Lengthen and Strengthen

Lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes ~ Isaiah 54:2

These two phrases--lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes--have to coincide because when God gives you a prophetic word or a promise about your life, your next step needs to be to go deeper with God than you've ever gone before, because the enemy's next step will be to try to steal that word or promise through a spirit of fear, condemnation, or insecurity. It's at those times that you need to dig a little deeper, cinch up your belt of Truth a little tighter, and pray God's Word a little harder, so that you can fight off the attacks of the enemy.

God has promised to do great things in your life, but as He's done so, the enemy has vowed not to let them happen and he will stop at nothing to try to steal those things from you. You need to be determined to hold fast, stand firm, and strengthen your stakes so that the promises of God will come to pass in your life.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. ~ 2 Timothy 1:7

Lengthen Your Cords

Lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes ~ Isaiah 54:2

Have you ever gone shopping for new clothes and came home only to realize that you have no room in your closet or drawers to hold them? The reason is that you never made room for them by clearing out some of the old ones. God is calling us to lengthen our cords so that He can bless us abundantly, but we have to have room in our lives for the blessings. And we do it through on-purpose, or intentional, living and by getting rid of some of the stuff we've been holding onto in our lives. Living on-purpose determines who and what will get your time, energy, and money. A good friend of mine once said, "I'll meet with anybody once, but I'm intentional about specific people who are always on my calendar." Being intentional with your relationships is not about shutting people out, but some relationships are for seasons. One of my dearest friends will always be there for me, and I for her, even if we don't get to see each other all the time. Be intentional with your money by drawing up a monthly budget, that way when opportunities arise for you to spend your money you already know if you will say "yes" or "no" to it.

The harder part about making room in our lives is giving up or getting rid of stuff. Some of our friends just moved and they had to examine what furniture they wanted to take with them to their new home. They needed to make room in their lives for new blessings and so had to part with some old furniture, which turned out to be a blessing in someone else's life. Sometimes giving up some stuff is used to bless others. Sometimes, though, it's stuff we really needed to turn over to God a long time ago, but never did. Those things can be anything from an addiction, to a relationship, to a dream. My mom used to have a poem in her bathroom that talked about how we give our dreams to God and then ask, impatiently, why He hasn't done anything with them and He says, "Because you snatched them back out of My hands." God wants us to willingly hand over the things we've been clutching so tightly so the He can do a work in them. But He won't force us to hand them over; instead, He will wait.

God is calling you to make room in your life so that He can bless you, but it has to be your choice and your action. Ask God to give you the courage to let go of the things you know so that He can take you from glory to glory to glory into things unknown to you.

Stretch Your Tent

Stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back ~ Isaiah 54:2

Jesus said that you can't put new wine into old wine skins, or the wine will burst the skins and both will be ruined, (Matthew 9:17). The same is true when God wants to make a change in our lives. If God tries to step into your tiny tent and reveal to you all the stars in the sky, He'll end up destroying your tent. So what does He do? He calls you to stretch your tent curtains wide. Your tent is the border the defines where you end. God is calling you to stretch your tent curtains wide--He wants you to break out of your boundary lines and go beyond what you thought possible. He is stretching you beyond what you think your limits are; He's calling you to be new wine skin so that He can pour His new wine--His vision and plan--into you and it won't break you. But first, He must stretch you.

Stretch your thinking wide, for God wants to do something new in you--something He's not done in you before. Do not give way to fear; do not hold back. Give God everything. Stretch your tent curtains wide!

Enlarge the Place

Enlarge the place of your tent ~ Isaiah 54:2

Everybody's got a tent in which they live. A tent is nothing more than a border or a boundary line. The "place" of your tent is the distance, the space, the depth, breadth, length, heighth, and width of your tent. It's as far a you can see. If the "place" is everything you can see and "your tent" is the end of the furthest or greatest thing you can see, then the question is what lies beyond your tent? God is calling you to enlarge the place of your tent, so it stands to reason that there must be something beyond your borders, beyond what you can see, beyond what you can hope for, beyond what you've been believing God for.

What can you believe God for? Is it just to make it through the day? It it to help you give up an addiction? Is it hope that your spouse wants to restore your marriage as much as you? Is it help finding a job, or changing to the job you've always wanted? What ever you've been believing God for, He's calling you to expand it, grow it, enlarge it.

How much can you believe God for... Enlarge the place of your tent!

Exalt the Lord

With my mouth I will greatly extol the Lord; in the great throng , I will praise him. ~ Psalm 109:30

Both extol and exalt mean to greatly or highly praise the Lord, as if to bring your praise to a higher level than ever before. And why wouldn't we praise Him? He has given us breath and life and joy and peace and friends and comfort and jobs and homes and list goes on and on and on. But even if He did nothing more than become our Savior and friend, that alone would be worth our greatest praise. The psalms are full of joy and despair, but through it all, praise is given to God. In life we have two choices when the storms come to beat against our life: keep God as our shelter and ally or push Him away as our enemy. I encourage you to keep Him as your ally, friend and protector. No matter what, praise Him anyway, for if He did nothing more than all that He has already done, that alone would be worthy of our praise forever.

I will exalt You...You are my God. My hiding place, my safe refuge, my shelter Lord, you are. My friend and King, anointed one, Most Holy. ~ Hillsong "I Will Exalt You"

Changing Pace

Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me ~ Matthew 11:28-29

If you know what a yoke is then Jesus saying, "Take my yoke...and I will give you rest," seems like an oxymoron. A yoke is a device used to break another animal of its stubbornness and to teach the younger animal to walk at the pace and in step with the older animal. The yoke forces them to work and walk together. What Jesus wants is for you to stop trying to do it your way, on your terms, at your pace, with your knowledge. Instead, He wants you to walk at His pace, along His path, in His timing, and following His word. It should be so easy to listen and follow what He says, but so often, we try to break lose from that yoke, assuming we know better.

If you find that you've been running into brick walls and closed doors everywhere you go, perhaps it's time to stop following yourself and begin to learn from the One who wants the best for you. Take His yoke upon you and learn from Him. He promises to teach you what you need to know when you need to know it, and more importantly, how to rest.

Take my yoke upon you and learn from me...and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. ~ Matthew 11:29-30

Morning by Morning

He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. ~ Isaiah 50:4

Every morning, God longs to be with us, to teach us, to guide us, and to strengthen us. To those who get up and make Him their first appointment, God gives teaching, wisdom, courage, and strength. His desire is to pour into those who make themselves available to Him. He encourages us and teaches us and makes us stronger in our broken places, and He does all of it through our quiet time with Him and through people. He does it through people like you who needed Him to build up their broken places so that He could send them out to help build up yours. And when you are ready, He'll send you out to help strengthen someone else's.

Isaiah 58:11-12 talk about people who are going through a rough time in their lives, but the promise is that God will never leave them and will satisfy their needs. And when your needs have been met, and God has filled you up, your desire will be to go out and to help others. And when you do, they will ask you how you got there and your job will be to lead them back to Jesus. The next time you spend your quiet time with Jesus, thank Him for all He is doing in your life and for the people He's sent to help bring you along.

You will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings. ~ Isaiah 58:12