Treasured Ministries

Offering women a biblical solution for inner healing

Ephesians 4

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.

Biblical Meditation

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“And don’t for a minute let this Book of The Revelation be out of mind. Ponder and meditate on it day and night, making sure you practice everything written in it. Then you’ll get where you’re going; then you’ll succeed.” (Joshua 1:8 MSG)

The Importance of Meditating on Truth

God told Joshua to meditate on truth and that same tool is just as effective for us today.

I am not a warrior like Joshua trying to conquer enemies in the Promised Land, but I am a busy wife, mother, friend, and ministry leader with a desire to live in the direction of my God-given purpose. Just like you, I have distractions and disappointments that have the potential to derail me.

In my busy world where my mind is prone to wander, biblical meditation continues to be the tool that gives me the ability to take my thoughts captive so that I can stand firm in my faith.

As an anchor exists to secure a vessel so it ceases to wander, God’s Word secures our heart to Him no matter what waves we may face during the day. In our information age where our minds are processing information beyond capacity, it has never been more important to develop this discipline designed by God to walk in truth.

Biblical meditation is God’s prescription to take your thoughts captive to his truth. Biblical meditation renews our minds, transforms our thoughts, and strengthens our faith so we can stand firm in our God-given purpose.

Changing My Perspective on Biblical Meditation

Meditate “hagah” |Hebrew|: to speak; to imagine; to mutter

The word meditate in Hebrew means to speak, to imagine, or to mutter. So, for our use, meditation means to ponder over God’s truth by reading the Bible during our quiet time. We reflect on truths revealed by prayerfully speaking God’s Word, and return to those truths to remember and renew our minds during the day.

I would like to clarify one important point here: This meditation is not like the kind endorsed by other religions.

We do not empty our minds. On the contrary, we fill our minds with God and his Word by speaking scriptures. This kind of meditation was God’s idea and, when performed according to his prescription, it will renew your mind and transform your relationship with him. In my podcast this week, we will discuss this further.

Taking our thoughts captive to truth sounds simple, but when I first tried to put this discipline into practice I was frustrated. Then the Lord gave me some wonderful insight:

Every time you allow worries to take over your thoughts, you are renewing your mind. Every time you allow your mind to sit and dwell on a past hurt, you are renewing your mind. Every time you replay something in your past repeatedly in your thoughts, you are renewing your mind. Every time your mind churns and churns, overanalyzing, trying to fix or figure things out that only I can control, you are renewing your mind. However, you are not meditating on the truths that will set you free, but on lies that oppress you.

God allowed me to see that instead of renewing my mind on the truths in his Word, I was meditating on lies from the Enemy. I learned I was meditating not only during my Bible study but also during the day. I learned I had the ability to focus, but too often my thoughts were focused in the wrong direction.

Biblical Meditation Is God’s Prescription

Renewing our minds with truth is God’s prescription for shifting our perspective to an eternal focus so we may live a Spirit-led life. Pulling one truth away from my quiet time in God’s Word and allowing it to travel with me during the day has proven to be both doable and life-changing.

Sometimes it is hard to get started on this journey. Our podcast this week on iTunes and the third step in the Nourish Bible Study Method Renew can help start you on that journey.

Jesus drew from the Scriptures to defeat Satan’s manipulative tactics of temptation so that he could stand firm (Matthew 4:1–11). Similarly, God’s Word is our offensive weapon in the battle against the enemy of our soul.

As you face battles during the day, be like Joshua and Jesus. Stand firm by strengthening your mind to the truth in his Word.

Nourish Scripture:  Ephesians 4:17-24

Take the next step in deepening your connection with God’s Word 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.