Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh new start. A new day to rise and turn to Jesus for all you need today. He is more than enough to meet every need, every shortfall, and every area that feels like it’s lacking.

Most of my posts come from a space of something I’m working through in my spiritual walk or glimpses in my daily living.

And as I cry out to Jesus, He gently guides my path or convicts my heart or fills a space or gives me a reminder of truth. Those things often become the inspiration for what I write.

And recently, I am feeling frustrated with my own flesh. My own lack. The places where I just don’t see any growth or change in me. The old cycles and patterns that return. The new habits that need to start and take solid root, but never seem to make it past seed form. I am frustrated with my humanity in areas where I feel I should be experiencing more victory or even total victory.

And as I prayed yesterday…. not even a long prayer… because I’m struggling with staying focused in prayer as well. In my spirit I heard the verse, “He who began this work in you will see it all the way to completion.” Immediately I felt some of the pressure to perform for God disappear.

Jesus reminded me that my walk is not finished yet. I’m a work in progress and the Lord will continue to work His spirit and His ways into me until my final breath here on earth. What a beautiful Lord we serve who gives us such mercy and grace as we walk with Him and grow in Him.

He chose us for this walk. He chose us to be in Him from the foundation of the earth.

He picked us for this very hour in history. He knew what our background would be. He knew what our flaw would be. He knew our gifting and talents that He would supply. He knew the call and the destiny that He would place on our life. AND He promises to not only AUTHOR it, but also to FINISH it.

He is in it for the long haul. He is not expecting microwave Christians who turn to Him, accept salvation, and then are perfected and done in a matter of moments. He instead is working and molding and shaping us through the hills and valleys of our lives.

Through trauma and joy and struggle and triumph, we are becoming more and more like Jesus. We are becoming more apt to follow the Living Spirit inside of us than the dying flesh that it inhabits.

So when you feel less than enough, or weak, or unable to do what you know you should, or simply frustrated that your spiritual growth seems to be taking forever…… at these moments, you can call on the One who promises to finish the good work He started.

He is the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning of all and the end of all. The earth began with His Word and He will return to redeem it and restore it.

He is also the One who is the beginning of our faith and the One who will faithfully equip us all the way to the end and finish.

And finally, He promises to be our strength. In the Old Testament, in Psalms, it says that the Lord is our strength and our shield. Translated Jehovah Uzzi. The Lord is my strength.

In the New Testament, Paul says that the Lord’s strength is shown in our weaknesses. In these areas, the Lord’s strength can be shown off and He gets the glory. When we do things through Christ that we could never do on our own, the Lord’s power is seen and He is glorified.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank You Lord that we don’t walk this faith life out alone and of our own power. If we did, we would fail every time.. But instead, You are our strength. You are our Jehovah Uzzi. The Lord of our strength. Thank You for empowering us and faithfully and mercifully guiding us even when we mess up. We submit to You and Your Lordship. In Jesus’s name, Amen.

Blessings and the Lord’s strength to you,

Vanessa Lynn