Y’all!! It has been a while since I last posted! Life sure has been wild recently. CGA is no joke, friends. We have covered so many topics in class such as: what determines success/failure, identity in Christ, the Father’s heart, enneagram/meyers-briggs, vision for our class, deliverance/inner-healing and many more. We have also read so many awesome books! I have had a few people ask me what some of my favorite resources/books are from class this far so I will post a list below if you are interested. 🙂
I’ll be honest, I could probably write an entire series from everything that I have been learning this season, but I’ll save that for a rainy day and save you some time. Just know that through your support to me, not only have I been deeply blessed, but I have also had opportunities within the community to bless others as well! Thank you, seriously, for all the prayers and support you all have shown me these past few months.
One of the many things that the Lord has been teaching me about recently is the idea of relinquishing control over to him in the midst of chaos, and what it means to believe that he is a faithful God no matter my circumstances – more specifically, the Lord has been speaking His faithfulness over me and what that actually means. The song Promises by Maverick City Music has been on repeat in my head as well. Here are some of the lyrics to the song that have stuck out to me:
God of Abraham, You’re the God of Covenant
And faithful promises
Time and time again you have proven
You’ll do just what you said
Though the storms may come and the winds may blow
I’ll remain steadfast
And let my heart learn, when you speak a word
It will come to pass
Great is your faithfulness to me
From the rising sun to the setting same
I will praise your name
Great is your faithfulness to me
That has been hitting me differently lately, guys. God doesn’t love like human’s love. He doesn’t love from a broken place. He doesn’t love me for what I can do for Him – HE doesn’t need me to do anything for him. I get this love from Him for free. You’re kidding me, right?!
I have never leaned into God’s love for me like I have in this season. And the thought that keeps coming to me is why is it SO FREAKING HARD TO BE LOVED?
I may never figure that out, but I know that this season of life has been deeply challenging my perspective of what God’s grace, love and faithfulness actually looks like. And it is nothing like I was raised on and it is nothing of what the American church teaches.
As I am writing, I am reminded of Ephesians 3:14-21 that talks about how deep and how wide God’s love is for us. The passage talks of the love of Christ which surpasses our understanding and how God is able to do “Exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think…”.
And if you’re still reading this, I encourage you to ask yourself – what areas of your life have you placed “caution tape” on God? What areas of your life have you thought God wasn’t big enough to change or redeem? What vows have you taken that have blocked God from doing work in your life? How has God been faithful to you?
These are also questions that I have been asking myself – and let me tell you, some of the answers that have surfaced for me have revealed some hard realities that I am still processing. But the Lord just keeps reminding me that just because something feels hard, doesn’t mean that it is bad. Not only is God the Redeemer, but He has redeemed, and He is still redeeming. There is literally nothing that you could place in front of Him that would scare Him away.
He isn’t afraid of the mess, and He isn’t finished with you.
Praying that this blog was an encouragement to you and that you are filled with so much peace!
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Key Verses:
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness, I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will wait for him.”
Lamentations 3:22-24
For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21
Promises by Maverick City:
https://open.spotify.com/track/5suRrn5N4HNeRXOpBTdmZt?si=e0d5b4da924c4216
Favorite Books Read in CGA this far:
– Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero
– Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
