Sunday, July 25, 2010

An Ocean to Find

Today I want to give a big shout out to the Freedom Ministry Department at my church. They are teaching thousands of people how to truly walk in freedom, live in that mind set and share it with others. They are sharing their wisdom everyday to bring healing to the church.

I have noticed that it is very common for Christians to talk about "being free" and they often quote this scripture: "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

But I am beginning to think the freedom they are talking about is simply freedom from hell. They are free because they are redeemed and will spend eternity in heaven. I am not disagreeing or making that fact any less valuable, but that freedom is just the tip of what the Lord offers to us.

I want to share an example with you because only when we see how specific the Lord is in freeing us, can we understand how deep He want to go to bring healing.

A couple of weeks ago I was talking with a friend and she mentioned hanging out with one of my other friends. Right then, something in me was uncomfortable. I didn't like that and really I just didn't want my friends being friends with out me around. I knew immediately that my inner response was wrong and not of the Lord so I thought about it all day wondering why I would have such a childish feeling.

After work I went to another friend and told her that I had something that God needed to change about me and I wanted her help. So we went to a room by ourselves and she said "Holy Spirit show Katy the first time she felt this way." I saw myself in my room when I was in 6th grade and a friend of mine was telling me something bad about one of our other friends. Right then I knew that if she would talk bad about her she would talk bad about me.

That was a negative experience as a child, but it would have had no effect on me if I had not attached a meaning to the situation. So my friend walking me through this said "Holy Spirit, show Katy if she believed a lie when this happened." I knew right away what I believed. That you have to be perfect for there not to be anything bad to say about you, and you can't have good friends if your not perfect.

See how my lie that I believed really wasn't the truth? The truth is that my 6th grade friend shouldn't gossip. But the enemy that hates us uses even the smallest negative event to lie to us.

In my little "ministry session", we continued asking God questions and going down memories to find out what I believed from those instances. By the end, we had unfolded a web of lies that effected my friendships even today, and I forgave those who were involved in the memories the Lord showed me. It was so freeing to know that my relationships would be healthier from this simple act of uncovering lies and claiming the truth. It was another layer of strongholds broken, all in a days work!

I am grateful to be learning how God wants to not only redeem us for eternity but redeem us for today. There is an ocean of freedom available for everyone if we search it out. God will always show up because He is eager to speak to us about our true identity.

- Katy

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Ballerina

One of my favorite (and least favorite) things about being a Christian is the constant change it brings. The Holy Spirit speaks to me daily about my attitude, character and habits and gently shows me the places that I need... let's say refining.

Most recently the Lord has been speaking to me about becoming a graceful person. A woman that extends grace to others generously. As grace has been freely given to me by the Father, I want to learn to easily give grace to other people.

I think we are all graceful in certain areas; the places in our lives that are easy for us to not get upset about, or the ways we are more understanding. For example, the other day Kyle accidentally got food on my shirt. No problem to me, I whipped out my Tide pen to go and took care of it without ever being frustrated with him. Extending grace for accidents or mistakes is easy to me.

Now on the other hand, you put me with someone who is stubborn and close minded and I pull out my judgmental guns in no time. Or when someone says something inappropriate or is hard-hearted towards the Lord, I am a cannon ready to fire with opinion about their behavior.

Kyle is the exact opposite! He has such amazing grace for people who drive me crazy but he would have a more difficult time with me spilling food on him. No matter what gets you judging people and losing your cool, it is the same bottom line. Unending grace has been given to you... shouldn't we learn to give it to others?

The habit of judgment is not from the Holy Spirit but directly from a spirit of pride or criticism. I was telling Kyle that I am committed to changing and needed his help to remind me of this when I start heading down the path of criticism. Of course, when you recruit your spouse to keep you accountable you need it to be done in a very "easy to swallow" way. So I told Kyle to just let me know by calling me "Ballerina". A quick and inoffensive way to remind me that I am to walk down a graceful path and not one that nit picks other people.

Ballerina is silly, but that is why I chose it. When I am stuck in the mind set of judging another person, I will need a goofy reminder to refocus my thoughts and say "Holy Spirit, I messed up again. Thank you for being a very patient and GRACEFUL teacher. I give you control, please help me to do better next time."

- Katy