Tag: walking in freedom

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Defeating The Lie: I’m Not Clean Enough To Get To Know God

God laid it on my heart these past couple days to talk about how Jesus isn’t looking for us to “get clean” before we ask him in our life. Neither should the church you attend. The church you attend should be showing the love of Jesus by meeting you where you are at, sins and all. None of us our perfect. None.

I have went to different churches with different denominations. Where I have learned the most is where I felt the love of Jesus and was taught biblical principles. I’ve never learned something out of fear or condemnation. We know that fear nor condemnation come from God. Love casts out all fear and God is Love. There’s a big difference between conviction and condemnation. Condemnation is overwhelming guilt that pushes you away from God. Where conviction is where Holy Spirit points out you have something to work on in your heart through love.

When I went back to church in 2015, I was sick and in need of a doctor. In other words, I was consumed by the enemies lies, what people portrayed God to be, overwhelmed by the heaviness of my sin, and just came home from the bar a couple hours before while still battling a pill addiction. I stepped into The River and was very timid and didn’t really want to talk or be seen by anyone. However, I was stopped by 4 amazing women that day that I still love to this day. They knew that I was struggling but loved me anyways, just as Jesus does. I walked into worship and it was completely different than anything I had ever saw. People were free. They held up their hands praising God, weeping, and laying hands on one another. And then Holy Spirit hit me….Like right in the face. Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about! The song we were singing was talking about was about breaking free from addiction and depression.

I am unsure why there is this lie floating around that Jesus expects you to be white as snow when you come to him…probably just one of satans tactics…But, if we were clean and not in need of a doctor, God wouldn’t of went Jesus to die for us. It’s never too late to come to God & you’re never too dirty to come to him either.

“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord . “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool.
Isaiah 1:18 NLT

“Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.”
1 John 4:18 NLT

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
1 John 4:16 NLT

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Unforgiveness Says A lot More About You Than The Person That Hurt You!

There has been a repeating topic that comes up when I talk to people about their walk with Christ, besides reading the bible. (You should do that too! haha!) That would be the topic of forgiveness.

“If anyone has caused pain, he has caused pain not so much to me but to some degree—not to exaggerate—to all of you. This punishment by the majority is sufficient for that person. As a result, you should instead forgive and comfort him. Otherwise, he may be overwhelmed by excessive grief. Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him. I wrote for this purpose: to test your character to see if you are obedient in everything. Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ, so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.” -2 Corinthians 2:5-11

Often, we as humans, have a hard time forgiving people that hurt us. Let’s face it, people have done some really hurtful things. There’s sexual, physical, and mental abuse in this world, and then on a different side of the spectrum people lie, steal, and cheat. People’s hearts can be really vile. When we forgive someone who really hurt us, it says more about our character than it ever will there’s. It is actually beneficial to your health to forgive. Don’t believe me? Check out the article below on Psychology Today!

Psychology Today-Important Facts About Forgiveness

You don’t have to get an apology to forgive someone. When I realized you didn’t, it was so freeing to know that I didn’t have to carry around the baggage of the hurt of past abuse relationships, sexual abuse, and cheating to name a few. Holding on to unforgiveness leaves a bitterness in your heart for everyone else to see and feel. The devil has a foothold when you don’t forgive the people that hurt you. It can be really difficult to forgive someone who hurt you. But, growing isn’t always a walk in the park!Just because you forgive someone once, doesn’t mean you won’t have to repeat it aloud for the next 3 months. Say you forgive them out loud, until you truly do. Your words have power & satan will do everything in his power to stop God’s plan for your life. “Words kill, words give life; they’re either poison or fruit—you choose.”-Proverbs 18:21 MSG

Jesus died for our forgiveness. So why wouldn’t satan try to stop something that God has provided? Being hurt and in the midst of trial is often when our obedience is being tested. When it’s hardest to forgive is when you should be forgiving. Not only does unforgivness hurt them, it hurts you.

You know the saying hurt people, hurt people? It’s true! We are called to be the light and salt of the world. So what we are called to do when someone hurts us? LOVE. Yes, I said it, love and comfort them! I know what you are thinking…Is this girl crazy!? I know it sounds crazy, but I am not asking you to do this in your own strength! If you forgive others, God forgives you. It brings them freedom and you! Double win!

Ask Holy Spirit to guide you. Ask him if you first you have any unforgivness in your heart. If a name comes to mind, say aloud that you forgive them. Keep the pattern going until their are no names left. The first time I did this, it took about 3 hours! Not joking! Pray to God asking him to have Holy Spirit teach your heart to love and forgive when someone hurts you. Realize that you aren’t fighting against the person that hurt you and that you are in a spiritual war against satan and all his little friends. “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens. “-Ephesians 6:12

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Giving Credit Where It’s Due

Recently, I’ve been hearing how “proud” people are of me and how much “I’ve changed”, how “different” I am, how much “healthier”, etc. I thank every single one of you for the kind words, but can I just say, it’s not me. It’s being in the Presence of God that has brought me to where I am today. Studying God’s word, speaking it over my life through prayer, applying it to my life, and praising God through every circumstance is what has gotten me here. Spending time with God has broke me free of baggage of the past, healed me of Bipolar Disorder, broke off the bondage of addiction, and brought me to know pure love. These are just some of the wonderful things. While I appreciate the compliments so much, please give credit where it is due. Don’t take my posts, blogs, and experiences at face value. Experience God for yourself.

Also, if you would like to watch a wonderful sermon today, I placed a link below:

The Most Important Lesson I Could Ever Teach-Francis Chan

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God Didn’t Call Me To Judge, He Called Me To Love!

As I flipped open to The Book Of James his morning I began to chuckle, admiring the way Holy Spirit works. With God’s timing being ABSOLUTELY PERFECT, who wouldn’t laugh?

I began to read and Holy Spirit started pointing things out to me in a different light that I once never saw them. Now, here I am, sharing with you what I feel led to write.

Let’s skip to Chapter 2, shall we?

It starts with:

“My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others?”

‭‭James‬ ‭2:1‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Do you love everyone on an even plane? No matter their race, sexuality, economic status, hair color, car they drive, how many kids they have, divorced, not divorced, how they may have treated us in the past, we are not called to judge, but to love our neighbor as ourself.

I feel we all struggle sometimes with this one. Not understanding how to love, knowing what love is, causes every word that comes from our mouth, worthless.(1Corinthians 13:1).Not showing favoritism also includes people that may have really hurt you in the past. If you are sitting on the other side of the screen thinking, “oh this definitely isn’t me”, I truly believe we can always love a little deeper than the day before. I struggle at times letting go of past hurt, trying not to show partiality to someone who has never hurt me when in comparison to someone that may have left some scars or said something when they were angry in spite, knowing it would hurt me. However, I have needed forgiveness for many things I have done in my life. Others deserve forgiveness too. Forgiveness sets you free.

I really enjoy writing this blog. Even if no one else needed to hear this, I still grew a deeper understanding.

I don’t understand racism. I don’t understand discrimination based on your sexuality or gender either. Once again, God didn’t call me to judge, he called me to love.

“Yes indeed, it is good when you obey the royal law as found in the Scriptures: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. You are guilty of breaking the law. For the person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws. For the same God who said, “You must not commit adultery,” also said, “You must not murder.” So if you murder someone but do not commit adultery, you have still broken the law. So whatever you say or whatever you do, remember that you will be judged by the law that sets you free. There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you.”

‭‭James‬ ‭2:8-13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God is a lover. The ultimate lover. Thinking that God was a condemning God was one of the strongholds the enemy had on me. When you invite God into your life, you learn continually. You have to unlearn things, break out of bondage and start walking in freedom. You learn that love is supernatural. God is love. God is also a merciful God. He knows we are going to take a wrong turn even before we take it, and he’s here to forgive and keep cheering for us, coaching us to follow the example of Christ and apply the word to our daily life.

With recent events, I deleted the Facebook app off my phone. I have it on my iPad still. I was so tired of all the hate. I understand that people are hurting one another, in more ways then one…However, are you speaking life into people who don’t know what true love is? Or are you supporting the enemy by spreading negativity throughout the feeds of millions? We are in a world that doesn’t know how Love. They don’t know God. Whenever someone hurts me or at least attempts to, I just keep in mind that it’s a heart problem and we aren’t in a war against flesh and blood, but of rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:12)

Weekend Challenge:

If you read this post and somewhere in here Holy Spirit has convicted you of something, ask Abba to forgive you, turn in the opposite direction, and put into practice what you’ve learned. If you feel like you’re great at loving others, that’s awesome! But I challenge you to ask God how you can love others a little deeper. With God’s love, it’s endless. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. -Ephesians 5:1-2