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Love Displaces Fear
You may be asking “re-entry into what? Let me put it this way; you were originally designed to live and dwell in an environment much like an Eden paradise! Walk with God; talk with God, fully dependent on God, and very intimate with God. An environment where fear does not exist.
Have you ever lost anyone to suicide? The enemy of our soul, “The devil” has a mandate (motivated by jealousy) to destroy your faith, hope, love, and ultimately your life. His goal is to oppress us to the point of confusion on what and Who we believe to be Truth!
Jesus said in Luke 22:31ff “Simon, Simon! Indeed, satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith should not fail, but after you have returned to [me], strengthen your brethren.”
The process in the above Luke scripture;
- Programmed for fail – “satans attempt to sift us” ~ Dysfunctional Family/Theology Part I
- Re-programmed – “Faith instilled-Revelation of the Word of God” ~ Part II
- Re-entry – “The Kingdom of God” ~ Finding/living our identity in our heavenly Fathers house.
BDB Thayers – Greek for sift = by inward agitation to try one’s faith to the verge of overthrow
The devil uses this fallen realm to unleash his horrid anger and jealousy out on all mankind. He hates us as we were created in the image of God. You were victimized, but are not a victim. You are a child of the Most High God, destined as an over-comer in this world, to re-enter His Kingdom forever!
Your existence was;
- Prophetically Initiated in heaven ~ Psalm 139
- Realized on sinful earth ~ John 3:5
- Destined for His Kingdom ~ John 3:5
Clearly, Father God made a “Remedy” for our weakness’ and problems through His Son Jesus. Jesus is the Destroyer of the destroyer, the Restorer of our souls, the Mighty Conqueror, The Commanding King of Kings. I John 3:8b says “For this purpose was the Son of God manifest, to destroy the works of the evil one.”
Re-entry is our Quest for Freedom! Galatians 5:1 “It was for freedom that Christ has set us free…”
For personal “Spiritual Life Coaching” sessions in our home office, or over the telephone please contact us at Freedom Quest International.
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Major Tweaks & Upgrades
Many of us experience at least two forces working against us throughout our life-times. 1. Our childhood family environment with all it’s quirks and dysfunctions because humanity is full of wounded and imperfect people. 2. Our church family environment (depending greatly on where we landed). We are often taught from childhood (programmed), by example, and sometimes at church, that the character of God is something that it is not! Father God is often misrepresented as a harsh tax-master, performance oriented, or a judge, who at the slightest mistake or set back is prepared to lock your eternity up in a scorching hell where there is no hope, no help, and no water! Yikes!!!! That is not the Father that Jesus tells us about! That may be more like some of our earthly fathers?
Hence we need a “Re-programming” of our mental picture of the very term “Father” (and other authorities) in our lives. And we need a “Re-Programming” of our perception of Who God Really Is? This will provide for us a healthy bridge to “re-entry” into the place that Father God intends for us to find safe haven, comfort, joy, peace, and that abundant life that we know the Bible talks about, but few ever experience it. How about it, do you want to experience that? Are you ready for a “Re-programming” so that you can experience a “Re-entry”?
Here are a few tweaks and upgrades that will help you in this process;
- Know that you were miraculously created and wonderfully made ~ Psalms 139
- Know you are eternally loved by God ~ Jeremiah 31:3
- Know that Father God loves you as He loves Jesus ~ John 17:23b
- Know that Father God is not judging your every move ~ John 5:22
- Know that you have a destiny in God ~ Jeremiah 29:11
- Know that it’s His kindness not “His Law” that draws you to repentance (change). ~ Romans 2:4
Finally, know that your earthly fathers house was probably not a good representation of your Heavenly Fathers House where there is full grown, Security~Love~Acceptance~Purpose available for you now and forever!
Every Blessing to you as you allow the Truth of the Word of God to transform your mind & thinking, and the impartation of His unconditional love that heals, and nourishes your wounded heart!
* It is imperative that we choose to forgive our dads for their shortcomings. If you need assistance in this contact us below:
For personal “Spiritual Life Coaching” sessions in our home office, or over the telephone please contact us at Freedom Quest International.
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Malaysian Banana Leaf
I remember when we first moved to Malaysia, we sat down to an Indian meal served on a banana leaf, rice, assorted veggies, chicken smothered in curry, chutney, and much more… with no silverware! We told our 12 year old son Josh, “forget everything we taught you about etiquette at the dinner table, and just dig in with your hands!”. He did, we did, but it seemed sooooooo foreign to me as the gravy made its way down my forearm to my elbow! Now after 15 years of walking out that seemingly drastic change, it seems like second nature to sit down to a meal with out silverware, and there is no more mess.
In our lives, we have been programmed to do, think, and even feel a certain way, by the “powers that be” in our past childhood environment. If it was an unstable environment, chances are we seem quirky to most of the population we rub shoulders with. Even if it was stable, we, not one of us is without anxieties and issues that can stand some tweaking. Perfect love and naked truth are the instruments of re-programming that we need. Most of us long for change, “re-programming” in order for our personal quirks to be ironed out via the healing of our hearts. To some of us our sense is “nothing is wrong, but something’s not right!”. When we begin to experience “Re-program/Re-entry”, that strange new way of doing life, will become as natural as taking our next breath.
Many of us experienced homes where “I don’t trust you enough, to speak to you, about how I really feel” were three of the unspoken rules. Someone was controlling with fear tactics, and in that environment, honor, love, dignity, peace, purpose are almost non-existent. Later, we become young adults, or mature adults and read about “A Better Way” of doing life! It sounds, feels, and is foreign to us that “Father” God would love us unconditionally. We can begin to give that love away and treat others with dignity, purity, kindness, without any animosity at all. It’s like eating mashed potatoes and gravy with your hands at first, but becomes so natural because of His supernatural love for us!
- Are you longing for change in your life?
- In your life is this accurate ~ “nothing is wrong, but something’s not right”?
- How bad do you desire a greater freedom in your life?
For personal “Spiritual Life Coaching” sessions in our home office, or over the telephone please contact us at Freedom Quest International.
We encourage you to share this post with your network on Facebook, Twitter, or other social networks, click the “Bookmark” button. Thanks for spreading words that heal! Every Blessing to you!
Image by Snæþór S. Halldórsson
How do I cast my care on Him, you ask? For now, take your list (see Part I) in hand, and say Father, these are my very real emotions in a normal day. They bog me down and hinder me in my quest for freedom. I am asking Jesus to take this heavy weight. The devil dropped this package off for me and I don’t want to receive it! I don’t know how You are going to do it, but by faith, I am releasing this burden to You. Please restore to me my joy, peace and intimacy with You. Transform my thought life by the renewing of my mind. Teach me how to experience truth, Your Words, Your thoughts of me (Jeremiah 29:11) So be it!
Now pause for some time and picture The Creator of the Universe embracing you, and gently wiping the tears from your brow, as He kisses your forehead and says “I am proud to be your Father, and I am aware of your troubles. Rest in Me, knowing that these too shall pass.”
God is faithful! Don’t be surprised in what a little time in His presence can have on your day!
I Peter 5:9,10 says this concerning the devil and his packages. “Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. Jesus’ primary mission on earth was to reveal the Father, so that we might have a “Safe Place” to run to. (Proverbs 18:10)
Here are 5 Keys to Casting your cares on Him;
- Recognize~ the heaviness and its destructive properties.
- Resist ~ the devil by faith, he must go (James 4:7,8).
- Release ~ releasing is not “sharing the burden”, it is completely giving the worry, anxiety to Him.
- Renew ~ the mind (Romans 12:1,2) be transformed by the renewing of your mind (thoughts – Bible Truths).
- Refreshed ~ continue your day with joy, times of refreshing by the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).
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Crying Girl by David Lewis Baker
Remember the famous physical workout saying “No Pain/No Gain”? Here we will address the processing of pain so our “gain” is more freedom.
MANAGING PAIN
Every single negative emotion we ever feel (sufferings), Jesus has experienced the same! The Bible says that “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have One who has been tempted in every way, just as we are; yet without sin. (Hebrews 4:15) Let’s see, Jesus’ pain? Firstly, perhaps village shame due to secular perception of His conception. In their eyes He was illegitimate! Secondly, Joseph, His dad died probably during His teen years giving Him a sense of abandonment. Thirdly, His adult rejection is clearly documented in the passion story of His arrest, trial, scourging, and crucifixion. Isaiah 53:3,4 uses words describing Jesus as “despised”, “rejected”, “sorrows”, “grief”, “smitten”, and “afflicted”. Do you ever feel any of those?
Let’s take a practical exercise to help you identify and release your pain to become His pain!
- Choose a day, why not today?
- Start your day with a blank sheet of paper.
- Every time you feel a negative emotion, log it in.
- At the end of that day, observe how many negative emotions you carried that day.
That was the identification process, now let’s look into the release process.
I Peter 5:7 says “casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
You were not created to carry that load of burden and worry! You were created for intimacy with God. You cannot have intimacy with God while carrying on your back all the weight of your list.
Watch for part 2 of “Your Pain/His Pain” available to you in a few days. It will cover the practical application of release! Tried and True!
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In the past year or so we have all been faced with many changes. There are some things in our lives that no matter how hard times get, should not be shaken. Our hope!
We could look at “change” as a test or whatever our mind can imagine. But like the 1st century church under heavy persecution, we too are finding out where our faith lies. Do we really believe? Is God really in control of my life?
Several months ago, God gave me a message to deliver entitled “Where do you run?”. I have preached this message in several venues in North America, and in fact, we offer it as an audio resource. (Click Here)
What it boils down to, is how do we respond to difficult change? Do we respond to the pressure like an olive would under this press?
For Kel and I, being just days away from transitioning from South Carolina to Kansas City, Missouri, and (at this writing) not having secured a new address yet, could be a disturbing time for us. We have accepted the change, but the transition is not complete! But God is our hope! That’s a good word in itself! “But God is our hope!” We could very easily give up, lose hope, turn back, and re-focus on self or on our problems while losing sight of our calling and the promises of God. As the pressure mounts, we are crushed in that process.
As you walk through transitional seasons in your life, are you “pressed down or pressing in”?
Paul declares in Philippians 3:12-14 to pay little mind to the past, trust God for the now, and “Press On” into the future hope we have in Christ Jesus. (my paraphrase of course!)
When change does come, and we’ve lost sight of our “hope”, we often turn to a false comfort, an old addiction or perhaps a new one. This choice starts a cycle in our Christian walk that hinders us from living as over-comers! The key is found in Proverbs 18:10 The name of the LORD is a strong tower, the righteous run into it, and are safe. Tell me something, in dramatic times in your life “Where do you run?”
I want to encourage you to press in to Father, He is that Strong Tower, and not be pressed down, by focusing on the problems you face. We will always have dramatic seasons, life itself is a series of transitions.
I want to encourage you to press in to Father, He is that Strong Tower, and not be pressed down, by focusing on the problems you face. We will always have dramatic seasons, life itself is a series of transitions.
In conclusion, I heard part of a message recently that our destinies include things we transition into, through, and out of all simultaneously. Stretching is good for us as long as we don’t snap! Let’s approach these times with our eyes fixed on our Hope, what God promises in Proverbs 18:10.
Unity – Trust – Self Discipline – Courage – Faith – Hope – Love These are a few of the virtues that will see us through.Press in to our only Hope!
Please leave a comment! I love any and all feedback!
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Rembrandts Prodigal Son
Jesus tells a story about an ornery “young son” who asked his father for an early collection of his inheritance. We all know this famous story in Luke 15, that when the son had wasted everything, he came to his senses, and came home humbly asking for a place as a slave. What was his fathers response? In return for his “ornery” ways his father highly honored him with a robe, new sandals, and a ring. Jack Frost of (Shiloh Place Ministries) used to say “Completely failed, utterly restored”, re-instated to son-ship! Selah. Jesus also honored his chief betrayer Judas Iscariot by washing his feet along with the other 11 disciples. Are we to honor those whom we perceive as ornery? The real question is, will we choose to honor them? This requires change! Honor is one of the things God is teaching me about in this season of my life! After having grown up in an alcoholic home, there really wasn’t a good model of that for me. Now my father and I have worked through most of our issues, and we are on better terms now than we ever were. We actually honor each other now, more than ever. Could we conclude that when people choose to get real with each other and break the unspoken rules most dysfunctional families practice, “Don’t Trust, Don’t Speak, Don’t Feel”, an environment is put in place for “honoring” to increase!
I often write about the negative side of “issues” probably due to my “exhorter” gifting. I will briefly mention one opposite of “Honor” which is “ornery”. Are you “ornery” or Honoring? Below is what I found on-line about this word. Ask yourself, would those you call friends or family members, or even you yourself, describe “you” in any of these terms?
Main Entry: ornery
Synonyms:
cantankerous, contemptible, crabby, cranky, crusty, difficult, disagreeable, grouchy, grumpy*, hard-nosed, ignoble, ill-tempered, irritable, nasty, obstinate, quarrelsome, rotten, sour, surly, testy, unfriendly, vicious
How can we transition our soul-ish behavior to a more spiritually rich demeanor? We would do well to imprint the word “HONOR” in the forefront of our minds, and very deliberately pray about, meditate on, and even converse with others about what “HONOR” looks like and ways we can begin to walk this out. The benefits are numerous and divers.
Taking “honor” a step further, I am convinced that if we learn to honor all people, even those who don’t necessarily deserve honor, that the biblical principal or “law” of sowing and reaping will kick in and we will begin to experience being honorable!
I want to give you a definition for honor to help you build a foundation in this journey;
Main Entry honor
Synonyms:
acclaim, admire, adore, aggrandize, appreciate, be faithful, be true, celebrate, commemorate, commend, compliment, decorate, dignify, distinguish, ennoble, erect, esteem, exalt, give glad hand, give key to city, glorify, hallow, keep, laud, lionize, live up to, look up to, magnify, observe, praise, prize, revere, roll out red carpet, sanctify, sublime, uprear, value, venerate, worship
Here are three ways we can initiate this godly and “lives changing” transition.
1. Be very deliberate to honor ALL people.
2. Spend less energy being “ornery”.
3. Ask God to show you the people and ways you can practice “honoring”.
Enjoy the transition!
Definitions credited to; http://thesaurus.reference.com/
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That title reminds me of the movie “Matrix” where Keanu Reeves is “The One”! I am addressing family systems in this post, and how to improve or repair the way we do family. “Will you be the one” in your family that initiates change?
How does your family operate? Probably similar in many ways to your personal childhood experience. The added ingredient is your spouse and his/her childhood family experience. It gets tricky when we marry these two different experiences, and the meshed reactions to our personal experiences. If we lived in an abusive home, we often either mimic that as adults to our families, or we go the other way and make changes based on judgments we have harbored against our parents, and or siblings. Drastic change, based on fear, motivated by judgments. The variables are numerous! This usually produces an extreme family system that operates in shame. The judgment in our heart against our fathers house will only reap….JUDGMENT! Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked ; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Have you ever said or thought “I will never do that to my kids” or “my children will never have to experience that”. How do you determine whether or not your judging or only observing? My definition of judgment is “an observation with teeth!”
If we choose to mimic our childhood family experience, we lose and so do our loved ones. If we choose to change our family values based on judgments, we are only stuffing the issues deeper. Now the problem has gone into “stealth mode”. Our family system appears to be “better than our parents way” but the problem areas manifest in other attitudinal ways that are more “socially acceptable” than blatant abuse, like anger, passivity, drinking, workaholism to name a few! We call this behavior “having an elephant in the living room”, that no one will address. Control! “I don’t trust you enough to talk to you, about my feelings.” Don’t Trust, don’t Talk, don’t Feel! These are 3 unspoken, dysfunctional family rules! Make no mistake, if we mimic our abusive experience, our children will inherit suffering, and we will inherit being known and feared as an abuser.
I realize that not everyone can relate to what I am speaking of here, but here is some truth for those of you that can, to help heal your family dynamics for generations to come! Shame based family systems have plagued mankind for centuries. This is the way most of us have experienced family. If you do right, you are acceptable, if you do wrong there are divers consequences. The worst perhaps is feeling unloved, no value, and that your opinion does not matter! Selah
It’s time we apply what the Word of God says, into our family systems. (See my post above “Walk it Out”) We can restore dignity to our loved ones, and to our family name. Selah – Try to think in terms of generations!
Proverbs 22:1,4;
1 A [good] name is to be chosen rather than great riches, Loving favor rather than silver and gold.
4 By humility [and] the fear of the Lord [Are] riches and honor and life.
If we identify with the “judgments” method, the issues WILL manifest in the generations that follow (See Exodus 34:5-7). No eradication until the issues of abuse are appropriated through forgiveness toward the abuser/s. “Will you be the one” to initiate the “renouncing of judgments” both spoken or entertained in your minds in your family? This is the initial response needed to bring generational restoration. Secondly, we begin to speak blessing, and honor, and thanksgiving over our families. Not just in prayer, but directly to the people that represent your living family. “Will you be the one” to initiate change in your family? Will you be “the Repairer of the Breaches, the Restorer of the Streets to Dwell In” (Isaiah 58:12).
- Renounce judgments we have made against those who sinned against us or our families!
- Speak blessing, honor, and thanksgiving over them as they press through their experience or journey. It really all boils down to Romans 12:1,2! The renewing of our mind, our thinking!
“Will you be the one” in your family to begin to think differently? Every blessing as you press in!
If you desire more information on this subject or ministry personally contact us for scheduling @ http://www.freedomquestinternational.org/invite.htm
I hope this post has stirred you for appropriating godly change in your family generations. Please leave a comment. Love to read your thoughts!
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Picture Your Homecoming
I want to encourage us to move in the direction of sonship/daughtership. First by identifying our heart posture, and then taking deliberate steps to walk out of that posture into a posture of submission. In my previous blog, when we took the test to see if we could identify orphan issues in our heart, we undoubtedly discovered our true state. The key to finding the way home is to first identify where we are, and then begin to untangle ourselves from that issue, and all of its fruit. For example, if you struggle with shame after having been shamed for years, this becomes a way of life. We feel as if God is ashamed of us if we don’t do everything just right. We then expect others to do right too, and if they don’t, we shame them.
“What’s wrong with you?
Can’t you get it right?
Am I going to have to do that myself?”
…may be some of our condescending phrases to them. Shame is the voice we have heard for years and the one we tend to replay over and over when we evaluate our performance as well as others. “The way home” is to identify the voice of lies and resist it. Then ask God to forgive you for entertaining a misconception of His perfect love, and proclaim truth concerning that lie. Next we need to honor ourselves and others we’ve shamed. It’s that easy! James 4:7ff teaches us to “resist the devil and he will flee from us”. He is the father of lies, and we too often subconsciously choose to believe his words instead of turning to God and believing His Word!
Directions Home;
- Identify the orphaned issues in our life; (take the test in my previous blog!)
- Resist (refuse to entertain it or act it out).
- Ask God to forgive us for doubting Him and walking in fear rather than faith.
- Discover truth about how God feels about the situation or circumstance and act, feel, or speak to others accordingly.
- Honor ourselves and others we’ve shamed.
For deeper healing and ministry in respect to finding “The Way Home” you may want to schedule a personal prayer ministry session by phone or in person. Another option is to schedule an encounter weekend for your church and/or city with Freedom Quest International.
Visit our website at www.freedomquestinternational.org for more details.
We look forward to hearing from you.
We bless your quest for freedom.
