In His conversation with a Jewish leader, Jesus clarified the purpose of life on this earth: “Love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. There is no greater commandment than these” (Mark 12:29-31 NIV). In this simple but clear statement, […]
God clearly describes our true identity in His word. Our true identity emerges as we see ourselves through the truth that we are called, loved, chosen, redeemed, and empowered by Him. There are many, many precious truths we can embrace that will guarantee us the ability to be transformed, restored, made whole, and set free […]
“Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” John 1:12 NIV Turning Toward Our Identity in Christ As we learn to confront shame, we are given the opportunity to disengage its power. The removal of shame is both a process […]
What to Do When Others Fail Us So, what happens when we fulfill our responsibilities to others, but they don’t fulfill theirs? If we are the recipients of a violation, we can set boundaries to protect ourselves from the violation recurring. But we can’t change the other person’s heart. Rather than attempting to balance an […]
While forgiveness allows us the opportunity to remove the toxins of an injustice committed against us, we must also deal with those wounds that stem from neglect in our early lives, that we learned about early in this book. What people didn’t or couldn’t do for us can create just as much (if not more) […]
When we get in touch with the heart of God, we discover that His methods of operation are entirely different from our own ways (see Isaiah 55:8-9). In fact, God tells us in His word that we are actually to get revenge on our enemies by showing them love and forgiving them. God calls us […]
When considering a serious inventory of our sin, if we find ourselves saying, “I’m not that bad compared to…” there is a major barrier in our lives that will inhibit our further growth and freedom. Simply put, we won’t receive the remedy if we can’t see that a problem exists. Many times, we fool ourselves […]
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 NIV Introduction Shame is a tool the enemy uses in the believer’s life that robs us of the freedom and power God intended us to have. If our lives are […]
Fear Fear comes from a threat of danger and a sense of insecurity. Sometimes fear is real, such as a storm about to hit our home. But oftentimes fear is irrational, meaning it has no basis in fact or truth. We can be afraid of people, circumstances, and events that will never hurt us. Sometimes […]
Anger Anger is a defensive emotion that arises when we feel our boundaries and sense of rights have somehow been violated. Anger tends to arise when we are desperate to: Hold on to what we have. Validate who we are. Protect what we feel entitled to. Fight back when our sense of self-worth is threatened. […]