Being tailor-made (continued)

Previously I wrote a post about being tailor-made, but I still feel like there is so much in my heart relating to the subject, so I have decided to elaborate bit on the growing process.

I feel that sometimes God needs to break us a bit in order for Him to put us back together again. It is not a process that we should be scared of, but it can be painful at times. As I mentioned in my previous post, we grow into our spiritual skin over the years and sometimes God needs to alter our understanding or beliefs, because they were formed by tradition or culture and not by Him. So sometimes we need to be broken in order for God to sift through the pieces. Like when making a quilt, He selects the correct pieces (revelations and truth) and discards the incorrect pieces (understanding formed by culture) and weaves together a new skin for us to grow into.

As you can imagine, being broken is a very vulnerable process. It might feel like everything is stripped away and you can't figure out what is new and what is old, what is truth and what is a lie. As I have mentioned before, it is a process. Don't try and do too much, too fast. Give yourself time to adjust to your new understanding and thinking patterns and embrace this time to rest in them. In times of confusion, don't try and figure things out with theological discussions, rather focus on the revelations and truth which you do know and which God has given you. Focus on the basics. God is love. No one can argue with that one. ;) know that God is in control of the entire process and He will complete it. God never forms anything that is not good and thus you can be sure that all things will work together for your good and according to His purpose. You are safe in His hands. Listen for His voice and follow His lead boldly.

Picture credit: Strawberry threads

Being tailor-made

Sometimes explaining an abstract concept can by quite tricky, so I'll start with an illustration. Our skin stretched with us as we grew from children into adults. Spiritual growth on the other hand is a little different in my experience. It is almost as if your spiritual skin doesn't stretch and as you can imagine, this could be problematic when growth occurs. You would literally have to grow out of your skin and in my experience this is how it feels.

Your spiritual skin is made up of your revelations, beliefs and understanding of God and His word and these shape and grow constantly as we grow closer to God. We go through different stages, sometimes we are comfortable with what we understand and believe and sometimes we feel challenged by God or others. We need to be challenged, because there is no growth without challenge.

When we feel comfortable with our revelations, beliefs and understanding of God, we feel comfortable in our spiritual skin and super confident, but when God starts challenging our understanding or increasing our revelations, we become uncomfortable. Something needs to give way, somewhere the skin needs to tear and new skin (new revelation) needs to grow, and sometimes old skin (incorrect understanding) needs to be cut out and thrown away. The only way that this can occur is when we tear the skin and make the adjustment. This process can be confusing and vulnerable. We all like feeling confident, but when we have a tear in our skin and a new revelation needs to grow, we might feel vulnerable in certain spots and maybe a bit unconfident and not so sure of ourselves.

But not to worry, as we grow into the new skin our confidence will grow again and our new revelations will inspire us forward. The old skin being cut away will allow space for God to pour new understanding into our hearts.

It reminds me of this verse: "Neither is new wine put into old wineskins. If it is, the skins burst and the wine is spilled and the skins are destroyed. But new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” (Matthew 9:17 ESV)

Never become an old wineskin, God cannot put new understanding into old thinking, it will be too much for you to handle. We must rather keep our wineskins fresh, flexible, ready to be tailored and ready to grow. If you find yourself in the middle of a growth spurt, take heart, even though it feels like you are moving backwards, you are in actual fact moving forwards. God is taking you from glory to glory as He tailors you to receive more of His wonderful love and wisdom.

Picture credit: www.f-stopeight.com

Have you been bullied?

Bullying has become an increasing problem in schools today and is becoming more of a topic as awareness is being raised. It is shocking to look at the teen suicide rate and school shootings often related to bullying. Unfortunately this does not always end on the school ground, but can continue at universities, offices, friendship circles or even at home with parents. Sometimes we don't even need a second person in the equation, we just bully ourselves with our harsh thoughts or critical attitudes. 

Bullying takes on many forms and you might have been a victim without even realising it. The effects of bullying can break down your character, confidence, steal your joy and often be long-lasting. It is not something to be taken lightly. As adults we can look back and identify how these incidents changed the way that we perceive ourselves. Built-in lies from our childhood play over and over in our heads. Often we are so used to it that we don't even realise that the thought patterns are there.

These lies limit us physically, emotionally and spiritually and instil fear and doubt. It robs us of our childlike courage and determination and it forces us to settle for less. There's nothing worse than settling for less, because you don't think that you are worth more.

But you are valuable! Jesus didn't die on a cross so that you can settle for less and live with a poverty mindset. We are the children of a King and we have a great inheritance. Even though we deserved nothing, He gave us everything by His grace and mercy. We were not created to live downcast lives as per other peoples' opinions. We were created to live life and life in abundance in all the plans that God has for us. Jesus didn't die so that we should be limited. He came to set us free! He came to make us whole. He came to heal our brokenness. He came to teach us who we are in Him and what we can become. We are all unique and beautiful, created, formed and designed for a purpose beyond our imagination. Jesus takes us places!

He doesn't care what your school bully or friends said. He doesn't care what your mother or father said. He cares about you and values what He thinks about you and knows about you. He needs no second opinion. He knows what He destined you for and no one can take that from you. No one can steal your identity from you if you are rooted in Jesus. He is everything we need to be everything we can be.

I know that those harsh words are painful. I know that they have caused deep wounds and thought patterns, but nothing is too deep for God. Bring these thoughts to Him, bring these hurts to Him. He heals the pain and restores beautifully. You don't need to be anybody else, just be the beautiful you that He created you to be. Don't live according to other peoples' opinions of yourself, get God's opinion and live limitless!

“You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” Song of Solomon 4:7

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:10

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17

PS. If you are a victim, please speak to someone, even though it is hard, please reach out to someone. You might think that no one cares, but believe me, God cares and if He cares then there’s someone else in this world that cares about you and will be willing to help you. He will not let you suffer alone. If you know of someone who is a victim, please reach out to them and support them. Make sure that you do not put yourself in harm’s way, but approach the situation with caution. You might be the only person who knows and cares. There are also help lines which you can phone, including suicide helplines. Please post a comment if you have tips or suggestions. Thank you all!

Photo credit:lurvely

What is the condition of your heart?

What is the condition of your heart? If you had to draw a picture of your heart, what would it look like? When I met Jesus years ago, I underwent a radical transformation. I remember seeing my heart depicted as a house, it looked like one of those deserted, wooden houses standing in a field with a big tree next to it. As Jesus invaded my heart it turned into a beautiful glass house. He opened every window, old door, cupboard and spring cleaned so thoroughly that there was no darkness or weed to be found. I felt as if my heart was made out of glass and that there was nothing hidden and that I can stand in front of Him and He can see through me. I was hiding nothing and nothing was holding me back.

It is our responsibility to keep our hearts in that condition. We need to be careful what we allow into our hearts. I can immediately feel when anger, bitterness, resentment, hatred, unforgiveness, offence etc. try and worm its way into my heart. It’s like a rotten egg thrown at my window and I just know that there is something unpleasant going on. If you don’t realise it immediately then it might happen over a few days, you start feeling less peaceful and more irritable and the condition worsens the longer we take to deal with it.

The problem with the emotions mentioned above is that they take up space in our hearts, the space which love used to fill and this makes us feel drained, burdened and irritable. Your glass house now has weeds growing out the window and this is embarrassing, so you just withdraw because of shame and anger towards others. And if the weeds are not dealt with, our hearts close up, the glass turns to wood and we design walls to keep others out, mostly because we are angry at the world, vulnerable and ashamed of our pain. The worst thing is that we don’t just keep people out, but we also keep the love of God out and then our hearts can grow hard.

If you find yourself in this situation, whether there is a small weed growing or whether your house is completely closed with extra barbed wire around the wall and a big “keep out” sign out front, it does not matter to God. Nothing is impossible for Him and there is no heart that He cannot heal. God is more than capable to deal with any issues that you might have. All you need to do is allow Him to enter.

Often we already know what we have allowed into our hearts, especially if it’s something small, but sometimes it can be years of brokenness, hurt and rejection and these things will take time. Remember that He is gentle and kind and that He operates in love. He knows how fast He can clean and what you can and cannot handle. He works at your pace, slowly pulling out weeds and replacing them with love.

I’m not encouraging you to go on a journey of introspection and to find issues in yourself, but rather take the things that you do know of or the things that are bothering you and sit with the Holy Spirit and ask Him to show you how to deal with them and to fill your heart with love. God is taking us from glory to glory on this wonderful journey with Him. Do not be anxious because of where you are at in your journey, but know that if you hold His hand you will always reach your intended destination.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.” Ps 51:10

“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” 2 Cor 3:18

“Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!” Psalm 139:23-24

Photo credit: favim

Have you been lied to?

 

Photo credit: dlistman

Within the systems of the world we are taught to build an image for ourselves. The world sells to us ideas like "you don't want anyone to know that you don't know the answer" or "you need to have this and that to be more socially acceptable" or "if you show weakness, people will think that you are pathetic". Some things have been so ingrained in us by the media and culture that we do not even realise it. We have been taught to be fake up to a certain level to avoid rejection or shame even with our closest friends. There will always be a certain culture that your friendship circle creates and if you act outside of that 'norm' then I bet you that you would not be comfortable to share it with anyone.

It breeds certain insecurities in us which can easily isolate us from friends or family because of shame or guilt and make us feel very alone. This is exactly what the devil wants and they are all lies. When he isolates us, his lies can consume us and break us down. Telling us how little we are worth and how we are a burden to everyone. The most fundamental thing that the devil can attack is your identity. The Bible says: “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” The moment that we forget who God has made us to be and what our identity is in Christ, it will render us defenceless. God is in us and that makes us stronger than any lie this world can throw at us.

Don't let feelings of guilt or shame destroy beautiful relationships which you have built, including your relationship with God. When we do something that we are ashamed of, it should give us even more reason to run to Jesus, because He forgives freely and takes away all our guilty feelings and shame which the devil taunts us with. He does not judge, but welcomes us with open arms.

The definition of mercy is “not receiving the punishment that we deserve”. The definition of grace is “receiving the abundance of blessings which we don't deserve”. Jesus shows us perfect mercy and gives us perfect grace and in Him there is no condemnation. Nothing can separate you from the love of God.

 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Rom 8:1

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Heb 4:16

“The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.” Rom 8:11

“The thief (devil) comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10

Hillsong United - Bones