Have you ever gone on a trip? Are you like most of us who return home to discover that we had packed significantly more than you needed? Is your life like that? When you take your last breath are you going to find that you are overpacked or are you going to realize that every bit of the baggage was necessary?
We all have baggage. Not just the stuff we check when we travel or use as storage for our off-season clothes. We have emotional baggage, spiritual baggage, mental baggage. Anyone who has ever lived has baggage. We carry our experiences with us. Our experiences help to shape us into who we are and who we will become.
Imagine the gym bag of a high school football player. After practice, it is full of
sweat soaked clothes, shoes, and accessories. This bag isn't small, it
is a heavy duffel bag and our athlete's two year old little sister is trying
to carry it. This is just like when we are trying to carry all of our
baggage. It weighs us down and holds us back. But if her older brother carries
the bag, they will get to the car much faster - as he can move faster
while carrying the bag on one shoulder and her in his arms.When they get
home, is it safe to let the little girl unpack the bag and wash the
dirty clothes by herself? Of course not. She needs help and supervision
to make sure that she is safe. This is what God does for us.
He is there to take the heavy, smelly, cumbersome bag and carry it - and He is so strong that He can carry us right along with it. He doesn't leave us to unpack and wash everything in the bag without guidance. The Bible gives us direction. God brings people into our lives (counselors, pastors, recovery sponsors, supportive friends and family, etc.) to help us with working through and addressing the trouble spots - just as a grass stain on white pants needs to be pretreated.
Who is going to help you unpack your baggage? Are you determined that you can unpack and rearrange it all by yourself? Do you think that your friends, your family, your counselor, pastor, or whoever is going to do it for you? Have you considered that the only way you can completely unpack the baggage and put it away so that you can use your experiences to help someone else is to let God help? God is the only one who can take our baggage, sort it out, and show us how to use it to help others.
Why are you still carrying your baggage? You know that it isn't getting any lighter, but you continue to carry it. Is it because it is familiar and "safe"? God can carry all of that baggage while He is working it out. It is easier than it seems to let God carry the burden. It only seems difficult to let God carry the baggage when you aren't ready to let go of it and keep taking it back.
I want to challenge you to take an honest look at yourself and your baggage. Who is carrying it? Have you decided to let God carry it? Why? What do I need to work through to be who God intended me to be? How are we (you and God) going to deal with processing and healing from your hurts?
*I am not saying that counseling is a bad thing at all. I am only suggesting that you cannot expect your counselor to heal your issues for you. You can expect their guidance, support, and encouragement. The same goes for any other person in your life.
Friday, August 17, 2012
Saturday, August 4, 2012
The Altar Stones (Releasing The Burdens)
I know that some have been praying for me for a long time about breaking ties with my occult past. For those that have been praying, and those who didn't know about my past, I want to tell you about something that happened the other day.
I had some stones that I knew that I needed to get rid of, but I didn't see any reason to. These were my altar stones, the very stones with which I created various arrangements for my wiccan activities. I practiced summoning, spellcasting, used them in worship of my deities whom I followed, etc. I thought that when I burned my Book of Shadows back in 2008, I had ended the connection. While I burned that book, I kept many of my other items, including books on spellcasting, tarot cards, jewelry, artwork, and more. The week after Cornerstone, I set fire to all of my pagan/ wiccan things that would burn. Then I stashed them in a metal bucket in the back yard. Along with that container sat my altar stones.
Last Tuesday, I realized that I couldn't take it anymore; that if I continued to hold onto these things, even in the back yard, that it would destroy me. So I took the bucket and dumped the contents - mostly ashes - into a trash bag (because of the paintings' chemical residue, I couldn't just throw it into the compost pile) and left it by the curb.
My next step was to get one of my (many) backpacks and fill it with the stones. It probably weighed close to 40 pounds. I ran an errand, then stopped at a park not too far from here. As I pulled the bag from the trunk of the car, I thought I would just walk to the edge of the river and dump the stones into the water and walk away. But God had another way in mind.
I started down the path toward the river, surprised to see that there were so many people there. I knew that it would arouse more suspicion that I felt capable of dealing with if I just dumped the bag and walked away. So, I decided to go across the footbridge and see about throwing the stones in a little farther upriver. I walked a little way, thinking to myself, "Oh, I'll just dump them in and leave. When I get a little further up the path, no one will see me and I can just dump them and go." Except as I walked, there continued to be people. I had walked a full mile carrying that bag before I reached a point where I could begin to unload it. As I started throwing a few rocks out of it, I realized that I couldn't just dump them all in one location, that I never wanted to create the possibility of the stones being put together the way I had in the past. I felt like God was telling me to drop them along the way. So, as I started walking back, thinking that I was going to have to make this trip several times in order to get rid of them after all, I realized that the people had left. I got rid of a few stones at a time as I walked back to the car, praying all the while. As I crossed the bridge to head back to the car, I realized that my bag was completely empty.
When I got back to the car, I felt as though God was telling me to look at what had just happened. I carried that heavy, awkward bag as far as I could before I had to stop and just get rid of a few stones. Throwing them into the river, I was giving them back to God. As I walked and got rid of a few more, I gave more back to God. I knew that I couldn't continue to carry the bag as it was, I had to let God have some of that burden. At the moment when I threw the last of the stones into the water, I realized that this was what it was all about. The whole idea of letting God carry the burden; He is so much better prepared to carry my bag of stones. When we let Him carry them all, we are left to carry an empty bag. And believe me, an empty backpack weighs a lot less than one packed full of stones.
I had some stones that I knew that I needed to get rid of, but I didn't see any reason to. These were my altar stones, the very stones with which I created various arrangements for my wiccan activities. I practiced summoning, spellcasting, used them in worship of my deities whom I followed, etc. I thought that when I burned my Book of Shadows back in 2008, I had ended the connection. While I burned that book, I kept many of my other items, including books on spellcasting, tarot cards, jewelry, artwork, and more. The week after Cornerstone, I set fire to all of my pagan/ wiccan things that would burn. Then I stashed them in a metal bucket in the back yard. Along with that container sat my altar stones.
Last Tuesday, I realized that I couldn't take it anymore; that if I continued to hold onto these things, even in the back yard, that it would destroy me. So I took the bucket and dumped the contents - mostly ashes - into a trash bag (because of the paintings' chemical residue, I couldn't just throw it into the compost pile) and left it by the curb.
My next step was to get one of my (many) backpacks and fill it with the stones. It probably weighed close to 40 pounds. I ran an errand, then stopped at a park not too far from here. As I pulled the bag from the trunk of the car, I thought I would just walk to the edge of the river and dump the stones into the water and walk away. But God had another way in mind.
I started down the path toward the river, surprised to see that there were so many people there. I knew that it would arouse more suspicion that I felt capable of dealing with if I just dumped the bag and walked away. So, I decided to go across the footbridge and see about throwing the stones in a little farther upriver. I walked a little way, thinking to myself, "Oh, I'll just dump them in and leave. When I get a little further up the path, no one will see me and I can just dump them and go." Except as I walked, there continued to be people. I had walked a full mile carrying that bag before I reached a point where I could begin to unload it. As I started throwing a few rocks out of it, I realized that I couldn't just dump them all in one location, that I never wanted to create the possibility of the stones being put together the way I had in the past. I felt like God was telling me to drop them along the way. So, as I started walking back, thinking that I was going to have to make this trip several times in order to get rid of them after all, I realized that the people had left. I got rid of a few stones at a time as I walked back to the car, praying all the while. As I crossed the bridge to head back to the car, I realized that my bag was completely empty.
When I got back to the car, I felt as though God was telling me to look at what had just happened. I carried that heavy, awkward bag as far as I could before I had to stop and just get rid of a few stones. Throwing them into the river, I was giving them back to God. As I walked and got rid of a few more, I gave more back to God. I knew that I couldn't continue to carry the bag as it was, I had to let God have some of that burden. At the moment when I threw the last of the stones into the water, I realized that this was what it was all about. The whole idea of letting God carry the burden; He is so much better prepared to carry my bag of stones. When we let Him carry them all, we are left to carry an empty bag. And believe me, an empty backpack weighs a lot less than one packed full of stones.
Friday, August 3, 2012
A Challenge of Faith
There is much that could be said these days about spiritual warfare. How we do not engage in it enough, how we engage in it too frequently, how best to go about it. But while we were all talking, Satan has crept by us and infiltrated our ranks. Many of our great spiritual leaders in both subculture and mainstream churches are being led astray, with their followers close behind. Our leaders are finding themselves wrapped up in false teachings, spiritism, and the occult.
How are others to be saved if there are no leaders left? If we let our leaders walk on in blind faith, believing that whatever it is that has lured their focus away from God is correct, are we truly any more focused on God than they are? It takes a true friend to call someone out on an issue, without throwing hurt and disdain like rocks. It is only through someone genuinely concerned that the truth will be spoken in love. And yes, sometimes, even the truth in love hurts.
2 Corinthians 11
Paul and the False Apostles
11 I hope you will put up with me in a little foolishness. Yes, please put up with me! 2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him. 3 But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.
5 I do not think I am in the least inferior to those “super-apostles.” 6 I may indeed be untrained as a speaker, but I do have knowledge. We have made this perfectly clear to you in every way.7 Was it a sin for me to lower myself in order to elevate you by preaching the gospel of God to you free of charge? 8 I robbed other churches by receiving support from them so as to serve you.9 And when I was with you and needed something, I was not a burden to anyone, for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied what I needed. I have kept myself from being a burden to youin any way, and will continue to do so. 10 As surely as the truth of Christ is in me, nobody in the regions of Achaia will stop this boasting of mine. 11 Why? Because I do not love you? God knows I do!
12 And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
12 And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
1 John 4:1-6
4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5 They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
This next passage concerns me greatly, as it has shown up in my own daily devotions several times in the last week. I know that it relates to much of what has gone on in the past, but it also ties directly to much of what I am seeing today.
Deuteronomy 18:9-22
Occult Practices
9 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. 10 Let no one be found among you who sacrifices their son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, 11 or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. 12 Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord; because of these same detestable practices the Lord your God will drive out those nations before you. 13 You must be blameless before the Lord your God.
The Prophet
14 The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the Lord your God has not permitted you to do so. 15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your fellow Israelites. You must listen to him. 16 For this is what you asked of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, “Let us not hear the voice of the Lord our God nor see this great fire anymore, or we will die.”
17 The Lord said to me: “What they say is good. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, is to be put to death.”
21 You may say to yourselves, “How can we know when a message has not been spoken by theLord?” 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true,that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.
2 Peter 1:12-21
Prophecy of Scripture
12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.
19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning starrises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
1 Timothy 4
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. 3 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth. 4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving, 5 because it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.
6 If you point these things out to the brothers and sisters,[a] you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, nourished on the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed. 7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance.10 That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.
11 Command and teach these things. 12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching.14 Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.
15 Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. 16 Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.
1 Thessalonians 5:12-24
12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. 13 Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. 14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. 15 Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else.
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt 21 but test them all; hold on to what is good, 22 reject every kind of evil.
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.
I challenge all who are believers and read this to test what they are learning through prophecy and teaching against that which is known to be the true word of God. I also challenge you to guide, teach, encourage, and correct in love each other and those who have turned away from God.
I challenge all who are reading this and are not believers to search for God.
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