Category: Healing

Spirit-Filled Life Without Purpose

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You Have God Inside of You

If you don’t know your calling and purpose in life, you are doing it wrong. You will not thrive and succeed without knowing, and living as the person you were made to be. Success in life here on earth means you’ve done what God had planned for you to do. Think of Moses, he was supposed to enter the promised land but wasn’t able to because of his rebellion. And what about King David being unable to build the temple? Everything you do must be done for the Lord. And everything you do must be working toward your purpose, and destiny, as you serve the Body of Christ. If you are an eye in the Body don’t waste time trying to be a hand. Do the thing you were made to do wherever you are at.

I understand this is all easier said than done. I may even be making you mad. But I’m telling you the truth. There is good news though. God wrote your Book of Life before the foundation of the world. He loves you and wants you to learn here on earth to prepare you for your life to come in eternity. You will be judged for what you’ve done with the calling, talents, and gifts you’ve been given. God gives us all enough grace to do what we can with whatever we are doing. Allow yourself to grow, mature, and discover your strengths. Reframe your mind to be okay with failure. Failure is merely an opportunity to learn. God gives you grace, so give some to yourself.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. -- Romans 8:28, New King James Version (NKJV)

I Discovered My Purpose & it Wasn’t Easy

My church had been going through Rick Warren’s book, “The Purpose Driven Life,” and I was determined to know my purpose. I went on a hike one day striving to know what I was supposed to be doing. I even wrote a book about it titled, “Hardwired for Purpose: Blazing Trails to Follow God’s Lead.” That book took years to write and process mentally and emotionally. I expected the hike to be a relaxing time with God in nature; sitting beside a babbling creek. I thought I was going to sit there and get my life purpose while doing a Bible study. I had a backpack full of supplies. I had a couple of Bible translations, a Concordance, water bottles, a blanket, pens and highlighters, and my journal.

So I drove to the mountain trailhead where I wanted to hike and found a wonderful spot to rest. God said to keep going. I kept hiking up the trail to another spot that I liked and God said to keep going. I hiked about five miles up that mountain before I could finally stop. The place God wanted me to go wasn’t even on the trail. It was straight up the shale mountainside to a single pine tree in the distance.

In my book, I share all of the details of that hike, including revelation I received. God is so good. It was a hard day, but I learned so much that it was worth it . And best of all, I found my purpose in the sum of Psalm 96. Now, I know what to do, and I just need to work out the details as I continue my walk of salvation.

I encourage everyone to find their purpose and calling. Knowing what God has planned for you offers hope and a future. You receive promises from God in your purpose for growth and joy, and you can be sure that if you are still here, He’s not done with you yet.

A Song of Praise to God Coming in Judgment
Psalm 96 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
3 Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples.
4 For the Lord is great and greatly to be praised;
He is to be feared above all gods.
5 For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
But the Lord made the heavens.
6 Honor and majesty are before Him;
Strength and beauty are in His sanctuary.
7 Give to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
Give to the Lord glory and strength.
8 Give to the Lord the glory due His name;
Bring an offering, and come into His courts.
9 Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!
Tremble before Him, all the earth.
10 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns;
The world also is firmly established,
It shall not be moved;
He shall judge the peoples righteously.”
11 Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad;
Let the sea roar, and all its fullness;
12 Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice
13 before the Lord.
For He is coming, for He is coming to judge the earth.
He shall judge the world with righteousness,
And the peoples with His truth.

— Psalm 96, NKJV

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Hope Deferred

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Hope Realized

There’s nothing more hopeful than knowing the true love of God. But to understand God’s love we must love others as we love ourselves, yes, ourselves. It’s not easy to love that reflection in the mirror. We remember the past or the fear of the unknown future as we gaze into our own pain-filled eyes. Our eyes may lie, so we must also know the Word of God which is Jesus.

God’s Word can and will change any attitude we may harbor. We can read the Word. We can be persistent in our search for healing and wholeness. We can believe God loves us because His Word says so, and we can have faith that He wants the best for us no matter how we suffer.

I can say without a doubt that through my suffering I’ve discovered joy, and I hang onto hope every day; every time I take medication, every time I faint in public, or fall in the kitchen and break bones. The Lord sees how we persevere and rejoice in our sufferings. And somewhere, somehow, in the middle of it all, we mature. Reality, true reality, finds our hearts and minds. We come to know we can count on God’s promises in His Word.

God, Jesus, loves us more than the drops in the ocean or sands of the sea. He forgives us as far as the East is from the West. We are God’s children, and He wants the very best for us.

Within all the lessons we learn the Lord takes us to higher and higher levels of glory. So, we can hope for a future that is good and an eternity that is better.

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Removing Blocks of Healing

Identify Your Blocks

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Knowing what blocks to healing we have in our lives is important. We must know what we need before we can begin healing. It takes introspection and a strong sense of self to discover our fractured parts. Introspection takes courage. We must be brave and honest with ourselves about our character behaviors, shortcomings, and flaws. Knowing ourselves honestly and intimately will lead us into understanding our fractured parts.

We can identify our fractured parts by journaling, talking to a professional therapist, and asking a trusted friend. But our first path is always Jesus. Jesus and Holy Spirit should be our first “go-to” Helpers when it comes to removing blocks to healing that we have in our lives. They know exactly what we are going through and what we need to be healed.

We must be able to hear the Lord and be sensitive and discerning of the Spirit to understand how to move forward. Below are several ways to get started on the process of healing.

Practice Self-Care

Preparing for healing takes self-care. When we care for ourselves, we are honoring the temple that God gave us to steward in this life. Self-care is for the mind, spirit, and soul as much as for the body. We must care for our whole person, mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. When we are out of balance with our self-care we are out of balance with God. One of the best ways we can practice self-care is with love.

God lives in us when we love, 1 John 4:12–13, TPT reads:

“…But if we love one another, God makes his permanent home in us, and we make our permanent home in him, and his love is brought to its full expression in us. And he has given us his Spirit within us so that we can have the assurance that he lives in us and that we live in him.”

With God in us, we are able to heal. We must love ourselves in order to fully love God and others. Loving ourselves takes some work when we’ve been unloved as a child, rejected, abandoned, or otherwise traumatized. Any form of child abuse will leave us unloving as adults. We become unloving because we feel unacceptable and unworthy of love. The truth is that we are worthy of love. God can show us how to love again through trust and patience. We must be willing to leave pain and suffering behind to love again.

While in pain and/or suffering, we are vulnerable to new traumatic events as well as re-experiencing past events. It’s a catch-22 that being ready to heal makes us vulnerable to more traumatic events and to re-experiencing traumatic memories or flashbacks of trauma. The very same vulnerability can work for us to heal but can also leave us open to new pain. Being vulnerable takes courage and hope that in the process of healing, even when we feel more pain, the hope can bring us through to the other end of it all.

Courage and hope lead us in the process of self-care and healing. The more we love ourselves, the more prepared we will be for our healing. We must find hope in our circumstances. There’s a lot of hope in the Bible. There’s hope in Jesus as the Lord of our lives. Jesus gets started on healing us from the second we believe in Him. And Jesus always finishes what He started. Jesus is the Finisher of our faith.

Use Love & Kindness

Satan and his minions hate to love, so love is what we must do. When we are down, depressed, anxious, or in any other bad place, we must love God, ourselves, and others. When we are not doing well and we are kind to others, love increases and the darkness leaves. There’s instant freedom for us as we practice love for ourselves and one another.

Practicing love for ourselves and others sows love into our whole being. Remember, according to Scripture, we reap what we sow (See Galatians 6:7). If we want more love and kindness in our lives, we must love and be kind. Being loving and positive will prepare us for healing. When we are positive, we are more open to processing painful events and memories. No matter what we sow, we must keep our eyes on the Lord.

Focus on The Lord

We must keep our eyes on Jesus and everything He is teaching us as we prepare to heal. Peter learned above all the apostles to keep his attention on Jesus. Once, Peter courageously walked on water with Jesus. Here’s what happened: Peter took his eyes off the Lord, began thinking on his own, and feeling frightened he sank. In Matthew 14:28–31, TPT, we read:

“Peter shouted out, ‘Lord, if it’s really you, then have me join you on the water!’ ‘Come and join me,’ Jesus replied. So, Peter stepped out onto the water and began to walk toward Jesus. But when he realized how high the waves were, he became frightened and started to sink. ‘Save me, Lord!’ he cried out. Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and lifted him up and said, ‘What little faith you have! Why would you let doubt win?’”

Peter doubted what he was doing and sank. We learn here that doubt is one of the biggest ways we can turn away from the Lord. When we aren’t focusing on Jesus, it focuses us on the world and our flesh. Yet, Jesus is never far away from us. Listen to what Mark 1:15, New King James Version (NKJV) says:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus and the Kingdom of God are never farther away from us than our own hand at arm’s length. We are the ones that keep Jesus away, but He’s always near to us. Jesus is always ready for our repentance and reconciliation. Jesus wants to heal us, but we have to let Him into our lives in order to do so.

Pray & Prepare for Healing

Pray for healing. We can prepare for our healing by continually praying for ourselves. Praying for ourselves readies us for healing by opening up our will to align with God’s will for us to be healed. When we pray for ourselves, we are asking the Lord in intervene on our behalf for healing. It’s advisable to pray as much as possible until the healing has happened, or we’ve been set free. Praying in the Spirit, in our angelic tongues, helps heal us even more.

When we pray in tongues, we are praying in a language unknown to us, unless we are given the interpretation. According to Galatians 5:16, we are to walk in the Spirit, rather than the flesh. In order to walk in Spirit, we must be set free from the enemy of God. Praying in tongues can free us from what we don’t know we need freedom from. Praying in tongues is a proactive approach to healing. Tongues give us a direct connection to God. If you don’t have tongues, just ask Holy Spirit to give them to you and/or get help from a Spirit-filled friend.

Use the prayer model below or pray on your own:

Lord God, I repent for having blocks to healing in my life. In preparation for my healing, I repent for allowing false idols to enter the life that has kept You away from me. I repent for allowing false idols to sit in Your position in my life as the One True God through Christ Jesus. I repent for ____________ (name as many false idols as you feel you have used, such as a person, career, possessions, etc.). God remove these false idols from me. Lord, remove from me all of the ungodly false idol gatekeepers I have put in place. Wash me cleanly in Your blood. Cover me and fill me in the areas I have fallen. My desire is to be healed fully mentally, emotionally, physically, and spiritually.

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In Christ One Day at a Time

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Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

In 12-step programs, there’s a saying, “one day at a time.” To stick with something one day at a time is doable: it’s an attainable goal — though for some it’s one hour at a time or one minute. Looking at an unknown and frightening future can just be too much. In our walk of salvation, we too may only be able to commit to one day at a time — one hour, one minute. Keeping our eyes on the Lord helps us to get through our day when we are overwhelmed, tired, and stressed. Keeping our eyes on Jesus pulls us back into alignment with God. When we are aligned with God our burden is light. The Passion Translation Bible says, “Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.”

We cannot bear the weight of our burdens alone. We need the Lord; we need our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need to experience God’s presence, His promises, and His glory. God wants to help us battle. If we are overwhelmed and blocked by stress and worry, we have a harder time accepting help. We are required to pick up our cross every day; we are to choose Jesus every single day. We read in Matthew 16:24, Amplified Bible, “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to follow Me [as My disciple], he must deny himself [set aside selfish interests], and take up his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me].”

The enemy of God only wants us to focus on what we can’t do and who we are not made to be. It’s imperative in this hour to stay focused on God and what He is doing in our lives and in His Kingdom. We have a responsibility to keep God’s Word in our hearts. We must work on our relationship with God daily. We can do that by surrendering all our lives and self to Jesus. We can work on our relationship with the Lord by worshipping Him and praising His holy name. We can align with God by intentionally seeking Him in every area of our lives. Living in this way everything that is not of God or doesn’t align with His will for our lives will fade away. Sometimes it’s challenging to stay connected and present with God, but we must try — one hour, one minute at a time.

Tips for One Day at a Time

  • Pray and sing in tongues.
  • Pray and bless your life and the lives of those around you.
  • Be thankful for your life and all that God has already given you.
  • Worship with music and the life-giving Words of God.
  • Read your Bible and press into its meaning for you.
  • Ask Holy Spirit to fill you and remove everything, not of God.
  • Find an anointing oil that you enjoy breathing in and focus on your breathing and the sweet fragrance of the Lord.
  • Call a pastor or positive and uplifting friend.
  • Journal without holding back.
  • Be ready to receive God and His presence and Word.
  • Set your heart on Jesus.
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Blocks to Our Healing

Pain & Trauma Won’t Win

You’ll be reading an excerpt below from our current book project: Hardwired for Healing: Bringing Our Fractured Pieces Together. We’re planning on publishing the book later this year, and are very excited to share it with you.

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It’s hard to believe, but it’s only natural that we would block our own healing in various ways. Why? Sometimes we aren’t ready to handle the process of healing. Our wounded and fractured parts need to come together. We as a whole person, may not be mentally, emotionally, spiritually, or physically ready for healing. Being ready for healing is half the battle. We must battle for healing by preparing ourselves. We can prepare ourselves through things like prayer, cognitive therapy, physical therapy, and other forms of proactive self-improvement. Preparing through self-improvement is critical. For the time being, we’ll focus on the blocks we have and why they happen.

The truth is that each component of our whole person (mental, emotional, spiritual and physical) can have multiple fractures. And several of those fractures can block our healing. Our fractures can also work together to form clusters to create significant blocks, like creating bricks walls. The bricks in our walls are the fractured pieces, and the mortar is made of different types of fear. Unfortunately, our fractured pieces work to protect ourselves for better or worse regardless of fear. We protect ourselves through things like denial, dissociation, and rebellion from the pain it can take to heal.

Getting Responsible

It is not our fault that we fracture from pain and trauma. We must consider that we do have a choice to remain fractured or to seek healing from the Lord. Healing from the Lord is permanent and eternal. We have freewill so we can choose to be set free permanently. The truth is, we can remain in denial or dissociation. We can also be outright rebellious of the healing process. Healing can be blocked by using defense mechanisms. Denial, dissociation and rebellion are all natural defense mechanisms. We use defense mechanisms to keep ourselves from feeling the pain involved in recovering and processing hurtful memories of traumatic events.

The Keys of Truth

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Greetings,

February 2, 2021

I sat down with the Lord to inquire for today’s topic and He told me about the Keys of Truth. Keys are the understanding, opening and strategy to help you be stronger and grow in your relationship with the Lord. It also helps us walk out our journey and be in fellowship with our brothers and sisters. It helps learn about the Kingdom and how it operates.

You see, all the shaking in the world today and the last year has to do with lies that are being confronted in the way the world operates. We serve a God who is Truth. In a simple understanding, lies can be shaken and don’t last. Everything that is not of God will not stay or work. It’s in our best interest to discern the lies from the truth especially in this hour of history.

In the Hebrew language, the Hebrew word `aman means the following: assurance, establish, firm foundation, believe and believe in, verified, pillars, supporters of the door, sure, lasting, uphold, nourish, confirm, reliable, to be certain and trusted. It means to turn to the right and stedfast.

The word for lies, in the Hebrew word Ka-zav means fail, vain, deceitful and a liar. In the Greek the word pseudologos is used meaning, speaking lies. We know that pseudo means false, counterfeit or fake.

These definitions make it quite clear about their meaning and intent. Lies straight up cause failure and everything opposite of what the truth means.

  1. The first thing He showed me is “Truth is the way out.” It is the way out of being stuck. stagnant, the prison of our own thinking, lies we believe, ( strongholds) and not having a clear direction.
  2. The Truth opens up the door of your heart/mind. Truth has no fear in it. It’s safe.
  3. It unlocks the lies we believe. Your heart is presented with the Truth to breakthrough the lies.
  4. Truth is a firm foundation.
  5. Truth is the Highway for the journey and destiny. The Truth is like arrows that are shot and always hit the target.

The scriptures and God are the only ones with absolute and pure truth. Our hearts get clouded with lies, opinions and vain imaginations. Often lies are caught, passed on, brought in by an outside source, and just plain old not knowing the truth due to our human nature. We also can fall prey to lies because we don’t put the effort into searching out the truth of a matter. It’s hard work to find the truth and apply it.

Here are some supporting scriptures as follows:

Hebrews 4:12 ESV – 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Deuteronomy 32:4 KJV – 4 [He is] the Rock, his work [is] perfect: for all his ways [are] judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right [is] he.

1 Kings 17:24 ESV – 24 And the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in your mouth is truth.”


Esther 9:30 ESV – 30 Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth,


Job 34:12 ESV – 12 Of a truth, God will not do wickedly, and the Almighty will not pervert justice.


Psalm 5:9 ESV – 9 For there is no truth in their mouth; their inmost self is destruction; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongue.


Psalm 15:2 ESV – 2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart;


Psalm 25:5 ESV – 5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.


Psalm 43:3 ESV – 3 Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling!


Psalm 45:4 ESV – 4 In your majesty ride out victoriously for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness; let your right hand teach you awesome deeds!


Psalm 51:6 ESV – 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.


Psalm 86:11 ESV – 11 Teach me your way, O LORD, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.


Psalm 119:43, 160 ESV – 43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth, for my hope is in your rules. … 160 The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.


Psalm 145:18 ESV – 18 The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.


Proverbs 12:17 ESV – 17 Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit.


Proverbs 23:23 ESV – 23 Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.


Ecclesiastes 12:10 ESV – 10 The Preacher sought to find words of delight, and uprightly he wrote words of truth.


Isaiah 10:20 ESV – 20 In that day the remnant of Israel and the survivors of the house of Jacob will no more lean on him who struck them, but will lean on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.


Isaiah 45:19 ESV – 19 I did not speak in secret, in a land of darkness; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right.

Zechariah 8:16, 19 ESV – 16 These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; … 19 “Thus says the LORD of hosts: The fast of the fourth month and the fast of the fifth and the fast of the seventh and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah seasons of joy and gladness and cheerful feasts. Therefore love truth and peace.

2 Timothy 4:4 ESV – 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.


1 John 1:6, 8 ESV – 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. … 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.


1 John 5:6 ESV – 6 This is he who came by water and blood–Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.


2 John 1:2 ESV – 2 because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

I put many scriptures up here and there are more. I encourage you to do a search on truth in your Bible program. It’s so important. Truth is our foundation. It can’t be replaced. Also Truth is a fact. It can be proven.

For Jesus says,

John 14:6 ESV – 6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Blessings

Jesus Heals

John 5:1-9 NASB – 1 After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep [gate] a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. 3 In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [waiting for the moving of the waters; 4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.] 5 A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying [there,] and knew that he had already been a long time [in that condition,] He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and [began] to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.

God is Faithful

He Wants to Trust Us

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

God is faithful to us even when we are not being faithful to Him. He is constantly working to keep us safe, to guide our ways, and to nurture love in our lives. He is our Champion in every way. He supports and promotes us minute by minute. And He teaches us to be like Him. He carries the majority of our relationship with Him in His fullness and power. We need only lean into Him and He responds immediately.

We can trust Him.

The easiest way to understand, know and believe the trust God has for us and how we can trust Him is to read the Bible. The Word of God is a critical tool and manual for living. And of course, it will build our faith overall. As we understand trust more, we are capable of greater things.

The Word says to take care of the little things in life to be trusted for more in Luke 19:17, TPT which reads, “Splendid! You have done well, my excellent servant. Because you have shown that you can be trusted in this small matter, I now grant you authority to rule over ten fortress cities.” Trust then needs to be developed and increased as we work to mature in Christ Jesus. The best part is that He will show us how.

He is wise and gives wise guidance as we trust in Him, not in our own understanding. Proverbs 3:5–6, TPT says, “Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make. Become intimate with him in whatever you do, and he will lead you wherever you go.” We are limited in this human form and need His help and support on a daily basis. We need intimate relationship with Him.

Excerpt from my current book: Hardwired to Trust God: And Exploring Trust for Ourselves & Others.

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