Tag: christianity

Transparency

And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account (Hebrews 4:13)

I’m still thinking about yesterday’s writing and how I shared a little more about my past sins and how being transparent is so important. I have been struggling lately with peoples hidden agendas, dishonesty, insincerity, trust in general. A real eye-opener for me has been, if someone will lie to you, they will lie about you. As I stated several times now, I am doing my best in being transparent in sharing my life do’s and don’ts with y’all, so in saying all of this I admit I have been guilty of what I am sharing about today. I decided it would be good to look up the topic of transparency in my Bible and see just what it has to say about it. I never want to fall into that trap again and prayerfully this will help you from falling into it as well.

We find that NOTHING is hidden from God as in the scripture above. Honesty is necessary for a restored relationship and cleansing with Him. We are encouraged to invite God to search our hearts, as in Ps. 139:23-24. So my first bit of advice is if you have been dishonest with anyone, now is the time to come clean, cleanse yourself from all unrighteousness. I know that might be scary, because some things we would like to pretend never happened or were never said and we feel shame. If you can’t do that right now then take it to God first, remember He already knows. Repent, ask Him to help you reveal the truth, He will I promise, remember I’m being transparent which also means I have been in this place before. In Ephesians 4:2: put away falsehood and speak truthfully to each other. James 5:16: encourages confessing sins to one another and praying for each other to bring about healing. So it’s more than just confession, through prayer and support from the one you bring it to, you can be healed of the hurt or the wrong doing. On a side note; can I just say, “making excuses for what you did or said or trying to justify the why, is NOT true confession”.

Transparency means walking in the light and not having secret, sinful lives (Eph. 5:8-13). Godly sincerity or walking in truth (2 cor. 1:12). This life can be hard enough at times without having the sin of lies to carry around to. For me personally, I know I am not perfect and I am transparent in letting that be known, but at the same time I carry baggage of sorts around with me that are extremely heavy and I have to drop to my feet time and time again at let Jesus have it, He is the One equipped to carry my sins, not me. Once left at the feet of Jesus I am FREE, free from whatever was hidden, oppression, guilt and shame. Don’t let the weight of these things keep you from living a life of freedom.

1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us ….”

What are you waiting for? There is Freedom and Power in being transparent.

Faith Born Out of Fear

“Lord if it is you ….tell me to come to you on the water” (Matt. 14:28)

Peter feared what he saw on the water he thought it was a ghost, but when Jesus called out to Peter to come to Him, Peter answered Him, “Lord if it is really you, command me to come to you on the water.” So he got out of the boat, walked on the water and came to Jesus. Immediately after that he saw the wind and out of fear, (no longer in faith) he began to sink, calling out, “Jesus save me.” When Peter heard the voice of Jesus calling him, then in faith he got out of the boat; through faith he believed he could walk on water, it wasn’t until fear came back that he lost his faith. How many times in life do we fear things? I know for myself I have feared failure, loneliness, making mistakes. What if this person ends up not liking me? How will I ever recover from a bad decision I have made? What if; this, that or the other thing? But you know what? There were some pretty bold disciples in the Bible that had some honest terror in their lives, feared death and persecution, but when Jesus calls us, He also equips us to be able to do whatever it is we are called to. I have heard God’s voice speaking directly to me, not audibly, but in my spirit and out of fear I have not responded to Him. I have also heard His voice and took that leap of faith and said, YES here I am, I’m on my way, Okay, whatever you say, I trust You. Staying in faith seems to be my biggest problem, just like Peter, once he took his eyes of Jesus his faith became weak and he began to sink. God doesn’t ever reveal things to me that He hasn’t already equipped me to be successful at. The problem is I put my faith in me instead of Him, seeing what I can do, not what He can do through me. Noah had never even seen rain before, referencing (Gen.2:5-6), yet he did what God told him to do, that is some kind of faith y’all. How can we receive Jesus as our Savior who we have never seen only heard about, yet not believe God when He calls us to something that He says He has prepared for us, or already done for us, etc. What kind of faith are we standing on? There are so many promises in the Bible yet we have a tendency to only believe some of the truth. When I think about my salvation, I think that has got to be the MOST faith a person could have. Especially living in my day and age, reading a Book that is 2000 years old and more. I never lived any of the stories in the Bible, yet I believe them. As a child I received salvation partially out of fear, fear of the unknown, what “if”? Today, I know my salvation is real, I’ve come to know my Creator and I have witnessed Him personally, His promises in my life have become reality. Faith that was once born out of fear, is now Faith unshakable.

Is Your Mouth Saved?

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45)

How many times in life have you said things then you pray, “if only I could take that back?”

It’s not really a mouth problem, it’s a heart problem. I have to ask God daily to search me, know my heart ….see if there is any offensive way in me. That’s scriptural y’all. If we are going to start speaking right we are going to need to examine our heart, what’s in there? Is it deep-seated roots of bitterness? I’ve had to do some up-rooting in that area. Maybe hidden sin, sin your not even aware of that is why we ask God to reveal things to us. I have battled with the unknown cause of things time and time again, then suddenly, God reveals something I had forgotten all about and in a moment of repentance everything changes. God wants to purify our hearts so when we speak, out of the mouth flows issues of life. Life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). Our words are either building up or destroying, either bringing encouragement or inflicting harm and shaping destinies. I have caused so much damage in my own life due to words I have spoken, all because of the issues of my heart. That’s where the scripture verse says, “they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof,” that’s the consequences of what you say, it will eventually return to you. You know our speech reflects our internal character to. I’ve been guilty of having the character of speaking death into my own life as well as other people by, gossiping, encouraging fear by speaking possibilities of something happening “what IF?,” I have even created conflicts in relationship due to words I have spoken. These are not things I am proud of, but seriously I write in transparency. As I always say, “I am a sinner in need of a Savior.” Thank you Jesus for saving me, and yes my mouth needs saving to. I do speak life as well. I try to encourage people just like in writing the breadandwater blog or Encouraging Each Other Facebook Group my friend and I have had for the past 5 plus years. I have gotten better about speaking truth, the Word over people’s lives, building in them a hope for their future or whatever they may be going through at the moment. My husband likes doing little construction projects occasionally and I have watched him use his tools to tear things down then turn around and build something beautiful with those same tools. Words are like tools; either to build people up or a weapon that breaks spirits. So the question here, is our mouth saved? Well I’d say is your heart healthy? Do you have the love of Jesus living in you? Do you even have Jesus in you, first and foremost? If the answer is yes to those questions, then I believe you can have a saved mouth. Like all things in life, it’s a choice. How we speak is a choice. We need to start doing more self-examining, I’m speaking to myself here, just saying. Start discerning the thoughts and intentions of your heart, why you say what you say. Something else I have learned over the past year, it that it is always better to respond versus react. Response can sometimes be silent. Reaction can lead to words that may cause regret. I have experienced enough regret to last a lifetime and again. Final word for today …

Shalom

A New Chapter

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Transformation here we come!

Ruth: Her story of loss and widowhood was rewritten into one of redemption, honor and becoming part of the lineage of Jesus.

Job: His story of unfathomable suffering was transformed when God restored his life, giving him twice as much as he had before.

The Woman at the Well: Jesus broke her cycle of shame and failed relationships, rewriting her story into one of purpose as a witness.

Won’t He? Yes He will. God is not a respecter of persons, if he did it for them he will do it for me. God can’t do what our free will will not allow Him to, so here we go, have your way Lord. I Have struggled writing this today, I actually wrote it yesterday but when I woke up this morning the Holy Spirit had me do a little revising. I needed corrected about a thing or two. As I was writing I was steadily wanting to take over the message that He was giving me, taking the pen right out of His hand already. I heard Him loud and clear this morning saying, “If I’m going to be able to continue writing your story, you are going to need to surrender and be obedient as in the past when I was doing a new thing in you.” Correction is never easy, but oh so worth the value. Obviously being this is a new chapter in my life, I haven’t been here before so I have no way of knowing what this looks like, well not completely. God has been more than generous in giving me little peaks into what lies ahead, rather some areas that are going to require change. One of the areas is in stewarding my time. Who ,What, When and Why are some questions that I am going to have to ask myself before taking on the task. God revealed to me that many of the hurts I have been experiences in my life of late are due to taking on responsibilities of others that are not my cross to bear. When I look at ministry, it’s not just serving in a particular area of the church, it’s more than that. I see it in every area of my life. My family has always been my first ministry, unfortunately I have missed it on several occasions. I see a new range of focus in my future story. One that allows others to pick up their cross and follow Jesus, my only part is to lead them to Him. I said it before and I’ll say it again, I have missed it time and time again all because I couldn’t say no, or I didn’t want to see them going in the wrong direction so I took the cross for them, that is not nor ever was God’s best, it was simply me in a ditch effort to try to help, which I was the one who ended up in the ditch sadly to say. But hey, God’s mercies are new every morning and His grace is sufficient, to prepare a new way, a new path for me to walk in. Hallelujah! I have heard things said about me that are lies straight from hell. I’m not going to allow hate, resentment or unforgiveness to keep me from the place that the Lord is wanting to take me, instead I will say as Jesus said on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). I, like Jesus am feeling the immense pain from what others have said and done to me, but I too have to choose how I will respond. There are so many words in the Word of God that pertain to who I am, and I am claiming them for myself, that I may have life and have it more abundantly. God says, I am victorious, loved, redeemed (Proverbs 18:21) Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him …” This is a promise that God can and will use past negative experiences to create a positive, redemptive story in my life. I am ready to close this chapter and move on to the next. God is the author of my life, not my circumstances. The weakness that I have been feeling is going to be my new strength. In the book of Isaiah …a way in the wilderness; God says, where there is no clear path forward, He will create one. Rivers in the desert; where there is no natural relief or refreshment, God provides it. A little further down in Isaiah, God promises to pour His life-giving Spirit upon his weary people, all of this is for His glory. I am ready for God to receive all the glory in my new story. I’m done repeating cycles like the woman at the well. I’m looking for redemption like Ruth, to be honored for the good that I do. Not from people, but from my Heavenly Father, the One who knows me and knows my worth. Re-write, re-direct, whatever that may look like, I’m ready.

Letting Go …and Letting God write what I cannot.

Open Wounds

“The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the contrite in spirit.” (Ps.34:18)

Up close and personal today. There are some ares in my life that I am still not able to share about because the wounds have not healed and they are susceptible to infection. I believe there are many that can relate to this. Issues of the heart are no joking matter, they are real like the breath in my lungs. Some days it feels as if healing is impossible, when every little thing that touches it causes the wound to begin bleeding again. Yet I know I am not broken I am simply in a place of deep transition, transitioning into the person God wants me to be. I know that if I turn to Him with this unbearable pain He will be there to heal my wounds but sometimes it is still a hard thing to do. I cannot rush the process though because there is work being done, I have to trust the process. Believe it or not, crying and feeling the pain is not a sign of crumbling but rather releasing and letting the healing begin. Sometimes while the wound is in this state you have to stay away from the thing that caused the injury in the first place, creating space for emotional detachment. I write because this is an outlet for me to release and process my emotions. I find that listening to worship music is a great help, because the lyrics are those that bring truth and good thoughts to my mind. I begin focusing on the things that are lovely, pure and of good report versus the thing that has me broken at the time. Nature is my go to place, it has a way of putting me in a completely different mood, relieves the stress of it all. Sometimes I fall into isolation, never a good thing, being with others is crucial to healing. God will use the right people to speak the right things to you that you cannot hear at that very moment. Whatever we are going through that is keeping this wound from healing completely does not define who we are, our future or our worth. Instead we need to see this is a chance to grow stronger and wiser. Don’t worry about the situation, just focus on your own recovery. Let God do what you cannot do. Obviously I am talking to myself here as well as you. Again I am processing, what I need to do in order to receive my healing. The scripture in Psalms tells us that God is not distant, but active in comforting those in pain. He offers us comfort, He is present and He will heal those with shattered emotions or crushed spirits. Psalms 147:3 says, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds”. He is our refuge when overwhelmed, our strength when hope seems lost and He promises that heartbreak will not have the final word.

Okay, I feel better … how about you?

The Circle of Life

And I am sure of this, that he that began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil. 1:6)

God is the one who starts the circle of life within us and who promises to complete that work, ensuring the circle is not without purpose. I am looking deeper into the things God has already done in my life, the things He is doing right now and looking forward to the things He will do as I am approaching the end of my circle. I love the fact that He says, He will complete that work. I can know that I will not leave this world unfinished, without purpose of why I was here. Unlike the ferris wheel, just a repetitive loop going round and round, God takes everything in my life, the good and bad and weaves it together to fulfil His ultimate purpose. Again, my circle ends with purpose. The Bible describes the “circle of life”-birth, labor, and death-as a natural, repeating pattern ordained by God. In the circle of life we find hope, through Jesus Christ for an eternal life. The true fulment of God’s purpose, this is the actual completed work, His purpose in all believers. The complete circle of Life is; a life of being born; birth to eternal life on a new earth, that is completion of the circle of life. Wherever you are in your circle, whether beginning, end or somewhere in the middle and you want to finish the complete circle of life, there is a step you must take. In the Gospel of John in the Bible speaks on that. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” That’s full circle y’all. Don’t spend your life like the ferris wheel in that repetitive loop, go the full circle, ask Jesus into your heart and make sure your circle is completed.

Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Now your circle is complete

Huh …I Did Not Know That

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee” (Hosea 4:6)

Talking active rejection here, not ignorance. The passage says, “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you…” (Hosea 4:6). The people of Israel chose to forget God’s law and ignored His teachings, leading to their own destruction. When we reject God’s laws He has the right and ability to keep us from His blessings and protection over us, allowing us to face the consequences of our actions, just as he did with Israel. Good news y’all, if we will enter into an intimate relationship with Him, “Know Him,” that’s knowledge, then we can understand His commandments. We have to put forth effort, we are held responsible for our actions or lack of, so make the effort to learn. Don’t deliberately ignore God’s ways, He gives us commands/rules if you may, to protect us because He loves us and wants good things for us. I have been observing the world around me a lot lately and this is going to sound like something I heard my grandparents say when I was younger, but it is what I am seeing and hearing. Modern society is morally declining. I have been more diligent than ever before in sharing the Gospel message with ALL people. Warning guys!!! the end is only getting closer. Don’t let the lack of knowledge destroy you. Here are three scripture references in the old testament I want to share:(1) “Therefore My people will go into exile for their lack of understanding; their dignitaries are starving and their masses are parched with thirst.” (Isaiah 5:13). (2) “Because they hated knowledge and chose not to fear the LORD…” (Proverbs 1:29) (3) “For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are ‘wise’-in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.” (Jeremiah 4:22) In summary of Hosea 4:6 is a warning that spiritual ignorance-specifically the active rejection of God’s Word-leads to destruction. Words of Encouragement, I’ve got Good News. You can have life; a good life, one with God’s blessings and protection for you and your family, it all begins with a right relationship with Jesus. Being righteous is simply being in right standing in Him. Maybe you like my past self have been uneducated in the things of God and please, like a Pastor I once sat under would say, “don’t hear what I’m not saying;” because I am still a work in progress. Maybe you don’t know what the Bible has to say regarding how you show act, talk, or live your life. You can ask God to help you with that and the other Good News is; “If any lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to EVERYONE generously without rebuke, and it will be given to him” (James 1:5). Did you catch that? Wisdom is available to ANYONE. This is the kind wisdom used for navigating through life’s trials and making godly decisions, rather than relying on your thinking and understanding. You matter and the kind of life you live matters. God wants only the BEST for you. Don’t self-destruct.

Obstacles

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10)

God views obstacles as opportunities to strengthen our faith, build character, and to show us signs of His power so that we do not quit. He promises that His grace is sufficient to overcome challenges, encouraging us believers to trust Him completely rather than relying on our own understanding and He will often times use trials to prepare us for our calling. The last two days the Lord has been revealing things to me regarding my calling. The what, why’s, how long it’s been in the works and the reasons why it has taken so long for him to reveal this to me. One of the reasons is my faith wasn’t where it needed to be in order to believe for certain things. I had to endure some things in order to come to a place where I was so weak that I would get out of God’s way so that He could show me His strength and perfect my weakness, build that faith in Him. These obstacles we go through and not always signs to turn back, or give in, it can actually be meant to overcome something through prayer, fasting and trust. Again building our faith. I had and still have things to overcome, God has done some pruning in my life, cut away a lot of dead limbs so to speak, but there’s still more to be done. Through all this I know He is purifying my purpose, asuring the ultimate goal aligns with His will versus my personal comfort, because none of this has been comfortable, yet His will is being done. This year through my walk of intentionality, I have learned to trust God in ways I never have. I have quit trying to figure things out in my own mind and went right to the Word or prayer for answers. I have been able to release much of my anxieties simply be standing in agreement with the Word of God, not only that, but I have actually been faithful in taking steps forward, all the while keeping my focus on God’s power rather than the size of my obstacle. Growing in faith! As for the revelation of why it took so long, one reason was the path needed to be prepared ahead of time. #2, God’s plan was to use my own personal experiences, my background if you will as well as, #3 educating me in order to do what I was called to do. I had to learn how to submit and surrender, I had to learn obedience and how to walk in my gifts. I had to learn to keep my heart aligned with God and continue pursuing His purpose for me. I had to learn to lean in and lean on Him. Find all the right tools, like fasting and prayer. How to allow the Holy Spirit to guide, direct and help me when I needed it, instead me trying to play Holy Ghost Jr. with God myself. I’ve had a lot of obstacles getting in the way of my calling for quite some time now. I began understanding partly what my calling was a few years back and God has been revealing more and more of it all the time, but only to the point I am able to walk in it. Bottom line, God did not allow these obstacles to prevent me from my calling, all along He was preparing me for it.

Words of encouragement; Patience is a virtue. Endure the wait or difficult situations, keep your composure, and trust God. Continue working toward what you hear the Lord calling you to. Don’t give up.

Less is MORE

He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30)

I chose this photo today because as you can see there isn’t much in this room. There really isn’t anything here to distract you from focusing on one particular thing. Which is the object lesson in decreasing our self and allowing more of God in our life. We have to get rid of things that are in our way, distracting us from having clarity, 20/20 vision and excellent hearing. We need to be resting in Him, not allowing our minds to wander focusing on everything around us. We should be wanting to go deeper in our relationship with God and allowing Him to go deeper within us. Ridding us from the things that don’t serve a purpose in our life and that are keeping us from receiving all that He would have for us. I think about when I’m out on the trails hiking or riding my 4-wheeler and I come across a leaf or a flower, my focus is not on the tree or the larger group of flowers clustered together, instead I look exclusively at the individual leaf or flower and I am able to see much deeper. Looking at the leaf I can see intricate little lines, sometimes small particles of fuzz on them, the actual shape of the leaf and the lighter verse’s darker parts of it. When looking at the flower I may feel a softness in the peddle or a little insect looking for some nectar and like the leaf the colors seem more vibrant when looking up close versus afar off. That is how it is when we get rid of the clutter in our minds and sight we are able to see and hear the much deeper things of God. His voice becomes clear and our vision is no longer clouded. Sometimes it’s as if we are shouting things at God as if He can’t hear us when in reality we are trying to speak to him over all the chaos. Once we let go of some things we can quiet ourselves and come to God in a calmer quieter voice, just as the Holy Spirit is a gentleman He does not yell, He has a still quiet voice and we can too. There are other areas of less is more in our lives we need to be aware of. Things like allowing materialistic things to overtake us …more, more, MORE. We never seem to be satisfied with what we have and that’s because stuff is not what satisfies us, our relationship with Jesus is. Pride; we are some of the most prideful people, let that go! Self-sufficiency; how about more of trusting God instead of ourselves? That’s where we will find peace, when we depend on Him. He knows everything we need before we ever need it. If we will just decrease in ourselves and allow God to increase in us we will be making more room for God’s grace and power in our lives. Better is a little with the Lord than great treasure and turmoil with it (Proverbs 15:16).

What are you willing to let go of in this world to allow for gaining more with God?

Closed Doors

And those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God commanded him. And the Lord shut him in. (Genesis 7:16)

The closed door was for Noah’s protection. In Acts; Paul and his companions were forbidden by the Holy Spirit from entering certain areas, as an example that closed doors can be divine redirection. The ten virgins in the book of Matthew, “the door was shut,” meaning end of opportunity for salvation. We are also instructed in the book of Matthew to go into our inner room, shut the door, and pray to our Father that is an example of intimacy; private prayer.

Every closed door serves a purpose and not every closed door is shut permanently, such as Noah’s. It was reopened once the storm was over, once God had accomplished what He set out to do. God opens and shuts doors. When God closes a door, no human effort can open, that’s His Sovereignty. There are times we need redirecting, change up our focus, head down a different path, so God will close that door rather than rejecting us and what we are about to enter into. Close doors can also mean, it’s just not time, but we don’t lose confidence in God’s plan during times of closed doors. His ways are not our ways nor is His timing like our timing, His is PERFECT. Instead of forcing a door, we need to trust that God is steering us toward something better. God never rejects His children, sometimes He tells us “no” to protect us. Those “no’s” have protected me a few times in life, quite a few actually. When I have allowed God to redirect me, it has always been for my good. I have learned things I would not have if I kept going through the door I was walking through. It has taken some faith and trust to get to the point where I knew God was really just setting me up for something better. Not every door is meant for us to walk through and if we are not praying and asking for God to lead us, direct our path we can find ourselves in some rooms we never wanted to be. At the same time a door that is open to us and we aren’t willing to walk through it we just may miss out on the biggest blessing ever. Something else I have discovered in my life is that there are multiple doors in life and at times I have been confused as to which one was for me, again that is the real necessity in praying, seeking God’s wisdom, He will open just the right one for you “if” you will listen carefully. I recently closed a door that was stealing my peace, I felt the attack of the enemy and it was keeping me from my growth in Him and my calling. The finality of the closed doors to me is ask, seek, knock and then you will find.

Is there a door that needs shut in your life? How about one that needs opened? Are you in need of redirection? Are there to many to choose from?

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock; and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one that seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. (Matthew 7:7-8)