LET IT GO.. by Nina Keegan

Time to let go!

Exodus 14:5

5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled,(A) Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds(B) about them and said, “What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!”6 So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him. 7 He took six hundred of the best chariots,(C) along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. 8 The Lord hardened the heart(D) of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly
After reading the scripture about the Israelites who so wanted to leave captivity and head to the promised land.. I always get amazed that many of them wanted to return to captivity. As they were leaving, they truly we're not completely free because in their mindS they were still holding on their old ways ..and some even wishing they could go back to Egypt because it's what they knew… It was essentially their "normal" even though it was an awful way to live. What lied ahead for them was an total unknown and many were enslaved in their minds and gripped the past even though it meant being enslaved...

Growing in God is an ongoing process, one that requires releasing something in order to receive something else… Certain changes are not always embraced, sometimes they must be forced sometimes you have to be brought to a point of failure before you can be brought to your victory.
How many people stay in a job they hate because they're fearful of not finding a new one? They discount themselves and deem themselves to be  unqualified for anything better and they never even try to go after their dream.  They are by missing out on the plan that God has for them possibly one that has more promotions and where they can feel accomplished … How many people Are continually maintaining an evil peace within the home, in a relationship, with their older children or spouse because they are afraid to be alone or afraid to not be loved if they discipline them. So many people have such a doormat mentality one that they are so used to that they forget who they really are in Christ..many are so lost that they don't even know who they are without being manipulated and controlled continually.
We have a choice of how we view things… every day we get to decide what we let and allow in our lives and it's time to stop letting the enemy control our thoughts ..We can make a decision now to work with God or against God.
In the scripture above Pharaoh and the officials changed their minds, what represented death to Pharaoh, represented freedom to God's people. The same event meant two very different things pharaoh's plagues became the Israelites freedom.
Isn't it interesting that just when the Israelites finally had freedom in their site, pharaoh changed his mind.. likewise, What should we hold onto that we know God has been telling us that we need to let go, even if it seems very hard for us to do ..when we obey God, it will always work out for our good... it may cost you something but the pay off is always greater in the end… We mustn't be afraid to let go of the bad because we think bad is good enough!
It's interesting that when Pharaoh realized that he lost the services of the Israelites, he took 600 of his best chariots to go after them... the enemy always seems to use the best artillery to go after the people who are carrying the greatest purposes!  So if you feel like a lot is coming against you, that just means God has put a lot in you and he has a lot in store for you!
Maybe right now during this time when we are all shut down and closed up behind our doors  maybe God wants to open up something new in you.. maybe now's the time to figure out what God has put in you and the only way for you to see it Is God shutting down all that's around you… Some things have to die in us so that we can live!
Often times we will never know the lessons that we need to learn until we're on the other side of it… Lessons are often learned in hindsight. For instance going through a terrible break up doesn't seem very fun at the time but many times you can see that after the fact that it was a very toxic relationship.
It's so easy to see things on the other side of our Red Sea… Looking back we can always be reminded of how grateful we are that we got through it and are standing on dry land… But it's not that way when you're looking forward to a giant sea of water and it looks like there is absolutely nothing we can do to get across .
What are the things that you've been hanging onto all your life? Is it about control, fear, hurts, trust issues, insecurities,loss, unforgiveness…? Freedom does not always come very easily… We have to loosen our grip and be ready to grab hold of what's coming on the other side of letting go.
What is God teaching you to appreciate during these times and  in this season of letting go… Are we appreciating the things that we complained about before? Did you complain about a job or a relationship before and now you are grateful for it?
I believe God is resetting the baseline of what we appreciate.. it's time to let everything that has breath praise him! Before God gives us a new blessing, he's giving us a new baseline! Are you healthy? Praise him!  Is God sustaining you?, Praise him! Did he wake you up today? Praise him! You may not like the taste of manna but praise him in the middle of the wilderness .. Don't wish you could be back in Egypt because you don't like the food of the wilderness... It's time to start appreciating the things that we've always been so accustomed to and the things we took for granted and the people that we've taken for granted...

It's time to let go ..it's time to hold old things loosely, it's time to forget what lies behind and push forward to the things God has in store for us ..press toward the mark… Release the things you could never control to begin with.. God is trying to show us how little control we actually have over anything.
Back to normal? The way things were was not necessarily normal.. what you know is not always normal, it's  just what you're used to ..but is it God's best for you? Is it God's plan for you? It's not normal for God's people to be beat down, to be mastered and to be miserable just because it's what you know to be normal.
Negative thinking… It's time to unlearn what we've learned and let it go! 
It's time to unlearn your point of reference it's time to get a new baseline for all things God! God wants to set us free from the things we never needed to begin with… The Israelites needed to know that if they stay there, they die there!…It's not always normal.. it's just an old way of thinking and when God brings us new blessing sometimes it looks scary.. sometimes we want to go back to Egypt because we've been so used to doing something a certain way, sometimes even freedom seems scary, but it's time to release it all to God, it's time that we stop conforming with the patterns of this world.
We can either conform or we can transform… Conform is how the world works from the outside -in ..transform is how God works from the inside- out!
During this time , while being shut up in our homes, let's make it a time of letting go… Let's walk freely ...not only through the open gates of our homes but also in our minds and in our hearts… Let's not hold onto all of the old things that have caused us to go around the same moment mountain again and again and never reaching our promised land!
I know God has such a wonderful life in store for each and every one of us… Our latter reign is so much greater than our former reign … God bless you all in Jesus name!
Let it go!!!

Romans 12:2 New International Version (NIV) 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world,but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasingand perfect will. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, Phil 3:13

Ephesians 4:31-32 

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

Proverbs 3:5-6 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. 

Jeremiah 29:11 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

Isaiah 43:18-19 

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

1 Peter 5:7 ESV 

Casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Philippians 4:6 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

Faith is in what we cannot see.. by Nina Keegan

Faith is in what we cannot see!

Hebrews 11:1

  You cannot see it visibly if you cannot first see it in your mind. 

Matthew 13:58 

And so Jesus did only a few miracles there because of their unbelief.

We all know the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead… But, as I was reading the story again ..in John 11, I became aware that in the supernatural, there definitely is an order to things.

Jesus did receive word that Lazarus, his good friend, was very ill… yet, Jesus chose to not immediately go to his friend's side, He waited a couple more days. Note that Jesus's timing is not our timing. We are always in a hurry, we want God to answer our prayers expeditiously and logically. We want Jesus to do things according to our logical, natural, inside the box, thinking. But in all things, God will be glorified! His ways are so much higher than our ways. There are reasons for things we simply will not understand but are called to believe, and have faith that God knows things we do not!

When Jesus came to the area where 

His good friends Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus were, He was deeply troubled by their sadness, Jesus wept. 

They could not foresee or supernaturally understand what was about to happen… They were looking at the situation logically, in the natural… Their brother was dead, and Jesus was too late to do anything about it.

The Bible says in John 11:38

That Jesus was a groaning in himself as he came to the tomb.

He loved these three friends so much… He felt their pain deeply. 

But, when Jesus said in verse 39...

"TAKE AWAY THE STONE"

Martha said," Lord, by this time there is a stench for he has been dead four days."

How many of us miss the "Take away the stone," moments that Jesus is trying to do in our lives because we cannot logically understand his ways?

Jesus himself said to take away the stone and Martha told him it was not a good idea! 

 How many times have we ignored God's promptings because to us, it makes no sense? Faith, again, is in what we cannot see!

Martha was basically telling Jesus, who was about to supernaturally and miraculously raise her brother from the dead, that this was a situation that could not be resurrected, that this was a dead and stinky, situation, and that it was too late...

Jesus said, "Did I not say to you that if you would BELIEVE you would SEE the glory of God?"

Did you notice the order in the scripture? We need to believe first Then we will see!

What will we see? The glory of God! This  means we will see things that will be outside the natural realm of possibility, we will see miracles, we will see the supernatural.

While Jesus was talking to Martha, at the exact same time, the stone was being rolled away by the others that were there…  it says in verse 41 THEN they took the stone away...

 

  So right in the midst of her unbelief, Jesus had sent others to work on her behalf… God sends us all the help we need to help roll the stones away from our lives. 

What happens next is amazing Jesus THANKS his own Father..

Jesus could only do what his Father in heaven allowed him to do and in verse 42 , Jesus says ,"Thank you that you have heard me, and I know that you always hear me..

  IT'S ALL FOR GOD's GLORY

THEN, after giving thanks to his Father, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus come forth!"

 Verse 44, it goes on to say that when Lazarus came forth, He was bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was completely wrapped… But Jesus again said to the others, "Loose him

and let him Go!"

Lazarus was resurrected but he was not yet FREE . Jesus invited others to be part of the supernatural miracle…Jesus wants us free indeed.  Jesus does not do anything halfway, not only will we come out of bondage but we will be completely free!  There's no halfway breakthrough with Jesus it's always so much more than we could ever imagine.. 

We all need others to help us when we are bound…

Matthew 18:20

20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

It doesn't matter what we are looking at, it doesn't matter that our facts are correct…Lazarus was dead, that's a fact!  It only matters that we believe that God can do anything and that his truth can override our emotions, our feelings and our logic… He's just asking us to believe and yes, if we believe, we will see the glory of God!

Too many of us are praying, and praising the Lord but we're not touching the stone! Let's not miss our miracle because of unbelief or because we cannot logically see an answer.

Let's ask Jesus to send the help we need to get our stones rolling, let's let faith activate what needs to be resurrected in our lives.. it's time to be free and unbound! ROLL THE STONE AWAY!  It's time to stop delaying God's power!

2 Corinthians 6

6 As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says,

“In the time of my favor I heard you,
    and in the day of salvation I helped you.”[a]

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

GODLY WISDOM by Nina Keegan

WISDOM!!!! Godly wisdom!  Now more than ever we need wisdom!!! We need truth  so we can recognize evil and live righteously before God and man! 

  Proverbs 2:1-10

"Moral Benefits of Wisdom" 

v1-My son, if you accept my words

    and store up my commands within you,

v-2 turning your ear to wisdom

    and applying your heart to understanding—

v-3 indeed, if you call out for insight

    and cry aloud for understanding,

v-4 and if you look for it as for silver

    and search for it as for hidden treasure,

v-5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord

    and find the knowledge of God.

v-6 For the Lord gives wisdom;

    from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

v-7 He holds success in store for the upright,

    he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless,

v-8 for he guards the course of the just

    and protects the way of his faithful ones.

v-9 Then you will understand what is right and just

    and fair—every good path.

v-10 For wisdom will enter your heart,

    and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.

The heart is the place for the commandments and the Word of God to be hidden. If we receive into our being the wisdom of God and apply it to our heart we will do the things that are right in God's sight.

If we would spend even half the time learning the Word of God as we spend searching for worldly wealth, we would find the treasures of God. Knowledge has to be accumulated by learning. Wisdom is a gift from God. As we uncover the secrets of the Bible, We will have reverent fear of God and be filled with His knowledge.

Wisdom identifies those who are true believers, who seek to know, love, and obey God and to live righteously. These covenant keepers alone can know wisdom and experience God’s protection.

God is the source of all wisdom. His kind of wisdom brings peace. You see, we are to be wise unto salvation. If we are righteous it is because we have taken on the righteousness of Christ and that is the greatest wisdom we can acquire. The Christian actually takes on the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:16 "For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ."

The Lord is our Protector,

if we walk uprightly in our salvation day by day.

The Bible says wisdom is more precious than rubies (Proverbs 8:11) and gold (Proverbs 16:16). So are we willing to pay? Talk is cheap. Wisdom costs. Wisdom is only words if not applied. Words become wisdom when they are internalized and the heart changes. And that is a sacrifice only a few are prepared to make. Don't just read the WORD, do what it says... be wise in Christ! 

If you desire wisdom as the principal thing (Proverbs 4:7), or require wisdom for a specific situation you face, these verses will set your feet on the path of wisdom:

But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God." - 1 Corinthians 1:24

"Wisdom is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her." - Proverbs 3:15

"Don't turn your back on wisdom, for she will protect you. Love her, and she will guard you." - Proverbs 4:6

"If you prize wisdom, she will make you great. Embrace her, and she will honor you." - Proverbs 4:8

God bless you all with powerful wisdom and insight!! Please share!❤️

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