Tag: Spiritual Awakening

Tetelestai Recovery

Hold That Thought

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Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8

We had been healed and delivered by the final words of Jesus from the cross, “It is finished,” so we knew there was significance in last words.  We understood that enormous effort goes into choosing the right words to say goodbye, finish a letter, conclude a speech, or summarize a presentation. Final words are important. They leave a lasting impact and have far reaching effects.

What began with the word finally, impacted us so deeply, we were never the same.

Our cognitive distortions and faulty thought patterns were measured against the 8 descriptive words in Philippians 4:8.  With these eight guardrails in place, we could choose which thoughts to keep and which ones to set aside.  Using the acronym, PREPLANT, we could check ourselves regularly throughout the day to make sure the thoughts running through our heads lined up with at least one on the list.

PURE – RIGHT – EXCELLENT PRAISEWORTHY – LOVELY – ADMIRABLE NOBLE – TRUE

If a thought did not meet the criteria, it was deemed unhealthy and carried the potential to make us sick.  We could not level up until we let go of the thoughts that didn’t measure up.

A Date With Destiny

Highest Heavens

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2 Chronicles 6:18

But God, can you really live here on earth with people? Not even the highest of heavens can hold you.

You see the expansive nature of God as you gaze into the night sky. When surrounded by the wonders of the universe, you stand in awe of the Maker’s design.

You love to examine the night sky. You are are captivated by the phases of the moon and the marching constellations as they glide across the atmosphere.

It is in this upward glance that you gain perspective. When you look at the sky, the purpose for your earthbound existence become clear. 

It excites you to realize that you have been offered a divine destiny by the Creator of the Universe.

As you look at the vast expanse, you are in awe that God calls each star by name. This offers you great comfort, for it reveals how intimately and personally the Creator values what He has made.

It is in this realization that you find security. Your Maker designed you for a specific purpose.

And just like the stars, you light up when He calls your name.

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A Date With Destiny

Connected to Christ

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1 Corinthians 6:17

But they who join themselves to the Lord become spiritually one with Him.

Your physical body is aging, but your spirit is timeless and eternal.

Because of your connection to Jesus and the power of His resurrection, you have become one with Him. The Spirit of Christ lives in you and lifts you to new levels of enlightenment.

Springing up with Living Water, your spirit rushes like a river, creating the current which propels your physical form to each new assignment from God.

In union with the Spirit of Christ, you are able to generate supernatural energy.

This effect infuses the atmosphere surrounding you with a positive charge. This is why you are known as one who lights up the room wherever you go.

In this way, you are living inside-out, using the power produced by the Spirit to transform your human experience into an eternal, supernatural adventure.

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Tetelestai Recovery

The Revolution

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As we opened our minds to sacred text, the revolution began.  

We discovered new parameters for our belief system.

I Corinthians 2:16 stated, “We understand these things, for we have the mind of Christ,” so we released our mental constraints and became aware of our new understanding.

2 Corinthians 5:17 told us that “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” Therefore, we resisted the temptation to dwell on the past. We had become a new creation in Christ, so there was no past to lament.

We believed that our feelings were fickle and could not be the focal point of our attention. We did not regard our feelings as a reliable source of information. The Word of God became our compass, and we only said of ourselves what we would say of Christ. We professed that we were in Christ and have inherited the privilege to participate in a life of His perfection. We were the righteousness of God, even when we felt like we had failed. The cross inverted all our wrongs and made them right. Thus, the rightness of Jesus outweighed the wrongness of our misdeeds.

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  • We began to thank God for His provision, even when we felt needy.  

And my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19

  • We praised God for deliverance, even while feeling imprisoned by the past:

The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

  • We believed God for His righteousness, even when we felt wrong.
  • We believed in ourselves as new creations, even when we felt damaged.
  • We stopped living in regret, even when we felt as if we should.

We no longer identified with who we were, but rather, we identified ourselves as who we became at the moment, we received our tetelestai revelation. We had come to know love which we had never known before. We had received a personal pardon from the King of Kings and according to Ephesians 3:19, we were becoming filled with the fullness of God, which was gradually squeezing out our tendency to be full of ourselves.

Tetelestai Recovery – Finding Total Recovery in the Words of Christ, “It is Finished!”

Chapter 3 – The Revolution

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A Date With Destiny

Deliver Us From Evil

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Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Matthew 6:13

Knowing that evil comes in many forms, you trust the Spirit to guide your intuition.

Maintaining a firm sense of right and wrong, you reject the evil presence of hatred and prejudice. You shun pride and arrogance. You see through deception and prefer to surround yourself with people who are true.

You avoid paths that lead to drama and chaos. Your sense of self is deeply rooted in your desire to do the right thing. You live by a set of standards which are aligned with God’s will and your own personal integrity.

Without judgment, repulsion, or excuse, you simply detach yourself from people who exhibit little concern for the pain they cause, or the negative impact they have on their fellow humans.

You do not join in with others who belittle or diminish another’s worth. You remove yourself from environments which are darkened by oppression, hate, prejudice, and intolerance.

Evil offends you deeply. You don’t understand why people are so brutal to each other.  In times of conflict, you seek God’s protection, so you don’t fall prey to this temptation yourself.

In quiet times, as you vent to God in heartfelt prayers, He hears and understands. The evil that grieves you, is the evil that grieves Him too.

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A Date With Destiny

ANGELS AMONG US

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The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Mighty hero, the Lord is with you!” Judges 6:12

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You have extraordinary vision. You are able to detect the presence of angelic beings.

You have been given a special ability to see things of great significance that hold deep spiritual value. 

You have Kingdom vision and catch glimpses of angels. You watch for miracles, and find them often.

You witness angelic rescue missions, both for yourself and for others. You watch as captives are liberated and destinies are discovered.

You see angels in places where no one else would think to look.  You see them surrounding grocery store clerks and school children. You see angels in hospital waiting rooms and homeless shelters.

You see their light, even when you feel surrounded by darkness. You are confident that the illumination provided by angels will always appear to guide and protect your path.

You know that they have appeared in some of your darkest hours.

You have no doubt they will always be there beside you, even though your vision of them may sometimes become obscured by conflict, anxiety, or confusion.

Angels have always been in your peripheral view. From early childhood, you have sensed their presence and seen them in many forms.

Sometimes they are obvious in appearance as celestial beings, but other times they show up in more subtle forms; as helpful strangers or loyal pets.

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A Date With Destiny

WORK

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Nehemiah 6:9

They were just trying to intimidate us, imagining that they could discourage us and stop the work, so I continued the work with even greater determination.

You derive a great deal of satisfaction from your work. You are considered extraordinarily reliable to those who count on you and you are given wonderful opportunities due to this attribute.

Your dependability goes beyond exceptional teamwork and collaboration skills demonstrated in your professional path. This character quality is also a vital component of your personal life as well.

You are conscientious and well-organized. You are appreciated for paying close attention to detail.

You dedicate your time and energy to building others up, and in doing so, you are performing the work of God.

God’s work does not always look religious or even spiritual. God’s work, as demonstrated by Jesus, involves tasks which identify spiritual gifts and divine destinies.

 While you may not feel you are called to do God’s work on a grand scale, your daily duties are no less meaningful to the Kingdom of Heaven.

Providing encouragement and support to friends and family ushers you into a sacred space. It is there that you function in the highest calling of God’s work.

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Tetelestai Recovery

Rage and Restraint

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We felt certain that we could justify anger, and even rage when it came to certain evils in the world. When we checked the Sacred Text, we found proof that anger can sometimes be appropriate; perhaps even righteous.

Jesus went into the Temple. He threw out all the people who were buying and selling there.

He turned over the tables that belonged to the men who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he upset the benches of those who were selling doves.

Jesus said to all the people there, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be a house where people will pray.’ But you are changing God’s house into a ‘den of thieves.’  Matthew 21:12-17

You Pharisees and teachers of the Law of Moses are in for trouble! You’re nothing but show-offs. You travel over land and sea to win one follower. And when you have done so, you make that person twice as fit for hell as you are.  Matthew 23:15

So, after reviewing some of Jesus’ moments of fury, we concluded that there may, in fact, be times when anger or even rage might be entirely appropriate. Jesus had His triggers. He felt some kind of way about self-righteous hypocrites and conmen who use God’s house to make money.

His reaction was more than simply a display of righteous indignation. It was a display of self-restraint. The Son of God, with an army of angels at His disposal, simply flipped over a few tables and ran people out of the temple. He could have whistled for an asteroid to hit the coordinates where they stood. He could have summoned a flesh-eating bacterium to consume them or an earthquake that would bury them beneath tons of rubble. He could have destroyed those sanctimonious hypocrites in a million different ways, but he chose rather to use words, with an occasional show of force for emphasis.

Tetelestai Recovery Volume 2; Chapter Six – We Know a Guy

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Tetelestai Recovery

Time to Come Clean

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But if we confess our sins to God, he will keep his promise and do what is right: he will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

As we pondered this verse, we came to realize that whether it was our own sins or someone else’s, everything was forgivable, and nothing was a secret to God. All wrongs could be forgiven and thus, all minds could be made whole. Since God promised He would cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness, we were relieved to confess what we knew to be true about ourselves, no matter how distasteful.

We also felt liberated by the fact that we would be cleansed of whatever else was wrong with us. This was our troublesome state of unrighteousness, which in essence, were our damaged psyches. If our minds were to be cleansed of ALL unrighteousness, even the things we had forgotten or buried, we knew we could be completely clean and completely whole. We were safely positioned under the waterfall, jagged edges and all.

Tetelestai Recovery 2: Our New Normal; Chapter Three – Brainwashed

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A Date With Destiny

NEW LIFE

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The story of what God has done in your life is a profound message of hope which will change lives. It cannot be kept quiet. It is not meant to remain private.

The exhibition of Jesus’ healing, deliverance, and renewal in your life will be shared as a lasting legacy long after your days in the human realm of space and time have ended.

Not only are you a living display of grace, through your kindness and compassion, you are carrying the teachings of Christ within your own being.

Your message from God is one of forgiveness, love, and empathy for those who struggle.

God has revealed this to you in such a personal way; it seems as if it is simply part of your personality.

Your ability to follow the unique level of Christ’s teaching is a special gift that not many possess. Despite numerous wrongs done to you, forgiveness and your refusal to carry a grudge is the deliberate response you choose.

The teaching and actions of Jesus concerning forgiveness are part of the mysterious message of truth that God has called you to communicate to his hurting children.  His message of mercy is one that most people find difficult to receive until they see it in action. You are given amazing opportunities to share this mysterious message of the healing power of forgiveness with those who seek the new life you have found.

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