The End Result

I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds. Psalm 9:1

Embrace your metamorphosis. What happens as you deal with pain and suffering is much like the butterfly’s life cycle. While in its cocoon, during its time of wait, a transformation from caterpillar to butterfly is taking place. The butterfly will never emerge if this process is interrupted. It takes time and a season of change, though not observable since its metamorphosis is hidden from view by the fiber walls of its chrysalis. When the time is right and the metamorphosis is complete, the butterfly must be left alone as it makes its exit from its hidden place to re-enter its environment, then to dry it wings before taking its virgin flight. To interfere will bring harm to the butterfly, preventing it from becoming the beauty it was meant to be.

We, as well, must endure a time of being closeted within a private cocoon of God’s design. The transformation of our hidden life through the tempering of troubles and difficulties mixed with trust and spiritual refreshment is a process we must personally experience—alone—uninterrupted by human well-meaning detractors. To deny ourselves this effort will abort our destiny’s end. When one emerges from the dark places to reenter the light, it becomes possible to see the true nature of the miracle of God’s grace in our transformed lives. When our metamorphosis is complete, we will have become what we were meant to be—a divine created soul with exquisite beauty and gentle graces of great worth and value to God and to fellow human-beings.

Do not resent the troubles or hard times, they are the means to bring you into close fellowship with your Father God in intimacy of relationship. It is where spiritual needs are met and faith is developed. Praise him!

Dear Father God, so much I love Thee. You are the potter and I am the clay. Mold me into the shape you wish me to be that I may be used of Thee.

God's Quality is Gentle and Applicable: Intervention 20

When We Learn from Christ, We Become more like Him

Finding God in the Daily

For I am gentle and lowly in heart.
Matthew 11:29

Christians are image bearers. Their lives reflect Christ to the world. They are being changed from the inside to out, and it shows.

God's character-likeness influences our character and likeness.

A fully surrendered life has healing and cleansing. This life is pliable, moldable, and fluid. The resistance is gone. The inward places are healthy. Their focus is changed from ordinary spiritual living to a serious bent toward loving God with all their heart, mind, and soul.

God enables His life to live freely in those who turn their attention to receive of Him. God is the change agent in a caring, loving, interactive, Father-to-child relationship with His children. God is a gentle, kind Papa.

He is humble,
-wise,
     -trustworthy,
            -strong,
                   -caring,
                           -helpful.

Those who find God, whom have really found Him in this way, are different from others in the Christian family. They have a quality about them, like a softness indicative of quiet strength. It show outwardly when there is free access in an interactive relationship.

These followers are gentle and humble in heart. In truth, what they have is a Divine Presence in them shining forth, a beauty that originates from within that lights the eyes with life and peace. Their's is an inner radiance that spills forth in splashes of joy and inner delight that never draws attention to itself but arrests others' attention. 

In His gentle way, God cleanses souls, mends hearts, and heals wounds.

This is God’s loving intervention for dealing with the presence of pain and inner isolation in His followers. He desires our life that He might redeem every part of it. God touches us where we have been wounded by thoughtless words and unkind actions. He also brings to the forefront those times when we have acted in wrong-minded self-interest through self-serving, unkind words and actions.

Therapists guide us,.
-Friends love us,
     -Family supports us,
           -Pastors counsel us,
                  -Many pray for us,
But only God heals us. 

God meets us in the inner recesses of our hearts when we are open enough to let Him. The process can be painful, especially when past experiences have piled up like a formidable fortress walling emotions inside that have fermented in harmful destructive ways. It is okay to say, I can’t do this anymore, God. I can’t deal with this any longer. Take it. I need your help. I give up. I give it to You and ask You to take it. You to do it. I trust You.I want you. .

What came next in my life was extremely painful but worth it.

One by one as He revealed them to me, I gave my hurts and fears to God. It was a process of God showing me my heart. I saw how my wounds and self-imposed limitations were enclosed beyond my human ability to expose or remediate. Sadness, repentance, and sorrow mingled together overwhelming my spirit. God gently released their hold on me. God met me there as I revisited the ache in my heart, holding me in His tight embrace as He wiped my endless tears from swollen eyelids. His love was warm and comforting, kind and forgiving. His Father-love enveloped me, touched my wounds, lifted my sorrows, healed my hurts—and set me free. I understood that while on the cross, Christ shared in my suffering. My sadness gave way to relief then peace. The freedom was as if a burden had lifted and the monkey was off my back. The sorrow disappeared out of my heart until only a scar remained. I have never been the same. The pain has not returned. The deep sense of sorrow is gone.

† † †

I'm Free Today: Intervention, no. 4

Bound Yesterday, Free Today

Finding God in the Daily

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

 John 8:36

The destination of the spiritual sojourner unfolds as it is lived out. 

I AM A FREE PERSON TODAY.  It hasn’t always been this way. Life used to be confusing and less fulfilling. Through a soul-changing process over time God brought me to a place of freedom and joy. It's changed my life and my perspectives. 

My point of view has altered somewhat as to what it is to be a sweet aroma of Christ in the world, church, and community. Love and grace are spiritually endued gifts of any Christian. 

God uses us.

The more we develop our spiritual, emotional, mental, and intellectual lives,
   the more we rely on the Spirit to guide and enable us,
      the more we are in-tune with others,
          the more we exhibit the fruits of the spirit,
              > the more we can expect God to use us in others' lives.

The time comes, though, when there is a drain on personal energy and supply: Some whom we help take advantage, some have physical, mental, and emotional needs, not to mention their addictions and dysfunction. As much as we may want to, we can't meet every need nor are we equipped to do so.

Two concerns
1) We can't help everybody nor would it be wise to do so. Common sense is needed.
2) We can't give them what we don't have ourselves. Platitudes mean little.

Two solutions
1) Use discernment and godly wisdom and follow your gut feeling. Be wise spiritually.
2) Share what you have those times God puts someone in your path. Be pro-active.

Like much in Christian life, we can't do this kind of thing in our own strength (unless our talents are in that area). It is best to rely on God to facilitate the discussion. This enables us to do and say what we didn't think ourselves capable of doing and saying. It is a beautiful thing to be used by God-- wherever it takes us, to assist whomever.

God loves others through our obedience to Him. God uses what we know and the power of our transformation to be lights in the world. This has everything to do with our embracing Christ and His embracing us back. God is in control. He is the loving controller of our lives and all things. Notice where He is at work.

After experiencing my spiritual transformation--from a spiritual life based on duty and performance to a spiritual life based on love and God’s goodness--I can look at my back trail and see parallels in my choices and the way God uses them for the better good.

God healed pockets of painful emotions within me. These areas blinded me to the true condition of my inner self. Now that I'm free from their bondage I can speak to the need. I promised God I would do so back in 2002. This is why I want other silent suffers to tap into real, loving, enlivened, spiritual life.

Dear Father, You are a good God. You make us to lie down by still waters. You restore our souls. You lead us in the paths of righteousness for Your name's sake and our betterment. Praise and thanksgiving. Amen

More to come.

To God be the Glory

A message of life.

Inspiration 43

Authentic Christians -- Daily Inspiration 22

The Life of an Authentic Christian

 A follower of Christ is known by their love for others. They are unselfish in their real self and give from the heart. This means they receive from the Source of all love, Jesus Christ.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

John 13:35  NIV

AUTHENTICITY in a Christian is a must-have. If this is true, then what must a Christian have to be authentic? According to scripture, a real, true, authentic Christian will be known by their love. They will have love and that love will be known for how it acts towards others. It will love the unlovely. Because of their love, they will be unselfish and kind to others. Christ will speak His love through them and they will act as His hands and feet. They don't hoard their gifts, resources, and possessions. They give without a need for others' praise, honor, or notice. Christ is at the heart of genuine Christianity. He is given access in a life following Him. This individual is centered in the core of their being. They follow the prompts and impressions God gives them in their spirit life. Like clay, they are molded according to the Sculptor's shaping, active according to the purpose for which they have been shaped. Spiritual people are not exactly alike, but they should be alike in function and purpose. An authentic Christian is to give glory to God. This is the way to live an authentic Christian life. Embrace Christ. Love one another as Christ first loved you.

Gracious Father, thankful are we for Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave His life for us. May we become the people You want us to be and known by love that flows from us. Amen

To God be the Glory

Evoking Compassion -- Inspiration 9

Compassion Stems From The Heart

Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
"Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.

Matthew 20:32-34. NIV

COMPASSION initiates in the heart. Acts of kindness toward those in need stems from a loving outlook. Christ's compassion for the needy, unwell, hungry, distraught, unclean, beggar, and persons without hope is well documented. His heart was big, He ministered to physical needs as well as spiritual needs. The person in need of Jesus' touch were asked to respond to Him. Their response was a step toward their healing. Today is no exception. Christ begins to reveal who He is to someone in need of His loving touch. He asks them to believe. A response is requested of them. People are given choices. Will they act or won't they? Will they believe or will they make excuses? Some will, some won't. That's free will. Not much has changed since Jesus' day. To choose Jesus as the way, truth, and life, is to receive the wondrously marvelous gloriousness of spiritual life. Spiritual life softens a person's heart as compassion flows out of their being. The more they know God--learn of Him and seek His face--the more they will care about people, animals, and the earth. For God has made all.  A life lived in God's presence loves Him and what He has made. Real Christianity is not cruel. Christ's love initiates love in His true followers. This is blessedness.

Gracious Father, May we love You more deeply, follow You more truly, and embrace You more dearly. May You flow through our lives to others with eyes that see the wounded, weary, and distraught. Make us more compassionate, helpful, and caring. May we be like Thee. Amen.

To God be the Glory

The Christ-Life Speaks Joy to the Soul

Freedom versus Bondage

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. --John 10:10 NIV

Christ-following is not rule-following. 

Christ is life; not a burden, not working harder, not being buried under a weight of guilt unable to meet all the requirements of "righteous" living. Bondage to an ideal is not the stuff of freedom in Christ, contrary to what many have been taught, and in some ways, as I was taught.

Joy is repressed when the Christ-life is reduced to a list-following duty. You see, Christ came to set us free. We can access that freedom by living in close relationship with Him. He is life. Real life is an over-flowing of Christ in us that is life-giving and real.

Liberating in essence, Christ-following is crying out to Him with your heart and soul, to know Him, to love Him, to being filled with Christ's life now bringing -- and His Life now being -- life in you. Christianity is about Christ, His hope, His love, and His life. Pure and simple, it is all about Christ.

Many Christians live in duty-bound bondage to the religious form that has little to do with the "life" of Christ in their daily living. Christ came to set the captive free. He is life eternal. Through Him we partake of Living Life. His Life brings life with its joy to the soul. We become fully alive in our spirit.

Belief is rooted in what you believe. If it is reduced to a list of rules, traditions, and religious practices, then it will fail to bring life to the soul. Instead, it will cause bondage to the practices. Opening your life to Christ and focusing on Him is what gives life to your inner being. This is freeing and breaks the bonds of do-good-ing religiosity. Trying to achieve holiness in our own strength is not possible though it may be well intentioned. Striving to be godly will fail. Its motivation is from the wrong source. Godliness originates from Christ, in us and transforming us.
.
What goes on in the heart is where we must look to find our true spiritual state. As we are in our heart, so are we. Why we do what we do is important to know. A self-examination is in order. What does your heart love? Therein you will find your spiritual truth. Is it in Christ the Savior or is it in the practices and forms? I mean, really look for what is true in you. The wearing of "spiritual masks" is commonplace. They quite effectively hide the true truth about your spiritual condition. Seek God until He mirrors your soul's condition to you. Then you're ready to access freedom through Christ and in Christ.

Grace, joy, and peace come through Christ living in us. Embracing Christ, loving God, seeking spiritual truth through Father, Son, and Spirit -- through God's Word, and through a life enkindled in its reality through love in Christ, prayer and meditation -- is life-giving goodness. It is then you live spiritual life from a place of light and beauty rather than bondage and servitude.

It doesn't get any better than that.