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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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#74 Five Ways to Build Faith to Live Bravely and Love Boldly (Eph 3.14-4.6)

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When life throws a curve ball fear can result.

Listen to today’s podcast #74 and discover Five Ways to Build Faith to Live Bravely and Love boldly despite the storms in your life.

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The Power of Prayer

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“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.

Leaving Labels

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We live in a world made up of labels. We love them when they make everything feel tidy and organized. Labels are everywhere telling us what to expect and are indeed helpful in identifying things. But I am not talking about the labels that are on our cans of green beans or the labels that we put on our notebooks.

I am talking about the labels that other people might put on us.

It could be a nickname we were bullied with, or could be from something else in our past. Often these labels are lies that the enemy is feeding us. It changes the way that we live because of patterns that we have kept for a long time. Those are just some examples of where labels like I will always be this, or I will always be that come from.

They seem to stick, and we appear to let them because sometimes even we start to believe them. And with that comes the danger of losing who we are in Christ and the identity, or label, that he has given to us.

The truth about who you are can be found as you listen to and are led by
the Holy Spirit and wear the beautiful labels that he has for you.  

Living out Our Authentic Identity

When you and I live out of our authentic identity, we have confidence and direction to become all God created us to be. And when we know the truth about who God says we are it becomes harder and harder for the labels of the enemy to stick to us.

In Ephesians 2:11-3:6 we see Paul talking to the Gentile Christians. He is describing to them the unity that they have in Christ. He is explaining to them the gift of the Body of Christ, and that they are one in Christ. They are not outsiders anymore. We are brought into a family and called to unity as a result of that.

Ephesians 2:14-15 speaks of broken down walls and peace.

“For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us.”

Even within the Body labels were being used as weapons amongst believers. But Jesus came to break walls down not build them up.

So if labels are inevitable, what do we do when they are thrown at us?  

Remember RIC to help you leave your labels:

REMEMBER:
Remember that you cannot control what other people think or say about you. You cannot control if other people are operating under a legalistic mindset. You can’t control that, but you can control you.

IMAGINE:
Imagine labels like a ball somebody throws to you. If someone tosses a label on you, if they make a judgment about you, visualize it as a ball and catch it in your hand. Then examine that label and say “Does this label line up with the truth of who God says I am?” The way you handle labels when you are met with one makes all the difference. Does what someone is saying line up with what God says about you? No? Then it has no place in your life.

CHOOSE:
Choose your own labels and find liberty in them! The thing is, we really don’t have control of what other people say about us. We don’t. We do have control over which labels we are going to allow to define us. There is power in claiming our identity in Christ.

You and I want to live out of the labels that we receive from Christ. The key to doing that is choosing your own labels. In doing this, you walk under God’s power instead of giving power to the labels others place on you.

Nourish Scripture: Ephesians 2:11-3:6

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.

#73 Four Keys to Let go of Labels and Live Out of Your Authentic Identity (Eph 2.11 – 3.6)

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Labels that others slap on us can carry strength if we are not careful.

In today’s podcast Episode #73 discover four steps to take to walk in your God given identity, so you can become the woman God created you to be.  

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#72 Five Ways to Respond to Emotion Commotion to Stay Focused on Your Purpose(Eph 2:1-10)

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Emotions are part of what makes us human, but when they become so strong that they blind us from making wise decisions, it can cause emotion commotion.

Discover 5 steps to handle emotional strongholds in today’s podcast episode #72 so that you can remain steadfast in your purpose.

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