In The Beginning
My journey to where I am now began somewhere in 2004, not discounting a whole life of preparation. Although I have written poetry since childhood, never wrote articles compiled my thoughts into any other form until around this time.
Spurred on by a series of trials which left us without a church home and pretty much on our own as a family, I began to seek God in a more contemplative way. Between September 2005 and March of 2005 a string of events began to catapult my life in a whole new direction. In February 2005 I joined faithwriters.com and submitted my first article and continued to submit articles until sometime early 2006. What a blessing faithwriters.com was and is to me. It is where I discovered I could write and came to the place where I first called myself a Writer, an Author.
In March of 2005 we visited a church in San Antonio called Church Alive. The first Sunday we walked in the door to visit, Pastor Mathis called for a fast. I was in a desperate place and told the Lord I would agree with them for whatever they were fasting for and also fast for my family. Thus began my 40 day journey of fasting two meals a day. Even though we no longer serve at Church Alive, my time spent with those wonderful people was an important season of transition and transformation in my life, preparing me for the days to come.
My Heavenly Father Was Waiting
About two weeks into this fast, after reading Andrew Murray’s book, The Believers School of Prayer , I was lying on my couch reading the portion where he talks about coming to the Father in secret because He is waiting there for us. As I read this I felt a real sense Father God was waiting for me in my bedroom. The overwhelming urge to go in and find out overcame me and I ventured into an experience of a lifetime.
With my notebook and pen in hand, I sat on the bed and waited with an expectant heart. He did not disappoint. Suddenly it seemed as if the whole room was infused with His presence. I was overwhelmed, overcome, and saturated and began pouring my heart out to Him. With this done, I simply waited, lost in the tangible sense of His presence. No words can express being in the atmosphere of Father’s manifest love.
Unfolding Revelation
During this time He gave me a poem about a whole new life unfolding, more than I could imagine or dream and how all the invisible would become seen. He admonished me to dry my eyes and refrain from weeping for my promise had already been sent from the heart of His keeping. Even though I haven’t even seen a fraction of what He has promised His Word to me still continues to unfold on a daily basis, which takes me to the rest of my journey.
I began to dialog my times with the Lord in what later became know as Love Letters from God. I would lock myself away in His presence, in the Secret Place, often in the days to come, filling notebooks with love letters from Him. All the while I honed my writing skills at faithwriters.com, growing in confidence daily. I had no idea at the time what He was doing in me or where I was going. I was simply learning to soak in His presence and write what He spoke to my heart.
In the meantime we found the church had been longing in our hearts for. We are blessed to have found River City Fellowship in San Antonio, TX. It was and continues to be one of the greatest areas of blessing and support in our lives. We have truly been transfromed there through the amazing worship and incredible teaching. What a privilige!
The Dream, The Discovery
On August 6 2007 at 5:15 in the morning I woke up speaking the name Randall Niles out loud. I didn’t know him nor had I ever heard of this man’s name before.
Around the time of this dream I had been contemplating compiling my love letters/devotions into a book, inspired by Frances Robert’s book Come Away My Beloved. Even after being apart of a writing group, talking with editors I still wasn’t sure what to do or how to do it, then came the dream.
I decided to Google the name and found out he was an avowed atheist who had come back to his faith in Christ. Curiosity got the best of me and I took a chance, emailed him with my dream. Low and behold he emailed me back within an hour or so, making arrangements for us to talk. Imagine my surprise when the web signature on his email was the same as one I was receiving a daily devotion from. Divine appointment? I believe so.
Our conversation centered on how he had come back to Christ when his mother discovered she had cancer. He began to question things and to this day wholly embraces God, teaching apologetics all over the nation. You can get more information by contacting Randall Niles.
The connection Father God wanted revealed came to light when Randall told me how after his mother died he found her journals where she had written to and from God. This was and is the common thread to Randall Niles and the web site he and others founded called allaboutGod.com. All this from a dream? Absolutely!
Per his request, I submitted ten love letters/devotions between August and November 2006 which precipitated the development of Journals of the Heart and can be read under the heading, Hearing From God, at allaboutprayer.org
The Unfolding Continues
My dream, my poem is still unfolding. Father God will go to any lengths necessary to help us accomplish our purpose, our destiny. His desires and dreams for you to fulfill your dreams aren’t any different than mine, for He shows no partiality with any man. Be willing to take chances, to listen and when a stream of opportunity flows by you, jump in! Imagine a dream only lasting a few seconds at best turning in to a lifetime pursuit. God is amazing.
Looking back I can still remember with great clarity the words Randall challenged me with, “Would you rather have a book only a few might pick up in a bookstore of think inside the box (the computer) and reach potentially millions of people.” I had to seriously think about his words and continue to think about them on a daily basis. I haven’t reached millions “yet” but I have presented the Father’s heart in places far and wide, some even closed to the gospel. From it’s inception in October 2006 until now, Journals of the Heart has grown and is continuing to grow in ways I never imagined.
To this day I continue to write love letters from the Father’s heart and I am mentoring others in how to hear, to write the thoughts and intents of His heart. Many of their articles are now posted on Journals of the Heart and Water Under the Bridge.
Journals of the Heart is now branching of into new adventures with our site Spiritual Decrees and Spirit Food For Life which are in the infancy stages of development, none of which could have been or will be accomplished without the exceptional and tireless web development of my husband Duane.
The Here and Now
Now here I am half way through the year 2007, prophesied by many to be a year of blessing, preparing for the new beginnings of 2008. Preparing and anticipating an even greater move of God, divine connections, deeper revelation and yet…my greatest goal beyond walking and sharing an intimate relationship with Christ is to be fruitful and multiplty…to multiply myself through the discipleship and mentoring of others, thereby, enlarging the Kingdom of God in the earth.
The Challenge
We as believers must learn to advance the Kingdom together. No one can do it alone. Competition and fear are no longer acceptable in the advancement of the Kingdom. Our dreams must unfold together and fill the earth with His glory.
In what ways is Father God challenging you? Are you willing to take chances, willing to wait for things to unfold even in troubled times of, “How can this ever be or hath God said?”
If so you are just the kind of person He is looking for and He will move heaven and earth on your behalf to accomplish His will for your life. Because, you see, it isn’t all about you. It is about His Kingdom enlarging and filling the earth. It is about “Whom So Ever Will?”
It is about you answering yes to His question. It is about you saying, “Yes Lord, send me! Not my will but Yours be done!”
Brenda Craig, Copyright 2017, All Right Reserved