Living Life Lessons – Page 2 – Reaching Hurting Women Ministries

March 20, 2013June 25, 2016

Living Life Lessons :: PITFALLS

What is an emotional pit? Anything we can’t get out of with our own strength.

What is your pit made of? Self-pity; compulsive habits, depression, anxiety, worry, doubt…

“A pit is an early grave Satan digs hoping to bury you alive.”~ Beth Moore

How did we get into this pit?

Pushed in innocently by someone else :: family heritage, spouse adultery, job loss.
Slipped in by our own unplanned doing :: started dieting ended with eating disorder.
Jumped in with willfully planned sin, rebellion or disobedience.

Our pit dwelling may be caused by any combination of the above, or we may have gotten into one and it lead to another. Whatever the case living in the pit is not where we want to be.

Whatever we focus on will draw us in.

By focusing on our weaknesses or the circumstances we see in the natural, we give them power in our lives. They draw us in. We end up walking directly into the pit that we really want to avoid.

When we’re riding a bicycle and we focus on the parked car near the curb we’ll surely ride into it. The same is true with our areas of weakness. If we focus on them we will fall right into it.

Instead, we must keep our focus on Christ, by meditating on His Word we will be less likely to fall back into our pit. I’m not saying we won’t still struggle. But I know from experience, if I keep my thoughts going in the right direction that’s more than half the battle.

Can’t we just steer clear of the pit?

As Believers we owe ourselves and those in our circle of influence the determination and commitment to do everything in our power to walk away from the pit. You might fake it till you make it. But will power won’t sustain for long. Unless and until we turn our our self-destructive desires and weaknesses over to God nothing will change.

When will we turn our desires over to God? Must they nearly destroy us?

Unfortunately, that’s what I did. I had to lose my job, my home, my car, my family, and then my freedom before I looked up from my pit to find God’s loving hand reaching to pull me out.

Is God in your life? Are you living victoriously? Or are you living in your pit?

I encourage you to spend some time with God. Ask Him to search your heart for the pits that you may be headed for or are living in now. Get a good study Bible, do a topical word search related to your pit struggle. Dig into God’s Word. I guarantee you will find a hand reaching to pull you out!

I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. ~ Ps. 40:1-2

Click Here to watch Beth Moore’s teaching video “Get Out of That Pit”

February 20, 2013June 25, 2016

Living Life Lessons :: UNLIMITED ACCESS!

Since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have also obtained access through Him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ~ Romans 5:2

One day several years ago, I was missing my children who were grown but had been estranged from me for a long time. Then God gave me the above Scripture. With the verse came a vision of hope, a vision of my family fully restored, that has since come true. But before it did I had to lean on this verse for almost four years using the process below.

HOPE: forms the image according to God’s Word

We have something for which we hope… our marriage restored, a spouse’s sobriety, children’s struggles, finances… Whatever your specific needs are, if they line up according to God’s Word you can wrap them up in hope, keeping the vision of what you want to see before your eyes, not looking at things the way they are in the natural.

FAITH: rises in our spirit, giving substance to the image in the heavenly realm.

If you are a Believer and have faith in Jesus Christ, you have access to God’s grace; which is His favor and blessings. As we tap into this faith, it rises up within our spirit. We bring out our hope package that is filled with our vision, then by way of our faith we send our hope to God.

GLORY: is the physical manifestation of God’s goodness in the natural realm.

Because we have access by faith into God’s grace we can stand in the hope of God’s glory. As we keep our hope vision in front of us, thanking God daily for His favor, mercy and goodness, we can rejoice because this hope will not disappoint. Attached to our faith we have sent our hope vision to God. In His perfect time, God then sends our vision back manifested by His glorious goodness into our physical realm.

Today my family is fully restored! We are walking proof of God’s glory.

Here is the confession I stood on for four years:

I have access by faith into God’s grace where I now stand; I rejoice in the hope of God’s glory!

Take a few moments to get refilled with this song by the Robbie Seay Band http://youtu.be/Wz3vyyy01aw

Photo Courtesy of 123rf.com

January 16, 2013June 25, 2016

LIVING LIFE LESSONS :: What Are You Thinking?

With our busy, stressed out life it’s easy for our thoughts to turn negative or unhealthy… allowing current events to bring worry and fear; doubting your self-worth; having sexual fantasies about people… the list could go on and on.

Let’s find help for this troubling issue.

In the early days of my recovery, I struggled constantly with my thoughts. After living a destructive lifestyle of sexual addiction, using pornography and fantasy regularly, I had a lot of garbage in my mind that I wanted out. But the harder I tried not to think about them the more they came. I was trapped with my past in my brain.

Then God showed up! One day in 2005 I found a verse that literally saved my thought life.

Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me—everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. ~ Philippians 4:8-9 NLT

I wrote the verse on a 3×5 card and kept it with me all the time. Whenever a bad thought or image resurfaced I would pull out my card and recite it out loud. This is my confession:

I will think only on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely admirable, excellent and praiseworthy!

If my thought didn’t fit into one of these categories it wasn’t allowed! Somedays I had to recite this over and over and over and over to keep my mind free of unwanted thoughts.

We can’t erase the memories we hold in our brain. As much as we want to we can’t push the negative thoughts out. But we can put new thoughts in. We have the power and ability to create new memories, by putting positive thoughts and images in. The more good we put in, the more bad stuff gets pushed to the background. Until one day they seem to be gone. OK, sure if I want to recall a past image, it’s definitely possible. The trick is not to allow those thoughts to surface long enough to bring all their baggage.

If there’s one principle that was a turning point in my life journey, it is this:

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE THINKING ABOUT!

If you don’t like what’s in your thoughts — put in some new things. You have the power to redecorate the rooms of your brain. Why not put pretty things there?

True… Noble… Right… Pure… Lovely… Admirable… Excellent… Praiseworthy…

Do your thoughts fit in these categories?

As an exercise to ground myself further, I did a word study on each of these categories. This was a great way to build them deeper into my mind and helped me tremendously.