Encouraging Women to Walk Deeper in Faith and Change Their World

Archive for the ‘devotional’ Category

What If Everyone Found Out?

Shame.

We’ve all felt it at one time or another, haven’t we?

We’ve all done things we certainly wouldn’t expect to see announced in the church bulletin.

Could you just imagine?

“Pot-luck dinner Sunday at six, and speaking of pot, Sylvia used to smoke it, and sources say she still does.”

Or how about this one:

“Prayer walk on 42nd street, same block Samantha worked a few years ago.”

Or this:

“AA meeting in room 105, Sunday School building-and by the way, Kathy fell off the wagon again.”

Now imagine this: What if everyone found out everything?

I know I’ve done things I’m not particularly proud of, and I’m sure you have too. I’ve even had women say to me, “well, someday I’ll tell you about it.” And I say, “well, why not today?”

Truth is, some people already know about some of it, and God knows about all of it,

so instead of letting shame hold us hostage, let’s look to the One who paid our ransom.

Because after all, what are we so ashamed of?

Of course, it’s sin. Sin makes us shameful. But we have this hope; confess our sins and they’re washed away. Repentance brings freedom. Right?

So if Jesus washes away the sins, why do we keep buying spray and wash for the stain of shame?

Why?

Because the enemy lies, telling us we have to keep treating the stains. We’ve got to stop believing it.

Here’s the truth: The stains are gone, and Jesus shamed shame.

In researching death on the cross, we find it was considered a death of shame. The Reformation Study Bible tells us that Roman citizens were forbidden to be put to death on the cross, and the Jews believed everyone who hung on a tree was cursed by God.

But Jesus shamed the shame by turning that tree of shame into our saving grace. Then He rose from the dead to seal what He was sent to accomplish.

So yeah, we need to be the church of the redeemed, not the church of the shamed. I don’t mean to sound preachy, but while we’re at it, let’s take the plank out of our own eyes. The plank called hypocrisy.

Through Christ we can throw off shame and stop throwing it at others.

I told my Grace Story at a women’s event a few years ago. Teenage pregnancy, shame, feelings of not fitting in anymore, abandoned by most friends. Then I had a beautiful son named Michael. I wasn’t ashamed of my son, but for years I felt the shame of being that girl who disappeared from school.

You know what happened afterwards? Countless women in the audience couldn’t wait to tell me it had happened to them too.

What are you going through today?

Whatever it may be, there are others who have already made it through.

How did they make it through?

They were changed through Christ, and their faith sustained them. That’s the Grace Story.

Maybe you are the one who made it through. Your testimony, can be that common thread of hope to share with others.

We are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses; those who have gone before us to show us the way.

But there is One who goes before us who is The Way. He replaces our shame with faith.

Let’s fix our eyes on Jesus.

What does fix mean anyway? If you google it, you get this:

direct one’s eyes, attention, or mind steadily or unwaveringly toward.

fasten (something) securely in a particular place or position.

So let’s fix and fasten.

  1. Fix our eyes on Jesus, and fasten our faith to Him.
  2. Activate dormant faith through seeking God ~ the Holy Spirit brings fresh eyes to see the needs of others
  3. Initiate a training program to run the race – the prayers, the Word, the work
  4. Train others~ because faith comes through hearing the Word, our training manual
  5. Hand off the baton ~ multiplying workers for the harvest. We’re not meant to go it alone

And this…

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.     Hebrews 12:1-2

It’s time to put off the shame, and put on faith with works.

What if everyone found out

Where are you called to serve?

Can This Be Spring?

Does this look like spring to you?

snowy spring

Emerald leaves swishing to and fro, dancing on soft breezes against a clear blue backdrop. Buzzing bees on bright yellow blooms, soaking in sunlit warmth.

Wait a minute, the caption doesn’t exactly fit, does it?

Try this one:

Snowy-white, bare-treed, chill–to-the-bone freezing, with a side order of wind-chill.

Actually, I think this image is quite beautiful, but I wouldn’t call it spring. Would you?

Here’s the image more fitting of the first caption.1376329_10200664786096298_68057210_n

It feels warmer, doesn’t it? The colors vibrant and full of life.

But this image of spring isn’t any more spring than the other. You see the other, as wintery as it appears, was taken on the second day of spring.

The weather may attempt to fool us, wrapping our spring in a wintery coat. Yet we know what is true. The calendar says it’s spring. Seasons change regardless of weather conditions.

The seasons of life may not look or feel the way we think they should either. Our rainy season may feel dry, our spring may feel wintery.

Our feelings, like the weather, can attempt to fool us into thinking we’re in the wrong season. Let’s not allow our feelings to override truth.

Deep down, underneath what may feel barren and gray, is new growth, green, and waiting to flourish. Seeds of promise waiting to bloom.

When we allow the weather condition of our circumstances to dictate our season, we risk keeping frozen what God wants to bloom in us.

Spiritual seasons are filled with lessons, and treasures, and growth.

Ponder these things in your heart:

  • Life is not about living for the next season, it’s about blooming in the season we are in. He will lead us into the next season in its time.
  • Our purpose is not only for our tomorrow, it’s a powerful part of our today.
  • Unlike the calendar, God determines the length of our spiritual seasons.
  • Every season, whether long or short, fruitful or fruitless, in the valley or on the mountain top, are all for His purposes. God is teaching, pruning, and equipping. No experience is ever wasted. He works it all together for good.
  • Spiritual growth can take place even when our emotions dictate otherwise.
  •  Whether at the end of a season or just beginning, He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is faithful and His promises are true in every season. Trust in Him, because He cares for you.

our purpose is not only for tomorrow

“To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NKJV)

“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart…” Ecclesiastes 3:11a (NIV)

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18 (ESV)

What is God teaching you in your current season?

(Snowy image courgesy of Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

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

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

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