Sally Hanan's Blog, page 3

The Word Fullness

I’ve always been interested in the word fullness, because to me it signifies the longings of the heart. Because of that, I’ve always loved Ephesians 3:14-19, so I thought I’d take that interest a little further and look up the word fullness in the Greek.

What I saw blasted me in the best way, because I always thought those verses were about me being filled with all of God … but in truth,

Fullness is about family.

The Greek word is pleroma–a fully manned ship–so when every single believer takes his/her place and actively operates in his/her design and path, then we will experience the fullness of God.

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When Friends Do Horrible Things

Sometimes Christians you’ve laughed and cried with do horrible things, making choices that end up serving only themselves and no one else. The devastation and sense of loss can be heart crushing. Some things to remember though:

1. They have to live with themselves forever. As long as they stay swimming in selfishness, they lose out on so much more than you.

2. You’re the free one.

3. God loves justice and mercy. Nothing you could do or say could trump that, so you can trust him to take care if it on his timeline.

4. God is always with you. David said even if he went to hell, God would be there with him. There will never be a second in which you are alone through this.

5. Five years from now, life will be different, but because you chose to stay IN Jesus, you will have more peace, more love, and more wisdom. You can’t beat that.

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God Will Do All the Work

I think that many Christians have been indoctrinated with the idea that they don’t have to do anything and it will all come to them as it should, and if it doesn’t, then it wasn’t meant to be. That’s pretty much the same as saying that only some of us are predestined to be saved and we have no choice in the matter, which is absolute piffle.

So go ahead, people:

Choose your job, choose your house, choose your spouse, choose your life.

God designed you with a brain and preferences and he expects you to use them. Otherwise he would have given you a high functioning cauliflower instead of a noggin with emotions and stuff.

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Choosing Laziness

Choosing laziness will always make you feel worse.

For example, if you’re sitting on the sofa eating popcorn and watching the fifth episode of a series, you’ve chosen to stay sitting there and snack rather than get up and do something that leaves you feeling satisfied.

Picture the feeling of a library book dropped back, of bed sheets washed and back on the bed, of the dog walked, of the washing up done. Now picture the feeling of those same things undone and staring at you every time you walk by because you chose what you thought was the easier option.

Laziness is never the easier option; it’s the harder one.

The easier option is to make yourself happy by choosing to do things that make you feel more alive, not more asleep at the wheel.

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When It Comes to Our Past

We always have a choice when it comes to our past. We can list off all our triggers and claim that our response/hissy fit is valid because – duh – our past; or we can see all the places in our past where Jesus has applied his truth and respond to current stress with that.

Either we’re going to live in truth or we’re not, and our Jesus is no liar.

He’s with you – you’re not alone. You matter.
He’s designed you perfectly – there’s nothing wrong with you.
He’s got your heart – he’s enough.
He’s your righteousness – you’re clean.
He’s in your future – he’ll be with you.
He’s your strength – all that power is inside you.

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What’s Your Brand?

A brand is what people think of you. When your name comes to mind, what they think about, that’s your brand. — James Rubart

It can help to know what your brand is when you do anything entrepreneurial because then you stay true to who you are, to what drives you, to what keeps you aligned with your values and ideals.

I asked others about this on Facebook recently, and some people answered with a list of things they do or roles they fill rather than ways their presence affects a room or the person in front of them. They came up with

friendly, smiley, tallchubby curmudgeongreat hugger, a safe placetoo touchy, weirds people outweirdomostly off the wallscarvesintrospective, kind of weird, crunchy momstrict, baby factory, grammar nazi, word loverconsistentcaring, objective, empathetic, huggereclectic, creative geekmother, grandmother, writer … hopefully loving, patient, wise

When I asked others what they thought my brand is, I got

HGTV fixer upper of self-help bookssaltysmartypantshelper, a deep sense and desire to help people find that which makes a difference in their hearts, minds, souls, and livesshamrocks and lucky starsGod inspiredpun lovingteacherfun, humorouswittygenuineforthrightlevel headed, with a bit of an Irish devil sprite on one shoulder

I think it’s interesting that no one was willing to say anything negative about me whereas in their descriptions of themselves, they were sometimes more likely to look at what they thought people thought was wrong with them rather than what was great. I know that God always sees the great stuff he’s put in us. He doesn’t entirely care what others think. He knows he’s made a good ‘un.

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Calling the Devil’s Plans for Your Life God’s Plan

If you’re calling the devil’s plans for your life God’s plan (death, sickness, pain, and suffering), you have a warped understanding of God’s love.

Yes, God can help you know his presence in the midst of your suffering.
Yes, you can grow closer to God in the midst of your pain, because you need everything he has for you more than ever.
But he’s never the cause of stealing, killing, destroying.

Those things are exactly what Jesus came to end (John 10:10).

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I Was Lied To

I was lied to. My whole generation was. We were told that the world was too scary a place, that we should stay safe at home and never experience the reality of other people who didn’t think the way we did, who didn’t believe the things we believed, who didn’t treat others the way we did.

And then we had whole sections of society making all the decisions in education, government, the entertainments industry, family, etc. We abandoned ship because of our fear of man and let other, braver souls chart our futures.

Don’t diss the leaders you have today.

They are in place because perhaps you neglected your place.

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Jesus Making a Way for Us

When the Bible talks about Jesus making a way for us, it’s not talking about a path similar to the one a child makes by kicking his Legos off a thin bit of carpet to his bed. Nor is it talking about clearing the weeds to form a winding path and putting down some mulch so we don’t get our feet muddy.

No.

 Jesus has made a way for us to live in the very heart of the Father.

And when he laid down his life for us, he cleared every path, every field, every obstacle in the universe that would prevent us from running freely and fully into love himself.

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When It Feels True in Your Head

Just because something feels true in your head doesn’t make it true.

If you think you’re stupid and it feels true, it doesn’t mean it’s true.

The thought no one could ever love you doesn’t make it true.

The thought that you’ll be in survival mode forever doesn’t make it true.

What’s true is that we have seasons for everything, and we move into them and out of them into the next ones throughout life. Some are filled with love and health, some are filled with sadness and despair. Carry hope during the harder seasons so that when the new one shows its face, you’ll recognize it and be ready to jump in and enjoy it fully.

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