TITLE: Rest and Hope 3-24-16 By Angi Steele 03/24/16 |
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Rest and Hope
Jesus is the Initiator. He initiates love. His life-giving words soak thirsty hearts. Jesus approves you. He affirms you, and He wants you. He values you. He gives healing for hurt, grace for grief. He pursues us. His attentiveness to our needs pleasantly overwhelms. His Strength surrounds. No one offers what you hold in your heart. You have important things to say. He has an insatiable desire to be intimately known by you, as He fills your desire. Jesus does not intend for you to jump through hoops of performance in efforts to get his attention. He is trustworthy. Jesus is near, and He smiles with deep acceptance. Jesus rescues.
Urgency trumpets this message of rest and hope. With gentle pressure and sensitivity, I implore you to listen and respond as the Holy Spirit beckons you to rest. Hope heals the emotionally abandoned, the physically aching one. Dismissed, discarded, and misunderstood hearts writhe from loneliness, but He comforts the broken hearted. Hollow hearts echo emptiness, but He fills them.
Considering myself a victim unable to influence or change my circumstances,
I believed lies, bowing to them and accepting them as my identity. My foundational perspective and belief system was unstable. My internal perception of God was unbiblical. I was delusional and to some degree I still am. I’m tempted to believe the lies of the enemy instead of God’s truth, but then the Holy Spirit reminds me that God’s love and acceptance is not based on my performance.
My foundation was faulty, thinking that God’s love fluctuated with my performance. In other words, if I did good stuff, he would let me sail, as He smiled at me. On the other hand, if I did bad stuff, He would let me flail, as He frowned at me.
Fortunately, I began to realize that my performance did not dictate His pursuit of my heart. More than anything, He is after my heart. More than anything, He wants connection. This is something I have learned and I am still learning, and it is setting me free. I am now free to love God with all my heart and to love people. For me, one of the biggest benefits I have found is discovering who I am in Christ and my ability to set healthy boundaries in all areas of my life. Now that I have begun learning how truly loved by God I am, the easier it is to set boundaries with people. I have learned a lot, and I have a long way to go. But I write these words to offer you a deep rest and hope in Him.
Jesus heals.
The lie is: “God won’t help me. I’m unworthy. I messed up. I have nothing to offer.”
The truth is: By His power, God helps you and you are worthy. He sets you free from bondage. You have a lot to offer.” Satan would like you to continue to wrestle with the lies that keep you powerless. The truth is that you already have power because of Jesus being on the inside of you.
The lie is: I am stuck in this boundary less, relational mess.
The truth is: Jesus has already paid the price to set you free and you are free from the tortuous internal perception that you are going to be stuck in the same circumstances for the rest of your life. It is imperative we ask Jesus to help us come into agreement with how much He loves us, how He sees us, and the tender truths He sings over us. Are we going to believe Satan’s lies or our Savior’s love? “Rejecting Satan’s lie and accepting God’s evaluation of us leads to a renewed hope, joy, and purpose in life,” writes Robert S. McGee in his book entitled The Search for Significance. Who we are in Christ, in Him, is the truest thing about us. He sees you as holy and pure. If you are struggling to believe Him and what He says about you from His Word, then ask Him to help you see yourself as lovely and as wanted as He sees you. Rest and hope are found in His Haven.
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