From the Muck to the Mighty; My Journey with Jesus

In the middle of the chaos that is life, the Lord has put a few things on my heart to share. It's nice when you finally get the time to sit down, gather your thoughts, and take a deep breath. It's nice to know that no matter what you are going through,  you're never alone. The Lord is always with you, even when it doesn't feel like He is. He is always there to be your strength, your light in the darkness, and the giver of your eternal salvation. He is always looking for you. 1 Peter 2:9 (ESV) 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Hebrews 5:7-9  (ESV) 7 In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. ...

Who will conquer the darkness? When we think of spiritual warfare and battles, often times we think of stories from the Bible. Stories like David and Goliath, like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, we think of the time Jesus was tempted in the wilderness or the story of Job, we think about the way good triumphs over evil. We think about endurance, trials, triumphs and praise. We never really take the time to think that our daily lives are a battleground for spiritual warfare. We don’t think that our daily actions, words, or thoughts have anything to do with the bigger picture of spiritual war, but we are wrong. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 (KJV) 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; ...

Our world today has been dominated by fear. The Lord is calling those He holds close to rise up. We are called to fear not. A few days ago I was laying in bed. The kids had gone to sleep and I was almost there myself. As I tried to calm my mind and drift to sleep, I was met with a vision of the face of Jesus. His eyes were this beautiful deep fire that burned with love and an intensity that gave me that naked in a classroom full of people feeling. This feeling of seeing through absolutely everything I’ve ever done, felt, experienced or thought. There was this transparency that in any other situation would make people feel uncomfortable, but in that instance I simply felt more “at home” than ever before.  His face began to fade, but the eyes of fire remained so bright. As my gaze was focused on those eyes, a new face appeared. It was the face of a Lion. The colors were so intense. The burning golden white fire of his eyes that had an undeniable purity and love as its source. There ...

I was on the road the other day and I was daydreaming at the clouds. This particular cloud caught the corner of my eye. I did a double take. I was instantly reminded of our country in my spirit. I was then hit by sadness, fear and urgency. As I was trying to figure out what all of that meant...I noticed how dark the area was that appeared to be the USA. It was like a foreboding hit my spirit. It felt sinister and to be honest, it almost made me sick. It had been bothering me for a few days, trying to pray and think about what it could be. As I was praying today I saw a vision of the country. There was a dark cloud across the entire country. It was thick with every negative feeling that we are going through right now: fear, loneliness, isolation, desperation, envy, suspicion, anger, hatred, sin, evil. The thickness of this dark cloud almost tasted like a dry, bitter ash in my mouth. Suddenly the negativity faded into hope. I saw His hands gripping and guiding a giant sword down to the...

I’d be lying if I said that I haven’t been discouraged or felt more down in the dumps since all of this virus nonsense came about. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t using my introverted nature to shut down and hide away. I’d be lying if I said that I’ve been reading my Bible every night and spending quality time with the Lord each morning. To be honest, when I start to feel sad, depressed or anxious, I feel like the Lord can seem really far away. Even knowing enough, to know that it’s me who’s changed my position, I still slip into this bad habit of shutting everyone out, even the Lord. I have to remind myself that building a relationship with the Lord takes time and work, it’s not always easy and it’s not always fun. It’s difficult to keep reminding myself that it’s worth it, but I can assure you that it is. Faith can be a fight because it goes against our bodies fleshly logic that demands scientific explanations. It’s a good fight. Don’t ever let a few bad days, weeks, or years ...

The other day I was looking outside as it was dreary and gray. I thought to myself how it feels so gloomy, like we will never see the sun shining, or feel it's warmth on our skin again. I am beyond ready for summer, this weather hurts my heart. As this awful weather continued on, in it's depressing mess, I was fortunate enough to notice a break in the clouds. I was standing at the sink washing dishes the other day and I looked into the back yard. The sun was shining and the birds were chirping. As I continued looking out over the yard, the warm presence of the Lord had me nearly dropping to my knees. I felt the Lord tell me to go stand in the sun with my face looking up to the sky. I hesitated because even though the sun was shining, the wind was very cold. The Lord gently revealed to me His heart for us, the way His love for each of us burns consistently. Never fading, never extinguishing. Every day, burning for each of us as brightly and as fiercely as the surface of the su...

As I was on my way to work yesterday, I had a number of things that were running through my mind. Everything from wanting to be home with my children, to being thankful that I have a job to go to. I was thinking about that video I posted the other night, and of course, the first thing I thought of was a way to pick it apart and criticize myself in the guise of self improvement. I was pondering the fact that I have zero upper lip and the thought of cosmetic injections crossed my mind. I thought about the way it would sting. Then the Lord put it on my heart that we are so quick to put ourselves through physical discomfort for the acceptance of worldly beauty. Yet, at the very same time, we don’t want ourselves to ever be emotionally or socially uncomfortable, or to feel out of place by speaking up with the Word on the Lord’s behalf. We fear speaking up to the very children He created; the children He wants us to share His LOVE with.  Why do we chase after the acceptance of...

Freedom Fighters Conference Recap. It’s been a few days now, of me being back to my normal routine. I’ve struggled with finding the words that could justify, or express the powerful move of the Lord that took place last weekend. Being part of a ministry team is something that I never thought in a million years that I’d be doing. Yet, there I was. The teachings were on point, every single one of them. The way the presence of the Holy Spirit filled the room was the most beautiful experience I’ve ever been a part of. The worship was simply amazing. There was no rush, there was no agenda. There was the undeniable flow of the Holy Spirit through the Burkett’s gift of music. There were multiple times the Holy Spirit hit me in a way that buckled my knees and dropped me to the floor. It was simply amazing. Friday evening was a teaching on forgiveness that led into a mass deliverance service. It’s not every day that you walk into a church and see multiple garbage cans lined up along the alta...

What a wonderful weekend. I spent most of my time in Tarentum at the Freedom fighters conference. It was exactly what I needed. I’ll have to make a separate post for that, it’s just too much. The experiences were overwhelming to say the least. The presence of the Lord has been such a blessing these past few days. It’s so refreshing. Right now though, I need to back up to our Thursday night prayer service at Grace Community church in Uniontown. I try not to miss our prayer services when we have them. Time spent with the Lord in prayer is so important. Little did I know that the Lord was going to give me a very graphic visual of why prayer, praise and worship are so important. They’re detrimental to our salvation. We started out with a few songs in worship, welcoming the presence of the Lord. The Holy Spirit flooded the building. We were deep into the song The More I Seek You that has the lyrics “I wanna sit at your feet. Drink from the cup in your hand. Lay back against you and breat...