Open the Door to Hope

 

 

This is one of the hardest stories that I have had to walk through, just because the warfare was so extreme. Before anything even started, the Lord spoke to me and said that “solitude would be my security”. It was not a solitude from people or places, but rather a solitude of thoughts. 

 

What God told me that He would take me through was what He referred to as a “spiritual lesson”. After that, it was like I was walking through a spiritual blizzard from attacks against my promises from God. 

 

It was nearing the end of our paid for stay at the little modest hotel that God had given us refuge at. What I really hoped deep down was to be able to spend the Holidays in an Airbnb, and let my daughter have the joy of getting a tree, like we did before we started this out-of-state journey, nearly a year and half ago since we entered another state. 

 

Yet, after going through such hardships and facing so many struggles, I was praying to be able to stay at the hotel. I was accepting the lowest option, because I had a limiting thought of doubt. I was asking for crumbs, but God was wanting me to believe for a big cake. 

 

The hotel was very grimy, and the smell of the hallways was sometimes overwhelming. It was the cheapest and creepiest hotel in the area, and it was easy to tell why. I cannot even express with words the pain relief of this promise…for God to be our Home…it means everything to me. Even though it was a low place to stay, I was very thankful. 

 

Everyday, I cry tears of gratitude to have a bed, and a warm refuge from the cold. Especially today, because it was only a bitter 9 degrees outside. I have learned to be content in whatever room God puts us in, as He honors His vows to be our home, our food, and the support for our needs on this journey. I am so thankful for His promise to be our Home, and His promise that we won’t end up on the streets and homeless. 

 

God had told me that the problems that I faced in the past, was because I left a door open. I was allowing doubt in His promise into my thoughts, and that gave room for us to get touched by those things. Allowing worries into your mind, is like inviting troubles to come and bring bad outcomes. This whole journey has been a life changing lesson for me, of real life encounters with God’s promise and the enemies attempts to drown them out with negativity. 

 

Yet, love always prevailed and God would always rescue us, like saving my spiritual babies from getting taken away. The fear comes against our minds, and even our dreams, to try to get into the door, to take our promises from God away. That is why we must always be alert and closing off every negative thought, while holding onto faith in our prayers, promises, and hopes. 

 

One of our promises is that God will answer anything thing we pray, as long as we believe that we have already received. The prayer is a promise, when you believe that you have what you have asked for, just as in Mark 11:24, So listen to what I’m saying: Whatever you pray for or ask from God, believe that you’ll receive it and you will.

 

Our prayers are powerful and God will bring His power through our prayers to do far beyond what we can hope, think, or imagine, just like in Ephesians 3:20. It is His power mingled with our faith. 

 

As this spiritual lesson started, God allowed me to get attacked with fearful thoughts or dreams and the test was in what I would believe. 

 

It is always a choice, whether we will believe in the blessing or a curse. Blessings and curses start with what we think, or believe. God lets us choose, because He has given us that freedom. We get the outcome that we put faith into and the thoughts, dreams, and beliefs that we open up and accept. As the seed thoughts grow into substance, we can end up with a destructive tornado curse, or a blooming rose of a blessing. Everything we give attention to is part of our garden. 

 

As I was walking through this, Holy Spirit was right by my side, encouraging me to believe in my hopes. Not only did He encourage me to believe in my hopes, but He was asking me to open up to believe for BIGGER. God was wanting to challenge my limiting beliefs. 

 

Like shoveling snow to clear a path, I was constantly pushing way every negative projection that came my way. Sometimes the fearful thoughts came so fast, that I would just block everything off and say, “nothing bad will happen” over and over. 

 

It was like the enemy of my soul was trying to get into my home, by pounding on the door with attempts to get me to believe a bad thought. He would try to sound like God and be a smooth criminal, but I knew that if it brought me fearful anxiety, that it was not God. 

 

God had told me that His truth was found in LOVE and JOY, and not in bad outcomes of fear, or negative ideas about anyone else. He said that His voice is like the soothing vibrations of a mother’s womb, and not the paranoid plans or thoughts. He is not in the business of giving us accusations and, it was up to me to choose what to believe….a blessing or a curse. 

 

The blizzard of attacks came not only against me, but trying to get me to believe that the places that God would send His love support to me would be taken away. It was like I had to constantly hold the door closed and locked, not to allow a single negative thought or a bad dream into my heart. The attacks were coming against me and those around me. It was a massive storm trying to kill us and take us out. 

 

I could not allow any seed planted in my mind of something bad that could happen, because that was a seed attempting to destroy my promises. At that time, I had no way to pay for a place to go and the hotel was only showing one room left again. It looked impossible on the outside, but I choose to believe that God can do anything. 

 

You see, the enemy cannot touch you, unless you agree with it. Since I knew that my truth was in love and joy…then I knew that I could count on my hopes as well. Because entertaining my hopes and opening up to believe them, would make me feel love and joy from God. Hope was a security of comfort. It was a shelter from the storm, and anchor for my soul. 

 

I also knew that hope grows into faith, and faith is the legal, and binding agreement that we have whatever we believe, just as Hebrews 11 promises, Now faith is the assurance (title deed, confirmation) of things hoped for (divinely guaranteed), and the evidence of things not seen [the conviction of their reality—faith comprehends as fact what cannot be experienced by the physical senses]. For by this [kind of] faith the men of old gained [divine] approval.

 

That is why there are so many spirits out there trying to give people negative thoughts about themselves and others. Because the enemy cannot enter into your “home” (quote on quote), unles you open that door by engaging in the negative thought or bad dream. We must never give entry to the fears, doubts, or threat of bad outcomes. 

 

It doesn’t matter who you are, it is like going outside when the wind is blowing hard, the warfare comes. It howls and blows like a strong wind at times. It can show up as fires that are full of heat and pressure to survive, a flood of troubles, or a blizzard of negative feelings and thoughts, like doubts, paranoid thoughts, or fears. What matters is how you react to the bad weather. We must stay settled in God’s promises, and strong in hope, as the wind blows over. 

 

Just before the scene shifted, things were nearly unbearable. My heart was pounding and I had to stay completely alert at all times to block out the fears and bad thoughts, and only think about my hopes. It was so hard, but I knew that I just needed to hold onto hope and ride out the storm. 

 

I found that what helped me the most was spending time in the Spirit with God, imaging and dreaming that my hopes came true. I would picture us putting up a big tree in an apartment, and baking food in the oven (instead of the microwave hotel life). 

 

I would imagine looking out the window and seeing the glittering city lights, while being warm, and cozy inside. I pictured taking photos of an apartment, and feeling the comfort of a clean couch. Those kind of thoughts made me feel joy and love….and if was a pain relief to believe in my hopes being done. 

 

After a very wild storm of negativity coming against me, my hopes broke through, and God opened the door for them to be fulfilled. He opened a wonderful door for us! Not one of the bad thoughts or fears that attacked me came true, but ALL of my HOPES came TRUE! 

 

Just like I had deeply hoped and prayed, God showed up with an amazing miracle and put us into an Airbnb apartment high in the city of Chicago for the Holidays. We even put up the tree that I imagined when I was exercising my faith, and we baked in the oven, and enjoyed a home cooked meal. 

 

We had so much fun, it was like a dream! My head was spinning from blessings fluttering down! We explored the city and took many pictures. There was a Christmastime market where we had hot cider to warm us up from the freezing cold, and saw the Chicago tree all lit up as well. 

 

It was like we were dreaming, when the harvest of hopes came through. The battle was the fiercest just before the breakthrough, but once again LOVE proved to be stronger than all. 

 

God taught me through that experience the importance of NEVER opening up to a negative throught, bad dream, or believing in a fearful outcome…and absolutely never believing a bad thing about someone else. The battle was so intense, that it took all of my focus to not allow a single negative thought or dream in, like not letting water into a vehicle to cause it to sink. 

 

I had to block off all the lies that the enemy was trying to get me to believe of bad things happening. I would just say “No that is a lie” whenever any kind of negative thing or bad dream was presented to me. 

 

A few months ago, God gave me an encounter in the night and He said “I am giving you a Promise. The promise is this: THE OPPOSITE OF YOUR FEARS IS A PROMISE. But, since I am giving you this promise, that means that you are going to face some fears”. 

 

The promises are always brought through opposite situations, so that we can choose what to believe, and so they can come out as GOLD. 

 

During this spiritual lesson, the enemy came against me and tried to get me to allow my promises to be taken from me. They are like our babies, and we must love and protect them by what we believe, and by what thoughts we allow in. Fear tries to steal, abuse, and destroy our prayers and promises. It takes a genuine engagment with hope, while refusing negativity to see a fulfillment. 

 

It is crucial to block off the negative, and choose to dwell, and abide in the joy and love of the positive. Just like in Phillipians 4. Pour your fears and worries out to God, and then fill your mind with the joy-filled and beautiful thoughts of seeing your prayers answered. 

 

Turn your fears and concerns into joy-filled prayers, and bubble up with gratitude that you have the outcome that you prayed for. You must believe in what you pray for and open up to your hopes coming true, so that you can stay in the solitude of peace….the security that those prayers will not be taken from you. 

 

When the battle is intense, that just means that the harvest of your hopes is going to be very, very rich! So, lock in when you pray, and choose to believe that you have what you prayed for, and you will. 

 

I love you dearly, and I pray that you will have a harvest of hopes come true, making this season a season full of surprise blessings for you. 

 

I am still in awe….winded and in wonder…..that God did this for me. Everything that I imagined during my faith exercise came to life. Even the tree….it looks just like I had imagined and hoped by faith that it could be. ♡

 

Happy Holidays, 

 

Love, Dannette 

 

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