A great way to locate any hidden offenses is to spend some time thinking about what and who we are thankful for. If we find ourselves holding back thankfulness, or are having a hard time thinking of something or someone we are thankful for, this can be a good indication that there might be some roots of offense or hurt in our hearts.

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves in love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony. And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body, you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. Colossians 3:13-15 NLT

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Grace is available to us not only when we’re faced with tremendous challenges, but also for just doing every day life. Even the things that we might consider so simple to us, matter to God and He wants to give us the strength and joy that will help us do those things well. In fact, many times our every day life situations will hold some of the most extraordinary opportunities to make significant impact for God. Just look at the life of Jesus – He met people right where they were, in their everyday lives, but He was able to see the connection from those simple, everyday things as an opportunity to touch their lives and make an eternal difference. In order for us to spiritually see how the opportunity for the great things can be connected to even the most simple areas of our lives, (and draw out the same in the lives of others) we must abide in God’s presence and stay connected to Him. This can and will get challenged in the life of every believer and we have to be intentional about protecting it.

I remember a time in my life where I had stepped into a season of tremendous growth. God was doing a new thing in my life and had blessed me with several new opportunities, many of which came all at once. As I started growing, and got even more busy, I started relying on my spiritual “equity” to carry me through. Some days, it didn’t seem as if there were enough hours in the day to do what I had to get done, and I started getting less and less intentional about protecting my time with God. There was not an immediate impact that I could recognize this was having, so I didn’t feel as if I was being weakened in any way, but I was. Over time, my joy started to fade away, (Psalm 84:5)and I started feeling more and more frustrated with everything I had to do. Instead of approaching each day with anticipation, all I saw was a huge list of things to do – one I could never seem to catch up on. I started to question if maybe I had taken a wrong turn somewhere, I started second-guessing lots of things and started losing my confidence. I began feeling myself pulling away from many of the things I had once enjoyed because I saw them as an energy drain – one I couldn’t afford. Instead of facing each day with cool, calm confidence, I scurried around frantic to get things done so I could move on to the next one. I’d come to the end of some days feeling as if I had accomplished very little, but yet feeling totally exhausted.

Of course, now – I can now look back on that time like “duh!” but while I was experiencing it, it was a very subtle drift. So many times we blame things like this on spiritual attack, but in all actuality, we can be the ones working against ourselves! We know the Word says that apart from Him we can do nothing, but since we know we’ve been saved, we’re good, right? And that’s true – this is not a matter of going to heaven or not, it’s more about the quality of our life while here on earth. Staying connected to God is what brings the quality and richness to our everyday lives. But instead, many of us are walking through life feeling weak and overwhelmed. God wants to strengthen us and give us His grace for our everyday life, not just at intervals where we have mountaintop experiences and then live off of that until the next one comes around.

The wake up call for me came when I stopped for just a moment to look around at everything God had blessed me with (Romans 2:4). Honestly, I think I was just so exhausted I couldn’t do anymore but just sit there and look around for a while. And as I did, I realized that I wasn’t enjoying what I had or what I was able to be a part of. How foolish I felt! What a beautiful life I have, what a wonderful family He’s blessed me with, what great health He’s given me and my family, and what an incredible church I get to be a part of! God himself had given me all of this, and I knew it, but I also knew He wants me to enjoy it to the fullest. (Proverbs 10:22)

The amount of work I do everyday hasn’t changed, my schedule is still packed to it’s capacity with meetings and deadlines, and I go through endless pages in my notebooks full of things to do.  As a wife and mom of 2, There are still dinners to cook, lunches to pack, errands to run and then mix in a day here or there when one of my children might get sick. It doesn’t stop, but my view of it all has changed significantly. There are still moments when I start feeling stressed, and don’t know how I’m going to do it all. But as a result of staying in tuned with God I’ve come to recognize those moments as soon as they happen and I can take a step back, take a deep breath and lean back into God’s grace to get it done. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:9 “So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.”  Don’t stress out, see the opportunities for the extraordinary in the everyday but most importantly – stay connected to God so that you can do it all and enjoy it in the process.

LGR

Even though I pretty much frequent the same places, same stores, same coffee shops, etc. (gosh, I really need to mix it up!) any given day I can run into all different sorts of people – people with different personalities, different moods, different quirks, different viewpoints, etc. In all honesty, it can sometimes be a challenge to “find common ground with everyone”. While I know I won’t always be able to connect on a deep level with everyone I encounter, what I want to make sure I don’t do is build a barrier that prevents something incredible from happening. I’ve come to recognize this barrier as indifference, or avoidance and I have to admit, it typically happens when I stop seeing challenging or uncomfortable situations as occasions to be used by God. Even when people can be a flat out trip – if I find myself pulling away from or avoiding certain people, or certain situations (other than for legitimate safety reasons) then I do a quick heart check to make sure I’m not preventing a great opportunity for God to stretch me and use me.

Finding common ground with everyone doesn’t mean that we have to become people pleasers, or that we take on multiple personalities, and start acting like everyone around us. That’s not authentic.  Finding common ground is more about not being reactive to what we might immediately see in others, but instead seeing the potential others can have in Christ.  It’s about not allowing our differences to become walls of indifference between us and other people. It’s about extending grace towards others instead of immediately trying to change them.  We remain secure and confident in who we are in Christ, and in the message of the gospel, but we learn to yield that to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and prompting. We take on the posture of an open heart and an open hand to people all around us, thus allowing God to flow in and through us.  If we view these opportunities through the right filter, then what can be awkward or uncomfortable at first can turn into a completely unexpected God appointment/opportunity. 

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We can understand this scripture at its fullest when we’ve been there….in a place where we feel weak, but still trying to press on somehow with what God has called us to do.

This is kind of where I’m at right now. In the last month, I’ve been experiencing lots of physical fatigue. There’s been a lot of sickness floating around and I feel as if I’ve been trying to fight it off for literally, an entire month now. I’m okay, it’s just been an adjustment to say the least.

Today, in a time of self-reflection, I recognized I was putting off getting started on some things until I was feeling better. I’m still fully capable of doing them, but I guess I’ve been waiting until I had more energy or whatever to get started. In all honesty, it’s not been because of a heart issue. My intentions for waiting were actually good intentions: to be able to offer my absolute best to what God has given me to do. But today, I was reminded about something. While getting adequate rest and feeling at my optimum health is important, sometimes, I will have to do stuff….tired.

When we’re faced with completing what God has called us to do, there are times when some of the very “reinforcements” we had planned on using can be taken away. (For a great example, just think about Gideon. Judges 6-7) Or, on the flipside, God can also call us to do things while carrying something that we weren’t planning to carry – notice Paul says the thorn he refers to was given to him and would not be taken away. Either way, we’ve got to press forward and not give up. Don’t stop and do it anyway.

We can absolutely know for certain that God will give us the ability, wisdom, confidence and peace to move forward if we will just remain willing and available. “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” II Cor 12:10b

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Testing develops spiritual growth. Whenever the living word is planted in our hearts, it has the potential to bring forth abundant fruit in our lives….if we let it and if we cultivate it. Many times, it is only through testing that the seeds planted deep within us can begin producing fruit.

The easiest picture we can get of testing is in a classroom. Just think about a teacher giving a test to a student. When and what is tested? A test is performed when the material has been covered, and on the material that has been covered. Testing is used to locate and draw out what has already been learned.

It is somewhat the same spiritually. I remember at one point shrinking back at the thought of facing a spiritual test – mainly because I didn’t believe I was equipped to face it. But once I viewed tests more as a trying or purifying of something God had already shown me, it changed my perspective. That combined with the assurance of knowing that the Holy Spirit will help guide me allows me to have more confidence when faced with a challenging test.

We don’t have to face tests with fear.  (2 Timothy 1:7) We can stand firm with a posture of strength grounded in the nature and person of God. Not only do we have the power of the Holy Spirit, we also have the peace of knowing that God would not allow us to be tested beyond what we’re able to endure. (I Corinthians 10:13)

I’m not caught off guard with testing as much as I used to be. I’ve learned to recognize the tests and not immediately switch to panic mode. Sometimes they’re quick quizzes just to keep me sharp, but at other times I’ve also had to face tests of a lifetime. It is through the greatest tests that I’ve come to know God most intimately.  Instead of resisting the tests that life will bring, I hope I can always embrace them and let them develop and grow my faith.

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As we can see here in Philippians, for the believer – our hearts and minds were intended to grow together. It is obviously good to grow in knowledge and understanding, but we must also seek to make the connection of how that knowledge glorifies the love of God. As believers, love basically qualifies our knowledge. It’s what keeps our minds in check to make sure we’re not just learning a bunch of things without allowing them to produce the character of Christ in our hearts.

Whenever I learn something new, even if it might sound really good, I actually wait until I can make the “love of God connection” before I receive it fully and apply it to my life.

I Corinthians 14:1a Let love be your highest goal!

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As I sat there looking at these newsletters, I started remembering about all the other things I’ve written over the years, but have thrown away. Here in my hands I only had a couple of newsletters remaining, but yet my goodness, all the volumes of notebooks, and journals and such that I’ve written over the years, but most of them – gone, and I knew exactly why.

Growing up I felt it wasn’t safe for them to exist. Most of what I had written, I had done in secret. Much of my life was lived in pain due to an abusive childhood so at one point it was only through my writing that I could express my deepest feelings and emotions – safely. I remember there were many times I would destroy whatever I wrote almost as immediately as I had written it. I was afraid of it existing, and I was ashamed of the content.

However, what I quickly realized as I was thinking about this was that once I came to know Christ, I started saving almost everything I wrote. I no longer felt the urge to shred, burn or delete it. Something had changed.  I was still just as transparent and honest. And in the early stages of my relationship with God, when I was dealing with all the pain and hurt from my past, a lot of what I wrote was pretty heavy. But the difference was, I was now communicating with God, and God was communicating with me through my written words. He would so gently listen to me, and let me get all out, but then guide me towards a resolve. He provided the answers I didn’t know how to find on my own. He showed me how to heal and gain strength by leading me to his truth, love, and forgiveness.

This is the work of the gospel. And it doesn’t work in this way just once when we come to know Christ initially, it continues to work this way if we let it. Once, I was ashamed. But when the gospel came alive in my life, I had the confidence to be totally transparent. Not because of anything I had achieved or because I was so smart (to the contrary!), but because now any of the challenges I faced had an end result that glorified God. Now, whenever I faced something I didn’t know how to deal with or solve on my own, I would sink my teeth into it and search God’s word until I found answers.  It was no longer just about my pain or disappointment – it was about what God did with that pain and disappointment.

Transparency that brings God glory cannot co-exist with shame. I have learned that if I want to live life like an “open book” (vs. one that I feel I have to shred or hide) I’ve got to be honest with God and with myself and then let the gospel have it’s full work in my life.

Romans 1:16a “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes…”

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We can read so many similar praises throughout all the Psalms. Many where we know David was actually encouraging himself by praising God just for who He is and for what He had already done. Even amidst times of trial or need, praising God (or remembering) helps to keep our hearts focused on Him.

There is a scripture I recently came across that I thought painted a beautiful picture of this in Exodus 20:24:
Build my altar wherever I cause my name to be remembered and I will come to you and bless you.

Those places in our lives where God has caused His name to be remembered – they are altars of praise to Him, and there’s something special that happens in our hearts when we revisit them. There’s blessing in remembering and doing so helps keep our hearts thankful.

Lastly, I should just add that the memories we give this special time to are the ones that point to God and magnify Him in our lives. Those are the ones from which we will draw strength, encouragement, joy and peace. That is the praise that brings God glory.

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The amazing thing is not so much how rapidly God healed me, (although that was truly amazing) but how complete of a work He performed in me. What had taken over 26 years to build up and take root in my heart was removed and replaced with truth, healing, power and most of all, love. Of course as a child of God, I am ever learning.  As the Word says, we are being perfected daily. I am by no means saying “I’ve arrived” and have it all figured out. But what I do know is that those strongholds that had taken root in my life as a result of all the abuse were totally broken and today they have absolutely no control over me. Where there was once pain and hurt locked up inside my heart, all I see now is God’s beautiful transforming grace, love and healing power.

I often have the opportunity to speak into other women’s lives and share some of my story. While what I’ve been through and have overcome can be a source of hope and encouragement to others, everyone’s walk is different. There’s no formula that can be applied to healing. Just as the pain and hurt affects each person in a very specific way, the work of healing will also come in a unique way, tailored for each person. So aside all the practical things I can share with others, aside all reading material and Scripture I can share that have become pillars of my strength, there is one thing that I hope to impart into the lives of those I encounter, and that would be the message of total surrender.

If there is one thing that sets the stage for total, complete healing – it’s totally surrendering. When I came to Christ, I held nothing back. No compartment in my heart was off limits, regardless of how tightly locked up it was. No shame or hurt was too painful to recollect, no scar was too sensitive to touch. I gave it all to Him and was completely transparent and honest with God and with myself. This is what opened the door to healing in my life and allowed God to do such a rapid, complete and dramatic transformation in me.

To be totally surrendered to God means He has first place in our lives – every area of our lives. Anything other than that is basically asking God to share His reign in our lives with something or someone else, and that won’t work. He must be Lord of all, or else He’s quite simply not Lord at all.

It is in the place of total surrender that I came to know God in such an intimate way. It was there I came to have a relationship with Him, not just know about Him.  It was there that I could start seeing how the Word of God applied to me, personally.  It was (and is) a place of safety, beauty and gentleness – not like a hostile takeover. It was there that I came to know the person that had been buried deep inside for so many years – the person He created me to be. It was there that I came to know all the gifts, talents and passions He had placed in my heart that I never knew existed. It was there that I came to know Him as Father, Friend, and all-powerful God. But I would have never discovered all this without totally surrendering every single area of my life.  Most often than not, our true potential is hidden in the areas that we experience the most hurt and that we most tightly lock up. Make no doubt the enemy crafts a custom-made plan to try and take us out and he goes straight for the heart of who we are every time.  But if we put those areas in God’s gentle, yet powerful hands, it is then that we will discover true victory and live the life He intended us to live.

LGR

Many times when things that happen in the natural: miracles, great moves of God, signs and wonders etc. they usually follow…or are confirmations of an even greater promise of God.

We know that Abraham was counted righteous because of his faith in God. Not because of anything he did, but because of his faith in God. The great promise from God to Abraham – that he would be the father of many nations, was a spiritual promise that was confirmed in a physical way with Isaac. (Gen 17:21) (Just as the covenant with Noah was confirmed in the rainbow) And while we can definitely “see” the awe of God’s glory and power in how He performed the physical miracle in Abraham’s life, (having a child at 100 years of age can only be a supernatural miracle!) we can’t keep shifting our focus only to what God does in the natural.

In our lives today – what are we hoping for? We can see our physical needs and/or wants, those are easy to spot – but is there perhaps a connection to a greater spiritual gift or promise God is waiting to show us? A greater promise perhaps connected to the miracle we’re hoping for in the natural?

Abraham, in the physical, wanted a son. But the outflow, or result of that desire being met (Isaac) was connected to an even greater miracle God wanted to do in his life: Making him the father of many nations.  And it’s so beautiful and just like our God to give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). He did in fact bless Abraham with a son. But He used the very thing Abraham was longing for in the natural as a confirmation of the greater miracle and promise God had for him. However, Isaac was not intended to be the focus, or become center of Abraham’s life. Remember, God later called him to sacrifice the very thing he had hoped and dreamed for, testing what was first place in his life.  How sad it would have been if Abraham would have kept his focus only on the answer to his desire in the natural.  The fulfillment of the spiritual promise still had to take place.  The fulfillment of the spiritual promise didn’t even really come through the physical promise, it was simply confirmed by it.  Romans 9:8-10 states that being a descendant of Abraham didn’t make them truly Abraham’s children.  God told Abraham that Isaac would be the son through which his descendants (different than children) would be born (answer to the natural promise).  But Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God.  Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children (fulfillment of the spiritual promise).

When we focus only on what we can see in the natural, we can miss the whole point.  In our impatience we can even try to force things to happen (look at Abraham and Ishmael). Our vision can also become small, distorted, and misaligned with what God really wants to do in our lives. Jesus says in Matthew 6:32 that “these things” (the things we have need for, or want or desire for in the natural) dominate the thoughts of unbelievers. It’s sad to say that many times, those same thoughts also dominate the thoughts of believers as well.

Are we setting our hearts on only those things we can see and are desperate for in the natural? Can we see any connection to an even greater promise God has for our lives? Galatians 6 reminds us that we will harvest what we plant. If we just continually sow to our flesh (focusing on only what we need in the natural) then that’s all we will harvest. But it’s when we can shift our focus to the vision God has for us, then we can begin to harvest to the eternal and as II Corinthians 4:18 says, the things we cannot see will last forever. God already knows what we have need of and He will meet all those needs and even some of our desires, but let’s not let them because the focus of our lives and totally miss the powerful, supernatural, eternal purposes of God.

“I am not moved by what I see; I am not moved by what I feel; I am only moved by what I believe.”  Smith Wigglesworth

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