Kelly Harrel's Blog, page 2

NEW RELEASE!

For some kids, the stay-at-home order is a relief. No more teasing at school. No pressure to fit in. As I wrote this short story from Lydia’s POV about her struggles in middle school, my heart broke because I know so many girls can relate.

Funny, when I started writing #TheDeceived I didn’t foresee Lydia becoming a main character of the #OnceLostseies I guess some characters are just so relatable they take on a life of their own.

This 30 page short story is now on sale for only 99¢. I encourage you to read it for yourself and buy it for the teen girls in your life.

Don’t own a Kindle? No problem! Just download the Kindle app on your favorite device and then head to AMAZON to get your copy of The Broken Masterpiece.

Strategy #8: Your Pressures (Fervent Blog #9)

“If I were your enemy, I’d make everything seem urgent, as if it’s all yours to handle. I’d bog down your calendar with so many expectations you couldn’t tell the difference between what’s important and what’s not. Going and doing, guilty for ever saying no, trying to control it all, but just being controlled by it all instead…. If I could keep you busy enough, you’d be too overwhelmed to even realize how much work you’re actually saving me.” (Shirer 133)

For two years my life was all about deadlines and responsibilities. I lived from one deadline or event to the next. There were book and teaching deadlines, marketing and ministry responsibilities, speaking and school events. My husband told me my calendar overwhelmed him. I was on the fast track, but I always needed to go faster. I never left the house without my laptop just in case I needed it or had the spare time to do work. Looking back I’m surprised I didn’t live in constant anxiety. Maybe since that had become the rhythm of my life, I just learned to survive.

“Things will slow down after this,” I told myself and my friends leading up to most events and deadlines. But then the busyness of the next thing demanded my attention.

It all came to a screeching halt when the doctor punctured my lung in December. The recovery became more difficult because I got sick in the hospital. For weeks all I could do was lay on the couch. I didn’t have the energy for anything. The pain was awful. I had to just be still. My schedule was suddenly cleared. Those deadlines became non-exist. My focus was literally on breathing and resting. Funny, I thought that I had prayed about all my responsibilities and commitments before accepting them. It wasn’t until I was forced to rest that I realized I hadn’t. I felt like I was seeking to do good for myself, my family, and God. Instead, I almost destroyed myself.

“Even the activities he gives you to steward are not given to see how many balls you can juggle, but instead so you can participate with him in staking a kingdom claim on the patches of ground where you live. …but these endeavors and hobbies and accumulated possessions of yours are meant to bring joy, to enhance relationships, to develop your gifts, to swell you with His blessing and contentment. They’re not supposed to be nothing but pressure.” (Shirer 141)

I’m sure in the past two years, I have done good things for the kingdom. Yes, I developed my gifts. But stress replaced joy and the hectic life I led left little time for developing relationships.

“Your father just wants you to be you. And that means not having to be two of you to get it all done.” (Shirer 139)

Priscilla talked about how when the Israelites left Egypt, they had a slave mentality. God wanted to break them from that by commanding them to have a Sabbath. It wasn’t a suggestion, it was a command. I think sometimes as mothers we have that slave mentality. After all, it’s a mom’s job to organize and arrange all the activities of the family. But it’s also our job to make sure that we are putting God first in our lives. As Priscilla warned, things and even people can become idols in our lives.

For a time, I struggled with having a Sabbath. When I was in charge of Children’s Ministry at our church Sunday was far from being a day of rest. Saturdays were filled with the kids’ sports, the weekdays filled with my teaching job. I really had to seek God and rearrange my schedule to find that time to rest. But when I did, He blessed the time I worked to finish more than I had before and I truly felt peace and His presence on my day off.

“He can enslave you to good things too. Your job, your ministry, even your recreational hobbies—nothing is so healthy and life-giving that he can’t turn it into a cruel taskmaster, one that bosses you around and runs your life.” (Shirer 136)

What pressures do you have weighing down on you? Do you currently have a day of rest? If so, what does that look like in your life? What scriptures do you need to use in your prayer for this area?

I encourage you to make a list like Priscilla suggests of all of the pressures in your life and lift them to God one at a time. Truly seek His guidance and direction. Let go of those things that only cause pressure. Then determine to create the habit of having a Sabbath. In keeping your Sabbath, don’t get hung up on the legalism behind it. I write on my Sabbath because to me, that’s an act of worship. If that is your Sabbath goal is to worship and seek God, you will be blessed with peace and rest.

All quotes not from the Bible are taken from:

Shirer, Priscilla. “Fervent.” B & H Publishing Group, 2015.

Strategy 7: Your Purity (Fervent Bible Study Blog #8)

I met my sweet friend Melanie years ago at my favorite writers’ conference. Last year we took a walk in the redwoods as we shared our frustrations with life as well as our dreams.  I believe that was the moment that God bonded our hearts together. I should have seen her a few weeks ago, but thanks to covid-19, Mount Hermon Christian Writers Conference was canceled. So, I asked her if we could talk on the phone. Instantly I was reminded why I love her so. I was excited when she said she wanted to do this study and when she emailed me a few days ago offered to take care of a blog for me, well, the Holy Spirit whispered, “Let her tell her story.”

You are in for a treat, my friend.  Take it away, Melanie.

_________________________

“God, you know I’m not going to do what you tell me to. I can’t. I’m tired of trying to make myself do what you say – especially when I just plain don’t want to.”

This was part of my conversation (or more accurately, rant) with God as I sat and read the chapter on “Your Purity,” Friday. I had been dreading this chapter. I know there are some things I don’t have right in my life. And try as I might, I cannot make myself change them. Everything within me justifies them, rationalizes them, and I tell myself, “If God wanted me to behave differently, He shouldn’t have put me in this situation,” or, “Anyone else in my place would do the same.”

For years, I have tried. I have tried to do better, be better, walk more righteously, be more deserving of God’s hand in my life. And frankly, I have failed. Miserably.

Why does He keep asking me to do things He knows I can’t do? Didn’t He say He wouldn’t allow us to be tempted beyond what we could bear? Did He not see how weak I have been? How exhausted I am? How weary I am of trying to walk the straight and narrow, and how ripe I was for a major fall, given the very smallest push?

I wrestled with God over these questions. I begged Him for answers. I told Him straight up that I was not going to do what He said, and that He and I both knew it. So really, I didn’t see the point of this chapter. It was a waste of time – just another chapter in a book to pile more guilt and shame on my already heavy heart, leaving me feeling like a failure yet again.

I finished reading the chapter and uttered one last, weak prayer:

“God, I don’t want to obey You. I really don’t. But – I want to want to obey You. I know You don’t need my permission for anything, but here and now, I am giving You permission – I am granting You full access, begging You, please – give me the desire to obey You. Break my stubborn will. Bring me under full submission to whatever You want me to do. Please, align my will with Yours. I just can’t do it. But I believe that You can.”

And that was it. I finished reading the chapter, and still angry at feeling completely unable to really pray, I got up, picked up my things, and began to leave the room. And as I did…

A righteous, holy anger came over me, and I began to tremble. I had had it. I opened my mouth and told the enemy he was a liar and ordered him out. I began pacing around the room, my Bible still held tight to my chest, yelling at him, telling him to GET. OUT. Get out of my house, get out of my home, get out of my marriage, get out of my children’s rooms, my kitchen, my living room, my dining-room, my marriage, my car – girl, I went down the whole list. And the more I went on, the angrier I became. I proclaimed loudly that he had no business messing with a child of the most High God – no authority in a life and home covered by the blood of Jesus. And before I knew it, I was speaking in a language I did not know.

And though I did not understand the language, I understood this – the Lord Himself was rebuking my enemy and his minions and sending them running for the hills. The Holy Spirit was interceding for me, speaking truth over me, delivering me from the hand of my enemy. I have never in my life felt such power and authority coursing through my being. Truth was flooding my mind and washing over me like fresh rain, chains were breaking inside of me – I was literally being set free.

I’m not sure how long this went on, but it was a good long while. By the time I finished, I wasn’t really even finished – just exhausted. I found myself sitting in the middle of the floor, breathing deeply, the weight gone, knowing full well that I had just been met by the Spirit of the living God Himself.

I had given Him permission. I had asked for His help where I had no strength. I had asked Him to combat the lies of the enemy with His truth. And He answered. When the enemy once again whispered on the way out that door that God was done with me – that He wasn’t listening because I am a sinner – I recognized that voice. I knew it was a lie. And this time – this time, I wasn’t having it.

My grandmother said something to me a few weeks ago that stopped me in my tracks.

“Melanie, you have always tried to carry yourself. Honey, you can’t.”

And as the weeks went by, God began to stir in me these truths:

I am your source of strength.

I am your provider.

I am your righteousness.

I am fighting your battles.

And as the days of this study on strategic prayer have gone by, He has begun to fill me with His strength. He has shown me His provision. His righteousness has become my righteousness.

And He is fighting for me.

All I need do is stand still and see the salvation of the Lord – watch as He vanquishes my enemy, even in the arena of my own choices – in bending and breaking my own stubborn will until it lines up with His.

Yes, I am a stubborn child. I am willful. I am going to do what I am going to do. But my God is bigger. He is bigger than my will. He is bigger than my stubbornness. And His truth is louder than the enemy’s lies.

I am reminded of a prayer I once prayed, knowing my propensity to do things my own way:

“God, please take me wherever You want me – even if You have to drag me kicking and screaming.”

Y’all, be careful what you pray for. Because He will answer.

Post by: Melanie Treadway
For additional reading and encouragement, visit Melanie’s blog Journey to Beautiful or follow her on Facebook.

 

Strategy #6: Your Fears (Fervent Bible Study Blog #7)

I saw the car coming. Five years ago when I was driving down to San Diego with my kids in the carpool lane, I saw the car next to me swerve into my lane. That’s when I started to slow. The next thing I knew, that car bounced off of the wall beside it and was headed back in my direction. My van was turned and was hit by an oncoming truck. I walked away feeling not too bad. The issues came four weeks later. I can’t describe how horrific the descent into brain trauma is, but if you imagine having constant head pain, not being able to focus on any screen, and at times not being able to even listen to people talk, well, that gives you a glimpse of it.

Two weeks ago I didn’t see the car coming. I was turning left on a green light and he was going so fast he seemed to come out of nowhere. He ran the red light and hit my car with such force the truck turned my little convertible in the opposite direction. So, here I am with head pain that is getting worse daily, wondering if I will end up with brain trauma like last time.

“If I were your enemy, I’d magnify your fears, making them appear insurmountable, intimidating you with enough worries until avoiding them becomes your driving motivation. I would use anxiety to cripple you, to paralyze you, leaving you indecisive, clinging to safety and sameness, always on the defensive because of what might happen. When you hear the word faith, all I’d want you to hear is “unnecessary risk.” (Shirer 105)

Once upon a time, my biggest fear was pitching my book to a publisher. It took years to get over that fear and get to the point of believing in myself and my writing. That’s when I found a publisher. I thought it would be the best thing that ever happened to me.  Instead, my sales went backward and my stress level went through the roof. My writing account was drained of money in my efforts to market my book. My account doesn’t have enough money to pay my editor let alone pay someone to design my cover and interior of my next book. I’m afraid that when it comes down to it, I won’t be able to publish the third book of the series I’m writing let alone any future books.

Having one heart attack is not good. My husband’s second heart attack seemed unavoidable since he had so many vessels clogged. I’ve researched the survival rate of three or more heart attacks. He still has three vessels blocked. The odds are not in his favor.

“The fact is this: fear is one of Satan’s primary schemes for crippling God’s people. I’m not talking about legitimate concern. I’m not talking about the protective warnings of wisdom and godly counsel. I’m talking about fear. Incessant worry. Up-all-night anxiety. Worst-case scenarios becoming the only probabilities you can think of. Fears like these, instead of simply raising our blood pressure, ought to set off some fire alarms. Why am I feeling so paralyzed like this?”

Yeah, I know fear. For a while, I feared stepping out and doing things for God. The fear now isn’t in the doing, it’s in wondering what awful things Satan will throw my way to try to stop me from doing God’s work.

How about you? Is it hard to see the other side? Try as you may, does everything always go back to “what if?”

Last night I had no answers. Only fear. Tears came as I crawled into bed.

“I don’t want this,” I whispered to my husband.

“I know,” he said with a sigh, taking my hand in his.

But this morning, I prayed. I prayed against Satan and against the fear. Right after the words, “I don’t understand it, but You do,” escaped my lips, God gave me a great revelation. He is always with me. He will never leave or forsake me. I know it’s true because I’ve lived it. When the pain was at its worst five years ago, I would turn on the Bible and fall asleep listening to it. It was the only thing that calmed my mind and heart. The pain beckons me to draw closer to Him. It’s in those moments that I imagine Him holding me. I can almost feel His soothing heartbeat and hear Him say, “Be still, my child, and know I’m God.” Funny that what I fear the most will draw me closer to the lover of my soul.

What fears do you struggle with? Will you lay them down at his feet today? Will you dare to let go of them and trust in him? What verses do you need to include in your prayer?

“Because fear is the antithesis of faith. And faith is what allows you to step foot on the soil of your destiny.” (Shirer 113)

It’s time to reclaim what the enemy has stolen, my friend. It’s time to allow faith to replace our fear.

All quotes not from the Bible are taken from:

Shirer, Priscilla. “Fervent.” B & H Publishing Group, 2015.

Strategy #5: Your Past (Fervent Bible Study Blog #6)

My best friend called me as soon as she finished reading my first book, Angel Discovered.

“You worked your entire life story into that book, didn’t you?” she laughed.

I had to laugh as well because she was one of the few people who would pick up on that. I never dated a movie star or a famous singer, but there are things the characters deal with in their past that were straight from mine. When I first wrote the book, I was afraid the people would be judgmental. The opposite happened. Many people have told me they were encouraged by the characters because of what they had overcome. That’s the key. They didn’t remain stuck in their past. They had overcome.

“If I were your enemy, I’d constantly remind you of your past mistakes and poor choices. I’d want to keep you burdened by shame and guilt, in hopes that you’ll feel incapacitated by your many failings and see no point in even trying again. I’d work to convince you that you had your chance and blown it— that your God may be able to forgive some people for some things but not you…not for this.” (Shirer, 93)

The reason I was convinced people would be judgmental of my character’s past failings was at that time I hadn’t fully forgiven myself. I was still living in shame and condemnation. It’s truly a terrible place to live and it’s not a place that God puts us. The Holy Spirit’s job is to convict. Satan is the one who condemns. It affected my self-esteem which led me from one bad decision to an even worse one. It affected my relationship with God. I would still go to church but it was the biggest one I could find and I always sat in the back. At night I would stare at my Bible on my desk.

“I know You’ll be there when I’m ready to come back. But I’m just not ready,” I’d say.

It took God bringing the man of my dreams into my life for me to let go of my past.

One night after meeting Jeff, I was crying in bed thinking how undeserving I was of his love. All my sins of the past year played in my mind like a movie. The soundtrack was the same four words over and over.

“You don’t deserve him.”

I wept until my chest hurt and my eyes were raw. That was when I finally whispered, “God forgive me for all I’ve done. Please, help me to move past it.”

The coolest thing happened after that. All of those visions of past sin turned into still photos in my mind. Each one was crumpled up and tossed in a trash can. One by one they were thrown away while a new soundtrack played in my mind.

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12)

“But prayer— fervent, strategic prayer— can change things. Even unchangeable things. Even things as unchangeable as real-life scenes from your past— what you did, what you didn’t do, why you did it, why you didn’t.” (Shirer 95)

Satan knows he can sink us with our past. He knows if he keeps throwing it in our face, we will feel unworthy. We’ll feel so ashamed that we will never attempt to do anything for God. And sometimes, we’ve done bad stuff. Stuff that hurt ourselves and those we care about. So why should we move on? What gives us that right? Priscilla points out two reasons why we can walk away and accept true forgiveness.

1) God doesn’t live in the past.

2) We only live by grace anyway.

Grace is undeserved favor. Yes, what I did was wrong, but God forgives me anyway. There is no sin too big. Jesus died for them all.

It was a decade after I let go of my past failings that I finished writing Angel Discovered. My characters, like me, had received God’s forgiveness and stepped into the future God had for them. I don’t minister to people because I’ve lived a perfect life. There are some days I still blow it. I minister to people because it’s what God has called me to do. But I know from past experience, if I believe Satan’s lies and wallow in my sin rather than asking for and accepting Christ’s forgiveness, I’m no good to anyone including myself.

Has Satan been holding something over your head? Get alone with the Lord today. Using Priscilla’s suggestions on page 101,  write out your fervent prayer of forgiveness.

Which verses are you holding tight to? What does moving forward look like for you? What has God called you to do that you can be free to do once you leave your past behind you?

As Priscilla found out, the scenery passed the exit of your sin is beautiful. No longer do we need to beat ourselves up over the past. No longer do we need to allow our past to define our future. Remember where your identity is found, where your focus should be and allow your passion to get you beyond your past. That is truly living.

All quotes not from the Bible are taken from:

Shirer, Priscilla. “Fervent.” B & H Publishing Group, 2015.

Strategy 4: Your Family (Fervent Bible study #5)

As a child I watched The Brady Bunch and as a teen I was addicted to Family Ties. What impressed me with these TV show families is no matter how big the problem was, it was solved in thirty minutes. Well, occasionally it might take an hour. When “To Be Continued” flashed on the screen, my heart would race and frustration would build at having to wait an entire week, or sometimes an entire summer if it was the last show of the season, to see it resolved.

I had no doubt when I got married that at some point we’d have conflict. I mean, even the Bradys and Keatons did. What I didn’t consider was the enemy would be out to destroy my family and our witness.

“If I were your enemy, I’d seek to disintegrate your family and destroy every member of it. I’d want to tear away at your trust and unity and turn everyone’s love inward on themselves. I would make sure your family didn’t look anything like it’s supposed to. Because then people would look at your Christian marriage, your Christian kids, and see you’re no different, no stronger than anybody else— that God, underneath it all, really doesn’t change anything.” (Shirer 71)

The struggles my family has been through pale in comparison to some. We’ve had seasons of dealing with disobedient children, even seasons of knowing our kids were living in sin but not knowing what to do about it except pray. My boy brought such sorrow to my heart when he was in fifth grade, I remember being on my face weeping in prayer for him. Because the thing is, we can’t control other people. As much as we’d like to change them, that’s not our job. Change is the Holy Spirit’s department. So I did what I knew to do, which was to pray fervently. God met me there. He didn’t only give me peace, He gave me wisdom as to the root of the problem so I could make the necessary changes in our family. In time, the lying and deceiving stopped and my boy began to live out God’s Word.

Like I said, I know our family issues of respect and honor seem petty in the light of the issues some face. Writing the Once Lost series has truly opened my eyes to how the enemy works to destroy our witness by destroying our family. The Deceived started out as a book about how this teenager, Danny, chose sin even though he was raised in a Christian home. But the more I wrote, the more I realized everyone in the family had a role to play in the crumbling of the family. Though they attended church each Sunday, they stopped believing and living out God’s Word. Drugs and alcohol became Danny’s escape, his coping mechanism. I wanted the book to serve as a reminder to parents that the authenticity of our faith matters. We don’t need to just be thankful our family isn’t that messed up, we need to determine in our hearts to seek God and live out His Word.

As Priscilla said in this chapter, “But you know what? It’s always a big deal. All of our marriages and families are a huge deal. Yours and mine. They’re all that big of a deal…because each one is a billboard for the eternal, unchangeable love story between God and humankind. Each of their successes or failures is of great importance, both in God’s eyes and, therefore, in our enemy’s eyes.” (Shirer 74)

What if we prayed like all of these little things in our families were a big deal? What if we decided to combat what we’d categorize as small sins on our knees? What if instead of just praying that our kids would be good people, we specifically pray for their integrity, for them to love God’s word, for them to serve, for their friends to encourage them in God’s ways, and for them to have the heart to help others?

The teenage years are tough ones. Even though my son loves and respects me, he got to a point of not believing what I’d say. My advice constantly fell on deaf ears. At first, it stirred up such frustration that I would scream and yell at him. Then I decided to pray. I started to pray that God would bring good role models into his life. Men who would disciple him and share God’s truth with him. God answered that prayer in abundance. By the time Noah left for college, he had two men in his life who encouraged him and spoke God’s truth to him. At college, he became friends with a group of people that I wasn’t too thrilled about, but I just kept lifting it up to the Lord in prayer. Just as I prayed for him to have godly friends when he was in elementary school, I prayed he would find godly friends at his Christian university. He came home at Thanksgiving break and said he found new guys to hang out with. One invited him to attend church with him, another started doing discipleship with him. They are even continuing it over the phone during this season of having to be at home.

At the beginning of the school year, my daughter told me that she hated going to youth group because she didn’t feel like she fit in. I didn’t lecture her or force her to go, I prayed with her and for her.  Every day I prayed God would help her to feel comfortable, help her find her group of people. A few weeks later our church announced they were starting a small group for high schoolers, kind of an alternative to attending Wednesday night youth group. Becca hesitantly agreed to try it. I’ll never forget when she came out to the car after that first meeting. She was smiling from ear-to-ear. Instead of dozens of teens in attendance, there were six.

“So you liked it?” I asked.

 ”I loved it,” she said.

Prayer accomplished results I never could have on my own.

For over a year I’ve been praying that my husband would love me as Christ loves the church because that’s what the Bible says men should do and, well, I felt entitled to it. As I penned my prayer for my family yesterday, God told me I needed to pray for myself to love and respect him completely. I can still pray for my man to love me as Jesus loves the church, but I need to recognize my role in our relationship as well.

I encourage you as you write out your prayer for your family, that you think about each family member and where they’re at right now. What specific needs do they have? We become prayer warriors for our family when we recognized their needs as well as our inability to meet it. When we realize that prayer is not just about bringing the big stuff to God. Prayer is turning everything over to Him with the understanding that He is more than able to meet our needs.

If you don’t have a spouse or kids, pray for your future spouse. Pray for your parents, siblings, and other family members. I don’t know about you, but it’s my heart’s desire that my entire family would come to know Christ. I’ve been praying for them all (parents, brother, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins) by name since I was saved at fifteen. What a blessing it is to see God working in each of their lives.

“I urge you, for the sake of your family, take the fight into your prayer room rather than your living room.” (Shirer 92)

Who do you need to pray fervently for? What part of this chapter spoke to you? What verses do you need to claim for yourself or for loved ones? I encourage you to spend time forming prayers for your family. God is able, my friend, to do more than you can ever conceive. It’s time to start praying with the expectation to see His glory.

 

 

Strategy 3: Your Identity (Fervent Bible Study Blog # 4)

Since last night was Good Friday, we sat down together as a family to watch The Passion of the Christ. The movie opens with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying fervently. A figure dressed in black, who you presume to be Satan, circles him. Jesus is crying out to His Father, tears rolling down his face. At one point when He is lying face down on the ground, Satan comes up to Him and whispers, “Who is your father?” Then he asks another question. “Who are you?”

“If I were your enemy, I’d devalue your strength and magnify your insecurities until they dominated how you see yourself, disabling and disarming you from fighting back, from being free, from being who God has created you to be. I’d work hard to ensure that you never realize what God has given you so you’ll doubt the power of God within you.” (Shirer 55)

From the time we are kids our identity is being shaped by those around us. Both adults and kids chime in about who they think we are. Smart, dumb, good, bad, pretty, not-so-good-looking.  Sometimes we are even told what career we should enter into. All of that sticks with us and forms us into the adults we are.

I published my first book in my twelfth year of teaching. It took me fifteen years to write and publish that first book. My second novel took nine months. The third? Six months. It was obvious to my husband and my kids that I had become an author, yet when I met people and they asked, “What do you do?” the answer was always the same. “I’m a teacher.” Yes, I was still teaching, but I wanted to be a full-time author. After years in the same profession, it was difficult for me to see myself as anything different.

Maybe that’s where you are today. For so many years you have placed your identity on your successes or failures that you can’t see anything else. You don’t want to cling to rejection, but you can’t see beyond it.  And the problem with identifying yourself with your successes is all that can crumble in a moment. So, where do we find our identity?

“That’s why he doesn’t want you praying— not fervently— because fervent prayer keeps your true identity in focus. Reminds us of who we really are and taps into the power we really have in Christ.” (Shirer 57)

We find our true identity in reading the Bible and connecting with God in prayer. The truth is, though we label some acts as “good” or “bad” we are all sinners. But check out what Titus 3:3-5 says—

“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit”

The word kindness is frequently used in the Bible when speaking of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. It refers to Him doing something for us that we are unable to do for ourselves. Yes, we are sinners. We have blown it. But that’s not the identity we need to cling to. We can cling to our salvation and rebirth through Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Watching The Passion and reading the story of Jesus’s crucifixion reminds me of God’s great love for me to make a way for me to spend eternity with Him and Jesus’s love for me to be beaten and killed for me to be right with God.

Priscilla lists various ways we should view ourselves that Paul shares in Ephesians 1:1-14. Which of these identities do you already claim? Which do you need to include in your prayer so you remember to claim it?

Next comes Paul’s prayer for the believers in Ephesians 1:17-20—

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father may give you the Spirit and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms”

Do you have a vision of the hope He has called you to? Are you aware of His glorious inheritance? Do you realize His incomparable power is available to all who believe? That, my friend, is why nothing is impossible with Christ Jesus our Lord. Which of these do you need to ask the Lord for?

The second book of the modern prodigal series that I’m writing is entitled The Beloved. When God gave me that title, He revealed to me that it is because He loves us deeply, even when we are wallowing in our sin. The verse God gave me for the book?

“Now rescue your beloved people. Answer and save us by your power.” ~ Psalm 60:5

Beloved means greatly loved. Do you realize you are God’s Beloved? No matter how far you fall, how you have sinned or turned from God, you are still loved greatly by Him. All you need to do is call out to Him and He will save you. You are greatly loved by the one who created you.

So, there Jesus was in the beginning of the movie Passion, face to the ground. As Satan asks Jesus who his father is and who he is, a snake comes from Satan’s robe and slithers over to Jesus. After a few minutes, Jesus stands and smashes the head of the snake with His heel. That is our response to Satan when we claim an identity that is firm in the Lord. We destroy Satan’s schemes when we cling to the truth of who we are.

Who are you? In the comments below, please share verses or phrases you are going to cling to as you rebuild your identity in Christ. Share any ah-ha moments that came as you read Strategy 3 and what verses from the end of the chapter you are incorporating into your prayer. This is where our battle is won, my friend. By realizing who we truly are not only will our lives be transformed, but we can change the world for Him as well.

All quotes not from the Bible are taken from:

Shirer, Priscilla. “Fervent.” B & H Publishing Group, 2015.

 

Strategy 2: Your Focus (Fervent Bible Study Blog # 3)

My husband and I said in our twentieth-year of marriage we would have twenty new experiences. I thought it would be a year filled with excitement and fun, one that would be unforgettable. I think we both will never forget it as it’s been the most difficult year of our marriage.

I don’t know at what point things went terribly wrong. Maybe it doesn’t matter. I do know there were months when it seemed all we did was fight. That “biting and devouring” verse I quoted in my last blog, yeah, that was us. We had a lot to blame our troubles on. Him being persecuted at his work until he lost his job, my father’s death and the grief that followed, financial stress, my cancer scare, the stress of my writing career. Yep, that sums up the last nine months of 2019. That’s when the fighting intensified. Yes, we had so much to pin it on, but when I read the opening of this chapter, I knew the truth.

“If I were your enemy, I’d disguise myself and manipulate your perspectives so that you’d focus on the wrong culprit— your husband, your friend, your hurt, your finances, anything or anyone except me. Because when you zero in on the most convenient, obvious places to strike back against your problems, you get the impression you’re fighting for something. Even though all you’re really doing is just… fighting. For nothing.” (Shirer 39)

My husband had become my enemy. I was so worn down I gave in to the fear, self-doubt, stress, anxiety, and depression that plagued me. Then I lashed out at the person closest to me.

Some people say it’s important to not give Satan too much credit. But here’s the thing, if it’s not a fruit of the Spirit, it doesn’t come from God.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV)

Matthew chapter 4 also reminds us Satan will go after us when we are vulnerable, rundown, or coming off a spiritual high. Jesus comes from the wilderness after fasting for forty days to be tempted by Satan. But Jesus models the right behavior for us. He rebuked Satan with the Word of God.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.” (Matthew 4:10-11 NIV)

It’s important to recognize the real enemy because “…if all we’re doing is whacking at the nearest, most visible symptoms every time they pop their head up, we’re doing two things: (1) wasting precious time and energy that ought to be reserved and refocused on the real enemy, and (2) trying to fight ferocious spiritual forces by using weapons that don’t faze them in the least— weapons that aren’t even designed to hurt them. So the hits just keep on coming.” (Shirer 43)

I tell you, friend, I have tried a whole lot of stuff to “fix” my problems. Doctors, counselors, food, isolation, writing, yelling, blaming, disengaging, crying. It’s like I’ve been stuck in the ultimate “Whack-a-Mole” competition. And I’ve lost a whole lot of time and effort.

The answer? Jesus. Really, truly, God is the one who can “fix” it all. When we know who our enemy is and what battle we are entering, we know who will win.

About five years ago when I was going through a major depression and thought I was losing my mind, I penned these words on a sticky note:

Dear Satan,

You lose. We win. And I won’t forget. Ever.

Romans 8:37-39

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I had my eyes focused on my enemy. I wanted to remember the truth. I even memorized those verses I read them so often. Oh how quickly we can lose perspective in the middle of trials.

So I ask you, friend, what or who have you made your enemy? What battle are you trying to fight? What verses are you going to use to combat the REAL enemy?

I love that Priscilla shared from 2 Chronicles 20. Take a minute and read that chapter. The Israelites did not even have to fight. They just had to stand still—and believe.

You have a real enemy of your faith. It’s time to put pen to paper and write out the prayer that will defeat him!

All quotes not from the Bible are taken from:

Shirer, Priscilla. “Fervent.” B & H Publishing Group, 2015.

 

 

Strategy 2 – Your Focus (Fervent Bible study blog week 3)

My husband and I said in our twentieth-year of marriage we would have twenty new experiences. I thought it would be a year filled with excitement and fun, one that would be unforgettable. I think we both will never forget it as it’s been the most difficult year of our marriage.

I don’t know at what point things went terribly wrong. Maybe it doesn’t matter. I do know there were months when it seemed all we did was fight. That “biting and devouring” verse I quoted in my last blog, yeah, that was us. We had a lot to blame our troubles on. Him being persecuted at his work until he lost his job, my father’s death and the grief that followed, financial stress, my cancer scare, the stress of my writing career. Yep, that sums up the last nine months of 2019. That’s when the fighting intensified. Yes, we had so much to pin it on, but when I read the opening of this chapter, I knew the truth.

“If I were your enemy, I’d disguise myself and manipulate your perspectives so that you’d focus on the wrong culprit— your husband, your friend, your hurt, your finances, anything or anyone except me. Because when you zero in on the most convenient, obvious places to strike back against your problems, you get the impression you’re fighting for something. Even though all you’re really doing is just… fighting. For nothing.” (Shirer 39)

My husband had become my enemy. I was so worn down I gave in to the fear, self-doubt, stress, anxiety, and depression that plagued me. Then I lashed out at the person closest to me.

Some people say it’s important to not give Satan too much credit. But here’s the thing, if it’s not a fruit of the Spirit, it doesn’t come from God.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV)

Matthew chapter 4 also reminds us Satan will go after us when we are vulnerable, rundown, or coming off a spiritual high. Jesus comes from the wilderness after fasting for forty days to be tempted by Satan. But Jesus models the right behavior for us. He rebuked Satan with the Word of God.

“Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.” (Matthew 4:10-11 NIV)

It’s important to recognize the real enemy because “…if all we’re doing is whacking at the nearest, most visible symptoms every time they pop their head up, we’re doing two things: (1) wasting precious time and energy that ought to be reserved and refocused on the real enemy, and (2) trying to fight ferocious spiritual forces by using weapons that don’t faze them in the least— weapons that aren’t even designed to hurt them. So the hits just keep on coming.” (Shirer 43)

I tell you, friend, I have tried a whole lot of stuff to “fix” my problems. Doctors, counselors, food, isolation, writing, yelling, blaming, disengaging, crying. It’s like I’ve been stuck in the ultimate “Whack-a-Mole” competition. And I’ve lost a whole lot of time and effort.

The answer? Jesus. Really, truly, God is the one who can “fix” it all. When we know who our enemy is and what battle we are entering, we know who will win.

About five years ago when I was going through a major depression and thought I was losing my mind, I penned these words on a sticky note:

Dear Satan,

You lose. We win. And I won’t forget. Ever.

Romans 8:37-39

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I had my eyes focused on my enemy. I wanted to remember the truth. I even memorized those verses. I read them so often. Oh how quickly we can lose perspective in the middle of trials.

So I ask you, friend, what or who have you made your enemy? What battle are you trying to fight? What verses are you going to use to combat the REAL enemy?

I love that Priscilla shared from 2 Chronicles 20. Take a minute and read that chapter. The Israelites did not even have to fight. They just had to stand still—and believe.

You have a real enemy of your faith. It’s time to put pen to paper and write out the prayer that will defeat him!

All quotes not from the Bible are taken from:

Shirer, Priscilla. “Fervent.” B & H Publishing Group, 2015.

 

 

Strategy 1:Your Passion (Fervent Bible study # 2)

If they handed out Bible awards, Peter would definitely win “the most passionate follower of Christ.” The fisherman dropped everything (literally) when Jesus called him. He asked Jesus to call him out of the boat onto the water in the middle of a storm. He was the first disciple to proclaim Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus even commended Peter’s great faith in Matthew 16. Yet skip forward ten chapters and our man of passion crumbles. When the pressure is on and fingers are pointed, the guy who proclaimed Jesus as God’s Son denies even knowing Him.

What went wrong? How could Peter go from fired up to checked out? Maybe because things didn’t go the way he wanted.

In Matthew 16 after recognizing Jesus as God’s son, Peter rebukes Jesus when He speaks of His death and resurrection. Peter liked a Savior who reigned but didn’t see the need for suffering. When the suffering starts to become a reality, his faith crumbles.

“That’s why, if I were your enemy, I’d make stealing your passion one of my primary goals. … If I could chip away at your zeal, at your hope, at your belief in God and what he can do, I could chisel down your face to a whimper. Make you want to quit. And never try again.” (Shirer 26-27)

Do you realize that Satan not only wants to destroy you but he knows where to hit you? Where is it that he seems to hit you the hardest?

Now, if Peter’s story ended there, it would be depressing. He would be like a one-hit-wonder. People would say, “What happened to that one disciple who started off strong? I thought he was gonna make it.” Not only was Peter forgiven by Jesus, he went on to perform great wonders and miracles in Jesus’s name. Everywhere he went (including prison) he spoke the name of the Lord.

I think it’s important to remember THAT part of Peter’s history. We are sinners. We will blow it. But God wants us to get back up and keep going. He can make the last half of our lives more sold out for Him than ever before. No matter where we were or what we’re doing now, we can step into the light of God’s grace and thrive in our faith again.

Shirer pulls four points from the story of the missing ax head from 2 Kings 6:1-7 and relates them to our lives.

1) Despite the lost ax head, the presence of God was still near.

2) The servant was doing something good when he lost his cutting edge.

3) The ax was borrowed.

4) Only a work of God could retrieve the ax head.

Which of these points made you think or made you nod in agreement? Number one hit me hard. In this season of physical and emotional pain, there have been times when I thought God stepped aside to allow Satan to do his thing.

“It mattered that God’s presence and the man’s loss occurred within close proximity to the other. Satan would like to convince you that your lack of passion is an indication that God was either never there at all or has gotten disgusted with you.” (Shirer 32)

For years I’ve watched the events of my life in somewhat disbelief. At times I allowed them to come between me and my God rather than constantly looking at them through the lens of the Bible. The truth is He is using them to purify my faith, He will work all things for good because I love Him, and God is always with me and will never forsake me. Moses tells Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:6, ”Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” (NIV)

Friends, remember that we don’t need to dwell in the places of trials, hardships, even unbelief. But they are good to exam for a time to consider how we can maneuver this life more successfully.

Shirer goes on to share many verses we can include in our prayer for passion. Which did you incorporate into your prayer? My husband laughed when I sang Psalm 51:10, but that was one of the first verses I memorized as a teen. During this season of my life, it’s a verse I want to claim daily.

On page 38, Priscilla quotes Hosea 6:3 ~ “He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.”

“How does a person receive rain? Not by prying it loose from the sky but just by watching it fall, by standing in the downpour, by thanking him for opening the floodgates and sending what he knows we need and can’t get for ourselves, yet what he is so faithfully, regularly, and graciously gives.” (Shirer 38)

We have a job to do, my friend. We need to carve out the time, make the investment of our attention to prayer, and then be ready to receive all our Lord has to shower upon us. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for a downpour. I am ready to dance in the rain and I’m willing to invest the time and effort on my part so I can.

 

Discussion questions:

Do you realize that Satan not only wants to destroy you but he knows where to hit you? Where is it that he seems to hit you the hardest?

Which of the four points from the ax head example made you think or make you nod in agreement?

Which verses from the end of Strategy 1 did you incorporate into your prayer?

 

All quotes not from the Bible are taken from:

Shirer, Priscilla. “Fervent.” B & H Publishing Group, 2015.