SPIRITUAL SHADOWS: Living Between Anticipation& Manifestation

God knows how to give and get us what we need!  We just need to learn to pay attention.  This week, as I watched an episode of Sid the Science Kid with my one-year-old niece, I began to understand the role spiritual shadows play in our lives.

First, let me define what I call a spiritual shadow.  We all experience "shadow dancing" at some point in our walk with Christ.  We are in the spiritual shadows when we can literally “feel” that “something” in our lives is about to change or shift.  During these times, we often struggle to find the words that will convey what our hearts so clearly know and see.  

In our spirits we know that we are on to something and our expectancy increases.  But we must be careful when we feel ourselves in the shadows, because if we don’t rightly discern our seasons and times, we will easily become frustrated when our natural circumstances take time to catch up with our spiritual sight. 

Click to read more ...

Smoke & Mirrors: Are You “Acting” or “Being”?

hile accountability is a term often thrown around in Christian circles, few of us really know what it means to live a transparent life open to challenge and correction (Proverbs 12:1).  Unfortunately, we approach our relationships like a trip to the mall rather than a visit to the doctor’s office.  When shopping, the objective is to find an outfit that accentuates our best assets, while minimizing—if not altogether hiding—our flaws.  However, a visit to the doctor’s office, requires us to share every symptom—the good, the bad, the embarrassing and the ugly—in order to insure the proper diagnosis and treatment.  Trusting in the confidentiality of the patient-doctor relationship, we divulge our secrets because when healing is needed, we can’t afford to hide behind our images.

Smoke & Mirrors:

I grew up in a moderately strict household.  While my parents were rarely overbearing, there was a clearly-drawn line between parent and child.  Crossing that line came with penalties.  But I quickly learned that acting out in public was one of the absolute worst things I could do. I remember walking through a mall once with my father as another child threw himself on the floor and his parents attempted to quiet his tantrum.  My father looked at me, shook his head and simply said, “If you ever!”  This made it crystal clear that the consequences for public embarrassment were severe.  I knew what was expected of me in public and I made sure to do it.

I developed the necessary behaviors of “acting right” because avoiding punishment, not personal development was my aim.

Click to read more ...

Radical Faith: Keep Praying and Believing

ears ago, I was more radical in my faith.  In the years that immediately followed the end of my depression, I clung to God with a wild abandon to keep myself free from its darkness.   I trusted Him to do the impossible and actively work on my behalf.  

Truthfully, some of my youthful prayers and requests were immature and fleshy.  If I’d gotten what I thought I wanted and needed, it would have destroyed me.  Other prayers were unscriptural and offered up in ignorance.  But, even still I believed that He would do it for me.

I don’t know when I became this cautious woman who reserved radical faith and confession for crisis only situations, but the time finally came when I knew that I was ready to change.

Many of us want to believe that our next year will be significantly different from the last one.  However, fear keeps us from asking for these changes.  Disappointed by the past, we are more comfortable managing our emotions with reserve than risking the possibility of more unfulfilled hopes.  But, it is time to stop playing the game and believe God for our turnarounds.

Click to read more ...