I'm continuing in the series "God's Love Languages to Us."
When I think of a gift I imagine a present: a beautifully wrapped package which contains something special given to me by the giver, usually as an expression of appreciation or love. The dictionary defines a gift as something given voluntarily without payment in return, as to show favor toward someone, honor an occasion, or make a gesture of assistance.
God speaks the love language of gift-giving fluently. The Bible says that “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights…” (James 1:17). What does James mean when he says “perfect gift?” I would say it is ‘the bounty of God.’ God is the superb Giver and his gifts are perfect. The word “perfect” is the Greek word teleios, which means “mature, fully developed.” These gifts, James says, are the very best, complete and without defect—undoubtedly full of blessing. They reach their intended objective.
One of the enemy’s strategies is to convince us that our Father is holding out on us, as with Eve in the Garden of Eden. Since God is good we can rest assure we don’t need any other person or thing to meet our needs. Warren Wiersbe said, “It is better to be hungry in the will of God, than full outside the will of God.” Everything good in this world comes from God. If something is not good, it didn’t come from God. Think about this: Paul’s thorn in the flesh was given to him by God. That’s a strange and unwanted gift, yet it became a great blessing to him (2 Cor. 12:1-10).
God’s gifts are perfect. Satan may present you with a beautifully wrapped present, but when we unwrap and accept it we end up paying the price dearly. God gives us many gifts. What we do with them is our responsibility.
Throughout the Scriptures God reveals himself as the ultimate gift giver. He said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground--everything that has the breath of life in it--I give every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good” (Gen. 1:29-31). The rising and the setting of the sun, rain showers and thunderstorms, the flowers and grandiose trees, the birds, turtles and ducks, dogs and kitties, the seasons—are all God’s gift to us. God provides for his creatures every day.
Not only does he give his creatures everything they need to survive and thrive, but he gives them the free gift of grace and salvation. His greatest gift was his Son.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son…” (John 3:16; Eph. 5:1-2). Scripture paints an image of a loving and giving God:
• God gave his children, ancient Israel, the guidelines to a meaningful and fruitful life. They reciprocated their love when they followed his ways. He, in turn, showered them with gifts of love.
• Hebrew history records that God gave much to King Solomon (1 Kings 3:7-13).
• The teachings of Jesus were permeated with the concept that God’s desire is to give his children who love him good gifts (John 16: 16, 20).
• James and John describe God as a great gift giver (James 1:17; 1 John 3:1-2).
Undeniably, God expresses his love by giving gifts. One of those gifts are material things such as food, shelter, and clothing. Besides the necessities for survival, gifts God gives his children are:
• Time: I am responsible for the time God entrusts to me. Having down-time is important to our overall health, but I also must ask myself [and ask God to show me] if I’m wasting precious time.
• Money: The question is not how much of my money I give to God, but rather how much of God’s money I keep for myself.
• Possessions: I have to constantly keep myself in check when it comes to my clothes and shoes. I have to ask myself if I’m being a hoarder! The answer is often yes. In those cases I feel compelled to donate the possessions I really do not use that often. [I still have a long way to go!] I know my husband feels the same way about his “man-stuff”—tools, equipment, etc.
• Spiritual: Many of God’s gifts are spiritual—the gift of eternal life, the forgiveness of our sins, grace, peace of mind, joy, and a purpose in life.
• Spiritual gifts: Every believer in Jesus Christ has been given distinct “spiritual gifts,” abilities to perform certain tasks in the body of Christ. These gifts include wisdom, encouragement, teaching, knowledge, faith, prayer, healing, pastor, prophecy, administration, service, mercy, giving—read 1 Corinthians 12:1-11. Knowing your spiritual gifts will enable you to find your place of ministry in the local church.
The apostle Peter said, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God (1 Peter 4:10).”
When Peter spoke of spiritual gifts he considered them a matter of personal stewardship. Just as we will give an account of our use of the material things, time, and money that God has placed under our control, we must give account for the use of our spiritual gifts.
How do we receive God’s gifts? Jesus tells us to ask (Matt. 7:7-11). Isn’t it amazing that the creator of mankind and this vast universe would invite us to ask him for gifts! In contrast, James tells us, “You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures” (James 4:2-3, NIV, my emphasis).
The word gift comes from the Greek word charis which means “unmerited favor.” God’s gifts are never given to us because we deserve them. He gives them as an expression of love. Out gifts to others is how we show God we love him. It is how we say ‘thank you Lord.’ Our gifts to others should not be based upon what I can get out of it, or whether they have earned the gift. The gift should flow from our love for that person. When we give gifts we express God’s love.
Showing posts with label disordered eating. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disordered eating. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Approval Junky
One enduring attribute of most human beings is that we obsess about the approval of others. Most often we don’t realize it is an obsession, but it is. We are approval junkies shaped by other people’s opinions—real or assumed. It is imperative to figure out if one is an approval junkie because this obsession affects more decisions than we realize.
I can’t recall a time I didn’t seek others approval. As a wee babe I needed my parent’s blessing. Then it was my grade school teachers and peer groups opinions that mattered most. It sort of mushroomed from there.
What I know now is my need for approval stems from insecurity—low self-esteem, self-image and self-worth. Living for two decades with a deadly eating disorder, and an addiction to alcohol and men, only made my need—or fear—for approval stronger.
Not surprisingly, fear of man’s approval is an attribute completely absent from Jesus’s thought process. The word “fear” has two meanings. ‘To be afraid of’ is what we normally think of. The other meaning is ‘to have a reverential awe of.’ Jesus said, “I will show you whom you should fear…” (Luke 12:5). Jesus is speaking of God the Father. Biblically, ‘to fear the Lord’ means we hold him up in reverence and with respect because he is so awesome and holy.
To ‘fear man’ can go either way. We can become so obsessed with another person that we are in reverential awe of them. Or, the other person’s opinion and approval of us is so important that we become afraid of the consequences of that person not approving of us. This first type of fear can be called idolatry. The second type of fear can be called debilitating. They are both strongholds which must be broken.
I began breaking down this stronghold by facing the fact I was an approval junkie, a.k.a. people-pleaser. God showed me that by obsessing about other people’s opinions I had a distorted view of reality.
If you look at Jesus’s life and teachings while he was on earth, he shows no adoration or fear of men, whether they be the hostile Pharisees or disciples in training. His life and message was completely God-directed. There was never a hint of compromise. He feared no human being.
Jesus zealously tells us not to fear mankind. He urges us to fear God only. We must break these behavior patterns and refuse to allow other people’s approval or disapproval dominate our thinking. The Word of God confirms:
• Those who hunger and thirst for God's approval will be blessed and satisfied (Matthew 5:6)
• We should not try to please men but God (1 Thessalonians 2:4).
• We were created for God—for his pleasure (Colossians 1:6).
God gives us his seal of approval! God “set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts...” (2 Corinthians 1:22). “You were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13). Marked with a seal suggests possession and security. This means you belong to God.
I can’t recall a time I didn’t seek others approval. As a wee babe I needed my parent’s blessing. Then it was my grade school teachers and peer groups opinions that mattered most. It sort of mushroomed from there.
What I know now is my need for approval stems from insecurity—low self-esteem, self-image and self-worth. Living for two decades with a deadly eating disorder, and an addiction to alcohol and men, only made my need—or fear—for approval stronger.
Not surprisingly, fear of man’s approval is an attribute completely absent from Jesus’s thought process. The word “fear” has two meanings. ‘To be afraid of’ is what we normally think of. The other meaning is ‘to have a reverential awe of.’ Jesus said, “I will show you whom you should fear…” (Luke 12:5). Jesus is speaking of God the Father. Biblically, ‘to fear the Lord’ means we hold him up in reverence and with respect because he is so awesome and holy.
To ‘fear man’ can go either way. We can become so obsessed with another person that we are in reverential awe of them. Or, the other person’s opinion and approval of us is so important that we become afraid of the consequences of that person not approving of us. This first type of fear can be called idolatry. The second type of fear can be called debilitating. They are both strongholds which must be broken.
I began breaking down this stronghold by facing the fact I was an approval junkie, a.k.a. people-pleaser. God showed me that by obsessing about other people’s opinions I had a distorted view of reality.
If you look at Jesus’s life and teachings while he was on earth, he shows no adoration or fear of men, whether they be the hostile Pharisees or disciples in training. His life and message was completely God-directed. There was never a hint of compromise. He feared no human being.
Jesus zealously tells us not to fear mankind. He urges us to fear God only. We must break these behavior patterns and refuse to allow other people’s approval or disapproval dominate our thinking. The Word of God confirms:
• Those who hunger and thirst for God's approval will be blessed and satisfied (Matthew 5:6)
• We should not try to please men but God (1 Thessalonians 2:4).
• We were created for God—for his pleasure (Colossians 1:6).
God gives us his seal of approval! God “set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts...” (2 Corinthians 1:22). “You were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 1:13). Marked with a seal suggests possession and security. This means you belong to God.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Show Me Your Glory
This week's blog is short but packed with reflection. I've been studying "The Message of the Living God" and am in Exodus 33. We can learn so much about God by how he treated and responded to his children, the Israelites. One (of many) verse worth reflecting on is, "The Lord replied, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." (Ex. 33:14) Another word for "rest" is peace. He is saying, "I will quiet you...dispel your anxiety." Do we give him a chance to do that, or are you like me where you run ahead of yourself stressing about this or that?
The next amazing passage is the one when Moses asks God to show himself--"show me your glory," Moses says (Ex 33:18). When God passes in front of Moses what he reveals is his personal character. Scripture says, “And the Lord said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." (Ex 33:19-20)
What God gives his people is a description of himself--not a description of how he looks but how he is. That is counter-cultural, isn’t it? God told Samuel, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7)
Take some time to really reflect on these verses, asking God to show you how they apply to your relationship with him.
The next amazing passage is the one when Moses asks God to show himself--"show me your glory," Moses says (Ex 33:18). When God passes in front of Moses what he reveals is his personal character. Scripture says, “And the Lord said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live." (Ex 33:19-20)
What God gives his people is a description of himself--not a description of how he looks but how he is. That is counter-cultural, isn’t it? God told Samuel, “The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Sam. 16:7)
Take some time to really reflect on these verses, asking God to show you how they apply to your relationship with him.
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Completely Restored
After the fourth flush I picked up the near empty bottle of Windex and then ripped off three squares from the paper towel roll and proceeded to clean up around the toilette boil. After tossing the residue of a gapping emotional wound into the garbage I went back into the living room and sat, numb and oblivious to what television program was playing. Tomorrow will be different, I promised myself. Today is the last day. Despondent, that is what I said every day for the previous fourteen years. It never was the last day…that’s what bulimia does.
“[Jesus] He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored.” (Luke 6:10, NIV)
Most often when this passage is read (Luke 6:1-11) the focus is on Jesus’s act of healing on the Sabbath and the Pharisee’s reaction. There is one verse—verse 10 which is a story unto itself. It is about a man in the crowd, a man with a shriveled or withered hand. What is interesting about this man is unlike other accounts this man did not run up to Jesus and ask to be healed. Jesus picks him out of the crowd. His motive is to show the Pharisee’s his divine power. He wants to create a stage for himself in front of these unbelieving and conniving Pharisees. Jesus singles out this one man—a recipient of his love, grace and mercy and says, "Stretch out your hand."
Maybe we don’t have a shriveled hand or an eating disorder that needs repair, but we all have our fallen nature—our pride and selfishness that we need to give him. Falleness is all we have. In his mercy Jesus he asks us to give it all to him. Scripture then says this man’s hand was completely restored. God did completely restore me from a deadly eating disorder and from binge drinking—yes completely. Although we’ll never be entirely rid of our sin nature here on earth if we give it to Jesus everyday he can shrink it considerably. We will be completely restored from sin when we get to heaven!
Give him your withered hand and let his strength be demonstrated in your weakness. It’s the only way he can show an unbelieving world his power. “We seek thy face, turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory. Then shall our longing be satisfied, and our peace shall be perfect” (Saint Augustine).
“[Jesus] He looked around at them all, and then said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He did so, and his hand was completely restored.” (Luke 6:10, NIV)
Most often when this passage is read (Luke 6:1-11) the focus is on Jesus’s act of healing on the Sabbath and the Pharisee’s reaction. There is one verse—verse 10 which is a story unto itself. It is about a man in the crowd, a man with a shriveled or withered hand. What is interesting about this man is unlike other accounts this man did not run up to Jesus and ask to be healed. Jesus picks him out of the crowd. His motive is to show the Pharisee’s his divine power. He wants to create a stage for himself in front of these unbelieving and conniving Pharisees. Jesus singles out this one man—a recipient of his love, grace and mercy and says, "Stretch out your hand."
Maybe we don’t have a shriveled hand or an eating disorder that needs repair, but we all have our fallen nature—our pride and selfishness that we need to give him. Falleness is all we have. In his mercy Jesus he asks us to give it all to him. Scripture then says this man’s hand was completely restored. God did completely restore me from a deadly eating disorder and from binge drinking—yes completely. Although we’ll never be entirely rid of our sin nature here on earth if we give it to Jesus everyday he can shrink it considerably. We will be completely restored from sin when we get to heaven!
Give him your withered hand and let his strength be demonstrated in your weakness. It’s the only way he can show an unbelieving world his power. “We seek thy face, turn thy face unto us and show us thy glory. Then shall our longing be satisfied, and our peace shall be perfect” (Saint Augustine).
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Your Creative Purpose
One of my favorite programs is the Science Channel’s “How the Universe Works.” When the entire universe is mapped out in front of you [in this case on the TV screen], you realize we are insignificant creatures on a minor planet of a very average star in the outer suburbs of one of a 100,000-million galaxies. That explains why it is so hard for some people to believe that God Almighty, creator of the universe would care about us or even notice that we exist.
It is interesting that the psalmist who wrote Psalm 8, knew far less about creation than modern scientists do today, but he knew far more about God than we seem too. He wrote,
“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! [Psalms 8:1; 3-9]”
The psalmist knew creation was big even if he didn’t know how really big. He asked,
“What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” He got it—that we were created for a unique, personal and eternal relationship with God. It is this purpose and destiny that sets us apart from the rest of creation. Human beings alone are stamped in the image of God (Genesis 1:26).
Because man is made in God’s image, we are the only creatures on earth that can choose how to use our gifts and creative power—not only to create new life, but also to shape the world according to God’s purpose. God calls us to use this gift to build and not destroy. Are you aware of God’s gift to you and the responsibility to use it wisely?
Human beings are uniquely addressed by God (Genesis 1:28) and called into a personal relationship with him. We were made to know God (Genesis 2). Human beings alone are addressed by God through special revelation which is a fancy theological term for “the message of Scripture.” God is speaking to us through the Holy Bible. The message of the gospel is that God has made himself known—not vaguely—but specifically in words of his choice to his chosen people. As we study the Scriptures we encounter the God Almighty, the Creator of the universe, who reveals himself using human terms.
The Scriptures teach us God is a personal being who is speaking to us. But do we choose to listen—to respond? Do we choose to open the Scriptures daily to hear from God? In our prayer time do we listen and ponder, or do we tell God what to do? Or do we let the busyness of our hectic lives take priority? BTW, “BUSY” stands for “Being Under Satan’s Yolk.”
It can be a challenge to find daily quality time to be alone with God, but it can be done! It’s our pride--with a little help from the devil that says we can come to know God without opening up his word. You say, “that’s not me.” Do you realize we could spend our entire lives reading, studying and even memorizing Scripture, but if the words and truths do not penetrate our hearts and convict us to change the way we think, act and live, it is of no real benefit to us? God asks us examine, comprehend and apply! In that process we will get to know our Creator on a more personal level and see the innate value we, and other human beings, truly have.
It is interesting that the psalmist who wrote Psalm 8, knew far less about creation than modern scientists do today, but he knew far more about God than we seem too. He wrote,
“O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! [Psalms 8:1; 3-9]”
The psalmist knew creation was big even if he didn’t know how really big. He asked,
“What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” He got it—that we were created for a unique, personal and eternal relationship with God. It is this purpose and destiny that sets us apart from the rest of creation. Human beings alone are stamped in the image of God (Genesis 1:26).
Because man is made in God’s image, we are the only creatures on earth that can choose how to use our gifts and creative power—not only to create new life, but also to shape the world according to God’s purpose. God calls us to use this gift to build and not destroy. Are you aware of God’s gift to you and the responsibility to use it wisely?
Human beings are uniquely addressed by God (Genesis 1:28) and called into a personal relationship with him. We were made to know God (Genesis 2). Human beings alone are addressed by God through special revelation which is a fancy theological term for “the message of Scripture.” God is speaking to us through the Holy Bible. The message of the gospel is that God has made himself known—not vaguely—but specifically in words of his choice to his chosen people. As we study the Scriptures we encounter the God Almighty, the Creator of the universe, who reveals himself using human terms.
The Scriptures teach us God is a personal being who is speaking to us. But do we choose to listen—to respond? Do we choose to open the Scriptures daily to hear from God? In our prayer time do we listen and ponder, or do we tell God what to do? Or do we let the busyness of our hectic lives take priority? BTW, “BUSY” stands for “Being Under Satan’s Yolk.”
It can be a challenge to find daily quality time to be alone with God, but it can be done! It’s our pride--with a little help from the devil that says we can come to know God without opening up his word. You say, “that’s not me.” Do you realize we could spend our entire lives reading, studying and even memorizing Scripture, but if the words and truths do not penetrate our hearts and convict us to change the way we think, act and live, it is of no real benefit to us? God asks us examine, comprehend and apply! In that process we will get to know our Creator on a more personal level and see the innate value we, and other human beings, truly have.
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Forgiven and Set Free!
God allows me the privilege of coming alongside some pretty incredible women as they venture on some very difficult but rewarding healing journeys. One such woman is Jen who has struggled with an eating disorder for many years. She has had many breakthroughs but we want to share this one with you—it is a testimony to our healing God. Jen said:
I have been forgiven, cleansed and freed from the eating disorder life that I lived for many years!! What a concept, what a freer feeling...what a GIFT from the Heavens above! When Jesus died on the Cross, He died for all my past sins, current sins and the sins He knows I will commit. He takes my sinful ways and washes my soul clean from all the "earthly/eating disorder" behaviors that I have fallen into. He has granted me the gift of living free from obsessions, compulsions and negative thinking!
Yesterday, God was speaking to me about "no eating disorder" and that was really sitting in my head. And in my heart, I do think that He used Mary [her therapist] to "speak" to me and tell me that I AM free from the eating disorder, that He has forgiven me for all the years I spent in that hellish life. He is giving me a new life and I am becoming a new woman!
I do believe that Jesus knows how hard it is to change behaviors and old, ingrained beliefs. He provides me strength and courage to step out and away from the old "ways" and to face the fears and move into my new life!
My biggest realization is that I AM free from the disorder and I am free becuz Jesus already paid for those sins! I can rest in the truth of that and live my life as a free woman in Christ!
~~~
I rejoice with Jen and the millions of others, including myself, who have been set free from their own personal hell. Praise God!
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).
I have been forgiven, cleansed and freed from the eating disorder life that I lived for many years!! What a concept, what a freer feeling...what a GIFT from the Heavens above! When Jesus died on the Cross, He died for all my past sins, current sins and the sins He knows I will commit. He takes my sinful ways and washes my soul clean from all the "earthly/eating disorder" behaviors that I have fallen into. He has granted me the gift of living free from obsessions, compulsions and negative thinking!
Yesterday, God was speaking to me about "no eating disorder" and that was really sitting in my head. And in my heart, I do think that He used Mary [her therapist] to "speak" to me and tell me that I AM free from the eating disorder, that He has forgiven me for all the years I spent in that hellish life. He is giving me a new life and I am becoming a new woman!
I do believe that Jesus knows how hard it is to change behaviors and old, ingrained beliefs. He provides me strength and courage to step out and away from the old "ways" and to face the fears and move into my new life!
My biggest realization is that I AM free from the disorder and I am free becuz Jesus already paid for those sins! I can rest in the truth of that and live my life as a free woman in Christ!
~~~
I rejoice with Jen and the millions of others, including myself, who have been set free from their own personal hell. Praise God!
“Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5).
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Perfection and Greatness
What do you think defines an authentic life? What if I said it was to be perfect and be really great. Jesus did say we are to be perfect just as our heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48). Taken out of context, we may have been taught that in order to be like Jesus we must be painstakingly competent and faultless in order to be considered by God, and ourselves, as valuable. This is another one of those deadly lies. No one can be perfect. How then do we interpret Matthew 5:48, “be perfect”?
The word “perfect” is the Greek word teleios, which means “mature, fully developed.” Jesus did not expect his followers to become morally perfect or flawless in this life. He is speaking of the kind of love that is like God’s love—mature, complete, holy, full of blessing. His Word says if I don’t have love, then I am nothing. God spells success L-O-V-E.
We will never feel competent, fulfilled, or completely worthy if we are not in a love relationship with Jesus Christ and other authentic people. To be perfect is to follow in Jesus’s footsteps, and to seek and work to love others as wholeheartedly as God loves us—and show that love to those who don’t return it. If we truly know God as our Father, friend, and Savior, then we love, because he is love.
Mother Teresa said, “Give of your hands to serve and your hearts to love.” Doing so is a process and an instantaneous experience. The gospel of transformation calls us to evolve from obsessing and lusting over celebrities, and seeking what others have, to developing a heart that generates compassion and respect for others. It becomes our purpose for living (see Matthew 22:37-39).
The word “perfect” is the Greek word teleios, which means “mature, fully developed.” Jesus did not expect his followers to become morally perfect or flawless in this life. He is speaking of the kind of love that is like God’s love—mature, complete, holy, full of blessing. His Word says if I don’t have love, then I am nothing. God spells success L-O-V-E.
We will never feel competent, fulfilled, or completely worthy if we are not in a love relationship with Jesus Christ and other authentic people. To be perfect is to follow in Jesus’s footsteps, and to seek and work to love others as wholeheartedly as God loves us—and show that love to those who don’t return it. If we truly know God as our Father, friend, and Savior, then we love, because he is love.
Mother Teresa said, “Give of your hands to serve and your hearts to love.” Doing so is a process and an instantaneous experience. The gospel of transformation calls us to evolve from obsessing and lusting over celebrities, and seeking what others have, to developing a heart that generates compassion and respect for others. It becomes our purpose for living (see Matthew 22:37-39).
Friday, April 1, 2011
I want a different face!
Many love the comedic comic character Maxine because she’s got a pulse on this culture and tells it like it is: “What’s new with you? Your boobs, your tush or your face?” We laugh yet reports indicate that the widespread availability of plastic surgery and the pervasive influence of reality shows focused on surgical makeovers are having a profound effect on the self-worth of young people, especially girls.
In her quest for a better body image, twenty-three-year-old reality star Heidi Montag unveiled on MTV’s The Hills’ sixth season premiere the effect of plastic surgery addiction. Obsessed with perfect, Heidi had ten procedures done on one day, all in an effort to convert herself into a real, live Barbie doll. This story crowded the Obamas off the cover of People magazine.
No doubt this type of programming encourages young viewers to pursue cosmetic surgery. More young people are considering cosmetic procedures to fulfill their dreams because most media coverage about plastic surgery is very flattering. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the most common procedure performed on people eighteen and younger was rhinoplasty (a nose job), but liposuction procedures and breast augmentations have greatly increased.
Society worships the physical body more than the soul. Scripture says that God has put a sense of eternity in people's minds. “Yet, mortals still can't grasp what God is doing from the beginning to the end of time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, God’s Word). I believe the amount of emotion and energy poured into desiring plastic surgery is a way that person is tempting to fill that soul-hole which can only be filled by God. [Often counseling, encouragement and some lessons in makeup and beauty is all a person needs.]
The Bible says, “It's your life that must change, not your skin… What counts is your life” (Luke 3:8-9, MSG). Many psychologists say it's a myth that how you feel about yourself is related to how you actually look. Our value does not rest in looking a particular way. Celebrate every scar, every birthmark, and every flaw because each of them tells a piece of the story of who you are.
In her quest for a better body image, twenty-three-year-old reality star Heidi Montag unveiled on MTV’s The Hills’ sixth season premiere the effect of plastic surgery addiction. Obsessed with perfect, Heidi had ten procedures done on one day, all in an effort to convert herself into a real, live Barbie doll. This story crowded the Obamas off the cover of People magazine.
No doubt this type of programming encourages young viewers to pursue cosmetic surgery. More young people are considering cosmetic procedures to fulfill their dreams because most media coverage about plastic surgery is very flattering. According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, the most common procedure performed on people eighteen and younger was rhinoplasty (a nose job), but liposuction procedures and breast augmentations have greatly increased.
Society worships the physical body more than the soul. Scripture says that God has put a sense of eternity in people's minds. “Yet, mortals still can't grasp what God is doing from the beginning to the end of time” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, God’s Word). I believe the amount of emotion and energy poured into desiring plastic surgery is a way that person is tempting to fill that soul-hole which can only be filled by God. [Often counseling, encouragement and some lessons in makeup and beauty is all a person needs.]
The Bible says, “It's your life that must change, not your skin… What counts is your life” (Luke 3:8-9, MSG). Many psychologists say it's a myth that how you feel about yourself is related to how you actually look. Our value does not rest in looking a particular way. Celebrate every scar, every birthmark, and every flaw because each of them tells a piece of the story of who you are.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Is it faith or fear?
We each have two important groups of mindsets: positive faith-based emotions and negative fear-based emotions. Faith and fear are not just emotions, but spiritual forces with chemical and electrical representation that move from the brain throughout the body. They directly impact bodily function. However, there is a difference between the emotion of fear and the spirit of fear. Emotional fear is God-given. Spiritual fear is from Satan.
Positive fear keeps you alive. It motivates you to buy home insurance (fear of fire), to follow the law (fear of prison), or to obey (fear of discipline). We fear God: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). To fear the Lord means we hold him in reverence with respect and in awe. Scripture says, “God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him” (Ps. 89:7).
Negative emotions evolve out of fear and are from the enemy. Fear stands for: False Evidence Appearing Real. Our greatest crises come from a spirit of fear. We’re afraid of failing, afraid of being alone or rejected, afraid of running out of money, afraid someone will let us down,; afraid that we won’t find a husband or a job.
When you live in a constant state of anxiety or fear, most of life passes you by because you are physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually unable to focus on anything else. You lose all ability to concentrate and, therefore, are unable to ingest truth. The truth about fear is it is rooted in the belief that God’s Word won’t work.
Spiritual fear is an awful motivator. It’s like a vicious dog chasing us until we are either too exhausted to go on or we get stuck up a tree. Fear attacks your mind: You are not pleasing to God, Your mom won’t love you if you fail, If you don’t do this[…] then you will be punished. Worst of all, fear misdirects our thinking to ourselves rather than toward Jesus. It can destroy you.
Nothing should cause you to fear. There is nothing so deeply imbedded in your heart or mind that God’s grace cannot reach down and remove it. One woman said God never answered the whys of her fear. He pointed her to his personal Word, that he, “did not give us a spirit of timidity [of cowardice and fear], but [has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:7, AMP). We are from God, and therefore have overcome any demonic spirits because Jesus, who is in us, is greater than Satan (1 John 4:4). We remind the devil of what God says and stand firm.
Faith, on the other hand, is like a cool breeze on a hot day, refreshing us and giving us the strength to continue on our journey. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1). It’s a gift from God and the essence of our soul. Faith shouts back to fear, using God’s Word.
God says, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine” (Isa. 43:1). Faith shouts back to Satan, “I am not going to […] because I’m God’s daughter!” There is no area in your life so painful, no offense so heinous, that God’s love cannot enable you to break down mindholds of fear, anxiety, or worry.
Reflect: Consider God’s track record. God has done all that he has promised.
The writer of Hebrews wrote, “God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline (Heb. 6:18-19, Msg.)
Fear leaves when you can rely on something that can’t fail. There are over one thousand predictions or prophecies in the Bible. None of these promises have failed. Read 1 Kings 8:56 and ask yourself: Do I fear change? Am I willing to allow God do what ever is necessary in order to free me?
[This is an excerpt from Breaking the Cover Girl Mask by Kimberly Davidson]
Positive fear keeps you alive. It motivates you to buy home insurance (fear of fire), to follow the law (fear of prison), or to obey (fear of discipline). We fear God: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov. 1:7). To fear the Lord means we hold him in reverence with respect and in awe. Scripture says, “God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him” (Ps. 89:7).
Negative emotions evolve out of fear and are from the enemy. Fear stands for: False Evidence Appearing Real. Our greatest crises come from a spirit of fear. We’re afraid of failing, afraid of being alone or rejected, afraid of running out of money, afraid someone will let us down,; afraid that we won’t find a husband or a job.
When you live in a constant state of anxiety or fear, most of life passes you by because you are physically, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually unable to focus on anything else. You lose all ability to concentrate and, therefore, are unable to ingest truth. The truth about fear is it is rooted in the belief that God’s Word won’t work.
Spiritual fear is an awful motivator. It’s like a vicious dog chasing us until we are either too exhausted to go on or we get stuck up a tree. Fear attacks your mind: You are not pleasing to God, Your mom won’t love you if you fail, If you don’t do this[…] then you will be punished. Worst of all, fear misdirects our thinking to ourselves rather than toward Jesus. It can destroy you.
Nothing should cause you to fear. There is nothing so deeply imbedded in your heart or mind that God’s grace cannot reach down and remove it. One woman said God never answered the whys of her fear. He pointed her to his personal Word, that he, “did not give us a spirit of timidity [of cowardice and fear], but [has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control” (2 Tim. 1:7, AMP). We are from God, and therefore have overcome any demonic spirits because Jesus, who is in us, is greater than Satan (1 John 4:4). We remind the devil of what God says and stand firm.
Faith, on the other hand, is like a cool breeze on a hot day, refreshing us and giving us the strength to continue on our journey. “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Heb. 11:1). It’s a gift from God and the essence of our soul. Faith shouts back to fear, using God’s Word.
God says, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine” (Isa. 43:1). Faith shouts back to Satan, “I am not going to […] because I’m God’s daughter!” There is no area in your life so painful, no offense so heinous, that God’s love cannot enable you to break down mindholds of fear, anxiety, or worry.
Reflect: Consider God’s track record. God has done all that he has promised.
The writer of Hebrews wrote, “God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline (Heb. 6:18-19, Msg.)
Fear leaves when you can rely on something that can’t fail. There are over one thousand predictions or prophecies in the Bible. None of these promises have failed. Read 1 Kings 8:56 and ask yourself: Do I fear change? Am I willing to allow God do what ever is necessary in order to free me?
[This is an excerpt from Breaking the Cover Girl Mask by Kimberly Davidson]
Friday, March 11, 2011
I'm Beautiful! I Can See It!
One of the greatest joys of ministry is hearing from you and from the women who read my books. Every communication and testimony inspires me and I know will inspire you, especially if you struggling with an eating disorder and don't know what the next step should be. I received this email from Jen who just began I'm Beautiful? Why Can't I See It? This is not a promotion for the book, but rather a testimony to God's love, goodness and redemptive healing power working through other people.
Here is Jen's story...as of today!
I have received your book now and have read through Day 1 and 2 with my husband. He is very willing to work through this with me becuz I don't want to do it alone. I actually felt the eating disorder behavior "urges" come up stronger just by getting the book out of the mailbox! Of course, the enemy, satan, doesn't want me to dive into anything helpful or beneficial to my life!! Letting the anxiety go, I started reading and I'm so glad I did!!
I also have just found a therapist who is going to be working on the "root causes" of the eating disorder with me and Erin (my husband). They go way back to my childhood. After 2 appts w/ her, as scared as I am to go "deep" into myself, this is a right decision for me.
I know I am heading down a good path with you and your book, along with my new therapist! God has shown me that this is where I need to go into now, and the one big thing I am finding out, is that God does love me and has a great plan for me!
I have always believed in God and Jesus, altho growing up, we did not talk about the Bible to often nor did we ever pray outloud or together. So now today, in my adulthood, I am learning like a child in Sunday School, about the love of Christ and the relationship that He desires to have with me!
I am learning today that God has designed me in a creative way to be "me" and I am working hard to accept that His design for my body and my life IS the way I will be. I cannot "force or manipulate" myself into something other than what God intends me to be!
This week, I have learned to ASK God for things and not just "expect" Him to be there supplying me strength when I get tired and weak. When I ask for things, God WILL answer, it may not be right away or on my time frame, but he will respond to me!
Thinking and acknowledging that God KNOWS ALL about me, is kind of scary becuz I haven't really ever liked myself to well and it brings up feelings of shame inside of me for things that have happened to me and for trying to "hide" from Him. The things I try to hide, is my fear about knowing all about my body and loving it for what it is. I try to hide some of the disorder behaviors I use each day, and try to slide them off as "it's just me" when I am consumed by exercise or scared to eat something out of the "safe" list. The other thing I try to hide, is the fact that I need a relationship with my myself, my husband, kids and friends! I am apprehensive about getting to close to others, even my own wonderful family!
Now, having said those few things, I honestly can say for the first time in this healing process, that I want a relationship with Jesus & God!!! As much fear as I have to trust God and my support, I am going to work through this!
Here is Jen's story...as of today!
I have received your book now and have read through Day 1 and 2 with my husband. He is very willing to work through this with me becuz I don't want to do it alone. I actually felt the eating disorder behavior "urges" come up stronger just by getting the book out of the mailbox! Of course, the enemy, satan, doesn't want me to dive into anything helpful or beneficial to my life!! Letting the anxiety go, I started reading and I'm so glad I did!!
I also have just found a therapist who is going to be working on the "root causes" of the eating disorder with me and Erin (my husband). They go way back to my childhood. After 2 appts w/ her, as scared as I am to go "deep" into myself, this is a right decision for me.
I know I am heading down a good path with you and your book, along with my new therapist! God has shown me that this is where I need to go into now, and the one big thing I am finding out, is that God does love me and has a great plan for me!
I have always believed in God and Jesus, altho growing up, we did not talk about the Bible to often nor did we ever pray outloud or together. So now today, in my adulthood, I am learning like a child in Sunday School, about the love of Christ and the relationship that He desires to have with me!
I am learning today that God has designed me in a creative way to be "me" and I am working hard to accept that His design for my body and my life IS the way I will be. I cannot "force or manipulate" myself into something other than what God intends me to be!
This week, I have learned to ASK God for things and not just "expect" Him to be there supplying me strength when I get tired and weak. When I ask for things, God WILL answer, it may not be right away or on my time frame, but he will respond to me!
Thinking and acknowledging that God KNOWS ALL about me, is kind of scary becuz I haven't really ever liked myself to well and it brings up feelings of shame inside of me for things that have happened to me and for trying to "hide" from Him. The things I try to hide, is my fear about knowing all about my body and loving it for what it is. I try to hide some of the disorder behaviors I use each day, and try to slide them off as "it's just me" when I am consumed by exercise or scared to eat something out of the "safe" list. The other thing I try to hide, is the fact that I need a relationship with my myself, my husband, kids and friends! I am apprehensive about getting to close to others, even my own wonderful family!
Now, having said those few things, I honestly can say for the first time in this healing process, that I want a relationship with Jesus & God!!! As much fear as I have to trust God and my support, I am going to work through this!
Saturday, March 5, 2011
The Living Glove
It sounds like an impossible task—to imitate the Jesus Christ, whether you are an adult or a teen. It is unattainable in our own strength. It is only possible when we receive God’s grace. God can do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). The best artist isn’t discouraged. She may not be a Van Gogh—and knows she’s not a Van Gogh—but she does her very best to paint a picture of excellence. Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37).
Like a hand fit into a glove, believers are supposed to be the glove. Jesus is the hand. People see us. They see our fingers and hand move. They observe our impact. When they shake our gloved hands, they feel the warmth of the hand, of Jesus. The only way they can see Jesus is through the glove.
Through the work and example of Jesus Christ, God gives us what we need to be extraordinary in our particular areas of life. He promises to instruct, counsel and teach us, all the while watching over us (Psalm 32:8). The purpose of getting to know Jesus intimately is not merely to model his behaviors. We want to experience Jesus—his love, his touch, his joy—and then release it! Then we live life freely and fully—authentically.
If we claim to be a Christian to the rest of the world, we are in their eyes expected to be a striking likeness and picture of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, most of us who claim to be Christians are not living a life that imitates Jesus very well. Many disciples believe they are above the Master. One well-respected pastor said that if we Christians are indistinguishable from non-Christians, then we are useless.
Like a hand fit into a glove, believers are supposed to be the glove. Jesus is the hand. People see us. They see our fingers and hand move. They observe our impact. When they shake our gloved hands, they feel the warmth of the hand, of Jesus. The only way they can see Jesus is through the glove.
Through the work and example of Jesus Christ, God gives us what we need to be extraordinary in our particular areas of life. He promises to instruct, counsel and teach us, all the while watching over us (Psalm 32:8). The purpose of getting to know Jesus intimately is not merely to model his behaviors. We want to experience Jesus—his love, his touch, his joy—and then release it! Then we live life freely and fully—authentically.
If we claim to be a Christian to the rest of the world, we are in their eyes expected to be a striking likeness and picture of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, most of us who claim to be Christians are not living a life that imitates Jesus very well. Many disciples believe they are above the Master. One well-respected pastor said that if we Christians are indistinguishable from non-Christians, then we are useless.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
A Woman of Destiny
It’s not the years in your life that count, it’s the life in your years. ~ Abraham Lincoln
God says to you, “I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, TLB).
You are a woman of destiny! What does that mean to you?
Dictionary says destiny is “the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events; the power or agency that determines the course of events.”
As Christians we know that power comes from God. Psalms 139:16 (TLB): “You [God] saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!” Yet, far too many Christian women don’t believe these promises apply to them.
There may have been a number of people, over the course of your life time that have killed your hopes and dreams. That is the enemy’s modem operandi. Jesus said that Satan “comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” He then said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). While Satan has been scheming to destroy your life with lies and abuse, God has been methodically laying out his plan.
"Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before" (James Buckham). If you believe that God Almighty is in control, then your situation is not out of control.
God says to you, “I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11, TLB).
You are a woman of destiny! What does that mean to you?
Dictionary says destiny is “the predetermined, usually inevitable or irresistible, course of events; the power or agency that determines the course of events.”
As Christians we know that power comes from God. Psalms 139:16 (TLB): “You [God] saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book!” Yet, far too many Christian women don’t believe these promises apply to them.
There may have been a number of people, over the course of your life time that have killed your hopes and dreams. That is the enemy’s modem operandi. Jesus said that Satan “comes only to steal and kill and destroy.” He then said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). While Satan has been scheming to destroy your life with lies and abuse, God has been methodically laying out his plan.
"Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before" (James Buckham). If you believe that God Almighty is in control, then your situation is not out of control.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Expressing Boundaries
Is important we learn to say "No." One of the reasons that many of us find it so difficult to say no to people is that we genuinely don't desire to hurt anyone's feelings or have them upset with us. Therefore, we've learned to please, to placate, and to pretend so that we don't make waves. In addition, many of us have been taught that as Christians we should go the extra mile, do more, submit to authority, and always think of others before we think of ourselves. Therefore, whenever we do say no, we feel guilty.
Yet the Bible tells stories of people who chose to say "No." Earlier in Jewish history we find two midwives who said "No." They refused to obey the Pharaoh's orders to murder Hebrew babies (Exodus 1:17). Queen Vashti, Queen Esther's predecessor, refused to allow herself to be treated as a sexual object for her husband's drunken friends to ogle. When her husband ordered her to parade herself before them, she said "No."
Ask God to give you the courage to say "No" when necessary for your good, for another person's good, or for His purposes and glory!
Yet the Bible tells stories of people who chose to say "No." Earlier in Jewish history we find two midwives who said "No." They refused to obey the Pharaoh's orders to murder Hebrew babies (Exodus 1:17). Queen Vashti, Queen Esther's predecessor, refused to allow herself to be treated as a sexual object for her husband's drunken friends to ogle. When her husband ordered her to parade herself before them, she said "No."
Ask God to give you the courage to say "No" when necessary for your good, for another person's good, or for His purposes and glory!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
What is Radiant Beauty?
Jesus said: “I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me” (Acts 26:17-18).
I tell teens and women with negative body image that when a person follows Jesus she receives a special inner beauty that is reflected in her outward appearance. People may not know why she’s beautiful. In fact, some may say, “She’s not what we call a beauty (by our cultural standards), but there is something about her…some sort of radiant, spiritual beauty.”
The darkness of evil has not, nor will ever, extinguish the light that comes from Almighty God. Jesus is the Creator of life, and His life brings light to us. When we follow Jesus, the true Light, we can avoid walking blindly and falling into temptation and sin. He lights the path ahead of us so we can see how we should live. When I allow Jesus to shine in my life, He guides me and I need not fear stumbling in the dark.
Whenever we run, God is there—to express His love for us and reveal His purpose for our life. David articulates: “If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” (Ps. 139:11-12).
In what ways have you allowed the light of Jesus to shine in your life?
I tell teens and women with negative body image that when a person follows Jesus she receives a special inner beauty that is reflected in her outward appearance. People may not know why she’s beautiful. In fact, some may say, “She’s not what we call a beauty (by our cultural standards), but there is something about her…some sort of radiant, spiritual beauty.”
The darkness of evil has not, nor will ever, extinguish the light that comes from Almighty God. Jesus is the Creator of life, and His life brings light to us. When we follow Jesus, the true Light, we can avoid walking blindly and falling into temptation and sin. He lights the path ahead of us so we can see how we should live. When I allow Jesus to shine in my life, He guides me and I need not fear stumbling in the dark.
Whenever we run, God is there—to express His love for us and reveal His purpose for our life. David articulates: “If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me," even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you” (Ps. 139:11-12).
In what ways have you allowed the light of Jesus to shine in your life?
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Are You a Carrot, An Egg, or a Coffee Bean?
By Anonymous ~
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked. "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity—boiling water—but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.
If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another lever?
How do you handle Adversity? Are you a Carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean.
~ ~
We can be a coffee bean -- through the power of the Holy Spirit.
A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.
Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see?"
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.
She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.
The daughter then asked. "What does it mean, mother?"
Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity—boiling water—but each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.
The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.
The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.
"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"
Think of this: Which am I? Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength?
Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?
Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.
If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another lever?
How do you handle Adversity? Are you a Carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean.
~ ~
We can be a coffee bean -- through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Friday, January 21, 2011
An Image to Die For
In junior high school, I created collages of supermodels from magazines and pasted them all over my bedroom walls. Although my intention was merely to express myself and my aspirations, all these images did were create emotions of discontent and dissatisfaction with my own body and self-image.
Clare Boothe Luce, author and diplomat, said, “Advertising has done more to cause the social unrest of the twentieth century than any other single factors.” The American Psychological Association states, “The proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media is harming girls’ self-image and healthy development.”
Body image is one of the greatest pressures on our minds. Teens, in particular, are extremely susceptible to media images and celebrity diet stories. We persistently see celebrity’s improving their body images. Many learn quickly that the way to be popular and loved is through the sculpting of their body. Sadly, in the search for acceptance and the body beautiful, it becomes an obsession.
According to the National Eating Disorders Association, 51 percent of nine and ten-year-old girls feel better about themselves when they are dieting. By the age of thirteen, 53 percent of girls are unhappy with their body image. And by the age of seventeen, this figure jumps up to 78 percent. And this author, a baby boomer, feels the same way, as most of my female friends do. Experts warn if we don't do something about the demands, the consequences will be devastating.
Jesus took onto himself every one of our faults, each imperfection—all our sin. As a result a space was created—a hole in our soul, that “something,” which can only be filled by him. God created us in such a way that only those who seek Jesus will be filled. We will never be filled by following celebrities or pop culture.
Clare Boothe Luce, author and diplomat, said, “Advertising has done more to cause the social unrest of the twentieth century than any other single factors.” The American Psychological Association states, “The proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandising, and media is harming girls’ self-image and healthy development.”
Body image is one of the greatest pressures on our minds. Teens, in particular, are extremely susceptible to media images and celebrity diet stories. We persistently see celebrity’s improving their body images. Many learn quickly that the way to be popular and loved is through the sculpting of their body. Sadly, in the search for acceptance and the body beautiful, it becomes an obsession.
According to the National Eating Disorders Association, 51 percent of nine and ten-year-old girls feel better about themselves when they are dieting. By the age of thirteen, 53 percent of girls are unhappy with their body image. And by the age of seventeen, this figure jumps up to 78 percent. And this author, a baby boomer, feels the same way, as most of my female friends do. Experts warn if we don't do something about the demands, the consequences will be devastating.
Jesus took onto himself every one of our faults, each imperfection—all our sin. As a result a space was created—a hole in our soul, that “something,” which can only be filled by him. God created us in such a way that only those who seek Jesus will be filled. We will never be filled by following celebrities or pop culture.
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The Mind of Jesus Christ
If you are around my age you no doubt remember the hugely popular 1970’s TV show The Six Million Dollar Man. Steve Austin was the world's first bionic man. Soon after, a female Bionic Woman series debuted. Then it was The Terminator (1980’s), which also featured a buffed out female cohort. The fans couldn’t get enough. The sequels evolved into a franchise. Every decade produces it’s own superheroes and superheroines.
It’s easy to get lost in the pop cultures fantasies. The fact is, for Christians, we get something much more spectacular. God offers us something more valuable than all super human abilities put together. He gives his children the ability to have the mind of Christ. No lie! (1 Corinthians 2:16).
When you have the mind of Christ, your thought life doesn’t hurt you because we are no longer slaves to our darker tendencies. Instead of toxic and deceptive thoughts orchestrating negative and destructive actions, our thoughts can be purified—if we make a commitment to work with God. Negative thoughts can be discarded. The result—we are strengthened and healed. Then we are most apt to imitate the Master.
God equips us to make godly decisions. If it doesn’t fit who you are, a child of the Most High God, reject that thought.
Your position is secure in Christ. Therefore, respond accordingly. When hit with a tempting or impure thought reject it. Say: “That thought or action no longer fits who I am! God tells me to put this thought to death—die ugly, deadly thought!”
Paul knew that life was hard, but he also counseled people not to dwell on the negative. The road block of God says: “Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about” (Philippians 4:8, TLB).
If you know that when you open a magazine full of expensively dressed, skinny, beautiful women that it will be a temptation to imitate them or feel bad about yourself, throw the magazine away. Find something else, something pure, to grab your attention.
When that tabloid calls out, Buy me! I‘ve got such juicy gossip for you! choose to put up a road block. Buy a wholesome, godly type of magazine or nothing. Now you’re beginning to create a new, and soon well worn, track. When I’m told a co-worker needs a ride home, I don’t hide because it’s inconvenient to go out of my way, I offer to drive her, creating a new track.
“Think on.” It’s your choice, but it is also a command of God; we disobey it at the risk of disaster. We can choose to lower ourselves to the world’s standard, or put that tempting or lustful or greedy or prideful thought to death. It is work! We choose to put these things to death because they don’t fit who we are. We choose freedom so we can be real authentic ourselves.
It’s okay to admit you have a long way to go. I do too! Most of us struggle with petty sins, jealousy, pride, and toxic thinking. When we lay these mindsets down and put on Christ’s mind, we are able to enjoy a new dimension of happiness very few ever find in this world. True!
What mindsets and ruts are you setting by the convictions you choose to follow? The Bible says to “keep a close watch on all you do and think. Stay true to what is right and God will bless you and use you to help others” (1 Timothy 4:16, TLB). Don’t get discouraged if you are finding this difficult. It doesn’t come natural to most of us.
It’s easy to get lost in the pop cultures fantasies. The fact is, for Christians, we get something much more spectacular. God offers us something more valuable than all super human abilities put together. He gives his children the ability to have the mind of Christ. No lie! (1 Corinthians 2:16).
When you have the mind of Christ, your thought life doesn’t hurt you because we are no longer slaves to our darker tendencies. Instead of toxic and deceptive thoughts orchestrating negative and destructive actions, our thoughts can be purified—if we make a commitment to work with God. Negative thoughts can be discarded. The result—we are strengthened and healed. Then we are most apt to imitate the Master.
God equips us to make godly decisions. If it doesn’t fit who you are, a child of the Most High God, reject that thought.
Your position is secure in Christ. Therefore, respond accordingly. When hit with a tempting or impure thought reject it. Say: “That thought or action no longer fits who I am! God tells me to put this thought to death—die ugly, deadly thought!”
Paul knew that life was hard, but he also counseled people not to dwell on the negative. The road block of God says: “Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about” (Philippians 4:8, TLB).
If you know that when you open a magazine full of expensively dressed, skinny, beautiful women that it will be a temptation to imitate them or feel bad about yourself, throw the magazine away. Find something else, something pure, to grab your attention.
When that tabloid calls out, Buy me! I‘ve got such juicy gossip for you! choose to put up a road block. Buy a wholesome, godly type of magazine or nothing. Now you’re beginning to create a new, and soon well worn, track. When I’m told a co-worker needs a ride home, I don’t hide because it’s inconvenient to go out of my way, I offer to drive her, creating a new track.
“Think on.” It’s your choice, but it is also a command of God; we disobey it at the risk of disaster. We can choose to lower ourselves to the world’s standard, or put that tempting or lustful or greedy or prideful thought to death. It is work! We choose to put these things to death because they don’t fit who we are. We choose freedom so we can be real authentic ourselves.
It’s okay to admit you have a long way to go. I do too! Most of us struggle with petty sins, jealousy, pride, and toxic thinking. When we lay these mindsets down and put on Christ’s mind, we are able to enjoy a new dimension of happiness very few ever find in this world. True!
What mindsets and ruts are you setting by the convictions you choose to follow? The Bible says to “keep a close watch on all you do and think. Stay true to what is right and God will bless you and use you to help others” (1 Timothy 4:16, TLB). Don’t get discouraged if you are finding this difficult. It doesn’t come natural to most of us.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Dying to Lies and Illusions
The Bible tells us, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).
Eugene Peterson, The Message, paraphrases:
Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
We now know what goes into our minds often comes out in our words and actions. It’s garbage in, garbage out. Most movies today pull our minds into the gutter. The only way to protect the mind is to expose it to the best. You will need to refocus on positive, wholesome, godly, joyous activities the moment you feel the desire to tune to an avenue of celebrity adoration. The good news is God designed people to adapt.
Dr. Norman Doidge, in his book The Brain the Changes Itself, wrote, “Each time patients try to shift gears, they begin fixing their “transmission” by growing new circuits and altering the caudate. By refocusing, the patient is learning not to get sucked in by the content of an obsession but to work around it.”
I made a decision to switch from senseless celebrity-oriented television shows years ago. Instead of eliminating television altogether, I began watching more creation-based programming. I believe when we watch this type of programming in lieu of the entertainment celebrity menu, we become a more interesting person because of our newfound knowledge. Secondly, creation gives dramatic evidence of God’s existence. I always have something to talk to God about, which strengthens our relationship.
Surrender means we stop watching non-sense and begin to engage in other activities such as talking to a family member, walking or grooming the dog, clean out and organize your closet, learn a new language, or exercise. Go for a walk with God, capturing the majesty of his creation. As Christians we are called to practice spiritual disciplines to help us seek God such as reading our Bible, prayer, corporate worship, fasting, going on a retreat, mediation and solitude. Each discipline strengthens our relationship with God and begins the process of breaking our attachment to celebrity masters.
Will you refocus as the Holy Spirit directs? Write down how many times a day you interact with media: TV, computer, cell phone, DVD, etc. Compare that to how many times a day you participate in a faith-based exercise (reading your Bible, or listening to Christian radio, a sermon CD or music).
This is a lifelong endeavor, so may I suggest following this book with another book I wrote: Breaking the Cover Girl Mask. There is one thing I have learned: there is no freedom without a change of mind. In this book, you will be given more proven techniques to optimize heart and mind, even brain function, restoring the new mind and nature Christ died to give you.
Eugene Peterson, The Message, paraphrases:
Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
We now know what goes into our minds often comes out in our words and actions. It’s garbage in, garbage out. Most movies today pull our minds into the gutter. The only way to protect the mind is to expose it to the best. You will need to refocus on positive, wholesome, godly, joyous activities the moment you feel the desire to tune to an avenue of celebrity adoration. The good news is God designed people to adapt.
Dr. Norman Doidge, in his book The Brain the Changes Itself, wrote, “Each time patients try to shift gears, they begin fixing their “transmission” by growing new circuits and altering the caudate. By refocusing, the patient is learning not to get sucked in by the content of an obsession but to work around it.”
I made a decision to switch from senseless celebrity-oriented television shows years ago. Instead of eliminating television altogether, I began watching more creation-based programming. I believe when we watch this type of programming in lieu of the entertainment celebrity menu, we become a more interesting person because of our newfound knowledge. Secondly, creation gives dramatic evidence of God’s existence. I always have something to talk to God about, which strengthens our relationship.
Surrender means we stop watching non-sense and begin to engage in other activities such as talking to a family member, walking or grooming the dog, clean out and organize your closet, learn a new language, or exercise. Go for a walk with God, capturing the majesty of his creation. As Christians we are called to practice spiritual disciplines to help us seek God such as reading our Bible, prayer, corporate worship, fasting, going on a retreat, mediation and solitude. Each discipline strengthens our relationship with God and begins the process of breaking our attachment to celebrity masters.
Will you refocus as the Holy Spirit directs? Write down how many times a day you interact with media: TV, computer, cell phone, DVD, etc. Compare that to how many times a day you participate in a faith-based exercise (reading your Bible, or listening to Christian radio, a sermon CD or music).
This is a lifelong endeavor, so may I suggest following this book with another book I wrote: Breaking the Cover Girl Mask. There is one thing I have learned: there is no freedom without a change of mind. In this book, you will be given more proven techniques to optimize heart and mind, even brain function, restoring the new mind and nature Christ died to give you.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Saying Good Bye
In a beloved song, "Muppets Take Manhattan," the very sad Miss Piggy sings, “Saying goodbye, going away, Seems like goodbye's such a hard thing to say.”
What does it mean to say “good bye” to the familiar? It means to renounce or give up that something. No question, letting go of what is familiar is difficult. It’s hard because presently we have something tangible we can hang onto, something we perceive brings us pleasure and happiness. When we let go or say “good bye” we don’t have anything tangible in our hands. We feel a void.
God’s first commandment: let nothing be more important than him (Exodus 20:3). Our hearts and minds must be centered on God and on loving others. He fills those voids. The prophet Isaiah warned, “Stop trusting in man; do not follow the way of this people” (Isaiah 2:22; 8:11).
What I want you to realize is when you let go you open the doors to freedom. But I can’t show you scientific measurable results. This is called faith. What Jesus is asking us to do is give him all our tangibles. What he gives us in return is immeasurable love and purpose. This can be extremely scary. I know. Even though we are spiritual beings we still live in a material world. It’s tough.
God said, “I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you” (Isaiah 44:21-22).
In God’s eyes, a servant is the greatest of all. Recognize that being a servant won’t make you famous—just rich spiritually. No celebrity or idol can love you this way and do this for you. Only God Almighty!
“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).
A big reason we remain immature and in the dark, unaffected by truth, is we are dying to all the wrong things. Many of us have extravagantly designed fantasies and a wish list that our real lives can’t nearly support. It’s time to demolish some things and get off our celebrity inspired thrones—a must in the pursuit of becoming an authentic person.
This is our season of truth! Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there is a time for everything. It says there is a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, and a time to love (verses 6-8). This is our time to search, to throw away and to rebuild.
We talked a little about surrendering ourselves. Surrender is an act of the will and accepting what God has ordained as his purpose in our circumstances. It is an intention. But we have to go one step further and take an action step—lay it aside. Another word is detachment, which means we stop finding meaning and security in people, things, positions, money and power so they no longer lure us into unChristlike behaviors.
Jesus said, "Anyone who wants to follow me must put aside his own desires and conveniences and carry his cross with him every day and keep close to me!” (Luke 9:23, TLB). I think too often this is one of those biblical truths that has been misapplied. Taken out of context it results in a narrow and faulty theology that basically says, “If you really want to follow Christ you must suffer and be miserable. The more you suffer, the more God will love you.”
Jesus meant we must accept the death of our own self-directed life. This means we say good-bye to an undisciplined inner life—the one that receives its nourishment from the world. In that process we must be willing to face whatever physical, emotional, or social harassments ensue—loss of certain friends (they were probably not real friends to begin with), being ridiculed for our beliefs, swapping happy hour for serving the homeless, or saying no to those seductive cosmetic dermatology offers.
Research suggests that in many crucial areas evangelical Christians are not living any differently from their unbelieving neighbors. We are being asked to give up pride, arrogance, greed for power and money, judgmentalism, bitterness, hypocrisy, denial, stubbornness—sins that are described for us in the Scriptures.
We are not being asked to die to the good parts of who we are. God has never asked us to lay aside healthy desires and the pleasures of life. He plants those desires in our heart so we will nourish and nurture them. These are gifts from God. No one should feel guilty for unwrapping them.
God said, “Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults” (Isaiah 51:7). If people make fun of you or dislike you because you choose to follow Christ, remember, they are not against you personally, but against God. God will deal with them.
Living out this verse is not easy. It takes everything to follow Jesus. It’s hard to concentrate solely on loving him and others. I struggle repeatedly. But the love of Jesus and watching my personal transformation into his likeness, no matter how slow the progress, is the reward.
Too many of us live spiritually like a person who is on a diet but leaves a pack of frozen pizzas in the freezer. Let’s be honest—it is extremely difficult to deny ourselves what we truly desire while at the same time admit our shortcomings. People want us to be perfect. Our own expectations can be extreme. If we choose to go on this journey, God will refine us over time. As he refines us we gain more strength to pick up that cross.
Becoming a Christian does not guarantee immediate strength or perfection. Like gold being refined through a transformative process, God will make us better and stronger with time—lots of time! We'll be tempted to ignore and deny our faults, but if we don't face them it becomes impossible to refine them. Our mindset needs to change to: don't go through life, grow through life.
Jesus said, “If your eye--even if it is your best eye--causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. Better for part of you to be destroyed than for all of you to be cast into hell. If your hand--even your right hand--causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Better that than find yourself in hell” (Matthew 5:30, TLB).
When Jesus said this he wasn’t speaking figuratively. He didn’t mean to literally gouge out your eye or cut off your hand. Even a blind person can lust and an amputee can steal. Today, especially, we tolerate sin in our lives. Left unchecked it can destroy us. This line of discipline is stern. However, it is better in the long run to experience the pain of removal—getting grid of that bad habit or something we treasure, than to allow sin to bring pain, in addition to condemnation and discipline by God.
We have a choice—to stay as we are: comfortable, perhaps safe, but tragically unfilled. Or, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we determinedly demolish those things that stand in the way of our relationship with God and others. God said “to the captives, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!'” (Isaiah 49:9).
Although it often feels like we are helpless, we are not. We have been given the power of the Holy Spirit and therefore the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). It is our responsibility as Christians to "choose this day whom we will serve" (Joshua 24:15), to actively pursue our sinful behaviors and examine ourselves to determine if we are striving toward the finish line in a manner that would be pleasing to our Lord (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). It is such a comfort to know that his power is made perfect in our weakness and that his grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9).
What is God asking you to let go of—to do or not to do? What must you commit to Jesus and say farewell to so that you aren’t continually recaptured by the world? Money held the rich young ruler's heart. What has a hold on your heart?
What does it mean to say “good bye” to the familiar? It means to renounce or give up that something. No question, letting go of what is familiar is difficult. It’s hard because presently we have something tangible we can hang onto, something we perceive brings us pleasure and happiness. When we let go or say “good bye” we don’t have anything tangible in our hands. We feel a void.
God’s first commandment: let nothing be more important than him (Exodus 20:3). Our hearts and minds must be centered on God and on loving others. He fills those voids. The prophet Isaiah warned, “Stop trusting in man; do not follow the way of this people” (Isaiah 2:22; 8:11).
What I want you to realize is when you let go you open the doors to freedom. But I can’t show you scientific measurable results. This is called faith. What Jesus is asking us to do is give him all our tangibles. What he gives us in return is immeasurable love and purpose. This can be extremely scary. I know. Even though we are spiritual beings we still live in a material world. It’s tough.
God said, “I have made you, you are my servant; O Israel, I will not forget you. I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you” (Isaiah 44:21-22).
In God’s eyes, a servant is the greatest of all. Recognize that being a servant won’t make you famous—just rich spiritually. No celebrity or idol can love you this way and do this for you. Only God Almighty!
“Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).
A big reason we remain immature and in the dark, unaffected by truth, is we are dying to all the wrong things. Many of us have extravagantly designed fantasies and a wish list that our real lives can’t nearly support. It’s time to demolish some things and get off our celebrity inspired thrones—a must in the pursuit of becoming an authentic person.
This is our season of truth! Ecclesiastes 3 tells us there is a time for everything. It says there is a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, and a time to love (verses 6-8). This is our time to search, to throw away and to rebuild.
We talked a little about surrendering ourselves. Surrender is an act of the will and accepting what God has ordained as his purpose in our circumstances. It is an intention. But we have to go one step further and take an action step—lay it aside. Another word is detachment, which means we stop finding meaning and security in people, things, positions, money and power so they no longer lure us into unChristlike behaviors.
Jesus said, "Anyone who wants to follow me must put aside his own desires and conveniences and carry his cross with him every day and keep close to me!” (Luke 9:23, TLB). I think too often this is one of those biblical truths that has been misapplied. Taken out of context it results in a narrow and faulty theology that basically says, “If you really want to follow Christ you must suffer and be miserable. The more you suffer, the more God will love you.”
Jesus meant we must accept the death of our own self-directed life. This means we say good-bye to an undisciplined inner life—the one that receives its nourishment from the world. In that process we must be willing to face whatever physical, emotional, or social harassments ensue—loss of certain friends (they were probably not real friends to begin with), being ridiculed for our beliefs, swapping happy hour for serving the homeless, or saying no to those seductive cosmetic dermatology offers.
Research suggests that in many crucial areas evangelical Christians are not living any differently from their unbelieving neighbors. We are being asked to give up pride, arrogance, greed for power and money, judgmentalism, bitterness, hypocrisy, denial, stubbornness—sins that are described for us in the Scriptures.
We are not being asked to die to the good parts of who we are. God has never asked us to lay aside healthy desires and the pleasures of life. He plants those desires in our heart so we will nourish and nurture them. These are gifts from God. No one should feel guilty for unwrapping them.
God said, “Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have my law in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults” (Isaiah 51:7). If people make fun of you or dislike you because you choose to follow Christ, remember, they are not against you personally, but against God. God will deal with them.
Living out this verse is not easy. It takes everything to follow Jesus. It’s hard to concentrate solely on loving him and others. I struggle repeatedly. But the love of Jesus and watching my personal transformation into his likeness, no matter how slow the progress, is the reward.
Too many of us live spiritually like a person who is on a diet but leaves a pack of frozen pizzas in the freezer. Let’s be honest—it is extremely difficult to deny ourselves what we truly desire while at the same time admit our shortcomings. People want us to be perfect. Our own expectations can be extreme. If we choose to go on this journey, God will refine us over time. As he refines us we gain more strength to pick up that cross.
Becoming a Christian does not guarantee immediate strength or perfection. Like gold being refined through a transformative process, God will make us better and stronger with time—lots of time! We'll be tempted to ignore and deny our faults, but if we don't face them it becomes impossible to refine them. Our mindset needs to change to: don't go through life, grow through life.
Jesus said, “If your eye--even if it is your best eye--causes you to lust, gouge it out and throw it away. Better for part of you to be destroyed than for all of you to be cast into hell. If your hand--even your right hand--causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. Better that than find yourself in hell” (Matthew 5:30, TLB).
When Jesus said this he wasn’t speaking figuratively. He didn’t mean to literally gouge out your eye or cut off your hand. Even a blind person can lust and an amputee can steal. Today, especially, we tolerate sin in our lives. Left unchecked it can destroy us. This line of discipline is stern. However, it is better in the long run to experience the pain of removal—getting grid of that bad habit or something we treasure, than to allow sin to bring pain, in addition to condemnation and discipline by God.
We have a choice—to stay as we are: comfortable, perhaps safe, but tragically unfilled. Or, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we determinedly demolish those things that stand in the way of our relationship with God and others. God said “to the captives, 'Come out,' and to those in darkness, 'Be free!'” (Isaiah 49:9).
Although it often feels like we are helpless, we are not. We have been given the power of the Holy Spirit and therefore the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16). It is our responsibility as Christians to "choose this day whom we will serve" (Joshua 24:15), to actively pursue our sinful behaviors and examine ourselves to determine if we are striving toward the finish line in a manner that would be pleasing to our Lord (1 Corinthians 9:24-27). It is such a comfort to know that his power is made perfect in our weakness and that his grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9).
What is God asking you to let go of—to do or not to do? What must you commit to Jesus and say farewell to so that you aren’t continually recaptured by the world? Money held the rich young ruler's heart. What has a hold on your heart?
Thursday, November 4, 2010
The Truth Shall Set You Free
Think of it this way. Your mind is like a computer. In your computer, you’ve probably got years of data collected. In your mind, you have years of rejection, hurt, deception, and anger programmed. You made a choice: to believe the data or not; to delete the data or not.
The word “truth” appears more than 224 times in the Bible. We need to begin to deal with the lies that put us in bondage and replace them with the truth. The truth will set us free. By giving ourselves to Jesus, we begin to see Satan’s power and lies, then we begin to resist him. Dr. Larry Crabb said, “The soul will not be healed without truth.”
It has been said that Satan trembles when he sees the weakest saint upon his knees. That’s not because he is afraid of us. It’s because he knows that the power of God gives us victory over the works of darkness.
2 Corinthians 10:5 says we are to take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ. If God can say these things about you, then you can say these things about yourself. Start by reminding yourself you are a child of the Almighty God. Truth!
We have to battle directly the enemy’s lies and confusion. The antidote for deception is truth. As you recognize a lie, defend yourself out loud. Those that meditate over and speak God’s Word’s out loud tend to change their thinking and habits faster. Truth changes our thinking, and thinking changes our behavior. Achieving a new way of life consists of repeating positive actions.
Read the following list and find the statements that best describe you. Then speak it out loud in your own words from your heart!
Corrupt Data: I am fat.
Speak it out: I am beautiful! I am fearfully and wonderfully made!
God’s Word: Psalms 139:14; 1 Peter 3:3-4
Corrupt Data: I am dumb and stupid.
Speak it out: I have the mind of Christ!
God’s Word: 1 Corinthians 2:16
Corrupt Data: I can’t! I’ve been sick too long and I can’t get well.
Speak it out: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!
God’s Word: Philippians 4:13
Corrupt Data: I am ugly.
Speak it out: I am made in God’s image!
God’s Word: Genesis 1:27
Corrupt Data: Nothing I’ve tried works. I am weak and a lost cause.
Speak it out: I am strong!
God’s Word: 2 Corinthians 12:9; Joel 3:10
Corrupt Data: I am lost. I don’t know how to get back to normal.
Speak it out: I am found!
God’s Word: Psalm 23:1-4; Luke 15:6
Corrupt Data: I am a victim of my past and will never be able to overcome that.
Speak it out: I am a victor!
God’s Word: Psalm 60:12; 1 Corinthians 15:57
Corrupt Data: I am nothing. I am worthless.
Speak it out: I am treasured!
God’s Word: Deuteronomy 7:6
Corrupt Data: I am so scared.
Speak it out: I am safe!
God’s Word: Proverbs 18:10; Psalms 3:3
Corrupt Data: I can never be healed. I don’t deserve to be healed.
Speak it out: I am healed!
God’s Word: Isaiah 53:5
Corrupt Data: I am not loved.
Speak it out: God loves me!
God’s Word: John 15:9
Corrupt Data: I have been addicted to food for over “x” years. I’ll never be free.
Speak it out: The Spirit lives in me—I am free!
God’s Word: 2 Corinthians 3:17
Corrupt Data: No one likes me. You wouldn’t like me.
Speak it out: My worth is in who God says I am!
God’s Word: Psalms 8:5-8
These are God’s Words. So get into His Word (the Bible) everyday. Not only will you begin to see the truth, but also your faith will grow stronger. You will find that over time, your spiritual muscles of resisting Satan will grow, and the battle will get easier.
Speak it out: I am beautiful! I am lovable! I am worthy. I am capable! I’m not just saying that—God says that!
Read this excerpt from “I’m Beautiful? Why Can’t I See It?” by Kimberly Davidson.
Need support + encouragment for disordered eating? Visit: Olive Branch Outreach @ www.olivebranchoutreach.com
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