Tag: hearing God

TEST

TEST

by HeatherJean

Four months into my cancer treatment I had a PET scan.  It is like a lot of the scans you can get these days. They put you on your back with your arms above your head. You glide slowly in and out of a tube accompanied by a whirling sound while a laser takes your picture. Something like that anyway. At the beginning, a voice tells you to breathe normally.

Breathe normally?. How about just breathe. I forgot what normal was. I’m fighting cancer and my heart keeps stopping.

Before I went into the test, I forgot to ask a very important question. This was a serious oversight on my part and had tremendous bearing on my peace of mind.

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FRIENDS

FRIENDS

by HeatherJean

2 steps to a greater friendship with God.

Have you ever caught a glimpse of someone and thought “We should be friends!”

Maybe they were adventurous or had cool toys or great hair. Hey, trust me. I’ve picked friends for less. Many of us take whatever comes along, by way of friends, just happy to have some when we need them…but the best relationships are intentional.

You know, ones we invest time and effort in. It starts with a simple decision to focus more on the needs and desires of the other person than our own. That is where relationships turn the corner from a casual acquaintance to an intimate confidant.

All living things thrive when their needs are tended to; houseplants, farm animals, human hearts, and God.

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CAPTURE

CAPTURE

by HeatherJean

When we were kids, we played a game called capture the flag. There were two teams, Red and Blue. I was on Blue. The strategy was to take as many Team Red players captive as possible, to get access to their flag…while they were out to do the same to us and our flag.

The difficulty was hanging onto Team Red POWs (Prisoners of War). If they escaped, well then, we were back where we started. A never-ending cycle unless we stepped it up and took the game seriously.

I was thinking about how this same strategy applies to our thoughts. There are good, healthy, lovely ones, can we call them Team Blue? (Yes, I think we shall) And there are anxious, fearful, jealous, reactionary ones. Team Red.

My friend Melissa reminded me how hard it is to stay on top of them all. Self-control is not always enough.

She said “I struggle with this so very much…my thought life…. any negative word or news sends my mind into a world of “what ifs”…and then anxiety sets in….” Team Red is swamping her and capturing her flag. The ones she captures from their team keep escaping, to beat her up again. This struggle is real.

Yet, Blue Team can come away victorious!

Here are Three Steps to Capture Team Red.

  1. Enter the arena knowing we are in a war. My friend Jean recently told me “I’ve just been going through the motions.” We feel that way at times. Perhaps this is a wake-up call. The enemy wants to destroy every peaceful thought we have, and flood us with anxiety. We must plan on fighting. Plan on winning. Remember that our God has equipped us to “Take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-6 in the Message is…awesome.

“The world is unprincipled. It’s dog-eat-dog out there! The world doesn’t fight fair. But we don’t live or fight our battles that way—never have and never will. The tools of our trade aren’t for marketing or manipulation, but they are for demolishing that entire massively corrupt culture. We use our powerful God-tools for smashing warped philosophies, tearing down barriers erected against the truth of God, fitting every loose thought and emotion and impulse into the structure of life shaped by Christ. Our tools are ready at hand for clearing the ground of every obstruction and building lives of obedience into maturity.

  1. Don’t ever fight alone. Team up! Go Blue! We do this by FIRST getting a word from God. Simply pray “Holy Spirit, what should I think when anxious thoughts assault my mind?”  And then listen, believe, obey and carry that word with us always. Let Him help us battle those thoughts with that word. And SECOND, by telling a loving and honest friend about our struggles. They can pray with us and keep us encouraged and accountable as we fight. We may want to find a trained Christian counselor to help us find the root of our thought cycle, so we can get out of it and start captivating instead of being captivated. My friend Grace reminded me of this wonderful verse, Philippians 4:6-7. Here it is in the Message.

“Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”

  1. Just like in our childhood game, it is always easier to win when we can take on fewer enemies. How? Expose ourselves to less of whatever attacks our peace. I suggest we periodically test ourselves to see if we’re taking in too much negativity, only to have to fight negative thoughts. When we are on Social media, or watching the news, how many thoughts are anxious and fearful? Whatever the source Team Red is using, close the portal down for a while. Let peace gain a fighting chance!

Philippians 4:8 “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

CAPTURE those thoughts. They are yours… make them yield to Christ.

GO BLUE!

WAYS

WAYS

by HeatherJean

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:9

I have four kids. Four plus two (my daughter-in-loves). Having a relationship with them is one of the great joys of my life.

More than they know.

When my kids were littles, they almost never left me alone. Every sentence was punctuated with “MOM!” Well, they’re all young adults now and I’m the one initiating most of the conversation. And that’s okay. I do TRY to keep it in perspective. I did the same thing to my mom. and dad. (Sorry!)

But in order for us to have relationship, I have to think creatively and use methods they “get”.

Hello and goodbye just aren’t enough. That’s all.

To get my kid’s attention, I might try a note on the fridge or in the lunch box, anywhere there’s food.  A note on the mirror, a voicemail, text, instant message, Facetime, email. Even that ancient method; the phone call.

These little touch-points aren’t the whole relationship. I just know that if I invest in small moments of contact, more opportunities will follow for us to be open about bigger things. Vulnerable with each other. Real and raw when need be. I want our bond, though it goes through seasons, to stay strong.

They may not even realize it, but they need me. They need their dad. They need the advice, stability, and frankly, resources that we have. We’ve been here longer. We know.

My point is, that the Holy Spirit is a wise and relational being, and the same principles are crucial to our bond with Him.

  • He knows more than we do that we need Him. Without Him, one stiff wind would blow us away. Off the planet.
  • He longs for vulnerability and a deepening bond with Him as we become increasingly raw and real. Open and honest.
  • He is a responder, hearing our prayers and answering, receiving our worship and responding with His presence. He never leaves us hanging on our end of the conversation.
  • He is also an initiator, speaking in creative ways that we “Get.” He keeps in constant contact with us. He has His ways!

For me, recently, His touch-points are punctuated with a single word. One word that I Listen for, Believe, Obey, Carry, and am ready to Share.

Ways I find my word from Him:

  • A word in a song
  • A word from a friend
  • A “prophetic word”
  • Something I see, touch, taste, smell or hear
  • A word in The Word

I will post again on each of these. If you have received a single word from God in one of these ways, and want to share it in the comments, that would be great!

~HeatherJean