More Thoughts on Grace...

Excerpt from an article by Bob Hoekstra on the grace of God:

Since we are justified and sanctified by the impact of the grace of God in and upon our lives, does this mean that man does nothing in his growing and serving by the grace of God? Some hear the message of the grace of God and then imagine there is no contribution on their part. Truly, it is God’s grace and it is not about we can do but what He can do in and through us. Does that mean we are to do nothing and are mere robots to the grace of God? Not at all. We get fully engaged and entirely involved in the life of grace.

But it happens in ways related to trusting and depending on the Lord. It is the whole matter of learning to live by faith—walking by faith, not by sight. The perplexing thing in all of this is that we all have a question that is almost burning in us but we are almost afraid to say it because once we say it, it sounds funny. How do you do faith anyway? But the answer lies not in how do we do it, but how do we grow in it. We grow in our faith by this day-by-day trusting the Lord in whatever He has revealed to us, in whatever He has provided for us, and in whatever He has unfolded for us in the Word applying that grace to the circumstances at hand in this moment.

Whether like the prophet Elijah off by the Brook Cherith having to let the ravens feed you and living such by faith or being on top of Mount Carmel, calling down fire against the hundreds of false prophets—we always must live by faith. The key is not activity. The key is not inactivity. The key is trusting in the Lord. The just shall live by faith.

We shall see time and again in these studies on growing in the grace of God, that such growth in grace hinges upon faith.

Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace. (Rom 4:16)

The striving of the flesh—whether to be great and mighty or live up to the standards of God—never goes with the grace of God. But believing God fits the grace of God. Faith and grace go together hand-in-glove. Drawing on the grace of God and living by the grace of God involves learning day by day to trust God in whatever is at hand, to work in and through our lives by the resources and impact of His grace upon us.

Grace Thought For Today

"Let me assure you that it is only by divine grace that we are able to know God. You must never presume that it is by your own efforts. You are not capable of coming to God unless He has chosen to call you first. "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you" (John 15:16)" - Madame Guyon

Forgive Me

Well, something has been stirring in my heart for the past 2 days. I want to start with a Scripture:

Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23-24)

Recently, I experienced an incident where a person whom I knew from my past revealed to me that I had said something to hurt her in 4th grade that she had still resented me for all these years later. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and joy that God had led her to forgive me for that and release it to Him.

The Lord used this incident as well as others in my life to impress upon me just how much wounds, resentments, unforgiveness and bitterness can affect our lives, even towards those who are not aware that they have hurt us at all! My friends, this is a serious matter. I have been there! I can testify!

The Word warns us about allowing bitterness to take "root" in our hearts in Hebrews 12:15 --

Exercise foresight and be on the watch to look [after one another], to see that no one falls back from and fails to secure God's grace (His unmerited favor and spiritual blessing), in order that no root of resentment (rancor, bitterness, or hatred) shoots forth and causes trouble and bitter torment, and the many become contaminated and defiled by it. (Amplified Bible)

With this in mind, I personally feel led to take the opportunity and the time to ask for forgiveness from any and everyone that I may have hurt knowingly or unknowingly in my entire life. This could be from childhood, adolescence, teen years, college years, young adulthood, all the way up until now. Whatever I may have done to hurt you, I am truly sorry. I only desire for you to be free, to experience the grace and goodness and mercy of our heavenly Father.

This note is the equivalent of me leaving the altar and going to whoever has an issue or a hurt and seeking reconciliation. True, we may never be close confidants or hang out together, but we can release the past and embrace all God has for the future. By God's perfect grace, we can overcome the temptation to harbor resentments and to choose the way of agape, the way of God's love and restoration.

I pray that this has touched someone's heart tonight. If not toward me personally, I pray that it has begun to stir your thoughts toward others whom have hurt or abused or harmed you in some way or whom you may have hurt, and I pray that true reconciliation can happen within your heart. I pray that you will experience the fresh and wonderful grace of the Savior Jesus Christ to fill you with His perfect love and peace. May the Lord bless you always and in every possible way,

Tina
(Please feel free to send this to anyone you feel needs to see it, even if they are not on my friends list.)

This Is All of It

Our grace reminder for today comes from a classic, "Grace: God's Unmerited Favor" by Charles Spurgeon. May you be blessed by the truth as you read this. May you receive this revelation today of just how much our Savior and Lord loves and keeps us.

God has raised his hand and sworn that Christ will have the reward of His passion; that His purchased ones will be brought under His sovereign power; that having borne sin and put it away, it will never be a second time charged against His redeemed. His oath is unbreakable.

This is all of it. Do you believe in Christ? Then, God will work in you "to will and to do of his good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13) God will conquer your sin; God will sanctify you; God will save you; God will keep you; God will bring you to Himself. Rest in the covenant. Then, moved by intense gratitude, go forward to serve your Lord with all your heart and soul and strength. Being saved, live to praise Him. Do not work so that you may be saved, but serve Him because you are saved, for the covenant has secured your safety.

I Need Thee Every Hour

“If God wants you to do something, he'll make it possible for you to do it, but the grace he provides comes only with the task and cannot be stockpiled beforehand. We are dependent on him from hour to hour, and the greater our awareness of this fact, the less likely we are to faint or fail in a crisis.” -Louis Cassels (1922-1974)

Today's grace quote reminded me of the old hymn, "I Need Thee Every Hour." I remember singing this song growing up in church, yet never having a deep understanding of what it meant to live with this kind of desperation for the Lord. I am now seeing this moment by moment dependence upon Him in my own life, and the grace He provides when we do surrender ourselves to daily abiding in this way brings a sense of peace that is beyond comprehension. What a delight it truly is to need Him every hour, because His grace is truly sufficient for us in every way.

Click HERE to listen to this beautiful hymn and meditate on its grace-filled words below:

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

Refrain

I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior,
I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.

Refrain

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is in vain.

Refrain

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

Refrain

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessèd Son.

Refrain

I Didn't Read My Bible Today!

I didn't read my Bible today, and I don't feel bad about it.

There...I said it!

Does that shock you? There was a time in my life where if I missed reading my Bible, at the end of the day, I would have been filled with self-condemnation. The tapes would begin to roll in my mind, "Look what you've done, Tina. You didn't even have time for God. What's wrong with you? Can't you get it together and make time for it?"

Please don't misunderstand me, friends. I love the truth of God's Word. It sets us free. It is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, of this I am fully aware and totally believe. Yet, what the Lord has been showing me is even more amazing to me personally. In my spirit, I truly feel the Lord releasing me from the "performance mentality" which basically says that in order to be closer to Him or more like Him, that I must "strive" and "press through" or whatever form of Christianese you want to call it. It's simply not true. (Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt.)

I truly feel the Spirit drawing me to continual communion with Him throughout the day, and this learning to constantly abide in Him means far more to me than planning out my 30 minute time slot to "study my Word" and then check it off my list for the day. Because there is that tendency in us, you know, at least in me. It is a certain sense of accomplishment on my part; a certain sense of self-righteousness that muses "Oh, I read my Bible for an hour today. Wow. I am so spiritual."

We must hide God's Word in our hearts, friends. No doubt. But we must resist the temptation to base our spirituality on how much we "study" or read the Bible. Frankly, at this point in time, I am reading books on family, marriage, boundaries and grace, which are filled with His Word through believers in Christ, and I am gathering much divine wisdom and knowledge from those. Yet, even in this, I cannot and should not boast, because it gains me nothing if I have not love! If I have no fellowship with my Lord and no agape flowing through me, then all the studying in the world would be like chaff blown away.

May God's precious Word be a delight to us, not a way to enlighten or elevate ourselves above others or to gain certain acceptance or blessing from our Father. May our motivations always be pure in the light of His love and not merely a way for us to feel better about ourselves or to check it off our spiritual agenda. May we see our time seeking Him through prayer, through viewing nature, through time spent with others, through listening to His voice as all part of our daily walk of grace. May we be set truly free of being driven to perform tasks, no matter how spiritual they may be, out of a sense of guilt, fear or striving. May we come to the study of Truth with a fresh and open heart to hear Him however He chooses to speak to us each day.

Peace, love and grace to all,
Tina

Jesus Fulfills the Law

A wonderful devotion today taken from the Blue Letter Bible site.

Jesus Fulfilling the Law

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17)
The standard of the law of God is infinitely high and lofty: "be holy, be loving, be perfect." This is because the law reflects the very character of God. In light of this, we may wonder if there is any way that the law can be fulfilled. How could the righteous demands of the law ever be met in our lives? The answer to this vital question is contained in the truth that Jesus came "to fulfill" the law.

Consider how comprehensive was Jesus' fulfillment of the law. He fulfilled the law in His life, becoming our example. As Jesus lived, He showed us what life would look like if one could always, in every way, live up to the heavenly standards of God. Jesus' testimony was "I always do those things that please Him" (John 8:29).

Further, He fulfilled the law in His death, becoming our substitutionary sacrifice. The law included a penalty for violation, and that penalty was death. "The soul who sins shall die…For the wages of sin is death" (Ezekiel 18:4 and Romans 6:23). Jesus lovingly died in our place to pay that penalty which we owed. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

Additionally, He wants to fulfill the law now in our daily experience, by being our life: "Christ who is our life" (Colossians 3:4). The Lord Jesus wants to live in and through the lives of His disciples, as we daily put our faith in Him. "It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God" (Galatians 2:20).

Yes, Jesus fulfills the law comprehensively!

Dear Father of Glory, what marvelous grace—what marvelous grace! Such a thorough provision is supplied by Your grace. Through the work of Jesus, my Lord, the law is fulfilled. Its holy demands are met on my behalf. My failure before Your law is fully covered by Your grace. Lord Jesus, thank You for paying the penalty for my sins. My desire to grow in the righteous life that You lived, and that the law describes, is fully available by Your grace. O Lord, this is grace upon grace. For this I praise You, and I rejoice with expectation. Lord Jesus, by faith I now look to You to be my life this day. Lord, inhabit my heart and shape my attitudes, my words, my relationships, and my deeds, I pray in Your mighty name, Amen.

Hoekstra, Bob. "Jesus Fulfilling the Law," Day By Day By Grace. Blue Letter Bible. 19 Mar 2004. 16 Jan 2010.
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Losing our Focus -- Spiritual Abuse cont.

Today's post is more food for thought from The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse. This really grabbed me...

Satan has erected fortresses in people's lives through incest, child abuse, domestic violence, alcoholism and countless other addictions, spiritual abuse -- any way he can deceive, rob, and enslave. But instead of tearing down these fortresses with truth and grace, the church has fought about the color of the hymnals. We have taught classes, built buildings, served on committees, and gone to seminars so that our leaders can feel spiritually gratified.

We have spent our spiritual energy bribing our children to go to church to memorize Bible verses by promising them perfect attendance pins and trophies. We have taken each others' spiritual inventories to make sure people aren't going to movies, wearing makeup, or chewing gum in church. We have taught people prayer recipes and formulas. If this is really our job, we are truly spiritually overdressed.

Have we lost our focus? He we left behind our true job of leading people into the grace and real empowerment that comes from dwelling simply, honestly, closely with God? Do we keep adding to the "good news" until it's not good anymore? We believe this is so.

Message for You Today

This was SO good, I just had to post it today for you!

Galatians 5:22-24 (The Message)

But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.

Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.

How Sweet the Sound

Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav'd a wretch like me!
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
-John Newton

Sunday morning, I was in my garage shivering in front of a kerosene heater with my husband. He had found an old CD while cleaning in there, and it had many hymns on it, one of which was "Amazing Grace." As I sat and listened to a beautiful rendition of this classic song, I began to weep. The tears just came as I felt the Spirit of God surround me with His love and His beauty. As I silently sang the words through my trembling lips, I realized that I was truly experiencing this "amazing grace" for the first time in a long, long time. What I mean is that I was experiencing Him afresh and anew in a way that I had when I first gave my heart to Him.

Back then when I was single and just coming out of my "waywardness," coming out of the darkness. I was so utterly free in the Lord. I was totally abandoned to Him and bold in Him. All I knew was that I was forgiven, that I was loved, that I was transferred from darkness to light, and it was all His doing, none of my own. I knew that I knew that I knew that He touched me and made me whole, as the song goes.

Oh, how subtle it is when the years begin to take away that childlike freedom. Disappointments, trials, betrayals, hurts all come and the enemy tries his best to put us back into bondage, back under a yoke of slavery. Oh, we don't realize it. We think we are "serving" the Lord, and then one day we look up, and we think that we somehow "deserve" all the blessings that we have. We become inundated with the message that the more we "do," the more we "serve," the more we pray, or worship, or read our Word, that the more we will attain, and the more self-righteous we become. It happens, friend, and sometimes, no, often, this idea is perpetuated sadly by the "church."

I am ashamed to say that at one point, although I loved this song and knew with my "mind" that it was true, that it was foundational, that it was important, I almost couldn't stand to hear people sing it. I remember thinking, "Yeah, yeah, grace. That's a cop-out for people who don't want to seek or pursue God. They just want to live any old way and then talk about grace. It's just a crutch to get them off the hook of having to be His true follower, His true disciple." Oh, this is so sad, my friends. This breaks my heart now to think that I ever could have had this mentality even for a moment. It's so wrong, my friends. It's so judgmental and critical, and I never want to be that way again, so help me, my Lord.

So, the Lord is good. His Spirit leads us into all truth. And when we wander from that truth, He brings us back again in His loving-kindness. This I know for sure, that my righteousness is a filthy rag and that all the good things anyone may see in my life come directly from Jesus flowing through me. It is none of me. He is the reason for it all. And all I can do is thank Him and praise Him and stay at His feet continually. My, my, what a sweet sound grace truly is.

Growing in Grace

“A state of mind that sees God in everything is evidence of growth in grace and a thankful heart.” -Charles G. Finney (1792-1875)

Seeing God in everything...

Do you see God in everything? How about seeing Him in the "poop" and mess ups of life? I've had experiences lately where I have quite literally seen God "shine" and "sparkle" in some pretty nasty poop. But I tell you, He was in it, and it just brightened me and lightened me, and caused joy to bubble up and well up in me.

I am seeing Him everywhere, literally speaking. His absolute presence is surrounding me at all times as I go throughout my day. I am walking the dog on my same little dead-end street...and He is with me. I am huffing and puffing on the stair-climber at the Y, and He is with me. I am sitting on my comfy couch listening to my husband snore, and He is with me. I am feeling sad over the hurt and betrayal of those I thought were friends, and I see Him. He is with me.

I am seeing the grace of God in all areas of my life, and I am like a sleeping young cub opening its eyes for the first time after a long winter's hibernation. I am tasting God's sweet grace like a delicious delicacy melting in my mouth. My eyes are fountains of living water flowing out as I ponder and meditate on His unconditional acceptance and fondness for me and for all His hands have fashioned in perfect love.

By His grace, I am growing in grace. By His love, I am growing in love. I am growing in thankfulness because of this, too.

Father, I pray we begin to truly see you in all things, in everything. May your people know your divine grace and cherish it for the treasure it truly is. May they experience you even in the poop of life, in the dark times, and know that your plans for them are good because you are good. Show us your glory each and every day, Father, in your Son Jesus. Amen.

Spiritual Abuse II

Today's post is a continuation of the list of areas in which victims of spiritual abuse may stuggle (from The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse).

Johnson/VanVonderen write:

6. You may be preoccupied with spiritual performance.

Preoccupation with spiritual performance often results in a tendency toward extremes of self-righteousness or shame. Self-righteousness (a sense of spiritual superiority based on your own behavior) and judgmentalism (a sense of spiritual superiority based upon someone else's behavior) indicate a performance-based lifestyle. Another indicator is perfectionism, or a need for situations and relationships to be "just so."

Shame, the flip-side of self-righteousness, is also a result of a performance-based mentality. Shame is a sense of inferiority, a negative self-assessment, and indictment on your very personhood. It results from experiencing relationships where love and acceptance are based upon behaviors, and where the constant message is that you don't measure up.

7. You have a distorted self-identity of yourself as a Christian.

People who have been spiritually abused tend to have a negative picture of self, or a shame-based identity. This can be seen in several ways:

a. Lack of understanding or even awareness of New Testament texts that elaborate on our identity as new creations in Christ.

b. Confusion between guilt and shame. Guilt is a valuable signal indicating a wrong or bad behavior. Shame is an indictment on you as a person. You experience guilt when you do a wrong behavior; guilt is a good spiritual nerve ending causing you to right wrong behavior. you feel shame even when you've done nothing wrong; you feel defective as a human being, and like a third-rate Christian undeserving of God's blessings and acceptance.

c. A high need to hang on to negative picture of self in order to explain negative behaviors. This is true of spiritual systems that teach or insinuate that even though you are saved, you're still "worthless" before God, "just a sinner saved by grace," "a worm and not a person."

8. You may have a problem relating to spiritual authority.

Being spiritually abused can lead to "toxic faith." Toxic faith is a destructive and dangerous relationship with a religious system, not with God, that allows this system to control a person's life in the name of God. Those who have experienced the misuse of power develop ways to defend themselves from being abused again. They tend to extremes of compliance or defiance when faced with someone having authority. The compliant will conform to the wishes of the one in authority, going along with the authority whether or not they agree, and whether or not the authority is right. The defiant may resist those who have power even if they agree on the inside. Their resistance is almost a kneejerk reaction to anyone in charge. This, too, is designed to prevent hurt -- but it won't work.

9. You may have a hard time admitting the abuse.

This is common among spiritual abuse victims for several reasons. In an abusive system, you are told that you are "the problem" for noticing that there is a problem. That makes it hard to expose the abuse, even after you've left the system.

Second, admitting the abuse out loud -- or even thinking that what you experienced was abuse -- often feels like you're being disloyal to family, to church, even to God. Third, those who have experienced spiritual abuse as "normal" have lost track of what normal really is. Therefore, to call it spiritual abuse feels crazy or overreactive. People who experience spiritual abuse often can't believe it is happening to them.

10. You may have a hard time with trust.

Those who have been spiritually abused will have a hard time trusting a spiritual system again. This is extremely significant, because the essence of living as a Christian is a trust relationship with God, within God's family.

It seems hard to believe that Christians, who have answered Jesus' invitation to life and freedom, could so quickly return to a treadmill kind of spirituality that produces soul-deadening weariness.

Abused Christians

Today's message is again taken from The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by David Johnson and Jeff VonVonderen. I know in my spirit today that there are many Christians who have been or are currently under abusive infuences either within their own families or within the church context. I have a special burden to shine some light on this issue by sharing from this book today. I pray that this will help you if you find yourself in this situation, or it will serve as a warning for you to never fall into this type of setting.

Johnson/VonVonderen write:

How would you picture a Christian who is growing in godliness? Would they convey restfulness, which comes from being comfortable and at peace with God? Would they convey a sense of fulfillment knowing that whatever spiritual work they were doing was in God's will, instead of feeling they had to keep striving for more perfection?

Would their advice be directing you to Jesus, or would it cause you to focus on yourself and your behaviors? And, ultimately, would this Christian bring with them a sense of life, which Paul describes as the "sweet fragrance of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 2:15 Amp)?

What follows are the ten most common areas of struggle for those who have been spiritually abused. (Tina's note: I am going to include the first 5 in this post.)

1. You develop a distorted image of God.

Here are some distortions people frequently have:

a. A God who is never satisfied, who keeps setting higher and higher goals and is eager to let you find out how much you have missed the mark.
b. A mean, vindictive God, who is waiting for us to make a mistake.
c. An apathetic God who watches when people are hurt and abused, but does nothing to help because it would mean having to challenge an authority figure or structure.
d. A God who is asleep, and doesn't even notice when people are hurt and abused.
e. The "utterly holy" God. He is like a spiritual burglar alarm, ready to go off anytime you think about sin.

2. You may have a hard time with grace.

The idea of being treated gracefully (treated to a fullness of grace) causes you great difficulty. This springs from the shame-based identity, which tells you that you don't deserve to be treated this way.

For Christians who have been taught an unbalanced idea about the way holiness comes into a believer's life, there will be an automatic rejection of living under grace -- really drawing upon grace daily -- as nothing more than "cheap grace," sensing that others are lazy, or are taking advantage of God, or are getting off the hook too easily. If you have to work, others should as well.

3. You may have a problem in the area of personal boundaries, an unclear understanding about "death to self" teachings and "rights."

People who misused their spiritual power have disrespected or beaten down your boundaries. They have shamed you out of your "no" or clouded your will and intruded into your life with religious agendas. They have violated our spirituality by playing "Holy Spirit." Having an opinion has come to equal lack of submissiveness. Have a right not to be abused is selfish.

4. You may have difficulty with personal responsibility.

If you've been spiritually abused, you may tend to the extreme of being under-responsible in your relationship with God and others. This simply means that you have realized that no amount of performance results in the promised prize of love, acceptance and rest. Therefore you either decide to give up, or you expend the least amount of energy possible in order to just get by.

On the other hand, you may have learned to be overresponsible, a burden bearer. Everyone's issues are yours to solve. Their heavy feelings are yours to fix. You have an impossible time saying no to people's needs and requests. After all, if you don't do it, who will? You have a greater sense of God needing you than of you needing God.

The most extreme form of overresponsibilty happens when you martyr yourself. You believe that having needs or opinions is selfish. Being affected by insults and thoughtless actions is immature, and having any feelings is oversensitive. Going without is a prime virtue. Feeling numb to life is the end result.

5. You may suffer from a lack of living skills.

Abusive systems develop a "bunker mentality." This is characterized by being closed and paranoid toward the outside, and secretive about what goes on inside. The mentality is not only separatist, but highly judgmental. With this mentality, many Christians may think only one or two colleges are "separate enough" from the world for students to be able to safely attend.

Spiritually abusive systems like this can produce a lot of college-educated common laborers. Let me quickly clarify. First, there is no disgrace in being a laborer. A laborer who depends on Jesus will do as much damage to the gates of hell as a minister who depends on Jesus. The disgrace is in promising people the benefits of a college degree, then giving them a second-rate education and charging them as if it were first-rate.

Second, there are many people educated in religious settings who have a first-rate education. There is nothing inherently wrong with home-schooling your kids or sending them to private Christian elementary, secondary or post-graduate schools. In fact, the concept of a first-rate education that includes the component of building people in their faith is wonderful.

The danger is in educating people in religious settings as a result of a "bunker mentality." People who think this way act as if contact with evil things present in "the world" are the reason people have problems. The solution, therefore, is finding ways to keep people isolated from contact with the world. This is naive at best, and, more probably, dangerous.

Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse

I want to recommend a very important book to you today. This is a book that I truly believe every Christian should read, EVERY Christian. This book, skillfully written by a pastor and a Christian counselor is truly eye-opening, uncovering so many crucial factors of what is termed "spiritual abuse." When we are stuck in abusive, legalistic systems of spiritual abuse, whether it is in a family or a church, we become so desensitized to the internal promptings of the Holy Spirit that we can fall into a delusion. So much of Christianity is under a "performance-based system" instead of a "grace-based" one, and this should not be.

The book I am strongly urging each of you to read is The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse by David Johnson and Jeff Van Vonderen. Below is an excerpt from the book which will give you an idea whether you are currently or ever have been a part of a "shame-based" or spiritually abusive system.

In order for us to begin to truly experience the healing grace of God in our lives and to begin functioning from a grace-based perspective, I am learning that it is crucial that we understand the signs of an abusive one.

Johnson/VonVonderen write:

If you have come from shame-based relationships in which you were spiritually abused, you may hold to these or other unspoken rules:

God rewards spirituality with material goods.
"If I am spiritual enough, things won't affect me emotionally."
"I can never say no to those in religious authority."
Everyone in the ministry is called by God, is appropriate, and must be trusted.
"God needs me to do ministry."
"The existence of trouble in my life indicates a lack of faith."
"Talking about problems will make God 'look bad.' "
Unity means agreeing about everything.

As you can see, shamed-based relationships have significant effects upon those who have experienced them. The relational applications of these effects are far-reaching. As pertaining to spiritual systems, the application is clear: Shame-based relationships build on an emotional foundation that undermines relational honesty; hinders a maturing individual relationship with God; and fosters dependence upon another, who grows in power as a false leader, building an unhealthy system in which appearance is more important than reality. These systems victimize people and set them up to be trapped in future abusive relationships.

All Ye

Here is a song that will bring you a delicious slice of the Lord's grace today. I love this song. It really blessed me this morning, and I pray you will take a moment to receive the truth in this song. The Lord just wants us to rest and abide in Him. That is His desire for us. I speak abundant grace to you today, no matter who you are or what you have done or anything else. You are loved.