2022 is the Year of Free

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is Liberty.

          - 2 Corinthians 3:17

Last year's word was birth and God delivered on that word but not in the way I expected. I thoguht there was to be a new business or revenue stream, a new home, or some other tangible things birthed in this season. However God was saying, Damaris I'm going to birth a new you.

In the last quarter of this year I have seen God do an amazing work in my life. It wasn't physical, material things. I haven't moved, still living in my parents house. I don't have a new business, in fact I haven't been able to dedicate the time I wanted to the business I have. I don't have a new revenue stream either but God has kept me and my family which has been a blessing.

Instead, He birthed a new mindset, a new outlook, peace and trust in Him. He birthed a new and deeper relationship with Him. He birthed forgiveness and healing in my soul that I have never had. 

So did He birth in me? Yes! Just not in the way I expected.

As always, my church, Elevation Church has its giving weekend and asks us to think about and pray on what our anchor word is for the year. Almost immediately God gave me the word Free.

What I know without a doubt is that if He had not met me the way He did in the last 4 months I would not have been able to receive Free as my word for 2022.

He needed me learn that freedom is where the Spirit of the Lord is and the Spirit of the Lord is in me so I am Free and Freedom resides in me.

So the question is why haven't I felt free?

But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

          - Jeremiah 1:7-8

Fear. 

God over the years has placed things in my heart that I knew was for me to do and I allowed fear to hold me back and in essence, I was disobedient. I have allowed fear (because what I knew was safer) my entire life to dictate the moves I made and I wouldn't move unless I was approved. But God has approved me and He's telling me that freedom comes from obedience.

In my fear I sold myself short. Not believing I was enough to do all that God was calling me to do. But I am learning that God always equips those He calls with everything they need to complete the work. I'm feeling God say to me, like He said to Jeremiah, "You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,”.

God did not give us a spirit of fear. And while obedience without knowing the end is difficult for me, because I like to be in control, what I have been doing has not been working. I look back at old journals and see when I was walking in obedience to God when I was early in my calling. The words God gave me would just flow out of me, I was so free. I want and need that again.

In 2022, I will be doing and saying what God commands me to do and say. So many blog posts that didn't get posted to The Unlikely Missionary out of fear; All the shots I didn't take because I didn't think I was good enough; All the music I didn't record; All the podcast messages I didn't make; Fear is a thief and it no longer reigns here.

I am ready to be free and God promised He'd complete this work in me so I'm ready for this ride knowing that when I need Him, He will rescue me.

Happy New Year!

The Unlikely Missionary

Damaris

Expectation in God

 So now wrap your heart tightly around the hope that lives within us, knowing that God always keeps his promises! 

 

-Hebrews 10:23, Passion Translation

 

I was taught that expecting God to give me things or do things for me was bad. We’re told to ask God for things but, in the same breath, not expect Him to give them to us. It was in the name of piety but how backward is that? Especially because it contradicts God’s Word.

Then on the flip side, now we tell people to "Name it and claim it" but that leads to disillusioned Christians disappointed that God hasn't granted their wishes. God isn't a genie. That contradicts God's Word too.

How many of us know the scripture, ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you? (Matthew 7:7-8) If this is true, which it is, doesn’t that create expectancy? Doesn’t that mean I should expect to receive something? Of course! We should ask with expectancy but what we ask, seek and open are equally as important.

There is this disconnect between the Word of God and the pulpit because there is a crucial element missing here from pulpit teaching. We should expect God to fulfill His promises to us. Hebrews 10:23 says, God keeps His promises. I put His promises in bold because it is a subtle but incredibly important distinction and an incredibly important thing for us to understand.

He doesn’t fulfill our wants and we should not expect God to just give us things. Name it and claim it is a nice slogan, but it is not biblical. That would mean that you say I want $1M and claim it in the Name of Jesus. But is that God’s desire for your life? What if He wanted to give you more? Or better still wanted to give you something you couldn’t even fathom like influence, peace, contentment, happiness, joy unspeakable? Intangibles that mean more than the physical.

We also shouldn't come to God with weak prayers either. We serve an Almighty God who create this whole galaxy with words! He can do the glorious impossible. When you come and make a request you better come with expectancy that He will do it, otherwise what are you praying for?

What we should be taught really is to ask God to make His plan’s our plans, to make His desires our desires, to make his dreams for our lives our dreams. When we do that, we can then then ask God with expectancy that those plans, desires and dreams are brought to fruition in our lives.

A person may have many ideas concerning God’s plan for his life, but only the designs of God’s purpose will succeed in the end.  

 

-Proverbs 19:21, Passion Translation

 

When we ask God to complete the work that he has started in us, the purpose He has called us to, we should expect that He will do it because the scripture says that God’s purpose will succeed in the end and He who began a good work in you (His good work) He will be faithful to complete it in you (Phillipians 1:6). His Word is true, and as such expect that He will do what He said.

However, when you ask God for a Maybach you should have no expectation that He will grant that request. What happens if getting the Maybach doesn’t happen? Does that mean God isn’t good? That He isn’t God? Absolutely not. God doesn’t have to provide anything that is not from Him. His plan will always prevail. He doesn’t deal in earthly things but kingdom things. You didn’t pray a prayer that was guaranteed.

That doesn’t mean He doesn’t provide you with earthly things. When God went to Solomon and told Solomon he could ask for anything and it would be granted, Solomon asked for wisdom (2 Chronicles 1:7-12). Solomon was on a kingdom level of thinking. And the way He asked for it, “for who on his own is capable of leading these, your glorious people? (MSG)”. Do we come before God understanding that we are not capable of fulfilling the purpose for our lives on our own? Do we even comprehend that what God has set us out to do, God is the one who gave you authority over it? (That’s another post for another day.) Solomon recognized that and asked God to help him complete his assignment. God is committed to seeing his work completed, so with that request God gave Solomon the wisdom he asked for and more riches than he could have even thought to ask for, more than any King before him or after him. Jeff Besos and Elon Musk had nothing on Solomon.

God determines what’s good. We may think something is good, but our good never even touches God’s good. God’s plans are bigger, better more spectacular than ANYTHING I could ever think or imagine for myself. Solomon asked for wisdom and God said here’s all the rest that you didn’t even ask for.

So, I pray, (and I invite you to do so also) God, make your plans my plans, your ways my ways, and fulfill it in me. God is committed to seeing his work completed in me and you. All we have to do is obey.

When you are praying that God’s will be done in your life you can NEVER be disappointed, only amazed that God thought so much of you that He sought to do great work, not good but great work, in and through your life. 

The Unlikely Missionary

Damaris

 

God’s Economy - You are Blessed

You are blessed. That is a fact. Whether you believe that or not.

While doing the 100 days of Believing Bigger pillars of Stillness and Blessing + Obedience, my whole outlook on blessing was changed.

We are taught that we need to ask God to bless us. As if our life is not blessed unless we ask and even then God still has to do the blessing. In this context, even as a believer, you question whether you even deserve to be blessed. And if you feel like you aren’t blessed you can develop a woe is me or even hardened heart.

However, when you take God view that you are already blessed, that blessing is internal and not external; that it is not something God gives to you but it is already in you; it creates a whole new paradigm. Instead of thinking you are not worthy of being blessed because you know you are you begin to look for the blessings in your life. You walk with a different posture because blessing is happening, your not waiting for it. And because you are blessed, you can pour out that blessing to others.

 As we were going through the pillars and we were talking about blessing and the Holy Spirit, God said to me the blessing resides in you because the holy Spirit is in you. He is the blesser and when you activate the Holy Spirit that is when you see the blessing.

What if the reason you don’t see blessing in you life because you haven’t activated the Holy Spirit? If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ then you know that God sent the Holy Spirit to reside in us as we go through this journey called life. He never goes anywhere (He promises to never leave nor forsake) but there are times that the Holy Spirit seems less present. That’s not because of the Holy Spirit, that’s because of us.

So how do you activate the Holy Spirit? Obedience.

And what proceeds Obedience? Belief.

Belief precedes, invites and unleashes the blessing. (I wish I had thought that up but I didn’t. Lol.) I have to believe that I am blessed and that God is, has and will continue to bless me. I am, as I am, a blessing. My very existence is a blessing. I won’t be a blessing once I get money, or a big house, or fancy clothes. With or without that I am still blessed and a blessing.

When I believe that God is working everything together for my good and that He has given me everything that I need to accomplish his purpose in me, and that I am already blessed I will walk in obedience.

Obedience in this context is just me doing what God has asked of me. What I don’t believe or doubt I will delay doing thus blocking my blessing. However, in my belief and obedience, the Holy Spirit in me is activated and blessing is released in me and through me. In this state of belief and obedience you eyes are opened to the blessings you didn’t realize were happening and you will be the blessing that God created you to be.

Blessed is she who believes that what the Lord has promised will be fulfilled. Luke 1:45

The Unlikely Missionary

Damaris

The Last King God Chose Was Jesus

 No elected leader in the US or otherwise was handpicked by God. Especially not Donald Trump.

Truth be told God never wanted us to have a King or President or Prime Minister or Emperor or any other Ruler to begin with. So the very idea that God is picking presidents for a nation (the US) that is not the children or Israel, a nation that didn't exist when the convenent God made with the children of Israel was enacted is a level of mental gymnastics that quite honestly is equal parts impressive and sad. 

The fact of the matter is: The children of Israel looked around and saw that their other counterparts had Kings and so they asked God for one. He didn't want them to have one but He loved them and He obliged them.

That doesn't mean that God is still picking kings.

The last King God chose was Jesus. Jesus is the King of ALL Kings. The Lord of ALL Lords. There is no need for another because... 

NEWSFLASH: Our King is still ALIVE!

This idea that God has chosen Donald Trump or any other Republican leader to be our president that the American evangelical church is subscribing to at the moment, runs completely counter to what the Word of God says.

So what does it say?

That Jesus is the last and forever King and that through acceptance of the Holy Spirit we become the called. 

God always sent a prophet to anoint the next king of Israel. That was the purpose of Jesus's baptism. John the Baptist was the prophet, the one who forshadowed Jesus's coming, To anoint him. The final King. Mark 1: 9-11

How do you know if someone is called? The Holy Spirit. Just like when the Holy Spirit came down from Heaven in the above scripture when Jesus was baptised, acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior activates the Holy Spirit to come down and live in your heart. In that instant you become the called by God and that is final. Romans 8:30; Romans 11:29

You can't pray the Holy Spirit into or over someone. The Holy Spirit is activated upon your acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Timothy 6:20,21  tells us,

 Avoid the talk-show religion and the practiced confusion of the so-called experts. (MSG)

Jesus is King. That is who God anointed. Igonre the pundits who want to get on TV and say what is counter to the Word of God. Be anchored in the Word in order to be able to identify truth and falsehoods.

Fact: Any king that is chosen by man or whose position is taken by force is flawed. They have not been anointed by God.

We are tasked by God to pray for ALL people and ALL of our leaders or those in position above us, from the President to our boss. But what are we to be praying for? Peace and their salvation. Praying that their hearts will be open to God. 

The decisions they make will affect us and we want to live in peace. God's desire for us is to live in peace. Praying that their agenda goes forth is the wrong prayer. Our prayer should ALWAYS be that God's will be done and that our leaders be led by God. That is what 1 Timothy 2:1-6 says, because God desires "all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" of salvation.

So the Last King God chose was Jesus and he is the King of All Kings and he is still alive. The End.

The Unlikely Missionary
Damaris

God is Not a Man

I'll say it one more time for those in the back, God is Not a Man.

God is God. 

I saw someone on Twitter say, I wish they would refer to God in she/her pronouns.  This instantly didn't sit right with me. I get that we want to see ourselves in God but we are made in the image of God. Both man and woman. Who are we as the created to place this finite construct of male and female on the God that created the world by speaking?

When we talk of God the Father we say he and him but He is not a man in the sense that we comprehend. God had a very clear role for men that this world has taken and perverted. Men were to be our protection, trustworthy, loving, a mirror of Christ's love for His church.

The problem is that the church has made Ephesian 5 about women submitting to their husbands although God only spends 2 verses on that and spend 9 verses on telling men how they are supposed to love their wives.

Because this World and man's creation of patriachy has so perverted the order that God created to demonstrate His Love for His Children we no longer view men as safe, as protection, as trustworthy, as loving, as people who would never leave us of forsake us. They are not the mirror of Christ's love that they are supposed to be and so we want to see God as that representation in our lives. The fact however remains that...

God is God. 

He created us, so how can we wrap Him in skin?

He made man in His image, not the other way around. And image is not just physical. We don't look like God. He has no face. Its character, its action, its spirit.

The better question should be, how are men of God supposed to act?

I fell in love the Message version of the Bible many years ago now and I think it makes it quite plain what God intended. See it below.

25-28 Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ’s love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They’re really doing themselves a favor—since they’re already “one” in marriage.

29-33 No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That’s how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become “one flesh.” This is a huge mystery, and I don’t pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband.

Ephesians 5:21-33

If men were walking in who God called them to be their love would make us whole. 

In our current world we see the destruction of men abusing their wives, being unfaithful, leaving their families, passing laws that restrict instead of free, spewing hate instead of love. The text in Ephesians says, Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her.

The Best! That is what God does for us. Everything He does and says is designed to bring the best out of us. What is evidenced in our world is how broken and fractured, even in the church, God's intended plan for our lives especially men's lives are due to our own sin. 

We have found a way to determine that God's way is esmasculating and not manly. We call men who love their wives like this soft or whipped when they are actually being obedient to God. God tells men in Ephesian 5, to GO ALL OUT in your LOVE for your wife. How perverted are we?

God doesn't rule over us, He doesn't make us fall in line with an iron fist, He doesn't take away our choice. He leads with love. Love is patient, it is kind, it does not envy or boast, it is not proud or rude, it does not dishonor other, is not selfish, does not anger easily, don't keep a record of wrongs, rejoices in truth and not evil, always protects, trust, hopes, perseveres and never fails. We have gotten incredibly far from that construct.

As Christians we need to ask ourselves, not why we don't us certain pronouns for God. The only question is why men are not being as God call them to be. It not about what we call God but about what He calls us.

The Unlikely Missionary

Damaris

Praise Break: Take You at Your Word

Avalon is one of my favorite Comtempory Christian groups. I have basically every CD they put out. I know all the songs by heart and have even sang them in church. Needless to say, I'm a fan. lol. 

This song, Take You at Your Word just seemed fitting for today. The more you read and know of God as you walk in relationship with Him you realize you can take Him at His Word and your heart can rest assured that He's God you. We just need to be reminded sometimes that,

Your word is life,
Your word is love,
Your word is true

I can take You at Your word
And my heart can rest assured
Oh, I love you, Lord I trust You
As I live I've learned
That I can take You at Your word

The Unlikely Missonary

Damaris

 

Chase God and the Rest Will Follow

I realized the times in my life when I was the most blessed was when I wasn't actively trying to make it happen.

Now that seems counter to the world and it should. The world says, create a plan, work the plan by any means necessary and meet your goal. And if you didn't meet the goal you didn't try hard enough.

God's Word says,

I am sure that the good work God began in you will continue until he completes it on the day when Jesus Christ comes again. Philippians 1:6 ERV

It says nothing about a plan, it doesn't list out steps, it doesn't say if you work hard enough. It says if God has placed something in your heart to do He will complete it.

 

Since I was young God placed in my heart the following things.

1. Get married
2. Have kids
3. Have a home

My priorities in life have changed over the years but these three never did. And I worked hard to make it happen in my own strength and that didn't go too well. 

Remember: IF God places it in you, HE will complete it. Not you. 

God has given me the first two and He will provide the last. His timing is perfect even if its not the timing I have in mind.

And now He's add a 4th, Lead. Although I think that one was always there too I just ignored and suppressed it because of who I believed and was told I was.

Do not let others take from you what God has placed in you. The loudest voice in your ear should be God's, not the fear and lack of understanding from others. So many times people (and even inner me) have tried to take my dreams from me and for a time I let them. I let them convince me that they were more powerful than God and that God wouldn't do it because I did XYZ thing. Thats a lie.

God's vision is for you and you alone. You're portion of oil is for you and God will pour it out for you (1 Kings 17:10-16). No one can take it away, no one gets your portion. God will give it to you . Your sin can't stop it (Romans 8:38-39). You don't need to be perfect to receive it. In fact God's strength is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) and to receive that which He has, we need to not cover up our weaknesses to Him but expose them, give them to Him and allow Him to do His Work in and through us.

All my life I was taught to cover up weakness, to believe what you see and step out on faith only when you can see the finish line. That's not faith at all. I need to throw out the artifacts (old memories, past hurts, disappointments, etc) in my museum and thank God for His blessings, for fulfilling His promises, for never leaving me, for never forsaking me.

In the Believing Bigger devotional the first pillar is trust and I believe that all of what I just spoke about above is determined by whether you trust God or not. There is a reason why God says to have faith like a child (Matthew 18:2-5). They start out with complete trust. My kids trust me for everything. No questions ask. They know I've got them. In the same way that's how God wants us to trust Him. Eventually life comes in to try to shake that trust and in adulthood you can wake up asking yourself, When did I stop believing that God would work it all together for my good?

I have been encouraged and reminded over the last 30 days to trust God with my dreams again. Not just pay lip service to it - I've been a Christian most of my life, I'm well-versed in churchese - but I've been actively practicing it. My alarm on my phone in the morning even says Trust God. A daily reminder to put my faith and trust in Him. To take Him at His Word. To believe that He will complete His work in my in spite of me. 

Are you ready to believe with me? Are you ready to believe for yourself? Let's take Him at His Word. If you chase God your dreams will follow.

The Unlikely Missionary

Damaris 

Reject the Fake News Church Gospel

When the scripture said there is nothing new under the sun its true. When I look out at the current moment the American Evangelical Church sits in, 1 Timothy 6 speaks so deeply to this moment. Where truth is lacking, the focus is protecting offering collections, Pastors viewing themselves as gods and refusing godly instruction. In this moment we are trading God's purpose for Money and Likes.

I have a fondness for the Message translation of the Bible since my time as a Youth Leader at my father's church because of how it interprets the Word. So that is the verison you will see here.

1 Timothy 6:2-10 goes as follows:

2-5 These are the things I want you to teach and preach. If you have leaders there who teach otherwise, who refuse the solid words of our Master Jesus and this godly instruction, tag them for what they are: ignorant windbags who infect the air with germs of envy, controversy, bad-mouthing, suspicious rumors. Eventually there’s an epidemic of backstabbing, and truth is but a distant memory. They think religion is a way to make a fast buck.

6-8 A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that’s enough.

9-10 But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.

Doesn't that sound like our current reality of fake news and scandals? Cheating, backstabbing, focused more on keeping people happy so they will still send their tithes instead of speaking the TRUTH. The focus of godly instruction thrown to the waste side?

There is nothing wrong with having money. That's not what this passage is saying, before you come for my neck lol, but chasing money instead of God and a faith filled life... that is the problem. Churches need money to run but if you are doing the work of the Lord He will always provide. Did He not always make sure that Jesus had food to eat and a place to sleep? He'll do the same for us. He wants us to have abundance and to prosper but if the only reason we are preaching the Word of God is to enrich ourselves we will self-destruct be His Word is not in us.

How many pastors have we seen fall? How many have had to step down? How many have we lost respect for? God will not cover that which He has not ordained.

So what should our response be in this moment? Run for your life from this! 1 Timothy 6 continues,

11-12 But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.

13-16 I’m charging you before the life-giving God and before Christ, who took his stand before Pontius Pilate and didn’t give an inch: Keep this command to the letter, and don’t slack off. Our Master, Jesus Christ, is on his way. He’ll show up right on time, his arrival guaranteed by the Blessed and Undisputed Ruler, High King, High God. He’s the only one death can’t touch, his light so bright no one can get close. He’s never been seen by human eyes—human eyes can’t take him in! Honor to him, and eternal rule! Oh, yes.

17-19 Tell those rich in this world’s wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they’ll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.

20-21 And oh, my dear Timothy, guard the treasure you were given! Guard it with your life. Avoid the talk-show religion and the practiced confusion of the so-called experts. People caught up in a lot of talk can miss the whole point of faith.

Overwhelming grace keep you!

Go after God! Pursue His righteousness. Seek Hi purpose. Preach His Gospel, not our own. God is a rich, loving God amd I think we have forgotten that. He is generous and if we are in alignment with Him we don't have to worry about the pursuit of money, fame, fortune or influence. He gives us those things freely. Reject this fake news church gospel. Run from it and run to God. Purse God with your whole heart. God is so good. Don't listen to talking heads. Listen to the voice of God. Trust His Word. It has never returned unto Him void. It is always true.

As Paul ended this letter to Timothy, I pray that OVERWHELMING grace keep you as you pursue our amazing, loving God. Guard the treasure of Heaven, Jesus, with you life. Ignore the rest.

The Unlikely Missionary

DHW

They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love

Many people say that they are Christians. But are you mirroring the Man we are named for?

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, [Jesus],

because he has anointed me

to preach good news to the poor.

He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives

and recovery of sight to the blind,

to set free the oppressed,

to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.

Luke 4:18, 19 (CSB)

If we are condeming the poor and homeless saying they don't deserve assistance, if we support the idustrial prison complex (the same prison that enslaved Paul) instead of healing and redemption, if you believe that slavery does not need to be called out, atoned for and captives set free, if you believe that people deserve to be thrown away and cast aside then you are not love and are not a reflection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Throughout the New Testament Jesus revealed who He is so clearly. By bucking rules and tradition in order to embrace those society had deemed undesirable. By going to those others have disqualified. By healing and touching those cast aside. By calling out corruption and injustice. By feeding those with no food. By meeting people where they are. He modeled love in every aspect of His life.

We are supposed to be God's manifestion of Love on this earth. Yet, we condemn while singing in church that in Christ there is no condemnation. We preach about being set free by Christ but then seek to enslave others. We pour out rules and condemnation. Rules and judgement. Rules and punishment.

When Jesus came to SET US FREE through His LOVE.

God is love and if you are full of hate, rules, and condemnation He cannot abide (but that is another post for another time). Social programs are of God. Freedom of choice is of God. Redemption and second chances are of God. Loving your neighbor as yourself is a commandment and is of God.

Today the Church is looking less and less like the Jesus we are named for. We resemble less and less the God we are made in the image of. We speak with vitrol, hatred, unkindess, going tit for tat, throwing people away and condeming them to Hell when we don't even have that authority. Focused on likes on social media and the offering plate instead of the good news of salvation. We forget that God will not allow who He is to be tarnished by those who have forgotten the purpose of the Gospel. Hallelujah!

So, How will they know we are Christians? By Our Love.

♮We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord

And we pray that our unity will one day be restored

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

Yeah they'll know we are Christians by our love

We will work with each other, we will work side by side

We will work with each other, we will work side by side

And we'll guard each man's dignity and save each man's pride

And they'll know we are Christians by our love, by our love

Yeah, they'll know we are Christians by our love.♮

Songwriters: Peter Scholtes

This hymn is the basis for this whole word. Often when I would sign it, I would wonder if people would actual know. Is this just a song I sing or am I the living embodiment of God's love? Being one in the Spirit, one in the Lord means we are Love and exhibit the Love of God in the Earth. Am I? Are you?

Are we exhibiting His Love? 

If you want to know what that looks like read 1 Corinthians 13.

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.

Love doesn’t strut,

Doesn’t have a swelled head,

Doesn’t force itself on others,

Isn’t always “me first,”

Doesn’t fly off the handle,

Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,

Doesn’t revel when others grovel,

Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,

Puts up with anything,

Trusts God always,

Always looks for the best,

Never looks back,

But keeps going to the end

Love NEVER Dies

 

In the end all that matters, all that remains is what we do for Christ. And God tasks us with "three things to do to lead us toward ...: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. (MSG)"

The Unlikely Missionary

DHW

You Must Break

As I mentioned I'm doing the devotional 100 days of Believing Bigger devotional by Marshawn Evans Daniels.

I'm on Day 21 and its talking about identity. I'm part of The Destiny Collective and we just  finished our live devotional reading and as I've just been sitting in it. Think about myself and how I see myself. I talk a lot about my worldview and God but I rarely talk here about what God shows me in my own quiet time.

Part of the reason is not wanting to expose something so personal to judgement. Always wanting to have a perfect image when in truth I struggle just like everyone else. I'm not perfect but my entire life I have lived under this pressure to be perfect. Following protocol and being who people want me to be, Wearing Masks in order to be the me I know I can be good at. Can you relate?

Today's live devotional gave me the realization that the shadow Damaris's I have created are not my savior and are actually a weight that are suppressing who I really am. Pretending is heavy. Pretending is dangerous. You can become so good at pretending the real you disappears and it can take a long time to make it back to her.

In my journaling time I wrote this, "Because I know how to be for others, that is my default, because I know I am God at it. It stops me from being me because it leaves me exposed and is unknown territory".

That realization quieted me and made me sit in that moment. Creating these shadows of me, each having certain elements of my personality while surpressing others, had made me feel godlike but truthfully it is just me hiding behind characters. Hiding from rejection, hiding insecurity, hiding feelings of inferiority, hiding the pain of people's belief in who they think I am, scared that if they knew the real me, they'd reject me.

There is a reason I'm not God. God never surpresses, He reveals fully because He cannot exist in shadow only light. Nothing is hidden.

God speaks to me in music. There is a reason I have praise breaks on this blog. As I quieted myself, sitting in what God revealed to me the song, You Must Break by Tasha Cobbs Leanord ft. Kierra Sheard came to my mind. The lyrics speak directly to the heart of my struggle with my identity.

Tasha sings, 

♮Curse of rejection you can’t stay here

Lies of fear you’re not welcome here

I have been too comfortable living in you

Now the King has come to my rescue

And you will bow to your knees 

I’m not living in what you planned for me

I am a child of the King

And as I decide to lay you aside, you must break

And as I decide to lay you aside, you must break♮

I had become so comfortable wearing the masks until one day I wasn't. But shame had me sit in the place of being unable to let the masks go while hating myself for continuing to wear them. But curse of rejection, you can't stay here. I'm not living in what you planned for me. I am the DAUGHTER of the KING. As I decide to lay you aside, you must break.

Then Kierra sings at 1:54,

♮Curse of insecurity you can’t stay here 

Lies of anxiety you’re not welcome here

I have been too comfortable living in you

Now the King has come to my rescue

And you will bow to your knees

I’m not living in what you planned for me

I am a child of the King 

And as I decide to lay you aside, you must break

And as I decide to lay you aside, you must break♮

I have always existed in a world of comparison that birthed insecurity. Comparison to my sister who is more extroverted than me. Looks more like my mom then me. Is more adventerous than me. Comparison to other women. Who are skinner than me. Whose hair looks better than mine. Who are better able to build girlfriend relationships. 

My level of insecurity in who I am as God created me has been crippling. The feeling that I am not good enough or pretty enough, outgoing enough, enough enough. Insecurity you CANNOT stay here anymore. Anxiety you are not welcome here. I'm not living in what you planned for me. I am the DAUGHTER of the KING. As I decide to lay you aside, you must break.

These masks MUST BREAK. These shadow Damaris's MUST BREAK. Nothing about me is a mistake. God won't bless who I pretend to be. I must abandon them all and embrace the real me. 

I have VICTORY today. Today, as I just sat, I felt a shift. I felt the Holy Spirt breaking those masks. I felt them melting away. I didn't even fight for them. God said its time to let them go. For the first time I didn't want them and I finally believe I don't need them.

That is such a huge deal for me. Today, if you doubt who God has made you. Not the you that you allow people to see, but the divine daughter or son of the Most High God that you are. I want to encourage you, that you are more than enough. When God saw you, He saw that you were good. 

Be what you were made to be. 

Today, and from this day forward, "I release any thoughts of inferiority and embrace how You've designed me."

The Unlikely Missionary

Damaris

*Italized is from 100 Days of Believing Bigger

Praise Break: Hymn of Breakthough

 I have been in a time of Worship and Praise since early this morning and for the last 3 hours I've been listening to Israel Houghton's Feels Like Home.

It has been blessing me. But the very last song was the Hymn of Breakthough. There has been such a shift in my mindset, in my expectancy of God in the last almost 20 days. I'm expecting a breakthough or even breakthrough.

The lyrics say, I hear the sound of breakthough, my breakthrough is here. Everything that I need You supply. Every promise of Heaven is mine. But the words that spoke to my spirit,

I am healed, I am free

God has spoken I agree

My breakthrough is here

God has spoken, I agree. God has spoken, I agree. God has spoken, I agree. God has spoken, I agree.

Let the words follow over you, let in seep to you Soul so that you know, God has a breakthrough for. No matter what you are going through, no matter the sitution. God said, God said your breakthrough is here. Stand in agreement with Him and receive it. Amen! 

The Unlikely Missionary

DHW

 

I hear the sound of breakthrough

I hear the sound of breakthrough

Oh

I hear the sound of breakthrough

My breakthrough is here.

Everything that I need You supply

Every promise of Heaven is mine

I am healed, I am free 

God has spoken I agree 

My breakthrough is here 

My breakthrough is here 

Oh, oh I receive 

God has spoken I agree 

My breakthrough is here 

Amen, Amen

My breakthrough is here

Israel & New Breed

The Birthing Continues

I remember in December when I wrote that 2021 would be the year of Birth.

2020 had been incredibly hard and we all collectively experienced that pain. We were all looking for an epidural, a respite, relief from the agony. But with all that had happened in 2020 I just knew God had something that would come out of those pains.

At the top of the year, I got promoted which was a birthing of all the hard, taxing but rewarding work I had done in 2020 at my organization. Then I was named to the Forbes Finance Council a few months later. I assumed, incorrectly, that this was what God had planned to birth in me in 2021. However even after this promotion and that recognition I still had expectation for more. That birthing, my promotion, was expected. I had done a lot, I had planned for it. I had labored and pushed to achieve that birthing. The recognition was not but throughout this year I have still felt pregnant. Like God was saying there is more, there is more that I have yet to show you.

At this point, like most women who are almost at the finish line of there pregnancy they are just ready to get the baby out. You are tired, your pregnancy is heavy, both physically, mentally and emotionally and you are just ready to push it out. I’m no exception in this situation. I just wanted to find what this more was and birth it. 

So began my searching for what that was. What that more was. I started looking at new jobs. I started looking at potentially going back to school to get a management certification. I began to push and push but nothing was coming. However, I was still feeling the labor pains and I didn’t like it. This wasn’t the more.

Then, I found The Destiny Collective or I should say it found me. The journey to this moment in my life is one that could only be orchestrated by God. In 2015, I was watching this show on the FYI channel called BlackLove. It followed 5 women in NYC on their dating journey. One of the experts on the show was a psychotherapist named Jack A. Daniels, not the liquor lol. He was so great; his advice was always spot on and spoke to the heart of the issues the women were having and to be honest myself as well. So I decided to follow him on social media. By doing so I learned he was a believer. He would post quick hits on Twitter and Instagram that he would hashtag as a shot of Jack.

Then 5 years later, in 2020, I saw a post of a woman with a very big pregnant belly in my Instagram Search tab. This tab shows you posts that Instagram thinks you might be interested in based on who you follow and what you search for and like. Her belly was so big and she is so skinny, she looked ready to pop. This fits my theme of birthing so well doesn't it? God is so good.

What was curious to me was why she popped up in my search. Who did I know that followed her? My curiosity piqued I just had to click on the post to learn more about her and who I knew that knew her.

That’s when, after I Instagram stalked her lol, I learned that she was Jack Daniels’s wife, Marshawn Evans Daniels, and that she popped up because he follows her and liked the post. At this point, I had been following him for years and had never seen her pop up in my feed or maybe I wasn’t ready to see.

Through that Instagram post I learned that she was (and still is) an absolute powerhouse woman of God and a boss. That she had been waiting and praying for those babies for years and had even thought she may never have kids and here she was about to have 3! Her faith was just so incredible to me especially because I was not in that same place of belief. So, I gave her a follow.

That happened early in the pandemic, so early in 2020. And then I didn’t think much about it after that. Every now and then I would see a post from her about the progress of her pregnancy, her baby shower and then her babies being born. You know, regular Instagram stuff. And then in September 2021, I saw a post about this new thing she was doing.

I see a lot of these things on Instagram all the time; Ads or posts saying join this Masterclass to learn how to become a successful entrepreneur in 90 days or join my course that will teach you the ABCs of how to gain followers on Instagram. I instantly thought to myself, “Oh, Lord what is she selling?”.  I know, I know. I’m a very cynical person but I’m working on it. And I moved to scroll past it but God…

God said to me, “Click it Damaris”. Normally, I wouldn’t question when God tells me so audibly to do something like this but instead I just closed my Instagram app. At this point in my life I’ve experienced so much disappointment, hurt and pain and my faith was not in a good place. I was just like “God what are you talking about? No, I don’t want to do this. I am tired. I just want to be left alone and I want to stop being in pain. I don’t want to try anymore.”. Trying just felt like it hurt too much.

But that post stayed on my mind. I couldn’t shake it. It was pulling me, drawing me to it. Plus, God would not leave me alone about the post either and so I reopened my app and being reluctantly obedient, I found the post, clicked on it and learned about this virtual gathering she was having to talk about Supernatural Alignment to a group of God-fearing women.

That phrase “Supernatural Alignment” spoke to me in a way I never knew I needed, and I signed up. Now I was still reluctant and unsure - we had homework to do after we signed up, one of which was to invite as many women as you could, and I admit I didn’t do it. I was still very much closed off from people as a defense mechanism and didn’t want to put myself out there like that. Don’t be like me. But, in spite of that I was waiting expectantly for this meeting. I really have never been this excited for a Zoom call before. I was checking my email to make sure I didn’t miss it.

And what a meeting it was! It was just incredible to hear Marshawn talk about who she is and her journey and how she helps women get into supernatural alignment with God. I think it was a three hour call but really I wasn’t keeping track of time. At the end of it we were invited to join The Destiny Collective. A group of women who love God and want to step into their calling, bolding following the plan God has for our lives.

When she asked us to join, I didn’t even hesitate. I realized that God was trying to show me something. He was trying to show me that more that had continued to stir in my soul.

Since joining I have felt such a shift in my spirit, in my mindset, in my belief in who I am and who I am supposed to be and who God is and what He wants for my life. The fact that I get to experience this in a safe space with women (I have always struggled to develop relationships with women. I don’t really have a good group of close, saved girlfriends) who love God and are believing bigger and want to go higher in their calling and relationship with God has been the epidural I needed as I continue to push forth what God has still left in my birthing for 2021.

It’s just started and I have already learned so much about myself. Whew!

If you are a woman looking to get in spiritual alignment, I invite you to join The Destiny Collective with me. And even if you aren’t ready, I invite you to get 100 days of Believing Bigger Devotional that we are going through for the next 100 days. Today is day 19 but that’s ok, you can join and catch up with us.

God is still moving, God is still birthing and I am excited for what is to come. 

The Unlikely Missionary

DHW