Discovering the Mystery of Who I Am in Christ
Some people in the body of Christ have a special gift to encourage. The first encourager listed in scripture was Barnabas. “Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means ‘son of encouragement’), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.”Acts 4:36-37 Barnabas …
A well quoted verse is 2 Timothy 1:7. The well known part of the verse is this: "For God has not given us a spirit of fear!" I have quoted this to myself and others for years — even decades. But, today it came to me with fresh eyes and revelation. Let's look at the …
Living in times where the fabric of our nation is unraveling, I frequently go to places of self-reflection in prayer. Clearly, the Lord has lifted his hand of protection from our land. “Lord, I know the big things that displease you- things like abortion, greed and perversions. (And this is in the church.) But, what …
Continue reading "40 Days of Prayer and Fasting – Day 26 – Here I Am, Lord"
Today, as we enter day 11 of our 40 day fast, we begin to read the prophetic words of Jesus to the 7 churches in Revelation. Jesus knows us inside and out. He knows the spiritual state of us as individuals and he knows the spiritual state of churches corporately. In order to have Jesus' …
Continue reading "40 Days of Prayer and Fasting – Day 11 First Love"
Proverbs 10:12 - Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs. Welcome to day 7 of our 21 days of prayer and fasting. When you hear the word hate, what do you think of? I hear the word hate a lot. We use it so casually. "I hate it when it rains during quarantine." …
Continue reading "21 Day Fast – Day 7 Love Covers a Multitude of Sin"
We need to regain what we have lost. What have we lost? We have lost our identity. For thousands of years, humanity has tied its honor to identity. We were created by The living and eternal God in his image. Yet, we have forgotten our creator and exchanged our identity in his family for chance …
(NEW MATERIAL in the September re-release! of Revealed in Ephesians~ The Mystery of Who I Am in Christ. This is from week 11 on the Breastplate of Righteousness. “How does perfect love cast out fear? The Discovery Bible’s HELPS Word-studies indicates that the Greek verb tense for “casts” is present indicative active form. This simply …
"The translation of doulos by 'servant' rather than 'slave' [led] to the total effacement of its ancient significance (1965: 319). This ennobling title means the believer belongs to the Lord, who constantly "gives Himself away" in infinite love, through faith. Indeed, the doulos (slave) of Christ is His very Bride (cf. Rev 19:7-9). Accordingly, the faithful believer seeks to do all things in intimate partnership with Christ, as He births faith in the heart (cf. Ro 10:6-8,17; Heb 11:6). This is possible because the believer is joined to Christ as a genuine member of His very body (Jn 14:20; 1 Cor 12:13).
So, why in the world would I show you all my dirty laundry? Well, not laundry. I would never show you that! But, why would I show you my mess? Because the Lord impressed something so precious on my heart, as I walked through the mess, stepping over wires from my husband's studio, and trying to find a square foot to set my bags down on after work. You see, I just finished speaking at a lovely weekend retreat called Revealed Retreat: Discover Who I Am in Christ. I challenged the ladies to give the Lord the deepest parts of their hearts - even the rooms of their hearts that they have shut the doors on for years. In the fight to stay positive and to keep from drowning in pain, sorrow and despair, people tend to avoid difficult conflict that arises when dealing with broken relationships and pain from the past. It's easier to ignore things and to just keep stuffing. These are things that may give us PTSD, if we decide to unpack them.
Today, in the bittersweet parting of ways with my college age daughter, I found profound perspective. I know the feeling of longing to have one more long walk, one more hug, one more shared couch with her head on my shoulder. Separation is an ache that reminds me of the relationship's tender value.
