21 Days of Praise and Fellowship: Day 17
- Sherry Braswell
- May 27, 2020
- 3 min read
Good Morning Sisters,
How are you cultivating God’s presence? Are you intentionally pursuing His presence?
Ashley began the night with sharing two scriptures that laid the foundation for her teaching on "Being in God's Presence".
1 Samuel 30:6 “David was greatly distressed because the men were talking of stoning him; each one was bitter in spirit because of his sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.”
Psalm 96:6 “Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary.”
Ashley can really relate to King David as she has been going through a lot of trials over the last few months. She is one who loves to give encouragement and also one who loves to receive it. It’s her love language.
What happens in a Covid-19 season when you’re NOT getting a lot of encouragement? Like David, Ashley has had to learn how to strengthen herself in the Lord and not depend on others to do that for her.
How does she keep herself encouraged?
She says declarations each day. Her declarations are all about self love. The greatest gift you can give the world is a healthy you. You can’t love others until you love yourself. (Ashley's list is attached below). The spirit of religion has kept women from saying positive things about themselves as it has made them feel prideful and self absorbed. It brings God glory when you agree with Him. YOU are made in HIS image. Expressing love for yourself is rooted in the love of the Father.
What are you saying to yourself? Is your self talk positive?
What are you saying to strengthen yourself in the Lord each day?
What do you love about yourself? What are you cultivating inside of yourself?
Are you taking time each day to spend with Him, without your phone and distractions?
How can you have peace when you’re always thinking that something is wrong with you?
You are made righteous by your faith in Jesus, not by your efforts. As Amanda says…”we can get off of the treadmill of performance”. We don’t have to DO something to get God to love us. His love is a gift. God is so holy that no matter how good we are our works would burn up in His righteousness. You don’t have to compare yourself to others, you are free to be YOU. God justifies you.
Ashley really made us think about how the PRESENCE of the Lord is a PRESENT. As she was walking on the beach yesterday she started to take some pictures of the beauty she was beholding and the Holy Spirit stopped her. “Just be with Me” he said. Sometimes we get so busy CAPTURING the moment that we're not IN the moment.
He just wants to be with us. He wants us to be in His presence. He is always with us but we are not always with Him. He wants us to enjoy being with Him. Isn’t that what we want for our children? Don’t we want them to enjoy being with us?
The Lord will speak to you through creation if you will take the time to BE PRESENT. Can you hear the groans of His creation? Romans 8:22 says “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.” There is so much power in loving yourself, being in His presence and being fully known by Him.
As we spend time with Him we carry over those gifts to our own kids. Ashley was playing with her boys on the beach yesterday when her little boy Braeden ran up to her and said “mom, do you wanna know what God said to me”? Yes I sure do, What did he say?" Ashley asked. God said, “Stop, take a break and look around.” Oh how clearly children hear from the Lord. The Lord was confirming His Word through her child. “My Presence is a Present."
As we know, Pentecost is only 4 days away. Pentecost is a launching pad for each of our destinies. This is the best time to be alive on planet earth. There is no one who can do what God has called YOU to do!
Ashley ended the teaching portion of our night with a word from Pastor Bill Johnson...“our destiny is on the other side of us learning how to minister to ourselves.” You have to know who you are and whose you are. This has to be our foundation if we are going to fulfill God’s plan for our lives.
Today is day 17,
Karen will be leading.
Below is the LINK with PASSWORD:
PASSWORD: 1eDpDT
21 Days of Praise & Fellowship
5/4-5/10 7 days
5/11-5/17 (7 day Rest/Break)
5/18-5/31 14 days (Pentecost is 5/31)
I look forward to praising with you tonight!
Love,
Sherry :-)
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