I have a problem. Maybe you can relate? It’s this: I don’t do what I want to do and I do what I don’t want to do. I’m quick to speak and slow to listen. Quick to judge and slow to show mercy. I make up excuses. I put requirements on the “thing” that needs doing and if the requirements aren’t meant, then I don’t have to do said “thing.”
Right now, that “thing” is getting up early.
Yes, getting up early. A seemingly minor thing that has become quite major in my life especially this time of year when school claims my days.
This is my routine: I go to bed at 10pm and set an alarm for 6am (rather, my husband sets his alarm for 6). I “command” myself to get up when the alarm goes off No. Matter. What.
But this is what happens: I can’t find the sweet spot in my pillow so I toss and turn till 11:30. Then the cat wakes me up at 1:27 so I get up to put him in the bathroom. Then I fall back asleep but wake up because I’m too hot or too chilled or my hips ache. Sometimes God wakes me up to pray. And when the alarm goes off, I lay there, pretending to be sleeping, but asking God to help me get going. And justifying the many reasons why I can’t get up: the pillow, the cat, the heat, the cold, the hips, blah, blah, blah. I glare at the digital clock, wishing my eyes had laser beams so I could burn it to smithereens.
But today was different. I laid there staring out the window asking God, again, to help me get going, and I hear him whisper. “I will be your strength, but you gotta get yourself outta this bed. You take a step and I’ll do the rest.”
So I thought of Paul and him not doing what he wants to do and me not doing what I want to do. And then I thought of James and the verse that says faith without works is dead. It arrested me so much that I got up. I hauled my sorry self up into a sitting position, groaning and grimacing the whole way, and trusted God to take care of the rest. I’m not a stick puppet with strings attached to a puppet master. I needed to take the step. So I did.
And in the doing, it made me think of cycles and breaking them. All broken cycles start with a step towards something different. In this case, I needed to sit up, cease from whining, complaining, and negotiating. I took a step and he helped, just as he said he would.
So here’s the deal: we all have cycles to break.
It could be internal cycles of worry, fear, indulgence, comparison, judgement, doubt, unbelief. Or it could be external cycles of divorce, addiction, entertainment choices, gossip, slander, driving over the speed limit, or not using your blinker. Either way: cycles trap us, but God’s grace sets us free.
The following are snippets of the steps I’ve taken to break cycles in my life. Cycles like divorce, abandonment, and unrighteous living versus righteous living. I’m not perfect, but I love and serve the One who is, and it’s by His power and might that cycles are broken.
Step One:
Be aware of your thoughts.
(Listen to what you’re thinking)
Step Two:
Capture your thoughts.
(Grab the ones that tear down others or yourself)
Step Three:
Make them obedient to Christ.
(Flip the script)
Step Four:
Change your thinking.
(Be deliberate about your thoughts–on purpose)
Step Five:
Don’t think about what you don’t want to be, think about what you do want to be.
(’nuff said)
Step Six:
Practice Quiet
(Be still, oh my soul)
Step Seven:
Use those weapons.
(Tear down strongholds and anything that’s set up against God’s thoughts and opinions)
Step Eight:
Receive grace.
(Grace abounds to you when you need it)
Step Nine:
Walk boldly.
(Activated faith)
The Takeaway
We’re called to transformation by the renewing of our mind. God makes us new, writes his heart on ours, and then calls us to a life surrendered and lived for him.
What cycle do you want to break? I’ll be diving deeper into these steps over the next several weeks. But it starts with a step. It starts with you putting action to what you say you believe. It’s starts with you sitting up, swinging your legs over the side of the bed and declaring, with your actions, that you believe God’s going to help you.
He’s your rock, your strength, your refuge, and your hope. And your grace for living today.
Imagine a wee little spring bubbling and gurgling, laughing and splashing life giving water on it’s surroundings. We see beauty in the rock’s hidden treasures that only wetness can bring. Our eyes caress the little mountain wildflowers and we wonder at that perfect shade of lavender. The little spring accomplishes so much as it feeds life into it’s environment.
“But whoever drinks of the water that I give him will never be more thirsty again. The water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14
The Holy Spirit lives within those who receive Jesus as Savior and Lord. Transformed and made whole hearts happen because of the up-springing of the Holy Spirit within us. The Holy Spirit is the spring within us that gives us victory over our old life, makes real the things of Christ, and helps us realize the Fatherhood of God.
When the Holy Spirit can flow through our lives unquenched and ungrieved, he takes up our troubles and fears and settles them for us according to God’s will. The Holy Spirit makes a way for our outer lives to be the unforced reflection of an inner life which is pure, full of tenderness, looks on humanity with a heart of love, and watches for opportunities to offer a helping hand to lift up the oppressed and weary.
The power of God lives within us like the little spring in the woods. Sometimes we wonder if it will ever run dry, but then we hear the whisper of the upper spring assuring us that we’re connected to a much bigger source that will never run dry. It’s only risks are blockages to the flow. Muddy leaves or falling branches will prevent the grand-daddy springs from feeding the little spring.
What blocks the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives?
Grieving the Spirit
“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” Ephesians 4:30-31
Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice grieve the Holy Spirit. Every time we justify one of these by saying, “God made me with a quick temper, it’s just the way I am, he’ll understand.” It might be the way you are, but have you considered the consequences to the person you took your quick anger out on? We don’t live as isolated islands, but intertwined and inter-dependent on one another.
All the things we keep in our hearts, defended, hidden, petted, and justified choke the inlet and outlet of the Holy Spirit in our life.
Quenching the Spirit
“Do not quench the spirit.” 1 Thessalonians 5:19
Is it easy or hard for you to say yes to God? When God says to pray, do you? When he says be still, do you get busy? When he says give your time or money, do you find ways to get out of it?
Each time we say “no” to the command to pray, give, or serve, we block the flow of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Say yes with your whole heart.
The Takeaway
My beautiful friends, it’s not about getting more of God in you by praying harder or doing more, it’s about taking into account the fact that you have him already. As C. I. Scofield states, “If you really believe that the Holy Spirit of God dwells in your mortal body, a transformation of life has begun.”
We don’t base this God-life on feelings but by receiving the facts by faith. God lives within you, you are seated in the heavenly realms with Christ, and the Holy Spirit lives within you. Those are facts that you can receive by faith.
Can you imagine leading a people who constantly opposed you? Who constantly accused you of trying to harm them? Who longed for the benefits of the land of their bondage and who found freedom too burdensome? This was Moses’ experience.
But every time the people opposed Moses, he had the same response: he fell facedown. He fell facedown before God and waited for God to speak. Moses knew a secret that we could all learn when faced with opposition. Humility.
What does that have to do with forgiveness? Everything. It shows Moses’ heart towards people, his security in his identity as a child of God, and his awareness of who he is without God.
The underbelly of unforgiveness is a form of pride. Unforgiveness says, “How dare anyone hurt me or treat me that way? Who do they think they are?” But underneath those questions is a more pointed thought, “I would never treat anyone that way.” But there isn’t a perfect person who responds perfectly in all situations. Careless remarks can hurt just as bad as deliberate remarks.
It would look pretty silly if every time someone opposed us, we dropped to our face in front of them. But what if we trained our hearts to immediately take that posture? Can unforgiveness stand if the heart is bowed low before God?
Moses knew this secret. He also knew the secret of Luke 6:27-36, which contains Jesus’ teachings on loving your enemies. This passage has the theme of forgiveness woven into it because we can’t love our enemies if we harbor resentment and bitterness towards those who wound us.
Step 1
Do good to those who hate you. How? What? Why? I’ve failed at this spectacularly. Especially when I’m face to face with this person. Can I tell you a secret? On the days I do good to someone who can’t stand me, I experience a hop in my heart and a skip in my step. I feel lighter, happier, and more joy filled. But it’s hard.
Our natural inclination is to withhold good from someone who doesn’t deserve it. But do we really get to decide if someone “deserves” good? We can’t go around with a naughty or nice list. Jesus said to love your neighbor as yourself, and your neighbor is anyone whom you have contact with: enemies or friends.
Step 2
Bless those who curse you. If doing good is about our actions towards our enemies, then blessing them is about our words. How will you speak to your enemy today? Will it be with courtesy or contempt? What about your thoughts? Thoughts are words unspoken, and thoughts eventually make their way into the world.
The power of life and death is in the tongue and what we speak is the overflow of our hearts. Speak words of life. Speak with gentleness, watch your tone, and put on a smile. This will take superhuman strength, but if you know Christ as your Savior and Lord, then you have His strength and power living in you. Use it.
Step 3
Pray for those who mistreat you. Prayer is our number one tool that God gives us, but it’s often the last tool we reach for. Why? Because when we begin to pray in earnest for someone one of two things happens: we develop compassion for them and/or we see our own weaknesses. Neither one of these things are wrong, but they make us uncomfortable because they challenge our secret resentments.
At times, we won’t know how to pray, but we can follow Paul’s example in Romans where he groaned his prayers. Or we can turn to the Psalms and see how David prayed when he was beset with troubles. He poured out his heart–ugliness and all–but then he turned his heart towards praise.
Step 4
Have a generous heart towards them. Be helpful. If they need something, step in and offer your assistance. Being generous with your time, your compassion, and your interest in someone’s life paves the way for love to flow from your heart to theirs. But what if someone takes advantage of you over and over again?
Yes, boundaries are important. Time to heal is necessary. Trust is not the same as forgiveness. The key in all of this is to stay close to Jesus and let the Holy Spirit lead you. It also means that you don’t allow one horrific experience to cloud your judgement that all people are out to hurt you. Being generous means entering into relationships with an open heart, not judging a person based on a past experience. Be wise, but gentle.
Step 5
Be merciful. God is full of mercy. We only have to read the book of Numbers to see example after example of the Israelites treating God and Moses with contempt and God not destroying them. Mercy is defined as not getting what you deserve. Your enemy might deserve your contempt, hatred, and slander. But to show mercy means that you don’t give them that.
Mercy takes the high road, not out of pride, but out of love. Love for God and for people. But in order to be able to extend that kind of mercy, you must receive it for yourself. When was the last time you fell facedown before God because you did or said something so wretched that you knew without a shadow of doubt that you didn’t deserve his mercy. Yet, He gives it to you anyway as you humble yourself before Him.
Forgiveness brings us full circle with humility in its center. In order for us to receive forgiveness from God, we must first humble ourselves before God. And then, we can extend that forgiveness to others.
The Takeaway
Loving our enemies finds its roots in developing a lifestyle of walking in forgiveness.
We develop a forgiveness mindset by doing good, blessing others, praying for our enemies, cultivating a generous heart, and extending mercy.
Always, always, always rely on and look to the Holy Spirit for direction and guidance. It’s through His strength not your own that makes the impossible possible.
