Rest In His Love

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest…Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭11:28-30‬ ‭MSG‬‬

When I first started writing years ago, it came out of a place of me fully enjoying the Lord and His love for me and I in turn was so excited to share that freedom. But there came a time when my writing, as well as doing other things, no longer came out of a flow, but rather I was forcing everything because I felt like I had to or “I should.”

Continue reading “Wanna Get Away?”

“You and I, just as Jesus, have been given Father’s stamp of approval long before we ever accomplished anything in this life. You are His beloved, so, be loved.” ~ Leif Hetland

I think the greatest way to honor fathers on Father’s Day is to remind them to become children again. The role of a father is indispensable, vital and crucial to a child. And if it’s healthy, that role depicts a tiny grain of sand, a glimpse if you will, as to what God’s heart is like towards His children.

A child, on the other hand, gets to freely receive. He gets to romp and play, live loved, explore and make mistakes in the joy of knowing his father’s joy over him. It’s for that reason, my heart yearns to remind every father reading this of the pride and joy his Heavenly Daddy has for him…simply because he is. 

A dad’s “job” on this earth is tough. He has numerous responsibilities; from providing for his family to caring for his home while guiding and spending time with his children. His hats are many. And rarely does a father get the recognition he deserves.

However, there is a love, honor and recognition that comes from Father God that is not based on anything you do. It’s an approval, affirmation and acceptance apart from your performance or accomplishments. It is not withdrawn when you fail. It is not held back in your weaknesses, addictions and disappointments.

Continue reading “Abba’s Love Letter: A Father’s Day Reminder”

YOU are not an orphan. YOU are not a slave. YOU have not been abandoned. YOU are not an employee of God. YOU, precious one, are HIS beloved son, beloved daughter. 

Don’t live today in guilt or condemnation believing you have to strive to make something happen or perform for His approval and blessings. 

You are drenched in His perfect love and clothed in His spotless robe of righteousness. (His FREE gift to you simply by believing). 

Have a heavy heart? Tell your Daddy God! Have a request? Tell your Papa and believe it’s already yours. Just need to be held and revived? Be still in your Father’s tender presence and let Jesus serve YOU! 

Under grace, you are no longer bound by that religious spirit that makes you feel like you’re not doing enough. You have been given a new identity in THE SON who did enough at the cross; the identity of the beloved by the Spirit of sonship. 

You can exhale “duty” today and inhale His peace as you enjoy your full acceptance in Abba’s (Abba; Aramaic for intimate Father) embrace. Jesus, who put religion out of business, is always after real relationship with you as you are. 

“And you did not receive the “spirit of religious duty,” leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the “Spirit of full acceptance,” enfolding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned, for as HE rises up within us, our spirits join Him in saying the words of tender affection, “Beloved Father!…
“For the Holy Spirit makes God’s fatherhood real to us as He whispers into our innermost being, “You are God’s beloved child!”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8:15‬ ,16 TPT

Open your heart and hands, and receive His tangible love that transforms as you declare in simple trust: “Abba, I am your beloved. I belong to You.”

Resting In His Love,

Annalee Reyes

The keys of authority over every form of death that kept you down, that tries to keep you down, was gifted to the prince of lies by the first Adam (man) in the first garden.

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But while in the garden tomb, The Second Adam, (The Son of Man) took back the keys of the dominion of the realm of death and hell. By entering into death Himself, Jesus, annihilated the effects of the accuser who once held that power. (Hebrews 2:14).

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Continue reading “Keys”

At noon, the brightest hour of the day when the sun is directly overhead, the world became black with complete darkness for three hours (Mark 15:33) the day the Son of God, Love’s True Light, absorbed the entirety of humanity’s curses. 

It was within those final three hours, the principalities and powers of darkness that separated us from His Presence were upon His soul as Jesus Himself became our sin and everything that is a result of sin: judgment, punishment, guilt, condemnation, shame, sicknesses, diseases, even death itself. 

He was disconnected from the Father, so we could be forever one with Him in His resurrection. He took our place, so we could take His. 

Becoming a man of sorrows, He was acquainted with the deepest grief, pain and sickness. No one in all human history has suffered to the extent Jesus suffered for His children on this day 2,000+ years ago. Marred beyond recognition, He did it for you.

Even before His arrest in the garden of Gethsemane; Jesus began His suffering for you, redeeming you. He was in such agony of spirit that His sweat fell to the ground as drops of blood (Luke 22:44). He knows about stress beloved; He took yours to give you peace. 

He knows what’s on your mind. He wore the crown of thorns so you could have a sound mind, crowned in His glory and honor as His royal child. And He knows your troubled heart. Because that’s what He died of. On the cross, his heart burst open. He died of a broken heart to make yours whole.

There’s nothing He wouldn’t do for you because He’s already done it all for you. “It Is Finished.”

Good Friday is a Good Father. This is how much your Papa loves you beloved. It was His very will to crush His Son and cause Him to suffer so you could come home to His heart and be held, healed and blessed (Isaiah 53:10). 

Daddy God Who was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself to get His kids back, spared nothing to free you from curse and death to release the flood tide of Grace over your life.

On that cross, midday became midnight so you could live in His love-light no matter how dark your days may feel. The Passover Lamb has been slain and roasted. His perfection passed on to you. Freely partake of His perfect love for you.

Thank you Jesus.

Happy Good Friday! Happy Passover!

Resting In His Love,

Annalee Reyes

As a teen, I never had a problem with acne. It wasn’t until I was an adult, married and raising a family, that this monster surfaced in my life. 

Adult acne; really?! Ugh! It was the one thing that became a real stronghold for me for many years. I’m being vulnerable here when I say it made me want to hide. I felt less than beautiful on many occasions as well as insecure and self-conscious. And introspection is the worst thing. Because when we are focused on self, we aren’t focused on Jesus, Who is our real self. 

Continue reading “Testimony Tuesday: The Power of the Spoken Word”

Hopefully this testimony will be cut and dry just like my husband’s deliverance.

Nearly ten years ago, when Carlos was in his 18th season of professional baseball, he was set-free from the addiction of alcoholism. 

Even before he signed as an amateur free agent in 1991, college life had already opened the door to drinking. First socially then used as an outlet to help him relax, drinking beer seemed like no big deal and was just another part of the game. 

It wasn’t long, however, before the repercussions of a former messy divorce, the pressure of performing in the big leagues, the stress of tireless travel and making the transition from “change-up king” to “coach” made way for alcohol to become his source of coping. 

Continue reading “Testimony Tuesday: Freedom From Addiction”

Don’t ever underestimate the power of a testimony. Not only do they give glory to God by revealing His goodness, they release hope and belief for the favor and love of a Father to breakthrough in your life beyond all you can ask or think. 

I have been wanting to share this particular testimony publicly for years. There are a few that know the story well. And I believe I can speak for each of us when I say that what took place in the year of 2015, was a complete game changer in our lives.

Continue reading “Testimony Tuesday: I AM Willing”

I know the power of a testimony. I have been changed by many and have changed my mind about God (being renewed in my mind about His never-changing goodness) in hundreds. I, myself, have too many testimonies to share. The more you see who He really is (Perfect Love), the more you experience His miracles; His very life.

Testimonies reveal the love and goodness of a Father who lives to bless you, so you can know Him more. It’s why He sent His Son. He wants you to encounter Him. Revelations 12:11 says we overcome the devil’s accusations by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.

Every Tuesday, I’ll be sharing a new testimony that I pray will transform your heart and mind, increasing your capacity to believe He is better than you ever imagined. Today’s testimony may be simple. But Jesus is not only powerful, He is practical. He cares about every single detail of your life. 

Continue reading “Testimony Tuesday: Restoration”

“Live in Me. Make your home in Me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with Me. “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant.”
‭‭John‬ ‭15:4-8‬ ‭MSG‬‬

So, let’s be real. Do you ever feel like God is constantly asking of you? Do you feel as if He is looking over your shoulder expecting your best performance? 

Do you feel as though your life is a roller coaster of feeling loved one minute and feeling like you have to go out and be the world’s Savior the next? Does guilt weigh down the scales over grace? Do you wake up day after day feeling as if you have to do “for” Him or strive for moral excellency? 

Continue reading “Abide”