Hope That Brings Abundance | December Blog

True Connection
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Psalm 139:13 

God knows us more deeply and intimately than we often know ourselves. Learning to live a life of intimacy with God involves allowing Him to know us and expose what’s in our hearts and minds. We have to face what’s inside of ourselves with God, even when what we see isn’t the prettiest. In addition, this is an important part of the journey of being able to live in intimacy with others also. 

In order for us to have healthy intimacy with other people, we must be able to face what’s inside of ourselves and with God. We cannot authentically connect with others if we are disconnected from ourselves. Healthy intimacy with God is pivotal for creating healthy intimacy with other people/another person.

When we come to God, He shows us who we are. As we are pursuing true connection, He may bring stuff up inside of us. Process with Him and in safe relationships. The Holy Spirit will only bring things up when it’s a safe and good time to process it and we’ll have the capacity to process it. We’ll trust Him to walk us through it. Safe relationships will also bring up your stuff. And just because your “stuff” is coming up, doesn’t mean a relationship is necessarily unsafe or bad. Healthy relationships are opportunities to grow. And we need other people to help us grow. There’s a trio of healthy growth: my relationship with God, my relationship with myself, my relationship with others. Healthy relationships are also a mirror, they show us who we are and what we’re believing. 

God is inviting us into a deeper relationship with Him and to see ourselves the way He sees us. When we embrace the fact that God knows us better than anyone, there’s a level of healing that comes that benefits our relationships with others. First to create depth of connection with God in order to create relationships with other people. God is the safest one there is–but also, many of us have to work through our misconceptions about God in order to create a beautiful, safe connection with Him. 

Freedom from the Fear of Man
The fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
Proverbs 29:25

Have you ever found yourself debilitated by other people’s opinions? Absolutely overwhelmed by what other people think about you? Maybe you’re afraid to take a risk or share your opinion or be honest. What if people reject you or belittle you or talk about you behind your back? If you’ve found yourself filtering yourself or worrying that you’ll be a disappointment to others (parents, friends, significant others etc), you’re dealing with the fear of man.

Often, however, the fear of man is rooted in insecurity, a lack of self-trust, and or a misalignment with yourself. When you’re living out of alignment with your values, insecurity is the outcome. The key is to come back to your core values, your identity in Christ Jesus, and surrender your agenda to His. In order to follow God, you must abandon the fear of man. Other people will not always understand why you do what you do or where God is taking you. This is because it isn’t their journey to go on it–it’s yours. Therefore, surrender the fear of what other people will think, pick up your cross, and follow God. Come back into alignment with your core values and dreams and then let go of what other people think about you.  

Relentless Hope
I remain confident of this, I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:13-14

Hope is often the precursor to faith. 

Faith without hope is weird. 

Hope is the safety net for when what you have faith for doesn’t happen or doesn’t happen in the way you think it should. 

Hope isn't just a passive feeling. Hope is clinging to the strong expectation of good. Hope is persistent amidst challenges; confident expectation that good is coming. Hope isn’t as dependent on one specific circumstance, but in the belief that God is good and therefore He can turn anything to good. 

It’s impossible to stand in faith for something if you don’t have any hope about the situation. Therefore, hope is an important first step. Hope is more dependent on God’s nature than your circumstances. Romans 8:28 says, “God works everything together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes.” God can still Romans 8:28 your situation, even if things look differently than you expected.

If you have been grappling with hopelessness or situations that don’t make sense to you, then get in God’s Presence and stir up hope. Cling to the confident expectation of good even when things don’t make any sense. Ask for God’s heart and God’s perspective of the situation. Exchange your perspective for His. Hope is available to you right here, right now, today. 

Play That Brings Growth
Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 18:3

As a child, you followed your curiosity, wonder, and what seemed interesting to you. You played and explored and asked endless questions. But as you got older, you learned to fit into other people’s expectations and societal norms. If you’re like most of us, you started making a lot of decisions because that was what you were supposed to do and started living your life according to society’s “shoulds” instead of according to what brings you the most life. 

But Jesus invited His followers to become more childlike. What does that mean? Children play. Children believe. Children are curious. Children explore. In this season, God is inviting His kids to become more childlike. To embrace curiosity. Explore what lights you up. What do you adore? An abundant life includes things you love to do. Make space for creativity, for play, and for exploration. Don’t simply do things because you’re supposed to do them. Do things you love and enjoy. Play is one of the keys to living an abundant life. 

When God is ushering you into a new season of growth, it often looks like going back to what you loved as a child. God often ushers us into new seasons by taking us back to what we loved before. 

We have to go back to being childlike in order to move forward now.. Sometimes childlikeness is a key to breakthrough–we dreamed as a child, we trusted we were taken care of etc. You don’t halfway dream as a child, you’re all in. Reconnect with this place in order to bring that into your life now.  

At The Crowning Jewels, it's our desire and our mission to bring encouragement, to build others up, and to bring comfort to people’s lives (1 Corinthians 14.3). Each month, our founder, Anne Jackson, and our main writer, Katelyn Alexander ask the Lord what He’s doing in the coming month and for any words of encouragement He might have for His people. We believe that prophetic words need to be encouraging and edifying. Moreover, with a corporate prophetic word, not all words are applicable to all people. If our words bless you, please take hold of them and apply them in your own life. If it’s not specific to you, please pass it on to someone else who might be blessed.

As always, the prophetic is a free gift from heaven and will always be something we freely share. As a prophetic business, it’s our mission to bring encouragement and edification to people through the free gift of prophecy, with our product being jewelry.

We at The Crowning Jewels believe in the absolute, transformational power of declarations. We know that truth comes by hearing (Romans 10.17), and speaking truth is an active way for us to renew our minds (Romans 12.2). We invite you to partner with what God is doing and say these declarations for the remainder of the month. We would love to hear what God does! Please email us your testimony at hello@thecrowningjewels.com.

DECLARATIONS

1. I am cultivating a healthy relationship with God, myself, and others. 

2. I am releasing the fear of man. 

3. God is inviting me back to childlike play. 

4. I am aligning my hope with God’s perspective

5. I am clinging to the confident expectation of good. 

Each month we design limited edition pieces of jewelry, only available for that month, handmade with words and charms that reflect the monthly prophetic word. If this word resonates with you and you'd like to wear a reminder of its truths, click the pieces below to shop!