Inner Vows, Part 1 Our words matter to the Lord and to others, even our flippant, casual words. Proverbs 18:21 tells us that the power of life and death are in the tongue.  Yikes!  We need to be careful with our words making sure they build others up and speak life. There is another thing about our words that is important.

In our podcast this week we look at the story of a woman who lived out of the lie that she was rejected --- and the sweet way the Lord brought His truth and healing to her.  Rejection is not the only lie that the enemy of our souls plants in our hearts when we are hurt, but it seems to be one of his favorites, I think because it works so well.  

The wonderful thing is that when the Lord brings His truth, you don’t have to work at it to be healed.  You just are.  There is no homework.  In fact the truth so replaces the lie that you cannot get back to it. This week in the podcast I tell the story of how I saw this happen in my life.

The lie is replaced with the truth. This is similar to when you picture in your mind what a place looks like before you have ever been there.  And then when you arrive and see what it really looks like, you can barely remember how you had imagined it.  Because you now have the reality, the truth, you can’t go back to the illusion, the lie.

When we get hurt in that same area where we have an unhealed wound we will over over-react. In real time, we know that we shouldn’t feel this stirred up, but we just can’t help it!  When we over-react to something that happens in our present life, this is a clue that there just may be something behind the over-reaction that the Lord wants to heal.

I want to take our first step toward inner healing by talking about an attitude of our hearts that is a key to our inner transformation, this attitude is forgiveness.  It would be hard for us to overestimate the importance of forgiveness to our Lord.  It is the very centerpiece of Christianity.  Forgiveness is why the Lord left the glories of heaven to be born as a man, and to die bearing the sins of the world.  He did all of this, so that we could be forgiven.  Our forgiveness came with a high price, no wonder that our Lord asks us to model this same quality to a broken world.

What do you think Jesus meant when he said in John 10:10, “I have come that they might have life and might have it abundantly.”  What did he mean when He said 'abundant life'?  How would you define this and what would it look like in your life?

In this series, we are going to learn how to experience healing prayer. There are habits we can cultivate and things we can do that help us get on the path of life that allows us to experience the fullness of living life abundantly.

God is the God of reconciliation.  It is His heart, His desire for you and me ---- first that we are reconciled to God, and then that we extend this reconciliation to others.  The core of the Great Commission is that we will take the Gospel out into the world so that others can be reconciled to God.

Christmas is synonymous with the spirit of giving.  When you say “Christmas”, many children think presents!  When you say “Christmas”, many parents think shopping, traffic, wrapping and delivering! It wouldn’t be Christmas without gifts. Gift giving is at the heart of Christmas. In fact gift giving was at the heart of the very first Christmas.

For God so loved the world that He gave….

So often in my experience with the Lord, I hear Him say, "wait, wait, wait." God's timing is always perfect. God stands outside of time. He created time. God steps into time and intersects with your life where He's always on time.

Can you imagine an angel just suddenly appearing before you and bringing a prophecy from the Lord to you? 

I can't imagine! I do know that Mary was “troubled” because about the third sentence in, the scripture says “she was troubled” and the Angel had to say, “Do not be afraid!”. I’m sure that would have been our first response too if we were in Mary’s place. 

God totally understood Mary’s situation. He knows that she needs encouragement and that she needed a safe haven. When He does ask us to do something that seems so difficult, He brings His way, His strength and His encouragement.

Do you find that you are meeting yourself coming and going? Are there more entries on your daily to-do list than time to get those jobs done?  If you have children, are you always telling them to hurry up? Does the word accelerate seem to describe your life? If you said yes to any of these questions, I invite you to sit with me.  Let’s take a deep breath.