This One's Personal.....

Last week, I posted a new Sweet Diva music tote (and am not linking to it because that's not really what this post is about) and showed several other embroidery options.  I mentioned that I really liked them all and that it was hard to choose which one I would do first.  While there is some truth to that (I did mull over it for several minutes), it actually wasn't that hard.  The one I chose was this:

Have you ever taken a Spiritual Gifts test?  

"Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; ⁷ or ministry, let us use it in ourministering; he who teaches, in teaching; ⁸ he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness."

Romans 12: 6-8

We all have them, and if you don't know what yours is, I highly encourage you to do some exploration and find out!  

Mine is Mercy.  I have often joked that it sometimes feels like a curse {not really....I am thankful for who I am and how I am.....and how He will be faithful to continually shape and mold me when my heart is willing}.

Spiritual Gift of Mercy Defined

The gift of mercy is the capacity to feel and express unusual compassion and sympathy for those in difficult or crisis situations and provide them with the necessary help and support to see them through tough times.

People with the Gift of Mercy

They have the ability to "walk in another's shoes" and to feel the pain and burdens they carry. They desire to make a difference in the lives of hurting people without being judgmental. They may have a difficult time evaluating the intentions of others and at times appear naïve.

Mercy in Scripture

Jesus taught on mercy (Matt. 5:7; 9:13; 23:23). He is repeatedly described as having compassion (Matt. 9:36; 15:32; 23:37; Luke 7:13) and was so filled with mercy that He sometimes wept (John 11:35). Jesus' mercy included an attentiveness to and concern for children (Matt. 19:14). Dorcas "was always doing good and helping the poor" (Acts 9:36). Also, the good Samaritan is one of the most classic stories ever told on the subject of mercy (Luke 10:30-37).

Do You Have This Gift?

• Do you find yourself being drawn to people who are needy, hurting, sick, disabled, or elderly?
• Do you often think of ways to minister to those who are suffering?
• Do you sense a great deal of compassion for people having personal and emotional problems?
• Do you find that when you visit those who are suffering it brings you joy rather than depressing you?
• Do you find yourself responding to people more out of compassion than judgment?

~borrowed from The Resurgence, because they describe it perfectly!

This gift of Mercy has me in it's grip right now, as I participate in the 40 Days for Life Campaign.  My heart literally aches, my soul hurts......and not just for the smallest lives that are at the mercy of choices made by others, but for the girls, the women, that are making choices that will place a burden on their own souls for the rest of their lives.

I know this is true, and although I know that I would care passionately about this issue anyway, I know that it grips me with a vice-like hold because it's not just an "issue" for me.....it's personal.

Someone that was once close to me made this choice long ago, or perhaps the choice was not really hers.  I was young, and although it's not talked about, I remember.  Because I was young, I think some think I have forgotten.

I have not forgotten, and I have watched from afar as this person that I love dearly has run from God, blamed God, and hurt daily.  Hurt from and for many things I am sure, but I know that this has to be one thing that has never let her go......and I literally ache for her.

As I stood last Friday watching girls walk into a clinic about to make that same choice, I could picture that someone and wanted to stop them, wanted to help them.....wanted to do something.  I wanted to whisk them away to another local clinic, one that could offer the support and help they really need, and find the One that they need the most.

And so I pray.  And I fast.  For 40 Days.  And as my heart aches, it aches for her.  The one that's close to me.  The one I love.  I pray for her, I ache for her.....I cry for her.  I cry and beg the Lord to reach her.......to show her that His Mercy forgives all, that His blood covers all, that His love heals all.

I beg Him to show her that He cares.  And forgives.  And that there's nothing that we can do that is beyond His realm of healing.

 I pray for her to experience this Truth.  This Truth that drowns out all of Satan's lies.  This Truth, this Gift that can reunite her with that precious life one day, if she will only take it.

And if the one I love, I hurt for,  I pray for, and can't stop thinking of  happens to read this...... I want you to know that His Healing is available to you.  I beg you to let go of all that hurts you from the past and take it.

The ensemble I serve in sang this song this past Sunday.  I sang it for you.  There is nothing that can keep you from His love, if you will only receive it and seek His song of Salvation......there is little that would bring me more joy than to see you stand by His Grace.

 "Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

~ Romans 8:37-38



The T-Shirt Dress....and the Mannequin that Taunts Me

A couple of weeks ago, I received a call from a friend.  Her sweet daughter had come home from school with the good news that she needed a t-shirt dress constructed for a school play......and she needed it in two days. =)

Sweet Diva to the rescue. ; )

The order:  Pink t-shirt to be transformed into a dress by adding ruffles for the skirt.  And make it cute  {well, of course! ; ) }.

Fortunately, I was planning to head to ♥Hobby Lobby♥ the very next morning anyway to purchase items needed for another order.  I searched around for inspiration on how I wanted to construct this cute concoction and found several cute tutorials:

Cool People Sew ~ I love this blog and stalk it frequently....and I sew, so I must be cool! ; )
Cut-Out and Keep ~ Make & Share Step-by-Step Craft Tutorials ~ ruffle skirt {I am So coming back to this ~ my daughter loves this skirt}
Kuky Ideas ~ tiered skirt tutorial

The finished product:

Cute, yes??

Even laying on it's side! (why does Blogger sometimes do this to me?  This photo refuses to load right side up!  Posting anyway out of stubbornness.)

Notice that although one photos is sideways, neither are laying on a flat surface!  I purchased a set of mannequins from Amazon.....a toddler size that was used to display the cute aprons I posted about yesterday, a child size, and an adult female size.  Items look so much nicer when displayed properly, don't you think?!

I must admit, however, that I have issues with this female mannequin ~ and since I'm pretty sure that about 99.9% of my readers are female, I'll go ahead with my rant.  This mannequin taunts me every time I pull her out of the box.  She has no head, no face, no arms, no legs, no hands, no feet.......and yet she taunts me.  I am shallow.  And I don't look as good as she does!!  I think she must do nothing but excercise, and she must not each very much at all.  Ridiculous, I know.  But have pity on me...........I just celebrated turning another year older and I need to go bathing suit shopping.  And I'm having a hard time lately finding time to make it to the gym......and I eat healthy, but I do like food so I think I will never be as thin as I'd like to be....and  to be honest, I don't think I've ever looked as good as she does!! 

Wretched mannequin.  I have her hidden in a box in the back of my closet. =)  I only bring her out when I need her and make sure my husband and my boys don't see her when I do.....unless she has layers of clothing on.  When she does make an appearance ~ without fail, that nagging voice, that persistent lie that inspired THIS post reappears as well.  I suppose I'll always battle with feeling like I'll never measure up { <------- pun not intended, but I just noticed it ; ) } even though I know that it really isn't what matters.  Sigh.

The fact that I know so many other women who struggle with this issue as well is the only reason I'm willing to admit it here.  Even as I'm berating myself over my inadequacies, the Lord is reminding me of His truths.  It's a constant back and forth.....this battle of the flesh and the world's ideals vs. What Really Matters.  It's in times like these I often think of and am thankful for one of the side effects of the busy-ness of Homeschooling, being a WAH mom and juggling everything else as well.  I simply don't have time to dwell on the outer shell that will never be what the world says it should be ~ this is a good thing.  I am also thankful anew for the Homeschooling lifestyle and my fellow Homeschooling moms.  It is a lifestyle that has me so immersed in focusing on what is right and lasting and worthwhile, so dependant on God, that it's literally impossible to stay in that woe-is-me-I'm-not-perfect mentality for long.  Praise the Lord for that......I don't like being there!

So, since I just had to dress the mannequin-that-stays-in-the-back-of-the-closet.....and then put her back there ~ way back ~ my Mustard Seed Planting scripture for the week is:

 "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart. 

1 Samuel 16:7

It may say He's talking to Samuel, but trust me......He's talking to me as well!



Blessings in Disguise....

I've been posting on Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh Demoss on Wednesdays for a while now, but I have to admit......I finished the book a long time ago. =)  Posting once (sometimes twice) a week on it is making it go on forever!  I'm finding myself wondering, "Is anyone still interested?" and "Should I continue?".

Also, to be perfectly honest, I've hit a section in the book that is a difficult area for me, and I'm finding it quite difficult to write about something that hits so close to my current hurts and struggles.  I don't know if I should continue to post without revealing too much of myself, or just let it go.........feel free to give  your opinion. ; )

In the meantime, I still want to link up with Rebecca at Mom's Mustard Seeds.

I posted last week that I was undergoing an attitude adjustment.....and part of me still is. =)  I had to write a devotion for a group that I'm in and almost bowed out ~ but due tothe fact that I feel guilty if I don't follow through with my obligations, I did it anyway.  This is a slightly altered and less personal version of what I shared with them ~ and I'm sharing it with you, too.  Because......well, I'm still kind of there ~ and I think that a lot of people are right now.  It seems like everyone I know is struggling with something and maybe I'm not supposed to act like everything is perfect in my world ~ maybe being real is what I'm supposed to be.

My personality is an encourager and I feel anything but encouraging. I am the quiet, shy one ~ and when I'm going through difficult times, my natural inclination is to become even quieter and fade into the background until I get a better grip on things. =) I am also generally happy and cheerful, and it is rare that my faith and trust in the Lord wavers, and when I get really discouraged it usually only lasts for a moment or two and I am right back to normal {or my version of it, anyway ;)}.

The past few weeks....or months, I've been drowning in drama ~ and I don't do well with drama.  If you know me and want to get rid of me, just go "Drama Queen" (or King) on me and that'll do it! ; )  It seems like the relationships that God gives us that are supposed to be our sources of support are the ones that Satan is using to discourage me the most. Add to that the fact that I haven't had a full good nights sleep in probably 2 months and have had almost contant pain from headaches, and my propensity to have a positive outlook has dwindled.

The other day, I lay in bed waiting for Excedrin Migraine to work, looking up at the skylights......and thought, "Lord, the sun is shining so brightly today.....why can't I feel your warmth?" I eventually got up and reached into my tote for something, pulled out my music folder, and a piece that my ensemble has been working on, "Healing is in Your Hands",  fell out. (I actually posted the video a couple of weeks ago for "Then Sings My Soul Saturday"). I looked at the words and then pulled it up on YouTube. As tears filled my eyes, I was reminded that His warmth never left me....it was me in my hurt that backed away so that I couldn't feel it.

I also decided to check my email before I logged off, and a friend had sent me this song......having no idea of where I was emotionally.  But Someone else did and His timing is always perfect.

(mute the auto music player below to hear the video)


How thankful I am that He hears my every prayer, sees my every tear.........and that His mercies are always there, even if we have to lift the veil of our own lack of faith to find them. How thankful I am for ♥music♥, that He uses to reach my heart and wrap His warmth around me when I am unable to feel it, and to give me hope to get me back to "normal"........until the day that I am Home.

My Mustard Seed Planting verse for the week is simple and well-known to those of us in the Faith.  But simple Truths and His promises of what's to come is sometimes just what we need.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

 Rev. 21:4



Lies Women Believe.....About Marraige

from Chapter 6 of Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

And the lies continue......and are Satan's greatest tool in achieving his destructive purposes in our lives ~ and in our marriages.  What was meant to be a joyful, fruitful, and intimate relationship between a man, a woman, and God has often become a battleground.

If he can get use to believe and act upon his lies, he will succeed in putting us into bondage, stealing our joy, and wreaking havoc in our relationships.

Lie 21 : "I Have to Have a Husband To Be Happy"

Satan has distorted the truth about marriage and has us believing that its purpose is personal happiness and fulfillment......and that we cannot be truly happy without a husband to meet our needs.  Or, that our husbands are supposed to make us happy.

The Truth is that marriage is good, it is right, and it can be a source of great happiness and blessings in our lives.  The Truth is that the ultimate purpose of marriage is to glorify God ~ not to make us happy.

Those of us who look to our marriages and husbands to make us happy and fulfill our deepest needs are setting ourselves up for disappointment.  We live in a world that searches only for personal happiness and fulfillment, a world of romantic ideals, Hollywood fantasies and unrealistic expectations.  A world where everyone has a soul mate, and once you find your soul mate.....you live happily ever after.  The problem is that the romantic ideal is very rare, if it exists at all. 

When I was younger, I believed ~ as many others do ~ in the whole soul mate scenario.  As I've gotten older,  lived through my own marriage relationship difficulties, and observed others, and observed divorce rates, etc., my mind has changed.  I believe that there are a number of people in the world that you could end up with and have a happy life together.  I believe you choose your soul mate.  You choose the person (hopefully with the Lord's guidance) and make a choice, every day, to love them.  Because in my world, reality is often not my romantic ideal and looks nothing like the Hollywood fantasies or Disney movies I loved as a little girl.  Real life is difficult, it is sometimes messy......and my husband (bless his heart) doesn't always make the choices, or say the right thing, notice what I'd like him to notice, respond the way I'd like......or do many of the things that would make me gloriously happy every day.  (And the same goes for me making him happy).

The problem with our current view of "soul mates" is that when things are hard, when they are ugly....when they don't turn out the way we imagined that they would and we don't feel happy, we assume that we made a mistake.  That our "soul mate" is out there, somewhere.....waiting for us to find them.  And people spend their lives in and out of relationships and marriages, looking for that elusive, fulfilling happiness.....leaving damaged people and broken hearts along the way.

"The Truth is that happiness is not found in (or out of) marriage; it is not found in any human relationship.  True joy can only be found through Christ.  The Truth is that God has promised to give us everything we need.........The Truth is that contentment is not found in having everything we think we want but in choosing to be satisfied with what God has already provided." ~Nancy Leigh deMoss

When we stop expecting our husband to make us happy and fulfill our every need, and look to God instead ~ it is then that we find true joy and contentment.  The type of joy that Satan can't steal and the peaceful contentment that gives us grace in times of difficulty and the ability to love our "soul mates" when they're not so lovable.  It is then that our marriages can begin to be what they were intended to be ~ a glorification of God, of His Love, His Joy, His Contentment, His Grace and His Mercy.

The Truth is ~~ It's really not all about us after all.  The strange things about the Truths of God :  the less we make things about us and the more we make things about Him, the closer we are to getting what we were after in the first place.

My Mustard Seed Planting verse of the week:

"My soul, wait silently for God alone,

For my expectation is from Him.

He only is my rock and my salvation;

He is my defense; I shall not be moved. 

In God is my salvation and my glory;

The rock of my strength,

And my refuge, is in God."

Psalm 62:5-7



The Most Valuable and Fulfilling "Job" ~ A True Calling

Lie # 20.  "A Career Outside The Home Is More Valuable and Fulfilling Than Being a Wife and Mother"

"Women have been liberated right out of the genuine freedom they enjoyed for centuries to oversee the home, rear the children, and pursue personal creativity; they have been brainwashed to believe the absence of a titled, payroll occupation enslaves a woman to failure, boredom, and imprisonment within the confines of the home" ~ Dr. Dorothy Patterson

In reading reviews of Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss on Amazon, this is one of the lies that received the most criticism.  To suggest a woman "give up" some of her independence is not a popular concept these days.  Concepts such as virtue, chastity, submission, discretion, domesticity and modesty have been largely eliminated from our vocabulary and replaced with freedom of choice, divorce, infidelity, and unisex lifestyles, along with a demeaning view of marriage and motherhood.

We are pressured and expected to do more than just be a wife and mother, and many of us who choose to stay at home are often looked down upon and devalued, and sometimes even told that we aren't living up to our potential (yes, I have been told that.....from family as well as others).

If you've read the book, there is a long list of unintended consequences our families and children now face as a result of women's liberation from the mundane life of a homemaker {world's view ~ not mine ; ) }.  I won't list them all, but will focus more on this lie and my response to it.

In Genesis 2:18, we find the first and clearest statement of why God created the woman:  to be a helpmeet to our husbands, to complete him, to be suited to his needs.  Not popular in 2011, wouldn't you agree?  Thus, the criticisms and even anger from women who are outraged at what they see as such an archaic concept.....but God's Truths are just that.  Truth.  The popularity or current world view of the Truth does not make it more or less True.

The woman was uniquely designed and created by God to be a bearer and nurturer of life.  In so many ways, we have been the ability to add life, beauty, fullness, richness, joy, mercy and grace to the family unit.  "There is no greater measure of her worth or success as a woman than the extent to which she serves as the heart of her home."  Our lives and ministry as married women and mothers are to be centered around the home.  I don't think this necessarily means that is it wrong for a wife and mother to work outside of the home.  Ms. DeMoss even says that in her book, but I think the offended reviewers must not have seen that part. ; )
Whether we work away from home, work at home, or are blessed to make our home our work......our first priority and calling is to the home and our families. 

I have friends and know many wonderful, loving, Godly women who work full time outside of the home and would never begin to think that they are not fully committed to their first calling.  I am in awe of what they are able to accomplish.....they are able to do things and juggle what I cannot.  I often think, "They are more woman than I can ever be."  But, when I make such a comment to them, they often tell me that they cannot do it all and simply do what has to be done, doing the best they can.

Due to financial struggles, I tried working outside of the home last year and God showed me through that that I am truly CALLED to be at home.  I am also CALLED to homeschool.   I was miserable, exhausted and unhappy......and my family was unhappy as well.   No matter how I tried to force it to work, it just didn't for me.  It wasn't the job, which was a good job with wonderful employers and co-workers.  It was me, and the fact that my fears were controlling my choices and causing me to be unfaithful to MY calling.  In many ways, I am glad I went through the experience last year.  It erased any shadow of doubt of whether being at home and homeschooling was simply what I wanted to do or a true calling.

And so now, I am ♥home♥.   And now there is Sweet Diva, which helps to keep me here.  I work, I homeschool, and I do all the things wives and mothers do.  I get tired.  Honestly, sometimes I wish all I had to do was wifely and motherly duties and homeschool......not because I don't have many varied interests and abilities.  Not because I am not an intelligent, capable woman, but because that is my first calling and I happily embrace it.  I am thankful for it and consider it the most valuable, worthy and worthwhile "job" a woman could ever have.  The "job" we have been given has lasting and eternal significance and should never be looked down upon, belittled or under-valued.

"When mothers see how valuable their contribution can be, they should be overwhelmed with gratitude to God for bestowing such a good work upon them." ~ Praise Her in the Gates

Praise God that He deemed ME worthy.  I often feel that I am not.  How wonderful that He looks beyond our own views of ourselves and bestows upon us the blessings, gifts and callings that are truly immeasurable.
SN (side note) :  Two other books I recommend to remind you of how valuable and worthwhile your 1st calling is:

Praise Her In The Gates and The Fruit of Her Hands, both by Nancy Wilson.

My Mustard Seed Planting verse for the week:

Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also praises her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but you excel them all. ...She will be rewarded with the fruit of her own hands; and because of her works and deed she will be praised in public places. Proverbs 31:28-29, 31



Lies Women Believe.....About Priorities

is the focus of Chapter Five of Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free by Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

.
Lie 18:  "I Don't Have Time To Do Everything I'm Supposed To Do"

How many times have I said this, thought this, whined this, cried this??  This is a lie that plagues me.  Doggedly.  Sigh.  How many of you can relate as well to the plaque above?  It's cute, it's funny.....but in the reality of my life, it's really NOT.

I know many other women who experience the same thing.  We often feel incapable of managing and balancing all of our responsibilities ~ overwhelmed by how much we have to do and how little time we have to do it all in.

We are frazzled, breathless, and discouraged.  How often do we go to bed wishing we had gotten to everything on our to-do lists?  Add to that everything that is on everyone else's to-do lists for us and it's quite literally impossible to ever see the end of it.

The Truth is that we don't have to do all those things.  We only have to do the work God assigns for us to do.  When we establish our own agenda or let others determine the priorities of our lives instead of taking time to discern what it is God wants us to do, we end up buried in mountains of work, exhausted, frustrated and feeling guilty that we can't get it all done.  God desires for us to have a peaceful, well-ordered life....not one of chaos.

There's a related lie out there that many of us who are often victim to this one have heard, and heard often:
"I can do it all."    Truthfully, no woman can do it all......and do it all well.  Eventually, someone or something is going to suffer.

"Frustration is the by-product of attempting to fulfill responsibilities God does not intend for us to carry.  Freedom, joy, and fruitfulness come from seeking to determine God's priorities for each season of life, and then setting out to fulfill those priorities, in the power of His Spirit, realizing that He has provided the necessary time and ability to do everything that He has called you to do."  ~Nancy Leigh Demoss

Lie 19:  " I Can Make It Without Consistant Time In God's Word and Prayer"

Another lie no Christian would want to admit to buying into to.  And yet, how much time do we really spend in God's Word and in talking....and listening....to Him?

Satan desires us to live our lives independently of God.  He's not as concerned with whether we "believe" in God.  If we fill our schedules with lots of "spiritual activities", if we are trying to "live the Christian life' without developing and nurturing an intimate relationship with the Lord, he knows we will be spiritually defeated and ineffective.  If we operate on our own thoughts and ideas instead of seeking the wisdom that comes from God, he knows we will eventually get sucked into the world's way of thinking and will become vulenrable to deception in every area of our lives.

Much too often, we find ourselves jumping into the tasks and details of the day without first taking time to meet with the Lord and give that day to Him, to seek His guidance and set out accordingly.  I know when I do things in my own strength, in my own will, the results are never what I had hoped for and I am often left frustrated, aggravated and with a mess to clean up.

It is impossible for me, or you, to be the woman God wants me to be apart from spending consistant time building a relationship with Him, "abiding" in Him, living in dependence on Him......and trusting Him.

My Mustard Seed Planting verse(s) for the week:

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;  and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

~ Matthew 6:25-34



One Step Forward, Three Steps Back

I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  ~ Romans 7:21-24

Can you identify with the cry from the heart that comes from the apostle Paul?  If you've been a Christian for any length of time, I would imagine that, like myself, the answer is "yes".

From Lies Women Believe and the Truth that Sets Them Free, we find another lie Satan uses to place us in bondage:

Lie 17:  I Cannot Walk in Consistent Victory Over Sin

Even after our salvation, our "flesh" persists in waging war against God's Spirit within us.  We give the flesh more control over us every time we choose to give in and establish behavior and habit patterns that can be excruciatingly difficult to break.......and yet, if we choose to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, we give Him greater control over our lives.

When we choose to believe the lie that we cannot walk in consistent victory over temptation and sin, he has successfully enslaved us to the sinful habits we so want to break.  We  can become convinced that "it's no use", or think "what's the point ~ I'm just going to blow it again" and give up.

"Remember that what we believe determines the way we live.  If we believe we are going to sin, then we will.  If we believe we have to live in bondage, then we will.  If we believe that we can't live victorious lives, we won't." ~ Nancy Leigh DeMoss

How do we break the bondage of this lie?  We must come to the realization that it is beyond us to change ourselves (1 John 15:5)..... it is beyond us to to set ourselves free.  Relying on our own determination and strength to change our deeply ingrained sinful habits that hold us in bondage leaves us destined to take "one step forward and two steps back (or three, four, five, six.....).

If you are in Christ, if you have experienced the salvation that comes from God......let His Truth set you free:

"You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness......through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of Life set me free from the law of sin and death." ~ Romans 6:18, 8:2

Every true believer desires to live a life that is pleasing to God.  If  you do not have such desire within you, even if it's deep down and possibly hindered by enslavement to your sin nature and Satan's lies, perhaps you should question whether you have ever been truly converted.  We have all been born into the same fallen, sinful condition and are all under the righteous judgement of God.

Through the sacrifice of Christ at Calvary, we can be forgiven and be reconciled with God and have the power to  live holy lives.  We do not receive forgiveness by being "good", but by faith and repentance.  Satan wants to keep us in bondage to fear, doubt and guilt.  No matter how great a sinner you may have been, his blood and grace are sufficient to cover them all and is the only way to victory and right standing with God.

Whether you are a new believer or have known the Lord for sometime, our prayer should be as that of the Puritans:

"Grant me never to lose sight of

the exceeding sinfulness of sin,

the exceeding righteousness of salvation,

the exceeding glory of Christ,

the exceeding beauty of holiness,

the exceeding wonder of grace."

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Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. ²⁴ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. ²⁵ For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? ²⁶ For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.

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May we take up our cross daily and follow Him......so that we may have Victory in Jesus over sin and in every area of our lives.

♫ I heard an old, old story, How a Savior came from glory,

How He gave His life on Calvary To save a wretch like me;

I heard about His groaning, Of His precious blood's atoning,

Then I repented of my sins And won the victory.

Chorus

O victory in Jesus, My Savior, forever.

He sought me and bought me With His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him And all my love is due Him,

He plunged me to victory, Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about His healing, Of His cleansing pow'r revealing.

How He made the lame to walk again And caused the blind to see;

And then I cried, "Dear Jesus, Come and heal my broken spirit,"

And somehow Jesus came and bro't To me the victory.

~Chorus~

O victory in Jesus, My Savior, forever.

He sought me and bought me With His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him And all my love is due Him,

He plunged me to victory, Beneath the cleansing flood.

I heard about a mansion He has built for me in glory.

And I heard about the streets of gold Beyond the crystal sea;

About the angels singing, And the old redemption story,

And some sweet day I'll sing up there The song of victory.

~Chorus~

O victory in Jesus,My Savior, forever.

He sought me and bought me With His redeeming blood;

He loved me ere I knew Him And all my love is due Him,

He plunged me to victory, Beneath the cleansing flood. ♫