bible – Page 2 – Grow Anyway

Fully Alive

March 9, 2022March 9, 2022by Liz GossLeave a Comment

Are you fully alive? Loaded question right? We all want to say yes but let me pose a few questions about your ability to see God in the dailiness of your life:

Do you feel like you are making a mess of your life?
Do you feel like God is holding out in you?
Do you feel attacked at every turn?

How you see the world directly influences how you experience the world. If you put God’s word in the center stage before the way you feel, you will definitely struggle a lot less.

Matthew 6:22-23 says: “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

So how do you have healthy eyes so that you can start to experience the life God has for you?

John 10:10 says that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Your eyes are under direct attack. How you view your life matters to the darkness and the light. And in Jesus’ name, I say you take it back from the thief!

On Friday I will be bringing this message in full but for now, I want you all to begin to ponder… what would my life look like if I saw my life through God’s eyes? Here are a few ideas:

You are not making a mess out of your life but you do have an enemy who wants you to fail. Come alive!
God is not holding out on you. His heart is for you. Approach his throne with boldness. Come alive!
In this life, we will have troubles but we can still take heart because Christ has overcome. Come alive!

You can experience life with new hope, no hesitation, and joy. You too can be fully alive with new eyes to see the world around you.

Come to the Grove on Friday, March 11th to hear more about your opportunity to live fully alive. See you there!

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Lighting a Fire Under your Prayers

February 16, 2022February 15, 2022by Stephanie Murillo3 Comments

[Romans 12:12 NIV] 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Do your prayers sometimes feel flat, boring, or empty? We often go through seasons in which maintaining a vibrant prayer life can be a real challenge. When we least feel like talking to God is when we most need to hit our prayer bones, but how can we energize our conversations with our Abba, our Daddy-God?

When the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, he knew they were suffering tremendous persecution. So, he sent them an antidote for their poisonous circumstances: be hopeful; be patient; be prayerful. In Romans 12:12, prayer is listed last, but in reality, only prayer makes patience and hope well up in our hearts and minds. Hopeful joy and enduring patience can only grow when planted in a receptive heart, a heart whose ground has been plowed by the Holy Spirit. So, how can a fire be kindled under our prayers when trouble hijacks our peace and energy?

Wrestle

Jacob wrestled with God saying, “I will not let you go until you bless me!” He was dogged in his determination, applying every bit of his strength to hang on to God (Genesis 32). His time with God was heart-work, sweaty soul-work, and spirit work. Jesus put this kind of “sweat-equity” into His prayers as well. But how to wrestle when exhausted? How to keep knocking and seeking when all the fight is gone? The answer is to pray for the energy of the Holy Spirit, God’s form of CPR, to oxygenate and warm your prayers. You can tell God, “Lord, I’m done in. You said in Your Word that you don’t snuff out a smoldering wick (Isaiah 42:3), so please re-light my passion, trust, and love for you. I am going to wait here with You until you give me the spiritual CPR I need to wrestle this through with You. Thank You, Abba!”

Value God’s Mercy

How much do you value what you are pursuing in prayer? How much do you appreciate God’s grace and mercy to you? When you and I realize that we are seeking an unspeakably precious gift from God, a gift that cost the Lord everything to make it available to us, our prayers can catch fire again. Need more? How about picturing what life would be like if God were to withhold His mercy and love. Spiritual starvation and dehydration are in our future if God does not constantly give us the “bread of heaven” and His “living water.” Let the thought that only God can keep your soul alive lend some urgent energy to your prayers. Martin Luther called this kind of energetic prayer a “bombarda Christianorum,” a great gun based on God’s promises, with which a believer bombards heaven. You can plead, “Lord, you said in Your Word that …… and now I am here to ask You to make good on that promise.” As God’s child, with Jesus in your heart, you are allowed that kind of “holy impudence,” as the Pilgrims called prayers that rattle the gates of heaven.

Trust God

When you trust that God is and that He truly does reward those that pursue Him, you can pray with faith that God will hear and respond. Without this faith, we are just talking to ourselves. But when we pray, “I believe; help my unbelief” (Mark 9:24), that kind of raw honesty opens the door to God’s abundant blessings and a flood of grace.

Pray Constantly

The Apostle Paul would not have triumphed as a prisoner in chains if he hadn’t prayed like he breathed: constantly. He said to “pray in every situation” (Philippians 4:6). Paul knew that life could rob us of hope and joy when we are prayerless. But he also knew the power that time with God releases into our lives, especially when we are constantly praying as if our lives depended on it.

Prayers that Morph into Praise

When you and I realize how precious God’s love and mercy is and how faithful God is to respond to our heartfelt pursuit of Him, gratitude is the result. A grateful person says “Thank you!” constantly, and so must we. Praise is the rent we pay for abiding under the shadow of God’s almighty, protective wing. So, weave your gratitude into those honest, sweaty prayers. We are adopted children who need to be grateful to our Father, who constantly waves a banner of love over us.

Does this process sound like hard work? It is! In fact, effective prayer is impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit, so call out a 9-1-1 when you need a fire lit under your prayers. Just tell God the unvarnished truth about where you are and what you need, then expect a warm response from your Abba, who loves you.

For further study:

Psalm 39:12; 126:5

Luke 7:38

Hebrews 5:7

Luke 17:5

2 Thessalonians 1:11

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Ready With Him

January 19, 2022January 16, 2022by rachelleepallas3 Comments

The Bible is clear that we will not know when the second coming is, but we should still be prepared. When preparing for the second coming, we are not told to hoard and stock up on essentials nor barricade ourselves in our homes. We are said to be like Lot and Noah, working diligently in the plans God has laid down for our life.

Christ teaches about the second coming in Luke 17:20-37. He speaks about it coming at an unexpected time. He talks about the days of Noah with the flood and the days of Lot in Sodom. In these examples, Jesus lists many worldly activities that were happening right up until being destroyed. People were so consumed with the things of this world that they were utterly unprepared when the time of judgment came. Jesus wasn’t saying that these activities were sinful, but we can become easily distracted by them if we aren’t careful. How much time in our lives have we spent worrying about our finances, cleaning our house, rearranging our furniture, or deciding what we are going to wear that day? Jesus gave examples of eating, drinking, building, buying, and many others when the flood came and Sodom was destroyed. Jesus wasn’t saying that we shouldn’t do these things, but He warns that we should not become so distracted by these things that we are caught off guard by His promised return. Before all other things, we must be ready.

So what can we do to “be ready”? In Mark 13:33, Jesus says, “Be on guard! Be alert!” regarding the second coming. This means we cannot wait to be all-in. When Christ comes, we don’t want to be caught in a time of putting God on the back burner. We are meant to put God first, even in doing the things of our day-to-day lives. Putting God above all else is how we can be alert and ready to lose our worldly lives to preserve our eternal life.

Paul prays for things in Colossians 1:9-12 can give us even more clues to what “being ready” for the second coming looks like. Some of the items listed are spiritual wisdom and understanding God’s will for us. We are to live with patience, endurance, the strength that comes from God’s glorious might, and hearts that give joyful thanks to Him. Staying on alert and being prepared for Christ’s second coming looks like each of us living according to God’s will and individual plan for our lives. For the second coming, we should strive to not simply be ready for it, but instead, be prepared by living daily with Him.

Prayer: Dear Lord, I pray that you help me be ready for your return. I seek a deeper relationship with the Creator of the Universe, the God who keeps all promises. You have spoken that whoever desires to save their life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. Please give me the courage to daily life for you and not for myself. Give me the heart to love you and love others far more than my love for my own life and my own worldly possessions. Thank you for all you have done for me, and help me to live a life that shows the proof of your never-ending love. In your holy name, I pray, Amen.

Song: Lay Me Down by Chris Tomlin

Verses for extra study: Luke 17:20-37; Mark 13; Matthew 6:26

liz goss

What Do You Believe?

January 5, 2022January 4, 2022by Liz Goss3 Comments

It’s January. A time for resolutions, words of the year, diets, and starting fresh. We boldly declare to the world, or at least our dog, how we intend to change for the better in the days to come. But can I ask a question? In the midst of all this decision making do we stop and ask God for direction and help?

So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 4:14-16

Let me break this down a bit for us. Paul was saying, considering we have someone who can continually cover for our sins (that’s Jesus) let’s keep trusting in him! Jesus understands our individual failings since he struggled against the same stuff without giving in. Now we can come directly in front of God himself… imagine!!! Because it is there that we will not get the punishment we deserve but INSTEAD favor and love when we desperately need it most.

Last time I wrote for this blog I talked about God giving us more than we could handle because we were meant to handle it with HIM (you can read that here). But so often the stresses of dealing with this world are too much and we struggle to find our help in God. This is when we tend to turn to things that we are now trying to resolve to change through the formation of resolutions, words of the year, diets, and starting fresh.

Sweet friends. We are all so so human but Jesus understands and tells God about what it’s like so he can have compassion for our troubles. Do we believe this? Do we feel in our hearts the overwhelming love our Father has for us in sending Jesus so that he could know firsthand how fragile our hearts are and forgive us? Hold firmly to this belief and it will turn our hearts to him.

This year has just begun. Take yourself boldly before the throne of God. We are promised mercy and grace so don’t be afraid! Ask God to show you the places he wants to change. Ask him to help you rely more on his strength and less on doughnuts. Tell him of your fear and ask him to give you his peace. Show him your sadness and ask for his joy. Walk right up to that throne and tell God you are exhausted and ask for his power. You will find undeserved favor for it all.

What do you believe? Jesus came to save your soul but also to empower you today. Take hold of who you are in Christ. A mighty warrior for the kingdom of God, bringing his truth to the world through the restoration of our own hearts and minds.

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Making the Holidays Holy Days

December 1, 2021November 30, 2021by Stephanie Murillo1 Comment

“Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill His promises to her” (Luke 1:45).

How can we make the holidays holy days? One way is to join our praises to those of Mary, the mother of Jesus. While visiting her miraculously, pregnant cousin Elizabeth, the rejoicing spirit of a newly pregnant Mary, cried out praise known as The Magnificat. This ancient song, found in the Old Testament, was traditionally sung or chanted by boys. However, on this day, Mary, full of joy at the wonder that she would give birth to the Messiah, either said or sang these beautiful words. You can find her story in Luke 1:26-56.

The Harp with Ten Strings

Charles Spurgeon, a great British preacher of the early twentieth century, said that The Magnificat, a celebration of God’s faithfulness and power, is like a “harp with ten strings” because of the ten reasons to rejoice contained within these Old Testament praises that poured out from Mary’s rejoicing heart. Are you ready for the music of these ten strings?

God is my joy. {Luke 1:46 NIV} And Mary said: “My soul magnifies the Lord.
~ Mary had profound reasons to praise God. She was joyful, having settled confidence that God is who He says He is and can do what He says He can do.

Jesus is God. {Luke 1:47 NIV} and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
~ Mary recognized that this life growing within her was “Immanuel,” God with us and mighty to save. Jesus would one day say, “Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58).

God bends low. {Luke 1:48 NIV} for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
~Mary was amazed and thrilled that God was coming down to put on humanity’s skin to save us. She saw God stooping down to deliver those who were willing from the clutches of death.

God is good. From now on, all generations will call me blessed,
~ Mary remembered God calling Himself “good” in Exodus 33:19, and she praised Him for His goodness toward her, recognizing His compassion, love, mercy, patience, and power.

God’s grace is holy. {Luke 1:49 NIV} for the Mighty One has done great things for me– holy is his name.
~ Mary celebrated a pure and sinless God offering His undeserved favor to sinful humanity. His “great things” included cleansing, forgiving, and giving us a way to come to His “throne of grace” to receive love, healing, hope, and peace.

God is merciful. {Luke 1:50 NIV} His mercy extends to those who fear him.
~ Mary praised a strong but tender God who comes to us as a compassionate priest, remembering “that we are dust” (Psalm 103:14).

God does not change. from generation to generation.
~ Mary praised God for never changing. He is not subject to bad moods or difficult times. He never lies; He is always a reliable protector and keeper of promises.

God is powerful. {Luke 1:51 NIV} He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
~ Mary knew the power of reciting the specific times in which God had shown His wonder-working ability. God’s resume is a faith-builder because what He has done in the past can do now and in the future.

God is the boss. He has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. {Luke 1:52-55 NIV} He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.
~Mary yielded to God as a trustworthy king, believing that His will for her was good. She let God be the judge and rule-maker, which freed her to experience fulfillment in the new adventure He had for her.

God is faithful. “He has helped his servant Israel,remembering to be merciful {Luke 1:55 NIV} to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.”
~ Mary trusted that God would carry His plan for our salvation and the defeat of death all the way to completion! She trusted Him never to abandon His good plan for her.

What is your favorite string in Mary’s harp? Perhaps you might enjoy meditating on these ten big ideas as you move through this holiday season and add your praises to those of Mary.

Prayer:

Lord, I praise You and thank You for coming down to be with us so that death would no longer defeat us and our mistakes would no longer define us. You are a faithful, strong, good God and the source of my joy. You make the holidays holy days. Help me to play my own harp of ten strings as I praise You. Amen.

liz goss

GATHER WITH GRATEFUL HEARTS

November 24, 2021November 23, 2021by Liz GossLeave a Comment

Thanksgiving Day is arguably the best holiday of the year because… FOOD. Here is a glimpse of what I cooked last year:

But menu aside, this November holiday is deeply rooted in spending time with family, and above all else, gratitude, making this special day the perfect opportunity to tap into a more reflective mindset. So after you’ve said a Thanksgiving prayer over the bounty of food, consider capping off your meal with a few meaningful Thanksgiving Bible verses to share around the table.

NOTE: Even if you are not surrounded by food and family on Thanksgiving Day, you ARE surrounded by the love of your Heavenly Father. Paul assures us of this in Romans 8:39, saying, “No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And that’s worth being thankful for!

I have compiled a bunch of verses from the Bible on gratitude, Thanksgiving, and praise. In case you don’t have time to make a list of your own during the hustle & bustle, feel free to use mine. Adding Thanksgiving to God into the mix of holiday traditions may just be your NEW favorite reason for loving Thanksgiving.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
1 Chronicles 16:34

And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.
Colossians 3:15

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
Colossians 4:2

I always thank my God for you and for the gracious gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Corinthians 1:4

Since everything God created is good, we should not reject any of it but receive it with thanks. For we know it is made acceptable by the word of God and prayer.
1 Timothy 4:4-5

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 4:6-7

But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the Lord alone.
Jonah 2:9

Make thankfulness your sacrifice to God, and keep the vows you made to the Most High.
Psalm 50:14

You have given me greater joy than those who have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.
Psalm 4:7

Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.
Colossians 3:16

Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe.
Hebrews 12:28

Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods. The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens!
1 Chronicles 16:23-26

O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name!
1 Chronicles 29:13

Therefore, let us offer through Jesus a continual sacrifice of praise to God, proclaiming our allegiance to his name.
Hebrews 13:15

The Lord is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.
Psalm 28:7

I praise God for what he has promised. I trust in God, so why should I be afraid? What can mere mortals do to me?
Psalm 56:4

Then I will praise God’s name with singing, and I will honor him with thanksgiving.
Psalm 69:30

I will sing of the Lord’s unfailing love forever! Young and old will hear of your faithfulness. Your unfailing love will last forever. Your faithfulness is as enduring as the heavens.
Psalm 89:1-2

Come, let us sing to the Lord! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come to him with thanksgiving. Let us sing psalms of praise to him. For the Lord is a great God, a great King above all gods.
Psalm 95:1-3

It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, a harp, and the melody of a lyre.
Psalm 92:1-3

Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
Psalm 107:8-9

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Godly Sorrow: The Distress that Drives us to God

September 15, 2021by Guest Blogger1 Comment

Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. [2 Corinthians 7:10]

I will never forget the year I outlawed the use of the word, “sorry” in my sixth-grade classroom. For some reason, the majority of my students thought that simply saying the word, “sorry” gave them a free pass from any consequence or any need to change their behavior. Saying, “sorry” was the magic word that would stop any authority figure from holding them accountable for their slip-ups and misdeeds and would relieve any feelings of badness and sadness they felt, especially when they were “sorry” about being caught. “Sorry” became the word that could hide them from judgment for breaking the rules, but their version of “sorry” had no power to change their hearts or help them recognize the wounds in relationships they were causing.

So, to move my precious charges from a position of self-centeredness and complete self-absorption, I outlawed the word “sorry” and gave them other phrases to use instead. All year we worked on empathy for others, so that saying, “I have hurt you,” and “This offense is my responsibility,” had a real impact on their hearts. We worked on forgiving and the giving of grace by saying to a classmate dealing with a misstep, “That’s okay, you are still a good person.”

I borrowed a page from the Apostle Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians as I asked God for help with this tough-hearted little crew He had given me to love. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians had really scorched their hides, demanding accountability for the sin and divisions that had turned their church into a shipwreck. Then, worrying that he had been too harsh, Paul wrote in his second letter to them, that he wanted them to feel the Godly sorrow that would lead to real change.

He wanted them to recognize how truly destructive this current sin-cycle was to their relationship with God, with one another, and within themselves. He didn’t want them to concentrate on outward behavior, but on letting the grace of God and His love penetrate their hearts. Paul wanted the Corinthians to love well, the way Jesus loves, and that meant measuring their behavior by how well they were maintaining loving, healthy relationships. He didn’t want their lives defined by hiding, regret, or being driven away from God and each other by an angry, condemning conscience.

Paul’s Holy Spirit-inspired approach inspired me to help my students move from trying harder to be good and nice and less snarky, to training their hearts to value loving well. Instead of making vows to do better and throwing out a quick, “sorry,” we worked on creating a safe environment where behavior could be evaluated without threat and tools for true change could be discovered and used. I have to admit, that the more deeply we explored this approach, the more of my own “me-sickness” surfaced. God lovingly and gracefully dealt with me, the biggest sinner in that classroom!

What about you? Would you be interested in living a life that leaves no regret, a life defined by true change and healing? Do you want out of the living death of a continuous sin cycle? Embracing Godly sorrow, rather than worldly sorrow is the key. You and I can pray for God to help us turn our perspectives outward so that we have the big picture our sin and mess are creating. The distress we feel at getting caught can be changed to a distress that drives us to a loving Father who is ready to forgive, grant us a do-over, and over time, equip us to love better. We can pray for a more sensitive heart that cares deeplywhen we hurt God, hurt others, and hurt ourselves. That is Godly sorrow. What would it look like in your life?

BY: Stephanie Murillo

For Further Study
2 Corinthians 7: 8-10
2 Samuel 12:13
1 Kings 8:47-50
Matthew 21:32
Matthew 26:75
2 Timothy 2:25-26

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Smelling Like Jesus

September 8, 2021September 8, 2021by Guest Blogger1 Comment

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place. [2 Corinthians 2:14]

What is your favorite scent? What aroma do you find most tantalizing? The smell of baking bread? The way the air is perfumed after a rain? What perfume really pleases you? The apostle Paul spoke of his favorite scent in 2 Corinthians 2:14. To understand the context, you have to attend a once-in-a-lifetime Roman parade!

In Paul’s day, after a hard-fought, long and arduous campaign, the victorious Roman general would return home in a triumphant, loud, colorful, parade. What a spectacle! The procession would be led by state officials followed by trumpeters filling the city with ear-splitting blasts. Then large drawings and of the conquered lands and models of fallen citadels would be carried in to the cheers of the crowd. A white bull, destined to be sacrificed, was also a part of spectacle. Chained captive princes, leaders, and generals came next, knowing that prison and execution awaited them at the parade’s conclusion. Officers in charge of punishment, called lictors, brandished their rods as they followed the prisoners. Then came the musicians with lyres followed by priests swinging their censers with sweet smelling incense burning in them. Finally, the general and his army paraded in, wearing all their decorations and garlands, shouting, “lo triumphe!” a cry of triumph. What sights! What sounds! What sweet aromas! Feast your eyes, indulge your nose, for you may never see or smell another one of these parades in your lifetime!

This is the picture Paul has in mind in 2 Corinthians 2:14. He sees Jesus, God’s Christ, marching in triumph throughout the world in a victorious, fragrant parade. You and I, as believers, are part of that magnificent profession! The loving, Christ-like way in which we live our lives is the perfume that wafts over the onlookers, drawing them to Jesus. All the sweetness, tenderness, courtesy, unselfishness, and desire to build others up combine to make the “fragrance of Christ” a scent of selfless love that invites others to join the parade.

Realizing that you and I leave a spiritual scent-trail as we move through each day, perhaps we should ask ourselves, “What kind of aroma or odor does my behavior and attitude release into the world?” I have to confess that my times of selfishness or anger have released some pretty noxious clouds of “Stephanie-stink” into the room. The “fragrance of Christ” was nowhere to be found! No wonder people ran for their lives!

The key to perfuming the world with the love of Christ begins the moment we awaken in the morning. We can pray, “Holy Spirit, help me choose the right scent today. I want to smell like Jesus.” As believers, we can ask our divine Coach to energize our desire to wear Eau de Love instead of going out into the world reeking of self-pity, self-righteousness, or any of the other stenches that come from our smelly, unwashed flesh. We can pray for help because our Daddy-God, our Abba receives us with such grace and mercy. When he sniffs the stink of self, He tells us that we don’t smell good, then offers to wash us with the healing soap of His Word. Our job is to admit we stink, jump in the tub, then, in gratitude for Jesus’ love for us, carry His perfume out into the world.

BY: Stephanie Murillo

Scripture Soap:

2 Corinthians 2:14-16
Ezekiel 20:41
Ephesians 4:2, 15
Ephesians 5: 2
Psalm 51

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Twenty Critical Minutes

August 25, 2021by Guest Blogger1 Comment

We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. – 2 Corinthians 10:5 [NIV]

We have all heard about counting to ten when we are angry. Now neuroscientists are telling us that a twenty-minute period after strong emotions wash over us is a critical period. Why is this? The amygdala, a walnut-shaped organ in the mid-brain, whose job it is to detect threat, needs twenty minutes after it “alerts” to calm down. During that time this little organ is hijacking electrical energy from the front of the brain where we think and plan, to the brain stem where we either fight or flee.

So, the moment we become anxious, what we do with that twenty-minute period immediately afterward is critical. We can send up a 9-1-1 prayer, recite Scripture we have memorized, drink a glass of water, or take a quick walk before letting ourselves react. Immediately moving to a worst-case scenario may become our go-to strategy without a steady diet of prayer, Scripture, and reminding ourselves that God can handle even this tsunami of strong emotion.

A theologian from Proverbs 31 Ministries recently pointed out that when we react instead of respond, our actions become “historical and hysterical.” Without training, we will default to old and often ineffective strategies when we are triggered by our amygdala.

You do have a choice.

The amazing part of all this “brain stuff” is that we do have a choice about where those impulses travel when we are angry, afraid, or experiencing any strong emotion, especially during that critical twenty-minute period. But the brain must be re-trained over a fairly long period of time to “take thoughts captive” when the heat is on. When we “take a thought captive” we are literally re-routing electrical impulses down a new neural path!

The brain initially resists this because it has already created “super-highways” of connected neurons. It doesn’t want to slow down to bushwhack through a new neural tangle when learning a new strategy or response. As we pray, read the Bible, memorize Scripture and meditate on it, our brains can learn to slow down to re-tool, re-set, and restructure. When stressed, we can eventually learn to use those critical twenty minutes to pray, “Lord, calm all my fears with Your love. Help me remember Your truth.”

The key is consistent training, which includes reading, memorization, meditation on what we read, and application of truth to a specific situation, all requiring the assistance of our personal Coach, the Holy Spirit. We can also pray, “Holy Spirit, please train me and cue me and give me the energy to respond rather than react when I become triggered emotionally.”

How old are you really?

One last thought: When we react after being triggered, we go to our true emotional age rather than our chronological age. If an unresolved trauma happened between four and fourteen, we react like the age we were when we were damaged and branded by that incident. That is why people act like deranged adolescents or a toddler having a tantrum when triggered in public. So, part of emotional/spiritual development is actively seeking healing and counseling for unresolved hurts from our past. That unlocks us from our stuck places and lets us grow up to use that twenty-minute period in a healthy manner.

By the way, many of today’s Christian psychologists and counselors believe that spiritual growth and emotional growth are one and the same. When we commit to daily training with the Holy Spirit, our Coach, over time, and with God’s grace and truth, our brains can re-shape our neural thought highways so we grow up into mature strategies. God will do His part as we do our part so that fear and panic no longer hijack our healthy responses to threat and big challenges.

BY: Stephanie Murillo

FOR FURTHER STUDY

Philippians 4:8
Psalm 10:4
Psalm 13:2
Psalm 55:2
Psalm 139: 17, 23
Isaiah 55:8
Hebrews 3:1
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Try Rest

August 11, 2021August 10, 2021by Guest BloggerLeave a Comment

Luke 23 is about so many things, the trial, death and burial of Jesus Christ, the new beginning of friendship between Herod and Pilate, the forgiveness of a criminal, for goodness sakes it is about the salvation of the world! Lots in this passage caught my eye, but I landed on Luke 23:56 the final verse.

I have read this passage of scripture tons of times, but never caught the magnitude of this. “Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandments”. Can you believe it! The One they loved had just been falsely accused and died a brutal death. They wanted to honor Him to anoint and perfume His body as a final act of love. They wanted to give Him a proper burial and they had to rest. It was commanded of them. It’s not like Jesus didn’t know the day He would die and the fact that it would be required that these women rest. Rest was not suggested, but a must even in the face of death. While they were resting, God Almighty was at work! His plan of redemption in full swing. Ladies, why is it that we think we are in charge of saving the world and making it dinner too? No seriously, I didn’t learn to rest until my early 40’s after a serious burn out and even now still find it can be challenging. Why can’t we take the invitation/command and obey it? What are we afraid of ?

Often when we get quiet long enough things come up, memories, unaddressed issues, the voice of God…His gentle nudge. Remember when you’ve been holding an exhausted little one and they just want to keep going and going; they are weary and crying and struggling and you’re like come on already! Just rest, you’re not going to miss all the things you think you’re gonna miss. Strangely, I can hear the Fathers saying the same thing to us. It is not that we are unaware, we KNOW we need that weekly and even daily rest. Can I just say you need no one else’s permission to rest. The God of heaven and earth has told you to rest, so you get to. 🙂 I think of Psalm 23:2, “He makes me lie down in green pastures”. Makes me. Sounds like the story of the tired child. It’s okay to rest, no as a matter of fact it is good. Each week we prepare a meal the evening before Sabbath and it is actually something we look forward to each week. Try it! At first, it may feel completely against your grain but soon you will settle down and find that much needed rest. Until we meet again, I pray you will take Him at His word and rest.

Blessings, Tiff