Oh my goodness friends! hello!
I hope you enjoyed my little Bruno Mars reference in the title. I giggled. Welcome back to the blog. It's been a hot minute hasn't it?! Well what can I say? It looks like quarantine has brought me back to the blog! haha! I'm coming back on here today simply to share my heart. Where I'm at. What I'm learning these days. Where do I start? Quarantine. At the beginning of all of this I was truly worried. worried for the world, friends, family, and my mental health. If you would have told me a month ago I was gonna go for weeks without hugging my friends I think I might have dropped dead then and there. If you know me you know I am one heck of a busy bee and I love the company of my people! This idea of staying in and slowing down was truly foreign to me. It sounds dramatic, but I know there are others of you out there who can relate to me. So there I was forced to SLOW DOWN. The first thing I was met with at this halt in my life was the enemy. Just there in my face. I realized how present he had been in my life and I had totally missed it all this time. My fast paced lifestyle was honestly just a big invitation for the enemy to walk on in to the party without me even noticing. While I was so proud of my hustle all this time, the enemy was building a barrier in my heart. I was reading in Galatians 5- a powerful word about our call to freedom. Reading this I realized I really hadn't been living free at all. I was holding myself captive to my accomplishments, my schedule, and checking off boxes. One thing I really couldn't help but notice though, was Jesus' pace at life. It stood out to me the way that it's specifically noted how He's always walking. Never running. Never in a hurry. He's just so intimately obedient. There are so many accounts in scripture where there are crowds awaiting Jesus or a whirlwind of events going on and no where is Jesus to be found because He's in a quiet place. Not hiding, but enjoying communion with God. resting in His presence. Restoring His soul. Receiving vision from God. This just made me so aware of the hurry and hustle in my life. It was a silent barrier, just growing and growing as life for me moved faster and faster. I became so aware of the intimate moments I missed out on. This hurry is the enemy of my heart. Hurry is the thief of my capacity to love well. I missed out on the beauty of carefree timelessness. In this world we are commended for our hurry and hustle, resulting in an addiction to instant gratification. We are robbed of the beauty and intimacy of patient growth. We are made numb to the magnificence of many things. As I wish quarantine would have changed my spiritual life in a heart beat as the way it did my physical life, I have still found myself making long, crazy To Do lists simply to distract myself. So that's kind of where I am. I'm becoming aware of the goodness of God and the faults within myself. His grace really is sufficient. I'm truly clinging to grace in this season. But really I am learning so much too. I'm working on being patient. I'm learning what actual solitude is. I am exploring spiritual stillness. So that's me! The real good and the bad of these days. It feels good to be honest about where I'm at. I plan on being active here for the foreseeable time and I have lots of exciting ideas and things to share. I hope that this can be a place where people come to feel safe and loved. I want this to be a place where people come and leave feeling inspired as well! I am praying big, wonderful dreams over this blog and you reading this! Feel free to text me or call me. Tell me what you've been up to! Whats been making you laugh? What are you learning? Share with me fun ideas! My line is open y'all! See you back here soon! xoxo Kaley Miller
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Have you ever realized how much culture utters for us to identify with our feelings? It's all about who we feel like we are. Today I feel this way, so I am this. But now I feel this way so I am this. Just kidding! I changed my mind. Now I feel this way, so now I am this. We put a label to ourselves with our feelings that are constantly changing. Culture preaches to identify with something so temporary. How can we possibly live our lives identifying with something that wavers constantly?
Culture is fooling our world into this way of life. I'm not saying this to non-Christians. I'm saying this on behalf of everyone, because I believe that freedom awaits ALL of us. Our world is suffering. Suffering addiction, drug abuse, depression, anxiety, the list goes on. I don't want to go to deep into those topics, but I believe that all these types of sufferings and issues are related in the fact that we have lost our identity in our feelings. Culture has taken away the choice and placed a label on you. Maybe you have placed a label on yourself. I'm sure this all sounds hopeless and dark, but I'm not taking you to a dead end. I believe that revival is knocking on the door of everyone's heart. Its right around the corner. But before revival comes Jesus. I'm not bringing Jesus into this to say that He will resolve the issues of this world. But I believe that Jesus is a place you will find the things that you are searching for. We seek love. We seek hope. We seek to be known, and we think that in our feelings, in ourselves, we will find those things. But how could something so temporary delight all of those needs? Feelings have no roots. I want to challenge you to step back from your feelings for a different perspective. Take a moment to distinguish where they're coming from. when you do this I believe that you'll discover you don't have to live your whole life consumed by shame or guilt, because Jesus. Not only did He give His life for you, but He also made a promise to meet you wherever you are. Its never to late to seek Jesus. Its never to late to become aware of His presence. I think that if you chose to trust God and lean into that with your obedience you will find freedom, freedom like never before. I don't mean a one time, "Yes God for the rest of my life." It is a moment by moment choice. There is freedom you never knew existed. I am growing in this myself and the moments when I chose to trust and sacrifice my comfort I experience a grace that can only be experienced. Nothing is quite like it. I wish you could hear my voice through these words cause I'm so passionate about this. I want the freedom for you that I have gotten a glimpse at. I'm so tired of listening to the lies, listening to the enemy. I'm tired of loosing myself to Him when in fact the battle has already been won. The enemy has no business here. I say that boldly. This is an invitation for you to pause, reflect, and seek what you really want where you know it can be found. I feel so grateful because God made us one. We get to walk in this journey of finding God together. We are His tribe! So let's not make this about us. Let's make this about the Lord. Let's make this about finding all we could possibly ever need in something that's way bigger than just you or me. Freedom is waiting on our to surrender. We're in this together my friend. Moment. By. Moment. This might sound ironic, but I think that the world programs us to find freedom in security. We're so quick to put up walls in hopes that we will escape judgement, guilt, shame, whatever it might be that we're trying to flee. I've often tried to find freedom in walling myself in from things that I don't want to encounter. I've avoided things I've felt called to do because they were out of my comfort zone. I preferred the security of knowing I wouldn't be judged or simply just fail. Without thinking I subconsciously assumed there was freedom found in I guess doing nothing rather than failing.
But really it's been through failing that I've found freedom. Through the failure of my flesh I've found freedom in the character of God. I feel FREE just thinking about it! There is so much pressure in this world. So much pressure to succeed and even be someone that we're not. I hate that we get so caught up in ourselves that we dismiss the presence of God in our lives. We dismiss the presence of freedom cause we're so busy building up walls around our hearts. Us humans get so busy chasing our comfort that we're led to a place of complacency. We settle time and time again. By getting to know the Lord's character on a deeper level and letting go of my own expectations I have come to know a wild, bold, and free kind of love. Sometimes I think that expanding our relationship with the Lord is about being willing to take a risk. I've learned that I have to be willing to accept that my flesh might fail or that I might just seem crazy! Pronouncing the love of God and getting to come closer to him and finding deep intimacy are things that seem worth the risk. Over the past 3-ish months I've been diving into what getting out of my comfort zone looks like and really making my biggest attempt to prioritize the Lord above all else. Crazy enough I've come to realize that for myself discomfort isn't necessarily found in doing more or speaking more, but its actually about there being a lot less of me. God has made it clear to me that often times I am not still enough. I don't silence my own thoughts enough to let His overflow my mind. My discomfort has come from a very internal place, which has led me to quite the discovery of myself and God. My risk taking has had nothing to do with me and all to do with the Lord. Beautiful. Beautiful. I like to think about it as a dance with Jesus. I'm letting Him take the lead. Letting go of trying to be in control. Letting go of taking credit for the goodness of the Lord. Everything that is good in me is simply the goodness of the Lord! Letting go of me and finding who I am in Him. That's good. A little discomfort is healthy for a thriving relationship with the Lord. I believe that is the truth! So let your walls come down. Get vulnreble. Where is God calling you to step away from comfort in your life? Complimenting one another. What a concept it is. I tried to do that today. I noticed how hard it was for the other person to accept the compliment. It got me thinking about the world today and how we view ourselves.
There is so much discomfort today when we look in the mirror. Our hearts hurt, because they’ve been broken by comparison. We no longer know how to feel love. We have become shy of one another’s’ beauty and the source of beauty itself. It’s sad to think about. For some people confidence feels so out of reach. I say instead of distracting with disconcert, lets encourage strangers and loved ones all around. Can we make that an everyday thing? Let’s put away darkness with the light of our one true King. I hate the presence of dissatisfaction that exists in this world. But I believe that God died so that we could live fully satisfied in who he is. That’s to good not to rest in. Maybe you're more comfortable in your discomfort. How ironic is that yet quite evident today. However, the Lord never wanted complacency for your life. His love is a wild, bold, and free kind of love. Love and growth is about risks. I think that its worth questioning what it is that we're really chasing. If only we knew our influence as lovers and believers of Christ! Don't let the light that lives in your heart go to waste. Go out get after the Lord and His people! There is a power in speaking each other’s’ beauty to life. Sometimes we need help for our own eyes to see it, so let’s aid each other in seeing the beauty! Seeing the light! I believe that everyone deserves an opportunity to get to know the name of Jesus. You never know how that will come and you never ever want to miss it and turn it down. Be who the Lord has called you to be. Speak what He calls you to speak. Be where you are called to be. Love where you are called to love. Don’t shy away from the His ambitions for your life. Love is knocking at your door. Your Father is on the other side of yourself waiting to get to know you. PEOPLE! Let’s show each other the light and love of Jesus. Encourage! Empower! Step into the light. I love you all. xoxo Kaley Miller ps call someone and compliment them right now and tell them what they mean to you! When the Lord
gave His life on the cross, death lost all power over him. My Lord was again triumphant. Such a perfect King had all He needed to indulge in heaven. Though He had bigger ideas to bring this world into fruition. My King became my Father and said my heaven is your heaven. Live in perfect peace with me oh little one. But first oh you must let your meek flesh die. I will make you reborn again. such a prized gift it is, yet now here I live in a loud world, a busy world, a world that dismisses nothing, a world that picks apart a soul. For it is when I hear the voice of a critic that my fear is unveiled, and then it is not so much the outer voice, but rather the voice within I hear. I am forced to face insecurity, doubt, pain, and all I have suppressed, but it is then I realize I have lived out of death. eventually my soul will bring itself to its knees. For I must remember, My soul needs awakening. He is alive within me. So after the stages of denial and exposure I let out a sigh of relief for the critic oddly sets me free. From dark soil vivid colors arise. The critics free my fears. They give me a sense of security. They remind me of the sacrifice that stamps when my King became my Father. Recently I just started this incredible bible study through a podcast and I just have to tell you about it! I feel like I can't stop talking about this podcast, but it is just SO good I really can't help it! Im going to link it at the bottom for you if you find yourself interested to give it a listen. Anyways, there is a seemingly small, but really major difference between the roots of eastern and western culture. the Bible was written to people of the East and they actually just really have such a beautiful way of living and thinking. I think if you give the first episode a listen you will really find yourself in awe! The podcast is really all about understanding and interpreting the Bible in a more Eastern manner and really getting to the roots of what it means in the original Greek and exciting things like that!
The episode I was listening to most recently was going through the story of Adam and Eve. It's such a well known story from the Bible, but to tell you the truth the only thing I ever really spiritually took away from it was how sin entered the world, but oh how it is SO much more my friend! I want to really focus in on a specific point where God comes to find Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit and He calls out to them to ask where they are. Adam's response in verse Genesis 2:10 is "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." What God responds is so cool and if we aren't focused on the narrative of the scripture it is so easy to miss. The Lord says, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" (Genesis 2:11). These questions are so clever, and how the podcast put it is "Why have you become ashamed of how I created you? What voice are you listening to?" Before you continue I want you to really let those questions sink in. In the midst of loosing hope, peace, confidence or any of the promises of God in general, it seems so easy to slip into the lies of the enemy, and the real thing I struggle with is how I got there. I've never been good at assessing that- how I dug myself into such a hole. These questions just really resonated with my heart. I just felt so humbled. At the forefront of my pity, guilt, and shame I find disobedience. And honestly that was hard for me to admit. It's easy for me to tether my feelings to my heart, but actually I believe they are on totally different rhythms. The feelings of pity, guilt, and shame are not what makes me disobedient, but rather how I act on them- physically and mentally. This blog post is not like most of my other posts in the fact that I'm not really hear to offer you some sort of knowledge that I've learned in a past experience. These questions really just struck my heart and reminded me that we all need to check our heart sometimes. We all need to let our knees hit the ground sometimes to just simply be in awe of our Heavenly Father. I'm in the middle of learning. Always am. Always growing. That is just what I love about faith. I want to let this post be a representation that I don't have all the answers and I don't want to seem like I do. I'm not here to say that I've found an answer to those two questions. Sure I have maybe under some circumstances, but really I'm learning to continually ask myself those questions and live in the posture of keeping my heart in check. I'm just trying to learn and grow. I want this to be a space where you and I can do that together. So let's all do a heart check! How are you feeling? Joyful! Give Him all the praise you could possibly have. Maybe not joyful though. Maybe hopeless, lost? Don't let it rot on your heart. Approach it. What voice are you listening to? It may take some time to figure it out. Heck I'm still figuring it all out. But guess what...at the end of the day we're gonna learn how to let our knees hit the floor and let His name be glorified. I can't tell you how free and liberated I feel to publicly and straightforwardly tell you I don't have all the answers, but I believe in a God who does. I'm learning to be okay with that (key word LEARNING!) I hope you find this to be somewhat candid...for lack of better words. Coming from an enneagram two helper who finds joy in being needed and relied on, this wasn't the easiest so I want you to know if you are reading this that it means a lot to me! We're in this together my friend! This is my real human heart growing one moment at a time! I hope I can share a glimpse of the meekness that God is instilling in my heart through getting to know His character. Hey y'all! It's been a hot minute since I've hopped on here. Life has been crazy awesome, but in all honesty I just needed a break. Ive been spending a lot of time growing and bettering relationships with lots of awesome people! I've been thinking a lot about this blog and its purpose recently. I don't want this to be a place where I come to seem like I have it all together, but I want this to be a community where people can learn together and feel empowered by Christ's love. I want to make a promise that this will be a space where I just share what's on my heart. Let's call this my online journal!
Something I've been learning recently is the power of praise. Wow is praise a way to lift the lowly spirit. I've always been one to come to God in a sense of heaviness. A tone that speaks seriousness. But as I've been reading the bible, I'm constantly reminded of how I should come in awe of Him. In 1 Timothy chapter 6 Paul is writing to Timothy to fight the good fight, but he can't even get through verse 15 without having this incredible praise break. Truly we forget that God is not just a problem solver. He is a MIGHTY KING. He is high upon a THRONE. He is THE GOD OF THE UNIVERSE! The power of that absolutely blows my mind when I think about it, but I'm afraid people (including myself)have become numb to the wonder of the Lord Almighty. After reading in 1 Timothy I thought about my life and how I had been missing the absence of praise breaks. God created art to be appreciated not checked of in a box. He comes in the life of a trinity! For goodness sakes He is The Holy Spirit three in one! So I asked myself, why am I not living life in praise breaks to my Heavenly Father? I had been posting labels on God, thinking problems weren't being solved cause they didn't go my way. I didn't hear God speaking to me because I was only listening for what I wanted to hear. I felt like my Father wasn't showing up for a period of time because I didn't see Him where I asked him to be. But I learned God is not who you want him to be. God is who He reveals himself to be. I decided to fall on my knees more often. I decided to lift my hands a little higher. I decided to raise my voice a little louder. Why? cause my Heavenly Father is nothing to be silent about. Never did my God ask me to live in normality. I will not let my Father go un-exalted just because of unfortunate circumstances. I believe he fulfills even those. I want to rest in the gift of free will that He gives us that I may chose His way above mine. He is something to admire. His work is something to rest in awe of! If God were an art piece would you snap a photo and walk away or sit on the bench and be in awe. I'm challenging you to sit on the bench and soak in His goodness. Give Him your heart. Give Him your praise!! xoxo Kaley Miller I often get asked the question or just find he question being asked in general, "How do you find self-love?" or "How do you achieve self-love?" And I think that I've finally found the answer. You don't. You don't achieve self love. We all have voids in our hearts- empty spaces that are just waiting to be filled. We try to quick stitch the gaps and fill them with whatever we can. We tell ourselves nice things and pray that they last, but if you're anything like me you have found that the quick stitch has never healed anything. The positivity you try to fill yourself never really lasts for your self-esteem. We were made with hearts that just need more. We were made with hearts that need more than 30 Instagram comments. We were made with hearts that need more than a thousand likes. We were made with hearts that need more that 5,000 followers. We were made with hearts that need love- real. true. love. Here is something that has just been blowing my absolute mind!! God- king of all kings. Lord of all Lords. Highest of them all. Mightier than fathomable. That God identifies with your heat. The God of creation identifies with the flesh of sinners. Why would someone so good, SO SO GOOD identify with someone like you or me. He says that your worth it. You are worth carrying a cross through the streets of Jerusalem. You are worth suffering the most humiliating death of all. You are worth the pain of nail pierced hands. Love is a choice. You see God didn't go through all that to say "I am good"; God suffered the pain for you to know you are wanted, because every day God makes the choice to live within the hearts of His followers. Believing that Jesus is your Lord and Savior isn't a one-time declaration, it is a moment by moment commitment. It's moment by moment saying "I believe that you are more God." We commit to believing, and in that He commits to sustaining. After all the praise breaks and coming to terms with the simple goodness of this truth, I felt the need for self love go away. Not just for the night, the next week, or for the next month, but really ever since. I can say that I know I am wanted. I am loved. I am seen. Am I fully 100% confident all the time? Not at all. I'm human. I'm un-perfect. But I am fully confident in my Heavenly Father. So to the one who thinks they aren't beautiful. They aren't enough. They're too much. They aren't worthy. They aren't wanted. They aren't loved. THIS IS EXACTLY WHY YOU ARE ALL OF THESE THINGS. GOD CHOSES TO CALL YOU HIS EVERY DAY. GOD LABELS YOU HIS. Let your Heavenly Father speak into those voids. Let the God of above speak into the deepest parts of your heart. Let go of this modern day version of self-love and start believing in the power of God's love! I missed you beautiful people! I hope this first month and a half of the "new year" have brought you blessings and joy. I know it's been awhile, but I had to take a good little break to catch up with God and and really be present in all the opportunities I had to learn. I am not kidding when I say this, this really has been a season full of so much growing and learning! How often in your life do you feel fear getting in the way? How often do you feel like you need to run and hide? I'm not going to lie and I'm going to tell it to you how it is. Fear is convincing and fear is powerful. Luckily there is something greater. I've been through seasons of often times feeling like I am not enough. It's not that I didn't try to rise above, because I did. I fought hard. But the lies became consistent. Not only were they consistently flowing through my mind, but they were cast out in my life as well. I felt burdened in my relationships, the way I cast out my thoughts, no matter what I did. I was floating in a sphere of lies. The devil sought a way in through a tiny crack in my heart that only seemed to grow larger. He's manipulating like that. This is where something greater is offer. If we would release those tiny cracks in our hearts to the Lord, the devil would loose his entrance. I find it so crazy that the devil is afraid of the Lord, he channels all that fear through God's people- trying to break them apart in any way that he can. But the Lord's power is made perfect in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9) The devil does anything to destroy, but the Lord WILL DO ANYTHING TO SAVE. He is a savior! If you find yourself having a lack of confidence, hit pause. Ask yourself these questions. Confidence can be a seriously painful struggle to find, but that's only if you're looking for it. Once you are solidified in a relationship with God, you can cling to the truth that He is a HEALER, He is a SAVIOR, He is a REDEEMER, and He is ABOVE ALL ELSE.
This is nothing new, but this is the truth that God echoed back to me a few months ago when I felt lost. Remember that when you look and God seems to be missing, like he ran off, it wasn't him it was you. You ran away. You lost sight. But when you get redirected back onto the path of life, He will be waiting to embrace you. We are on a mission. Revival is calling. The devil knows something good is on the rise. He knows that we are seen. He knows that we are worthy, He knows that we are beloved children. Now it's about time we know that ourselves. Our hearts aren't trustworthy- they are the flesh. they are mortal. But the truth is still. The truth cannot be fooled or destroyed. You are worth God making the grandest gesture to exist. The resurrection of His one and only son that offers us eternal grace. When we let go of the fear and the lies, it is then that we realize that we have a far greater purpose in this life. Remember the truth. The next time you feel a crack splitting in your heart, act on it. Call truth to the lies. Retreat from fear. Listen to who He says that you are. This is a fight that's worth the battle. Never underestimate the power of the gospel that you deliver. Your confidence is found within something greater than yourself. Hi there! Wow, it sure has taken me sometime to sit down and write. Before I get in to what I am talking about, let me fill you in on a bit of what has been going on! I enjoyed the holidays with my family, visited more family up north, and took some down time to do things like journal and curl up with a book! I wish this blog post could have come a bit sooner, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. So it's the new year and everyone is making goals, reflecting, looking back, and looking forward. I think these things are all good things, and I think we all need a season to reflect and grow. I like the new year because it makes me slow down for a second to realize how God has showed up and provided in my life. As I hit the pause button to reflect on the past year and set goals for the year ahead I find myself quickly getting my heart into a bind. It is so easy to get caught up in unrealistic goals and things you might not even want for yourself, but the loud world around you is screaming them all at you. "THIS IS YOUR YEAR TO MEET THE STANDARDS!" but I hope that today I can put a new thought into your head. What if in the new year, specifically this season you worked on silencing the world around you and turning up the volume of God's voice. God says it's time to drop the idea of meeting standard, so that He can meet us right where we are. I pray that during this time you will dream your biggest dreams and set amazing goals, but most importantly that you would do it all under the sound of His voice. Quiet your heart and still your mind to hear God's reflection and wisdom. Listen to what He is speaking into your heart for this season. If you're beginning to feel lost and overwhelmed by the world's loud static around you, I've got a few little things you can do to perhaps dull the noise and tune into God's voice. 1. Count the Fruit Write down each month of the year and all your blessings from each month. Use your photos, Instagram, calendar, etc. to jog your memory and look back at all that God has done in 2018. 2. Make Agreements It's time to agree with the truth that God is speaking into your life. 1. Capture + Check your thoughts 2. Reflect + Rewrite 3. Act in Agreement (s/o to Jess Connolly for this one! Check out this free download: 21 Days of Agreement Guide) 3. Go to Scripture Read what the word says. Learn to apply it to your thoughts and your life. I pray that these ideas will be stepping stones for you and lead you into walking into your year in harmony with the Lord. His spirit is at work within you.
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AuthorHey! My name is Kaley Miller and I hope you enjoy my blog. Thanks for checking it out:) |