There is freedom in choices. We makes choices everyday that we don't realize are choices. Getting out of bed, going to a job that we have chosen to do, taking care of children, exercising, praying, even eating.
When we do things everyday that we don't realize are choices, our choices are made for us. Staying in a job that we detest, going to church that is not feeding us or where we aren't allowed to exercise our gifts, maintaining toxic relationships are a few examples.
Jesus gave us a choice. We can follow Him or not. Very simple. But we cannot do this out of our own will. We have to engage Jesus with the help of the Holy Spirit.
We are able choose Him because He first chose us. He created us to love Him, but we can only love Him because He loved us first.
This is not a choice made out of guilt, fear or even habit.
The path to Jesus is narrow but everyone's path is individual. Because He made all of us unique, our road is just that, our road. We cannot compare our past and future with anyone. He never says to compare, just come. Keep your eyes on Me.
Our walk is as different as the gifts He gives us. The only thing the paths have in common is that we can only get to the Father through Jesus. How that happens is up to true submission to the Holy Spirit.
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14:6
"It is to you your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper (Holy Spirit) will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you." John 16:7
Just as the first disciples were called to different work, we are also. If we pressure those around is to look, act, walk toward Jesus just like us, we give no freedom for the Holy Spirit to guide them.
"When the Spirit of truth (Holy Spirit) comes, he will guide you into all the truth." John 16:13
The only heart we are responsible for is our own.
Choices are important, our awareness of choices are even more so. The freedom to choose and the awareness of this freedom can come only come with an intimate relationship with our amazing Father.
Monday, December 16, 2013
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
I took one of my children to the orthodontist this morning for a consult. While I was there I talked to the Dr. about my own concerns for my teeth.
I have a very severe overbite. None of my teeth touch except the very back molars, which is great for wear but terrible on everything else. I've been told my numerous orthodontist, oral surgeons and dentists that surgery is required to fix it. Literally going in and breaking my jaw to reset. No thank you! I'll live with it!
So, I was extremely surprised when the Dr. told me it would be a very easy fix, that my tongue is the problem. What?! So, braces and a little appliances attached to my the back of my upper top teeth to keep my tongue from getting in the way of the teeth placement are all it takes. He said there are ways to retrain the tongue but this type of therapy is long and not very successful.
Who knew the tongue is so powerful? James recognized this.
"So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, by no human being can tame the tongue. It is restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
James 3:5-10
The taming of the tongue is very difficult and can take months and years. Wouldn't it be great if the appliance that attaches to the back of the teeth to retrain the tongue would also retrain the words we speak?
Life and death are literally in the power of the tongue. Retraining the tongue is very difficult, even with the Holy Spirit present. We slip up, shame, discount, demand, control, build up, encourage, edify, ask for help from the same tongue.
The tongue is extremely powerful. Something we don't think about very often until it causes us to tear down someone we love. Then we can see the damage that the tongue can cause.
An overbite is a physical abnormality but until today I didn't know that the tongue was the problem.
How many of us live years and don't realize our tongue is the problem with our relationships?
I have a very severe overbite. None of my teeth touch except the very back molars, which is great for wear but terrible on everything else. I've been told my numerous orthodontist, oral surgeons and dentists that surgery is required to fix it. Literally going in and breaking my jaw to reset. No thank you! I'll live with it!
So, I was extremely surprised when the Dr. told me it would be a very easy fix, that my tongue is the problem. What?! So, braces and a little appliances attached to my the back of my upper top teeth to keep my tongue from getting in the way of the teeth placement are all it takes. He said there are ways to retrain the tongue but this type of therapy is long and not very successful.
Who knew the tongue is so powerful? James recognized this.
"So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, by no human being can tame the tongue. It is restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
James 3:5-10
The taming of the tongue is very difficult and can take months and years. Wouldn't it be great if the appliance that attaches to the back of the teeth to retrain the tongue would also retrain the words we speak?
Life and death are literally in the power of the tongue. Retraining the tongue is very difficult, even with the Holy Spirit present. We slip up, shame, discount, demand, control, build up, encourage, edify, ask for help from the same tongue.
The tongue is extremely powerful. Something we don't think about very often until it causes us to tear down someone we love. Then we can see the damage that the tongue can cause.
An overbite is a physical abnormality but until today I didn't know that the tongue was the problem.
How many of us live years and don't realize our tongue is the problem with our relationships?
Monday, November 4, 2013
Past Places
We've all heard the saying, "Don't make the same mistakes."
Why is this important and what happens when we do? How do we keep from it?
If our God is a forgiving God then it should be fine if we keep on making the same mistakes, right? He will forgive us, right? Yes, it is true that He always forgives but at some point our mistakes will be made public. He always forgives but he cares more for our holiness than our happiness. When we do things that don't please or glorify Him eventually these will come forward.
There is always an emptiness and void when we are doing things that don't please Him.
The definition of repent is to change one's mind. This is not just a one time thing. This is an ongoing process. There's also nothing about guilt involved. This is a happy thing. To change our minds to align with God's is joyeous repenting. Satan would like for us to feel so guilty and to hide from God. He enjoys the fact that we feel so guilty that God would never accept us in the nastiness of what we have done.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Jesus shows us again and again, there is nothing He can't forgive. The Samaritan woman at the well who has been married five times and now living with a man, the prostitute that anoints his feet with perfume, the tax collectors, the sick, the mentally unstable, the demon-possessed. All these he loves.
There is nothing too nasty for Him. Nothing.
Time and again when we fall, he picks us up. Eventually, though, to turn us back to Him completely He may make our fallings known. This is not to humiliate us, though. This is so we will not hide away in our darkness, this is so others who care for us so deeply will come and walk beside us, this is so we can call out to Him in our shame and recognize the only Source that can truly pull us out of the pit.
Our God is not a god of guilt, He is a God of Grace, Peace, and Understanding.
Why is this important and what happens when we do? How do we keep from it?
If our God is a forgiving God then it should be fine if we keep on making the same mistakes, right? He will forgive us, right? Yes, it is true that He always forgives but at some point our mistakes will be made public. He always forgives but he cares more for our holiness than our happiness. When we do things that don't please or glorify Him eventually these will come forward.
There is always an emptiness and void when we are doing things that don't please Him.
The definition of repent is to change one's mind. This is not just a one time thing. This is an ongoing process. There's also nothing about guilt involved. This is a happy thing. To change our minds to align with God's is joyeous repenting. Satan would like for us to feel so guilty and to hide from God. He enjoys the fact that we feel so guilty that God would never accept us in the nastiness of what we have done.
Nothing could be farther from the truth.
Jesus shows us again and again, there is nothing He can't forgive. The Samaritan woman at the well who has been married five times and now living with a man, the prostitute that anoints his feet with perfume, the tax collectors, the sick, the mentally unstable, the demon-possessed. All these he loves.
There is nothing too nasty for Him. Nothing.
Time and again when we fall, he picks us up. Eventually, though, to turn us back to Him completely He may make our fallings known. This is not to humiliate us, though. This is so we will not hide away in our darkness, this is so others who care for us so deeply will come and walk beside us, this is so we can call out to Him in our shame and recognize the only Source that can truly pull us out of the pit.
Our God is not a god of guilt, He is a God of Grace, Peace, and Understanding.
Thursday, October 24, 2013
God gives us memories for a purpose. The purpose being, to remember how good He's been to us and all the miracles He works in our lives.
When we can turn our tragedy into our triumph, that's the proof of His victory.
All that said, to re-live a moment is normal, to understand His hand in it is Supernatural Revelation!
When we can turn our tragedy into our triumph, that's the proof of His victory.
All that said, to re-live a moment is normal, to understand His hand in it is Supernatural Revelation!
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Out with the old
How many times have I heard that God is doing a new thing?!
What does this really look like, though?
The first time I can look back on my life and see this (but didn't realize it at the time) is when I was going through puberty.
I was in fifth grade when I got my period. I had been warned it was coming but it's like having a baby, until you experience it, all words are meaningless.
It was in October and I was 10 years old. I am the oldest child and my mother calmed me down and gave me all the things necessary to alleviate any mess. Not from anything she said or didn't say, this is what I perceived it to be, a mess. My life was much more messy from that point on. Things were changing in me, I didn't know Christ and as much as my mother tried, I wouldn't open up to her.
Now looking back and asking God to meet me at those moments, this is what I hear: "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:18-19
He was doing a new thing in me, a beautiful thing that is messy. This messy gift is what allows life to enter into this world. I am Eve, a life giver. Not just in the flesh and producing babies, which I have done four times. In my words, He has given me the power to produce life but the freedom to destroy and bring death.
He has made a way out of the wilderness and desert that was so messy and brought me back to where I started in this world, to breathe my first breathe. To understand I am alive because He is alive, I breathe because He breathes, I love because He loves. I am more than a mess because He created life and desires me to bring life.
Everyone has stories of how God has created something new in them. Sometimes through words that are said or just our own perception, the gift that He intended is twisted into a curse. Ask Him to come and meet you right where you are, maybe in your own mess.
What does this really look like, though?
The first time I can look back on my life and see this (but didn't realize it at the time) is when I was going through puberty.
I was in fifth grade when I got my period. I had been warned it was coming but it's like having a baby, until you experience it, all words are meaningless.
It was in October and I was 10 years old. I am the oldest child and my mother calmed me down and gave me all the things necessary to alleviate any mess. Not from anything she said or didn't say, this is what I perceived it to be, a mess. My life was much more messy from that point on. Things were changing in me, I didn't know Christ and as much as my mother tried, I wouldn't open up to her.
Now looking back and asking God to meet me at those moments, this is what I hear: "Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:18-19
He was doing a new thing in me, a beautiful thing that is messy. This messy gift is what allows life to enter into this world. I am Eve, a life giver. Not just in the flesh and producing babies, which I have done four times. In my words, He has given me the power to produce life but the freedom to destroy and bring death.
He has made a way out of the wilderness and desert that was so messy and brought me back to where I started in this world, to breathe my first breathe. To understand I am alive because He is alive, I breathe because He breathes, I love because He loves. I am more than a mess because He created life and desires me to bring life.
Everyone has stories of how God has created something new in them. Sometimes through words that are said or just our own perception, the gift that He intended is twisted into a curse. Ask Him to come and meet you right where you are, maybe in your own mess.
Monday, October 21, 2013
Supernatural Cohesion
Supernatural Cohesion is a word God gave me recently. I've focused on it very little but I think this is an area he wants to open my mind and heart.
What does this mean? Hmmm....
The bond that we can't always see but can feel between He and we.
It's the reason we stay in a marriage that appears broken but hold on because something greater than ourselves is holding it together.
Why we hold our children even while they are breaking our hearts.
The glue that holds us together in one body, working in complete submission for Him.
Supernatural cohesion is the joining of two flesh to one, locking us in union even we can't truly break.
It's looking to the one Daddy that created all of us and knowing he so badly wants to interweave into our very souls.
Not always understanding or seeing what's going on around us but knowing that we can trust Him and His work.
Giving all we have to Him and continuously trusting and stepping toward Him.
Even when we don't believe in Him, He believes in us.
It's the apparent work on the inside that we don't understand until He's done.
Supernatural cohesion is Him binding himself to us and in turn us binding to Him, now and eternally. He wants all of us and us all!
What does this mean? Hmmm....
The bond that we can't always see but can feel between He and we.
It's the reason we stay in a marriage that appears broken but hold on because something greater than ourselves is holding it together.
Why we hold our children even while they are breaking our hearts.
The glue that holds us together in one body, working in complete submission for Him.
Supernatural cohesion is the joining of two flesh to one, locking us in union even we can't truly break.
It's looking to the one Daddy that created all of us and knowing he so badly wants to interweave into our very souls.
Not always understanding or seeing what's going on around us but knowing that we can trust Him and His work.
Giving all we have to Him and continuously trusting and stepping toward Him.
Even when we don't believe in Him, He believes in us.
It's the apparent work on the inside that we don't understand until He's done.
Supernatural cohesion is Him binding himself to us and in turn us binding to Him, now and eternally. He wants all of us and us all!
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