Tag: peace

Trust/Rest

On By happyreignIn Heather, Kingdom Concepts, Reflections & Musings2 Comments

I’ve been around the idea of trust for sometime, but I didn’t really begin to think about rest until listening to a series on it maybe seven years ago.  I never realized how powerful rest is.  When we strive and fear and fret, its not only so exhausting, its just simply a less fun way to be alive.  I think it helped me to answer the question, what does trust look like?  It can and often, looks like rest

Our imagination can cause our heart to tighten up and our breath to shorten when we imagine some undesired outcome.  Sometimes this process of fear is actually worse than even what we’re fearing!  Most times, these imaginings never come to fruition and they are nothing more than a haunting illusion.  But the goal of fear in our lives is to cause us to become our own Gods.  This is never in our job description.

The only thing that interrupts this is a living relationship with the one who is God.  When we know he is good and we know he is in our future situations and events as much as he’s in our immediate moment, we will rest in the face of illusions of possible frustrations or disappointments.  I think one of the ways God displays his greatness is actually in the personal details of our lives.  He’s really good at.

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In the kingdom of God, a living relationship with a good father, brother, and friend (just a few of the dimensions of our relationship with God) keeps our heart at rest.  Because we experience his love for us, we believe it, we remember it, and we trust rather than react like someone who is alone and needs to fix/control things when there could be an event or situation outside of our expectations.

In God’s kingdom, peace doesn’t have to be forsaken.  If there is a thought or conversation that threatens it, when you recognize that feeling, it is okay to let go of control, to change or fix something.  It is okay not to figure everything out or why something went wrong.  It is okay not having everything figured out for things to come.  It’s okay.  You’re going to be okay.  You are living loved.  And there is someone very capable with you sharing in your experience who is not worried, not fretting, not far away, and who understands and loves you very much.

Trust/Rest is just one more wonderful attribute of God’s wonderful invisible kingdom.  I have forgotten this in certain situations and events in my life.  I can feel his tangible love even now.  And just recently I have been able to completely let go of things in the past I don’t understand, aren’t fixed, and can’t change.  I can trust/rest God completely with the past as much as we can with illusions of our future.  He really is good and moves on our behalf.  It is a beautiful journey of courage that only love creates: surrender.

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Character     Covenant     Creativity

Family     Freedom    Gift Giver

Joy    Judgement    Kindness    Trust

Love     Praise      Prayer     Self-love

Self-love

On By happyreignIn Heather, Kingdom ConceptsLeave a comment

Self-love is necessary to the Joy-in-full as given to us in Jesus.  When we realize how we are forgiven by him and we choose to then forgive ourselves of every shortcoming and mistake we perceive we walk in or we’ve made, we begin to have permission to love ourselves again which ushers in inner peace.  Many fears are actually a fear of punishment by God for our transgressions, now or later.  That there is a God who is mad and will inflict suffering upon us for our lack of obedience or performance consistency.  We then, in turn, hold ourselves to inner standards that we perceive God does.  I shouldn’t have done x, y, and z.  I should be doing this.  I should be less like…myself.  And there lies the endless cycle of I’m not good enough as I am.

Christ has come not to change you so he can start to like you, but in fact, reveal to you your value and worth that you yourself cannot destroy, damage, or take away.  God’s kingdom–he–continually speaks dignity, self-worth, value, and significance in who you are, apart from the decisions you’ve made.  You cannot undo your likeness of him.  You are God’s child and he is your father that loves you and is proud of you.  He laughs at my mistakes more than I give myself permission to and he understands our thoughts and motives at this point in our journey more than we understand ourselves.  God gives me far more grace than I give myself and he is challenging me, growing me in consistently loving myself well, despite my perceived shortcomings.


He speaks this way.  “Remember the verse about forgiving other people 70 x 7?  That refers to my way, my nature.”  That he operates like that with us. “Well I want you to forgive yourself the same way. 70 x 7.  Without limit, without measure.  Forgive yourself, rather than accuse yourself.  Let things go and operate within my love that covers and forgives.  Lean into grace.”

He continues with, “Remember that verse about nothing in heaven or earth can separate you from my love?  No angels, no demons, no trial, no suffering?”  “Well I want the love you carry for yourself to be just as indestructible as my love is for you.  That is never waiver or falter.  You have my permission to give yourself approval at all times, rather than disapproval.”


God’s spirit will always guide us into taking care of ourselves, insides and out because he is your creator and has given you this gift of life and he knows its value and how much it is a journey of experience with him that is a gift.  Anything that cuts down, or discourages your personality, your expression, your gifts, your life, your freedom are quite possibly not from your father who delights in you as you.

Mission minded people sometimes think:  I will serve God by loving other people.  But we can only really love people to the capacity we have received God’s love for ourselves.  You count just as much in God’s aim of love upon this earth amongst all of humanity.  That God’s kingdom of peace and joy and love endure and reign within our own hearts.  Permission to love ourselves fully and completely again through the eyes of Christ, this is what I call self-love, agreeing with God that he says we are lovely.

Some believers are quick to expect God’s rebuke but they never hear God’s romance.  We don’t allow ourselves to hear it, because we don’t believe it’s true or because we don’t believe we deserve it.  That’s a lie.  God is in love with you and he wants you to give you permission to love yourself again too.

Character     Covenant     Creativity

Family     Freedom    Gift Giver

Joy    Judgement    Kindness    Trust

Love     Praise      Prayer     Self-love

 

 

New Writing Series: Kingdom Concepts

On By happyreignIn Heather, Kingdom ConceptsLeave a comment

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Hey Everyone!  I will be writing a new series of posts called:

Kingdom Concepts:   Attributes of an Unseen Kingdom. 

Every so often I’ll be adding another piece articulating some of God’s kingdom as it’s found all around us here on earth.

hand_drawn_arrowYou can access these new pieces via the KINDGOM CONCEPTS tab to the upper right or on the side bar at the top left.

Love         (<— Check this one out!)
Character           (<— And this one!)
Covenant            (<— And this one!)
Family                  (<— And my latest)
Freedom        (<— Just added this!)
Santa                (<— Just put this up!)

Happy reading and Merry Christmas!

50 Conclusionary Thoughts (from life experience)

On By happyreignIn Heather, Reflections & Musings3 Comments

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  1. Salvation is not earned, it is a gift.
  2. God loves everyone more than we can fathom, not just a small group of religious people who earn special entitlement (still taught in the church today)
  3. The practice of spiritual gifts is not more important than the practice of love.
  4. Operating in power is not necessarily more powerful than operating in faithful love.
  5. Expression (creativity in any form) can be an act of worship and is free from failure because the purpose is in the expression.
  6. God can repair anything that appears unrestorable.
  7. God can carry you through something you can’t carry yourself through.
  8. God can make beauty from ugliness.
  9. Many of the most precious things in life never draw attention to themselves.
  10. Sometimes things that revolve around lots of attention are rooted in brokenness and unhealthiness.
  11. God cares more about our inward peace than our outward performances.
  12. Relationships based on expectation aren’t based on love.
  13. Different seasons of our lives can feel like completely different lifetimes and aren’t always meant to be resurrected once they’ve passed.
  14. God has the ability to keep me better than my ability to keep myself.
  15. God only is ever acting out of love towards me.
  16. I can always trust God completely, including with absolutely everything, right now.
  17. Money has never been a good enough reason to direct the course of my life.
  18. Risk on the side of courage, fearlessness, and failure rather than on the side of safety, self-protection, and the approval of others.
  19. God has never asked us to worry and never will.
  20. God lives extravagantly.
  21. God doesn’t love the church because she’s earned it.
  22. Lack of understanding is not cruel, it is freedom and a fertile land for growing trust.
  23. Remembering our forgiveness really can make any cloudy day bright.
  24. The most selfless people on the planet have the titles “Mom” and “Dad”.
  25. Everyone is worthy of love.  No matter their religion, location, looks, or titles.  No one has earned it.
  26. God really does know the intimate details of our lives.
  27. Some christian movements that have drifted into maintenance of works or divisive theology began with the strong, simple message of God’s love.
  28. Love listens.
  29. You are meant to enjoy being alive.
  30. God can take any negative influence in our life and make it a place of liberty and strength.
  31. Belief in Jesus is coming into the realization of the truth that he loves us.
  32. Being understood feels good but is largely inconsequential in life.
  33. All things are heading towards the unveiling of God’s goodness.
  34. Eliminating the desire and the need to control other’s words, actions, or choices is your first step towards loving them.
  35. The root of control is ultimately fear, not love.
  36. Nothing can replace the experience of God’s love in our lives.
  37. Your value in God’s eyes never had its origins in your perceived productivity in his kingdom.  He has already given you his love for free, not as a reward for works.
  38. God does not love in gradients or degrees, it is who he is.
  39. Feeling bad about something does not earn your forgiveness for it.
  40. God’s gift to humanity is people.  The people in our lives are a gift to us.
  41. Love is not motivated by fear.
  42. Your relationship with your family is more telling than the accolades of strangers.
  43. God created people to fall in love.  With him and with one another.
  44. Let yourself be happy.
  45. Let yourself change.
  46. You are really forgiven, live as such.
  47. Play is one of the secret weapons of living.
  48. God is good company if we let ourselves simply enjoy him.
  49. Yesterday and tomorrow have no right to steal from today.
  50. God helps us become friends with ourselves and helps us stay that way.

 

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