 We are co-laborers with God and you are God’s cultivated garden, the house he is building. During yesterday morning’s service at Times Square Church, Pastor Carter Conlon shared, “Get ready for a journey! Your life is going to change. Your future is not going to be like your past. You’re going to live a life that brings GLORY to God! You're going to have a breakthrough. And you're not just going to sing about it, you're going to live it.” His whole sermon leading up to this statement, I was “Amen-ing and hallelujah-ing!” Everything he spoke of is exactly the journey the Lord has had me on for the past five years. Interestingly enough, it has been five years since this blog journey began and the Lord REALLY began to have His way in my life. I was already in reflective mode, pondering the post I might write and share as a glorifying synopsis to the One responsible for every ounce of transformation radiating from this life. He set the stage. I am a living testament to every instruction Pastor Carter Conlon provided yesterday, is true. 1.Read the word yourself 2.Connect with others 3.Set yourself apart 4.Consume the WHOLE word of God - no hypocrisy – no picking and choosing palatable Scripture 5.Get ready and Go on the journey! Reading the word for myself is exactly what Holy Spirit led me to do five years ago. It is His encouragement through me as well. Devotions are nice and easy, but Holy Spirit taking you on a journey is where it is at! Connecting with others – others with a heart for following fully after God – did come next. The Lord brought women into my life ready to grow and transform. We could turn to one another for prayer and support and encouragement. We were, and still are, iron sharpening iron, doing life together – across multiple denominations. At multiple points I had to agree with the Lord and say, “This (fill in the blank) cannot go where YOU are taking me. I choose JESUS over (fill in the blank)!” This was and is a hard one. “Fill in the blank” can be a relationship, habit, behavior, addiction, mindset, fear, or concern. Many times, it will be related to the thoughts of wondering what others will think. When we set ourselves apart for God, pruning and purging takes place, but oh how good is His grace! Reading all of the Word of God, and allowing it to change me, rather than me attempt to change the word to my liking – has always been my desire. It takes courage to humbly say, “Lord, You know best. I don’t. Help me understand, embrace and follow after You.” The journey is remaining consistent with these four keys. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. It is easy to fall out of the word. There will be attempts to disconnect us from others and keep us distanced. Temptations will come attempting to (sometimes succeeding even) have us fall back and away from being set apart. Not all of God’s Word is pleasing to read and embrace. Have you ever read Isaiah 20? After the prophet said, “Here I am Lord, send me!” God asked Isaiah to walk around naked – for three years – just to prove a point! Hard to embrace? Just a little. But we FREE WILLINGLY choose to continue to respond to Holy Spirit – our Comforter, Counselor and Teacher. We continue to repent and keep going when we do fall down. We get back into His Word and presence. We choose to reconnect when we realize we’ve chosen the pain of isolation far too long. We choose to press on towards the mark and high calling – WHATEVER THE COST! This is my encouragement for YOU today. I pray you declare, “I am getting up and I'm going with God! I want to see what God will do!!” God has been speaking the RISE UP message to my heart for over four years, and He spoke it again through the words of my Pastor at Times Square Church, "We are being called by God, as the Church of Jesus Christ, in this Nation, to RISE UP and take a God appointed journey. We are. Get ready for a journey! Your life is going to change. Your future is not going to be like your past. You’re going to live a life that brings GLORY to God! You're going to have a breakthrough. And you're not just going to sing about it, you're going to live it." This is 100% true – for the vessel willing to search God’s word, connect to the body, set yourself apart, and accept the whole word of God. Godspeed my friends! Praise and GLORY be to God for the past five years!!! The journey will undoubtedly lead to vision, compassion, a sense of authority, the will to fight for others and TRANSFORMING more into the likeness of Jesus Christ! The Journey... September 3, 2014 - Began the LiveEatSweat Blog (link) May 16, 2015 - Completed Spartan Sprint (image, link) August 16, 2015 - Completed Spartan Super (image, link) Aug/Sept 2015 - Strong Magazine Highlight (image) October 11, 2015 - FIRST LES45 Group Challenge (link) November 2015 - Shepherdess Rise Up Study (link) March 1, 2016 - SECOND LES45 Group Challenge (link) June 2016 - Mission Trip to Dominican Republic (link) God began to move me from behind the keyboard and blogging, to going LIVE - completely outside my comfort zone! September 12, 2016 - THIRD LES45 Group Challenge (link) September 27, 2016 - Rise Up! Is Back (link) November 21, 2016 - It's Time to RISE (link) April 13, 2017 - Rise Up! Devotions Book Launch (link) June 2017 - Rise Up! in Dominican Republic (image) October 9, 2017 - Rise & Pray (link, YouTube) October 17, 2017 - Rise Up Commitment Seed Planted (link) God was calling me to move from behind the camera, to meet with women in-person - again, outside my comfort zone... Jan-March 2018 - The FIRST Rise Up Commitment (testimonials) February 2018 - Embraced my call to teach, encourage through the prophetic and facilitate healing as the Lord leads April 15, 2018 - Launched Podcast (link) Sep-Nov 2018 - The SECOND Rise Up Commitment December 13, 2018 - Beyond at BrewHa (YouTube) God was calling me to move from a select group to a public forum where all were invited May 2, 2019 - National Day of Prayer May 23, 2019 - Launched "My Voice His Story" Memoir June 23, 2019 - Launched the THIRD Rise Up Commitment in local homeless shelter with five women August 10, 2019 - Reach Out! With roughly 200 folks (image) God has been moving me from inside the public platform, to outside declaring His Love and Word! Wherever you are HE is faithful to accept what little we believe we have to offer and multiply in ways BEYOND our imagination!! "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." Deuteronomy 6:5
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