spiritual stuff

Last week in my post Which Redeemed of the Lord Are You, I talked about how God was pressing on me I was one of the Addicted.  I’ve overcome several addictions, so I certainly identified with that profile, but I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what any current issue might be. 

Over the next few days, he led me to Joyce Meyer’s book Battlefield of the Mind.  My sister lent me a copy of it over three years ago.  Three years.  I kept putting it off, never feeling like I should read it. I was thinking, it’ll be nice to read for reference, but it’s not really FOR me, you know?

Well, I was wrong.

Joyce talks about the conditions of our mind and how Satan uses it to do what he always does—steal, kill and destroy us.  I truly was blind to the issues I had.  In general, I would have said I’m a thinker, a pretty positive person, maybe a bit worrisome in some aspects and maybe a bit negative towards myself at times.  But holy cow, there are thought processes I had that were destructive and I simply had accepted them as normal.

In particular, she talked about Mind-Binding spirits. And listen, this is all charismatic-y so if that scares you off, that’s fine.  Joyce talks about how God led her to look into these mind-binding spirits and sure enough, once she began praying against them for herself she felt “a tremendous deliverance.”

She says all of her deliverances have come from believing and confessing the Word of God and quotes two passages of Scripture as her testimony.  John 8:31-32 is the first “If you abide in My word, you are truly My disciples.  And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” And now wait for it. I want you to guess what chapter the second one was from…PSALM 107—the same chapter from last week’s post. Psalm 107:20 says “He sends forth His word and heals them and rescues them from the pit and destruction.”

For me, this was total confirmation that God was indeed preparing me last week and showing me this addiction, or bondage. 

As I continued to read, Joyce described six different types of unhealthy conditions:

1. A Wandering, Wondering Mind
2. A Confused Mind
3. A Doubtful and Unbelieving Mind
4. An Anxious and Worried Mind
5. A Judgmental, Critical and Suspicious Mind
6. A Passive Mind

I hate to even admit how much all 6 of those resonated with me. I wish I could go into detail about how each of them was true for me in some way or another.

This weekend I spent some time in prayer.  I prayed against the mind-binding spirits and confessed all the ways my thoughts had been wrong. I asked for healing.

In my mind, he gave me a picture of dark rows of cages in my mind. As I prayed, they were all removed and replaced with light and green grass. I realized that it was a green pasture and then a waterfall and river appeared.  The Lord then brought Psalm 23 to my mind

The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want
He maketh my lie down in green pastures
He leads me beside still waters
He restoreth my soul.

God was letting me have a picture of my mind healing and bringing to life that Scripture.

I walked away feeling lighter than ever. Since then, I of course have been hit with negative thoughts, but the book talks about the importance of capturing our thoughts and fighting back with Scripture. Certainly this is nothing new, but God gave me new eyes to see that I actually needed to do it!

Guys, as Christians, we can and should have a positive mind because no matter what we face, we have God by our side.  This is not positive thinking so it turns into blessings and bad things don’t happen to us.  This is even when you face bad things, we can be positive because we have God. It’s about believing what God says is true. It’s about not judging people. It’s about not reasoning yourself to death. It’s about doing the things God says to do. It’s about being actively engaged with those around us.

I see so much negativity, anxiety, judgment and cynicism particularly in Christians (including myself) and I’m seeing now how prevalent and destructive it is. You might be like me and not even realize you have a problem.  Perhaps you know one of these thought patterns resonate with you.  I’d highly suggest reading her book and also spending some time seeking the Lord to see how he leads you.  He is our great Guide and Counselor!

 

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

 

Have you seen those Cosmo-like BuzzFeed quizzes making rounds on the Internet like Which Downton Abbey character are you? If you’re not on Facebook I’m not sure you have, but if you answer a handful of questions, they tell you which character (city, dog, cereal, etc) you most closely resemble. 

I’m Carson from Downton Abbey, Tyra from Friday Night Lights, Slater from Saved by the Bell. I should live in Paris, work as a Professor and am actually a Shiba Inu.  Because let’s face it, Carson and Slater remind me so much of each other. But seriously, wouldn’t you just DIE if Carson ever called Mrs. Hughes “hot momma?”

Maybe all of these were on my brain when I read a chapter from Psalms the other night.  It was near bedtime, the kids were actually playing nicely with one another and I was bored. I’m not in the midst of reading a book, so I felt the nudge to pick up my Bible that was still sitting on my desk from church on Sunday.

It was like a BuzzFeed quiz popped out at me as I read.

The anonymous author calls for those Redeemed of the Lord to give thanks and then proceeds to describe 4 pictures of people before they were redeemed. I know that phrase “Redeemed of the Lord” is pretty churchy, but I love it. I love that my Redeemer redeems and I am redeemed!  Here are the four types of people that need redemption of some type from Psalm 107.

The Lost

   

The first profile of a Redeemed of the Lord is a person that wanders aimlessly in the desert, not on any path, and completely hopeless.  They don’t know where they are supposed to be going and have no purpose in life.  In other words, these people are lost.  They don’t know God, but they also know their life isn’t working either.

The Addicted

 

 

The second profile of someone Redeemed of the Lord describes someone depressed, rebellious and addicted.  They are held in chains to labor and there is no one to help them in their distress.

Don’t let the traditional drug and alcohol addictions be the only thing you think of here. Our culture has so many addictions today—TV, celebrity, food, sports, shopping, etc.

 

The Rebellious

 

 

The third profile is that of the reckless.  They are fools in their rebellion and are suffering the consequences.  These are people that know what they’re supposed to do, but they just aren’t doing it. They’re wild and free and careless, but are now watching their lives fall in ruin around them from their unwise choices.

 

The Worker

 

 

The fourth surprised me.  These are people that are on a path with a destination, are seeing God do mighty things around them, but when a storm comes, they lose their trust in the Lord.  They start worrying and flailing about and I love how it says they become at their wit’s end.

 

Which would a quiz say you are?  Has there been other times in your life when you identify with one of these?  Do you know people that fall into these types?

Much like the BuzzFeed quizzes, I thought I would be one person going in and then like the quiz revealed to me a different character, the Holy Spirit showed me something different.  Even though I thought I was past some issues, he’s revealed to me several areas where I am still “suffering in iron chains.” 

I’ve struggled with one type of addiction or another for much of my life.  God has been faithful to chip away at those addictions so that my faith and attention are solely on him. But we still have work to do.

Others of you might struggle with being rebellious.  You know what to do, but you just can’t seem to resist temptation.  Maybe others are clear on your call from God, but struggle to trust him when things don’t go as planned.

 

Now, the purpose of this chapter is to take a look at these people who are now considered redeemed.  These are descriptions of their past, not their present.  So what makes the difference?  What actions did they have to take to go from being lost, addicted, rebellious and worried?  I don’t know about you, but I sure would like some redemption! The answer is the exact same for all of them:

Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress. (v 6, 13, 19, 28)

There is action required to be redeemed. When we find ourselves in trouble, we cannot do enough to make ourselves ok.  We simply ask him for help.

And then, God does something really cool.  For each one, he does something very unique in response.

For the lost, it says he led them by the straight way to a city where they could settle. 

For the addicted, it says he brought them out of darkness and the deepest gloom and broke away their chains.

For the rebellious, it says he sent forth his word and healed them; he rescued them from the grave.

For the worker, it says he stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the seas were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven.

I can just not even stand how very carefully, how uniquely, how lovingly he attends to each person.  And he does it when they are at the worst times of their lives.  Whether they aren’t trusting him or they’re rebelling against him or ignoring him or don’t even know him, he is so ready to answer when we call.

 

If you find yourselves relating, take time right now to call on him. You don’t have to figure out how to stop your addiction or worrying, you just simply have to call on God and let him know you need help.

For those that have loved ones in these spots, be encouraged that God is the one that does the work.  We must pray that they come to him for help. God can do the rest.

For those of you who see yourself like one of these in your past, it says in verse 43 to consider the great love of the Lord.  Verse 1 says to give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. 

Yes!  He loves us much and is so good to redeem and rescue us!

There’s a song we sing that goes something like “How Great is Your Love”.  The more I ask God to show me how much he loves me, the more I believe I should have been singing “How Small is Your Love.” Not because  it’s true, but because it’s what I believed: his love was small.

I look back and see all the fear and distrust and the walls and I wonder if I really believed he loved me at all.  Because if I did, I would have leapt, I would have cried yes!  If I truly believed his love was great, I’d be able to pray anything and truly want anything he’d give me. I’d know that no matter how he answered, he would prepare me, equip me, give me only what was good for me and even if it seemed bad or painful, he would work it all together for his good.

So I’m still praying, “God, show me how much you love me.”  I don’t want to sing with my lips it’s great and believe in my heart it’s small. I want to sing with confidence, with conviction, “How Great is Your Love.” I want to know it because I’ve lived it.

 

This post is linked to Five Minute Friday: Small

 

Good Monday morning, friends. I don’t know about you, but in a lot of ways I feel like last week was a long dark, black tunnel.  After being snowed in with the snow storm and working to process terrible news last week, it’s like we lived in some extended world for a little and just this morning I’m feeling like we’re coming back.  Much of it still lingers, but I do feel a path is open to move on.

One phrase has followed me since IF:Gathering weekend and I’m feeling like it’s the phrase God has for me right now.  Just four words: under your own roof.

Jen Hatmaker first spoke these words in her IF:Gathering talk. She spoke about communion in Luke 22 and how the phrase “do this in remembrance of me” actually translates to meaning “constantly make this real.” It means just as Christ was broken and poured out for us, we are now to be the ones constantly being broken and poured out for others.  She said, “the world is looking for someone constantly making it real.”  For her, she found  God leading her to the forgotten and neglected in her homeless community in Texas.  She suggested, though, that we might need to start with those under our own roof.  Are we constantly serving and making Christ real to our spouse and children?

That phrase stuck with me and during our small group time at IF, I shared with my friends that many times God has asked me why I am so willing to spend many hours to research, read, think and write for you guys here and yet, I am not often willing to put in such work for two little girls that he’s entrusted me with for only a few more years.

Just yesterday when I was writing in my journal, I was feeling frustrated that I feel the call to be more intentional with my girls but I am having a hard time connecting.  Don’t get me wrong, we play games together and cook together and read together and talk at bedtime every night, but being super intentional with their spiritual lives isn’t coming easy.

Our pastor yesterday again talked yesterday about what it meant to be a disciple and how we are to go and make disciples.  But how many times, the pressing work that needs done is to make disciples of those under our own roof.

 

I don’t mean to say that we’re to shut out the world and do no ministry outside of our homes.  In fact, how will our children learn to serve if we are not serving? But I do think sometimes we are neglecting what is right in front of us as parents and unwilling to call that ministry too.

If there is one thing I want for my children it is to love the Lord. It is not so that they are perfect in life, but so when they are not perfect, they have a hope.  I want them to make wise choices and love the Lord with all their heart and when they screw up, that they quickly know their sin and turn from it.  I hope they find joy and purpose in Christ.

But here’s the thing. I don’t think this happens by accident.  I don’t think we can sit idly by and hope they figure all that religion stuff out on their own.

 

1 Timothy 6:11 says we are to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith.  Our faith is a fight.  It doesn’t just happen.  We are to be on the offensive and pursuing what is good.  We have to not just teach our kids that, but model it.  Are we pursuing our own faith? Are we pursuing godliness in our children?

Many times we are leaving it up to bedtime prayers and if we’re part of the small percentage that actually go, to our local children’s church pastors. I don’t say that with condemnation to anyone but myself.

I realize much of our morals and beliefs and habits are passed down just by living life.  But I think there’s something missing when we’re not constantly, intentionally striving to build our children’s faith right in the home.  Part of that will be to take them to the local church, but it cannot be all of it.  Part of that will be to say nightly prayers, but it cannot be all of it.

If I think back to my childhood there are many things that came together to build my faith:

• I was always able to ask questions about faith.
• Prayer was central to life.  I listened to my mom pray on the phone, she prayed over me when I was scared, she prayed for me.
• My mom always was speaking about what the Bible said about any situation.
• My mom was always listening to sermons outside of Sunday morning.
• My parents read books to grow in their Christian walk.
• They played Christian music around the house and in the car and encouraged us as teenagers to do the same.
• They encouraged and sometimes forced our own quiet devotional times as we got older.
• They were picky about the friends I surrounded myself with.
• They took me faithfully to the local church—even when we didn’t want to go.
• We were forced outside to play and we traveled, giving us an appreciation for nature and God’s creation.
• They encouraged our gifts and talents and I watched them use their own gifts to serve others.

My parents aren’t the golden standard, but when I look back, I do see that a lot of it is starts with us as parents.  We must be constantly making it real for ourselves and then boldly encouraging—and sometimes forcing–our children to do the same. 

When you look in Scripture, it says that Scripture itself is useful for this. 2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I think, though, that it’s intimidating and confusing on how to make Scripture part of their young lives. Do we just read? Do we memorize?  Do we write it out? Do I have to make crafts? What do we do??

I’d love to hear either what you are doing as a parent to make disciples of your children or what your parents did that helped you.

 

If last week was a week of doubt, of questioning, then this week is one of faith.  I don’t consider it at all an accident that just days before IF:Gathering, every question was rising in my head.  I don’t consider it at all an accident that for two weeks before IF:Gathering I was beginning to feel anxious heart palpitations and a tightening in my stomach.  No, I believe the enemy had sent an assignment of doubt to kill my faith.  I believe my logical, sinful self tried to take over and make me doubt what I’ve always believed:  Jesus Christ is who he says he is.  He did what he said he did.  He loves us like he says he loves us.

Words fail me for what God did in my heart this weekend.  I gathered with a handful of friends whom I love dearly and we sang and we listened and we got real about our doubts and our hang-ups.  We spoke truth and encouragement to one another.  Something in me said this is how it’s supposed to be.

 

 

Right from the beginning, Jennie Allen reminded us revival starts when we repent and believe.  Believing is hard but that’s what our cloud of witnesses are for.  We’re not alone in this.  There are others both around me now and in the Bible that say yes, God really is who he says he is.

Christine Caine reminded us that what should have taken 11 days for the Israelites to get to the promised land took 40 years because of fear, doubt, murmuring, unbelief and complaining.  We can be delivered from our slavery but be kept from our freedom because of fear and doubt.  It is time for our generation to have our own cutting away of sin so God can do a new thing.  We have to believe the truth of God’s word over the facts.  The Bible says if you abide in my word then you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free.  We must be a people that immerses ourselves in the truth.  And, I love this part, she says we believe crazy stuff at the cross, we may as well embrace all the crazy.

Ann Voskamp reminded us that we must put down the comparison stick.  My life and calling are not going to look like my friend’s.

Rebekah Lyons taught that the anxiety we feel is because of unfulfilled responsibility.  We know God has called us to something and we’re not doing it.  There were two very specific things I’d been struggling with doing for months.  MONTHS. And I was letting fear and doubt stop me. I cared more of what others thought than what He thought.  She reminded us that “we’re it.”  We are God’s church sent to be his mouthpiece.  There is no one else to share about him.  We are the salt and light of the earth and we must live boldly.

Jen Hatmaker reminded us that we must stop treating our world like our enemies.  The world is looking for someone that is constantly making their belief real.  She asks who is the forgotten and neglected around us that we need to go along side to serve?  We don’t have to do everything but we do have to play our one note.

So many more speakers shared truth.  I wrote pages and pages of notes.

 

So, let me tell you what this boiled down to for me:

I must stop doubting and believe.  I need to get back my childlike faith and take him at his word.  I can have a confidence and boldness to share those beliefs.

My anxiety was an unfulfilled responsibility.  God is calling me to some things and it’s not a big, gray dreamy calling. Sometimes, it’s things like take a plate of cookies to the new neighbor.  Make some breakfast casserole for your friends.  We can find these out like manna every day.  He is a light to our path and he will give us just what we need as we go.

A local gathering of women is powerful and effective.  It is time for us to stop caring what each other think and start caring about and for each other. I am more convinced and convicted than ever that God is using women to reach the lost. We have been silenced and neglected and abused for years (I speak of the church at large) and I believe God is redeeming us, graciously using us to bring people to Him.

 

My battle cry here for years has been to grow, grow, grow.  I wanted to do more and know more and be used more and wanted others to do the same.  I’m afraid I’ve gotten it all wrong.  My heart’s desire, and what God has been trying to show to me (remember the feather at Allume?) this whole time is I want people to be free, free, free.

We don’t have to be anxious or depressed, unsure of our future, trusting no one and believing no one really loves us. We have a great and mighty Savior who we can believe, without doubt. One who will provide everything we need when we need it.

He says all who are weary come to Him, his burden is light.

 

Friends, I am praying that God has given me a new heart of belief that lasts—that this faith he so graciously poured out through his spirit this weekend will not be dampened again by fear and doubt.  And get ready because I’m praying a double portion for all of you.

So, maybe you heard there was a debate on Tuesday night?  Bill Nye the Science Guy and Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis squared off over whether creationism is a viable model of origins.

I listened to most of the debate, only trailing off somewhere in the Q&A.  By Wednesday morning, I was confused as ever and had to send S.O.S. emails to a few friends with my doubts.  They are awesome, no doubt, and pulled me back.  I was feeling very alone in my doubts and I’m guessing some of you are too.  I thought it might be worth sharing a few things I was pondering and a few truths of which they reminded me. 

 

I was raised in a conservative Christian home in the South and attended public school.  I always believed in the literal 6-day creation, but because of my schooling, believed the earth to be an old earth.  I didn’t even realize there was another option.  Evolution theory was something to be wary of, at best, in school.

When I was in college (maybe?), I attended a homeschooling event with a few families from church. Ken Ham was the keynote.  At the time, I had no clue who he was.  I heard him discuss much of what you heard on Tuesday night, particularly around the age of the earth, and many other theories which were not discussed in detail on Tuesday.

I was skeptical.  Our earth a few thousand years old?  I was as conservative as they came, but I had a hard time imagining it.

Years went by and truly, I didn’t think much about it.  In my head it was sort of like eh, the earth is old and  does it really matter whether it’s millions or thousands?  I didn’t care much. I was too busy graduating, getting married and having babies. Not to say that people doing any of those things don’t have time to care, I just didn’t.

 

Tuesday night’s debate brought so much of that keynote back to memory.  I’m almost two decades older with kids of my own to teach.  This time, I care.  To my surprise, there was a scientist on a stage with Ken Ham that seemed to be making valid points.

The fossil record in the Grand Canyon?  Well, yeah, it does seem like layers made through millions of years supporting evolution.

Noah’s Ark?  Well, yeah, now that you point it out, it is suspect that it all happened like the Bible says so.

Millions of species being created in just 4,000 years? That IS a lot.

Ken Ham, while extremely calm and likable, just seemed to say because the Bible said so and that’s why. While I’m a conservative Christian that believes wholeheartedly in the Bible, even I was having  hard time reasoning.  I wanted Ham to make some valid scientific points.  Without that, I began questioning everything.

 

 

First, I needed to remind myself no matter what, I know God is real.  I have a relationship with Him.  He talks to me through his Spirit.  I don’t have physical proof of this, but my soul knows it well.  This faith is a gift from God.

It is reasonable to me that there is intelligent design.  I cannot believe that this world is all a lucky happenstance.  I just can’t. 

I believe that the God that talks to me is the same that created the world.

The fact that I came to believe him by way of the Gospel through the Bible leads me to believe that indeed, the Bible is true.  There are many other reasons to believe it’s true, but I won’t go into it here.

So, based on what I’ve experienced of him, what he says about himself and reason, I conclude God created the world.

 

 

The rest of my questions are answered by either an act of faith, revelation or scientific explanation that jives with the belief God created the world out of nothing.

Here are some excerpts from Ken Ham’s site AnswersinGenesis.org that were of particular interest:

On the fossil record in the Grand Canyon: A walk through Grand Canyon, then, is not like a walk through evolutionary time; instead, it’s like a walk from the bottom of the ocean, across the tidal zone, over the shore, across the lowlands, and into the upland regions. Several lines of evidence seem to favor this ecological view.  How Fast

On the viability of the Noah’s Ark and the flood: The Bible, though, is the true history book of the universe, and in that light, the most-asked questions about the Ark and Flood of Noah can be answered with authority and confidence. Was  There Really a Noah’s Ark & Flood?

On dating methods: All radiometric dating methods are based on assumptions about events that happened in the past. If the assumptions are accepted as true (as is typically done in the evolutionary dating processes), results can be biased toward a desired age. In the reported ages given in textbooks and other journals, these evolutionary assumptions have not been questioned, while results inconsistent with long ages have been censored. When the assumptions were evaluated and shown faulty, the results supported the biblical account of a global Flood and young earth. Christians should not be afraid of radiometric dating methods. Carbon-14 dating is really the friend of Christians, and it supports a young earth. Doesn’t Carbon-14 Dating Disprove the Bible?

I’ve often thought about creation and the supposed “big bang.”  While I don’t believe the Big Bang Theory to explain our origins, I do believe it’s certainly possibly there was a big bang of some sort when God created the universe.  Seems reasonable that speaking the universe into creation could do that, yes?

Am I suggesting all of Ken Ham’s theories to be the ultimate truth?  Certainly not. Am I even sure about a young earth? No.

But, my friends reminded me, and I do believe that science can, should and will align with what God says is true.  The thing that bothers me most is we were, and are, taught the evolution theory as if it’s the absolute truth when it’s absolutely not.  We can explore other theories—they’re out there, but no one teaches what they are.

What I know for sure is that God is our creator and one day it will all make sense.  I just needed a reminder I don’t need that day to be today. I can rest in what I do know is true and have faith that one day, the rest will be revealed.  Is that a weak stance? Perhaps to some.  But to me, I’m accepting it as a gift of great faith from our Creator.

 

This post is offered simply with encouragement to other Christians. I really don’t want anyone else feeling so alone and confused like I was and you should know there are resources out there.  If nothing else, I hope some of you can hear “me too.” 

 

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I’m keeping comments opened, but I’m monitoring comments on this one.  That said, I would love to hear your thoughts about the debate or your theories in general.

One of the great benefits of being a Christian in our time is the access to the multitude of leaders we have. I think of 25 years ago when the Christian leaders were either authors, preachers on TV/radio or traveling evangelists–none of which you had of a glimpse into their everyday life nor ability to address personally.  Today, we have literally thousands of Christian leaders writing for us on the Internet with only a tweet separating us.

Just a few searches and you can have your pick of preachers, authors, bloggers or speakers from which to learn.  I know I am constantly listening and learning from many Christian bloggers.  However, I’ve found an insidious byproduct that affected me greatly and I’m guessing many others too.

There is one particular blogger I followed and gained great respect for.  I’m not sharing her name because it’s inconsequential to this story.  This woman writes well, loves the Lord, is a wonderful mother and cares well for the downtrodden.  I paid very close attention to her words and actions as I felt like she was a wonderful leader among all these many voices we have available.

I soon found, though, that her opinion, or at least what I guessed her opinion to be, was haunting my every move.  I’d decide to buy something at the store and I’d think but wouldn’t she think I’m wasting my money? I would write something and think wouldn’t she think I’m wasting my words?  I’d be watching TV and think wouldn’t she think I’m wasting my time?

I realized she had become an idol to me.  Not just someone I could respect, but someone whose opinion was guiding my very life. 

The thing is, she’d feel TERRIBLE if she knew this was the case.

It got to a point that I became resentful of her because of all the guilt.  Why did she hate me so much and why was she trying to run my life??

Clearly things were spiraling out of control.  She didn’t hate me and she certainly wasn’t trying to run my life.

Since this woman had no clue what was going on, I knew the problem probably was with me.  I took this to the Lord and asked him to hash it out with me. 

After some extensive journaling/praying, the Lord brought Galatians 1:10 to my mind:

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Yes, of course.  My people-pleasing was rearing it’s ugly head again.  At my core, I was fearful that my decisions would cause this person, who I respected so much, to judge me and decide they didn’t like me.  That would devastate me.

This verse addresses this deep desire to win another’s approval.  People-pleasing leads us to be servants of the people we’re trying to please.  People-pleasing, then, is a form of bondage. Instead of looking to Christ and seeing what would make HIM happy, we think of the other person and do what we think they’d want us to. 

If we’re not letting the Holy Spirit guide us, then we are not a servants of Christ because we’re not following His order. We have to do what HE tells us to do, not what someone’s supposed opinion says.

I had to repent of my idolatry and ask God to cut out that root of fear and give me a new desire to please Him only.  In fact, I rewrote that verse with the person’s name in place:

Am I now trying to win the approval of [her name]?  Or am I try to please [her name]?  If were still trying to please [her name], I would not be a servant of Christ.

That makes it pretty personal, doesn’t it?  And I am sure I do this with more than just one person.

I’ve committed to memorizing and repeating this verse when my mind goes back to wondering what she would think and to instead ask God what his opinion is of the situation.  She might indeed have these negative thoughts towards me, but I have to let the Holy Spirit be my guide as well as hers.

Even just hours after my time with the Lord, I could feel those ties to her cutting loose. I found myself not caring so much about what she thought and felt great peace and a healthy respect towards her again.

 

Please, if you find you’re caring more about a person’s opinion than God’s, talk to God about it! He will show you what needs to happen to free you.

Do you find yourself struggling with pleasing people instead of God?