restoration | NEW LIFE

“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” Pslam 51:10-12

The things that we release will have to be replaced.

The question is what are we replacing them with? A negative plus a positive is still a negative. Releasing a bad habit to pick up another one only creates more. Releasing something toxic but to only replace it with more toxicity will leave you with more damage. The more we can eliminate the negatives in our life and replace them with positive ones will put us on a path to wholeness.

In my own life because I didn’t know who I was and whose I was in an effort to fill those voids I did so with the wrong things and the wrong people which caused me to normalize my dysfunction.

The older I become the more I have tried to create a place of peace. Anything that disturbs that place of peace can create a toxic environment. Making sure that I pay attention to those trigger points and red flags. That discernment or gut feelings is real. I also realize that there are things within me that may have caused me to be toxic to other people.

“Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in good health, even a thy soul prospereth” 3 John 2

When hearing this scripture I have mostly heard it being referenced to prospering in materialistic things or acquiring materialistic gain. God wants us to be whole in every aspect of our life and to learn how to have balance so that we are able to maintain it. Our character, our business, at work, in our resources, our health and our relationships. Growing up I was taught to focus on the spiritual aspects of my life which caused me to be religious in my thinking, judgmental and unbalanced.

In the midst of this pandemic God has me in a place of restoration, healing and is setting me free from things that has held me in bondage due to unresolved trauma, normalized behaviors that created unhealthy habits, unhealthy behaviors and life styles. I have asked God to reveal the sources and now I am doing the necessary work to become a better version of myself. We can not truly prosper if we are physically, emotionally, and mentally sick.

It takes more energy to hang on than to let go of the things that are doing more harm to us

Sometimes in our effort to move on if we don’t take the time to heal from what has happened it can cause further damage. In order for us to start to properly heal we must:

1. Assess the damage that has been done. Not acknowledging or avoiding what has happened will cause you to internalize your pain. Be honest how you are feeling.

2. Deal with what has happened. Allow yourself the time to properly grieve. Find away to allow yourself to be vulnerable and release what you are feeling in a healthy way.

3. Resolve any unresolved issues within ourselves. Take a moment to self reflect. Take ownership of anything that you may have done. Make sure to not only forgive others but to forgive yourself as well. Get rid of any anger, resentment or bitterness that may hold you back from moving forward.

” Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice” Ephesians 4:31

I can not do this in my own strength. I have to allow God to create in me a clean heart and renew a right spirit within. I have to continue to lay down my life daily so he can complete the work in me. With out God’s help it will be a losing battle.

There is a false perception that God will do it all. It is true that God can do anything but he won’t do them without our participation. It is going to take more than just our shout and our prayers. Our unwillingness to do what is necessary to change, heal FOR REAL and evolve will keep us in bondage. “Faith without works is dead” James 2:26

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“Nothing changes if nothing changes”

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.

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