Consume Me

Consume Me

Today, I went to the gym after church, well after lunch because you know us church people have to go straight to eat after church. Lol! After eating, we drove straight to the Y to workout. Let me tell you, there’s nothing like working out after eating garlic bread, especially when you haven’t eaten bread in a long time. I felt like I had extra weights on me and was sweating bullets! I had to pay for eating that piece of bread. Anyway, I put on my worship music to do my workout and the song With You by Elevation Worship came on. Once the chorus came on with these words, I nearly lost it, right there on the elliptical. 

So let all that I am

Be consumed with who You are

All the glory of Your presence

What more could I ask for?

So let ALL that I am, be consumed with who You are! I started to really sing those words and cry about how much I mean them. I want every single piece of me to reflect Jesus. I get that there is no perfect Christian but I feel like we can easily make excuses for ourselves by saying that. It’s almost like we give ourselves a free pass by saying that. No, I’m not perfect but I surely do want Him to consume every part of me! 

If we are choosing Him and choosing to live for Him, we need to go all the way! So let ALL that I am, be consumed with who He is, means you should see Him when I smile, you should see Him in my marriage, you should see Him in my family, you should see Him in my finances. If I am letting Him consume all of me, then I should be living a vibrant life. A life that reflects Jesus. It means people at the gas station should see Jesus in me, people in the gym should see Jesus in me. My family should see Jesus in me. 

This morning at church we had Vision Sunday, where we got to hear some amazing things we are doing this year. I’m ready! I want to be a part, I want to do what I can. I plan to go on my first missions trip this year and God confirmed this morning He wants me there and He will provide the way. In a separate conversation, my spiritual mama said to me something so simple but they were words that came back to me during this moment in worship with this song, she said “Yes, God is not done with you yet, you still have a lot to do.” When I thought of those words in my moment of worship at the gym, I just began crying so hard, realizing she’s right my job is not done, I have work to do and He is depending on me to do it. Therefore, I need to be positioned, consumed and ready to do ALL He has for me to do. 

So, I ask you, what is living to you? For me, living is fulfilling my purpose. It’s me walking with God and being ready to do all He has for me to do. It’s getting people to Jesus, it’s helping save marriages, it’s helping to save a family, it’s living and walking in the joy of the Lord. 

Are you living? Are you wasting time? Are you doing all He has called you to do? Are you consumed by Him? 

If not or if you don’t know, take a moment and listen to this song. Listen to it more than once if you need to. He will speak to you, just be ready to listen. 

So let all that I am

Be consumed with who You are

All the glory of Your presence

What more could I ask for?

Really, what MORE could I ask for? He is so fulfilling, He is so satisfying. Live and walk for Him and I promise you, you will receive a fullness you could have never imagined. 

With All My Heart, 

Lynette 

This blog was inspired by: With You by Elevation Worship

What is He Saying to You?

The other morning I was making a single cup of coffee in my coffeemaker. I was on little sleep so I was exhausted. I put the water in, then the coffee pod, pressed start and walked away. I went back to get my coffee a few minutes later and realized I never put my coffee mug there to collect the coffee. I didn’t immediately see the mess, again, I was really tired and if you know me, you know I don’t function well before coffee. I said “oh no!!!” and started looking for the mess, I had to have made. It brewed EVERYWHERE! A single cup of coffee caused more of a mess than I could have imagined. Now, I’m cleaning before ever getting to drink my coffee. It caused quite the mess for me to clean. 

This morning, I was thinking back of that morning and I felt like God spoke to me and said you know just like you need your coffee mug there for the coffee machine to distribute as it’s supposed to, I need you to be postured correctly for you to receive what I have for you. It nearly brought me to tears in my kitchen this morning receiving such a powerful revelation. 

How many times is God trying to pour into your life and it’s just going everywhere but IN you because you’re not ready to receive it. He’s just pouring and pouring, meanwhile we’re asking God where He is in a situation but are we taking that vital moment to receive? We can talk, beg, plead with God all day long, we can even do it for years, but if we aren’t listening to what He is telling us, we are basically running on a hamster wheel, losing all our energy, feeling exhausted and drained because we can’t take one moment to stop and receive what He is speaking to us, showing us or possibly asking us to do. 

Think of how you would feel if you know your friend or family member needed sugar. So you’re  trying to pour some sugar in their hand but they aren’t cupping their hand to receive it, instead their hand is just flat out not even trying to catch it. You would say to them, what are you doing? I thought you needed this?? You’re making such a mess. Why aren’t you even trying to receive what I am giving to you? 

Imagine God. Imagine how many times He has tried to tell you something, to give you an answer, to lead you to an answer, to reveal something to you, but you’re so busy asking Him that you forgot to take a moment and hear from Him. Or have you heard from Him? Have you received your answer and you haven’t acted on it yet? Don’t wait anymore, allow Him to guide you and direct you. Trust me, He will. Listen to Him and take that step to see what He is guiding you to do. 

With Love, 

Lynette

Remembrance - He's been SO good to me

Remembrance - He's been SO, SO good to me...

I had this word stirring in my heart yesterday and I felt like the Lord really put it on my heart to share.

On Tuesday of this week, we had an amazing business meeting. The opportunity that was given to us was pretty big and we knew God sent this person to us, from step one. The future business with this person, would all be determined by our appointment on Thursday to get a big job done.

On the way home Tuesday night, we were praising God and just thanking Him for paving the way for us. We prayed that everything would go well Thursday and we knew as He always does, He would help us to get the job done.

Thursday, I had to work my regular job and Jon planned to go get started early and after work, I would go join him to help. Well, Jon gets to the job and things start to go wrong, our surface cleaner wasn't spinning properly.  In order to work correctly and clean the right way, this thing has to be working at full speed. So Jon texts me and tells me about it, I sent back a prayer, demanding that it work. I had tons of thoughts running through my head, saying why today? Not today, not on this job!

A while after Jon calls me and says "Babe, I'm not trying to stress you out, but we really need this tool for this job. Is there any way you can go rent one?" Our pressure washer is a very high psi, so you can't just run into Lowe's or Home Depot and buy one, we had ordered it on Amazon originally. So there was no quick fix, unless I rented one.

So, I headed over to Home Depot and on the way there I was listening to Remembrance by Hillsong Worship, it's one of my favorites so I just put it on repeat. The drive to the nearest Home Depot that rents, is quite a ways away. So, I'm just listening to the words to that song and singing it loud...

You've been so, so good to me
You've been so, so good to me
Oh, to think where I would be
If not for You, if not for You

And it hit me... So many times in life we are given something great, a big blessing or an answer to prayer and the moment something goes wrong, everything we were thankful for 5 minutes ago, goes out the window. There is not a doubt in my mind that God aligned this appointment to happen on Tuesday. It was totally God, but then why in the moment one thing goes wrong we start asking why and acting like it's the end of the world? 

Yesterday, some of those thoughts hit me, but I had to choose to make them leave and believe only the truth, remind myself that He is FOR me and not against me. I reminded myself we have this business because of Him. Things are going to happen, that's life, we just need to learn to navigate through the trials and allow Him to show us the way.

Hearing, You've been so, so good to me, it reminded me just how good He is. Just how much He has done for me. If not for Him, we wouldn't have this business. So, I even thought, how dare you Lynette, even start to question or act like everything He just did was erased all because ONE thing went wrong? When this hit me, I just began praising Him harder, thanking Him more with tears running down my face. I started talking to Him out loud, riding down the road, claiming He is for us and not against us, I know He will help us to complete this job with His hands all over it.

I got to Home Depot Tool Rental, rented a surface cleaner that is a BEAST and headed back to help Jon get the job done. At the end of the day, our customer was so thankful for all we did, he paid us above what we asked and wanted to cover the cost of the rental.

My point of sharing all of this, is to hopefully encourage anyone who might go through this when hiccups or roadblocks happen in life. Pray through them, praise through them, ask God to see you through it and He will. We ran into a trial yesterday in the midst of a job that we knew would completely bless us on the other end. It was a busy day, but it was not a bad day. We kept going and finished the job, then received a reward at the end of it.

Stay running this race, stay on track, keep trusting Jesus to pave the way, don't let minor setbacks discourage you. Remind yourself, He is for you and not against you.

When your own negative thoughts try to take over or the lies of the enemy, start singing and reminding yourself...
You've been so, so good to me
You've been so, so good to me
Oh, to think where I would be
If not for You, if not for You

He is such a good Father and just wants us to trust Him and turn to Him, in times of need. Let's all stop throwing in the towel, when trials come our way, let's start saying Jesus, you helped me get here and I know, You will see me through it.

With Love,
Lynette Colón

I couldn't but God DID!

Today, Isaiah and I had our routine 6 month cleanings at the dentist. The moment I walked in there, I was reminded of the last time we were there and all we were going through at the time. As I shared in my blog "I can't but God can" we went through some super tough financial times last year and I was reminded today of it and all God saw us through. 

Today as we walked into that office, I remembered them scheduling our six month follow up, I remember her asking us if the date and time was ok. I sat there with a smile on my face that day and said, yes that should be fine. Meanwhile, all I could think in my head is what does six months bring us? Will we even have a roof over our heads? Will we still have our house? Oh God, get us out of this mess. I remember having that icky feeling in my gut when she said March 8, because all I could think is, what else will we have lost by then? 

The lady helping us had no idea all of these thoughts were going through my head, of course, neither did Isaiah. I remember leaving that day and thinking, Lord please help us. I love our house, I love the area we live in, I love living so close to my parents, Lord see us through it all. 

If you didn't read my blog I'm referring to, you're probably wondering what was going on. Briefly, Jon had recently been laid off from his job, I was on medical leave, that the doctor's just kept on extending, I felt like I would never get back to work and lastly, we had recently started a pressure washing business and ALL three of our machines were down. None of them were working, so we had a complete stop in income. We went to our scheduled dentist appointment right in the midst of all of this loss, so I couldn't help but be a little bit worried and wondering what in the world the future held. 

Today, as I'm in that office, I was reminded of that exact feeling, that desperation I felt, the way I would plead for God to help us. Let me just tell you, He has truly helped us. That journey was tough and it has felt super long. After being without income, family members miraculously helping you, landlords miraculously letting you pay late, later and more late, you see that God was there all along. He never left us. It might have looked like a mess, I may have been a mess but God was there SEEING us THROUGH it. 

““Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because GOD, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.””

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭31:6‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Many times we think the answer to our prayers, means He removes us from it entirely, like maybe money falling from the sky or a snap of my fingers and our bills are all caught up, but that's not the way it works. He literally saw us through it. It was long, it was hard, it felt sometimes unbearable, but all along while I was crawling through this tough journey, He was there, holding my hand, doing what only He could and that was, making a way for me. The way may not have been smooth, but He was pushing things aside, allowing me to squeeze on through. 

I was back at that dentist office today and I was reminded of everything I felt. I will never forget what we went through, it was tough but I am SO thankful for it. I learned through it, I became closer to Him through it and He showed me how even though things might not be as easy as we would like them to be, He is there, handling it for us, making a way, where there is truly no way. 

Today, I stood in that dentist office after working all day because God made a way. Jon came and met us there, after WORKING all day because God made a way. Our pressure washing business is going again because God made a way!! I sat in that office with tears, realizing how He truly does do the impossible and how even though that journey seemed long, when I look back 6 months ago, to now, it feels like He picked me up out of the mess and stood me on solid ground. 

“God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3:20 ‭MSG‬‬

Y'all, God is good!!!! He truly is good! This is the verse I held onto during our hard times, the moment I started believing this verse for our business, He opened the doors and performed a miracle to get us back in business. Whatever you are going through, no matter how rough the waters are, trust that Jesus is there, holding your hand. He will never leave you, lean on Him, allow Him to teach you something during the mess and He will. He is a good good good Father! 

I couldn't but God did! He loves us, He cares and He is there for us, even when it's hard for us to see. 

Lynette Colon

In His Time, NOT Mine

Have you ever prayed and felt like you have a right and you have the authority to request something within a certain timeframe? Of course! I have too and I believe that we can. I believe we can be bold about our prayers and make our requests known BUT I also know God sees all, He knows all, He is aware of what we need and exactly when we need it. He actually knows more than us. Crazy, right? When I think I have an urgent need and I need something by noon tomorrow, God might know, I actually have until next week. Honestly, I might even know that but I think it's more of a security thing. I want it by noon tomorrow, so I know we are ok, I'll have peace, I won't have to worry and the list goes on. However, everything I said there as a reason why I need it by that time, is basically saying I only follow the word when I have what I need. The word says "do not fret or worry" yet I just told you I'll have peace of mind, I'll know we're going to be ok "if" I have it.


This word I want to share all came from my son. Isaiah just turned 8 and he has been a prayer warrior since he learned how to talk. Anytime he hears a need or I say I have a headache or stomach ache or I'm dizzy, anything at all, Isaiah will come over and put his hand on me and begin praying. Every single time he prays for healing or for a need, he says please heal her tonight or later or in the morning or tomorrow or whenever". I've actually corrected him many times and I've even chuckled and there were times I whined and said I want to be healed now. And he will say "or now Lord". He's been doing this for so long and it wasn't until he did this the other night while praying for my headache, that God really spoke to me through it.

Isaiah KNOWS God will answer the prayer and he trust that He will answer it in His timing. Isaiah understands that God knows best. We have always chuckled and say, you give God a lot of options and he says yep. He knew even when I corrected him, he wasn't doing wrong. He has so much faith and is confident that the prayer WILL be answered.

So going back to what I was saying in the beginning, we put time limits on God. We say I need this and man, I have prayed some desperate prayers and I do know from experience some of those do have a crucial time limit on them, but when I look back at all we have gone through over the past few months, all of the desperate prayers I prayed. Some of them, were very urgent and some, God knew best. My point is, do you know how much stressing I could have saved out on if I just saw it like Isaiah does? If I followed the word exactly how it tells us to, I could have had a little bit more peace and a lot less stress. Yes, God wants us to bring our burdens to Him, yes we need to be bold in our praying and yes, sometimes our prayers do need to sound desperate. He wants us to cry out to Him but I am also learning that when the word says do not fret or worry, He means it. He's got us. Just as I shared in my last blog when I can't, He can. The same goes for you, when you can't, He can.

We've all heard those words, it's in God's timing and sometimes they are so hard to hear because we want it, when we want it but He knows best. Let's all work towards having childlike faith. The kind of faith that KNOWS He will answer but ultimately trust in His timing.

Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.

Philipians 4:6-7 MSG

I can't but God can

Have you ever said "I can't" like I can't take it anymore, I can't do it anymore, I just can't? Like that overwhelming feeling you get and you feel like you just can't go on? You feel like life is too hard or things are just too bad and you almost might even get to the feeling of I can't live anymore. Have you ever been there? Oh, I definitely have. In fact, God put this so clearly on my heart to share, that I couldn't resist taking the time to write about it. 

On Sunday, we were on our way home from church. The car was quiet, I was driving, Jon had fallen asleep and so had the kids. We had worship music playing softly and God started speaking in my ear. He actually told me everything I'm about to tell you but He told me with my voice. I heard myself sharing this with you all. It was the craziest but coolest thing. I was so pumped and excited about it that after He told me it all and the noise stopped coming, I woke Jon up and told him everything. He was like wow, that's such an awesome word. I was like I know, it was ALL God. So here it is. 

In the past few months we have been through the HARDEST financial time of our lives. If you read my last blog "Be Still" then you know I was sent to the hospital by my cardiologist and after a few days and many test later, they released me. However, they did not give me a release to go back to work. They advised me I needed to see my doctors and they could release me back to work. Well, my doctor wouldn't release me, she was concerned about my blood pressure because it was running high. Then there was a new concern with my pulse jumping all over the place. It was one issue after another and every time I went back to the office ready to be released, instead something else didn't look right and I was kept out of work. I was on medical leave, so at least my job was secure but times were hard. 

On top of this, our business had to be put on hold because not one but ALL three pressure washers quit working on us. Since this happened very early in the business, we hadn't had enough time to really build up a savings or a safety net, Jon was doing pressure washing for us full time, so he had no other income and then I was out of work. No money to repair our pressure washers and no money to purchase a new one. Seriously, I felt like it was a nightmare. How do you pay your bills when you have nothing? 

Now that I've told you the background, this is the message God gave me to share. During that time, life was hard. I was out of work yet hardly sleeping. I woke up all night thinking of bills and thinking of how we could keep a roof over our family's head. Yes, of course I turned to prayer, that's all I did was pray. We prayed, prayed and prayed some more. 

One morning I woke up and went to the kitchen sink to find that our water had been turned off. I started screaming crying. That was one bill I was counting the days for but I thought I had a little bit more time. Yes, we can live without water, but it seemed like every morning I woke up to more bad news. Another loss of some kind. It felt like we would slowly lose everything. Jon was applying to so many jobs and nothing was coming through, I was desperately begging my doctor to get me back to work but she was very concerned about my heart rate. To be honest, I was pretty concerned too, it was all over the place. I wore a Fitbit and would look at the app to see what my heart was doing in my sleep and the lines were up and down constantly. So, this particular morning, I said I can't do this anymore. What else? I can't!!! Shortly after I cried out a small breakthrough would happen, that bill got paid. 

On Sunday, God showed me what happened each time, I said I can't. God said "Oh, but I can." He was there all along and once I truly screamed saying this is it, I can't!! He said "but I can my daughter, I'm here and I've got you". When I woke up to no water... I can't take this anymore, oh but I can. When our landlord called and gave us a deadline, I said I don't know what to do Lord. We don't have anything. We can't lose our home. I can't do this anymore, He said BUT I can! Sure enough at the last minute, we were blessed with just enough to cover our rent. 

During all of this we were serving at a production called Blink The Revival at our church. We drive about 35 minutes each way for church. When we thought we didn't have money for gas, our tank would get randomly filled up. We didn't have money to give during this time. How do you give tithe on no income? You can't but you can give of your time. We didn't allow it to stop us from serving. We went to church nightly to serve our hearts out and give our all. We knew the enemy wanted to stop that, but he didn't get his way. We served at Blink with joyful hearts, we figured out a way to give, even when there is no money to give. We were blessed with dinner by a few different people during that time and none of them knew what was going on. That is when you know God is at work. 

During hard times it might be hard to see God's hand, it might make you want to ask God why, it might make you ask what you're doing wrong and believe me, I did. I wanted to know if there was anything I needed to change. I feel like every trial we go through, is a time where we can learn to be better, there is always something to learn. As a friend of mine told me, it's not punishment, it's trials that we all go through. We have to allow these times to teach us something. Let it help you grow into something better. I know God continues to mold me into something better and I want that. Just as growing pains hurt, this can hurt but you will get through it. 

On Sunday, God also reminded me how I thought I couldn't handle anymore when my marriage was falling apart over 5 years ago. I remember saying those same words. I can't do this. I can't take it. This is too much. BUT God. He took care of it, He handled it. He saved my marriage. How about when I heard the scary words of you need open heart surgery. No! I can't. I'm scared. What if I don't make it? My son needs me. God said oh but I can and He did. 

There have been so many situations in my life where I said I can't and I truly couldn't handle them, but God can and He did. I'm sharing this to remind you, if you are in a situation where you feel you cannot go on anymore or you cannot take one more piece of bad news, just remember God can and He will. If you find yourself saying I can't, follow it up with BUT God can! Claim it and believe it. I can't BUT God can! He has you in the palm of His hands. He loves you. He cares about you. It's ok if you can't handle it, give it to Him to handle. Let those words become a release of control, let them be a surrender to Him. Add but You can Lord, I KNOW You will see me through this. 

Once my household began claiming our breakthrough daily, everything changed. We danced together, singing our own songs of praise to God and claiming a breakthrough was on its way. We knew our God had better plans for us. Within a week of us changing our own attitudes and claiming a breakthrough, Jon got a job and I was released to go back to work! My heart rate has calmed down and seems to be normal again. We do have a lot of recovery with our bills, we are behind on things and playing catch up BUT we know our God has it, just like He had us all along. We are back to work now and working hard. Jon loves his job and I am back to working and appreciate my job more than I ever did. I'm excited to get up every morning and work. 

This Thanksgiving, I cried thinking of how grateful I am to have a roof over our heads. I'm thankful for my family, I'm thankful for our jobs, I'm thankful for a car, for gas, for food and the list goes on. This year, we went through so much but learned a lot. I now know more than ever there might be times when I can't but God can. 

So no matter what you are going through, whether it's financial issues, relational issues, medical issues or anything else, please remember there is so much we feel that we can't handle but turn it over to God and allow Him to handle it. He handles it much better than us. Don't ever think He isn't there, He is there all along, He cares for you, He loves you and He knows exactly what you are going through. Trust Him and know when you can't, He can. 

Jesus replied, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."

Luke 18:27 NIV