Why you need to know how to ride a horse!

At precisely high noon the horses are lined up, with the chariots in tow, and faces of fierce determination look intently on the open horizon.  The only sound is that of horses huffing and flags flapping through the air. 

No one moves a muscle before the gun sounds, knowing a quick death would be sure to follow. The life and livelihood of so many depend on these next minutes, some will lose their life and others will gain a long awaited place to call home. 

Many have traveled great distances, endured long winters, and lost loved ones in the pursuit of this very moment.  All in a matter of minutes their fate will be decided. Will they find victory or will more waiting, toil, and pain be their plight?  Without another thought the gun is fired and only a cloud of dust remains.   Men fly off their horses, chariots turn over, and the race is on. 

The battle for land has begun. 

The battle for new life. 

The battle for an actual home. 

The battle for a place to belong.

The battle for an opportunity to start a family. 

The battle for a place of security. 

The battle to thrive rather just survive. 

The battle of the land rush!

A few days ago God reminded me of the western land rush and I heard Him say, “The time is now for land to be taken, for the battle to begin.  To fight for what’s yours and stick your flag in the ground for victory.” 

It’s a time for battle.

Now is the time to ask the Lord what land is yours to take.  What land are you destined to conquer?  Which sphere of influence?  Government, education, media, arts, church, etc…?

Ask, Seek, Knock.  Ready your horse and listen for His gun to sound!

* When I got this picture I remembered the scene from Far and Away – watch the first minute and you’ll get a good idea of “The Land Rush of 1889”!

A simple solution to get you the BREAKTHROUGH you need!

Do you feel stuck in this season? 

Are you questioning why you can’t seem to get to the next level? 

Do you wonder when your breakthrough will come? 

The solution might be simple.  It’s time to burn the ships. 

The picture above is the Sea of Cortez and was also my view for the past week from my 9^th floor bedroom window (rough I know).  In 1519, Captain Cortez landed here and commanded his sailors to burn the ships.  Yep, burn the ships!

Why? He didn’t want them thinking there was an option of returning.  Cortez forced his sailors to get established and figure out how to survive and thrive in this new land. 

Often as one season ends in our life, we find it hard to move forward and completely let go.  Currently many of us are in a season of transition and if we aren’t careful this season will never end.  We all have meet people, who are still in the same place of frustration they were 5, 10 years ago.  Their “transition” has become a permanent season.     

Again, maybe the answer is easy.  We need to burn the ships.  What this looks like is different for everyone, but the principle remains the same – if you always have one foot in the past, you can never fully run in the future.

Looking over this beautiful view, I am trying to put myself in the shoe of the sailor, as I watched my Captain burn the very vessel that brought me here.   Even if I thought my Captain had seriously lost his marbles, I would still be forced to move on.  My mindset would shift to the new task, opportunity, or challenge at hand, with no option of Plan B (return to the ships).  With only Plan A in front me, I would start to strategize how to take the land and forge ahead.  I would be ALL IN, with two feet running forward, equipped with a new mindset and new perspective all because my Captain burned the ships!

So, where are you today? 

Are you looking back at the ships, wondering if you might hop back on? 

Do you recognize you need to burn the ships? 

Are you forging ahead, taking ground and discovering new land? 

Maybe it’s time to have a BIG ole bon fire!  Smores anyone? 

What song do you blast out in the shower?

What song do you sing in the shower?

An odd question I know, but what is it about the shower that you feel the freedom to belt it out?

Maybe it is something about the sound mechanics which make your voice more appealing than it really is? Maybe it's something about being naked? (yep I said that)  Maybe the convenience of the shampoo serving as your microphone?  Maybe it's the freedom that no one is watching and you can be completely yourself?

Whatever it is, there is a freedom.  A freedom to sing and a freedom to be you.

TO SING YOUR SONG IN THE SHOWER!

Even if it's more like a cover song for AC/DC, you are singing it like it's yours!

This poem below reminds me that we all have a song to sing.  We were made with a specific vision, purpose, and plan, with the intention of being completely free to be who God made us to be.

We have a destiny to be realized and released.  A song in our heart, that longs to be set free.

So whatever yours is, I pray that you would declare it today, in and out of the shower!

The world needs YOU to show you up today!

Your Song Released

He has your purpose and your plan, it’s all in align 

Trust your Father above, who was here before time 

As your heart starts to sing, let your longing begin,

Let the desires inside, press out from within

Stand and shout and follow your heart

He’s here, with you now, ready to start  

He’s given you a voice, a song to sing

He’s made you to fly, He’s given you wings

Today is the day, so why delay?

There’s only thing you know you must say

It’s yes, oh yes, one hundred times yes

I am ready, pick me, and I will not digress

I will not hold back, I will not be shy,

For I know my Dad wants me to fly

Let my destiny be released, as I fly off my feet

Let my dreams and my life finally meet 

For I have a song I must sing, a voice to be released

Today is the day, I will not taste defeat

So yes is my answer and yes is my cry

I will not delay, I will never say die

To my purpose and my plan and all that’s within

To know I am alive, destined to win

So I am ready, let’s go, My Dad and I

Ready to conquer, ready to fly! 

What does the enemy not want me to see?

Recently I have been thinking on this question,

What does the enemy not want me to see?

When fighting a war, you want to do your best to make sure your enemy doesn’t know your weaknesses.  It’s probably a given that your enemy knows your strengths, but even then they are looking for the wholes and cracks in the system that might allow them to take down the whole army. 

Lately I have been thinking about the gifts and wiring that God gave me which makes me come alive and gives me increased purpose each day.  As I begin to step into this, I can’t forget the enemy is at every open door and opportunity doing his best to sidetrack me, looking for those cracks in my infrastructure. 

At the same time I don’t want to give the enemy more time and attention he deserves because he’s not someone I need to fear, as know God is bigger and above anything he could ever try to do against me or anyone else.  Yet, it’s important to know our own weaknesses and where the enemy might try to take ground that’s rightfully ours. 

As I have thought specifically about what the enemy doesn’t want me to see, I think one of my weaknesses is to sink back into the luxury and ease of the American life.  The enemy wants me comfortable, content, and cozy and not ready for the assignments God has ready for me.  Probably some of my strengths are determination, hard work, and achievement, and obviously, any of these overextended will actually become a weakness but I would rather air on the side of pursuit than caution. 

All to say, I spent some time making a resolve list.  Resolve means to decide firmly on a course of action.  Also, Johnathan Edwards made a resolve list he read once a week, so I figure it might be a good idea! Click here to check out his list.  

I resolve to remind myself each day:

I am a force to be reckoned with.  I do not back down from challenge, discouragement, or disappointment.  I do not hesitate at the sound of my Father’s voice. 

I am not lazy spiritually, physically, or otherwise. 

I am a child of the living God, who has equipped me and will equip me for the battles I face and the opposition I encounter. 

I resolve to not sit back and settle into the comfy life the world promises me. 

I long to know God and know Him more with a daily passionate pursuit. 

When I need to recover from life’s challenges, I will rest in Him.

I resolve to push through the open doors of 2014.

When I don’t know what else to do I resolve to stand and wait for His single.

I resolve….because there’s ground to take and I want it to count.    

After I read through this, I thought geez Mikaela chill out, you aren’t in the Marines, but then I remembered the battle we fight in the spiritual carries more weight and power than any earthly structure and maybe it’s time I get even more serious and remind myself of the true reality.

 

So…what does the enemy not want you to see?

What doors will open for you in 2014?

An open door.

It’s inviting.  It’s welcoming. 

It can symbolize opportunity.  Adventure.  The unknown.

Whether you know it or not, 2014 is the year of the open door!

The Jewish year, this year is called ayin dalet (hebrew), the year of 5774. 

The word ayin means eye, to see, to understand and obey. It also means divine providence.

The word dalet means door and can mean the movement of one coming from or going into the tent.

Divine doors will open this year.  Declare it and believe it. 

What doors do you want to be open?

What divine encounters will you believe God for?

It is said that during dalet, one will either move out of or back into their tent.

Not every opportunity or open door is necessarily from God, we need discernment of His voice to know when to move.

If God is divinely opening doors, is this there anything in your heart hindering you from going through it?

Is there already an door open that you are not stepping through?

What holds you back?

What do you have to lose?

John 10:10 says...

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.

He has a FULL life for you.  Open doors awaiting.

It’s time we start making some real news years resolutions. 

Invitation awaits.