He’s takin’ care of business, everyday.

One of the things that’s really hard about the Lord bring healing to an area of your heart or dealing with a certain issue that He’s highlighting, is that He really is changing you even when you don’t feel it. It’s the place between being aware of what those things are yet still feeling like no progress is being made. I’ve experienced this a bunch, it’s something we all go through as Christians I think cause He’s transforming us every day, always making us more like Him. What gives me peace though is that He really is changing me each day. His word says that all I have to do is look at Him and He changes me, for real. Not only am I not who I was say, a year ago, but I’m not who I was even yesterday. Having faith in this is what keeps me going forward. It gives me strength for another day to continue to give Him all that’s in my heart that needs His touch. A lot of times the enemy can come in and make us feel like nothing is going on inside of us cause we don’t feel anything. But faith isn’t based on feelings or what we can see right in front of us. That’s why it’s faith right? This is just another way that we can exercise our faith muscle. It doesn’t only happen when we have to trust the Lord in a greater way in our circumstances, but in trusting Him with our hearts as well. Trusting that He’s doing things that we aren’t even aware of everyday. Amazing things. Beautiful things. When we focus on our weaknesses we lose sight of His strength that is so incredibly and freely available to us.

So whether the Lord’s working on some inner healing stuff in you or showing you places in your heart where you’ve agreed with pride or anger or fear of man or impatience, whatever it is, just know that He’s doing something. He really is. I’m kinda writing this to tell myself that, ya know, like an “oh my soul” type deal but it’s for whoever “you” are too. You really are being transformed. He really is helping you. When He shows you something He wants to deal with, just give it to Him and know by faith that He’s exchanging something with you because He really really is. Imagine Him placing more of Himself in those very places of your heart that you’re giving Him. It’s like He plants a seed there. It may be a little while till you see the fruit but you’ll see it and  you don’t have to make it grow. He’s good at that . I heard this amazing saying once, “What He reveals, He heals.” That simple phrase has helped me so much. Knowing that when He shows me something He wants to work on or clean up, He’s going to do something redemptive with that. It’s not just to show me how much work I need to make me feel bad or something. What He reveals, He heals. Always.

As I was lying in bed just now, thinking about all this, the Holy Spirit put this song in my head. It’s kinda funny, I actually replied with, “Are youu serriouuus?” haha but He is and it totally relates. The lyrics that I started to hear in my head were,

“I’m taking care of business (every day)
Taking care of business (every way)
I’ve been taking care of business (it’s all mine)
Taking care of business and working overtime”

Awesome right ? So just rest knowing that Holy Spirit is takin’ care of business. Everday .

“But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory just as by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Cor 3:18)

Holy Spirit is the Perfect Travel Agent

Today I was reflecting on just how awesome the Holy Spirit has been this past week. My beautiful friend Jenna from FITN flew all the way from Washington (state) to come and visit me and my other beloved roommate Dora on the East Coast. I wanted to blog about how perfect Holy Spirit HOOOKED IT UP! For reals. Today my heart was just overwhelmed as I realized His leadership over it all. From beginning until the very end of the time we got to spend together, it was perfect and Holy Spirit was all over it. as much as this is me just reflecting on what we did a little bit, I also want it to be a testimony of how awesome He is.

• Fun Holy Spirit testimony #1. Jenna’s connecting flight actually ended up getting delayed about an hour or so. Not a super big deal, but the only thing was that we had plans to go to Thai Thai for dinner when her and Dora arrived from the airport to my house and Thai Thai closes at 9:30. Depending on how long the flight was and how long it took them to get there, I was estimating that they may not get to my place until about 8:45 and I even told Holy Spirit, “8:45 is really the latest we could get there sooooooooo You gotta hook it up…” Well needless to say He totally did 8) . He hooked it up so Jenna’s flight caught a crazy tail wind that shot them to New York and they ended up getting to my house at 8:30ish. Sweet deal. So we had more than enough time to rejoice in each other’s prescence, as well as the presence of delicious Thai cuisine 8) AND to top that off my dad randomly shows up at the EXACT time we’re getting the bill and pays for the whole thing. You rock Dude.
• The rest of the night we got to exchange Christmas presents which was glorious as well. Every good and perfect gift comes from the Father and I was totally feelin that in the gifts I got from Dora and Jenna, as well as the gift of just having them with me too.
• Dora had to go to an orientation for Med school Friday and Saturday so after she left Thursday night it was just me and Jenna 8) . Friday was full of fun adventures. We went to all the essential stores where you just walk around for fun like Borders and Home Goods, ate awesome Jersey pizza, I scored some sweet acrylic paint from A.C. Moore, took Jenna to Washington Rock to see the skyline of NYC, all this intermingled with sweet conversation and Jesus-ness 8) It was so refreshing to my spirit to be able to just chill with Jenna and I’m so grateful to the Lord for knowing that I needed that and giving that to me without even asking really. He’s so kind.
• Fun Holy Spirit testimony #2. Okay sooooooooooo in summation…Friday night…Holy Spirit totally just manifested in my room. Now, by that evening, my spirit was just feeling really joyful and good. I kind of had a feeling that something else was up or that He was up to something extra but didn’t think much of it. It was pretty late, maybe about 2 in the morning or something when we were about to get ready for bed and it all started with Holy Spirit ministering to Jenna through me, I could feel Him so strongly and knew something was up once that began because the whole time, I could have busted out laughing with the joy of the Lord if I let myself. The only reason I didn’t was because it was the middle of the night and I would have woken people up. I just could not help but smile the whole time. Jenna and I ended up talking for a while in the midst of all this and then I think we just started talking about the love of the Father or something, I can’t remember. But by that time it was maybe 3:30 or so and we decided to try and go to sleep but Holy Spirit just took over dude! He was so thick in the room it was crazy, I literally could not move on my bed. I could feel waves of His energy come and go over my head and just the love of the Father was being manifested to Jenna and I so strongly. What I kept thinking about was Him brooding over us like He did over the waters in Genesis 1. I cant even describe how thankful I am for that. And we didn’t even have the IHOP webstream on or anything, it’s just what He’s doing and all He needed was our hungry hearts. Beautiful.
• Fun testimony from Saturday: Jenna and I got to witness to this guy at a little kid’s store in Summit =) . He got to asking about where Jenna was from and what brought her out here and what not which got us into talking about IHOP, FITN and Jesus. It definitely felt like a seed planting 8) . OH! And this was the coolest thing to me. At one point he was like, “you guys could be sisters, you can definitely tell that you really bonded out there” or something along those lines. That may not seem like a big deal but it was so cool to me because this guy could actually see that we were knit together in the Lord whether he realized it or not. I think of that verse in John where Jesus says that people will know we are His disciples by the love that we have for each other and I think that this was a cool example of that. He wasn’t just seeing close friends; he was seeing Jesus because He is the love that bonds us together.
• On Sunday Dora was reunited with us! Yay for Holy Spirit joyful times of fellowship=)!
• Monday we made our way to Dora’s place in Yonkers after listening to Mikey B talk about loving God with all of our mind, doing a fun little exercise based on that, and watching some Pride & Prej of course. Just all around good times.
• NYC Holy Spirit Testimony: Tuesday was what we planned to be our city day. When we planned this it wasn’t supposed to be too cold but it was supposed to rain. Well, Holy Spirit HOOKED IT UP! I’m still in awe about how perfect the weather was that day. It was a little chilly but it was the perfect day out of all the days we had together to go. Even the weather He planned out and tuned us in to what day to go. It was a beautiful day all around. We went to the Emp , Macy’s, Times Square, and Rockefeller Center of course. We also met a security guy at Rockefeller Center who was a Christian and talked to us for about a half hour about stuff from Genesis to Revelation and even had a word for me after we prayed for him. God is good and great.
• Final Holy Spirit testimonies: Wednesday was Jenna’s last day on the East Coast but her flight wasn’t until the evening-ish. We hit a whole bunch of traffic taking her to the airport and were praying for the Lord to redeem the time and hook something up. Needless to say, Holy Spirit was showing off again in this because Dora and I got a text from Jenna saying that she basically got there at perfect timing and that her flight was delayed 10 minutes! What’s funny is that in my head on the car ride there I was thinking, “Ya know, that’d be cool if the plane got delayed for her.” Come on! That’s crazy. He is so good!!

Some of the things that I mentioned here might seem minute. Things that seem like coincidence even. But I just know in my heart that everything that went on was all Holy Spirit. It’s just amazing what He will do when you invite Him. I think I always thought that He was only concerned with “spiritual” things or whatever. But the truth is, He wants to be apart of everything in our lives. And what’s awesome is that He cares deeply about everything in our lives. When I think of this past week, it’s like He just say three of His daughters being able to get together and fellowship with Him and one another and He could not resist hooking it up for them =) . It’s amazing the things He does when you invite Him into your circumstances, your relationships and just the simple cares of each day. I’m so incredibly grateful that He can even be involved in those things. It brings such peace to my heart knowing that He has provision, guidance, and wisdom to offer me in every arena of my life at all times. Thinking on the things He’s showed me this past week just stirs my heart to invite Him more. When He’s becomes the center from which everything else in your life flows, it’s a beautiful thing. But remember, He’s a gentleman so He will never force Himself upon you, He desires to be invited. And when you invite Him, get ready

I Will Learn to Sing

As some people may have heard, Holy Spirit crazyness is breaking out at IHOP-KC. Let’s just say I didn’t exactly take that news all too well. In short summation, I was offended, flipped out, and felt like I fell back 10 steps right when I thought I was moving forward with all this “getting used to being back here” junk. All the questions came up, all the frustrations, all the, “What am I doing here? I just fold clothes every day, I don’t care about New Jersey, I don’t know what I care about, I just want what I want and I know that’s not cool, so Dude, if you don’t help me out here I don’t know what I’m going to do.” And what blows my mind is just the Lord’s patience with me. I mean I could have basically put myself in Psalm 73:21. “Thus my heart was grieved, and I was vexed in my mind. I was so foolish and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.” But here’s the killer…”Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.”

Sidenote: If there’s any “secret to encounter with the Lord” if you will, that I could give right now, it would be to just be honest with Him about how you feel. Give Him all that you’re feeling just like you would tell your best friend. But don’t just spill your heart out and leave and think your time is over. You wouldn’t just tell you’re best friend everything that’s going on, hysterically cry and say, “Okay so good talking to ya, till next time!” That’s ridiculous. Instead, wait. Wait and see what happens. Let Him speak back to you. Let Him comfort you. Watch and see what He does when you interact with Him in blatant transparency. Take a look at the Psalms, it’s all over the place there. Being able to be honest with the Lord about where I’m at has been such a gift to me especially in times like these recently. Take what you’re feeling, release it to Him, lean on Your beloved in faith and He will come. He will come. I love being able to just be straight up with the Lord, it unlocks my heart and brings me into such a unique place of intimacy. It makes my relationship feel like a real relationship with Someone.

Back to whatever I was saying. All I know, and have to hope for really is that the Lord is doing something deeper in me through all this. Through my pain, through my frustrations and through choosing to love and worship Him and trust His leadership in the midst of it. I have no idea what’s going on in my heart when I choose to throw myself on Him in this time but it’s gotta be something for my good.

When I was talking to my brother Drew yesterday about all the junk I was feeling he said this one thing that really struck me.

“This is how love is tested. Nobody ever tells you that it looks like that. Fire burns. That’s why it’s called dying to self and why there is mourning because it’s death. But there is resurrection, I promise. The saints we love and admire are the ones who learn to love and worship in the midst of their seasons.”

This is how love is tested. That’s it. My love is being tested. Refined. Put through the fire. Offense is being brough to the surface. The Master Craftsman is doing some intense work, for real. Will I learn to sing in the midst of the wilderness? Will I learn to sing in the midst of the fire? He’s brought me here for one main purpose. To bring me forth in love. I have to constantly bring my mind and the emotions of my heart to recognize His beautiful mercy in His leadership and kindness to have me grow in love and dependency upon Him and Him alone now and not later. Fire burns. This stinkin hurts and isn’t fun to be completely honest. But I will learn to sing. I will learn to sing.

I feel like this is what the Lord would be saying to me right now. Not word for word, didn’t have an intense, “Thus saith the Lord” moment, just an impression from His heart to mine I guess you can say that I’ll just manifest with words with a little help from Laura Hackett if you can pick up on it :

“Will you love Me here Brittany? Will you still say “yes” even though you don’t have what you want right now? Even though you’re not where you’d want to be or with who you’d want to be with? Will you still marry Me? Did you really mean it when you said you would? When you said “turn my little world upside down?” When you said, “I surrender all” or “Come and take Your place in the center of my heart.” When you sang, “Take me through the fire, take me through the rain, take me through the testing, I’ll do anything.” Can’t you see, I’m answering the sincere cry of your heart that I saw. You said that you would marry Me. Did you mean it, because I meant it. Always and forever, I mean it. I meant it when I said I’m forever yours. Be forever Mine. Please lean on Me, please give into Me, I just can’t take it anymore, you gotta be Mine. Be Mine. Please say “yes.” Will you have Me and Me alone? I have to be your supreme source of joy. A location can not. Even those you hold dear to you can not. You can’t base your happiness and contentment on your outward circumstances but rather, an internal & eternal reality. The unseen. My love for you. I said again and again, “abide in Me, abide in Me, you in Me and I in you, united, one, together, always.” Make your home in Me for I have made My home in you. Delight yourself in Me for I have delighted Myself in you. Let Me be your exceedingly great reward for you are Mine. Set Me before you for I have set you before My face forever. Love Me in the midst of pain and suffering for I have loved you and set you as the joy before Me when I suffered more than anyone could ever imagine. Watch what I’ll do in your heart. Just watch what will happen each time you say “yes” when you feel pain. Each time you say, “I love you still” when you’re heart feels like it’s been ripped open. Know that I am undone. Overwhelmed. Ravished. Don’t let that become language. You really have no idea what that means. Find out. Oh, the weight and the glory of what you’re doing when you still chose Me, the eternal weight of glory. Just wait and see, it really is for but a moment. Trust Me. Cling to Me. Have Me. Hold Me. Never let go. I never have.”

I say, “yes.”

Oh, the Beauty of This Man

All I’m sayin is…Misty Edwards+Psalm45+HolySpirit = a sermon that leaves you feeling like you just ate a whole meal. I just wanted to share something she said that Ive been thinkin on since I heard it, it’s good times 8)

She was going over verse 2 where it says: “You are fairer than the sons of men” So she said to imagine all of the conquest of men throughout history and Jesus’ conquest is far greater than even the noble deeds of men. Imagine all the great heroes of history, and Jesus excels and outshines them all. It reminded me of the verse in Song of Solomon 5:10 where it describes Him as being  ”chief among ten thousand.” When I read that again I stopped and just imagined what ten thousand people looked like. It’s a couple thousand less than what I saw at the onething conference last year but still a massive amount of people. Now imagine one person standing out among all of them. This isn’t just someone who kind of stands out and you can notice Him juuuust a little bit more than the others. Nuh-uh. He literally shines. It’s unquestionable. There’s no one like Him. No one holds a candle to the beauty of this Man. It just unlocks something in my heart and makes me go, “Man, what is it about Him? I gotta know it.”

Another thing she said  was something like, “Imagine all the qualities of humanity that we want and enjoy…Jesus has all that in one being.”

Ah I love that so much! So beautiful! All the things that we admire and long for, ALL of them, are in One Man. He’s perfect in His beauty. Crazy.

“We barely even peer into the beauty of this Man”

Enough said.

#1. There’s Only One Found Worthy

When I wrote my first post from one of the first few days that I started Fire in the Night, I said that I thought doing the NightWatch would really help reveal to me how worthy Jesus is. Even though that’s going to be an eternal reality that’s never going to get old, I can definately say that being a part of the NightWatch at IHOP has played a foundational role in just making that truth so real to me.

I had this one spot where I liked to pace. It’s all the way in the back of the prayer room, next to the wall with the map on it. It was a little darker and secluded because it led to the emergency exit doors. One of the reasons I loved it so much was because it was the only place in the prayer room where you could see outside a little bit. The doors had shades that went down about half way so you could still see the darkness of the night. It’s back there where I’d have these moments where I’d realize exactly what we were doing. It’s 3 in the morning, most people are sleeping, and yet there’s a group of about 150-200 people that are beholding and blessing the Lord in the middle of the night. Man, just thinking about it again undoes something in my heart. I remember sometimes I would stop pacing and lean against the wall, face the entire prayer room and just look around. It would just hit me, “We are all here for You, for One Man. There’s no one else that the world adores night and day, there really is no one worthy of it besides You Jesus. Who are You?” It just blows my mind. I did this a couple times in the track and when I did it was like the worth of Jesus was being revealed to me more and more.

I’ll always treasure those times and now I’m convinced in my heart that He truly is worthy to be praised night and day. I was able to catch a small glimmer of why those four living creatures in Revelation 4 cry out and worship Him night and day, forever and ever. They never cease not just because they’re not allowed to or anything like that. It’s just…impossible. They’re not able to cease. They couldn’t if they tried.

It’s even begun to make sense to me why David was so consumed to build the house of the Lord and why he did what he did with the tabernacle. I believe that he caught a climpse of what was going on around the throne. His heart connected with a plan in the Father’s heart, that as it is in heaven so it would be on earth. David saw the ministry that was going on in the tabernacle as a necessity. It was actually peoples job to sing to the Lord night and day, he paid them to do it, he was adamant about this. Shoot, he even did it himself! God really is going to restore this to the earth and IHOP is only one expression of how the Lord is going to build His house of prayer and establish night and day worship and prayer. Being at IHOP has just opened my eyes to the reality that God really is doing something. It’s not just Kansas City’s thing either. It’s Holy Spirit’s thing

I think of this passage in Malachi 1:11

“For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My name shall be great among the Gentiles; In every place incense shall be offered to My name, and a pure offering. For My name shall be great among the nations,” says the Lord of Hosts

He’s doin a new thing for sure and I can’t wait to see how it gets orchestrated all across the world. He’s just so worthy of it. Here’s to the day the Spirit and the bride cry, “Come!”

Maranatha.

 

Epic fail Brittany, epic fail…

… yeaaaah I didnt exaaactly update by blog while I was at IHOP And there’s no way I could put into words all that’s happened in my heart these last 3 months. I’ll attempt to but I assure you, it’s almost imposiblee my amigo.

I’ll list a couple of main things that I think of when I look back at these 3 months. I’m gonna try and write a post for each one. Try. .

#1. Jesus is the only One found worthy to be adored night and day, 24/7, for all of eternity. It’s been going on in the throne room forever and now it’s time to bring it to the earth.

#2. The value of our weak “yes” and glance to the Lord. This is one of the foundation things that’s impacted my heart while I was there, a reality that’s changed the way I interact with God, so beautiful.

#3. The dignity of intercession. It’s glorious beyond words and I’ve only just, just, juuuuuust begun to see the beauty of it.

#4. The fellowship and love from everyone that I experienced was unlike anything I’ve ever known or thought I could. Unity and the brotherly love we’re called to walk in is one of the greatest joys and gifts we can have.

#5. The beauty of the NightWatch. The NightWatch will always have a special place in my heart and all I’m sayin is…whenever I go back to IHOP, even just to visit, I will be switchin to nights every time

#6. Jesus, the Father, and Holy Spirit are so different from what we think they are, so different than what we grew up hearing and it’s been blowing my mind, just the emotions of God…crazyness.

#7. I really am fearfully and wonderfully made and my soul is still in the process of knowing it full well

#8. Matthew 5, 6, and 7 really has to be my source and my life. For reals.

#9. The word “beloved” is beauuuutiful

#10. I can’t do anything without Him. My goodness is nothing apart from Him and I never want to stray from that reality.

That’s all I got right now. I really do wanna try and keep this updated as much as possible but we’ll see how that goes. I just love sharin what the Lord’s shown me with others so I hope you’ll be blessed in some way, whoever “you” are .

Much love!