Don't Forget to Enter to Win!

Friday morning I am giving away a prayer journal!  Don't forget to enter to win.  Click this link below to see how to win!

http://www.livingfreeinhim.blogspot.com/2015/06/results-or-relationship-and-giveaway.html

Also, I posted a new post today on the other blog I write, Deeper Still Devotions.  Click the link below to read this post.

www.deeperstilldevotions.blogspot.com


Blessings to you!

Results or Relationship {And a Giveaway!!}

As soon as my fingers typed the word, I felt a check in my spirit. ...Results. 

The message was a text message sent to a friend as we ping ponged opinions on a theological concept that I won't go into here.

The sentence I typed was along the lines of, "I have gotten good results with this."   This referring to the theological concept and a posture of prayer.  

WHAT???!!!!

Results.  I was sick to my stomach.  Is that what prayer is about?  Is that why I pray?

Do I pray to get results or do I pray to cultivate a relationship?

I think this is a very good question, not just for me.

God doesn't have a problem with us praying with expectation of results.  In fact, He honors those prayers and answers them.  However, if results are the only reason for our prayers, there is a problem.

For instance, what if your children only came to you every time they wanted something.  What if they were only talking to you for results and did nothing to nurture a loving relationship with you?

Being the good parent you are, you would be happy they were talking to you and most likely honor their requests.  However, would you be grieved?  Would it sadden you that results were their priority over relationship?

I believe our heavenly Father is grieved with the number of His children who either never or rarely speak to Him.  I believe it grieves His loving Father's heart.

Friends, I want to encourage you to get a journal and write letters to your Father.  Then listen.  Listen for a response.  Then write His response.  Journaling is one way I speak to, listen and hear the Holy Spirit.

The Lord wants to speak to you.  He wants that relationship with you.  Please don't understand.  It isn't wrong for you to pray expecting Him to answer.  Yes.  Prayer Works.  Prayer bring results.  Let's just not let results be our exclusive focus.  He longs for you to know Him intimately.  He longs for relationship.

"But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you." Matthew 6:33

"Seek the Lord and His strength;  Seek His face evermore." Psalm 105:4

"When You said, "Seek My face," my heart said to You, "Your face, Lord, I will seek."  Psalm 27: 8

"But from there you will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all  your soul."  Deuteronomy 4:29

This week, I want to help one of you cultivate your relationship with the Father by giving away a prayer journal.  You can enter to win by one of three ways:

1.  "Like" my facebook page.
2.    Invite 10 others your know to like my page.
3.    Share a post.

If you invite others or share a post, please comment below or send me a Facebook message to let me know. I will randomly select a winner from all who entered by drawing a name on Friday morning at 8 am.  

 How fun!!!  

Stop Praying

It was an early morning run.  My friend and I met up, shoes laced and pavement ahead.  Running can be therapeutic, especially with a friend.  As we ran, we talked about life, about God, about our struggles and our victories.  Friendship is a beautiful thing and I'm very thankful for this friend.

That morning she shared how she had been praying and praying about something for years, to the point where she was beginning to get discouraged about this one area in her life.  I listened.  Then, two words, almost counter intuitive, rose up inside of me.  They could seem shocking or even blasphemous...

Stop Praying.

I'm sure my friend thought I had lost my mind on the last hill during those three miles.

Before you start thinking this girl just took the oxy out of oxymoron...

"Answer this question:  Does the God who lavishly provides you with His own presence, His Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does He do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust Him to do them in you?" Galations 3:5-6 MSG

My point is actually not to stop praying.  In fact, that would be not be Biblical.  We are called to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thes 5: 17).  However, what does praying without ceasing look like?  Isn't is just continual conversation with the Lord about all things, then trusting Him to work out everything together for our good? (Romans 8:28).

Yes. Pray. Please. Pray.  But...  After you have prayed, there comes a time when you must enter in His rest and just trust.

Does the Lord who lavishly provides you with His own presence, His Holy Spirit, working things out in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does He do these things because of your striving or because you trust Him?

The answer is simple.  Trust.

It isn't up to you! Now, that is liberating! 

Fear Steals

Fear steals.

The sun shone down warming my shoulders as we road a ski lift up to the top of a fanciful water amusement park.  At the top was a mountain plunging a near vertical 12 story drop!  However, the water monstrosity didn't scare me nearly as much as the ski lift to the top.

I never have noticed a fear of heights in me, but that day, fear was there.  All around me was beauty and a magnificent view as we scaled higher above the trees.  However, the beauty all around me escaped my vision due to fear. 

But, that is what fear does.  Fear steals.  Fear steals the beauty around us and causes us to focus inward instead of looking outward.  

Fear of rejection causes us to focus on our own insecurities instead of the beauty of the people around us.  

Fear of failure can cause us to cower instead of step out in adventure and risk.  Fear of failure can also steal our destiny if left to overtake us.   

Fear of abandonment can cause us to miss intimacy in relationships and open ourselves up to the beautiful friendships the Lord has placed in our lives.  

Fear of the unexpected can paralyze us right out of God's perfect will. 

Fear causes us to miss out on the blessings God has placed all around us.  

And fear of heights can cause us to miss out on the amazing God-given views above our eye level. 

Plain and simply fear steals. From views to value to valor to vulnerability, fear keeps us from freedom.  

Instead of allowing fear to hold us in chains, we need to take fear captive.  

I pray we would rise up with courage, cast down our fear and stand firm in God's love and care.  Fear, we are onto you.  We know how you come to steal.  You are a thief and thieves belong behind bars.  

"We demolish arguments and very pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ." 2 Cor 10:5 

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us."  1 John 5:18-19

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?"  Psalm 27:1

Jill and Tilly

Shortly after I became a Christian, in 1998, the Lord led me to a Bible study with two other ladies from my Sunday school class at church.  It was such a blessing because I really wanted to grow and develop strong Christian friendships.  Due to my past, I didn't feel worthy of Christian friendships and thought anyone in my Sunday school class would surely reject me if they truly knew about my past.

One day at Bible study, my friend, Jill, asked us to pray for a friend of hers who was considering having an abortion.  I said I would pray.  As I began praying, tears began to fall.  Tears turned into sobs to the point where I could hardly even pray.  I apologized and quickly brushed it off as just getting emotional about praying.

That night, the phone rang.  I answered the phone and it was Jill.  She said, "Sue, the Holy Spirit wanted me to call you.  I feel like He wanted me to ask you if you have had an abortion."

Pause.

My heart pounded as I softly answered, "Yes."

Jill was the first Christian friend I had ever told.  She was the first person I had shared openly with about the abortion other than my husband

The response I received from my friend that night was life changing.  I expected that if my Christian friends knew the truth, they would reject me and condemn me.  The enemy had me believing a lie and it was the furthest thing from the truth.  Jill extended so much grace and love to me that night.  My heart began healing that very night, and all because my friend was obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit and made a phone call.

The Lord was at work and the next week, I was listening to the Focus on the Family radio program when the story of Tilly by Frank Peretti came on the air.  Again, my heart softened and began to heal.  The Lord was revealing that He was at work and wanted to heal my heart.  I can't explain it, but to know the Lord loved me so much and was so interested in healing me, overwhelmed me.  I remember sitting there on the floor of my apartment, on my knees, listening to Tilly, tears flowing and wondering how could this be that the Lord would want to heal me.

He does heal.  And not only does He heal, He desires to heal.  He is very involved in your life and interested in your healing.  Healing is most often times a process.  Just like the couple of steps I just shared with you.  There have been many more steps since that first year the Lord began my healing. And although I have had much healing, I know the Lord continues to heal me even now.

I don't believe we will be finished here on earth.  It is an ever-going process with the Lord.  But, the day is coming when we will be complete in Him.  And oh what a glorious day that will be!

"Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ." Phil 1:6

Lord, I thank You for Your promise that You will complete the good work You begin in us.  Lord, I pray for those who maybe feel like they haven't started the process.  Lord, I pray for you to bring them their Jill and Tilly.  I pray for You to lead them and guide them in the next step and in every step towards complete healing in You.  In Jesus' Name, Amen. 

Catching Up and a Little Diving

Hey Friends,

First of all, I want to start today with a letter before my post to apologize for not writing on here for three weeks!  I don't recall ever going that long in the four years I have been writing without posting something on here.  Life has been busy and crazy and I just flat out have not had much time to write.

My dad had surgery a few weeks ago and then had to undergo the same surgery again due to complications.  Much of my emotional energy has gone into what is happening with him.  But I want you to know I haven't forgotten you and I love you all very much.  The Lord continually shows me that I am in His will with writing and to continue no matter the results at this time.  So with all that being said, I am happy to be back with you today and pray for the words the Lord gives me to bless you and encourage you to continually live free in Him.

Love,
Sue

I am currently leading the Bible study, Children of the Day by Beth Moore, and I wanted to share something the Lord showed me the other day.

"We have access to the Holy Spirit welling up in us like a spring. Tapping into Him requires deliberation and cooperation so God can love through us. Like me, you've probably asked Him to love through you, then fizzled out within the hour. Here's the catch: we cannot love when we perceive ourselves as unloved. We cannot offer to others what we don't possess."

Jude 21 says, 'Keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.' That means practicing the mindset of being profusely loved by God. We must invite our souls to plunge into His love like a dolphin romping in the sea. Actively engaging in His unending, extravagant, no strings - attached affection for you is not narcissism.  It's necessary. It can mean our survival when we're faced with loving the loveless." -Beth Moore

I loved this! "We must invite our souls to plunge into His love like a dolphin romping into the sea." 

We must plunge into the depths of His love!

The Lord said to me, "Sue, this is what you must understand, know, and believe...YOU ARE LOVED. You cannot love well unless you know YOU ARE LOVED."

It seems so elementary, but I think here in lies the mystery of why loving is sometimes hard. We forget how loved we are by the very Creator of the Universe!

At times, we may feel rejected, judged, unaccepted, overlooked, hurt or abandoned by others. However, when we are submerged in the depth of His love and know we are loved, it is a protective covering that deflects the darts of unlove.

He will never reject.  He will never hurt. He will never abandon. He only loves.

YOU ARE LOVED.  

Stoop and Look

"But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb." John 20:11

Mary stood outside the empty tomb weeping.  She knew the tomb was empty, but only by stooping down and looking into the tomb did she receive the revelation of glory!  The tomb was empty because Jesus is alive!

Without the belief that Jesus is alive, Mary had no hope.

The word "stoop" is parakypto in Greek and it means "To look at with head bowed forward."

Mary received hope because she stooped or bowed her head forward.  "Stoop" seems to me to be a kneeling position, the position of prayer.  In the position of prayer, her viewpoint eventually changed.

Her understanding came as she knelt down and sought answers, slowly, each step revealing new enlightenment.  She could not see the True Hope was right there in front of her. Hope was literally right there in front of her eyes.  Jesus was standing there...ALIVE!  

"Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus." John 20:14

Friends, I want you to know that Jesus is standing right in front of you.  I know you may feel empty inside, but as long as the tomb is empty, we can be full!

The tomb is empty because Jesus is alive!  Your circumstances may look dismal and bleak.  It may appear that all hope is lost, but Hope is standing right there!

Bow your head and eventually everything will become clear.  You will see Hope standing right in front of you.  

Do you know what I love about Jesus?  No weeping is insignificant.  No tears are misplaced.  He is standing by His beloved even when our vision is fogged or faulty.  Even when we are blinded to His presence right in front of our eyes, He calls. He waits. He answers.

The Living Hope is standing right in front of you today.  We soberly remember Good Friday and the goodness of our Lord and Savior Jesus.  We reflect on the price paid for our freedom and salvation.
And we celebrate His glory and victory over sin and death!  We celebrate the empty tomb!  Jesus is not in the grave.  He is alive and standing right in front of us!

Stoop down and look.

Happy Resurrection Sunday!!!  He is ALIVE!!!