Yay for my Shepherd
I love the analogy of Jesus as our good Shepherd who is leading us, His sheep.
In dark valley seasons of our lives, we need a Shepherd who has gone before us - a Shepherd who floods our path with light & drives out the darkness.
I experienced one of those dark valley seasons this Summer when I went through a tough time of grief & disappointment.
The funny thing is, though, that it also became a season of deep joy because God restored the joy of my salvation in that time too!
When the Shepherd walks with us in those valley seasons, even valleys lights up because Jesus does not know anything else than being awesome - being light - being goodness personified.
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When I began to raise my eyes off the circumstances and up up up to Him during that tough season, this was what I wrote:
His eyes are like blazing fire. He is magnificent and I am proud to call Him my friend. He is my Helper, through it all.
The journey with Him is also a journey of suffering but with His comforting Spirit I gladly rejoice in the midst of it.
I know that suffering produces endurance, endurance, character, and character HOPE. I need hope desperately because hope deferred makes the heart sick.
I hope in Jesus. There is no other name.
When we let Him, these times of deep pain can become a time where we grow in our salvation. Gems of wisdom & insight can be found in the valley - treasures that will make the words of our lips a blessing despite the circumstances we face.
What we are most conscious of WILL be released.
So if we become more conscious of Jesus and those pearls of wisdom He gives us through the season, we will leak Jesus in the valleys too.
We can surely bear good fruit in every season when we know where to find comfort, & on whom to gaze upon.
It’s our choice. Do we dwell on darkness or do we actively pursue to lift our eyes to the beautiful faithfulness of Jesus in every season?
“…but I (God) will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness." (Psalm 89:33 ESV)
“ALL THE PATHS of the Lord are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.” (Psalm 25:10 ESV)
Let our dark valley seasons become testimonies about God’s faithfulness. Let those seasons release what overshadows us – Christ.
I’m so glad disappointments are not permanent. In deep pain it is a comfort to know that there is only 24 hours in a day.
Time on this earth is truly short & it is a theme that is confirmed again & again in Scripture - here is one of them:
“Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.” (Psalm 144,4 ESV)
I think this theme of life being short is repeated because we often need to be reminded about exactly that! Life is short. That’s a comforting fact in the midst of pain.
Pain gives us a longing after heaven. An eternity in the presence of God where there will be no more death, no more sorrow, no more tears, no more pain. What a promise!
The gospel of Mark speaks greatly into the place of suffering in the life of a believer. Mark is writing to an audience, the early Christian church, who was facing enormous persecution. Jesus is their example who gives them great hope to keep persevering through it all.
Mark assured the original hearers that suffering is part of following Christ. I like Mark’s honesty ‘cause even though it sounds discouraging, it IS encouraging at the same time.
Suffering is part of God’s plan for the final victory for the kingdom of God. Through suffering Christlikeness can be formed in us that cannot be formed on the mountaintops.
“Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Romans 8,18 ESV)
The disciples could be partakers in the victory if they kept following Jesus. It speaks about this hope of glory in Mark 13,24 ESV:
“But in those days after that tribulation…they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”
Jesus was constantly preparing his disciples for the sufferings they had to face & for His own suffering unto death too.
The suffering was not without meaning. God used the suffering for the purpose of redeeming His beloved people from captivity to sin & reverse it with freedom in Him - life to the fullest.
Jesus is still in the business of doing just that with the pain we go through!
Jesus’ times of suffering was not wasted. Even His death was not wasted. Death could not hold Him.
Surely He can redeem & resurrect our darkness too.
“If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you." (Psalm 139,11-12 ESV)
Darkness is not dark to God. Fantastic!
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you.
For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples, BUT THE LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you.” (Isaiah 60,1-2 ESV)
You might feel the darkness in your own soul or your circumstance or simply feel the world’s darkness around you. But God will rise upon you.
This too shall pass! For Him darkness and light are alike.
What we taste and see of God on this earth is just a shadow of what is to come!! We can be in expectancy in our darkest seasons. Yay!
Jesus is madly in love with you. He is inviting you to welcome Him, the Shepherd, into your darkness so He can lead you through it with His light. He’s got you.
I pray you will release your pain at the cross. It’s open 24/7.
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Perfection versus holiness
When I was in the healing process of getting out of an eating disorder in 2011, God revealed to me several lies I had believed about myself, others and life in general. One of them was the lie that I needed to be perfect to be accepted. (!) No one is perfect so it is obviously impossible to live up to.
Perfection is something we strive for in our own strength. The goal is normally to please self and to impress others, and it brings obsession and anxiety!
I thought this perfectionistic mindset pleased God when the root of it actually was fear-based and focused on pleasing people. What a revelation it was for me to realise how it isn’t God who expects perfection from me!
In my deception, I thought it was godly to try to improve myself all the time. Holy Spirit showed me how there is a big difference between demanding perfection from myself and God’s desire to make me holy.
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Holiness can only be achieved by the power of the Holy Spirit in me and the goal is to glorify God and be like Him.
1 Peter 1:15 (NIV):
“But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy."
When I try to control & strive to be perfect, I basically try to be God because He is the only who ever will be perfect in every way.
I learned that perfection is an illusion I needed to give up because it opposes consistency. When I wanted to do things perfectly, I had an ‘all-or-nothing’ mentality and a deep fear of failure. It made me excuse and procrastinate things until I thought I had everything figured out. Can anyone relate?
I love that God is a healer and that He makes everything new! He’s the best. The new thing for me is that I am completely fine with the fact that I have not arrived. I am not there & I will not be there before I behold Jesus face to face.
2 Corinthians 3,18: (NIV)
“And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.”
I love the journey of sanctification now! It sets me free to enjoy the life in abundance Jesus offers!
It gives so much more peace & joy to abide in God & His presence instead of striving to do things perfectly all the time.
This revelation has changed my life. This is why John 15 is a chapter that’s really close to my heart - truth I often remind myself about.
These nine verses are worth the read even though we can have a tendency to skip the bible verses in a text! It’s so sad when these are the words which have the true power to transform us!
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.
If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."
Totally beautiful, right? … This journey of becoming more like King Jesus. Becoming by remaining, not by striving in our own strength.
Growing in our walks with God comes down to a commitment to be consistent. It is actually basic obedience, and even though it is not perfect, God will do His miraculous, multiplying thing with our surrender.
Striving for perfection brings addiction & unrealistic goals. Illusions of perfection in our own lives clouds our eyes and ears from seeing and hearing truth.
Holiness on the contrary brings freedom, has no striving and opens our eyes & ears to see and hear truth! A new rest enters. I love God’s holiness! So magnificent!
Psalm 18:30 (NIV) says it so well:
“As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless.”
I think it is so comforting that God never makes mistakes, & our strength is found in Him who never runs on empty:
“It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect.” (Psalm 18,32 NIV)
I thank Jesus for His grace that never gives up pursuing. He meets us where we are at - in the broken & imperfect. God loves ugly and messy…and love makes beautiful.
I really pray that self-centered focuses will be replaced with lifted heads who gaze into the shining, compassionate eyes of Jesus.
Jesus - the author and finisher of our faith.
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Come out of hiding
It can be scary to open up and to be seen. The thought of hiding and not experience being fully known and being fully loved has become a scarier thought to me lately though! I have realised how self-protection has been a sin in my life because it is rooted in fear. Everything that is not rooted in faith is sin. I have trusted in my own false protection instead of God's protection for me. For too long I believed the lie that the heart is protected by not closing anyone in on what I feel, think and dream about.
Surely, we need to guard our hearts with all diligence because all life flows from it! But how do we guard our hearts? By guarding our thought life! God is watching over His Word, not my worries. So I wanna have His word in my thoughts, <3 and mouth.
"The Lord gives the word; the women who announce the news are a great host." (Psalm 68,11 ESV)
We need to be confident about who we are in Jesus and share what He puts on our <3 and in our spirits and get out of hiding. I'm preaching gospel to myself by writing this now, haha!
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We can easily become prisoners to our own personality or the boxes we have been put in through our lives. We have to dare to rise above! Some of us may like being in the background....but we are called to lay down our lives and it means we are called to stand up for someone's else's. Jesus is the ultimate example of laying down his life by standing up for ours! We cannot stand up for someone if we are hiding! It's tragic when we withhold something good that could help & bless another human being.
We have to let the Lord pen our stories as a skilful writer and not try to take matters into our own hands. We all has something significant to contribute, release & usher into the world - and it looks different for all of us. It could be words that needs to be said or written, art that needs to be painted or hugs to be delivered...
God is so diverse and colourful, and we get to express it when He builds His Kingdom with us, His Church - living stones - brick by brick.
"Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home." (Ephesians 2,19-22 The Message)
We need to come out of our shells because we have a story to tell. It's time to break free from our shells in Jesus name! We are not doing it in our own might and by our own power but by His Spirit. God wants to scoop all insecurity out of us so we can become alive to the talents we have graciously been given and shine with the personalities He created us with.
“No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a washtub or shoves it under the bed. No, you set it up on a lamp stand so those who enter the room can see their way. We’re not keeping secrets; we’re telling them. We’re not hiding things; we’re bringing everything out into the open." (Luke 8:16-18 The Message Bible)
We need to enlarge our comfort zones and illuminate fear from stopping the potential God has stored inside each one of us.
Sweet Jesus loves us too much to let us go stagnant through life. Instead He is the great Adventurer who daily woes us and leads us onward and upward in LIFE that's only found in the person of Himself.
Let's dare to take the next step of obedience, whatever that might look like! Disobedience to God's ways and workings in our lives, is the result of thinking that God's way is not the best way. How sad! Let our hearts cry be to never live in such deception of our Lord and King.
But let's never forget that victories are won in private. Therefore, God has us in hidden seasons too. If He puts us out there immaturely, we can cause people or ourselves harm when we minister from unhealthy places of insecurity and bitterness. There in the hidden we are not forgotten but carefully sanctified and purified from the inside out. It's in His mercy that He gently and patiently molds us - His clay - in His Potter hands.
When He sees fit, He will release us to go express something in the earth that can prophesy life into people - where He gets the honour and glory - because it's His work in us that shines through.
God will whisper things to us so that we can shout of His goodness from the rooftops.
"What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops." (Matthew 10:27 ESV)
It is scary to step out though but I like this quote by Thumper: "If you're scared, just be scarier than whatever is scaring you."
We need to be strong and courageous. Lisa Bevere, a prophetic voice in our generation, spoke this strong word lately: "I dare you, I dare you to stop being scared of your strengths in Jesus name."
It's ridiculous how satan tries to make us feel insecure - if not of our weaknesses, then of our strengths. When we step into something new, we need to remind ourselves that God is not looking for perfection. He already saw that in Christ. He is looking for our affection!
We are safe with God because we are His priority. Are we never allowed to be hidden anymore then? Absolutely! We are hidden in Him.
"You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word." (Psalm 119:114 ESV)
In God's story, He is the seeker and we are the hider. I like this song and these lyrics. It's golden!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFkDqQtfs0w
God can truly use weak vessels for His glory. Our lives are not our own. We have been bought with a price. Our only qualification is really our disqualification. That's the gospel.
I pray that we joyfully will lay our self focus on the altar, get out from our hiding places, and seek His glory! Our hiding places look different for all of us and where we need to step up and out really depends on where our journeys are at.
Where is the gentle Holy Spirit inviting you to step out and come out of hiding?
I do pray that you'll cooperate with the Holy Spirit and allow Him to prepare you for greater things than you've seen yet. I pray you'll experience a renewed boldness wherever you go. I pray that God will be your hiding place and by hiding in Him, you will awake a fearless approach to your next step in life.
God knows you and you are doing better than you think. He's enjoying watching you step out.
Have fun!
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Set the captives free
I'm a Jesus lover. A freedom fighter. Bulimia beater.
Bringing freedom to enslaved people is what I am about.
Why?
Because I have been enslaved myself and been set free! God is still in the business of setting captives free, and I so want to partner with Him in seeing Jesus' love transform and free people.
The Bible talks about freedom in many areas - here are some of them :)
We are set free from sin - Romans 6,6.
We are set free from the law - Romans 7 and Galatians 5,1.
We are set free from death - Romans 8,21.
We are free where God's Spirit is - 2 Corinthians 3,17.
I see this freedom the Bible is talking about manifesting itself in me and around me. In me when destructive lies are replaced with liberating truth. Around me when I see God changing atmospheres and transforming religious mindsets in the darkest streets of Copenhagen where the sex trade breeds.
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I want to exercise my freedom by serving God, not as a cover-up for evil! Isaiah 1,17 ESV puts it beautifully how we can serve God with our freedom:
"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."
I love how Jesus' ministry is all about freedom. As Jesus followers, Isaiah 61 is our mandate too:
"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound."
Bible teacher, Beth Moore describes the journey towards freedom this way:
"The road to freedom is a paradox. To experience victory and freedom, we need to become captives. We need to develop minds captive to Christ. In this life, we are most free when our minds are most captivated by Him. Victorious lives flow from victorious thoughts. Thinking victorious thoughts comes from setting our focus on our victorious God."
We are free indeed by being bound to Him in love to his Word.
Give this song, 'No longer slaves', a listen. It's by Bethel Music - Jonathan David & Melissa Helser: It's freeing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kWIbo19t5Q
I'm praying for shackles of religion and performance to be broken off you and for you to step into the wide open, spacious life in Jesus!!!
I am wrecked for anything else than following the person of TRUTH that sets me free.
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