hey there & happy tuesday morning! I hope you had a very happy week full of love & memories. thank you for being here! if you enjoy my content, please make sure that you are subscribed to get weekly updates straight to your inbox:
here, you’ll always have a place to sit while sipping your morning coffee, & you’ll always have a friend in me.
!! just a psa: this post is too long to read the full thing in your inbox. pretty please click the title of this article to be able to read it in the Substack app or website. happy reading!
the week recap! week of: 2/3/26 - 2/9/26
⛅️ something to celebrate: why yes, I will take a cup of being hidden in the Lord pretty please! in a little, quaint church not far from town, there where hymns are still being sung with authentic hearts & where hugs are still being given with warm squeezes, sat a girl, on a on a wooden pew bench with the sun beaming off of her face through a stained glass window, who could feel the joy of the Lord filling her being in that very moment. if only I could better recreate the feeling for you: this feeling of completeness, like I was missing something, but my gracious Lord ever-so-intimately revealed it to me when I needed it’s truth to hang onto most! on Sunday, I was able to watch my buddy Clayton preach his second sermon with a proud smile, & I was able to finally put flesh on what stillness in God means to me; the Holy Spirit gently nudged me to reroute my priorities into first desiring to be hidden in the secret place above all else. He brought me true joy from this realization! & helped my heart not feel as weird & heavy as it had been.
this specific Sunday, I pinky promised my Father in Heaven that I would keep the Sabbath holy from here on out, & oh my goodness, how He pinky promised backed to me His never-ending love, abounding faithfulness, & His Spirit to fill my cup up time & time again.
in my morning time spent at the foot of the cross, I have been reading through the Old Testament, more specifically 2nd Kings right now. in 2nd Kings 23, the people discover the laws of the Lord for the first time in nearly 250 years !! His authority was revealed to them once again, after a long time of disobeying (just as it was joyfully revealed to me once again at church). in fact, the one most taken with this newly heard reading of Scripture is the king at the time - Josiah.
immediately Josiah makes reform occur by getting rid of sinful things & sinful people! (reality check: what sinful things &/or people is the Lord calling you to get rid of in your life?)
& Josiah reinforces the tradition of the Passover - like introducing the Sabbath into after noticing I needed to invite the Lord further in so He could grant me rest.
in fact, to bring more people to Himself, God used the example of the king through special work of His Spirit. this became important to me, & why I am sharing it here, because the people in this story neglected to remember the Lord’s work of redemption for them. they lost sight of what was most important: keeping the commandments of their Deliverer & worshipping Him with all they had to offer.
(my sweet pal Susan prayed in worship the other day, “Lord, we don’t need a job, our job is to worship you!”)
when Josiah hears the Word for the first time he tears his clothes out of reverence & knowledge of his shortcomings. is this the effect that His words still have on you, my sweet friend? does the mere thought of His holiness bring you to your knees? the Lord speaks to him in 2nd Kings 19 saying, “because your heart was penitent, & you humbled yourself before the Lord, when you heard how I spoke…you have torn your clothes before me & wept, I also have heard you.” oh how intimate & grace-filled is the Almighty One!!!!! who was & is & is to come!!!! this part of the passage right here lays out for us, mere sinners saved by the love of our Lord, how we should approach Him & reassures us that He hears our prayers as if they were incense floating up to His throne room.
in the Spirit, I am called to bring the heart of God to others, but how could I bring His authentic, loving heart down to Earth when I am not spending nearly enough time hidden in it in the secret place, waiting on the Lord to show me more of it?
may we not lose sight of what is important, to worship the Lord & dwell within His holy presence 24/7, & may we always remember the important work of redemption that He has freely gifted us with: humbling down to a mere baby & sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins, to face the punishment & God’s wrath that had our names written all over it. this should probably, maybe, super duper call us to worship Him with all of our might, to want to spend time with Him, & give Him our days!!!!!
⛅️ something out of my comfort zone: to the right, to the right, to the left, to the left! as I was sewing a few evenings ago, wearing a favorite pajama set & watching a Deborah B “Living Alone Diaries” video in the background, it hit me. I needed to seam rip this part of the bodice again. well darn.
just kidding! it hit me that the enemy was infiltrating my life, slowly but suddenly present. almost like a snake found in your house - that clearly isn’t welcome to stay. cause ew!
over the past few days, like I mentioned briefly above, my heart had started to feel heavy & weird. I was caught in comparison, insecurity, & episodes of being just generally upset, not wanting to pray. it always shakes me up when I lose sight of my purpose for a little bit seeing as that is a big part of my testimony. I felt far from Jesus & frustrated by it.
as soon as I realized that this was the case, that I was under attack from the enemy & not just being super emo & awkward for no reason, Deborah read Isaiah 54:3 on my screen, “for you will spread abroad to the right & to the left, & your offspring will possess the nations & will people to the desolate cities.”
if you’re like, um ansley claire why is this verse so impactful it is talking about possess of land? well, I am so glad you voiced your confusion, good friend! it is discussing possession of land, but it is also talking about growth, symbolizing the growth in Kingdom work & bringing more of the lost into a safe, reformed land.
the Holy Spirit was trying to tell me to trust in Him during this time it feels so bleak in my soul, during this time I am facing a stronger pull from the enemy because He is growing my capacity to love Him, remain faithful, & take on more work He is about to hand me in the mission of bringing Heaven down to Earth. take heart!!!! God is on the move!!!!
with this in perspective, I will remain open to grow to the right & to the left. I will empty myself daily so that He may fill me. I will be practicing listening to His voice, so that my offspring (physical & metaphorical, pretty please Lord!) will possess the nations & bring people to the desolate cities. & I pray the same for you! that you will be strengthened against the enemy & brought closer/grow in our Father this year.
just as sin clings to us closely, we have to cling to Jesus closely.
I really just want to share that this morning I woke up nearly an hour earlier to spend more time with Jesus, before the sun may I add! I spent extra time with the Lord, went to the gym, & made two coffees all before class :) dear Lord, wake us up whenever you call us to want to rise!
⛅️ something I’ve learned: His word shall ever be on my lips! just wanted to let y’all know that I love memorizing Scripture now & this is the first time that its importance has become known to me!!!!!!! this week, I memorized 1st Peter 2:4&5. I hope this encourages you to keep in your heart the sacred & lovely words of our Father in Heaven who composed them as if a song just for you. precious friend in Christ, you never know when the enemy will rise against you or if you need to reference a verse in a conversation.
until next time & with love,
ansley claire
I believe that everyone should have access to encouragement from a sister in Christ, so Tuesday Mornings is, & will stay, a free publication. however, if you feel led to support my Kingdom work with a little treat:
a prayer request: as I am writing this, later than I wanted & super frantic, I pray that the Lord will give us all good sleep this week! good rest in Him! & remind us to not be anxious for the next day, for it is enough in itself. as the semester has started back, this truth to hold onto that the Lord is our refuge is so comforting.
the prayer mailbox (in progress!) is a quiet place for you to leave a prayer. I’ll be reading each one of them & holding them in prayer with you. some prayers are meant to be shared & held. if you feel lead, the mailbox is open (for now, you can leave a prayer in the comments or email me 💌 strongansleyclaire@gmail.com).
tuesday mornings is like the weekly news, but the news of an ordinary girl who writes about what the extraordinary God of the universe has done in her life!
make sure to check out the blog’s Instagram & TikTok! I have so much fun on my socials! (pssst…any image that is not taken by my camera is found on Pinterest).
also, pretty please tell me your thoughts about this post, what you’re learning in your faith walk, or just whatever is on your mind - I pinky promise I want to know!
I hope each of you has a very happy rest of the week! praying for you! peace! thank you for being here & I hope to see you again soon! 🕊️ I love you so much & so does Jesus Christ!
more tuesday mornings mail from my heart to yours:
“therefore, encourage one another & build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” - 1st Thessalonians 5:11
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