Treasured Ministries

Offering women a biblical solution for inner healing

Aliene

Abiding Mindset Shift

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Jesus Christ holds out his hand and reaches beyond your past, your mistakes, your imperfections, and your shame with this invitation: Come just as you are. Abide with me. As you connect with me, you will prosper with the fruit of agape love to fulfill the primary command of the new covenant—loving others as the Lord has loved you. 

And while this sounds so beautifully simplistic, the enemy of your soul will often tempt you to try manufacturing this fruit on your own.

This temptation is deceptive because it appears righteous. But Jesus made it clear that our efforts, no matter how noble or great, cannot enable us to bear fruit.

It’s all about him. 

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”  – John 15:5 NIV 

Experiencing Frustration in Your Walk

Are you frustrated in your walk with Jesus? Yeah, sometimes I find myself there too…

I have discovered that the solution is not to work harder but to shift my mindset. My frustration comes from trying to pour new wine back into old wineskins. I learned that to get back on track, I have to shift my thinking. How about you? Are you ready to do that? 

It’s time to change your focus to the abiding mindset. 

Effort, no matter how great, placed in the wrong direction is not effective. The lack of fruit in our lives is not from a lack of effort but effort placed in the wrong direction.  

Plugging into the presence of Jesus grows healthy roots that lead to healthy fruit. Frustration in our walk with Jesus can surface when we slip back into the old covenant mentality by striving to keep religious rules instead of finding the strength of lasting transformation in a relationship with Jesus.   

Authentic healing happens from a heart nourished by the source of life. The Nourish Bible Study Method can help you make this a reality in your life by transforming your approach to Bible study. 

What Is an Abiding Mindset? 

  • An abiding mind–set chooses to place efforts in the right direction. 

Abiding, dwelling, and remaining with Jesus means staying close to him through a personal intimate relationship. It is the choice to receive agape love, increasing your capacity to fulfill the command of the new covenant: love others as Jesus has loved you.  

  • Abiding is a mindset that chooses to believe God works all things for your good. 

Abiding means you will experience pruning.

Intimacy with Jesus is not the absence of adversity. God works through the grit of life to create pearls.  

Sometimes the Lord’s most glorious gardening is cultivated through pruning (James 1:2–4). When you experience pruning, don’t pull away. Instead, press into the Lord by believing God is for you.  

  • Abiding is a mindset shift that elevates your prayer life to a boldness that bears the name of Jesus (John 15:7). 

One year the Lord revealed to me that while I had no problem praying bold prayers for my family and friends, I was reluctant to ask God boldly in prayer for what I needed. When I sought the Lord, asking him why, he showed me that the issue lay in unbelief and the pride of self-reliance.

Also, God showed me that lies from the enemy that I was not worthy enough were NOT TRUE!  

  • Abiding is choosing authentic humility as you depend on the Father through bold prayer.  

The pathway of surrendering your self-reliance opens your arms wide to receive from God. All prayers are submitted above all to God’s will—his plan and timing (see Luke 22:39–46). You can pray with confidence and then rest in the absolute assurance that God loves you. Don’t decide for him by praying small!  

Shift your mindset. Start today by diving into what abiding means through our Weekly Nourish Scripture, John 15. 

You are God’s child. Jesus Christ holds out his hand wanting to spend time with you. Joy and agape love . . . provision through prayer . . . essential nourishment for the soul . . . becoming the woman God created you to be . . . are all waiting for you. 

Weekly Nourish Scripture: John 15

Discover how to connect with the nourishment every Bible passage has for your life. Download Nourishing Your Heart today!

Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.

The Grudge Gift

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What if we saw grudges as an engine light into our soul to an area that Jesus wants to heal? What if we could really let go this time and find the freedom we are looking for? What if the offense could be restored in a way that only God can do? Grudges will hold you down if you lose hope of ever getting over them, but when we bring them to Jesus instead of trying to handle them on our own everything changes.

More in today’s Podcast. Click to listen!

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Dream Builder

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The pause in between the time God gives us a dream and the time we see it come to pass can build or break our faith. Like a holy thread connected to heaven, the Holy Spirit brings wind to lift our sails with hope and keep the dream alive. Holy pauses prepare our hearts to receive the dream by building faith. 

Want more? Today’s podcast is an audio message taken from Dream Builder. This six-week study on Joseph and the Patriarchs written by Aliene Thompson is a part of the Nourish Bible Study Series. 

To discover more, download the FREE chapters, watch corresponding videos or find out about resources available for small group leaders, click HERE.

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Bestow the Words You Crave

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Another long day, grappling past lies and current insecurities and future worst-case possibilities.

Craving words of reassurance to raw wounds open, I reach out to friends with said aching, seeking remedy. 

Disappointment comes again as well-intentioned words fall hollow on these doubting ears.

Shame lays another layer down upon a battered heart.

And round about this carousel of craving I go again…   

Seeking Wholeness in the Wrong Places

We’ve likely all taken a spin or seventy on this merry-go-round, seeking wholeness in the words of trusted friends for our scarred places, wounded spaces.

Guilty as charged.

For me, it happens most often come evening. When the world slows, and children finally sleep, and I lie alone in bed. “Am I enough? Is God still kind? Not to us all but to me.  Did my failures today scar my children for life?” These are some of my frequent flyers. I’m confident your list stands ready in the wings too. 

What do we do? What do I do? I grab my phone and reach out to people to fill these aching gaps. They respond as best they know how yet my holes within only expand under the weight of sincere yet inadequate platitudes.

This cycle repeats until loud lies feel true and worth seems lost and alone becomes more than a place but a defining status.   

Maybe it’s just me… 

But I know it isn’t. 

Life happens, wounds happen, heck – simply human existence happens – and we reach out battered hearts for divine balm from mortal sources. Funny how loneliness often perpetuates itself through the avenues used in seeking remedy. 

Recently, I found myself on this well-worn path again. Questions of worth, the purpose for pain, value where history had “proven” otherwise. In the middle of the familiar reach towards my mobile, a soft stirring began to sound. 

You’re not alone in loneliness. 

Finding Peace by Bestowing Community

I’ve heard it said that if we recognized how often people feel lonely, we’d find community within our loneliness. Or something like that. Bottom line – you’re not the only one aching, the only one seeking, the only one asking these same questions. 

  • What do you long to hear?
  • To believe?
  • To have someone who knows your story believe of you, for you, speak over you? 

Such questions gave me pause. What did I truly want to believe as TRUTH in my depths? Words began to fill my mind, snatches of verses often cliched in their application. Words of worth, destiny, beauty springing from ashes and hidden hopes realized.   

“Ok, Lord, I ‘know’ all these things are true, but I want to believe them, and I honestly don’t.” His next whisper surprised me. 

Who else needs to hear these words too? 

Full stop. I sensed the Lord challenging me to trade seeking for serving, to lift my eyes from sorrows, off licking proverbial wounds, and recognize those surrounding me.

It took conscious effort, this changing of perspective: wounds in one hand and desired spoken truths in the other, both held out before the One who ultimately bore all wounds, who alone bestows all healing. And the results astounded me.   

Slowly, surely, as names came to mind, a choice lay before me. No, an invitation: set aside my own wounds to extend balm for another.  And if asked of its source, I’d only be able to point to the One who was pointing this all out to me.  

Pick up a phone, select a person, type away. Only this time, not in gathering, but in bestowing, in speaking life. As their faces came to mind and words were sent on blessing’s mission, the most remarkable thing occurred:  My own ache began to ease and texts started coming in. 

“How did you know?” 

“I so needed this.” 

 Grateful, I responded, “Me too, my friend.  Me too.”

This paradox turned hurting on its head, bestowing community where, moments before, loneliness reigned.

It’s counterintuitive when wounds screaming loud bleed raw and words from trusted friends fall flat on aching ears – to lay down craving in place of grace-proclaiming. What if we transformed our intuitions to seek into commissions to serve? Who else might need to hear the very things our own heart longs for?

Simply put – bestow the words you crave. 

Nourish Scripture: John 14

Jesus is calling you to find nourishment in the Word. Download Nourishing Your Heart to discover the key to connecting with his Word that transforms the way you live. 

This blog was written by Patience Leino. Patience Leino is a solo mama, a worship leader, and a sought-after advocate and educator in pediatrics. A Maryland native, she graduated from Liberty University with a degree in Biblical Studies and now calls Raleigh home. You can explore her adventures in faith, food, and failure on her blog. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.

Eliminating Overwhelm

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Overwhelmed? Yeah me too. We often cry out for a more balanced life as we reach for our God given-goals. Somedays I think to myself is a balanced life possible?

In today’s Podcast, Nancy Ray of Nancy Ray Photography will share her unique wisdom on this topic and her five-step process to eliminate overwhelm and restore joy. To gain more solid wisdom on leadership sign up for Nancy’s Newsletter. https://nancyrayphotographer.com/

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Living Words

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Dear Treasured Tribe,  

Imagine you knew you only had a short time left to live and wanted to share a last meal with loved ones.

  • Whom would you invite?
  • What meal would you share together?
  • And most important, what final words would you carefully choose to speak over those who graced your table?  

Words matter. But last words can leave a legacy to those you love.  

Of course, not everyone knows when their time on earth is coming to an end, but Jesus did.

Before the dawn of time, the Father designed a plan to redeem us from sin through the sacrifice of his one and only Son. Our Savior. Our Lord and Passover Lamb. The time had arrived on God’s kingdom calendar for perfect love—and the entire reason Jesus came to earth—to come to pass. The passion of the cross. 

“And Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father” (John 13:1 NLT).

The Last Words and Actions of Jesus

As with everything he did, Jesus intentionally chose his last actions on earth with divine precision down to every eternal detail to fulfill his Father’s plan, including the words he expressed to his beloved disciples over the most significant Passover meal in history. While the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke record the Passover meal itself, John’s Gospel expands the experience over five chapters of Scripture, zooming in to emphasize other events and details, including those last precious words.  

And those words breathed the very life of heaven into earth, singing a beautiful prelude to the New Covenant.

Living words.

Eternal words.

Healing words.

Life-giving words.

Glory-defined words.   

Tucked carefully inside the Gospel of John, the Holy Spirit preserved those precious words so you and I could savor them today.

Reflecting on these words is important. When we savor these last words, we are reminded of our glorious inheritance in Christ and can stand firm in who we really are and become all God created us to be. 

Welcome to “Last Words,” a Treasured Ministries Weekly Word Series for Lent on John 13–17. Come and prepare your heart for Easter by gathering around the table with Jesus and hearing those words once more. Let go of the old to embrace the new. In this series, you will . . . 

  • start your week with inspiration by receiving a devotion every Monday designed to draw your heart closer to Jesus as Easter approaches.  
  • savor those last words Jesus spoke as you apply the Nourish Bible Study Method to John 13–17. Want to discover the Nourish Bible Study Method to prepare yourself for your journey? Check out these resources. 
  • reflect and recapture the truth of your New Covenant position in Christ through truth found in John 13–17. 
  • understand the power of the Living Word, what that means, and how you can apply it to your life so you can share these truths with others during Lent to make a difference. 

I am beyond excited to share this journey with you!

ONWARD! 

Aliene Thompson 

Nourish Scripture: John 13 

Learn how to spend time in God’s Word in such a way that it IMPACTS the way you live by downloading Nourishing Your Heart today!

Blog written by Aliene Thompson. Aliene Thompson is the founder of Treasured Ministries and the Author of the Nourish Bible Study Series. © 2019 Treasured Ministries.

Self-Sabotage: Part Two

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Even though Jesus tells me not to judge, I confess I am guilty of doing it. Judgement has subtracted from my life long enough. Ahhh – but mercy is a multiplier and triumphs over judgement.

In today’s Podcast, learn how we can make room for God’s multiplication by exchanging the habit of judgment for a habit mercy. 

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The End of Your Rope

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It’s easy to find yourself at the end of a rope you’ve overestimated the length of your capacity. It’s an alarming reality to come to when we run out of ourselves in the face of the responsibilities we have taken on.

The strange thing about reaching the end of ourselves is that we reach that point countless times throughout our lives, yet still, we are caught off guard each time it happens.  

I hit the end of my rope again recently, and I learned my lesson all over again. And so I am writing this, not only to share and hopefully encourage, but to hold myself accountable with words to paper.

Burdens Rob Our Hearts of Passion

We take on responsibilities for the things that we are passionate about and then leave the things we put on our shoulders out of check. Before we know it our responsibilities become burdens and the burdens slip from our shoulders and invade our hearts, stealing the passion. 

It is when we leave our responsibilities unchecked that they rob our hearts of the joy of the passion we have been given. 

When our hearts are re-centered around what is not of God we have made idols of what was given to us to glorify him. Whatever our talents, they are GIVEN to us, we have no right to them. When God gives us these desires and passions, he does not intend for us to take them and run, leaving him behind, he wants to run alongside us.  

Because I can promise you this, you will run out, you will fail, and you will hit your wall. Try as we might, there is only so much of ourselves that we have to give, there is only so much space on our shoulders before responsibilities have to take up residence in our heart. 

We Are Meant to Follow

When I hit my wall I found myself resenting the role of leadership that I was in, the very role I had created for myself became my burden rather than my delight. I looked at those around me and envied them for being able to follow, for getting to learn and not teach. I was exhausted, and I was heartbroken to feel my heart weighed down, rather than lifted, by my role.  

I found myself on my knees, hastily praying for strength before having to go to my next responsibility, when God finally broke through the haze.  

It was when I was most tired of leading that I was reminded of the greatest role I have in this life: Follower.  

There is no obligation from me in this love of the Father other than to merely follow. I do not have to bring anything but my heart on this journey and I need not worry so long as the footsteps I follow are his. I get to be led my whole life, and whatever I am given to lead in the process of this should never be done ahead of the footsteps of the Father, but rather in line.  

Let your passions be spurred on by the Father and ignited by your actions, but do not allow them to rob you of your joy, to rob you of your purpose.  

Nourish Scripture: 2 Timothy 1

By Millicent Phillips. Millicent is a student at Liberty University and a member of the Treasured Ministries writing team. © Copyright Treasured Ministries 2019