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Category Archives: Encouragement


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In the Current of Grace?

In the Current of Grace?

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.

GRACE is the POWER of God working in us and in our lives. (Consider: Do you experience the True power of God in your life?)

When we are abiding in God’s grace, there is a current of power that underscores our lives. We abide in an evident fortress and godly favor.

God is power. When there is true power, it’s mighty in the gentlest ways. It’s the power in David and Goliath; in bringing down Jericho with marching and trumpets, in the smallest nation defeating the greatest, and in having a child beyond childbearing years.

Grace is a constant gentle force providing an abundance for each breath we take. The power of God doesn’t parade itself; it simply is. If you are truly in Him, you have this power. It isn’t expressed in a display of weapons and artillery, resources and riches, or the strength of mankind, as the world’s power. It’s far greater, because true power is established in eternal truth.

Grace/power shows itself through our lives: abiding in smooth paths, working in wisdom, acting in loving-kindness without hypocrisy, accomplishing our calling in ease beyond our natural ability, living in victories, receiving the deepest of healing, ruling of peace in our mind and in our lifestyle, transcending hardships/trials, and transforming our reality. Grace consists of a gentle power because it’s true power, and it conquers ALL  when we are in its current.

How do we tap into this gentle yet extremely powerful grace that is abundant for us?

2 Corin 6:1-2 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says:

“In an acceptable time I have heard you,
And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation

Hebrews 5:9 And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,

Power Comes with Obedience in Love

Paul warns us to not receive the grace of God in vain. What does that mean? The answer is in Hebrews 5:9. If we received grace, we’re growing in righteousness, for this is what it brings. If we receive it in vain, we don’t walk in righteousness, and we are still bound in our sin. 

Romans 5:21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness TO eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

In many ways, the understanding of grace has been abused, misused, and thus received in vain. It’s been seen as an expulsion of sin in theory but not in actuality. Grace isn’t to excuse, justify or rationalize sin. It isn’t God turning His head to our sin and looking the other way. Galatians 6:7 It’s the power to ACTUALLY overcome it, to ACTUALLY walk in righteousness.

Grace is the power to obey and walk in righteous love as Christ did, because the grace of God is the power of God in us, the same power that raised Christ from the dead. Ephesians 1:19-20 This power of God transforms our minds and makes us into new creations of righteous loving-kindness. When we receive true grace, we walk in righteousness that leads to eternal life. Acts 15:11, James 1:18, 21

Grace is the gift of God through Christ Jesus. Romans 5:15 In giving us Christ’s spirit, we have the faith and power to move from an existence of death to one of abundant eternal life, because we can walk in true righteousness. Without grace, we could do nothing. With it nothing is impossible. Phil 4:13  In its current, our self-will is defeated, from which all sin flows. Its power overcomes the flesh. In it we abide in the spirit, which is true life.

Abused and Misused

When we neglect to obey God’s instruction of righteousness to us on a very personal level, we are living outside of the current of grace. One note: following God’s voice isn’t following a religion, how others’ say we should live a godly life, a godly image, or compulsion of our self-will. It is following God’s personal counsel and instruction to each one of us each day. Without a listening ear to the counsel of God and walking in that counsel, which are the paths of righteousness, we’ve received grace in vain, thus it lays dormant in our lives.  These lives reflect an absence of true belief/faith, for if it was real, then the act of seeking and obeying in love would follow. James 2:19-20 If we truly believe, we will act in accordance to faith, which is according to God’s will, then the power in our lives is a testimony to our beliefs. James 2:26

Outside of grace, lives are stripped of power and full of suffering and defeat. Instead of growing into a new creation, the prison bars grow in strength. Though mercy may still be evident, the power in constant victory and growing transformation isn’t found. 2 Corin 5:7-9, 11, 2 Corin 5:16-18 If we don’t continually seek to know God in truth and spirit, to hear His voice speaking to each one of us, and walk in His faith, then the grace given to us is received in vain.

Received in Love

To abide in grace, we act in faith as God leads us by that still small voice of power. 1 Kings 19:12-13 Acting in faith is putting our trust fully in the power of God to work in us and through situations. There is tremendous power for those who truly trust God. Psalm 56:3-4, Psalm 57:2 To trust God, first, we have to be connected to the true God and not a false image, Galatians 1:6, Jude 1:4, two, we have to listen to Him, and third, we have to obey His leading. If we take the smallest steps of faith/obedience, God’s power works in us in gentle waves that destroy the largest enemies. In His paths of righteousness is life, we have to be walking in those paths, that means obeying Him in love. 2 Peter 3:18

When we are REALLY trusting, our soul is in a state of REST. We’ve let go of the situation and rely on God to work it out through us and for us. When we experience this relinquishing of our self-will along with any other emotion not of trust: fear, anxiousness, or anger; and abide in peace, then we’ve demonstrated we know and trust God. In submission to His care, there is tremendous power because He is faithful to perform all things to those who trust Him. This is living in the current of grace, the power of God made possible by Christ giving us His Spirit.

If we listen and step out knowing the power of God at work in our lives, God does amazing works in our lives that creates a life of the truest praise and worship. 2 Corinthians 12:9

Philemon 1:25 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit


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Words of Life

Words of life

I have many wonderful things to tell you. Some will be sweet to your soul and others stirring to conviction and repentance, but all will feed your soul to bring true life.

The lies and deception run deep through the fabric of our being causing blindness to the truth; to God and who you are in Him as His beloved child. Ears have been muted to the voice of God and tuned in to the voice of death begging for the audience of our every thought.

Yet amidst the darkness a seed of truth is planted, the Word; a flicker of light that for those who seek will lead them to truth. It’s the light that guides seekers along the narrow path of truth drawing them away from this world bound in death to a resurrected life. Matthew 7:13-14 Few find and traverse this path, will you be one?

The path leads to a life beyond your imagination, because all you’ve known prior to this search is death. The difference between life and death on the earth is the difference between living in this life I’m speaking of and the life you live now. Many have been falsely told they are spiritually alive. Yet, until now there’s only been the promise of a resurrected life.

Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path

God’s love is abundant for His children, yet few have truly sought Him as He is. Most have given up their vast inheritance of true life for a morsel of bread. Genesis 25:30-34 They’ve worshiped what is dead, images masquerading as life. They’ve been captivated by lies which prohibit them from seeing the path of life, thus entering into God’s abundance. But the light is here, in the earth, to be found by you.

There is another way to live in this earthly life that leads you out of the pit of death, hell, and to live a resurrected life; a way that requires you to be a complete slave to God. It requires you to forsake your ways, you desires and pleasures, and your very words; to be replaced by what God has in store for you. Isaiah 58:13. It’s being completely governed by the Spirit of God in every possible way. Galatians 2:20 In this complete abandonment is found power, healing, peace, thanksgiving, rest, bounty, blessing, wisdom, joy, and righteous love. The abandonment comes from knowing God and as you do you are willing to give up all for what you have found, for He is life and the rest a masquerade of death.

Matthew 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

It’s a path of seeking the truth FROM God through the Bible each morning. Through intimate conversations with God, He reveals in grace the error in your life. In the awareness of the goodness of God, the error is forsaken and you turn to live as God instructs. It’s a path of the true fast that God calls His people to, a fast of the self-will, in exchange for being consumed with His spirit. Isaiah 58. Its end is far better than what we can imagine because our minds have only known death. Ephesians 3:20 God is life. Seek Him and live.

Jeremiah 19:13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.


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Path to True Happiness

Path to True Happiness

  HAPPY Thanksgiving … I pray it truly is happy.

 “And whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he.”

Proverbs 16:20

How many genuinely happy faces do you see? Lives speaking of rest, peace, joy and blessing? Souls abiding in love, truth and right-mindedness?

There are two different paths we can travel in this life. These two paths manifest two different spirits within us. One of these paths leads to happiness, the other empty hopes. Whichever path we give our minds to determines the type of spirit we are.

One path, taken by many, is directed by this world’s wisdom and ways, and manifests a spirit of corruption within. This life is preached to us in every dimension. You can’t escape its messaging that penetrates the airwaves. When we trust and live by this wisdom, which we all start out doing, a spirit of corruption is fed and grows within us. James 3:15 This spirit manifests a life of sorrows.

The other path, traveled by few, is directed by God and true wisdom and manifests the spirit of God within. James 3:17-18 This life is taught to us by Christ. Matthew 11:29 Its instruction doesn’t come from the society and culture around us, but from the Holy Spirit. 1 John 2:27 When we learn of this wisdom, the spirit of God makes its home within us. John 14:23

These two spirits create different outcomes. The spirit of corruption is of fear and produces suffering, pain, anger, depression, afflictions and angst. When you give your mind to the messaging of the world, this spirit reigns in you. The spirit of God is of love and produces health, rest, joy, blessing, compassion, and peace, which you see very little of because very few truly seek instruction from the Holy Spirit, the source of truth.

The Creator of this world desires for you to live in a reality of truth, wisdom, love, rest, and peace, and yes happiness …to walk the less traveled path. Matt 7:13-14 Yet most don’t believe that God truly is this good or this powerful in their lives, therefore most don’t look to Him to manifest this life in their lives. Their unbelief keeps them from seeking God, because why bother? What difference would it really make?  For a lack of seeking, they remain bound to lies and on the path of destructive mindsets, generated by worldly wisdom, leading to sorrow.

God’s power is real, yet it has become futile to people. God’s power and promises have been contrived to empty shells of hypocrisy. People declare the peace of God, when there their soul is full of angst. They declare the love of God, when anger reigns in their souls. They declare the righteousness of God, when sin is ruling their spirit. These souls are still bounded by the spirit of corruption. They haven’t walked or failed to continue walking on the path leading to God’s spirit indwelling their soul.

2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

The fruit of our lives reveals the spirit within us. When we get honest with our spiritual state and stop calling it what it isn’t, then we are open to seek truth.

If you are 30 lbs overweight but tell yourself you’re not. What will you do? Nothing. If you think you are what you aren’t you are deceiving yourself and thus hurting yourself. If you are honest with your situation, then you can start to do something about it. As long as we think God’s power and promises aren’t really real and life is lacking this side of heaven, then we won’t seek. This self-deception is one of the greatest forms of bondage.

When we seek to be taught about life from the Holy Spirit and put our trust in what He teaches, He prepares our souls to receive God’s Spirit. Once we truly start seeking, our lives shift to the path of life. As we persist, we are sanctified by truth. John 17:17 Ephesians 1:4-5 As we are refined and purified, the spirit of God begins to fill us. What we experience is becoming a new creation; old things pass away, all things become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Many haven’t experience this transformation, because they haven’t walked the path governed by the Holy Spirit. It’s a completely different wisdom and way of life than that of the world. What you feed your mind, you are.

When God’s righteousness dwells within you, you are transformed, you can’t help but be. Not by your own accord, but because the spirit of corruption has been replaced by God’s Spirit. As you don’t effort to sin, you don’t effort to be righteous; truth and love simply flow from the fountain of life within you. When God starts to take up residence in your soul, you know it – EVERYTHING is transformed; your mind, desires, actions, words, heart … truly become new. You experience rest, peace, joy blessing, love, truth, soundness of mind, and yes happiness.

When you understand the reality of this blessed life with God occurs this side of heaven, you will seek and you will find. Matthew 7:7,11 God is powerful. When we trust Him, our lives change in very tangible ways that lead to an abundant life. The power that raised Christ from the dead moves in and through us affecting our lives even to the most specific details. Ephesians 1:19-20

When I pray that you truly will be happy it’s a significant prayer, and one that God desires to fulfill. Don’t be frustrated if you see the spirit of corruption in your life, this is where we all start, and awareness is the first step toward the right path. Get on the path of life and headed in the right direction, and you will find the happiness you seek and all you deeply desire.


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A Fog of Lies & The Path Out

A Fog of Lies

AND

The Path Out

1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

A thick morning fog masks the creation that lies beneath. It hovers over the earth and prohibits our ability to perceive what is real. But as the sun streams through, we begin to see.

If you once were overweight, depressed, a work alcoholic, alcoholic, people pleaser, without hope, bound by illness, entrapped by fear, enslaved by religion, a fulfillment of your parents’ caustic words, agoraphobic or any type of phobic, then you know the power of a lie. The lies we believe travel deep scripting our lives.

Most of us grossly underestimate the extent that this world is under the sway of the wicked one. All is backwards, reversed, up side down and twisted causing grief, suffering, pain and death. Where do you think all these thoughts and concepts came from that put us and others in such states as above? Perhaps it’s too difficult to admit our world is so twisted, because then what? Ignorance isn’t bliss, the truth is.

Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace

Over creation lays a dense fog of lies. Beginning in the womb, like a poisonous gas this destructive mist infiltrates every aspect of our belief systems, our minds, thus our lives. It touches everything, living little unscathed by its presence. Our perception has been crafted by it; thus all has been marred by its influence; education, history, money, economics, politics, media, medicine, marriage, sex, family dynamics, religion, and relationships. It defines who we are and how we are to live. It defines our value or lack of it. It defines how we work. It defines happiness. It defines how we think and what is important. It defines God. It defines everything.

The penetration of lies into our society, thinking, acting and ways of living is cavernous as an abyss … the more you see the deeper it goes. It’s expansive as the ocean … when you think you see the edge there is more. Like computers, our minds have been programmed by this fog teaching us how to think, act, and believe in ways that foster our destruction. Just take an honest look around and see what we have been creating.

Our minds are very powerful. What we believe, we act on, and manifest. If we believe in lies then we act on them and because they are lies they create pain, suffering, havoc and chaos. Our minds are easily manipulated and used against us on many levels. They can be a prison, and the greatest weapon against us. For one example, consider the type of messaging streaming over the airwaves and how those “airwaves” are demanding more of our constant attention. Look at how it’s altered your thinking. You will see the programming language of evil. It follows all the protocols to program us to think certain ways (repetition, playing on emotions, defining value etc) thus believe and live in a way that to our ignorance ultimately destroys us. Ephesians 2:2 How wise we are to pursue wisdom from above.

The path out is truth, manifested by the Spirit of God. Truth comes from the source of truth, God. If we seek the truth from God, we are opening a door in our minds that allows the sun to start streaming in.

Yet many don’t seek truth from God, because the perception of God has also been marred by this fog. God is not far from us, as many of the lies dictate to keep us imprisoned. Acts 17:27 One of the greatest deceptions is God’s lack of love for us; a real love that affects the detailed interworking of day to day life. The reality is He is vey present in His love, but we can’t “see” Him because of the multitude of lies we believe about Him and us. The lies keep us from seeing and seeking Him. We’ve all had the experience where our own blindness about a situation kept us from seeing it for what it was. When later we become aware of what was really going on, we are amazed at “how blind we were”. In this fog of lies, the moment we glimpse God’s majesty, the experience is corrupted by the programming our minds have been shaped by, as pictured in the parable of the sower of the seed. Mark 4:1-20 Like everything else, our perception of God has been shaped by this corrupted fog keeping us far from Him, by keeping our minds from Him.

Defy the lies and seek. Seeking is key. Because of this consuming fog, seeking is required as the truth has been hidden. We have to seek to be able to see something new, which is the very nature of seeking. Initially, with such a deafening cloak shrouding our ability to see, it takes diligence to seek truth and continue to. This is where most fail, thus live the consequences of the lies they believe. We’ve been programmed to believe all sorts of declarations about what is truth and what it isn’t. But when we dare to seek to truly know, God rewards us with the truth. Truth doesn’t come all at once. It’s little by little, percept upon percept. In time, our minds, lives and souls are transformed.

Where is the door to this path of truth we seek? Christ, the Truth, is the door. John 10:9 God manifested Himself in a man, to show us the way, to show us the truth. He established a corresponding written word to assist us on this path. If we seek the truth, by the guidance of His Spirit, He teaches us the truth. Psalm 119:105, Matthew 7:7, Matthew 11:29 Without the lies, the barriers to experiencing God’s love and truth are removed. He laid a path for us to traverse to move us out of the fog and into the brilliant sunlight; a way of manifesting a new mind, thus a new being.

Pray for the gift of faith to believe that God, the source of truth, rewards those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 Seeking to know Him as He is, is the path out of the prison of our minds and to true liberty and abundant life.


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Seeking God Regardless of Your Feelings

Seeking God Regardless of Your Feelings

Psalm 111:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.

Feelings can be VERY misleading. Our feelings are based on what we believe and know at the moment. One area they can be incredibly misleading is in regards to our connection with God; especially for those who haven’t diligently sought God in truth and spirit. Feelings like God doesn’t care, He is distant, seeking Him doesn’t matter, and reading the Bible doesn’t matter. We have to fight and disregard these type of feelings when it comes to seeking God, which can be difficult.  However, for those who fight through those emotions and continue to seek, they find a relationship with God far beyond their expectations, thus a life beyond their imaginations for He is life.

As in the verse above, those who do God’s commandments from their core are those who have pushed through contrary emotions and have discovered a deeper wisdom and knowledge. They’ve learned that the paths to abundant eternal life are walking in God’s ways and not their own. They’ve learned that all else is lies and deception that lead you further from what you desire instead of closer. Thus, they willing and desire to walk in God’s ways and truth and are driven to keep pushing deeper into Him.

We start out in this life following our own will, which is formulated by the world’s (culture, society, traditions, etc) concepts. From birth, we’re consumed by this world and its philosophies therefore that is what we own as truth and live by. But as we seek God in spirit and truth, we gain an altogether different understanding. We see not only the truth of God, but also the truth of our own lives and what we are truly manifesting by following our will. We start to see that when we are in “control” we manifest depravity and not the life we desire. We begin to see when God is in control of us He brings about every perfect gift and blessing.

It’s hard for people to seek God, to truly devote to seeking Him as He calls us to. We’ve been misled to believe that His paths aren’t really full of life, but hardship, depravity and loss when in reality it’s our ways that bring these afflictions. It’s all backwards. Further, we look at others who are supposedly following God and judge God and a life with Him by their lives, a HUGE mistake most of the time. Many people aren’t truly seeking and walking in God’s truth. They are following a man-made religion, not God. They don’t truly seek and therefore in lack of truth and knowing cling to their self-will of depravity.

Only when the God is truly YOUR God, meaning He is in charge and you are at rest, do you journey His paths of truth leading to abundant life, in the deepest and fullest sense. When you do, the life you live far exceeds your expectations. Eph 3:20

While most never traverse this path, because the lies they hold about God that keep them at bay, some do. Matt 22:14 For those who come to the point to dare to seek God as they feel a stirring that there is much more, they seek and continue to seek despite what they initially feel. They seek in spite of the fear of losing their lives, of losing control, and what their lives might become once they step into God’s domain. They seek regardless of not wanting to at times because they are buried in lies that a life with God is anything less than magnificent.

Those who actually do His commands, (not the religious commands governed by mere humans Matthew 15:8-9), are those who have sought and understand the Truth of God. They understand that God’s way is the only desirous way, yes desirous. And it’s actually not their own will, but God’s light and truth pouring through them as they’ve become united to God’s will by laying down their own.

I’ve traversed this journey, I fought against what I felt many times and continued to seek God. I have the before and after pictures of my life and the afters blow my mind. I know His ways are better, my life is a testimony to me.

This newness of life fuels my passion to encourage you to seek and persist in seeking. God’s gifts are like a consuming ocean, more than we could ever want. The more others have of this true life blesses my spirit all the more. There is nothing more important than seeking first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. Matthew 6:33

Seek and persist regardless of what or how you feel. It’s the path of life that’s met with much resistance in this world. Realize this conflict as you embark upon this journey. Don’t trust your feelings. Trust if you seek you will find. Meditate on God’s truth and promises. You have nothing to lose; and everything to gain. For those who persist in seeking God in His truth, there awaits in this life, unspeakable joy, purpose and blessing.

Matthew 7:13-14, 2 Peter 3:16-18

The Path Found by Few

Shrouded in a cloak of lies
Hoping in what only binds

Trusting in what won’t deliver
The deepest desires cast to a sliver

An existence governed by strife
Hoping, yet never bringing true life

It’s a faulty assumption of hope
That self-will brings what you grope

There’s a way out
Clouded by doubt

That looks like depravity
Yet holds true vitality

To walk God’s paths leaving your own
Is the only way to be full grown

To be the budding vine
Is to be enraptured with His wine

To drink from the heavenly fountain
To rise to His Holy mountain

It’s narrow and disguised
This path out of the lies

But for those who dare to walk
Enter into His sacred flock

The home of all they hold dear
A place without pain, angst or fear

Flowing streams of life abound
Watering the soul to be unbound

Now covered now garments of light
Transformed and entering endless heights

~ Rachel DiPaolo
September 7, 2011


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Streams in YOUR Deserts

Streams in YOUR Deserts

Isaiah 35:6 Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert

God has been teaching me this “streams in the desert” level of trust He desires of His children. A level of trust in which His people KNOW He is able to make streams in their deserts so that they act on that faith. If you truly believe in this power of God in your life, how different would your responses be to life’s impossible circumstances?

Do you believe God can make streams in Your deserts? Honestly? What do your actions show? This level of trust is what God desires of us because this is who He is to those who trust in Him to be their God.

 2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

When the circumstances of life exceed our illusionary control, do we believe God can make something new within those situations or do we run? Quitting jobs, leaving vocations, getting divorces, running from responsibilities, sedating emotional pain, withdrawing from life, and retreating from ourselves; when we come against a roadblock and we see there is no more strength or resources to continue forward, what do we do? Do we run? Does God run?

Many of us tend to run. I know I have in the past. Either, physically in abandoning a situation or relationship, or emotionally in withdrawal, or as our pride likes to frame it moving on, which sounds so much better, doesn’t it? Within our human means running away can seem like the only viable option. And it’s true when we rely on our strength. But what about God’s? Who does He say He is to us? Deut 3:22, Isaiah 45:2, 52:12, 58:8 God doesn’t run. Time and time again, He shows how He makes streams in the deserts. The Bible testifies to this power, and our lives testify to it if we are willing to stop running and walk His paths. I’ve seen it, have you?

God’s love always endures, always hopes, and never fails. He is the Creator and can do anything, and if He is OUR God then His power and strength abound to us IF we abide and trust Him. John 15:7, Eph 3:20

The turning point in our lives that enables us to experience the power of God is TRUSTING Him in TRUTH and SPIRIT, which comes from being a new creation in Him.  It seems, we trust more in a psychologist or doctor to help us than God. We trust in self-help and the wisdom of this world to work through our “issues” more than the creative hand of our God who says He makes all things new for those who are in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Are you exchanging trust in someone else, for trust in God? God does use the elements of this world for our good, but where is your trust? Big difference. God’s creative power isn’t a theoretical concept, it’s God in your midst.

If God is so powerful, why don’t we see more deliverance by His mighty hand in the lives around us? Lack of trust, real trust based on becoming a new creation fashioned by God. Trust is the fruit of abiding in the Word of God and being taught by the Holy Spirit, which transforms our souls into partakers of the divine. Romans 10:17

We can’t do what we don’t know. Without individually abiding in the Truth and letting the Spirit of Truth write the Truth on our minds and hearts, fear binds us to a carnal reliance on a physical world that is only a shadow. Fear sets in, takes over and we start running or fight in our strength, which is just as bad. Meanwhile, the power of God is dampened by the lack of belief.  Matthew 13:58 Fear keeps us from trusting and waiting on God’s deliverance His way.

God offers a much better way. He goes before us to fight our enemies, He delivers us, and He makes our paths smooth, IF we TRUST Him in truth and spirit. (If we are trusting in a false image of God, it isn’t real trust, but idol worship) As we daily feast on the bread of heaven; abiding in the Bible seeking His face and to be taught by Him, then trust is the fruit. As He regenerates our lives into a new creation, His power starts flowing through us making streams in the deserts, our deserts.

In difficult challenges where there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel, no hope … remember God’s ways are not our ways. Isaiah 55:8 There is no limit to His power. This powerful Creator working in our lives is who He is to His children; to those who seek His face. His people don’t act out of fear or hopelessness, but in power, truth and love.

In Hebrews 11, know as the faith chapter, God says He diligently rewards those who seek Him. Heb 11:6 Seek Him and abide in His truth and righteousness and see the Creator at work in your life creating something incredible from what seemed dead and hopeless.

Instead of running, seek the regeneration of God so that by the power of His Spirit in you, you love your husband, love your children, Titus 2:4, respect your bosses and employees. Colossians 3:22, 4:1 You work as to the Lord. Colossians 3:23 You lean not on your own understanding that sees no way out. Proverbs 3:5 You don’t complain, which doesn’t glorify the power of God. Phil 2:14 You don’t harden your hearts by being stubborn in continuing to do it your way or giving up. Heb 3:8 Seek the power of God, who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think. Eph 3:20

God is looking for those who trust in Him, not in their own strength and resources or of this world’s, but Him. Who do you trust in really? God has tremendous things in store for those who do. Psalm 31:19

 1 Corinthians 13:7 love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.


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Be a Tree: Rest

Be a Tree: Rest

One of my greatest temptations is to try to fix myself instead of entrust ALL to God. Not sure why it’s still an issue, as I’ve seen over and over again that my efforts avail to frustration, failure, and bondage while God’s work has brought deliverance. Perhaps until now I never really took time to consider just how useless my efforts are and more importantly how contrary they are to God’s instructions to rest in Him, thus a sin.

I suppose to be Mrs. Fix-it tempts me because this philosophy is everywhere in our society and it speaks to our desire to be in control (to be able to have life go according to our will). It paints the illusion that the changes I desire are occurring. This is why the self-help philosophy (as many religions are) is so captivating, you feel you are doing something, taking control, thus moving forward. But, it’s an illusion and instead places huge burdens we can’t really manage. Feeling the sand bags on my shoulders is a sure sign I’m striving when I should be trusting God.

God calls us to rest, wait, and trust. His commandments aren’t burdensome. 1 John 5:3 His yoke is easy and His burden light. Matthew 11:30 When we live His way, we are trusting in Him and not ourselves to perform ALL things for us. Psalm 57:2 God’s way is the only way that makes any real significant transformation for good, true good, in our lives because only He is good.

God calls us to enter into His rest. If we don’t we are being disobedient. Hebrews 4:10-11 Entering into His rest means to cease striving from ours works in all things as He did from His. Could God be that good? Yes.

Most every religion is about your works, about “the law”; what you do in your strength to be who you are suppose to be. They’re about taming your self-desires so that you live a life that is acceptable and good (according to that religion’s definitions of these terms). But what God, the Creator, calls us to isn’t a religion of laws, but to die to our self-will ruling altogether and become a new creation that is a part of His divine nature. As a part of Him, we desire what He does. It isn’t living out some law; it’s living according to His will because it’s who we are as a part of Him.

God is the Creator, not us. He invites us to be a new creation by His design and power. It isn’t taming our old self; it’s all the old things passing away and all things becoming new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 God is the One who works in us. Phil 2:13 We are His workmanship. Ephesians 2:10 It’s a completely different way of thinking that is unlike anything this world offers, because it can’t. The world can’t create something entirely new, but God can and does in us.

God’s gift of eternal life, His life, is real and powerful. The manifestation of His Spirit in us comes little by little, not all at once. This pacing is His design to teach us numerous truths along the way; mercy, love, grace, compassion, humility, perfection of His will, and His sovereignty. Think of all the things we learn by going through this process and it not being immediate. If instant transformation was best, then that is how God would have created it.

Because it isn’t an instant experience, when my impatience starts to intrude, I want to take charge and speed things up. It doesn’t work that way. I’m not the Creator, God is. My part is to rest in His work.

God compares us to trees to teach us about His process of design in making us into who He desires us to be. The tree is in the seed. But the tree is far greater than the seed. We start as a seed. As we are planted in good soil, God’s truth, we start to grow. A tree doesn’t effort its growth; it grows because it’s planted in good soil with proper water and light. We are to let God grow us into the plant He created us to be in all our uniqueness as we abide in Him. We are to let Him be the authority in who we are and what we do. He is God after all.

What is our part then? To abide in the good soil, God’s Truth, and leave the rest up to Him. We are the tree. Have you ever seen a tree strive to grow differently than it does?

When I think about being a part of the divine, I imagine God’s pure and perfect love united to truth flowing through me into the lives of others. Every thought, word and action is governed by His love. My temptation is to try to do this myself or at least speed things up. God gave us a much a better way than our own efforts. He gave us His Spirit and by His life dwelling in us, it changes everything. God makes my love abound, not me. 1 Thessalonians 3:12 When I try, not only am I striving and not resting, trying to tame my rebellious flesh, trying to do God’s job, embracing a “religion” instead of the power of God flowing through me, carrying a burden that I’ll never fulfill, but I’m disobeying God. 1 Thess 4:9

Be planted in good soil, and leave the rest to God. When you do, He will grow you into who you are supposed to be. You will grow in the manner and rate that is best for you. You will abide in rest and peace because you are doing your part and trusting God to do His. It’s truly a much better way to live and the only way to true and abundant life.

God is faithful, perfect in His care. Let go and trust Him. Have no confidence in the flesh or in your ability to “create” yourself. He calls us to this rest and level of trust.

Be A Tree

Workmanship of my Maker
Letting go of being my own creator

A beautiful tree of His design
Fashioned to a new state of mind.

Resting in the soil of truth eternal
Is my daily labor for this small kernel.

Nourished to a majestic tree
Fashioned as no other to be.

His light shines ever brighter
Lifting my soul somewhere higher.

To the heavenly places of His domain
Releasing the strongholds of suffering and pain.

My life I commit to His hands
Destroying the wickedness by His plans.

Breathing in my soul His life divine
A part of His nature, one of a kind.

All my striving is in vain
For I’m not the Creator, but the slain.

Letting go I surrender to His mold
New life awaits as I enter into His fold.

~ Rachel DiPaolo
August 4, 2011


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Victory Cry

Blog Talk Radio: Victory Cry: Part I

A PODCAST (click here to listen) is available on living in victory in our lives. You can also get it at itunes. Search for Stirring the Deep under podcasts.

Overview: Many of us are facing trials and challenges. It can be frustrating for a believer because you see the promises of God and then look at your life and wonder why the huge gap. Or perhaps you have learned that trials do refine your faith, but wondering when will they ever end. I hope to encourage you by sharing the deeper purpose and reason for many of those trials by giving a different perspective on the situation.

In this two part segment, I talk about two main reasons for why we experience what we do. In part one, I cover the first reason and part two I discuss the second reason and how to journey through them victoriously.

Blog Talk Radio: Victory Cry: Part II


A PODCAST (click here to listen) covering the second part to living in victory is available. Also available through itunes.

Overview: In the previous show, I talked about one of the reasons we experience the trials we do as believers and how we can battle them and come out victoriously.

In this show, I cover another reason we face what we do and again, discuss how to come through it successfully as God intends. We’ve been given all we need in Christ, we need to know what we have, how to act on it, and act on it.


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Persist and Endure to the End

Persist and Endure to the End

How persistent are you truly? Now is a time when your patience and persistence will be greatly tested.

I sense a significant growing separation among people; a separation between those of the light and those of the darkness.

God is truth. Those who are diligently seeking God are growing stronger in Him, His ways, and truth or light. Those who aren’t diligently seeking God are growing further away from Him and truth, and into lies or darkness.

In Revelation, it talks about the eventual removal of the lampstands from certain professing followers of God. Revelation 1:20, 2:5 The lampstand holds the light. The light is the spirit of God, a spirit of truth. Revelation 4:5 Once the lampstand is removed, those people will no longer dwell with the spirit of God. Thus, their thoughts, ideas and teachings will fall more and more away from truth and into lies. You don’t want to be in a place where the lampstand has been removed.

In line with this falling away from truth, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15 says there will be many who pose as messengers of truth. Outwardly they appear like those of truth, but in reality they are creating illusions of truth with mouths of consuming graves. These charlatans come in many forms appealing to a wide variety of souls and their particular desperations. Some will fall for some and not others, but the variety of masqueraders ensures that many will fall.

Why these masqueraders of truth? However influenced by evil or their ego, the issue is pride. People think they inherently know best and don’t really need God’s truth to guide them. In not diligently seeking God, they erroneously believe lies are truth. Having others come alongside gives them a false peace and confidence that their lies are truth. Other people agreeing with us validate our beliefs whether right or wrong.

If we are unknowingly a part of their masquerade, then we will greatly suffer for it, for lies destroy the soul. 2 Peter 3:16 Hosea 7:8-9 The truth is our protector and guide. Without a love for it and diligently seeking it from God Himself, we are lost to the influence of those around us. Truth comes from God. He is the only source. If we haven’t been diligently seeking truth, then we don’t know what is right and what isn’t. Are you getting the idea to diligently seek?

As a result of the spirit of God leaving or the lampstand being removed, those who truly know God will be pulling away as well to follow God. John 10:27 The true followers of God go where He goes, thus the massive separation between those of truth and those of lies among those professing to be of God.

This separation was prophesied long ago, and now is coming into fruition. Ezekiel 34, Matthew 13:30, Revelation 18:4 In God’s great mercy, He has allowed the lampstand to remain and the intermingling among those of Him and those not of Him as He patiently waits for people to turn to Him and away from their self-driven ways. 2 Peter 3:9 As a loving Creator while shining His light upon us, He has allowed us to traverse our self-chosen paths, so that when the depravity of our ways comes upon us, we’ll realize the error and turn to Him. However, many have not turned. Hosea 7:10 The time will come when the window to come to God as we can now will close. For when the lampstand, the light, is taken away it means God’s spirit is taken away. The chance for the truth to penetrate the lies is lost, thus there is no way out of the darkness of deception.

Therefore, those of the darkness will grow deeper into lies, while those of the light will grow deeper into truth. Those of darkness will experience torment as lies destroy, inflict and bound. Revelation 9:18 Being in the dark, they don’t understand what is happening and dismiss it as “just life”. Remember, their lies are their truth. Those of the light will continue to transform into the light. Truth will invade every area of their lives. They will feel the intensity of the lies around them but in their spirits they will experience growing oneness with God in truth and spirit.

Here is where patience and endurance comes into utmost importance. Rev 13:10 This time of separation coincides with a growing spiritual battle as the dark grows darker and the light lighter. It will be difficult spiritually. For those who possess little truth and a weak relationship with God, the truth will be slipping from their fingers. Matthew 25:29 Those sealed, so they can’t fall from truth, will still have their truth challenged and tested. Their souls will be burdened by the growing lies, deception, and damage being manifested around them. Psalm 91:7-8 Now more than ever we need to support others who are striving for truth. We need to follow God’s lead about who and who not to embrace. In this battle, it’s our work to seek and know the truth, and cling to it.

I encourage those growing in truth to not grow weary in doing good. You reap what you sow. If you reap truth, that is what will grow in your life. Don’t give up. Leave the results and expectations of your situations up to God. His ways are not our ways. Keep praying, seeking, and drawing near to God. Never underestimate His faithfulness and mercy.

Truth is your armor. Read the Bible each day, God’s grounding tool of truth. Seek instruction from God. Pour out your heart to Him. Obey Him where you know HE has taught and led you. Keep it simple. If you trust Him, He will let you know what you need to know, when you need to know it. Your part is to abide in truth and seek His counsel. Pray for others.

The times we are in take great patience and endurance, and only those who finish the race are able to gain the prize. Run to gain the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:24

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,


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Defeating Discouragement

Blog Talk Radio: Defeating Discouragement: Part I

A new PODCAST (click here to listen) is available on overcoming discouragement in our lives. You can also get it at itunes. Search for Stirring the Deep under podcasts.

Overview: Discouragement is something we all face. In this show, I talk about how to defeat the discouragement in your life by embracing the truth. It isn’t an “ignorance is bliss” ideal that often comes with the “positive” thinking philiosophy, but it’s looking head on at the truth of our situations and battling them with the truth. God has given us much in Christ. We need to learn and embrace what we have in Him.

Ephesians 1:18-19 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power

Blog Talk Radio: Defeating Discouragement: Part II

A new PODCAST (click here to listen) is available on overcoming discouragement in our lives. You can also get it at itunes. Search for Stirring the Deep under podcasts.

Overview: In the previous show, I talked about the source of discouragement and how when we get to the source we are enabled to battle this debilitating emotion.

Here I talk about three consequences of falling into discouragement and the steps to come out of it. This is an emotion that steals many precious moments of our lives that could be filled with growth and peace. It’s an emotion we all experience, yes, but we don’t have to dwell and live in it.