Growing 🌱 @takenupmycross - Tumblr Blog

11 “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,[a] your foundations with lapis lazuli. 12 I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones."

Isaiah 54:11-12 NIV

4 The word of the Lord came to me, saying,

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

6 “Alas, Sovereign Lord,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

7 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. 8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.

9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. 10 See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

11 The word of the Lord came to me: “What do you see, Jeremiah?”

“I see the branch of an almond tree,” I replied.

12 The Lord said to me, “You have seen correctly, for I am watching to see that my word is fulfilled.”

Jeremiah 1:4-12 NIV

54 “Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord. 2 “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. 3 For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities.

4 “Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. 5 For your Maker is your husband— the Lord Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. 6 The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit— a wife who married young, only to be rejected,” says your God. 7 “For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back. 8 In a surge of anger I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord your Redeemer.

9 “To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. 10 Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

11 “Afflicted city, lashed by storms and not comforted, I will rebuild you with stones of turquoise,[a] your foundations with lapis lazuli. 12 I will make your battlements of rubies, your gates of sparkling jewels, and all your walls of precious stones. 13 All your children will be taught by the Lord, and great will be their peace. 14 In righteousness you will be established: Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you. 15 If anyone does attack you, it will not be my doing; whoever attacks you will surrender to you.

16 “See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc; 17 no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.

Isaiah 54 NIV

MY GOD.

#Youtube

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” - Proverbs 4:23

My God.

Here’s a preamble to this “article” which I never thought would be written. I was just having a talk with God and thinking aloud, and this scripture came to mind. Immediately in my humanness I went to research articles on what this scripture meant in order to confirm my thought-process; but I stopped. I paused to ask God, the One who knows all things. In my quest of asking God, I believe He said, “why don’t you write an article?” I preverbally raised my eyebrows. “Me?” “Write an article to answer the question which I was just about to search?” God, if You say so 🤷🏽‍♀️.

So here I am.

Oftentimes in life, the phrase “guarded”, when it comes to your heart, is often given a negative connotation. Commonly, it’s known as when someone is mistrusting which stems from past negative experiences.

I was sent to share a different perspective.

What happens when God guards your heart? The Giver of life? The Alpha and Omega? The One who holds no sin and all knowledge? I believe, on this day, I realised that God has guarded my heart and it’s a beautifully selfless thing. It is a perfect gift given by the perfect One. Not any that I could boast about.

To be guarded by God means to be secured by Him. It means to be established so firmly on the Rock that when the seas of life roll, you remain anchored on the One who is unmovable.

“Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, just to take Him at His word. Just to rest upon His promise, just to know thus saith the Lord. Jesus Jesus, how I trust Him, how I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er. Jesus Jesus, precious Jesus, oh for grace to trust Him more.” - 'Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus | Author: Louisa M. R. Stead (1882)

I didn’t just wake up one day, guarded. It was a process of knowing and trusting God. This process started from October 30th 1999, the day I was born, but for the sake of this article we’ll start from 2018.

In 2018, I fell in love for the first time, truly in love. It was all butterflies and roses until that love became my idol, one with power to affect my soul so much that I prayed that we would never be separated. In fact, I even prayed that I would die before this person or we would die at the same time so that I wouldn’t have to live without them.

🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩

Ultimately, that did not sit well with God and soon after, I was presented with our first separation. God called me to fast... from him. Then came the second fast. Then came the separation and another separation. From the second fast, I thought I was good and had dethroned this person from God’s rightful place. But God knows the inner-workings of a man’s heart - after all He created it. So of course, He knew there was still some heart surgery left.

But this experience did more wonders than beyond my wildest imagination.

God stripped me of everyone that I held so dear to show me that He is the All-and-Ever-Sustaining God. Don’t get me wrong, human community is important and we know that God Himself said, “it is not good for man to be alone.” But in this season of intentional isolation, God has molded and shaped me into His masterpiece, outfitted for the work that He is calling me to.

In my period of isolation, I cried out to God, telling Him that felt so alone. Questioning Him even of that very scripture. “God You said it is “not” good so why am I here?!” That night, He nurtured me so perfectly and today, I see the fruits of His training.

Two weeks ago my aunt died and God was with me then. He prepared me just a few hours before I received the news. As I mourn with the rest of my family, I do not mourn as those who have no hope. For I know that my aunt’s salvation was secured and I will see her again.

Three months ago I caught covid for the first time while I was in a hotel room, in a foreign country, alone. But God was with me. He stayed with me through every “not-fun” moment and nurtured me back to good health.

God uses all things for good and God’s ways are intentional. Every experience that I have encountered, more specifically over the past 5 years, has enabled me to be a vessel for others. I can now produce fruit in every season because I have tasted the Living Water and seen the power of our Maker.

- Britney

#walkinginobedience #fullysurrendered

Yesterday my aunt died.

Truly, I didn’t expect it. I stood in faith til the very end believing that I heard God said like with the blind man, this has happened so that His glory would be revealed; and for me, I thought that meant it wouldn’t result in her death.

I remember Jarrett asked me, “what if that glory and healing was for a spiritual purpose?” Bent on it being physical, I was stubborn but ultimately “wisdom is proven good by her fruits” and today we know that I was wrong.

I love God. He is SO incredibly perfect and sweet and loving. I will forever stand by my notion that standing by faith on what you believe God said to you will never leave you worse off. God prepared me just merely a couple hours before for Jan Jan’s death. At first I thought it was about something work related but when I got the news it all made sense. In Preston Morrison’s latest sermon he talked about David and God’s friendship. He discussed David’s desire to build the temple for God but God told him no. He then deep-dived into David’s honourable response.

When I got the call, I just felt like God caressed my heart and flooded me with His peace that passes all understanding. When He revealed that His response was “no”, I knew that His Will was still good, pleasing and perfect.

I didn’t cry, funny enough, and I’m not sad. For Jan Jan is no longer suffering daily but has finally received her long-awaited healing in heaven.

As it relates to Jarrett, I still stand believing that he is my husband and believing that God revealed our wedding date to me. And just like with Jan Jan, if God has something else in store, I will not be worse off for standing in faith.

- Brit 🌱

poems-and-word

Poems & Words

takenupmycross

““I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭32:27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

takenupmycross

“For no word from God will ever fail.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭1:37‬ ‭NIV‬‬

amargedom

Hey you. Don’t give up.

takenupmycross

Better is here girl. Better is here.

thoughtkick

“Everything’s a risk. Not doing anything is a risk. It’s up to you.”

— Nicola Yoon

takenupmycross

Dear God:

It is a privilege to be loved by You.

My life is Yours.

Take me.

Use me.

Mold me.

To be used for Your honour and glory.

Every moment that my flesh dies, my spirit rejoices.

You are my all in all.

My everything.

I’ve learnt to love You.

You have been so patient with me.

You have blessed me so.

You have loved me so.

In fact, it’s because of how you love me that I have standards for how my husband should love me.

But he will never be You.

For You are my first love.

My all in all.

The Great I AM.

My everything.

- Your Bride | Daughter | Friend ♥️

takenupmycross

“You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”

- Joshua 23:14