I once had a friend, a very close friend. I was betrayed by him. Intimate conversations that I had with him ended up public, misconstrued and manipulated by others to mean something he knows I did not mean to say. Wow. The unbelievable pain. Trust totally betrayed.
I know some of you have likewise trusted someone with your heart and they betrayed your trust. Your heart was ripped out of your chest and cast onto the ground, stomped into the dirt and then handed back to you. What do you do?
The PAIN.
The pain that you are going through is beyond your grasp. You are not going to be able to grasp how much and how deep you have been hurt. Your task is to release and express the pain that comes to you. Do not swallow it into your being - express it. I know it hurts and is much easier to swallow and forget about it. But you will deal with it at a later time and usually with rage and anger. Find safe people who allow you to breathe spiritually and release the grief that is there.
This will take some time. The heart is in charge not your mind. You can slow the process down but you can't stop it. Be still and let your heart breathe. I trust God with the pain and that He personally is in charge of how much I am facing at this moment. It has taken me a long time to be able to release a lot of the pain. Sometimes it may take years but when it finally comes, let go. To push the pain back down into your soul is exhausting and very, very dangerous. Your mental and emotional energy will be consumed by keeping this grief locked down and you will probably experience depression. The essence of depression is usually long term repression of a spiritual issues of the heart. Release and breathe.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Bleeding for your sons
Mom - please pray for your son. Listen to a mother speak from almost 3000 years ago.
"O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows,
do not spend your strength on women, Proverbs 31:2,3
Unbled ground is unredeemed ground.
Learn how to pray for your son in such a way that your heart begins to bleed for what women will want to do to him and for the dumbness of his body in wanting to respond; get there before he gets there.
"O my son, O son of my womb, O son of my vows,
do not spend your strength on women, Proverbs 31:2,3
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
Unbled ground is unredeemed ground.
Learn how to pray for your son in such a way that your heart begins to bleed for what women will want to do to him and for the dumbness of his body in wanting to respond; get there before he gets there.
Bled Ground
Abraham Lincoln talks about the sacred ground at Gettysburg. In Remember the Titans the coach reminds them of the battle fought there 100 years ago. Blood spilled makes the ground holy. That is why Christians revere the Cross - Christ' blood there makes that holy ground.
Any relationship that is un-bled is un-redeemed. If you are really going to love someone, open your heart to them - you are going to get hurt. When we chose to forgive for His sake - He uses that opportunity to forgive and redeem that relationship.
Choosing forgiveness for Christ' sake is the means by which God purchases areas in our lives for His glory. When we forgive the Blood of Christ flows through our wounded hearts onto the ground of that relationship or area and Satan and his demons will not walk over a ground where the Blood of the Christ is.
Any relationship that is un-bled is un-redeemed. If you are really going to love someone, open your heart to them - you are going to get hurt. When we chose to forgive for His sake - He uses that opportunity to forgive and redeem that relationship.
Choosing forgiveness for Christ' sake is the means by which God purchases areas in our lives for His glory. When we forgive the Blood of Christ flows through our wounded hearts onto the ground of that relationship or area and Satan and his demons will not walk over a ground where the Blood of the Christ is.
The Ten Commandments
I am teaching the Ten Commandments to a class of ten year old boys in our church. Here is the summary of the lesson from the 10th through the 7th commandment.
When you forget to say thanks, when you forget to be thankful, when you forget all the gifts that you have been given, there creeps into your life a longing for more. What you have is not enough. Therefore You Covet (10th Commandment) You Lie (9th Commandment) You Steal (8th Commandment) You Commit Adultery (7th Commandment).
Gratitude checks the MORE.
Romans 1:21
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him,
Psalm 50
23 He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
When you forget to say thanks, when you forget to be thankful, when you forget all the gifts that you have been given, there creeps into your life a longing for more. What you have is not enough. Therefore You Covet (10th Commandment) You Lie (9th Commandment) You Steal (8th Commandment) You Commit Adultery (7th Commandment).
Gratitude checks the MORE.
Romans 1:21
21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him,
Psalm 50
23 He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me,
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica
Oranges
To all my friends that live in Florida.
Please tell the oranges that "Oranges are made to be squeezed."
Imagine the oranges hanging on the tree, excited about being some of the best oranges that have ever been. Yet someone needs to tell them, Oranges are made to be squeezed. The only way to get orange juice from oranges is the oranges have to be squeezed.
I know this is a minor point but God used this in my life the other day. Christians are a lot like oranges - to get that which is within them out, God has to let them be squeezed. Some oranges are very insecure about what is in them, but God is not. He knows the sweetness and beautiful aroma that is trapped within the shell. A little pressure and wonderful, flavorful juice flows out of the person's life to enrich those around them.
Let God squeeze your heart and you will be pleasantly surprised at what comes out! After all, He places the juice within us through His own Holy Spirit.
Please tell the oranges that "Oranges are made to be squeezed."
Imagine the oranges hanging on the tree, excited about being some of the best oranges that have ever been. Yet someone needs to tell them, Oranges are made to be squeezed. The only way to get orange juice from oranges is the oranges have to be squeezed.
I know this is a minor point but God used this in my life the other day. Christians are a lot like oranges - to get that which is within them out, God has to let them be squeezed. Some oranges are very insecure about what is in them, but God is not. He knows the sweetness and beautiful aroma that is trapped within the shell. A little pressure and wonderful, flavorful juice flows out of the person's life to enrich those around them.
Let God squeeze your heart and you will be pleasantly surprised at what comes out! After all, He places the juice within us through His own Holy Spirit.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Hey
Hey, let me know you are reading these things by taking the time to interact with the blog. That means a lot to me. Let's just say that encouragement will help me write more consistently. THANKS. That means a lot to me.
Pastor Rod
Pastor Rod
Trust
What do you trust? Name brands? The Government? Your parents? God?
What would I have to do to earn your trust? What would I have to do to lose your trust?
We keep our trust cards very, very close to our chest. Sometimes we keep them so close we do not know who or what we are really trusting.
Trust drives our economy, trust allows marriages to work, families to grow, jobs to be created and maintained. Trust allows doctors to do surgery, banks to lend money, soldiers to risk their lives.
Do we trust God? Do we even want to? How can you trust Someone you have not seen? If someone sent you a letter from overseas and asked you to send all of your money, your spouse and your children to a certain address, would you do it? NO! Say for example, that you had built a relationship with the person over time and you grew to trust them somewhat. Yet you had not seen them. Would you still send the money? NO! Maybe some, but not all. Yet God demands all of everything we have. HE wants to be first. Perhaps we know HIM better than we imagine and we chose to doubt because it is more familiar and comfortable than raw, real faith. Relationships revolve around trust. God knows our hearts trust HIM because HIS Spirit is present in our hearts. It is our minds and feelings that encourages us to doubt. Let us become a faith people who abandons our minds and feelings to the altar of our heart. Let us be as wise as serpents in the ways of the world and the ways of the mind yet let us remain as innocent as doves in relation to our families and friends.
What would I have to do to earn your trust? What would I have to do to lose your trust?
We keep our trust cards very, very close to our chest. Sometimes we keep them so close we do not know who or what we are really trusting.
Trust drives our economy, trust allows marriages to work, families to grow, jobs to be created and maintained. Trust allows doctors to do surgery, banks to lend money, soldiers to risk their lives.
Do we trust God? Do we even want to? How can you trust Someone you have not seen? If someone sent you a letter from overseas and asked you to send all of your money, your spouse and your children to a certain address, would you do it? NO! Say for example, that you had built a relationship with the person over time and you grew to trust them somewhat. Yet you had not seen them. Would you still send the money? NO! Maybe some, but not all. Yet God demands all of everything we have. HE wants to be first. Perhaps we know HIM better than we imagine and we chose to doubt because it is more familiar and comfortable than raw, real faith. Relationships revolve around trust. God knows our hearts trust HIM because HIS Spirit is present in our hearts. It is our minds and feelings that encourages us to doubt. Let us become a faith people who abandons our minds and feelings to the altar of our heart. Let us be as wise as serpents in the ways of the world and the ways of the mind yet let us remain as innocent as doves in relation to our families and friends.
Quiet
There are times I hate being quiet. I gotta say something. So I spew and end up having to eat my words. When I had cancer in 2007 God gave me a word through a Bible study. Let faith speak first and let faith speak last. I learned to be quiet and listen. If you are loud, you can't hear. I was very, very interested in the FACTS of my situation but God reserved the right to determine the TRUTH of my situation. God decided to let me years roll on,...for now.
Psalm 4:4
Tremble, and do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in the LORD. New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
The way to stay right when its tight is to be quiet in the night.
Sorry. It just came out. But I dare you to memorize it, you are going to need it.
The tree longs to be by the sea but finds itself on the edge of a desert. The word is that the desert is moving toward the tree. Yet he stands still and waits and trusts, keeping his eyes on the skies, not looking for the rain but the God of the rain. He senses in his heart God's delight in his waiting and when the work of faith has had its way in his heart, mind and life, it will begin to rain, again. He smiles at the younger trees who fret at the approaching desert that demands their attention with its all consuming heat and wind. The tree does not mock the power of the desert for there is damage in his trunk and branches. Its power is real and present; yet there is One greater. There, in HIS care, I shall rest, says the tree.
Psalm 4:4
Tremble, and do not sin; meditate in your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah. Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and trust in the LORD. New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
The way to stay right when its tight is to be quiet in the night.
Sorry. It just came out. But I dare you to memorize it, you are going to need it.
The tree longs to be by the sea but finds itself on the edge of a desert. The word is that the desert is moving toward the tree. Yet he stands still and waits and trusts, keeping his eyes on the skies, not looking for the rain but the God of the rain. He senses in his heart God's delight in his waiting and when the work of faith has had its way in his heart, mind and life, it will begin to rain, again. He smiles at the younger trees who fret at the approaching desert that demands their attention with its all consuming heat and wind. The tree does not mock the power of the desert for there is damage in his trunk and branches. Its power is real and present; yet there is One greater. There, in HIS care, I shall rest, says the tree.
Rest
Repentance and Rest are your salvation. Naomi prayed for Ruth that God would grant her rest in her husband's house. God's design is that daughters would go from the rest of their father's house to the rest of their husband's house and die in the rest at their son's house. A father is to win his daughter's heart by knowing her heart better than she does and she gives him her heart before she is awaken as a teenager. Tori once was asked Why don't you have a boyfriend? She responded, Why do I need one? I have Dad. She had given me her heart as a little girl and I have proven more faithful with her heart, knowing her heart than she has. That trust produces a rest.
Has God earned that right for you to give HIM your heart? I know you are a Christian and have already given HIM your heart but HE is desiring to take you to another place, a deeper place. HE wants you to freely give HIM your heart because HE has been more faithful with your dreams, heart aches and desires than you have been.
Repent and give HIM your heart, your understanding. Shut up your mind and rest. Let HIM bring the rain and sunshine to you. The rest of Isaiah says that quietness and trust are your strength. Be still and rest, repent (move away from the fear, the facts and the feelings and move toward God) through being quiet and trust.
When you rest and trust in the midst of a great storm because you are focused on God, you bring HIM great joy. Let your roots sink deep in faith, let your branches rise high in praise and let your leaves spread wide to cover the children below and the seeds of your faith will bless the generations to come. The rains are coming. Rest in HIM.
Has God earned that right for you to give HIM your heart? I know you are a Christian and have already given HIM your heart but HE is desiring to take you to another place, a deeper place. HE wants you to freely give HIM your heart because HE has been more faithful with your dreams, heart aches and desires than you have been.
Repent and give HIM your heart, your understanding. Shut up your mind and rest. Let HIM bring the rain and sunshine to you. The rest of Isaiah says that quietness and trust are your strength. Be still and rest, repent (move away from the fear, the facts and the feelings and move toward God) through being quiet and trust.
When you rest and trust in the midst of a great storm because you are focused on God, you bring HIM great joy. Let your roots sink deep in faith, let your branches rise high in praise and let your leaves spread wide to cover the children below and the seeds of your faith will bless the generations to come. The rains are coming. Rest in HIM.
Repent
Wow, do we hate the word Repent. But I am not sure we know what it means. There are two aspects to the word.
1. Repent - turn away FROM something. Stop doing something. Or stop not doing something. There is some behavior, thought or attitude that God desires that we stop immediately.
2. Repent - turn TO something. It is always about turning toward God. Most of us are very, very good about knowing what we are supposed to STOP doing and what we need to START doing. But very few of us are rightly related to what we are supposed to be turning to. It is always God. When I ask you the question, What is God convicting you about? What is your answer?...
If you stated anything about doing, or behavior or actions then you are probably wrong. I want you to think about a child that you love, perhaps your own or a grandchild or niece or nephew. What is the one thing you want them to know, to be convicted about when they think about you? I know the answer - that you love them. That your love for them is a settled issue. God's heart aches for you to be convicted about HIS love for you. The whole of 1 John is about God's love for you, how HIS love changes you and allows you the grace to love others.
Satan is in heaven 24/7/365 without days off, accusing you before the Father. See Revelation 12. He is brutal in his accusation and his facts are correct. But he does not proclaim the TRUTH. While the facts of the sin and sins are true, the BLOOD OF CHRIST covers them and you are forgiven. So many times we are far more familiar with Satan's accusations than we are with the heart of our Father. Listen for HIS love and REPENT! Turn away from those worthless things and turn toward the FATHER who loves you completely. HE will save you and HE will bring you home. Trust HIM.
1. Repent - turn away FROM something. Stop doing something. Or stop not doing something. There is some behavior, thought or attitude that God desires that we stop immediately.
2. Repent - turn TO something. It is always about turning toward God. Most of us are very, very good about knowing what we are supposed to STOP doing and what we need to START doing. But very few of us are rightly related to what we are supposed to be turning to. It is always God. When I ask you the question, What is God convicting you about? What is your answer?...
If you stated anything about doing, or behavior or actions then you are probably wrong. I want you to think about a child that you love, perhaps your own or a grandchild or niece or nephew. What is the one thing you want them to know, to be convicted about when they think about you? I know the answer - that you love them. That your love for them is a settled issue. God's heart aches for you to be convicted about HIS love for you. The whole of 1 John is about God's love for you, how HIS love changes you and allows you the grace to love others.
Satan is in heaven 24/7/365 without days off, accusing you before the Father. See Revelation 12. He is brutal in his accusation and his facts are correct. But he does not proclaim the TRUTH. While the facts of the sin and sins are true, the BLOOD OF CHRIST covers them and you are forgiven. So many times we are far more familiar with Satan's accusations than we are with the heart of our Father. Listen for HIS love and REPENT! Turn away from those worthless things and turn toward the FATHER who loves you completely. HE will save you and HE will bring you home. Trust HIM.
Repent and Rest
Isaiah 30:15 says that Repentance and Rest are my salvation, Quietness and Trust are my strength.
I have a picture of a tree that Gabi drew next to my desk. The tree waits for God. It is not able to move itself to find water or sunlight but has to trust the God of creation to bring those elements so that it can survive and grow. I wonder if trees fret that God has forgot about them. I wonder if trees doubt God. I wonder if trees try to move from their God-appointed place to get more water or sunlight. I wonder if trees are like me.
Repent and Rest, Rodney. He cares for you.
I have a picture of a tree that Gabi drew next to my desk. The tree waits for God. It is not able to move itself to find water or sunlight but has to trust the God of creation to bring those elements so that it can survive and grow. I wonder if trees fret that God has forgot about them. I wonder if trees doubt God. I wonder if trees try to move from their God-appointed place to get more water or sunlight. I wonder if trees are like me.
Repent and Rest, Rodney. He cares for you.
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