S5 E8: Intentional Action for 2021 - Surround Yourself!

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Hi friends! Here we are in the final days of 2020 and what a year! 

I know this year has held different circumstances for each of us . for me it has been such a mix of beautiful + challenging moments.

I wanted to end this year with something that God dropped in my spirit in the last couple of weeks that made such a BIG difference in my life this past year .

 My faith is always so stirred up when I read about Mary’s encounter with the Angel and the Holy Spirit coming upon her and her response in this encounter…

I want to read a few verses from

Luke 1: 35-38

 The angel answered,

The Holy Spirit will come upon you,

    the power of the Highest hover over you;

Therefore, the child you bring to birth

    will be called Holy, Son of God.

“And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God.”

And Mary said,

Yes, I see it all now:

    I’m the Lord’s maid, ready to serve.

Let it be with me

    just as you say.

Then the angel left her.

The first verse says the holy spirit will come upon you.

Now I know the Holy spirit isn’t asking us at this moment in time to carry and give birth to the Son of God but what he is asking us to carry and give birth to is the plans and purpose that he placed within us.

In the last podcast episode i talked about being “pregnant with purpose” and I won’t go into everything I shared ,you can go back and listen if you haven’t had a chance  but the main point is...

Giving birth to something isn’t easy!!

 I was pregnant 5 times and the excitement and anticipation I felt when I was staring for what seemed like an eternity at a stick waiting for a line to appear and confirm i was pregnant... months later turned to discomfort as I reached for my favorite comfy jeans only to realize they no longer fit…

I was being stretched in ways I didn’t know i could be stretched 

I was uncomfortable and experienced great pain yet I was willing to go through all of the discomfort and pain to bring forth the gift that was inside of me.

What a gift we have been given in that the creator of everything that is...is the one that when each and everyone of us was inside of our mother’s womb he knit us together. We are one of a kind design! Out of all the people in the world there is not another single person that has your exact fingerprint. And there is not one single person that can leave the exact imprint in the world that you were created to bring forth.

Think about that!

And it’s in the intimate moments that we spend connecting and communicating with God- our creator, that he reminds us who we are...he reminds of his plans and purpose that he had before we ever took our first breath.

Those dreams and desires you have inside of you that sometimes make you a little uncomfortable...they were’nt placed there to stay inside of you! 

And i’ve noticed in my own life i feel the most discomfort when i’m holding in and hiding what’s inside of me

Verse 38 in Luke 1 in  

The new living translation says “may everything you have said about me come true”

What a prayer for us to speak and stand on!!!!

May every thought and purpose he has for us be fulfilled.

As i was rereading this story and read vs 56 which says 

“And mary stayed with Elizabeth fro about 3 months and then returned home.”

I had a thought that I don’t remember having before…

What made Mary go stay with Elizabeth?

Believe me if I was Mary I would have wanted to schedule a quick vacation too and get out of town haha

But what I wrote down when I read that verse that rose up in me was

“Surround  yourself with those who believe the word of the Lord over your life.”

It doesn’t tell us specific details on exactly why Mary went but I wonder if she wanted to put herself in an environment where on the days when she felt all alone and like maybe she imgined all this ...maybe it was a just a weird dream and an angel hadn’t visitited her…

On the days she had questioned and thought really!!?? who do I think I am?!?  Me chosen to carry the Mesiah?

On those days she would look up and see Elizabeth with her enlarged belly full of the promise and faithfullness of God the woman who was barren and told she would never have a child.

 Elizabeth would be declaring the faithfulness of God in her life and her joy and expectancy would flow over Mary and she would remind her that their God could be trusted to finish what he started!

And when I read that verse it made me think of this community...a bunch of women filled gifts and purpose and a destiny that God has planned for each and everyone of us. So here We each are showing up in this community from different backgrounds, different circumstances and we all have our moments where we get stuck in questions and  fear, in our own resistance to growth and it’s in those moments that we need a sister that will speak up and remind us who we are in Christ and remind us of the plans and the purposes that he has for each of us.

This community is a sisterhood to cheer each other on and when we see one of our sisters giving birth to that gift and purpose that God put inside of her  we celebrate and our faith is stirred and we rejoice with her knowing that her life is testifiying to us that our God is faithful and he is the giver of life and of dreams and of purpose.

I know some of you listening to this podcast aren’t part of our private group on Facebook that was created just for you as a space to connect deeper and continue the conversations started here. I understand we all have mixed feelings about social media these days. I’m only on FB for this group to offer an online space we can connect so if that sounds like something you’d like to be part we would love to see you there! There will be a link in the show notes or you can just search “The SHE IS podcast community under groups on FB

As we are closing out this year and making space for the new My prayer today is that you will choose to surround yourself with those who will believe the word of the Lord over your life.

Happy new year friends!

Cheering you on always!