the wait….

Psalm 130:3-7
New American Standard Bible (NASB)

3 If You, [a]LORD, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared.
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait,
And [b]in His word do I hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the LORD;
For with the LORD there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.

Psalm 130 speaks of crying out to God that He would hear the author's supplications or prayers. The words that stand out to me in the above passages are wait, hope in His word, lovingkindness and abundant redemption. Verse 7 really stood out when I read ABUNDANT REDEMPTION or overflow of deliverance. The key is in the wait. To continue to walk through whatever season of life you are in knowing that God ultimately has a plan for deliverance out of the situation. I'm immediately reminded that sometimes we must hold on or wait because it's in that time of need that you see God's hand move in your life in a way that otherwise you wouldn't have. So I'll keep waiting and in the mean time hope in the Lord for with the Lord there is indeed lovingkindness and abundant redemption. I don't know about you but I'll wait until he perfects that which concerns me!

Much Love
Katie

Come away with me…Jesus

Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.~Jeremiah 33:3 Call me different, weird, out of the ordinary but I long to hear from God. To spend time alone in worship or simple conversation. He's the best friend I've ever found. He knows absolutely everything there is to know about me and yet he still wants to love me, guide me, consume me. I'm sure there are no words to adequately describe what He has done in my life. It's like all the shame, guilt, and disgust for myself fell off. What's even crazier is all it took was persistently seeking Him. Opening up the Bible and learning more about Him. The more I understood His love for me the more I loved myself. Now I vow to serve Him, to tell others about Him. I ran across this verse in a worship song I was listening to on Pandora. Jeremiah is packed with many wonderful God-breathed scriptures but this one captures my heart & attention. The Hebrew defines call to mean cry out or call out. Which indicates to me seriousness. When we get before God & our cries are serious He hears but more than that when we become serious about encountering the Lord, He reveals secrets to us that before flew right over our heads, the keys to life in Him. Was the key hidden? No, I had failed to look for Him, He patiently waited for me. Thank God I found Him because now I have a sensitivity to His voice which causes scripture to jump off the page & into my heart. It is truly remarkable to be able to read the Word and it hit you to your core. I believe that is what this scripture is saying. That when we call, He answers and reveals great and mighty secrets to life, to blessing, to victory that without a relationship with the Lord would remain hidden. Wow! Not only does seeking God gain me love & wisdom but it reveals to me so much more. Seeking Him changes my heart which in turn changes my thoughts which changes my words which changes my life… His LOVE is so much BIGGER than you can imagine but first you must call out to GOD let HIM reveal Himself to you. His LOVE is so BIG that it commands your soul & attention. There truly is no greater call you will ever make than to call on the name of Jesus…the King of Kings and Lord of Lords…you will never get a busy signal & He will always answer. Nobody on this earth can guarantee you that, nope not one! Much love, Katie

Beauty…is in the "mind" of the beholder

Beauty. We all want it. Some naturally have it. Some go to great lengths to get it. It leaves me wondering ultimately why? Why so much focus on something that in time will run it's course. There is not an amount of makeup, surgery, or money that can make it last forever. It's great to dress nice, have great hair and own all the right accessories but does it really make you beautiful? I began to think about this because of my desire to ultimately reflect the love of God from the inside out. What I came to realize, as I have many other time is this. Beauty is found within. Period. I particularly like the NLT version of 1 Peter 3:4 that says "You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." Unfading beauty is found inside the woman who walks in the ways of the Lord. Who seeks His face & draws her strength and wisdom from the scriptures. America focuses on outer beauty more than any other country. Our woman are taught from young children to be sexy. I remember being a awkward teenage girl, unsure of my looks and very influenced by those around me. Dress better, get a tan, wear your hair like this, etc…it seemed the focus never was on what my heart looked like. The years went on, I tried to keep up. What I realize now looking back is how I began to dislike other woman because of my own feelings of inadequacy. I was so caught up in being the best that if I sensed another woman "looked better" I instantaneously didn't like them. I thank God for freedom from all of that now but what a sad way to exist. I simply needed someone to direct me to the Lord at that time & to be encouraged to learn by heart what He said about me. What I so desperately needed to know was that in the eyes of God I was precious, that no matter what anyone said or thought about me that He said "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart." Jeremiah 1:5. That He longed to be my source & He didn't create me to be anyone else but me. I am an orginal…You are an original. We all have distinct and individual purpose for our time on this Earth. I encourage all of my fellow ladies to join me as we continue to discover who God says we are. Minus the world's opinion, subtract the lies inside our minds about the definition of beauty, and recognize the hidden truth. Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be greatly praised." Proverbs 31:30 I don't know about you but my greatest desire is for others to see the beauty of Jesus in me first & foremost. That is done by loving others, smiling, and making those you encounter feel cared about every. single. time. In Victory, Katie

faith, hope, and love

"Fear looks; faith jumps. Faith never fails to obtain its object. If I leave you as I found you, I am not God's channel. I am not here to entertain you, but to get you to the place where you can laugh at the impossible."~Smith Wigglesworth I've been reading a lot about faith lately. Not simply saying I believe God but also standing firm without budging kind of faith. You know the kind that says if God said it in His word then it's mine kind of faith! I think far to often we underestimate the power of faith based out of fear. How many times have we believed God for something & we allowed what we saw in the natural to determine whether or not we believed? I want to know God so well that I boldly go to Him in prayer believing that He will answer. It's not about asking Him for a new 100,000 car or a 10,000 wardrobe, when your heart is aligned with the heavenly Father those things leave or they did for me. I still like to dress cute and have nice cars but it's no longer what drives me (no pun intended lol) I long to take everything I've learned about the limitless ability of my Savior & help others. Particularly, women, my hearts desire is to encourage others to grab hold of God in faith, trusting that He will take them to heights they've never dreamed they could go to. Walking in faith takes retraining your brain and that can only happen by reading & mediating on what the bible says is ours. If I walk through life without the word of God to tell me what's belongs to me as a daughter of the King, then I'm not fully grabbing hold of all that Jesus died on the cross to give me. Of course we will all go through various times in our life that require us to have faith or to trust/believe God to walk us through. It is through those tough times that God shows himself. I wouldn't replace the hardest times in my life because it was then that I learned intimately who God really was. That's when I discovered that He was my comforter, my strong-tower, my deliverer and so much more. It's when I became free from every lie I had ever allowed myself to believe and grabbed hold of the truths from God's word about who I was. It takes faith to blindly walk knowing that God will deliver you out of any situation you face. I encourage you all along with myself to continue walking in faith toward what God has planned for you. Own it girl, the price has already been paid! Thank you Jesus! *Always keep in mind that faith without love is not faith. God is love. Love is the base for all things, without it faith doesn't work. Operating in faith requires first operating in love. "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." --1 Corinthians 13:1-3 Matthew 11:22-23 "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, Go, throw yourself into the sea, and does no doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. In victory, Katie <3