Good Morning Gorgeous,

It’s a brand new day. A fresh new start. A new day to rise and run to Jesus!

He has such an amazing promised land up ahead.

Sometimes the place ahead, the most beautiful and perfect place also seems just out of reach.

Sometimes there are closer places to go that offer us convenience, but are lacking in the fullness of what He has for us.

My friends and I were trying to find a place to go that included: swimming, fishing, and was dog friendly. 

We left the house with Lake Chatuge Beach in mind, but when we arrived it wasn’t dog friendly. There were many signs posted that said, “No dogs.”

We stopped in an Ingles parking lot and began to do some Google searches. There was a National Park about 35 minutes away that met all criteria. Yet, we kept deliberating and searching for something closer, something more convenient.

We settled on a nearby High Shoels Falls. It had swimming and was pet friendly, but no fishing. We settled anyway. Why? It was closer, more convenient, with less sacrifice of time and money in gas. 

We agreed and headed there, but then as we turned off the main road, the path there got dangerous. It was a narrow, dirt path that only allowed one lane of traffic.

We turned on it and our van had no space to turn around and going forward wasn’t an option either. We drive a 12 passenger Ford Transit. It has limitations and off road mountain trails are one of the no gos for this van.

There was a house in front of us with a man out front. My friends jumped out of their cars and walked up to chat about our options. There ended up being only one. Back up and head for a new destination. Not only was this one up ahead lacking all that we desired, it was now dangerous too.

We were able to get out, but it took all four cars in our group to back up and onto the highway. We decided to drive the extra distance and head to the state park that was the farthest away. And IT was worth it!

The kids played in a creek, swam in a swimming spot, a few kids got to fish, and the dogs happily came along! We had avoided it for the distance and time it would take to get there.

Here’s a picture of the beautiful swimming spot!

This got me thinking about how often we do the same in life. We may take jobs that are less than God intended because we don’t want to wait for the right one. We may get married too quickly to a spouse that wasn’t from God. We may jump the gun in any area of our lives and take the easier route which leads us to either a mess, danger, or simply less than God intnded

For every good and amazing gift God has for us, satan is there offering a cheap counterfeit.

There is example after example in the Bible of satan trying to steal the promise of God from people’s destiny by offering a cheaper, easier way to quickly obtain the promises of God.

The problem with taking the quick, easy route that isn’t God breathed is that it never delivers what it promised and it is NEVER comparable to the perfect plan of God in our lives.

Eve took the apple when offered knowledge from the enemy.  Yet, she already walked and talked with God. She could have asked God any question she wanted and He was right there to answer.

Abraham and Sarah used Sarah’s servant girl to have a child quicker than God’s timing, and it opened them up to all sorts of troubles and heartaches they didn’t have  before including the hurt they afflicted to Hagar, Sarah’s servant.

And then Jesus! Satan offered Him the same deal. A quick counterfeit! He offered Jesus the whole world if Jesus would just bow down and worship him. Jesus didn’t take the bait, but what is so amazing to mediate on is that satan was offering Jesus a quick way to gain the whole world without the cross.

Remember Jesus gained victory over the whole world: physical and spiritual including triumph over death at the cross when He breathed His last and said, “It is finished.” Jesus knew His destiny and Jesus knew the full triumph had to be in His sacrifice. So how did Jesus make satan flee in that time of testing?

Jesus defeated him by the power of the Word of God. He quoted accurate scripture and sent the enemy fleeing!

And we can too!  When it gets hard to stay in faith, hard to stay the course, hard to wait, we return to the written Word and the promises that God has spoken to us.

Jesus had a powerful destiny. He was here to take authority over the enemy. He had to do that by going to the cross. This would be heart wrenching for those closest to Him. This would be painful. The hardest part would be the temporary moment where God and Jesus were separated as the sin of the world laid upon Jesus.  BUT that was the plan all along, and to take a shortcut would be cheap counterfeit that lacked the POWER of the blood of the cross.

Abraham’s son Isaac was to be born of Abraham and Sarah JUST like God promised. And anything less than FULL promise was not from God.

Jesus was sent to fulfill a mighty call to save the world through becoming the sacrificial lamb who would deliver the world from bondage to sin and death just like the first sacrificial lamb at passover when the Israelites were set free from Egypt.  Satan wanted to offer Jesus a faster way that would end in the loss of His destiny to take authority back for man. Adam lost his God given authority when he fell for satan’s lie to Eve. Jesus came to get that authority back and give it to man again. Man being humans both men and women who are willing to accept the call on their life.

And satan having NO NEW TRICKS is still offering the same deceptions that steal, kill, and destroy all God has for us.

He offers us LESS than God’s FULL promise. Jesus said that He was giving us abundant life. He also said that He was giving us full authority to preach the gospel, lay hands on the sick and watch them recover, speak in other tongues, and to cast out demons in His Name.

Those are Jesus’s Words! His red letter words. If we aren’t experiencing that type of walk with Him, we can get excited because there’s more ahead. Exciting stuff ahead. Freedom ahead. Destiny ahead. New levels with Holy Spirit Power ahead. Miracles ahead. That is what’s available to EVERY single believer. We get to choose if we will surrender and go after the WHOLE promise or settle for the lesser gospel offered by the one who comes to steal, kill, and destroy that which God planned for us to have.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Give us spiritual eyes to see what You desire for our lives. Keep our eyes on the Promises You have for us! Let us not exchange God given destiny for quick and easy paths that deliver less than Your best for us. Lord, protect our destiny. Give us patience to wait for the God plan over the good plans. In Jesus’s Name, Amen.

Blessings!

Vanessa Lynn

Just for fun, here are the rest of the pics from that day. We got back to the cabin and cooked and the kids played around in tubes in the river.

Again, Christy made a fun tiktok!!

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTdTo1SVh/?k=1