His Beauty For My Ashes.

Today was my second day working at the japanese noodle bar. It was fairly hectic as I am still training and trying to learn the ropes. I was fairly exhausted after my shift so I headed home to rest after work. In terms of dynamics, working on the floor is challenging more mentally as you need to be alert to the needs of the customers as compared to the routines in the kitchen.

 I realised tonight was the first time I no longer dwelt on my problems, and instead I had that sense of peace and freedom in my heart after so many weeks. God has finally shown me the truth, and I have been set free indeed! (John 8:32)

 Link to Joyce Meyer's Beauty for Ashes.

 Listening to Joyce Meyer's "Beauty for Ashes" has been an encouragement to my spirit.

 God has given each of us a different temperament. Depending on our temperaments, we respond differently to different situations. But regardless, it is important that parents give their children unconditional love. All parents love their children, but the way they express would unintentionally hurt their children despite their best intentions.

 All of us have been hurt to some extent in some way in our past, whether verbally or emotionally by the people around like our parents, and peers at high school. Yet we keep dragging our "ashes" and letting it blind our eyes to what lies before us. When parents do not give their children unconditional love, it hurts their self -esteem and especially more so for a child for has an extra sensitive temperament i.e. Melancholic.

 For some of us, it could have been trying to win the approval of our parents, who may have continually told us "why can't you be more like your brother" who may have been someone who excelled at school, who could have done no wrong in our parents eyes, and have been the apple of our parents eyes. We may think that it does not matter, but the fact is it affects our self esteem as an individual. Its effects continues to linger into our adulthood; and it affects the way we manage our relationships, and in particular, intimate romantic relationships.

 For some of us, we may wonder why we continually try to win the approval of our partner, never realising that it is the lasting effects of our upbringing, and we are yet repeating the same cycle of "conditional love" that we experienced as as child. Sometimes it could be of a father who is very domineering, coupled with a mother who has only shown conditional love, both leaving the child with the impression that she does not necessarily have anyone she could trust to share or gain support from within the family.

 When we come to God, and accept Christ into our hearts, He swaps His spirit and gives us His Spirit. Just because we have accepted Christ into our hearts, it does not mean that we will magically be healed or transformed into supernatural beings instantly. But God loves us too much to let us continue living in the chains of our past. (John 10:10) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

 Joyce says that she had to spend many years working on the 15 odd years of sexual abuse she had to endure as a child. She thought that if she had kept it hidden, it would no longer resurface into her adulthood. Joyce continues to say that God had to continually show how to deal with her situation and deal with the issues that came out from her past.

 The key is knowing that she had a problem from her past, and taking choice to deal with it and heal from it, forgiving her father and also confronting him (in a different preaching) who had sexually abused her.

 Here are some notes that I have taken from her message in the video above.

 Take steps TODAY to let go of your broken past: 
 Psalms 118:24 (NKJV) This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it -

Decide today to forgive the people who have hurt us. 

 - Know that the Lord heals. 
 Psalms 147: He heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds.

 - Declare to the Devil that you want to be let go.
 Exodus 9:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, says: "Let my people go, so that they may worship me. 

Know that God knew you even when you were being conceived.

 Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart. I appointed you as a prophet to the nations. Know that God knows you even better than you know yourself.

Learn to get comfortable in your own weirdness and delight in your self for you were made perfect at conception. Do not worry about pleasing others, what matters is pleasing the Lord.

 - Decide today that this moment you will not let your past ruin your future.

Decide today that you will give God your brokenness and let Him use your brokenness to work on you for your healing.
That He can use your brokenness to "feed other people". He will make sure nothing in your past is wasted (John 6: 5-13).

 Isaiah 61 (NIV)
 1 The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,[a]
2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.
5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.
6 And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast.
7 Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours.
8 “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

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