Have you ever tried to get to know someone by keeping them at arm’s length?
Thanks for joining us for Faith-Filled Friday with Debra Dolce and Trench Classes United. Today’s love letter shares the value of moving our hearts closer to The One whose heart is for us.

~Love Letter~
 
My blessed child, move your heart closer and closer to Me, and I will come even closer to you. This is how to keep your heart pure and stop doubting.
 
This is a good Word for you. See, when you move closer to me, and I you, you will see that I desire to bring all My promises back to you and in you so that once again you can grab hold of them and believe that what I said I will surely do.
 
Do not doubt in your heart but be filled with faith to believe in the impossible once again. I love watching you exercise your faith, standing on My Word. I love when you're passionate about the things that concern me.
 
Come and spend time with Me to renew your mind and your heart. This is very important. Remember My Word says that without faith it is impossible to please Me. I'm continually calling you to come to Me so you will be empowered for your day. Since My mercies are new every morning you get a fresh start, a chance to do better today than yesterday.
 
Beloved, you just keep believing and trusting in Me and I will do the rest in and with your life.
 
~DebraDolce

Cycles are like patterns; they repeat themselves and if you have ever watched someone stuck in a soul-harmful cycle, you have experienced the pain and sense of frustration that can override hope for them, right?

I am continually having to remind myself that to participate in any sort of way with my flesh is to add to the cycle, but if I stand back instead of jumping into the crazy cycle, fight for that person in prayer and even fasting, it’s like throwing water on a fire, or taking the spoke out of the cycle!
Never in the moment of crazy is the moment to take care of the moment!

Thoughtfully,
Kim-Evinda

Her face was still a bit tender to the touch. She smiled as she thought of how much easier the procedure had been than she thought it would be, and the results overrode the frustration of the constant upkeep to defy gravity in this aging process. 😊

Thanks for joining us for Wednesday’s Word with Kim-Evinda and Trench Classes United. Today’s blog is thoughtfully transparent as revelation meets reality and encourages us on in the journey of aging…gracefully.

She really was amazed at how much easier the PRP facial had been. Her only knowledge of it had been thru one of her estheticians who had posted pictures which explained why it was also called a vampire facial 😊 Those pictures from two years ago had been etched in her mind and it just didn’t interest her…until recently. The fine lines and full-blown wrinkles overrode her aversion and when one of her best forever friends extended the invitation, she accepted.

She was immediately comforted by Traci, the esthetician, and a nurse. She explained every single step she took to complete the process. During one of the steps, Traci discovered some white spots under her left eye. She worked diligently in removing what she identified as cholesterol deposits, tiny little white rocks with roots! Then the microdermabrasion process happened where lots and lots of dead skin was removed from her face and chest area before injecting her own stem cells back into her skin.

As she rewound the whole process, several thoughts like sparks began to fire in her heart, igniting her mind. Spiritual beauty is far more important than physical beauty, and yet, there are some similarities: just as the nurse/esthetician worked diligently to remove all the impurities from her face and chest, we are to work diligently with Christ in the process of removing any impurities from our lives. And just as she had allowed Traci to cut away those white cholesterol deposits, she had to give Him permission to cut away old habits, attitudes, actions and hurts, i.e., the dead stuff, so new growth can be stimulated.
Soul care, though more important, is like skin care and Jesus is our Soul-tician!

Friend, do you realize that upon permission, our Heavenly Father will work gently, relentlessly, and gracefully in our souls, bringing to light, like a mirror, gently and quietly, those impurities in us that need to be cleansed, or removed, kind of like a soul facial. 😊 And like certain types of beauty procedures, the process can be a bit painful, but the result is becoming more like our Maker and liking who He has made us to be.
Oh, to seek soul care as much as skin care.

Love
Kim-Evinda

Most of us have been taught about the value of forgiveness, the why of forgiveness and even the how of forgiveness. In my own SOAR journey, I am also learning what forgiveness isn’t, and this has made forgiveness a lot more possible

Forgiveness isn’t…easy or pain free!

Forgiveness isn’t…just a feeling-because what our feelings can’t do, the blood of Christ has and always will do.
Forgiveness isn’t agreement…with the wrong committed or with the wrongdoer.

Forgiveness isn’t a one-time event…but often a journey because life keeps happening to remind us of the wrong and even the cost of it
Forgiveness isn’t “letting them off the hook”; it’s letting you off, setting you free
Forgiveness isn’t boundaryless; in fact, forgiveness can teach us boundaries
Forgiveness isn’t…always reconciliation or restoration.

Forgiveness isn’t…impossible
Who are you handcuffed to in unforgiveness? I pray these truths resonate in your soul and help set you free

Forgiven and forgiving
Kim-Evinda

Young
Yet old
With a wisdom filled soul
 
Disheveled
But fine clothed
 
Bearing burdens of strife
and heavy yokes
 
Behind those tired eyes are secrets
Tucked in tight
 
Like the smile lines
That only appear every once in a while
 
Tried and true
That old dusty heart of glue
 
Glued pieces
From listening to what he says
Or she says
and never knowing the real reasons
 
Always on defense
guarding that heart
and protecting that mind
Only letting very few see what's inside
 
A rare gem
A true beauty
Endless as time
 
and that's what we all live for
Counting every second that goes by
 
Instead of the moments
The journey's pivots
The sharp turning
Accomplished only by listening
and learning
 
The sound of the voices
Having discernment
 
Who is with me?
Who is for me?
 
When all odds are stacked up against me
 
There is only One
So radiant
So pure
 
A soft whisper of morning dew
Sunkissed beauty
and natural allure
 
Simply reaching
Simply waiting
On someone like you
To glue the final piece
and make a broken heart brand new
 
"O Lord, you have searched me and have known me.
You know my down-sitting and my uprising;
You understand my thought afar off.
You sift and search out my path and my lying down, and
You are acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word in my tongue [still unuttered], but,
Behold, O Lord, You know it altogether."
Psalm 139:1-4

Abigail Rice

Oh, isn’t it true that the more we have, the more we want. Sin is like that; it takes and never returns what we really are searching for.

Thanks for joining us for Faith-Filled Friday with Debra Dolce and Trench Classes United. Today’s Love Letter is a great reminder that sin is a cycle that we must allow Him in us to break. But how do we do that?

Love Letter~
 
My child, I spoke the words be healed, and you were healed, delivered from death's door! So lift your hands and give thanks to Me, your God for My marvelous kindness and for My miracles of mercy for those I love! There is no god like your God Jehovah.
 
Cling to Me and all My promises. Let nothing persuade you differently. Trust in My Word and walk all My way. Do not partake of the world's corruption for sin is never satisfied. The more you give the more it wants, and you'll find yourself in bad situations.
 
Strive to be honest and upright, then your life will produce for you good fruit, fruit that will last. Preach, teach, and declare My marvelous miracles. Share with others how I delivered you from death's door.
 
Be filled with My marvelous love as you praise and worship Me. Desire the deeper thing above everything else. Never forget all that I've done for you and come with thanksgiving into My Presence. Beloved, My heart yearns for My children to come and spend time with Me so that I can show you things you do not know. 
 
~DebraDolce

Think about it; we aren’t nearly as hurt or offended by a stranger’s behavior as we are by the behavior of one whom we love or care deeply for. Why can’t we be more like children, and get through the conflict with a simple “I’m sorry”? Why does it seem to require so much more as we get older? 

Maybe it’s time to consider the value that that frien-emy brings to our life…and if there’s more conflict than caring, maybe it’s time to evaluate the amount of space they take up in our hearts without paying rent…

Thoughtfully,
Kim-Evinda

She was led to Psalm 139:19-24 after wondering aloud if her hatred of the one who had deceived, tricked until she got what she wanted was holding her back in any way, especially the ministry. She kept landing on verse 22: “I hate them with perfect hatred; I count them my enemies.”

How many times have we been heard saying I hate so and so, I hate this, I hate when…?

Thanks for joining us for Wednesday’s Word with Kim-Evinda and Trench Classes United. Today’s blog is yet another revelation from her heart to yours as she questioned how she could forgive but still have hatred for the one forgiven, and her discovery that there is a “perfect hatred” to apply in place of harmful hatred.

The words on the page took her on a detour to the study notes. How in the world, she wondered aloud, could there be a “perfect hatred”?

She looked up the backdrop for this Psalm and was reminded of several points: 1The psalmists always demanded God’s justice and vengeance, not their own! 2They were intimately aware of God’s justice; therefore, no subject was taboo in their cries out to God. 3And finally, the demands of justice and/or vengeance were written out of intense personal suffering.
Okay, well, this situation meets all of those, she thought to herself.

The first sentence in the study notes/life application caused her yet another pause; it talked about this type of perfect hatred for those who hate God “But they both claim to pray to you, oh, God? It’s not for me to judge –
“Their actions voice their hatred for me and therefore I can’t hear their prayers. However, you need to focus on your attitude, not their actions for this is all I help you to correct”
Conviction washed over her and opened the eyes of her heart even more. She continued reading, desperate to learn what it means to have perfect hatred for someone.

As she continued reading the study notes, they confirmed that like David, her hatred for this enemy came from her zeal for Christ’s truths; that her hatred was and continued to be a desire for God’s righteous justice and not for her own personal vengeance.

She was next led to Psalm 4:1-8: A sacrifice of righteousness is anger without sinning, allowing God to turn harmful hatred into perfect hatred, being angry and not taking matters in our own hands.
She couldn’t help but sing along with the worship song: “Hallelujah, you have saved me; You are my great defender, so much better are your ways, Abba.”

Oh, if you have stayed with me in this blog, I pray you take a few moments to pause and ask yourself: Where does my hatred come from? Does it come from a place of zeal for Christ, like David’s hatred? Is my hatred really a desire for God’s righteous justice and not for my own scheming vengeance? He wants to be invited into this area of harmful hatred that He may perfect it.

Loved by Him…
Kim-Evinda

Ephesians 4:29 says: Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth but what is good for necessary edification that it may impart grace to the hearers
Wow, what a great weapon of warfare to use in the combat of conflict to be non-combative!

If you allow these words to make the 12” leap from head to heart, they will work like a brake, stopping you from saying anything that will tear anyone down, lifting you up and away from our flesh and need to get even, or hurt the one who has hurt us.

The best way to show up for combat is to be armed with scripture!

Letting Him fight my battles,
Kim-Evinda

What is your usual routine when you wake up in the morning? Do you rush for your phone, a cup of coffee, both?
Thanks for joining us for Monday’s Message, a great reminder that when we reach for Him first, we won’t be last.
 
In the early morning
I find you
In the quiet of the garden
You are there
All around
Your presence draws near
 
No performance
No recited prayer
Just a moment
A breath
A conversation
and rest
 
Resting in knowing
That You, my God
My Guide
Are All Knowing
All Powerful
All Truth
 
Nothing I do
Can ever make me enough for You
But I am
Enough
For You to reach down and touch
 
In moments where I feel I need to be everything from point A to point B
You see
You see the perfectionist tendencies
and gently remind me
To just be
 
To be still
To move
To know that no two days will ever be the same
And that’s okay
 
Because in those sweet quiet morning hours
In the afternoon when the sun beams shower
In the evening with the slowdown of living
You are there
 
No performance
No plan
No perfection
Could withstand
The power of Your grace
and the favor of Your love
 
As the dew melts away
From the heat of the sun
 
There you are
 
Like a dove
Bringing back the promise of new land
Your face hidden no more
My God, My friend
 
“Neither will I hide my face anymore from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord.” - Ezekiel 39:29

Abigail Rice