I've been feeling nudged to read Jeremiah over the last two weeks.  I finally diverted from my usual reading to make space for God's prompting and from the jump, He started speaking...and as He did, it started feeling like it wasn't just for me.  So here you go.  🙏❤️ 

Jer 1:5 God spoke to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." 

It leapt off the page and what God said was this:

"Before I formed YOU in the womb, I knew YOU, and before you were born I consecrated YOU; I appointed YOU a _______." 

I suddenly felt pretty special...which is not something I commonly feel these days if I'm being perfectly transparent. (What can I say? It's a season, and I'm on a journey.)  I guess that's why He brought me here.

"Fill in the blank, Larissa.  What have I told you?  What did I set you aside for?  What did I appoint you to do?  Who have I made you to be?"

I dug back into my history of what God has said and I filled in the blank.  Then I continued on.

Jer. 1:6,7 Then [Jeremiah] said, "Ah Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth."  But the LORD said to [him], "Do not say, 'I am only a youth'; for to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak."

Again it leapt off the page and God presented it to me with another fill-in-the-blank: "Behold, I do not know how to ____."

I filled in the blank of what I currently feel like I don't know how to do.  What I want to cower away from.  What I want to say is "too much" or "too hard" or "will never be."

And He read the next sentence to me like this: "Do not SAY, 'I am only a youth.' 

Proverbs 18:21: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit."

Proverbs 12:18: "There is one who speaks like the piercings of a sword, but the tongue of the wise promotes health".

Psalm 141:3: "Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips".

Our words have creative power.  God didn't tell Jeremiah, "don't THINK 'I am only a youth."  He didn't tell Jeremiah, "don't FEEL 'I am only a youth."  He said "don't SAY it."

God spoke, and the world came into being (Gen. 1:2,3).  We are made in His image, and we function according to the patterns and principles He set into motion in the earth.  So we speak, and our words come into being. It's the law of sowing and reaping.

God's response to Jeremiah wasn't just a corrective rebuke or an annoyed retort, it was an instruction, a key. 

How many times have I said garbage like "Oh my gosh this will never end!" or "I can't do this?"  How many times have you said ______?

Don't SAY it. 

Don't give the devil your agreement with his limiting, ruining, destructive hopes and dreams for you and let him run and accomplish them for you. Don't give him your verbal go-ahead.  Don't sign your name to his proposal and estimate.  Don't partner with him. 

Partner with God.   

Jeremiah may NOT have known how to speak.  And he WAS a youth when God said this to him.

BUT.  Current, observed, experienced reality is not the same as Truth.  It's not the same as God's word.  God's plan.  God's creative design.  God's intent. 

Jer. 1:7 "...to all to whom I send you, you shall go, and whatever I command you, you shall speak."

If He said you'll speak, it doesn't matter that you can't.  You will. 

If He said you'll do, it doesn't matter that you can't.  You will.

If He said you'll go, it doesn't matter that you can't.  You will.

Jer. 1:8 Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD."  Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth.  And the LORD said to me, "Behold, I have put my words in your mouth."

If He's in it, if it's what you were created for and destined to, current reality doesn't matter AT ALL.

Don't be afraid.  Don't back away.  Don't worry how it will happen. 

His hand will do it. 

The one and only thing that matters is your choice: "What will I believe, and what will I say?"

⭐️What was true for Jeremiah is true for me, and for you. God is not a respecter of persons (Acts 10:34).

⭐️He formed YOU.  He knew YOU.  Before you were born He set YOU apart for something.  He appointed YOU.

⭐️What did God make you for?  What did He destine you to do?  If you don't know, just ask.  If you don't even think He speaks like this, try it, ask Him. 

⭐️Wrap your heart around the vision.  Align yourself with the truth.  Eat it.  Believe it. 

⭐️Speak what He said, not what you feel. 

⭐️Speak what He said, not what you see.

⭐️Speak what He said, not what has always been.

⭐️Speak it until you believe it.  Speak it until you see it.  Speak it until He does it.  Speak it until the cows come home, and then keep speaking it. 

⭐️Let Him touch you and make that word REALITY in your life. 

⭐️Don't be afraid.  He's with you.  With YOU. 

You're not random.  Life isn't random.  You are special.  You were created for something.  God's eye has been on you with affection and brimming with purpose before you were even here. 

Dare to believe.❤️‍🔥🧨

If this is for you, I'm coming into agreement with you right now for every beautiful thing God has spoken over you.  And I'm praying for hope to start filling you up right now, for joy and anticipation, for grace when it's hard to see and believe, and ultimately, for strength that you will stand and speak until it is so, until we see it done.🙏🤩 xoxo, L