I have a secret....

When I was a little girl, I LOVED secrets. It made me feel like I was someone really special to get in on something that no one else was suppose to know. It's funny what a secret can do to you on the inside....even now. lol!! Such strange creatures we are.

So....guess what? How many of you actually go about your daily lives hanging with God feeling like you don't have much of a clue what He's doing in your life, so you feel a little clueless? Many of us have fallen in that trap but I've got brilliant news...and no, it's not that I saved money switching to Geico. I Corinthians 2 is the reveal of a massive secret. Verses 10-16, "The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you're thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he's thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don't have to rely on the world's guesses and opinions. We didn't learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we're passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.

The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can't receive the gifts of God's Spirit. There's no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah's question, "Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?" has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit."

This is not a complicated issue here...it's simple, it's black and white - when Christ lives IN you, you have the mind of Christ. His Spirit lives in us which allows us to know what HE IS THINKING and so He lets us in on it, what His plans are, His reveal, His gifts of life. He is not a mind-game player and wants to keep you guessing. He is a God-revealer. What we must do is take what He gives us ONE DAY AT A TIME. Sometimes God will reveal His plans to you and it will be a lay out of the future, but don't forget, there's still the present that must be lived in order for the future to come alive. The key is: live out today as the spirit of God leads you and reveals to you. You HAVE the mind of Christ - His secrets are revealed to you to help you today, to guide and instruct you so that you don't keep making the same mistakes over and over walking around feeling like you have no direction. Use the power of His Word and the power of prayer and I promise you - He will keep revealing one secret after another that will help you walk from your present to your future. And remember - it's okay if you don't know it all, HE DOES and He's got your covered!!!

Now, go tell this secret to somebody else....

Tracee

I AM

I love reflecting on who God is, how powerful He is, and what He longs to do in our lives and through us. He is simply beyond amazing!! So much so, we can’t even fathom the greatness of who He is. So, I was reading an email that my friend, Shelly, sent me and you guessed it….my brain got to going on God as our I AM. What does that mean? Imagine it this way:

I am:
• The truth
• The life
• The way
• Your healer
• Your covering
• Your fortress
• Your King
• Your Lover
• Your Peace
• Your Creator
• Your Salvation
• Your help in the time of trouble
• Giver of every good and perfect gift

And the list goes on….

When we hold onto life’s difficulties, anxieties, worries, stresses, sin, pain, grief, confusion, feeling unworthy, feeling lonely…..it doesn’t allow God to be the I AM of your particular circumstance. Instead, your I am IS your circumstance.

What happens when we release our circumstances and allow the I AM to take over:

1. We take captive every THOUGHT that is not lined up in agreement with God’s word.
2. We demolish strongholds that seek to destroy our lives.

Surrendering your daily circumstances to God allows you to hear HIM better.

Check this out what a deep friend of mine, Shelly Trivette, who is our Children’s Pastor at The Bridge, wrote:

‘Anxiety sounds like a riot to our spirits...we cannot hear Him when we are anxious. Anxiety causes other things like unwarranted guilt. Anxiety is the worst of thieves. This is a command: Be anxious for nothing. How do we do that? We surrender (we believe Him) and we are thankful. We believe so that we can see. I am talking like I know that it is easy. I know better than that. I have so many irons in my fire that I don't know whether I am coming or going....and I have so many people that depend on me. I have had some times where things press on me so hard that I couldn't figure out how to surrender to Him. So as a symbol, I would grab it off my chest and offer it up to heaven. I would do it again and again and again. There was a particular day when...I cried out to God, “Help me, I don't know how to do this.” He took my mind to that story where He was able to sleep through a storm on the boat, dead asleep in the middle of a storm. I said, “Lord, how were you able to sleep in the storm?".... He slept in surrender to the Father. He believed in the Father so much that He could lay His head down in the storm and sleep like a baby. He was connected so deeply to the Father that He understood the authority He had been given to say "Peace be still to the storm." We have the same authority if we walk in the same surrender to the Father. So that when our hearts storm like that...we can sleep like a baby...because He is our Peace we can be thankful. It is a decision we make. We can walk on our fear like He walked on the water.’

This is long but I couldn’t keep any of it out!! Ephesians 1:3-14 MSG reads -

"How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life."

So, 2011 is only 8 days old….start it off by releasing the Great I Am in your life in a way you’ve never done before….and I promise you, by the end of this year, your jaw will be dragging on the ground in complete amazement as to how phenomenal God is. He is YOUR I AM.

So, what do you need today? He’s waiting….

Tracee and my friend, Shelly

Cover Life with Laughter!

If you'd like to know one of my little secrets that keeps a smile on my face it's this: I laugh at myself a lot!! I don't know about you, but it seems like everyday I am doing something hilariously funny that literally cracks me up. I don't have to have loads of people around either - it can be just me, myself, and I and you got it - I'm dying laughing. We tend to take ourselves and this life too seriously - each day carries a new load of 'junk' that we carry, or surprises that hit us that day but when we can 'train' ourselves to not let it attach to us we find that we gain even more strength to take on the task that we are dealing with. So for me, laughter is really the best medicine around. Here are some of the things that I have done over the past few weeks...

A little over a week ago I was sitting in my living room when I heard what sounded like a spaceship taking off downstairs. I didn't have a clue what it was until Mark walked in and said, "Whoa, I think that's the dryer!" My first thoughts were, "No, not the dryer!! I don't want to have to pay for a new dryer right now, it's almost Christmas, I need to be buying Christmas presents, not a dryer!" Think about this: That thought brought a massive amount of stress on me in literally a split second. But no sooner had that thought come to mind when I found myself saying, "Tracee, everything is going to work out!!" I caught myself and stopped the stress of a dying dryer and realized that MY GOD was bigger than my dryer! And that HE would provide. Well, guess what! He did and all that dryer cost me was $40.00 after I ended up getting a phone call to go work in the studio that wasn't on my agenda that week....what did I do, I laughed! (my new dryer is even nicer than the one I had!! ha!)

Then, Sunday morning, a few weeks ago which are crazy day for me as always, rushing around trying to get last minute things done at church. I ended up having to do a quick insert for the bulletin but every time I tried to put this insert on postcard paper, it wouldn't work right - so I ended up having to put it on stock paper and then cut it with the cutter - instead of responding stressed, I laughed. So, here, while I was cutting the inserts, the hole punch kept getting in my way so I picked it up and you guessed it - the entire bottom of it fell off and bam - all those lovely little circles of paper confetti ended up EVERYWHERE - what did I do - I laughed.

Then, this past weekend I was looking for my phone and couldn't, for the life of me, find it ANYWHERE.....after a good long pause and lots of searching through my car and purse I discovered that I was talking to a friend on it the entire time!!

Then, last night, I was leaving the church parking lot, exhausted from a long but great day and was ready to head home and get to bed.....so, I put the car in reverse, hit the gas pedal and went backwards. I laughed as I tried to figure out what was going on. See, my mind was thinking forward but the car wasn't responding that way...so, I tried it again and went backwards AGAIN!! Instead of getting frustrated at this mistake...I laughed at myself as I came to the realization that I hadn't put my car in drive, got it in the right gear and off I went.

We are going to make mistakes, we are going to have 'duh' moments, we are going to have days when you feel like the world is sitting right smack on top of your head....just make sure you don't take yourself too seriously and remember - laugh it off. You'll discover that your everyday trials really aren't that bad at all. It's about perspective....so, laugh!! Always remember, God has all your 'oops' covered, your car not starting - covered, your dryer breaking down - covered, your every day life - covered!! Let Him do His job in your life and respond with a laugh cuz He has you covered.

James had it sooo right, "Consider it joy when you go through various trials and tribulations knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience!" :) James 1

LOL,

Tracee Lee

Where are your eyes focused?

There is one thing I promise to do in this joyblog and that is to always be real, honest and simply - me. The one thing that frustrates me in this life is how we can play the silly game of thinking, "Well, she never goes through any struggles or hard days, her life is perfect." That, my gorgeous friend, is a major lie of the enemy because each and every one of us, whether we are Lisa Bevere, Joyce Meyers, or just me, Tracee Davidson, have our good days, our bad days, our enemy warfare days and days that we are laughing our heads off. We are human - and yes, I'm so going to go there - we all sit on the same toilet, doing the same thing. lol!!

So, where on earth am I going today - raise your hand if you never get stressed out! Okay, I see that none of you did, so we have all been in the same exact boat. I am no expert at walking out crazy life circumstances and always walking on the water. Yes, I have sunk many many times and that is so not cool cuz it takes me a good 45 minutes just to blow dry my hair after it gets wet. That's a stress in itself. lol!! But, I want to share a few little thoughts that I'm doing in my own life at this very moment, actually - I've only broken my toe, had my laptop crash and lost everything, came down with an upper respiratory infection that lasted 5 weeks, then went back down with another illness with fever this week, had to cancel some events, and am trying to re-create everything that was on my laptop for the coming 2 months of calendar events on my agenda! Stressed, me? lol!!! Soooo, I want to pass a few things I do onto you as well cuz that's what friends are for - to walk through life together. (beware, this will not be a short blog...ha!)

1. Keep your eyes focused on.....(drum roll) GOD! That is the first and foremost important thing that will NEVER fail you. Focus, focus, focus. Man, that's not always easy to do because our problem is: we keep our eyes focused on the problem instead of the solution. God has the answer to the solution, so stay FOCUSED on Him. (As I am re-reading this I just had to laugh because I so have a problem with say, I'm cleaning the kitchen, so I head downstairs to grab some kitchen towels out of the dryer to dry the dishes and then next thing you know, I'm cleaning the laundry room.....lol!!!!)

2. Keep your eyes focused on.....HIS WORD! Back in the day, sounds like I should be talking 1800's dialogue here....but don't worry, I won't! lol! I can recall a MAJOR stressful time in my life when we came back from missions in 2002. I won't go into all the details of that story here but I had never experienced stress like I did then. I was to the point that had it not been for God's Word, I know I would've broken down with some panic attacks. Everytime I felt that anxiety rising up within me, and trust me, it's not like I invited 'it' to appear, I would immediately grab my Bible and begin to read His word. It NEVER failed, God always took over my anxiety with floods of peace. This wasn't like a 2 minute reading...it was more like 20-30 minutes, sometimes an hour. I had key scriptures or verses that were speaking loudly to me during that time so I would turn to them and read them over and over and over again until God would literally begin to flood my heart and calm my spirit...it was through that, that I would regain my focus - in our weakness HE is strong!! He really is!!

3. Surround yourself with close friends. If you are married, this will include your husband but also close girlfriends. God has truly blessed me these past 5 years with some of the closest friends I have ever had. The kind that you can 100% be yourself, hold each other up, be REAL together, and also speak things into each other. Knowing that you are not walking alone, but are surrounded in support, prayer and loads of love will get you through whatever your life brings your way. If you do not have this kind of friendship circle, ask the Lord for it. God is a God that will give you the desires of your heart. Never forget, the first gift of friendship is to be a friend yourself....it will flow from there.

So, I leave you with a verse that one of my inner circle friends sent me today because she know's that I have had a crazy last 5 weeks that has caused me to have moments of crying, pulling my hair out but also, I have had many God joy moments and found oppurtunities to laugh my head off....knowing that she loves me and is praying for me and surrounding me helps me to know, I will get through this - between God, my amazing husband, and my dynamic friends....this too shall pass.

Psalm 27 (MSG)

Light, space, zest— that's God! So, with him on my side I'm fearless, afraid of no one and nothing. When vandal hordes ride down ready to eat me alive, Those bullies and toughs fall flat on their faces. When besieged, I'm calm as a baby. When all hell breaks loose, I'm collected and cool. I'm asking God for one thing, only one thing: To live with him in his house my whole life long. I'll contemplate his beauty; I'll study at his feet. That's the only quiet, secure place in a noisy world, The perfect getaway, far from the buzz of traffic. God holds me head and shoulders above all who try to pull me down. I'm headed for his place to offer anthems that will raise the roof! Already I'm singing God-songs; I'm making music to God. Listen, God, I'm calling at the top of my lungs: "Be good to me! Answer me!"
When my heart whispered, "Seek God," my whole being replied, "I'm seeking him!"
Don't hide from me now! You've always been right there for me; don't turn your back on me now. Don't throw me out, don't abandon me; you've always kept the door open.
My father and mother walked out and left me, but God took me in. Point me down your highway, God; direct me along a well-lighted street; show my enemies whose side you're on. Don't throw me to the dogs, those liars who are out to get me, filling the air with their threats. I'm sure now I'll see God's goodness in the exuberant earth. Stay with God! Take heart. Don't quit. I'll say it again: Stay with God.

Together, we will help each NOT pull our hair out!!

Tracee