Tag: soak

let God love the hell out of you

Karla Lees

Do yourself a massive favor and let God love the hell out of you. Then love yourself as much as He does. It will change your life forever. Kris Vallotton

I needed this word this morning.

I can so relate to what Kris Vallotton shared on his blog today: http://krisvallotton.com/what-is-your-love-lid/

Because I too try to lessen my value to a dollar figure, instead of accepting the gift of eternal value I have by being His Beloved.

And I don’t walk out my true value most days, because I am too busy playing into the enemy’s scheme to keep me focused on what I lack instead of what I have in Him.

In God?

I am wanted.
I am chosen.
I am signed, sealed, & delivered into freedom.
I am paid for in full.
I am Beloved.
I am the apple of His eye.
I am His delight.
I am His Bride.

I need to remind myself of my true value too, more often than I can to admit.

I too need to ask God to love up on me, to so overpower me with His love that the hell is literally shoved out when it encounters His love.

And let’s face it, hate doesn’t like to leave anywhere it has burrowed into, does it?

Yes, I said hate.  Because hell is really about those who hate His creation, and the Creator.

Hell? It’s filled with fallen angels, serving their false god. And one day it will be filled with souls that failed to bend the knee before God.  Who refused to accept the only thing that could keep them from their final destination, apart from Him.

Love can make all the difference.

And it starts with accepting that we are valuable enough to be loved.

Especially by our Maker, who rules over Heaven & earth, and holds the keys to set everyone free from the road to hell if they accept Him.

I am not the same mess within as I was when God first met me.  I thank Holy Spirit for leading me as I take each thought captive before Him, before I accept what it says.

I am no longer on the highway to hell.

His love has literally scared hell’s grip on me and cast it out forever.

I am on the pathway to meet God face to face, and live in the comfort of His embrace for all eternity.

On the days when I am bloated, sick or discouraged, I need this reminder: 

His love has changed me forever.
I have a purpose, plan and a future in His hands.

Beloved, may you too allow Him to soak you in the waves of His love, until all you see is His face beaming at you!

When you have steeped enough in His love, you will be able to accept it as your true value and walk in the confidence of bring His Beloved.

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the reflection of Love

Karla Lees

God loves you.

No only does He love you, but He is Love.

And He is whole.

God’s not broken like you & I, and all those broken ones who love each other in ways that hurt.

For all of us are broken until He makes us whole.

Like He is.

God isn’t broken, so He doesn’t love as broken humanity does.

He loves wholly from who He is, Love itself.

And not only does Love find us, it restores us to wholeness through its continuous outpouring of love.

Love makes us worthy.

My definition of worth?

Worth = the value placed by the purchaser on the object of His desire.

His very Love came down, put on flesh & bone, and lived among us.

Showing us He is Love through the Son.

Even to the cross, taking on our sins…because He desired for us to know our true worth.

God Himself loved us worthy through Jesus’ life & death.

The perfect Lamb, the only One worthy of it all, laid down His worth to show us our value to Him.

God believes us worth His Love.

Worthy of Him.

Not because of anything we could ever do.

Because of the Son.

His Love is Himself, actively pursuing each of us.

He IS Love.

When we spend time in His Presence, we cannot help but soak in that Love.

And we are changed through the Son shining on us.

As we live out our daily lives, something fantastic happens because of our time spent soaking in His Love.

We begin to reflect it.

The Son radiates Himself, love, through us.

The Worthy One uses the ones He made worthy to reach those do not yet know their true worth, and those who need the reminder.

We reflect His Love on all we encounter.

We reflect Him.

With the sun beginning to shine more and more on me here in Southern Ontario with the arrival of spring, it is seen in the new growth, the warmth & the reflection on the water.

May we too reflect His love, Him so that others will grow, find their true Love & see themselves through His eyes: as Beloved.

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Steep in His Love

Karla Lees

Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Matthew 6:33 MSG

Afraid of missing out?

I know I am at times…maybe more than I am comfortable admitting!

There are days where I don’t get in those things I love to do, such as a freshly steeped cuppa tea to start off or end my day.  I miss my tea when I don’t make the time for it.

lightstock_101455_xsmall_karla_leesThe same can be said for our daily quiet time:  our faith needs daily steeping as well.

The Bible reminds us all that God is there for us in a real, life-altering way.

He extends His hand in a love driven offer for you:
To be with You.
To care for You.
To love You.

Honestly, I  need to reread the above verse from Matthew every day.

For it reminds me He is just waiting to help us.

He promises in His Word to provide for us, in every way we need, each day.

Just like tea, the more we steep in Him for our daily needs, the stronger the faith we will develop!

It’s time to come and soak, and let Him steep the truth of who He is deep within us, as we daily depend on Him to strengthen us, for….

He is real! – we are in relationship with a tangible touchable living God!

He started it!– All things start in Him, and as our Maker He knws how to best help us become the “us” He designed, made & hopes for.

He will provide! – He promises as we seek Him & give Him first place, our needs will be met.

Let Him take our daily rawness, and make something more wonderful as we steep in His Presence.

May we end up a sweet offering, pleasing to our King!

Note: this post was based upon my daily devotion which posted today at Remade Ministries, an organization designed to help women be remade in His hands:

http://remade-ministries.org/devotion/strengthen-your-faith/

dry & weary land

Karla Lees

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There are places within that are parched, dry, weary.

Broken places I have buried for too long.

Hopes & dreams I wait for.

Wounds that have been partly healed, a crack still open to keep the infection brewing.

There is no 100% cure without God.
None.

You see, the layers within cannot be reached to our very depths by anything we can do or try.

Simply put, we don’t have the right tools without God’s leading us through the layers.

Only He can peel back our defenses to let the truth come to light.

Once the negative roots get exposed, they are uprooted to stop their poisonous growth.

The positive roots are properly planted to burrow deep as originally intended without any more lies choking the life out of them, or the excess layers of soil become so soaked the water can finally spur the roots on to grow.

Dry and weary can mean we need to lay our stuff down, and ask God to release His living water to soak us through and through.

It’s waiting, taking a breather from what’s going on around you, or within your swirling emotions, for God to meet you.

It is stopping the doing, to being in His presence, that leads us to that water.

If you are parched, come to the One who can satisfy you within.

Hope will blossom again, as you rest in His love. The refreshment of knowing you are deeply cared for.

It’s time to get thirsty again.

God is waiting to do all the work, He just needs you to come.

rest for the best yet to come

Karla Lees

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Rest sometimes means saying no to good things so you can say yes to the best.

There are better things ahead.

If you are too busy running around like a chicken with its head cut off (mindless circles of flapping) you will miss the view you would have seen by standing still.

It has taken some hard, painful looks at myself to realize this lesson.

I tend to do. Jump in and help wherever I can.

At times, that is absolutely the right thing to do.

And at others, it is a distraction from what I was meant to do.

I worked for years as a child care provider & barista, volunteering at church, my kids’ schools & in the community.

I am not the same person now that I was then, so keeping the same mindset about my activity levels doesn’t make sense.

I learned many skills that I still use most days and now am still learning many skills I didn’t learn when I was my younger self.

Seasons ebb and flow like the tide.
Sometimes dry, full, dangerous or safe.

In every season, we are to use our given reason to rest. With no exceptions.

God made us with that need.

What God has made, He called good.

When He was done, He rested.

Rest is the secret to our energy.

Resting physically as our body demands…I am a 7.5 hour sleeper for optimum mental capacity 🙂

Rest emotionally by dealing with our hurts, pain & stresses…I find a good walk, prayer time where I pour out my heart, and sometimes get others to pray for me helps me keep a level keel.

Resting spiritually is the most important aspect. Trusting that as we spend time with Him, God will reveal the best He has for us to seek out & hold onto. Knowing He has our back every step of the way, we are safe in His care, and never alone as we step into the purpose we were made for.

We can rest in the knowledge that He designed us to need rest, to slow down and shift our focus onto Him, no matter the storm swirling about us.

Rest IN Him, no matter the mess.
There is no situation He cannot move in. He is mighty. He is able. He is love. He is yours.

REST in Him, beyond your stress.
Stress doesn’t change us for the negative when we respond to it positively, with His help.

Rest in HIM. As we look to Him for our rest, we become fascinated & drawn to His Presence more deeply. His rest begins to soak into us, to permeate us, to leave us marked with His fragrance. He reminds us that we are a moment, He is forever.

Our soul finds rest in Him alone.

Take a look around yourself this week. Are you randomly jumping into the chaos without thinking, or asking our guide to help you rest & see what is really going on?

REST is encompassed in STRESS, the real antidote to life’s busyness.
Stop short & rest.
Make the time to rest physically.
Pray, journal, sing, play guitar, walk or run- do whatever makes you happiest to help you calm yourself, then plug back into God/rest after the day’s  swirl of events.

But rest.

Perspective will begin to reveal the best God has for you, as you take the step towards Him, let Him calm you with His love, saturate you with His presence, give you His vision for what is to come next.

Better becomes best.

The deciding factor between the two?

How much you invest in your need for rest.

rest is a weapon?

Karla Lees

Years ago, I learned how to connect with God in the quiet place within from Graham Cooke, a wonderfully kind prophetic teacher from the UK.

It changed me from a constantly stressed out young mom into a more peaceful woman able to rest in God despite the drama and sometimes trauma swirling around me.

I never really thought about that type of rest as a weapon before.

I inherently know that rest is good for me- does a body good, helps me focus and relax.

But a weapon?

This morning, as I looked up the word ‘rest’ on Google, I felt led to add Graham Cooke’s name into the search engine as well, and voila!

Rest is a weapon…the quote before this blog post.

Rest connects us to God and His Kingdom. As we hang out with Him, we start to see things through His eyes. Not just circumstances, situations and other people, but ourselves.

Resting before God helps us see, experience and come to know who we are in Him.

And when we walk out that reality, the rest we invested in finding it becomes a weapon.

Empowered by Holy Spirit, honed by Jesus, led by Abba.

Rest is the weapon you may be looking for to add to your arsenal for the kingdom.

Join me as we sit, rest, soak.

Sit in His presence.
Rest in His love.
Soak in His grace.
Rise with renewed purpose.

Rest is a weapon no one else can take from us. Only we can surrender it.