Nurturing the Soul
Published February 10, 2009 | 
I heard from a guy on Higher-Calling.com today. He confessed how he was feeling very lonely and had a deep need to be nurtured. These feelings were causing him to feel compulsive in the areas where he is week; specifically to act out sexually. I was humbled by his vulnerable confession and felt honored to receive it. As an aside, I was proud of the man for being in touch with his emotions and owning them. That takes guts guys!
My thoughts gravitated toward my own need to be nurtured. It is a need that I honestly don’t understand very well, but I know it is there. We all have it somewhere.
Occasionally, I will hear a worship song performed by a female artist that touches a deep place in my heart. I wondered for a very long time why these certain songs could always bring me to tears when I listened intently to them. “Amazing Love (You Are My King)”, “Child of God”, Breathe, the list goes on.
One day, I prayed about it and I believe that God impressed upon me somehow that these beautiful songs, sung by His daughters, were His way of nurturing my soul.
I shared this personal insight with my struggling friend and directed him to one of those songs that hits me just that way. It seemed to touch his heart in a similar way. He emailed me sharing how amazing it felt to him as well…he felt nurtured.
Maybe God is trying to tell us something?
This montage is set to the song that I shared with him, “Child of God.” My favorite version of it is from the 7:22 Live Worship CD which is now out of print. But this version, from the Hungry CD is still very good.
Am I nuts? Okay…don’t answer that! But if you have any insight into this, I’d love to hear from you!
If you are using a feed reader, you may not see the YouTube video. Click here to see the original post.
Religious Denial
Published February 9, 2009 | A new thread really worth reading has been started on the Higher-Calling.com forum. Below is the first post.
A friend of mine showed me this little note that they read at their
recovery meetings. I was struck with the line about religious denial:“I see now that in all my religious striving and psychotherapy I was
waiting for the miracle to happen first, that somehow I should be
zapped or “fixedâ€, unable to fall or be tempted again. I thought that
if a person just had the right religious belief, he was automatically
“a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are
become new†– that all thought of lust would be removed, much as a
surgeon would excise a tumor. The “religious solution†was one of the
subtlest strategies in my arsenal of denial.â€
“I didn’t realize that the essence of being human is to have free
choice. God doesn’t want to remove the possibility of falling; he wants
me to have the freedom to choose not to fall. I’d been praying
self-righteously all along, “Please God, take it away!†not realizing
my inner heart was piteously whining “…so I won’t have to give it up.â€
There was belief without surrender. That belief availed nothing! I had
never died to lust.â€
“This program doesn’t tell us how to stop – we had done that a thousand
times – it shows us how to keep from starting again. We had it
backwards. Before, we always wanted the therapist, spouse, or God to do
the stopping for us – to fix us. Now, we stop, and then, in our
surrender, the power of God becomes effective in us. “Can you relate to the sentence: “my innner heart was piteously
whining…so I won’t have to give it up?” My cry for deliverance &
a miracle was simply to avoid pain and avoid the embarrassment of going
to a meeting or avoiding the confessing to my wife. I wanted to use God
just like I had used everything else in my life. But God won’t be
controlled.
Objects in Rear-View Mirror
Published February 6, 2009 | 
As I was enjoying my daily dose of LOL Cats I came across this picture. It quickly reminded me of how it feels sometimes with lust and temptation.
There are times when it seems to follow me around and haunt me everywhere I turn. All I have to do is “stop the car” and I will be overrun by this behemoth that has been following me around. Not unlike this picture, sometimes an attractive woman in my rear-view mirror while sitting at a red light can be something to kick of fantasy.
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
- 1 Peter 5:8
Roaring lion, pack of stampeding elephants; same thing, right?! As this verse tells us, we have to be self-controlled and alert. The enemy literally stalks us at times and he knows our weaknesses.
For those of us who have habitually given in to lust, porn, etc., we have given up self-control to our flesh. We have to work diligently to regain it and be alert. However, there is a twist. Scripture also teaches us that self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (see Galations 5:22-24).
As with anything in the Christian life, success is not measured by work but rather by faith. Growth in Christian character, including the spiritual fruit of self-control, is a work of grace that God is actively pursuing in our hearts. We know that he is working to conform us to the image of Christ. The work that is ours is to trust that God is indeed doing a work in our lives and trust him to bring it to completion.
There is so much more to say on this topic. But for further reference, here are a few more scripture references.
Romans 12:1-2
Philippians 1:4-6
Colossians 3:9-10
Steve McVey – Who Accepted Whom?
Published February 5, 2009 | Shame is such a deep wound that haunts those of us dealing with sexual sin. So much so that we can stiff-arm God; rejecting his open invitation to enjoy his presence. Our shame shouts in our ears and deafens us to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit that says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened…” (Matt. 11:28).
Steve McVey blogged about how salvation itself isn’t about us accepting Jesus as our “Personal Lord and Savior” as touted in so many evangelical circles. But rather, it is a proclamation that because of Jesus Christ God accepts us just the way we are. We only have to put our faith in Christ. This is earth-shattering news to those living in deep shame!
Take a minute to read Steve’s post and maybe leave him an encouraging comment. 
SafeEyes Mobile Released
Published February 4, 2009 | 
SafeEyes Mobile has been released for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
One of the major areas of vulnerability for a lot of folks is their internet-enabled mobile device. Gadgets such as the iPhone, iPod Touch and Playstation Portable haven’t had filters available. It is great to begin seeing standards, such as that of the iPhone, allow software developers to create ways to protect users from porn.
I shudder to think about a teenager with a PlayStation Portable walking around Kroger surfing porn on the free WiFi while his mother rummages through produce totally oblivious to her son lusting over the internet mere feet away!
Unfortunately as of this posting, there is still no filtering software for the Playstation Portable that I am aware of.
You can learn more about SafeEyes Mobile by going to their website at www.safeeyes.com.
Chip Ingram and The Relationship Test
Published February 4, 2009 | One of my favorite Bible teachers is Chip Ingram. I’ve been listening to him for about a decade now on and off. I follow his blog and came across a post today well worth sharing.
Chip explained that live is all about relationships. I wholeheartedly agree. He recommends asking ourselves these questions to do a check-up of where we stand with the most important relationships in our lives.
The original blog post can be found on Chip’s Blog.
Where do you stand?
Relationship with God
- Am I surrendered? Am I experiencing His presence?
- Am I loving Him more deeply? Am I enjoying Him more fully?
- Are there any barriers? Do I sense His pleasure?
- Am I motivated to meet with Him? Am I practicing His presence throughout the day?
Relationship with Family
- As a husband, am I loving my wife the way Christ loves the Church?
- As a wife, am I respecting my husband in a way that honors and encourages him?
- Are we making time for one another and our family?
- As a dad, am I leading my family spiritually?
- As a mother, am I nurturing and encouraging my children’s relationship with one another?
- As child/student, am I honoring my parents?
- As an adult child, am I honoring my elderly parents?
- Am I communicating with my family regularly? Do I pray for my family members and encourage them?
Relationship with Friends
- As a friend, do I love at all times and am I the kind of person who is born to help another person through adversity? (Proverbs 17:17)
- Am I sharpening and helping my friend’s growth in Christ?
- Am I speaking the truth in love? Am I critical or encouraging?
- Am I taking time out to nurture relationships and dig deep wells of relationships in the midst of busy work and life schedules?
- Am I being honest with what’s really going on inside of me?
- Am I a good roommate? Do I communicate honestly and from the heart on a regular basis with those I call friends?
- Am I looking for what I give in relationships or only what I can get?
Relationship with Myself
- Am I taking time for me?
- Am I stewarding well my physical body? Am I getting enough sleep, eating the right food, and exercising?
- Am I cultivating the intellectual side of my life?
- Am I living an unhurried life?
- Am I coming to accept God’s unconditional love and understanding of me when I fail?
- Am I learning to set clear boundaries for those people who have unrealistic expectations for my life?
- Have I discovered my primary spiritual gift and know clearly my strengths and weaknesses?
Anger at God
Published February 2, 2009 | In at risk teen ministry, nothing ever goes as planned. Bible studies take 180’s and distractions are a constant factor. Often God will give me a sentence that will shock my girls into complete attention. Recently it’s been, “If you’re mad at God then yell at him. He already knows you are anyways!†Jaws drop to the floor at the seemingly irreverent statement coming from the Bible Study Lady. Let me firmly say, we aren’t so different. In our minds it’s decided we have no right, we’ve complained too many times, or somehow we deserve it.
Being a wife of a recovering sex addict it is vital I know the permission God gives me to express where my heart truly stands without a barrage of advice. Without ever facing my feelings of abandonment, worthlessness, indignation, injustice, betrayal, and anger I obliterate my own chances of survival in my marriage. These questions and resentments will indeed block my own relationship with Christ if not dealt with emotionally. It does not matter if I have all the right answers if I am unwilling to face my pain and embitterment. This opportunity to vent opens a doorway of communication in deeper intimacy with our Abba. How can you grow in your relationship if you are not allowed to ask the deep groanings of your heart?
What I find so encouraging in my journey is that God’s own Word is filled with questioning people! (Few Examples: Psalms 42:10-11, Lamentations 3:19-20, Habbukuk 1, etc.) God is not threatened by our pain or blame. In fact He encourages the expression and condemns white washed tombs. Can you fathom God loves you so much that He is willing to face your accusations again and again in order to reconcile that relationship? Beloved, you cannot be an ambassador/representative of reconciliation unless you’ve been reconciled yourself! (2 Corinthians 5:18-20) If you are unable to call out to God in your despair, your relationships is one sided. It will go no further by the impassible wall. Open that door child of God; He stands at it knocking to be let into the deepest wounds of your heart.
The freedom to question is just the start. The answers you receive are often surprising. This freedom has deepened my roots and strengthened my intimacy with Jesus. God calls us where we are and now we have to be honest with where that truly is.
The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. ~Psalm 145:18
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