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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!

 

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.