“Where you point the finger of blame will always inform you where change needs to take place. You can point the finger of blame at the other person, denying your own responsibility and convincing yourself that he not only wronged you but that he is the cause of any wrong that you did. As you do this, your sense of offense grows, and because it does, your anger grows, as does your belief that this person simply needs to change. Self-deception never goes anywhere good; it never produces good fruit in your life or in your relationship with God or others.” Paul David Tripp
Stretch – Stretch – Stretch
This year, I am learning to “stretch” in so many ways. It was my word for 2021 and God is truly teaching it to me. The way I feel on this day, I can’t chase these feelings and I can’t let them lead me to a false offense. I have to intentionally stretch past my feelings to the truth. I feel like I have had some of the same situations in my life for way too long. I have asked God for change and it has not come. I blame God for the change I am desiring that is not happening. Am I the one who needs to change? I guess giving up on what I want is change. Letting go and letting God is the change I need. I have speculated, I have assumed and I have walked without the reality of truth and this is why I feel the way I feel.
So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. For the message God delivered through angels has always stood firm, and every violation of the law and every act of disobedience was punished. So what makes us think we can escape if we ignore this great salvation that was first announced by the Lord Jesus himself and then delivered to us by those who heard him speak? Hebrews 1:1-3 New Living Testament
Beware Of The Drift
Lord, I admit that I don’t understand Your ways at times. But, the Word of God, as I take it inside to my inner spiritual core, it gives me enough understanding that I know, in reverence of You, the possibility of Your life and power, it gives me continued hope. I feel like I am in a spiritual funk right now. I can’t put my finger on what is causing me to be so restless and out of sorts. But, I know through heavenly hindsight, You will show me, teach me and lead me out when the timing is right. I do trust You with my life, even though I feel off right now. I ask You, Holy Spirit to put a spotlight on where I drifted off and how I did, so I can learn from it. Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.
“My questioning one, you may not see the perfect picture today, but in My heavenly hindsight, I have finished it and it is good. My ways are sovereign and mysterious and I choose to give you just enough pieces of My plan to keep you motivated; challenging you without overwhelming you. Even so, the puzzle may never fit together on earth as it does in heaven.” Excerpt From The Bridegroom’s Voice
The Devil’s Playground
When things don’t go exactly the way we plan them, why does this derail our emotions? When you don’t get picked, why do you entertain the betrayals and hurts of yesteryears, instead of thinking on the truth that it is Me, directing you away from what you wanted. Could it purposefully be that I have something better for you? Why do you automatically think backwards to the thoughts of your yesteryear and let them influence your emotions? Why not let Me heal your soul, so you don’t keep coming full circle back around to those same feelings of “not being good enough”. Why do you overthink speculative rejection and let your mind take you down that dead end of yesteryear questioning: “Why don’t people like me? Why don’t people choose me? Why don’t people befriend me? What’s wrong with me? Why do people I have invested so much in, ignore me? Why do I feel so invisible to people?” These are all questions put in your mind by your enemy, there is no basis of truth that backs these questions, just assumptions, which are not truth, in fact, assumptions are the devils playground. Having fun yet?
Shaped By God
I designed you, I shaped you, I chose you. You are good enough to be loved, liked, chosen by Me. Where was this lie, this seed of deception planted in you, My child, it has festered over many years? You chase the feelings induced by this lie and you stumble and fall into the same trap. The truth is, you are loved by Me, have been and will be. Why do you let corrupted finite love shape your emotions over My Infinite love? People don’t love well, I love well! I love you. I will love you forever. I love you unconditionally. My love has given you room to grow through this life and become wholly-holy Mine. Don’t be the product of your yesteryears, be the miracle of today. Your past should not be shaping your emotional health. I am here, with You now, I chose you today, this is what should shape your feelings, this is what should fill your soul with joy and light up your passion with hope. I am with you, on this day and I will never forget you, betray you or leave you out. Don’t check out on yourself because someone doesn’t fit with your shape and they don’t choose you. You were not born to fit in, you were born to stand out. You feel left out and you chase after these negative feelings. I am asking you to chase after Me. I have loved you so well.
A New Day
I Chose You. This should be your enough. God with you, always and forever. Think on this, let this shape your emotions on this day. The love and friendship between human beings is nice, but it is never enough, it won’t meet all your needs. I can. I do. Open your heart wide to me, stretch your capacity to receive from Me, heart to heart. Believe in my love, believe Me when I say, I love you. Period. Full Stop. On this day, you, are well loved, you are first, you are picked, you are wanted, you belong, you are not alone. I AM with you. Live, laugh and love and experience this day to the fullest. Let Your Heart Soar Above Your Yesteryears. This is a new day in Me. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Stretch, My child, past your yesteryears and experience the newness of this day in Me. Don’t chase after you feelings, chase after Me, I will be caught by you. Jesus.
“When I am yoked to God, I am free from self-rule, which in my case tends to be extreme and not necessary, and I can be free to experience the newness that spontaneous intimacy with God is famous for. Followship is a great spiritual yoke because it does not weigh me down with any human “bright ideas” which tend to make my life very regimented and hard.” KimberlyMac
Finite Acceptance ~ Not Needed
If I have been denied something I believed I deserved. If I have been left out of something I truly wanted and don’t understand why. If I have been giving sacrificially for a very long time only to be completely forgotten and ignored. If my emotions are reacting to “If I have…” then is it all about me? Am I making myself the center of my life? Do I need to be picked? Do I need to be let into the group that I now look from the outside in? Do I need to hear from those I have invested much in? Do I need to be pursued by others, wanted by others? Do I really need finite acceptance, the embrace of humanity, the nod of acceptance? No. I don’t. I have all I need in Jesus. What I need to do is take myself out of the center of my soul, and intentionally be about the life of the ONE, Who does love me unconditionally, right where I am, right as I am. I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
“Consider these heart revealing questions: When does God’s love excite me the most? When do I shout the loudest, “God loves me”? When am I most thankful that I am one of God’s children and the object of his fathering care? When does my relationship with God provide me the most joy? What does God need to do for me in order for me to be content? When do I tend to question God’s love? When am I tempted to envy others or to think God has favorites?” Paul David Tripp
First Response
We expend our first reaction by responding, by turning to and fully facing God, the only Navigator, Who can successfully and safely navigate these uncharted waters we find ourselves violently thrust into. Distraction is the evil tool of our enemy in times such as these and we are being distracted by so many voices of evil human prescriptivism telling us how our life should go and what we should do. In the midst of our mediatic false frenzy, confusion sets in. God’s Word shatters the voice of the multitude of prescriptivism, focusing us on His Voice and confusion is no longer the noise of our chaos. Kimberly Mac
You formed my innermost being, shaping my delicate inside and my intricate outside, and wove them all together in my mother’s womb. I thank you, God, for making me so mysteriously complex! Everything you do is marvelously breathtaking. It simply amazes me to think about it! How thoroughly you know me, Lord! You even formed every bone in my body when you created me in the secret place; carefully, skillfully you shaped me from nothing to something. You saw who you created me to be before I became me! Before I’d ever seen the light of day, the number of days you planned for me were already recorded in your book. Psalm 139:13-16 TPT
Uniquely Set Apart
I need to stretch past the desire to fit in, when I was created by God to stand out, to be set apart. I let people’s opinion’s stir up way too many negative reactions in my feelings. It is not about feelings, it is about facts, the truth of how God made me. I need to be about and comfortable in the shape I was designed and stop seeking for things here to satisfy my soul and let my soul be deeply satisfied in God, in His acceptance, in my future and hope in Him and in the purpose of my life that I have been created for. How I feel should never be prescribed by the things of this world, this should dim in my life, this is a kindled fire that will flame out. The light of my passion should be for the Kingdom of God. Yes, I need to change this, be about God’s kingdom first. Stretch me Holy Spirit, my soul emotions and the effect on them from the influence of this world, to the purpose of The Kingdom of God. I am open to change, change it up in me Holy Spirit. I will grow through. I will listen. I will learn. I will change. From here to there unto forever.
“We are not just a body, we are a soul, mind, will and spirit. Our devotion connection with our Creator God, heart to heart and spirit to spirit is a vital necessity to us thriving as human beings. We were created with the need of personal connection with our God. Spending time with God, talking, praying, listening up to Him, yielding our lives, bowing all things us to Him, it is so fulfilling. We thrive in the light of God’s abundant love, and as we grow in a vital-vertical relationship with Him, God’s love overflows in us, we can’t contain the joy of it.” KimberlyMac
Now my beloved ones, I have saved these most important truths for last: Be supernaturally infused with strength through your life-union with the Lord Jesus. Stand victorious with the force of his explosive power flowing in and through you. 11 Put on God’s complete set of armor provided for us, so that you will be protected as you fight against the evil strategies of the accuser! 12 Your hand-to-hand combat is not with human beings, but with the highest principalities and authorities operating in rebellion under the heavenly realms. For they are a powerful class of demon-gods and evil spirits that hold this dark world in bondage. Ephesians 6:10-12
We so hope you enjoyed your time today in The Bridegroom’s Café. No doubt about it, you have heard The Bridegroom’s Voice. The spiritual meal today on the Author Table was spicy! We hope you share it with others on your social media platforms. Make sure you subscribe to this blog, https://thebridegroomscafe.com click on subscribe and add your email address and you won’t miss one spiritual meal prepared here. God bless you, MUCH, KimberlyMac