Life's Healing Choices- Choice Seven

Can I just be honest? For some reason, I am having a really hard time recapping this chapter and what it has meant to me. It's so huge that I am tempted to elaborate way too much, and yet it is so simple that I feel like I could just write two sentences and be done with it.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Matthew 5:6

Reading my bible has changed me in many ways. Studying my bible has opened my eyes to a whole new world. Living out what I read in my bible has given me confidence. Finding others who believe the same things I believe has given me courage. Stepping out in faith has helped me to believe with total confidence that God's word really is true, no matter what my feelings are. Having a husband who loves the Lord, and others in my life who love the Lord, has caused me to hold fast when I've thought about throwing in the towel.  All of these together have been a safety net of a sort for my life, and I need them all because life is hard, and God didn't ask me to follow him in a vacuum .

As a baby christian, I knew so little of what it meant to live a life that was pleasing to the Lord. I had no idea how to develop a relationship with my father in heaven who loves me so much. So many times, I think we have been failed, and we fail others when we tell them that the "secret" to knowing God and to living a life of freedom is just to "read your bible and pray." Yes, reading God's word, and talking to Abba father are so critical to our lives as Christians. But this book, (Life's Healing Choices, which is a exposition of the beatitudes), is full of such a few powerful, yet life-changing truths that I believe will continue to equip me in the future, and that I hope to share with others as they are learning how to be freed from the things in life that constantly hold them down.

So I will share one thing that has changed for me since I started reading this book and meditating on these scriptures. Here recently, I have been freed from some things of my past that I think were causing me to be at this place where I was ready to attack and fire back when and if I started to feel threatened. Anger was my cue. In the past, I think I would just go with it and get way too riled up about whatever the mishap was. Now, I am watching myself get a little upset about something, but then I can take a step back, ask myself why I am feeling angry, and then I evaluate if whatever it is really is worth getting so upset about. 99.9% of the time, it isn't. Maybe something bothered me, but lately, I can just address that one little issue, without being all bent out of shape, and then just leave it be no matter the outcome, without getting all mad and defensive. It's beautiful.  And the issue can be the issue, instead of the hundred other issues that I had never dealt with. 

So how can I know that I will continue in this pattern? How do I know that this won't be just a season and then I will forget and go right back to where I was??

That's where chapter seven comes in,  it's about maintaining momentum and here is the truth, the second I start thinking I have got this in the bag, well that will be and is the second I fall on my face again. God has me in this sweet place right now, and the only way I can stay in this place of freedom, is if I continually stay connected to Him.  Staying connected to Him (through the ways I mentioned above...), maintaining momentum, and preventing relapses is my goal. A relapse for me is just going back to that yucky place where my heart is not in tuned to His and I get more and more pulled by the world and the things it has to offer (ie. false security, false ways of feeling accepted and loved, selfishness, being a consumer, etc.).

One really cool tool that Chapter 7 provided was this...it's an emotional check.

H- am I hurting?
E- am I exhausted?
A- am I angry?
R- do I have resentment?
T-  do I have tension?

I can go through this little check real quickly and pinpoint what's going on in my heart when I am feeling off. I love it.  Quick and simple.

Choice Seven
Reserve a daily time with God for self-examination, Bible reading, and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will.

Recap of the previous beatitudes that we have covered...

Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor; the Kingdom of heaven belongs to them! (This is about acknowledging our need for God.)

Happy are those who mourn; God will comfort them! (This isn't just about crying, it's about crying OUT TO GOD!!)

Happy are those who are humble; they will receive what God has promised. (This is about acknowledging that we are not in charge of the universe, Jesus is. It's about surrendering to Him.)

Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires; God will satisfy them fully.  (This is the continual, life-long choice to always seek after what God desires.)

Happy are those who are merciful to others; God will be merciful to them. ( Choosing to forgive because God has forgiven us, resentment doesn't work, and in the future I will need forgiveness.)

Happy are the pure in heart; they will see God. (Confess your deepest regrets, fears, and concerns to safe people. Satan likes to keep our secrets in the dark and that is where they grow!! Light exposes darkness for what it is and makes it dissipate!)

Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them his children. (Let's quit feeling entitled and causing bickering!! Let it go!! Strive for peace in your marriage, in your relationships, at your work, etc.!)

 

(Sorry if this is all over the place, again, I am having a hard time recapping this one!!)