Category: grow

assignment · challenge · cultivation · follow · forerunner · grow · keep moving forward · Perseverance

Run Hard

AmandaLeave a comment

“Run Hard. Persevere. Keep Moving Forward.” I tell myself these things every single day. They are the inner motivation I need to remain constant and consistent to the path I’m walking down with Holy Spirit. And the motivation is good. It does help me press forward in moments where I could become complacent; however, I do wonder…. 

What overwhelms you the most about following Holy Spirit’s lead? Is it acquiring the focus to listen to Him and then drawing near to truly hear what He’s saying? Or, do you find yourself challenged to discern and understand what He’s spoken and the direction He’s pointing you in because you’re conflicted between what your spirit believes versus how your soul might be interpreting? Or, are you like me… Finding yourself in several tough moments where you hear Him and understand Him, but don’t necessarily want to move forward because it’s going to require you to really endure more challenging moments than before?

I’ve been in a sprint for what seems like three months now. I’ve been in a moment that’s caused me to really press in and run as hard as I can with the direction of Holy Spirit, while pulling from Heaven as I need it. And the sprint has been good. The sprint has actually produced several significant breakthroughs, followed by a flow of revelation, wisdom and understanding that I didn’t have before; however, the sprint… The run hard moment has also left my soul feeling weary because it still wrestles with submitting to my spirit and operating from a place of rest, while my spirit paves the way forward in the sprint.

And though I can’t really share the reasons I am sprinting right now, I can tell you I do hear Holy Spirit, my angels and a vast cloud of witnesses like never before. I do hear all of their voices and input about how I can really become great at sprinting in moments where I am aiming to cultivate the mental toughness to arrive on time at the end of the sprint, gaining everything I’ve been pursuing for the Kingdom of God.

Yesterday, after making a business decision that will advance things greatly, I heard Holy Spirit say, “I see you’re here seeking direction. Remember Heaven will give you everything you need. We will make it look flawless. The run hard moment was for this moment. I know you are so weary in your soul from this journey. I see all of the hope deferred inside of you. I see your longings and I hear your cries. Amanda, I haven’t forgotten about you, but you must not cave in right now. Rise above what your soul is feeling. Rise above it and access the faith of your spirit. Access the divine nature of your spirit. Do not be afraid of it at all. It is so useful and helpful for such a time as this. I know this journey has been long and filled with seasons of disappointment, delay and frustration, but you must… I repeat you must keep moving forward. Always. That is My order to you. Do not be afraid either. There’s nothing to fear.”

And I don’t know if you are challenged with following Holy Spirit; however, I am here to encourage you to keep going. Don’t give up on the plans He’s laid before you and the path He’s placed you on. Be brave in moments where He’s leading you into more levels and layers of refinement so that you can come forth ready and willing to develop, mature and grow into all that He has for you. And, most importantly (I have to tell myself this a lot), remember that following Holy Spirit is a lifestyle. It’s a cultivated lifestyle. We are all in different lanes with Him according to the assignments He’s created for us. We are all growing and maturing at different rates. Each one of us has different layers of iniquity or past moments of darkness that try to hold us back from moving forward, but it’s okay because His grace divides the darkness of who we are and who we’ve been from who we are truly meant to be. Also, we aren’t in a race with each other. This isn’t a competition where we compare our growth rates and patterns. Instead, we are following Him to continue to help reveal the Kingdom of Heaven in the earth. And some days seem easier than others. But, more than anything, be encouraged to just keep going. Do not become stagnant in your spiritual walk. And please, find a community of people that are open to helping you mature and grow into every ounce of destined potential Heaven has written and recorded about you. 🌱

develop · grow · keep moving forward · refine

Uncertain Growth

AmandaLeave a comment

The length of the season I’m in seems shorter than ever now. I do realize my path will eventually change course and evolve into something else. I don’t know when. I don’t know how. But I am certain.

Now, in the midst of the certainty, there is great uncertainty.

You see I am certain of God. I am certain of His character, His love, His fellowship and His grace. I am certain of Jesus and His power that propels us into a greater, fuller, freer, healthier life. And I am most definitely certain of Holy Spirit and His ability to be constantly and consistently present. However, the uncertainty… The uncertainty grows.

Actually, this is uncertain growth. It’s a level of spiritual maturity I wasn’t prepared to encounter and embrace. It’s a paradigm shifting moment where Holy Spirit is saying, “Okay, you’ve followed Me for more than a decade. You’ve followed Me in the midst of your brokenness, insecurities, disappointments, pride and pain. And now, now that you’ve walked through all of that, you are standing in a place of glory. You are standing in a position of holiness that is asking you to leave the past behind and let go of your fear of your future. Follow Me in the fullness of that healing and restoration now.”

And so, you see I can’t consider past pain or future failures anymore. This season of stillness has brought me into a place of inner stillness that promises I will move forward, but my soul will stay still. It will not dig up the past in an attempt to interrogate it on end, and it will not leap forward into a hypothetical future. Instead, I will remain still, steadfast, moving ever so forward.

And I believe there is so much to be gained when we view Holy Spirit through this lens. Because, honestly, He cannot be fully understood or quantified. His integrative power is too focused on moving forward with the Father’s plan to restore and fulfill. 

And I guess what I am trying to say is this… Cultivating a deep-rooted relationship with Holy Spirit takes time. It takes time for us to learn how to trust Him. It takes time for Him to know that He can trust us. And it takes time for His intricate process of restoration and redemption to be worked out inside of us. However, after many seasons of following His process of refinement, we will find ourselves in a place of maturity where He says, “Okay, now follow the uncertain, unexplainable, significant nature of My presence, My glory and My heart. Follow it. Trust it. And know, that no matter how fast or slow it might be moving, it is spectacular and full of life!” 🌱

grow · heart · keep moving forward

Three Years Later

AmandaLeave a comment

On Tuesday my sister and I marked 3 years in NYC. If you know me or have followed my writings for a while then you know getting to this chapter of life was a journey for us. We’ve faced more life trials and obstacles than I’d wish on anyone; however, over the past three years, living in NYC has been a different kind of journey.

You see we don’t follow the flow of the cultural norm. We were raised in a household that taught us how to cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit and follow His lead over everything else. So, in life and in business, we make decisions based around what He says is best because that is faith… Fully following where He’s leading without fear, doubt, hesitation or selfishness. 

And it’s been challenging. It is challenging. We both have things we want in life; however, we’re both completely set on following the ideas, concepts, dreams and realities He’s shared with us over everything else.

A year ago, I shared about a mountain He’s asked us to climb. I said, “My sister and I have climbed lots of mountains before… Separately and together. But… THIS… THIS mountain is unique because we must take all that He has deposited inside of us (separately and together), multiply it with a new deposit of His gifts and then produce a finished product. Funny thing… Neither of us have a clue what the finished product will look like! Oh sure… We kind of know what it might feel like. And we definitely know what ideas need to be incorporated into the whole. However… the final outcome is a mystery.”

Since writing that, the mystery has unraveled itself in such a powerful and unexpected way. I am honestly blown away with the insight, revelation, wisdom, understanding, provision and connection He’s provided us with. I am blown away with His goodness to keep this ship fully sailing. I am blown away with who He is and how amazing it’s been to lean on Him in the midst of the extreme isolation that is our reality.

And I’m sharing this with you because I want to encourage you to keep moving forward with Him wherever He is leading. Because when we do… When we fully surrender to the world He sees… Well, then we can reconstruct. We can build. We can unite. We can create. We can help pull His trans-dimensional Kingdom down into this Earth. 🌱⚔️

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

develop · grow · heart · mature · refine · vulnerability

Delighted

AmandaLeave a comment

I cried myself to sleep last night. And there’s nothing wrong with me in the least bit. Really and truly, I am healthy and seeking more inner refinement, development, maturity and growth daily. All of my needs are being met. I have more than enough and I feel very satisfied with where God is leading me; however, at the very same time, I hear Him asking me to step out in more faith… To follow Him down the jagged path of uncertainty a little bit farther. 

And so, that’s where I find myself. My spirit, who is always eager to blaze a trail forward, says, “Let’s do this! Let’s walk forward! I am ready!!” But then my soul… my soul is definitely a dramatic whiner. I’ve definitely conditioned it to complain about the process of cultivation.

So they have this little duel which starts with me crying, but then ends with me thanking God for His goodness and His intricate way of working things out in me.

Now… You might be wondering what He’s asking of me, and while I do intend to tell you, first I want to remind you of something I shared a few months ago. The writing was entitled “The Vault,” and it focused on Holy Spirit removing a deep-seated lie inside of my heart. A lie I cultivated very, very, very well and then allowed to define me. 

Well, since digging up that deep-seated lie and planting truth on the grounds of my heart, I’ve felt significantly better; however, I still haven’t had the foggiest idea what “truth” was planted. He never really said. He just said, “Plant truth.” So, I picked up a bag marked “truth” and placed the seed in the ground of my heart.

Now it should come as no surprise that the seed is beginning to spring forth…. And I see it. Oh boy do I see it! So, what is it? It’s a truth that’s begging that I only delight in God. 

I hear it saying, “You aren’t here to impress anyone or anything but God. So, stop looking to the left and to the right for approval. Instead, keep your eyes focused on Him. Focus on the projects, businesses and ventures He’s assigned you to. Your life’s goal is to bring delight to Him in all you do. And, that delight, it needs to echo from the frequency of your heart. It needs to etch itself into the very fabric of your soul. It needs to become the very culture you communicate to the world around you.”

And so it will. 🌱 #cultivatelife

authority & dominion · challenge · grow · keep moving forward · mature · rule & reign

The Jagged Path

Amanda2 Comments

A few days ago, my mentor prayed with me. While she was praying, she said, “I see you on a path. You’re walking across jagged rocks. It’s uncomfortable. And you might feel like you’ve gotten off of the path God has placed you on, but you haven’t. You must move forward to get to the smooth part of the path. The jagged part will teach you something you need.”

Now, although “jagged” is NOT the word I particularly wanted to hear, I do believe this is where my path of spiritual maturity is leading me. Why? Well, when I look at my life through my soul’s eyes, nothing really makes sense in the least bit anymore. However, when I view my life through the lens of my human spirit, the complex pieces and parts of God’s direction, wisdom and revelation connect together very, very well.

And because they connect together so well in the spirit, I’ve decided to take the advice of one of my friends. She said, “Well if the path is jagged, you should put shoes on. It will make the journey less intense.” 

And you know… Once I put the shoes on, I realized, “I’m definitely going to have to walk in maturity. I will have to embrace the intensity of the journey across the path, all while living from a place of peace and complete confidence in the Godhead and how they are orchestrating everything. Oh and I’ll also have to rule & reign from my spirit’s throne in the 3rd Heaven without any excuses or complaints. But, most importantly, I will have to cultivate the capacity to rule over the kingdom of darkness so that I can reign on earth when the time is best.

You see I believe Holy Spirit is pushing those that follow Him in a deeply intimate way into a place of profound maturity right now. And because of the maturity, He is asking that we operate from our human spirit at ALL times. And I understand that operating from the human spirit is challenging, especially if it’s inactive, locked in a box or fractured up all over the place; however, if we want to truly subdue the evil and darkness in the 2nd Heaven and on the earth, then we must perpetually live and operate from our human spirit.

Because when we do… When we collect wisdom, knowledge, understanding and revelation from the 3rdHeaven, then we can take it and apply it properly. We can walk into a situation, look at it from a Kingdom of God perspective and then provide a sound and solid solution that edifies and changes the absolute structure of our world for the better. 🌱 #cultivatelife

angels · anointing · gemstone · grow · kingdom · mature · power

The Gem of Anointing

AmandaLeave a comment

For about a month now, I’ve been asking Holy Spirit if I can share a spiritual experience I had. I mean… It was fascinating!! So, I couldn’t wait for Him to give me the notion to “move forward.”

About a month ago I was praying, listening to Him and speaking to my human spirit… Then, very suddenly, I saw this giant gemstone in the spirit. It was HUGE. About the width of my chest. Very bright and shiny. Very suddenly it started moving towards me, and I watched as angels screwed it into a large opening that instantly appeared inside my spirit’s chest.

Then, I got a separate view of the process… And I saw the large gemstone actually lay itself onto a smaller gemstone that was already inserted inside of my spirit.

OBVIOUSLY, I immediately wanted to know what I just experienced… And so, Holy Spirit began to explain…

He said, “That large gemstone is your anointing. The small gemstone is the heart of your spirit. See how crystal clear the small gem is? That’s because the light is shinning brightly through your fractals. All of your redemptive gifts are being used. And because the light from your spirit has become so bright and strong, I am having angels install this stone of anointing inside of you. It’s your anointing I am giving YOU. It’s separate from the one your grandmother carried. This is yours. I designed it for you and you alone. It fits your spirit in such an intricate way. And it can grow. As your spirit matures and grows in deeper intimacy with Me, the power of that stone will mature and grow. And more of Me will streamline from it.”

Then He went on to explain that everyone that comes into the Kingdom of Heaven has an anointing because it’s part of our inheritance in Christ. He also told me to stop viewing the anointing the way I was raised to view it. He said, “Religion placed people with strong gifts on pedestals and then called that gift the ‘anointing.’ And, while some of that is true, it’s not all true because everyone has redemptive gifts, spiritual gifts AND an anointing that are all separate from each other, but work together when you access them and cultivate a strong relationship with them.”

Now, if you’re anything like me… Or if you know me in the least bit, then you’ll understand that I was immediately eager to start cultivating a relationship with the stone. I mean… The stone, when activated and used, unlocks so much untapped power and a world full of mystery that is begging to be discovered.

And so that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. I’ve been using this very challenging season of maturity to learn about, operate in and pursue my anointing. Because I am learning that the anointing is vital to my personal track of maturity. I cannot move forward without it. It is essential to ruling & reigning in the Heavens and on Earth. It is pivotal in walking out any God-given, God-appointed mandate. And it is separate from gifting. It is separate from fractals of the human spirit. It is structured and built on presence. To be given or ignited within when the time is best.

And I am sharing this with you because I want to continue to encourage you to keep pursuing a relationship with Father God, Jesus, Holy Spirit AND the Kingdom of Heaven. Because when we do, we not only discover more levels of healing, restoration and deliverance, but we also come into a place where we can discover and learn about portions of our inheritance in Christ we never knew we could posses. And those portions, those gifts, those revelations, those anointings… Well they will provide us with the real and raw capability to move about the earth in such a way of power, dominion and authority I don’t believe we’ve ever seen before.

complain · grow · heart · mature · soul

This is Who I Am

AmandaLeave a comment

I sat down to pout. I sat down to sulk. I sat down to complain about how frustrated I felt. And then… All in one moment… I stopped myself. I stopped myself and said, “Amanda, you don’t do this anymore. You’ve outgrown this place where you get upset over things that are out of your control. You’ve moved past feeling overwhelmed with “the follow” and where He’s leading you. You no longer contain the capacity to roll your eyes and then sarcastically walk down a somewhat fearful, self-paved road screaming, “What’s next?!?!” You’ve reached a place of maturity and you MUST continually live in it!!!”

Yeah…. That was the inner dialogue between my spirit, heart and soul. My spirit reminding my heart and soul that we don’t sulk around anymore about where God is taking us. Instead, we suit up, take hold of His ever-evolving assignments and move forward like the Warrior Queen He’s been cultivating.

And I don’t know if this resonates with you at all; however, I’m learning that maturity is one of the most attractive virtues to possess because of its steadfastness. It’s just this grand assurance and unwavering confidence, rooted so deeply within that it billows out, “This is who I am!”

And sure, sure maturity seems as though it takes eons to cultivate; however, once we’ve entered that place… Once we’ve come into that promised land, well it’s as if the fruit is everlasting because we have the capacity to stop ourselves when parts of us want to act childish, self-centered or unruly. We can stop ourselves and say, “I’ve been down this road before and it doesn’t produce any good fruit, so I mustn’t go forward.” 🌱 #cultivatelife

capacity · grow · healing · keep moving forward · refine

Capacitate

Amanda2 Comments

Yesterday, I caught myself looking very intently at old photos…. And they gripped me in such a way that I thought, “I don’t even see myself in these photos anymore. The person I see in these photos is just an image… A mirage… A shell of me in a once lived life. A girl who was searching very deeply for identity, security and belonging. A young woman who needed to be completely stripped down and cleansed of her brokenness, confusion, selfishness and deep-rooted pride.”

And now I do realize we don’t all look at our past selves, only in an effort to compare it to our present selves. However, well… I do because I love to track my growth rate.

Which is why sometimes… Sometimes I wish I could travel to the past and tell that girl, “Hey you, you’re gonna go through a lot of challenging processes, but they will refine you. They will develop and mature you. They WILL cause you to grow. Actually they will propel you to grow in such a way that you’ll feel isolated A LOT. And you’ll feel misunderstood even more. However, your capacity…. Amanda, your capacity to move forward with the plans and the will of God… Wow! It will grow! You will be able to take on more than you ever imagined… More than you ever schemed up in all of those phone calls… Yeah, the capacity God’s going to instill and install inside of you will be so voluminous. So don’t stop. Don’t ever stop growing!”

And you know… I say all of this in this moment because I am wrestling deeply with capacity. I’ve been asking God for months to grow it… To give me a greater understanding of how it works… And He’s been very reliable in answering. But the feeling of growth… The amount of pressure it takes for one to reach the maximum amount one can contain or produce… Gosh it is a challenging process.

However, I do believe… I truly, truly believe it is so very healthy to outgrow who we were years ago, months ago or even a few weeks ago. Because if we’re ever going to truly thrive the way God intended us to, then we MUST be willing to capacitate. We must be willing to stare ourselves down in the mirror and say, “I don’t know who you’re becoming or how you’re going to get there, but you will move forward. You will grow. And you will do it with Holy Spirit leading the way!” 🌱 #cultivatelife #keepmovingforward

faith · follow · grow · heart · keep moving forward · refine

Following Growth

AmandaLeave a comment

Growth… Growth & I have a love/hate relationship.

Wait… Let me rephrase that. Growth, as amazing as it is, feels like a antagonist in my life sometimes. Do I crave it? Sure I do! I crave growth and the results that come from following through with where I’m being led to develop and mature in life. I crave the feeling of becoming a healthier vessel from the inside out!

And, over the years, I’ve read so many books… You know the ones that encourage you to “Think and Grow Rich.” The ones that encourage you to focus on self-love, manifestations and such… And while those methods for growth have worked in my life, none of them have been as powerful or as long-lasting as following the Holy Spirit and His supernatural growth track.

His system… His ways… His ability to lead me in the best direction, customized and centered around what I need to grow is the most powerful and pure thing I’ve ever encountered.

And sure… Sure it’s filled with a lot of walks through valleys and continual climbing of mountains with a lot of highs and lows… However, the greatest part… The most amazing piece about following the Holy Spirit is the relationship that’s birthed within the process of following. It’s a feeling that’s greater than any self-love or love from another because it meets me at the very core of my spirit, heart and soul. It’s God’s love. His perpetual love makes the growth process worth every inch of the journey.

And I don’t know who I’m speaking to when saying this, but God (in His very essence) is completely interested in growing with US. He needs us as much as we need Him. And if we (I’m mainly speaking to myself) can just continue to follow with a pure and steady heart… A heart that wants to be free from all of the darkness, sickness, depression, fear and anxiety we’re feeling… Then I believe He will continue to help us grow into the most beautiful trees of LIFE… Trees of LIFE firmly planted within His garden of LIFE! 🌱 #cultivatelife #keepmovingforward