Growing In Patient Endurance

Enlarged~Stretched

“I AM your place of refuge, your shelter. Dig deeper and don’t be governed by your feelings, but be spirit-led by My truth, knowing I am almighty God. I am mighty to save. Live your life positioned in My saving grace from within you to without you. First God within, then God without. Inside to outside. Live exactly like this and your hope will endure, impacting your world with My peace, My eternal life, and My HOPE!” “The Bridegrooms” Voice” by Kimberly Mac

Psalm 121 A song for those journeying to worship. I look up at the vast size of the mountains— from where will my help come in times of trouble? The Eternal Creator of heaven and earth and these mountains will send the help I need. He holds you firmly in place; He will not let you fall. He who keeps you will never take His eyes off you and never drift off to sleep. What a relief! The One who watches over Israel never leaves for rest or sleep. The Eternal keeps you safe, so close to Him that His shadow is a cooling shade to you. Neither bright light of sun nor dim light of moon will harm you. The Eternal will keep you safe from all of life’s evils, From your first breath to the last breath you breathe, from this day and forever. The Voice

Soul Roaring Transition

The closer the life transition gets, the more the enemy batters my soul in that divisive way of his. It is hard to be on the outside of where you are going and no longer belong where you are. I feel the spiritual battle as I wait for the new mission God has given us because of the limited vision I have for seeing ahead. God hasn’t shared much detail with me yet and I believe this is God’s purposefully so. God is stretching and increasing my faith as He moves me forward in this life transition by revealing it step by step. Waiting is part of the preparation of this changeover. My soul is roaring as I grow through this transitional time. I feel stuck, like I can’t go forward or backwards and my focus is so off. I want to be doing what God has for me during this time, yet my flesh is fighting to stay aligned with this day at hand. As I struggle to figure everything out by myself, my restlessness increases and my soul roars.

Choose God’s Way Of Life

My feelings battle for my attention and I find that they seem to steal my time away in this transition period, as they carry me off gripped by doubt, fear and anxiety for what is next. I have things planned to get done, but procrastination seems to take over as I follow after these strong feelings of restlessness and of course there is the doubt. What if? I could chase that for days if I did not have self-control and already know what a dead end that is. The choice is set before me, a choice for the way of life and truth, or the choice for the way of assumption, presumption and presupposition which always dead ends. Wisely, if so inclined, and leaning into the Sovereign Sway of God, I will choose the way of life, the narrow road that leads to the things of God’s life by the way of His truth.

Jahaziel:  Listen to me, all Judah, citizens of Jerusalem, and King Jehoshaphat. The Eternal has responded to your pleading: “Do not fear or worry about this army. The battle is not yours to fight; it is the True God’s.  Tomorrow, they will travel through the ascent of Ziz. Meet them at the end of valley before the wilderness of Jeruel. There, I will be watching. Stand and watch, but do not fight the battle. There, you will watch the Eternal save you, Judah and Jerusalem.” Do not fear or worry. Tomorrow, face the army and trust that the Eternal is with you. Jehoshaphat bowed his head low, and all the assembly fell prostrate before the Eternal and worshiped Him with reverence. They trusted the Lord completely. Meanwhile, the Levite families of the Kohathites and Korahites stood up to praise the Eternal One, True God of Israel, with very loud voices.  Early the next morning they went out to the wilderness of Tekoa. There Jehoshaphat’s message to Judah was not about courage in battle. Jehoshaphat: Listen to me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem. Trust in the Eternal One, your True God, not in your own abilities, and you will be supported. Put your trust in His words that you heard through the prophets, and we will succeed. 2 Chronicles 20:15-20 The Voice

Chase After God First

I know without a doubt that God is with me and see Him at work sharpening my focus on Him as I finish out this life season and get ready to step out into the next. It is a battle every day for my mind and for my soul emotions. I must remember that the battle belongs to the Lord. Instead of chasing after the fear change evokes, I must flip the anxiety to prayer. I need to do this, I need not to stay positioned in unease, I need to train my will to break free of it and live out this day at hand in totally trust of God. Pursue God first and my focus will follow. This is the followship that works out my salvation for the best, in times of life transition. God first, pursue God first and be sold out to His Kingdom first. This means daily adjusting my worldly viewpoint translating it into a Kingdom Perspective. It means being willing to lay everything out on the harvest field on this day, no matter what tomorrow may or may not be.

Life Season Transitions

Life transitions are difficult times, especially when God is majorly changing things up after a long time of service in one direction. I find myself so wanting the new to come, that I am not focused on what God is doing in this day. I am easily distracted. I need to set my mind on Jesus, today, and His plan for today. I must set my mind to go God’s way on this day, despite my roaring emotions and questioning mind that pulls my focus forward. This is the day where God is, and on and in this day, is the power, wisdom and grace given to me abundantly by Him. He always provides everything I need in this day and also equips me with wisdom that I can pay forward in my future.

For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. The Word Discovers Our Condition Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:10-12 NKJV

Hear God’s Voice ~ Think God’s Thoughts

The Living Word of God helps focus me the best and keeps me staying in a constant conversation with the Father God, with Jesus, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s Word helps keep my mind thinking God’s thoughts and this always keeps me on track for this day at hand. Jesus is in this day, even though He has gone before to prepare our way for this new thing He is doing, He wants us to stay in today, trusting Him for tomorrow. I need to choose to think the thoughts of the Mind of Christ, they are always good thoughts and will lead me in the way of His purposes for me. God’s Word is living, it is for my right now, therefore it is the best place to be found amid life transition. The Living Word of God is Kingdom empowering to our thoughts and keeps us thinking God’s way.

Jesus Prays in Gethsemane Then Jesus went with them to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and he said, “Sit here while I go over there to pray.” He took Peter and Zebedee’s two sons, James and John, and he became anguished and distressed.  He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” He went on a little farther and bowed with his face to the ground, praying, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Matthew 26:36-46 NLT

We Serve A Great Finisher

I know it is my Almighty Father God and Him alone who can still these raging emotions, who can silence doubt and who can keep me focused on today and what He has for me in this day. When I get up in the morning, full of anxiety for the future and with relentless restlessness for the day at hand, the place most coveted is found in a bowing of my knees, my heart and my life before my God and making a vital-vertical relational connection of my heart with His heart. My first step out in this day of life transition, must be down. I must bow down my life before my God, open my heart wide to Him and listen up with spiritual ears to what He has to say, because God’s Voice always changes things up.

I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called–his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance. Ephesians 1:18 NLT

Listen Up ~ Change it UP

I know it is my Almighty Father God and Him alone who can still these raging emotions, who can silence doubt and who can keep me focused on today and what He has for me in this day. When I get up full of anxiety for the future and with relentless restlessness roaring in my soul for the day at hand, the place most coveted is found in a bowing of my knees, my heart and my life before my God. My first step out in this day of life transition, must be down. I must bow down my life before my God, open my heart wide to Him and listen up with spiritual ears to what He has to say because God’s Voice, changes things up.

Dig Your Life Roots Deep In God

This is the day He created and in this transitional time, He has provided for me all that I need. God will enable me for this day, this unchartered situation of transition from present to future vision and the change coming, He will equip me for it as I stay focused on this day. There is no doubt that this amazing AWE-GOD is a finisher and as I cling to Him and dig my life roots deeply in His Kingdom, I will finish this life season well and step into the next part of my journey equipped and ready for what He is calling me too.

Followship Is Living In Wisdom

Jesus has gone before me, He has shown me the ways, truths and wisdoms of having a patient-endurance transition. Jesus made it through a life transition, to effect the greatest change ever known to mankind. I will follow after His Holy Spirit, and on this day, I will find my way to being all He has gifted me to be. I am determined I will grow through this time of life transition by the power and guidance of His Holy Spirit. Jesus tames our flesh with His wisdom as we surrender our lives wholly-holy to Him. Surrender and followship are two key ingredients to having a faith enlarged and stretched in wholly-holy followship of Jesus. The Father God can take the stirred-up soul emotions that life transitions evoke and speak stillness to them as we yield to the wisdom of His Voice. Followship always begins with Jesus calming the soul storms with that famous, miraculous voice: “Peace, Be Still”.

1 Chronicles 4:10 And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested. New King James Version

Pray It Up ~ Focus

The power of God is in this day and if I tap into it, it will be a good day, I will accomplish the will of God, I will make this transition well. My time of life transition can be and will be a learning and growing, preparing to endure and leaning into a patient endurance that is Holy Spirit grown. I am not “home grown”, I live here, but I do not belong here, so all of my life is a transition and if I can learn to be “kingdom grown” during this life transition, if I can stay focused on God and His Kingdom, then I am learning a greater lesson than just the transition from this life season into the next. Prayer is key, praying it up to God, sharing all my feelings, hopes and expectations with God. Pray it up because in doing so, I am planting seeds of patient endurance into my soul, taking more transition territory for God that will bloom in a stretched and enlarged righteousness, which can be lived out every day, because I am transitioning every day from here to there unto forever. Jesus is also praying for us, we connect spirit to Spirit and are encouraged and heart guarded by God.

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the word, this one will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25). NKJV

Turn Up The Gratefulness

I would love to hear my Savior say: “Well done good and faithful servant”. The journey towards this Bridegroom’s Voice, it begins today, as I choose to live out this day well, starting with the wisdom I have already been taught. I don’t follow after emotions, I follow after Jesus. I have been taught that. I stay focused and tap into the power of the Holy Spirit for now, God’s right now, Omnipresent power. I have been taught that. I don’t make a plan that I hold on too tightly to, instead, I look to God, fully face God and listen up for this day’s divine appointments. I have been taught that. When the enemy stirs up my soul and mind with questions and doubts, I take them captive with the Word of God’s truth. I have been taught that. When I feel anxious about tomorrow, I turn up the gratefulness in my today, by the heavenly hindsight of God’s miraculous touch on my yesterday. I have been taught that. When restlessness is upon me at the get go of my opened eyes in the morning, I bow before God and surrender my life anew to Him, because this surrender focuses me on Him and off of me. I have been taught that. I am grateful to be one who is taught by such a wise and wonderful AWE-God.

“As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.” Isaiah 62:5 “How great is Your love for us, Oh God. It goes beyond our comprehension, deep into our hearts. Your love is compared with the deep passion a groom has for his bride. You cherish us with Your love and a desire for our equaled love for You. We want a love encounter with You, Lord! We want to be completely absorbed in love with You. May our emotions soar with passionate love for You as You rejoice over us. Amen!” Written By Donnis Steele

Absorb God’s Love

So now, on this day, it is my choice to do what I have been already taught and listen up to God for the new lessons of this particular day of my life transition. Being found in Jesus, doing what I have been taught, learning and growing through the new things of this day, this is what will make my transition great and cause a very wise, patient endurance to be activated in me as I wait for the dawning of a new day, a new life season which is a few weeks away. I need to be open-hearted to God and absorb the abundant love He has for me, saturate my soul in His love. When the love of God takes up all the room in my soul, my emotions can’t be stirred by the negative advances of my enemy, there is no room for them when I keep my soul filled with God’s love.

Psalm 145:10-12 All creation will stand in awe of You, O Eternal One. Thanks will pour from the mouths of every one of Your creatures; Your holy people will bless You. They will not be silent; they will talk of the grandeur of Your kingdom and celebrate the wonder of Your power until everyone on earth who has ears to hear knows Your valiant acts and the splendor of Your kingdom. The Voice

The Common Denominator

I can be focused on and in this day, because God created this day with great purpose, His purposes never stop flowing, even as we transition from one life event to the next life journey, His purposes flow in that newness He is so famous for, carrying us through on the wings of His Providential Care. The common denominator of transitioning from one life season into the next is God’s Purposes, which thankfully never stop flowing throughout our entire life. God’s Providential Care is made up of two purposes working together to bring about the unifying of His Will. God purposefully works for us, a good that is new and powerful out of the old and God purposefully works for the glory of His Kingdom. These two God purposes will undergird our soul with strength as we tap into the flow of God’s Holy Spirit during our life transitions. We should stand in AWE of God and be people of praise of God, testifying of all He is in our lives. As people characterized by praise, restlessness will not be our common denominator during our life transitions, Jesus will, and He and the flowing of His great purpose, will be the praise and witness of our hearts.

For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. Colossians 1:27-28 NLT

In the kingdom of God, eating and drinking are not important. The important things are living right with God, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Anyone who serves Christ by living this way is pleasing God and will be accepted by other people. Romans 14:17-18 NCV

On This Day~ I Am God Kingdom Focused

Stay focused. Stay in the day at hand. Stay present with God. Be aware and alerted to God’s Holy Spirit. God is speaking in the all of our everything and we need to stay in that position of listening up. God has gone ahead of us and everything in this day, has been proposed specifically for us, purposefully for our good and the for the glory of God’s Kingdom and we need to stay attentive and experience it, this day at hand. Staying focused and attentive on this day, as I wait for the next life season, I don’t miss the spiritual gain of God’s purposes in play in my today. Here I am Lord, restless, anxious and soul agitated, I bow all of this soulful flesh before You and I ask you to calm my soul, bend my will, focus my heart and shape my spirit on this day. I surrender to You, Jesus, to Your will, Your way, Your truth and Your life. You are a Servant-Leader, make me one too, on this day that you are with me and for me, right now.

Hello, I am the Author of The Bridegroom’s Café. It is my heart’s desire to listen up to God and create menus for this Café that creatively nourish our souls with God’s amazing Word. I have the gift of exhortation, it is such an incredibly sweet God-given gift, because God uses me to encourage others and I love that about Him. I am “growing through” a life transition and God spoke to my heart at the beginning of this 2017 year that He was going to stretch my faith this year to enlarge it with a God characteristic of patient endurance. This is where I am growing, therefore, these posts on Patient Endurance were birthed. I hope they bless you and encourage you. Please share them with others through your Social Media, you can use the buttons below. I would so appreciate that. I hope you also leave me a comment. I love it when God speaks and we talk it up! I also highly encourage you to take a journey with Jesus by purchasing the book: The Bridegroom’s Voice. What an incredible piece of God work, it will be a “Great God Adventure” for all who journey through it with Jesus, listening up to His Voice. I hope you purchase one and also gift one to someone else. “The Bridegroom’s Voice”. God bless you, MUCH, KimberlyMac