In the month of May, God is inviting His people to step into the light and to allow themselves to be fully seen and known. He is leading us in ways that are unique and personalized. It's important to walk in intimacy with Him. Follow Him even if you can't see clearly. It's important to lean into His presence and trust His voice. Trust yourself to hear Him, because He's speaking to you. It's important for you to take ownership for your choices and the way you walk with God. He is with you.
Into the Light
"You have searched me, LORD, and You know me."
(Psalm 139:1 NIV)
Have you ever found yourself hiding parts of yourself because of the fear that you won't be fully loved or accepted for who you are? Have you ever attempted to showcase only your best sides, instead of the full, messy, authentic you?
Welcome to being human. We've all done this. In fact, we often even do this with God. We show up and attempt to bring Him our best sides while hiding our sin, failures, and humanness from Him. This isn't a new problem. Adam and Eve did this in the Garden. And yet this is not God's best for any of us.
There is an invitation to allow yourself to be fully known by God, to see yourself the way God sees you, and to invite others into knowing you authentically. Come before God wholeheartedly, without the need to hide or cover up, and allow Him to love you. As you spend time in His presence, He will show you how He sees you. Shame gets eradicated in the light and fear gets dismantled when you allow yourself to be loved for who you fully are.
Not only is it important to come before God in authenticity but also with safe people. We were created for connection and community. Healing comes in a safe connection. It costs something to be known; it feels safer to keep people at arm's length and avoid rejection. However, when you do this, you miss out on much of the beauty of life. (Photo via Unsplash)
So come out of hiding, dear friend. Let your walls down. Let yourself be seen and known for who you truly are, and let God love you in the middle of your mess.
A Constant God, Custom Leadership
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever." (Hebrews 13:8 NIV)
God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His nature is unchanging and His ways are constant. However, His leadership over your life might change from season to season. This is why it's imperative to remain in a place of intimacy with God.
Recently, I experienced a situation that seemed similar to something I'd gone through in the past. But the Lord's leadership to me was completely different. Similar situations, different leadings from the Holy Spirit, same God. Not every situation will require the same response. God wants to lead you uniquely. His character is the same, but what He asks you to do might change from season to season. Therefore, lean into His presence, lean into His Spirit, and lean into His voice. In both seasons, the consistency of God's response was a safety net to me and I got to trust Him.
He knows what we need, and He knows what is best in each and every situation. Therefore, trust the God whose nature is unchanging. He is always, always, always good. What He asks you to do or how He asks you to respond might change from season to season, but He does not change. Surrender your own agenda to the Lord and trust Him to walk with you. Follow His promptings even when you don't understand. He is faithful.
Blind Faith
"For we live by faith, not by sight." (2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV)
In 2020, when I (Katelyn) was in a dance class, I twisted my ankle and broke a bone in my foot. I went from being hyper-independent, running fifteen miles a week and consistent at the gym, to unable to walk without crutches. I could no longer do basic tasks like easily cook for myself or carry my coffee or walk up the stairs. Suddenly, I was dependent on the people around me, and let me tell you... it was rough. As someone who is incredibly used to being self-sufficient, needing other people was both humbling and challenging. And, yet, it was an important season for me because I was forced to depend on others and receive love from other people.
Sometimes God wants us to depend on Him, not on our giftings. There was a season in my life where I felt like I couldn't sense anything prophetically from the Lord, and the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, "This is important. I want you to rely on intimacy with Me, not on your prophetic sense right now. I'm teaching you to trust." I knew that the Lord was intentionally pruning me for a season, not out of cruelty but out of kindness. He knew that it would be easy for me to overly rely on this gifting instead of His Spirit and intimacy with Him. God asked me to walk side by side with Him in order to cultivate trust and intimacy with Him. In the process, He exposed all the areas in me where I wanted to bypass trust.
We are called to walk by faith and not by sight. The term "blind faith" comes to mind. When someone is blind, they often have other senses that are more powerfully developed, like a stronger sense of touch or hearing. In the same way, when we let go of the need to know, see, and understand everything in order to follow God, God will develop in us a stronger sense of trust and ability to rely on Him. (Photo via Unsplash)
Trusting Yourself to Hear God
"They said to him, 'You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.'
"But when they said, 'Give us a king to lead us,' this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: 'Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected Me as their king.'" (1 Samuel 8:5–7 NIV)
Confession: recently I, Katelyn, found myself in a situation where I had to make a decision and I went to anyone and everyone for their opinion. This decision felt high stakes to me, and I didn't want to get it wrong. The fact was I was dealing with a lot of big emotions. I was stuck in analysis paralysis, and I felt blocked from hearing God. Yes, I know. I teach classes on how to hear God and operate in the prophetic, and yet I was feeling stuck.
I realized I wanted to avoid the responsibility of choosing and the consequences of choosing, so I kept looking to anyone and everyone to tell me what to do or to hear God for me. But no one else can do this for me. It isn't anyone else's job to hear God or make decisions for me. It's my job and my responsibility to stay in a palace of connection with the Holy Spirit so I can follow His lead and make wise decisions.
I know I'm not the only person who has done this. In the Church, we often elevate leaders and put the responsibility on them to hear God for us. Instead of cultivating a relationship of intimacy and trust with God, we look to pastors, coaches, therapists, or friends to lead us. But that isn't their job. It's our job—each and everyone of us—to learn how to walk with God for ourselves. Yes, we submit to leaders and authorities in our lives. But ultimately we must cultivate our own unique relationships with God. We must take ownership for our decisions and we must develop the practice of reading His Word and learning to hear Him for ourselves.
Looking to others to make decisions for us can be a self-protection mechanism. "If I can't hear God, then I get to avoid the responsibility of stewarding His Word," or "If hearing God is only for other people, then I get to stay small." In Scripture, the Israelites wanted a king. But God wanted to be their king, to lead them. However, they wanted to look like everyone else. In filling us with the Holy Spirit, God still wants to be King over our hearts and King over our lives. Look to Jesus above all. He wants to speak to you about where you're at. He wants to lead you.
Declarations:
1. I let down my walls and embrace vulnerability.
2. God is leading me in the way I need to be led today.
3. God is trustworthy.
4. I trust God even when I cannot see the way or the outcome.
5. I am created to hear and know God's voice.
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Anne Jackson
The Crowning Jewels
Website:Â www.thecrowningjewels.com
Email: hello@thecrowningjewels.com
Texas-born Anne Jackson worked as a nurse for seventeen years before fully embracing her creative nature. Having grown up believing that God only spoke through the Bible, her life was transformed with the personal knowledge that He still speaks today. As she experienced a revelation of God's love for her and the power of words to transform and heal, she began designing jewelry, partnering with the Holy Spirit to create a tangible way to bring Heaven to earth. This is where her prophetic jewelry company, The Crowning Jewels, was birthed. Many people recognize her company as a business-ministry hybrid. She is known as a prophetic visionary with the drive to accomplish her dreams. Her mandate is to champion others as they discover their God given identity and fulfill their divine purpose. After living in Redding, CA for ten years, she recently moved back home and currently resides in Texas.
Katelyn Alexander
The Crowning Jewels
Website:Â www.thecrowningjewels.com
Email:Â hello@thecrowningjewels.com
Katelyn Alexander is a masterful teacher and coach with a passion for seeing people walk in the wholeness of who God created them to be. An actor, writer, and storyteller, Katelyn blends creativity and charisma with a solid foundation on the Word of God. Katelyn first worked with Anne and The Crowning Jewels in 2015 and now blogs, writes, and teaches for TCJ.
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