My prayer for my sweet brokenhearted friends who feel like they have hit rock bottom.

Lord,
Today I lift up to you the one who is feeling not just a little weak, not just slightly knocked down, but pushed beyond what they can handle all the way to what they would consider to be their "rock bottom". Wrap your loving arms around your precious child Lord. Overwhelm them with a strong sense of your deep, and intense love for them right where they are at. Infuse your supernatural strength into them there. Rebuild, restore, renew, empower, and give new focus and lay it thick on their hearts like only you can. Do a miracle in the lives of your children when they cry out to you asking for your help and comfort today. Fill them up with YOU, and your glorious righteousness, and then pour out your love through them so they can feel the blessing of being a part of your bigger picture. Bless them with deep satisfaction in the depths of their hearts as they pour out their lives to you, Lord. To you be the glory forever and ever. I pray this in your holy and powerful name. Amen.

I will follow YOU.

"I will lead the blind by ways they have not known,
along unfamiliar paths I will guide them;
I will turn the darkness into light before them
and make the rough places smooth.
These are the things I will do;
I will not forsake them."

Isaiah 42:16



tag: Johanna, Katie, Jenifer ;) Love you three.

The prayer of an old broken down momma...

Lord,
I apologize for the areas of my life I have I left unattended and grossly neglected. I'm sorry for the many areas of my life that have been seemingly broken and left un-repaired, as I continued on in my hurried pace trying to keep up with what I thought to be important. I am sorry for neglected areas in my life that I have yet to even discover because I did not want to face how hard it might be, so I remained distracted by lesser things.

Have mercy on me, Lord for the ways I continued to grow weaker and weaker and did not come to you for strength over these past few years. Give me a heart that breaks for the things that your heart breaks for. I'm intentionally slowing down now Lord, trying to tune everything else out, leaning into you more, so you can build me back up. I'm breathing in your air more deeply now, giving you permission to break me down and build me back up. Rebuild me Lord. Make me stronger into who you created me to be. A vessel that confidently moves forward in obedience to You, Lord. Take this time, Lord, to rebuild me up into a strong woman of faith who is unwaveringly and undeniably your girl. Bless this time Lord. Rebuild my energy and strength. Restore any relationships that have gone by the wayside that need to be restored. Renew my spirit until it is better than I can even imagine it ever being, please with a cherry on top. ALL FOR YOUR GLORY LORD. ALWAYS FOR YOUR GLORY. Amen.

Another vivid dream I had.

I had a strange dream last night. (It happens a lot actually) My husband always says he can't remember his dreams. I always remember mine. I used to be flying in my dreams a lot. I mean, like Superman, but without the cape. :) I am usually not flying anymore, so that makes me happy. I used to always think that meant I was a crazy person and belonged in a crazy house. Last night I was in a car. Cars are for normal people. I like that I was driving in my dream last night. Normal people drive in cars. :)

MY DREAM
It was getting late and I needed to get gas in my car. There were lots of people out this particular night...truckers, teens, families, all kinds of different people, different ethnicities, ages, the whole bit. There were several gas stations all lined up, one right after another. Everyone needed gas--as if this was the normal routine. No one was out just for a drive, everyone was buckling down for the night and was needing a fill up, so the question became "where were you going to fill up?"

I was looking at each of the signs at each of the gas stations noticing the price differences on each one. $2.46, $3.42...some were off by a couple of pennies and some were off by quite a lot. Everyone was lining up for the cheaper gas stations, of course, but the prices were changing, which made it just that much more confusing and frustrating. I was feeling the pressure of the moment. I was having a hard time knowing which place to plug in at....which line to get into. I was looking around at everyone else to see what they were doing.

People who were in the line with the cheap gas were really excited when they realized they went to the right gas station. Others were bummed when they realized they spent their money at a gas station that was slightly pricier when they could have gone to a cheaper one down the way.

I felt like God was showing me three things from this dream, none of them having anything to do with gas prices, because God knows I don't care about gas prices:

1. Everyone NEEDS to be filled up. (spiritually) Everyone gets knocked down and needs to get filled back up. I may think that I am alone for feeling that way but the truth is as long as we are here (on Earth) we are all going to have hurts, pains, and questions that we have to bring back to the one who made us and knows everything about us (and the world around us) so that we can be renewed again. EVERYONE needs a daily fill-up (this is a universal need)...not unique just to you or me.

2. It matters where we go to get that fill up. It matters if we get the cheap counterfeit version of a fill-up (on facebook, TV, a boyfriend, at a bar, magazine, the dad you can never quite seem to please, a group of friends, etc.), or if we go to GOD to get a genuine peace in the depth of our soul. It may be easier, quicker, more instantly gratifying to hear what I want from a human or from some other source, but I have got to get it from my God if it is going to TRULY transform me from the inside out. There may be a whole line up of gas stations out there, but I gotta know that there is only one for me and keep going back and plugging in to that ONE.

3. In a world where everything changes and you can't seem to count on anything, you can count on the love and acceptance of your Lord to remain the same in your life day after day after day. Amen? YOU are LOVED unconditionally. Let that fact dig deep down into the depths of your being and fill you up until your tank says FULL. You are loved unconditionally.

One other side note: I do not make a big deal out of EVERY dream I have, but there have been SOME dreams that have rocked my boat a little and I felt inclined to share them on my blog. Here are two of them:
Getting the alligator out of the mansion
The boy who cried for help

We eat our own. We would probably be more effective if we stopped doing that.

I was taking some time tonight to listen to Susie Larson's "Live the Promise" Faith Radio show online. It has become one of my favorite ways to relax at the end of an exhausting day lately. I can just pop the laptop open and turn her on while I sort laundry or do the dishes or whatever else I am doing. She is so rich with wisdom. I just can't get enough lately. Her show today was done with author Lisa Bevere, who wrote a book called, "Lioness Arising". I have not read the book myself, but it sounds like a really incredible call to women to step it up and boldly make a difference for the Lord. Here are just a few things that Lisa said that I thought were interesting. She likened Christians to Lionesses, and gave a few descriptions of ways that we SHOULD be like the lionesses. Here they are:

THINGS WE CAN LEARN FROM THE LIONESSES

• Each of us has a skill that we are supposed to hone to a magnificent perfection to the benefit of the whole group.
• When we work together as a STRATEGIC team we can (AND WILL) take down the enemy.
• We have an enemy.
• We need to be dangerous to the enemy.
• Right now we are really just dangerous to each other. (OUCH, huh?) Read the next line for more into this one.
• We're doing a lot of his (the enemy's) works for him by judging, gossip, and slander, and just not being who we were created to be.
• God created us to be beautifully dangerous...to be wildly compassionate and strategic.
• We need to greet and groom each other. What does not look good on Lisa does not look good on Susie. We need to help each other get to the spots that we cannot see on ourselves. We need to build each other up, training one another.
  
• Your truest beauty is not judged by what you see in the mirror but by what is reflected back at you in the lives you impact. (OH, I LOVED THAT LINE!! PLEASE, LORD, LET THAT BE SO)
  

So, that was shortened and bullet-pointed because it was taken from their longer interview. Some things were left out that were said between each point so it makes sense to me, but if it does not make complete sense to you I apologize. You can go here to listen to the interview in its entirety.

I just love how Lisa hit that point about us doing the enemy's work, rather than teaming up to fight the enemy off. I'm visual, so that works for me. I hope that helps someone else too. For any guys that come to this site I have also heard it said this way:

ALISHA'S FOOTBALL VERSION FOR THE MEN FOLK:
It would be as if we were gearing up for a football game. We get our pads and helmets on, get all ready for the game. We get out on the field, and so does the opposing team...both teams ready for a win! But, our team's focus is not actually on the win once the game gets going because each player, in turn, get distracted with lots of other things--feuds between one another--and we decide to deal with those instead. Meanwhile, the other team stays clearly focused on winning...and winning only. They are running their plays strategically and solidly, laughing at the ease at which they were winning.

GO! FIGHT! WIN!
WE have GOT to come together! IT'S WAR...but not between me and you. There are bigger fish to fry, and we are a LOT stronger when we work together strategically each of us bringing what we have to the table.

And that's all I have to say about that.

Okay, so awesome song time? SURE! Why not.



PRAYER
Lord, break our hearts for what breaks yours. We come to you for comfort, but we also realize that you call us to pass that comfort on when we are filled up. Let us be a community that loves like you love and rallies together to live out your purposes here on this earth. Amen.

Be still and know. He is GOD.

"...a mighty windstorm hit the mountain.
It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose,
but the Lord was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake,
but the Lord was not in the earthquake.
And after the earthquake there was a fire,
but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper..."
-1Kings 19:11b-12 (NLT)

Where are you at today?
Windstorm whirling around you?
Blast of rocks tumbling down on top of you?
Earthquake throwing all you've known out the window?
Fire burning it all to the ground?
. . . . . . . . .
Wait for the gentle whisper.

It's coming. It's coming. . . shhhhhhhh. . . . listen . . .

God's Redemptive Work. Part Three

I was reading a blog entry written by Leslie Vernick entitled "Do You Talk to Yourself?" I knew the answer right away because I am really smart like that. ;) In Leslie's post, she points out that the better question is not "DO we talk to ourselves?" but rather, "HOW do we talk to ourselves?" (I knew that too cuz I'm like a frickin' genius over here!) :)

HOW YOU TALK TO YOURSELF MATTERS (but you knew that too, cuz you're like the smartest cookie in the whole batch!)

It is one thing to be set free from sin, and it is quite another to believe you are set free, isn't it? It is one thing to say that I am bigger than my failures, and it is quite another to live a life that exemplifies that belief.

SPECIFIC EXAMPLE

God loves you.

"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, we know Alisha. You tell us all the time!"

But do you? Cause I tell YOU all the time, because I am really still trying to convince MYSELF! He loves me??? FOR REAL!?! Because I am painfully aware of where I fall on the "loser" scale most days lately so I have to keep coming back to God and let HIM remind me who I am IN HIM.

I'm HIS girl! HIS BELOVED, for crying out loud!

I can choose to stay stuck at "I'm at the bottom of the loser scale" mentality, or I can let out a deep sigh, realize I let myself go there [AGAIN], and turn to God to let HIM tell me who I am... [again].

He offers you (and me) freedom and LOVE. Do you (and I) live like that? Do the words coming out of your (and my) mouth reflect that truth that God loves you (and me) and has forgiven you (and me)? Check out this tiny part from Leslie's entry.

We can only see ourselves truthfully when we place the eyes of our heart on Jesus and not on ourselves and our sins and failures.

Listen to what Paul writes about how God sees us.

“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” (Ephesians 1:4-5)

When we focus on Jesus, it’s not that we aren’t aware of our faults and failures, but our attention doesn’t stay on us. Instead it is fixed on the loving, forgiving, and merciful grace of God. Paul’s response to these great truths is, “So we praise God for his glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.“ It is all about Him. This is the gospel, the good news we celebrate and take refuge in.

(She's neat, don't you think?) Are you searching high and low for freedom, purpose, love, attention, etc. and coming up empty? Might it just be that you are looking in the wrong place? The mirror? Facebook? Magazines? TV? A person? Target's candy aisle? :) What? I'm just sayin'. Okay, and let's just be real. Freedom will never be found looking in a mirror, okay?! :) It might not be a bad idea to stop looking at yourself for a while and look to the one who made you and who delights in you.

Stop for a minute. Do you really want freedom? I mean, do you or not?

If you do,

Stop

for

a

m.i..n...u...t....e.

Choose to claim your freedom.

It's yours for the taking.

Might I suggest that you...

Slow your life d o w n.

. . . A l o t. . . .

Let all the other stuff go for a while. Look to the one who loves you unconditionally. Everything is SCREAMING for your attention! God is just whispering. The urgent is DEMANDING your attention while the important is waiting on your attention. The urgent stuff that is demanding for your attention (usually because someone somewhere is going to get money if you pay attention... you know that right?) :) --sometimes you have to make a choice to drop it for a while to tend to the important stuff in your life, right? GOD looks on you with the love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness that you cannot get ANYWHERE else...no strings attached. Do you want that? It's yours for the taking!! Drop everything else. All the baggage you're holding, juggling, balancing, frustratingly trying not to drop. . . it's okay. You can drop it. Lay it at God's feet and rest in HIM. God's REDEMPTIVE and comforting arms are open to you and you may rest in HIM at any time. Let THIS be your time. Let YOUR freedom RING! Right now. Choose to rest in HIM today.

Just a thought. That's all. If you are interested in reading all that Leslie had to say in this topic you may click here.

Okay... AWESOME SONG TIME!

OH! And YOU ARE LOVED!!!