Category: Fullness of Jesus

Fullness of Jesus · glory · power

Stay in the Victory

AmandaLeave a comment

If you’ve been following my writings for the past few months then you know I’ve been in a season where I am intently focused on the manifested glory of God… Specifically the manifestation of signs, wonders and miracles. Now honestly, it hasn’t been the easiest season to walk through because Holy Spirit keeps asking me to whole-heartily remain in the stillness without looking to the past or the future. 

A few days ago, while I was just sitting still, I saw a huge gaping, bloody wound in the left leg of my spirit. The wound had black veins streaming from it like spider webs. They coursed through my entire being. I asked Holy Spirit, “What is that?” He said, “The wound is from past disappointments that cut deep. And, I have healed you: spirit, heart, soul and body; however, you keep turning yourself back to the disappointment, rather than the victory. You keep focusing on the pain and the frustration, rather than the way I stepped in and covered you. So, that open wound, it’s streaming through your entire being, defining you and leaving an impact on everything you do, say and think. And now… Now you must go through the cultivated process of staying in the victory.”

The victory… Ahhh, I am learning so much about focusing on the victory. I am learning that there is a legitimate supernatural substance of power we can pull from when we remind ourselves of all of the times God has intervened.

You see pulling from past disappointments doesn’t lead to the manifested glory of God. What leads to His manifested glory is our ability to see past our emotion… To fight through it and choose to praise Him in all things… To choose to see Him as good in all things, even when life feels lifeless, confusing, overbearing and challenging. Because, when we mediate on His redemptive/restorative ways working in our lives, well then… Then we can see where His glory has been prevalent. And then we can also embrace the truth that, God’s glory doesn’t manifest on pain and defeat. Instead, He needs us to surrender and say, “I see it! I see where You stepped into my past and set me free! I see where You healed my physical body and my broken spirit, heart and soul! I see where you covered me, protected me and rescued me from people, places and things that were harming me! I see where I choose to lean on You for strength, encouragement and relationship in moments where I realized how alone I actually am!”

And do you know… Since I’ve chosen to stay in the stillness, mediating on and pulling from the victories… I have actually witnessed the manifested glory of God in many different forms and fashions! (Maybe I’ll share soon!) So much so that they’ve left me somewhat speechless, thanking God for His goodness and also questioning, “Now do we get a steady stream going?” 🌱

Fullness of Jesus · glory · heart · mature · Mind

Stillness

Amanda2 Comments

Remember how I challenged you in my last writing to “sit still” in the presence of God? Remember how I expressed that I believe stillness is the direct path Holy Spirit is leading those that are wholeheartedly following Him down? Remember when I described the path of stillness as an intense and somewhat cumbersome direction of cultivated maturity? 

Okay, if you remember, then you should be able to follow what I’m going to share next.

You see I’m learning that stillness is different than peace. It’s almost a higher level of peace. Peace… Peace is the absence of conflict. We can live in peace amidst conflict. Our souls and hearts can be at peace, even when our worlds are spinning mad or the world is spinning mad. However, stillness… Stillness is literally a supernatural interface with Heaven. It’s a weighty stature of God’s presence made available to us when our human spirit’s reach the paradigm shifting place of true intimacy and wholeness with the Godhead.

Recently, in regards to this, Holy Spirit said, “How are people going to know that I am truly with you, if you won’t let My stillness rest upon you? It’s okay to be still. It’s okay to not have any movement going on in you. That doesn’t mean things aren’t moving. Instead, it means you’re cultivating a space to carry the weight of my glory, which you’ve never truly carried before. And sure, sure it’s cumbersome. Sure, being still is not your favorite thing because you want to be doing, but I have called you to a life of stillness: spirit, soul, heart and body right now. A life of stillness that mediates on My goodness constantly.”

And so that’s where I find myself… Constantly focused on remaining empty of the complaints, frustrations and pettiness of my world and the world. Constantly choosing to accept and embrace the reality that we must continue to cultivate a deep-seated relationship with Holy Spirit and our own human spirits so that we may gain solutions for combatting the darkness in our world. And constantly focusing on Father God, Jesus, Holy Spirit and the goodness they eternally supply through grace. 

And as challenging as it was to get to “here”… As challenging as it’s been to walk down this “jagged path” for a season, this place of inner stillness is worth it. 

And so, again, I challenge you to just sit still. 🌱

Fullness of Jesus · glory · heart

Radiate

AmandaLeave a comment

I sat down to write something encouraging and inspiring about how it’s been 12 years since I reached my goal of losing 100 pounds. But… As soon as I started typing, my spirit took over and said, “We are writing something else!” So here we go… 

God is good. Even when life is dark, decrepit and unbearably challenging to forge a path through, He is good. And I know it can be challenging to see His goodness. Especially when life is constantly caving in all around; however, that’s what’s so impressive about Him. In the midst of our fear, worry, doubt, heartache and trouble, He is there to offer up a strong shoulder to lean on. He is there to listen to the deepest cry of our heart that says, “I don’t know how much longer this is going to last! I can’t take it anymore.” 

And I’m speaking of God’s goodness because I’ve come into a place over the past few months where I find myself sitting in the stillness of His reverential presence, just meditating on that goodness. 

I just can’t get enough of it. He’s just there in such a heavy way that I feel Him resting on me.

And the heaviness… It’s different than being trapped in demonic entanglements, grids and frequencies. It’s different than the exhausting after-effect of dismantling structures the kingdom of darkness once empowered and occupied. 

Yeah, this weight… This weight is light… I feel like my spirit is floating in a blinding cloud-like substance that is very over-powering. It fills the very depth of my spirit, and brings a flow of living-water to the very heart of my root system.

And in this place of heaviness, I am constantly reminded of victories. I’m reminded of where I was when I was 5 with asthma, but then experienced healing. I’m reminded of where I was when I was 17, yearning to experience God in a more transformative way and then I did! I’m reminded of who I was when I was 20, fresh off the path of losing that weight, searching for confidence, only to have someone come a long and push me. And then I remember when I was 25, watching my dad dramatically take his last breath. Certain I’d survive, but how? How would I heal? How would my family and I pick up the pieces and move forward without feeling forever shattered and lost? But here we are today… The Winder Women, powered up with the joy of Holy Spirit.

Honestly, I could go on and on about the victories. About the in places in me that were languishing, dead and dying, only to be transformed by the power of Holy Spirit and His ability to lead me straight into a cultivated life.

So, now, where I am going with all of this? Well, if you feel lost, dead and alone on the inside, please be encouraged to know that God is good. Yes, the world’s systems are a failing and chaotically destructive, but God, His Kingdom, His presence, His ways… They are good. He is good. And so, it’s very helpful to lean into His goodness and His grace, even when you feel like your world is going to implode in seconds. Because, eventually, eventually (if our heart is open) He will come in and fill the brokenness and the void with love, peace and joy.

But then, some of you might know this. Some of you might’ve even experienced it. So, for those that have… Please be encouraged to keep pursuing His presence. Remain in the stillness of it. Meditate on His goodness, and continue to allow your trans-dimensional human spirit to interface with His presence that rests on Zion. Because, I believe, the more we spend time in His presence, meditating on His goodness, the more we will find ourselves endowed with the ability to radiate that very presence. And the more we radiate His presence, the more we can share… And the more we share, the more we will see signs and wonders, miracles, healings and deliverance take place. 

But… It all starts with our heart’s desire to focus on the the goodness of God and remain still in His presence. 🌱

faith · Fullness of Jesus · glory · grow · isolation · kingdom

Middle-Ground Movement

AmandaLeave a comment

You know that place between the beginning and the end? Yeah! The middle! That place! That spot where you’re certain you’ve stepped out into a higher level of faith… A level that is extremely uncomfortable. And now… Now that you’re in the middle, you’ve actually become kind of comfortable because the initial shock of stepping out has worn off. However, you can clearly see that there’s a good distance to go before you reach the end of the season. And so, you feel somewhat agitated about the entire process because you know there’s no turning back… You must keep moving forward… You must blaze the trail as you persevere to the end.

Yeah… That’s me. That’s my current life scenario.

It’s just this serious series of persistent stretching. I feel stretched to capacity in every area of life right now. I feel like God keeps saying, “Amanda, look how far we’ve come together. Look at what we’ve accomplished in the intimate, isolated time we’ve spent cultivating life together. And I know the level of faith you’ve been asked to step out into every day feels steep and sometimes unbearable, but there is a purpose in all of it. So, you must keep moving forward. You must keep moving up that mountain. And you must stay focused on Me above all as you climb. And, even when you feel like you’ve ‘missed it,’ you must return to Me for the validation that you have in fact not missed it. So, keep going!”

And now some of you might be thinking, “Okay Amanda, why are you telling me this? Why are you sharing God and your inner growth with me AGAIN?” Well, because the relationship I’ve cultivated with Him is the realest, truest, most honest thing I know. And so, I want to encourage you to keep pursuing a deeply cultivated relationship with Holy Spirit. I want you to be inspired to turn to Him for solutions to all of your situations. I want you to look to Him as the source that works with Jesus to bring our ultimate freedom, deliverance and healing. 

And then others might be thinking, “Okay, I understand where you’re coming from because I feel Him pressuring me into more intimacy too, so how do you do it? How do you balance all of it without wanting to completely abandon ship?”

Well, honestly, I believe Holy Spirit is getting ready to move. I believe, in this supernatural, paradigm shifting era of time we’re all existing in, He’s getting ready to forcefully jump onto the scene. And because He’s preparing Himself, He must also prepare us for it. And so, He keeps asking us to climb a little higher with Him… To summit our own personal mountain of God and to remain faithful (spirit, soul, heart and body) to Him in the process.

And of course, it’s a challenge to faithfully summit. It’s a challenge to continuously step away from agendas, mindsets and lifestyles that have been controlling us so that we may see Him, His Kingdom and His truth in a raw, real and more perceptive way. And that’s the marrow of it all… That’s why I choose to keep going. Because when He moves… When He moves, He’s going to push those of us that have stepped out into the steepness of His presence into the light. He’s going to use us to communicate His Kingdom to the earth. 

And that… That inspires me so deeply at my core. It presses me to stay focused on where He’s leading because I want to work with Holy Spirit… And not against Him. I want to help Him reveal Jesus and the Kingdom in a very authentic, unifying and life-giving way. And because of that deep desire within me, I choose, in every moment, to keep my eyes focused on Him and the inner validation I am receiving about where I am headed in life. 🌱 #cultivatelife

faith · Fullness of Jesus · glory · goodness of god · keep moving forward

The Jig is Up!

AmandaLeave a comment

I’ve never told this story on a public platform before…. Three years ago, mom, Bridget and I were sitting in Shreveport, La waiting for our house to sell.

Art… Art wasn’t selling. Our finances were nonexistent. And, we had sold everything of significant financial gain to pay bills on time.

Meaning, life… Life was dark. And, our future… Our future was bankruptcy.

Of course we all three went through a wide range of emotions during that time. And… God was silent for the most part, but He promised me we would not file for bankruptcy. So… I held Him to His word EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Once we sold our last piece of gold and paid our mortgage on time, the jig felt like it was up! So we surrendered the future to God. The miracle we needed was in His hands. There was no more we could do. He would have to uphold the promise He made.

And then, about a week later, we received our first and only offer on the house. It came in the number 5, signifying God’s grace. We were in complete awe and so grateful God made a way. He took us to our ends… To a place where we had to completely and totally rely on Him to see His promises fulfilled.

But the story doesn’t end there… You see we still didn’t have the finances to pay the mortgage until we moved. So AGAIN, we held God to His promises.

And then out of NOWHERE, someone contacted my sister wanting to commission a 5 foot painting of Jesus (again signifying Gods grace). He said, “Name a price.” And so we did, and the finances completely covered us, paid for mom’s move and moved us to NYC.

The best part… We NEVER filed for bankruptcy. God held true to His PROMISES. The miracle came when we least expected it, but when we were most prepared for it in our hearts because we had completely surrendered everything to Him. No man or woman could fix our situation. He had to do it.

And I don’t know who this resonates with right now. However, I want you to know, God is NOT short in finishing what He started. If He made a PROMISE, He will fulfill it in His timing. And… He might just fulfill it in such away that even nonbelievers will see that Jesus is King and God is sovereign. 🌱⚔️🛡#cultivatelife 

authority & dominion · focus · Fullness of Jesus · kingdom · power · rule & reign

That is Your Superpower

AmandaLeave a comment

“You need to stay focused on Me. That is your superpower. I AM your superpower.”

And this superpower isn’t anything I’m aiming to keep a secret… My ability to remain focused on God, His goodness and His kingdom is the most vital thing I can continue to do right now.

Why?

Well because the kingdom of darkness is trying its very hardest to usurp the Kingdom of God. But, it won’t. Why? Well because the Kingdom of God is much, much stronger. How? Well because Jesus rules & reigns; and He has given us power, dominion & authority so that we may rule & reign with Him.

And I do realize I have been writing about this a lot lately. But… You see it’s just so important that I keep expressing this truth. It’s so vital that we live from a place of power, dominion & authority over the death and darkness that’s pushing its agenda on mankind.

It’s not enough in the least bit anymore to stand around and proclaim faith in Jesus, but then to sit back and not operate in all He has equip us with.

Because I believe… I believe when our human spirits are healthy and active we have the ability to become like superheroes in the unseen realms of life. I believe… Actually I live from this place on the regular. A place of power. A place where I am praying and speaking into matters of the unseen, so that they may change in the unseen and then flow into the seen.

And so… As always, I want to encourage you to continue to focus on God, His goodness and His Kingdom. I want to encourage you to live from a place of divine alignment (spirit, soul, heart and body) with His kingdom so that you may rule & reign as you operate in power, dominion and authority. And, most importantly I want to continue to see the kingdom of darkness squelched by the life of Christ that’s flowing through each one of us that believes in Him. 🌱⚔️🛡 #cultivatelife #ruleandreign

darkness · death · demonic · freedom · Fullness of Jesus · healing

Demonic Occupancy

AmandaLeave a comment

Remember the anger and disappointment I told you about in my last writing? Oh you know… The anger and disappointment that were consuming 10% of my heart? Well… Once I fully acknowledged them and began to pursue more of God’s love, my heart began to hurt…. Like PHYSICALLY hurt.

Now, obviously when pain strikes my heart I immediately think, “heartburn.” But then when it persisted at random moments for days on end, I began to think, “MY GOD… AM I OKAY?!?”

Fortunately, I heard God’s voice on every painful occasion say, “You are fine Amanda. This is a spiritual matter. There is a demonic entity tied to your soul. It’s has been given claim and territory over your heart. And… Until you relinquish your hold and fully give it to Me, you will feel this pain.”

“Wow… Okay… Great God.” Is what I immediately/sarcastically/gratefully thought… Then I proceeded to ask Him how we would work together with Jesus to rid my soul of the entity.

And so the process of freedom and refinement began.

You see in the past I haven’t wanted to give Him the soul tie. (For those who don’t know, a soul tie happens when you take on someone else’s entities: demons, spirits, etc. Basically, I was deeply wounded by someone else’s demons, but then I also formed a relationship with those demons because I was really close to this person.) And, because I didn’t want to relinquish the soul tie to Jesus, the demon has had territory over my heart. Territory that should belong to God and God alone!

You see I have consistently allowed Holy Spirit to lead me to a place of forgiveness and grace over the years in this area; however, the last piece of my freedom came down to me truly embracing the fact that I had a demon occupying space within, and it had to go.

And… Now that it’s gone, well… I can freely move forward. My heart can actually be whole and express what it means to have Holy Spirit taking up more occupancy than He’s ever had before! 🌱 #cultivatelife

brokenness · challenge · Fullness of Jesus · kingdom · process · relationship · strength

The Fortress

AmandaLeave a comment

If I take you and shake you, will you break? Will you crack under the pressure of things that are out of your control?

If I ask you, “what defines you?” and then searched for that truth would your truth and that truth be synonymous?

Now… When you’re shaken, I hope you don’t move. I hope you’re a fortress. One that’s founded in and surrounded by the glory of God. And, when things are out of your control, I hope you don’t crack under pressure because of fear, stress, worry and anxiety.

Also, when your truth reveals itself to be different than the actual truth hidden in your foundation, I hope you’re humble, brave and honest enough to grasp what’s truly there.

Because to be a fortress, we can let things in but we can’t allow them to rule and reign over our hearts and minds. They can’t become the defining, motivating factors that propel us forward.

So… if being a fortress means we must trust in God, His Kingdom, His system, His Son and His Spirit over the money, power, fame and material success the world offers… Then I do believe we are on a path of righteousness. 🌱 #cultivatelife

Fullness of Jesus · vulnerability

Hidden Truth?

AmandaLeave a comment

Is it just me… Or does it seem like the message of Jesus is still somewhat hidden from us? I mean I know He blatantly said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind.” And then He also said, “Love your neighbor as yourself”…

But I believe we (as a whole— the church included) are missing this entirely.

Again, maybe it’s just me… Me and my heart… My heart that’s constantly on a quest for freedom, truth and love.

Yeah… So I guess this is me… Me outwardly vocalizing that I want the actual truth in my life. I don’t want to be deceived, manipulated or led astray by anything my self-righteous, self-absorbed culture has to offer… I want… No I desperately need what’s birthed in isolated moments with God. The moments where He’s the only voice speaking into my head and heart. The time spent with Him where He pours into my very heart and soul.

Because if I’m spending undistracted time in His presence… And I’m truly hearing from Him and not a counterfeit Holy Spirit (that does it exist y’all), then shouldn’t my lifestyle reflect what Jesus commanded? 🌱♥️ #cultivatelife #justlive

faith · flourishing · follow · Fullness of Jesus · keep moving forward

J Man

AmandaLeave a comment

This is J Man… Most know Him as Jesus.

He was created a year ago by my ever-so gifted and talented sister Bridget. (The stories on how He was created and why would blow your mind- Maybe I’ll share them one day)

You know… He’s moved with us all over NYC. Yep, each borough we’ve lived in, He’s been with us!

At first it seemed absurd to carry this 5ft canvas with us everywhere we’ve lived, but 6 moves later we’re just grateful that He’s finally in His new home in Queens.

You know… The past 3 weeks have been full of failure upon failure. And there have definitely been moments when I’ve wanted to throw in the towel and tell God, “I’m out ✌🏻.” But then this morning, while I was praying, I looked up and saw J Man… J Man and His big ole bobble head floating above me. And instead of feeling discouraged, doubtful and in disbelief, I was reminded that He’s literally been on this journey with us the entire time. Through all of the moments we’ve wondered if we’d “make it” or if we’re still on the “path,” He’s been a friendly reminder to keep moving forward.

And you know… I don’t know where you are in life today. I don’t know how many failures and disappointments you’ve experienced; however, I do know J Man is real. He’s real and He’s alive when we let Him, Father God and Holy Spirit take the lead in our lives. And I know that’s challenging almost all the time, but I’ve learned every failure is an open door to the next opportunity He wants to lead us too. And even when we make mistakes (like the BIG spiritual one I recently made) He’s ALWAYS there to reroute the path and make up for what was lost.

So where ever you are, and how ever the divine presents Himself to you, please always be willing to follow! It’s 100% worth every step you take! 🌱♥️ #cultivatelife #justlive #bridgetwinderart #jman