I run to You first, and You alone, when the storms begin to circle.

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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 😉

at any age or stage, your life matters

Karla Lees

It’s so much not about your age, but the life you’ve lived in those years.

I have a few friends who have recently celebrated (some reluctantly) significant birthdays.

Age is not a big deal to me.

It’s more about the life we have lived in those years than the time we count.

You may be a sixty year old who has never left your hometown,  but have raised three wonderful children who love the Lord.

You could be a 22 year old God is using brilliantly for His Kingdom, but may be insecure in being single.

You may be starting over after a divorce, death or loss of job.

All the life we have lived matters to the One who gave us life.

His Presence with us matters most of all.

God is able to show us things we have lived through from His perspective.

God is able to heal us from the brokenness and hurts we’ve received in our past.

God is able to stir up our hope as He shows us the future He has for us, both now and forever more.

Nothing, not one thing, is wasted or beyond his redemption for those who put their faith and trust in God in this life.

The author of life Himself offers to walk beside us with each step we take in this life.

And experiencing life by His side can cause one blissful moment to linger for hours and one hard hour to fade into a blip of time.

Time doesn’t pass for Him the same way it does for us. We only move forwards. God is beyond time, as its designer and initiator.

I have seen Him speed the skills and development of young people as he has empowered them to step into roles generally thought of as for thr mature.

Older folk rediscover life with the wide eyed wonder traditionally reserved for youth.

Life isn’t about age as much as stage.

Every age or stage is His speciality, as the Creator of life.

Instead of becoming depressed or upset with where you are at right now, invite Him to show you the wonders He has for you.

Right here, right now.

For although God is beyond time he way we know it, He never fails to step into our lives and stay with us through it all.

Not thrilled you are X years old and you haven’t seen Y happen yet in your life, or you are tired of carrying the weight of Z about on your way shoulders?

Come to the One who gave you life, who helps you live life to its fullest, and empowers you through life’s ups and downs.

All of your life matters to Him, from your conception to whatever age and stage you are right at now:
○The good, the bad.
○The happy, the sad.
○The highs, the lows.
○The celebrations, the blows.

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Sunday Psalm: time well spent

Karla Lees

A Sunday well spent brings a week of content.

Sunday.

The day we are urged to rest.

Connect with what matters most.

Look back at what was, leave behind what needs to stay there, and adapt as we need to move forward changed for the better.

Remind each other we care.

Remind our souls we are Beloved. 

Listen for His voice before all others, helping us reset our priorities for His Kingdom first.

There is nothing I like more than celebrating Sunday morning with my heavenly family, Sunday afternoon with my sofa, and Sunday evening with my loved ones.

To me, Sunday’s not so much about what I do apart from resting in His Presence.

May we take some time to soak in who He is and who we really are before stepping into the week ahead.

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praise and worship to change the atmosphere

Karla Lees

Praise and worship arrest the atmosphere that is constantly whispering fear, failure and regret.  Lisa Bevere

These past few weeks, God has been whispering to me to listen before I speak, even more He ever has before.

When I get that email which causes my anxiety level to soar in an instant.

When I remember something I had forgotten to do, and am unsure how to handle my disappointment with myself.

When I knew I blew it, and the enemy blows a sense of heightened fear onto the reality that I failed.

Maybe you too can relate.

Instead of immediately reacting, I have been stepping into a new way to handle these kind of situations, which inevitably happen to all of us at one time or another. (Even more if you live, work or hang out with people on a daily basis. Which is most of us!)

I put on my praise and worship pants.

I step into the wonder and awe of my More than Enough, and leave the atmosphere of failure and not enough in my rearview mirror:

  • I proclaim God for who He is.
  • I keep my eyes fixed on His ways.
  • I set my heart to seek His heart for me, His heart for those I interact with or encounter.
  • I choose to focus on what I do know instead of the what ifs and all the other questions which tend to pop into our mind in stressful situations.
  • I sing, write, draw, sit in quiet as I feel lead, and listen for His direction and prompts.

But first and foremost, i remind myself who is with me.

Who lives within me and walks with me.

And as His temple, I don’t want to willingly partner with anything that will make me less of a host to the Holy Ghost.

So I proclaim I am His, and I am refusing to allow anything that does not come through His hands into my temple.

And I send it back to where it has come from.

As I do, He shifts the atmosphere to that of His Kingdom.

And fear, worry, anxiety, lies, failure and regret ebb away in the light He brings with His presence into the immediate situation where He has been invited.

I pray if you too need to shift the atmosphere about you, that you will clearly hear His voice guiding you as you invite Him to move on your behalf in the moment.

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tears for now

Karla Lees

I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making His home with men and women! They’re His people, He’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone—all the first order of things gone.”

Revelation 21:3-4 MSG

The Good News has arrived once in the person of Jesus, but God’s story for His people doesn’t end with that first arrival here on earth.

In Revelations, we are reminded the Good News yet to come…Jesus is coming again.

He is going to come back and make His home with His people, Beloved.
He will live with us, not just within us where He currently resides.

And once He has moved in, look at the next things He does….

He wipes every single tear from our eyes.

For He brings peace with His presence.

In fact, He will stop us from crying or weeping at all.

For He brings joy in His Presence.

We will never experience or suffer another pain. Ever!

For He brings hope in His Presence.

We will never die again.

For He gives life to those in His Presence!

The Promise will come to pass when we are with Him forever. No more tears, crying, pain or death!

Now is not forever, as You remind us all, God!

What a promise to celebrate! Sing, journal, dance – however you best offer your thanksoffering of praise for His promise yet to come!

Let this truth soak deep into the hearts and minds of the Beloved, Abba. Bring it back to the forefront when we need the reminder in the hard moments, Holy Spirit. May we entrust all we are, pain and tears, hopes and dreams, grief and loss, joy and hope, into Your loving, more than capable hands, Jesus. 

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in His Presence

Karla Lees

Your God is present among you, a strong Warrior there to save you.
Happy to have you back, He’ll calm you with His love and delight you with His songs. Zephaniah 3:17 MSG

I have a confession to make.

This verse is one of my favorite verses in the Old Testament.  In the passage of Zephaniah 3, God is reminding His people that He is with them, and restoration is coming.

Because of who He is.

Present with us.
Mighty to save us.
Ready for battle.

But He doesn’t just remind us of His physical presence in this verse, for He is not a two dimensional God.  He is whole, and how He describes Himself is alive and ever for His Beloved.

God reassures us of His devotion for us, His people, through Zephaniah’s writings.

●Thrilled we have returned to Him
●Calming our worries and anxieties with His love
●Delighting us with His songs

God not only protects those who come under the shadow of His wing, He loves up on us!  He keeps us calm! And to top it off, God HIMSELF sings to us for OUR delight!

If you have forgotten how wonderful our God is, in all the many ways He chooses to be there for us, invite Him to remind you as you return to the safety of His embrace.  Let Him love up on you when you are with Him, in His Presence.

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the gifts along the path

Karla Lees

I wanted the gift of the shortest and easiest path. Instead, He gave me the gift of holding me close and strengthening me for the hard path. It took me a long time to understand that both were gifts. And as I embraced the second, my need for the first lost its tormenting grip.

– Sharon Hinck, the Deliverer
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When I am fearful, worried or anxious, I have a tendency to want an instant fix to the problem facing me.

As much as God loves me, He doesn’t always answer my prayers the way I wish He would.

I can only see the wisdom in His ways with the hindsight which comes from the passing of time.

Over the past five years, our family has had more come at it than I could have imagined as a writer.

And my walk is stronger and my faith the deeper for it, which I can now see.

Because the only thing that matters on the paths He has for us?

The company we keep, and who keeps us in their company.

If all you can focus on in the swirl of emotions and stresses in the moments is the difficulties ahead, you send out the signal that you are a victim.

Which is where the enemy wants you to stay: Frozen with fear or indecision, so you don’t move anywhere.

When we forget who wants to be with us, we lock ourselves on the path we create, instead of reaching for the hand of the One who wants to guide us on His pathways through the hard times.

But when we take His hand, keeping our eyes fixed on His loving gaze, He can leads us deeper into His ways, as He embraces us with His Presence and purpose.

For even though we may be scared or unsure of what is ahead, God isn’t.

For God is the wisest of all, more loving than imaginable, and knows He plans He has for us.

And He wants to walk with you, right beside you, speaking to you through His Word and Holy Spirit, and show you the way for you to go.

If you are unsure of what may be ahead, you can rest assured:

God is for you.

There are blessings ahead beyond what you could grasp know or imagine.

God is with you.

He will never not be with you, Beloved. He is always with the ones He adores.

God is waiting for you.

In every high or low, He is waiting for your invitation, for you to ask Him in, in all His fullness.

God delights in you.

As a writer, painter, musician or artist pours his/herself into what they create, so did God when He made you in His image.

And He likes whom He made. In fact, He absolutely adores you, and has nothing but His best to offer you. He proved it on the cross.

God is the best companion you could ever have as you journey through this life. He Himself is the gift we can discover along the way!

May you remember that nothing is too big or too small to remind Him about, for He already sees it all.

He is one prayer, one conversation away.

Allow Him to light the way as you hold His hand on your path.