The shift we were waiting for has happened, so it’s time for us to transition with God’s heart and Holy Spirit’s guidance into this new era — which is often a church without four walls. We are moving with God as we gather knowledge and understanding together with you. Our hope is to help you move into the new era, to confirm what God is already telling you, and for us to co-labor together for our advancement in God’s Kingdom.
We are changing our name from Hardwired for Life to represent God’s heart in a new way. We felt our names were the most personal, relational, and intimate way to connect with you, so Just Sharon & Jana it is. Afterall, God is the God of personal demonstration and action. He leads by example and so should we.
We would like to share our words in honest and transparent ways. We want to show you how God is present in our everyday lives. We plan to share the wonders and the mess — mistakes and all.
So, please like, comment, and share what God is doing in your life. We are in this together.
Jesus’ death on the cross was so we can have relationship with Him. He is not unreachable or too far away. In the book of John, chapter 3 verse 16, we see the intention of His death on the cross. John 3:16 ESV – 16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” Next in verse 17, John 3:17 ESV – 17″ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him,” God’s will is for us to have life. Life with the Godhead, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit is real and tangible. He wants us to participate in the affairs of the Kingdom of Heaven through relationship.
In the book of John, chapter 17, in the following verses we see the conversation from Jesus to his Father. It is tender-hearted and insightful to Jesus’ intention about our life with God the Father and Jesus. I am bringing this up because in the next paragraphs we will look at what man thinks is important for relationship with Jesus. Not what the God head had planned before the foundations of the world. Here are some verses out of chapter 17 from the book of John.
John 17:22-26 ESV – 22 “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
These verses are stating the very essence of the heart of God and what Jesus expressed to his Father about us. It states boldly, that he gave us his glory! The glory of God is His manifested goodness for us. He is a good God. I would recommend that you read that entire chapter. In this verse, we learn that, the word of God, (Jesus is the word) sanctifies us. The Truth (the word) are/is factual. It is the real thing. The more we read and take in His word, the more we become like Him and know and understand Him. We also become closer to Him. As we eat the word, just like food to our soul and spirit, it strengthens us and changes us into His very nature. We have a need to shed and have the old man changed. We have the ability to become like our Father.
In the following passage, the verses state how Jesus was calling out the religious men of the day, that they thought that there ways were above and beyond God’s ways. They were clearly only interested tradition of men and not a relationship with Jesus. This exchange is in the following passage in the book of Mark chapter 7 verses 1-9.
Mark 7:1-9 ESV – 1 Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!
The Pharisees had made their own religious rules of how people should act or behave instead of relying on the power of the scripture (the word of God) to walk with Jesus. In the next verses, Jesus points out what defiles a person is what comes out of their own hearts. Jesus is all about our hearts. He is not about trying to keep ridiculous rules. Rules that are just performance based behavior. Jesus is more interested in us talking with him and knowing we want to be a part of his family. The Family of God.
I promise you all the religious traditions of the world will only frustrate you and your heart will not be at peace. Jesus is as close as inside of you when you ask him to come into your heart and life. Ask Him, He will make himself real and tangible. He created you. He knows everything about you! There is nothing too big or too small that he doesn’t care about in your life.
Our Secret Place exists in the innermost depths of our being and the outermost heights of our existence. It’s a place that begins and ends in the battlefield of the mind in our soul, the flesh of our body, and the essence of our spirit. The Secret Place exists in us where we meet Jesus, Father God, and Holy Spirit, and is sacred and holy ground.
Holy ground occurs in the very heart of God’s presence. There are only two places in Scripture that mention holy ground, and both are about Moses. The first verse refers to when Moses was in the presence of God in the form of a burning bush. The second reference was in Acts 7:33 talking about Moses’ experience. Listen to Exodus 3:5, NKJV, “Then He said, ‘Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.’”
If you’ve supernaturally encountered God’s presence in any form, you know that you know that you were with Him. And if you’ve had that experience of being in His holy presence, you’ve touched your Secret Place.
Every Believer in Christ walks with differing abilities to access God and their Secret Place. The Secret Place is easily sensed and accessed by some Believers in Christ Jesus. Other people struggle because their Secret Place lies more dormant and inaccessible. Recognizing and accessing our Secret Place is pivotal to our walks of salvation because we must mature by intimacy and relationship with God.
We are called to mature as Believers in Christ as we walk out our salvation story. Our salvation story is our testimony to living life with the Lord. Our testimonies never go away, always improve by increasing our relationship with God, and are to be celebrated no matter how hard they may have been.
Many of us have had difficult lives and we want the future to be different. We want to change to become the person we know we were meant to be. The beauty is that we can change when we enter our Secret Place with Jesus. We change because we are blessed in God’s presence with healing, wisdom, strategies, knowledge, understanding, and love.
Enter your Secret Place with Jesus to change, heal, grow and find freedom. By entering the Secret Place, we can get rid of many of the negative challenges we face in life because we will mature. In our Secret Place, we can increase positivity and learn about employing constructive actions and activities available to us for living an abundantly full life.
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.
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.
The Truth opens up the door of your heart/mind. Truth has no fear in it. It’s safe.
It unlocks the lies we believe. Your heart is presented with the Truth to breakthrough the lies.
Truth is a firm foundation.
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.
Your hand-to-hand combat is not with human beings, but with the highest principalities and authorities operating in rebellion under the heavenly realms. For they are a powerful class of demon-gods and evil spirits that hold this dark world in bondage. Because of this, you must wear all the armor that God provides so you’re protected as you confront the slanderer, for you are destined for all things and will rise victorious.
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 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.
I haven’t blogged for months until the other day. I really needed a break from everything, though I continued to write. I had this book going that I wanted to finish because it was so hard for me to work on. It’s done now, but it took a toll on me. It was extremely emotional to get through. I’ll explain later.
You see, in addition to physical ailments that I cope with on a daily basis, I suffer from mental illness too.
Physically, I was diagnosed with CRPS, EDS-3, POTS, PNES, and now Fibromyalgia, Type 2 Diabetes, Stage 2 Kidney disease, a fatty liver and obesity. Yep, four rare diseases and a newer plethora of accruing illnesses. Let’s just take one, CRPS, Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, it’s scientifically more painful than childbirth only it’s 24/7/365. That alone is tough to deal with and attempting to cope for over 20 years with the chronic pain and loss of mobility has taken a further toll on my mental state.
Now, with the added weight, diabetes and renal issues I am at a loss in many ways. I hit a physical rock bottom a few weeks ago and have further changed my diet and am exercising every day. It’s a great start but it’s hard.
Mentally, I was diagnosed with DID which is rare, Major Depression, Bi-Polar II, PTSD, Compulsive Disorder and a couple of others I can’t remember at the moment. Let’s take the one I’ve dealt with most throughout my life, DID, Dissociative Identity Disorder, it used to be called Multiple Personality Disorder until the 90s. It has cost me relationships and has ingrained in me a knowledge that I’m not like other people—not acceptable, worthy or loveable.
And with all of this I wouldn’t change a thing. Why? Because of the relationship I now have with God, Jesus and Holy Spirit.
Don’t Pity Me, Love Me Instead
I just want to be honest. I want to share this with you because I’m hoping it may help someone. I’m hoping that someone can relate and maybe feel better about their own life. Because there’s nothing impossible with God. If I can overcome, survive and thrive again in so many ways, so can others.
I struggle daily and in doing so have basked in God’s sufficient grace. My life looks messy in so many ways, but I am so much stronger for it. I’ve had ample opportunity to mature through these trials and tribulations. I have come so far from my sexually abusive childhood, and I’m proud of all the work I’ve done to get here. Is life perfect now? No, but it’s pretty great.
The Most Difficult Book
The book I just published is called, 21 Pieces: Finding Wholeness in Spiritual Truth. 21 Pieces is a novel based on my DID story. It’s full of examples from my life that were difficult to experience. I decided to write the story as fiction because it’s hard for me to remember all the details of my life, let alone be able to write them as pure non-fiction.
21 Pieces is a salvation story, it’s a redemption story, and it shows sides of DID that others may find unbelievable. Hey, even physicians find DID hard to believe even though it’s defined in the America Psychiatric Association’s DSM-V manual.
It was hard to write and then rewrite and edit part of my DID story. It was an emotional rollercoaster ride for months. Once finished, I crashed mentally and emotionally. I got extremely depressed and low enough to cut, which I hadn’t done in a long time. I’m not suicidal anymore thanks to God. So, it wasn’t about that, it was about externalizing the internal pain I was feeling. And it scared the crap out of me. The knife was sharper than I thought, and the cut was long and deep. I will now carry that scar as a reminder of that low in my life.
I’m Not the Only One
Others have suffered more than I have or ever will. We all have our own versions of testing that the enemy of God will toss our way in life. If anything, I’m a living testament to the fulfillment of God’s goodness and promises. I trust Him now more than ever to take care of my needs and finish the work he started in me. He is faithful and will not let me down. If He can do this for me, He can do it for you.
Seriously, I’m not looking for your pity. I’m writing this to offer hope. I have felt like I’m hiding the truth. I want to be transparent and authentic with you. So, here we are. I’m not sure where this will go. I don’t know how it will be received. Selfishly, I feel better for getting this off my chest.
I pray that if you are struggling physically, spiritually, mentally or emotionally in any way that you know God is for you. I pray He lift you up today, gives you answers to challenges, and shows His deep love for you. I pray that you know you are not alone in your suffering. And I pray that joy and peace overtake you. Be blessed in the way you go.
Just Sharon & Jana 
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