The glorious reality is that you are living it. Did you know there was a world of possibilities with your creation and that you weren’t nailed into a pinhole of a purpose? Did you know there aren’t borders you were supposed to cross decades ago or turns you couldn’t manage to see? You were given specific gifts but there expression goes through your experiences, your personality, your training, and more.
Your previous choices–whether you still agree with them or not–were powerful and have written your story. Today you are making choices that create your tomorrow. And everything you do and say has value and an eternal ripple.
Do you ever feel insignificant or that you are living without purpose. Even then what you do means something. Does your inner desire for greatness or impact ever conflict with your external self that makes banana bread and goes to the movie theater? Even now you possess the most powerful thing in the world.
As long as you are breathing, your power to love is functioning. It may be weak under bitterness or forgiveness or it may be strong with compassion and understanding but as long as you are a part of earth’s story, you possess the muscle to give and receive love. This is purpose, this is power, this is freedom.
People focus so much on externals in appearances, other’s appreciation, position, and power but everyone across the board, regardless of income or weight gain, has this same power to love. It is enjoyable to be alive when you know you are loved possess the ability to share that with others freely.
In case you are not enjoying being alive, I want to remind you and let you know the truth. There is someone who made you, saw you, dreamed of you, delighted in you, and is glad for your company. God appeared as human to see you face to face and to show that he esteems your worth greater than his own life. Would you give your life for another? He wants you to know, it was with Joy God laid down his life for your company forever.
I remember living when I didn’t know that. I didn’t know that God loved knew all about me and desired my company. I didn’t know that he demolished everything that stood between us and wanted to share my life with me every day. I know that now. My only remaining enemy is doubt in the very thing he died to tell me. My life matters. I am lovely. I am powerful. He is alive inside of me.
Today I want you to know your heart has meaning. Your life matters. Your voice, your thoughts, your excitement, your passion all are beautiful. Your growth process has purpose, including your mistakes. Your destiny is to live loved as a free son or daughter of God naturally reflecting his glory by you living as your true self made by the Father’s hand.
Eternity is a thin veil. Do you know one thing you will never ever stop doing is loving because it is who God is and ultimately who we’ve been created to be in his reflection. Every way you grow in love here is a part of your forever-person. You can be confident in the humility you choose and the forgiveness you embrace that are they are growing the organ of eternal love inside of you.
That unseen world of challenges that hinder love and your humility to choose it once again and enjoy giving and receiving it once again–whether between God or people–matters.
The story you are writing is still alive. May you feel powerful and purposeful in the way you choose to love. Including loving yourself. And your enemies. All things are possible with God. May peace and joy rest in your heart as you believe and get to enjoy being alive today. Blessings!
The word of encouragement written below came across my lap and says some of the same things I was told a few weeks ago about things coming my way so it related to me and wanted to share it in case it brightens anyone else’s expectations! Have a great weekend!
A Year of New Beginnings:
I heard the Lord say, “You have seen it. You have heard it before. You have spoken it. You have even imagined it in your mind; my plan for outpouring in the earth, but what I’m about to do for my people has no historical reference points. That’s right it’s new, fresh, original, tailor made for this time! It has never been seen before or manufactured in the past; no I reserved the best for last. Some have said, ‘we will set a specific place and hour to produce a move of the Father,’ but what is about to come will catch and spread like wild fire. What is to come will not be confined to a specific place, that’s right it will cross countries, jump oceans, leap over denominational walls. I will visit in a new and fresh way, my spirit will drop and distill like a shower of rain. My lightnings will strike to restore, revive and renew. Every form of dryness will come to an end as I saturate you. The reign of terror, turmoil, and tragedy will have to come to an end for the glory of heaven that I will send. I will open the windows of heaven and showers of blessings will overtake your homes. This is a year of open opportunities, open doors, open heavens! Don’t look to the past to predict what is about to come, those days are gone for good. What happened then could never produce what I have in my mind in the now. I will stretch out my mighty hand and open your eyes to see that I am putting an end to your lack, rejection, dissatisfaction, disappointment, and demonic harassments. Your failure, sickness and shame be washed way by the power of my son’s name. Every generational curse disturbing you will be scattered and destroyed. The days of pain, sorrow, weeping, stagnation, devastation, and struggling will come to an end. This year will be a time of supernatural shock and awe as I passionately pour out my spirit and divinely fill your cup to overflow with blessings that can’t be numbered, named, contained!”
-Prophet Charlie Shamp
As I was falling asleep last night my mind was writing this blog. ha! There are so many attributes of people I admire. Some of them fall into the below categories I wanted to highlight!
Emotional Vulnerability
When people grow up, for various reasons, they stuff emotions, don’t express them, close themselves off, quit communicating, or letting themselves feel. Kid’s wear their emotions on their sleeves. I’m not saying that is maturity but kids don’t shut down their emotional experience, or close off sharing it, unless they feel unsafe. The ability to feel emotions is heavenly and these emotions aren’t composed of stress, anxiety, judgment, worry, depression, and guilt, which sometimes adults experience. There is a heavenliness in not fearing to feel good and sad emotions with the events of life, and not being afraid of sharing them or expressing them different healthy ways.
2. Honesty
Kids may occasionally tell a lie to hide something but in general kids have no filter when it comes to truth-telling, sometimes to the embarrassment of their parents. This also is because they don’t have a preoccupation with creating/maintaining an image of themselves. They are just existing as they are and as the world comes to them. They say things as they see them, whether their perceptions are accurate or not, it is still their experience.
3. Curiosity
Children carry with them a sense of awe and wonder about the world. Things are new and no one has told them the way they have to see things yet. They see things from different perspectives and new angles and no one has told them what they can’t do or how they can’t use something. They ask questions and are teachable and listen to answers. They are okay with not knowing the answers and living in a world where they aren’t expected to have explanations for everything. They reflect on things and are open to new ideas.
4. Playfulness and Imagination
Kids are always ready to have fun. I so appreciate adults who laugh easily and recognize the power of joy. Seriousness is not a fruit of the Holy Spirit and the world doesn’t rest on any man’s shoulders but Jesus’. Someone’s ability to take themselves not so seriously is a sign of maturity in my eyes. Kids are ready to make any boring, regular task a play session and I think heaven involves much of this feeling. Fun loving flexibilty, adaptability, inclusion, and making life joyful in the simplest of perspectives and ways.
5. Authenticity
This was referred to in the honesty one above but more than that, kids aren’t preoccupied with what people think of them. It still hurts when they experience rejection but they don’t abandon or hide their true selves after these experiences. The only way they know how to be is themselves! They are unique and different from one another in all their original glory. Just because they are different doesn’t mean they are less in their own eyes. They are on their own special unique journey. There is an innocence, and strength in feeling valued solely based on our parent’s acceptance of us.
I have been thinking about writing this one for a week or so but haven’t been getting around to it. It’s not a topic I feel qualified to write about but I want to share my journey in relation to the topic.
Judgement Day
At one time in my life when I was steeped very much within an extremely religious culture there were a lot of very good things and a lot of bad things that were unnecessary. Judgement was one of these topics. ‘God is your judge.’ ‘You will be judged.’ ‘He will judge the thoughts and intents of your heart well beyond your outward physical actions.’ ‘Your place in heaven for all eternity will be based off your ability to obey (successful religious performance, absence from things that appear ‘worldly’). ‘You (and most people) will experience the weeping and gnashing of your teeth because of all you have wasted in this life by not living 100% obeying holy spirit all the time.’ ‘If you relax, you are being lazy spiritually and will be pruned like a dead branch only good for burning.’ ‘Why aren’t you healing people miraculously. Jesus died to give us that. You should be. You’re not living up to your calling. You will regret that in eternity. God would show how much your close to him by signs and wonders. If you aren’t seeing that, you’re failing.’
I got a little off topic toward the end of this list, veering into believers of God walking in the ability to perform miracles but for me, it all stems back down to the point where you will stand face to face with God and what we believe this interaction and accountability will be like for our lives. There was a point where I carried great fear of this pending day. It was a real fear and it stifled joy. There are some who believe this is wisdom and good for living. That it is appropriate and should be taught. For them, they believe that the cause for fear is real.
I still had images of passing through fire, where everything that isn’t eternal gets burned up, and there unfortunately, because I know me, very little, if anything, remains. And of course, because I know me, I would get stuck on some distant dark shore of heaven only being able to see the light of Jesus on the horizon. Finally taking the place I deserve, I made it in, but barely. For eternity.
It’s so sad. I think many religious people carry thoughts like this around in the back of their heads but wouldn’t necessarily articulate them or even recognize them as they pass through their mind. I think this one sole issue of our imagination of God’s judgement of us sometimes is the single motivator towards religious works. Fear keeps the hamster wheel spinning.
What Can Save Us from God?
Wheeeww. It’s getting pretty heavy in here, even as I write this! I really do believe the news of heaven is good news, not bad news that should be good news if we get this life right. I really do think that the things that make our heart leap and dance and get excited are whispers of the heaven that is home inside us. God really is nicer than the nicest person you’ve ever met, and kinder than the kindest. He is gentler than the gentlest, and more understanding than the person that’s understood you most. Humans across the board only stand on one ground, the ground of forgiveness, there are no religious superstars that skipped that step on the way to their ‘best-buds’ seat in heaven. God sees us all as his children. He dreamed of each one of us. He created us. He knew us before we were even born. Maybe we knew each other then too, 😉
Fortunately God intervened and delivered me from lies about himself that I had interpreted from either scriptures or teachers, whether the intent to cause this reaction within me was there or not.
The Truth
God brought me back to relationship. I had a relationship with him at the time. I interacted with him in my heart and he with me as I lived my life. He brought up the scenario in my head. “Am I kind to you today and you think that one day many days from now, after you pass from this world, my character is going to change in my relationship to you and I’m going to point out all your flaws, weakness, mistakes, and failures. And not only that, but you imagine that on that future day I will finally release this anger I have been holding towards you, because I finally am completely honest with you? What kind of friendship is that? Don’t the humans around you love you better than that? Do they love you better than I do? Then I will?
Now I believe God is so good I can’t wrap my brain around it. Do you understand that goodness is most displayed in God’s seat of judgement?!? When God is justified in punishment–there’s the word–punishment. God The Punisher, the devil’s favorite lie. Yes, God the father in heaven is waiting to… punish you? Was Jesus waiting on the cross just hoping for the day he could punish the very people who were unjustly murdering him in torment? What was his judgement of them? Forgiveness. Where can we escape God’s presence? Not even in the depths of hades. Love will be there. In God’s role as judge he cannot turn off being the essence of love. And I don’t mean a perverted form of love where he delights in seeing someone being tortured. Even on earth no one would say that type of person is full of anything but the devil.
In some ways I see Jesus bearing ALL our sin, receiving ALL our punishment, taking ALL of the curse upon himself, undoing ALL that Adam did in the garden, as God’s introduction handshake with humanity. Hello, this is who I am, this is what I possess within me to redeem your choices, this is how I feel about you, this is my character, this is my nature. Hello, it’s okay, I made you and I’m here. I’m not leaving, I’m not going anywhere. Nothing separates us, you don’t have to hide here. I love you.
God Saved Us From Everything But His Judgement
Some people get really touching when you threaten their beliefs about judgement. As if in the absence of the threat of future suffering, our new hearts and minds in Christ will grow depraved and corrupt. This is not true my friends. Welcome to the taste of true freedom outside fences of fear that have kept some from feeling the full effects of salvation. Fear is sad when you see people hold onto it, as if it originated within love.
I could go on and on I feel but I will start to close here because who reads blogs that are even this long anyway?? I will leave you with this. Love expressed itself in forgiveness. Forgiveness really means forgiveness! In true forgiveness, your old stuff isn’t brought up anymore. ever. It’s not held against you. You don’t have a tallying punch card. It’s not shoved in your face. It’s not used as a tool for power or shaming you. It’s forgotten. Like it never happened. Like you can really let it go. Like you can learn from your experiences without holding on to ANY of the negative effects of sin on your relationship with God or your relationship with yourself. Have faith in your forgiven-ness. Experience the miracle of no longer punishing yourself or fearing future punishment from God. God’s goodness is not bound by time or space, or the confines of your poor choices. Your troubles are not to hard for him to love you through. Poor choices ARE NOT FUN TO LIVE THROUGH.
The preaching of threats and fear may have intended to produce sinless living, in attempt to help out God in the advancement of his kingdom, but one thing it never produced was a greater love for his character, his person, his nature. Is obedience based on threats true relationship? He is altogether trustworthy with all of you. All of your emotions, your thoughts, your relationships, in all of your past, all of your present, and especially–ALL of your future, including any day called “judgement day”. I don’t think God was joking when he said ‘nothing can separate you from My love’–as if the only exception here is his own judgement of you?!
Experiencing Our Choices
Leaving you with my concluding topic, one thing I do expect to experience in heaven is the full comprehension of how my life affected those around me. This includes my lack of care and consideration for others. I don’t carry this as a weight or fear but just as a reality I will understand in the future. I will understand how my judgment of others felt, how my negative words affected them, how my choice of myself over them felt, etc. You get the idea.
This reality is judgement enough. Other people’s experiences are real and are valuable. I will understand how my life affected the people I love around me and even the people I love less for some reason. This truth motivates me to live with an awareness to let God live through me; he cares, he gives, he understands, he is patient. It reminds me what’s important about being alive. My choices matter. Sometimes if there is something being said about someone else in a negative way, I can feel that person’s presence when they will hear what’s been said about them in future. Like everything we say about others will one day be heard by them.
I can trust that even this future process of understanding and knowing more, is for my good! I actually think living in community where communication is regular and intentional helps us grow in a similar way here on earth because we are forced to confront and experience the consequences of our own words and actions on a daily basis which naturally fosters the growth of our ability to love others and ourselves when done in an open, honest, and safe environment.
I esteem the life of God in others and to the best of my ability at the time, seek to enjoy their company and share in our freedom together. When freedom is celebrated, it displays the love that lives inside of us. When lies of our own false judgements of others takes root within us, love remains unexpressed, hidden in darkness. Getting to love others is a delight and an opportunity, and is neither a burden nor a scorecard. God is not burdened by his relationship with you. There is Grace like an unending ocean in this classroom of life as we learn to grow in love. (Which is not growing in my ability to hold grudges and punishing people for not obeying me and tormenting them. Which is what we imagine God does in his relationship with them or us–one day.)
We will get to see God apart from the lies about him we hold in our hearts, and we will get to see one another apart from the lies we believe about each other. AWESOME!
One more thought. Some people think that the God I’m painting with words here is weak. What about the God of Anger, Wrath, Power, and Full Control? A man who talks with his child instead of just using his fists is stronger. A man who doesn’t lose his temper with his wife is stronger. A man who forgives over holding grudges is stronger. The greatest strength is displayed in Mercy.
An ancient golden crown found in Afghanistan
A God that teaches us to love our enemies, really love them, is not pushing us to do something beyond his own capacity to love as he sits there and judges and wants to punish his enemies. It’s not just a ministry strategy. It really is what he’s like. Those who do the same are like his family because he really does love his enemies! He loves them.
Now I really am stopping there! I haven’t solicited invitations for comments before but am tempted to do so now. Share with me what your thoughts are below!
This reality is judgement enough. Other people’s experiences are real and are valuable. I will understand how my life affected the people I love around me and even the people I love less for some reason. This truth motivates me to live with an awareness to let God live through me; he cares, he gives, he understands, he is patient. It reminds me what’s important about being alive. My choices matter. Sometimes if there is something being said about someone else in a negative way, I can feel that person’s presence when they will hear what’s been said about them in future. Like everything we say about others will one day be heard by them.
