He wants all of me...Relentless Love

He won't relent until He has it all

No matter how hard we try to run away, hide or just turn a deaf ear, God will not give up.  For a while now I've been listening to the song “Relentless” by Jesus Culture and not for one second had I thought of searching for the below words in the Bible.

"Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it..." Song of Solomon 8:6,7

That is a passionate love letter between a husband and wife--between King Solomon and his bride. But perhaps the most profound and amazing thing is, that these words are not limited to an earthly husband and wife.  At the heart of the Song of Solomon, is a message of God's love for us--of Christ's love for His Bride, the Church. And this Heavenly Romance is at the very center of all of Scripture. It's such a profound mystery that I have only begun to scratch the surface of it.

But the lyric to "You Won't Relent" that gripped my heart from the very first time I heard it (maybe because of the season I was in, or certain things God was speaking to my heart at the time) is the part that says "You won't relent until You have it all, my heart is Yours." According to Webster, to be relentless means "showing no signs of slackening or yielding in one's purpose." You see, God wants our hearts--our whole hearts.

I am so guilty of what the scripture says.

"The Lord says: 'These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Isaiah 29:13

God won't stop cutting away all the things that hold our hearts other than Him, all the wordly things--the idols--that keep us from walking even more intimately with our Savior. He is RELENTLESS in this, showing no signs of giving up in His purpose. God wants nothing more from us than for us to love Him with all of our heart. Even more than our church attendance, more than our tithes, more than our music preference. One of the most frustrating things to see is someone trust in Christ for salvation, but then their walk with their Savior ends there. From the time we are saved, God begins to mold us, to shape us, to make us more like Him. He is changing our lives daily. And that involves a breaking away from the world that used to hold our heart. So God begins to break us away from the world, piece by piece, bit by bit. And for our entire lives, He continues to break us of the worldly things. And He won't relent until He is finished, until He has our whole heart.

I am so stubborn at times, because I know what happens when I give God permission to cut away all the unwanted things. IT HURTS ME SO MUCH

I want to be taught daily. I want to look away from all that is happening around me no matter how hard it is. God knows how I battle to stay focused. I know how jealous He gets when I give attention to the world, and yet He never stops loving me. Writing this brings tears to my eyes. I have to make decisions daily, decisions that affects my life, my family’s lives, my friendships and I cannot do it without God. 

God wants your heart. And He won't relent until He has it all.

So trust Him with it. He will not lead you astray.

"Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead." PSALM 86:11-13

In His Love

Leslene

BUT LORD… Listen to me please???

In general people will write about their feelings and really express themselves. Then you get those who lies up a storm and people think it’s their own writing and then there are those who complains about things or people and makes it sound so awesome because they actually putting their feelings on paper. Well, that person is Leslene(ME), at least when I start writing it’s about complaining, but then Holy Spirit comes and changes my mind and I really hate it at times because my permission was not given.

I want to complain about people. I want to write about friends who just dropped me. I want to write about people disrespecting me. I want to write about my husband doing this and doing that and not to mention my kids. The list just goes on an on.

Then God says “Leslene, I have delivered you from all the complaints. Why do you want to circle that mountain again?”

Leslene: “yes but God……” we would then have this whole dispute, until I give up and decide I don’t like being a Christian anymore because God takes too long to send new people into my life. Or, God takes too long to answer my complaints. Well, COMPLAINTS is what they are.

Have you ever been there?

Then God would even throw in a scripture or two. He just never stops because He knows what is best for me.

Philippians 2:14-15

Good News Translation (GNT)

14 Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15 so that you may be innocent and pure as God's perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people. You must shine among them like stars lighting up the sky,

I have learned to deal with certain issues in my life which obviously come and go, but what I can tell you….when they do come, I don’t meditate on the issues. I move on…I pray…I keep myself busy with things that add value to my life and especially to others.

I want to leave a powerful truth today. It worked for me and it will surely work for you. God has given us the tongue of the learned that we should KNOW how to speak a Word in season to those who are weary (Isaiah 50:4) and definitely not complain all the time.

Deuteronomy 1:6-8

New International Version (NIV)

6 The Lord our God said to us…, “You have stayed long enough at this mountain. Break camp and advance….to the land … See, I have given you this land. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore he would give to your fathers—to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—and to their descendants after them.”

STOP COMPLAINING, MOVE, TAKE POSSESSION and ENCOURAGE!!!!!

In His love

Leslene

Uncomfortable Feelings

“Hope is the feeling that the feeling you have isn’t permanent.” ~Jean Kerr

For most of my life, I was a fugitive from my feelings. I was driven by two connected motivations: to feel pleasure and avoid pain. Instead of being proactive and making choices for our happiness, we react to things that happen in our lives, and fight or flee to minimize our pain.

Instead of deciding to end an unhealthy relationship and open up to a better one, we may stay and either avoid confrontation or initiate one to feel a sense of control. Instead of leaving a horrible job to find one we love, we may stay and complain about it all the time, trying to minimize the pain of accepting the situation as real—and enduring until we change it.

From a very young age, I felt overwhelmed by pain. As a pre-teen, I ate my feelings. As a teen, I starved them away. And in my twenties and even thirties, I felt and cried my eyes red and raw.

And I wished I’d never chosen to feel them, but rather kept pushing them down, pretending everything was fine.

Except when I did that, they didn’t just go away—they compounded on top of each other and built up until eventually I exploded, with no idea why I felt so bad. One time when I was 17, I couldn’t open a jar. After ten minutes of twisting, banging, and fighting, I finally threw it at a wall and broke down.

You may think that was a sure sign I had emotional problems, and assume there was some pill to help take away that sadness.

That’s what a lot of people thought. But the reality was a lot simpler: I simply never dealt with my feelings from events large and small, and eventually they dealt with me.

As unpleasant as it may sound, I needed to learn how to feel bad—but first I needed to understand why I felt bad so often. It’s a whole lot easier to deal with pain when it’s not the default feeling.

Then I met Jesus who taught me to take an honest look at reactions.

·         Do I frequently jump to conclusions without knowing all the facts? Do I need other people’s approval to feel comfortable in your own skin? Do I assume you know what other people feel and take responsibility for that? Do I freak out over stressful situations, blaming other people, getting hard on yourself, and panicking over possible consequences?

·         Simply find the cause and effect.

When I make a decision to change, I do it. My power comes from realizing we don’t need to act on pain; and if I need to diffuse it, I can channel it into something healthy and productive, like writing, baking, or doing something physical.

Pain is sometimes an indication we need to set boundaries, learn to say no more often, or take better care of ourselves; but sometimes it just means that it’s human to hurt, and we need to let ourselves go through it, but we cannot go through it alone. That is where Jesus comes in. He wants us to relate to have, to have a relationship with Him and to allow Him to teach us how to turn the negative into a positive.

I choose to be a source of pleasure, for myself and the people around me.

In His love

Leslene

I Had the Power to Choose – I Still Do

“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” ~Wayne Dyer

I still see that lonely child sitting on the pavement waiting for mom to come from work. Knowing I have a brother and sister near by, still didn’t take the loneliness away.  I had a father who worked away (seaman), and I think that made it worse. I had to make some decisions in my young life to make me see things differently.

What is a daughter to do when you just want your father to love you? Every time my dad came from sea I was so excited because I knew we would have some fish to eat. I knew there would be money in the house. My mom would have money in her purse and she can buy some nice things.

We moved from house to house. Constantly on the move and the thought of ever settling down was endless. I wanted my own room because I had ideas of what my room should look like, but it never happened.

Years later, having a family of my own I thank God for what I’ve gone through. It was not easy at all because I had issues connecting with people.  I had thoughts of every person coming into my life would leave immediately and I would be this lonely person again. Not realising that for everything there is a purpose. You know, if you don’t know Jesus Christ you will never have peace. You will never be filled with that everlasting joy.

So many people have left me by the way side and I do admit it was because of the bad attitude I had. It was because of the lies I kept telling. It was because of all the hurt I’ve caused people. I don’t know if you know this, but when you hurt you will keep on hurting other people. When you no longer hurt, you can serve and love those who are hurting freely.

We all have a choice today. We don’t have to go through life hurting and pitying ourselves. I met Jesus Christ and He has taught me how to let go of the hurt. He has taught me how to love and not to expect anything in return.

A few years back, I met a young woman. What came out of her mouth was so powerful and so true. I would call her an extra ordinary Life Coach. She might not know this but whatever came out of her mouth, was so firm(sometimes hurtful but true). I started writing it down. It was a powerful truth. That was another choice I made. I said to myself, “If it works for her, surely it has to work for me”.  I met a guy and he was speaking the very same things and I knew this is God.

I started writing in a journal every day to get through life and understand myself better. One night I was feeling down, but I wanted to steer my thoughts in a positive direction. I started making a list of things I would learn.

They included things like not dwelling on the negative, loving myself, being confident, and being less critical of myself. In the middle of the list I wrote the words:

“I can choose what affects me.”

By the time I finished the list those words lingered. I repeated them over and over out loud. Every time I said them I felt more powerful. I felt more control over my life.

I can choose what affects me.

I can choose to not be damaged.

I can choose to not be afraid.

I can choose to look at mistakes as learning experiences.

I can choose to be confident.

I can choose to be happy.

I can choose to feel loved.

I can choose.

I CHOOSE TO SERVE JESUS

Every time I said a phrase I felt a chill in my body. Tears started flowing, but I wasn’t really crying. It felt like they were escaping; like I was letting go of this deep sadness I’ve carried for so long.

It was an awakening: a healing. It was one of the most significant and amazing experiences in my life.

In His Love

Leslene

Open Your World to New Possibilities

“To get something you never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.” ~Unknown

Maybe you feel stuck. Or bored. Or frustrated. It’s not that you don’t like the life you live, it’s just that you suspect there’s something more. Some greater sense of meaning or excitement. New connections. New adventures. New possibilities.

The truth is those possibilities are always within your reach. You may not be able to quit your job or develop new skills, but every day contains within it countless opportunities, all dictated by the choices you make. Some of those choices may seem inconsequential when you face them. They’re the little things, after all. Why not do it how you usually do? Why not stay in your comfort zone when it’s just so comfortable there?

Do it for the possibility. The possibility that if you make one minor change you may set the stage for major fulfilment. Sometimes even the smallest shift in thinking or doing can create the biggest opportunity.

GET OUT OF YOUR HEAD

1. Challenge your beliefs about what you can and can’t do. Maybe you are a good leader.

 2. Challenge your ideas about how things should work. Sometimes when you decide how things should be you limit your ability to be effective in the world as it actually is.

3. Have a vision session. Write in a journal,  sketch—anything that lets you explore what excites you most.

4. Look for opportunities in a tough situation. Avoid a victim mentality, and opt instead for a “ready for new beginnings” attitude.

5. Remove something from your life that doesn’t serve you to make room for something better and new. You never know what you might let in when you let something go.

6. Commit to something you always say you’ll do but always fail to start—and then take the first step right now.

7. Turn your focus from something don’t want to something you do want. This allows you to shift your energy from complaining to taking action.

8. Replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Positive energy creates positive results.

9. Identify the blocks that keep you from breaking a bad habit. Anytime you improve your habits, you pave the path for personal excellence.

10. Forgive someone if you’ve been holding a grudge. Removing that block will open you up where previously you’d shut down.

There’s a lot of information here—way more than you can tackle all at once. But it’s more about quality than quantity. Even just one small change can have a ripple effect into every area of your life. Of course it’s up to you to decide what’s possible.

How do you open your world to new possibilities?

Thanks Lori Deschene

In His love

Leslene

In Everything

“The person who lives life fully, glowing with life’s energy, is the person who lives a successful life.” ~Daisaku Ikeda

In everything we do, we seek happiness. Or at least what we think will bring happiness.

But this goal can often get us into trouble. It’s how you find yourself in a career that doesn’t represent you, consuming things lacking real value, and living a life that misses its impact on the world.

Most of the things we think create happiness, don’t.

We get caught in a spiral and life suddenly becomes a race to be won instead of a game to be played and enjoyed. Our focus on ‘success’ as society calls it, blurs our more important intangibles of life–our relationships and experiences.

The fear (and sad reality for many) is that we wake up 30 years from now, stressed, unhealthy and unfulfilled, wondering what on earth happened to those wonderful dreams we once dared to dream.

I’ll tell you what happened. We fell into the trap of being what others felt we should be as opposed to who we were meant to be. Other’s dreams became ours, only to realize they never mattered to us in the first place. We adopted the world’s definition of success instead of understanding and pursing our own.

Well there is good news. No matter when you wake up to this reality, it is never too late to take a stand and travel down that fresh path.

In all of my experience as a friend, writer, husband, personal freedom coach and citizen of the world, there is nothing more consistent with unhappiness than spending your time in a way that doesn’t serve who you are. And to the contrary, there is no more profound source of fulfillment and happiness than knowing you are traveling your own path and making the dent in the world you know you’re capable of.

Thank You -Scott Dinsmore

In His Love

Leslene

The Blame Game

“Whenever something negative happens to you, there is a deep lesson concealed within it.” ~Eckhart Tolle

The most common conversation I have with other people includes the blame game.

The one where your job, your wife, your dog, your mother-in-law, your neighbor six doors down, the media, the government, the receptionist at your doctor’s office, or the dress maker who measured you wrong is somehow responsible for the problems you’re having.

I too played the blame game.

Just this morning I blamed my husband for something I could’ve prevented.

I sat down, took a long deep breath, and thought about the ways I’d contributed to my own unhappiness. Once I came up with one way, countless others seemed to follow.

In that moment, I realized I was blatantly ignoring vital life lessons.

I believe we are here to learn lessons. Once we learn a lesson we move on to the next lesson. However, if we fail to learn a lesson, we keep finding opportunities to learn it again and again.

Isn’t it weird that the woman who can’t leave her old unhappy relationship without starting a new one is always in an unhappy relationship? Or the man who quits his job because he can’t stand his overbearing and ungrateful boss lands a new job with a boss who seems even more overbearing and ungrateful?

Life will continue to throw us the same lessons until we learn from them. Here are some ways to start learning that lesson you may be resisting:

1. Believe there is a lesson to be learned and consent to learn it.

This is probably one of the most important steps. Unless you’re really willing to learn the lesson, even if it feels uncomfortable at times, you can never move forward. Consent to view the situation as something that can help you grow.

2. Admit that you might have helped create the problem.

Warning: This does require you to immediately quit playing the blame game! Just consider the possibility that you somehow contributed to your current situation. This doesn’t mean no one else played a part; it just means perhaps you did, as well.

4. Let go of your attachment to the problem.

Trying to control the problem—your boss, your spouse, or your circumstances—will only keep you more attached to it and. The more you “leech” onto a problem, the more it “leeches” right back on you.

You will never be able to see the lesson or the solution if you dwell on all the little details about what seems wrong. Letting go could come in many forms: seeing the good in the person who seems difficult, accepting a situation for what it is, or seeing the other side of the story.

Any time we let go of our attachment to what went wrong or what should have happened we create the possibility of growth—and we pave the path for more positive results.

Thank you Rachel Woods

In His Love

Leslene