I AM LOVED!!!

Oh, how He loves you and me

Oh, how He loves you and me

He gave His life, what more could He give

Oh, how He loves you

Oh, how He love me

Oh, how He loves you and me

This song has been on my heart for the last three or four days. I have been singing it in my spirit as I have been going about doing the many demands of my life. I have intentionally been declaring some things over my life this year and one of those declarations is simply that, I am loved. I know that might seem an unusual confession, especially for a married woman with children who is constantly surrounded by people. If I were on the outside looking in, and lacking discernment, I would probably think the same thing. However, through the last few years of pruning and testing from the Lord at one point, I found that my heart had begun to lose focus off the simple fact that, I am loved.

It’s been about six to eight months now since I started declaring that I am loved. The circumstances of life had become so dim and heavy at one point that it took me to a place of despair and borderline depression. My heart was sinking fast, wondering and asking the Lord, how long must I endure this dreadful place of desolation. I felt like King David in Psalms 13. My heart was heavy, yet I knew my HOPE was in the Lord. The constant demands of life, that seemingly were being met at the twelfth hour, were stressful, to say the least.

At some point I looked up and found that my weary soul had veered off focus of His“Why me, Lord?!” Of course, this was the intentions of the enemy all along: to cause me to change my focus. And in my moment of weariness I did just that. Sidenote: weariness is a dangerous state of being if your flesh has not been disciplined. I taught a lesson on that a few years back… I think that I will share with you in the near future. And that one little thought caused bells to ring in the enemy’s camp. I can imagine the demonic forces being summoned together to be given dispatching orders on the fresh bait. I believe the enemy waits to pounce on such thinking, ready to give plenty of answers, none of which will be the truth. purpose being fulfilled in my life to,

I opened the door for the enemy to bombard my mind with additional supporting thoughts (lol), by not bringing that thought of “why me” under subjection to the Word of God.  That one thought led me down a road that quickly became a slippery slope into despair. For this very reason I always make a point to teach and preach on II Corinthians 10:5, “Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.”  The enemy will take your one thought and magnify it, sometimes causing a stronghold or a root of bitterness to be established in your heart: A dangerous and difficult state to be in. Our focus, our eyes, must remain of Jesus.

The enemy intended, and had some success, to get my focus off of the heart of Jesus towards me. In my moment of weariness I lost focus of the Father’s ultimate purpose of this time of pruning and testing, which was so that I might bear more fruit: “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”(John 15:2).Instead of seeing the great harvest that was to come I began to focus on evaluating and valuing (quantifying) myself. I began to judge my life based on my external circumstances. How foolish!!

Understand that I was not ignorant of the enemy’s devices. He has been deceiving and lying to the saints for thousands of years. You would think that I would have quickly recognized what was taking place and dealt with it. In a perfect Walgreen’s world that would have happened. However, I want to note one thing. The enemy, the devil, Lucifer, or whatever name you use, is a worthy foe. And, neither you nor I, should ever think for one minute, that we can outwit him without the wisdom of the Holy Spirit. He is smarter than you and me (I say that loosely), yet he is no match for our FATHER. My daddy CAN beat your daddy (lol).

Praise be to the Father for giving us the Holy Spirit: not just to guide, but rather to guide us into ALL truth. We can be confident in this, no matter what the enemy attempts to do in our lives, the Holy Spirit is always there to help AND to give us a way of escape. Amen!

“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” (I Corinthians 10:13)

The enemy had me. I went down an ugly road of rehashing mistakes, bad decisions, good decisions, missed opportunities, and seemingly none existent opportunities. I evaluated my marriage, my kids, my family, and my “ministry.” You name it, I evaluated it. In the end I came of short…(sarcastically)NO KIDDING?!?!  

Of course, this was right where the enemy wanted me: Looking at myself. I swallowed that foolish thinking (for a short minute): allowing myself to feel devalued and unloved. Until one day while I was in prayer sobbing over my “distresses” I received a Holy Spirit slap in the face (those really wake you up…LOL). The Lord, in His kind and gentle way, began to rebuke and correct my stinking thinking. I cried, repented, cried some more, repented some more, and then got up off my face. In the end (which took a minute) I was refocused on HIM. Praise God! And I determined that day that no matter how things looked, or how bad they seemed, that I was going to declare truth over myself, my family, and my circumstances.

I adopted a phrase that I use quite often on Facebook as a signature: “I AM Positioned for Greatness (in Him): Focused. Inspired. Excited. Determined. LOVED…..that’s me!!!!”I believe these words with all of my heart. And every time I write or say them my spirit comes into agreement with the Spirit of the Lord. I believe that these mere words, although powerless in and of themselves, spoken in faith brings an eternal change in my heart, and even in the natural. If nothing else, it reminds me of my eternal truth and keeps me focused on the one that truly LOVES me, Jesus Christ.

Oh, how He loves you and me

Oh, how He loves you and me

He gave His life, what more could He give

Oh, how He loves you

Oh, how He love me

Oh, how He loves you and me

Praying that you remain focused on HIM today and that you will know that YOU ARE LOVED!

My Love Song to HIM! Dorothy C.