Do you need encouragement? I do. It seems the further I travel on this journey with the Lord the more I need encouragement. Why is this? A funny thing is happening the closer I walk with God: I am getting weaker.

“But shouldn’t you be getting stronger?” You might ask now. I thought so, but now I’m starting to see things differently.

How to explain this to you? I thought a journey with God would be a winding road up the mountain to where He is and along the way things would fall off and I would be transformed, bad to good, evil to good, sinner to saint, and so on… boy did I have it all wrong…

A journey with God, maturing spiritually, growing up in the faith, walking with the Holy Spirit, however you want to label the spiritual journey through this life of a believer, can be most accurately described by this scripture:

“But the path of the just (righteous) is like the light of dawn, That shines brighter and brighter until [it reaches its full strength and glory in] the perfect day.” – Proverbs 4:18

We are all on a journey in this life, a journey straight to the end of our natural, temporal life. We do not know the day or the hour or the second that will be our last. The moment we accepted Jesus Christ as our Savior we began a new journey toward Eternal Life.

God broke into my life and drew me to Himself. That story I’ve told over and over and is told in the books of this series, but what I see now that I couldn’t see before was the “how” God was going to transform me.

All along God has been stripping me of “self”.

First He told me how He was going to do it. I was to “Listen to Him and obey Him.”

Then He asked me to give away everything I had. I obeyed and spent a week homeless on the streets of Kansas City. Through this He was both stripping me of my security, my self-reliance, my independence, etc. He was chipping away at the outer shell I had placed around myself to protect me from the world and the people in it. He was stripping me of “self” and in exchange He was showing me that He was my “Source” for everything. He has repeated this process of stripping me of everything many times over the past six and half years.

It took Him six and half years for me to realize that I had, and have been guilty of the Sin of Survival.

And through all this I have become weaker and weaker, more and more reliant and dependent on Him for things, emotions, security, companionship, etc.

As I drove alone around the United States for 63 days in my car with only God for company, one night Jesus asked me this: “Are you will to become unknown so that I can become known?”

What a question? Right?!

And it was this question that tore at me to the deepest parts of my being. And it still does. I realized that “I wanted to become known so that He could be known.” Ouch…

And then last year… Jesus told me this as I cleaned dishes in my kitchen: “You must become unknown even unto yourself.” Ouch. He said this to me after I had obeyed Him and left my family and my friends to “GO” wherever He sent me alone again with nothing. I obeyed… and then… now He was telling me that I had to become unknown even unto myself.

God is so gentle with me. Always so gentle. I struggle so much always it seems with this journey. I am so weak now. So weak. Fragile even… emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. I’ve been broken down over these past six and half years. I’ve had to leave behind things and people I loved. I’ve been given great gifts and then He’s asked for them back. I’ve met amazing people only to have God say “GO!” again.

My journey isn’t over yet. My story has a few more chapters to go. I don’t feel like there is much left to me… weakness.

But this is where the encouragement part comes in…

Last night I was on my face before God and crying out, “God, please encourage me on. I’m despairing of life!” I went to bed and slept.

When I woke this morning God was there. In power. His presence in this apartment is tangible. You can sweep your hands through the air and feel Him. I am on fire. Tears keep pouring from my eyes so great is God’s love for me and for you.

I recently asked God, no I cried out to Him, about a sin that I keep stumbling in over and over… and this is what He said to me, and I share it here because He has asked me to. I feel this is for you as well:

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“I am going to purify you and remove from you every trace of this. I am going to pull out all of the roots. I am going to heal every pain. I am going to make it so that it was as if this never existed in your life and I am going to do all this so that you know that I love you and that you belong only to Me. I am going to purify you in the flames of my presence. I am going to surround you with hope and with future. You will walk in My perfect love for Me and for others. This is My promise to you. I have not forgotten you nor forsaken you. I have heard every prayer and I have held each of your tears in my hand. Now get up and walk with Me again. Walk in the purity of the calling that rests upon your life. Walk in the fullness of all I have given to you. Walk in the blessing that I pour out to you day after day. Stand firm and do not be shaken. Do not fear man, for what can man do to you? Push away the voices that come against you… remember My Words only. Give Me absolutely all of you and watch as I transform you by the power, the absolute ability to do, of My Holy Spirit. Ask of Me and I will give you anything and everything for you are Mine.”

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I have read and reread this over and over again since He said it to me. I hold on to these promises with all I am.

Be encouraged! God has you in His hands. He sees you right where you are and He knows your heart. He has a perfect plan for you in Jesus Christ. He is the Author and Finisher of your faith. He is able to make you stand.

This morning God returned me to a playlist I had saved on YouTube of my favorite videos, ones that have really encouraged me in the past. I am going to share those videos here with you so that you can be encouraged as well:

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Perhaps you know someone who needs encouragement? A family member, a friend, who needs to hear how much God loves them and has a plan for their life today?

Share this post with them. As I’ve passed on the encouragement God has given me so you can also and in this way we can fill the whole earth with the glory of the knowledge of the Lord.

Until That Day!