Hello friends!!! We have been covered in snow in southern Indiana. At first it was beautiful, but now it is getting on my last nerve! When my girls were living at home, I loved snow days. They would have their friends over and play out in the snow—come inside to get warm—then go back out again. I loved having all the kids here and I enjoyed being with them so much! But now that they aren’t here, it isn’t quite the same. Snow days are different for me now. Instead of playing in the snow, I get to spend more time with Jesus and that is definitely a good thing.

In my last post, I mentioned that I wanted to be a space for God in 2018. Jeremiah 33:3 says, “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” This verse makes me want to put on my Indiana Jones hat and have God reveal to me great and unsearchable things. I feel like an explorer on a journey to uncover wonderful mysteries about God that I know are going to change me. (I love a good mystery!)

My husband discovered a book called “The Book of Mysteries” by Jonathan Cahn about a year and a half ago. He told me how much he liked it and that I should read it. At that time, I couldn’t quite fit it in because of everything else I was reading and studying. But now, I have the time to sit down and read it. I can already see that this book is in front of me at just the right time in my life. (God’s timing is perfect!) 

Day 1 in this book talks about being an open vessel, which I think is very relatable to being an open space. Cahn says that an open vessel has no limitations. He states, “Only by opening yourself up can you come to know that which you don’t already know. And only by becoming an open vessel can you contain that which is greater than yourself. The truth is always greater than our knowing. Your mind and heart are finite, clay jars. But the truth has no end. God has no end. The Eternal is infinite….always flowing.”

I want to open myself up to God so He can become greater in me. The greater He becomes in me the more I am able to function in His power and strength. I must decrease so He can increase. I used to be afraid of God becoming powerful in me. When you have been abused by someone, it is hard to think of anyone being in power over you. I had to get to the point that I could trust God and that He would never hurt me.

That is why God’s word is so important to me. We have to know what He says so we can know who He is. I see a dangerous trend happening in so many churches today because they aren’t teaching God’s word. (Big mistake!!!) How can we have a relationship with someone we know nothing about? You simply can’t. We can’t rely on others to tell us about God. We have to read and spend time with Him. We have to talk to Him. He doesn’t talk back in an audible voice, but He speaks to our hearts through His word and He tells us what we need to know through His word. 

“So open now your mind, your heart, and your life. For it is only the open vessel and an open heart that can contain the infinity of God.” Cahn It seems like I am forever fighting old habits. It is so easy for me to go into performer mode without talking with God first. There are days when I flat out forget to talk to Him first thing in the morning. My mind goes to my agenda or my phone before it goes to God. I am praying that will change this year. God needs to be the first person I encounter each and every day in order for me to be an open vessel. That phone or agenda is not going to give me a fulfilled life—Only God can do that.

Acts 17:28 “For In Him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, “For we are His offspring.” I think I missed this verse somehow in my life or I didn’t pay much attention to it. I knew I existed because of Him, but the wording of the verse makes me pause and think. There is a purpose to my existence and I don’t want to miss out on anything God has planned for me.

“To not only live for Him, but to live your life from Him, to live from His living, to move from His moving, to act from His actions, to feel from His heart, to be from His being, and to become who you are from who He is … I AM.” Cahn I can hardly take it all in. My mind goes to Jesus. He lived, moved, acted, spoke and felt exactly like God because He was God. God loved us so much to show us who He truly was through the life of Jesus. He gave us the best visual representation of Himself. So when you feel like you don’t know God or understand who He is, look at Jesus. That is who God is. It is so easy to forget that little fact.

And, even better, we have the Holy Spirit inside us to help us live, move, act, speak and feel like God. We just need to yield ourselves to the Spirit. (Not so easy is it?) When someone comes along and says horrible things or treats you with disrespect or lies to your face, it takes every ounce of energy to survive those moments. That’s when my mind needs to respond, “Lord, help me react the way I should,’’ instead of, “Who do you think you are acting like that or talking to me in that way?”

It is so easy to fall into old habits and it is way to easy to go to the dark side. Feelings can take over and control you in an instant. “But you must choose to live in the supernatural and walk in the will and power of Him who makes all things new. Live on earth in the power of heaven…and you will walk in the newness of life…and the year ahead will be year of change.” Cahn

Every year I say I want to change—I think we all do. But, this year I want to experience a radical change. I want to open myself up to God and see things I haven’t seen before. I want to give God each and every day of my life so I can accomplish His purposes. I need to want what He wants more than what I want. My agenda to get things done needs to take a backseat to what God wants me to get done.

My days need to have purpose—All of ours do. But, I think that I am finally realizing the fact that I must be more intentional than I have been in the past. I must intentionally give each and every day to God. “You appoint your days in God to bring what is good. You consecrate them for the purposes of God. And then you use your days to accomplish those purposes. Don’t let your days determine your life. Let your life determine your days. And don’t just let your days go by. Prepare them, that they might become vessels of blessing and life. Appoint your days…for the purposes of the Most High.”Cahn

Prayer is the key here. I must go to Him every day before I start to function and give Him the day because I want to be a vessel of blessing and life. What He wants is more important than what I want because He has the heavenly perspective that I lack. I can’t see what He can see.

I have to be honest with you–I love to get things done. It makes me feel so good to check things off a list. But, I can easily lose sight of God and His will for me because of that list. That list can become obsessive to me. Might sound weird to you, but it is a struggle. (OCD runs in the family!) I have to remind myself that God just wants me to open myself up to Him. He wants me to give Him my days so He can accomplish His work in me. I have to be intentional about giving it to Him.

All of our days are numbered. We don’t know how much time we have on this earth. My hope is for all of us to remember that fact and turn to the Lord and say, “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12

Until next time friends….

*The girls pictured above are my three beautiful daughters–Sarah, Rebekah and Leah.