What's Your Super Power?

Spring is finally here, and I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling the craziness already. March passed in a blur.

Can you relate?

This morning I was reminded of Romans 8:11, which says “The spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.”

I don’t always feel powerful, but thanks to the work of the cross, I am full of the Holy Spirit’s power, which means

I am a powerful woman!

I am an influencer for His Kingdom.

I have the power to change the atmosphere.

I am full of God’s grace and His favor.

Do I feel that way? Not always—definitely not when I’m in the midst of chaos and craziness. (Again, where did March go?)

But it’s the truth of God’s word, and I choose to believe it.

How about you, my friends? Are you facing a hard week? Do you feel overwhelmed? Do you shrink back in conversations? Do you feel like you’re not enough? Or you don’t have enough—time, money, energy?

On Sunday, we'll celebrate the resurrection of our Lord and Savior. What a better week than now to be grateful for this finished work of the cross—and to step into all that He says we are.

Getting Back on That Horse!

Last week, Howell and I vacationed in Colorado to celebrate our birthdays. We both turn 30 this year (Howell turned 30 Monday), and we wanted to do something fun to commemorate the year!

We stayed at an all-inclusive ranch resort where we were pampered by excellent staff for three meals a day and where we could do all the activities we wanted from snowshoeing to backcountry skiing to horseback riding (and more!).

We were so active on our trip that we came home sore (Ha!), but we loved it!

Some of you may or may not know that I had an accident on a horse in 2008—just a few short months before my wedding. It was not my first time to fall off a horse—not even my second or third—but it was pretty significant, significant enough that I feared riding horses, which I never had before.

I won’t go into the details (they’re not really important for this post), but the short version is that I blacked out before I hit the ground, so I landed on my face.  My jaw was moved, my teeth were affected, my brain had a little swelling (thankfully, nothing damaging ;)), and my face was all banged up for weeks, if not months. I was trying on wedding dresses with a black-and-blue face and one eye swollen shut—what a moment to feel pretty. J

The thing is, I grew up around horses. My grandmother had a horse that I rode all the time, and I grew up with friends with horses that I rode. I know how to saddle a horse, handle a horse, and clean a horse after riding.

But after that accident, I was too scared to ride. I attempted to get on my mom’s horse a few years ago, but I only rode him for maybe 5 minutes before I felt scared and got off.

Then last week, while we were in Colorado, I had the chance to “get back on that horse”—and I really wanted to try. I wasn’t sure if I would ride, but I wanted to see how I felt.

And…

It felt great. I wasn’t scared. It felt natural again—and we had a good afternoon (despite the freezing cold temperatures and blowing blizzard snow!).

So, why am I talking about riding horses?

Well, the Lord reminded me of my experience this morning while also reminding me of Proverbs 24:16—that a righteous man falls seven times and rises again.

I was really rude to Howell one day last week. It wasn’t anything overly dramatic; I was tired and grouchy and ended up saying something rude and sarcastic. But, although he forgave me, I’ve had a hard time letting it go.

This morning the Lord reminded me that my new nature is righteous. That’s who I am. It’s as it should be between me and Him.

It’s not that the righteous man doesn’t fall. In fact, he may even fall seven times.

But he doesn’t stay down.

I remember having it presented to me like this: you can know whether you believe you’re righteous, whether you believe everything is as it should be between you and God, based on how long it takes you to forgive yourself when you mess up. If you feel like you have to wallow in pity, or do penance, or do more to earn favor again—then you’re not believing you’re righteous.

Jesus paid it all.

As simple and basic as that truth is—one that I’ve heard a thousand times, I’ve learned this week that I still have this feeling that if I misbehave God will be mad at me; if something happens that I didn’t want or ask for, then God must have ill-intentions toward me.

He so gently whispered to me this morning—Get back up.

I am good and always loving. My intentions toward you are good. The thoughts I think toward you are never evil—never ill-intentioned. You can trust my heart—it’s full of love for you; it wants good things for you.

Isn’t it great that we serve an all-loving God? 

Do you ever have a hard time believing it? 

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Redeem: Part 2

Do you ever struggle to hear God’s voice?

This last week, I really needed to hear from the Lord. I needed an answer from Him—and yet, I felt so uncertain.

The more I tried to hear Him, the more anxious I felt. Am I hearing you? Is this you? Is this me? What is the problem?

Later, when I was still and my heart was ready, I did hear from Him. I got my answer, and I got His peace.

But in that moment of anxiety, I needed to be redeemed.

I told you last week that God’s word for me this year is REDEEM. We already talked about the ultimate redeeming act—the exchange made at the cross to give us righteousness and grace.

But redeem is more than the one time finished work.

One definition notes that redeem means to compensate for fault or poor past performance.

Yep—Jesus does that all the time for me.

Some synonyms for this definition include save, vindicate, absolve, atone, deliver.

The other definitions I love deal with an exchange:
- “Gain or regain possession in exchange of payment.”
- “Exchange (coupon, voucher, etc.) for merchandise, a discount, or money”
- “Pay the money to clear a debt”

Some synonyms here would be exchange, cash in, clear, honor, discharge, reclaim, retrieve, recover, regain.

And my all-time favorite definition—“To fulfill or carry out a pledge or promise.”

He always redeems His word. He “makes good” on His promise.

It’s easy—and encouraging—to think of these definitions as each relates to salvation or justification.

But every day, we are being sanctified too.

Every day I still need His redeeming help.

Maybe I need to ‘reclaim’ who I am in Christ.

Maybe I need to ‘regain,’ ‘retrieve,’ or ‘recover’ my thoughts to be the thoughts God thinks toward me.

Maybe I need to be ‘discharged’ or ‘cleared’ for my mistakes or shortcomings that day—the offense I took, the angry response I had, the pride, the insecurity, etc.

“Forgiveness restores the standard of holiness.” That’s my favorite Kris Vallotton quote right now.

Even if I mess up, he still redeems, and I am restored to a place of honor.

And, of course, my favorite:

Maybe I need to be reminded that He redeems His promises.

When I feel anxious like I did last week, He redeems my anxiety for His peace. What a better exchange.

What do you need to exchange—to be cleared of or discharged from?

What do you need to retrieve, reclaim, or regain?

What can He redeem for you today? (Click to Tweet)

Redeem: Part 1

The word God gave me for 2016 is REDEEM. A dear friend of mine (yep—the same friend) gave me a necklace with this word on it, so I can wear it every day as a reminder.

As I’ve mediated on this word, I feel like the Lord continues to show me a new facet of meaning.

Redeem is literally an exchange—and usually money is involved.

We redeem something in exchange for something else. If I have a coupon for 30% off at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, I will redeem my coupon for the discount on my total purchase.

I receive the purchase. I’ve redeemed the coupon.

As believers, we are redeemed. We know that He is our Redeemer.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. My church did a sermon series a while ago called The Exchange—and it’s the exchanges that took place at the cross.

This morning, as I was reading through Romans 5, what we received in that exchange really stood out:

Because of the cross, we have

• Peace with God
• Grace
• Hope of the glory of God
• God’s love in our heart
• The Holy Spirit

We are now

• Saved from God’s wrath
• Reconciled
• Saved (Greek word: sozo – literally, to save, to heal, to deliver) 
• Righteous

Through Jesus, we receive grace and righteousness. Receive. It’s a gift.

Our only job to receive this gift is to believe—believe in Jesus, in the finished work of the cross.

So often, we present the gospel like this: You’re a terrible sinner, you’re worthless, you’re nothing without Jesus—you need to confess your sins, right now! (Or go to Hell.)

I’m not denying the truth of those statements. We are sinners. We do fall short of God’s glory apart from Jesus, etc.

But Scripture says to confess that Jesus is Lord.

What we confess is our belief in Jesus—in what He accomplished for us on the cross. What we repent from is the law of sin and death, from works righteousness.

We don’t focus enough on the exchange, on what was redeemed—that our new nature is righteous, literally, made right. It is as it should be between God and me.

Never again will I be separated. By faith, I believe this.

If we make salvation only about confessing sin and needing a savior, we miss the power of the cross. Because the next day, we are still powerless to sin.

When we make salvation an exchange—an unmerited exchange, a free gift received by faith alone—now it’s more than forgiven sins. It’s a new nature. I am a new person: righteous and full of grace.

Salvation is easy. Getting saved is actually easy. Our part is very light: Believe. That’s all His word says—confess and believe that Jesus is Lord, and you will be saved.

What is hard about following Jesus? Well...

• Walking through life. (“In this world, you will face troubles…”)
• Believing all that He says He is and all that He says you are in Him. (Sometimes that's hard.)
• Submitting my will to His. (Yeah, that’s also hard.)

Being a disciple—a follower of Jesus—is the challenging part. Receiving His promise is not.

When we present the gospel, we should be clear on these two points:

• We don’t work to be saved.
• We don’t work after salvation.

But we do choose to believe. We do choose to submit. We choose to be a follower.

Next week, I want to look more closely at this word, REDEEM, for our everyday life: it’s in His nature to redeem; what can He redeem for us in this season?

But this week, let’s be grateful as we remember the greatest redemption story—how he redeemed us from our sin and in exchange made us righteous and free. (Click to Tweet.)

For God Gave Us a Spirit... (Part 2)

"For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind." 1 Tim 2:7

A few weeks ago, I shared how fear has recently been revealed to me as a stronghold in my life. And in May, I started meditating on this verse and trying to understand how to combat this spirit of fear.

I began this journey by recognizing the many, many ways that fear ruled in my life: fear of lack, fear of rejection, fear of failure, fear of the unknown, etc. From worrying about whether my straightener was going to burn down the house to worrying about future bills and uncertain outcomes--fear had a full foothold in the door of my heart.

But lately, God has focused me on the other three components of this verse: power and love and a sound mind. I have a spirit of power: What does this look like on me? I have a spirit of love and a sound mind: What does that look like?

I mentioned a little in the last post that fear is the antithesis to faith--and faith unleashes the power of God in our life. 

Ephesians 1 calls His power immeasurable toward us who believe.

When we put our faith in Jesus--in the power and the message of His finished work of the cross--it reveals to us the mystery of the gospel, the good news: that we are made righteous, that we are given an inheritance--our status as sons and daughters--and that we are filled with grace.

Grace. His power, His ability, working in us. 

It is sufficient. 

By His grace, we get to be powerful people. 

So, fear is the antithesis to power, to faith. Fear is also the antithesis to love.

I'm reading Danny Silk's Keeping Your Love On, and it's no coincidence that the chapter I just started is titled, "The Battle Between Fear and Love."

Fear of rejection, fear of (dis)connection, fear of vulnerability, fear of loss--that's the battle; each is the hindrance to our ability to be real and genuine, to be sincere in our love toward each other.

Silk writes, "Learning to partner with the spirit of love requires you to become powerful. That is a serious challenge. When Paul told Timothy that the spirit of love is also the spirit of power and a sound mind, he implied that the opposite, the spirit of fear, is the spirit of powerlessness and a weak, divided mind. When you grow up partnering with the spirit of fear, as most of us do, you learn to simply hand over your brain and your power, letting fear take control. But as soon as you decide to partner with the spirit of love, you have to think and make powerful choices" (p. 53).

Last post, I said that we are powerful people, and I love how Danny calls fear a spirit of powerlessness.

To be powerful is not the same as being a bully, manipulative, aggressive, or even controlling. In fact, one of the most freeing things I've heard recently from the pastors at Harvest is that control is an illusion. 

Danny says it this way: "The only person you can control--on a good day--is you" (p. 51).

So let's talk about this last component: a sound mind. Some translations calls this a spirit of self-control. How appropriate!

Fear in relationships creates distances, disconnection, anything that looks nothing like love. Sometimes fear in relationships translates into the pseudo-power we tend to recognize: manipulation and control.

But for us to have healthy relationships, for us to love sincerely, we have to break the spirit of fear in our life. We have to take control of our minds--our thoughts, our worries, our assumptions, our judgments, our hypothetical conversations (I know I'm not the only person who does this :)). We have to learn to control our minds--to find self-control.

But the good news is God has given us a spirit, and it's not of fear. Like the gift of righteousness, like the fullness of grace, this gift is ours to choose, to believe, to receive His spirit of power and love and a sound mind. 

I can't control others, but I can stay connected to my Father's heart. I can, by faith, receive the fullness of His grace. I can, through Him, be powerful in my relationships.

And what does it mean to be powerful? It means I'm free from fear--and more so, I'm free to love, to really love, with sincerity, with a genuine heart, without expectations, without fear, without shame.

I'm free to be vulnerable.

Last night, I heard a message on shame and the fear of loss, and like the spirit of fear we've been talking about, the pastor concluded that we fight shame by being vulnerable.

I'm still mulling this over, but I pray if you're reading this, I pray for myself, that we would recognize the strongholds of fear in our life, and that we would especially fight the battle of fear in our relationships with others, and that fear of lack, fear of rejection, fear of loss, insecurity by any name we want to give it would be broken in the name of Jesus.

May we be powerful and vulnerable people today. 

Seeing as HE Sees

Luke 15:11-32

This is one of my favorite parables, and as I continue with the #LentChallenge, I'm still thinking about Luke 15 because, in various seasons, I have been the lost daughter and the jealous daughter. This is, in most Bibles, the parable of the lost son, but like the two parables in Luke 15 that precede it (the lost sheep and the lost coin), I feel this parable says far more about the Father's heart than that which was lost.

1) Sometimes our Father initiates the search for us, and sometimes, He is waiting for our return, but always, He meets us; always, He is filled with compassion. 

This view of our Father--especially depending on how you view your earthly mother and father--is not normal, if normal is defined by earthly standards. A child who rebels, who is wasteful, who squanders, who avoids, who willfully and intentionally goes his own way: that, by any parenting standard, is cause for discipline and reproach.

The response we might expect is anger, silence, crossed arms, a tapping foot, and the words we fear most, "Son, I'm disappointed."

But not our Heavenly Father: "While he was still a great ways off, the father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him."

Even when we are in the midst of bad choices, even when we are ashamed and self-loathing, even before we open our mouths to repent, our father sees, and has compassion, and runs to us, and falls on us, and kisses us.

I'm not downplaying sin, rebellion, or repentance, but too often, our worldly view gets crossed with our spiritual view, and we forget that it's the Lord's kindness, His mercy, His love, that leads us to repentance. 

It's not our shame. It's not our unworthiness. It's not about how low must I get to be forgiven.

It's about Him, and His heart, and His compassion.

He meets us. He pursues us.

2) Even in our sin, He still desires to reaffirm us as sons and daughters, to confirm in us how HE sees us. 

The jealous one--ever been her? When you're just serving and obeying and doing all that your Dad asks you to do, but yet someone else gets acknowledged, gets rewarded, gets that blessing you really feel you deserve?

What does the Father do? He pursues: "But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore, his father came out and pleaded with him."

Therefore. HIS father. His father CAME. His father came and PLEADED.

So much could be said about that one sentence. He didn't scold. He didn't tell him to grow up, to be self-less, to be mature, or to get over it.

He says, "Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours."

What an affirmation! What a declaration! What a promise!

Son. Daughter.

He calls us by name; He calls us HIS, even in the midst of our jealous fit.

He offers the promise of His presence. We are with Him. He is with us.

He offers the promise of sufficiency. "All I have is yours." You have enough because I am enough.

Grace, that unmerited, unearned favor. Grace, that supernatural power and ability. Grace, His total and utter sufficiency accomplished in me by faith because of the finished work of the cross. 

Because He is enough, I am enough in Him. 

Because He is sufficient, I am lacking nothing in Him. 

Our Father wants to know us, and more than that, He wants to be known by us: that we would really see His heart, not the reaction we expect to find, not expecting the punishment we deserve, but with opened eyes to see all that He's done, out of His great love and grace and mercy. 

Jesus died. And God's wrath was satisfied. And the punishment for our sin was satisfied. It is finished. 

And when we believe--when we put our faith in what the cross accomplished, the finished work of Jesus Christ--then we are not only transformed from death to life, from lost to found, but with unveiled eyes, we get to behold Him--to really see Him, our Heavenly Father. 

He is all good. He is all grace. 

He runs to us. He meets us. He pleads with us. And above all, He wants us to see ourselves how He sees us. 

Daughter, I am with you. Daughter, you are mine. Daughter, you have enough. Daughter, you lack nothing.

Desiring Mercy and Not Sacrifice

“Go and learn what this means, for I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” Matthew 9:13

“But if only you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice.” Matthew 12:9

The Pharisees couldn’t get what Jesus was saying—first to “go and learn” and later “if only you had known.” With all their knowledge of scripture, with all their rules, with all their duty and obedience, and with—in their mind—their righteousness, they could not understand this truth. Jesus’ words did not compute with their tradition.

Sometimes, if we’re not careful, we can have the same tendency to desire sacrifice more than mercy. What does this mean? As I’ve said elsewhere, we are bent on works because it’s more natural. It’s more natural to do than to be.

As long as I’ve been saved, I’ve loved the Word of God. I’m highly analytical and can spend hours reading scripture and commentary and translations and the original Greek or Hebrew meanings. But, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 8:1, “knowledge puffs up, but love edifies.”

Knowledge without mercy is a dangerous state.

To know scripture is important, but before we can receive fully, before we can fall in love with God’s word, we have to first fall in love with its author. When we are so filled by the love of God, His love and grace becomes a lens through which we can read and receive His word.

Here Jesus is quoting Hosea 6:6. The full verse is this: “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.”

The knowledge of God is not mutually exclusive to mercy. And while He desires mercy not sacrifice, He desires knowledge more than burnt offerings. Under the Old Testament covenant, God is not negating or replacing what must be done for atonement. We know from Romans 3 that in His forbearance, He passed over their sins, yes, but their account was not settled.

So why does Jesus not quote—in both places here—the full verse from Hosea? Is it because knowledge of God is no longer important? Of course not. The problem is the Pharisees had all the knowledge in the world.

But under the new covenant, we get to know God in a different way. Because of the finished work of the cross, we have a mediator, who is Jesus, and we have the Holy Spirit. And that revelation—when we believe in what the cross accomplished—that changes how we know God. We, with unveiled faces, get to behold Him. And it transforms us.

I’m doing the 40 day reading challenge, reading through the New Testament for 40 days of Lent, but my heart must be bent on loving God and discovering Him in His Word. When it becomes doing or duty or an item to be checked off, then I’ve lost sight of what it means to desire mercy and not sacrifice.

Lent: Not Giving Up but Giving More

Lent is about giving up, about sacrifice—and as one who tends to love duty, as one who craves to do lists and tasks to obey, I secretly love self-discipline and the rewarded feeling at the end of 40 days when I've accomplished my "task," whatever it is I've chosen to give up: “Yep, I still got it.”

This year, as many of my friends begin thinking of what to fast, what to give up, I feel God gently whispering: don’t give up, give more—more of your time, more of your energy, more of yourself to me and to others.

Don’t give up TV or soft drinks, give up your life for me.

If Lent is about preparing our hearts for Easter, about reflecting on the great exchange: my guilt, my sins, my shame—my ashes for His beauty, then may the next 40 days, for me, be about reflecting on Him: on who He is and what He did and who I get to be when I’m hidden in Christ, when I’m made righteous, when the work of the cross is finished—really finished—and I get to be made whole, complete, perfect, lacking nothing.

Not because I’m those things, but because He loves me so; He loves me so much; He loves me so much that He gave.

And if I’m to give anything these 40 days, let me give of myself fully.

I’ve read some blogs today promoting Margret Feinberg’s 40 day reading challenge, and although (if I’m honest), I get excited when I see little check boxes (That feels like a “to do” list for me to accomplish! Yes!), I have decided to focus these 40 days on the New Testament, as Feinberg encourages—not as something to do, but something to reflect: the story of the cross, of redemption, of the great exchange.

If you’re interested in joining me, you can read more here or print the reading plan here.

May the challenge for me—and perhaps for you, too—not be about legalism or about what I can accomplish with the right motivation and all the wrong motives; may these 40 days be about pouring out all of me and pouring in more of Him.