Well, my last post was the first of what was supposed to be a challenge to read a bible verse daily and meditate on it publicly. That was an epic fail, but there is grace, right?? Almost seven months later I am in a new season. A season of preparation, a season of being molded, a season of being taken through the fire. It is a tough season, but a great season. Today I felt like the Lord wants me to share a verse in Colossians:
"Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful." Colossians 3:12-15
This verse describes the way Jesus lived His life: selfless. He was tender with mercy, kind, humble, meek, and he patiently endured trials. He didn't just forgive you and me, He died so that we could be forgiven. But above all these things, he chose love. He chose to love the prostitute and the poor, He chose to love the annoying girl in your class, or the guy that seems to live to make your life difficult. Most of all, He chose to love you and me, with our sins, imperfections and all. Think of the person you wish you never had to spend a second with, He loved that person, He died for that person. It may be difficult to be around certain people, but we can CHOOSE to love them and we can choose to see them as Christ sees them.
This verse describes Jesus, but it also describes the characteristics of who God wants us to be. You see, even if we don't act this way God sees us with each of these characteristics. Because Jesus died for us, He sees us perfect and without flaw. He sees us with His love, His kindness, His humility, His meekness, His longsuffering. We are already this way, we just have to CHOOSE to walk out in this identity! When we become impatient, prideful, annoyed, hopeless, we are believing the lies of Satan and we choose to live in the Identity that he speaks over us. We can't let him beat us down anymore, when we all start choosing to believe our heavenly identity this world will completely shift. God has already won this war, the victory is ours, lets start walking out in our victory instead of striving for the victory that has already been given to us!
I leave you with a quote, "Any area that does not glisten with hope means you are believing a lie and it is a stronghold of the devil" -anonymous
LETS STOP BELIEVING THOSE LIES!
God bless,
Heather
Wednesday, December 05, 2012
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
The Challenge: Day 1
The Lord has challenged me to wait on Him to reveal a verse, meditate on it, and write publicly about it.
So here goes Day 1!
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all of your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you , says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you be be carried away captive." Jeremiah 29: 11-14
This verse is in Jeremiah's letter to the captives, I think about the captives in bondage now, including myself. Being captive can mean so many things, it can mean anything from being a slave to sex trafficking, to being a slave of television. It is so easy to be taken captive by the things of this world, media, relationships, pornography, food, etc. You name it. I would say most, if not all, the time we never intend to become captive. It is a slow process that the enemy sticks his nasty little hands in. He lures us with the enticement of the object our flesh is desiring. Then we stick our toe in just to see how it feels, next time a foot, a leg, until eventually we are drowning in the nasty sin. We become slaves, we become captive. Then once we are in, we began to believe all the lies the enemy tells us, "God hates you, you wouldn't be in this situation if he didn't", "Where is your God now? Why isn't he saving you?" "You are a disappointment to God!" "He is disgusted by you!" And we just began this path of self-destruction.
But there is GOOD NEWS! The Enemy has already lost! The Lord has already won! The Lord loves you and thinks nothing but thoughts of peace about you! He wants to give you a future and a hope! Don't let the enemy tell you what God thinks about you! He will NEVER tell you the truth. A good rule to follow is if the enemy is telling you one thing, believe the exact opposite! The Lord has not forgotten about you no matter how far away He may seem, no matter how silent his voice sounds to you. He is relentless when it comes to pursuing you. See Jeremiah 29 states that "when you search for Him with ALL of your heart, you will find Him" that is a delightful promise! An even more delightful promise is that he will "bring you back from your captivity!" He will not let you drown in it. You simply have to seek Him, see sometimes we tend to think the Lord is just going to come down and save us without us doing anything. Because He wants us to choose to love him, we have a choice to ask Him for our help. So we must call for him and pray to Him and he promises He will listen and bring you out of the darkness.
Never believe you are too far in the deep end to be rescued by your beloved. He loves you more then we will ever know until we are united with Him in heaven!
A question I have for readers! Why do you think He says He will bring us back to the place from which He rescued us out of our captivity?
So here goes Day 1!
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all of your heart. I will be found by you, says the Lord, and I will bring you back from your captivity; I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you , says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you be be carried away captive." Jeremiah 29: 11-14
This verse is in Jeremiah's letter to the captives, I think about the captives in bondage now, including myself. Being captive can mean so many things, it can mean anything from being a slave to sex trafficking, to being a slave of television. It is so easy to be taken captive by the things of this world, media, relationships, pornography, food, etc. You name it. I would say most, if not all, the time we never intend to become captive. It is a slow process that the enemy sticks his nasty little hands in. He lures us with the enticement of the object our flesh is desiring. Then we stick our toe in just to see how it feels, next time a foot, a leg, until eventually we are drowning in the nasty sin. We become slaves, we become captive. Then once we are in, we began to believe all the lies the enemy tells us, "God hates you, you wouldn't be in this situation if he didn't", "Where is your God now? Why isn't he saving you?" "You are a disappointment to God!" "He is disgusted by you!" And we just began this path of self-destruction.
But there is GOOD NEWS! The Enemy has already lost! The Lord has already won! The Lord loves you and thinks nothing but thoughts of peace about you! He wants to give you a future and a hope! Don't let the enemy tell you what God thinks about you! He will NEVER tell you the truth. A good rule to follow is if the enemy is telling you one thing, believe the exact opposite! The Lord has not forgotten about you no matter how far away He may seem, no matter how silent his voice sounds to you. He is relentless when it comes to pursuing you. See Jeremiah 29 states that "when you search for Him with ALL of your heart, you will find Him" that is a delightful promise! An even more delightful promise is that he will "bring you back from your captivity!" He will not let you drown in it. You simply have to seek Him, see sometimes we tend to think the Lord is just going to come down and save us without us doing anything. Because He wants us to choose to love him, we have a choice to ask Him for our help. So we must call for him and pray to Him and he promises He will listen and bring you out of the darkness.
Never believe you are too far in the deep end to be rescued by your beloved. He loves you more then we will ever know until we are united with Him in heaven!
A question I have for readers! Why do you think He says He will bring us back to the place from which He rescued us out of our captivity?
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Incurable Fanatic
This blog post comes out of procrastination of homework and lack of sleep. As I sit here at IHOP I have so much going on in my mind. I have asked the Lord to give me His heart for His people. Though days it is a terrible burden I know that I couldn't ask for a better gift. As I sit and watch these two women sit at a table next to me, I am intrigued by their big hair and lack of clothing, and my heart sinks. My mind instantly turns to all I know of sex trafficking. I can't help but wonder, "Are they in bondage?" As I continue to listen to bits of their conversation, I seem to feel certain of they are. I am burning to go talk to them, but I hear the voice of the Lord, "No my beloved" and then He reminds of the hotline stickers in my bag. I instantly go to the bathroom and post a sticker in each stall of a human trafficking hotline number that anyone who is in trouble can call for help. I return my table and can't help but feel I have done nothing. I cry in my heart, "Lord, why do I feel so helpless lately? Aren't I supposed to love the orphans, widows and prostitutes?" All I feel like I have been doing is running away or doing the easy thing. "when, Lord, when can I love them?"
I sit and ponder awhile longer and realize my striving heart and self-righteous attitude. I so easily make it about me and how I can do something to feel better about myself. Thank you for your grace and mercy Lord. Last night I went and saw the documentary "Nefarious: Merchant of Souls" for the second time. This documentary, created by the organization Exodus Cry, is about sex trafficking around the world. The first time I saw it I weeped and felt so much brokeness. This time I was hurting for the victims and traffickers, but my heart also fell more in love with the Lord and his gentleness and love for His daughters and sons. I have so much hope that He has already set the captives free.
A staff member of Exodus Cry came out after the showing and I was in awe of his boldness to speak truth when its uncomfortable. He called the church out about turning our heads and trying to forget this issue. He reminded me that this is a spiritual battle. This is bigger then us. Gods heart is broken for injustice. He wants His people to be set free and to know their purpose and the love He has for them! Oh, I won't that more then anything for the beautiful daughters of the Beloved. I want them to know they are loved, I want them to know they are not shamed or condemned, I want them to know they are beautiful, they are holy, they are clean, they are forgiven!
I am called to be an incurable fanatic, I am claiming my identity so the captives can know theirs!
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