Treasured Ministries

Offering women a biblical solution for inner healing

Aliene

7 Steps to Memorize God’s Word

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Memorizing God’s Word allows us to “take the sword with us” by having direct access to life-changing truths anytime and anywhere.  But often we don’t incorporate this discipline because we think scripture memory will be too hard or is something kids should do.  In today’s podcast Brooke McGee shares an effective strategy to memorize God’s Word in 7 simple steps.

Listen to the podcast, and discover how  to “take your sword” with you to be strong in any battle you face. God’s Word is our offensive piece of armor in the battle against the enemy of our soul. Jesus drew from the scriptures to defeat Satan’s manipulative tactics of temptation so he could stand firm (Matthew 4:1-11). You too can walk in victory, as you “take the sword with you” through memory and speak it out loud like Jesus.

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Legacy

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Hey brave heart, leave blessings in your wake for future generations and make a difference. You can spend a lifetime replaying your past or trying to change your family members. You can play the blame game. I know this – I’ve been there. This doesn’t solve things, and it gives power to people who cannot God’s build the dream in your life.

OR Brave heart, you can trust God your Heavenly Father and move forward. I like that better – don’t you?

The Role Women Play in God’s Design for Families

Inside God’s design for family wives are to be loved as Christ loved the church. This love was sacrificial.

It was costly.

It brought beauty.

Daughters are to be valued and raised without anger through unconditional love. Wives are to respect and submit to their husbands. Indeed, inside God’s family framework we find a model of how God intends to relate to us.

The family should be a place of rest, solace, love – a place where we are free to make the mistakes necessary to uncover our true potential – a refuge from the storms of life.

Sadly, under the weight of a broken world, the reality of a perfect family is fractured. Every woman has imperfections in her family. While God’s framework for family is perfect …we are not. The perfect family does not exist because there are no perfect people. But sometimes those fractures are so great, that our hearts can carry deep wounds. I believe this grieves the heart of God.

Be wise brave heart. As much as there is a God that loves us and wants us to have his design for family, there is an enemy of our souls who would love to destroy family. Don’t believe his lies that God’s framework for family doesn’t work – it was fallen humanity that was not there to love you.

The Strength of Family

Never forget that following Paul’s description of God’s family framework in the book of Ephesians, he writes about our war with the enemy. This order in scripture is no accident. The enemy knows that there is strength in family and would love nothing more to destroy God’s design (Ephesians 5:21-6:20).

God in his great redemption has a plan for restoration for our hearts through Jesus. You have a heavenly Father that wants to nourish your heart with truth so you can live the life you were created and redeemed to live. As God’s adopted children through Christ, we can reach out to our true Father and hold on to him.

The key is to turn to God, live by the Spirit, and allow Jesus to have the greatest impact in your life. Researching and analyzing our family can help us understand why we are the way we are, but only the Holy Spirit can change us from the inside out.  This is godly girl power. ONWARD!

This is not easy. No one would question that our background shapes our character. The people in our lives influence the way we are.

All of us have those negative cycles that may feel like inescapable realities. But the reality is we can break the cycles by making new choices.

We can choose new life and new legacies for our children.

Leave a Legacy for Future Generations

God brings a solution that surpasses self-help, self-determination, self-effort: God’s solution is found in sonship. God not only adopts you but longs for you to live “led” as his daughter.

Through Christ, we are adopted into a new family and given the indwelling of the Holy Spirit to walk in a new way of life. It’s not an instant change. If you want to live in the freedom of this new family, God will lead you on a slow and deep journey of beautiful internal transformation. This journey is called discipleship. It’s a lifetime process directed by the Holy Spirit. Listen, follow, and watch God unravel cycle after cycle as you surrender to him.

Cutting new paths is not easy and takes time. Cycles, even if they are destructive, feel comfortable, so moving beyond them is a process.

Leave blessings in your wake for future generations and see new legacies continue to emerge. Reestablish God’s framework in YOUR family and leave a legacy. (Be the first if you have to, brave heart. What an honor!)

Could there be any greater blessing in life than that?

While your family background may influence your character, it doesn’t define your God-given destiny. May the gospel of Christ, which brings you into God’s family give you hope to live beyond your broken family by living by the Spirit.

You are a treasure.

Nourish Scripture: Ephesians 5:21-6:9

Want more? Download Nourishing Your Heart to learn how to connect with God’s Word in a way that transforms your life. 

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.

Shine

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Once surrounded by the shadows of shame from her wounded heart, the dark cloud of depression settled above her and hiding light in her life. She felt heavy. Dark thoughts echoed in her head from the way she was treated.  Seeking relief from the pain from shame her temporary fixes only gave short-lived relief and slipped her soul in further darkness.

How the Light of Christ Pierces through Darkness

But then one day, someone shared the light of Christ with her. This Light pierced through the pain to see clearly beyond the words that wounded her heart and eclipsed her thinking. This light was powerful. The darkness could not overcome this light (John 1:4-5, Ephesians 5:8-9 )

Jesus. The light of the world. Jesus carried both grace and truth to the world – to her. She saw herself differently. She saw God differently. He was love and truth.

The life of Christ awakened inside her and changed her completely. She found herself singing songs of praise and her heart found the beat of joy again.

Much like the light of candles that grow in a Christmas candle light service as light is shared from one candle to another…someone brought this light to her, and now she wanted to make the most out of every opportunity to share this light with others.

At first, she was confused because she felt if she held out truth, she had to let go of love. And at other times she felt if she held out love, she had to let go of truth.

However, the Lord showed her truth defined love and love defined truth. It was not truth OR love. It was not one or the other. Both were needed, but in order to create the right balance, instead of hanging onto one or the other…Jesus told her:

Hang onto me by holding on tight to the Holy Spirit. As you are lead by the Holy Spirit you will walk in love and truth so that they intertwine to create just the right current to carry my light to a dark broken world.

Allow the Light of Jesus to Shine in You

And as she was led by the Lord, a pattern of love and truth came so closely together that others saw the light of Jesus shining brightly in her.

Love and truth find perfect balance as we are filled with the Holy Spirit to share the light of Christ.

Light overcomes darkness. That’s godly girl power. Shine brightly. Love bravely.

ONWARD!

Nourish Scripture: Ephesians 5:1-20

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.

She Was Powerful . . .Because She Forgave

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The wound in her soul was hidden to her eyes but not to her heart. The hurt continued to haunt her life as it seeped out of her soul and stepped into her thought life. No matter how hard she tried to forget what happened, her mind automatically reached into her soul and retrieved the repressed hurt, replaying it again and again. The wound owned her, and it was growing bigger even though her offender was miles away.

 She wanted to be free. She felt powerless.

 “Just forgive,” she heard her pastor say. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one each other just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32).

But what IS forgiveness? Instead of this advice bringing freedom to her soul, it often brought frustration. She was tired of being a doormat others used to wipe their feet. But she had to do something. Her buried hurt emotions were building to the point of breaking her.

This struggle is my story. Is it yours too? Who doesn’t struggle with forgiving someone who hurt her heart?

Understanding Forgiveness

Opposed to our human nature and often misunderstood, forgiveness is a hard concept to grasp.

  • Forgiveness is not saying what happened was okay.
  • Forgiveness does not mean forgetting what happened.
  • Forgiveness does not mean trusting the person . . . but it does mean trusting God to handle the situation.

Forgiveness is letting go of your right to retaliate by releasing your offender to God.

If you retaliate, you are allowing your offender to control your life. If you repress your emotions or deny them, you’ll swallow that anger and plant the seed of bitterness in your soul. Revenge, repression, retaliation . . . they all put you in a prison. But releasing the offense to God allows the GREAT I AM to control your life. And with that release comes freedom.

Being real about your hurt and bringing that pain to God opens the door for healing. Showing love to your enemies dissolves your offender’s power to hurt you because it confirms God is in control of your life.

When you release others, you open your hands to receive from God, the only One who can redeem and restore.

Power Rests in Love

God wants you to be powerful, not passive. But godly girl power does not rest in revenge—it rests in love. Love is a powerful force and puts God in control instead of your offender. Forgiveness carves a path for the mighty river of God’s love and power to flow to you—and through you to others!

God has a great purpose for your life. He wants you to spend your energy your purpose—not dwelling on buried hurts or revenge. Focusing on God’s purpose for your journey is an essential, effective way to live. You are not responsible for your offender’s actions, but you are responsible for how you respond. God saw what happened to you. He is not asking you to say what happened was okay—but he does want you to turn it over to him.

For you to be okay, you must treat the wound his way.

When you retaliate, your offender is in control. When you respond in love and forgiveness, God is in control. Forgiveness carves a path for the mighty river of his love and power to flow.

Allowing Yourself to Forgive

Who will rule your heart? Your offender . . . or God?

God never gives us a command without promising the power to walk that truth. On your own, this love is impossible, but with God all things are possible.  Don’t let your offender steal your power one more day. Wounds are never easy to deal with, – just for today take the first step…bring God your willing heart.

And as I write these words, know that I am on this journey with you. Today, I am taking a brave step to forgive – right along side you. Onward!

She told God she was ready to forgive. She didn’t want to, but that was okay. God wrapped his arms around her and told her if she was willing, he would help her. It was a process and didn’t happen overnight. But when she let go of the painful relationship and released that person to God, a door opened in her soul. Redemption came in and healed the raw wound in her heart. God redeemed all that had been lost in ways beyond anything she could have ever dreamed.

She was free. She was fearless. She was powerful . . . because she forgave!

Nourish Scripture: Ephesians 4:17-32

Want more? Download Nourishing Your Heart to discover a way of connecting with God’s Word that transforms the way you live!

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.

Exhale

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True confidence flows from knowing that the greatest gift you can bring to the world is becoming the woman God created you to be. Part of this journey is confidently embracing your God-given spiritual gifts and understanding that he gave you these gifts to empower you to love others and share truth with them. That is true humility.

Hiding Is Not Humility

Step out of the shadows, brave heart. Come away from the sidelines. Who told you that hiding is humility? God has given you a spiritual gift to share. You have something to offer. That gift was given TO you but it was not FOR you.

  • Hiding it is not humility.
  • Hiding keeps you from using your gifts to help others.

Your purpose is a pathway to sharing God’s love, and our spiritual gifts are the vehicle to take us along that path. The Holy Spirit breathes ability into us and as we exhale, the life of Christ is shared and fills the world with his love. (Ephesians 4:4-10)

Exhale and Share the Life of Christ with Others

Sadly, I believe we are often taught to hold our breath in the name of humility, but nothing could be further from the truth. False humility forgets about God’s power and paralyzes us with fear.

Sharing your spiritual gift with others breathes the life of Christ to them. Your voice is valuable and can make a difference in the lives of others. (Ephesians 4:12)

The people in your life you are called to love are worth it. Let your love for them motivate you to move beyond your fear.

Sometimes I argue with God and hide.  . . . Who am I to serve you? What about past failures? I am not good enough. I am inadequate. I am afraid of failing!

And then other times, I stop trying so hard to BE and just surrender and rest in the power of the GREAT I AM. I am not called to create light—I am called to reflect the light of Christ by listening to and being led by the Holy Spirit. But when my heart is tuned inward in false humility, my heart is not facing the right direction to reflect his light. Focusing on your inadequacies brings attention to you instead of Jesus.

Use Your Gifts to Touch Others

Fan the flame of your spiritual gifts by facing the other way. Turn it outward by taking steps this week to use your gifts to touch others.

Find freedom to become all God created and redeemed you to be by letting go of fear to fan into flame your spiritual gifts for his glory.

I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:6–7 NLT, emphasis mine).

God’s provision, including your spiritual gifts, flows to you and through you so you can glorify him and love others. God built you to accomplish his purpose for your life (Deuteronomy 7:6; Ephesians 2:10). He imparted spiritual gifts to you the moment you accepted Christ (1 Corinthians 12:4–11 and Romans 12:3–8).

The way you are wired—your personality and passions, your character and natural abilities, and your spiritual gifts—is part of God’s provision for your God-given vision . . . not something to hide.

Different spiritual gifts flowing from one Holy Spirit provide just what you need for what God has called you to do. The diversity in our gifts creates the need for us to link arms with one another to share his good news. And as we stand together, our gifts fit perfectly (Ephesians 4:16). And as each one of us does our special work, like instruments playing together in God’s orchestra, we will make beautiful music that sings of the glory of God. But if we hide our instruments, the music simply isn’t complete.

You matter. God designed you to make a difference.

Embrace your spiritual gifts and allow them to grow. Step into the stream of godly girl power by using your spiritual gifts to touch others and fulfill your God-given purpose.

Nourish Scripture: Ephesians 4:7-16

Want more? Download Nourishing Your Heart to discover how to connect with God’s Word in a way that transforms your life. 

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.

#75 Discerning your Spiritual Gifts to Share with Others

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Discovering our spiritual gifts is the first step to sharing our spiritual gifts.

Listen to today’s podcast Episode #75 and learn how to uncover your spiritual gifts so you can become all God created you to be!

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