Lies Young Women Believe

I've been spending a lot of time reading the book "Lies Young Women Believe". I haven't been doing much Scripture reading outside of the ones listed in the book (I probably should be), but the book has been giving me a lot to think about. It goes through 25 different lies that young women believe about themselves, God, relationships, etc. It also presents Truth about those lies.

It's been a pretty helpful read so far - there have definitely been several lies that I really identify with. They permeate every part of my perspective on life and myself - it's a crazy process to try to extract myself from the lies. I started this process in REACH, but once in Kenya, I grew tired and lost heart and the old familiar lies have found their familiar roots - in some ways maybe deeper than they were before. It's time to declare war on those lies.

Romans 7:14-8:11

There is no condemnation in Christ. There is a war within me between the new creation and the sin that continues to live on in my flesh.

Oh, God, forgive me for falling, for focusing on fleshly things. Forgive me for focusing on myself and being selfish. Father, please teach me what it means to keep my mind set on the Spirit. Teach me what it means to think on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. Change me, Jesus.

Colossians 1:21:2-2

As I was sorting through some papers I had saved over the years, I ran across a prayer card. It has 31 different short prayers from the book of Colossians - one for each day of the month. I've decided to incorporate that into my quiet time. Each month I'll start at Colossians 1:1 and read until the prayer for the day. I'll gain the context around the prayer, and then spend some time meditating on the prayer for the day.

Yesterday I read 1:21-23. The prayer was "Father, I ask you to make my faith strong, stable & fixed on the truth of the gospel." It really hit home as I read the context of the basis of that prayer. It relates closely with some of the struggles I'm having right now: I've done evil things and I've had failures in my past, but Jesus came to bridge the gap between me and God. Because of Him, I am holy & blameless & beyond reproach if I continue in the faith and am not moved away from the hope of the gospel. (basically a paraphrase of verses 21-23)

As I read from 1:24-2:2 to correspond with today's prayer, I was just struck by Paul's willingness to give up his rights. He talks about sharing in Christ's affliction for the good of the church. He worked tirelessly to spread the gospel and to show Christ's love to all he came in contact with. To be a follower of Christ, specifically one in any ministry capacity, you really need to be willing to share in the affliction of Christ. You have to be willing to lay down your rights and desires and serve the members of the body. Leadership always works best when it is coupled with humility and a servant's heart, but in the church, it is non-negotiable. We are all called to be like Christ, and He was a humble servant - He washed His followers' feet.

I've experienced trying to be a servant while still holding onto what I want and what is comfortable for me. It does not work and it is not effective (or as effective as it could be). Christ is calling us to leave all of it behind - our desires that don't line up with His plan, our comfort zone, our dreams for the future. He's calling us to follow Him. A lot of time, He has placed desires and dreams within us and calls us to pursue them, but sometimes He asks us to wait or leads us away from those dreams. Sometimes those dreams are based on the flesh instead of the Spirit. The flesh part of me is screaming to hold onto what I want and to fight for it with everything in me. The new creation is aching to give it all to God and to follow His leading. It won't be easy, but I want to continue to learn day by day what it means to put Christ first in my life and to serve others before myself.

John 8:31-36
Galatians 5

Freedom in Christ. That's a subject that has been on my mind the past twenty four hours. As I was blogging about the subject on my other blog, these verses came to mind. I skimmed through the entire book of Galatians and focused specifically on chapter five. I also looked up John 8 on Bible Gateway.

Freedom in Christ is something that we as believers are entitled to. It is something that we should be walking in as followers of Christ. When we are slaves to sin or to fear or to despair or to anything else that is not from God, we are not walking in the Spirit and we are not experiencing the freedom that Christ died to give us.

As I read about the whole circumcision issue, it came to my mind that this is not an issue that is a large struggle in the church today. However, all Scripture is applicable to us today and has a lesson for us to learn. So, what is our church's version of circumcision today? It's easy for me to point it out in other other people (I am so judgmental sometimes), but it's harder for me to identify it in my own life. Where am I adding to the gospel message? Where am I turning from a simple and beautiful call to a life of faith and obedience to one of legalism and man made regulations? I'm not sure, but I think my whole mindset on forgiveness and letting go of hurts and giving it to Jesus is maybe an area like that for me. It seems like it's too simple - it seems like there is something that I need to be doing. Am I trying to put myself in bondage again where Christ has set me free? I think perhaps I am.

Jesus, please show me the truth of your forgiveness. Please teach me to walk in simple and obedient faith. Forgive me for trying to add to the Gospel and trying to do things on my own terms. I am Yours - mold me and make me who You want me to be. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Psalm 63

I spent some time this evening meditating on Psalm 63. I read this Psalm often. As I'm flipping through my Bible looking for one Psalm or another, my eyes usually fall on the purple box I drew around the "63" sometime while I was in Africa.

This Psalm prompted quite a bit of journaling and prayer about my current life situation. Man, I just want more of God. I want to experience His presence and I want Him to be my joy and the thing that keeps me going.

Later when I was just thinking about this passage, but not necessarily in my quiet time, I thought about a "dry and weary land where there is no water." I lived in a land like that for about three and a half months. The most memorable day that comes to mind was when we went to Lake Turkana. We didn't take extra water with us, because it was a "short walk". It ended up being just as long as our walk to church (five miles). We hung out at the lake for awhile, and very quickly our water supply diminished. We were extremely hot, sweaty and feeling a little sun burnt. Even worse was the fact that we thought we were going to have to walk all the way back to town without water. We were desperate for water - we didn't think we were going to be able to make it without some more!

Where is that attitude in my life? How often do I just fall on my knees before God and cry out with desperation? "God, I cannot make it through this day without more of Your Spirit! Provide for my needs - pour out more of You into my life!" I think I get to the point of desperately needing water often, but I go looking for other things - chocolate, a friend to talk to, an activity to distract. All the while, I am shriveling up and starting to die inside. I simply can't go on without water. I want to turn it around to God when I reach this point and fall on my face before my Lord - and not get up until I've been filled by the Holy Spirit.