“For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” It does not, therefore, depend on human desire or effort, but on God’s mercy.” Romans 9:15-16 NIV
I was not a very athletic kid. When I went out to play at recess, I was always the last one chosen for the kickball team. I can still hear the other kids as they picked their players. I was always one of the last few not chosen, “…ok (sigh) I’ll take Janet.”
God is not that way. It is not as if He was picking His team and then thought, “I have no other option… I’ll pick you.”
God deliberately chooses to have mercy on us. He knows all our shortcomings. He knows all our wrong choices… Still He has a tender heart towards us and calls to us to come to Him so we can be made new. God deliberately chooses to have compassion on us. He sees us in our broken mess and desires to heal and restore. Whatever our lives look like, He never says, “Go away! Your mess is too much for Me…”
What a beautiful truth! Our salvation/ relationship to God does not “depend on human desire or effort.” It is all dependent upon “God’s mercy.”
Thank You Father that You have chosen us to have mercy and compassion upon. You love us! That is enough! We do not have to do anything to earn Your love, mercy, or compassion. You chose to send Jesus. Jesus, You chose to die. And You have chosen to show us mercy and compassion in drawing us to Your side and saving us. There is nothing we have done, can do, or will do in the future to earn such a great gift! We love You! In Jesus name!
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” James 4:1-3 NIV
Self focus is deadly!!! It produces fights and quarrels with others. It leads us to atrocious sins.
The self focused person wants what they want when and how they want it. Their theme is “it’s all about me…” But when we live our lives focused on us and our desires, we cannot receive from God. That is because our motives are wrong. Our desires are set on getting what we want — our pleasures.
If our lives lack peace and God feels distant, there is one phrase that will describe the root of what is going on. It is worthy of saying it out loud so understanding can come. “ I am the problem…” I need to get my eyes off of me and onto God who holds everything I need.
Life is not about me at all. It is all about Him!!! If my desires are set on Him, if I ask God for His provision from a heart that is surrendered to Him entirely, totally, and completely, if my life is all about God, I will dwell in God. His peace, joy, and love will fill my life.
“I am the problem” can be changed to “Jesus is the answer.” He is to be our lives. That is the only way to live as we were created to be.
“They said to her, “You are out of your mind.”” Acts 12:18 ESV
Today is Acts 12.
Things were looking pretty bleak… Herod the king, had James the brother of John, killed. He was one of the 12 disciples that followed Jesus during His earthly ministry. He was Peter’s friend. Then Herod decided to arrest Peter too. BUT, “earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.” (Verse 9)
Four squads of soldiers, chains, and the iron gates of the city are no match for God. An angel sent by God came to Peter and led him out of the prison and into the city. It was so incredible that Peter thought it was just a vision he was seeing until the angel left him, and he stood free in a street of a city.
When Peter arrived at Mary’s house, the servant girl who went to the door to answer his knocking was amazed and left him there outside. She reported the miracle to those inside, and they said, “You are out of our mind.”
God is a God of miracles! These miracles are “mind blowing”! People who hear them may have a hard time believing that what has happened is true or could even occur. I have seen “mind blowing” miracles in my own life. God still works wonders that the world would tell you are impossible. For me, a woman held in the chains of a prison of anxiety — meds, secular therapy, eastern meditation apps, mindfulness, you name it… I’ve probably tried it… has seen the chains drop off, walked passed the guards, and am standing totally free! Some may say, “you are out of your mind.” Because it doesn’t match the pattern of the world. A person in prison should stay there… But God!
Earnest prayer was made on Peter’s behalf, and God answered! God is still the same! He answers prayer!
Today is Mark 9:30-50 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”
We are born selfish. Our tendency is to figure out how to put our thoughts, our desires, and our feelings first. Our world tells us to “live our own truth”, “follow our hearts”, and “chase our dreams.” The disciples exhibited this selfish nature as they walked along the road arguing with each other over who was the greatest.
Jesus told His disciples the way to greatness in His kingdom. “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.” The nature of a servant is to serve and to give up their selfish ambitions in order to please their master.
Life is not about the positions we attain, but the pursuit of Jesus. His Lordship means we give up ourselves, listen to His Word and obey it fully. We serve Him and those whom He puts in our path to serve. This is greatness in His Kingdom!
Today is Mark 5:21-43 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”
“She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse.” Mark 5:26 NIV
Desperation! A woman who had suffered much from a bleeding issue pressed through a crowd. She had hope that somehow she would come into contact with the Jesus she had heard about. She knew if she could just “touch his clothes” she would be healed.
What impresses me about this account is that she had tried everything to be better and had only grown worse. I can relate to that. One time I tried to calculate the amount of money I spent trying to fix myself and the anxiety that I suffered with: professional counseling, meds, self help books I purchased, subscriptions to Headspace — eastern meditation app, gas to drive to the counseling sessions, over $700 on a workshop that offered a cure (15 years ago I haven’t checked its price now), coloring books to distract me from my anxious thoughts, the list could go on… AND what I was suffering with did not get better. It grew worse.
All I really needed was just reach out to Jesus. He had paid the price for me to be free long ago on the cross. When I finally came to an end of myself and my ways and I came to Him, I was healed.
What is it that needs a miraculous touch in your life? Jesus has power flowing out of Him that can free you from your suffering. Come to Him in faith believing He can!
What is God showing you today in our reading? Share it below 👇 👇👇
“Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:1-2 NIV
Sin is an uncomfortable topic in our modern world. Many have come to believe that we are beyond that concept. Our thoughts, feelings, and actions cannot be the problem. The problem is the environment we have lived, the people we have interacted with and the situations that have made us. Victims… we are just victims floating aimlessly in a torrent of occurrences that have shaped who we have become. In order to experience differently we must make ourselves what we want to be, chasing what we want, when and how we want it. However, this way of thinking only digs a deeper and deeper hole for the individual who embraces them. Why? It is a complete denial of the truth written in God’s word. It is pursuit of a way outside of relationship with the only one who holds the cure for the death, darkness, and destruction in our lives…Jesus.
We are not self made, and the solution for all the “negative emotions” we feel within ourselves is not found within ourselves. We have a Creator. This Creator designed us for connection to Him in a deep and intimate relationship. When we live our lives separated from this design, we experience lives far from what He created us for. Our Creator is good, loving, kind, peaceful, true, just, etc. He is the only source of these characteristics. So our disconnection from Him means that we live disconnected from all that He is. Apart from God there is no good thing. (Psalm 16:2)
The question then becomes, if separation from my Creator is what is bringing all the anger, anxiety, hatred, bitterness, fear, control issues, etc., WHY am I separated from Him? Who separated me from the source of life I desperately need? The answer is you and I. Our deliberate choice to sin has separated us. We are sinners.
The good news is as we come to terms with what we are is there is a solution for what separates us from the peace, joy, love, faithfulness, self- control, etc. that we all need. It is a solution that is far more simple than our repeated attempts of “self- help” techniques. Because quite truthfully, we cannot help ourselves. We cannot fix what is wrong inside of us. This is only fixed by the one who created us, God.
God has provided the solution to the sin that destroys us, Jesus. Jesus and His death, burial, and resurrection provided the way. As we come to Him in repentance, asking Him to cleanse us from the sin we have in our heart. He begins a good work within us. He gives us a new heart that is inclined to live in a relationship pursing Him. As we see it is our choice to sin and to pursue ourselves over God that is separating us from living a life of abundance, we have come to a place we can accept the Good News!
The problem — our iniquity and sin. The solution — repentance and surrender to Jesus!
Today is a very special day for me. After many years of being held captive by anxiety and trying many things to get free, God heard my cry for freedom and set me free. After 6 years on anxiety meds, I no longer needed them. Two years ago on this date was my first day of freedom from taking both Prozac and Buspar.
God has worked a change in my life, and for those of you who know me, it may be a bit of a surprise for me to tell you this. Because I have always been active in church and made it no secret that I believed in Jesus. In fact, I have thought throughout my adult years that I was living my life surrendered to God. The truth is In some ways I was, but in many ways I was not. ‘Make no mistake, God wants all of us.
About 5 months prior to taking my last anxiety pill I was at a revival service at my church with Pastor Denbow speaking (October 2021). He was speaking about “syncretism”- trying to mix the gospel with the worlds ways. In that service I realized that I had been trying to mix secular humanist thought and practices, as well as the widely accepted practice of eastern meditation, with the Bible. That does not work! In my love for God, He does not want to compete with me having other “spiritual” lovers — my ways or the worlds. He wants all of me, all of my heart— entirely, totally, and completely given up to Him. This is Teachings that the Bible Study group WOW has helped me to come to understand better and better through the past few years. (God has used WOW tremendously in my life to help me walk in freedom)
At that revival 2 1/2 years ago, I went to the front and repented for the sin I had held in my heart, and told God He could have all of me. On a morning, shortly after that I went to my pill box and heard the Holy Spirit tell me “that is not your inheritance.” I quit one medicine instantly. The other one I weaned off and took my last pill almost 5 months later.
Two years later to this day, I am free! The change in me since that time has been huge. So much so that I have told my friends, “I feel like I have been born again…again.”
Friday night I was talking to my husband, his brother, and my sister in law about this change. I said it almost makes you think about getting baptized again. I didn’t think I needed to since I was baptized as a teenager. Saturday morning I woke up with the desire to be baptized burning within my heart.
So tonight, I am going to be baptized. I want to publicly declare that I have been changed by Jesus and His power alone. I want to do whatever He tells me to do. Because He is life. And I do not want my way of doing things ever again. They have died. I am raised to new life.
A few months ago, I was praying. I heard the Holy Spirit tell me, “Janet, do you know that Satan uses noise warfare?” Since the term “noise warfare” was not exactly on my mind, I decided to do a google search. When I did, I found an article about Manuel Noriega. The implications of his story have been eye opening to me as one who has been subject to “noise warfare” for most of my life.
US Soldiers blaring rock and roll music in 1989
On Christmas Day 1989, The United States decided it was time to arrest and bring to justice General Manuel Noriega, the dictator of Panama. Indicted for drug trafficking charges, Mr. Noriega had holed himself up in the embassy of the Vatican in Panama. The US forces did not want to destroy buildings in order to accomplish a surrender of the surrounded General. So, they engaged in “noise warfare”. They surrounded the Embassy and with a flight of Humvees that were mounted with loudspeakers from which they blasted rock in roll music, nonstop for three days. Noriega, who loved classical music surrendered shortly after. As I read the news report of the events surrounding Noriega’s surrender, the truth set in. This is the exact type of spiritual warfare I have been engaged in most of my life.
Make no doubt about it. Our enemy, Satan, is a liar. Not only is he a liar, he takes great pleasure in repeating lies in our ears over and over and over again. His voice does not tire from spewing lies 24/7 that lead us to choose anxiety, anger, depression, hatred, bitterness, envy, selfishness, jealousy, etc. However, we do not have to be subject to the noise warfare going on within our heads.
About three years ago, I contacted my friend from college. In our conversation, I revealed to her that I was suffering from horrible anxiety. She told me something that to this day rings true, “Janet, you have the Holy Spirit living within you. You know His voice. All you have to do is listen.” It occurred to me that moment that I had listened to the lies of the enemy so long that I had forgotten what it was like to listen for the “still small voice” of the Holy Spirit. I had allowed Satan to shout in my ears and I had been internalizing his lies. It was time to draw a line in the sand and FIGHT!
Do you know that God has a victory plan for the “noise warfare” of our enemy? It is the praise of our glorious God! It silences Satan!
“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. “ Psalm 8:1-2 NIV
We must make a determined effort to use this weapon we have graciously been given. Satan knows this is true. So he once again will shout his lies, “That won’t work! You look like an idiot praising when you are who you are!” May I encourage you, tell him to “shut it!” and then get your praise on!
Even if the praise you struggle to get out starts with a feeble, “I praise you God, because you are good.” Build on those words with more and more praise. He cannot continue to blare his noise when the praises start! The truth of who God is as you praise Him with His Word will prevail! So, praise and then listen. You will hear His voice. It has been gently speaking all along. In Him is the Victory!
I have rediscovered the past few years how beautiful the sound of God’s voice is! I love it! What I did not know as I listened to the noise of the enemy is that God’s voice was speaking the whole time. Praise helped me to turn the channel of what was being broadcasted in my head. God’s voice is loving. His voice is peace. It is gentle, kind, patient, and good. And best of all, it can be heard! In fact, God longs for us to hear it! He wants us to know His voice and follow no other! Because He loves us and wants what is best for us!
We do not have to live under the constant barrage of the enemy’s lies and his “noise warfare”! We must immerse ourselves in the truth- God’s Word, the Bible, and lift up our voices in praise! Our God still breaks the chains of torment off of the minds of His children! Believe it is so!
I grew up in a small southern Missouri town near Montauk State Park, a state park known for trout fishing. Opening day of Trout Season, March 1st was almost like a holiday in our area. Kids were known to skip school so they could be on the river, pole in hand, listening for the early morning whistle blow that signaled the day of trout fishing had begun. I didn’t go much, but some in my family did. Then I met my husband and we married. He took to the whole trout fishing scene and became pretty proficient in catching his limit of trout, almost every time. That is not easy. I could fish for hours and catch none….. Years went by, camping at another state park for trout fishing became a yearly, if not more occurrence. It was nice. We had a pull behind camper. I would sleep in with the kids, he would go fishing. I would hang out, relax, do some school work with them, since we tended to camp during the school year, perks of Homeschooling… Then the camper was sold, the kids grew up, and my husband needed a fishing buddy. So my love for trout fishing began.
A small hook can do a lot of damage in a trout’s life.
One of the things about catching trout that still stumps me to this day, is they are incredibly smart. They can see the line, if too thick, the hook if too big, and they will NOT bite on it. You use a very light weight line and a very small hook considering the size of fish you will reel in.
This morning the image of a large trout being reeled in on a small hook has been floating around in my mind. I’ve seen it lots of times as I’ve stood with waders on, in the stream. Fish in one hand, my other hand free to remove the tiny hook from its mouth. How I ever got it into my net on such a small device eludes me. It probably amazes the trout as well. One chomp at an alluring fly and it’s a done deal, with the right skills, he becomes mine.
There is a parallel between the trout on a hook and the thought life I have struggled with for years. But finally, something has clicked inside of me that has “unhooked me” in my mind, and all I can do is praise the God who sets me free.
I’m pretty sure any person who struggles with trauma-based anxiety will identify with this pattern in your mind. A thought of an event or situation of the past comes to mind, a trauma. Then the thought, “uh oh… I thought the thought. I remembered the event. I prayed about that memory. I asked God to take it away, but here it is. I must not have experienced the healing God promises. What can I do to set myself free?” So, YOU fight to not think about it anymore: Distract, medicate, meditate, self-help techniques galore, the list goes on… That is the equivalent to a large trout hooked on a tiny hook. That trout will FIGHT to not be reeled in. All the while digging the hook deeper into its lip.
Yesterday, the Bible study group I go to, “Women on Wednesdays” had a workshop on Emotional Woundedness. They invited the Reginal director for Center for Women’s Ministries to lead it. There was something talked about during the workshop that has “unhooked” me, “Holy Forgetfulness”. God must have been trying to get my attention, because not only did it come up during the workshop, the topic was brought up in church on Sunday by a guest speaker for Spring Revival, and it also came up on a teaching I watched online by Robert Morris. In fact, a quote from Robert Morris’ teaching was posted in my Facebook feed. “Holy forgetfulness doesn’t mean we won’t have the memory anymore; it means we won’t have the stress and pain associated with the memory.” I would venture to say God has been trying to get my attention. It hit me… Memories of painful events don’t just vanish. They happened. But fighting the memory by trying to forget will only “set the hook” worse. God has “unhooked” me! Satan wants to drag up the chains, the handcuffs, the prison cell bars, from the recesses of my mind and say, “Yep, they are still there…” But the fact of the matter is NOT that all those things have existed as a part of my story. The FACT is I am not in them anymore! The pain they caused me has been healed. I am free! Jesus, the healer and the source of freedom, has unhooked me! That memory that I have tried so hard to forget needs to only be filed away under the label, “YOU ARE FREE!” and each time it may come up, the label clearly displayed. Because that memory has no hold on me!
The Tea- “Gossip or personal information belonging to someone else; the scoop, the news …” -Urban Dictionary
Conversations with my 21-year-old daughter tend to prove to me just how old I am getting:
Faith: “Here’s the tea Mom…”
ME: “The what?”
Faith: “The tea… Gosh MOM! The tea, It means, the scoop on, what’s up with so and so, the…” and on and on…
My mind goes to “I am getting old.” But I assure you the next conversation I was asking, “What’s the tea on…?”
“The Tea” that was probably started due to tea parties or teatime where people sat together and talked about other people and all kinds of subjects.
It’s taken me awhile, but I am learning. We need to be careful of what voices we allow ourselves to listen to. This morning my Bible reading was in John 10. Jesus is describing the Good Shepherd and His relationship with His sheep. One thing that has been sticking out to me more and more lately is how the sheep know the Good Shepherd’s voice, and how they listen to it. They won’t follow another voice. In John 3:5 Jesus says, ” they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” It occurred to me that not only do I not run away at times, there are times I sit down and have a regular old “Tea Party with Satan” where I listen to him fill me “Spill the tea” on others around me with accusations and assumptions. Or I listen to him give me “the tea” on myself: What I am, What I am not, what I’ve done or did not do. He is a very chatty “Tea Party” host if I allow him to be. Unfortunately, I had been attending Tea Parties with him, frequently. Here is where I make a very bold statement… I’m pretty sure the source of much of the anxiety and depression I have suffered is my frequent attendance to “ALL DAY LONG Tea Parties with Satan.” That he throws. He pulls out a chair, whispers a juicy lie, and offers me a seat to a morning, noon, and night, sometimes all night Spilling of the Tea. It usually starts with, “You know you are not enough for X,Y,Z you face.” “You know so and so doesn’t really like you, they tolerate you…” “You know, If your friends only knew this and such about you…” On and on and on…If I accept his invitation, and sit down for a listen, I find myself drowning in all the fear, anxiety, anger, jealousy, etc. That he wants me to be overcome with. His Tea Party is a success.
Jesus said, “His Sheep run away from a strangers voice.” This has been resounding in my soul today. It is time to not only decline an initiation to Satan’s Tea Party, but to run. I must run away from his voice and run straight to Jesus’ voice. Jesus declares the truth. He declares the truth about who I am and who He and the Father are. His voice is there calling out. It truly is a question of “Who will I listen to?” and to “Who’s table will I run?” Jesus offers me a banqueting table, full of delights, that the Word says has “Banner of me of Love”. It is there that I find myself fulfilled, at peace, and with joy. But it requires that I decline my invitation to Teatime with Satan, that comes frequently throughout my day. And that I run from the tantalizing whisper of the lies he spews. Focusing instead on the feast of the truth and promises in God’s word regarding who He is and who I am. Positioning myself close to His heart. Where I can clearly hear Jesus. It is there that I am safe from the tea of anxiety and depression, and whatever other flavors of his deadly teas, Satan wants to serve.
Invitation to Teatime with Satan Declined!
“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.” James 4:7-8
Your Love 