Broken for Breakthrough

One of the most used words in Christianity today is "breakthrough." It's a term we use when we find ourselves in a place of stagnancy. We use it most often when we are requesting prayer in the times we are struggling through a stand still season. 

 Recently, I found myself in this place. A season that seemed to be heavy. Funny, that we just happened to be in the midst of fall. A time when most trees and some plants rid themselves of the dry dead leaves of summer and prepare for the winter when they look dead, but are really alive and well on the inside.

One night, in the early hours of the morning, I was awaken by the Holy Spirit. The weight and anxiety I woke up to was an urgency to begin interceding for my family. I can't explain the feeling that comes when this happens, all I can say is it's urgent. 

As I prayed, I remembered that my daughter had made a comment earlier in the week, "we just need breakthrough."  The Holy Spirit began to speak to me about this. What is breakthrough? How do we know we are in the midst of it, and how do we keep from giving up if we are in that place?

The Holy Spirit brought to mind that breakthrough is really two words that are joined together. The dictionary meaning of breakthrough is "a sudden, dramatic, and important discovery or development. An instance of achieving success in a particular sphere or activity." (Dictionary.com) As I separated the word into break and through, this is what I sensed the Holy Spirit saying, "To have a breakthrough, there is a breaking that has to happen. Breaking is painful. Breaking hurts. Breaking causes pain. Broken pieces cut others. Brokenness bleeds. But breaking is necessary in order to bring healing. To bring the dross to the top, so to speak. To scrape off the gunk (the best word to describe what it feels like) that is causing the season of stagnancy. I think of a body of water where there is no movement. It collects the contaminants of the air and whatever is in the water begins to rot. It's disgusting and smells awful. But it has to be cleared of this sludge and waste. When our hearts become a biohazard, we must remove the toxic things of the heart that have contaminated our life and those around us. 

As the Holy Spirit continued to show me to when I surrender, not give up, those are two different things, that He will come in and carry me through the breaking process. Surrendering is giving God permission to work. Giving up is walking away from the process. As we surrender and allow Him to be at work removing what's causing us to feel stuck, He carries us through to the other side, on His timetable, not ours. As I came to this revelation, I realized that pressing through it is the key. 

It does seem that as we are being broken, our insecurities are being exposed. When this happens, the scheme of the enemy is to taunt us during this time. He's such a liar and deceiver. He throws arrows in our most vulnerable moments hoping you will believe that you are not worthy of the breakthrough and that you will never overcome your insecurity and sin. It truly is a battle and this is why putting on the Full Armor of God is so important. Ephesians 6:10-11 tells us, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹ Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes." (NIV) This is the part of the breakthrough where we have to choose not to give up. God will fight for us. The author of Ephesians, the apostle Paul goes on to say, in verses 12 and 13 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³ Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand." (NIV) We must stand in the midst of the battle and trust our Heavenly Father is at work. Remember God is greater than Satan and He has ALL power over him.  We are instructed later in verse 18 to "pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people." We have to stay alert in the breaking time. 

As I sit here now, writing this, I am still in the midst of the breaking. But as I walk through it day to day, like the photo on this post shows the morning sunlight breaking through the broken clouds, there's now a hope I sense that God is truly "working all things together for good because we have been called according to His purpose."(Romans 8:28, NIV)  Like the seasons that God created for a purpose, fall is the time of letting go from the summer heat. Winter is the time of inner work that moves us into the spring of His glory.

 Maybe you too feel in a place of hopelessness. Maybe you are in the middle of a breaking season. A time you feel as though you are being suffocated and it may sound extreme, but being strangled. Our only hope in these times is Jesus. He was broken for us at the cross. But He is our hope. He says in John 10:10, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." Give Jesus your secret sin and darkest fears. Give Him permission to break them into pieces, remove them, allow Him to work through you so you may become "God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:10, NLT)

R.E.A.L. Women Devotional - Wake Up Sleepy Head

In the months of the year when the mornings are dark before the alarm rings, it is difficult to get my children up. I will go into their rooms and turn on the light and say, "Wake up sleepy head, it's time to rise and shine," plant a kiss on their cheeks and sing "rise and shine and give God the glory, glory..." Then they will pull the covers over their head to avoid me. No matter how loud I am, it is the light that gets them up.

Every year as we head into the winter months, I too, like a bear, want to go into hibernation. For whatever reason, it seems that when the days get dark in the early evening hours all I want to do is sleep. Why is it the more sleep I get, the more tired I am?

In Romans 13, verses 11 and 12, Paul is talking about being spiritually sleepy. It says, "And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. ¹² The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light."

I thought back to when I read about Jesus being in the garden with the disciples just before he was arrested. Jesus, being in the flesh, did not choose to sleep through the dark of the night he was about to face. So often it seems when life gets "dark" our tendency is to sleep through it. Instead, Jesus prayed all night. His closest friends did just the opposite. Rather than stay up and pray with him, he found them sleeping (Luke 22:45). In Luke 22:46, Jesus asked them, "Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation."

I believe that both of these references to sleep is a spiritual warning to future Believers. In the physical sense, the darker it is the more we want to sleep. When we are sleepy it's much easier for us to conform to the world. Paul's reference about putting aside our deeds of darkness is referring to sin (Romans 13:12-14). In verse 13 of Romans 13, he tells us to behave decently as in the daytime. In Jesus' case, here are the very men whom he had shared life with day in and day out, found them sleeping in his most critical hour.

The darkness of sin is all around us today. Sometimes, like we do at home on our couches, we can get comfortable on the pew of the church and cozy under the blanket of fellowship that we are too sleepy to get up turn on the light when it gets dark. When the lights are on, it's much easier to stay awake. Jesus said in Matthew 26:41 "Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

In looking up passages referring to sleep, much of the time sleep is referring to death. We as the Church cannot afford to fall asleep now. There is a world that is sound asleep out there. We do not want to fall asleep like the disciples did when Jesus needed them the most. In Revelation 16:15 Jesus said, "Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” He expects us to rest in Him (Matthew 11:28)

God knew, after the fall of man, that sleep would be something we would always fight. We as the Church need to know that we cannot fall a sleep, spiritually speaking. Ephesians 5:8 says, "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light." Verse 14 of Ephesians 5 goes on to say, "This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

I want to encourage you today to be careful not to fall asleep. Jesus told us to keep watch because we don't know when He will return (Matthew 24:42). I am sensing we are in a time similar to that night in the garden. We need to be in prayer and alert. Maybe you have been feeling a little sleepy or maybe you have been asleep, spiritually speaking. Turn on the light inside of you and wake up sleepy head, it's time to rise and shine! You won't be able to hit the snooze button and pull the covers over your head when the alarm of the trumpet of His return sounds (Revelation 11:15).

Right Place at the Right Time

 ^"I have observed something else under the sun. The fastest runner doesn’t always win the race, and the strongest warrior doesn’t always win the battle. The wise sometimes go hungry, and the skillful are not necessarily wealthy. And those who are educated don’t always lead successful lives. It is all decided by chance, by being in the right place at the right time." (Ecclesiastes 9:11, NLT)

I read Ecclesiastes 9 this morning and this verse jumped off the page. I had several verses around it highlighted, but today this is the one the Holy Spirit chose to show me. It resonated with my heart today.

When I read this, the verses that came to mind immediately was Psalm 37:23-24 that says, "The Lord directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives. ²⁴ Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand." This Psalm was written by David, the father of Solomon who wrote the book of Ecclesiastes.

I began to ponder on these two scriptures. Both King David and King Solomon were successful. David was in the right place at the right time when God chose him to be the next King of Israel. Solomon, was the second son born to King David through one of David's most remembered sins, adultery and murder, and of all of David's sons, he was the one chosen to become king after David. He was born in the right place at the right time. What does this say about God? It says that He does work all things together for good...(Romans 8:28).

The scripture doesn't say much about this father/son relationship, but Solomon must have observed his father and his ways. David had a heart after God and didn't focus on his position or wealth. What gives this away is that when God came to Solomon and asked him what he wanted, he asked for wisdom and not riches.

King Solomon ended up with all of it. Not only did he have wisdom, he had wealth. But this verse in Ecclesiastes shows us that he recognized that life is in the hands of God and where you end up truly has to do with how much you are listening to the voice of God. We see that later in King Solomon's life, he stopped listening to God and ended up losing his way.

I don't know where you are today. Maybe you like me are wondering, "how did I get here?" It may not be where you thought you'd be. Or maybe you are living a life more that what you thought you would have. Wherever you find yourself at this moment, lost, it's not to late to invite Him to join you now. On the other hand, if you've allowed God into your journey, then you are where you are "for such a time as this." (Esther 4:14) 

Keep listening for Him to tell you when to take the next step. If you do, you will end up in the right place at the right time.

Enough IS Enough

 

The first photo was taken April 27, 2016, 8 years ago. The second photo is of this same plumeria, today, April 27, 2024. I will explain in a bit the third photo.

In 2017-18, we transplanted our plumeria from the front yard to the backyard, in the corner behind the waterfall. It has grown into an incredibly large tree.

 Yesterday, I commented on a post of someone unrelated to me. She’s not even following me. This morning I was notified that 92 people liked my comment.

I believe the Lord used these two illustrations to confirm the comment that I posted. Our world often says being up front is success. But in the Kingdom of God, more growth happens in the back corners. 

 

 Many times I share the things God is teaching me and maybe I find the “like” button an encouragement because I am a “words of affirmation” person, but I may only have a few people respond. Yesterday I commented on something the Holy Spirit revealed to me and got 92 responses from people I’m not connected to. I realized that maybe what I share isn’t being shared in the right places. The question I need to ask is am I sharing with the right people? Yes, we have seasons of dormancy, like where this plumeria is now. But when it comes into a full bloom, it’s the first thing you notice in the yard, even though it is tucked away in the corner. 

 

The Apostle Paul says “We can be confident that He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it.” (Philippians 1:6) You don’t have to strive for “more” or “success” because if God is in it, He will grow it. I have often felt that because what God has placed in my hands to do hasn’t become “more” or “successful” by the world and to some degree the Church’s standards, I feel like what I do has no value or validity. 

 

Several months ago when a situation happened that looked as though things were coming to an end and as God always does, came through at the right time. I was asked by a friend what have I learned through all of these lessons in my life. And what came up from the depths of my soul was, "Enought IS Enough!" I don't need to be more, do more, or have more. What God gives us for the day, the week, or even the hour is all that we need. 

 

As I closed the comment yesterday, enough IS enough if you choose to invite God into the process. He is more than enough. When we do, it doesn’t matter if you don’t look successful, God sees you as a success! And that’s really all that matters!

What a Blue Bird Showed Me About God

The other day Jordanne noticed a blue bird on the fountain on our patio. She sent me a video of it drinking the water. As I watched the video, the passage in Luke 12 when Jesus is talking about not worrying about what to eat, drink, or wear because if God takes care of the ravens and the lilies, He will take care of us, came to mind.

I woke up this morning to the sound of unexpected rain. As I lie in my bed all snuggled up and warm, this photo came to mind. Thinking about it and what it spoke to me spiritually. It says so much about God and His Kingdom. It was my fountain on the patio that this beautiful bird discovered to quench his thirst. But the key here is that I didn't fill it up with water. It was water from the rains we had a few day before. God had provided the water that filled this fountain because He knew that this bird would be needing a drink at that very moment. We were blessed by the seeing the blue bird because are not very common around here. It is a reflection of the beauty in God's creation because this bird is beautifully dressed.

 

This speaks a lot to the way God works in our lives. As a follower of Jesus we should be like this fountain, always filled with a fresh rain of God's Holy Spirit, ready to provide for the moment when we encounter one who is thirsty that they may drink from the Living Water that flows from us (John 7:38). 

 

But as I read these words of Jesus, the Holy Spirit showed me this passage from another perspective. Jesus says, "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. 32 “So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom." (Luke 12:31-32, NLT) I realized that the Kingdom is Jesus! In Luke 17:21, Jesus is having a conversation with the religious leaders and he tells them "the Kingdom of God is in your midst." He was speaking of himself.

 

When we seek the Kingdom of God, in return, God gives us His one and only son (John 3:16), His best, who is Jesus. You see Jesus is the "Bread of Life" and the "Living Water." He says "whoever comes to him will never go hungry and will never be thirsty" (John 6:35). It is Jesus who clothes us in His righteousness so we are seen by God without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) and can stand boldly before the throne of grace (Hebrews 7:25). 

 

You may be in a place where you are feeling fearful, worried, or completely famished in your soul. I pray this post will be to you like the surprise rain we had this morning. It was unexpected, yet it provided water for the plants and animals that depend on God for their needs. It reminded me that it's God's desire to reign in our lives and refresh our souls daily. I encourage you today to seek God's Kingdom, Jesus! You will be pleasantly surprised at how He will provide "everything you need." (Luke 12:32)

Last Days of Fall

"As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” -Genesis 8:22, NLT

Fall in California is not the same as it is in New England. I've seen the fall colors of the east coast and there's nothing like it. 

 

But today, I as I took a lap around my neighborhood on my lunchtime walk, I stumbled upon these trees. As I looked up at them and the beauty of their color, I was reminded that there are only a few days left of the fall season. Winter will be stepping in to take it's place. 

 

As I took photos of these trees, I was reminded of a story of a woman looking out her window at some beautiful trees that wouldn't let go of their leaves. In places where the winters are harsh with snow and ice, like they get in New England, if a tree doesn't let go of it's leaves, when the winter weather comes, the weight of the snow and ice can break the branches and eventually kill the tree. 

 

I felt like the Holy Spirit reminding me that it's time to let go of some of the things I'm trying to hold onto. The kind of things that are actually going to hinder what God wants to do in my life over the winter months, the dormant time. It's the time when He's working on the inside, but the time I feel most vulnerable and lost. But if I don't let go, then I will break and won't be prepared for what He has for me in the season to come. 

 

Trusting what my Heavenly Father is doing on the inside is faith building. It's about me letting go of my expectations and allowing Him to replace it with His dreams for me. He created me and only He knows the plans he has for me (Jeremiah 29:11). It's hard to do, but knowing that winter is but a season and that spring follows it, is encouraging that whatever I let go of, He's putting something new in it's place. Just like the new green leaves that sprout on a leafless tree. It's a reminder that new life is happening. 

 

 

As we head into winter and close out 2023, I encourage you to take some time to look at what you need to release. I believed 2023 was the year for the captives to be set free. Jesus is the Truth and he came to set us free (John 8:31-32). Let Him help you. Romans 8:28 says, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed with the renewing of your mind..." The mind is the root of your heart. Spend some time in His word over these winter months so when spring comes, you are ready to bloom with the new thing He has been preparing in you. Invite Him to be at work in you. It's always for good. If God created trees to have such beauty just before they have to let those leaves go, imagine the beauty of the new season. Especially in the lives of His children. I'm excited to see what God has in store for 2024!

R.E.A.L. Women Devotional: Anonymous Women - Widow with Oil

Have you ever been in a desperate situation that you were willing to do whatever it took? That saying, "Desperate times call for desperate measures" is the case for this poor widow in 2 Kings 4:1-7. Her husband who was a prophet (Obadiah) is dead. He has left her in a financial crisis. She's deep in debt and now her sons are going to be taken from her as slaves in payment of what she owes. She's desperate to do whatever she can to keep her sons from being taken. 

 Let's flashback a moment to her husband's story. Obadiah, her husband, is a prophet. He was an Edomite from Betharam,[1] near Shechem and had converted to Judaism. The Edomites were decendants of Esau.  Obadiah was from the family of Eliphaz, the Teminite in the book of Job. We now see why the book of Obadiah was written for the gentiles, as he was a gentile himself. We don't know if his wife was also an Edomite, but it is possible. Obadiah's name means "servant/worshipper of Yahweh." Obadiah is also the term used for someone who served and he served under King Ahab. He was a rich man as well and when Jezebel wanted to kill all of the prophets, he hid them and became known for hiding the hundred prophets. He hid them in two caves so if one cave of prophets was found, the others could escape. Because he protected the men of God, he was anointed as a prophet. He took care of the poor men until he became poor himself. He had borrowed from the king to continue to support the prophets. It is said that his faith was one degree higher than Abraham. Because of this, Ahab's house was likely blessed. By the time he died, King Ahab's son was now king, King Jehoram (the 9th king of Israel) and he wanted to collect on Obadiah's debt.[2] Obadiah died in Samaria where the Kingdom of Israel was located.

Now we can jump back to our story. Elisha, who was serving as a prophet, probably knew Obadiah, or knew of him. This could be why the widow cried out to him (2 Kings 4:1). We don’t know how old she was, but she was young enough to have had young sons. Since her prophet husband serve King Ahab, they likely stayed near Betharam or Beth Haram, located in the valley-plain, east of the Jordan River. This was part of King Ahab’s territory. We don’t know much about her faith because in this verse, she speaks of her husband’s fear of the Lord, not her own. Like any minister’s wife who is in this predicament, there’s probably some frustration behind her fear as to why her husband would put them in this situation. Maybe causing her some doubt of her own, but none the less, she asks Elisha for help. She’s ready to obey whatever he suggests. She had probably observed her husband’s obedience to the Lord and now it was her turn. More often than not, hitting rock bottom leads us straight to God. This is a good reminder that even prophets, men of God, were not exempt from harm and debt.

When Elisha asks what he can do for her, she responds with, “’Your maidservant has nothing in the house but a jar of oil.’” (2 Kings 4:2, NKJV). We often think of cooking oil or lamp oil, but in this case, because Obadiah was a prophet, it could have been anointing oil which was a great commodity. Anointing oil was precious as it was used for ceremonial purposes. Elisha says to her, “Go, borrow vessels from everywhere, from all your neighbors—empty vessels; do not gather just a few. ⁴ And when you have come in, you shall shut the door behind you and your sons; then pour it into all those vessels, and set aside the full ones.” (2 Kings 4:3-4, NKJV)

 

The sons do as Elisha says, they go door to door and collected every jar available. We don’t know how old her sons were. Obviously, they were not considered adults as they still lived with her. There could have been young teenage men who were a great help to her. Losing them would have been a great loss, not only because they were her children, but in those days, they would have taken care of her later on.

 

The sons collected the jars in the village and brought them to their mother. Once they had every empty jar, the widow did as she was told, she shut the door behind them. This is such an important part to this passage. God does His best work in the secret places. As the Psalmist describes God’s best work if a life being formed in the womb, a secret place in which no one except God is allowed (Psalm 139:13). If we look at this in a spiritual sense, shutting the door, she closed the door on the enemy’s plans to ruin her and her sons lives.

 

It is there in the security and familiarity of her home, that she and her sons witness this miracle. As she stands over the first jar, she begins to pour her way out of being poor. Can you imagine the silence in the room as she filling the first jar and it fills to the brim? Quickly, she calls to her son for the second jar and it fills. Surely the excitement filled the room as she poured until every jar was full. Her faith and obedience to listen to instruction and follow it through was the currency that paid for this incredible miracle.

 

After every jar is filled, she tells Elisha and he tells her to, “’Go, sell the oil and pay your debt; and you and your sons live on the rest.’” (2 Kings 4:7, NKJV) It is likely she sells the oil back to the same people she borrowed the jars from. They now were recipients of her miracle and now their homes were filled with the blessing of this oil.

 

This is a picture of what it is to go into the all the world by sharing the good news of Jesus. You may not be one to go door to door, but there are people you interact with on a daily basis that need to know Jesus and be filled with His Spirit. Second Corinthians 4:7 says, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” The jars are a representation of people. The treasure we carry is the Holy Spirit. When we allow Him to do the work in us, He is poured out of us into others. Even when we think we only have a little to share, because of Him, it can go a long way.

 

Generations later from this miraculous event, Jesus does a miracle, his first miracle, with the contents in jars of stone at a wedding when the host runs out of wine (John 2:1-11). He tells the servants to collect the six stone water pots that were used for purification and he tells them to fill the pots to the brim with water. Once again, we see that in the secret place inside the pot, as the water was transformed into wine, and not just any wine—the best! This is what the Holy Spirit does with us when we allow His holiness to purify us. Our unholiness, like grapes, is crushed and pressed into something that becomes holy. We begin to transform into someone completely different. This is the miracle of miracles!

 

As we reflect on the outcome of this story, this is why we should not panic and worry. Instead, as we continue to see throughout the scripture, trusting and obeying is the only way to overcome any circumstance or crisis. By being willing to listen and submit to the voice of the Holy Spirit, as well as wise counsel, we can expect miracles daily.

 

Something in the final statement that Elisha says, sell the oil, pay your debt and live on the rest, the rest can be interpreted as well as “rest in God.” We don’t have to worry or be afraid when we put our trust in Him, our weary souls can rest. “O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.” (Psalm 62:8, NLT)

 

We live in desperate times, that is for sure, but we don’t to take desperate measures. Because of Jesus, we can live confidently because Jesus is our hope. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13, NIV)

 

Promises to pour into an empty soul!

 

Deuteronomy 16:17, NKJV: Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God which He has given you.

 

Deuteronomy 28:1, NKJV: “Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth.”

 

Psalm 23:5, NIV: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6, NKJV: Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

 

Isaiah 41:13, NIV: For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

 

Isaiah 45:3, NIV: I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

 

Luke 12:34, NKJV: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

2 Corinthians 1:4, NLT: He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

 

*This information was complied by the R.E.A.L. Women Bible study out of Hills Church in Laguna Hills, CA.

Resources

[1] https://www.oca.org/saints/lives?q=Obadiah

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obadiah

https://journeyonline.org/lessons/obadiahs-widow-and-gods-deliverance/?series=8751

https://insight.org/resources/bible/the-minor-prophets/obadiah

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obadiah

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehoram_of_Israel

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[1] https://www.oca.org/saints/lives?q=Obadiah

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obadiah