Saturday, March 17, 2012
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Thank you Lorraine!
Lorraine from Multi-Dimensional Life received the free book giveaway for God Is Enthralled By Your Beauty via Debby from Heavenly Humor. Lorraine not only received this book, but she read it with compassion coming forth for the little girl in each of us to be rescued, allowing God to consume her heart with how He sees each of us as His daughters.
The incredible review Lorraine posted on her blog about the book was beautiful...I want to personally thank Debby and Lorraine for their continued support of this message of beauty, penetrating the hearts of women of all ages, receiving a glimpse of how God sees us, through His eyes of Who He is...LOVE!
Lorraine's review:
I feel compelled to share this with you!
I had already read excerpts from Teresa's book on her blogs, Triumphant Victorious Reminders and God Is Enthralled By Your Beauty, but holding this little book in my hands as my eyes feast upon her poignant words has blessed me beyond description. It is really a little book...but it is HUGE in purpose and conveys what every woman (or anyone actually) should know! It is filled with the richness of God's grace, mercy and un-bridled love. Teresa speaks truth as she paints a vivid picture of one girls life. She takes us step by step through a dream about this girl who is tormented by the lie of "unworthiness" and she shows us just how God enters in to expose that lie and show this child how very precious she is in His eyes.
I've been extremely blessed to read and re-read it and to meditate on the truth of God's word through Teresa's amazing gift of communication!
an excerpt from Chapter 3:
"I cried out 'O God, why is she so drawn to this place of secrecy? All she has to do is turn one hundred eighty degrees. If she chose to do this I knew her eyes would be able to see clearly. She would once again see herself through the eyes of the Father."
"I watched with joy as I saw her turn with the King and she finally looked into the beautifully adorned mirror. As she looked she was stunned to see her new image. Her eyes now filled with freedom!"
...
The incredible review Lorraine posted on her blog about the book was beautiful...I want to personally thank Debby and Lorraine for their continued support of this message of beauty, penetrating the hearts of women of all ages, receiving a glimpse of how God sees us, through His eyes of Who He is...LOVE!
Lorraine's review:
I feel compelled to share this with you!
"The innocence of beauty and purity is sadly becoming a distant memory that is fading fast. "God is Enthralled By Your Beauty" is a book that will allow you to fall in love with Almighty God and understand a glimpse of how He sees you even in this fallen world of distorted perception."
"Let us triumphantly rise to the occasion
and finally look into the mirror He sees us in".
(Teresa Criswell)
Recently, Debby from Heavenly Humor held a 'giveaway' and I was the fortunate recipient...the gift was a copy of Teresa Criswell's book "God is Enthralled by your Beauty".
Oh...my...goodness!
I had already read excerpts from Teresa's book on her blogs, Triumphant Victorious Reminders and God Is Enthralled By Your Beauty, but holding this little book in my hands as my eyes feast upon her poignant words has blessed me beyond description. It is really a little book...but it is HUGE in purpose and conveys what every woman (or anyone actually) should know! It is filled with the richness of God's grace, mercy and un-bridled love. Teresa speaks truth as she paints a vivid picture of one girls life. She takes us step by step through a dream about this girl who is tormented by the lie of "unworthiness" and she shows us just how God enters in to expose that lie and show this child how very precious she is in His eyes.
I've been extremely blessed to read and re-read it and to meditate on the truth of God's word through Teresa's amazing gift of communication!
"God desires to deliver us from living the counterfeit and delivers us into the life we were meant to live; the life of authenticity.
The mandate is to reveal His majestic,
glorious beauty!
(Teresa Criswell)
an excerpt from Chapter 3:
"I cried out 'O God, why is she so drawn to this place of secrecy? All she has to do is turn one hundred eighty degrees. If she chose to do this I knew her eyes would be able to see clearly. She would once again see herself through the eyes of the Father."
"I watched with joy as I saw her turn with the King and she finally looked into the beautifully adorned mirror. As she looked she was stunned to see her new image. Her eyes now filled with freedom!"
~
Freedom is waiting!
I'm so grateful for you Teresa and for you Debby!
Debby, I'm also waiting with great expectation for your book! What beautiful, talented women you both are!
I'm delighted and honored to know you and call you friends!
Abundant blessings to you, always!
***(I was not asked to promote Teresa's book, or to mention Debby's up-coming book. I just adore these talented women and wanted to share them with you)***
Monday, September 26, 2011
Inspired feedback...
God Is Enthralled By Your Beauty is FINALLY printed! This powerful tool in this little book is allowing women to be healed and restored as they begin to realize their beauty is available for only $9.95! Please know that 10% of each book sell goes to SCTNow.org which is an organization that effectively takes down the child traffickers, bringing them to justice!
I also wanted to share the following feedback that I received in my inbox provoking in me the reminder, "this is what it is truly about". Please read the following, I know many of you will be blessed, just as I was:
Teresa,
I started reading your book, God is Enthralled by Your Beauty, and it inspired me to write this.
-Kristen Eggers
Dare to Stare
Some ask Mirror on the wall,
“Who’s the fairest one of all?”
Some trust all that's seen with eyes.
They’ll believe any disguise.
But listen close, don’t dismiss,
Or, I fear, the point you’ll miss.
Look intently and you’ll see,
That which you were meant to be.
Gaze deeply; don’t turn away.
Seek the truth; it won’t betray.
Close those eyes, let go, unwind.
The true you, you’re sure to find.
Inspiring others by God's Holy Spirit is the exceedingly, abundantly, above all we could ever hope, ask or imagine, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT IS WITHIN US...to GOD be ALL THE GLORY (Ephesians 3:20-21)!
To read God Is Enthralled By Your Beauty, simpy click on the individual links (Each chapter is linked to an individual post):
I also wanted to share the following feedback that I received in my inbox provoking in me the reminder, "this is what it is truly about". Please read the following, I know many of you will be blessed, just as I was:
Teresa,
I started reading your book, God is Enthralled by Your Beauty, and it inspired me to write this.
-Kristen Eggers
Dare to Stare
Some ask Mirror on the wall,
“Who’s the fairest one of all?”
Some trust all that's seen with eyes.
They’ll believe any disguise.
But listen close, don’t dismiss,
Or, I fear, the point you’ll miss.
Look intently and you’ll see,
That which you were meant to be.
Gaze deeply; don’t turn away.
Seek the truth; it won’t betray.
Close those eyes, let go, unwind.
The true you, you’re sure to find.
Inspiring others by God's Holy Spirit is the exceedingly, abundantly, above all we could ever hope, ask or imagine, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT IS WITHIN US...to GOD be ALL THE GLORY (Ephesians 3:20-21)!
To read God Is Enthralled By Your Beauty, simpy click on the individual links (Each chapter is linked to an individual post):
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Thank you for reading, reviewing and recommending
God Is Enthralled By Your Beauty.
Do you know that God is enthralled by your beauty? Psalm 45:11 says, "The King is enthralled by your beauty; honor Him, for He is your Lord."
Being led in the dance by the King of kings is a life lived that I could never have imagined. I am enamored, taken back and quickened to the remembrance of the day I was rescued by my Almighty Rescuer!
I could never imagine the thoughts and plans that God had and continues to have towards me, especially in the midst of my sin, He saw me through His eyes of faith. He is Faith.
He is full of faith so no wonder he is Faithful!
If you have read my book and you were blessed, I pray that you will share with other women who need to hear the message of the beauty of our God. He longs to lavish His true beauty upon each of His daughter's; especially the daughters who have no idea they belong to the King. His arms are open wide to receive them, let us be led by the Spirit to lead others to the King! He longs to embrace us, revealing His redeeming power over our lives.
He is waiting to equip us; are we willing to be equipped? Let us lead other daughters of God to awaken and rise up to the call of our God. If you have not read, God Is Enthralled by Your Beauty, you can do so by selecting any of the posts below...the posts are listed from chapter one to chapter seven, click on the preferred post, and you will be linked directly to the chapter you have selected. I pray that you are blessed beyond your wildest imaginations.
Introduction
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Arise in your place; but first we must awaken to the King's call upon our lives. Awake my sister. Awake! (Isaiah 60).
Do you know that God is enthralled by your beauty? Psalm 45:11 says, "The King is enthralled by your beauty; honor Him, for He is your Lord."
Being led in the dance by the King of kings is a life lived that I could never have imagined. I am enamored, taken back and quickened to the remembrance of the day I was rescued by my Almighty Rescuer!
I could never imagine the thoughts and plans that God had and continues to have towards me, especially in the midst of my sin, He saw me through His eyes of faith. He is Faith.
He is full of faith so no wonder he is Faithful!
If you have read my book and you were blessed, I pray that you will share with other women who need to hear the message of the beauty of our God. He longs to lavish His true beauty upon each of His daughter's; especially the daughters who have no idea they belong to the King. His arms are open wide to receive them, let us be led by the Spirit to lead others to the King! He longs to embrace us, revealing His redeeming power over our lives.
He is waiting to equip us; are we willing to be equipped? Let us lead other daughters of God to awaken and rise up to the call of our God. If you have not read, God Is Enthralled by Your Beauty, you can do so by selecting any of the posts below...the posts are listed from chapter one to chapter seven, click on the preferred post, and you will be linked directly to the chapter you have selected. I pray that you are blessed beyond your wildest imaginations.
Introduction
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Arise in your place; but first we must awaken to the King's call upon our lives. Awake my sister. Awake! (Isaiah 60).
Friday, March 11, 2011
Your Review...
I thank the King of kings for each of you who have visited my blog and encouraged me along the way through this process. You are my blessing from the Lord God Almighty!
The following are links to each chapter of my book that have been posted via blog:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
The following are links to each chapter of my book that have been posted via blog:
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Friday, March 4, 2011
Chapter Seven: The Freedom Fighter
Written by: Teresa Criswell
Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Now imagine for a moment, you are on the beach. You can hear the waves and the sound effects of the wind. If you are wearing pants, roll them up and walk towards the beach ~ sit down and let your toes dig into the wet sand ~ listen to the sounds of the seagulls off to the distance.
Are your senses mesmerized by the symphony of the wind and waves as they crash together and become one? It may just be the most beautiful symphonic arrangement to your ears. Just stand there and let the vastness of the ocean and the breeze of the wind caress your face and hair as the tide comes in so smoothly and brushes up against your feet and above your ankles. Slowly inhale that beautiful fresh ocean air… now slowly exhale. Open your eyes and look into the horizon, look to the left and now to the right…there seems to be no end to this splendid ocean as it seems to go on for eternity.
Awake my sister, God's love is more vast than all the grains of sand in the entire world. Ponder this thought for a moment: you are on the beach looking out to the horizon, that one area where you are standing look to your right, now look to your left, now look straight ahead. You cannot see the end of the ocean; it keeps going even beyond what your eyes can see!
Wow! Now listen to the rhythm of the waves crashing in. Listen to that ongoing sound; the sound of power. Now, imagine your head upon God’s Almighty chest and that sound of the rhythm of the waves is as His Awesome heartbeat.
O Princess, He wants you to know His love is more than enough! More than your parents love, your husband’s love, your children’s love, your friend’s love all put together does not come close to God’s enthralling love for you! His capacity to love is so great, for this is Who He Is: LOVE!
Obviously, we will never understand the vastness of who He is, but let us just ponder a few amazing characteristics of God. Well, most of us have been taught according to the Word that He is “The Great I Am”. He is “All Sufficient”. He is “The Redeemer”. He Is “The King of kings”. He is “The Lord of lords”. He is our “Provider”. He is “More Than Enough”. He is “The Commander of The Heavenly Hosts”. He “Reigns In Victory”. “He is Love”. He is “The Beginning and The End”. “He made all things and for Him they were made”. He is our “Strong Tower”. He is our “Refuge”. He is our “Redeemer”…The many words to give descriptions of adoration in Who He is, is definitely eternal. The amazing truth is that these describe only a glimpse of Who He is. These descriptive, active words are not clichés that we use so loosely. These words reflect the attempting power of letters to worship Him as vocabulary itself cannot contain such massive power!
In this massive power He imparts who He is…and that is Freedom revealed because of Truth! God has so freely and lavishly given us freedom. He has given us the keys to see ourselves through His loving, beautiful, merciful eyes. He has given us the ability to run from the lies with His powerful grace as we run with great humbleness.
In humbleness, we will find that we will no longer dwell on the actions of how people have wronged us. For when we focus on people, we lead ourselves right back into captivity. When we look to God and lean on Him the One who cannot fail, we are free.
We know that Jesus is simply yet most powerfully the key to freedom, however, how do we come to this realization? By the Spirit of God and God’s Word as we get to know Him and His character through what He has already done as revealed in scripture.
As I read through the gospels, the writers have a common thread that is so beautifully knit together. As Jesus performed miracles, there was this genuine, authentic, wondrous, uncontainable love that was lavished upon the unlovable. Jesus repeatedly gave glory to the Father as He would say, “I do this because I have first seen my Father in heaven do this.” We also know that He had compassion and intimacy with His Father on earth as flesh. He knew who He was, yet He also knew that in order to do the great exploits that we triumphantly read about He knew He had to be dependent upon the Father. His power was manifested by His dependency on God’s compassion. Jesus revealed His active humbleness towards His Father.
The dependency on The Father is incredibly amazing, however, I am brought to this glorious reminder of Who Jesus is revealed as Truth. Paul, the apostle had such a revelation of Jesus as He revealed a vivid picture of the Armor of God.
I want to bring focus on the belt of Truth. This belt girds us about. Jesus is that belt of truth that girds us about as one of the pieces of spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10-18). He girds us, He holds us in who He is and what He does.
The definition of gird according to Webster’s Dictionary: 1. To encircle or fasten with or as if with a belt (on a sword). 2. To invest especially with power or authority. 3. To prepare or brace.
Watch! Listen! See this!
Jesus encircles us or fastens us with His truth (The Word of God is as the sword).
He invests in us with power and authority.
He prepares us and braces us with His love.
He not only frees us he also equips us in His authority on how to remain in that place, by being embraced by Him.
Now it is our choice to stay in that powerful, loving embrace or walk away from it and go right back into the lies of captivity.
“In [this] freedom Christ had made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off].
–Galatians 5:1 AMP
I’ll give you an example. I was meditating on an illustration that God had given to me, in regards to how He is the key to freedom. His name; Jesus is the Key. He broke me free from the bondage of my past that I constantly dwelt upon. He showed me that when I was free, He would say with excitement, “Teresa, you are free from this prison of captivity!” In this visual I received, I remember watching myself just stand there, I thought for sure I would run out of the prison shouting and rejoicing; embracing my Mighty Rescuer, Jesus. But to my dismay instead I felt the indentations of the cuffs that once held me by my wrists and ankles, and it was as if I had that feeling of “forgetting my jewelry” and I needed to go back and put it back on. I lived a life of captivity for so long, that I was unable to experience freedom, for the familiarity of captivity held me back in the demented comfort of the chains. This time without the adversary’s help, I placed those chains of the past back upon myself.
This powerful illustration shocked me. I remember crying out to God, “Why would I do such a thing?” “Why do I deny your power not with my words but with my actions?” It is as if I heard the Spirit of God say, “The Israelites did the same, reliving a false, demented memory of the past.” They forgot how awful it was being in captivity, they had a false memory in the heat of the moment of “how much better Egypt was” than where they were. Of course they were in the wilderness, not a place anyone wants to be, however they weren’t alone. They had Almighty Jehovah parting the Red Sea so they could cross over from the land of captivity to go to a land of promise and freedom. Almighty God was their “Cloud by day” and “Fire by night”. He provided manna from heaven and when they got “sick” of that he provided quail because they just had to have meat (waist deep). There were many impossible situations, yet, the God of the impossible would make it possible. Anytime I read those historical accounts of the Israelites, I ask God with great frustration, “How could they forget what You, Almighty God had done?” Yet, sadly I was reminded that I do the same thing!
When I saw the imagery of the Israelites I shook my head in sadness for what an awful attempt to slap God's Holy face. The Deliverer was being told by the one’s who were delivered that He did not do a good enough job for their sakes. The astonishing part, they only knew slavery, for more than four hundred years they were in captivity, so being free was absolutely foreign. They were free but still had a slavery mentality. That spirit of slavery that was upon them did not allow them to see the beauty of freedom that they stood in.
I no longer want to be guilty of having a slavery mentality. I no longer want to be guilty of having an oppressive mentality, to where when freedom comes, I unknowingly reject it, because I have no idea what it is.
This is such an awakening. I must know my God, The God who Frees and Restores back to us what we may have never known before…a free woman.
I have heard it said, “Your past does not determine your future.” I believe that to some degree, however, most people’s past does determine their future by wrong choices. I choose to say, “Your past does not have to determine your future.”
We must make choices every moment of the day. One of those choices, revealed by these questions, “Will I allow yesterday’s failures and decisions determine today”? Of course, we want to say, “No!” But how do we live that out?
I believe with some of us we have to remind ourselves literally every moment of the day by speaking aloud, declaring with a ShOUT into the atmosphere over ourselves:
“I am Free.”
“I am set free!”
“I am disentangled from lies!”
“I am relieved and cleared by Jesus!”
We must shout and declare it with a shout of praise unto God with great fervency!
To the degree that slavery has tried to come after us is to the degree we must resist it! How? We MUST submit to God. We unwillingly told ourselves how we could never be free, so we must now willingly echo what is truth… “I am free, because of my Freedom Fighter, Jesus Christ!”
Think about this, unwillingly we tend to live our lives as a lie…when willingly we must live Truth. With freedom, we must uphold it. We maintain that freedom by maintaining intimate time with the Author of Freedom. For when the will goes away to be intimate with the Freedom Fighter, Jesus then the unwillingness will sneak back in and it will snatch us with its clenching jaws as we become a slave to the lies yet again.
Willingness comes at a price, however the incredible, awesome outcome is of truth! In this Truth we grab hold of, more than anything pleases the Almighty God.
We must also remember that unwillingness also comes at a price for the results are lies and destruction, which does not reveal the glory of God.
Which will we choose? I pray we will say “Yes” to the King and live as our rightful place in His Glorious Kingdom as His daughter of Truth!
You have lived the life of peasantry long enough…you have a legacy to leave…be a part of rescuing the little girl from the lies of the enemy and be a part of the Redeeming power to change the outcome of her life by living the life of freedom!
Remember this is more than a daily walk. This is moment by moment. This is a life of choices; those choices not only remain with you but they will and can remain with the generations after you. If you have an unwillingness to do it for yourself, then be a visionary and do it for the generations after you that you do not hear! But know this…they are crying out for someone to make the right choices for God’s glory. Walk the path of His glory. You are not a peasant, you are His daughter! You are no longer an orphan; you are His royal heiress!
I plead with you! Look into the mirror and see the daughter of the King! Rise up, for remember, God is enthralled by your beauty; which is truly His beauty.
Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
Now imagine for a moment, you are on the beach. You can hear the waves and the sound effects of the wind. If you are wearing pants, roll them up and walk towards the beach ~ sit down and let your toes dig into the wet sand ~ listen to the sounds of the seagulls off to the distance.
Are your senses mesmerized by the symphony of the wind and waves as they crash together and become one? It may just be the most beautiful symphonic arrangement to your ears. Just stand there and let the vastness of the ocean and the breeze of the wind caress your face and hair as the tide comes in so smoothly and brushes up against your feet and above your ankles. Slowly inhale that beautiful fresh ocean air… now slowly exhale. Open your eyes and look into the horizon, look to the left and now to the right…there seems to be no end to this splendid ocean as it seems to go on for eternity.
Awake my sister, God's love is more vast than all the grains of sand in the entire world. Ponder this thought for a moment: you are on the beach looking out to the horizon, that one area where you are standing look to your right, now look to your left, now look straight ahead. You cannot see the end of the ocean; it keeps going even beyond what your eyes can see!
Wow! Now listen to the rhythm of the waves crashing in. Listen to that ongoing sound; the sound of power. Now, imagine your head upon God’s Almighty chest and that sound of the rhythm of the waves is as His Awesome heartbeat.
O Princess, He wants you to know His love is more than enough! More than your parents love, your husband’s love, your children’s love, your friend’s love all put together does not come close to God’s enthralling love for you! His capacity to love is so great, for this is Who He Is: LOVE!
Obviously, we will never understand the vastness of who He is, but let us just ponder a few amazing characteristics of God. Well, most of us have been taught according to the Word that He is “The Great I Am”. He is “All Sufficient”. He is “The Redeemer”. He Is “The King of kings”. He is “The Lord of lords”. He is our “Provider”. He is “More Than Enough”. He is “The Commander of The Heavenly Hosts”. He “Reigns In Victory”. “He is Love”. He is “The Beginning and The End”. “He made all things and for Him they were made”. He is our “Strong Tower”. He is our “Refuge”. He is our “Redeemer”…The many words to give descriptions of adoration in Who He is, is definitely eternal. The amazing truth is that these describe only a glimpse of Who He is. These descriptive, active words are not clichés that we use so loosely. These words reflect the attempting power of letters to worship Him as vocabulary itself cannot contain such massive power!
In this massive power He imparts who He is…and that is Freedom revealed because of Truth! God has so freely and lavishly given us freedom. He has given us the keys to see ourselves through His loving, beautiful, merciful eyes. He has given us the ability to run from the lies with His powerful grace as we run with great humbleness.
In humbleness, we will find that we will no longer dwell on the actions of how people have wronged us. For when we focus on people, we lead ourselves right back into captivity. When we look to God and lean on Him the One who cannot fail, we are free.
We know that Jesus is simply yet most powerfully the key to freedom, however, how do we come to this realization? By the Spirit of God and God’s Word as we get to know Him and His character through what He has already done as revealed in scripture.
As I read through the gospels, the writers have a common thread that is so beautifully knit together. As Jesus performed miracles, there was this genuine, authentic, wondrous, uncontainable love that was lavished upon the unlovable. Jesus repeatedly gave glory to the Father as He would say, “I do this because I have first seen my Father in heaven do this.” We also know that He had compassion and intimacy with His Father on earth as flesh. He knew who He was, yet He also knew that in order to do the great exploits that we triumphantly read about He knew He had to be dependent upon the Father. His power was manifested by His dependency on God’s compassion. Jesus revealed His active humbleness towards His Father.
The dependency on The Father is incredibly amazing, however, I am brought to this glorious reminder of Who Jesus is revealed as Truth. Paul, the apostle had such a revelation of Jesus as He revealed a vivid picture of the Armor of God.
I want to bring focus on the belt of Truth. This belt girds us about. Jesus is that belt of truth that girds us about as one of the pieces of spiritual armor (Ephesians 6:10-18). He girds us, He holds us in who He is and what He does.
The definition of gird according to Webster’s Dictionary: 1. To encircle or fasten with or as if with a belt (on a sword). 2. To invest especially with power or authority. 3. To prepare or brace.
Watch! Listen! See this!
Jesus encircles us or fastens us with His truth (The Word of God is as the sword).
He invests in us with power and authority.
He prepares us and braces us with His love.
He not only frees us he also equips us in His authority on how to remain in that place, by being embraced by Him.
Now it is our choice to stay in that powerful, loving embrace or walk away from it and go right back into the lies of captivity.
“In [this] freedom Christ had made us free [and completely liberated us]; stand fast then, and do not be hampered and held ensnared and submit again to a yoke of slavery [which you have once put off].
–Galatians 5:1 AMP
I’ll give you an example. I was meditating on an illustration that God had given to me, in regards to how He is the key to freedom. His name; Jesus is the Key. He broke me free from the bondage of my past that I constantly dwelt upon. He showed me that when I was free, He would say with excitement, “Teresa, you are free from this prison of captivity!” In this visual I received, I remember watching myself just stand there, I thought for sure I would run out of the prison shouting and rejoicing; embracing my Mighty Rescuer, Jesus. But to my dismay instead I felt the indentations of the cuffs that once held me by my wrists and ankles, and it was as if I had that feeling of “forgetting my jewelry” and I needed to go back and put it back on. I lived a life of captivity for so long, that I was unable to experience freedom, for the familiarity of captivity held me back in the demented comfort of the chains. This time without the adversary’s help, I placed those chains of the past back upon myself.
This powerful illustration shocked me. I remember crying out to God, “Why would I do such a thing?” “Why do I deny your power not with my words but with my actions?” It is as if I heard the Spirit of God say, “The Israelites did the same, reliving a false, demented memory of the past.” They forgot how awful it was being in captivity, they had a false memory in the heat of the moment of “how much better Egypt was” than where they were. Of course they were in the wilderness, not a place anyone wants to be, however they weren’t alone. They had Almighty Jehovah parting the Red Sea so they could cross over from the land of captivity to go to a land of promise and freedom. Almighty God was their “Cloud by day” and “Fire by night”. He provided manna from heaven and when they got “sick” of that he provided quail because they just had to have meat (waist deep). There were many impossible situations, yet, the God of the impossible would make it possible. Anytime I read those historical accounts of the Israelites, I ask God with great frustration, “How could they forget what You, Almighty God had done?” Yet, sadly I was reminded that I do the same thing!
When I saw the imagery of the Israelites I shook my head in sadness for what an awful attempt to slap God's Holy face. The Deliverer was being told by the one’s who were delivered that He did not do a good enough job for their sakes. The astonishing part, they only knew slavery, for more than four hundred years they were in captivity, so being free was absolutely foreign. They were free but still had a slavery mentality. That spirit of slavery that was upon them did not allow them to see the beauty of freedom that they stood in.
I no longer want to be guilty of having a slavery mentality. I no longer want to be guilty of having an oppressive mentality, to where when freedom comes, I unknowingly reject it, because I have no idea what it is.
This is such an awakening. I must know my God, The God who Frees and Restores back to us what we may have never known before…a free woman.
I have heard it said, “Your past does not determine your future.” I believe that to some degree, however, most people’s past does determine their future by wrong choices. I choose to say, “Your past does not have to determine your future.”
We must make choices every moment of the day. One of those choices, revealed by these questions, “Will I allow yesterday’s failures and decisions determine today”? Of course, we want to say, “No!” But how do we live that out?
I believe with some of us we have to remind ourselves literally every moment of the day by speaking aloud, declaring with a ShOUT into the atmosphere over ourselves:
“I am Free.”
“I am set free!”
“I am disentangled from lies!”
“I am relieved and cleared by Jesus!”
We must shout and declare it with a shout of praise unto God with great fervency!
To the degree that slavery has tried to come after us is to the degree we must resist it! How? We MUST submit to God. We unwillingly told ourselves how we could never be free, so we must now willingly echo what is truth… “I am free, because of my Freedom Fighter, Jesus Christ!”
Think about this, unwillingly we tend to live our lives as a lie…when willingly we must live Truth. With freedom, we must uphold it. We maintain that freedom by maintaining intimate time with the Author of Freedom. For when the will goes away to be intimate with the Freedom Fighter, Jesus then the unwillingness will sneak back in and it will snatch us with its clenching jaws as we become a slave to the lies yet again.
Willingness comes at a price, however the incredible, awesome outcome is of truth! In this Truth we grab hold of, more than anything pleases the Almighty God.
We must also remember that unwillingness also comes at a price for the results are lies and destruction, which does not reveal the glory of God.
Which will we choose? I pray we will say “Yes” to the King and live as our rightful place in His Glorious Kingdom as His daughter of Truth!
You have lived the life of peasantry long enough…you have a legacy to leave…be a part of rescuing the little girl from the lies of the enemy and be a part of the Redeeming power to change the outcome of her life by living the life of freedom!
Remember this is more than a daily walk. This is moment by moment. This is a life of choices; those choices not only remain with you but they will and can remain with the generations after you. If you have an unwillingness to do it for yourself, then be a visionary and do it for the generations after you that you do not hear! But know this…they are crying out for someone to make the right choices for God’s glory. Walk the path of His glory. You are not a peasant, you are His daughter! You are no longer an orphan; you are His royal heiress!
I plead with you! Look into the mirror and see the daughter of the King! Rise up, for remember, God is enthralled by your beauty; which is truly His beauty.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Chapter Six: My Redeemer
Written by: Teresa Criswell
Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
King Jesus led me by the hand as we walked together. The moon illuminated the dark, starlit sky, yet with a haze of smoke coming forth from the distance, everything around me was intensified. As I heard the leaves rustling together in the wind, I was drawn to this beautiful mountain, when I heard my King Jesus say, “Do you want to see the amazing sight over this hill?” With excitement, I said, “Yes, King Jesus! Wherever you go, I want to go!”
As we ran together, the night wind passed through my hair and at that moment I felt as though the whole world was in slow motion, experiencing peace annihilate every part of my being. When we reached the incredible scene I realized where the smoke was coming from. It was an amazing bonfire. I was surprised to see such a huge fire with only one person. There she stood, a beautiful woman. Jesus drew me near as He whispered, “Watch and see her need be fulfilled.” I watched Him walk to her as I stood off to the distance. My curiosity of what He would do next, drew me closer. As I drew closer I realized it was her; the girl who I saw in my dreams. There she stood before the bonfire emptying the contents of a box that was simply labeled “lies”.
It was amazing as I watched, to know that as she emptied this box of ‘lies’ the One who stood beside her was Truth!
She looked to her side and realized that Jesus her King stood beside her. As tears streamed down her fire lit cheeks, she started to shake as tears welled up within her innermost parts. She slowly handed the box over to Jesus. I watched Him gently grasp one of her hands as He so beautifully accepted the box with His other hand. To hear His gigantic, gorgeous whisper I heard Him say, “You are ready, you can do this, I Am with you.”
Together they emptied the contents of this box into the fire. He did something incredibly amazing. He not only emptied the box but He threw the box itself into the fire. Right before my eyes, I saw the ‘scales’ literally be removed from her eyes. It was not just one layer but it seemed to be layer after layer. As the scales came off, her countenance changed right before my eyes. It was as though I could see the thoughts going through her mind. They seemed to be thoughts of peace and new territories of freedom that she dared even dream existed. She sat down with her legs criss-crossed as she sat on the ground and her arms rested on the side of her knees as she made sure that the contents of the box and the box itself were truly being consumed never to return.
It seemed like an eternity as she stared into the dimming, crackling fire. She finally spoke to Jesus. She said, “How could I have left you Lord? Thank you for Your forgiveness over me for living a life as if to say, there was something better than You.”
With regret in her voice, she said, “Where would I have been if only I had been with you?” As Jesus the King sat with her, He so passionately touched the tip of her chin and softly lifted her head that seemed to hang in shame. He lifted her head, as tears streamed down her face. He said, “If you would have stayed with Me all those years you would be right where you are.”
When I heard those words spoken to her, I was still with awe. I thought, “Wait! So that is what it is! Redemption! It is truly an active experience as the Redeeming power of God came upon her.” He was truly The Redeemer. He turned those ashes into beauty. I believed when He said, “You would be right where you are” I don’t believe He meant in the literal sense of this dimension of time, however I believe He meant her heart’s desire was now for Him, right where it needed to be; where her heart was destined to remain.
I now ask you, “Can you see her?” “Can you see the tiara upon her head?” “Do you see her looking into the eyes of God?” “Can you see her dancing?” “Can you see her smiling?” “Can you finally see her pleased with who she is?” “As you see her, do you see yourself?”
You must know by now that He is holding you with arms of unfailing love! He wants to lavish you with His loving faithfulness which is higher than the highest mountain. His love is deeper than the deepest sea even more than all the bodies of water on this earth put together.
He redeems you from what you could not and cannot become on your own. What is it about Him that can change your perspective of yourself in one life altering moment? The life changing perspective is because of His love. His Love is an “All-Consuming Fire” that burns and disintegrates the lies.
Do you see His loving hands extended out to you? I plead with you! Take His Mighty Hands. “He will lead you to paths of life.” “He will make those crooked paths straight” (Psalm 16:11, Isaiah 42:16).
When adversity comes, why go through it alone? He conquered adversity, which makes you more than a conqueror…you get to go through it with Him knowing what waits for you on the other side…Victory!
Go to the fire with King Jesus and allow Him to burn that cloak of lies that have been deceptively hemmed together with bitterness, unworthiness, unforgiveness, hate and strife. Watch what He does with the ashes of that cloak…be amazed by what only He can do...REDEEM!
Copyright © 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
King Jesus led me by the hand as we walked together. The moon illuminated the dark, starlit sky, yet with a haze of smoke coming forth from the distance, everything around me was intensified. As I heard the leaves rustling together in the wind, I was drawn to this beautiful mountain, when I heard my King Jesus say, “Do you want to see the amazing sight over this hill?” With excitement, I said, “Yes, King Jesus! Wherever you go, I want to go!”
As we ran together, the night wind passed through my hair and at that moment I felt as though the whole world was in slow motion, experiencing peace annihilate every part of my being. When we reached the incredible scene I realized where the smoke was coming from. It was an amazing bonfire. I was surprised to see such a huge fire with only one person. There she stood, a beautiful woman. Jesus drew me near as He whispered, “Watch and see her need be fulfilled.” I watched Him walk to her as I stood off to the distance. My curiosity of what He would do next, drew me closer. As I drew closer I realized it was her; the girl who I saw in my dreams. There she stood before the bonfire emptying the contents of a box that was simply labeled “lies”.
It was amazing as I watched, to know that as she emptied this box of ‘lies’ the One who stood beside her was Truth!
She looked to her side and realized that Jesus her King stood beside her. As tears streamed down her fire lit cheeks, she started to shake as tears welled up within her innermost parts. She slowly handed the box over to Jesus. I watched Him gently grasp one of her hands as He so beautifully accepted the box with His other hand. To hear His gigantic, gorgeous whisper I heard Him say, “You are ready, you can do this, I Am with you.”
Together they emptied the contents of this box into the fire. He did something incredibly amazing. He not only emptied the box but He threw the box itself into the fire. Right before my eyes, I saw the ‘scales’ literally be removed from her eyes. It was not just one layer but it seemed to be layer after layer. As the scales came off, her countenance changed right before my eyes. It was as though I could see the thoughts going through her mind. They seemed to be thoughts of peace and new territories of freedom that she dared even dream existed. She sat down with her legs criss-crossed as she sat on the ground and her arms rested on the side of her knees as she made sure that the contents of the box and the box itself were truly being consumed never to return.
It seemed like an eternity as she stared into the dimming, crackling fire. She finally spoke to Jesus. She said, “How could I have left you Lord? Thank you for Your forgiveness over me for living a life as if to say, there was something better than You.”
With regret in her voice, she said, “Where would I have been if only I had been with you?” As Jesus the King sat with her, He so passionately touched the tip of her chin and softly lifted her head that seemed to hang in shame. He lifted her head, as tears streamed down her face. He said, “If you would have stayed with Me all those years you would be right where you are.”
When I heard those words spoken to her, I was still with awe. I thought, “Wait! So that is what it is! Redemption! It is truly an active experience as the Redeeming power of God came upon her.” He was truly The Redeemer. He turned those ashes into beauty. I believed when He said, “You would be right where you are” I don’t believe He meant in the literal sense of this dimension of time, however I believe He meant her heart’s desire was now for Him, right where it needed to be; where her heart was destined to remain.
I now ask you, “Can you see her?” “Can you see the tiara upon her head?” “Do you see her looking into the eyes of God?” “Can you see her dancing?” “Can you see her smiling?” “Can you finally see her pleased with who she is?” “As you see her, do you see yourself?”
You must know by now that He is holding you with arms of unfailing love! He wants to lavish you with His loving faithfulness which is higher than the highest mountain. His love is deeper than the deepest sea even more than all the bodies of water on this earth put together.
He redeems you from what you could not and cannot become on your own. What is it about Him that can change your perspective of yourself in one life altering moment? The life changing perspective is because of His love. His Love is an “All-Consuming Fire” that burns and disintegrates the lies.
Do you see His loving hands extended out to you? I plead with you! Take His Mighty Hands. “He will lead you to paths of life.” “He will make those crooked paths straight” (Psalm 16:11, Isaiah 42:16).
When adversity comes, why go through it alone? He conquered adversity, which makes you more than a conqueror…you get to go through it with Him knowing what waits for you on the other side…Victory!
Go to the fire with King Jesus and allow Him to burn that cloak of lies that have been deceptively hemmed together with bitterness, unworthiness, unforgiveness, hate and strife. Watch what He does with the ashes of that cloak…be amazed by what only He can do...REDEEM!
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