No More, No Less – Simply Be

Matthew 5:13 (TPT) Your lives are like salt among the people. But if you, like salt, become bland, how can your ‘saltiness’ be restored? Flavorless salt is good for nothing and will be thrown out and trampled on by others.

Beloved, be all you have been created and called to be – no more, no less. Just as flavorless salt can no longer season, and an excess of salt simply ruins the flavor it was called to enhance, so you miss the fullness of your call by trying to be less or do more than what I’ve given you to do. So walk out the plans I have for you. No more. No less.

Remember that striving doesn’t earn you extra credit (though the enemy of your soul likes to try to convince you it does, thereby leaving you overextended and exhausted). Choose to simply be obedient. Again, no more. No less. Trust I know exactly what is right for you. Trust that you don’t need to earn My love by doing more. Simply be. 

A Person of Mercy and Compassion

Proverbs 3:4 (VOICE) In this way, you will win the favor of God and others, and they will think well of you.

Beloved, when you become known as a person of mercy and compassion, people are drawn to you. A person like that feels safe and trustworthy. A person like that reflects My love. Choose to be that kind of person.

As you seek to reflect Me, resist the urge to do so simply for the favor and blessing that accompany that kind of life. Rather do it because it’s the right thing to do. It’s right for mercy to triumph over judgment. It’s right for love to triumph over hate. So cloak yourself in character that mirrors Mine, and do so from a heart of love.

Proverbs 3:1-4 (VOICE) My son, always remember what I have taught you; keep my instructions dear to your heart. If you do, they will be your guide to a long, healthy, prosperous life. Stay focused; do not lose sight of mercy and truth; engrave them on a pendant, and hang it around your neck; meditate on them so they are written upon your heart. In this way, you will win the favor of God and others, and they will think well of you.

Shine Without Hesitation

Psalm 125:5 (AMP) But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways [in unresponsiveness to God], The Lord will lead them away with those who do evil. Peace be upon Israel.

Beloved, you have been set apart. Chosen. Anointed and appointed. Refuse to compromise who you are for the sake of fitting in, or try to lessen or change yourself to make others feel less threatened by the light you reflect.

Shine without hesitation. Shine without apology. Shine because you are reflecting the light of My countenance and bringing Me glory. May your fruit be sweet – may it be the fruit of My Spirit. Be bold and be beautiful, for that is how I created you to be.

Psalm 125:1-5 (AMP) Those who trust in and rely on the Lord [with confident expectation] Are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but remains forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, So the Lord surrounds His people From this time forth and forever. For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest on the land of the righteous, So that the righteous will not reach out their hands to do wrong. Do good, O Lord, to those who are good And to those who are upright in their hearts. But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways [in unresponsiveness to God], The Lord will lead them away with those who do evil. Peace be upon Israel.

Share Your Light with All

Matthew 5:47 (VOICE) And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that!

Beloved, as you encounter people throughout your day that you don’t know, resist the urge to be “too busy” to engage. At the store, buying coffee, as you interact online – everywhere you go, you encounter people unknown to you but loved by Me.

You are called to be My light, My vessel – one who reflects My countenance, and that shouldn’t be something you turn on and off. I’m not saying never rest – for I strongly support moments of pause, but I mean don’t be so busy and distracted that you miss people I have placed in your path. Be aware, listen to My Spirit’s prompting, and shine unhindered – sharing your light with all.

Matthew 5:44-48 (VOICE) But I tell you this: love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner. It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that! But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Love Unconditionally with Abandon

Matthew 5:45 (VOICE) in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner.

Beloved, I do not pick and choose which of you are worth loving. I deem you all worthy of love. I don’t withhold sunshine from one while I pour it out on another. I’m not fickle or changing. I AM steadfast and true.

If you desire to be like Me, you too must be steadfast. You too must love liberally – refusing to withhold it on a whim or as a punishment. To be like Me, requires true sacrificial love.  It requires knowing that even as you choose to die to your fleshly responses, often no one will see or know but Me – and yet that is sufficient. So love unconditionally with abandon, and do so with no desire for recognition knowing My approval is all you need.

Matthew 5:44-48 (VOICE) But I tell you this: love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner. It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that! But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Hard Choices

Matthew 5:44 (VOICE) But I tell you this: love your enemies…

Beloved, if you choose to walk with Me, the path isn’t always easy. However, it is beautiful – sometimes poignantly so. Making the hard choices and dying to your flesh are key parts of the journey. How can you love someone who is your enemy? Seek to understand them. Seek to understand what motivates them. Strive to remember who they are to Me – My creation.

You can love someone without agreeing with them. You can be “for” someone without agreeing with all their choices. Loving your enemies, beloved, is about wanting My best for them – even if you don’t think they deserve it, because you realize what they should or should not have isn’t your judgment call to make. So you choose to trust Me and yield to My perfect wisdom.

Matthew 5:44-48 (VOICE) But I tell you this: love your enemies. Pray for those who torment you and persecute you— in so doing, you become children of your Father in heaven. He, after all, loves each of us—good and evil, kind and cruel. He causes the sun to rise and shine on evil and good alike. He causes the rain to water the fields of the righteous and the fields of the sinner. It is easy to love those who love you—even a tax collector can love those who love him. And it is easy to greet your friends—even outsiders do that! But you are called to something higher: “Be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

Love as You are Loved

James 1:17 (VOICE) …He is consistent. He won’t change His mind or play tricks in the shadows.

Beloved, I don’t play games, nor do I seek to frustrate My children. I AM a good Father, and My love is a safe refuge for you to rest and make your foundation. For I AM the same yesterday, today, and forever. I AM like bedrock beneath your feet and truer than the North Star.

In the same way I refuse to toy with your heart, be intentional to treat those around you with the same care. For you cannot see the heart’s of men, nor fully comprehend the tender places of their hearts. But I see and know, and I act with compassion and grace. So reflect Me, and love as you are loved.

James 1:17 (VOICE) Every good gift bestowed, every perfect gift received comes to us from above, courtesy of the Father of lights. He is consistent. He won’t change His mind or play tricks in the shadows.

You Have Something to Give

Psalm 139:16 (VOICE) You see all things; You saw me growing, changing in my mother’s womb; Every detail of my life was already written in Your book; You established the length of my life before I ever tasted the sweetness of it.

Beloved, I know the number of your days before they begin. Not one shall be stolen from you. Just as some flowers bloom brilliantly for a moment only to be gone the next, while others share their steady glory for years – the number of each person’s days are unique to them. Each day, each moment, has a purpose and a good plan.

The world needed you. So I made you to be a gift to My creation. Share the gift that is you liberally, for there is blessing both in the giving and the receiving. Never doubt your worth. Resist the urge to question whether the world has need of you – I wouldn’t have created you if it didn’t. You have something to give. It’s important. It’s good. It is you. Continue reading “You Have Something to Give”

Season Intentionally

Matthew 5:13 (MSG) Let me tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

Beloved, choose the flavor with which you season your world. Will you season it with bitterness? Anger? Envy? Greed? Or will you sow liberally righteousness? Forgiveness? Compassion? Joy?

Beloved, choose to bring My flavor to those around you that they might taste and see that I AM God. Make Me known. For you have the choice of whose kingdom you are expanding. Either you are sowing into My Kingdom or you are making room for darkness. So season, and do so intentionally. Bring My flavor to the world.

Note: this Prophetic Nugget was featured on a Lunchtime Live on the Dyed4you Ministries Facebook page. You can watch a recording of the livestream by visiting: Lunchtime Live: Choosing Where You Align (Anointing Oil and Salt)

Be Like Me

Numbers 6:25 (AMP) The Lord… be gracious to you [surrounding you with lovingkindness];

Beloved, I AM kind and good. I AM patient and slow to anger. I surround you with My love and grace. Be like Me. I extend grace where it isn’t warranted, and grant forgiveness where it isn’t earned. Be like Me.

May you so reflect My countenance that looking at your character allows a glimpse of Me. Love well. Be kind. Extend mercy. Walk in the kind of radical faith that causes the atmosphere to shift. Be My vessel to bring heaven into earth. Be like Me. Continue reading “Be Like Me”