Author: Devon Leondis

the greatest love of all

.Reading time 7 minutes.

Today in NYC I am reminded of the greatest love of all. His love…

Who else grew up LOVING Valentine’s day! I loved bringing in little cards and candies to school and exchanging them with my friends. I loved coming home to seeing my dad bring flowers to us, and see my little brother write cards for my mom. I loved celebrating LOVE! Because it is so good and so awesome and so worthy of being celebrated!

To read my post from last Valentine’s click here!

I love seeing the color of red everywhere, but this month the color red means something different to me than it did in my childhood. This month the color red has been popping everywhere I look. It’s almost like the father is pointing me back to this color for a reason of remeberance of this month dedicated to love. And then I am reminded of the greatest love of all. His love.

Red.

I am reminded of the color of my saviors blood that was shed out of pure and undeserving love for each. one. of. us.

I am reminded of the blood that washed us to be made clean and pure in the eyes of our father.

I am reminded of the blood that was shed for all of humankind. For every race. For every tribe. For every tongue.

I am reminded of the innocent blood that was shed for sinners like us.

I am reminded of the blood that was shed to make a way for us to enter into eternity with God.

I am reminded of the blood that was shed as the only way to the father, and the grace that he displayed for the world by the sacrafice of his one and only son.

I am reminded of the greatest example of love the world has ever seen.

His love does not pick and choose, it isn’t selfish, it’s perfect and it casts out all fear.

There is no fear in his love, the more we know him on deeper and inimate levels the less we fear because of how great he is, and how much we grow in relationship to trust him at all times, through every season of life.

As we celebrate love today I smile because of the love the father has shown me, his love that makes me whole, that sets me free, that washes away all fears, that instills confidence into me knowing that someone laid down their life, just to know me. Wow, I don’t know about you but that is powerful, that kind of love shouldn’t be overlooked or taken lightly.

His love is so great, he is love himself. I was thinking about our father and his love, and wanting to become more like my father is to become more like his love. Don’t you want to exude love in all areas so when someone looks at you, they know whose daugher you are, whose son you are based purely on the love we become in his image! The love that he himself gives us that grows each day, even when we don’t “feel” it. His love doesn’t end, it isn’t selective and he loves at all times. Today I challenge you to become more like our father, to become his love each and everyday. Even when it is really hard, and when we don’t feel love, let us become love, and show love to everyone!

Become the love. Become his love.

I am changed by his love, set free by his love, captivated in the greatness of his love. If you want this too, then I encourage you to enter into a personal relationship with Jesus, the greatest lover of our souls, the one who died just to know you! Because he sees past every mistake, there is no condemnation, he isn’t judging you, he is waiting with his arms open wide for you. He chooses to love us back to wholeness regardless of what we have done wrong.

When he looks at you, he loves you, and all he wants is you! He will never leave you or disappoint you, he will have a plan even when life gets tough, he will hold you close through every trial and storm, he will be the only one that will give you peace and love that will cast all fears of this life away. You can say that prayer today and have him live inside of your heart everyday, changing you into his image as we walk closer and live life with Jesus! It starts by believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth that Jesus is the son of God, he died and rose again, that he is the only way to heaven and he is our salvation!

You are ALL LOVED SO MUCH!

Happy Valentines day!

Love Devon ❤

“We love because he first loved us.”

1 John 4:19

“If we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

1 John 4:12

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”

-Jeremiah 31:3

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reflecting on 23- welcoming t w e n t y. f o u r

.Reading time 18 minutes.

“if the wind goes where you send it, so will I.”

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23

t w e n t y . t h r e e

I’m writing an honest, and difficult post on what 23 really looked like for me.

Last year I turned 23 in the southern part of the African continent. (details coming soon…I promise)

In a nation I never expected to explore, with a migraine stuck in hours of traffic with my head cupped between my hands staring out the window, wondering what the heck God was calling me into, if this was him at all? Looking at scales of poverty I couldn’t wrap my mind around. Thinking about all the other 23-year-old girls out there, how they might be celebrating their birthdays, around a table of friends, blowing out candles on a cute cake, in nice outfits probably heading out to a bar to drink and meet cute guys. And here I was, with a birthday looking a lot different from most other girls my age. And I can’t tell you that wasn’t hard on me, that the realities I was dealing with head on, where thoughts that probably never cross most minds, there I was in the center of. It’s a sacrifice and a blessing that is sometimes is too complex for words. 

I had so. much. doubt. Wondering if this really was God, directing me to this place, with no clear instruction, just traveling on his word GO….with my father pursuing a vision that God gave me. The funny thing is writing this moment with both tears in my eyes and a smile on my face, admiring that twenty-three year old for what she endured, and how things wouldn’t be moving in such an amazing and God ordained direction had I  not followed him at his word GO. Not even knowing that it WAS HIM, and I didn’t have to doubt, but hey, I am human! lol! 

Looking back on this moment, it almost foreshadowed the year to follow. Doubting, wondering, hoping that I was where God needed me to be, slowly knowing I was exactly there, even if I didn’t full understand it myself.

Here’s the thing, this year God called me into walking more blindly into his will for my life. He held his hand out, and asked me Devon, do you trust me? Do you really trust me with your life. I shook my head, pushing the doubts aside, grabbed on tight, and followed him time and time again into the unknown, even at times where I wanted to let go and figure it out myself, I held tight, knowing my father’s ways are higher and better than mine.

This year was possibly one of the hardest years of my life, I had to really learn how to deal with spiritual attacks, keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, all the time, learn that God never leaves us, and works ALL things out for OUR good, even the really nasty and hard situations, where we feel like saying REALLY GOD?

This year was a year of stark contrasts, of dark realities, to miracles, divine connections, provisions and expansion. This year was a contrast from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. It was a year where I had to choose over and over again to not be moved, or shaken, but to remain unshaken, and unmoved in whatever chaos life would bring my way.

It was a year of taking God at his word, and planting my feet firmly onto the promises he gives us as sons an daughters of the King. Bolding proclaiming authority in the name of Jesus over every dark attack set up to take me out, and diminish the passion within me.

My faith was so strengthened through my time being 23, God really worked everything out for good, and what started as the hardest months of my life blossomed into the most beautiful, fruitful and rewarding months where I could confidently look back and smile knowing that God DOES CARE, and DOES HAVE A PLAN, HE IS WORTHY OF OUR PRAISE AT. ALL. TIMES. HE has a plan, always.

Do you trust me? I held onto his hand as he led me out of the trenches into the valleys, climbing along the mountaintop, and finally reaching the top with the most colorful and beautiful views, where your perspective of it all begins to shift. You can stand besides him and see each lesson he walked you through along the way. I could see how each hardship strengthened my identity and my purpose, my passion and my faith, and my trust.

I could see the purpose of praising him in the “in between” those awkward transitional moments where you just have to praise him, because the victory comes through our praise, the victory of overcoming and breaking through, the breakout into new levels of identity and authority.

I stand at the top and look at my journey, each step, each tear, each smile, and frustration and see my father who lead me at his word, and spoke love and promises over me each and every step. From early mornings in Ghana, to sunsets in Kenya, petting cheetahs in South Africa, to worshipping God until 1 am with an awesome community in New York City, to long train rides in the Ukrainian countryside to the cobble stone streets in Greece, this was the year of adventure!

My life has changed so much since that day one year ago. I am so grateful for this journey that keeps unfolding each day. As I look up from the mountaintop, I can’t see far, I don’t know if I will continue to climb up, down, across, or where he sends me next, but I know adventuring with him is greater than my wildest imagination, and it is worth laying down our wants and dreams at his feet, to trade it in for what he has. That inheritance he longs to give his children, but can’t until we lay ourselves and hearts at his altar.

I find myself standing in front of others, speaking about this crazy adventure God has for you when you say YES! It’s something that isn’t new to me, but I stand there speaking with boldness and authority having really stood and test, and I KNOW that I can take my God for his word, he is faithful, he is good, he is worthy of following into the unknown, always. And that isn’t to say it isn’t easy, and you won’t sacrifice a lot, or at times everything, but it is so worth it. It is worth it all. Standing having walked through it all in such a deep and real way, a way that only God would have gotten me through, and I can stand there with a smile on my face, tell others it is worth it, to adventure and do life with God.

This year had so many amazing and beautiful moments so powerful they changed my life as I know it today. God has brought more like-minded people into my life to love and support me than ever before. People who have hearts like mine who live to see heaven on earth and inspire me daily by their walks of obedience. This year was a year that God broke my heart for the nations. Devon what do you mean… the nations? I will explain. I got to chance to travel around the world and meet so many amazing people, children and hear stories that I will hold as treasures close to my heart forever. These are the keepsakes from each trip, a story in my journal, a testimony I wrote about, a photo I have or a memory that I can see when I close my eyes.

From meeting gypsy children in the streets of Greece which propelled me to travel to Ukraine to spend time in gypsy camps which broke my heart. Heart is the word that sticks out from my time in Ukraine, God’s heart is surely found in each face of this nation.

Spending time with orphans in Kenya who completely shattered my heart and I saw such hope, love and freedom. Freedom is the word that sticks out for my time in Kenya.

My time in Ghana, with my kids, loving them, watching them blossom into future leaders of Africa, bonds that will never break and bonds that will last a lifetime. Whenever I feel down, or discouraged I look at what God has done and what he continues to do in the lives all around me, it brings a smile to my face, and instills hope into the deepest parts of my soul, it reminds me of what we are called to do. Live and love for others, the way Christ lived and loved for us. The word that sticks out for my year in Ghana was BREAKTHROUGH. This was a major year of breakthrough for me, the children, staff and project. It is amazing to watch it grow!

I went to the Call and RISE UP in DC and that weekend impacted me ways I can’t explain. wow! It was so amazing, meeting new friends and being ignited with the fire of God for this revival we will see on earth! The word that sticks out for that is NATIONS, and RISE UP.

For all the chances I got to speak the word that sticks out is PURPOSE. God has a purpose for each and every one. A story different and unique for all of us. We are each called to live higher purposes and my desire is to see a generation chase after God’s heart wholeheartedly into HIS purpose for us.

This year God really placed certain nations on my heart and he gave me such a burden for my generation.  I have a heart to see my generation passionate about God and about chasing him into the unknown, giving up everything that is keeping us from his heart, that we WOULD be a generation that would rise up into the fullness of who God is calling us to be, ignited by the fire and love of God!

For me here are the words that stick out for my growth this year.

BREAKTHROUGH. OVERCOMING. DAUGHTER AUTHORITY. NATIONS. FULLNESS. PURPOSE. DESTINY. REVIVAL. GENERATION

but the word generation rings the loudest in my ear…

23 was a year of transition, a year of hearing God on louder and clearer levels

a year of increased dreams and visions

a year of renewed passion that has ignited my soul on fire

a year of new callings

a year of heart breaking for new nations

a year of expanded vision

a year of adventure, life changes and wonderful surprises

a year to treasure

a year to remember

a year to thank God, and to never forget

a year where I grew more than I would’ve imagined.

a year that was made beautiful by many faces, stories and people God has added to my life, beautiful people I cherish.

a year where I took his hand, and followed him up to the mountaintop appreciating each beauty and the climb it took to get there.

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105

What if I gave up? What if I threw it away, and wanted to do life my way, because it got hard, then I wouldn’t be entering into the fullness of who I was called to be. I would have missed the blessings that followed the obedience of walking and trusting him. I would have missed the view at the top, and all the intimate conversations and times in my secret place, with new revelations that strengthened my faith.

I want to encourage everyone that God will work it out for your good, take him at his word, and follow him into the unknown, adventure with the greatest King of all, and delight in the peace that only he can offer, not the peace the world offers, the peace that will make you unshaken and unmoved in the chaos of this life.

I want to thank each and everyone reading, who made 23 so special for me, who encouraged me each step whether it was a hug, a prayer, an email or phone call. Thank you for adventuring with me, thank you for reading along the way and supporting me!

Let’s see what 24 will bring, I look forward to bringing you with me through this crazy adventure with God, who knows where I will celebrating in a year from today, what lessons I would have learned, and where my feet would have stepped!

 h e r e ‘ s

t o

t w e n t y     f o u r 

may this be another year of following God blindly into the unknown!

“I can see Your heart in everything You say
Every painted sky
A canvas of Your grace
If creation still obeys You so will I
So will I
So will I
If the stars were made to worship so will I
If the mountains bow in reverence so will I
If the oceans roar Your greatness so will I
For if everything exists to lift You high so will I
If the wind goes where You send it so will I
If the rocks cry out in silence so will I
If the sum of all our praises still falls shy
Then we’ll sing again a hundred billion times”

– So Will I, Hillsong United.

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What compels you to be alive? 

.Reading time 3 minutes.

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Does anyone else feel like 2018 is moving really quickly?

This year has movement on it, you can feel God breathing a new wind through it.

There is something new that he is doing. I continue to feel the Lord say it is time to step out and step in. I shared this in a past blog post. This is the year to step out of everything that has held you back for too long. It is time to confidently step into what God is calling you towards.

Compel. This is a word that God has placed on my heart, a word that seems to play on repeat through the most recent days.

What compels you to be alive? 

….

What compels you to get out of bed everyday? What compels you to stand up for, or fight against? What compels you to be alive?

I pray this is a year that we will be so compelled into God’s heart, and his calling upon our lives, as we embark on new assignments  and journeys, ones that we might have NEVER expected. It’s the new thing he is doing within us! But he needs our action and our yes, he needs our trust and obedience, he needs us to step into what he has waiting for us on the other side. Trading it in for something much better.

Would this be a year of new things, surprises, trust, and faith that walks blindly after his heart, trusting him every step into the unknown. I am praying for all of you that 2018 will be one of your best years yet. I feel like this year especially God is looking for the ones who will walk by faith! Who trust EVERYTHING in his the palms of his great and wonderful hands. He is looking for those souls who are compelled to chase after his heart with every fiber of our beings. This would be a year to leave every fear, doubt, and insecurities in the past and JUMP into what he has, no looking back, just walking confidently into the future he has promised us not by sight but through faith.

” I will walk by faith even when I cannot see.” 2 Corinthians 5:7

So, what is God compelling you towards? Take the jump, take the leap of faith!

You are all loved, have a great weekend 🙂

Dev!

Seeds and ripple effects

.Reading time 8 minutes.

I’m currently sitting in the airport in Orlando Florida, amazed, humbled and excited to see how God continues to grow and expand this vision, bringing new faces and lives into it for his glory.

I was invited to speak at a middle school in Orlando last year and came not knowing what would come of it. The kids reacted to my story in such a sincere and powerful way it left them and their amazing faculty saying what more can we do? It almost served of a call to action as I shared my story starting with taking a small step of faith to Africa for the first time to visit the wells not knowing what would come of it.

I visited the school and spoke getting time to spend time with the students. I am completely blown away by their compassion and the way it has lead them, hearing from them I have no doubt God is raising up mighty leaders coming from this school in Orlando who are fostered by faculty that truly love, encourage and support their students. You can feel it, and you can see the fruits of their labor in the lives and hearts of their students.

These kids decided that they were not too young to make a difference, so they planned for a walk for a well! Hoping, some doubting if they could raise 5,000 for a larger water system, through the hard work of parents, students and faculty who were passionately committed to help change lives through the love of Christ they raised 3 times the original amount!!!

3 times what they planned for!!!

That is our God, he does more and more and more!!! We cannot out-give our father when we give to things that please him. Today I had the chance to travel back, speak and see the students who are clearly a generation of world changers. We heard from one of the middle schoolers who shared how he wasn’t sure if they could do it and they did way above anyone imagined! He spoke on behalf of his peers and was proud that a group of middle schoolers have the chance to make a difference in the world and they did it! For the glory of God. He spoke about their chance to be kind and generous to change lives and represent Christ.

I shared what the Lord put on my heart, how humbled I was to see the continuous ripple effects of this once small vision. I spoke of the seeds they each have planted, how one day they will stand before the Lord and see from the other side the lives that were transformed through their response to a call to make a difference. I encouraged them that this seed they planted for the glory of God will never stop growing, and the effects it will have for Gods kingdom is unlike anything they could imagine!

Other groups and schools heard about this and now are starting to say well if they did it, we can too! This group in Florida is sparking a movement among the youth to be a generation of world changers! Their actions inspired other groups of young people! Their response is sparking a movement, and the beautiful part is they probably don’t even realize that.

I spoke to them saying they should never forget this moment in their lives and should allow it to pave the path of planting seeds for Gods kingdom in all that they do, to whatever he calls them. Would you be a generation that responds? Would you be a generation that cares enough to make a difference for God’s glory.

I’m honestly humbled sitting here seeing how God will NEVER stop growing and expanding this vision, and as time goes more people rally around this vision and uplift and support what started with an adventure to Africa with my dad, no thoughts of what God had in store for us.

When you say YES to God get ready because it will be much more than what you could ever imagine, it’s far wilder than any dream you have, and it’ll never stop growing for his glory. It starts with a step.

My dad also traveled with me and he spoke and thanked everyone who was involved. He told the students that when he looked out at the group of young people he saw Devon. What he meant was he saw some young person who had a hunger and desire to make a difference, he encouraged them to tell their story, share what God has done through their efforts and hard work, not knowing what will come of this! Tell their story and realize the impact they have created.

It’s amazing to see the ripple effects and how more and more young people are catching this vision, it’s inspiring and exciting to be on this God adventure, one in which is much wilder than anything I could have ever imagined!!

To say yes to God and to surrender your wants, hopes and dreams to him, just see what he will do! It will blow your mind.

This is a simple reminder seeing a group of young people in Orlando Florida make a difference, it’s so exciting to see how they were a group that responded to a call in which was presented to them.

God is SO good and he longs to do good deeds for humankind, he is just looking for the ones who will say YES! Let’s be those people today, tomorrow and forever because he is worthy of everything we can offer and surrender to him!

If you told me all that would have followed that trip to Ghana almost eight years ago I would have NEVER believed you, but that is OUR God! Looking out at the many young faces with hopes and dreams of their own I am reminded of all the lives that will be like flaming arrows in the hands of the Lord, the lives that lay it down in his hands, saying wherever you send me, I’m in your hands, not knowing where it’ll land, just knowing it’s greater than what they could imagined. A generation of world changers sat before me today. I am so thankful for each one of them.

Thanks for reading, you are all loved!

Time to leave the sunshine and head back to the cold!! Lol

Dev

here i will be, until he calls me to go

.Reading time 13 minutes.

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It has been two months, since I have called this place my new home.

New York City

and until the Lord calls me out, or to go , here I will be, here I will stay.

I trust him, even when I didn’t want to,

getting to this exact point wasn’t easy.

From red dirt roads, to shining lights and busy streets, this is where I will be.

I too had to learn again to let go and trust him, even when it was really hard.

I remember saying “goodbye” to the kids until I returned a few months later, and will always go to and from Africa, but in that moment, on my end it was the closing of my year living in Africa. A significant and sobering moment for me. 

Holding myself together as the kids each wanted to roll my luggage and throw it into the back of the van. Climbing in asking if they could come with me to America. Holding onto my hands, wrapped themselves around me, goodbye. Looking into their little eyes, sparkling with life and joy, radiating light. Hearing their little voices say “Auntie Devon, when do you come back?” 

As hard and devastating moment that was, I saw a glimpse of why God even called me to this nation years ago. The prayers I prayed as a young child, each standing before me, a name, a face, a story, a salvation, a future. A nation changed stood before me in the form of young faces and bright eyes with hopes to become something they once never imagined. 

The faces of tomorrow, the dreamers, silence breakers, world changers. There they stood. God’s children who were once lost, and now found, there they stood. Healed and transformed through his love.

I caught a glimpse of this purposeful life I speak about, seeing a small bit of the fruit of a year loving on children who became my own when there was nothing I could offer but love, and knew that if this is all God had called me here to do, I was amazed, but I know there is more, a lot more! 

Being strong for them, waving to their little faces until the car drove up the hill and turned on the main road, I started sobbing the whole ride to the airport with my face cupped in between my hands. Gazing out the window to see the sun rise and give the orange dirt roads a golden glow, the very dirt roads that felt like home the first time I stepped foot on them 7 years ago. My heart was breaking, it felt like it was being ripped out and torn apart, telling myself this, God I trust you.

God I trust you.

I trust you.

I trust you with my life, even when it doesn’t make sense to me.

Trust you into the unknown.

I’d like to think I had a back and forth with God about this. I wanted to hold onto each and every memory and moment. Wanting them to last forever, which they will, but he needed me elsewhere and I needed to be obedient to what he was calling me, because there is NO place I would rather be than the center of his will for my life. That doesn’t mean easy, or it doesn’t make sense sometimes on paper, but if God calls, he needs our action, he needs our movement. He needs our yes.

So here we go,

Moving, again.

I went to Africa with this mindset. I will be here as long as the Lord needs me. It could be a month, it could be 2 years. Either way I am here until he gives me a clear signal that it is time to go home, until he sends me out again.

That sign, it came in July.

For months I prayed, and waited, waited upon the Lord wondering when he would answer this question. I felt overwhelmed, and didn’t want to figure it out on my own. I didn’t want to make a decision in my own strength. I wanted this to be clearly of the Lord.

I was in Kenya in July, that was a hearing trip for me. I heard clearly from the Lord it was time to now go back to New York City. This was confirmed by many others.

I struggled at first because I wanted to hold onto my time in Ghana, but I felt the grace that he had given me for this part of my life was lifting, it wasn’t as “easy” as it once was. I felt myself getting annoying sitting in hours of traffic just to get a simple task done, I found myself not being able to deal with the lack of power and constant humidity, when there were months I didn’t even think about it or seem to mind it. I started to get frustrated that I couldn’t just pick up the phone and hear my parents voices when I felt I needed to. These things that God had given me grace to was starting to lift. What that means is he is starting to shake you out of where you have been because he is bringing you somewhere brand new.

Somewhere different. I look back on those days, the most joyful and challenging days of my life. I know that was not something I did in my own strength, that was all his grace that was made perfect in all my weaknesses.

Grace is simply this, a simple person doing what they could never do through God’s strength. This is what it all comes down too. Grace.

So then what?

I bought my plane ticket and started to prepare for my last few weeks living there. This isn’t something I have closed the door on, in my eyes this is a season, a chapter that the most perfect author has written, God needed me there in that exact time frame for a reason, he was preparing me for where he has placed me now, and until he calls me to go or move, here I will be, waiting and trusting his ways are higher than mine.

I had different things presented to me but I felt strongly that New York City was where God was calling me. That is all I knew and I trusted him.

There was a time where I really reconsidered not coming back, and staying there. My love for the nation and children hasn’t left, the calling is still there, but I want to share with you a little secret, you can be called to Africa, and that calling doesn’t mean you have to drop everything and move there forever and ever and ever( and if you do that is wonderful too)  you can be called to Africa and never even step foot there, but God has placed a burden so strongly on your heart where even your prayers are changing nations and people’s lives.

Callings look so different. Don’t think you can’t be called somewhere if you don’t permanently move there. I think of people like Katie Davis, who is called to Africa, I think of my dad who has never lived there but has a strong calling placed upon on his life with a heart and burden for orphans in Africa. I’ve learned that those burdens and hearts are the fathers, he gives us his heart for what breaks his, and he will give you a heart and burden for what he needs you to do, because if you weren’t moved, you probably wouldn’t care, and not caring is not doing or taking action! So God calls to different nations and cities and places, because his light needs to shine in the darkness! He needs to reach everyone, so we all have a heart for what he has given us! It is a blessing 🙂

So, I really had to trust him with what he was calling me back to. I needed a heart for this new place, this new city, I needed a heart because I know He is always going to use you wherever he sends you.

Last year, I was in the city, and said to the Lord, “God if I never get to live here, its okay, I surrender even this dream to you.”

Here I am, a year later, and NYC is my new home, I love following his steps, he never gives us the full picture, but he calls us, and he wants us to step out, again and again and again.

I think about all that God has done in my first 2 months in the city, and I think about how I would have missed out if I choose in my own strength to stay. I know God is growing and expanding this to change even more lives both in America and Africa and beyond for his glory.

So right now, on this day, he needs me here in NYC for such a time as this. There is a lot that I will be praying about to share with you!

If God is calling you and he only gives you a little bit, take it and trust him for the rest. I love how grand things can only start with small steps of trust and obedience. Big things never start with big things, they start with small steps and complete trust in who is directing their steps!

Obeying his will and knowing our father has the best for us in mind, better than we can imagine, even when we aren’t sure. It is easy for us to doubt but when God says go, we go in his name! Because when we know who our father is, we trust him with our lives.

“See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland.”

Isaiah 43:19

 

Have a wonderful weekend

you are all loved,

Dev

 

 

impact, legacy and love

.Reading time 4 minutes.

Impact. Legacy. Love.

These three words keep resurfacing to my mind. They remind me of what truly matters in life.

At the dedication ceremony the night the Village of Hope opened Terry Meeuwsen shared something I will never forget and I quoted her in this blog post. And just like I said in that blog post I will say it again, it will truly never leave me. And I will share it again today. The best investment we can make…

 It’s not enough to make a lot of money, it’s not enough to live in big houses. You want to leave your mark on the world and I admire that, that is a God call on your life. 

The world will have loud voices that will try to deter you from that, don’t listen.

Because the only game in town that matters, is the game that touches lives. You see none of these things we have not our clothing, not our houses, not our possessions, we don’t get to take any of it with us. There’s only one thing we get to take, other people. So you have the opportunity to invest in something of eternal significance. Not everybody gets that. 

This is what it all comes down too, leaving an impact for Jesus and leaving a legacy for Jesus and what he has called us to do. To play our small parts in this earth to fill it with his glory. To love others, and spend our lives sharing the love of Christ with everyone he leads us too. We don’t all have to go to Africa, but we all have the chance to love, create impact and leave a legacy. We all have the chance to invest in what truly matters.

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I think of my father and the love he has for people. He just radiates love, and everyone loves him back. It is so natural and so inspiring to see. He embodies Christ’s love and he already has made such a powerful impact on this world for the kingdom, I am excited to continue see God use him. An example and mentor that I am blessed enough to call dad.

 

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This women and her heart. Her love alone has left an impact that rings throughout the world and continues to change and uplift so many vulnerable lives for God’s glory.

To fall more in love with Christ is to become more like him, and when Christ is love, we become the love of Christ and other’s will see that inside of us. Each one of us has the ability and chance to create impact somewhere in our world, even our own homes and families. We have a chance to leave a legacy for his glory and kingdom and a chance to spend our lives loving the one who gave everything for us.

Be blessed today.

you are loved! you WILL create impact and leave legacy in his name!

Dev

Step out, and step IN

.Reading time 4 minutes.

I keep hearing the voice of the Lord, say

“Step out and Step IN”

I just wrote a Facebook post that said ” Step OUT and step INTO what God is calling you to, now is the time!”

and the Lord said, well write a blog post about it! So… here I am feeling almost confident this is a confirmation many of you have been waiting for, before you step out, almost making sure this is of the Lord, I am here to say… IT IS! If this is something that has been stirring within you for the past couple of months, but you haven’t had the green light, now is the time! God says go, the time is NOW!

I hope this serves as a confirmation to many of you. For those of you are holding back from a place of doubt, fear or insecurity that is NOT from the Lord. That is coming from the enemy trying to hold back what the Lord is breathing inside of you, that new direction, the new ministry, path, idea, passion, now is the time. Now is the time to Step out of yourself and fear, and step into who God is and what he is calling into.

Now is the time, now is the appointed time for the new thing God is birthing inside of you, it is time, and do not stay in fear, but boldly step with that the one word God spoke to you, and he will take you from there, but he needs you to step OUT first.

It requires our action, devotion and love. Undivided devotion is what the Lord is looking for in his people now more than every before. He is looking for the ones whose hearts are undivided so he can use them so powerfully in these days we find ourselves in. But it requires our action of trusting that he will do what he says he will do, AND MORE, much more than anything we can ask, seek, hope or imagine for. Because he is who he says he is, and he has much MUCH MORE than we can even imagine.

So, throw your fears out the window and take that next step, now is the time! He is pleased at your undivided devotion just to be with him, just to trust him and be used unto his glory. He is well pleased with individuals such as these!

You are ALL Loved,

Devon

Joshua 1:9

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

2 Timothy 1:7

“For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

John 15:16

“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.”

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.”

James 1:22

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Philippians 4:13

“I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

 

all it takes is one encounter

.Reading time 8 minutes.

All it takes is one encounter to experience Jesus, and be transformed through his radical love, all it takes is one encounter.

I don’t believe this is by a “feeling” and if you do feel something that is wonderful but the bible tells us it is by faith, not feeling.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Ephesians 2:8-9

I think of Paul, what Paul experienced was a radical encounter with Jesus Christ that changed his life FOREVER, and our lives as we know it.

Paul wrote so much of the new testament and his knowledge came from that personal revelation through person relationship with Jesus Christ and knowing and experiencing his love!

Paul actually was persecuting christians…. can we stop for am minute here! He was in a position to kill other believers, KILL THEM …and then he has ONE encounter with Jesus and EVERYTHING CHANGES!

Talk about RADICAL TRANSFORMATION!

One encounter, changes everything! I love how after that encounter Paul spent his life seeking the Lord, expanding his kingdom and preaching his word to everyone he could, because he knew his savior and had a deep knowledge of his love. That one encounter and he spent the rest of his days following and leading many to Christ.

Jesus appears to Saul (later Paul) in a vision!

” Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?” Who are you Lord? Saul asked. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, he replied. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what to do.”

Acts 9: 4-6

That deep knowledge of love changes everything. Because when we KNOW we are changed forever.

When we have knowledge of who we are it is SO POWERFUL!

I am praying this is a year of RADICAL encounters that will change everything for us.

I think of a boy in our home in Ghana. He was treated terribly his entire life, people spoke curses over him, they told him what he would never become, he told him he would never amount to anything, he was hopeless and lost. He was angry and confused. One Sunday he has an encounter with Jesus and surrenders his life to him. He is saved, and he is a new creation. I see how one encounter with Jesus has not just changed but TRANSFORMED this young mans life. He speaks of becoming a pastor, and he is a natural leader and people are drawn to follow what he does or says, what used to be something bad, God tuned to good and now at the age of 15 he is walking in love, leading in compassion and sharing the love he once NEVER knew and now freely SHARES with ALL of the people who cross his path.

He is the one to ask the tough questions being lead by compassion to help others. It is so moving. When I look at this young man, I see a man of God who carriers love and compassion. He is a new creation through one encounter of Jesus Christ.

He is made a new creation, just like Paul. Radical love, and knowledge that we are so loved by a savior who died just to know us, and not just to know us and make a way into heaven but to have heaven living inside of us, so that we carry his spirit, love and light and bring the kingdom of heaven down to earth.

TRANSFORMATION

change, alteration, mutation, conversion, metamorphosis, transfiguration, transmutation

These words also help draw on how we are made new creations once we invite Christ into our hearts and surrender our lives to him, through an encounter.

I am praying this is a year of radical encounters where we are changed and transformed by the power of his love. I feel God moving so powerfully swiftly this year, he is doing a new thing and he is turning hearts back to him! He is calling names back home into his kingdom. This is a year of GOD!

And christians can I challenge you to bring that love with you wherever you are, wherever you go. Would you stop for a cleaning lady, a taxi or an uber driver, would you share the love of Christ with waitresses or delivery men. Would you not let anyone cross your path without having a chance to know and experience his amazing, life changing love. I am praying for you that God would even use us in our day-to-day routine to make time for that one that we might pass and not consider. That these encounters would not just happen in churches but in our day-to-day routine. I am praying for you and waiting to see what God will do this year. He is on the move big time!

And if you are new here, and you are wondering what I am talking about, and how someone like Saul could be forgiven for killing christians, that is the reckless love of Jesus Christ our savior. His blood was shed for each person, all over the world, he actually became our sin, so that when he took it to the grave it would stay there, so we would be made clean by his blood and we do not have to pay the price of sin, rather have eternal life, because we are blames and holy in his sight. When we pray the salvation pray we are made new just like Saul, we are forgiven and we are loved! P.s. you are loved even before you pray this prayer.

You are loved, you are loved, you are loved, God loves you!

Today is the day for salvation, do not wait another day, you can have the relationship with Jesus TODAY!!! Start by asking for forgiveness of your sins, declare with your mouth by believing in your heart that Jesus died and rose again and is the way the truth and the life, that you can enter into eternity today because he made a way for you. If you prayed this prayer you are a new creation!! Praise God.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” 2 Corinthians 5:17

Blessing and love,

Dev