Treasured Ministries

Offering women a biblical solution for inner healing

Codependency

Exhale

by

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.

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) 

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.

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 the 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.

Weekly Nourish Scripture: Ephesians 4:7-16

The Power of Prayer

by

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!” (Ephesians 3:20–21 NIV, my emphasis)

Immeasurably more. Her eyes ran over those words and then lingered for a while. Immeasurably more. God can do immeasurably more than she could ever ask or imagine, according to HIS POWER.

She pondered on her faded prayers that had once been filled with so much passion.

A season of storms sabotaged her prayer life, making it small. Like the force of hurricane winds loosening the roots of a tall tree, the storms of life shook her faith to the core. The enemy lied to her heart about the storms and told her that God was not powerful . . . and her prayers faded. She felt afraid. She thought about her past year and the loss she had experienced. The loss in her life combined with her fragile faith made her feel powerless. Her insecurity swallowed her confidence. In response, her soul grasped for security by clinging too tightly to the people in her life, and she began to walk under the false illusion of control.

This led to more insecurity and fear because when she tried to control her circumstances, her circumstances began to control her. Worry, fear, and anger surfaced as she tried to control what ultimately, she could not.

And she was weary.

The Lord looked at his treasured one with love. No storm could ever separate them. He nourished her heart with truth and reminded her of the power of prayer. With tears in her eyes, she sank to the floor and let her prayers flow. People were there for her to love, but they could never give the security and life she was looking for.

Godly girl power flows from great expectations laid at the feet of our mighty God, who can do “immeasurably more” than we could ever ask in prayer.

Sometimes we can “self-sabotage” our prayer life because we pray based on what we think we deserve instead of WHO GOD IS.  The enemy can use a storm, or our past, or even our religious traditions to keep our prayers small. Don’t let the enemy fool you, wise woman. Pray prayers based on WHO GOD IS and remain faithful regardless of the outcome. Don’t filter your prayers through what you think you deserve—let your prayers flow like a mighty river and let God filter the results through his pure and perfect will to bring glory to his name.

Hey, treasured one, revitalize your prayer life this week by recapturing the awe of your God.

The God you serve is an “immeasurably more” God. Yahweh is the source of your strength. The Lord is his name. King of kings. Lord of lords. He is a strong tower. A fortress. He is mighty to save. The winds and waves obey his commands. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8). He is Lord over all. “For from him and through him and for him are all things.” (Romans 11:36)

Great expectations in our mighty God through prayer gives us the freedom to let go of trying to extract from people what only God can give us. When our expectations rest in the Lord, we can let go of others to truly love them.

Much as a watering can must be filled before it can pour water out and bring nourishment to plants, we must first be filled with his love to give love out. And as the watering can pours out to others, a greater capacity is created to receive even more. When we are trying to extract from people what only God can give us—it is as if we are watering cans going to other watering cans trying to find water.

Think of bold prayer as positioning yourself to fill your watering can to nourish your heart so you can nurture others. To have some understanding of God’s love, we must experience it. To experience it, we must receive it. Each time we experience his power in answered prayer pushes the roots of our soul deeper into his love and makes us strong as we trust in Him. Only when Christ becomes seated at the center of our heart through the humility of prayer and our roots are deep in his love can we truly love others with his love. And that is godly girl power (Ephesians 3:14–21).

Prayer will grow your roots deep in God’s love because you are placing your trust in him. When your roots are deep in God’s love, you will bear the fruit of his love to others.

You have only one life. Pray with great expectation. Live a life worthy of your calling by receiving his love and giving it to others. Fall on your knees in prayer and trust the one who can bless you beyond measure so you can be a blessing to others.

Nourish Scripture: Ephesians 3:14–4:6

United

by

Great and gracious Father, my breath is taken away at your generosity in my life. 

You ask for my faith in Christ and trust in you, and in exchange you give me access to every promise given to Abraham. By faith, I share in the rich nourishment that flows from the abundant inheritance of God’s family. 

I renounce every lie from the enemy that I have received that produces a scarcity mentality. I instead choose to believe this truth: I have been entrusted with abundance beyond what this world can give me. 

To activate that abundance, I must act because faith and actions always walk hand and hand. 

Today I receive your abundance so that tomorrow I will have the capacity to give to others with the same abundance you have given me. 

Give me wisdom to discern true strength. Let me not fall for a flattering tongue or falsely assume that people who persuade others or have a title necessarily carry your power. 

Let me be wise choosing those I walk with today, because the people I spend time with influence me. Let me stand with those who stand with you, even if that means I need to be different or face rejection. Let me find contentment in your acceptance alone. 

I confess that charisma and charm have deceived me before and created unhealthy connections in my life. I saw people, instead of you, as the source of my strength. My desire to fit in eclipsed my desire to follow you. 

Today, give me wisdom to choose to stand with the strength that only you can provide. Abba Father, I want to align my life with you because your power produces love, and love is the most powerful force in the world. I am answering your call to be strong in the Lord and in YOUR mighty power. Amen. 

Nourish Scripture: Ephesians 2:11-Ephesians 3:13

Emotional Strongholds

by

Like a strong unforgiving riptide, emotions can carry us in a direction we don’t want to go. Yesterday I faced challenge after challenge. I felt frustrated. I felt overwhelmed. The wheels came off the bus…I cried! My whirling emotions distracted me and resulted in a most unproductive day. Can you relate?

Sometimes feelings are not kind friends. They can steal away our godly girl power if we are driven by our desires instead of directed by the Holy Spirit. 

Nothing makes me feel more powerless than when I face an emotional stronghold. A strong force of emotions welling up in us stirs up a commotion. Fear. Anxiety. Anger. Frustration. Think about those moments when you lose your temper or respond unkindly to someone. 

I want to be a wise woman that walks not under the power of my emotions but by the power of the Holy Spirit. If my emotions are in the driver’s seat, how can I be led by the Holy Spirit?

Paul gives a strong warning to the Ephesians about letting our emotions have control. This is a warning I need remind myself of each day. Emotions can make me feel powerless, but praise be to God because of Jesus I have another choice. I no longer have to live imprisoned by my emotions but empowered by the Holy Spirit!

“All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” Ephesians 2:3-5

But let’s get honest. Strong emotions are impossible to avoid, aren’t they? Emotions aren’t bad. You’ll always have them. They make us human. God gave us emotions. They are a part of our soul. God had emotions also. But when our emotions become strongholds in our life, when they are in the driver’s seat of our decisions – that’s when they can create problems. 

Emotions alert us to needs within our soul, but they are never a reliable source of truth.

You see, we serve a God who loves us and wants us to be led by the Holy Spirit so we can fulfill the God-given purpose he planned for us long ago. But we also have an enemy that would love nothing more than to distract us and derail us from doing what God wants us to do. And he loves to create emotional strongholds in our life by using just the right lies to create that current to pull you away from your purpose. I know this. I’ve been there.

The world thinks of power and freedom as the strength to do whatever we want. But in God’s economy, power and freedom come from walking in obedience to God for his glory. Freedom is not following our desires and doing whatever we want to do. It is being a wise woman and being led by the Holy Spirit.

I want to be wise – don’t you? 

The truth is, brave heart, we are not going to stop feeling those emotions—and that is not our goal. Our goal is to find ways we can face those emotions and remain steadfast to do what God has called us to do. The big choice is this: Who will be in the driver’s seat, my feelings or the Holy Spirit?  

  • Bring your emotions before Jesus and get help. You don’t have to hide your emotions and try to handle them on your own. Bring them to God, brave heart, and gain his perspective to walk in the truth. Let’s get wise by learning and choosing God’s way to walk in your God-given destiny and make a difference.
  • Read Psalms. One look into the book of Psalms and we see how David was not afraid to pour out his emotions. He got angry, depressed, overwhelmed, frustrated; all of that and more. The book of Psalms reminds me that God can handle my emotions. He can help me sort through that strong force and get God’s perspective. I am not alone when that storm hits my soul. The Psalms also remind me that God does not condemn me when I have negative emotions or desires. He wants me to bring them to him so I can get his help instead of hiding them or trying to handle them on my own.

Treasured one, don’t let the enemy steal one bit of that godly girl power. When a strong current of emotions hits your heart, reach out to Jesus for clear direction to stay steady on the path of your purpose. ONWARD!

Nourish Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10

How to Plug into God’s Power

by

Are you frustrated with a sin habit you feel powerless over? It’s not your lack of effort, Treasured One, you must first shift your effort in a new direction. 

Paul began his letter to the Ephesians by reminding those believers of key beliefs about God and their inheritance in Christ Ten years prior to this letter when Paul had founded the church at Ephesus and discipled this church, I am certain he taught these same fundamental truths. I believe Paul knew this truth: renewing our minds is never a one and done deal, and so he went back to those core beliefs. Another beautiful insight is this: Paul addressed belief first, not behavior. This is where we must begin our efforts, Paul started with belief…What do you start with, Treasured One?

Power always comes from a source. Godly girl power comes only from God himself. To plug into God’s power, we must pause and pull into his presence daily to renew our minds.

Having access to God’s power and using this all-surpassing power are two different issues altogether. Our journey to change our source of power, begins with our mind.  While we have godly girl power within us through the Holy Spirit, the old ways we used to find strength when we were far away from God are familiar ruts in our thinking. 

To live differently, place your efforts first in renewing your mind. Renewing our minds is a lifetime process that brings transformation because our faith and action always walk hand in hand. 

Retreat daily to renew your mind through the Word and find the power you need to walk out your purpose.

An expert archer keeps his arrows in his quiver, close to him, so he can sharpen and polish them, releasing them again and again with power, purpose, and precision. Like the expert archer, God is calling his daughters to retreat into his presence to prepare and position their heart to be released for his glory.  

Wherever you are in your walk with God, you are never too far along to retreat inside God’s quiver and share sacred times close to him. It is in his quiver, concealed and sharpened, that we plug into godly girl power and our hearts are released to live for his glory.

Come away in his quiver, brave heart. Live on purpose by pausing from life’s pressures to plug into the limitless power that flows from the presence of Jesus.

Weekly Nourish Scripture: Ephesians 1:15-23

Godly Girl Power

by

For the battle you face today, brave heart, God’s strength is sufficient. His perfect love is a powerful force. His all-surpassing mighty power is much greater than worldly power. Allow God to guard you by letting him guide you. His unfailing love will see you through.

Women make the greatest difference in this world when they experience God’s unconditional love and live confidently, fulfilling God’s purpose for their life. This is not easy. In a world that teaches us to depend on sources other than God, it’s easy to become co-dependent and lose our identity.

I know this—I’ve been there. This is what I’ve learned in my journey of breaking free from co-dependency: to walk in our purpose, we need to plug into Godly girl power.

Godly girl power is God’s all surpassing power. This is different from worldly power. Worldly power is outward control dependent on other people and things and focuses on self. Godly girl power is the inner strength of a woman led confidently by God to walk in love and live for his glory no matter what circumstances she faces. Love is the most powerful force and that is what Godly Girl Power is all about.

Paul taught the Ephesians about God’s all surpassing power.

“I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit” (Ephesians 3:16)

“I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 1:19-20).

When faced with a battle, we can be tempted to put on the armor of the world, to fight with the world’s battle plans. We try to take the reins of life, fighting our way to take power the world provides to fix things. During past battles, we learned those old coping mechanisms for survival like manipulation, control, self-reliance, seeking power from people, people pleasing, performance, anger, and unforgiveness. These are just some of the worldly ways we sought to find power from external sources when we felt powerless. 

But now we belong to Jesus, the Shepherd and overseer of our souls. He invites us to receive his power by standing in his mighty strength (1 Peter 2:18–25). 

Sharing the gospel is our precious privilege but one that the enemy of our souls would love to shut down. If he can get us so wound up and worn out fighting our battles the world’s way, we may become so discouraged, distracted, and directionless that we stop sharing the gospel altogether. 

Christianity that requires courage instead of Christianity that demands comfort calls us to stand in the strength that only God can provide. God is your defender, brave heart. You are not powerless. 

Which will you choose? Will you stand in God’s mighty power . . . or survive by trying to take worldly power? It’s such an important choice. You see, whatever source you see as your strength will control your life. God’s power is agape love—and his unconditional love is the most powerful force in the world.

Today we begin our journey together by starting with the book of Acts when Paul says good-bye to the church at Ephesus.

Nourish Scripture: Ephesians 1:1-14

The Power of Prayer

by

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!” (Ephesians 3:20–21 NIV, my emphasis)

Immeasurably more. Her eyes ran over those words and then lingered for a while. Immeasurably more. God can do immeasurably more than she could ever ask or imagine, according to HIS POWER.

She pondered on her faded prayers that had once been filled with so much passion.

A season of storms sabotaged her prayer life, making it small. Like the force of hurricane winds loosening the roots of a tall tree, the storms of life shook her faith to the core. The enemy lied to her heart about the storms and told her that God was not powerful . . . and her prayers faded. 

She felt afraid. She thought about her past year and the loss she had experienced. The loss in her life combined with her fragile faith made her feel powerless. Her insecurity swallowed her confidence. In response, her soul grasped for security by clinging too tightly to the people in her life, and she began to walk under the false illusion of control.

This led to more insecurity and fear because when she tried to control her circumstances, her circumstances began to control her. Worry, fear, and anger surfaced as she tried to control what ultimately she could not.

And she was weary.

The Lord looked at his brave heart with love. No storm could ever separate them. He nourished her heart with truth and reminded her of the power of prayer. With tears in her eyes, she sank to the floor and let her prayers flow. People were there for her to love, but they could never give the security and life she was looking for.

This world is a battlefield. It took time but she won the war on her knees. So will you. That is godly girl power.

Godly girl power flows from great expectations laid at the feet of our mighty God, who can do “immeasurably more” than we could ever ask in prayer.

EXPAND your prayer life this week to reflect the greatness of our Almighty God.

Self-Sabotaging Your Prayer Life

Sometimes we can “self-sabotage” our prayer life because we pray based on what we think we deserve instead of WHO GOD IS. The enemy can use a storm, our past, or even our religious traditions to keep our prayers small.

Don’t let the enemy fool you, wise woman.

Pray prayers based on WHO GOD IS and remain faithful regardless of the outcome. Don’t filter your prayers through what you think you deserve—let your prayers flow like a mighty river and let God filter the results through his pure and perfect will to bring glory to his name.

Hey, brave heart, take this challenge with me: Revitalize your prayer life this week by recapturing the awe of your God.

God Is the Source of Your Strength

The God you serve is an “immeasurably more” God. Yahweh is the source of your strength. The Lord is his name. King of kings. Lord of lords. He is a strong tower. A fortress. He is mighty to save. The winds and waves obey his commands. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come” (Revelation 4:8). He is Lord over all. “For from him and through him and for him are all things.” (Romans 11:36)

Humility is not hiding safely behind small prayers and safe expectations.

True humility is depending on God and not your own strength. It’s releasing the results of your prayer by resting in his love. It’s praying “that from his glorious unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through HIS Spirit.” (Ephesians 3:16, emphasis mine). Humility opens a highway to release heaven’s resources to you.

So, wise woman, this week pray powerfully and push past the perimeters of your thinking. You are here to bring God glory. Open your eyes wide and look out through the lens of faith. Stretch your thinking beyond the barriers of labels and limitations that have stopped you before.

Great expectations in our mighty God through prayer give us the freedom to let go of trying to extract from people what only God can give us.

When our expectations rest in the Lord, we can let go of others to truly love them.

Much as a watering can must be filled before it can pour water out and bring nourishment to plants, we must first be filled with his love to give love out. And as the watering can pours out to others, a greater capacity is created to receive even more. When we are trying to extract from people what only God can give us—it is as if we are watering cans going to other watering cans trying to find water.

You can see this same flow in the letter of Ephesians and our Nourish Scripture this week (Ephesians 3:16–4:6). Paul begins by encouraging the Ephesians to love God and receive his love for themselves. Then he encourages them to live a life worthy of their calling by giving others the same love their heavenly father gives them.

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” (Mark 12:30–31)

Agape love is not something we manufacture—
it is something we receive from our Maker and release to others.
Strength, power, security, and fullness of life result from a heart rooted in real love.

Nourish Your Heart with Bold Prayer

Think of bold prayer as positioning yourself to fill your watering can to nourish your heart so you can nurture others. To have some understanding of God’s love, we must experience it. To experience it, we must receive it.

Each time we experience his power in answered prayer pushes the roots of our soul deeper into his love and makes us strong as we trust in Him. Only when Christ becomes seated at the center of our heart through the humility of prayer and our roots are deep in his love can we truly love others with his love. And that is godly girl power (Ephesians 3:14–21).

Prayer will grow your roots deep in God’s love because you are placing your trust in him. When your roots are deep in God’s love, you will bear the fruit of his love to others.

Do you hear it, brave heart? Your Heavenly Father is calling. A suitable and settled life won’t do inside this world that needs to be saturated with love—his love. Remember, we are in a battle. The most powerful force on this earth is love. This is godly girl power. This is the life you were called to live.

You have only one life. Pray with great expectation. Live a life worthy of your calling by receiving his love and giving it to others. Fall on your knees in prayer and trust the one who can bless you beyond measure so you can be a blessing to others.

That war you are fighting will be won with you on your knees.

Nourish Scripture: Ephesians 3:14–4:6

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.