Brokenness Repurposed.

It is simply amazing to me how Jesus can remake all of the brokenness in our lives. He takes what the enemy means for evil and repurposes it for His own glory. As an creative type person, I strive to find ways to reflect His truth in my work. Here is a peek at one of the ways I do that. Enjoy! 

http://youtu.be/kRHXyFQD_cw

Prove It!

Prove It!

I love it when The Lord reminds me of a lesson He has been teaching me.  I don't think I will ever master some of them this side of heaven and that's why I need reminders.  Today's reminder came from listening to my favorite morning show on the radio, KCBI with Jeff & Rebecca.  I only get to listen for about 20 minutes in the car as I am taking kiddos to school and I always enjoy every minute of it. It is often a source of inspiration as it was today.  I had been wondering what I was going to blog about and on this morning's program was one of those reminders.

As a child, I had an abusive step-father for many years.  He often said these words to me: "You are so stupid! You are never going to amount to anything when you grow up."  When he said this to me I would think "You just wait until I grow up and we will see who the stupid one is!" For a long time after, it seemed to me that I had been so strong in those moments, that I hadn't allowed his hateful words to crush me.  

Over the years I have come to realize that, although I wasn't crushed by his statements, I was indeed broken because I felt compelled that I needed to prove him wrong.  What he said about me couldn't be right and I would not allow it to be.  That's a lot of pressure to put on one's self. It may look like confidence but it becomes bondage because when you are always striving to prove someone wrong, you are never free to just be who God created you to be. 

That bondage also carried over into other relationships for me.  I ended up in conflict with someone at a church I attended over something I was sure God had called me to do. This wasn't something I had taken lightly, I had sought counsel and prayed over it. Since I was already carrying this big chip on my shoulders, I was deeply wounded and offended when my motives were misjudged and I wanted to rise up and prove them wrong.  God calls us chosen, blessed, redeemed.  He wants us to step out in faith to minister to others.  He gives us gifts and talents to do that so  I also wanted to prove what God says about me was right.  That there was a calling on my life. Because if I could prove God right, then that would definitely prove my ex-step-father wrong. 

As I struggled with this "I'll show you mentality", God began to reveal to me that He already knows my heart. He knows all of my thoughts. He is my perfect judge and advocate. He is my redeemer, creator, loving father.  And then He impressed upon me that I do not have to prove anyone else wrong, because God knows the truth anyways and what do man's opinions really matter? We are not to seek our affirmations from the people around us, we are to look to Christ for our identity, (Galatians 1:10). I also do not have to prove God right either. He is sovereign, almighty, all powerful.  What can I possibly do to defend His honor that He can't do a million times better. What can I possibly do to force His purpose to be fulfilled in my life in my timing? Nothing at all. He is the author and perfecter of my faith, my calling, the purpose He has for my life.  He simply calls me to submit to being remade in His image and to follow His lead.  He is calling you to the same.

God loves you! It doesn't matter what the world thinks or what you are unfairly criticized for as long as you are chasing after Christ. There is nothing any amount of striving can accomplish so believe what God says about you and REST in it. You don't have to prove anything, you don't have to prove anyone wrong and you don't have to prove God right either.

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession..."

1 Peter 2:9a NASB

Cherry Fargo

Being ReMade

Day Ten: SELF-CONTROL

   Day Ten ~ SELF-CONTROL

Key Bible Verse- 

Titus 2:111-12

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

Thoughts to ponder- 

Self-control is the last of the fruit of the Spirit, possibly the most challenging for many of us. This is the power switch for harvesting all the others.  But let’s face it, we want what we want when we want it and exactly how we want it. That is the mindset of our society.  In stark contrast is the definition of self-control: the ability to control oneself, in particular one’s emotions and desires or the expression of them in one’s behavior, especially in difficult circumstances.

I think the greatest example of self-control by far was Jesus’ commitment to die on the cross.  He had the ability to make His pain stop, to make those who persecuted and tortured Him cease, to call ten thousand angels to His rescue. He didn’t do any of those things though because He knew that the pay off of His restraint was well worth it. There was a plan and a goal to be achieved, the reconciliation of mankind into relationship with God, and there was no other way to bring it to pass.

And so should it be with us, we should dig deep to find the fortitude to remain committed to growing in Christ, to become conformed to His likeness. It is not always going to be pretty or easy. We will certainly face challenges in cultivating the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. Trust that He has a plan and purpose and that the practice of godly restraint in our lives will develop character in our lives. We must choose to look beyond our immediate circumstances and endure whatever God allows us to go through. It is our choice to make but God himself empowers us to do so.

Challenge/Action Step- 

Name one area of your life that self-discipline comes easy and one area of your life that self-control is a struggle. What are the differences between the two?  What is one thing you can do today to have greater discipline in your life?

Prayer for today-

Lord, thank you that you see us, and our struggles to be self-controlled and disciplined.  Thank you for your forgiveness as we lay our failures at Your feet in repentance and begin again.  I pray that you would help us to drawn near to you so that we can truly live a Spirit led life.  ~ AMEN

Thanks for joining me today as we continue this 

journey to understand and further develop the

fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  Please take a minute to leave a 

comment here or join Cherry Fargo of Being ReMade on Facebook

for further discussion on Living The Fruitful Life.

Day Three: JOY

Day Three - JOY

Key Bible Verse- 

Hebrews 12:2  "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." NASB

Thoughts to ponder- 

In scripture, joy is an inner result of our outward expression of our relationship with God in service to those around us.  Jesus went to the cross for "the joy set before Him".  It was His outward expression of the Father's love for us.  Our reconciliation to a personal relationship with God was the joy Christ was willing to die for in service to us while we were still undeserving.

In like manner, we are to be in such a close relationship with the Father and Christ that we experience joy in serving others and revealing God's glory to them.  Joy is all about what God has done and is continuing to do in our lives and the lives of those we love.  (Which if you remember from yesterday, loving others is a choice.) Joy differs from happiness in the sense that happiness is often rooted in our circumstances, our personal desires and hopes. To truly experience the calm delight of  joy, we must look beyond our selves and our hardships and walk closely with God for the sake of His purposes.  

Challenge/Action Step- 

Since God puts people in our live for a reason take a minute to think about the people you know that are the most joyful, how are they different from other people you know and what can you learn from them?  Ask God to reveal to you way you can practice joy and make a list of the things He shows you.  Please share one of those things with us in the comments below.

Prayer for today-

Jesus, Lord of all,  thank you for dying on the cross for us.  I pray today that you would give us a deep understanding of your great love for us .  Help us to know the joy of making a difference in the lives of others for your glory. ~ Amen

Thanks for joining me today as we continue this 

journey to understand and further develop the

fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  Please take a minute to leave a 

comment here or join Cherry Fargo of Being ReMade on Facebook

for further discussion on Living The Fruitful Life.

Day Two: LOVE

Day Two: Love

Key Bible Verse-

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.

Thoughts to ponder-

Love is listed as the first fruit of the Spirit. As we read the verses listed above, we can see that love embodies most if not all of the other eight virtues included in the fruit of the Spirit.  Many of the others listed could technically be practiced on their own without love.  However, it is impossible to remove all of the other virtues and have love remain.  

The love of God in us and extended through us is vital to a Spirit led life because it is what should identify us as Christ followers.  The ability to love one another, not just our brothers and sisters in Christ but EVERYONE, is central to revealing God's love to those around us.  Jesus puts it to us this way in John 13: 34-35 ~ “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."

I have a refrigerator magnet that reminds me "Love is a daily decision". That means even when I don't feel like it, even when people are difficult, it is my responsibility to CHOOSE to love.  By cultivating my relationship with God regularly, I can submit my view of things to Him and allow Him to love through me.  His power to do this is available to all who are willing to receive it.

Challenge/Action Step- 

Identify someone in your life that is difficult for you to love and ask God for the ability to see them as God sees them.  Does this change your willingness to love them? Now think of a very practical way of showing that person God's love and commit to doing that by the end of this challenge. 

Prayer for today-

Dear Lord,  as your children, give us the willingness and desire to follow the examples of love that you have given us.  Empower us with your strength to choose to do as you do and help us to see as you do. May we be a compassionate people and may other be drawn to you because of your great love in us.  ~ Amen.

Thanks for joining me today as we continue this 

journey in developing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives.  

Please take a minute to leave a comment here or join

 Cherry Fargo of Being ReMade on Facebook

for further discussion on Living The Fruitful Life.

The Middle of Nowhere?

I recently had the privilege of visiting with a dear friend who lives in a Chicago suburb.  Like most large metropolitan areas, all the cities run right into each other.  While driving to the art store, we were having the discussion about how convenient it can be to live in an area where there is a well known coffee shop on every corner and anything you might truly have a need for is within 10 minutes. 

Having become accustomed to small town living, which is only 20 to 30 minutes from all of the amenities I usually have need of, I commented that I didn’t really mind living away from the hustle and bustle of city life.  She surprised me when she said “Oh, I would live in the middle of nowhere if it were closer to somewhere.”  I had a nice little chuckle over that as she tried to explain her seemingly contradictory statement.  I understood what she meant though, sometimes we long for solitude but we want to have the ability to just jump right back into the middle of the action whenever our hearts desire, whenever we get bored or lonely, whenever we feel we have to have something right now.

That conversation has really been stuck in my thoughts though, and it keeps jumping out at me.  We had been discussing geographical locals but I wonder how many of us find ourselves wishing the same thing about where we are in our spiritual lives. 

I have found myself “in the middle of nowhere” for a while now in where I am operating in my walk with God.  It’s not that I am not walking with Him, it’s that my walk with Him is a bit removed from all those around me during this season of my life.  And I must admit that there are days when I find my self thinking, I wouldn’t mind being out here if only it were closer to where I want to be, where I think I should be, where I think this path God has me on is leading.  I want to be in the center of the action, to be doing something I think is more productive and meaningful that sitting out in the wilderness, just God and me.  I want to be a light and an encouragement to others, I want to shine shine shine so others can see the hope and joy there is in living for God.  And truthfully, sometimes I want to whine whine whine to my friends so they can remind me of the hope and joy found in God.

Have you ever found yourself in a similar place? The temptation is to pack up camp and go be in that place we think we ought to be.  I think it’s because when we are in the middle of the hustle and bustle we can distract ourselves from the difficult things we need to deal with in our own lives.  We can postpone the hard work we should be doing by allowing our friends to be our sole comfort and guidance.  We think that if we are surrounded by other people and other things it would be so much easier.  And while there is benefit in being able to share our burdens with others, I am learning that if God has us out in the middle of nowhere, He has a plan and a purpose for it.  He wants to be our “go to guy” and if He has to take us out far away from everyone and everything else so we can learn that, He will.

It would behoove us all to embrace the place God has us in, to learn in it, to trust and rely on God fully.  I think that the more we wish & strive to be closer to somewhere instead of being fully present where we are, the longer God will keep us in the middle of nowhere.