Category: Lanissa’s Posts

Written By: Lanissa Reale

How His Promise Can Affect My Reality

In a Becoming Ministries Bible Study group recently, 5 teenagers unanimously agreed that it’s in the middle of the night, laying in bed when ALL OF THOSE HORRIBLE thoughts we have about our lives, all of our fears and all of our concerns suddenly come out to play. Can you so relate to this?! I know I can!

 

In a world full of people, isn’t it so easy to feel… alone?! We can try to fill that void with a lot of different things (you know the fillers), but the truth that we can hold onto today is that: the SAME promise of nearness that God gave us is the only substantial filler for every void in our life.

What I LOVE about His Promise of nearness is that it does so much more than make us feel like we aren’t alone. His promise of nearness lets us know that we are worth enough to Him that He would choose to be near to us. His Promise shows us that we can do all things through Him that strengthens us. His promise proves that we will always be remembered, and never forgotten. That we always have a friend and counselor, and that even when our worlds (inside and out) feel like they are falling apart- God is NEAR. And so. much. more.

You see, friend, God’s promise of nearness is the power you need to live your life in the way you were created to live it. It’s the freedom you need to Become the person He created you to be. It’s not a fairy tale story, and it is not a Promise that God has turned His back on. He is a God that does not lie. Here’s the truth for you this week sweet friend: HE IS NEAR TO YOU. Oh, how I wish I could hug you and whisper that into your ear… He is near. He cares for you and loves for you more than anyone ever could- and in turn to His living sacrifice to be near to you… He wants your nearness in return.

Let’s be honestwith each other this week. What are YOU drawing near to? and in the quietness of who you are… do you still feel a void? If so , you have a choice. What are you going to fill  that void with?

Psalm 145:18; Hebrews 10:22; Psalm 63:1; Psalm 143:8

Throughout The Week:

Spend time reflecting and asking God if there are some voids in your life that you are filling with something other than Him. As Christmas draws nearer, and more busy-ness fills your schedule, be careful not to let the chaos of it all overwhelm you and allow the enemy to whisper untrue thoughts into your heart. Whenever you feel overwhelmed, alone or confused this week, STOP and go fill your void with the word of God. Read scripture, worship Him- do whatever you have to do in His Presence to renew your mind. He is near. ❤

LET’S CHAT BELOW: What do you think it is about the Holiday’s that are so stressful?! And what are something you do that almost instantly remind you of the nearness of God, in the midst of it all?

Until Next Time
~ Lanissa Reale

(lanissareale.wordpress.com)

Written By: Lanissa Reale

Did anybody else feel like our last post was speaking straight to them?!  I can’t get away from it, and want to make sure that I really apply what God is trying to tell me on the topic of sneaky idols!  Join me, and let’s see how we can really make sure Idols aren’t still sneaking into our hearts.

‘Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!’ Jonah 2:8-9

Friends, I absolutely love this scripture because it gives us the heart behind what is actually happening in our spirit when we pay regard to false idols.  Whatever that idol may be (sleep, another person, a relationship, selfish ambition etc).

When we take our main focus off of God and place it on something else we are forgetting the reality of His steadfast love toward us.  We can try as hard as we can to make good excuses, to cut corners and to go as long as we can without shifting our focus back to God- and we begin to think that we are doing just fine living that way!

You see, most of the time, not tending to sneaky idols will not have immediate consequences on our lives.  That’s why they are sneaky.  We haven’t died, we haven’t lost our jobs, we are still feeling the presence of God- but over time… our hearts are wandering and trying to get love & fulfillment from something other than God.  Our hearts begin to distance themselves, slowly removing us from the truth found in when we spend intentional time with God and we begin to find ourselves tired, feeling dry spiritually, easily frustrated and hungry for more.  Why?!  Because NOTHING is EVER going to offer us the steadfast love (that changed everything) other than God!

Salvation, our salvation, belongs to the Lord!  And our salvation is so much more than simply accepting God as our Lord and Savior.  It’s recognizing we are unclean without him and turning from our old ways to follow Him completely.  Salvation is our new beginning and our new journey.  And that beautiful journey belongs to the Lord and no one else. 

Today sweet friends, I want us to really think about where our attention and hearts are dwelling.  What sneaky idols have we allowed too much space in our lives?!  We have everything we need to turn back and give ourselves fully to the Lord.  It’s called the Holy Spirit!  And when we do, we will begin to experience the freedom, the light load and the refreshment our souls so desperately are craving! 

I encourage us to make that step this week!

Let’s Chat below:

Where have your attention and heart been dwelling most often, lately?  What sneaky idols have crept into your life?  And what are you planning on doing to KICK THEM OUT?!  Comment below- let’s chat! 

Until Next Time
~ Lanissa Reale (lanissareale.wordpress.com)

 

Written By: Lanissa Reale

‘And God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me.  “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God’ Exodus 20:1-5

I just finished a 21 Day Fast to begin this new year, and throughout this Fast the Lord has been challenging me to ask myself the question “where are you dwelling?”  Where am I spending most of my time, my mind space, my emotions?  In the truth of the Lord, or in something else?

I have been fasting tv at night so that I could go to bed earlier and wake up earlier to spend time with the Lord.  And to be honest?  I LOVE MY SLEEP!  That’s the reason I chose to fast what I did, because my desire to “snooze” was becoming greater than my desire to spend time with the Lord!  Ha!  Can anyone relate?!

Do you have something like that in your life?  Something that has become almost a norm that you find yourself more willing to do that thing then dwell in the truth of the Lord?  Whether it’s hitting the snooze button 10 times, dwelling in a negative emotion for too long, cancelling commitments so you can stay home instead?  Etc.  I think we all do. 

And the more I read this scripture, I realized that these idols the Lord talks about aren’t always so obvious.  Sometimes they are excessive sleep.  Sometimes they are living in fear.  They really are anything that keeps our focus off of God and our heart in a different place. 

I want to encourage us to dig a little deeper.  To not just choose to pursue Him completely during the fast, but to begin to remove things in our lives so that we can continue to do so after the fast!

You see Becoming is not just attending Church and gleaning from other’s Revelations, Becoming is getting to EXPERIENCE Jesus.  We get that opportunity girls!  And it’s huge.  And the Lord sent His Son so that we could experience Him.  We have access to Him, not when we have behaved correctly- not when we have stopped sinning.  Our sin, our shortcomings no longer separate us from our Holy Father.  We can come, whenever we decide to.

But let us not be confused.  Because of this immense and freeing access to a relationship with the Father- the enemy will do anything he can to try and keep you from that freeing relationship.  Place other things in our eye sight.  Try and push other things in your focus.  Things that at first may even seem good.  Sneaky Idols.

But our focus, when placed on anything other than our loving God, is misplaced.

I don’t want my heart to be focused on anything but Him. Because I know what happens when that becomes the case.  Your heart and soul were meant to be focused on only one thing.  And as hard as it may be at first, you can do it.  You were made for it! 

You were made for freedom sweet girl.  And it is available for you!

And we want to be here to help you!!  Let’s do this journey of life as young women together!

Let’s CHAT below:

What has become a sort of idol in your life recently?  What are some practical ways that you can begin to be disciplined in not giving in to those things?  Let’s chat in the blog comments below! 

Until Next Time
~ Lanissa Reale
(lanissareale.wordpress.com)

Written by: Lanissa Reale

Becoming is the journey we get to take together, as we come as an online community to receive encouragement and empowerment.  We get to be encouraged as we Become the women God created us to be.  Becoming is the journey we take with the Lord, as He moulds us throughout our life.  Empowering you in your Becoming is my passion.  We’ve spoken a bit about it already (check previous posts)- and now let’s keep getting deeper!  In order to fully embrace our Becoming, we have to be willing to go on the journey.

 

‘When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” ‘ Exodus 14:10-14

This entire chapter of Exodus 14 cracks me up & relates so deeply to me at the same time. The Lord, through Moses, had set the people of Israel free from being servants of the Egyptians as Pharaoh had let them go! 

Can you imagine the pure joy?!?!  Being set free from bondage & walking freely?  We’ve all been here in some way or another.  God has set us free from something, He has answered a prayer, He has brought something back together in our lives- we are free!

Our hearts are exploding!!  And we begin to walk freely, & then like the people of Israel we notice that not everything is just perfect.  The Israelites noticed that the Egyptians, from whom they had been set free, were after them again to try and take them back!  Their MINDS freaked out!

How could you set us free and then let our enemies come after us again, Lord?!  The funny part?  God was the one who had hardened the hearts of the Egyptians & made them go after the people of Israel!  Why?  Simply because He wasn’t satisfied with just giving freedom to His people from their enemy, He wanted to defeat the enemy completely. 

And as we know, later in that chapter the Egyptians (by the Lord’s strength & will alone) were defeated and swallowed up by the Red Sea. 

Sweet friends, God has defeated our enemies.  And wants to show us continually that He has done so.  Your life is a process, and He isn’t interested in showing you everything at once!  “Fear not, and stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today!”

Everyday we live is a journey, and I pray that we would allow God to take us on that journey of trusting Him in the journey. Of giving us the faith to fear not, stand firm and see His salvation worked out in us each day. From our heads to our hearts, take us on that journey Lord!

Let’s CHAT below: Share your thoughts on this post with us below in the blog comments!  Are you sometimes tempted to be a bit bipolar when it comes to trusting God?  Ha!  I know I can be!  How can we address that inconsistency Biblically?

 

Until next time

~ Lanissa Reale (lanissareale.wordpress.com)

Written By: Lanissa Reale

Hello beautiful friends!  I hope to get to know you a bit better through our blog comments below- make sure to comment and we can start chatting!  Last time we spoke about allowing the Lord to take us on a journey, from our head to our hearts.  And we’re not done yet!  Let’s go a bit deeper shall we?!

‘And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was passing by, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” So he hurried and came down, and received him joyfully. ‘ Luke 19: 2-7

As I read Luke 19 today, something within me leaped for joy!  Most of us have heard this story of Zacchaeus hearing that Jesus was coming into town and then climbing up into a tree (because he was a shorty!) to get a glimpse of Jesus. 

Can you imagine Jesus actually walking by you?!?!  I would do anything I could to see him too; and I love the message that we typically get out of this passage.  Do what you need to do, no matter your circumstance or what the crowd says about you- to get to Jesus. 

BUT- what I think we miss sometimes is the fact that our place is not always up in the tree searching for Jesus.  What do I mean?

I think, and know because I have been here before, is that we can get into this mode of being on the lookout for what God is doing, where He is going etc.  We know that He is a big God & so we keep our eyes peeled for the big things that He HAS to have in store for us, right?!

But what I love most about this passage is when Jesus says, “Zacchaeus, come down from your tree.  I’ve come to stay with you today.”  You see, Jesus wants us to come down from expecting and waiting on Him and actually be with Him.  Dine with him, stay with Him & experience what He has for us in the day to day moments. 

Seeking for Jesus has its value and importance, but it was never intended to be our stopping place.  Because being in the position of seeking can sometimes become our comfort zone. We are comfortable going into Church on Sundays, comfortable attending events but not really getting connected, comfortable seeing from a distance but not actually getting our hands dirty in this journey of faith.

Experiencing The Lord is when the true, sanctification process begins.  Experiencing The Lord is the Becoming process.  Experiencing the Lord is what we were created to do.

I pray that we would choose to get off our high seat & sit with Jesus.  Walk with Jesus.  Be with Jesus in our daily lives.  It’s in the daily moments when we truly learn what it feels like to walk in His Spirit.  Let us remember to be Mary’s in moments when Martha needed to come and sit.  Let us be women who are concerned, mostly, with experiencing Jesus personally. 

Let’s CHAT below:

What has been keeping you from experiencing Jesus in an intimate and daily way?  And what do you want to do, moving forward, to eliminate that obstacle?  Let’s talk through it together in the blog comments below! 

Until Next Time,

~ Lanissa Reale (lanissareale.wordpress.com)

Written by: Lanissa Reale

Everyday I wake up to a blank canvas of opportunities ahead of me.  Filling that blank canvas with tasks, assignments, meetings, relationships, and choices galore leaves me with the reality of striving, dreaming, struggling, winning and praying.

Each day I wake up human, prone to mistakes, prone to going through seasons and processes and prone to continuously putting cracks into this vessel called my life.  I am human.  I am limited, selfish, a mistake maker and expectation failure.

But.  God.

You see I know, we all know, very well who we are and what we lack.  We try to fill voids by our own strength, and struggle to stand on our own two feet with confidence and peace although we know that we desperately need and long for some grace.  But God hears us, He knows us, and He sent His Son to die as the final sacrifice for our sin and to be raised to life so that we would no longer have to struggle and remain in our sin and our lack.  The Lord has given us a new life, and is calling us to live in it as new creations.  To not look at our life from a standpoint of problem, but of promise.  To find our identity in Him and only Him.  And when we fall short, to receive His grace each and every morning.  Pastor Keith Pittman from Celebration Church once said, “God’s grace is like a life-proof case.  It doesn’t keep you from falling but it keeps you from shattering”.  I have learned within this past three years, that when we put expectations on people and on God of what we think our lives should look like, we are only setting ourselves up for disappoint, hard falls, heart ache and even bitterness and anger toward God for not answering our prayers.

God’s grace is sufficient for you, but only if you choose to rely on Him rather than yourself.  He knows you.  He knew you and created you and had plans for you before you were even woven in your mother’s womb.  And He sent His Son for you so that you would be able to live a better and new life, not the life that you planned out for yourself.  And thank God.  Because the life that I had planned in my little head for myself and those around me was covered with cracks and mistakes and false expectations.  God wants us to know, today, that He has something better in store for us.  He has forgiveness, and freedom, and whole hearts, and a life of peace.  And all we have to do is surrender all that we are, all of our expectations and all of our fears to Him completely… letting Him have it all.  We no longer have to hold it all together and try to figure it all out, but we can trust Him to work all things together for our good.

Each day we wake up and we face a broken world.  But we belong to and are made new by a HOLY and good God.  In our daily struggle, we now get to look at it through the promise of God instead of eyes that only see regret and problems.  When we are down, He picks us up.  When we feel unworthy, He reminds us that the Creator always knows the worth of His masterpiece even when others don’t see it themselves.  When we have messed up, He continuously gives us grace.  And when we feel like we can’t do it on our own anymore, He says good because I never intended you to.  Daily, we are reminded of what we lacked before the cross.  Yet now, we can wake up each day knowing that we have been given new life, new power, new inheritance and new authority because He who created all things now lives in us.

We are ashes continuously being given beauty instead of shame.  We are always Becoming.  You see God doesn’t look at your sin and lack and say “away from me”.  No, no.  He says “I see my Son Jesus, and your sins I remember no more.  Come to me, and find rest.  I am all you need, my grace is sufficient for you”.  We are vessels, cracked vessels.  Yet the more cracks we get, the more that the light of the Father can shine in and through us.

Our pain is not our destiny.  Our mistakes are not our identity.  HE looks at us and gladly, with open arms, says “yes, I want and have wanted that one, just the way they are”.

Be encouraged, you are loved and cherished more than you know!  In Him, there is always beauty for ashes.

~Isaiah 62:3; Psalms 94:18; Isaiah 61:3; Lamentations 3:23~

Until next time,

~Lanissa Reale  (lanissareale.wordpress.com)

Written By: Lanissa Reale

Freedom.  A word that holds such power and value yet at the same time confusion.  Freedom.  Something that is supposed to promote and allow liberty is actually causing pain.  Some may say, “I am so glad that I choose not to believe in or follow that because I feel so free and truly happy with my life!”  But, let’s take a moment and remove all of the cultural masks we have created: the masks we’ve taken on because of our past, our fears, our parents, our rage or our confusion.  Let’s take a moment and just be real, even if just for yourself, and ask yourself “what does FREEDOM really MEAN anyway?”.

Freedom by Websters Dictionary’s defintion is “Liberation from slavery or the restraint of the power of another”.

Freedom by Scripture’s definition comes from the Greek word Eleuthera which literally means “a state of freedom from slavery.”

What’s the difference in the two you ask?  Well the first definition, and probably the one you refer to, means liberation from another.  While scriptures definition means liberation from slavery by another AND yourself

If you ask me, most of the time the real core issue is not needing freedom from what others say or do but it is needing freedom from myself.  Check your freedom.  Do you think you are really free?

Friends we so often walk around living our lives by doing whatever we want, “breaking the paradigm” of cultures say so’s and we think we are free.

OR we are doing the “right things” and following the rules, acting appropriate in front of others yet not experiencing fullness of life and then when we get alone we are having a war on the inside of us.  And we say we are living in freedom. 

NEITHER OF THESE ARE TRUE FREEDOM.  We have to ask ourselves the hard yet reality driven questions: are you truly full of joy?  When no one else is looking or reading or liking or poking, are you absolutely sure that THIS is what life is all about.  Or do you have the constant thought in the back of your head that there is more.  “Oh maybe one day I’ll find our what it is”, “Maybe I have to have more of this and more of that to experience that real free life”… Or maybe you think it’s a fantasy and true freedom doesn’t even exist. 

I’ve come to tell you, dear friend, that true freedom is more real than your very bones and it is FREELY available to you. 

The freedom that scripture talks about is not a rule following, get your ducks in order, pretend to be perfect, get sucked in, freedom.  True freedom is given not because of anything we have done but simply because of the love of God.  He loved us so much that He sent his only son to earth to die for our sins that separated us from true freedom, so that we would NEVER be hindered by them any longer. 

But Jesus didn’t just die for your sins, He died for you.  He died so that you could be free from the strongest enemy and stronghold you will ever face: yourself.  And this freedom that is offered when we accept what Christ did for us allows us to truly live a free life.  Not a religious life.  A free life. 

Free of any shackles, anything holding us back on the inside and out.  It’s a freedom that gives you life and life abundantly.  And this freedom, isn’t a gimmick.  It’s available for you every second of every day. 

So check your “freedom”.  Are you truly happy and free, or do you need to set aside that mask covered idea of freedom and get a real dose of life giving freedom?

In order to BECOME the person that we were created to be in the Lord- we have to get to the place where we actually know what true freedom is, and start pursuing it.  Let’s start the journey of becoming by getting free.

Until next time,

~ Lanissa Reale

(lanissareale.wordpress.com)

 

Written By: Lanissa Reale

‘Beginning Your Becoming: Part 3 | Being Empowered’

We’ve reached the finale of Becoming Ministries’ first ever blog series: “Beginning Your Becoming”.  Becoming is the process of life that we choose to invest in as we become the woman that God created us to be.  And Becoming Ministries exists to: Celebrate and empower the teen-20something young woman to get comfortable in her own skin and buy into the process of life that God has in store for her!

I have a woman that I dream of becoming, and I know that you do as well.  But before we can begin this journey of becoming that woman, we have to understand 3 key factors.  If we’re going to embrace this journey of Becoming then we have to be willing to 1) embrace ourselves 2) Buy IN and 3) be committed to being empowered.  And thus that brings us to the 3rd and final factor: being empowered.

As much dreaming and hoping and fantasizing as we can do (and trust me, I’m right there with you), the reality is that our lives will be a process and they WILL include some very messy, unglued, “I NEED HELP” moments.  These moments will look different for each of us, and will change over time- but the beautiful thing about a life submitted and surrendered to God is that in the midst of the high and low moments… you are always safe when you are in Him.  But we have a choice, especially as young women, to begin to live life without a solid ground or to become empowered to take life on with surrender AND authority!  Because both are possible!

So how can we, as teen-20somethings, move from simply taking life as it comes to being empowered?  Check out the 3 steps below!

1. Realize that it’s not about us.

One of the largest sinkholes that we can find ourselves in is the one called “entitlement”.  You see, we automatically think that being empowered means having power in our own right, being in control and having everything that we think we deserve given to us in a timely fashion of when we believe we need it.  But if we take a step back and gain some perspective- power and control mustered up by man’s own strength only leads to destruction.  Because the truth is, our flesh WILL fail us over and over again- no matter how pretty the circumstances may seem at first, and no matter how much it may LOOK like it makes sense at first.  We are selfish in nature, we want to be number one, we want success, we want to be insta-famous and we want all of the credit.  But the proverb is true that says, “pride always comes before the fall”.  TRUE empowerment starts when we realize that it is not about us.  At the end of the day, if we have given ourselves more glory with our actions and our words than we have to the Lord- then we have done ourselves an injustice.  Realizing that it’s not about you does not mean defeat, but it means surrendering to the Lord and giving authority to HIM to be powerful through you- instead of giving yourself authority to do what you feel is right. Being empowered is about what we allow God to do through us, not what we can do through ourselves.

2. Staying close.

When the Lord created you in your mother’s womb, He had an intentional and fruitful purpose for your life.  He is our life source,  He is the only one whom we can put all of our trust in and He is the one who knows us from the inside out.  If we want to be an empowered teen-20something we have to realize the importance of staying close to the One who works all things together for the good of those who love Him.  Staying close means having a relationship with the Lord by spending intimate time with Him, being consistent in getting into the Word and living our life fully for Him.  Not because He has all the goods and is our “ticket” to success- but simply because He is God and we love Him.  If you want to be empowered- fall head over heels in love with the Lord and let your life be an overflow of that love relationship.

3. Getting Connected.

It doesn’t matter if you are an introvert or an extrovert or somewhere in between, we all need people in our corner encouraging and empowering us throughout our journey of life.  If you want to become an empowered young women you HAVE to get connected with a group of people who are spiritually intentional in investing in your life.  And yes, this means giving some of your time to be intentional with others.  THIS is a great place where you, the teen-20something young woman, can get connected with ease.  But truly being connected doesn’t just mean receiving,  it also means giving back.  Here at Becoming Ministries you have the opportunity to not only get free content through email subscription, blog posts and social media posts- but to get connected with other girls who are going through the same stage of life as you!  How can you get connected to that community?  By commenting on the blog posts and conversing with each other!  Everyone wants a cheerleader, and we want to be yours!  Get started below AND STICK AROUND here at Becoming Ministries!

Your turn: Have you ever tried to take control of our life only to realize that you failed epically?  What do you think about being empowered by surrendering your life to God?  Comment below!

Until Next Time,
~Lanissa Reale (lanissareale.wordpress.com)

‘Beginning Your Becoming’ Series: Part 2– Buying In

Written By: Lanissa Reale

There can be a lot of joy that comes from saying “yes” to things or situations.  Saying yes to a new job, saying yes to the man of your dreams, saying yes to the dress or even a loud yes in response to finally accomplishing a task that you have been working at for months!

But there is an even more powerful yes to be said.  A yes that will pierce through your discomfort and transfer your emotions and thoughts into real reality.  Saying yes to where you are right now even if you don’t like what you see.  Buying in.

We like to be in control, we like to be comfortable, and we like to have it our way… let’s be honest.  Our flesh wants what it wants, and it doesn’t like wearing someone else’s “have faith” shoes.  But we are called to a life of yes’s.  And that means that we have to live presently, and say yes to where we are.  We are called to buy in.

Buying in looks like embracing who we are, the good, the bad and the ugly and knowing that what God made is GOOD, even when we can’t see it.  Buying in looks like embracing whatever may come your way, and not running away from God when life gets hard.  Buying in looks like getting planted in a community of believers, and actually starting to share your life with them.  Buying in looks like getting committed to living your life (in every moment) in response to your relationship with God!

Buying in, IS FUN!

The Lord has sung a song of promise over us, He has spoken secrets to us and given us a glimpse of our future… but He is calling us to even greater things than our future.  He is calling us to our now.  What is YOUR now?

Is it not being able to find a job, is it an overly busy mom, is it experiencing a death in your family, is it finding recent hardships?  And are you saying yes to those things, or are you trying your best, in your mind, to live an alternate reality?

The Lord is telling us that we have to say yes, and to live in pursuit of Him surrounded by His grace in the midst of our uncertainties.  We need to speak faith, trust, reality and truth over ourselves.  Yes I haven’t found the one yet, yes I am going through this hardship, yes I am experiencing some discomfort and pain but YES my God is still faithful.  YES, I will let Him have control over all of my future endeavours and decisions.  YES, I can feel this pain, but I will move forward in grace.  YES, this is not the end.  YES, He is still pleased with me.  YES, I will choose to spend today in pursuit of Him, even if He isn’t giving me answers yet! These yes’s my friends, are the ones that will really change your life.

It is our daily yes’s that allow us to truly Become into the person that He has created us to be.  It isn’t in the grand opportunities, or the shiny successes.  It’s the yes in the wilderness to realize where you are, yet keep going.  It’s the daily saying of yes to where you are and whose you are.

Join me in saying yes.  This could be the best yes you ever proclaimed over yourself.  You can do this, you were made for it! 🙂

Until Next Time,
~ Lanissa Reale (lanissareale.wordpress.com)