Tag: whole

What Drives Out Fear?

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Tuesday

What drives out fear? Love does.

Don’t believe me? Think back to a time when you were in love with somebody. How bold were you? How much hope did you have for the future? Did you do any crazy things with them because you were in love with them?

Right this minute, you are loved with a perfect love from a sinless Savior who sacrificed Himself so that you could live unhindered by fear.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The word perfect here doesn’t mean flawless, it means complete. It means complete love.  Not a temporary infatuation but a deep developed love that stands the test of time and eternity.

His was a love that bleeds when the lash tore open His back and the splintered wood of the cross dug into it. A love that persevered through the unendurable physical and spiritual pain of the cross until He could utter the truth, “it is finished”.

When fear rises up to dismantle your faith or weave it’s tentacles around your feet to trip you up, you must remember this fact: You have nothing to fear. You are in love. 

Christ took your punishment completely so that you could be immersed in His love and be made whole.

Jesus walked the earth, spoke truth to all who would listen, healed broken bodies and restored broken souls to God. It was His love that breathed life into the first lungs of man and His word that drove the darkness and chaos back before that and it is His love that sets you free to love as freely and completely as you are loved.

What drives fear out?
Love.

The love of Jesus.

Hang your hat on it and get down to the business of loving others with the confident abandon that comes with it.

Live Whole

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Monday

The world gives us great lessons on how to fake it until you make it, how to function in dysfunction and how to “live well” while being utterly broken inside.

Jesus offers life lessons in how to “live whole” through a daily relationship with Him.  As you let Him love you through His grace, He begins to heal what is broken and restore what has been lost or stolen. 

In this personal, one-on-one relationship, Jesus works from the inside out to restore your mind, heal your heart, fill your soul, and ignite your spirit to God’s original design.

He wants to teach you how to live.

How to love fully and be loved fully.

How to live trusting and trusted.

How to live nurtured and nourished.

How to lead yourself and how to lead others.

“The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.”

Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭21-24‬ MSG

It takes time and perseverance.

God provides the time, we provide the perseverance.

Jesus will not give up on you.

Don’t give up yourself.

Let go of your fear and lean into His grace.

Restored

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Far from teaching us to have it all, the world gives us great lessons on how to fake it until you make it, how to function in dysfunction and how to live well while being utterly broken inside.
The good news of Jesus Christ is that He has taken your brokenness upon Himself and in return offers you His wholeness. In a relationship with Jesus, He works from the inside out to restore your mind, heal your heart, fill your soul, and ignite your spirit to God’s original design.
He wants to teach you how to live with Him.
How to live whole and treasured.
How to live trusting and trusted.
How to live nurtured and nourished.
How to love and be loved.
“He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.”
Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭21-24‬ MSG
It takes time and perseverance.
God provides the time, we provide the perseverance.
Don’t give up today.

Where to Look

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“My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only he will release my feet from the snare.”
Psalm 25:15 NIV
There is a point in your life when you realize that God is the only one who can release you from a snare.
A small but strong string of hurt, fear or unforgiveness that has wrapped around your heart and is tripping you up or holding you back.
It might have been set by someone else by action or word or it may have been something you inadvertently set for yourself: an inner vow to never trust again or never ask for help because you got rejected last time you did.
It’s frustrating.
It can almost become crippling.
Here is the thing: 
The one who hurt you, can’t heal you.    
You think that the words “I’m sorry” will heal you but they will not.
You don’t need an apology to be whole, you need Jesus to make you whole.
He is the only one who can heal your heart. He made it, will remake it and will continue to bring up the little snares that need to be healed because they hold you back from who you are created to be.
Who are you looking to for wholeness?
If they are anywhere else but Jesus, you will be disappointed and frustrated.
Look to the Lord to release you from the snare that is holding you back today.
What is that snare?
What is Jesus asking you to do about it?

Live It

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Being right with God isn’t the hard part, the hard part is learning how to live it out.
You have lived a long time being broken. A long time learning how to cope with it, how to function in it. The good news of Jesus Christ is that He has taken your brokenness upon himself and in return offers you wholeness. To restore your mind, heart, soul, and spirit to God’s original design.
He wants to teach you a new way to live.
How to live whole and treasured.
How to live trusting and trusted.
How to live nurtured and nourished.
How to love and be loved.
“He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.” (‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭21-24‬ MSG)
It takes time and perseverance.
God provides the time, we provide the perseverance.
Don’t give up.
Every day you are learning how to live restored in Christ.

When You Feel Like Giving Up

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When you feel like giving up, don’t.
There are gifts that only come by facing the hard things.
There is growth that only comes from holding onto God through the toughest times.
There is maturity that only develops as you persevere when everything around you is uncomfortable, difficult and hard.
“Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:4 NIV)
Don’t give up.
Hold on to Jesus like He is your Savior and let perseverance complete you.
If you quit halfway through you will never know what God has for you.  He has a plan to complete you, to bring you to wholeness, to bring the parts that are broken and disconnected together knitted by His grace restored by His strength completed by His love.
Don’t quit. Buckle down, hold on and keep working.
You are worth it.
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In pursuit of abundant life in Christ, it is so easy to mistake more for better and busy for important.

Wholeness takes time, holiness is the work.

“May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together—spirit, soul, and body—and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ.

The One who called you is completely dependable.

If he said it, he’ll do it!”

1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:23-24‬ ‭MSG‬‬

Take a deep breath, slow done.

The Lord isn’t slow in keeping His promises. He is faithful to complete what He has started.

The very best thing you can to do is rest in Him. Let Him work. Be obedient. Trust in Him.

Put yourself and what is weighing heavy on your heart into His Hands.

He is patient with you (and with others) because He sees more than you do, His reach extends yours and His knowledge is not hindered by time or eternity.

God knows real change takes time and He is willing to wait.

Rest in Him today and give yourself permission to stop worrying about things you can’t control.

In music, the rests are as powerful as the notes to create music.