Archive for the ‘Breaking Down Strongholds’ Category

Addicted!

by Kim Avery

20,000 words. That’s how many words the average woman speaks every single day. I get that. I like talking. In fact, as an extrovert I like talking a lot. Research tells us that talking actually causes an emission of hormones in a woman’s brain similar to the sensations a drug addict feels after receiving a long awaited dose.

I’m not surprised. I’m addicted to talking; it is my drug of choice.

So, if you add my 30 days of limited talking due to having laryngitis to my 10 days of complete voice rest, you quickly realize that I have 800,000 words that have been left unsaid.

But wait, there’s more.

I have been ordered by the doctor to barely speak at all for the upcoming month as well. So, get your pencils out and add another 600,000 words to the 800,000 above and suddenly there are 1,400,000 very important words I’ve been unable to say.

1,400,000.

I am in severe withdrawal. I miss my words.

Whatever Will the World Do?

At this point, I know you are asking, as I am, “how has the world ever survived while Kim has been mute?” And the answer is I have no idea.  They have missed out on life-changing thoughts like these. “I filled the car up with gas.” “The dog barfed on the rug,” and “Add an order of fries to that Big Mac.” I marvel that others have managed so well with these profundities left unshared.

And I’ve had more important things to communicate as well. To my contractor whose skills far surpass my own, I really needed to say, “What if we did it this way (i.e. my way)?” “I really don’t think that is a good plan,” is just what my husband needed to hear.  And, “You’ll never understand how a mother feels,” was the guilt trip begging to be laid heavy on the heart of my son.

Control

These particular words and more have quickly fermented into a bitter brew as they remained bottled up inside.  Why? Richard Foster shares these amazing insights:

“One reason we can hardly bear to remain silent is that it makes us feel so helpless.  We are so accustomed to relying upon words to manage and control others. If we are silent, who will take control? God will take control; but we will never let Him take control until we trust Him. Silence is intimately related to trust.”

Suddenly the question is not, how will the world survive without Kim, but do I trust God to manage my life on His own? Do I believe that His power is sufficient for me? Do I love Him? Do I trust Him with my life?

And if only I could speak, you would hear me say “I do.”

How is God building trust in your life? I would love it it you would take a minute to share in the comment box below.


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Did you know that God is a Master Interpreter?

by Melody Jo Hamor

The Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. Romans 8:26 (NLT)

Some of my most passionate, heart felt prayers start out with, “Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!” What’s the English translation for that, you might ask? Well, it’s something along the lines of, “GOD HELP ME! I CAN’T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU!”

Seriously though, I have days that I feel like I’m going to explode! There’s just so much being asked of me and I’m overwhelmed. Some days it feels as if I’m defeated before I even get started. Basically, my work load is weighing me down and there are moments when I don’t even know where to start. Okay, so maybe that’s just the life of a full time college student who’s also a full time wife, homemaker, volunteer, fill-in-the-blank, and I ought to just suck it up, get over it, and get on with it. Let’s see – have you ever felt more equipped to take on the day once someone has said to you, “Just get over it?” No? :) Hmmm…somehow I’m not surprised.

I absolutely cannot get through my day and my to-do list without the Lord’s help. But sometimes when I pray about these things, my mind is flooded with so much angst that I don’t even know what to ask for. Do I pray for the Lord to help me get it done, to help me learn to delegate, to help me say “No” more often, to take on fewer tasks, to what?! This Scripture in Romans 8 reassures me that my groaning and pleading is heard by God, and that the Spirit prays for me in groanings as well. The Lord knows what I need even before I ask Him (see Matthew 6:8). I don’t have to know the perfect prayer, the perfect solution, the perfect words… I just need to know the One who is – the One who bends down to hear and answer my prayers. In that case, “Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!” isn’t such a crazy way to start a conversation with God. :)  He’s pleased just to hear me say that I need Him. He’s pleased that I want to sit with Him for a while and listen for His answer in my heart. He’s pleased to know that I love Him and trust Him.

Lord, I know You hear me when I’m groaning for Your help. Thank You for always listening to my needs, and providing for them, even when I’m not sure what they are. Please help me to do my best and please rescue me from anything that will hinder my efforts. I need Your help to be a woman of excellence. Please make Your path clear for me to follow. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.


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Reporting for Duty

by Melody Jo Hamor

Do not be afraid!
Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army,
for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
2 Chronicles 20:15 (NLT)

Please believe me when I say: Trying to run the whole world is exhausting! :) I have a tendency toward people pleasing and people fixing. I’m one of those individuals who was born with a shoulder to cry on, and the majority of my fellows know it. Most of the time this is all well and good. I’m honored to be someone that can listen to, comfort, and encourage the people of God. For goodness sakes, I’m going to school for the very purpose of developing those traits with psychological training. But the real trouble starts when I want to help someone who won’t let me help them! Oh how aggravating that is! And oh how self centered of me it is! Who am I to think that I have the power to help everyone? I’m only human, after all, and I’ve got problems that need fixing, too.

I can tell right off the bat when I’m supposed to be helping someone. I can feel it being signaled to me deep in my gut. Supporting other people is a God given gift. What’s new for me is that I’m beginning to take hold of another signal: the one that says, “This time your job is prayer and patience – nothing more.” In these situations, I’m not being equipped by God to help someone in my usual way of supportive action. Instead, I’m being prompted simply to pray and wait. I think the key is realizing that every battle belongs to God, and so does every victory. God is the General. We are the soldiers. It’s our job to report for duty, no matter what the duties are that He assigns.

Thank You Lord for Your continued efforts to shape me into a good soldier, whether it be action or inaction that You want from me. I’m grateful for these moments when You humble me and ask me to do nothing but pray. It’s not only powerful in the lives of the people I want to help, it’s powerful in my own life as well. You’re the source of rescue, and the battles are Yours to win. Please make your presence known to those individuals I lift up to You in prayer – the ones I can’t help, the ones that won’t let me help, and the ones I don’t even know need help. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.


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God Loves Mohawks!

by Melody Jo Hamor

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity,
but of power, love, and self-discipline.
2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

Two things I would have never considered together before last Sunday: Church and Mohawks. :) But I am now convinced - I am 100% positive – God loves mohawks!

I have a dear friend who is doing battle with breast cancer. She’s had numerous surgeries, the first of which was a double mastectomy, and now she’s undergoing chemotherapy treatment to rid her body of any lingering cancerous cells. As you may already know, chemotherapy is a horrendous way to make a person healthy. There’s nausea, vomiting, weakness, vertigo, migraines, etc. On top of all that, as if that’s not enough, chemo patients completely lose their hair. They lose it right down to the slick-shiny surface of their noggins. The chemicals that are pumped intravenously into their bodies are nothing short of a recipe for destruction and depression. But my friend, Indra, is not being destroyed.

Instead, she’s sporting a rockin’, cancer-butt-kickin’ mohawk.

As I write this, her bold hair-cut may have already fallen out, but she made a grand entrance into church last Sunday and blew us all away. I was absolutely overcome with joy to be in the presence of her courage. So much so that I started squealing and laughing the moment I spotted her. Yeah – I was LOUD in church! Eh, I’m usually loud everywhere I go, so that really wasn’t anything new. :)

Here’s the deal… the hair was going to come out anyway, and she knew it. So early in her chemo treatment she started talking about shaving it off before it came out in clumps. One of her three sons is pretty familiar with the clippers, anyhow – he sports a shaved head himself. So…what if she took matters into her own hands and beat the chemo to the punch?

That’s exactly what she did. She gathered up her boys and her hubby, and she took the plunge. With clippers in hand, her son did the deed, and together they hit cancer with a few straight jabs and a knock-out right hook! Then, with a complete lack of timidity, she unveiled the mohawk and let us all join in on the fight!

2 Timothy 1:7 was the first thing that came to mind when I got home that day. “God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity…” Indra proved that. God has given her a spirit of joy, hope, humor, and courage! And it is my prayer that He continues to bless her in this way. She is an example for all of us that we don’t have to let the trials of life keep us down. As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade. Well…when life gave Indra chemo, she made a mohawk! :) With God, we can overcome anything and everything that life throws at us.

Thank You, Lord, for the opportunity to support such a wonderful woman. I’m so grateful to have been one of the people to see her rockin’ hair-cut. Please bless Indra, her husband, and her three sons with peace, comfort, and continued courage. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.


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Marriage Monday – Step 1: Surrender

by Julie Gorman

“Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous fall.”
Psalm 55:22, NIV

I am so excited to share on Marriage Mondays…but before we begin, I have to make this disclaimer: I don’t have all the answers. (However, I do know The One Who does.)

My hope is to share practical steps that assist you develop a stronger, more intimate marriage. So, let’s get started.

The truth is “The key to having an incredible marriage hinges on one key element…our complete surrender to God; a surrender that’s not reliant on ability or reasoning or even in putting faith in ourselves or our spouse, but a surrender putting our hope and faith in God alone.” (Excerpt from, What I Wish My Mother had Told Me about Marriage)

So, step one to having an incredible marriage is “Surrender”.

The first couple years of my marriage were exhausting. Greg and I fought all the time. It didn’t matter the topic, somehow we’d end up arguing. One cold dreary night our fight escalated; Greg left, peeling out of the driveway, announcing, “I’m done with all of this.” As I lay crying across our bedroom floor, I whispered, “God please save my marriage.”

And, God did, by encouraging me to surrender my marriage to Him.

You see, I often busied myself with correcting all of Greg’s flaws; instead, God wanted me to focus on surrendering my agenda for His, on surrendering my rights and serve, on loving unconditionally as God loved me.

So what does marriage have to do with surrender?

Quite simply, some of you are tired of the same issues that always rear their ugly heads. You’ve tried steps one, two…three hundred into place, yet nothing seems to change. Don’t give up. Keep doing the right steps, but exercise them from a position of surrender and dependence.

Surrender to God; cry out for His help. Carrying the weight of having to do everything “right” is exhausting. But, like anything in life, as we surrender to God, He lightens the load. He gives us wisdom in our decision making. He fills us with hope and performs the impossible.

Here’s how we practice surrender:

  1. We surrender to God by saying, “I give up. I need your help. Give me wisdom. Make my marriage fun and fill it with life.”
  2. When confrontations arise, we stop from giving our first knee jerk response and ask God how we should respond.
  3. We stop playing “the Holy Spirit” with our spouse and ask God to change us (with what we need to change) and to change our spouse (with what they need to change).
  4. We serve as unto the Lord. We can’t change another person, but we can control our responses. We can submit our needs to God, and honor Him with our obedience. People don’t always deserve our love, but God does. And when we serve and love as unto the Lord, God moves mountains and gives us His favor.

I encourage you; don’t give up on your marriage, just give it over.

“Let us not become weary in doing good,
for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people,
especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
Galatians 6:8-10, NIV

(For a closer look at Surrender in Marriage, visit: http://www.hisloveextendedministries.com/his_love_extended_009.htm)

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