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Right now. Are you stressed and busy, about to self soothe with a drive thru feast? Or maybe a glass (or two) of wine to help relax after work and kids and dishes and all the people-y situations of the day. Do you need retail therapy or a Netflix binge or a talk with a good friend about a not so good friend who pushes your buttons? Do you need a vacation? Maybe chocolate would help. Or a good run. Right this moment I bet you can tell me what you need. What do you need?

Society is really geared towards self care. Just about anyone you meet will tell you that you should absolutely go get that spa pedicure because you can’t pour from an empty cup. Women have too long been convinced that they have to give 200% and so many right now are feeling tired and stressed and worn down. And the answer you are finding is “me time”. Decide what you need and do it! Without guilt. To recharge your batteries.

And I’m not against self care. After all, you actually CAN’T pour from an empty cup. There are completely correct reasons to take breaks and care for ourselves. But here is the catch. Maybe even a dangerous trap.

Saint Augustine writes in his Confessions, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”  Perhaps Augustine’s most often quoted phrase, it captures something that resonates deep within us.

Self care will not fill up your heart and give you what you truly need. It can help you relax. It can fill your belly. It can relieve anxiety or give you a break. But after the moment you set aside has passed your situations will all still be there to be faced. Without a change of heart, mind and perspective those situations will push you continuously toward your new self soothing behaviors. Until you find yourself with a whole new problem that looms: overeating, alcoholism, impulsive shopping, media addiction, gossip, escapism, chocoholic obsessions or over exercising.

What you need today can become tomorrow’s biggest battle… because we were created for a purpose and with a hole that only one thing can fill. God created you to need HIM and to have your needs met by him. How can I say this, you might wonder? How can I know what you need? And you. And you.

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. – John 6:33-35

God want to have a special and sacred relationship with us where HE is what we need because we are what he wants. Always. Every time. When we think a drive thru will settle our moods we really need the presence of God. Wine, retail therapy, Netflix, friends, vacations, chocolate and endorphins are temporary soul substitutes for the blood of Jesus that paves our way to the Father. And because we were made for relationship with our God nothing else will satisfy long term.

Self care isn’t selfish… but it is pointless if we really need to get with God and allow him to change the way we think, feel and see the world into the way he wants us to see it. So get that pedicure. Eat that chocolate. Watch that mini series… if you want to. But if you feel like you need to, you’re probably just used to covering your soul with a craving.

So what do you need? Time with God! Always time with God.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? – Psalm 42:1-2

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law [Romans 13:8 NIV].

         All of us are in debt! According to the Federal Reserve, the average credit-card debt of American households is $6,569. According to Bankrate, when mortgages, student debt, car loans, credit card debt, and other loans are calculated, as of September 2021, “consumer debt is at $14.96 trillion, with the average American debt among consumers at $92,727.”  As scary as this sounds, we have an even more terrifying mountain of debt: sin-debt.

     Nobody sins for free. When we do not love the way Jesus loves, our sin-debt ticks upward, moment by moment, day by day, month after month, until the years pass by, and finally, our consciences stagger under a life-threatening, soul-crushing weight of unpaid bills. Scary!

   Why is sin so expensive? One of the costs of sin is that it offends God. God is our Father. He is deeply invested in us and cares about how we live. David recognized this. After committing adultery, he cried out, “Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight” (Psalm 51:4). 

    The penalty for non-payment is not the poorhouse. We don’t get off that easily. Instead, we are condemned to death (Romans 6:23). Without someone stepping up to pay what we owe, we are “dead men walking,” only subsisting on death row until our sentence is carried out (Romans 7:24). Our sin and mess also grieve the Holy Spirit, who is working so hard to save us from the pollution of our bodies and the destruction of our relationships (Ephesians 4:30).

To make matters worse, sin cripples our faith, and the guilt we feel convinces us that God is no longer for us. In addition, sin severely wounds our conscience, making us spiritually dull and less sensitive to the cue-cards of the Holy Spirit. And finally, unresolved, unconfessed sin makes us unaware of God’s grace for a time. Just ask Jonah!

     There is hope, however! Jesus paid our debt with His life. We have been taken from death row and released into the new life Jesus purchased for us. What should be our response to this mind-blowing, utterly undeserved gift of mercy and grace? We can begin by admitting the truth of our mess, asking for forgiveness and for help to be more and more like Jesus. Then we need to ask for help to learn to live in a state of constant gratitude. What Jesus did for us is enormous! Got praise?

     Since we cannot pay God back, we can pay His love forward, which is now our “continuing debt” (Romans 13:8). You and I are neck-deep in an ocean of love and grace, so perhaps we can dip a cup into it and extend some mercy, forgiveness, and love to others. What is the evidence we are off death row? John writes, “We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death” (1 John 3:14). When our love for others bubbles up out of a deep well of gratitude for God’s undeserved mercy, we begin to pay back the unpayable.

Prayer:

    Oh, Father! What a precious gift of life and love you have given me! Remind me that I do not deserve this and can never pay You back. Teach me to live a life defined by gratitude, and from that gratitude and the ocean of Your grace, to give forgiveness, mercy, and love to others. Amen.

To fill your cup:

Luke 15:21

Proverbs 3:27

1 Timothy 1:5

James 2:8

Jehovah Mephalti – The Lord my Deliverer!

Oh no! She screamed, how can this be? Her head started spinning as if she was out of control! She was shaking all over and it seemed there was no end to it.  She fell to her knees and the tears began to fall. As the tears began to fall, she started pleading… Jesus help me! She continued to call on the name of Jesus and eventually she began confessing the Word of God. The more she confessed, the more the Word became alive to her and she realized that she was becoming stronger. She was saying things such as “the joy of the Lord is my strength” and “greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world” and before she knew it, she was smiling victoriously with tears of joy streaming down her face, praising God in the midst of her trial and those tears of devastation were turned to tears of victory!

This scenario could be any one of us but this is just an example of a situation where the woman received bad news possibly related to the loss of a child, spouse, or any close relative.

Actually, I have lost eight brothers and with one of the losses, I remember crying uncontrollably while sitting at my desk.  This was not a good reaction but at the time, my walk with the Lord wasn’t as strong as it is today, nevertheless, I do recall composing myself enough to take a flight home to bury my brother. When I received news about my other brothers, I prayed for God to give me the strength to be there for my family and help get us through the funerals as best as possible.

Have you ever felt like you were dealing with a strong enemy?  That enemy could be oppression, depression, anger, unforgiveness, grief, or even problems with the flesh.  Whatever your enemy is, God can rescue you and deliver you.

I want to talk about deliverance and how God can deliver us from any situation we are in.  This subject is not mentioned often but I would like to highlight it because it is mentioned over 100 times in the Bible.  If you search your reference, you will find that there are many times that deliver/deliverance is mentioned and it is not confined to demons.  This is something we need in our everyday life.

The meaning of deliverance is the act of delivering someone or something: the state of being delivered especially: liberation, rescue. Psalm 18:17 reads “He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me.”

Deliverance is mentioned in the NIV Bible 20 times and in the KJV around 15 times.  Deliver is mentioned 281 in the KJV and 106 times in the NIV.

Each time I have studied this term deliverance/deliver, I am reminded of how much God loves us and wants to deliver us from our enemies, troubles, oppressors, and more than the areas listed below.  These are just a few:

Psalm 71:4 – the hand of the enemy
Psalm 142:6 – my persecutors
Psalm 119:134 – oppression
Psalm 120:2 – lying lips and a deceitful tongue
Psalm 34:4 – all my fears
Psalm 54:7 – all my troubles
Psalm 107:6 – my distresses
Matthew 6:13 – from evil
Psalm 54:3 – oppressors

In Exodus 3:7-10, we see that God saw the affliction of His people, heard their cries, knew their sufferings, and came down to deliver them.

God sees our affliction today and he hears our cry as well and he will deliver us the same way as he delivered the children of Israel from bondage in Egypt.  You might say, but I am not in Egypt today Idella, I am in America and I am not sure if God can help me in my situation.  Well, let me suggest something you can do to start moving towards freedom in your everyday life.  This is just one way to make the word of God personal to you: insert your name in the scripture and repeat it aloud to yourself.  Do not simply read these scriptures but say them with a heartfelt prayer to God because he is your deliverer!  (Jeremiah 29:13) Here are some examples:

Psalm 50:15 “And Idella will call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver Idella, and Idella shall glorify me.”
Psalm 107:6 “Then Idella cried to the Lord in her trouble, and he delivered her from her distress.”
Psalm 34:17 “When Idella cries for help, the Lord hears and delivers Idella out of all her troubles.”

I would like to encourage you to search the scriptures for any area you are dealing with in your life personally and allow the Lord to reveal his word to you and speak to your heart.  This will not be easy but with the help of the Holy Spirit’s leading, it will become easier as you dive deeper into his word and apply it with an intention to your life. Be encouraged ladies and enjoy your study!

Written by Idella Zell

In light of our “Relationships” theme of 2022, let’s talk about friendships. The Bible has countless insightful verses on this topic. Before diving further, I would like to highlight just a few great ones:

• “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up” 1 Thessalonians 5:11a
• “Do not be misled: Bad company corrupts good character.” 1 Corinthians 15:33
• “Troublemakers start fights; gossips break up friendships.” Proverbs 16:28
• “A friend loves at all times” Proverbs 17:17a

Friendships look different for everyone. Some people thrive in large friend groups, while others prefer just one “bestie.” Maybe you’ve even been both of these people just going through different seasons of life. There is no exact “right way” to have friends, but there are definitely some “wrong ways,” or at least some pitfalls to look out for. These pitfalls can include pessimism, jealousy, codependency, and combinations of many other negative qualities people struggle with.

Pessimism is heavy but sneaky. Most of the time, we don’t even realize it is creeping into our lives until it has already taken over. It can find its way to us through our friendships, and in that same way, we can infect others with it. Have you ever been around someone who just seems to drain your energy? They aren’t mean; they’re not even a bad friend, but they just have that quality that leaves you emotionally exhausted by the end of your visit. We shouldn’t avoid friendships like these, you may even be called to pour the love and light of Christ into this friend’s life, but you must be careful not to let their troubles overcome you. At the end of every day, you are still a child of the King of Kings, and no amount of negativity from others should pull your eyes away from your true purpose here.

Jealousy blinds us. It robs us of our self-love and security. A friend that is blinded by jealousy spends a lot of time worrying and anxiously wondering if they’re liked, valuable, or worth spending time with. These insecure thoughts only feed our jealousy. The beautiful thing about friendships is that God brings them into our lives with purpose and for just a specific season most of the time. Rarely do you find a life-long friendship that has managed to stay close-knit the whole way through. Jealousy lies to you, and it tells you that you won’t be okay if a friendship falls away or if it is even just placed on a temporary hold. The truth is that we shouldn’t want to tightly hold on to friendships that God isn’t pushing us to. Long-time friends can become acquaintances; long-time acquaintances can become our closest friends, and so on. Trust that our Lord knows what is best for all of us and that He is working a plan for our good, even if we don’t see the big picture yet.

You’ve had good and bad friends throughout your life, but you’ve also been a good friend and a bad friend to others. While we are all sinfully human, the hope is that we are all working diligently every day to learn how to better show Christ’s love to one another. When thinking about Godly friendships, I have only a few recommendations. Give grace freely to yourself and everyone you interact with. Repent for how you may have wronged others in the past. Pray for God’s will and guidance in your current friendships and the friendship that are still to come. Allow yourself to grieve friends whose presence you miss in your life. Trust that following God’s plan and sharing Christ’s love is enough to be fulfilled in your life. No matter what season we are in, the light we offer in our friendships can remain unshaken.

Verses for further study:

1 Peter 4:8-10
John 15:12-15
Proverbs 22:24-25
Colossians 3:13

Song for inspiration:
God is Good by Francesca Battistelli

Today is a sacred day on the Liturgical Calendar.

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.

In case you are not familiar with these terms, I’ll give you a brief definition. The Liturgical Calendar commemorates the main happenings throughout the life of Jesus.  It begins four weeks prior to Christmas with the season of Advent (preparing for the birth of Jesus). Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and lasts for 40 days (excluding Sundays) through the Thursday prior to Easter (the day that commemorates the Last Supper). Advent and Lent are both seasons of preparation. Times when we are called to examine our own hearts, draw closer to Jesus, and mend relationships.

This practice is often associated with “rules” as set forth by the Catholic Church.

The practice goes back further though to the early Christian churches.

I used to get bogged down in the “rules” of the seasons. I wanted to make sure I did it “right.” As I have grown in maturity as a Christian, I have also learned that the purpose of these seasons is to draw me closer to Jesus, rest in His peace, and nourish my relationship with Him.  What a relief! There is no “right” way to practice Lent because there is also no “wrong” way to do it either.

I have come to a place where I see the practice of the liturgical cycles as a way of being intentional about my relationship with Jesus. It’s a time to check in with myself and see what I’m doing to nurture that relationship.

The following photo was in a social media post:

One reason the resonated clearly with me is that the list not only suggests what to leave behind but also what to put in its place.

Lord, help me fast from the behaviors that do not glorify You and to engage in behaviors that draw others closer to You.