Your Ministry Comes From Your Misery

I remember the first time I heard this phrase, “Your Ministry Comes From Your Misery”.  It just stuck with me.  How perfect, I thought.  Here I had been trying to forget my misery.  To stuff it down somewhere that no one would see it.  Somehwere I wouldn’t see it.  God had other plans. 

He wants me to accept my past misery and use it as my present ministry.  Isn’t he clever.  Actually He’s amazing because He is taking the one thing that I used to hate to tell anyone about and laying on my heart to share it more and more.

The fear I used to feel when I would broach the subject is being replaced with grace and humility.  I’m not as fearful of what people will think of me, I’m more interested in how God and I can use it together to help others. 

A fear of judgement is slowly being replaced with a strong desire to help others heal.  If my speaking out and talking about my misery can be a good thing, then I will be a living example of  this saying.   My minstry truly will come from my deepest misery.

Do not fear the darkness in your life.  Trust that God WILL use it for good, if you let Him.

Why We Celebrate Easter

Letting Go Of Anxiety

Why is it that I get so caught up in my day sometimes that I forget what I should be focused on?  I let little “emergencies” at work get me anxious and stressed and they are so small in the grand scheme of my life.  All I can do is my best, and worrying or getting anxious really helps nothing.

I need to memorize this verse and say it over and over to myself when I have those kind of days.  (Today was one of those days)

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”  Philippians 4:6 

It’s hard to always think this way and focus on following Jesus.  Remember the story of Jesus sleeping in the boat while the waves were crashing all around them?  I want to be like that.  He had nothing to worry about because He knew that all of this is temporary and NOT worth getting stressed over.

I think that is a great image to bring to mind when I feel anxious.  Jesus sleeping in the boat while things were a bit chaotic.  I don’t plan on falling asleep on the job, but I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me stay focused on what matters and not let these “little” things get to me.

Fill The Void With God

This morning I read Matthew 12:43-45 and this is what Jesus said:

“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, seeking rest but finding none.  Then it says “I will return to the person I came from” so it returns and finds its former home empty, swept, and in order.  Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there,  and so that person is worse off than before.  That will be the experience in this evil generation.”

Yikes.  If that’s not scary I don’t know what is.  The moral of this passage is, if you rid yourself of a sin in your life, you must (MUST) fill it with God, and obedience to God, or the devil will move back in tenfold. 

The passage says the “evil spirit” will come back but with seven more spirits even more evil than the first.  I don’t know about you, but I want no part of that.

If you begin to make good changes in your life,  don’t fall prey to the devil and fill that void you feel with God.  He is the ONLY one that can fill it and heal you.  If he is calling you to change, then let Him help you every step of the way.

When we turn away from sin, we must turn to God……not just turn away to nothing.  That can lead to worse sins.

In my Study Bible this is what it says after those verses: 

“Just cleaning up one’s life without filling it with God leaves plenty of room for Satan to enter.  The book of Ezra records how the people rid themselves of idolatry but failed to replace it with love for God and obedience to him.  Ridding our life of sin is the first step.  We must also take the second step: filling our life with God’s Word and the Holy Spirit.  Unfilled and complacent people are easy targets for Satan.”

Have you ever quit something or turned away from a sin only to become more tempted and tormented to do that sin?  Now you know why.  Change is something only God can help us with and through.   Without Him leading us,  we are vulnerable to even more evil spirits.

We Take Too Much For Granted

A friend of mine, Jennie Allen, posted this video on Twitter yesterday.  My daughter and I sat and watched it together.  It is nothing short of amazing.   It will make you realize just how much we take for granted.