What I learned over the weekend: Spiritually

Last weekend I had the amazing privilege of going to a Beth Moore conference. It was good and she had a lot of great points. She was walking us through the story of Naaman. (2 Kings 5)

In the story Naaman has leprosy. He is sent to a prophet for healing. The prophet doesn't come out to greet him but rather sends his servant to instruct Naaman. The servant tells him to go bathe in the Jordan River 7 times and he will be healed.

Naaman is offended and mad. He expected the prophet to come out and wave his arms around and to call on God. Instead he sends a servant. Beth said that sometimes we don't like the medicine and sometimes we don't like the bottle it comes in. In this case the servant is the bottle that he's not liking because he wanted a big show from the prophet.

Naaman did not want to bathe in the Jordan River. He said there were much better waters from where he came. It seemed beneath him. Too simple. Beth wrote on the board - I want healing but this is NOT the way I want it. I refuse to heal like this. She told us to write down the next bullet point - Sometimes we refuse to do what healing requires. There is a root of rebellion there.

She then said to do what it takes. Sometimes we are the obstacle to our own healing. Self-importance blocks healing. The chosen get frozen.

Perhaps your healing requires too much repetition. A stronghold is a mental obsession. You need the reverse to break it. She said to get into the word. Memorize it. Your mind is healed by repetition of scriptures.

James 1:22-24

New Living Translation (NLT)

²² But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. ²³ For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. ²⁴ You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.

She said so many times we get stuck in the "I'm sorry" mode. She said we need to go from "I'm so glad I'm forgiven" to "I did not out-sin your ability to heal me" to "I am standing here white as snow".

Back to Naaman... He was mad that dipping in the Jordan River is what he was told to do to get his healing. He wanted a big show. The men with him urged him to do what the prophet said. So he eventually did. It says that he went down and dipped himself in the water.

I connect this with getting down on our knees and dipping ourselves in His healing waters by prayer, meditation, studying of His Word, and worship.

Naaman did this 7 times and he was healed. Each time we turn to God in the midst of our trials brings more healing until we are healed. Repetition.

He's not asking us to blaze through life (as my pastor says) on our own and have all the answers. He wants us to ask for help. He's waiting for us to ask for His guidance. He alone has the answer to our healing.

Yesterday my pastor's wife was talking about our big powerful God. He is BIG POWERFUL. She used an example about her own dad and how, when she was growing up, she thought he was big powerful. If she needed something fixed, he fixed it. If she was having trouble with math, he helped her. If she was having trouble with someone, he would help. And she said that that is how God wants us to look at Him. As a big powerful God that is right there and wiling to help us through everything. We don't have to do this on our own!

We have to be willing to lay down our pride, plans, and expectations. We have to get down and dip ourselves into His healing water. Beth says that men and women of true greatness go down to the healing waters.

¹⁴ So Naaman went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself seven times, as the man of God had instructed him. And his skin became as healthy as the skin of a young child’s, and he was healed!

She went on with the story of Naaman. He and his servants went back to thank the prophet and to give him a gift. The prophet refused. Naaman promised to only make sacrifices alone to God but Naaman asked one thing. That he be pardoned when the King goes into the temple to worship an idol and leans on Naaman for he then would have to bow too. The prophet said to go in peace. 

The prophet's servant was greedy and went after them. He wished to get from Naaman what the prophet wouldn't accept. He thought that Naaman did indeed owe the prophet something for his healing. So he lied to Naaman saying that the prophet needed the gifts for 2 young prophets that had just arrived. The servant was given the gifts and he hurried home.

Beth said that God alone pays for our healing and that we get into big trouble when we start thinking someone owes us. 

When the servant returned home, he quickly hid everything. The prophet called out for him and asked where he had been. The servant lied and said, "Nowhere!" but the prophet knew what he'd done because he had been there in spirit. He told the servant that because he had done this, he and all of his descendants would have Naaman's leprosy and when the servant left, his skin was white as snow. 

Beth said that we are all susceptible to getting what we've judged someone else for having. We need to stay focused on the Lord and all of His goodness. He alone will heal us. He alone will give us a mind, heart, and eyes like His in order to see ourselves and the world around us with. And when a trial arises we'll be able to have peace and guidance through it. 

In order to see our big powerful God do the BIG POWERFUL we have to have that relationship with Him. (prayer, mediation, reading of His Word, worship, and stepping out in faith) He has a plan for our lives and our story written out. Will we stay on His path? Will we trust Him? Will we do what He's asking us to do in order to get the healing He's offering?

Our pastor's wife used a story of a young girl who came to her. Her life in complete turmoil. My pastor's wife asked her how her relationship with the Lord was. The girl responded that she prayed sometimes. After further discussion the girl revealed that she had strife with her mom, lived with her un-saved boyfriend, and she was doing drugs. My pastor's wife told her that she guaranteed she would see our Big Powerful God work in her life if she did what it took - Get into His Word. Move out and away from that boyfriend. Stop doing drugs. Make amends with her mom... Sometimes we're looking for the big powerful when what we are doing, is hindering the Lord from truly being able to work in our lives. 

Like Naaman, if we aren't willing to do what it takes to get our healing, then we could be missing out on the Big Powerful. We can be our own obstacle. 

Last night...

I spoke for the first time in my life. I had the privilege of speaking to the youth at our church. God laid it on my heart a long time ago to minister. I didn't understand it then, but I did begin writing a bible study focusing on finding out who you are in Christ. I pursued it but it wasn't His timing. It was missing the Truth. Had I pursued it in and of myself, it may have bore some fruit, but it mostly would have just been frustrating and I would have gotten burned. And in a way I did burned because I pursued it, to a degree, and hit a dead end. So I just kept it in the back of my mind and knew that when God brought it back up, it'd be His timing and He'd give me everything in which to fulfill His calling on my life.

Fast forward to now... At the beginning of this year God called me back into ministry. I didn't know how it was gonna work but I knew it was specifically for helping people find their identity in Christ. I realized, in my own life, that nothing was making me happy and nothing was satisfying my need to feel like I belonged. When I started learning about God's grace and about His truth, I began to see His plan for my life and for life in general and it has lit a fire under my butt and I just can't contain it!

About 2 months ago I had asked my good friend, Hannah (youth pastor's wife), if they needed help at the youth group. I was kind of just testing the water to see if God was really calling me into ministry right now. Well, a few weeks after that she asked me to come along to youth group one night because they were splitting the boys and the girls up and talking about love and relationships. So I went and quietly observed the girls and listened to their stories. I felt compelled to share my story the following week. I had never spoke in front of people but it didn't frighten me. I had complete peace and just a knowing in my heart that He was speaking through me, and that I am simply a vessel with a mouth and a story. So I shared my story with about 8 girls that following week.

What I have found in the past 6 weeks is that when God calls you to do something, He gives you a will and a way. He also gives you butt load of courage and strength that you didn't know you had in you. And when He calls you to do something, you cannot keep silent. Not only will you be blessed, you will bless others.

And what I found last night is that even if my words sound like my words, it sounds like Jesus to the enemy. (thank you beth moore!) I have the awesome opportunity to share my heart with the entire youth group for a couple of weeks. Last night being the first. And although I trailed off from my notes and lost my place several times and had a complete brain-fart, I know God still used me. And He gave me an awesome friend in Hannah and she perfectly summed up the night and what I was saying. I did so much better when I wasn't looking to my notes for help and just talked. Lessons learned...

I thought I'd share what I talked about last night. Written out, it makes a whole lot more sense.

The Lord laid Jeremiah 29:11 on my heart.

"For I know the plans I have for you,"

declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you

and not to harm you, plans to give you

hope and a future."

And as I was preparing for my little series for the youth, I kept coming back to this verse and how encouraging it is. So I decided to talk about each part of the verse. 

1) "For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord

HE has plans for us! Psalms 139:13 says that He knit us together in our mother's womb. And Jeremiah 1:5 says that even before He made us in our mother's womb, He knew who we were. Regardless of how we got here or whether or not our parents wanted us or were ready for us, He was ready for us to come to earth and live out the life that He set before us. We are here on purpose. He has a plan for our lives that HE created and HE created us to live out that plan. And we are all uniquely special because we all have a specific calling.

He knows the plans He has for us. 

2) "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, (i just wanna bold this whole part it's that good)

But He also gave us something called freewill and with that freewill we can choose to walk away from these plans that He has for us. I have found though that when you walk away from His chosen path for you, He brings you back to where He wants you. Those paths that are away from Him can bring on a lot of damage and stress and anxiety. And not because He is 'teaching us a lesson' so therefore making our lives harder but because we've stepped away from His plan and therefore cause a lot of drama for ourselves. A lot of the 'bad things' that tend to happen to us comes from us being stupid or from other people acting within their freewill. But that is a whole other something that I'll share with you soon...

My point is that, His plans are great. Sometimes it's not something easy (like speaking in front of people) but His plan is ALWAYS better and He always gives us the tools to succeed. He will never harm us. He is love and cannot act outside of who He is. He gave us grace through His son dying for our sins and therefore has given us freedom from all that condemns us. We are free in Him. And your life is forever changed for the better when you are following His plan. 

We can try and try to do things that we think are best. We can try and make our own way. But I have found though that this often causes stress and unexplained unhappiness and discontentment. I get a gut-feeling and I am learning to let that gut-feeling speak louder then me. 

I have also found that when i'm in one of those predicaments, it's easier to let God get me out of the mess I make then to try on my own. And that letting Him take care of a concern in my life, heals the whole wound forever and is not a short-lived quick-fix. But that is another whole other thing I'm going to share with you sometime. 

3) plans to give you hope and a future."

He doesn't mean that if you don't follow His plan that you won't have a future and He'll kill you off. It means that with Him you can have a future. And good future fulfilling your life's calling and living in the freedom of His grace. But more importantly, an everlasting future. Not weighed down by heartaches and troubles or even by death. 

Next week I'm sharing about what those plans for our lives might be...