Back tracking

Two years ago was really the beginning of the journey I'm on. It started with God placing one very special person in my life. She is a dear friend to me now and I feel I owe her a debt of gratitude and I owe God all the praise and glory for putting the two of us together.


Like never before, I connected with my dear friend on a spiritual level unlike any I had experienced prior to that. We would sit together, in the evening (which was key because the kids were all in bed and the house was quiet.), and "talk God." I didn't realize how much I longed to talk to someone about God and what He meant to me, what He was doing in my life, and share my spiritual walk with another person. How I longed to sit with a friend and open our Bibles and read scripture together.


Now, I'm not a shy person, at all, so I often would talk about God and would casually share what He was doing in my life, but this was different. It was intentional. It was raw. It was pure. And once I tasted it, I wanted more of it.


On the first night we met, nearly 4 or 5 hours into our conversation (and nearly the end of our time together, as it was almost 1 or 2 in the morning) she mentioned journaling. I was intrigued. I asked her to share a bit of what she meant by journaling. (Now, let me back track again for a moment... I had tried so many times in my past to journal. I had tried and I had failed. My book shelves are filled with mostly new, nearly empty attempts. It was frustrating because I wanted to be doing this but couldn't seem to stick to it.) She pulled out this journal and ever so lovingly and gently cracked open this very worn, well used, and much loved journal. She opened it up to the beginning and and taught me the method that this particular journal used. The SOAP method. S = Scripture, O = Observation, A = Application, and P = Prayer.


The journal, created by Pastor Peter Bonanno at Grace Capital Church in Concord, NH beautifully lists a daily reading guide, usually Old Testament with New Testament, and on occasion a Psalm or Proverb in there as well. Each day you read the scripture listed for the day, then you go through the SOAP method. You pick a verse that God spoke to you through, write it down, then observe what God was speaking to the people of that time, apply God's Word to your life, and write your prayer out before the Lord.


Journaling became a spiritual high for me. The more I dug into God's Word, the more I wanted to know Him so much more intimately and more personally. I could not get enough of spending time with my Savior, which posed a problem since I was a home schooling mom to 4. But God, in all His beauty and grace, blessed my time with Him and made it so that this tired mom was able to wake up at 5:30-5:45 am, spend a full hour to hour and a half with him and still not be tired throughout the day, or allow me some time in my day to take a nap.


As I began to write out my prayers, I could visibly see God changing my heart. I began to see God changing my mind - renewing my mind and making me more and more Christ-like.


Romans 12:2 says this, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing, and perfect will."


"Renewing our minds is a complete metamorphosis. Metamorphosis is a process of transformation that happens from the inside out. This unusual word is also used in Mark 9, where it says, "Jesus was transfigured before them." Jesus went up to the mountain with three of His closest followers, where they met Elijah and Moses. They heard God's voice authenticating Jesus as the Son of God. Then Jesus was "metamorphosised" right before their eyes. The text does not teach us that there was a bright light shining down on Jesus, but that there was a light, far brighter than the sun, shining "out of Him" unveiling his glory and deity to Peter, John, and James. The primary point I want to make is that life change - genuine spiritual maturity - is not the result of external self-effort, but a supernatural process that flows from the inside out." Living on the Edge by Chip Ingram.  


So, my questions to you are: What are you feeding your mind? Have you journaled or are you interested in journaling? Do you want to make real changes in your life and see real results?


The first step - begin renewing your mind. What you feed your mind is what will be produced in your life. Above, I hyper-linked directly to where you can purchase one of the journals I spoke about. I really encourage you to begin - purchase one of those journals and dive into it. I promise you, God will meet you where you are at and He will begin to renew your mind. You will be able to see changes in your life. Allow the Holy Spirit to work in you and through you.


2 Cor. 3:18 tells us this, "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit."


Praise God! This renewing process, the metamorphosis process is painful at times. There are ugly truths about ourselves that are hard to deal with, but God is calling us there. We cannot be truly authentic in our walks with God and in our lives with others if we do not come to grips with who we really are. The only way to come to grips with who we really are is to begin to dig deep into God's Word, renewing your mind, and allowing God to tell us who we really are - not the world's perception of us.


While I am two years into this process, It's only been in the past 5 weeks that God has begun to peel back the layers of my life to allow me to see some deep hurts and deeply rooted lies surrounding who I am at the core of my being. These have been painful discoveries, but I am so excited to see where God and I are going with this.


"The most succinct explanation of why most Christians live lives of duplicity and inconsistency is primarily found in their spiritual diet." - Chip Ingram

Fully Surrendered, what does this mean?

The question posed: What does it mean to be fully surrendered? This is what I'm asking myself and what God is trying to get me to understand.


In the past two years, I have seen God grabbing my heart, humbling me, and making me aware, sometimes painfully, of what my strongholds are and how He wants me to Fully Surrender myself. This has been an amazing journey, and one that is not over. So, although two years have passed, I decided to start a blog about the David-like journey I am on.  Looking at the end-game, I want my legacy for my children, my family and my friends to be that I had a heart after God's own heart. That I was in a constant state of forward motion, making progress and growing where God shows me I need to grown.


Stronghold:
Websters: 1.a fortified place

                2. a : a place of security or survival

A stronghold is something that our minds take captive. Something our minds won't let go of and perpetually think about. 

Satan would love nothing more than to see us stuck in our strongholds. I find it very interesting when looking up the definition of stronghold that is lists it as a place of security. Isn't that just like Satan to trick us into thinking that in our sin, in our self-destructive behaviors, in our anger towards others, in the areas of our lives we cannot give up - smoking, swearing, over-eating, porn, anger, impatience, lust, and the list goes on - we are "safe" there. Either no one will know our secrets or we feel safer there than to discover the real reason WHY we are there. 

There is safety in staying where we are. There is safety in not pushing deeper into our lives to figure out why we are the way we are. God's Word tells us though that Satan is the father of ALL lies. The lies you hear, the lies you tell yourself - that you can't change, that it's too hard, that you don't have the strength, that you're a failure, and it's just too ingrained in you - are ALL lies from Satan. And guess what? He's got us in a comfortable spot just believing those lies.

God - in His very gentle and loving way has been taking me by the hand and bringing me out of my safety zone. It's been painful at times, but I have to honestly say, there is no other way I would want to be going in my life. 

1 John 4:4 tells us this: "You dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

Praise God! Jesus has already won the victory for us. He died so that I might live. When He was beaten, battered, and bruised; when He was hung on the cross to die; when He died and then rose three days later; and when He ascended into heaven, that's when our victory was won! Now we have to be willing to Fully Surrender our lives to Him, here on earth, so that what He did, He did not do in vain. 

How do you live Fully Surrendered? I'm reading a fabulous book right now called Living on the Edge : Dare to Experience True Spirituality by Chip Ingram. I highly recommend this book if you are serious about surrendering your life, fully, over to the Lord. 

On this 2-year journey, I don't feel like God could have picked a more perfect time to bring this book into my life. It's asking some tough questions that are forcing me to face some truths in my life that I have been hiding behind for far too long. Are you tired of trying hard and feeling guilty? Have you answered life's biggest questions? Have you discovered the real you? Where do you fit in God's family? Do you know God's purpose for your life? Who has hurt you the most? Will you let Christ heal you? Are you ready to see God do the impossible? And so many more! I urge you to get this book, take the time to read it in solitude and allow God to perform surgery on your heart, your life, and wait for Him to answer you in ways that you cannot even fathom. 

Jeremiah 29:13 says this: You will seek me and find me when you seek me with ALL of your heart."

Seek God. Pursuing Him and pressing into Him has been life-changing for me. I've been a believer for nearly 20 years now, but never have I sought after the heart of God as much as I have over the last 2 year. There is truth in God's Word. God Word is our Truth!

"If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." - Jesus of Nazareth