Walls

Written By Ruby Heaton

As I reflect and think about walls, which are like boundaries- some are necessary. The problem arises if we put some up for the wrong reasons or if we don’t take them down when necessary. 

     Take for instance my first marriage, which was abusive. After that experience I was afraid to trust anyone. I kept my heart at a distance. There were times I was hurt when helping people or doing ministry, because the enemy came in and used people who were broken or immature to destroy what God was doing. It caused me to pull back again because I didn’t want to be hurt or abused again. God didn’t want me to put up walls and hide behind them so he kept tugging at my heart to help his people. He kept nudging me with the scripture do you love me? Feed my sheep. I’d hear it in a sermon or come across it in my reading, or he’d drop it in my spirit.

     In truth I wasn’t happy. I felt like something was missing. I’ve always helped people and prayed for them. God made me an intercessor, but I was fearful. I started helping more but one on one, and I realized hurt people are are also capable of hurting others. I felt God keep telling me to step out again, to put myself out there in front of everyone, and I thought, no way! I’ve seen and felt what people can do. I’ve met a lot of cruel people. God kept telling me to step out and be real. When I did, some people came up to me after my speaking thanking me for being real. Some came up to me in tears and hugged and thanked me. 

     When I was teaching the at Salvation Army I used to tell my girls don’t get upset when someone gives you a weird look. Maybe they’re hurting or just got into a fight with someone. You don’t know what they’re going through. Try reaching out, smile and be nice. It ended up working. Many of the women became really good friends and are still connected years later. 

     Many people think because people are different, they are odd or you can’t connect. I have always been blessed with friends that vary in thought, color and age. I have found that everyone has something to teach us, gifts to share and joy to bring into our lives. To connect we have to let down our walls or come out from behind them.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t use wisdom or have boundaries. But we still have to love, help, share, and be real with people if we’re going to be any use to the kingdom. After all isn’t that what it’s all about?

When the Walls Crumble

Sometimes we may come out 

From behind the walls we’ve built,

For a moment,

An hour, or a day.

Then we run back to their shelter,

Until the next time we feel brave enough to venture out.

Over time our walls begin to crumble

Little by little as the years pound against them.

Some of our walls may be suddenly bulldozed  

By circumstances beyond our control,

Then we’re left exposed,

And something happens,

A shift and a change occurs.

It’s then we realize the walls that we built

Were really prisons we put ourselves into,

And now that we’re exposed

We’re also free.

Prayer: God help us to break down our own walls, so that we can walk together in love and unity.  Free us to be who you created us to be. Lights, visions of hope, intercessors, warriors, teachers, healers, your hands of love extended. In Jesus name we ask. Amen.

No, I am NOT Thankful

Looking at things from another Perspective can make us more Thankful

I have been an office manager for several years at the same company and I could see that change was coming. So I prayed against it, and I was too scared to pray “Lord, Your will be done”, because I did not know what His will was. Although I suspected that it did not match my will. Instead of seeking His guidance, I prayed for exactly what I wanted, which was that I would be able to continue managing my same location. I told the Lord, “I really can’t handle a transition right now. I have been through this a few times over the years and a transition would simply snuff out my last bit of enthusiasm for this job.”

Lo and behold my boss tells me that they are not transferring me to another center. They are transferring me to two centers! Two centers which I have worked at in the past. Two centers that I do not like. “Ok, Lord we have a problem. Did you not hear my prayers? I specifically asked not to be transferred. Not only am I being transferred to one center that I don’t like, I’m being transferred to TWO centers that I don’t like! TWO! Lord, what is going on?” Within in my spirit I hear “Trust Me.”

Alright ladies, look: I love God, He has been faithful to me, and He has preserved me through some very dark times. Even so, trust is a real problem for me. So when He said trust Me, I was livid. I said, “Trust You? I trusted You when I prayed about this job, and You ignored me. This is transfer is counterproductive, and this does not make me want to trust You. This is the worst thing that could have happened aside from being fired!” I may seem dramatic but believe me this was exactly how I felt.

Then I hear, “What if there is someone there who needs Me? And I immediately shot back, “I don’t care, I don’t want to go!” (If I were, God, I would have struck me dead right then and there) At that moment my pride, selfishness, and immaturity became blatantly clear to me. I repented and decided I would do my best to trust God during the process. However I was still disappointed and distressed about the situation. Ultimately, I decided to suck it up and do my best during and after this transition. I received godly advice from a few friends and I began to pray. A few days later my boss says, “One of the locations is being remodeled soon and I don’t want you to have to go through that again. So for now we’ll just transfer you to one location.” Hallelujah, thank you Jesus, you heard my prayers!

I’m driving to work the next day and I said, “thank You Lord for hearing my prayers.” Then I started mulling over my life and said, “My life sucks.” To be perfectly honest with you, I say this to myself from time to time when life gets rough, but for the first time, I heard something back. “Why do you think your life sucks?” And it is hits me. I’m NOT thankful. Why am I not thankful for my life? Being in a pity party mood, I decided to answer the question. “Lord, my life sucks because my job sucks, my Mom died, I can’t seem to get certain relationships right, I’m not good at this, I’m not good at that.” I listed quite a few other things and then I realized all these things are circumstantial yet, I had allowed circumstances to steal my thankfulness.

Imagine giving your friend a sweater for her birthday and she exclaims, “thank you!” But then, “you know this is really not the color I would’ve chosen for myself, it’s a little long for my taste. Oh and is this Anne Klein?… Calvin Klein is really my favorite.” Can you imagine?! You might be tempted to snatch that sweater back. This is exactly how I was with God. “Lord, thank you for my life…. but my life sucks. My life did not turn out the way that it was supposed to. Yes, God, I’m so grateful for my life… but I really wish I was married, and that I didn’t have to work, and that I didn’t have any problems.”

Does that sound thankful to you? I was NOT thankful! But check out how GOOD God is. He did not condemn me for my ungrateful attitude. He changed my mindset. My Mom is dead. I miss her, I am still mourning, and my heart aches knowing that she will not be at my wedding or see my children or be there for any more holidays. When my Mom died, my world stopped. I wanted to stop. I don’t think anything can prepare you for the death of a loved one. Through all that God made sure that I was surrounded by people that prayed for me and my family during that time. It’s hard, but those prayers have been answered, and by His grace I am able to grieve. Yes, I wish my Mom was here. However it would be a mistake to be so consumed with her death that I refuse to appreciate those who are still here. I still have my Dad, my Grandma, my siblings, and many others.

As for the rest of my woes, well, they are circumstantial. Temporary situations. They may be difficult situations yet God is with me in every problem. I can give God my concerns and disappointments, and I can still be thankful. I do not understand how certain things could possibly be working for my good, but I can still be thankful. I choose to trust Him and be thankful.

 

 
 

Limitless

How God causes us to take Quantum Leaps in our Development

Written By Lynn Waters

It has been six weeks since our Limitless Conference, and I am still so appreciative of this time well spent. I arrived to the conference early along with many others who were excited and ready to help. Several cars worth of equipment and supplies were unloaded as we headed into the conference area. Teams of women were decorating and within minutes the centerpieces and table settings were in place, and stunning.

There was such togetherness. It was as though we were of one mind: to make the day the best ever. We all worked and set up everything in record time. Then, with tired feet, I sat in the room before the conference began and just enjoyed being there. As I looked around the room, I noticed a small detail. The beautiful flower pots and the napkins matched. Did any of you notice this? I will remember this thoughtful gesture. I had already found out that my favorite duet was going to be sung. I had asked God for that song to be sung at the conference and God answered my prayer. I had heard the first soprano and alto sing it before and I had gotten goose bumps on my arms when I heard it. The singers were anointed. So I was sitting there anticipating the song that I call the “Jabez Song” because it talks about widening your tent pegs and being limitless. I felt this was the best Life Builder Conference we have ever had.

The guest speaker discussed the term “quantum leap,” explaining that quantum leap occurs when an electron appears to “get excited” and BAM leaps to the next level within in an atom. To me the atom is God and we are the little electrons, running around and around until we gain energy then we BAM jump to a new level in God. How do we run around and get energy? We do this by focusing on God, studying our Bible and praying. As we spend our day focusing on God and His goodness, we gain energy and BAM move to a new level with God. As we focus on the goodness of God and not on our problems, we get a new perspective. We move higher, our problems get smaller, and we experience less stress.

As we get higher and higher, we BAM experience that joy that only comes from God. We don’t have the perspective of a turkey anymore. Instead, we go higher and higher and BAM we start seeing things from the perspective of an eagle. We become an eagle Christian. We begin to see our lives from the Father’s perspective. We change, our families change and our whole lives change.

If you have ever been with someone that has the joy of the Lord, you know it is from the inside and the person glows with God’s light. This joy affects all those around them. I have never seen her in person, however Heidi Baker has this joy emanating from her. It is not what she is doing- going to the wilds of Africa, setting people free, and introducing Jesus to them- it is that she is connected to God all the time. When you get this joy, this connection, it does not necessarily guarantee you a missionary trip to a remote area, however it does mean that you will mount up with wings as eagles. And BAM you will move higher and do what God wants YOU to do: what you were created to do. You will be who He has created you to be.

There is joy and overpowering gladness that envelops every cell of your being when discovering your identity in Christ. You begin to shed the negative self-perception, and others can no longer dictate your identity, potential, or worth. Suddenly, you are free to live limitlessly. Then no matter where you go, you bring people to a saving knowledge of God, heal, and set people free. At the grocery store, work, wherever you go, God will bring someone to you that needs Him. BAM you have a new life full of fun and adventure. Life is never dull for a Christian.

There is no way we can lose when we focus on God and His goodness. God is intoxicating and when you start spending time with Him, you will never want to leave His presence.

 

 
 

Character Assassination

When some people are at their worst, God is at His best

Written by Remaliah Evans

I hired a new administrative assistant named “Linda” who soon decided that she wanted to work for a client. Working for our clients is expressly forbidden by our client contracts. At 6pm on a Friday I received an email from Linda stating that I was not a personable supervisor, I did not provide the tools that she needed to succeed, and therefore she was forced to quit without notice. On Monday, another administrative assistant informed me and my Regional Manager that Linda was working for our client. Per the client contract our Operations Director promptly sent the client an invoice totaling 6 months of Linda’s salary.

Linda proceeded to accuse me of not training her, not paying her overtime, and not following up with her harassment claim involving another admin. She continued accusing me for two months and then threatened to sue my company unless we rescinded the invoice to our client. Fortunately I had a plethora of documentation to prove that Linda was not telling the truth. However I spent two months tormented with the fear that my professional reputation might be destroyed and concerned that I might lose my job.

It seemed that all I could do was dwell on the accusations. I found myself bursting into tears whenever I was alone because I felt betrayed. No one had ever tried to assassinate my character and have me fired before, and when it happened my heart broke in a way that I never knew it could break. I had invested a great deal of time into training Linda because she had great potential and I wanted to create a team environment and eventually promote her.

During this time family and friends prayed with me constantly and I was led to these verses:

Psalms 103:1-4 Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, my soul and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your sins, and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit.

Psalms 37:5-6 Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.

Every time I would worry and get emotional, I would thank the Lord for redeeming my life from the pit and I would thank the Him for vindicating me. It was a very long two months, however in the end, the Lord did just what He promised. He completely protected and redeemed my reputation!

Dwelling on a negative situation is torment. When I started to dwell on the Father’s promises, I found hope. And then I saw that even though it all worked out in the end, I had to forgive. Not just say I forgave her, but really forgive her in my heart. I thought I had forgiven Linda but then God gave me a dream. In the dream, Linda came to ask me for forgiveness and I did not forgive her. I love God’s persistence speaks, if I am not listening during the day, He’ll talk to me through dreams! So God had me pray for her and bless her and her son daily; which was not easy. Through God’s grace and mercy, I was finally able to completely forgive her. These were hard lessons, however I thank God for teaching me, loving me, and sending me people to pray with me and speak truth. Oh! And after Linda left, God blessed with an admin who is reliable, incredibly easy to work with, and overqualified!