“But he was wounded for our transgression, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” Isaiah 53:5
Have you ever had an accident where it left a scar? Depending on the damage or severity of the accident would determine the type of scar it would leave or the length of time it would take for the scar to heal. If the damage is not attended to or handled properly it will cause a lasting scar with internal damage.
Scars remind me that I have been hurt but God reminds me that he can still heal
Scars can spiritually be a representation of things that have happened in our past by trauma experiences. They can also be a representation of emotional scars that have not been dealt with.
Scars can sometimes be visible, while others are hidden. Some scars are big, and some are small. Even over a period some scars unresolved can still hurt and take longer to heal. If left unchecked they can leave a lasting memory that we wish to forget. Instead of healing from them we bury them and deeply embed them within our soul.
No matter the depth or height of our scars, there is no scar that God can not heal. He has the power to heal us as if we have never been hurt. We must be willing to do the work it takes to be made whole. When we allow God to completely heal our scars instead of coming from a place of hurt and pain, we can come from a place of healing, freedom, and peace.
My scars are a testament of what God can do. Through my experiences in life it was through my continued faith in God that brought me through. Also, my continuing in pursuit to want to be mad whole and doing what is necessary to be set free. That meant I have had to deal with the man in the mirror and some ugly truths about myself.
“If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” John 8:36
This journey is an ongoing process to the freedom that God has truly called us to live. I am determined to continue in becoming a greater version of my last self. My prayer is that you will be encouraged through the testimony of my scars.
As I was vacuuming the steps this morning, I noticed the railings. It reminded me that I needed to repaint them. Something said, “why not just take a damp cloth and wipe them off”. I thought to myself why not. As I begin to wipe them off, I was so disgusted at how much dirt was on the railings. It was not even the fact that I needed to touch it up with paint but that it needed to be cleaned off. My youngest daughter was coming down the steps and I said do you see how clean this is? She said, “was all of that dirt?” I replied, “yes. We were both surprised and disgusted. So, we know we need to clean them off more often.
I went back to finish cleaning the steps and as I was cleaning in the crease of the steps the Lord started dealing with me about how we are sometimes ok with just dealing with the surface things in our life. Dealing with the surface does not require much work nor does it allow us to walk in total freedom. We appear to look like we have it all together and we are a mess, we appear to be ok and when we are not, we appear to be happy and we are miserable or we appear to be well and we are really sick. We do not want anyone to know that we are silently suffering, and it is killing us.
“What is being manifested on the surface is the overflow of what has existed underneath”
The things that normally surface to the top are the things that have already being existing from within. Currently we are in a pandemic and the death of yet another black man that has now started a Revolution is finally causing us to deal with what has always been. Racism at its best and a systemic system that needs to be broken. Although this did not begin with George Floyd, it has lit a fire to start the process of some necessary changes as well as healing. Our nation has appeared to be well and we have been sick for a long time. It is now starting to rear its ugly head.
For things to progress and change we can no longer just deal with the surface. What is on the surface is not the real issue and it will only bring temporary healing. We must dig deep and pull it up from the root. The system they created is working the way it is supposed to. Until a system that was never created for us changes and we get rid of the people who continue to work that same system, we will continue this same fight.
“Keep thy heart with all dilligience; for out of it are the issues of life” Proverbs 4:23
Before there can be a true change in a nation there also has to be a change within us. This is also shinning a light on where we are individually and our need for change. The true work begins within. Then we can be more effective to the change in our homes, our community, and our nation.
My prayer is that you would allow God to deal with the root of those things that keep surfacing to the top, so that you can walk in total freedom and victory. That you would have the motivation and strength to do the work needed so that you can be free.
“It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statues” Psalm 119:71
Already at the beginning of this a New Year most of us if not all of us have already experienced some type of loss, hurt, pain, betrayal, and disappointment. With extreme anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and fear.
By the end of January people were ready to give up and throw in the towel. I had seen post that said, “Thank you January for a good year.” Because of the magnitude of their afflictions, they have already counted out the rest of the year.
“We are troubled on every side, yet not destressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken, cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body”
2 Corinthians 4:8-10
In life we will experience things coming from all different directions and sometimes several things all at once, yet God will give us peace even during our storm. Life happens to us all and there are somethings that will throw us for a loop, have us scratching our head, baffled, puzzled, and confused. But because our hope and our faith lie in Jesus Christ, we don’t become desperate, thirsty and hungry after the wrong things.
Have you ever been talked about, lie on, cheated, used, and abused, but when you look around God was still there? He promised that he would never leave us nor forsake us, and He is always true to his word. Even in times when things are not going well in your life know that God has not forgotten about you. Though we are tossed to and fro, thrown away, disregarded, and rejected, I find the strength to push through because I know though the weapons may form, they want to prosper.
As Jesus hung on the cross, he had a moment where He questioned God, but he said not my will, but thine will be done. He said, “IT IS FINISHED”, hung his head and gave up the Ghost. Now as a believer we have to walk out the finish work on the Cross. So, in the end we still win. God will complete the work that he has started in us, but we must participate in the plan that he has for our lives.
NECESSARY…
Despite our afflictions when we trust in Jesus Christ, we are able to overcome and conquer the very things that should have taken us out. Through these scriptures I found encouragement and strength of some of the things that I will experience even while going through, if I faint not.
So why in the world would a God want us to go through affliction?
NECESSARY…
When David the Psalmist talked about “it was good for me that I have been afflicted” he was referencing to the fact of the change that it was rearing within him. No, it did not feel good, no he didn’t like it, nor appreciated it initially, but yet it allowed him to know God in a different way.
There were 3 continual prayers throughout David’s journey which were:
1. Psalms 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in my mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” In order for God’s word to be hidden in his heart, meant he had to learn it, study it, meditate, contemplate, ponder, consider, reflect, digest on it day and night. Because of his love for God, his desire more than anything in the world was to know him and to please him by keeping his commandments.
2. Psalm 119:105 “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” Through God’s word it will give us clarity, direction, a guide and a light even when the path seems dark. In Psalm 23 it talks about the Lord being a shepherd, so even if you were to get off the path his word will be like a GPS system and put us back on track. We must be willing to follow his direction and his plan for our life even when we don’t understand, or the way seems is unsure.
3. Psalms 119:133 “Order my steps in Your Word: And let not any iniquity have dominion over me” He wanted God’s word to guide him, to align him and to not allow anyone’s wicked, sinful, evil, scandalist, unjust, and unfair actions of man to overtake him.
NECESSARY…
It is through the pressing together that the oil in your life is manifested. So, when you feel the pressure or the fire might intensify, it is because God is pruning and refining you into something greater. Do not be overcome but overcome through Christ Jesus.
Song List
I am who I am today
Because God used my mistakes
He worked it for my good
Like no one else ever could
God told me to tell
It was NECESSARY
Yesterday I had to put my car in the shop because my window fell down into the door. It was so jammed inside that they couldn’t even get the panel open. I had just gotten the dealership to fix it a couple of months ago because the motor went out on both sides of the car. Those were not cheap at all. They said, “We will probably need to keep it a couple of days, so we can set you up with a rental car.” Because they didn’t have any rentals on site they had to use an outside source. When I got to the rental place they failed to tell me all the stuff that I would need like my car insurance information, a deposit and the dealership had it as if I was paying for it when I wasn’t. So as if that wasn’t frustrating enough I called my car insurance to get all the information they needed only to find out that after all these years that I have been paying insurance I wasn’t fully covered. They had me under liability only. RIGHT! I said , “Lord I’m going to need your help today” Luckly I was able to get everything fixed and I had never been in a wreck. God had me covered. It made me think about how people walk around in life uncovered. No morales or values. Could care less if they live or die. No hope at all. I remember one day I was that way until I meet Jesus and made Him Lord over my life. He changed my life forever. When I accepted Him as my Savior I became fully covered under the blood. I became a daughter of the King, joint heir to the throne. What He owns now also belongs to me. The thorns on his head keeps my in perfect peace when my mind is stayed on him. The blood that he shed covers and protects me from danger seen and unseen. He gave His life that freed me from bondage and sin. It allowed me to walk in freedom and to live life more abundately. Because I accepted Him as Lord over my life if I die today my soul will live forever with Him in paradise. Don’t walk around life under covered. Jesus Christ is life guaranteed.
“And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you”
I didn’t realize until I was going through my divorce that I had allowed the root of unforgiveness to settle within my heart. I never knew the extent that unforgiveness could cause until I became so sick of myself in desperate need and the want to change. I realized I could no longer go the direction that I was going and had to take back control over my life. As I sought God in where I had gone wrong with a sincere and humble heart in my moment of soul searching God started revealing to me not so much of others or the things that accured in my life, but about me. Change doesn’t begin with others, but with in ourselves. The biggest thing that I realized was the unforgiveness I had against my father that stemmed all the way down to my childhood and because a lot of the issues that were unresolved then resulted into dysfunctions as I became older. Daughters are always known to be “Daddy’s Little Girls” and from them we look for leadership, guiadance, applause, opinions, nurturing and their approval. There were a lot of things that I should have received from him growing up and my lack of those things resulted me looking for them in other people and things which in most cases unknowingly caused me to build unhealthy relationships and soul ties. Now don’t get me wrong my daddy loves his girls, he is a hard working man, is smart as a whip and he always provided for us , but when one is broken and you never got the things yourself as a child to prepare you to be a father or even a man it presents some of the same cycles that occurred in your childhood if not worse and not recognized. I looked for him to give me what he was incapable of giving me and rejected what he could. There are so many things that you should be taught growing up, but because of the dysfunctions of others you unfortunately learn them through your own mistakes in life. When God revealed to me of my unforgiveness and where it came from I had the option to either deal with it, let it go and grow from it or I could hold onto it and continue in the cycle that I was in. When I sincerely forgave my father it was a trickle effect in my life from not only him, but others. This was a major turning point and life changing experience for me. And when I chose to forgive him I had a feeling of freedom and peace that I had never experienced in my life before. It unlocked so many things not only about me, but it was an eye opener that changed my life forever. So now I’ll try to do whatever it takes to remain in that place of freedom and peace. Although there are still areas in my life that God is revealing and healing me from I refuse to allow myself to go back in that place of bondage. In order for me to do so I have to continue to trust and depend on God and continue to take those things to the cross. In my own strength I can’t, but through him I can do all things. And just as God has continually forgiven me of my wrong so do I have to do for others.
She was standing at the edge of the cliff trying to tell herself why she had no reason to live but something said,
DON’T JUMP
She said to herself, will anyone really miss me, will they even notice that I am gone? She heard that voice again,
DON’T JUMP
She started to step back away from the cliff and she turned around to see if anyone was there but she saw no one.She turned back around and started back towards the cliff.
She then began to wonder how far down would she have to fall before she died and as she started to step off the cliff ìt was as if something grabbed her and pulled her away, but when she opened her eyes she saw no one. Scratching her head as if to be puzzled she realized it was God telling her to LIVE.
Though I wasn’t physically at the cliff, ìt was as if I had been there for real but the Lord saved me just in time.
I was saved, sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost, married with kids, but still felt like my life wasn’t worth living.
How do we get so down in life that we feel like dying would be the easiest way out.
We allow the pressures of life, people and our own self images of ourselves play over and over again in our heads. That moment seems to last forever.
That was years ago, but I made the decision to LIVE instead of die.
It hasn’t been easy,but I take it one day at a time and I trust God and his leading.
When I changed my way of thinking it changed my perspective, so no matter what I went through or had to endure I knew God would be with me through it all.
When I think about how God gave his only begotten Son that I could live and to know that I could live in peace and walk in freedom and total victory makes my life worth living.
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
Because He live all fear is gone
Because I know, I know, I know who holds my future
And life is worth the living just because He lives
#CLEANTHISHOUSE
NEW LIFE 