Peanut Butter and Jelly: my code word for reminding myself of always walking in the authority of Jesus! 

I don’t know about you, but peanut butter and jelly are pretty awesome in my eyes. 

This will all make more sense as you keep reading 🙂 

Delicious, yet simple. Nutritious, yet not at the same time. Just goodness. Godly goodness in these two ingredients.  Keep it simple, but keep it real. 

Side note: The Race is not the only place for Jesus to speak truth into your life; HE has already been doing that.  The Race is not the end all be all. Jesus is the end all be all. The process of the Race is not perfect, nor am I or any other racer on the Race. The Race is a beautiful time to keep it simple, find the heartbeat of Jesus and rock out to His song! Grow closer to His heart…that’s the reason while I am on the Race. 

Sometimes I get sucked into t-shirt websites, and I'm like,

God loves to reveal things to our hearts in creative ways, so brace yourself for this blog. It was inspired by listening to a sermon by Jennifer Toledo on “Dreaming Huge and Living Simple”. Most of the reason I chose to listen to this sermon today was that 1) I love dreaming and 2) I love keeping things simple. So why not see what God had to speak to my heart on both of these things? I thought it was a great idea! Little did I know, peanut butter and jelly would be the take away. 

 When we can dream without limit and remember the beautiful simplicity of the gospel…we have what God calls “Peanut Butter Jelly Time.” It’s a simple message as Jennifer put it, we are constantly standing in tension for Jesus. We get to hold onto our dreams, loves, and passions with one rope while at the same time picking up the rope that is His heart. The pull of these two ropes leads to knowing God on His terms. He wants us to sore with every fiber He has made us, but also pull and grow us in what is most important to His heart. When we are willing to be who HE made us and surrender to His heart, at any moments notice, we get to live in heavenly authority as we see Him move in crazy ways!

The gospel is simple; spread the Jesus within you to a world in need of His presence. As we choose faith, instead of fear we are fueling something greater within ourselves. We are feeding the Jesus within. His promises are simple; Claim them… ALL! Claim healing, victory, hope, love, heavenly encounters, radical wrecking, newness, beauty, it all! If you can dream it, claim it; know that His heart as been beating within you from the moment you accepted Him. As it says in Ephesians 1: He has provided absolutely everything and anything we could need, so let’s walk in it! We have the authority in us, over EVERYTHING in the universe, as long as we are connected to Jesus (J. Toledo). I don’t know about you, but that pumps me up! It excites me because revival is happening, healing is happening, hope is breathing, and His justice is being lived out. Not in the angry kind of ways, but by winning back lost opportunities for love. He is a good Father. He gives us everything and wants us to walk in His authority on this earth. 

Peanut Butter Jelly! 

There is nothing in this universe that does not bow to Jesus Christ. He is the ruler of it all! And as I attempt to summarize this awesome sermon, I hope the message of being unshakable and unmovable is standing clear. When we allow our hearts to breathe all He has, while rising and falling with the beating of His chest, we are in sink. 

Keep it simple, but keep it real. 

We are the light of the world, and SONS/ DAUGHTERS…this is the greatest time to shine. The Race is not some divine appointment for Jesus to start speaking truth into your life. Divine opportunities exist as we dare to step into faith and see Him do His thing. The Race is a beautiful time to see Him move across the globe. These next few facts really spoke to me after listening to this sermon. 

“Since the 1960’s, the population on the planet has over doubled. This is not to be taken lightly but to be respected by the fact that we have more potential that any other people group to impact the world, strictly because of the goodness of ways He is orchestrating things.” He has made us for such a time as this. To be the vessel He has created each of us to be; rooted in love. Keeping it simple and really digging deep into what love looks like when it is lived out and how we are reflecting the love of Jesus. 

Peanut Butter Jelly! 

Keep it simple…Keep it on Jesus and run with arms open wide with the freedom He gives!

-V 

(Snaps to Jennifer Toledo and beautiful insight into the fusion of dreams and His heart: you rock sister!!!)