Tag: freedom

facing my giant

Karla Lees

I am downtown with a girl friend today, thoroughly enjoying myself.

There was a period of time where I couldn’t do so.

I allowed a fear to dictate where I could walk free.

Years ago, someone tried to pull me off the subway car onto an empty station. Thanks to a good Samaritan & my backpack straps, that didn’t happen.

But the seed of fear entered to make itself at home as I blocked this incident out, burying the memory.

My daughter decided to go to school in this very town I was so uncomfortable in, and I knew I needed to be free. And I knew He wanted it too.

I asked God to release me from whatever had caused the fear, and He brought that memory back….with a difference.

When you know the God of the universe is standing beside you, you can face your giant.

Mine was fear.

In giving Him that fear, He broke its claim on me, removing the Liar’s venom within me.

But He didn’t stop there.

His Spirit swept in, and filled me with a quenching peace.

And reignited my desire to see new places, many of which are nearby.

So on the bus we went, and I am a sunburnt, slightly disheveled content visitor in the city that used to cause my fear temperature to spike.

For I know He walks with me, and I need not fear. God is so much bigger & greater & stronger than we can fathom, and He chooses to hang out with you, & me!

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God is….Incredible

Karla Lees

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This week, my church is running a Blast from the Past Vacation Bible Camp for our community.

I can’t help but get excited about what God is going to do through the willing hands serving & revealing His character to the children who will be attending.

So this week, I felt led to post the main themes of the week, especially coz not only is my son going to be volunteering there, but because God is stirring within me to remind me of these/His five characteristics being taught, and I pray, caught!

God is….INCREDIBLE!

We not only see how incredible He is through creation & caring for His chosen ones, but incredibly, He initiates contact with us!

He pursues us, and reveals Himself to us!

We tend to think we are the ones initiating things with God, that we are in control.

Not.

The incredible Maker of all things wanted to set His people free. Despite many turning from Him while in Egypt, He heard their cries for deliverance, and arranged for His deliverer to be raised by the very household He would overturn to set His people free.

Moses was not only Israeli born in captivity, He was adopted into the royal family who were enslaving Israel.  Talk about awkward.  It’s not surprising that he would have had conflicted emotions, and been stirred by His Maker to have compassion on his birth family.

Because God stirred up His compassion within Moses before they met!

They didn’t meet in church, or while Moses was praying, or because someone introduced them face to face, although I suspect Jethro was praying fervently for Moses, married to his daughter, as the priest of the Lord in this area.

God showed up while Moses was watching the flock of sheep he has been entrusted with by Jethro.

Think for a moment about that whole scenario.

God was about to call Moses, raised & educated to understand rule, who has lately been working exclusively with sheep. 

God calls His people His flock, the sheep in His care.

What better balance to his royal training than to be hands on with stubborn sheep?

How better to prepare Moses for the leadership role God had to come for him?!!!

God is truly incredible!

Flash back to Moses with the flock. Doing his usual job, he has led the flock near Horeb, the mountain of God.

And an angel of the Lord appeared to to him…

Say what? Just that alone is incredible!!!

in a flame of fire….

Okayyyyy… God’s got my full attention now, and I am sure Moses’ too in the moment!

Out of the midst of a bush. Moses looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.

INCREDIBLE!

God used an ‘average joe’ bush out in a desert as the basis for His Presence to reach Moses!

Moses’ response was to draw closer to this phenomenon. Once we get to know him a lot better as his character becomes more revealed, we learn he is very fearful, and uncomfortable speaking in public.

Unusual for someone raised as a royal…

God knew that this set up, the burning bush, while Moses was away from other people, was the best way to intrigue him to draw near.

(Incredibly, He meets each of us exactly where & when we need Him most, and that encounter is tailored uniquely to do so by the One who made us and knows us sooo well! But I am getting off track!)

When Moses did, God called him by name, and invited Moses to draw close & talk with him, as He revealed Moses to be His, and His deliverer. (Exodus 3)

INCREDIBLE!!

And despite his fears and apprehensions, God went on to guide Moses as He asked him to lead His people out of Egypt.

Moses became one of the most talked about stories in the Bible, in no small part because he knew how desperately He needed the God who never failed to move in His behalf, speak with him, and empowered him to lead His people.

INCREDIBLE!

God uses ordinary folk & does the incredible through their willing hands!

And He still does the same today.

May we dig deeper in the Word to catch all the glimpses of our INCREDIBLE God He reveals to those who still seek Him today!

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now covered in Love

Karla Lees

I tend to be a hider by nature.

Which only reinforces what we learned about ourselves in the Garden.

When the going gets tough, we try to hide.

This past week, I had a break through while getting quiet in His Presence one morning.    God revealed to me that i had agreed with a lie in a situation where something was done to me, which i thought had been long ago been put to bed & resolved.

God knew otherwise.

It was a sneaky lie, but one that tied me down in my spirit and hindered my desire to communicate openly.  In fact, it caused me to hide away physically & emotionally as well, and God did not want for me to remain hidden in this way.

God sees it all, the beautiful, the sin, the past, the present, the future.

I had stopped embracing some of how i was made, and settled for a layer of invisibility which covered me in both a fear and a lie at the same time.  It essentially tied part of me to the past in a way which hindered my moving forward into the pastures He is leading me towards.

God called me to trade this cloak in for His covering for me instead.

What a delight to wear a garment custom made for me!

There is a layer of invisibility woven into this must wear clothing too, but one I am so grateful to God He gifts to me.

When I remain in this covering garment, I am safe in His stronghold, my spirit invisible to the enemy’s glance.  I have a love & peace secure in knowing I am with the One who adores me, freed me, restores me, protects me & wants me with Him forever.

He can keep me safe under His wing, essentially causing me to become invisible to all but Him.  He Himself becomes my shield as I trust in Him & wear His cover.

Instead of trying to keep myself hidden out of shame, He keeps me hidden in His heart out of love.

If you too have sin or lies hidden away under layers of invisibility you think God isn’t aware of…..you need to think again.

There is nothing we can hide away that He is unaware of.

There is no place we can go where He won’t meet us there.

There is no lie or sin more powerful than the blood of Jesus!

Today, come out of hiding & hide yourself away in the secret place with Him. Ask Him if there is anything you have layered within you that you may not even be aware of, which needs to come out into the light as He makes the invisible visible. Strip off the lies, be cleansed of the sin. Open yourself to His touch, as He uproots, heals & makes you anew in Him.

Less of me hidden away means more of Him coming alive within me!
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slave no more

Karla Lees

So He brought His people out with joy, His chosen ones with singing.
Psalm 105:43 ESV

When we are in the bottom of the pit, we cannot yet see the joy which awaits ahead.

The slave within us cannot hope for the freedom it feels is beyond its grasp.

He knows.

God’s Word is full of the overflow of His heart for His people:
freedom
love
blessing
hope
future
mercy
grace
and yes, even joy.

If you have been a slave for longer than you can recollect, the concept of joy can be a startling one to accept.

Freedom can take some getting used to, not because you don’t see it. but because you haven’t yet accepted it is yours.

The Israelites spent 40 years of wandering around in the desert, when the route God had had for them was only months long. Because they couldn’t escape their mindset of slavery.

Slavery brings along depression, whining, complaining and rebellion when it lingers & takes hold.

Unless you believe all of you is set free, including your mind, you may return to the bonds God has set you free from.

For the battle is won on two fronts:
by His actions, and our acceptance.

God has completely set us free through the one time action of Jesus dying on the cross.

The legal bonds of slavery have been obliterated for all eternity.

Hallelujah!

The mental bond to slavery is the one which we need to break, through our acceptance of His act of freedom- regardless of whether we can see or not.

It was finished – His action.
It is finished – our acceptance.

When we agree with His freedom, and align ourselves to show our acceptance…we remove the last tether to the chains God has already broken off of us.

When that happens, we go out with joy, knowing we are His beloved, singing Him the songs of love welling up within us, filling the expanse where freedom now reigns.

The battle is ultimately won through Jesus, but conquered in each of us when we accept the truth…

He is the freedom we seek,
we are the vessels He longs to remake & restore.

It’s our choice whether we allow Him to finish the freedom for which He paid the ultimate price.

Our minds need to choose His freedom, agree with our Maker, and allow the fullness of all He has for us to fall upon us.

When we are overflowing with love, we long to be with the one we adore.  We long to serve them, because they show us their care & devotion in all they do as well.

We are no longer slaves.

He has served us first with the offering of freedom, hope & a future, and awaits for us to take and eat, sip from the cup, and begin to live free.

If the slave mentality is lingering because you have severed that last tie, the one trying to lure you back in….

Begin to pray.
Worship Him.
Call on His Name.
Proclaim the truth, in Jesus you are no longer a slave.
Speak out your true identity, free one in Christ. Chosen, Beloved.
Cut the cord of the lie tying you to the former things which are no more in His Kingdom.
You are His.
Sing out your thanks as you soak in His Words of hope, truth, love.
Shout your freedom from the rooftops at full lung capacity.
Go and walk in joy as He leads you out, once and for all, into the Promised Land in His Presence.

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Sunday Psalm: Step into the Light

Karla Lees

It’s time to stop cowering, soul
and listening to the Liar.
My spirit longs, cries out
for freedom, for wholeness.
You hear this cry
from my broken & humble heart
and You answer
by shining Your Light
onto the hidden places,
revealing the chains that
have only served to keep
me from anchoring securely
to You, on You, in You.
In Your grace & love
You clear the space
in this time &
set me free.

My soul begins to fly,
my spirit starts to sing,
my whole being
resonates with Your Name
spoken over all I am.

I will never stop
pressing in
for all You have for me
and will never settle
for anything less
than Your all, always.

#SundayPsalm

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free to be

Karla Lees

Today is Canada Day, and Independence Day for our neighbors to the south is fast behind.

These dates remind me of the cost of freedom.

Much blood has been shed, and even more prayer, hope & dreams invested in freedom around the world.

And yet, we still have slavery, prejudice, racism & hatred in the forefront of many news stories.

It isn’t enough to be free.

We need to stay free.

Free to not make those same bad choices we may have made in the past.

Free from seeing others through our selfish human viewpoint.

Free to be all God desires for us to be.

We are not called to judge one another.  God is more than enough and capable of handling that role without us.

We are called to love, and proclaim freedom in His Name, for His ways.

We need to stay free of stepping into the role of judge.  We are to be His hands & feet, walking free and speaking His freedom for all.

Does that mean we don’t comment on the atrocities going on in the world around us?

Not at all, because God’s heart is breaking over the hurt caused in the wake of full blown sin.

We are called to help heal the wounds, not add to them.

We are called to help set the captives free. Love up on hurting hearts. Pray for those who don’t yet know they are meant to be free to encounter Him.

We are free to leave the judgment to God. His Word speaks for itself as to what His standards are. The cross shouts His love to open hearts. His Spirit speaks to those who are listening.

We are free to be ourselves, and love the world as He leads us to love them.  How that looks for you may be very different than it does for me, because of how we are gifted.  God uses each of us as He purposes, for His glory.

We were set free at a great cost, in the ultimate battle.
God won.

May we press in close to Him, as His Spirit leads us into greater & deeper freedom. 

May we share His freedom & His heart, and allow God alone to be the judge.

May we hear where we are to best serve, and wholeheartedly do so for His glory.

We are all free to choose how we interact with one another.

His choice was your freedom.

Forever.

Let Your freedom be part of our battle cry, Lord.

May we worship with abandon, and freely love as You have loved us.

Forever grateful.

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Band-Aids over bullet holes

Karla Lees

Bandaids don’t fix bullet holes, you can only cover up what has hurt you for so long. -Austin Dennis

Yesterday, I took a direct hit.

And boy it hurt.

I couldn’t address the wounding in the exact moment due to my shock, but bandaided myself in a stop gap measure as best i could and carried on.

A bandaid isn’t an effective treatment for a major wound, is it?

As soon as I got some time alone, i ripped off the bandaid, and asked God to pour His healing into the situation.

This morning, I am feeling like the bullet has been removed. But the situation isn’t rectified yet.

You see, I can forgive, but i can’t move on until the shooter has heard what they did.

For me, its not about justice, but honor.

The shooter was someone i respect, a fellow believer.  And when they get stressed out, they sharpshoot before taking a step back to take in the whole situation.

I get it, because my temper flares too.

God and i have spent years working on my giving my anger over to Him, and not responding in the moment it hits. I need to wait for the feelings to simmer so I can hear His voice telling me what to do when i have been hurt.

You’ll note, I am not talking about being offended, but wounded.

If i take offense at what someone does to me, I sharpshoot myself in the process.

If and when i am wounded, whether by a friend or enemy, I am called to forgive.

I am also called to speak up.

Because of my gifting, word wounds are especially hurtful. Some might receive them as a slap, I receive them as a gun shot.

I spent way too much of my life keeping my wounding in from the built up shock after shock, internalizing my pain in the most self destructive ways.

No more. As a daughter of the King, I deserve to treat myself better.

First I run to my Abba, and let His balm, tears & love enfold me in His embrace.

Then I allow Him to treat the wound: to cauterize, stitch, bind together the rawness left from the injury i have received.

I then ask Him to give me His perspective on the situation.  To see what He wants me to do, to speak what He wants me to speak, to forgive as He asks me to.

Finally, only after the previous steps, do i approach the one who wounded me.

Silent no more.

Grounded in who I am, and secure in His embrace, I can speak up with confidence, knowing my Abba is with me, and my voice has value to Him.

If you too are wounded today, draw near to your Abba.

Put on some worship music, get comfy before Him, grab that box of Kleenex, pad of paper & pen, and let it all out.

He will meet you in that pain, and begin the healing you & He are both longing for.

Don’t keep using a bandaid to cover up your hurt.

Allow the Healer to touch you, and make you whole again.

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holding fast

Karla Lees

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance. I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.
*Psalm 16:6-8 ESV

The path has been quite rocky over this most recent leg of this journey.

Changes left & right have caused me to recenter & stand firm on the unshakeable truth: God alone is my sure foundation.

I have had to take a step back & closely examine what matters most to me, and He has been reshaping me on the inside while the storms swirl around me on the outside.

By the way, a storm is anything that tries to knock you on your Foundation.  It can be a temptation, a spiritual attack, a crossing of a boundary, a sudden loss….any unexpected change, big or small.

God has been quietly prompting me to allow Him to set my boundary lines, and giving me the strength to hold fast to Him as I do.

Boundary #1: God time is in permanent marker in my schedule, wherever & whenever He wants. 

Allowing Him ownership blesses my time, makes me more confident He is with me & more productive at all I do.

Boundary #2: Self care under His direction is not selfish.

This includes enforcing my need for balance. Too much work at a time leaves me exhausted & drained. As part of my work is freelance, I now have boundaries on when I will/will not work which God is helping me reinforce.

Boundary #3: After God, my family is more important.

God didn’t just randomly refer to children as treasures or gifts we were never meant to unwrap. Your spouse is to be your best friend, the one you go to first after God with whatever is bugging you. God wants us to have daily family time, however that can look for your family. Meals, DVD, walking, laughing, worshipping together…. We miss the tight bonds God planned for us when we fail to put family ahead of all else after Him.

Boundary #4: Saying no is to be welcomed when it is enforcing a boundary, and/or following His leading.

I have a hard time with this one, as several people around me like to try and bypass my no. What is urgent to them is to become my urgent project to be immediate dealt with. If I am already working, or on a day off, I need to say no or not yet.  If they can’t accept it, that isn’t my problem. As the Polish saying goes, “Not my circus, not my monkeys!”

The reality is: I am not on call 24/7 to anyone but God or my family.

I suspect I am not the only one who needed to read that truth today. If your ‘no’ is not being respected, then quite honestly the requester is not respecting you. Stand up for yourself, and if you have to, take a stand. I have left a job I was very good at because my employer crossed the boundaries I had clearly set. As much as I hated doing so at the time, it was the best thing I could have done for myself to learn how to enforce my boundaries, knowing God was with me as I did so. No means no.  God will back you for standing firm on a boundary He has helped you set.

Boundary #5: God & I together are free to change, adapt or create new boundaries at any time. I don’t need anyone else’s permission to follow His lead.

Now, if I do something completely out of character or fall into sin, it will become obvious to those around me whether God is in it or not. We are known by our actions & their fruit, not only our words. We are to be considerate & honor one another, and at the same time we are not be someone else’s doormat to be walked all over at their convenience.

I speak from experience that I have learned the difference between serving & being a slave.

I will not head back into the chains God rescued me from.

I had spiritually cowered like Piglet for way too long, being timid and afraid to speak up for myself. Allowing God to direct me into healthier living has enabled me to see that where He wants me to step, in His Presence, will lead me towards becoming the ‘me’ He designed me to become.

Final Thoughts:

I don’t need to apologize when I improve for the better, when Holiness & Love grip me so tight I become broken to be rebuilt into something better & more precious: More His.

My boundaries all lead back to freeing myself to live more fully in the wide open spaces of His love, mercy, grace & Presence, where He is constantly with me.

So the winds will continue to try & sweep me off my feet. Let them come, I say:

Because if I am already on my knees, I will not be shaken.

God’s promise: When I stay close to Him & follow His lead, He’s got me solidly 100% on His grip.

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In His strength, I can stand firm and hold my ground when the storms circle about me.

Hold fast, dear ones.
God knows the way ahead, and the way through.
He’s got you.

when the ground is shaking

Karla Lees

Your work schedule has drastically changed,

illness has suddenly inconvenienced you,

the bills keep getting higher,

and the weight of it all makes you feel like you are on shaky ground.

Maybe, just maybe, you are like me.

You can carry too much on your own shoulders, and all it takes is one shift of one situation to throw your balance off kilter.

Like Chicken Little, you begin to think the sky is falling, and you proceed to run around like a little chick in circles.

You too may forget to look up, & give up.

Look up into the face of the One who wants to show you the love He has for you.

Give up trying to do it all alone, and allow Him to shoulder the burden you were never designed to carry.

That sounds so simple, yet many days i find it more of a struggle.

Because i forget to look up, and give up.

When He strengthens me, i can do way more than i ever dreamed or believed i could.

Because He is so much more than we can even imagine!

When i make the time to worship, dig deeper into the Word, and listen to hear His voice above the world’s murmurs of busyness….He never fails to remind me He is there for me, and longs for me to look up, and give up.  When i do, these words come to life within me:

For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation.
 He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken.   Psalm 62:1-2 ESV

And He reminds me of these such truths, through my daily quiet time, worship, instagram, Twitter & Facebook, the words of fellow believers and even different translations of the same verse.! Sometimes hearing a familiar Word put a different way can awaken your soul to it afresh:

God, the one and only—I’ll wait as long as He says. Everything I need comes from Him, so why not? He’s solid rock under my feet, breathing room for my soul, An impregnable castle: I’m set for life.  Psalm 62:1-2 MSG

God, may i ever take my eyes off of myself & my circumstances and look up to You first before and above all.

Help me to give up what i am carrying, even if i don’t know i am. Free up space within for my soul to breathe in Your company.  Be the solid Rock i am anchored upon, my hiding place & fortress of strength.

In and through and with You, I can make it through, knowing You are more than enough, all i need.

psalm 62v1n2

 

for given all, forgive all

Karla Lees

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As His children, we are to be known for how we extend forgiveness.

Not because the other person deserves it.

Because you and I both know, there is no such person, for we ALL fall short of His standards. don’t we?

We are to forgive because we know the value of it.

For we are the forgiven.

Forgiveness is the gift God gave for us, and to us, because of Jesus.

Because we could not approach Him due to our filth, He made the way by both cleaning us & covering us. As if that weren’t enough, He specifically purposefully intentionally forgives us out of His great love.

We are to forgive because we are now Him to those around us.

We are to offer what we have gratefully received, for we know how freeing it was to be made clean and forgiven our wrongs

We are to extend this gift to those who hurt us, to show we want to obey and honor our God. To show we get it, this incredible gift of forgiveness.

He asks us to forgive.

And because we want to honor Him, for who He is & all He has done for us, we should.

Doesn’t mean it will be easy.

I have no doubt the walk to the cross weighed quite heavily on Jesus.

But because of love, He continued.

Because of His love, and our love for Him, may we forgive as He prompts us, each and every time.

May we be so known as for givers that people will question us as to why, & can meet the Forgiver.

For He gave His all, for us all.
And asks us to do the same as we follow His lead.
Forgive.