Dalisha Turner

My journey so far…

Hi friends, I wanted to give you an update of what God has been doing in my life the past few months. As many of you may already know, I moved to Irvine this past February with a team of about 20 people to share the vision of my pastors, Pastor Jeremy and Christy, and plant a church in Los Angeles. God has been doing amazing things so far, and we are seeing him work in incredible ways each time we meet. We have been able to meet so many people and see lives be changed by the power and love of God. 

In my own life, God has been teaching me so many things since I moved. I moved out of my parents house for the first time, and to be honest, have experienced feelings of loneliness at times. When you are step out of what’s comfortable in obedience to God, you find that you placed your security in all of the wrong things. I began to deal with extreme insecurity during the past few months that I had never experienced before. I realized that my comfort and security was being placed in my image, and if I felt like I could control that, than I would be confident. I also realized that I found more comfort in friendships and family than I did in God’s love for me. 

Why am I sharing all of this? To say that stepping out of what’s familiar into the unfamiliar to be obedient to God many times is not easy. God will strip away everything that we found comfort and security in to test our hearts and make sure that He is our only source of security. Until He becomes our only source of confidence and security, we will feel unstable, alone, emotionally unstable, and hopeless. I’m reminded on this journey of my purpose, to love God, love myself, and love people. I’m challenged to run to God when I want to run to people, and to trust in Him at all times. I can truly say that God is strengthening me so that I can strengthen others. He’s showing me that my confidence is only to be found in Him, and He is once again reminding me of His unconditional, unchanging love for me. That when this is all said and done, His love remains the same. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

He is rebuilding my foundation on Him, so that when the waves come I will not be shaken.

I say all this to update you on my journey so far, and to encourage you to let God take you from the familiar to the unfamiliar, and see Him work miracles in your life. When you take the step of faith, God will meet you there and use you in ways that you could have never imagined.

What does peace sound like?

I woke up this morning with this thought, How can I live in peace? Each day is full of so many things that steal away peace and rest. Life can get so busy, and my mind so occupied that I forget what peace sounds like. 

Proverbs 1:33 says, “But all who listen to me will live in peace, untroubled by fear of harm.” 

Peace has a voice, peace has a name, peace is the very words of God. 

“After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” 1 Kings 19:12

In the midst of the busyness of life, let today be one that you lean on his voice, are led by his whisper, and respond to his invitation. In the end, this is all that really matters anyway right?

Faith

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

What is faith?

Faith is believing that God is faithful to answer His promises. Faith is trust. Faith is stepping out when it’s painful. Faith is continuing to believe, continuing to ask, and continuing to knock. Faith is saying goodbye to a life lived in the natural, to step into the supernatural. Faith is looking past the problems that are in front of you, and looking into the promises of tomorrow. Faith is remembering what He spoke to you in the quiet, when all you can hear is the screams of your worries and anxieties. Faith’s eyes are open to the impossible, knowing that with Him, ALL things are possible. Faith doesn’t make decisions based on money, but will be fearless to follow His leading. Faith doesn’t look back, doesn’t let up and is persistent in trials, patient in pain, and stays grounded through the storm. 

The Weight of the Cross

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Tonight as I was reading this verse, I was thinking of all the times that the cost of this cross feels heavy. I mean, if we were to really think about how heavy this cross was on the back of our Savior. This cross was not just on Calvary. He spent 33 years of His life holding this cross upon His shoulders. Not only did He give it all when He was beaten and brutally crucified, but he denied Himself as a human being on earth. He gave His entire life for the joy of knowing that we would have a relationship with Him. Hebrews 4:14-16 says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” 

Jesus can sympathize with us in our weakness! He has experienced every temptation that we have, yet was without sin. We can come to Him for strength, console, and peace. When the weight of the cross feels heavy, we can spend time with Jesus and know that He not only carried the cross for us, but will give us the exact direction and peace we need to endure any situation. He says come to me ALL who are heavy burdened, and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matt. 11:30)

So, let Him carry the cross, and know that there is no person that sympathizes and cares more for every detail of your life than Jesus. It’s only in His presence that He takes the cross off of our shoulder’s and replaces it with rest. 

We can’t wait for people to see in us what God already does

So many times I have found myself not taking action in the dreams that God has placed in my heart, because I was waiting for others to first pull it out of me. I wanted someone to point out and encourage me with what was inside of me, although God had already spoken his instruction in my ear.  

I would be intimidated by those around me that were already so talented in this area, so I would be hesitant to step out in obedience to the still small voice of the Lord speaking to me.

I have found that I simply can not wait for the words or affirmation of man to be obedient to the call of God. I’m sure no person went to Moses and told him that he was called to be a speaker and that he was the chosen one to speak before Pharaoh and all the Israelites as a mouthpiece of God that they may be set free from slavery. I mean in Exodus 4, Moses begs God to not send him because he stuttered and was a terrible speaker. 

I highly doubt that any person told Esther that she was called to appear before the king, as a Jew, and set all of her people free. But Esther responded to the call of God on her life. She had a mandate from the Lord and she was determined to be obedient.

I sometimes wonder how hard it must have been for Noah to build the ark for a flood, when the people had not even seen rain before. He was ridiculed by society, but the Lord was on His side and He was committed to follow God’s voice.

What about Jonah? God saw something in him that he did not even see in himself. So he ran from God’s voice, and he found himself in the belly of the whale. He was the chosen one to preach the gospel to Ninevah, and God predestined him for this task even before time began.

No one saw the power and anointing that was inside of David the small shepherd boy. He was overlooked by his father, and discounted by many. But, God saw inside of Him the killer of Goliath, future king of Israel, and writer of the most beautiful songs that we still read today. David stayed obedient, acted on God’s words, and did not wait for the approval or affirmation of those around him.

God has predestined you before time for the task in front of you, and he has already said that you can do it. No matter how incapable, or inadequate you may feel at times, God is on your side, giving you the strength and ability to do His will.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”- Jeremiah 1:5