Tag: Spiritual Awakening

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Just Like Jesus

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Everything that we have experienced thus far fits perfectly into our destiny. We can be safe in this moment right here, right now, today. Our transformed nature tells us to live loving, and compassionate toward others. We have a choice in how we live out our days, months, years, and decades in this dimension before we transition into everlasting life. When we choose to live the way Jesus taught, we choose God’s plan for us. If we veer off onto the wrong path, God will redirect us to get us back on the right one.  

Each life represents a ministry in itself. Whether you are a stay-at-home mom, a father, a business executive, a seamstress, a farmer, a craftsman, an administrative assistant, a grandparent, or any other personal or professional position, your life is a ministry.

Some of us see it during our careers, yet others have trouble figuring out what their ministry might look like. All of us have a ministry.  Maybe it’s ministering to your family. Maybe it is mentoring a young person or a neighbor. Perhaps you are caring for an ailing parent, spouse, friend, or sibling.

As a remodeler, I see where God loves to decorate our lives. God HAS to decorate us by His very nature. While He knows what we have done and where we are going, He continues to guide us, polish us, sand down our rough edges, and make additions that will continue our journey.

Let the Holy Spirit live long enough in a heart and that heart will be transformed. Portraits of hurt are replaced by landscapes of grace. Walls of anger are torn down and crumbling foundations are built up. God can no more leave a life unchanged than a parent can leave their infant’s diaper unchanged.

This could explain some of the discomfort in your life. Remodeling the heart is not always pleasant. We don’t object if a carpenter adds a few shelves, but it can be inconvenient and even painful when the entire kitchen is gutted for a total renovation.

God has such high aspirations for you. He envisions a complete restoration. He won’t stop until He is finished. He wants you to be just like Jesus.

Tetelestai Recovery

On A Mission

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Knowing that God speaks to His children in all sorts of unique ways, we suddenly recognized His voice speaking to us from the creativity of writers and actors on our television screen. We identified with the heroes. We saw ourselves playing the role assigned to us by the God of the Galaxies. We became aware in a way unlike ever before that we were on a mission which would influence millions, change the course of history, and create spiritual wavelengths which would echo into the centuries to come.

Excited by the prospect of finding our true purpose, we searched for clues. We prayed for wisdom and guidance. We searched the sacred text of our Bibles and studied the writings of many and watched for attributes to immerge which would reveal our divine destiny. We took personality and spiritual gift tests to narrow the scope. Eventually, we had enough clues to piece the puzzle together, and our spirits soared with great enthusiasm. We looked back over our life and realized that the destiny had been there all along and every step of the journey was preparation for the main event.

But still we questioned whether we could actually fulfill our mission. We knew our impulsive nature had caused us to make some terribly bad choices in the past, so we wondered if this was God’s call or just a delusion of grandeur. The thought of God calling us to something of eternal magnitude seemed a little ridiculous and really crazy.

We had to question whether our passionate reaction to the prospect of hearing this divine call was our love for Him or our own search for significance?  Maybe it was both. And maybe that was okay.

Was it presumptuous to think that the God of the Universe had hand selected us to do something special for Him?

  • Was it ego…or was it faith?
  • Would we really be able to participate in bringing the Kingdom to earth?
  • Were we truly able to alter the course of history?

Our skeptical voices questioned, “Why would God call me?”

Our awakened spirits responded, “Why not me?”

Chapter 13, The Next Right Thing https://a.co/d/i0rjHBr

Tetelestai Recovery

The Next Right Thing

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If we were to replicate an artistic masterpiece, for example, Michelangelo’s sculpture David where would we begin? A block of granite would be a good start, but after that, what next? A chisel in one hand and a hammer in the other, then tap, tap, tap away. It seems there should be no concern over the shape of the nose until the face has begun to take form. An artist would not frustrate himself over an earlobe’s curve if the nape of the neck has yet to be established.

It is one thing for a sculptor to envision his finished project. It is quite another thing, to plan for every tap, every move, and every chip. The first is art. The latter is insanity.

And so, we were given only one instruction at a time. God didn’t show us how to take the next 53 steps of our journey. He simply showed us one first, and then the next, and the next, and the next. He knew that we had a tendency to run out ahead of Him and wander off. Therefore, He gently kept us at His side, giving us only one instruction at a time. He knew that one simple stumble could place us into the path of the enemy, so His hand held us close. To counteract the enemy’s offensive moves, His plan had to remain flexible and changeable. Therefore, if He gave us the entire game plan, we might have run ahead and walked into a trap or missed His unexpected strategic maneuvers.

Therefore, we encouraged ourselves and each other with the simple mantra: Do the next right thing. That’s it, that’s all. God never asks us to make a five-year plan, complete with bar graphs and pie charts. He merely asks us to place one foot in front of the other, holding tight to His hand.

One step at a time, taking care not to run ahead, we found that God’s direction for us wasn’t always religious in nature, nor did every event seem extraordinarily significant. But as our journey continued, we realized that each right thing led us to the next right thing. And in this realm of just one thing, the next right thing, we found balance in our walk and harmony with ourselves.

Chapter 13, The Next Right Thing https://a.co/d/deLSbDM

A Date With Destiny

The Power of Wisdom

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Wisdom is better than weapons of war. Ecclesiastes 9:18

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Holding a position of authority, you use the wisdom of God to fight fearlessly against negative influences. You stand in opposition to the ills of society which appear in the form of racism, injustice, and inequality.

Working in collaboration with the Creator of the Universe has given you great wisdom. Because of this, you are often called upon to mediate controversial disputes and restore a proper balance of power within an organization, a community, or a committee. 

Although these encounters may seem antagonistic at first, you understand that fear is usually at the root of each conflict.

Tapping into your intimate connection with the Creator, you use wisdom to identify the unspoken fears and establish healthy boundaries where everyone feels safe and heard.

You are a good person living in a very hostile time.

Knowing that it is the wisdom of God that protects you from evil schemes, you remain in a position of safety and security.

You know that all the forces of darkness cannot overpower the Creator of the Light.  And in His light, you are always safe. No matter how brutal or relentless the battles may seem, you are sure that victory will always come.

You are fighting the good fight and remain sheltered in the safety of God’s wisdom and power.

A Date With Destiny – September 18 https://a.co/d/8cwBWT8

Tetelestai Recovery

Living Water

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For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

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The truth of God’s word is unchangeable and lasts forever. What He says remains in effect for anyone who chooses to believe it.

If He promises us hope and a future, and we choose to believe this for ourselves, we can live in eager anticipation that His word is being fulfilled in our lives. We can build our lives around the fact that we have hope and a future. It is the solid rock upon which we construct our goals and visions.

Yet we also wonder, “If God’s word is true, why are there people living without hope? Why wouldn’t His promise apply to everyone across the board?’

The answer is deeply complex. The reason God’s promises are not fulfilled is because His words rely on the recipient laying claim to them. These fantastic promises of God are often hard to believe for ourselves. Sure, we believe God is good, but we also know that we aren’t. We believe He does great things for good people, but it seems a bit presumptuous to expect the same blessings as someone who was busy doing great things for God while we were selfishly making a mess of our lives. We know the Bible talks about penalties for bad behavior, so it seems that if we believe in the blessings, we must also fear the curses.

That may have been a valid statement before the cross. But we live under Grace, not Law. Jesus broke the power of the curse, so we can all live in the blessing if we choose to believe it. We need not fear the curse or the consequences of our own mistakes. Those issues have been resolved. We are in a continual state of cleansing, like standing beneath a waterfall. Even a sin committed one second ago, is already washed away in the living water. We live exclusively in the blessings and enjoy firm standing on the promises. Curses do not cling to us. Blessings chase us down.

Chapter 3, The Waiting https://a.co/d/iyyLSMU

A Date With Destiny

PROMISES

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I am putting my rainbow in the clouds. It will be the sign of my covenant with the world. Genesis 9:13

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After going through the traumatic experience of an earth destroying flood, Noah was in desperate need of reassurance from the Lord. God knew that Noah needed to see a supernatural sign to confirm  that he would never have to go through that again.

Therefore, God gave him a sign. He pointed to the colorful rainbow in the sky and promised Noah there would never be another event like the disaster he had just endured.

In this same manner, God confirms His promise to you in uniquely colorful ways. 

No matter what you go through, you can count on His light shining through the clouds, creating a prism of promise following each storm.

A Date With Destiny: September 13 https://a.co/d/dWLTRre

Tetelestai Recovery

How Much Is Enough?

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In all honesty, we knew that God, in His infinite wisdom, would never give us more wealth than we were spiritually mature enough to handle. But we also knew that the devil was crafty and if he could keep our focus on money, whether too much or not enough, we could remain distracted from our destiny and thus, make his job a lot easier. Looking back, we saw that when we pursued our own financial security, it put God in a very precarious position. He wanted us to have a sense of security, but not so much that we became independent of Him.

Jesus Himself taught us to pray, “Give us today our daily bread,” showing that our Father welcomes us to ask for what we need, when we need it. We do not have to beg or plead; nor do we need to hoard or steal.

In the book of Exodus, manna was provided in the wilderness on a day-by-day basis. Gathering ahead of time was pointless because it wouldn’t keep overnight. God knew that humans were hoarders by nature. Not much has changed since then. We are still prone to squirreling away our supplies just in case God fails to come through for us in the future. We inventory our supplies and check our bank balance whenever we feel insecure. When we suffer loss, we feel powerless. When we see an increase, we feel powerful, yet more insecure than ever.

Much like the other pursuits we struggled with, such as drugs, alcohol, sex, perfectionism, popularity, and many others, we had trouble finding a point at which we could say, “This is enough, I am completely satisfied and content. I do not need any more.”

Tetelestai Recovery 2 – Our New Normal https://a.co/d/5RV2z8z

Tetelestai Recovery

Wall Facers

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In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”

Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, “Remember Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will heal you’”. Isaiah 38:1-5

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Although the word had come to him from God through the prophet, King Hezekiah did not resign himself to this fate. He turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord. He did not accept a decree from the Lord as unchangeable.

We learned that God doesn’t expect us to just wring our hands and sigh when things aren’t working out. He wants us to speak words of faith and collaborate with Him on a solution. We aren’t required to accept our lot in life and mutter in defeat, “Well, I guess it just isn’t God’s will.”

Instead, He wants us to become a wall facer, praying with determination to negotiate a plan with Him. God is waiting for us to offer some pushback and reason it out with Him. 

“Come now, let us reason together,” says the Lord. Isaiah 1:18

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In our New Normal, we are NOT called to be weak and helpless. God is NOT glorified when we hang our heads and shrug off our troubled marriages, our lost children, or our criminal records. Since we are told in the book of Hebrews to come boldly to the throne of Grace where we can find mercy and help, we present our case, and ask for a ruling from the Judge in our favor.

Tetelestai Recovery 2: Our New Normal https://a.co/d/akjwVNj

Tetelestai Recovery

Just Keep Walking

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Our relationship with Jesus has grown through some amazing times. It is an exciting experience of falling in love with the King of Kings who chose us as His Bride. He says He delights in us. We say the feeling is mutual!

Now, we no longer feel apprehensive about our desires. They have been placed there by God and will be fulfilled through our partnership with Jesus. As a member of His royal family, our needs will be met so we can be busy with Kingdom business.

Many Citizens of the Kingdom are hurting, hungry, and sick. Some are simply battle-weary and overdue for a little rest. Our Kingdom assignments are to reach out to them through the means of written words, spoken words, authentic friendship, and compassionate care.

In our New Normal, we find a sense of purpose and direction in knowing that we are on a mission for our King. He has planned coincidental meetings with people who have been called to fulfill their own assignments in partnership with ours.

Our New Normal is everlasting recovery, a new perspective of life’s adventure, and an ability to take life in stride, knowing that the One who created the universe and everything within it is on our side. He is with us and for us. He is our Advocate, our Father, and our Spirit. This New Normal gives us fantastic strength to endure whatever matters come before us. We walk in partnership with our Creator to the divine destiny He has set before us. Our path may not always be easy or smooth, but it is softened by walking with Him.

In our New Normal, we can release our fears of making mistakes and manufacturing failures. We look straight ahead, eyes fixed on Jesus, with our feet firmly planted on level paths. What we want and what He wants for us, are synchronized perfectly.

We simply walk it out together, one step at a time.

Tetelestai Recovery 2 – Our New Normal https://a.co/d/dh91w7s

Tetelestai Recovery

The Testing of Our Faith

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One evening without notice, a moment of grace fell on our Friday night group. One member shared a passage from the book of James. It altered our perspective about these irritating, uninspiring days when we are simply putting one foot in front of the other.

My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4

What do these tests look like?
  • When our feelings betray us and tell us we don’t love God like we should.
  • When our behavior slips into an old pattern and makes us believe we have not changed.
  • When the excitement and enthusiasm we once had for God seems dull and muted.
  • When we just don’t care about trying so hard, because it’s too much work.

Previously, these difficult times had been dark and made us doubt our relationship with God. We were frustrated to find Him so distant when we needed Him the most.

However, when we begin to view these events as a process which increases our patience and equips us for the next level, we start to see their value. We no longer need to feel frustrated when God goes silent. A good teacher is always silent during a test.

Tetelestai Recovery 3: Leveling Up / Chapter 4: Be Patient With Yourself https://a.co/d/0TrI59R