Hello friends!   I am so excited about sharing this weeks ah-ha moments in my journey to walk redefined today.  Grab a beverage and a comfy chair (always a necessity) and let’s get to talkin’.

The last time we sat to chat, I talked about being aware of struggle, what it looks like, and how to step off the fence of struggle, and win.  I have been driven to understand that the greatest struggles come, when my emotions own a two-inch spot in my understanding – convincing me that I cannot be free.

Freedom, my friends, is ours through Christ…whether our emotions agree or not.

The parable of Brogan, my 50-pound lap dog, illustrated that sometimes ya just gotta walk away from the painfully familiar, to have something great. We are not doomed to merely hope for hope. Understanding how to fight to see truth, allows us to live in hope.

By now you know my constant hope is that we are willing to be offended by the destructive aspects of our character.  Not to be overwrought with guilt or shame – just to accept the truth that we are not perfect and need to change.  Freedom to be altered is found in our willingness to be imperfect.  Jesus said to hear His voice, abide His Word, and you will know the truth – and freedom. Honesty matters to our freedom.

Tired of this point?  I can almost hear you shouting to move on, but I really want you to get this! Self-honesty can be a challenge. I mean, when I am forced to look at my sassy, misaligned self, I have to resist running. Honesty requires tenacious attention to the truth.  Truth (and self-honesty) is the very foundation of our ability to change.

I continue to challenge you to be offended.  Be very offended by the things that bring destruction to your life, your relationships, and your intimacy with God. Truth matters to our growth so much more than the need to be right, perfect and self-righteous.  We are all sinners and need help to see our failings so that we can walk upright.

Gut-level honesty is truly impossible without the search to find, understand and accept truth – real truth.  C.S. Lewis said, “I don’t want my idea of God, I want God”.  I don’t know about you…but that has been a tough one for me through the years.  It is easy to make God what I want Him to be, so that I can have what I want, without changing a thing about who I am.  I am at a point in my life that real truth, THE truth, matters more to me than what I think or feel. Feelings and emotions never brought freedom to my heart – EVER.

So often we hear the verse, “You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free” spoken in some sort of effort to convince us that because we know Jesus, we are free indeed.  But Jesus clearly states in the verse before, that we must do something to truly know the truth.  It all depends on “hearing” His voice, and “abiding”  in His word, so that we are true disciples. Abide means to submit to; to remain steadfast or faithful to; to keep. To abide, requires action.

Progress comes in the action that happens between the “if” and “then” of the promise of freedom.  Yes, finding truth requires effort. So much of our growth depends on our willingness to seek, listen, abide. Freedom requires intentional action.

The question remains – are we willing?

Or are we satisfied to sit in our pews, suffering and struggling to find victory – hoping it is magically absorbed through spiritual osmosis? Accepting God’s love and forgiveness is what gets us to heaven. Loving Him and calling Him savior may be enough. You CAN live satisfied with that…or follow this simple “if…then” promise that leads to living a life that is filled with value and purpose.  Freedom does not come through osmosis.

POINT OF BATTLE #4 (continuation of last weeks blog)SWORD OF TRUTH

Wow…and ouch!  Digging into those joints and exposing the marrow isn’t easy, but there is tremendous promise in the gristle of this verse. Yes, I really said that.

You know that I am visual, so let me paint a picture for you.  Did you ever try to cut a whole chicken into pieces? When I attempt to cut up a bird, my finished product looks more like a trophy the dog dragged in after an afternoon hunt, than a scrumptious piece of meat.

I remember my mother’s expression as she watched me massacre a large hen one time. About two minutes into my culinary battle with bones and joints, she walked over to the knives and pulled out a blade, worthy of dissecting bones and joints – long, pointy, and oh-so-sharp.  I yelled, “Mom! Is that really necessary? I mean, I could amputate an arm or filet a finger with that thing!”  I deliberately didn’t choose that knife because I was afraid of getting hurt.

She shook her head and said, “The most important thing about getting into those joints is using the right tool.  The sharpest blade will do the least damage and produce the perfect final outcome.” Now that will preach!

Mom remained unmoved in her knowledge that chopping away with the wrong tool only leaves a mess, and presents a risk of serious injury.  But cutting with a blade that is made for joints will bring less damage to me, and to the connective tissues of the bird.

• What about those ineffective tools we use in our battle for the life seeking freedom from struggle? For me, safe tools are the easiest to use.  In reality, they pound the ever livin’ life right out of me! The tool that lacks precision point honesty doesn’t allow for a good final outcome. Here are only a few:
• Constant declaration of the pain.  These are the “ugh” moments.  The, “if you only knew what I have been through” statements.  This weapon is aptly expressed through a song frequently sung on the show Hee Haw.  (cue music) “Gloom, despair, and agony on me…deep dark depression, excessive misery…if it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all…Gloom, despair, and agony on me.”  Been there, done that, didn’t work. Every word spoken may be true, but talking about the despair without a plan for hope is destruction.  The message of our despair is clear to us and everyone around us. “I will not ever climb out of this season.” And that becomes the truth of our life.
• The telephone line.  Yep…we have all done it – believing there is a need to talk it out so I can be free from the never ending thoughts. Always asking for prayer from people who have more faith for my freedom than I have myself. If I can just data dump, it will get better. Um. No it won’t. It feels better, but nothing changes.  I love Joyce Meyers’ line, “we need to run to the throne before we run to the phone. WORD
•  If I just keep it to myself, it will get better. Um. Not likely.  Lack of action doesn’t keep it in check.
• I can do this!  This is self-help purgatory. When the only hope I have, comes from within – I am sunk.  I can tell myself all day long that it is a good day to have a good day, but when the day itself isn’t the issue, I need more than motivational messages to fight right.
•  Please know that I understand the need to confess, the need to ask for prayer, the need for fellowship and asking others to participate in our growth. Those things are certainly valuable weapons of battle. I don’t deny that deciding to “just do it” in our battle is important.  And sometimes, it really is just better to just shut your mouth and pray.  But if we live unwilling to hear the truth, or tell the truth, those things really are easy and pointless…and will never change. Pointless tools are useless at best, and often cause more harm than good.

None of those things are exactly harmful, unless we decide to live in the despair, live on the phone, or beg for relief from someone who doesn’t have the capacity to give it. And you certainly don’t need to do it alone.  Without truth, these tools are more abusive than effective to our freedom.

This is tough stuff here, kids! If we want change, we have to do the simple and very difficult thing of fighting right. God gave us tools that have point – to cut through the joints and the bones…reaching into and exposing and judging the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. It is there that we are able to be offended (very offended) by the things that must be cut away from our lives. The sword of the Word, applied to the bones and joints of our character brings victory.

It isn’t natural to want to dissect our joints and bones.  And it can be painful. I don’t deny that!  When we apply the truth that lies within the pages of the Bible to our lives, it is easy to find the things that are offensive to the life that God intends for me to live.  It is then that the knife will glide through the joint with little pain at all.

The soul works to convince us that winning is hard and change is too difficult.  Victory is ours when the weapon is right. THE truth doesn’t say change and you will find me. THE truth promises that if you seek, abide, apply the blade, cut through the joints and marrow with THE truth, you will change…it will change, struggle will lose and we will walk in victory.  It is in abiding in THE truth (the Word of God), hearing HIS voice (not the chatter in our emotions) that the truth will set us free.  That isn’t a hope my friends.  That is a promise.

Until next week…remember that progress, not perfection, is a sign of true change.  Perfection is difficult to attain, and more difficult to tolerate. Hear HIS voice, abide in HIS word…and  you will know that truth that will set you free.

Remain in His grip.
Love you all,
Lori Beth (Redefined)

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