I Will Not be Silent

For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”  -  Esther 4:14

Don't you just love it when you're reading The Bible and you've come across a certain verse that you have most likely read hundreds of times before but for the first time you have something to take from it??  Yep, this is happened to me with Esther 4:14 recently and I want to share it with you.

If you know me or I'm sure just by reading my blog it's pretty obvious I'm a peace maker...  I will do almost anything to keep peace and avoid confrontation. Which is why I keep silent sometimes on my media spaces because I know so many would freak out about what I have to say!  Am I saying that I'm terrified of negative comments, people leaving my blog because they can't take the heat, loosing friends, and getting face book messages from family and friends saying they don't appreciate what I say? YES!! Well, at least I was... But this verse right here has given me a heart change... BIG TIME.

While I was reading these words of wisdom I felt the Holy Spirit whisper to me saying: "Heather, if you remain quiet in this season of life, everyone will be good for a while. For a while the peace will be kept and eventually help will come to them but you and your family will truly die!"
Of course it's not a physical death... But perhaps spiritual or even a death of gifts or talents. Not because God would take them away because God is not an Indian giver.  We'd give them up because we'd rather keep quiet then use them to touch the lives of others... Just for peace that really isn't peace.  I didn't understand at first what God meant by family though.  Why would my family die spiritually if I chose to keep silent?  During that week it hit me like a huge wrecking ball... It was some hardcore truth.

When it says that you and your family will perish we're not talking physical death again but spiritual... I want my children to be so on fire for God that it's dangerous! I want them to be fully sold out to God never being fearful with their beliefs but wanting them to love and believe with boldness.

But how will they get that and know how to live that lifestyle if they don't see me walking in the same way?  If you don't show your family that the Gospel means so much to you that you would give your life and time for this Message of Truth then how would you expect your children or spouse to do the same?  If you ignore the hurting, ignorant and prideful because you are fearful of what they would say or to busy with your to-do list to let God move then how is your child going to see the importance of The Gospel of Christ?  Who else will they get that from if not you?  I want my children to be so bold that they would be willing to pray over strangers in a heartbeat.. And you know that starts with me.

My friends, you are here for a purpose and for such a time as this you are given  the opportunity to change lives, make a difference, open the eyes of those who can't see truth and you have the power to encourage.  Speaking out when it comes to your beliefs may cause confrontation.  It's possible you could receive hateful responses or lose friends.  However, I can guarantee that there will be at least one person that will be touched by your words!  If I can encourage one person with truth and life and be persecuted by the rest of the world then I am satisfied. 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.  - Romans 1:16

Xoxo  -Heather Leigh

He Was There

I'm sure everyone has experienced these thoughts at some point in their life:

"Sometimes I just don't understand why something has happened/is happening".
"Sometimes I just don't see Jesus in it".

"Blessed are those who have NOT seen, and yet have believed." -Jesus
Such comforting words. He was there.
 
-Kathleen  J.

Eternal Identity

“Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart...” (-God) Joel 2:12

"You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart (-God)." Jeremiah 29:11-13

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled (-Jesus)" 
Matthew 5:6

"For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened (-Jesus)"  
Matthew 7:8

God is giving us an open invitation to have a relationship with Him. He desires intimacy with us, His children, above everything. He wants to live and experience life with us on an individual level every day. In the same way God said "It is not good for man to be alone" in Genesis 2:18, it is also not good for God to be alone. He created us to have a relationship with Him. Only in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ can we begin to understand our eternal identity. It is only then we can learn who we are in Him and who He is in us.

-SP

Are You Naked Before Him?

Genesis 3:7 "Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths."

Before they chose to do wrong, the only perspective Adam and Eve had was God's perspective. The reason they could walk in perfection was because not just their physical bodies- but their heart and minds were naked before God as well. God loves every part of us and wants to move in every area of our life until he consumes it with his glory. Even the areas of ourselves that cause us to feel hurt or shame need to be laid naked before the father. Why? Because only He can heal those wounds and fill those parts with his truth and love. Let Him take your hand and walk with you into his victory won by Jesus Christ after he died on the cross, rose from the dead three days later, and sat at the right hand of the Father. He did it for you.

Psalm 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."

Jeremiah 30:17 "For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord, because they have called you an outcast: ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’"

John 8:32 "And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

1 Chronicles 16:11 "Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually!"

James 1:12 "Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him."

-SP

Walking in the Spirit

It's not possible to walk in the spirit with condemnation in your heart- whether it's self imposed or taken in from those around you.

Romans 8:1-2 "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus..."

Condemnation is often placed upon ourselves as Christians in instances where we we don't realize our identity in Christ (as valued sons and daughters) and instead accept an outside view of ourselves, or we simply want to justify our mistakes of the past or our current failures. In our world it often makes sense to beat ourselves up over past mistakes or present shortcomings. It's not like that in the kingdom of heaven. Although the law of reaping what you sow still stands- No one, not even yourself or the past, can hold you back from your full potential in this moment and every moment after it.

-SP