Deuteronomy really speaks to me. So many scriptures about being rescued out of Egypt and being brought into a land of rest. So many scriptures about REMEMBERING what the Lord did…how he used miraculous signs and wonders and his strong hand to rescue.

He did this exact thing for me (us) in 2008.

I’ve told the story before, so I won’t go into all of it again….but, I always likened it to being in a burning building and not really even knowing it. Floor upon floor crashing upon themselves as it begins to topple down…and right before the moment of complete destruction…the Lord SNATCHED us out of it.

We were literally “in Egypt”…loving Jesus but also fully immersed in the world and all that it says is valuable. Building businesses. Busting a move. Buying the things.

You know…keepin’ up with the Joneses.

It’s a trap. One we didn’t even know we were in.

Until. He rescued us.

Then, we couldn’t unsee what we saw. We couldn’t go back to what was. We couldn’t keep going in the same direction.

So off to that great and terrifying wilderness and unknown we went.

Has it all been easy?! HECK NO.

Has it all been worth it?! HECK YES.

If He’s trying to rescue YOU…don’t resist. Total upheaval and total change is not for the faint at heart…but He can be trusted and he always, always, always has a better plan.

xox.eb

I love so many of the titles to chapters in the book of Deuteronomy. I want to dig into each one. These three especially….

A Call to Wholehearted Commitment (chapter 6)

A Call to Remember and Obey (chapter 8)

A Call to Love and Obedience (chapter 10)

Notice that there’s a call to WHOLE-heartedness before there’s a call to any of the others. Here’s the scripture from that chapter (6):

“You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I’m giving you today.”

It’s hard to be wholehearted about anything if your heart isn’t whole. And when our hearts aren’t whole we begin to fill the “hole” with other things that honestly, take us further and further away from being able to love and commit to Him … or even desire to pursue Him.

It becomes nearly impossible.

Too many other things have taken root. We have to begin to dismantle them one by one and then we must begin to remove all of the “crutches” put in place to try and numb the fact that we aren’t whole hearted.

You’ve seen it. You know what I’m talking about.

They can start out small, but then, they grow. They can be things. They can be feelings. They can be people. Anything that takes the place of being on the journey to whole-heartedness. Or maybe, better put, anything that distracts us from pursuing the journey to a whole heart.

Remember that old game Candy land?!? How you could get stuck in Molasses Swamp or you’d have to sit and wait a turn at gooey gumball lane? Yeah…that’s the visual I’m seeing. Those gumballs sure looked good. Those molasses sure tasted sweet…all of them caused DELAY.

I know that I, for one, am going to take stock and see if I have anything distracting me from the pursuit of whole-heartedness. It’s a journey for sure…but one worth taking. Take back those pieces of your heart that were stolen, given away, or neglected for too long.

xox.eb

“Be careful to never forget what you yourself have seen. Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live! And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.” - Deut 4:9

The discipline of remembering. And sharing.

I don’t know about you, but as I get older, memories and the details can get foggy. This is a huge reason why I journal like it’s my job. I often think about my kids sitting on the floor, going through my hundreds upon hundreds of journals after I’m gone. Kind of scary…but hey, I won’t care:).

Years ago, I was asking the Lord for some direction and what He wanted me to do. His answer was simple:

“Just share the stories.”

And so, I started sharing.

Our stories, our experiences, our remembrances…carry life. They matter. They need to be told. And retold. We need to engage in the discipline of remembering.

When we share our journeys and what we’ve learned along the way, others can go further, faster on theirs. Sharing what you’ve actually walked through and learned from carries way more weight and authority than simply repeating something you heard from someone else.

Don’t let the memories escape. Write them down.

xox.eb

Y’all. We have to keep talking about Deuteronomy 1.

I want you to think about this. God gave them the land. He told them to GO IN and OCCUPY it. In 1:21 it literally says “he has placed the land on front of you! Go in and occupy it as the Lord has promised you. Do NOT be afraid. Do NOT be discouraged!”

And yet.

They didn’t fully trust Him.

They decided to send in scouts to “test the waters”, to check out the fruit. They complained in their tents. They grumbled about the Lord and his intentions towards them. They were worried about the people being taller and more powerful … heck, they said they even saw some giants there.

They focused on FACTS.

Even though they knew the Lord was going ahead of them. Even though they were told the Lord would fight for them. Even though the Lord had cared for them all along in the wilderness.

They still back peddled. They still got in their heads. They still trusted SELF over God.

And it cost them.

I’ve watched this kind of stuff play out in real life. Someone gets a word from the Lord. Instead of being obedient and moving on it, they question it, try to figure out the details of how it could happen. They go to “scout out the land” and make their own plan so they are semi-obedient but still in control.

Yeah. It doesn’t work that way.

We’re called to step out IN FAITH on the word he gives us.

To fully trust. To fully surrender. To fully step into unknowns simply because he said GO.

It can be scary but it’s always the way forward.

xox.eb

“Then, just as the Lord commanded, we left the mountain and traveled through the great and terrifying wilderness.” - Deuteronomy 1:19

Being obedient and going when God says go does NOT mean it will be easy. It does not mean smooth sailing. It does not mean you won’t be sad. It does not mean you won’t question it at times.

Obedience does NOT equal ease.

Obedience equals obedience.

And obedience is always the right first step.

It always unlocks the next one.

It always has you under His care.

It’s always the right move.

And when you hit that great and terrifying wilderness…do NOT turn back. Keep going. Keep taking steps. There is, indeed, a good land waiting for you ahead.

xox.eb

In the wake of May….I was like 😳. Too much happened too fast. I needed to put the brakes on all the movement. I was overwhelmed. It made me question if we were even supposed to build on the land we’ve been given.

I opened my Bible (always a good idea when you’re overwhelmed:). I finished the last few lines in the book of Numbers and so off to Deuteronomy I went.

And don’t you just know it…the following verse was right there…just waiting on me. And, in God’s perfect timing, it showed up on the heels of me journaling about my angst over it all.

“You have stayed on this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on. Look…I am giving all this land to you! GO IN and occupy it, for it is the land the Lord swore to give to your ancestors.” - Deut 1:6-8

Ummmm. I’m sorry. What!?? Are you even kidding me?!

Yeah. He knows me. God knows that all I need is a WORD from Him to step out on and even if it’s difficult, I’ll do it.

He knows you, too. How you hear. How you need to hear from Him. What you need at any given moment. We simply have to be engaged and watching and listening and talking to him and asking.

He always shows up.

Oh, and by the way, the land we’ve are called to “go in and occupy”, my father has owned since 1977 and his family owned it before that. It is, indeed, the land of my ancestors.

xox.eb

Sometimes, God sends you places simply to speak a message that HE put in your mouth. It may not be what people want to hear. It may be hard to say. It may cause them to wiggle and squirm. BUT. IF it’s from Him…it will be full of truth. It will be needed. It will hit the mark and will not return void. Don’t add to it or take away from it. Simply share what he has asked you to share.

“I will only speak the message that the Lord puts in my mouth.” - Numbers 23:12

That’s a good message from Balaam…who, by the way, was ticked he’d been re-routed. God knew all along he had something to say to someone that was on another path.

Trust God’s path over your own.

xox.eb

I heard this quote the other day and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Truth is like a lion. It doesn’t need defending. You let it out and it defends itself.

There’s a lot of truth being let out right now. People can try to debunk it and state “their truth”, or they can try and defend something that is altogether untrue…but in the end…the TRUTH truth will remain.

I’m also realizing that truth is no wispy thing. People don’t like it. They want their version of it. But…our “own version” of truth will never set us free because it’s likely skewed, altered, watered down, or false altogether.

Real truth truly does come in like a lion. It’s strong. Mighty. Able to stand on its own. It needs no defending (even though we soooo want to defend it).

Be a truth teller. Speak it. Share it. Stand firm on it. Let it do its job.

xox.eb

Still in Numbers 20, and this morning the line that jumped out of me was this:

“We will stay on the king’s road and never leave it until we have passed through your territory.”

There were giants in the land. Hostile enemies. Threats and armies waiting to attack. The Israelites were refused passage. They were forced to turn around.

That story is worth digging deeper into and writing about…but this morning, I’m looking at that sentence differently.

I see it like a declaration.

I AM STAYING ON THE KING’S ROAD AND I WILL NEVER LEAVE IT UNTIL I PASS THROUGH THIS TERRITORY.

What a visual. Us. Walking on the KING’s road. Encountering all kinds of things along the way. Trials. Obstacles. Tests. Things that want to threaten to knock us off course. Intimidating things that make us want to retreat.

But on the King’s road is the safest place to be. No matter what comes our way. Never leave it. Don’t sway. Don’t take the short cut. Don’t look for an easier route.

Stay on the King’s road.

xox.eb

“So Moses did as he was told.” - Numbers 20:9

What he was told to do was to hit that rock with his staff in front of alllll the community that had been complaining because there was no water.

Talk about trust.

Gather all the people who are mad at you.

Grab your staff and start whacking at a rock.

Trust that water will flow and you won’t look like a fool.

Has God ever asked you to do something that looked foolish? Something that made no sense but you knew it was Him?

Yeah, me too.

And guess what?! Every time…he’s shown up just like he said he would and in hindsight you can see why he asked you to do the thing that felt foolish at the time.

May that line of scripture hold true for all of us, as well.

So Elizabeth did as she was told.

So _______ did as she/he was told.

Let the world think it’s foolish.

It’s not between you and them. It’s between you and God.

xox.eb

Still hangin’ in Numbers. My thought this morning as I’m reading is that grumbling, complaining, and BLAME-SHIFTING is an age old dilemma.

“Blame-shifting is a manipulative tactic where a person denies responsibilities for THEIR actions, mistakes, or abusive behavior by transferring the blame onto someone else.”

The people were blaming Moses, God…heck, anyone else they could find to blame…instead of taking a look at themselves and asking what did WE do to contribute to this situation or what can WE do to get ourselves out of this situation. They were literally like “hey! YOU haven’t brought us into a land flowing with milk and honey…YOU haven’t given us a new homeland…”

On and on and on they went…ungrateful for what had already been given to them and blaming others for what had not yet been given to them.

Personal responsibility is not the norm. Taking a good, hard look at ourselves and the situations we are in is a sign of maturity. Looking at others and finding ways to blame them is a sign of immaturity.

One posture moves you forward. One keeps you stuck in unhealthy patterns…going round and round…sometimes for generations…or in the case of this story…for about 40 years.

Want to get unstuck? Look inward, not outward. Stop complaining, start doing. Stop blaming, starting owning.

xox.eb

I was thinking this morning how taking steps forward BY FAITH with hands and hearts wide open is both unsettling and fully settling at the same time.

We’re not used to movement without control. We want to KNOW know. We want to plot and plan. We want the t’s crossed and the i’s dotted. But living BY FAITH doesn’t work that way.

Living BY FAITH means we are fully reliant on following the Lord over following what we feel. We take steps forward when the door is open while simultaneously being willing to stop if the door closes. We surrender our timing to His. We don’t push, we’re pulled. We feel like participants in HIS story..not like the ones writing it.

I used to describe it as the difference in being the director of a movie…orchestrating it, writing and managing every scene…versus being IN the movie…directed and watching it unfold. The first scenario may falsely make us feel more safe…but it’s the second one that is truly the safest place to be.

Following. Not directing.

xox.eb

“Soon the people began to complain about their hardship, and the Lord heard everythingthey said.” -Numbers 11:1

They’d just been rescued from the bondage of Egypt…but there, they had meat and fruits and veggies…and now…since they’ve been freed…all they have is manna. Over and over again…just manna.

And so, they complained.

Have you ever done that? Asked the Lord for something or for him to help you OUT of a situation…only to get to the new place to discover that there were issues there as well. I mean…that’s life. It ain’t easy all the time and there’s no situation that’s perfect.

Heck. I’ve been complaining about gas prices and food prices. And yet, I can buy both of those things. I have a car to put gas in. I have a full working kitchen to cook that food in. We go out to eat when we want to. Any way you slice it, we’re blessed.

Anyway. That scripture made me pause this morning and maybe it will make you pause as well.

xox.eb

“Whenever the cloud lifted, the people of Israel would break camp and follow it. In this way, they traveled and camped at the Lord’s command wherever HE told them to go.” Numbers 9: 17-18

We started living this way in 2008. We were in Southern Pines, on our farm we never thought we’d leave, when the cloud moved and we KNEW we were to break up camp and follow it.

Supernatural movement happened the whole way through…from selling smack dab in the middle of a real estate recession to listing it for what he told me to ($888,000) and having it go under contract on 8/8/8. It was quite the lesson in hearing and obeying.

And now, it seems the cloud is moving for us again. We find ourselves on a farm we thought we’d NEVER leave…on a mountain we thought we’d be buried on…and yet, we know. Supernatural movement has already begun.

Following the cloud, we have found, is a much better way to live than just making decisions on our own and doing what WE think is best. That hasn’t always turned out the way we thought it would.

BUT.

When we wait, and watch, and the cloud moves, and then HE provides a step to step out on…and we step…and then another step appears…it removes any angst on whether you’re doing the “right thing” or simply following your emotions. I, for one, on a move this big…did NOT want to follow my emotions. I needed the cloud. ☁️

xox.eb

I wrote about this yesterday, then took it down. I sent it to Keith to critique and then, took it down again. Some mornings, my thoughts aren’t fluffy and pretty and devotional like. Some mornings, my thoughts are controversial and questioning and not fluffy at all:). This is one of those thoughts.

I commented on a “Christian Influencers” account yesterday after they were PRAISING Trump’s Easter Sunday post. Did you see it? If not…oh, you can find it out there. Anyway, I was instantly blasted with mean comments and called a Trump hater.

For real y’all? Seriously? Can we not call a spade a spade without having to add so much spin?

This morning, I woke up and opened Facebook (mistake) to see another “Christian influencer” stating that God used Trump to post that as a prophetic declaration. 😳 okay.

I voted for Trump. Twice. And…given the choices we had, I’d do it again.

But.

Voting for someone and hoping they move forward on what they campaigned on does not equal blind allegiance and never saying “hey…that’s not okay.”

And…that’s not okay.

No matter how you want to spin it.

There ya go. That’s MY morning thought.

And p.s. I’m not a Trump hater. I’m actually not an anybody hater. I cannot think of a single soul or a people group I could say I hate. Questioning things doesn’t = hate. It equals curiosity and using our God-given brains.

xox.eb

In Leviticus 27, the priests are “assessing value” to things from houses to animals to people. For example…a woman between the ages of twenty to sixty was valued at 30 shekels…a man of that age was valued at 50.

Once again, all I can think is that RELIGION tries to place a “value” on people. Oh come on, you know it’s true. Do you have valuable gifts that can serve? Prophetic insight that can draw a crowd? Do you make a lot of money so you can give large tithes?

Religiosity is no better than the world and its “value system”. Actually, I think it’s far worse because it’s cloaked in piety.

Jesus. Oh, he KNOWS your value. He knew it before you were born. He knows it even when you don’t. He doesn’t assign a value amount based on how well you perform or produce or provide money through a tithe.

Don’t let the religious system…or ANY system for that matter…assign value to you. There’s only one who can do that and he’s already made it clear just how valuable you are.

xox.eb

This is too good not to share!

Soooo…I’m about to be the recipient of some of my father’s land (so much I could say about that) and Keith and I plan to build on it. It’s kind of secluded. Last night, I said to Keith “wonder if I’ll be scared at night when we’re out there at first? If we hear a twig crack or a noise … “

And this morning, still in Leviticus, I opened up my reading to THIS EXACT VERSE:

“I will give you peace in the land, and you will be able to sleep with no cause of fear. I will rid the land of wild animals and keep your enemies out of your land.” - Lev 26:6

Y’all. Our God is a God who knows our every fear, our every concern, our every need…every hair on our head! He’s intricately involved, right beside us, behind us, in us. He sees all, knows all, cares about it all. He’s down to the detail. The little things that seem silly and small to us, he still cares about.

I don’t know why things like this alway blow me away. It’s simply his nature and it’s simply our inheritance as his children to hear and know his voice.

xox.eb

I’m still thinking about my post and that scripture from yesterday.

If you missed it…this was the scripture:

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you OUT of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high.” - Leviticus 26:13

He brought me “out” May 19-21, 2008.

I was thick in it. Smack dab in the middle of over achieving, striving, working for worth, performance, title seeking…

And I was SPENT.

Physically. Spiritually. Emotionally.

Over the course of a three day encounter…he literally scrambled my business brain to mush. What mattered on the 18th felt like a world away by the 21st.

He rescued me.

He “brought me out” … “so I would no longer be its slqve.”

It was breaking me.

Trying to be the best…work the hardest…go to the top the fastest.

Many don’t have to be fully stopped in order to fully stop.

I did.

And looking back, I’m so glad he pulled me out.

He is the master of yoke breaking.

xox.eb

“I am the Lord your God, who brought you OUT of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high.” - Leviticus 26:13

He doesn’t bring us OUT to have us still be enslaved to the things that had a hook in us there.

You can’t be IN Egypt (world system) and affect it if you’re still enslaved to it.

What are you enslaved to in the land of Egypt?

Performance

Opinion of others

People pleasing

Over working

Striving

Selfish ambition

Self promotion

Trust in self and your own abilities

Trust in money

Trying to keep up with others

Guess that wasn’t really a short thought … but a good thought to ponder, nonetheless.

That yoke been broke…don’t let anyone put it back on you…including yourself.

xox.eb

This morning, as soon as I opened Facebook, a post from a well known prophetic voice came through my feed. The title: “The Camels are Coming.”

Oh, I stopped immediately. Why? Because at the beginning of 2021, in the middle of the night, I woke up hearing”the camels are coming” … that EXACT phrase. I didn’t understand what it meant at all. Odd.

A week or so later, I traveled to my grandparents home to help clean it out a bit and I found a hand carved (by my great grandfather) camel. He was an amazing whittler and I feel so blessed to have some of his items. Anyway…a camel carved…I found that interesting and confirming. It want his “norm” type of thing to whittle.

Then, a few weeks ago, a friend of mine from high school posted “the camels are coming.” The exact same phrase.

And so, on this first day of SPRING…I went back into my old notes and found where I had written about it and thought I’d re-share it. I’m going to dig a little deeper into it as well…will let you know if I learn anything new!

Love to you all on this beautiful Friday, first day of spring, finally warm day!!

xox.eb

Here’s my original post from 2021:

MORNING THOUGHTS ☕️: Words for 2021.

* THE CAMELS ARE COMING. *

Well, that’s an odd one. I LOVE when the Lord says things to me that I could not make up if I tried AND that I have to go on a treasure hunt for. This is one of those.

Camel, in Hebrew is Gimel or Gamel. The third letter in the Hebrew alphabet. It means:

REPAYMENT of something lost or STOLEN.

Let’s back up. The enemy comes to kill, STEAL, and destroy. (Do you think he’s at work right now in our nation?!! This is why we need to wake up and get ABOVE the political/election noise. There’s a principality...not flesh and blood...over this nation that is trying to destroy the very fabric of who we are. Division is ALWAYS a tactic of the enemy.)

So. The enemy steals. The lord restores that which was stolen. Do you have things in your life that have been stolen? Physical things? Spiritual things? People? Think back. Take a look. I know there are a few things I’m going to be asking to be PAID BACK.

Camels are known to be beats of burden. They are carriers of heavy things. They can travel long distances in dry land. They can withstand long periods without water. They are known to be able to withstand CHANGES that would kill other mammals but they can survive. They are working animals. They were symbols of wealth. They were one of the greatest assets for early armies.

The camels are coming. Let’s watch and see.