Don’t Open The Door

The Dream

Under the covers, there I was sleeping peacefully when a knock came at the door. One knock turned into incessant knocking. With pillows now smooshing my face into the sheets, it was evident I had been turning over in an attempt to sleep off the obnoxious noise.

But now the neighborly knocks shifted into disturbing shouts. A husky voice behind the door hollered, “Open up this door. Let me in, now”.

Half asleep, my mind was drawing a half circle conclusion that the urgency behind this voice wasn’t because someone was in need of help.

My mind was at rest. Reaching for the phone on my nightstand, the only plan I had was to type out a text to a friend about how annoying this was.

The fist behind fast knocking flipped into aggressive pounding.

This doesn’t seem right, I thought. If there’s so much strength trying to scare me from behind that door, then why don’t they just break a window or shoot the lock open and enter the place? Weird.

The pounding now echoing through stillness of my house, I sat up. There was no panic in my mind; only peace. And yet, I felt it would be wise to climb into the closet and call someone. So I moseyed out of bed and dialed 9-1-1.

The Door (in the dream)

It’s been months since that morning I woke up with that image of a door and the devil in my dream.

don't open the door, the devil is knocking,Why not just break a window, I thought.

The Lord said, he can’t come inside unless you open that door.

The devil can’t break into your ‘house’, your temple, your mind, unless you invite him in. With all the tools in his toolbox, and every huff and puff of terror building up on the outside, the devil can’t pry open the door.

It is impossible.

Sure, he may stir up some fear, but the enemy can’t crack even the weakest walls when it’s built with a strong foundation.

“The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you.” (Deuteronomy 1:30) That’s His promise to you. Let the Lord do your heavy lifting. How? By calling out to Jesus. I find that I need to physically get into a position of surrender on my knees to tap into the power of peace.

When you open the door and let peace out, you let confusion in.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10).doors, the devil comes knocking, the Lord comes knocking, door of opportunity

Satan is standing outside your door, and he’s knocking to come in.

The doors are different for each of us. What does yours look like?

Mine is anxiety… dwelling on concerns, worries and self-imposed deadlines. Yours might be depression. It could be distractions. Maybe the door is an ‘opportunity’ you shouldn’t draw near to.

The enemy is a prince of persuasion. In his hand are some empty promises, wrapped up as a few of your weaknesses; alcohol, romantic relationships, money, your own influence with people.

The devil’s knock may be under the disguise of helping you when you’re down. He needs you to open the door and let him into your life in order to destroy you.

“These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.” (Revelation 3:7)

God is Peace. God is your Peace.

Peace is evidence of the presence of God and it’s for your benefit to pursue peace in all areas of your life, even when the noise at your door gets louder.

Revelation 3:7, what he shuts no one can open, what he opens no one can shut, the who holds the key of DavidPeace is not determined by your circumstances. Peace is the presence of God. It is present to guard your heart and mind.

And I want you to know, when the enemy comes in the night to stir up your peace, grace is laced in the blood of Christ dripping from your doorpost as the angel of death grips the knob.

One last note. If you haven’t asked Jesus to be the Peace in your life, it may be His voice calling out to you on the other side of that door.

In Revelation, Jesus says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”

So how do you know the difference? Pray. When you call out to Him in prayer, in Jesus’ name, He comes like a mighty rushing wind into your heart. He may be the one at the door asking you to open up to Him.

Let Peace inside and it will never leave you.

Pleasure Isn’t Worth Regret

As we near the end of the year, I’m exploring old adventures, sharing some smiles and shedding a few tears that I’ve written in these journals throughout 2015. There’s no label I can slap on the cover of this one, but I’m looking for lessons to learn as I head into the next.
 
There were a few mountaintop experiences, but one recurring valley and it dug it’s ugly head into different areas of my life; relationships, food, sleep. choices to stay out longer and be up later instead of resting. it was fun to do, but I never felt great afterward.
 
In the middle of sifting through warped pages, the takeaway was boldly obvious: A moment of pleasure isn’t worth a day of regret. This is a good filter for my decisions in the future, I thoughtregret, pleasure, no regret, trishakeehn.com.
Living a life that seeks pleasure over wisdom isn’t worth any kind of regret. It drains the capacity to be our best.
Later in the day I read, ‘psychologists say a sign of good mental health is the ability to delay gratification.’
Without stepping into the next invitation of momentary pleasure, how can we prepare now? I made a list of what my best life looks like. Now it’s up to me to guard this with my choices.
For me, having a peaceful moment with God is crucial for me to lead a life of love and grace. Scheduling this at the first part of my day before the world wakes (and wants to take that time away) is important. My day has this 5 a.m. foundation. And in order to wake up and feel refreshed, alert and ready to listen at this hour, my body tells me I must get eight to nine hours of rest. So I shut the lights off at 8 p.m. and I let the Lord wake me when He’s ready.
The best life for me also includes physical exercise. Whether that’s a decent 5-mile walk in the park or inside the gym lifting weights. My muscles and joints just don’t feel their best without it. Sunday night I look at the calendar for the week and block out my time to workout each day of the week.
Nutrition helps my body have the energy to keep up with the calendar. Since I have little self control when it comes to portions or saying ‘no’, it’s important for me to assemble every meal ahead of time, starting Sunday night. The crockpot makes this easier. Breakfast, lunch and dinner for the week are waiting in line on the shelves of my fridge so I can ‘grab and go’ and I don’t have to second guess if it’s well-balanced.

I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1 (NIV)

 

The bible reminds us that this body we live in houses the holy spirit and it was bought for a price. It’s not meant for the physical and mental damage that comes with sexual immorality or gluttony. Taking care of the body we’ve been given demonstrates respect for what God created.

 

There are other parts to life that make us our best, like having community and conversations and quality time face to face with friends, but those come after this responsibility to our personal health. We are not much good to a group if we can’t protect our personal best. These three areas, rest, exercise and nutrition are a starting place.

What does being your best look like for you?

 

Pick Your Place and Start Running

The evening news called it one of Broadway’s hottest performances, drawing in the President of the United States and cabinet members even, and it’s being hailed as a theatrical “game-changer”. “Hamilton” is a hip-hop, rapping musical about the life and times of founding father Alexander Hamilton. It took 35-year old playwright, Lin-Manuel Miranda, six years to produce the performance, including the music compositions, and taking on the title character.

pick a path, pick a dream, there's room at the tableLast night, I listened to the young producer share the pivotal moment to his current success. It was when he was accepted into a school for the gifted; he was a very bright child.

“Everyone was smarter than me. And I’m not blowin’ smoke. I was surrounded by genius, genius kids. What’s interesting about growing up in a culture like that is you go, ‘All right, I gotta figure out what my thing is. Because I’m not smarter than these kids. I’m not funnier than half of them, so I better figure out what it is I wanna do and work really hard at that.’ And because intellectually I’m treading water to be here… I picked a lane and I started running ahead of everybody else. That’s the honest answer. I was like, “All right, THIS.”

“This” was theater. He was in practically every school play from then on.

I silenced the television. That’s a powerful story. Letting those words ruminate in my mind, I picked up a book quoting Dr. Seuss’s “A Zoad In The Road”.

Did I ever tell you about the young Zoad 
Who came to two sides in the fork in the road?
He looked one way then the other way, too.
So the Zoad had to make up his mind what to do.
Well the Zoad scratched his head, his chin, and his pants,
And he said to himself, ‘Now, I’ll be taking a chance.
If I go to place one, that place may be hot.
So how will I know if I like it or not?
On the other hand though, I’ll feel such a fool,
If I go to place two and find it’s too cool.
In that case I may catch a chill and turn blue.
So place one may be best and not place two.
On the other hand though, if place one is too high,
I might get a terrible earache and die.
On the other hand though, if place two is too low,
I might get some terrible pain in my toe.
So place one may be the best,’ and he started to go.
And he stopped and he said, ‘On the other hand though. . .
On the other hand, other hand, other hand though, and. . .
For thirty-six hours and one half that Zoad made starts and made stops
At the fork in the road, saying ‘No, don’t take a chance, you may not be right.’
Then he got an idea that was wonderfully bright.
‘Play safe,’ cried the Zoad, ‘I’m no dunce.
I’ll simply start off to both places at once.’
And that’s how the Zoad who would not take a chance
Got no place at all with the split in his pants.

This poem represents the inability to commit to a solitary direction in life… and faith.

Maybe you’re at a fork in the road right now. Does it seem like everyone around you is smarter, richer, funnier, faster and more of everything that you are not? If your social media feed is anything like mine, it’s filled with dream chasers standing on the platform of their vision and sharing it all over the world.

Well, I’m encouraging you to pick a place. Choose a path that you can be good at. There’s room at the table for one more.

Are you a writer? What’s the one thing you can share with others from your own experience? Your story and perspective will come from the seasoning of life that is exclusive to you. No one else can come to the banquet with the kind of salt from your upbringing that you have.pick a place, dreamer, dream big, start walking, Godly wisdom, worldly wisdom, The Zoad, Dr. Seuss

Are you crafty? Your creative spirit can conceive and combine ideas that others cannot. You see the breakdown of steps on how to achieve a work of art. We need you at the table.

Are you all about the details? Surely your spreadsheets stand out amongst the crowd in color-coded charting and make a statement in the board room. Creative minds need your analytical brain to put these ideas on paper in a way the rest of us can understand it.

If you attempt to mix the world’s wisdom with Godly wisdom, well, this is when you end up going no place at all.

God has given you a direction and path that he wants you to follow. He may not have revealed each and every step to you at this very moment. And that’s okay. My advice is to just continue walking until He reveals the next one.

What does God’s path look like? It’s living a life that steps into faith when the details are fuzzy.

When you can’t see the end destination, and trust His lead into the next step, that is the surest way to reach your final destination.

Putting Power In Your Prayer

Jesus, that sweet name Jesus. Meet me here. You went to the cross, but you didn’t stay there. You went to the grave, but you didn’t stay there. You come here morning after morning to be with me, here.

Calm the raging storm of concerns holding my mind captive. Whatever this resistance is that has come against me, I am praying it down in the name of Jesus. You said because You live that we live as well. Because You have won, so we already have victory over this battle beating up against us.

So I surrender to Your Word and declare this war that has me wrapped around it’s finger is over! Every thought that is fighting against me must flee at the sound of His name… Jesus. Every challenge has been conquered when Christ rose from that grave. Every battle has been broken by the blood of Jesus spilled out over this land.

I am commanding this be a due season of ‘more’ in my life… more of Jesus… more Peace, more Love, more Joy than I’ve known. I surrender my plans in this moment, Lord, and pray for the wheel of Your promises to begin turning, that they may even come to pass in abundance.

pain, struggle, pray it down, prayerMy ears are open; may they remain sensitive to the Spirit speaking. My feet are in the runner’s block; I am on the mark and ready for Your word, ‘Go’. This fight will not finish me off. I will finish my course with joy!

Romans 16:20 reminds me, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under ‘your’ feet.” Christ, in His mercy, makes victory mind. He crushes Satan not only under His feet, but also under mine! All evil dominion and destruction will come to an end, and everlasting joy and triumph IS, not will be, but IS mine.

I’m letting go of fear and walking forward into the future you have destined for me at birth. I’m not listening to the wind or the birds, but my focus is on Your hand in my life. Tunnel my vision so that I can’t even be distracted by what other people around me are doing.

This valley I’ve been in is only temporary. Psalm 112 says, “when darkness overtakes me, light will come bursting in”. Help me get in agreement with what you’ve said about me, Lord. I’m looking away from the distractions, and the things trying to entangle me in what I have no business being a part of. I’ve got my sight set on Your unshakeable hand, Jesus. My eyes are on the victory and the things you’ve overcome.

I’m drawing a line in the sand today. This struggle that is strangling the life out of me, I pray it down!

Give me wisdom on who needs to be in my life and who needs weeding out. This is a season of Freedom. Open the right doors and close the wrong ones. Give me the strength to make decisions that honor You. Restore my health, Jesus, and this sickness in my mind. Restore joy, peace and favor with a refreshing rain over my spirit.

May this rain of dreams and promises all reflect back to You, on the mercy and grace and goodness of You, Jesus.

As a child of the Most High God, I declare I am a victor and not a victim. I believe Your light is about to burst through the clouds that have been holding me back. I am expecting a breakthrough today, and that my faith will be released today. I am expecting You, today, Jesus.

I believe these words and pray them all in the name of the Almighty, in the name of Love, my Healer and Deliverer, the King of Kings and the Victorious One, Jesus… Amen.

The Rarest Thing In The World

Mark Twain quote, trishakeehn.com, live fearlessly, fear of life, fear of deathTo live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people just exist. – Oscar Wilde

Take a deep breath. Feel the air fill your lungs, and hold on. Today is your day to live out what you’ve been thinking about. There is freedom moving forward. No one can stop you from starting over. Don’t think too fast for your feet that you become anxious for tomorrow. Just begin walking out today, and live it well, my friend.

Shine On

shine on, shiny shoes, kate spade shoes, kate spade for keds, cloudy on the outside, shiny on the insideAs the days grow grayer, the nights stretch longer, and the air turns to ice, stand guard over your thoughts and dress it up in sparkle if you have to.

The changing seasons of life can dim the lights on our dreams. Situations with people we love or in the place we live can dull our passion or put out the flame.

Your value doesn’t decrease based on someone’s inability to see your worth. The forecast shows clouds but my feet say, Shine!

The Seasoning of Life

There is peace here.

The birds haven’t spread their wings yet, and the squirrels are still tucked into tiny tree beds. My shoes do an early morning shuffle through the leaves, soaking up this damp air that lays heavy on my face. I swing a notebook in my hand, as I wait on the Lord for something, anything that will stir my spirit.

I snap this picture.

There’s a scattering of yellow and orange still holding onto life, staring at the fate of friends who have since let go. Perhaps those still breathing actually turn away, to face the sky in praise toward the Maker of the heavens and the universe.

Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! (Psalm 150:6)

praise the Lord, seasons fertilize the next, Though these leaves, these lives undoubtedly see death happening all around, they don’t let go. I bet the view is spectacular up there.

And then one slips.

The heaviness in the air was too much to bear, I suppose. I watch the crinkled maple sway left, and see-saw right. I smile. Even a leaf can enjoy the ride on the way down. And now this leaf lays to rest in a bed where all the others have gone.

And soon the turn of the season will freeze this foliage that fertilizes new life in the Spring.

Look up. Whatever is raining on your parade, clouding your focus or heaven forbid, biting at your cheeks with the bitterness of a very long winter, turn away from the view of death in your situation.

Praise the heavens. This too shall pass. And there will be purpose here. One season is fertilizer for the next.

Something About the Name Jesus

Jesus, name of Jesus, sweeter than honeyThere’s something about the name of Jesus… it is the sweetest name I know.

I love the name Jesus.

Some people say I’m crazy but I can’t explain the power that I feel when I call Your name. It’s just like fire shut up in my bones, the Holy Ghost is moving and it just won’t leave me alone.
It’s sweeter than honey from the honeycomb. At the name Jesus, every need has got to bow. You don’t have to wait until the fire comes. Go on. Praise Him now.

– Kirk Franklin & The Rance Group

Most Important Meal; Prayer

prayer, breakfast, most important meal of the day, trishakeehn.comThe most important meal of the day; prayer.

‘Come, Child. I’ve prepared something for you today.’

It’s a royal breakfast with your father, where are never more anxious to receive from God than He is willing to provide. We do not know what will be on the table today but we can be sure it is exactly what we need. It will nourish and refresh the soul, this we can be sure of.

He’s spread out a banquet table before you today. It is His pure pleasure to prepare it and gives great joy to His heart when we sit down to feast.

Did you remember to take in the most important meal of the day? It’s not too late to receive it.