Hello. My name is Elaine. I am one bound up chick. I go from feeling free to feeling like a top spinning out of control in zero to sixty seconds on a regular basis. If my husband wasn't a saint he would have given up on me years ago. But he is a saint and he keeps me going by loving me through whatever phase I'm in at the moment.
This battle in my mind is beginning to make a little more sense to me as I think about what I believe God has placed in my heart. My heart's desire is to love on women. I want to see every woman set free, healed and delivered. Feeling like the princess that God created her to be. So - what better way to keep me from my calling than for me to be bound up in chains. When I'm bound I'm thinking about myself. This is a fact Jack. I get so tired of thinking about myself sometimes I could scream, literally. And I have.
I have read so many books and done so many Bible studies trying to find the answer. The one thing that is going to get me to that place of freedom. All these books and all these Bible studies are written by people who have some kind of issue(s) just like me. Because no one on this earth is free from issues. Some visible. Some invisible. Some realized. Some unrealized. I know down in me that Jesus is the only way to freedom for me. His Words are the only words that are infallible and not written or spoken by someone with issues and imperfections. My foundation has got to be Jesus and Him alone.
I have gotten up at 5:00am for years to be alone with the Lord before the noise and busyness of the day begins. It has been my lifeline. I can't even begin to imagine where I would be without this seeking of the Lord each day. Yet still bound. Still areas of confusion. Part of that I believe is all the voices around us in the world today. But that is a different thought for a different post.
One morning in July I was sitting with the Lord. I had my Bible in my lap and I told the Lord that I sit here every morning like this just searching and digging for a nugget to get me through my day. To get me closer to that place of freedom that I so desire. I cried out to the Lord to give me a nugget. He spoke to me and then He gave me a scripture.
1. He told me I was punishing myself for areas that I believe I had failed Him.
2. He gave me this scripture:
Song of Songs 2: 14
My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
Well, after sobbing like a child, I have tried to absorb this. I have got to forgive myself for my "issues". He isn't punishing me so I need to stop punishing myself. And - I have got to come out of hiding and be the woman He created me to be. He wants to see my face and hear my voice. He thinks I am lovely and that my voice is sweet. Who am I to argue with the One that created me and the One who makes all things new. I have got to be me and accept me and love me so I can help other women do the same. As long as the enemy can keep me focused on my shortcomings and issues I will stay self-focused and no good to anyone else.
I am on a journey to freedom. A journey of accepting myself and standing on the Word - the Word written and the Word(Jesus) as He speaks to my heart. All the other voices have to be drowned out by the one sure Word.
Here's to freedom - one step and one day at a time. Seeking first Him,...
...,a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor. Isaiah 61:3 NIV
Showing posts with label The Word. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Word. Show all posts
Sunday, September 20, 2015
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Jesus - Forever
Please, click on the link below and be blessed! It is Kari Jobe - Forever. It is a 12 minute video but ohhhhhhhhhhh, so worth the time. A man speaks close to the middle and it is very powerful. Our Jesus is beyond words,... Our Jesus is the Word.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huFra1mnIVE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huFra1mnIVE
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
New Mercies - New Day
If no one ever reads this but me, that's OK. I am declaring that today is a new day. Today - TODAY - I begin a new study of the Word of God. My study. Well - me and the Holy Spirit. I have completed so many Bible studies I can't begin to remember them all. I have sat under many preachers and teachers. I have had a quiet time for years and I mean years! I habitually, without fail, got up at 5:00 am to have my time with the Lord and I do that now. Yet - sometimes I just feel like a hamster on a wheel spinning and spinning and spinning. The Word says one thing and my life says another. This preacher or teacher says one thing and another one says something else. I try very hard to listen to the Spirit of the Lord but sometimes it gets confusing. I want to know what God says. I want to know what God wants for me in this life. I want to know what I need to do to walk in victory. I want to help others walk in victory. I do not want to leave one thing under the tree (so to speak) that Jesus wants me to have. SO - I say that to say this. TODAY I am beginning my own personal in-depth study of the Word without any outside influences, as much as that is possible in life. In Proverbs the Word says that the Word is "life to those who find it and health to one's whole body". I need life and I need health. I believe God's Word is infallible. I believe God's Word is Truth. I believe Jesus is the Word. So, I am going to stop trying to change me and I am going to see the Word work in my life as I truly give It first place - above man's knowledge. I am seeking the Wisdom of God.
Thursday, September 19, 2013
New Foundations
One of Merriam-Webster's definitions for foundation is:
a body or ground upon which something is built up or overlaid.
The Bible talks about building on sand in Matthew 7: 26 & 27. It reads as follows:
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.
These two pieces of information tell me that if something (a house, a relationship, a business,...) isn't build on a good foundation that in time it will be destroyed and/or destroy itself. The foundation is the most important part of anything. Just because something looks good on the outside does not tell you anything about what it is like at its very foundation. The foundation could be weak and what you see on the outside will eventually fall apart. It is the foundation that supports whatever is above it.
In my life right now I am experiencing the loss of a relationship that is very important to me. This relationship also affects other important relationships. As I have sought the Lord about what I need to do regarding this relationship, the Lord has told me there is nothing to go back to. I could try to continue as we were but it wasn't a relationship. At least not a healthy relationship. A relationship requires at least two people and both people need to be contributing to the relationship for it to be healthy. Or its foundation is weak and it eventually is destroyed.
As I contemplated "nothing to go back to" I felt hopeless. That is not something you want to hear. But through the words of a friend, I began to see hope - light, if you will. Even though there is nothing to go back to, there are new beginnings. Fresh starts. Just like if your house is destroyed by fire - you don't have a house to go back to but you can build a new one. Even better than the one before hopefully.
Paul says in Phi 3:1l3:
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.
So my prayer now is asking the Lord what I need to do to begin laying a new foundation in this relationship. The past is gone. Each party in the relationship has made mistakes. But we do not have to dwell on that. We need to forget the past - completely. We need to begin building a new relationship based on a better foundation. A foundation based on the Word of God. Placing the other person above ourselves. Realizing that in a relationship both parties must be willing to give. To make time for the other person in their lives. To include them in their lives. Respecting and honoring each other.
Going back to the past is simply returning to the same things that got us to where we are today. But beginning anew will take us to places that God meant for people in relationship to be. Where you can count on each other. Not just when trouble arises but all the time. To rejoice with you when you rejoice. To cry with you when you cry. To just be there for each other.
I am happy to say that I have hope. Hope in the God Who created relationship. As I continue to pray and follow the Lord's leading - I believe in His time a new relationship will emerge. One better than ever. Not based on past mistakes (sinking sand) but based on a firm foundation of respect for each other.
Luke 6:31
Do to others as you wold have them do to you.
If we live by the Word of God, the only firm foundation, our relationships will stand. So, here is to new foundations, new beginnings, healthy relationships.
a body or ground upon which something is built up or overlaid.
The Bible talks about building on sand in Matthew 7: 26 & 27. It reads as follows:
And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.
These two pieces of information tell me that if something (a house, a relationship, a business,...) isn't build on a good foundation that in time it will be destroyed and/or destroy itself. The foundation is the most important part of anything. Just because something looks good on the outside does not tell you anything about what it is like at its very foundation. The foundation could be weak and what you see on the outside will eventually fall apart. It is the foundation that supports whatever is above it.
In my life right now I am experiencing the loss of a relationship that is very important to me. This relationship also affects other important relationships. As I have sought the Lord about what I need to do regarding this relationship, the Lord has told me there is nothing to go back to. I could try to continue as we were but it wasn't a relationship. At least not a healthy relationship. A relationship requires at least two people and both people need to be contributing to the relationship for it to be healthy. Or its foundation is weak and it eventually is destroyed.
As I contemplated "nothing to go back to" I felt hopeless. That is not something you want to hear. But through the words of a friend, I began to see hope - light, if you will. Even though there is nothing to go back to, there are new beginnings. Fresh starts. Just like if your house is destroyed by fire - you don't have a house to go back to but you can build a new one. Even better than the one before hopefully.
Paul says in Phi 3:1l3:
Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.
So my prayer now is asking the Lord what I need to do to begin laying a new foundation in this relationship. The past is gone. Each party in the relationship has made mistakes. But we do not have to dwell on that. We need to forget the past - completely. We need to begin building a new relationship based on a better foundation. A foundation based on the Word of God. Placing the other person above ourselves. Realizing that in a relationship both parties must be willing to give. To make time for the other person in their lives. To include them in their lives. Respecting and honoring each other.
Going back to the past is simply returning to the same things that got us to where we are today. But beginning anew will take us to places that God meant for people in relationship to be. Where you can count on each other. Not just when trouble arises but all the time. To rejoice with you when you rejoice. To cry with you when you cry. To just be there for each other.
I am happy to say that I have hope. Hope in the God Who created relationship. As I continue to pray and follow the Lord's leading - I believe in His time a new relationship will emerge. One better than ever. Not based on past mistakes (sinking sand) but based on a firm foundation of respect for each other.
Luke 6:31
Do to others as you wold have them do to you.
If we live by the Word of God, the only firm foundation, our relationships will stand. So, here is to new foundations, new beginnings, healthy relationships.
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