Friday, February 8, 2013
Redeemed. Restored. Rescued. Returned.
Redeem
Restore
Rescue
Return
God does these incredible things.
God alone.
God.
His love.
His grace.
His mercy.
His promise.
His Word.
God alone.
His hand reaches down...His peace wraps around us like a blanket.
He redeems all who were lost.
He restores all who were broken.
He rescues all who were held captive.
He returns all who were went the wrong way.
I remember hearing all of this....my ears were fed these words....they came in by those who loved me...they registered in my thoughts...but as fast as they came in...they went out. I heard them. I believed them...for them and others but not me. If you hear these words and these PROMISES...and you can't quite let them be words for you...
Stop and read them again.
Try to understand that they are for you and me....they really are. Just let yourself believe them even for a minute.\
Are you saying that God's Word isn't true...that God doesn't mean what He says,,,that you don't trust Him? I know that is not what you want to think. But how can we say those words aren't meant for us and believe the Bible at the same time?
Redeemed you are.
Restored you are.
Rescued you are.
Returned you are.
Even if you don't believe it....I do.
Remember this is my past: Rape. Date Rape. Dated every boy. Two abortions. Made many many bad decisions. Had my first daughter without being married. Divorced. Made an immoral decision that lost trust of many people. (And some of these things I did when I knew Jesus). But I am Redeemed. I am Restored. I was Rescued. My life was Returned.
I am a new person.
I couldn't believe it.
But I do.
I didn't want to believe it.
But I do.
I am free.
If you need prayer...please leave a comment or private message me on facebook.
Blessings,
Teresa
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Do you flee to God or the other way?
Beth Moore gave her blogging community a homework assignment.
Go to her blog to see the full assignment (Beth Moore Living Proof Ministries.)
The gist of her assignment was to look at three different versions of Isaiah 30:15-18
choose the one that spoke to you the most
look up the work "threat" in the dictionary and state what is a threat in your life in this season
describe what the word fleeing looks like to you
compare 1Peter 5:8-10 and James 4:7 to the Isaiah scripture
And then write about it in the comments of her blog.
First, I love looking at different bible versions of the same scripture. I get so much insight in to what God is conveying to us as believers of His Word. And I love words...so defining words and comparing them to my life or scripture gets me excited!
So here is my version of the assignment:
Go to her blog to see the full assignment (Beth Moore Living Proof Ministries.)
The gist of her assignment was to look at three different versions of Isaiah 30:15-18
choose the one that spoke to you the most
look up the work "threat" in the dictionary and state what is a threat in your life in this season
describe what the word fleeing looks like to you
compare 1Peter 5:8-10 and James 4:7 to the Isaiah scripture
And then write about it in the comments of her blog.
First, I love looking at different bible versions of the same scripture. I get so much insight in to what God is conveying to us as believers of His Word. And I love words...so defining words and comparing them to my life or scripture gets me excited!
So here is my version of the assignment:
NLT, MSG, AMP (the three versions I compared)
Isaiah 30:15-18 AMP (the one I chose that spoke to me the most)
15 For thus said the Lord
God, the Holy One of Israel: In returning [to Me] and resting [in Me] you shall
be saved; in quietness and in [trusting] confidence shall be your strength. But
you would not,16 And you said, No! We will speed
[our own course] on horses! Therefore you will speed [in flight from your
enemies]! You said, We will ride upon swift steeds [doing our own way]!
Therefore will they who pursue you be swift, [so swift that]17 One
thousand of you will flee at the threat of one of them; at the threat of five
you will flee till you are left like a beacon or a flagpole on the top of
a mountain, and like a signal on a hill.18 And
therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be
gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on
you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord
is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who
[earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His
victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken
companionship]!
Threat: an expression of intention to inflict evil,
injury, or damage (http://www.merriam-webster.com)
I know that I have experienced much in my life,
many hurts, many poor choices, many traumas which now I see and hold on to as a
gift. My story is God’s gift so that I
can be an instrument for Him. At this
season of my life as others are beginning to see the restored me, I feel the
threat of not “feeling good enough”, believing I have wasted too much time and
I can’t minister to others, and retreating to the quietness of my home instead
of engaging in fellowship with others. The threat is in the damage to my Christ
given identity. The treat is the voice
of the enemy that I combat each day. The
threat is in the “hurry up if you don’t do something you wasted your life”
voice I hear.
Fleeing: In
my life fleeing has two looks for me:
One is to retreat to the four walls of my home and not engage in the
world. The other is to try to move
things along in a hurried way so that I feel as if I did try, but failed…failed
because I went ahead or beyond what I was suppose to do. I give up, let go, forget the idea, create my
own plan…the list goes on.
The insight that God gave me through this
exercise is that in everyone’s life the threat of the enemy is there. The threat looks different to different
people. For one it may be a person, to
another being held captive by their past, for another fear of being exposed,
another food or alcohol issues, poor decisions, traumas, etc. The threat “damages” the path that God has
for us. The “threat” damages our
identity, our value and our worth.
The “threat” can make us flee from God’s plan or
we can press in to God and trust His plan. We can flee from our purpose or we can
flee to God and know that His love, His hope, His path is the safe place. Sometimes we flee back to the thing we are
most comfortable in…which can be the destructive, hurt of our past…why not…it
is what we know best. And this is where
the choice has to be made. Because as
James 4:7 says we must “humble ourselves before God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” God restores, redeems, and rescues. I know.
I have been redeemed from the death grip of the enemy. But I also know how easy it is to feel the “threat”
of the enemy and “flee” back to my own way instead of first fleeing in to the arms
of Jesus.
If you would like to do this on my blog or add to Beth's that would be so fun! Beth had us write it on a word document first and then copy and paste.
Or if you just want to tell me what is a "threat" in your life right now or something you are "fleeing" from, I would love to hear and pray for you.
Love you all,
Blessings,
Teresa
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Garbage Day
Monday is garbage day at my house. All week we fill the outdoor garbage can with bags from the inside. We dump them in the plastic blue and brown cans...attach the lids. On Monday mornings we go around the house and empty the garbage form the bathrooms and the last from the kitchen. We pull the cans to the end of the driveway, set them at the curb, and wait. We wait for a big truck to come to our neighborhood, grab our trash cans and dump them in the back of their truck. They set the cans back down...empty. They take the garbage...it's gone. Whatever I put in that garbage can is gone. I bring the empty cans back up to the house to be filled up again. Throw it away...Take it away...Fill it up again.
I love garbage day. When the garbage person comes with their big truck and carries away my garbage...I know I will never see that garbage again. It is gone.
During the day...During the week...our past...our life can seem to fill, be filled with garbage. Word garbage. Anger garbage. Hurt garbage. Unforgiveness garbage. Abandonment, rejection, lonely garbage. We tell ourselves garbage. We hear garbage. We see garbage.
What can we do with all of this garbage?
We open our bibles and read...soak in...believe the Word of God.
The TRUTH penned in between the worn black leather bound book that I carry from room to room...it holds hope. It holds restoration. It takes all of the garbage and tosses it away...and the can...my mind, my heart is refilled with Him.
I know...it sounds so simple. I know that we can read the Word and not believe it. I have been there. I have taken that garbage right back and refilled my mind and heart with it. But the more and more I let God be God and believe every word in the bible...I know that the only place to get rid of my garbage is to open my Bible and read and choose every day to believe it for me.
My challenge to you today is to let God take your garbage away for good.
You are worth it.
You have purpose...and you are loved.
Blessings,
Teresa
I love garbage day. When the garbage person comes with their big truck and carries away my garbage...I know I will never see that garbage again. It is gone.
During the day...During the week...our past...our life can seem to fill, be filled with garbage. Word garbage. Anger garbage. Hurt garbage. Unforgiveness garbage. Abandonment, rejection, lonely garbage. We tell ourselves garbage. We hear garbage. We see garbage.
What can we do with all of this garbage?
We open our bibles and read...soak in...believe the Word of God.
The TRUTH penned in between the worn black leather bound book that I carry from room to room...it holds hope. It holds restoration. It takes all of the garbage and tosses it away...and the can...my mind, my heart is refilled with Him.
I know...it sounds so simple. I know that we can read the Word and not believe it. I have been there. I have taken that garbage right back and refilled my mind and heart with it. But the more and more I let God be God and believe every word in the bible...I know that the only place to get rid of my garbage is to open my Bible and read and choose every day to believe it for me.
My challenge to you today is to let God take your garbage away for good.
You are worth it.
You have purpose...and you are loved.
Blessings,
Teresa
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
My God Sized Dream(s)
GOD Sized Dreams
So as 2013 begins, I lay my God sized dream out there...
Launch What Is Beautiful to reach the lost through encouragement and sharing my story of restoration. Part of that dream is to finish the book I have started. My dream is to do work in this ministry full time.
So there it is...my God sized dream.
Step one. Finish edits on chapter 2.
Step two. Share chapters one and two with 2 people for editing.
Step three. Share my God sized dream and ask for prayer and mentoring.
Blessings,
Teresa
I am reading "Do What You Can" Plan 21 Days to Making Any Area of Your Life Better (an EBook) by Holly Gerth. This book is about understanding your God Sized Dreams and taking one step at a time to work towards those dreams.
Today's post is to share my God Sized Dream(s). My dream is to work full time with the non profit I founded (What Is Beautiful) so that with God I can encourage and minister to women that are held captive by their past, seek their identity in destructive areas, and desire restoration for their lives. Part of my God Sized Dream is to finish my book, create a small group, lead a book study, and whatever doors God opens the doors to.
This all seems so big to me and I can get overwhelmed, causing me stop dead in my tracks...not doing anything at all. I begin to think of my age...46...I think I am too old and by the time things fall in to place it will be too late. I begin to think I waited to long. I begin to think that no one will care what I have to say. I begin to get discouraged and then I don't do anything at all. My book stays in the the file folder. The edits stay on the paper.
God doesn't see things the way I do. I see limits. God sees His plan. I think it's too late. God says it is never too late. I see walls in front of me. God sees open doors. I see the impossible. With God all things are possible.
Holly Gerth says "do the next thing".
Take action.
Do something small.
Then do that again and again and again...one thing at a time.
"God-sized dreams aren't really about size at all they are about embracing and pursuing the desires God has placed within your heart that perfectly fit who you are." Holly Gerth
This all seems so big to me and I can get overwhelmed, causing me stop dead in my tracks...not doing anything at all. I begin to think of my age...46...I think I am too old and by the time things fall in to place it will be too late. I begin to think I waited to long. I begin to think that no one will care what I have to say. I begin to get discouraged and then I don't do anything at all. My book stays in the the file folder. The edits stay on the paper.
God doesn't see things the way I do. I see limits. God sees His plan. I think it's too late. God says it is never too late. I see walls in front of me. God sees open doors. I see the impossible. With God all things are possible.
Holly Gerth says "do the next thing".
Take action.
Do something small.
Then do that again and again and again...one thing at a time.
"God-sized dreams aren't really about size at all they are about embracing and pursuing the desires God has placed within your heart that perfectly fit who you are." Holly Gerth
So as 2013 begins, I lay my God sized dream out there...
Launch What Is Beautiful to reach the lost through encouragement and sharing my story of restoration. Part of that dream is to finish the book I have started. My dream is to do work in this ministry full time.
So there it is...my God sized dream.
Step one. Finish edits on chapter 2.
Step two. Share chapters one and two with 2 people for editing.
Step three. Share my God sized dream and ask for prayer and mentoring.
Blessings,
Teresa
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Live Free
Happy New Year!
2013
My word(s) for this year: SACRIFICE, trust, give, serve, love.
My hope for the year: Live in Freedom. Live Free. Live the restored life God has given me. Live it out.
I fell asleep before midnight last night. I was tired...not just physically tired, but also emotionally and mentally and spiritually. I woke up this morning...the grass in my back yard is covered in white frost. The limbs of the trees so still...the tips frozen. I sensed the quietness of the Lord and just wanted to melt in to it and stay there. I knew soon my kids would wake up and the noise of the day would start. I wondered if all of the things swirling around in my head and heart would disappear and my life would resume as normal...or would I begin to live a life of sacrifice....trust...giving...serving...and love. I have to honestly say that I felt disappointed with some of my year...how I handled things...the choices I made...the words I used...the plans I didn't follow through with...the way I have run my family....But I also know that God is a God who restores and redeems. He offers hope to those who are willing to receive it. He offers joy to those who are willing to embrace it. He offers love to everyone...we must allow it.
I fell in to some old ways of thinking and behaving in 2012. And I began to believe the lies and the familiar thoughts and behaviors...I began to see them as the only way...and then God -he spoke to my heart last week. .He said "Do not go back to Egypt when you have walked the road to Israel." And I opened my bible and the pages fell to the book of Isaiah. I read Isaiah 30 "This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says: 'Only in returning to me and resting in my will you be saved" (v15) "So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help." (v18)
And then I read this verse..."What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt for help, trusting in their horses, chariots and charioteers." (Isaiah 31:1) Sometimes it is hard to put words to the revelation that God gives...but all month I spent bashing myself, reliving the past, eating food to comfort myself, stuffing my fast, then fasting, then doing it again, thinking of my life and feeling I wasted it....speaking hateful words over myself and choosing to live there. I trusted in the ways of the world...wanting people to approve me...wanting food to comfort me..wanting others to define me, And then God says "Do not go back to Egypt when you have walked the road to Israel." God brought me out of Egypt. I journeyed to freedom. I walked a hard road to restoration and I sometimes choose to turn around and go back to the old. But God reminds me that He brought me to Israel for a purpose. When I go back to "Egypt for help" I go back to a life a sorrow. That is what "awaits" me there. That is what I found. Sorrow. Pain. Disappointment. Instead of going back there to live...I get to share how I moved out of there...Out of Egypt. I do not live there anymore. When I start to turn around and go back I remember "Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, This is the way you should go," whether to the right or to the left." (Isaiah 20:21)
And what awaits me in the promised land?
Hope. Life. Love. Comfort from the Father. Peace.
I have often talked about the people who walked for 40 years...seeing miracles, getting daily manna, praising God and then falling right back in to their old ways...wanting to go back to Egypt because that is what seemed "easier" for them. I often thought how I would never have done that. But here I am. And this is why God wrote those words for us to read...so we would see that Israel is the promised land and Egypt is a place of slavery. He showed us how even though they saw the miracles with their own eyes that they still tried to go back. He showed us how He was faithful and provided through the journey and that moving forward to the promised land is what God has planned for all of us. God didn't place his words for us to read for nothing...He gave us them so that we could live FREE.
This year I will LIVE FREE...as I sacrifice, trust, give, serve, and love.
Will you LIVE FREE with me?
How can I pray for you today?
Blessings as alwaysF,
Teresa
2013
My word(s) for this year: SACRIFICE, trust, give, serve, love.
My hope for the year: Live in Freedom. Live Free. Live the restored life God has given me. Live it out.
I fell asleep before midnight last night. I was tired...not just physically tired, but also emotionally and mentally and spiritually. I woke up this morning...the grass in my back yard is covered in white frost. The limbs of the trees so still...the tips frozen. I sensed the quietness of the Lord and just wanted to melt in to it and stay there. I knew soon my kids would wake up and the noise of the day would start. I wondered if all of the things swirling around in my head and heart would disappear and my life would resume as normal...or would I begin to live a life of sacrifice....trust...giving...serving...and love. I have to honestly say that I felt disappointed with some of my year...how I handled things...the choices I made...the words I used...the plans I didn't follow through with...the way I have run my family....But I also know that God is a God who restores and redeems. He offers hope to those who are willing to receive it. He offers joy to those who are willing to embrace it. He offers love to everyone...we must allow it.
I fell in to some old ways of thinking and behaving in 2012. And I began to believe the lies and the familiar thoughts and behaviors...I began to see them as the only way...and then God -he spoke to my heart last week. .He said "Do not go back to Egypt when you have walked the road to Israel." And I opened my bible and the pages fell to the book of Isaiah. I read Isaiah 30 "This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel says: 'Only in returning to me and resting in my will you be saved" (v15) "So the Lord must wait for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion. For the Lord is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for his help." (v18)
And then I read this verse..."What sorrow awaits those who look to Egypt for help, trusting in their horses, chariots and charioteers." (Isaiah 31:1) Sometimes it is hard to put words to the revelation that God gives...but all month I spent bashing myself, reliving the past, eating food to comfort myself, stuffing my fast, then fasting, then doing it again, thinking of my life and feeling I wasted it....speaking hateful words over myself and choosing to live there. I trusted in the ways of the world...wanting people to approve me...wanting food to comfort me..wanting others to define me, And then God says "Do not go back to Egypt when you have walked the road to Israel." God brought me out of Egypt. I journeyed to freedom. I walked a hard road to restoration and I sometimes choose to turn around and go back to the old. But God reminds me that He brought me to Israel for a purpose. When I go back to "Egypt for help" I go back to a life a sorrow. That is what "awaits" me there. That is what I found. Sorrow. Pain. Disappointment. Instead of going back there to live...I get to share how I moved out of there...Out of Egypt. I do not live there anymore. When I start to turn around and go back I remember "Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, This is the way you should go," whether to the right or to the left." (Isaiah 20:21)
And what awaits me in the promised land?
Hope. Life. Love. Comfort from the Father. Peace.
I have often talked about the people who walked for 40 years...seeing miracles, getting daily manna, praising God and then falling right back in to their old ways...wanting to go back to Egypt because that is what seemed "easier" for them. I often thought how I would never have done that. But here I am. And this is why God wrote those words for us to read...so we would see that Israel is the promised land and Egypt is a place of slavery. He showed us how even though they saw the miracles with their own eyes that they still tried to go back. He showed us how He was faithful and provided through the journey and that moving forward to the promised land is what God has planned for all of us. God didn't place his words for us to read for nothing...He gave us them so that we could live FREE.
This year I will LIVE FREE...as I sacrifice, trust, give, serve, and love.
Will you LIVE FREE with me?
How can I pray for you today?
Blessings as alwaysF,
Teresa
Friday, November 30, 2012
Keep Your Eyes on Jesus
In the midst of trials and life and mountains to climb and in times when things seem to be easy and abundant and even when hearts ache and confusion swirls around my heart sometimes travels to a destination that does not bring peace where do we turn? My mind becomes full of what ifs, fears, procrastination, regret, and disappointment. My eyes focus on me. They focus on my problems, my lack, my troubles...me...me...me. I become the focus of my life. Then days waste away and my heart becomes weakened. This is not God's desire for anyone.
And then God reminds me of where to look. How can we focus on God's plan for us when our eyes are deterred?
I have sat many days and evenings sinking in the mire of the heaviness of life. I can't pay the bills. I want to give my kids more. I don't want Christmas to come because there is not enough money for presents. The can'ts and won'ts and not enough blanket the future...cover the light and bring fear and condemnation...a feeling of hopelessness. But those are not our God's ways those are the enemy's ways. They take our eyes off of Jesus and hope and peace and on to what brings despair and depression.
I am convinced that God's message to all of us right now is to Keep Our Eyes on Jesus. I had a dream a month or so ago. At the beginning of my dream all I could see was my face and the face of Mother Teresa. Our faces were very close, looking directly into each others eyes. She lifted her hand to my eye and said to me "keep your eyes on Jesus". I woke up fully aware of this moment as if it had just happened...as if her hand had just touched my face. And in these trials and times of uncertainity, I am brought back to this dream and this word from God. Keep your eyes on Jesus. God knows my future...our future...He knows we need the reminder to keep our eyes on Jesus. That in the midst of it all we forget where our eyes should be...and they turn to ourselves and all hope seems lost. But the minute our eyes are on Him, we see a glimmer of light...we notice a friend who needs encouragement...we see a person with a need and can fill it...we take a step forward...and our path is lit.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith." Hebrews 12: 1-2
I pray that as you go through your day you will be reminded to keep your eyes on Jesus and see what your eyes notice.
Blessings,
Teresa
And then God reminds me of where to look. How can we focus on God's plan for us when our eyes are deterred?
I have sat many days and evenings sinking in the mire of the heaviness of life. I can't pay the bills. I want to give my kids more. I don't want Christmas to come because there is not enough money for presents. The can'ts and won'ts and not enough blanket the future...cover the light and bring fear and condemnation...a feeling of hopelessness. But those are not our God's ways those are the enemy's ways. They take our eyes off of Jesus and hope and peace and on to what brings despair and depression.
I am convinced that God's message to all of us right now is to Keep Our Eyes on Jesus. I had a dream a month or so ago. At the beginning of my dream all I could see was my face and the face of Mother Teresa. Our faces were very close, looking directly into each others eyes. She lifted her hand to my eye and said to me "keep your eyes on Jesus". I woke up fully aware of this moment as if it had just happened...as if her hand had just touched my face. And in these trials and times of uncertainity, I am brought back to this dream and this word from God. Keep your eyes on Jesus. God knows my future...our future...He knows we need the reminder to keep our eyes on Jesus. That in the midst of it all we forget where our eyes should be...and they turn to ourselves and all hope seems lost. But the minute our eyes are on Him, we see a glimmer of light...we notice a friend who needs encouragement...we see a person with a need and can fill it...we take a step forward...and our path is lit.
"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith." Hebrews 12: 1-2
I pray that as you go through your day you will be reminded to keep your eyes on Jesus and see what your eyes notice.
Blessings,
Teresa
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Redeemed
I love this song.
Big Daddy Weave
Redeemed.
The first time I heard this song on the radio my heart connected to it immediately. If your past or anything that has happened in your life keeps you in chains...know that you are redeemed. You are redeemed. Really...get on your knees and listen to the Lord. Spill out your heart and I know God will speak in to your ear and tell you that you are redeemed.
Listen to this song.
According to www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary, the word redeem is defined as:
to free from captivity by payment of ransom.
Jesus freed us from captivity when he died on the cross. "For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. For God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days." 1 Peter 1: 18-20
You are redeemed. Set free.
(I was trying to get the video from You Tube posted on here but I could not get it to post. Go to You Tube and listen to the official video It is on my draft but won't post to my blog. Uggh I am so untechnical!)
Blessings my friends.
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