Source of Sabotage

In a conversation with a respected friend, one remark flew right past the logic center of my brain and poked a hole in my heart. My friend had said one thing and somewhere between my ears and my soul it got twisted so that I heard something entirely different.

I heard blame: “XYZ’s unpleasant behavior is all your fault,” and I heard put-down: “You are a bad person, worthy of rejection.”

Aha! Rejection! There’s a mental stronghold where the enemy twists thoughts, shreds meanings, and shoots out his lies. I see other strongholds in my soul too, but what can I do?

Asking the Holy Spirit to show me the truth might help. He points out a foundation stone of pride—thinking life should work the way I want it to. So I could start with humbling myself before God and remembering that He’s God and I’m not.

I’ve let past rejections and hurt feelings build up instead of dealing with them God’s way. Now fortress walls guard a breeding ground for grief and misunderstanding. They ought to come down as I choose to repent of my bitterness and to quit focusing on myself.

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5 NIV).

(Picture by Colin Smith, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13083522)

Our Tailor’s Pattern

“Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring Me an offering. And let them make Me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern,…just so you shall make it.’” (Exodus 25:1, 8-9 NKJV)

God is shaping me according to the pattern of Christ.

Like a tailor, He cuts away the material that doesn’t fit the pattern. As I yield to His work, things like bad attitudes, jealousy, outbursts of anger, impurity, quarreling and other sins can be discarded. (See Galatians 5:19-21.) Also, all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander must be snipped off and trashed (Ephesians 4:31).

Then His Spirit removes and adds and shapes (when I obey Him) so I match Christ’s likeness. Colossians 3:9-10, Amplified, says, “Do not lie to one another, for you have stripped off the old (unregenerate) self with its evil practices, and have clothed yourselves with the new [spiritual self], which is [ever in the process of being] renewed and remolded into [fuller and more perfect] knowledge after the image (the likeness) of Him Who created it.”

Finally, as a quilter would, He fits me together with other believers to make for Himself a work of both function and beauty. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 NKJV)

Thank You, God. Amen.

Unfailing Love

“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” (Psalm 90:14 NIV)

Yes, Holy Lord, please satisfy me with Your unfailing, eternal, love this morning! Your love fills my longing soul with Yourself. It oozes the oil of joy which begins to restore the broken places in my heart. Then I will sing because I can enter the day believing I am undeniably loved by You, Lord–amazing, awesome God. With a full heart, I can give instead of grab, serve rather than seek service, and love others, not try to use them. And because Your love never fails, I can be glad every day forever.

Thank You for Your unfailing love, Lord! I could never deserve it, but You offer it in Jesus. Please help me open my eyes to perceive more of it. Amen.

(Pinterest)

Psalm 89:1 NIV “I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations.”

“Sing the wondrous love of Jesus,sing his mercy and his grace….”(From the hymn “When We All Get to Heaven”)

Hope in the Lord

(Picture from Pintrest)

“I try to take one day at a time, but lately several days have attacked me at once,” so the poster said. I laughed because on some days it does seem like life is like that. On those days, maybe I could take some tips from the Psalms:

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God…!
Psalm 62:1, 5 “I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from Him. Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him.”
Psalm 100:3 “Acknowledge that the Lord is God…!”
Psalm 131:2 “I will calm and quiet myself like a weaned child with its mother.”

And I could remember Isaiah 40:31 “Those who wait on the Lord renew their strength….”
Oh, may I remember to put these verses into practice next time I feel overwhelmed!

Where Wisdom Starts

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). I wonder what kind of fear that is. It must not be the fear that He will reject me if I accidentally do something wrong or that He will give up on me if I fail too many times. No, it can’t be fears like that because that fear involves torment, and God’s perfect love casts that out (1 John 4:18).

Rather, surely that “fear of the Lord” recognizes His awesome power, might, intelligence, and total authority. It acknowledges that He is God, and I am not; that He is the potter, and I am clay; and that He is absolutely righteous, pure and true. It is fear that seeks to obey His commands and walk His way. And obeying Him and His laws always results in a better outcome than anything I or any other human being could plan or do. Thus, the fear of the Lord is indeed the beginning of wisdom.

Cast Your Burden

Today I remembered a couple of unconfessed sins from my college years. At first I went back to my old way of thinking: “Oh I wish I could go back and change my attitudes and actions so I wouldn’t be ashamed of them when I face Jesus at judgment.” Then I remembered a certain story a Christian leader told me:

“A man carrying a load on his back walked along a dirt road on his way to town. A farmer in a horse-drawn wagon offered him a ride. So the man climbed up beside the farmer, and they continued on. The farmer asked the man why he didn’t put his burden down in the wagon bed.

“The man replied, ‘Oh sir, you were so kind to give me a ride! I couldn’t ask you to carry my pack also.’”

Ah, yes. When Jesus died for me, He paid for those two sins also. And 1 John 1:9 is still true: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (NIV)

I don’t have to carry around that shame. I can lay it down in God’s wagon bed of grace.

Colossians 2:13-14 “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.” (NIV)
Psalm 55:22 “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.” (NKJV)

 

A Kind Gift

At one point on our trip to Pennsylvania, we hit some traffic cones with our car and knocked the front lower bumper fascia loose. The accident also bent the left front wheel well liner down so that it scraped against the wheel. We stopped and my husband bent that part back out of the way. He said he would need a “wire tie wrap” to secure the other part.

After a few miles, we stopped at a gas station for fuel. At the next pump, a young man pulled up who “happened” to have the tie wraps, the necessary Phillips screwdriver, and the experience and expertise (having “worked on these things before”) to get the bumper fascia fixed up right. Amazing!

Even if we had tried, we couldn’t have thought of and arranged such delightfully perfect help. It was a kind gift from our loving heavenly Father. Thank You, Lord!

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17 NKJV)

Journey Reblog 6 – More Stepping Stones

Reblogged 10/12/19

As I said in my August reblog, God offered spots of sure footing as I hiked through my valley of anxiety. In addition to those in that post, He gave me these:

 

1. My enemies say, “There is no help for her in God.” If there is no help in You, then there is no hope. Only You can help. But surely there is hope and help in You, Lord. You are almighty, and Your Word is true. Your Word says You love me and will help me.  (Psalm 3:2-5)

I feel powerless, but I’m not. God has given me a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). I will walk by the Spirit and be victorious.

2. I am in the hands of the Lord God Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. Nothing can pry me loose from His hands (John 10:28-29). Even my failures, sins, and poor choices cannot loosen God’s grip on me. When fears or insecurity block my view of God, He is still here (Ps. 139).

I need to believe God rather than fears and doubts and feelings. My anxiety feelings are lying to me. They don’t change the truth of God’s Word. The fears and doubts are lies. The “what-if’s” are lies. I will stand on the truth.

3. Lord, Your delayed answer is better than the quick fix answer I want right now. Your ways are always better than ours. Help me please to trust You and Your love and mercy and to wait for the best answer. Help me believe You are holding me up even though it doesn’t feel like you are

Thank You most merciful Father and God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3).

 

Chosen Part 2

Some years back, a Bible Study group I joined sang a song based on 1 Peter 2:9:

“But you are a chosen generation,
A royal priesthood, a holy nation,
A peculiar people, that you should
Show forth the praises of Him
Who has called you out of darkness,
Out of darkness, out of darkness
Into His marvelous light,
Into His marvelous light.”

A piano rendition is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPZgG83drMY.
The song was apparently written by Jeanie Clattenburg.

As I said before, how wonderful to be chosen, and how marvelous to be called for a purpose!
Lord Jesus, thank You for making my life worth living. Amen.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” –1 Peter 2:9

Colossians 1:13 also talks about that amazing transfer from darkness to light.“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.”

Hallelujah! Thank You, Lord.

(Image from Pinterest)

Introduction – Hope Amid Anxiety

Journey Reblog 2

June 12, 2019

In my “Journey toward Wholeness” blog, I shared mostly about the battle I faced when medication problems threw me into a bout with anxiety a few years ago.  Because many people struggle with depression and/or anxiety, I hoped the accounts of my feelings, thoughts, and the help God gave me might benefit someone. That is my hope with these re-blogs also.

I love God and have been a Christ-follower for many years, but that hasn’t prevented anxiety and depression from bothering me. In fact, I’ve had difficulty with depression and anxiety for much of my life. (They often go together.) For me, medicine, counseling, and other therapies have helped. God is to be praised for all the help I received because He is behind it all. He is the source of every good thing. I have tried at times to function without the medicine, hoping that extra Bible reading or more prayer would take care of my problems. But I couldn’t do it. Speaking from experience, I can say that drawing near to God is a wonderful thing, but getting chemical imbalances corrected with medicine can also make a big difference.

Tricia’s Journey Begins

I remarked once that God could just heal me, and I wouldn’t need medicine. My pastor reminded me that God could heal my eyes too, and I wouldn’t need glasses, but that wasn’t God’s priority work in my life at that time. So I decided to thank God that medicines have been developed to help with the problems I have. I’m also very thankful for the many people who prayed for me and loved me through that struggle.

Sometimes I have prayed that God would help me to more truly love Him with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. One day I asked Him to help me be sure I knew the real Jesus and not a substitute or just an idea someone made up. My journey through Anxiety Valley helped answer those prayers.

Psalm 62:5 “My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him.” Amplified Bible