Category: Sharing stories…

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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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

sorry… we are SOLD OUT

.Reading time 18 minutes.

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COMPLETELY SOLD OUT!

on Jesus, for Jesus!

I believe 2017 was one of the most TRYING years for the body of christ, not just me personally. For each one of you saying “How long oh Lord will this last” 

and as we asked, waited, endured, and wondered “how long” and we faced and warred against trials designed to knock us out. Yes I said it schemes from the enemy that were created to KNOCK US OUT…

Take courage because YOU stood firm and were not moved God is going to move quickly and powerfully for you all the days 2018. You stood firm and your faith was strengthened in each trial, and know we can have a new appreciation for how even in times that were trying God as STILL making new wine through the pressing.

1 Corinthians 16:13

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong.”

I say 2018 is a year of OVERFLOW and excess. It is time to lay down our vision for this year and trade it in for supernatural vision, for vision from the Lord to see past the things of this world and see into his plans for us.

It is time where the Lord will turn things around, he is turning it right now, and every trial you endured prepared you for these very days that we are living in.

So my friends, my brothers and sisters BE EXCITED!!!

Philippians 1:6

” being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to competition until the day of Jesus Christ.”

That means, our best days are ahead of us!

It is time to be sold out to God to the point that if he asked us or moves in us, we don’t even have to doubt because we are SOLD OUT on loving and trusting and knowing our father that we don’t even have to worry! We just say yes!

If we know our father and love him, we trust our everything in his hands.

The promises are yes in Christ!

2 Corinthians 1:20

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.”

COMPLETE SURRENDER

wholehearted  DEVOTION TO FOLLOW GOD

BEING SOLD OUT TO HIS WILL!! BECAUSE HE IS THAT GOOD

I am praying for a spirit of Caleb to fall fresh upon the body of Christ because he wholeheartedly followed God. Full devotion, no doubt, full trust in God and his word.

Jeremiah 29:13

“You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

If God told him to move, he moved, he didn’t look around at the natural, because he knew who his father is, he knew that the Lord would surely protect and do what he said he would do. All Caleb and Joshua had to do was WALK IN IT and leave the rest to God! God needs us to move so that he can work through us.

Numbers 14:24

“But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.”

You see Caleb and Joshua trusted and moved on God’s spoken word because God said it. Their generation was marching in fear because their eyes were fixed on their circumstances and natural surroundings, when God is saying LOOK AT ME! Let us be like Caleb and Joshua when the masses are marching in fear and surroundings. Let our gaze be every fixed upon the Lord and HIS WORD that we are firmly planted! Let us follow him with our WHOLE HEART. Let’s take our eyes off the natural and look to the supernatural! Our God.

2 Corinthians 12:9

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.” 

I love how whole heartedly can also mean unqualified in the terms of the world, that God might be asking us to step out into things that the world labels “unqualified” on us. God equips us, he isn’t looking for qualifications he is looking for a yes that comes from a heart that loves him, that wholeheartedly seeks his face in all that they do.

Because Caleb wholeheartedly followed and loved the Lord, the Lord blessed him.

I want to be sold out, completely to the point that whatever God asks of me in 2018 I will do because his word is where my feet stand firm, his glory is revealed through my weakness. That people would see “this could only be God.” I honestly think I was “unqualified” for a lot of what God has done through me at this point in my life, that is why HE GETS ALL THE GLORY. His strength is made PERFECT in MY weakness. Even Jesus we who are desire to be like surrendered to his father’s will. If Jesus is the perfect example and even Jesus surrendered to his father’s will, we should do out of a place of whole heart devotion, love and trust because our father holds a will just for our lives.

Luke 22:42

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

You know I struggled to write and read when I was younger, I was so insecure about it. I used to hide behind books and pretend I was reading in fear that someone might call on me to speak up. I struggled to write. And while everyone around me excelled, my teacher at the time spoke over me lies and said things that I couldn’t be able to be good at. Eventually I caught up and caught up quite quickly to the point I was reading at a 6th grade level in 3rd grade. I remember a very special women who played a role in helping me read, looked at me and said look what you can do! You are reading above the level that the teachers spoke over you. And there, BAM it hit me! In third grade, my greatest insecurity or what the world would say my weakness, where teachers and classmates spoke over what I wasn’t and what I could not be good at, was quite the opposite, that area my weakness was made perfect in the Lord’s strength. And the Lord changed the “couldn’t” to can in the name of Jesus.

I share this story because the very thing that you might be most insecure about, or shy away from because a lie was spoken over what you cannot do, I am here to speak the opposite and break that over you in the name of Jesus. And that very thing might JUST BE the greatest area that God will display his strength in your life for his glory.

So be ready, we are moving into great days! Since I started this blog it has been read in over 80 countries!!! Wow I never imagined I would make friends and have readers from all over from 6 of the 7 continents. So welcome!! I never imagined when I started this little blog sitting on my back porch writing my first post called “home” that God would use it to reach people all over the world! It feels like God has done SO MUCH since that day, it feels like a different girl that sat under the sunset writing my first post, not knowing where this journey would take me, and how look at what the Lord has done! I love how God multiples what he does in our lives, but first we need to just step out and say yes! I remember feeling resistant to start this blog the year leading up to it! AN ENTIRE YEAR…then the holy spirit nudged me to start, and I was scared of who would judge me or be reading behind the other side of the screen, and then I felt vulnerable, and sometimes still do, not knowing who is pointing fingers or only reading to make fun of me or call me a Jesus freak… but I chose peace and purpose over that fear, and know I am NOT writing a blog to attract followers or please man. If I did my reward would be on earth, and I’d never please everyone, and after trying and trying to I’d waste my time! No I am writing for an audience of ONE! Jesus, the one who called me to step out and write, so I write for his glory and see what he does with it and who joins me from the other side of the screen from all ends of the earth!

I love you all and will start praying for God to move in your nations, because he has been stirring my heart for the nations like never before!! And wherever you are reading from whether it is Jordan, Algeria, India, Peru, China, Philippines, Israel, Uganda, Bahrain, Russia, Brazil, Canada, Norway or South Africa!!!! God is going to USE YOU MIGHTILY in these days! Wow just typing some of these nations gets me excited, I wish I could hug each one of you and hear how God is moving in your life and in your nation! Pray for your government and your leaders wherever you are in this world that God has created. Be excited. WOW, wow!

Psalm 105: 1

“Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done.”

I also wanted to share that don’t think that you need to be in full-time ministry to be used by the Lord. Don’t believe that lie either, God has strategically placed you in your exact location to be a light wherever  you are. You carry influence in your streets, your cities, your offices, your countries in the name of Jesus.

Whatever city, state, nation or job. Let your light shine before men, let others see the love you carry, and let them be drawn to Christ inside of you. If you aren’t carrying the love and walking in love wholeheartedly seeking God they might not want what you have, because “what you say you have” might not look attractive in their eyes.

Walk in love and love where you are, see how things will change when you start to declare “I love my job” over the atmosphere, even if you don’t believe it, speak it out, your words matter! Speak it out over your cities and nations!

THIS IS NOT THE YEAR TO DULL DOWN OR BE ASHAMED!

Romans 1:16

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

You have been given influence in your sphere of influence. Whatever job you have, don’t demise it, be encouraged because God is using you to speak life into the location you are, and to let your light shine into the darkness around you. God needs his people in all areas and fields of life. Where there is light darkness cannot hide. You carry love and you are a changer of the atmosphere around you, so do not think you are not where God needs you! Stay planted, but be ready to move out if he gives you a chance to! Whether that is a location change, or job promotion.

With all that being said, God has put a word on my heart for my generation. I am praying about how to share this word whether that is in the form of a video on social media, so can you join me in prayer that God will make this SO CLEAR! Will you join me that God gets this message in front of those who need it the most.

And if you are new here, and you are wondering who Jesus is, you can say a pray TODAY for salvation so you can know with confidence where you will spend eternity. The bible tells us salvation is today, not to wait another day! You will be made a new creation, and the old will go. You start by confessing your sins and believing in your heart and confessing with your mouth that Jesus died and rose again after three days, you can invite him into your heart, and there he will dwell.

2 Corinthians 6:2

For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.”

Romans 10:9

“Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

If you have questions about this, feel free to email me!

Blessings and love

TODAY is the day for salvation.

you are loved,

Dev

Ephesians 3:20

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,”

 

a burden for the nations

.Reading time 7 minutes.

I have felt a burden placed on my heart and in my spirit over the past few months for the nations. For the forgotten people groups around the world. The people groups that are being sold into slavery today in our modern word, the groups that are being innocently massacred by evil and unjust people. I feel the desire to just go. I know this might not be the right time, I trust my God. I will stand in the gap and pray for them. I might not see them with my physical eyes, but my God does. He sees his children, in every nation, in every tribe, who speak every tongue. He is close to the broken-hearted. I don’t know what the Lord is calling you to. I don’t know what God is stirring up within your heart. Maybe it is the modern-day slave trade in Libya, maybe it is the refugees in Syria, or South Sudan. Maybe it is the millions of people who go hungry everyday. Maybe it is the Rohingya people group that are getting innocently massacred in Myanmar that have to flee as unwanted refugees to other nations. I don’t know if this something you even care about. I believe that many people do, because God is calling them to.

” Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God.” Psalm 62:6-7

Today was one of those days where you just want to go. You know you can’t so you pray. You pray without even having words to phrase what the spirit is moving you too. I prayed with such a burden for these forgotten people groups. We might not see them, but God does, we might not hear their cries, but he hears them, he sees them and one day he will bring justice to them. I believe that we are moving into a new year where God is pouring out a desire and heart for the nations for his people. Whether he calls us to go or stand in the gaps praying for the rights and salvation, and freedoms. I believe that people are having “new things” placed within their hearts. These desires, and dreams are being unleashed from heaven. We are being called to the nations, to pray for the nations. To be aware of what is happening to our brothers and sisters around the world. You might not think your prayers matter, you may not think praying for people you haven’t seen or met will make a difference, but it does. Your prayers have power and your prayers can change nations! So pray if you feel this burden, don’t underestimate the power of prayer that God has given us. If God has laid a nation in particular or almost highlighted it to you, pray for that nation. If God has done that with a certain people group, pray for that very people group. We have the honor to come before the throne of Heaven and lay down what  the Lord has placed on our hearts, even if it is nations, that are oceans away. There is no distance in the spirit, we can pray and stand besides these people and say no more. We can pray that the enemy be removed from these places because Jesus has died for the nations. He has already won for the nations, it is already done, so can we pray with this in mind. That is already done and we have the victory.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

As I prayed with this burden for the suffering and forgotten in the nations not knowing if God is calling me to go, or just to stand in the gap and say I see them too. I feel the father’s heart for his children even though if I am not physically with them. As I prayed I was led to read Psalm 10. This Psalm almost explains how I was feeling and what is happening to these innocent people around the world.

Psalm 10 17-18

“You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted; you encourage them, and you listen to their cry, defending the fatherless and the oppressed, so that merely earthly mortals will never strike terror.”

If you feel this way, or just want to say I may not see, but I am committing to pray alongside my brothers and sisters around the world because I believe God’s love is the same for all. I believe this breaks our fathers heart and this is not what he wants. I am committing to set aside time to remember and pray these forgotten people groups. Thank you for allowing me to be open with you, I really appreciate it and am praying this post inspires just one heart to have a desire to pray for the nations, to stand in the gaps and to speak justice, light and freedom into the darkest, most dangerous places in the world, knowing that our prayers are heard and will be answered even if we do not know in this lifetime. One day we will, and we will have the honor of knowing that God called us to be apart of that. If you liked this blog post and want to read a similar one click here.

“The Lord is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you; for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.” Psalm 9:9

purpose, identity and new realizations

.Reading time 8 minutes.

“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.” Psalms 138:8

 

It has been a crazy, beautiful, exciting past 6 months to say the least. ( Can anyone else relate!? ) Side note: how are we so close to 2018! Has this year not flown by way too fast! I’m hoping to write another blog about what I learned in 2017, like I did with 2016.

I have flown on more flights than I would like to count (or hours slept/not slept on those flights 😉 drove more hours than I can remember, but met countless individuals from around the world whose stories I will never forget. Stories that I will treasure forever. 

Somewhere in these past 6 months God has done a new work inside me, showing himself in ways more profound than I have ever seen before. Seeing his hand move across the world to reach all of his creation, all of his precious children. There is no-one too far or low in the eyes of God that he will not reach.

There are many things that He has brought to my attention and almost highlighted to me, laying new burdens upon my heart. He never ceases to stop expanding it as I continue this journey with Him. Even when it doesn’t seem humanly possible that He could expand it, He does, and it humbles me each time. Through it all I came to this, and I know I already “knew” this but this never will get old, you never stop understanding this, it actually becomes more beautiful as we mature in our journeys with God, loving and emulating Christ and pursuing His will even when it looks crazy, or uncertain.

The same Jesus that we worship and love, the same blood that was shed for each of us, was shed for all of humanity. Think about that. One blood covers all of humanity. It does not pick and choose, it does not leave out, or forget. It covers each one of us. One blood for one people, that’s us, all of us.

This is so simple yet profound to not just hear or read it, but to have the chance to travel places you’d never imagine, seeing people groups you’d never heard about. And seeing these people for who God created them to be. To experience a small part of their reality, as some are “forgotten” people groups, outcasts, mistreated or left to fend for themselves. To see these people with a new heart that God has, and how our hearts starts to break for what breaks His. It’s not His will for his children to live like this, and it grieves him, the same way it grieved and broke my heart in ways I cannot even explain. And to know that Christ died for each one of them, that he covered them with his blood to have eternal life is a humbling, simple and a profound realization coming face to face with this reality.

We are all one, we all struggle and love, we all struggle to love. We make mistakes, we get impatient or jealous. We get insecure, we want what we don’t have, we are too harsh on ourselves, we choose to base worth on things that don’t matter, we all have the potential to hope and dream, we all can become something great. We all have the ability to fear, and overcome that fear. We all fail. We are all created with purpose.

Purpose in identity that Christ gives us when he died on the cross for all of humanity. I think one of the biggest things that people today struggle with is identity. They don’t know who they are, but they want to. So they try things, they spend their lives trying to figure out. When they never had to “try” in the first place.

“Who am I”, “What is my worth” “Why am I here.” 

I am excited to write another post and share how I struggled with these same questions. I wouldn’t want anyone reading this to think that I never thought this either.

The root of this issue is identity. Once we know who we are IN CHRIST, everything changes. Everything changes!

Each one of us is created with divine purpose. We aren’t just on earth right now, for such a time as this, on this very day to try to find in our own strength what the purpose is. We have it because HE gave it to us. Christ died for us out of selfless love, and because he knows we each have value. There was a price and he paid it, ask yourself, if there was no value or purpose on my life then why did God send his only son to pay such a large price? Why? Because we HAVE value and purpose, and because he loves us so much, he gives us identity in him.

Sometimes it takes jumping out of your comfort zone, loving others, using the gifts God gave you for His good to figure it out. It takes spending time in his word and reading His will for our lives. It is about spending time with the creator and lover of our soul.

I am looking forward to really sharing personal stories from my past trips to Zambia, Ukraine and Kenya and even trips I have taken here in the US. I have so much to share so you think it would be easy, but sometimes the things we feel the most are the hardest to put into words. Because even the words we try to use don’t seem adequate. There are so many things I look forward to writing about and sharing!

Is there any suggestions you have, anything you want me to focus on in particular? Any trip or experience you would like to hear about! Please comment or email me, I really would appreciate it.

You are ALL Loved,

you all have purpose, value and identity in Christ,

Dev

 

 

encouragement today for the fruit you have not seen

.Reading time 6 minutes.

Guess who is packing again!? Any guesses on where I am heading tomorrow afternoon? (Here is a hint, it isn’t Africa, it’s a part of the world I have never been) I will keep you updated along this special journey!

Today I felt lead to share this bible verse

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

I am not sure who needs to be reminded of this but I felt lead to post this verse and remind you in the struggle of your work, family, jobs or ministries that apart from him we can do nothing. Sometimes we have mentalities that it is through our abilities that we can do everything. Unfortunately that can only take us so far.

I believe that everyone can experience seasons of dryness, discouragement, lack of faith, or depression I believe that it is also through these times that God proves to be faithful throughout the desert where we cannot see a way out. I encourage you today to press on, to keep on believing him for his promises, and when the time is right you will see the fruit when you do everything onto his glory.

I remember my first few months in Ghana when I would doubt myself, tell myself that I wasn’t able or worthy to be doing such a large task that seemed bigger than my abilities. Little did I know that the Lord only needed me to trust him, so that I could see how big of a God he is, who epuips us for tasks so big, it could only be achieved through him. In those exact moments I realized that it wasn’t through my abilities anyway, it was through him, and if I trusted him and allowed him to work through me, then in his time I would see the fruit of my labor.

Here is a clip from my morning devotion that I felt tied in beautifully

“I understood what “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22-23) meant but was never sure which of those qualities, if any, would be apparent in me from day to day. God let me stew in my anxiety until I was fully committed to finding out if His Word was true or not. I encountered my answer in a biography of Hudson Taylor, the founder of China Inland Missions. For a long time he, too, felt that his efforts fell short of the Lord’s expectations. But Taylor came to realize that God wanted believers to trust Him fully and rest on His promises. So when Jesus Christ said to abide in Him, He meant that His followers were to stop striving and struggling. Instead they were to trust Him to subdue their flesh.” – this passage was taken from In Touch Ministries daily Devotions 

I was able to recognize that christians doubt themselves, we feel that our efforts fall short everyday, but when we come to realize that God is worthy of being able to trust with the big things and small things, we can remain in Christ for what God has called us to do.

Over a year later, looking back on this moment where I couldn’t fathom seeing any fruit, I see the fruit through my children. I have seen their sorrows and tramua turn into joy and confience. Through loving them everyday, even when I questioned if it was working, I now see how God works in the small moments and produces bigger results than we could ever imagine. I see their love for the Lord, for each other. Their compassion for the needy in other communities and their desire to serve God in their future. I see how when we press on even when it looks as if nothing is happening, our little day to day tasks will amount to something magnificent if we truly abide in him. It is amazing what God can do when we are willing to allow him to work through us, even when we don’t “see” or “feel” him.

Today I encourage you to abide in him, and fruit will appear in his timing, continue to press into his goodness and hold onto his promises when all odds look against you! He will never leave you for forsake you, the Lord your God is mighty to save and he wants YOU to keep pushing into him. Apart from him, we can do nothing, with him we can do the impossible!

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

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Here is our Sammy who has a passion to farm. He is able to collect his harvest from months and months of attending to his farm 🙂 Have a blessed day

You are all loved,

Devon