Category: healing

cultivation · develop · healing · heart · refine

The Vault

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I was in the spirit yesterday morning, praying and talking to God like normal… All of a sudden I saw a large brownish/maroonish/whiteish marbled wall that spanned down a hallway. I didn’t know where I was, so I asked Holy Spirit. He said, “You’re in your Heavenly mansion, and I want to show you something that’s locked inside of the vault of your heart.” 

“Cool!!” I thought. “I wonder what this is all about.”

The next thing I knew I found myself in a very large home my dad built and my family lived in in the early 2000s. As I walked around throughout the house, memories of that season came rushing into my mind. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed with the past. The way it felt. The way it sounded. The way it smelt. All of it was actively present and alive in front of me. 

As I walked around I began to wonder, “Okay, what’s this all about? Why am I here? God, why did you bring me to my Heavenly mansion to unlock the vault of my heart? And what does this season of my life have to do with what’s hidden inside of the vault?”


Then, He very carefully began to explain Himself. He showed me a huge truth I’d kept hidden from myself… An area where I chose to believe a lie, and then never stopped believing it. And, although, I’ve known the truth for years, I’ve chosen to push it further and further away from me. He said, “Amanda, you’ve allowed this lie to define who you are in this moment, but it cannot define you anymore. I want you to let it go. I want you to repent and renounce for cultivating it within the grounds of your heart. And then, then I want you to pick up the truth, plant it on this refined ground and then walk away from here covered in My boldness, confidence, humility and security.”

And so… So that’s what I did. I repented for holding onto the lie for so long. I renounced any stronghold or demonic entanglement I might be caught up in because of it. And then… Then I planted the seed of truth on the grounds of my heart.

And I tell you this story because I hope it encourages you to continue to follow Holy Spirit into hidden parts of yourself so that He may inspect the depths of your heart. Because, even after years of life-giving cultivation, there are STILL areas of our lives He can and will dig up so that we can flourish. And, I know a lot of the time we don’t want to follow Him into the past because it requires reliving things that are uncomfortable; however, the powerful thing about moving forward with Him is the truth that we will thrive on the other side. 🌱 #cultivatelife

brokenness · death · family · healing · love of god · redeem · restore

A Promise is A Promise

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Six-and-a-half years ago my dad unexpectedly died. A month before he passed my parents had just celebrated their milestone 30th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, they planned to take a trip to Hawaii, but… Well obviously, that didn’t happen.

Last week my mom turned 60-years-old. So, in true Winder Sister form and fashion, Bridget and I decided to honor my parents plans by taking her to Hawaii to celebrate.

Now if I’m honest, I was excited the entire time! However, as we zipped up, down and around the island for the week, I never really thought about Dad much. I never truly let myself experience the weight of what it means to honor my parents by fulfilling a promise that was made within the covenant of their marriage.

And so, it wasn’t until we were actually headed to the airport that the heaviness of it all began to hit me. 

You see… Sickness, disease and death sought to destroy the Winder Women by completely robbing us of life and dragging us down a long and sometimes dark path of brokenness, heartache and pain. However, that’s what’s so magnificent about restoration! It’s this beautiful, systematic process where God promises too deeply and divinely heal us from the darkness that has torn us apart: spirit, soul, heart and body.

And… Somewhere along the way, the healing becomes a fulfilled process in certain areas… And you’re able to look at the life (like we have with this trip) and confidently say, “Yeah, dad’s not here… Yes, life has been an emotional, painful, uncertain climb we sometimes didn’t believe we’d make it through; however, we are holding God to His promises. And His promises say, “He WILL vindicate us and bring life to every place the kingdom of darkness has stolen.” His promises say, “He WILL redeem, restore and then supply us with endless joy!” His promises say, “He WILL cultivate the grounds of our brokenness so that they can be made whole, and then we can walk in the maturity of His confidence, security and love.”

And so you see… It is completely healthy to walk through fire and then emerge refined, restored and redeemed. It’s completely healthy to emerge without an ounce of bitterness, anger, hate, heartache and insecurity. It’s completely healthy to emerge more equipped with a heavier, holier suit of armor than when you walked in. 

Because when you do… When you actually surrender your pain, heartache and brokenness to God, then He can come in with His great love and swallow up what the kingdom of darkness has stolen. And then… Then you can move forward to the other side with a healthy, whole and aligned spirit, soul, heart and body. And that side… That realm… That promised land is overflowing with an increase of LIFE…. Life that is beaming and vibrating with a higher frequency of honor, respect, love and gratitude towards God than you ever imagined possible. And it perpetually echos out, “A promise is a promise!” 🌱 #cultivatelife #winderwomen

challenge · focus · freedom · healing · satisfied

Satisfied?

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Last week I shared how vital it’s been for me to “capacitate“ in life.

But… You know… I was kind of vague when speaking about capacity because I didn’t really delve into the areas inside of me that are being pressed to the limit.

So here we go…

Being specific about where I’m growing with God right now seems slightly chaotic. I mean… He is stretching me in so many different areas. However, the place that feels most pressing to share with you is an area I am aiming to master.

You see it’s a challenge for me to be satisfied with the things of God.

And, because I feel challenged in this area, I’ve asked Him to help me. Which usually entails a breakdown… I need some understanding and application from Him about HOW I am to be satisfied with Him and only Him.

And guess what He told me?… He said, “Amanda, I just need your entire focus. I give you what you need daily. Every Single Day I provide you with what you need to live in peace and harmony, but you choose… You choose to allow your heart and soul to gaze on other things. To become consumed with things that have nothing to truly do with where I am leading you. And so, you struggle in your heart and soul. You flip back and forth. Questioning me. And why? I have given you what you need. You have leaned into your inheritance in Me and I have provided for you. So why… Why are you looking at things that are less than what I’ve given you?”

Now I know what you might be thinking… “Well He really told you.” And, you’re right… He did. He does. That’s how my relationship with Him is. He’s the father and friend that drops the hammer and pushes me back into line so I can develop, mature and grow properly.

He’s the one that says, “Umm, I’ve healed you from the inside out and set you free of demons, darkness, death and decay. I’ve refined you and matured you. I’ve opened up entire realms and dimensions of life for you as you’ve pursued Me and My ways. So why… Why do you allow yourself to become focused on material, insignificant matters of life? Why don’t you keep yourself: spirit, soul, heart and body directly focused on Me and My Kingdom? Because when you do, you will continue to find yourself satisfied with all that you’ll ever need in life.”

And He’s right. He’s 100% honest in what He’s saying. And I can’t think of an excuse that’s good enough to object Him.

And, because I can’t find anything worthy enough to object Him, I have to also accept the rest of what He’s said. Which is, “Amanda, you are acutely aware of the nonsense that plays out in society. You see how your culture buys into every selfish want and desire, in an aim to fulfill their souls inward need to feel like they are achieving ‘life.’ But that satisfaction of ‘life’ can only really truly be found within Me and my Kingdom. You must keep choosing it. Time and time again.”

And so I will. I am. I am making a conscious effort to keep my soul quiet as my spirit aims to expand and focus intently on where He’s leading. And I hope, I truly hope you will also become fully satisfied in Him. That you will see life through the eyes of your spirit, and really delve into all that there is to be satisfied with. 🌱 ♥️ #cultivatelife

 

 

capacity · grow · healing · keep moving forward · refine

Capacitate

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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

brokenness · death · healing · heart · love of god · refine

Reliability

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Corey Rives Visual Arts

After I lost my dad, one of my biggest challenges was the reality that I felt like there wasn’t anyone there to take care of “me” anymore.

For 25 years he was ALWAYS there… In my corner… Watching out for me… Protecting me from potential harm.

So it was challenging to say the least to lose him. And then to lose my grandparents. And then mom was in a serious healing phase, so at times it felt like she couldn’t be there for me either because she had to be there for herself.

And you know, those feelings… They were dark. So dark that I’d sit and cry a lot! I’d cry about my loss. I’d cry about my lack. And more than anything I’d cry about HOW in the world I’d ever feel like someone was looking out for me again.

And I knew in my heart it was possible to fully rely on God, His love and His kingdom for protection and support. I knew in my heart that He was the One that was always designated to fulfill that role inside of me; however, I didn’t believe it because I didn’t “need” it.

In my head, that role was rightfully filled by dad.

But gosh… I was wrong. You see I learned through experience that I needed God’s reliability more than I ever needed dad’s. Sure dad’s was superb, but God’s is unmatched!

And so this is where I stand today… My entire world has shifted. I no longer feel the innate need for a human being to be there for me because my heart believes in and relies on God’s ability to always be there for me. Over the past 6 1/2 years, He’s stepped in and showed me that I can constantly  rely on Him for ALL that I need. And honestly, I wouldn’t want it any other way. Would you? 🌱⚔️🛡 #cultivatelife

faith · healing · languishing · restore

The Steal Can’t Be Real If You Check the Roots

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I had a dream Friday night. I saw the enemy of my spirit, heart and soul stealing an inheritance that didn’t belong to him. My human spirit even spoke to me in the dream and said, “This isn’t holy, divine or pure.”

When I woke up from the dream I thought about it and prayed deeply. I asked God to help me decipher what I had just seen. He said, “Amanda, the inheritance you saw in your enemies hands is healing and restoration, and your spirit was right… It does not belong to him at all. That healing and restoration you saw is MINE. And My plan is to release it in a very different way. So be bold. Be courageous. Stand against this counterfeit that would like to mock Me and the healing and restoration I am bringing forth.”

From that point I moved forward. I knew I had to pray deeper than ever before.

But… Before I could… I began to feel my enemy reminding me of my past. He started tearing me down about my body image, the unfortunate loss of my father and some tremendous heartbreak. All of these areas are places where (in the past) my enemy has stolen large portions of life.

However, every time my enemy reminded me of destruction and loss, I reminded him of my current root system. I looked down deep into my spirit and saw my sturdy roots, and they screamed from the top of their lungs, “WE ARE ROOTED IN GOD. WE CANNOT BE SHAKEN OR MOVED.”

And so, I picked up my head and I moved forward with that truth in hand. I moved forward knowing that my life has been healed and restored. And, because of this healing and restoration, I contain the boldness, confidence and courage to stand against my enemy… Reminding him that the steal can’t be real if you check the roots. 🌱 #cultivatelife

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

Demonic Occupancy

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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

disappointment · healing · lies, deception & manipulation · love of god · redeem · refine · restore

For the Love of God

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“But the disappointment God… It’s SO heavy. I don’t want to feel it anymore. I don’t want to carry it anymore. Plus… Paired with the anger… The anger that’s still consuming 10% of my heart… Well the anger really makes the disappointment feel all consuming at times.”

This is me. This is me working through more brokenness with God. And… Well… You’d think, at this point, my healing would be complete in this area. But… it’s just SO deep. All of it. The brokenness touches every layer of my essence… From my human spirit, to my soul and then impacts my body in ways that it shouldn’t.

And I’ve forgiven. I’ve forgiven and chosen to move past a lot of the pain and heartache. But sometimes… Gosh sometimes I feel like the disappointment will never go away. And then I can’t seem to quite understand “why?” Why did it have to play out like this?

Actually… I’m not stupid. I understand “why,” but then I’d rather live in the deception of the past. The deception and manipulation was just so fanatical and illusive… Almost like I was living in a dream I’d never wake up from and have to take responsibility for.

But… Then… Well, I woke up from that dream several years ago and was forced to enter a world of truth and disappointment. And, some days (though they are few and far between) I still feel like I’m still waking up to an undiscovered layer of truth and disappointment.

So… what am I to do with layers upon layers of continued disappointment? Well that’s what I’ve been asking God.

And… Do you know what He keeps showing me?

Love.

Of course, it’s been way too simple for me to process at once. But everyday I hear Him say, “My love for you woke you up from the fanatical, illusive dream. My love for you drove out the lies, deception and manipulation you both created. My love protected you. It empowered you. It’s given you the ability to constantly move forward, one whole and complete step at a time. And maybe you still feel angry and disappointed. I don’t blame you. The deception was deep; however, keep focusing on My love. Keep your eyes anchored to My heart. For inside of it you will discover the healing your heart is seeking.” 🌱 #cultivatelife

disappointment · faith · healing · pain · redeem · refine · restore

Disrespected and Devalued

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“I guess… I felt, well I felt deeply disrespected and devalued.”

That’s what I told Holy Spirit this morning as He attempted to peel away another layer of my soul that’s sick and dying.

You see I had a dream last night, and the dream reminded me of my past… My past where a significant amount of brokenness lies.

And I don’t want to get into the details, but you should know that allowing God to constantly and consistently heal all of my brokenness is my lifestyle. So… So I gave it to Him. I handed over the moments, the pain and the deep disrespect and devalue pressing up against my soul… I gave Him the stuff that’s been causing me to question areas of my life that should not be up for questioning because I am respected and admired by Him alone.

And I don’t know what’s on the other side of this. I thought I lived from a place of respect and value; however, if He’s bringing this to my attention, then I know in my heart I need to let Him have it so I can move forward freely.

And I also don’t know where you are today, but I believe the same for you…. I believe Holy Spirit is constantly on a mission to search out the hearts and souls of humanity so He can bring healing to us through Jesus Christ. And so I hope… I really truly hope you find all of the healing, love and peace your heart and soul are searching for 🌱 #cultivatelife

forgiveness · freedom · healing · holiness · redeem · restore · surrender

Dear God, Forgive Us

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Dear God,

How do I describe America other than saying, “She’s like a teenager… Young… Wildly curious… Created with a divine purpose by You and You alone… But so desensitized, distracted, drugged up and desperate for real, true belonging, love and attention.”

She’s been mishandled by people seeking their own selfish, satanic agendas. People who would rather put themselves above the hearts and souls that inhabit her land.

And I’m asking You to forgive her. Forgive her for being misled, mismanaged and misguided. Forgive her for the pride, wickedness, hate and bitterness burning in her heart. Transform all that she is so she will become healthy, whole and wonderfully new and complete.

Open the eyes of her people… The ones standing at the bottom of this trick-like, phony, pyramid pony we’ve been deceived into serving. Open our eyes, humble our hearts and bring freedom, restoration and healing to our country.

I call all of the hearts and souls that love You and love You with his or her entire heart out of hiding and into the streets… Lord let them fill the streets of this broken nation in such a mighty way that healing spills from Your heart, to theirs and into the lives of the lost, sick and hurting.

God forgive us. Forgive us and do not let us be distracted or disengaged by the enemy and his plans any longer, but let us move forward as the war wages and battles are won for Your Kingdom and Your glory alone! 🌱👑 #cultivatelife