Hunger Pangs

There is no easy way to ease into what I believe God has given me to write about, because I know it could possibly offend some people. That is never my intention, because I desire wholeheartedly for people to be free in every area of their lives. So I have to speak on what I believe is a problem area in many of our lives. One thing about me, I have never been timid in my words, verbally or written, so I pray that what I am about to expound on will be received in love.   But if it is not... be offended, be honest, and then be free. :-)

Our (social media infused) society is such a conceited, arrogant, Godless society, mainly because we are so full of ourselves. I look at my timeline on various social media sites every day and just say wow sometimes. It is hard to believe, but people (even some of whom I know personally) are really full of themselves. This narcissistic spiritual force is a very powerful, toxic character trait that will take over your mind. It is also very disgusting, unattractive and seriously bad for our spiritual and physical lives. We have allowed this new wave of media convince us that promoting self ALL THE TIME is our only true way to exhibit happiness, worth or value.

We have been manipulated into believing that if we don't post a "selfie" every hour or uploading every single picture we take when we are out enjoying ourselves with friends and family, then we truly are not and cannot be happy in our lives or having a good time in that moment. We have become obsessively obsessed with "showing off". Showing off our lives, not to share ourselves and our moments with the ones we love, but to either make others feel inadequate and/or make sure our followers and friends believe that we are happy. We are not living, we probably aren't even slightly happy....we are putting on a show, performing, portraying and starring in a reoccurring role and series as a pompous, holier than thou caricature that alludes and exaggerates prominence....and the scripted character in which we are playing name is Idolatry.  And unfortunately, we believe this role we have taken on is perfectly fine.

It is so sad how bad we have fallen for this lie from the pits of hell. Oh but there is some truth to what it is though, it is the epitome of being prideful. And remember, pride always comes before the fall.  We are walking and living in the most self serving, self worshiping, egotistical and maliciously snobbish days right now.  These traits will take up so much space in your hearts and minds that a true hunger for God cannot exist. If you don't have a true hunger for God minus yourself, you are creating a breeding ground for selfishness and cannot possibly be growing in a more purposeful relationship with God the father, or in faith.  And without faith, it is impossible to please Him. 

Do not be fooled, there is no standing still or stagnation in your relationship with Him. You can't hit the pause button and be only about yourself for a while. Either you are growing and moving selflessly forward in your relationship with God or growing and moving selfishly backwards in yourself, which will always be away from God. Be so hungry for God that He is at the forefront of your thoughts versus yourself.  Be hungry for His righteousness and to be seen in it, rather than being self-righteous only to be seen in your own self-righteousness. There is a fine line between the two and it is important that we know what side of the line we are on.  Are you living for God's righteousness or are you living for self-righteousness? Are you doing it for the true and living God, or are you doing it for the Gram? 

Whatever your answers are to those questions are between you and the Father. But the good thing about Him is He is forgiving and will reveal what is sincerely in your heart. The first step in this discovery is to examine your intentions. If it is revealed that your intentions have been impure, there is still hope. The next step is to ask for forgiveness, receive your forgiveness, and deliverance will follow.  And once you have been delivered, I promise, God's grace will make your heart so full of His love, the only love that can truly fill what we unknowingly crave from others, that the desire to put on the show for self-adoration will finally be put to rest.

~CDL 
xoxo

The Lost and Found

"The more I find myself, the more people I lose..."

That quote speaks volumes.  It is so ironic because I just had a convo about the same very topic not too long ago with my brother. I believe the ultimate purpose of losing people is to find yourself. The losses are for you, for your gain. Learning to stand alone is hard...no friends, no family, no significant other or mate, it can be extremely difficult...seriously, I know this all too well....but it is the essential essence of self examination and discovery. And honestly, the only way you will truly learn who you are. I have lost people I sincerely valued and earnestly loved because I chose to live beyond the box, I mean waaaaaaaay off the grid. I have cried over dead end relationships until I couldn't cry anymore.  I have mourned broken friendships like someone had died. And I won't begin to explain my emotional condescension for not being listed on a few wedding, bridal and baby shower guests lists because I was apparently no longer "around". And that's perfectly ok. Cry over the spilled relational milk, have an international anger fest, wipe up the mess and go back to skipping to the beat of your own drum.  What I had to recognize is my purpose and plan is written in a different font and color, so I don't match with basic formatting. And i'm not just talking about myself,  I like to believe that our purpose and plans are all written in different fonts and colors, because that is the beauty of humanity and the creator who so eloquently created us. Through it all, I am blessed to have been courageous enough to keep going. I am blessed to have been courageous enough to venture to all the places I've ever wanted to live and be, like I have. Alone. I never would have gotten to know, LOVE and continue to learn who Crystal Dion really is being 1/2 of a pair or staying and residing in a residential or relational space that's only comfortable for others and not myself. And finally... one day, all by myself, I made the grown woman decision to refuse to let those who have fallen by the wayside take away the grandeur of my elevation toward my God inspired purpose, favor and success. What's fearful to some is air to others. I'm going to say that again..."What is fearful to some, is air to others." If you look closely, i'm sure you will find that you may have adapted to fears that aren't even yours, which is why you are smothering. Because you cannot breathe.  Their air is not your air, and their fear is not your fear. Comprehend that now.  Change is good and it has always looked good on me.  And it will look good on you if you allow it to.   Embrace the characteristics of your change...love, live, breathe your change...remain for no one. Your life, the persona God has blessed you with is dependent on it.  Because after you have found yourself, the next chapter in life is discovering who God created you to be. And honey, let me tell you, that is the season you have been waiting for all along. Let the lost go and be found.

~CDL

 ❤️xoxo❤️

New Day, New Age...

He is doing a NEW thing.... NOW it springs forth.  The Great I AM says, "I am" and "He will".  Study the words He uses (Foreal, study His WORD tho..shameless plug ;-) for routine reading of the Gospel).  "Am" in His verbiage means doing, and "Will" in our understanding means shall come to pass.  The Father's word is His will.  And His word is enough.  Trust that He is doing what He says He is doing, and it will happen.  The misunderstanding is always on our end, never His.  Have faith in God.  And there is nothing else to be said.

The Holy Spirit

Over the last few weeks, my church home has been really discussing the Holy Spirit.  It has really been a refresher course because sometimes I tend to not zoom in on His keen nature, as much as I should.  Here are some reminders I was presented with:

~The Holy Spirit is a gift
~God the Father speaks through the Holy Spirit
~The Holy Spirit is the voice of the Lord
~Let the Holy Spirit guide you and you won't walk in the flesh, nor can the flesh rule
~Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control are all fruit of the Spirit
~The Holy Spirit has the power the break the back of the enemy, change the atmosphere in a dead situation
~It is our responsibility to exercise our own spirit so it is fit enough to receive the revelations from God the Father...ie, praying in tongues, this is what builds up and strengthens our spirit man

These are things that we should know, but sometimes need to really have it reiterated so it can really soak in our brains, hearts and spirits. And speaking of letting things soak in, we also had an awesome experience where I learned about a technique called "soaking".  One of our leaders gave this example as if you were trying to get a stain out a garment, how in the old days you would fill the sink with cold water and submerge the garment in water for a length of time.  If the stain wasn't removed, you would empty the water out and refill with fresh water and re-submerge the garment. Well of course this was just a figurative example as we were not physically being submerged with water as one would during a water baptism, however we were allowing and surrendering our bodies, minds and hearts to be submerged in the Holy Spirit.  This technique called for quietness and stillness in a chair, on the floor, or however you are being led to submit, in order to hear from God the Father. When we heard things, we were advised to write them down on butcher paper that was provided at various stations.  We were instructed to share what we heard because it may be God relaying a message of confirmation to someone else, as well as ourselves.

The things I heard and the order in which I heard them were mind blowing!!  Some of the things I heard in the first order were:

~I will restore
~Elevate
~Clarity
~Appointment
~Peace
~Lands
~I will do this swiftly
~Refinement
~I will make your name great
~It is well
~Remember this time
~Abundance

The second order, I heard:
~I Am that I Am
~Trust only me
~I do not fail

Again, the words and phrases themselves were overwhelming and amazing, so much so I became emotional after my natural mind processed what I had just heard and written down...because they all apply to me personally. But what really impressed me was the order in which God the Father chose to speak to me in.  I grew up in a southern baptist church and one of the most significant lessons I learned was God is GREAT...as in, big, mighty powerful, etc., and we are to always acknowledge Him for who He is, first and foremost. And then, celebrate and honor the things He does.  Which to me is the appropriate method, and never have I done it in any other way.  But, if you notice the order, He revealed to me what He would do FIRST, and THEN revealed who He is and His nature.  Interesting enough, what I finally understood is that God is a relational being, therefore He, Himself is not concerned about who He is, but wholly concerned about the other person.  For example, I've always heard that the best relationships between two people are the ones where each person concerns themselves with the other person and not themselves.  If both people are equally concerned about each other, then all needs will be met.  Usually, when relationships don't work, it is because one party has decided to neglect the other person because of their own personal desires...ie, selfishness.

God proved to me that He is not in the business of self promotion...because when He spoke to me, promoting who He is took a back seat. He spoke to my needs first and then confirmed who He is.  He is in the business of meeting needs and that is what is most important to Him.  Basically, if I could sum up part 1 and 2 in a tweet, He said, "Crystal, I got you...do you know who I am?" What an humble presentation!!!  One thing about us, because we do honor Him so much...as we should, we sometimes can get in the habit of believing that that is His goal as well, to promote and honor His own existence to us, first.  No, that is our job!!  For us to honor His existence to Him, FIRST!! And this is what meets His needs. Promoting and reiterating who He is to Him and other people.  Then petition for our personal needs.  But the funny thing is, if and when we do what's first, we won't have to ask for anything.  "Seek ye first...".  If you take care of God, He will take care of you. One final confirmation I received in my own time about this hours after was God showed me, and almost relayed it as if He said, but Crystal, don't you know I also did this in Genesis?  The very first scripture in the bible starts with, "In the beginning, God created..." not, God is.  And actually He didn't reveal who He is until later on, and His first reveal wasn't even His true name. WOW, how many missed that revelation?  I did, but I don't anymore...all because of the power of the Holy Spirit.  I believe when we can fully understand this for how it is truly supposed to work, then we can have a sincere reciprocated relationship with God the Father. And it be good.  The thing is, only the Holy Spirit can bring about this type of fellowship, because of and through Jesus Christ.

The Holy Spirit is a person.  He is a gentleman, so He won't push himself off on you.  But if you receive Him for who He is,  He will be all you need and more.  He is your advocate, your helper, your counselor, your leader, your peacemaker, your friend and the ultimate pathway to understanding everything about God the Father.  It is impossible to hear from the Father, things concerning the Father, things in relation to you and the Father, without the Holy Spirit.  This is why Jesus was so adamant about Him, because He knew and understood that His whole purpose was so the Spirit can come upon us.  Poor Jesus would've been so tired trying to hang around in the flesh for us for 2000 sum odd years, and definitely would have eventually died on us, foreal.  But He understood that a threefold cord is not easily broken.  "God in three persons, blessed trinity".  We need the power of God the Father, God the Son AND God the Holy Spirit working in our lives.  It's time to get completely plugged in.  Is your power source complete?

I have the heart of the Father, the mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit...and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Galatians 5:16
1 Corinthians 12:4-13
Hebrews 2:4
Acts 2: 1-21
1 Corinthians 14:1-17, 39-40