Get Unstuck!

Posted on December 23, 2024 by daaorg1214

Our powerful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, declared in John 10:10(NKJV), “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have [it] more abundantly.” The thief that he is referring to in this verse is the devil. Jesus Christ also informs us in John 8:44 that the devil is the father of lies who lusts after evil and does dastardly evil things. Stealing, killing, and destroying anything and everything is the enemy’s trademark, and he is merciless with all his corruption and deception. So that there would be no confusion, our Lord and Master very clearly makes the distinction between the love, light, and life that he gives us and the evil and darkness of satan. This distinction is a serious issue, and we can’t afford to make a mistake. We must gain the wisdom to discern whether we’re dealing with a trick of the enemy or a blessing from the Lord.

God’s Word tells us that satan was once called Lucifer, the archangel of light. You and I don’t fully know the extent of authority and power he had as the archangel of light, but we can imagine that it was extraordinary because light is extraordinary. Our Master Jesus is the light! He said in John 8:12(NLT), “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” The light to which Jesus refers in John 8:12 encompasses love, power, intelligence, and every other good thing that exists. Because of his prior rank and occupation, satan knows more than any of us do about all that light entails, and he is a masterful manipulator and deceiver. Disguising and counterfeiting are right up his alley, and if we lack wisdom, we can mistake the deepest darkness for a rainbow.

Examine your heart

Becoming stuck in life is a condition that is caused when the enemy has found a way to block us, and therefore keep us from going higher. This is not something that occurs externally and then makes its way internally. It’s an attitude, a way of speaking, thinking, and feeling that is contrary to the way of Christ. It’s in our hearts, and because it is, it trickles out to impact many other aspects and details of our existences. The reality that we live from inside out cannot be denied. We are deceived when we think that the reason our momentum has come to a halt is simply because we can’t figure out our next move. The truth is that we’ve come to a place in our spiritual journeys when the light of Christ within must shine brighter and light a new path to God’s blessings.

For as long as we sojourn on earth as human beings, we will have the responsibility and privilege to continually grow closer to God through Jesus Christ. Our goal should be to become more like Christ and put on his love and light in a greater way. Our Heavenly Father designed life to cooperate with our efforts to have a clean heart and a pure soul. We should also know that life has a way of stopping us in our tracks when our dedication to grow in the Spirit doesn’t match the blessings God has for us just around the corner.

Be diligent in prayer

Jesus Christ said in Matthew 6:21(NLT), “Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.” Most of us would walk a thousand miles barefoot if we knew that our treasure would be at the end of that road. This willingness and aspiration are targeted at what we desire most, and if what we desire most isn’t God, we’re headed in the wrong direction. God doesn’t punish us for this, He works with us, and our prayers to Him are just the invitation He’s waiting on.

We grossly underestimate the power that is released when we align our prayers with the Will and purpose of God for our lives. When we’re stuck, the reach of our vision is stunted, but when we begin to see what God sees, the possibilities in Christ open up for us. Our souls have room to breathe, and we regain momentum.

We can’t remain in a weakened state where we are vulnerable to the enemy’s tricks and plots. To get unstuck and witness greater blessings in our lives, we must grow spiritually in Christ and in our faith in him. Making decisions based on our own desires will not yield the results we need. A habit pattern of spending more time with the Father in prayer and surrendering to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, this is our path out of confusion and chaos; this is what leads us into to the light.

Remember, getting out of sync with God’s agenda makes us feel as though we’re wading through quicksand, but Jesus Christ is our firm foundation, and following him will always lead us to safety. He tells us in John 14:6 that he is the way, the truth, and the life! So, we can be confident that we don’t ever have to be stuck or feel as though there are no options for us to move forward in life. This is never a reality for the believer that renews their mind and feeds their heart God’s Word. When we get on board with loving our Heavenly Father the way that Christ does, we can enjoy the peace of knowing that no trick of the enemy will be able to keep us from all that God has in store.■

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 Renew Your Expired Subscription

Posted on December 16, 2024 by daaorg1214

Proverbs 15:24 (NLT)
“The path of life leads upward for the wise; they leave the grave behind.”

The Old Testament teaches us that God chose the children of Israel to be His own people for a special purpose. Our Heavenly Father chose Moses to be His servant, and to lead the children of Israel out of the tyranny of Egyptian slavery. Moses told them in Deuteronomy 4:20(NLT), “Remember that the LORD rescued you from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt in order to make you his very own people and his special possession, which is what you are today.” We learn in the Old Testament that the Promised Land that God promised them was a land of milk and honey because it was bountiful and flourishing, but there were also inhabitants in that land. They were numerous and large in stature. God’s people saw this as a huge obstacle, and rather than pushing forward with faith and confidence in God, many of them refused to trust Him and chose to cower in fear.

Fear is an enemy of our faith in God, and it keeps us from fulfilling His purpose for our lives. Through His Word and the prompting of the Holy Spirit, our Heavenly Father gives us directives and clears the path for us to carry them out, but because the circumstances don’t look optimal and the situation is uncomfortable, we shrink. We regress to old habit patterns that make us comfortable in spiritual infancy. We attempt to renew our subscription to these when life has revealed to us that they are way beyond their expiration date. God’s Word has a remedy for this kind of thinking and behaving. He commands us in Ephesians 4:22-24(ESV), “22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

When the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they complained incessantly. Numbers 14:1-3(NLT) tells us, “1 Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night. 2 Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. 3 “Why is the LORD taking us to this country only to have us die in battle? Our wives and our little ones will be carried off as plunder! Wouldn’t it be better for us to return to Egypt?”” They were blatantly ungrateful for all that God had done for them. He delivered them from slavery, parted the Red Sea for them to walk through to freedom, fed them manna from heaven, and caused them to be healthy and whole, but they refused to rally their faith. Even after witnessing God’s insurmountable power on their behalves, they would not place their wholehearted trust in Him.

This should never be said of us. Galatians 3:13(NLT) says, “13 But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”” We must trust God and be deeply thankful for all that He has done for us through Jesus Christ. We must move out of our comfort zones because He’s empowered us through our Lord and Savior to do great things. He has designed life to cooperate with us when we make a move to go higher in our level of spiritual growth. It is the Will of God that we do so, and we should also know that this is not always comfortable. In truth, it is almost always uncomfortable. People and relationships will come into our lives to help us stretch in our faith and love of Christ, but often we don’t see this. We adopt a habit of rejecting anything that doesn’t preserve our comfort zones. If higher blessings are our goal, this is a habit we must release.

To renew our minds is to change the way we think. Our subscription to new blessings never expires, but the time for our old way of operating is over. It’s time to line up our thoughts and feelings with God’s Word so that His love is our great motivation for all things. Proverbs 15:24 reminds us that the path of life leads upward. We don’t have the time or luxury to continually reach back for our comfort zones. Genesis 19:26 tells us that Lot’s wife tried to do this, and she turned into a pillar of salt. Our powerful Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, reminds us in Luke 17 not to follow her example. He tells us in Luke 17:33(NLT), “If you cling to your life, you will lose it, and if you let your life go, you will save it.” We must have unwavering faith in God and not be afraid to leap when He says leap.

He told His people in Isaiah 43:19 (NLT) “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.” Our Heavenly Father never changes but He is always allowing our eyes to see wonderful dimensions of His grace and power that we haven’t seen before. He always wants to do something new in our lives, but if we’re not changing, our circumstances will remain the same. We must develop the endurance, patience, and faith that spiritual maturity in Christ requires. When we do, we’ll be prepared to embrace the newness that God has in store for us. ■

God’s Laws and Order

Posted on December 9, 2024 by daaorg1214

1 Timothy 1:9 (NLT)
“For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders.”

Our Heavenly Father is a God of order. He is the Righteous Judge, a title that belongs only to Him. He enjoys and loves all that is Holy because He is Holy. The prophet, Samuel, said in 1Samuel 2:2(NLT), “No one is holy like the LORD! There is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.” In the brilliance of His love and perfection, God created us to be His children, but before He did, He first created the earth and fashioned it for our habitation. He didn’t miss one detail in the way that He has blessed us. He’s created everything according to His laws and order. Living according to the laws and order He has revealed in His Word is the way that we access all that He has in store for our lives.

1Peter 1:15-19 (NLT) says “15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as “foreigners in the land.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”

Jesus Christ is what the scriptures are all about. His life is vibrant, loving, pure, true, and powerful, and when we look at ourselves, this is what God wants us to see, because we have Christ in us! Our Heavenly Father isn’t in heaven waiting to give us the fullness of Christ, He’s already done it! So, thriving in Christ isn’t something we have to wait for in the future. It’s a right now expectation because of all that God accomplished for us through His only begotten Son. Holiness and righteousness were given to us by God through Christ, and because of this we can walk in His holiness every moment of each day.

Following the richness and righteousness of God’s laws and order maintain our fellowship with Him. His grace abounds because of Christ, but His grace cannot be used as an excuse to step outside the statues, commandments, and standards He has set. God’s Word is life to us, and it is His Will that we live by it continually. 1John 3:10(NLT) tells us, “So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.” Living righteously is a mark of those who love God and are obedient to Him.

Our Heavenly Father has designed us to be lights in this dark world, and our light shines brightest through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, who lived God’s Word totally and completely. There are some who think it’s difficult to live by the example of Christ. They say there are too many rules to follow, but most people follow the rules of this world every day of their lives, even though they are very burdensome. 1John 5:3(NLT) teaches us, “Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.”

God has placed His Holy Spirit in us to lead, guide, and direct us through this life. So, we must not slip back into our old ways just to satisfy worldly urges and desires. We must follow the Spirit’s lead and study God’s Word. It tells us about His laws and order so that we can remain on His path of righteousness. God’s Word is true, and when we hold it in its perfect place of honor and follow it, we will have access to all the blessings God has given us through Jesus Christ. ■

Behind the Scenes

Posted on December 2, 2024 by daaorg1214

When most of us take a flight on a plane, we rarely think about all the technology and skill it takes to keep that machine up in the air. We just sit and enjoy the flight without concerning ourselves with all those details. We trust the education and skill of the pilot as well as the navigational tools and all the communication that is transpiring behind the closed doors of the cockpit. It would never even occur to us to ask the pilot to show proof that he’s capable of flying the plane. We’re only concerned about getting to our destination, and we have every confidence that we will.

A plane flight is a very sophisticated form of travel, and there are many machinations and calculations going on behind the scenes that ensure our safe travel in the skies. This scenario can help us understand the faith that God wants us to have in Him. In Romans 11:28(NLT), His Word tells us, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” Our Heavenly Father is the One who keeps the earth rotating on its axis. He causes a billion things to happen all at once just so that we can take our next breath. God is working behind the scenes in every moment of time, and He’s doing miraculously incredible things. He is causing them to cooperate, coagulate, and come together in such a way that we are living this very moment.

Ephesians 1:5 (NLT) tells us, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” Nothing about our lives is random. We were formed in our mother’s wombs and birthed into our respective families at the exact time and space that God ordained and appointed. Nothing about us was left to chance, and God has been with us every moment of our journeys on earth. We’re alive today because He was working behind the scenes in His infinite wisdom and power, so that we would one day come to our senses and acknowledge Him as our Heavenly Father, the Great I Am, and Yahweh, the Creator of all that we survey.

Acts 17:24-28(NLT) tells us, “24 He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25 and human hands can’t serve his needs–for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. 26 From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries. 27 “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him–though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’”

Our Heavenly Father owns everything. He owns the entire universe, as well as the millions of planets and galaxies that human eyes have never discovered or seen. Yet He is so loving and kind towards us that He’s given us this protective bubble called earth. He takes such great care of us that we never think about all the things He is orchestrating in His control room. Through the finished work that He completed in Jesus Christ for us, He’s left no “t” uncrossed and no “i” undotted. We’re His precious cargo and in Him, our destination is guaranteed. He will take care of us an eternity, and every day we are alive, our hearts should swell with gratitude for what He does behind the scenes, as well as all the other ways He blesses our lives. ■

God is With You

Posted on November 25, 2024 by daaorg1214

Isaiah 41:10(ESV)
“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

God is with us when we go through some of the darkest times of our lives. When we feel lost and don’t know what to do, and we’re wondering how we ended up in the space and place we’re in, we can be encouraged in the Lord. Our Heavenly Father is with us all the time, and He is always willing and able to help us in our times of need. Sometimes, we let our feelings get in the way of accepting this truth. Then we fail to acknowledge the presence and power of God. Romans 8:1(NKJV) says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” Feelings of condemnation can enter the picture when we don’t feel good enough, or we think that God won’t hear our prayers because we’ve done wrong things. This isn’t true, and we shouldn’t let feelings of unworthiness keep us from reaching out to our Heavenly Father.

God tells us in Revelation 22:13 that He is Alpha and Omega, the first and last, and the beginning and the end. He knows the end at the beginning, and He knows the beginning at the end. He’s not forgetful, and there isn’t anything that He does not know. He said in Isaiah 55:9(NLT), “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” God has all power and intelligence, and our problems and issues are never too big for Him to solve.

Domestic violence and abuse usually occurs in the shadows, and most victims try to keep it hidden, but we can’t hide it from God, although many of us behave as though we can. We might think He doesn’t see our pain and that He will not help us escape the constant fear that many live under. With those who suffer domestic violence and abuse, relationships become an emotional roller-coaster. The abuser may be charming and sweet at times. They are often apologetic and very passionate, and this leaves us torn between staying and leaving. It’s also the reason that many individuals remain in abusive and unhealthy relationships. They feel imprisoned on so many levels, but rest assured, through Jesus Christ, there is a way of escape.

Abusive relationships and situations can bring a lot of shame as well as other emotions that keep us living life on the edge, but no matter the circumstance, we can’t limit what God can do to bring us freedom and wholeness. Things happen in this world that we live in that are brutal, chaotic, and bring a lot of suffering. This gets complicated by our lack of knowledge about our identities in Christ and a misunderstanding of who God is. Proverbs 19:21(ESV) tells us, “Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” The burdens of life weigh heavy on us, so much so that we forget that God has a purpose for our lives, and there’s no way to get around the reality that His purpose must be fulfilled.

God’s purpose is for us to live in Christ, to be in relationship with Him through Christ and to do all the good things that He planned for us long ago. His purpose is not for us to be abused in any way or to suffer in life, and we must allow for the reality that our minds and hearts need to change to see His love in a greater way.

We should never allow anything to cause us to shrink away from God. He knew the mistakes we’d make before we made them. He knows our weaknesses and said in 2Corinthians 12:9(NLT), “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” The most important thing in life is to be in relationship with God. It’s so wonderful to know that our relationship with God isn’t dependent on us and how much we love Him, it’s all about Him and His love for us, because He loves us no matter what. So, the very best thing we can do for ourselves is to acknowledge and be thankful that God is always with us. He is always willing to come to our aid, and if we ask Him in prayer, He’ll take the things we did wrong and use them to teach us to love Him, ourselves, and others through His grace, strength, and power. ■

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Keep Bitterness Out and Love In

Posted on November 18, 2024 by daaorg1214

James 1:20(ESV)
“For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.”

A woman ran into an old high school classmate she hadn’t seen in over thirty-years. They were attending a repast after a funeral, and she spotted him while looking for a seat. She made a beeline to where he was sitting and without a formal greeting, she said to him “Why don’t you move down a couple of seats so I can sit down.” This to someone she hadn’t seen in over thirty years, and the oddity and familiarity of that moment didn’t escape him. With a humorous chuckle, he said, “You hadn’t changed a bit. You’re still just as bossy and mean as you were in high school.” Bossy and mean is what her husband used to say about her when they were married. It’s why they divorced. He told her that her bitterness had canceled out the love.

In significant relationships, a couple becomes very comfortable with one another. They see each other’s vulnerabilities and strengths, and they also see things about one another that they don’t like. James 1:19(NLT) tells us, “Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry.” This is God’s standard for how we should behave towards one another, but when things get heated, we use our mouths to go for the jugular. We sometimes resort to name calling, and bad language. We put each other down and say words that we wish we could take back, words that can cause irreparable damage to the relationship.

We must understand that God is the One who sets the standard for how people should treat one another. He tells us in Ephesians 4:32(ESV) “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” 1Peter 3:9(ESV) commands, “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.” And Colossians 3:12-14(NLT) says, “12Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 13Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. 14Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”

These are God’s directives. They are not suggestions. They represent the conduct of someone who is saved by His grace and seeks to love and honor Him with all that they are. When we step outside the boundaries of love’s way and look away from God’s directives, we punish ourselves and subtract from our level of blessedness. To assume that we can violate God’s standard for how we should conduct ourselves in His love but then expect the rewards of a loving and respectful relationship is irrational and unreasonable. The manifestation of a blessing requires that we meet the conditions that cause it to materialize. God’s Word is law! It does not yield to our whims, arrogance, or rebellion against it. If we choose to ignore it, we will live beneath our privilege, and our relationships will not be what they could and should be.

God tells us in 1Corinthians 13:4(ESV) that “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant.” Bitterness is the manifestation of rebellion or neglect of 1Corinthians 13:4. Nothing unkind, selfish, arrogant, vengeful, or envious can be birthed when God’s love is our unyielding commitment and way of living. God’s love must be worn like a second skin, and we should be this kind of person before we get into relationships, so that we are honoring God and putting Him first from the very beginning.

2Peter 3:18(ESV) says, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.” What does it say about a person who, after thirty years, is still stuck in the habit patterns of bitterness and resentment and refuses to live in God’s grace? It says that they are not growing in Christ the way He commands. God wants us to spiritually grow in Christ so that we live in a continual cycle of giving and receiving genuine love.

When we are habitually and frequently stepping outside the boundaries of God’s love in our significant relationships, we are making the wrong choices. We are choosing to ignore God’s standard and acquiescing into levels of darkness that are injurious and not sustainable in the relationship. We’ve assumed a certain comfort level that isn’t ours to assume, and because of this, we’ve taken license to say and do things that take us out of the example of Christ. We don’t have the right to treat people anyway we chose. God says we can only treat them with the love of Christ, and that must be our code for life. There’s a cost for going outside the boundaries of love, and we should avoid it. Understand that a comfort level in any relationship doesn’t afford you the option of going low. You must choose to keep bitterness out of your relationship and do all that you can to remain rooted and grounded in the love of Christ. ■

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Not All Scars Are Visible

Posted on November 11, 2024 by daaorg1214

Isaiah 41:10 (ESV)

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

It’s been seven years since Karen’s divorce, and she still talks about it as if it happened yesterday. Karen and Kevin were high school sweethearts and on the day of their wedding, she could not have been more captivated and in love. Kevin felt the same way, but Karen noticed that his love and affection often came with conditions and waned from time to time. This became apparent after she gave birth to their first son.

Karen struggled to lose her baby weight, and Kevin complained about her eating habits. He often criticized her for not being able to lose the weight, and she felt he withheld his affection at times as a way of punishing her. After their second child was born two years later, she gained more weight, and with taking care of toddlers and working, it seemed harder to lose. She began to feel bad about herself. Kevin had been her best friend and the love of her life. She had counted on his support for as long as she could remember and never dreamed that he would body shame her.

When the person you count on most in the world doesn’t show genuine concern and support, but instead hurts you deeply, it can wound your heart or open up old wounds again. You might feel devalued and very lonely. It’s important for us to know that God understands and wants to help. Philippians 4:6(NLT) tells us “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Our Heavenly Father wants us to bring all our cares to Him, including the emotional wounds that occur when our physicality is verbally demeaned by someone that is supposed to have our backs.

1Peter 3:7(NLT) says, “In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.” This is the standard that God has set for husbands, but when it came to her weight, Kevin didn’t do this. He didn’t honor Karen and treat her with understanding. His treatment was far from the dream of marriage she had envisioned. The disappointment of it on top of everything else cut deep, but Karen didn’t open up to Kevin about how hurt she was.

She’d try to reassure him that she was working on losing weight, and she tried many diets, but she didn’t lose as much weight as Kevin wanted. She couldn’t get back to the figure she once had, and eventually she was okay with that. After a while, Kevin’s complaints and comments about her weight lessened, but her feelings had changed about her husband. She didn’t notice it until Kevin wanted to visit his parents with the kids. She couldn’t bring herself to get excited over it, even though she dearly loved his folks. She didn’t want to go anywhere with him really. She felt ashamed and that he was always judging her. The scars from his ridicule and complaints about her weight were not visible, but they were there and they were unresolved.

He had never apologized, and she had never told him how she truly felt. A lack of communication, compassion, and support can deepen the scars from shame and insecurity in matters like these. When neither partner is willing to confront issues with prayer and the love of Jesus Christ, they fail to introduce God’s healing which is desperately needed. Romans 8:29(NLT) tells us, “No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This verse communicates the overwhelming, unlimited, and never-ending love that God has for us. He will never stop loving us, and this same love comes to live in our hearts when we accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior.

The scars from emotional and verbal abuse will rob a relationship of intimacy, and it also shows us very clearly that our brand of love is not enough glue to hold a relationship together. When times are challenging in our relationships, often the wounds are deep, and the residuals and emotional scars can impact our affection and devotion towards the other person. This doesn’t mean that we have to live in despair or give up on who we are. What it means is that spiritual growth in Christ is necessary, and at least one of the partners must have some recognition of this.

Many couples are dealing with hurt that has been inflicted by abusive and unkind words, as well as other unresolved pain between them. These scars are not visible and the issues that caused them may seem insurmountable, but nothing is impossible with the power of God’s love. When we feel bad on the inside, we eventually end up hurting others and sometimes it’s the person we love most. We can do something about this, and we should. We must always remember that our humility and honesty with ourselves, others, and most importantly, with God, will open the door to the love of Christ. If we are diligent in prayer and faith, we will introduce God’s healing within and in our relationships as well.

Just Do It!

Posted on November 4, 2024 by daaorg1214

God tells us in Proverbs 3:5 to trust in Him with all our hearts, and He tells us not to lean on our own understanding. When we lean on something, we expect it to hold us up. We believe it will support us come what may. God tells us not to do that with our own understanding because our own understanding will not be enough to hold us up or carry us through, especially when we’re in the grips of troubles and tribulation. We don’t know what God knows and we don’t see what He sees. If we would keep this truth in the forefront of our minds and hearts continually, our faith will increase tremendously, but the reality is that most of us struggle to do this. We don’t let go and let God. Instead, we let our limited knowledge about a situation take over how we respond to it. That’s not the way.

Genesis 1:1(ESV) states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Even though we don’t see it in the Bible, in our minds, there should be a great big ‘period’ after this verse. Its truth is absolute and so foundational to our understanding of who God is. The psalmist said in Psalm 18:30(ESV), “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the Lord proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” There’s no one greater than God. His Word is true. He tells us in Revelation 1:8 that He’s Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. No one in all of eternity and time compares to Him.

God has all knowledge, He is supremely and incomparably intelligent, and all power is in His hands. He is magnificent, brilliant, and He is love. It isn’t enough for us to casually skim the surface of this truth. The heft of His sovereignty and absolute rule must be anchored deep in our hearts and minds. Our Heavenly Father has established the way through Jesus Christ, and we must follow it if His love and blessings are our aim. When it’s not our aim or we’re not quite understanding the devotion and obedience that God requires, we lean on our own understanding and try to build a life that way. We allow our emotions to take the lead, and this will not transport us to a safe and prosperous path.

When we’re facing a challenge in life, reverence for the awesomeness of our God must be in our hearts, faith in Him must be on our minds, and seeking Him for guidance and direction must be on our lips. Sometimes our actions don’t line up with this. Many of us run hot for Him one minute and cold for Him the next. We forget about honoring and praising God when things are good, but often heat up in prayer when situations are troublesome. We can’t allow our situations and conditions to determine our temperature for honoring and praising God. Gratitude for His goodness and mercy should always be on our hearts, minds, and lips. 1Corinthians 10:31(NLT) tells us, “So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Our extraordinary Heavenly Father commands us in Proverbs 3:6-7(NLT) to, “6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. 7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.” Seeking and living by the Will of God isn’t negotiable. God expects us to just do it! This means that whether we’re sad, angry, discouraged, excited, weary, or full of joy, we must seek God and have faith that He alone is able to help us. Whenever we need a reminder in our not so good moments of life, God’s promises are right at our fingertips. Understand that our love, faith, and honor for God shouldn’t be determined by whether we’re having a good or bad day. Focus on Him and His goodness no matter what and move everything else out of the way. Just do it, and you’ll have peace as He gives you the victory in every situation of life. ■

Pray God’s Word

Posted on October 28, 2024 by daaorg1214

James 5:16 (NLT)
“And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

I don’t know about you, but I know quite a few believers that have been praying for the same special desire for a while now. Some want to be married, others want financial increase, a new job, house, or car. There are others in this group that desire greater spiritual growth, so they can bless the body of Christ even more. Jesus Christ said in John 10:10(NKJV), “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have [it] more abundantly.” Our Lord and Savior came to the earth to make it available for everyone to live a rich and satisfying life. This is the Will of God for us. In light of this truth, it seems a little out of place for so many of us to be continually in wait mode. Could it be that there’s something more about this promise that God wants us to understand?

God blesses His Word
In John 17, Jesus Christ prayed for the disciples and committed them to our Heavenly Father in prayer. He prayed in John 17:14-17(NLT), “14 I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15 I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. 16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do. 17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.” From his youth, our Lord and Master studied, spoke, and prayed God’s Word. He knew the Words of the psalmist, King David, in Psalm 12:6(NLT) which says, “The LORD’s promises are pure, like silver refined in a furnace, purified seven times over.” The disciples couldn’t sanctify themselves and neither can we. Our Lord and Savior prayed that God would sanctify them—to purify, refine, set apart, and cleanse them—and would do so through His Word.

Jesus Christ only did the Will of the Father, and this is our responsibility as well. He never deviated from God’s Word, because he understood that this was the source of our power, authority, and peace. The more of God’s Word that we put on in our hearts and minds, the more we will be cleansed by it. This is so monumentally important for us to understand because God blesses His Word. His Word is His Will. Wherever and whenever His Word is believed and practiced, His power is manifested. God doesn’t bless lies. He doesn’t bless half-truths. We must cling to the truth He speaks so that we pray prayers of faith! Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes from hearing the truth that God has spoken in His Word, and Jesus Christ tells us in John 8:32 that the truth will make us free. The Words of our Heavenly Father in Isaiah 55:11(NLT) should cement His allegiance to His Word in our minds and hearts. This verse says, “It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

Honor for God’s Word
The psalmist said of God in Psalm 138:2(NKJV), “I will worship toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.” Our Heavenly Father elevates His Word above His name, and His name is exceedingly great. This verse communicates the level of honor that God has for His own Word, and through it, we can learn the level of honor and respect we are required to have for His Word as well. God’s Word and our obedience to it is what gets His attention. When we pray, we should have this in our minds and on our hearts.

Ecclesiastes 6:10(NLT) declares “Everything has already been decided. It was known long ago what each person would be. So there’s no use arguing with God about your destiny.” This is what we can lay hold to in faith. Ephesians 1:3 tells us that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm, and He did this when we gave our lives to Jesus Christ. Our words don’t have any power until we say what God says. When we pray, it’s imperative to speak His promises outwardly with reverence and boldness and to declare with gratitude that what He promises is already ours.■

Unfamiliar Pain

Posted on October 21, 2024 by daaorg1214

Many of us are struggling with sadness because we’ve been emotionally hurt so badly in the past. When it comes to relationships, we might feel as though we can’t catch a break. Nothing seems to go as we planned. Why does finding and keeping love seem to be so difficult? All we want to do is love someone in a way that is fulfilling and meaningful, and we want to receive that same quality of love back. It’s simple enough, but the truth is that not everyone knows how to love in a fulfilling and meaningful way. Many individuals are not interested in giving quality love, even when they receive it. When we end up choosing someone like this as a partner, we sometimes set ourselves up for heartbreak. That’s not easy medicine to take, but it can heal our hearts if we’re willing to listen to God’s direction and instruction.

We know what kind of over-the-counter medicine to take for a headache or a common cold, but gut-wrenching heartbreak is unfamiliar pain. It’s not like breaking a bone. It’s a wound we can’t touch and an ache that no pill can take away. This unfamiliar pain is probably the only kind that’s on repeat in the lives of so many people. The reason for this is because we continue to make the same choices and same mistakes when it comes to significant relationships.

After a heartbreak, some of us end up in a very lonely place, and we’re in a position where loneliness continues to persist. One of the major factors in our struggle with relationships and loneliness is our habit of making wrong choices and decisions. Take Lexie for example. Three years ago, she did everything but kidnap Devin and force him down the aisle to get him to marry her. He didn’t want to get married, but he was no match for Lexie’s persistence. Her last two long-term relationships had ended because of it, and she refused to accept any more rejection. Devin went along with the big extravagant wedding and honeymoon that Lexie had always wanted, but soon after, it was clear that the marriage wasn’t going to last.

Proverbs 2:6(ESV) tells us, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” The wisdom to make good choices and decisions comes from God, from reading and studying His Word. Lexie wasn’t interested in God’s wisdom. She didn’t ask for it and wouldn’t follow it. She had a habit of jumping into relationships too soon, and often with the wrong person. She set unattainable expectations and was in denial about a lot of red flags that would have helped her avoid the heartbreak that inevitably came her way. Divorced for a year now, Lexie hasn’t changed. She hasn’t dated anyone seriously, but if a willing vessel came along, she’d do things exactly as she has in the past.

Like Lexie, many of us have made choices that we initially thought were very good and it ended up being very bad. We led, not with wisdom, but with our hearts. We took a leap and did so because everyone says that this is what we should do. “Follow your heart…” they say. “Your heart will never steer you wrong…” we’re told. Jeremiah 17:9(ESV) tells us about the human heart and how fickle and deceptive it can be. It says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” There’s nothing more deceptive than the human heart, and that’s why we should never lean on our own understanding about things. We must lean on the Lord.

Life will reveal that making important decisions and choices by our hearts is not always a good idea. In fact, it’s rarely a good idea. Our hearts can lead us down a very dark path, and this is a piece of information we desperately need to have in our arsenals. We all have an idea of how we want to be loved, and some of us have unrealistic expectations about this. We’re in the wrong lane when it comes to the quality of love we receive and give. Those expectations must be adjusted before we can partner in a relationship wisely and from a place of strength.

Life is given by God to be lived out in faith, not fantasy. 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.” Relationships that are built on fantasy will not last. They must be built on our faith in God, and this means we must demonstrate the endurance and strength of character that He requires.

Life is not a romance movie. It’s filled with ups and downs, and some of the downs can be devastating. Our precious Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, didn’t keep this a secret. In John 16:33, he told us about the troubles that come with life on earth, but he also made it clear that we can have peace in our hearts because he overcame the world, and through him, we will to. Jesus Christ gives us peace, but the world will cause some trouble in our lives, and the way that we overcome that trouble is through our faith in him. 1John 5:4(NL) says, “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.”

Significant relationships can present some of our greatest challenges. If we add unrealistic or unattainable expectations to the mix, we’re setting ourselves up for disaster. God doesn’t want this for us. He wants us to learn to walk by the Spirit so that we can be wise and make wise relationship decisions.

Don’t make the unfamiliar pain of heartbreak a familiar but unwelcome guest. Don’t let it be on repeat in your life. James 1:5(NLT) says, “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” Let God’s wisdom lead you in your relationship choices, and that includes the choice about the person you are considering dating. Have faith that God will lead you in the right direction, and do not leap unless He tells you that it’s okay to do so. ■

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