Do It Anyway

Have you ever reached out with God's love only to be rejected? If so, you can identify with Jesus! Read the gospels and see how many times Christ was rejected by the very people He came to save. He came with divine truth and love, and the people said "no, thanks". The religious leaders thought they had more wisdom than the King of Kings. Hmmmm, does someone smell pride? I'm reminded of the prophet Jeremiah, who said "because of Your hand upon me, I stand alone!". Years ago I received great advice from a godly man, "Give people Jesus". When you are pouring into people's lives, make sure you are not giving yourself away, or you'll be setting your heart up for brokenness. Pour God's love, truth, and Word into those He brings into your path. Then know that if someone rejects you, they are really rejecting God. You were just the messenger and God will bless you for your service.

• People are unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
• If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish motives. Do good anyway.
• Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest anyway.
• The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest people with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
• What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
• People really need help but may turn against you if you help them. Help them anyway.
• Give the world the best you have and you may get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you've got anyway -Anonymous

"For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give -large or small- will be used to measure what is given back to you." Luke 6:38

Forgiveness

The hardest thing for me to forgive is injustice. To experience being abused or taken advantage of causes me to turn from a peaceful flower to a raging lion! I struggle with releasing someone from spiteful behavior, whether toward me or toward someone I love. My flesh wants to hang onto anger and unforgiveness, thinking that if I let go, I'm saying that what happened is okay. I have to remind myself that letting someone off my hook in no way lets them off God's hook and He will take care of the judgement. That can be a struggle, too! David said in Psalm 73 "Was it for nothing that I kept my heart pure? I tried to understand why the wicked prosper, but what a difficult task it is!" I've had to come to terms with the reality that seeing justice this side of heaven is rare. We have to trust that God is dealing with the experiences that we lay at the cross. In heaven we will have all the answers. Recently God called me to forgive a friend's abuse. It was the last thing my flesh wanted to do, but here were my incentives:

1. Unforgiveness traps my heart. I can't afford that. I need to live from my heart. When I am angry and bitter, I am not pure before God. My heart is not tender and open before him because I've basically given it over to the enemy. No one has the ability to cause me to sin against God by holding offense. There's a funny movie titled "Raising Arizona", about an infertile couple who kidnap a baby. The baby is taken from them by a rough biker dude hired by the parents. When the woman realizes her stolen baby is now in the hands of this maniac, she storms down the middle of the street toward his motorcylce with my favorite line from the movie, "Gimme back that baby you warthog from hell!". A funny analogy, but we need that same determination and authority, to take back what we have surrendered and what rightfully belongs to us.

2. God's love conquers the sin of unforgiveness. After releasing my friend from the abuse, I realized I still had love for them. It wasn't my love, it was God's love. Romans 5:5 says God has filled our hearts with His love. A good thing because we need it to do what he requires us to do! God never calls us to do something that He doesn't equip us to do.

3. Unforgiveness takes our focus off of God. I heard a teaching on anger that said that being angry at someone is idolatry, because we are endowing them with more authority than God. It said anger means you aren't trusting God with your life, and if anger directs our life it's a curse. If I have a stronghold of anger in my life, that's where my thoughts are going to be....replaying the injustice, validating myself in my mind, etc. With all that going on, God isn't getting my time or focus. Realizing that intimacy with my Lord was being compromised helped me to overcome the unforgiveness. No relationship on earth is more important than my relationship with my King.

If you have the same challenge before you, I hope this encourages you, even in a small way. Doing the right thing when someone else does the wrong thing can be a real struggle. I can tell you that as a result of my obedience, my heart is more free, my mind is at peace, and the painful words and memories have been replaced with sweet ones. I now think of this person with a different perspective because God changed it. I take away the jewels and leave behind the pain.

The strength of a man

I witnessed something powerful this morning. A group of men, crying out to God and praying for each other. Then they loved each other through various expressions....some shook hands, some gave bear hugs, others cried on the shoulders of friends. It was powerful. It was spiritual. It was beautiful to see. Men need other men. They can draw from each other's strength. Like David and Jonathan's relationship, there are some things that men cannot get from the women in their lives. They need friends, pastors, mentors, dads. I pray that my husband and my sons will never lack for these relationships in their lives.

Sweet Child of Mine

Here's a glimpse of my disappearing waistline! I have blessedly progressed beyond morning sickness and am finally starting to enjoy being pregnant. Someone asked about cravings. Yes, I've had them with every baby. This time it was for sour stuff.....lemon drops and grapefruit. Brunswick stew from Wagners BBQ has been a favorite, too. It helped settle the nausea. I wore sea sickness bands a lot; they helped some. Another friend asked about names. Hmmm....we are still working on that one. We love Zoe for a girl and are still thinking about boy names. Bo likes Mikal, and I like Isaac. Isaac Mikal???? Please give us suggestions. You can click on the 'comments' link and cast your vote without setting up an account.

Sweet Home Alabama

Just got back from a week in Dothan. It was great. Got to spend some time with the Moodys, visited my grandmother, went to church, met friends for lunch, took the kids swimming, continued a Spiderman movie-watching tradition with the Everhearts. We are seeking God about moving back to Dothan. It seems that our time in Albany, Georgia is coming to an end. The past year, Bo and I had been on staff planting a Purpose-Driven church, until this March when our jobs ending unexpectedly. Since then, Bo has not found employment in Albany, and we are thankful that Jason has provided him some work in Dothan. We are also VERY THANKFUL for support with have received from friends and family while in this season of no income! Our power bill has been paid (twice) by caring people in the community that we don't even know. Friends have sent checks and groceries and taken us to lunch. A dear lady took me to Old Navy and bought me $120 worth of maternity clothes. We've received prayer and support and that has been a huge blessing. It is comforting to know we have a group a loving folks in Dothan, too, ready to welcome us home with open arms.

The wilderness school

David's time in the wilderness brought him into greater intimacy with God. It prepared him for his reign as king of Israel. Preparation time is never wasted time. David learned a greater dependance on God, for his physical, spiritual, and emotional needs. The difference between pre-wilderness life and post-wilderness life is the difference between Psalm 142 and Psalm 18. Psalm 142 was written by David while hiding in the caves. Psalm 18 was written after his wilderness experience. Psalm 142 says "I look for someone to come and help me; but no one gives me a passing thought! No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me". But by Psalm 18 he is saying "The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the strength of my salvation and my stronghold. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy of praise, for he saves me from my enemies." David learned to trust God to be his Defender, his Provider, his Protector, his Friend. He also trusted God to be Judge between him and Saul, and allowed God to avenge instead of defending himself. When we entrust justice into God's hands rather than our own, we stay underneath God's grace. Otherwise, we'd seek revenge which, in the spirit, puts us under the judgement of our accuser. We will all experience times of rejection, abandonment, unfair treatment, confusion, lack, and loneliness. But what we learn during these times can be priceless. As with David, they can help shape and prepare us for what God has next. Some things cannot be learned in the light. When you find yourself in this place, read and identify with David's heart in Psalm 142, then flip back and find your hope in Psalm 18.

Rejection from the father

While David was being chased by Saul from wilderness to wilderness, cave to cave, he had plenty of time to contemplate the anger, betrayal, and rejection from his spiritual father. In the book "Under Cover" John Bevere writes about unfair treatment from unreasonable authority. He says, "Those who have been rejected by a father or leader tend to take all the blame on themselves. They are imprisoned by tormenting thoughts: What did I do? and Was my heart impure? They carry the burden of constantly trying to prove their innocence to their leaders. They believe if they could only show their loyalty and value, they would be accepted. But the more they try, the more rejected they feel." I can relate to David. My husband and I have experienced rejection from a spiritual father, as well as from my earthly father. My own wilderness experiences while grieving these relationships have taught me things about God that I would not have learned otherwise. Some being....... God's love was misrepresented. The way Saul treated David was not God's way. God does not forsake His people. This can be a difficult thing to realize if a father/child relationship has taught the exact opposite. Our relationships with our earthly fathers should be a catalyst into our relationship with our heavenly Father, but we are fragile and human and don't always get it right. Although I have been forsaken by spiritual and earthly fathers, I know that God's love for me cannot be shaken. He will never leave me. He will never sacrifice our relationship. He loves me as He loves Jesus and would move heaven and earth to get to me. Conflict between us and God does not threaten our relationship with Him. The word says "Come, let us reason together". God welcomes open, honest, flat-out truth about how we feel and He can handle hashing- out sessions. I think He probably enjoys them more than we know. He already knows how we feel anyway, and wants us to pour our hearts to Him and work out our differences. (I am blessed to have long-standing relationships with another spiritual father, and a spiritual mother. They both regularly counsel and mentor me and offer great wisdom. My spiritual mother was recently counseling me to "get alone with God". I misunderstood her to say, "get along with God". We both laughed as I promised to try!). Walls we build as a result of rejection affects our intimacy with God. Many of us struggle through life because we are afraid to receive and give love. We are afraid of intimacy. Defiencies from parental love or other forms of traumatic rejection can cause us to set up boundaries and walls to keep people out so that we can protect ourselves from the pain of more rejection. These walls must come down. We need to learn to trust God to be our Protector. The walls that keep pain out also keep love out, and can hinder us from having intimate fellowship with God and healthy relationships with others. (Note: I have experienced great healing from father issues through the ministry of the late Jack Frost. He teaches about the "true Father heart of God" and the slavery of the "spiritual orphan". You can find his resources at www.shilohplace.org Another great resource if you need this same healing is a free on-line video at www.fathersloveletter.com ).

" Even if my father and mother abandon me,

the Lord will hold me close."

Psalm 27:10