It is for Freedom!

Since my last post had a similar theme, you can easily figure out where I am in my own life right now.  I guess it could be summed up as practical living in the every day details of life, with Christ at the center.

The latest lesson came as I prepared to clean our tub.  My normal routine is to clean only the tub portion one week, while doing both the tub and shower walls the next.  I used to do it all every time, realized it isn’t needed that often, and gave myself the privilege of an easier week every other week.

When I’m going on a trip, I like to make sure the house is cleaned just before I leave so it will be clean when I return, and I won’t have to add that into my schedule.  Since we are preparing for a trip next week, this was on my mind as I debated whether to clean the walls today or just before we leave.  Then it hit me, and I spoke out loud to myself, “Kay, you don’t have to do it either time, if you don’t want to!”  What a revelation!

Of all things, I have made this a law for myself.  But God doesn’t care if I let it go for weeks at a time, especially if doing the “big” job will steal my peace when I have a tight schedule.  He’s all about my living in peace, you know – and certainly not into my losing it to a less than sparkling shower wall!  I hope you’re laughing at me by now, because I’m sure laughing along with you.

There are bound to be things in your own life routine (no matter how chaotic that “routine” might seem) that really aren’t as important as you’ve made them.  Somehow, they’ve become a law for you.  When you don’t do them, you feel guilty, like you’re just not measuring up . . . to what???  I give you permission today to say out loud that you don’t have to (fill in the blank), and it is perfectly fine with Jesus.  If you get slack, He is well able to point it out – without the guilt and condemnation.  After all:

Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. NIV

Freedom for you, my sisters on the mission field!  Let me hear what “shower walls” have been in your own life.

My Company

I apologize to you wonderful women on the mission field for not posting last week.  I spent most of 5 days at my first-ever writers’ conference, and I am chock full of information I didn’t even know I needed to know!  On top of all the wonderful classes and seminars, with much room for the Lord to speak personally as the teachers taught, the fellowship with around 400 other Christian writers and faculty was absolutely life-changing!

The main eye-opener happened on the third evening as a very effective author/speaker ministered with humor about all of us being weird.  She was right – at least to those who haven’t been called to write!  I stepped into such freedom with that simple statement, finally understanding why I’m so word-oriented and wanting to write about everything.  It’s in my God-given spiritual DNA.  Freedom!

The conversations in every venue – class, walking to and from buildings, in elevators and the dining room – only emphasized the reality of what had been ministered.  I was among my own company in a part of my life in which connections had never been made before.  Now I have a bond with others who can relate to me in one of the Lord’s life calls for me, and I can soar – despite my ignorance of publishing, marketing, and everything else I heard about. 

I never saw my need for this company until I was immersed with them in all things writing, though I had long-since seen your need for your own company of other women on the mission field.  That’s why I started this blog – so you could relate to your company, even when not in physical contact with them.  This is a place you can begin to connect with your sisters in similar service to Christ on foreign fields – the ones who really understand what you’re talking about, questioning, and dealing with.  After all, you missionaries have some pretty weird traits of your own , but they are necessary for the call of God in your life to be fulfilled.

Let me know how I can help you connect with others of like-DNA so you, too, can soar!

Don't Go There!

Several months ago, Tom and I began a study using The Battlefield of the Mind book and study guide by Joyce Meyer.  We are going through it slowly, one chapter at a time, answering questions from it, and then discussing it with one another, so it’s much like going back to school.  It’s forcing me to chew on what I’m reading, rather than just zipping through the material quickly without absorbing it.  I’m actually learning it.  Just this morning, the Lord ministered to me using one of the key points in the book, the gist of which is, You don’t have to take ownership of every thought that comes to you.

I was putting off getting out of bed, though I’d been awake quite a while, alternating between praying and thinking about “things.”  As I drifted into thoughts about the non-relationship between one of my sons and me, and between my sister and me, the familiar trap of condemnation and guilt began to draw me in as I considered my being the common factor in both relationships.  Right in the midst of it, the Lord spoke clearly, “You don’t have to go there unless I take you there.”  Wow!  With those words, He snatched me right out of the downward spiral into which those thoughts were leading me.  My loving Daddy doesn’t want me to live that way any more.  He really wants to help me take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5).  Sometimes I’m not even aware just how contrary to Christ my thoughts are, so He chose this morning to wake me up to this trap that has been my normal.

I don’t know what your specific situations are, my beloved sisters.  Be assured the Lord is saying the same thing to you, “You don’t have to go there unless I take you there.”  Turn away from that self-analysis that only sides with the accuser, contrary to what God has declared about you – no matter the situation.  Instead, take those thoughts captive, knowing if there is something in you needing correction, He will bring it to your attention at the right time and in the right way.  You will be convicted, not condemned, and will walk out of it in true humility and freedom because of His mercy and grace.

Romans 8:6 AMP Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter].  But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever].

There is no need to be concerned that you will get “out of balance” in this, refusing to receive correction.  That, too, is a trap of the enemy.

John 5:24 AMP  I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, the person whose ears are open to My words [who listens to My message] and believes and trusts in and clings to and relies on Him Who sent Me has (possesses now) eternal life. And he does not come into judgment [does not incur sentence of judgment, will not come under condemnation], but he has already passed over out of death into life.

How much more freely and confidently we live when led by the Spirit into correction, rather than by the enemy – through our flesh – into condemnation!  I choose God’s freedom from this day forward.  I’m not going with my thoughts into those places any more unless my Daddy takes me there.  How about you?  Freedom in Christ!