Your Journey to God’s Healing

 

“But Jesus looked at them and said to them,
“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:16(NKJV)

Trudy started smoking when she was 15 years old. She’s 62 now, and still hasn’t kicked the habit. Instead, she’s added a few more vices that she wouldn’t exactly call addictions, but others would. She drinks, but only at night; two or three glasses of wine, or how ever many it takes for her to get to sleep. And sleep doesn’t come easy. Her days are filled with occupation and care for others. She’s so loving and giving, and people adore her. Her nights are a completely different story. She dreads the late hours. Thoughts of how severely she was abused by her late husband crowd her mind. Without the drinking and self-medicating, she says she’d never sleep.

Married at 18, she divorced her husband years ago, but he abused her well into her thirties. She fought back but it came with a price, one she is paying now with aches, pains, and a weakened body. Trudy came to the Lord in her forties and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ into her heart. She’s come a long way spiritually, but she’s erected a barrier around her years of struggle and suffering. If anyone or any situation comes near it, she retreats emotionally and becomes that victim all over again. The walls of fear that she’s put up seem impenetrable, masquerading her pain with a raw cynicism, bitterness, and anger that find their way to the surface at night, despite her best attempts to keep them hidden.

The contrast between her kindness and bitterness speak to the spiritual war within. It reveals how deeply an individual can be impacted by domestic violence and abuse, or any trauma for that matter. It also shows us the gift of free-will and God’s allegiance to allow us to hold on to the things we refuse to surrender to Him. Heavenly Father commands us in Romans 12:2(NLT), “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” God instructs us to change the way we think. This means we must confront thoughts that promote fear and keep us paralyzed. We must be careful observers of our thoughts, and reprogram them to the mind of Christ, where freedom and God’s love run the show.  

Romans 8:37(NLT) declares, “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.” In order to have faith in the victory of Jesus Christ, we must believe that we have victory over any issue, vexation, or problem because of what God has done for us through him. Our Master assured us in Mark 10:27 that with God, all things are possible, but the reality is that some people believe it is easier to trust their pain than to believe God. They don’t want to hear this talk about changing their thoughts if it means they have to dig deep. They become agitated and frustrated by the notion of confronting their fears. It seems grueling to them to do so, because that fear is a demon that’s made itself cozy for a very long time.

The truth is that when our hope is firmly placed in God through Jesus Christ, this hope can’t help but to propel us into our destinies. Jesus Christ said in John 8:32 that the truth will make us free, and the truth is that Christ has given us liberty through his sacrifice on the cross. When he died, our old lives died with him. When God resurrected Christ from the dead, we were resurrected also. Romans 6:7(NLT) declares, “For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.” This is the truth, and it’s not possible for another person to believe it for us. We have to believe it for ourselves. We must decree it with all the glory of heaven we can muster. Truth must take hold of us to this degree, so it can fill all our empty and broken places.

Domestic violence and abuse is a stark contrast to freedom, and this stumps a lot of us. But the reality of freedom is alive in us through the life of Christ! It is more our truth than any trouble we’ve endured, because we have his Spirit living inside us. Noah was mocked when he built the Arc and told others that torrential rain would flood everything, but rain did come, and as always and in every situation, God’s truth prevails.

God can do anything. We must break out of the prison that keeps us from trusting this. Trudy had not daydreamed about her freed self. Nor had she imagined her glorified self. She rebelled against the notion of even an introduction. So fearful of life outside her walls, she made relationships and people fit into her compact life, so she could control everything. There are many of us that live this way, or we withdraw and isolate because of the pain we’ve experienced in life. We become extremely sad, feeling hopeless and powerless, and the shame of it makes us feed our weaknesses in the shadows. Many of those that are Spirit-filled know better than to contemplate suicide, but because of the pain and disappointment in their lives, they do wish they were not alive or had not been born. God doesn’t want any person feeling this way. He wants us to know and accept the help and healing He offers through Christ!

The Spirit of life is in us! There is no remedy in a bottle or addictive substance. Our solution is the Lord Jesus Christ and all that he has made available to us! We should be learning how to receive his spiritual medicine through patience and faith in him. Anger and fear of everything cannot be the predominate expression of our lives. These two disintegrate joy, and survivors of domestic violence and abuse know this from experience. The only way to not repeat the pain of the past is to give it over to the One who holds our tomorrows. We must be willing to open our eyes wide and our hearts even wider to Him. There is frustration, tears, and sorrow involved, there always is with release, but the journey to God’s healing and to walking in His wholeness is more worth it than we can imagine. He leads and we follow, this is the key, and it never fails to unlock the door. If we humbly submit ourselves to God in faith, we’ll patiently endure as He reveals the truth we’ve refused to see, and His light and love will flood our dark places.■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

 “The Journey to God’s Healing”,written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2021. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. 

You Are an Overcomer Like Christ!

 

 

Psalm 143:7-10(NLT)

“7 Come quickly, LORD, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don’t turn away from me, or I will die. 8 Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you. 9 Rescue me from my enemies, LORD; I run to you to hide me. 10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing.”

“Lord, I need a rescue, it’s a now or never kind of urgency.”

There’s a lot going on in the world around us, and this we can’t deny. Folks with no sense of Godly direction are causing mayhem, and con artists are attempting to exploit the faith on an unprecedented level. Many are confused and being led astray, but we shouldn’t worry if our faith in God’s truth is firm. 2Timothy 3:14-17 The Message (MSG) tells us, “But don’t let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers—why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother’s milk! There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God’s way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us.”

Jesus Christ told us that in the world, there is trouble and tribulation, and there will be attacks and plots against us by demonic influences, but our Redeemer demonstrated for us firsthand that the law of love is powerful beyond belief. Hebrews 4:14-16(NLT) tells us, “14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” The feelings, urges, and discomfort of temptations and testing by the devil did not morph into something else or become less for Jesus Christ as he walked the earth. Quite the contrary. He faced them all and perhaps at a pace and intensity none of us can imagine, yet he did not sin. He is our Mediator before the throne of God’s grace. Jesus Christ understands us and what we go through on earth, and he will help us in our time of need.

He tells us in John 16:33(NLT), “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” There’s nothing like the written Word of God for showing us the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Our Lord and Master endured ridicule, name-calling, and people saying horrible things about him. There were those who hated him, and they tried to murder him numerous times. He was tested and tempted by the devil, and the need of others for his love and healing was relentless. Yet, he never stopped showing compassion. He never stopped giving. During his crucifixion, even after he had been unmercifully beaten to the point of being unrecognizable, he still showed compassion to the criminal hanging beside him. Luke 23:42(NLT) tells us the criminal said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” Jesus replied in the following verse, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

We must ask ourselves how he did it. How did Jesus Christ overcome the world? The answer is that he overcame the world and every challenge and wicked test, obstacle, and plot of the devil, by trusting God’s Word. He believed in the Word of God with everything in his being. His faith was firmly planted in God, and ours must be as well. Many of us are feeling a now-or-never kind of urgency when it comes to the challenges and tribulations we’re experiencing. This is how desperate some individuals believe things are, and they want to see God move quickly in their lives. Our Heavenly Father is never late. His timing is perfect, and He is extending us the tool to be an overcomer like Christ through His Word.

The opportunity to choose to have faith in God is continually before us. As His children, we must trust that His power far exceeds any condition we may face, and He is willing to use His power to help us. He proved this when He offered His only begotten Son as a sacrifice for our sins. We didn’t deserve salvation. It is a gift from God. He rescued us through Jesus Christ, and when we apply ourselves to learn about Christ, we will witness the life and power that is in God’s Word.

 If there is anyone that would have been exempt from studying the Word of God, it was Jesus Christ, but the truth is that he was not exempt and studied it every opportunity he received. Even as a child, Luke 2:46 tells us that he was in the temple, dialoguing with religious teachers. He was listening to them as they taught, and he asked them questions. He wanted to know as much as he possibly could about our Heavenly Father. At a time when there were no computers, cell phones, or hand-held Bibles available, he applied himself to take full advantage of whatever means necessary to learn the Word. Jesus Christ is our example, and you and I should have this same persistence and dedication when it comes to God’s Word.

Our Heavenly Father doesn’t cause tribulation and troubles, but none of us can argue with the reality that they are a part of life. They test our faith, and Romans 5:3 tells us that tribulation and troubles can teach us endurance, and endurance leads to patience. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit and we must have it to live a successful Christian life. We must be patient with ourselves as we learn the spiritual lessons God has ordained for us, trusting and believing Him every step of the way. 1John 5:4(NLT) declares, “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.” Through Christ, we are overcomers, and we must have faith in God’s promises and trust that we are victorious in Christ no matter what comes our way.■

 

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“You Are an Overcomer Like Christ!”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2021. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Your Safe Place Is in God

Psalm 91:1-3 (NLT)

“1 Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 This I declare about the LORD: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. 3 For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease.” 

“How in the world did I mistake the wrong signs?”

Falling in love with my man was the easy part. I loved how he pursued me. There were constant phone calls, checking in every morning before he went to work and making sure I had what I needed. He seemed to be genuinely concerned about me, and I believed he had my back. Coming from a traumatic childhood of domestic violence and abuse, my boyfriend’s persistent checkups endeared him to me, and it made me feel safe. The persistent and attentive behavior that had me swooning while we were dating intensified to horrific levels when we got married. I couldn’t go to work in peace without him constantly checking up on me, making sure I was in fact where I said I was going to be. I thought it was as simple as him loving my company and enjoying our time together, but it later became stalking and antagonizing behavior as the relationship continued. I was young and naïve, and I just didn’t recognize the signs. 

It isn’t uncommon for a person that has endured and witnessed domestic violence and abuse as a child to carry the trauma into adulthood. Some of those harmful patterns become entrenched in our psyches and because of this, the drama and trauma we experienced will need to be resolved so that the patterns they caused aren’t on repeat.

The fight or flight response is one that is triggered when we’re in danger, and like it or not, once domestic violence is experienced or witnessed, this response comes into play. The dangerous incident is indented on our braincells; all traumatic experiences are. From that point, instead of seeing people as loving beings, it’s possible that we will see them only as predators, abusers, and aggressors. This is all playing out in the background and consciously, we may not realize it. When women are abused or have witnessed abuse as children, it is very challenging for some of them to ever see men the same way. Even though their relationships may start out loving, the man may do something that she perceives as aggressive, and things can spiral out of control from there.

For some of us, the question of why Heavenly Father allowed us to witness or go through domestic violence and abuse in the first place isn’t resolved in our minds and hearts. We can’t reconcile the ‘why’, and it all feels so unfair. And because we can’t reconcile the ‘why’, we’re in perpetual fear. And this fear creates within us an insatiable desire to be safe—to get it right, so to speak. Our conscious mind tells us that if an individual can make us FEEL safe, we’ll BE safe. We buy into this person quickly, lock, stock, and barrel. We behave impetuously, without thinking through our actions, because we’ll do just about anything not to be locked into the torture of continual fight or flight. So, the fear we’re trying to escape is the thing that keeps us in bondage. This is the insidious nature of fear. It’s a vicious cycle that continues until we increase our faith and courage to stop it.

In Hosea 4:6, God tells us that His people are destroyed because they lack knowledge. Many of us greatly underestimate the heft of what our Heavenly Father is revealing. We can be severely harmed because of the knowledge that isn’t currently in our arsenals, and this is happening to many of us today. We blame God when we should blame satan, the ruler of darkness. We are born into this world, and it is a place where very bad things can happen because most people have refused to honor God and His Word. A lot of us grow up in negative and corrosive environments. But when we learn God’s Word, and we learn what He has accomplished for us through Jesus Christ, we must come into the light.

Ephesians 3:18-19(NLT) tells us, “And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” You and I owe it to God and to ourselves to stretch as far and wide in our own understanding as we possibly can in order to fully digest every morsel of this passage. Heavenly Father wants us to comprehend the immeasurability of His love. If we started flying up towards heaven today and flew continually for the next ten million years, we still would not reach the top of the Father’s love. It knows no bounds.

It is incumbent upon each of us to understand that even though there will never be a tool that can measure God’s love, it’s immeasurability must be impressed upon our consciousness. One of the ways that we comprehend its infinite scope is by also understanding other truths that the Father has permitted us to know. For instance, God created the universe in such a way that everything has an opposite. There is truth and a lie. There’s love and hate, right and wrong, faith and fear, holiness and sin, humility and arrogance, liberty and bondage, life and death, and light and darkness. Fully comprehending the origin of these is so integral to our lives that not knowing the Source of all love, righteousness, faith, holiness, humility, liberty, life, and light will lead us to destruction.

We can’t co-mingle light and darkness. Darkness produces abuse, and without the knowledge of God’s Word, darkness prevails. This is why God said in Hosea 4:6 that we can be destroyed by what we don’t know. Ignorance belongs to satan, and he seeks to keep us blinded from the truth, but God is our Rescue. We desperately needed to be rescued from darkness, and God accomplished this for us through Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:8(NLT) tells us, “For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord. So live as people of light!”

Romans 10:17 declares that faith comes by hearing and perceiving the Word of God. We need to know that our safe place is in God, and then we need to actually make the choice of accepting what Heavenly Father offers or else we’ll remain in the punishment the devil doles out. We’re in the earth for this very reason, to make the choice between the light of Christ and the darkness of satan. It’s true that humanity has made the world a very dark place, but God has called us to be His children of light. This means we can expose darkness for what it is, because God has given us the faith of Jesus Christ, and there is no greater power in the earth. Jesus Christ declared in John 16:33(NLT), “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

It is impossible to comprehend the unlimited depth, width, and breadth of God’s love without also comprehending the magnitude of consuming darkness and hate that the devil has for God’s people. Part of our work is coming into consciousness about this so that we can make a different choice than those before us. We can embrace the light and come out of darkness and find rest in the shelter of the Almighty. Psalm 91:4(NLT) says, “He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection.” You will do yourself the greatest favor if you trust this truth with all your heart and have faith that God is your safe place and protection, and He is all you need. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Your Safe Place Is in God”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2021. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Triumph Over Your Pain

 

Romans 5:3-5 (NLT)
"3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love."

The holidays for many are an especially challenging time of the year. Some people are going through a breakup of a significant relationship. Others might have lost someone they loved dearly around the holidays and find it difficult because they miss their loved ones so much. There are also some individuals that just feel overwhelmed by the pressures of gift-giving and the hustle and bustle of the holidays. Whatever the reason, for some it’s an emotionally taxing time of the year, and they just want the season over as quickly as possible. It’s important that we know that God doesn’t want us sad or anxious for any reason. He wants us to remember the birth of His beloved and precious Son, Jesus Christ, and to use the holiday season to be very thankful for His extraordinary gift.

I know a kind gentleman that is in recovery from an addiction. It caused him to lose many meaningful things in his life. His wife left him, his children are still very angry and unsympathetic, and he has only a very small fraction of what he worked so hard to obtain. He says that when he looks back over his life, he can’t understand how he came to the place where he is today. He doesn’t understand why God allowed him to go through so many painful things. He says that he feels blocked on every hand, and he wishes he could skip the holidays altogether.

I sympathize with his pain. As Christians, many of us come to a place in our lives where we ask ourselves, “How do I triumph over my pain?” The answer to this question will help us embrace more of the character of Jesus Christ. The holiday season serves to remind us that he is always and forever the answer for any pain that we experience in life. Jesus Christ invites us in Matthew 11:28-30(NLT), “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” No matter the season, our Lord and Savior can heal our pain, and he invites us to bring it to him.

Some people have it in their heads that Jesus Christ was not a happy person when he walked the earth. This isn’t the truth. He loved life because he is the Son of the One True God who is life itself. Jesus Christ was deliriously happy to walk with God during his time on earth, and he is gloriously happy to be with the Father now, at the right hand of the Father's throne.

He wants us to share in his joy. The Apostle John teaches us in 1John 1:2-4(NLT), “2 This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.” Having walked with Jesus Christ during his ministry on earth, and then having to witness his crucifixion, not to mention all the other troubles they endured, it's clear that the apostles had tremendous challenges. It was much more than you and I can ever know, but the joy of intimately knowing Jesus outweighed any challenges and suffering John and the others experienced. He had actually been with the Master, and through Christ, John encourages us to know our beloved Lord and Savior through God’s Word so that we, too, can share in his joy.

Many of us feel that we need to put on a face of happiness, when we are feeling the exact opposite on the inside. Jesus Christ never did this. He didn’t fake his joy; he is joy itself! He is life to us!  He is true blue—the real deal, and he is our example! And what an extraordinary example he is. Christ is so yummy, so kind, so awesome, so compassionate, so generous, and so loving; his standard is our benchmark for life! In the midst of whatever it is that we’re facing, we can have joy because of all that he accomplished for us. Now the trouble is, a lot of us haven’t gotten to the place where we fully believe this. Yes, we know that he gave his life for our sins. We know that because of him we can have a relationship with God, but for many of us that isn’t extending the kind of joy and happiness that it should. Why is this?

In 2Corinthians 4:2-4, the Apostle Paul said he and those that taught the Gospel had put off dishonesty, arrogance, and foolish things, and they didn't handle God’s Word deceitfully. However, some still would not delight in Christ. Paul said that the Good News about Jesus Christ is hid from those that are lost because the god of this world, the devil, blinds their minds so that will not believe. It is important for us to know this so that we will not allow the devil to use this same trick on us. The man that I mentioned earlier didn’t recognize that the devil was blinding him from the Good News. He blamed his unhappiness on people, things, situations, and even God.

Outside influences cannot control our internal being, they can’t control the way we think, feel, or act. God has given us free-will choice, and only we can control our emotions, thoughts, and actions. We control how we will respond to situations and people. No human being walking upon this earth has the power to make us feel or respond to something against our own wills. These feelings and emotions are already in us, and we make the choice to allow what is inside to be displayed on the outside.

Jesus Christ said in Luke 6:45(NLT), “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Our pain is often a buildup of internal stuff that we’ve harbored in our hearts. And because some of us haven’t learned to walk in the love of Jesus Christ in a way that restores our hope, we hold on to the past. The door to the past is closed, and it can never be opened again. We have pain in our hearts during the holidays because we continue to stare at a closed door and have refused to pivot and move beyond it.

God doesn’t expect us to rejoice over the circumstances of our pain or the cause of it. He wants us to rejoice because of our faith in Him, because He is always with us and will never forsake us or let us down. We can rejoice because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. It’s a love that is beyond understanding and comprehension. It’s so overwhelmingly comforting, so magnificently healing, and so exorbitantly rich that it will fill up our empty spaces. It will deepen our connection to God and cause His goodness to ooze from our every pore. Only the Holy Spirit can give us this kind of love, and if his love hasn’t touched you to the point of igniting your faith and filling your every move with joy, then set your dial to surrender.  You may be experiencing pain and hurt today, but if you’ll simply let go and let the Spirit do his most perfect work within you, you’ll triumph over your pain and be better than you ever thought possible.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

"Triumph Over Your Pain”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2021. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Change Your Ways

2Corinthians 7:9(NLT)

"Now I am glad I sent it, not because it hurt you, but because the pain caused you to repent and change your ways. It was the kind of sorrow God wants his people to have, so you were not harmed by us in any way."

No matter how many times you seem to move forward in your life, all it takes is one word of bad news and the pain, fear, and nervousness rear their ugly heads and set you back. They make you think they're running the show, and it makes us feel so down. When I read the verse in 2Corinthians 7:9, I was reminded that pain can be purposeful because it can cause us to change in ways that we never thought possible. 

You might ask, "Why do we need to go through pain in order to change our ways?" I also asked myself this question, but what quickly came to me is the freedom that God extends to us by allowing us to choose. We have free-will choice, and we get to choose how we're going to respond to situations. God is the complete opposite of the hurtful feelings we experience. He represents love and liberty for us, and He doesn’t ever want us to feel pain. But if we are going about our daily routines of life, walking around asleep to God’s Word and what He’s called us to do, pain and sorrow will inevitably find their way to us. Our hiccups and missteps can almost always be tied back to something we could have changed or could have let go but didn't. 

God is a loving Father. He is full of joy and love, and He wants us to be full of joy and love as well. Jesus Christ said in John 10:10 that he came to the earth in order to make a more than abundant life available to us. So, we should be confident that Heavenly Father wants us to have a successful life. And in order for us to have the life that Christ made available, God commands us to live like Jesus Christ; we are to live through him. This means we must pattern our lives after the example Jesus left for us. 

We experience discomfort when everything around us is conspiring to help us recognize that change is in our midst, and we need to make some adjustments before life no longer cooperates with our refusal to do so. Emotional stress is often a blinking indicator that something is going on internally that requires our attention. Sometimes it relates to an area in our lives that we have not yet given God access to, like our significant relationships, for instance. 

Many women have difficulty prioritizing when it comes to the love they feel for a man and the love they should have for God. We must understand that our love for God should be exponentially higher, more intimate, and more fulfilling than the love we have for anyone else. Jesus Christ commands us in Mark 12:30(NLT), "And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength."  We must love God with all that we are, and this is not up for negotiation. As we think about what we need to change, alter, or increase about ourselves and our faith, this is the first place to start. 

We need to ask ourselves if we are loving God the way Jesus Christ has commanded. Some of us never ask this question of ourselves, and this is sometimes what our sorrows will reveal. Going back to 2Corinthians 7:9, Heavenly Father reminds us that the positive change that our sorrows spark is the greater gain. In His Word, He tells us His expectations regarding how we should change. He spells out exactly what we should remove from our lives, and exactly the kind of love that should saturate our hearts, and not only this, it is the kind of love we should be receiving from others. In Ephesians 4:30-32(NLT), Heavenly Father tells us, "30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. 31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you."

As God’s children, we are created to house His Spirit and to be conduits of His divine love. We aren’t built to hold on to bitterness, rage, anger, and evil behavior. Not only can these heavies break us down physically, but they take a toll on us spiritually. We can't be who God has called us to be when our hearts are not flooded with His love and goodness. Change can be very challenging, but we cannot grow without it, and growing in Christ is our reason for being on this earth. We must always remember that we are never alone. The Lord is with us always, and He will never forsake us. We can be comforted in the reality that He is helping us to develop spiritual character, and when we have reached the level of spiritual maturity that He desires, He will be pleased, and we will be rewarded. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

"Change Your Ways”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2021. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Don’t Let the Pain Turn You Away from God

 John 14:1(NLT)
“Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me.”
Monica handles pressure well, she has to. She’s a single parent with two children, and one has autism. Four months ago, she moved two hours away from her family and friends to get away from an abusive relationship. Brady was so loving and tender with her and the kids in the beginning. He was especially good with Jason. His younger brother has autism, so having Brady’s help had made a big difference in their lives. After a few months though, she noticed that his drinking was much more than casual. He’d get drunk on the weekends, and at first, it was just the verbal abuse, but then turned physical when she’d confront him about the drinking.

When she and the boys moved, she found it more challenging than she had expected. She missed Brady and hated what alcohol had done to him and to their relationship, but she couldn’t allow him to come back into their lives. It was too painful. They needed this fresh start, and she was back to juggling a million things on her own, but she felt different. This time she was really struggling to hold it together, and she wondered if she was finally at her breaking point.

In Matthew 11:28-30(NLT), Jesus Christ instructs us to, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Most of us know that he wants us to come to him with all our troubles and pray for his help and guidance, but sometimes we see our problems bigger than we see his willingness and ability to help us.

Monica was angry with herself for getting involved with Brady and allowing him to be such a big part of her kid’s life. She felt she should have been more careful. On the other hand, the first few months of their relationship was one of the best times of her life. He was everything she wanted a man to be. Still shocked at how quickly things went downhill, she wondered if she’d ever be able to trust anyone again. She decided to put all her feelings and emotions on the backburner and just plow ahead, taking care of her kids and doing what she had to in order to make their lives work. The problem is that bouts of sadness were more frequent, and harder to ignore.

In 1Thessalonians 5:17(NLT), God commands us to “Pray without ceasing.” He knows we have responsibilities at home and at work. He knows we have obligations that must be tended to, so He doesn’t mean that we should be praying repeatedly and continually, 24/7. He means that a large part of our spare time should be spent in prayer to Him in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:10-11(NLT) tells us, “10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” And Jesus Christ tells us in John 14:13-14(NLT), “13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!”

We make mistakes and errors in judgment, and we sometimes end up in a lot of emotional pain, but we must not allow it to turn us away from God. He is faithful to help us. He tells us to trust in Him, and when we trust in Him, we can rest in Him. This means that we will need to give ourselves the pleasure and privilege of getting to know God on a greater level. Romans 10:17(NKJV) tells us, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Our faith is increased when we hear and learn more about God through His Word. Proverbs 4:23 tells us to keep guard over our hearts because the heart is the place where all the issues of life are determined. If we study and read God’s Word, it will shield our minds and hearts from chaos and confusion and give us God’s peace.

God is the answer to all our problems, no matter how hurtful or complex they may be. He wants a close relationship with us, and He wants to be a part of every aspect of our existences, but we have to do the things He has told us to do. We must invite Him into our situations and circumstances by praying often, reading and studying His Word, and by having faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The source of our strength, peace, joy, and power is in God. When we turn away from our pain and run into His arms with all that we are, He will not disappoint us. The Lord will comfort us with His love and heal our hearts as we seek to grow closer to Him. ■

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

“Don't Let the Pain Turn You Away from God”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2021. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

 

Rest Easy

Matthew 17:20, NLT; "You don't have enough faith," Jesus told them.  " I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it would move.  Nothing would be impossible."

The disciples asked Jesus Christ a question after witnessing him cast out a demon out of a boy.  “Why couldn’t we cast out that demon?” “You don’t have enough faith.”  Jesus told them.  “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, move from here to there, and it would move.  Nothing would be impossible.”

Driving past the local cable store the other day reminded me of my last visit. I had to exchange some equipment and on this particular night the line for customer service was abnormally long. For some reason though I wasn’t too bothered, I now know it was the Holy Spirit within me keeping me patient in the wait. The wait was for me to come in contact with a customer service representative that was dealing with some turbulence in her family. All it took was for me to ask how her day was going, and it was if she had been waiting to exhale in that moment. She shared that her twin sister was in an abusive marriage with two young sons. Adding insult to injury, it was revealed that her sister’s husband had gotten another woman pregnant. 

What mountains do you need to move from here to there?  There are some mountains in our lives that for some, are inconceivable to climb or even think to move. There is a mountain in the sister’s life in the form of her abusive husband. Right now she may not think that anything can change her circumstances, but just as Jesus Christ told his disciples in Matthew 17, if we have the smallest of faith, it’s enough to tell the mountain in your life to adios.

A mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds but it produces the largest plant that grows into a tree.  Imagine what you could accomplish with your seed.  It’s time we get very specific about how to use the right kind of faith for what we want.  Because faith for financial prosperity is not the same kind of faith that you apply to get relief from a person causing pain and anguish.  It’s up to you to decide how far you want to move and at what pace you want to move in. 

We sometimes get sidetracked with thinking that size matters but God has scriptures that paint a different perspective.  All we have to do is read 1 Samuel 17 about David slaying Goliath.  Goliath, was a Philistine Champion that stood over nine feet tall.  He taunted the Israelites who were terrified of him and it only took a young boy named David, who was small in stature, to kill him.  What allowed David the advantage was he never wavered in his trust and faith in God’s ability to deliver him out of the hands of his enemy. He said that as many times as he fought lions and bears, God delivered him out of his enemies hand every time, so his faith was so strong, that he knew that a nine-foot tall fighter was no different.

This is how we have to be when it comes to our faith in God’s ability to deliver unto us what we desire. As long as we trust him and never doubt, we will always have the advantage.

Not only do we have plant good seeds, we have to plant them in good ground. Your mustard seed of faith has to planted on the ground that God has ordained as good. We represent the Kingdom of God and He wants us to know that the Kingdom of Heaven is wherever we are.  We can rest easy with the assurance of faith in God to move any mountain out of our way. 

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

“Rest Easy”, written by Kim for https://rescuefromdomesticviolence.blogspot.com© 2021. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.