Confident Hope

Confident Hope

So then, with this amazing hope living in us, we step out in freedom and boldness to speak the truth.

2 Corinthians 3:12 TPT

As I have been doing life lately, I have found it very overwhelming.  Circumstances have left me feeling saturated with fear, worry and anxiety.  I have been in a spiritual attack and it has been making me focus on what satan might do next, instead of what move God is going to make next.  

I am not one who wants to give satan too much credit, but it seems like he has been trying to silence me.  Why would he want to silence me?  Because God has given me a word to share and spread to His daughters this year! What is that word? FREEDOM!  

What has satan done to try and silence me?  He is using my daughter and her health as a spiritual attack against me.  Our women’s ministry has had 2 events scheduled for 2019 so far.  Each event that we have had, he has used my daughter to try and get to me.

The first one was a Journal & Coffee Night. As soon as we walked into the church for the event my daughters OmniPod, which controls all of her insulin and tests her blood sugar for her Type 1 Diabetes, stopped working.  No matter what we did, we could not get it to work and we ended up leaving early. The second event was Wild & Free Women’s Worship Night.  Which, for the first time since we have been doing worship nights, had to be postponed.  What happened?  Sarah ended up being admitted into Nationwide Children’s Hospital for 4 days and 3 nights with Influenza A, Double Pneumonia and complications with her Type 1 Diabetes. 

All of these events stopped me in my tracks for a little while.  It took the breath right out of me. I was allowing my focus to be changed, which was changing me.  I was having problems sleeping because fear was filling me.  When my head would hit the pillow at night all i could relive was the events that took place with my daughter.  Because of that, instead of looking for the things that God was doing around me, I began looking for what could be satan’s next scheme.  

Through this I have realized that my focus has been all wrong!   I cannot be focused on what satan’s next scheme MIGHT be! That will only fill me with even more fear, worry & anxiety! I have to intently focus on TRUTH!  What is this truth? GODS WORD!  I love this scripture, it is a great reminder. 

So then, with this amazing hope living in us, 

we step out in freedom and boldness to speak the truth.

2 Corinthians 3:12 TPT

Ladies, when times get tough and life gets hard, we have to cling to our confident hope.  The Holy Spirit resides in us!  That alone gives us freedom from fear, worry and anxiety. We need to activate this freedom. When satan wants us to believe lies, we need to shatter them. We need to speak truth in boldness!

I want to end with this scripture: 

“I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Romans 15:13

Just like this scriptures say, God is our source of hope.  He is our amazing hope that lives in us! So ladies, lets radiate with joy, overflow with peace & go forth in confident hope.  Step out and claim the freedom we have in Christ!

Music For You: 

• Raise a Hallelujah by Bethel Music

Cone of Shame

Cone of Shame

“The oppressed get justice with you.

The hungry are satisfied with you.

Prisoners find their freedom with you.

You open the eyes of the blind

and you fully restore those bent over with shame.

You love those who love and honor you.”

Psalms 146:7-8

Paris, a beautiful 2 year old black cat, found his way into our hearts and home a few months ago.  Being a male cat and not being neutered, we had the obligation of taking him to the vet to have the procedure done.  Due to some complications Paris had, he was sent home with the dreaded cone of shame.  

The veterinarian told us that when we got home we could probably remove the cone. We were ensured that Paris would more than likely sleep the rest of the night due to medicine he received.  Sarah took off his cone after an hour or so of being home.  My goodness was that vet wrong.  

There was no way Sarah could have prepared herself for what Paris was about to do. When the cone of shame that was tied around Paris’s neck was removed, immediately he went jumping off the chair and began running in circles like a crazy cat all over the house!  She was petrified, fearing that her cat was going to hurt himself! 

When all of this commotion happened, I hadn’t been home.  After I got home, Sarah filled me in on all the excitement.  Immediately I asked Sarah why Paris acted that crazy. She said something that has remained with me.  What did she say? She said,  “Because he was free!”  

We had to keep that cone of shame on Paris for 2 weeks.  Every time we had to put that cone on him, his whole countenance would immediately change.  He would go from walking with his head held high and with confidence, to walking all coward down and his head lowered.  The cone of shame was truly causing him to walk in shame.

Looking at Paris and his actions when he had that cone of shame tied around his neck, stopped me in my tracks.  When he had that cone on him he was no longer confident and holding his head high. He immediately became timid, he coward down, his head would hang low. What a visual!

Aren’t we the same way? Too many of us carry around our shames. When we carry around our shame, when we feel the weight of it around our necks, it changes who we are. It changes how we carry ourselves, we hang our head and cower down.  It changes our actions, we become weak and timid.   

Ladies, that is not what God intends for us.  He does not want us to walk in shame.  We were never meant to carry around our shame.  We were intended to walk in freedom. You see, this is what His words says.  

“Prisoners find their freedom with you….You 

open the eyes of the blind and you fully restore 

those bent over with shame.”

Psalms 146:7-8

We find our freedom through God! Just like Sarah reached down and removed the cone of shame off Paris’s neck, God does that for us too.  He FREES us! When we are bent over in shame, He FULLY restores us! 

Do you want to know the really AWESOME part! Unlike Paris, we don’t have to continually put the cone of shame back on! We get to leave it off! We are FREE! Free to walk with our heads held high!  Free to walk in confidence in Christ!  We are even free to run in circles around our house if we want! You want to know why? Because we are FREE to be crazy women for Jesus! 

 Music For You: 

• I am Free by New Life Worship

Be Still

Be Still

I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the one I love, waiting as long as it takes for him to rescue me.  Only God is my Savior, and he will not fail me.  For he alone is my safe place. His wrap-around presence always protects me as my champion defender.  There’s no risk of failure with God! So why would I let worry paralyze me, even when troubles multiply around me?

Psalms 62:5-6

It was 3:30pm and I had been sitting on my bed for 30 minutes. As I was sitting there trying to focus my mind and heart, I knew I needed to hear from God. I had to speak to a group of girls at my church that night and my mind was completely blank.  

My week had been absolutely crazy and I felt depleted of everything! My grandma had passed away, and I had just spoken at her funeral that morning.  I could stop right there at reasons why I felt depleted.  But adding that to the crazy week I already had which consisted of taking my daughter to an out of town doctor appointment, being asked to speak to a girls class at my church and having an important phone conference scheduled for later that week, I was on overload!  They were all good obligations, but added onto my normal obligations, I was completely overwhelmed!

I reached out to a friend in my overwhelmedness.  At first, just to try and help me focus.  As our conversation continued though, I knew that I wasn’t supposed to talk to the girls that night.  As I was telling her how mentally done I was for the week, she reassured me and said, “You are allowed to say no.” Which, is a very hard word for me to say.  She went on to say that, “It’s time to be still. Rest in His presence and soak.”   

It’s so hard for me to say no that even during our conversation, I still felt guilty saying the word “No” and not doing this good obligation.  I was still looking for ways that I could still talk to the girls, even when I knew that the only obligation God wanted me to do at that point was to be still.  In the end, I graciously backed out of speaking to the class.  

Instead of speaking, I went into the church service.  As I was sitting there waiting for the service to start, soaking music was playing.  You will never believe what 2 of the 3 songs that they played were about! BEING STILL!  When the first song came on, I smiled a little and thanked God for His confirmation.  As the second song about being still played, I giggled!  I looked at a friend of mine beside me and told her what happened that day and about the word I was given, Be Still.  

God knows us! He loves and cares so much for us! He knows when we are being called to “do” and He knows when we are being called to “be still”.  He knows how our minds work.  He knows how guilt can set in when we say no to obligations, especially good obligations.  That’s the goodness of our God though! When we are following His ways and plans, He will send confirmations…sometimes two…to help us and to confirm to us to Be Still.

Funny thing is though, I had even more than 2 confirmations! The very next day I was talking to a friend.  I had some questions to ask her about a phone conference I was having the next day. During our conversation, you will never guess what she told me, “BE STILL!”  

Ladies, I have learned something from all of this, and I want to share it with you!  There is FREEDOM to be found in just being still. When we are overwhelmed and our schedule is full, we need to let God refresh us.  How do we do that? 

“I am standing in absolute stillness, silent before the one I love….”

Psalms 62:5

By allowing yourself much needed time to be absolutely still, silent, resting in His Presence. When you are overwhelmed, allow yourself to say no and instead be still, that is where true freedom is found!

Music For You: 

• Be Still My Soul (In You I Rest) by Kari Jobe
  

Legacy of Love

Legacy of Love

When I was asked to speak about my grandma today, a lot of different feelings came over me.  But as I processed it, I knew that it was an honor to be able to honor her.   So here I am.  My grandma was an amazing woman! She left so many amazing memories for us all, but she also left a legacy, a legacy of love.  She loved each and everyone of her grandchildren and great grandchildren so much. Even over the years as my sister and I babysat, she would love on those babies too. Then came along the Crain’s and I can honestly say, she loved those babies as they were her own grandchildren.

“Many women have done wonderful things,

    but you’ve outclassed them all!”

Proverbs 31:29

When I read this scripture, I knew that it described how I and many others felt about her.  My grandma was a quiet lady, she didnt always have alot to say. But Grandpa always seemed to talk enough for the both of them.  They complimented each other well that way.  My grandma endured many storms in her life, she suffered the loss of a full term child, she battled 3 rounds of cancer.  Through all of those storms, I never heard my grandma complain once.  She was never a “woe is me” woman. She was truly a strong, irish warrior.  

“And may you be surrounded by your grandchildren.

    Happiness to you! And happiness to Israel!”

Psalms 128:6 

It is hard to honor my grandma without talking about my grandpa too.  They were a team and most the time where you found one, you found the other.  Growing up, there are so many memories with my grandparents.  Almost every summer we would all go on family vacation together. Those are memories that I will never forget, camping in North Carolina along the ocean, traveling up the East Coast to Nova Scotia.  Priceless memories.  Not to mention the countless trips we took up to the lakes and to Toft’s for ice cream or just hoping in the vehicle and going to Hartville or Amish Country. 

Later in life, Jason and I had the honor of taking them on what might have been their last vacation.  Grandma & Grandpa were known for getting in the car and driving hours to go to a good restarunt.  Well, this time they decided they wanted seafood, and not just any seafood, they wanted to go to Captain George’s in Williamsburg, Virginia.  They were 89 years old and couldn’t drive that far, so they asked Jason and I to take them.  We all piled in our van and set out for Williamsburg. Once again, priceless, my children were able to experience a family vacation, just like I had, with my grandma & grandpa.  Memories we will all cherish and hold dear.  

When my sister and I were young, in the winter, if there was a snow day, we would all pile in their van and go on an adventure. We never knew where we would end up, but it was always fun. As kids, my grandparents made doll furniture and it was always fun to go along with them to craft shows and help them.  We would get up in the wee hours of the morning just to be able to go along with them. Not many kids would do that, but we loved them and loved being with them.  All the lessons, love and legacy that my grandma & grandpa instilled in us.  It is easy to say that my grandparents were always surrounded by their grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

My grandparents always knew that this was only their temporary home, that their permanent home was in Heaven.  Grandma & Grandpa had great love for their grandchildren and great grandchildren, they always wanted to be surrounded by them here on earth. But their greatest heart desire was to know that each and every one of their grandchildren and great grandchildren would eventually surround them in their permanent home, Heaven. 

“For wives, this means being supportive to your husbands like you are tenderly devoted to our Lord, for the husband provides leadership for the wife, just as Christ provides leadership for his church, as the Savior and Reviver of the body. In the same way the church is devoted to Christ, let the wives be devoted to their husbands in everything.”

Ephesians 5:22-24

One of the most valuable lessons that I learned from my grandparents, was how it looked to love your spouse.  Never in my 40 years did I ever hear them bicker, or fight or talk bad about each other.  Even up until the end, I remember my grandpa buying these glass roses for my grandma on Valentines day or their anniversary.  Even when they were 97, they were still holding hands.  My grandparents truly loved each other. My Grandma was supportive and devoted to my Grandpa. 

I will always cling to this memory that was always talked about.  My Grandma when she was 25, she boarded a train and road west from Smithville/Wooster, Ohio and rode it all the way to California where my Grandpa was stationed in the Air Force.  It always blew my mind, a quiet, reserved woman like my grandma doing that.  How they loved each other and how they respected each other is a legacy of love that my kids were able to witness.

When I learned that Hospice had been called in for my Grandma, it hurt my heart. I was deeply saddened at what loss we were going to suffer.  I asked my husband that evening, is it okay for me to be sad, but glad.  Of course, his response was “yes”. But this is why I asked him that question.  

My grandpa passed away in June of 2016.  One common conversation between them was always that grandma needed to take care of herself, because grandpa wanted to celebrate their 100 year birthdays together.  Well, grandpa ended up going to heaven first.  Ever since grandpa passed away, I knew that it would be hard for everyone to face grandma celebrating 100 here on earth, without grandpa. If we are all honest, we all wanted her to be with grandpa for that. Now they will get to celebrate this milestone together. Grandpa’s 100th birthday would have been February 15th and my Grandma’s would have been April 1st. When my grandpa passed, they were married for 72 years! And now they they will also get to celebrate their 75th wedding anniversary together, which would have been February 12th. 

What a lasting legacy of love that we witnessed, but also a lasting legacy to be able to share with others.  I am sure that when my grandma gets to see Jesus, “well done thou good and faithful servant”, will come from His lips.  

United House Publishing Blog

https://unitedhousepublishing.com/blog/

I am so excited to have this opportunity to be a Guest Writer on United House Publishing’s Blog. You can click on the link to view the Blog.

Treasure

Treasure

My Grandpa Graham passed away in 1997, my sister had just gotten married and I had just graduated from high school.  It is hard to believe that he has been gone 21 years.  He was an amazing Grandpa! I catch myself many times wishing that my kids could have met him.  

My husband, Jason, works at the same company that my grandpa did. One day he came home and handed me a treasure.  It was a Tuby Talk Newsletter from May of 1986.  It contained a picture and an article about my grandpa.  When he gave it to me, and I read it, I cried! Even typing this right now I am tearing up! I knew what He looked like, his face was always in my mind.  I knew all about him and how amazing he was, because I held onto those memories.  

Everyone that had ever met him always had something good to share with us about him.  Even though I held onto all of those things, I didn't know how much I missed him till I saw his face and till I read about him. I instantly knew that I was going to treasure this item that Jason found.  

When I looked up the definition of treasure, I found these 2 definitions. 

1. to hold or keep as precious. (verb)

2. person esteemed as rare or precious. (noun)

I treasured my Grandpa Graham as a person and I esteemed him as rare and precious. Because of that, when I was given this item, I decided to hold onto it and keep it as precious! 

Not long after my husband gave me this treasure, we were in church and our pastor began preaching on this verse. Immediately the Tuby Talk with the article about my grandpa came to my mind.  It came to my mind mainly because it was something that I treasured at that time.  But as I began to really ask myself how it related to this scripture, everything just fell into place.

Proverbs 2:1-2, 4:

My child, will you treasure my wisdom? Then, and only then, will you acquire it. And only if you accept my advice

    and hide it within will you succeed.

I treasured my grandpa, he was a very wise man.  He was always giving us good advice, but not in a way to talk down to you, but in a loving, caring way.  Because of that, I still remember the advice that he used to give me to this day.

So train your heart to listen when I speak and open your spirit wide to expand your discernment - then pass it on to your sons and daughters.

Because my grandpa was wise, I listened when he spoke.  I not only listened, but I soaked in all the wisdom that he spoke to me.  Then, that wisdom was passed onto my son and daughter.  

For if you keep seeking it like a man would seek for sterling silver, searching in hidden places for cherished treasure.

When my husband was at work that day, he had no idea what he was going to discover.  He stumbled upon some old newsletters and began reading them. He wasn’t seeking to find a treasure. He was curious about the contents of the newsletters and began reading through them.   

That curiosity caused him to discover something that to some might not have been a treasure at all, but he knew to me, it was something I would cherish.  Indeed, it was something I cherished!  Because of its value to me, I wanted to tell everyone and show everyone what was found.  

At the moment everything came together, it was a “Ta Da” moment for me.  God is saying, “This how we are supposed to feel about the cherished item that He has given us, The Bible.”  How I treasure the newsletter on my grandpa is how I am supposed to treasure The Bible!  

Reading it should bring us to tears in remembrance of everything that God has done and is doing in our lives.  Desire to be tender to the Bible.  When we open it, we need to be absorbing what it is saying. The Bible is full of good advice & wisdom.  It is imperative that we be passing on this advice and wisdom to our sons, daughters, family, friends & even strangers. 

When we open it, we never know what we will stumble upon or what we will discover.  What we read at that moment might not be a treasure at all to someone else.  For you though, it might be exactly what you needed to read at exactly that moment.  Don't miss a divine appointment for God to speak into your heart.  

After I was given the Tuby Talk Newsletter, immediately I put it on Facebook to share with other friends and family.  I wanted to be able to share with them what was given to me! The very next time my family was at my house, I was pulling out the newsletter and showing them and having them read it for themselves!  

Then I had a “gut check” moment as I was pondering all of this.  Have I put things on Facebook that God has laid on my heart & spoke to my soul? Yes!  Have I gone personally to my friends and family and told them things that God has laid on my heart & spoke to my soul? Not so much….punch in gut moment! Why? Why do we not feel free to go to people we love and care about and tell them & show them what God is doing in our lives? Why do we hold back these treasures from people that we love? Why do we withhold this from people we know that need to hear it and see it? 

These encounters, these moments, they are not meant to be kept to ourselves.  They are not meant to be contained. When they happen, we need to be excited about what has been revealed to us. Let us grasp onto the freedom that we have in Christ! Freedom to shout out and tell everyone what God has revealed to us! Freedom to be able to go out and show everyone everything God has shown us! 

Music For You: 

* Isn’t He (This Jesus) by The Belonging feat. Natalie Grant

Wild & Free - Part 4

My Latest Blog
“Wild & Free”
 Part 4
By Abby Hubbard

Vader was focused on the hope of freedom. Sarah was focused on the fear of freedom. Posey was just too tired to care either way.

In my mind, I see the garage door as representing all of our chains and our fears.  Everything that is blocking us from Freedom in Christ. As we hand over the control to God, it allows Him to open the door and begin to shine the light in our darkness and start the process of setting us free.

Why do I feel that freedom is the word for G.L.O.W. this year?  The meaning of G.L.O.W. is God Loving Obeying Women.  The only way to totally be that is to have and continually be experiencing and seeking freedom in our everyday lives. And not just any type of freedom, but freedom in Christ.  When you walk in freedom in Christ, you will be loving, obeying women. We need to be women who leave our chains behind and run after Christ! We need to see the chance for freedom and not look at it with laziness or fear, but look at it with hope.  When we pause in fear or come to a screeching halt in laziness, we are not obeying God and we will not experience freedom.

Ladies in our church, in our services need to see our freedom.  Our family needs to see our freedom.  They need to see our freedom in Christ as we worship. They need to see our freedom in Christ as we pray. They need to see our freedom in Christ as we serve.

But most of all they need to see our freedom in christ as we step out into the unknown and RUN after Him. Whatever that looks like. Ladies, Sometimes, you don't know you need something, you don't know your missing something, until you see someone else with it!  It's time for GLOW to take it to the next level. It's time to show the ladies what they need and what they are missing. FREEDOM IN CHRIST.

We can’t break our own chains to obtain freedom.  We don’t hold the key and we don’t own a chain breaker strong enough to continually keeps us free. So how do we obtain this freedom?

“Come to me, I’ll break your chains, whatever they are ~ Jesus”

We carry around things “chains”, known and sometimes unknown.  And when we are carrying them freedom cannot be obtained.  We need to hand them over. We have to be obedient in Christ taking one step at a time.  And when we do this, I can tell you for sure that areas of your life you felt you could never be free from, chains in your life that you felt would never break become unchained in Gods glorious power.

As I have been stepping forward in faith and leaving fear behind, I am beginning to feel freedom.  Freedom in areas that I didn't even know I needed set free from, until God showed me.  And when He showed me and set me free from it, I cant even begin to describe how I felt.  In that moment I felt complete resurrection power, new life.  I felt like skipping & jumping and shouting “Look What God Has Done.”

This is a hard question, but I feel I need to ask it. Ladies, which one are you? What chain/fear does the garage door represent to you? God wants us to have Freedom in Him!  He doesn’t want us to stay behind frozen in fear or to stay behind because we are just too tired to even care! He wants us to go after Him! He desires us to hold nothing back when it comes to freedom in Him! God wants us to have hope in our freedom, not fear! When we step forward in freedom with Christ, we aren’t alone.  Just like Vaders owner was with him the whole time, always in eye and ear shot, Christ is with us! Ladies, it's time for us to leave our chains behind and run forward in the freedom of christ.

Be enthusiastic to serve the Lord, keeping your passion toward him boiling hot! Radiate with the glow of the Holy Spirit and let him fill you with excitement as you serve him.
Romans 12:11

The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, and he has anointed me to be hope for the poor, freedom for the brokenhearted, and new eyes for the blind, and to preach to prisoners, ‘You are set free!’ I have come to share the message of Jubilee, for the time of God’s great acceptance has begun.
Luke 4:18-19 TPT

Music For You:
* Freedom by Jesus Culture (Kim Walker Smith)

Wild & Free - Part 3

Wild & Free
Part 3

APATHETIC APPROACH TO FREEDOM
The third face I saw was the apathetic approach to freedom.  Posey appearing at the garage door was a complete & utter shock to me… and to Sarah! She had come running out of the house and out of the garage!  She looked happy and ready to run free. But, after a couple seconds of freedom, she decided to turn around to go back into the house.
This was an altogether different aspect from Sarah & Vader! As she was standing inside the house, she saw that the door to the house was open and then she saw the garage door open.  She took the opportunity and ran for freedom. But, soon the outcome took a different turn.

As she took her first couple steps of freedom, she decided that the freedom wasn’t worth it!! Freedom wasn’t worth the exertion. Freedom wasn’t worth leaving the safety and comfort of her home. Freedom wasn’t worth losing control! She was too tired and it was easier to just stay in the comforts of what was familiar instead of stepping into the unkown and into the freedom she could have had. She was old, tired, out of shape and hopes for freedom didn’t matter to her anymore.

Scripture says how God feels about this approach:

But because you are neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, I am about to spit you from my mouth.
Revelation 3:16 TPT

Posey wasn't fearful or hopeful of freedom. She was somewhere in the middle.  As I was writing this, the song Somewhere in the Middle came to my mind by Casting Crowns. I want to read the lyrics to you, they are pretty powerful!

“Somewhere between the hot and the cold, Somewhere between the new and the old, Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be, Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right, Somewhere between the darkness and the light, Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me, Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense, Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle, With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is, But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle, Are we caught in the middle

Somewhere between my heart and my hands, Somewhere between my faith and my plans, Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar, Somewhere between the altar and the door, Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more, Somewhere in the middle You'll find me
Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle”

These lyrics say it all!

Laziness casts one into a deep sleep [unmindful of lost opportunity], And the idle person will suffer hunger.
Proverbs 19:15 AMP

The diligent find freedom in their work; the lazy are oppressed by work.
Proverbs 12:24

Music For You:
* Somewhere in the Middle by Casting Crowns

Wild & Free - Part 2

Wild & Free
Part 2 - FEARFUL APPROACH TO FREEDOM

The second face I saw was the fearful approach to freedom. The next face that appeared out of the garage door was Sarah’s! The expression on her face was pure terror! She was scared to death, gripped by fear!  Sarah was definitely not feeling pure and exuberant bliss when Vader decided to experience his freedom.  In fact, she was feeling the complete opposite.

For God will never give you the spirit of fear, but the Holy Spirit who gives you mighty power, love, and self-control.
2 Timothy 1:7 TPT

All Sarah had intended to do was to let Vader safely back into the house. But, to her surprise, all of a sudden she saw light breaking through the darkness of the garage, as the garage door began to open. She was not giving thanks, she was desperate for the door to close!  But as she saw the garage door opening, with no way to stop it, she felt helpless! Why was she in so much fear? She knew that Vader was going to have a chance at freedom and by the looks of it, he was going to take it! She new that Vader could be out of control, that Vader could get lost or even worse, he could get hurt.

Sarah was having fear of freedom because of different reasons:

1. She was in shock!  She had no idea that the garage door was going to open! She had no idea that the opportunity for freedom was coming. She wasn't expecting it.

2. She was no longer in control! She no longer had any control over Vader.  She had to have faith and trust that Vader would be safe and that Vader would come back.

3. She was doubting! She had little faith in the owner’s ability to keep Vader in their sight and to keep him safe.

4. She was feeling guilty!  She felt it was her fault he got loose in the first place.

Look at all of the reasons that was causing Sarah to have fear! Can you relate? I know I can!

Sometimes when we are given the opportunity to walk in freedom in Christ, to be set free from everything, the initial reaction is shock! We had no idea the opportunity was coming and sometimes it makes us freeze in fear! Fear of what? The unknown.
When you have a chance at freedom in Christ, you have to give up control of what was chaining you down! You have to trust & have faith in God to take the control! You have to hand it over.  To truly relinquish all control is a scary thing.

Doubt, I don't know about you all, but I am the queen of self-doubt. Luckily, that is where Christ comes in with Freedom and says: “Listen, you no longer need to carry around your self-doubt! When you walk in freedom, I will fill you with Christ Confidence and Christ Boldness.” We have the assurance that when we walk in freedom that He is there to guide us and protect us. We wont be alone!

Then guilt comes in, like a freight train! We begin to hear words being whispered to us to remind us of our chains. Words like “Why do you deserve to be free?” “You know that you will never actually be free?” “Your too weak to be free.” “It’s more comfortable here, at least you know what to expect.” Most of the time, it is our own doing that put us in chains in the first place.

So, when Vader was experiencing the hope of freedom, Sarah was feeling the fear of freedom!

“Real and sustainable freedom from fears can only be found in Jesus Christ and through His powerful word.”
Leah Dipascal

So what are some of those powerful words? Here are a few I have found:
But the one who always listens to me will live undisturbed in a heavenly peace. Free from fear, confident and courageous, you will rest unafraid and sheltered from the storms of life.
Proverbs 1:33 TPT

Listen to my testimony: I cried to God in my distress    and he answered me. He freed me from all my fears!
Psalms 34:4
Music For You:
* Your Love is Strong by Cory Asbury (Bethel Music)

https://youtu.be/EAm-cALhb2Y

Wild & Free - Part 1

My Recent Blog Post

Wild & Free
Part 1 - HOPEFUL APPROACH TO FREEDOM

The other morning, I came home from taking Bryce to school. That particular morning, Sarah had decided to stay home with the dogs.  As I pulled into the driveway and opened the garage door, everything turned into instant chaos.

While I was gone, the dogs needed to go outside. So, Sarah had let them out. As I was pulling into the driveway and opening the garage door, on the other side of the door, Sarah was letting Vader off the leash and into the garage.  Those are not 2 good combinations.

Before I knew it, all I saw was a black and white blur flying by me.  Vader was loose! Just wait though, it gets even better, Sarah had left the house door open when she went out to get Vader, so, by the time I stepped out of the van, out comes Posey running into the front yard.

As I watched all of this unravel, I wasn't too amused.  Vader was long gone and there was no way I was going to chase afterTWO dogs!  Lucky for us, Posey, being old & out of shape, ran to the middle of our front yard and then decided to come back to the house. But not Vader, Sarah and I spent 15 minutes, yelling at the top of our lungs, shaking a box of cereal and running after Vader in an attempt to get him back home. At 8:00 in the morning, I am sure the neighbors got a good laugh at all of this.  But this all happening on a Monday morning and before I even had a sip of coffee,  I was not laughing!

“Let me be clear, the Anointed One has set us free—not partially, but completely and wonderfully free! We must always cherish this truth and stubbornly refuse to go back into the bondage of our past.”
Galatians 5:1 TPT

Vader surely did “stubbornly refuse” to come back to us. But Sarah & I finally caught him, put him back on his leash and took him home. For Vader, his freedom was short lived. But it was long enough to give me a lesson on what God intends freedom to look like, and not to look like.

When I opened that garage door, there were 3 very different faces of freedom that I saw.  I wish I would have had the opportunity to capture it on camera!

The first face I saw was the Hopeful approach to freedom.  As soon as Vader no longer had his chain on him and his attention was drawn to the light of the garage door going up, he went flying out, the expression on his face was pure and exuberant FREEDOM! If freedom had a look, he had it!  Pure bliss, as his ears were back and flying in the wind and he was smiling ear to ear!  He was free to run and he took the opportunity to do it!  

For Vader to obtain freedom, everything had to line up at the exact same time. And until it all lined up, freedom would not be obtained.

1.    Vader had to be let outside and put on his chain.

2.   Vader had to be let off his chain, and brought into the garage.

3.   The garage door had to be opened at just the right time.

 If one of these didn’t happen, he wouldn’t have experienced the freedom.

“We have boldness through him, and free access as kings before the Father because of our complete confidence in Christ’s faithfulness.”
Ephesians 3:12

Vader definitely showed boldness when he claimed his freedom! When the leash that kept Vader where he was supposed to be was taken off and when the garage door that had always kept him confined went up, Vader saw the chance for freedom, and he took it!  He left his chain behind and ran for freedom.  He didn't think twice, he abandoned everything. He took the freedom! Everything that had been familiar to him no longer mattered. He left it all behind.

It would be safe to say that fear did not enter into his mind. He was focused on the hope of freedom! He was intently focused on what was ahead.  Could something terribly wrong have happened? Yes, he could have gotten lost, he could have gotten hurt.  But, did something terribly wrong happen? No! Why?  Because when he went after his Freedom, he had his owner along with him.  His owner stayed closed to him. When he started to run too far away, his owner encouraged him to come closer, when he got close to harm, his owner warned him.  His owner was always within eye and ear shot!

In our lives, maybe things need to line up for us to obtain freedom also.  So what needs to line up in order for us to obtain freedom?

We do not need freedom if there isn't something that is binding us, holding us down.  Just like Vaders chain kept him in the yard, what is keeping us from freedom in Christ? So, we need to take the time to recognize what is keeping us in chains.  What is holding us back from freedom?

We need to begin putting ourselves in an environment where freedom is accessible.  We need to place ourselves at Jesus’s feet where you can find healing.  When you find healing, freedom will come. Without Jesus and finding that healing place, there will be no freedom.

We need to have hope in freedom. When we get to the place that freedom is accessible. When we see the chance at freedom, we have to take it.  We cant stay back gripped in fear.

When Vader needed let inside, he didn't have to do anything but bark.  He had to let his owner know he was ready to be off his chain and let inside.  We don’t have to do anything for Jesus to set us free. All we have to do is call on Him and He will set us free!

His light broke through the darkness and he led us out in freedom from death’s dark shadow and snapped every one of our chains.  So lift your hands and give thanks to God for his marvelous kindness and for his miracles of mercy for those he loves!
Psalms 107:14-15 TPT
Music For You:
*Place of Freedom by Highlands Worship

https://youtu.be/aMxcmoSFZ98

Elevate Your Brokenness

Elevate Your Brokenness

“As for us, we have all of these great witnesses who encircle us like clouds. So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into. Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us.”

Hebrews 12:1 TPT

Conversations with my son can get pretty crazy sometimes. You never know what he is going to say! Like many teenage boys, he hates school. So when he can come up with what sounds like a good reason to miss it, it sounds good to him.  Well, one day we were driving and the conversation of breaking a leg so he didn’t have to go to school came up…insert eye roll…!  I mean really, anyone who wishes a broken bone on themselves has truly never experienced real pain! 

Never experiencing a broken bone before, he didn’t understand the limitations! You see, he had tickets to a Buckeye game with his dad that weekend! So in all my understanding mom ways, I mentioned, well geez if you break your leg, you won’t be able to go to the game.  Being a teenage boy, once again he had something to say.  That’s when I said, “Don’t you know that when you break something, you have to keep it elevated.  There is no way you can go to a game with a broken leg.”  The conversation kept going on, getting pretty absurd, until finally I got a little loud and said, “Bryce, duh! You have to elevate your brokenness!”

After I said that, that statement kept repeating itself in my mind.  Being a person that has had a broken bone, I know the importance of the proper care of it.  I know the limitations you encounter! I also know that one of the key steps to helping a broken bone heal, is elevation! This will decrease inflammation, swelling and pain! When you do this, you set the stage for faster healing! Let me tell you, you want faster healing! I know the freedom you feel when your broken bone is finally healed!  

As I was processing this statement, I realized how this can be related to brokenness not only in our bones, but in our life.  In our own lives, we encounter so many things that can leave us feeling broken. What do we encounter? Circumstances, poor relationships with others, sinfulness, death of loved ones and physical testing to name a few.

We encounter these things and they leave us feeling broken and isolated.  They make us want to hide away in our own pain and suffering.  We begin to think that if we stay in our own safe place, we won’t risk being broken again, we won’t have to deal with our feelings or risk anyone seeing the sinful behavior.  But as we are hiding away, what we don’t realize is that we are creating a breeding grounds for inflammation, swelling and pain!  We are delaying our healing! In our inexperience of brokenness and in our inexperience with God’s healing power, we have put limitations of God. When we put limitations on God, we put limitations on the freedom we gain through Him! He offers freedom from our brokenness!

The key step to healing your brokenness is elevation!  Elevation means to raise or lift (something) up to a higher position.  We need to begin elevating our brokenness to God!  When we elevate, we take it out of our line of sight! We no longer see it, our eyes aren't fixed on the brokenness any longer! It is no longer in our view point! And we lift it up to the Person in the Highest Position! Our eyes are now fixed on Him! Allow God to take away the inflammation, swelling and pain that has pierced us.  Let him remove the sin that we fall into.  

“So we must let go of every wound that has pierced us and the sin we so easily fall into.” 

When you elevate your brokenness to God, you set the stage for a faster healing! When you elevate your brokenness, you are no longer on the same level! You are moving up! Then and only then will we be able to pursue and experience the freedom that God so much wants & has for us!

“Then we will be able to run life’s marathon race with passion and determination, for the path has been already marked out before us.”

I don’t know about you, but I want freedom from brokenness! I want the healing so that I don't have limitations! Limitations take away the passion and determination! Give me the freedom so that I can be able to run with no limitations!

Music For You: 

* Broken Vessel (Amazing Grace) by Hillsong