Summertime symbolizes so many different things. It’s a time to rest and slow down. It’s a time to enjoy all the beautiful flowers that thrive in the heat. It’s a time to be still and relax in the moments of vacation days.
When I think of all my summertime memories, I think of lying in a hammock with a good book. I think of picnics and watermelons.
I think of jumping in the refreshing, cool water after a jog. I think of crossing the finish line at the Peachtree Road Race. I think of fireworks on the Fourth of July. I think of catching fireflies in a jar and playing ‘hide-and-seek’ with the kids when they were growing up.
I think of camping and walking on the beach at dusk. I think of romance. I think of candlelight dinners on the porch. I think of the sweetness of fresh blueberries and the sunflowers coming into full bloom.
I have countless memories of summer days. But most of all, summertime reminds me of Jesus. He draws us into rest. He calls us to slow down and find refreshment in Him. He gives us more excitement than a fireworks show and carries us through to the finish line when we’re struggling to carry on. He makes life beautiful in the same way that summertime brings forth vibrant flowers.
Christ brings perfect rest to the soul and beckons us to lean into Him when we’re weary.
On this beautiful summer day, I can imagine Jesus whispering: “Come to Me and find what your soul is longing for. Come and find rest in your spirit and mind. I am here waiting to embrace you with My love.”
Are you enjoying the rest that comes from leaning into Christ? I pray you will enjoy all the beauty of summer and experience the sweetness of God’s unwavering love.
🌻🌻🌻
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This post is a revised piece that I wrote and posted previously.
The love of a father is what every person in the world desires and needs. However, in this broken world, there are many children and adults who don’t have a loving father. Thankfully, our FATHER IN HEAVEN loves us with an everlasting and unconditional love.
On this FATHER’S DAY, I’m praying that every hurting person (child or adult) will experience the amazing gift of God’s perfect love.
Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your everlasting love. I am asking You to comfort the sons and daughters who are without a father today. Hold them close in Your arms and let them know that You are a GOOD FATHER. Give them a great revelation of Your love and heal their pain. Reveal Your love to them in beautiful ways and fill the void by sending a trustworthy spiritual mentor who can help guide and lead them through their lives. Let them walk with confidence and faith in Your ability to meet the desires of their hearts. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
May God’s love fill the void in the hearts of the ones in need of a good father today.
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There are countless sons and daughters who grew up knowing Christ, loving Him as children. Yet they chose to turn away from God as they grew into adults. The story of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) is encouraging and reveals the radical love of our HEAVENLY FATHER. God’s love is relentless, and He always receives the rebellious ones with open arms.
This year, I have been sensing in my spirit that the prodigal sons and daughters are beginning to be awakened spiritually. I believe that they are being drawn by the FATHER’S love and will be returning to the Lord with a greater zeal than they’ve ever had before.
Let’s pray passionately for the prodigal sons and daughters to be set free from destructive paths and pray fervently for them to be the ones that bring the greatest changes in our world.
LORD,
Thank You for Your love, mercy, and grace. Thank You for pouring out Your Spirit upon all of the sons and daughters who have turned away from You. Destroy the works of darkness that have attempted to thwart Your good plans for their lives. Help them to turn away from destructive paths and live faithfully by Your Spirit. Open their spiritual eyes and help them to see that You are the way, truth, and life.
Draw them into Your loving arms and hold them close to Your heart. Give them a powerful revelation of Your love and bring them back to a relationship with You. Help them to feel Your presence continually and heal every hurting place in their hearts. Give them the desire to grow closer to You and follow You all the days of their lives.
Baptize the prodigal sons and daughters with Your Holy Spirit and let them draw near to You every day. Help them become mighty warriors for Your kingdom and be shining examples of Your transforming power. Help them to be the strong men and women of God they are called to be. Help them to stay focused on You and follow Your guiding voice every day. Let them be pure in Your sight and be used by You to bring the greatest changes in our world. I pray in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
PRAY BOLDLY!
Amy🌻🌻🌻
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On this Pentecost Sunday, I am filled with awe of Christ and praying for a great move of the Holy Spirit that will bring permanent change for the youth of our world.
My heart has been hurting for the ones affected by the recent tragedies in America. I am filled with a deep compassion for the ones who lost their beloved children and family members in such a horrific way. While I had tears when I heard about the loss of innocent children, I felt tremendous hope in the Lord to bring beauty into the chaos.
Christ is truly the hope for our country and world. Evil can only be overcome with the truth and power of Christ’s love. With a heart filled with faith, I’m continuing to cry out to God for an unprecedented outpouring of His Spirit.
In the Bible verse, Acts 2:17, it says: “In the last days,God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people; your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.”
For many years, I’ve prayed passionately for the Lord to pour out His Spirit upon our cities. On this Pentecost Sunday and in the coming days, I believe the Spirit of God will be poured out in such a significant way that it will be like a blast of dynamite being ignited. The church will never be the same.
This outpouring will spark a Jesus movement like we’ve never seen before. Those ready to receive more of the Holy Spirit will be empowered to do great things for Christ. The ones who are too busy with earthly endeavors will possibly miss what’s coming. There will be naysayers who will say this is not from God, but in due time they will see that this is genuinely the outpouring that the prophet of the Bible, Joel, prophesied (Joel 2:28-32).
We are a very blessed generation to be alive when God is rocking the world with the greatest revival in the history of mankind.
Let’s pray more fervently than ever before and trust Christ to bring forth a JESUS REVOLUTION that will begin changing our broken world.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I am in absolute awe of You. Thank You for hearing our prayers and pouring out Your Spirit upon the earth. I trust You to ignite a JESUS REVOLUTION this Pentecost Sunday that will begin to break the chains of hatred and evil off of our cities.
I am asking You to wrap Your loving arms around the ones who lost their beloved children and family members in recent tragedies. Comfort their hurting hearts and carry them through the painful moments of grief. Bring healing to their souls in the days ahead.
Awaken the CHURCH fully and help us pray more fervently than ever before. Bring forth the most powerful prayer movement among mothers to pray for the youth of the world to be saved.
Help believers in Christ to be unified and have strong voices against the wicked injustices in our communities. Bring peace to the areas in our world that are experiencing civil unrest. Stop the violence that’s happening in America currently. Bring unity among the people in our communities and let us love one another with Your perfect love.
Empower us with a greater measure of Your Spirit and help us do great things on the earth all the days of our lives. Baptize us in the Holy Spirit and let each one of us be used mightily to share the gospel message of Jesus Christ. Let us be peacemakers and help us bring change to the world until the day of Christ’s return. I pray in Christ’s name. Amen.
May you have a blessed Pentecost season and may your heart be open to receive all that Christ has for you. I pray that you will be filled with Holy Ghost fire and be a world-changer in the coming days.
Pray boldly!
Amy🌻🌻🌻
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This post is a revised piece that I wrote and posted previously.
Are you enduring hardships at this moment? I want to encourage you to look away from the cares of this world and keep your focus on Jesus.
While seeking to know God’s heart, I learned that true joy is birthed through a close relationship with Christ. My life is proof that it is possible to have immense joy while experiencing hard things. It was during the most excruciating season that I found the most intense joy.
Jesus is joy.
Whatever you are facing today, there is joy to be discovered in Jesus. He is with you. He will reveal His love to you in unimaginable ways if you seek Him with all your heart.
Press toward God like never before, and you will find immeasurable joy in Jesus.
On this beautiful day, I can imagine Jesus whispering words of love to the world:
“Don’t look to the left or to the right. Look straight ahead. Keep your eyes fixed on ME. I will sustain you. Know that I am for you. If I am for you then you don’t need to worry. Let the joy you find in ME carry you.”
May you turn your eyes toward Jesus and bask in His love. I hope you will choose joy and live fully every day.
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Years ago, I was pondering what I thought Jesus would want to say to us at Easter time, and these words flooded into my heart:
“I am risen! Celebrate My resurrection. Come live fully in Me every moment of every day. Don’t give one thought to the difficulties of life on the earth. You can rest in knowing these are light and momentary troubles compared to the glory of HEAVEN. Keep your eyes fixed on Me and on eternal things not seen. As you live in Me, you will rise up on eagles’ wings and soar continually. Don’t be afraid of anything I ask you to do. Simply obey Me. Live in the fullness of My joy. Shout to the world of My goodness. Glorify My name so that those in need of Me will know the truth of who I am. Let this day be a day of new beginnings—a day to rejoice in My perfect love for you. My heart longs for you, My beloved bride. I am coming back for you and will live with you for all eternity. Come with Me to high places and never stop singing praises over all you have found in the gift of the cross.”
I pray that you are inspired to trust Jesus more in the coming days. May your soul be refreshed as you celebrate the resurrection of Christ.
Happy Easter!
Amy🌻🌻🌻
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This post is a shortened piece that I posted previously.
The beauty of the springtime flowers is breathtaking. Every year, as the wintertime barrenness is overtaken by new life, it simply amazes me. During my walks, I’ve noticed the flowers peeking through the dirt, ready to burst forth.
The plants that were lying dormant were showing signs of life even before the weather changed. The blooms on the trees and flowers were obviously ready and waiting to come alive as soon as the first sign of warmth emerged in the atmosphere.
As I’ve been reflecting on the emerging beauty of the new season, it made me think of the resurrection of Christ and His power to resurrect life out of the barren places in our souls.
Just as the seasons change—the condition of our hearts change when we turn away from those things that deaden our spirits (see Ephesians 4: 22-24).
In my past, there were yucky things embedded in my heart: bitterness, fear, pride, and on and on the list goes. These sins were keeping me from experiencing a beautiful, new life in Christ. The day I realized how simple it is to live fully alive and free in Christ, I received a new heart and never looked back to the past.
Christ died an agonizing death so that we can live abundantly and eternally free from all the things that weigh us down. When we stumble, we can simply pray, “Lord, please forgive me for that mistake.” Then Jesus embraces us in our brokenness, and His reply is always filled with love:
“Yes, beloved one, you are forgiven for every mistake you’ve ever made and every mistake you’ll ever make in the future. Rise up and live with no regrets, and let Me help you walk in the Spirit, free from the grips of sin and shame and doubt and all things that burden your soul.”
As Jesus hung on the cross in agony, He said, “It is finished.” We do not ever have to agonize over our failures or mistakes again.
Are you living in the finished work of the cross?
My prayer is that you will breathe in the loveliness of the springtime flowers and revel in the beauty of Christ’s magnificent gift to mankind.
Have a blessed Easter!
Amy🌻🌻🌻
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This post is a shortened and revised piece that I posted previously in 2015.
Sometimes a person can be sleeping so soundly that it seems nearly impossible to wake them up. During my son’s teen years, he was not easily awakened in the morning. As I tried to wake him by gently tapping on his shoulder, he would grunt and then fall back to sleep. After trying to gently awaken him several times without success, I would bring our very energetic dog, Zoe, into my son’s room. With Zoe jumping on my son’s bed and licking his face, he was abruptly awakened unexpectedly. The memory of waking my son from his deep slumber reminds me of the difficulty of awakening the people who are spiritually asleep.
I believe that there has never been a more important time than now for God’s people to be fully awake. The CHURCH is beginning to arise. However, there are many believers in Christ who are not fully awakened. Many are still living without a sense of urgency for the need of persistent prayer.
We are living in desperate times that require desperate prayers. We don’t need to be afraid. But we need to be alert and fully awake so that we’re prepared for the coming changes in the world. Otherwise, we may become awakened abruptly and quickly in an uncomfortable way.
As I wrote in a previous post, the Lord spoke words to my heart about the future changes. I heard these words in my heart: “Human systems are being broken down so that kingdom systems can be built.” In other words, God is tearing down the systems that are not of His kingdom. As I pondered those words, I thought about the disappointment of people that have placed their hope in the systems built by men. The upcoming days, months, and years will be very disappointing for people who are not spiritually awake and surrendered fully to Christ.
There are signs revealing that Christ’s return could possibly be within a few years. It’s time to shine Christ’s light brighter than ever. It’s time to partner with Christ to help bring a multitude of souls into His kingdom. It’s time to pray with fervency like never before.
Jesus is coming back. Are you ready?
LORD,
Thank You for loving us perfectly. Thank You for pouring out Your Spirit and filling our nation with Your glory. We come to You and humbly repent of the sins that hinder us from doing Your will for our lives. Wake us up from our spiritual slumber and help us live every moment fully awakened in Christ. Awaken us completely and help us keep our eyes continually focused upon You. Help us take our eyes off of the trivial things of this world and let us do the work You’ve called us to do while on the earth. Use us to lead people to Your saving grace and use us to bring hope to people in desperate need. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
My heart yearns for the Lord to return to this broken world and defeat evil. Until Christ returns, I will continue to pray passionately for His perfect will to come forth on the earth.
I trust Jesus with all my heart, and I will not give up praying for evil to be defeated. What an awesome day it will be when all evil is gone forever. Hallelujah.
LORD,
Thank You for being the ONE who makes all things new. Thank You for being our helper in times of trouble. Thank You for being our peace-giver. Thank You for the countless times You have moved mountains that seemed impossible to move. Thank You for being our eternal protector and comforter. You are the calming peace among every storm of life. You are everything we need.
I am lifting up the innocent people of Ukraine to You in prayer. Let the Ukrainian people look to You as their refuge and source of strength. Fill them with hope and peace. Protect the children and civilians as they are seeking to find a safe place.
Keep Your hand upon their nation and bring an end to the violence there. Send an army of angels to defeat the evil forces. Bring the leaders to their knees and let them be guided by Your Holy Spirit so that peace will come forth. Pour out Your Spirit in an unprecedented way and bring revival to God’s people in Ukraine. Let miracles come forth out of the devastation. Let the body of Christ continue to arise in fervent prayer until we see Your kingdom come and Your will be done on the earth as it is in HEAVEN. I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Knowing the depth of Christ’s love for us—especially when we are in a broken state—truly sets us free. His love sets people free from shame, guilt, and condemnation. Knowing how deeply we are loved by Jesus enables us to be strengthened by His Spirit. When we know how deeply we are loved by Christ we experience true peace and joy every day.
God is not disappointed in you and does not want to condemn anyone. There is absolutely no shame in having weaknesses. Whether people like to admit it or not, every single person on the earth has imperfections. We all make mistakes every day. Why would people need a SAVIOR if they were perfect?
Joy oozes out of the soul as we embrace the reality that we are deeply loved and cherished by a gracious Savior.
The words in Galatians 2:20-21 show us that righteousness comes from the Spirit of Christ dwelling within us. Apostle Paul said: “I have been crucified with Christ [that is, in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body I live by faith [by adhering to, relying on, and completely trusting] in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not ignore or nullify the [gracious gift of the] grace of God [His amazing, unmerited favor], for if righteousness comes through [observing] the law, then Christ died needlessly. [His suffering and death would have had no purpose whatsoever.]”
Our freedom in Christ is the beauty of the gospel message. Jesus came and died so that we could live an abundant life and be eternally free from torment. He took the punishment for our sins by dying on the cross for us. There is no pressure to live righteously in our own strength. With the Lord, we are able to walk in His righteousness. We are made righteous as Christ fills us with His Holy Spirit after we place our faith in Him for salvation.
The Bible says that the goodness of God leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4). Knowing how deeply Jesus loves us causes us to fall on our knees in repentance when we sin.
We are free to live abundantly because we have Jesus—the ONE who loves us just as we are in our brokenness. His love is the healing balm and makes us want to change our sinful ways. We can rejoice in knowing that Christ’s light shines brightly and magnificently through the cracks of broken vessels.
Hallelujah.
This year, may you embrace Christ’s love, live FREELY in Christ, and let His light shine in you more brightly than ever. If you have not accepted Christ’s amazing gift of salvation, please join the family of God today. I’m sharing the link for a simple prayer for you:
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