Heather Yanta is my guest Blogger today, a friend from school that
I’ve been able to reconnect with and create a new and improved friendship
through Facebook and the mutual love we share for GOD. Heather is also an admin
on my Facebook page, Stir Me Up Lord, and has helped me personally through a
trial I have been battling recently. She is a passionate believer in God's
word, Wife and homeschool Mom from south Texas. I know you’ll enjoy her blog
today and I promise you’ll be blessed!
In May of 2008, God
brought me back to a place of actively seeking Him and the Kingdom through a
book by Watchman Nee. It was called Breaking the Outer Man and
The Release of the Spirit. As I read this book, I became increasingly aware
that there was something IN ME that needed to come out. It really opened
my eyes....for all these years; I thought God needed me to submit my
intellectual, mental and physical talents to Him for His use here on
earth. But as I read this book, God opened my eyes that He didn't need
any of this and neither did others around me....He needed something on the
inside of me, something deposited there by Him.
Well, this really piqued
my interest. I decided I wanted to find out what it was on the
inside. I realized that for so many years, I had been trying to give God
my mind or other talents but had little knowledge of what precious deposit He
had placed in my inner man, the real me, my spirit. Stirred by this new
pursuit, I began seeking earnestly the Word of God. Then I forgot about
this book and what had sent me on this pursuit of knowing who I really
was.
Over the years, though,
I have begun to learn a lot about who I am in Christ, about this Kingdom we
have been translated into and the blessings & tools God has given us to
complete His call. (at the end of this blog, will be a listing of the
books & teachings that have marked me profoundly).
After almost 4 years of
an intensive searching & researching of God's word, and seeing so many
answers to prayers, miracles and changes in my life & in the lives of
others, I can say this has been an awesome journey - and I know it's only the
beginning.
Recently, I cracked open
that same Watchman Nee book....mainly out of nostalgia for this book that had
shaken me so much and changed what I thought about me and my relationship with
God. As I re-read the book, I was overwhelmed in remembering the
questions it had put in my mind about what exactly is it that God is trying to
get out of me and what others need from me that will truly bless them.
However, this time, I knew that I had many (I'm sure not all) of the answers!
God has placed within me
- Himself. He has invested everything He is in me! He has blessed
me with dominion, authority and the ability to plant seeds and determine the
future in the harvests my seed brings. He has given me the ability to
speak. Words are how we express our dominion - our authority. Words
are a major source of the seeds that we plant in our hearts and in the hearts
of others. He has given me an imagination that can dream big and
words that can speak those dreams into existence!
Oh, how many of us use
these very gifts He has given us against ourselves and others! How many
of us use these amazing imaginations to imagine every sort of bad thing that
might happen while we worry, fret and ponder the circumstances of our
lives. Jesus said as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. Yet
we pay little attention to the thoughts we allow to float around in our
mind.
How many of us use words
to tear down rather than build up, to plant seeds that bring negative harvests
rather than life giving harvests! Our words have the power of life and
death, yet we just let words fly out of our mouths as if they don't really
matter. Worse yet....when a situation would benefit by a child of God
opening their mouths with authority and dominion to bring life - we remain
silent.
Or how many of us just
don't think about or appreciate these gifts at all. How many days we do
go through our lives as if we are 'mere' humans facing life and situations with
no hope, no authority, no ability to imagine and speak and change things.
We are filled with
power. Yet so many of us choose to not express that power or ignore it
altogether. Our words are filled with the creative power of God, yet we
don't use them as we should.
Out of our hearts flow
the issues - the boundaries, the forces - of life. How many of our hearts
are stopped up with worry, unable to forgive, bitterness, strife, the cares of
this world? Oh, to remove all those things and let LIFE FORCES rush out
of us and change situations! To lay hands on the sick and they recover in
the name of Jesus - whose we are and who we serve! To see our
prayers answered, our loved ones saved and God's kingdom expanded all around
us.
I challenge you to not
think so lightly of yourself any longer. I beg you to begin to meditate
on the word of God concerning all the blessings, power, life, and LOVE He has
placed in you. (Romans 5:5, Ephesians 1 and 3) Don't get me wrong,
I'm sure He wants us to yield our natural gifts & talents to Him as
well....but those pale in comparison to the spiritual blessings He has invested
in us.
Then watch how life
changes as you YIELD all God has placed within you to Him - using your words,
your imagination, your sowing & reaping, your love, your life forces - for
His glory. As we focus on doing this, we are truly seeking first the Kingdom
of God and His righteousness. All those other things that we worry
about God will take care of Himself! (Matthew 6:33)
God has deposited
Himself and all He is inside you. Will you Yield these gifts to
Him and watch how He can touch others through you, change you, and bring you
into your destiny?
I will. I refuse
to live as a mere human any longer, but live to fully express the
blessings within me.
Expressing the Blessing
~ that's my new focus in life!
Books Recommend by Guest Blogger, Heather Yanta
Contact with God: The Amazing Power of Prayer by Jeanne
Wilkerson
Unseen Forces Beyond This World by Phillip and Fern
Halverson
The Master is Calling by Lynne Hammond
The Blood and The Glory by Billye Brim
Any & everything by Charles Capps!
Love: The Way to Victory by Kenneth E. Hagin
The Believer's Authority by Kenneth E. Hagin
The Blessing of the Lord Maketh Rich by Kenneth Copeland
Mercy by Kenneth Copeland
The Law of Confession by Bill Winston
The Kingdom of God in You by Bill Winston
Transforming Your Thinking, Transforming Your Life by Bill
Winston
Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick
To Know Him by Gloria Copeland
Blessed Beyond Measure by Gloria Copeland
Tell Them I Love Them by Joyce Meyer
The Secret Power of Speaking God's Word
You've Already Got It by Andrew Wommack