We know that in the body of Christ that we are all members. 1 Corinthians 12:27 says, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.” Just as our natural body has many members, each member is part of the whole.

As I read Joshua 7, I noted again that though Achan sinned alone, God’s anger affected all the children of Israel. Verse 1 says, “But the children of Israel committed a trespass regarding the accursed things, for Achan…took of the accursed things.”

In Joshua 6:18, God laid out His specific instructions. It says, “And you, by all means, abstain from the accursed things, lest you become accursed when you take of the accursed things, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it.”

Have you ever considered that your disobedience to God’s word affects all of the body of Christ? That is a heart shaking truth. Verse 13 says, “…you cannot stand before your enemies until you take away the accursed thing from among you.”

Church, we are here. We are living this out in our country. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says that we are to humble ourselves and pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways. Until we do that He will not heal our land. 

1 Peter 4:17 says, “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

1 Corinthians 12:25 says, “That there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.” One of the ways we can do that is Galatians 6:1. It says, “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”

Accountability is the undergirding for walking in heart integrity. What do you do when no one is watching? That is the fruit borne from your character or lack of it. Achan’s lack of character brought destruction. Proverbs 11:3 says, “The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.”

Paul urged his readers to be proactive. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in faith. Test yourselves…” The Lord allowed satan to test Peter. He was sifted as wheat is sifted. The chaff of denial was brought out of hiding.

The Holy Spirit is our Excellent Diagnostic Technician. We can go before Him and ask Him to search our heart. He will reveal the hidden (accursed) things that are alloy, which constantly weaken our faith. Hidden sin will keep us from being able to stand against the enemy of our soul, individually and collectively as the body of Christ.

What Does Your Soul Long For?

I am in the process of memorizing verses in Psalm 119. Verse 20 says, “My soul breaks with longing for Your judgments at all times.” There is something about memorizing that drives truth deeper into our heart.

As I am repeatedly speaking this verse out loud, it brings conviction every time. I cannot truthfully say, ‘at all times’ and that is what challenges me. How do I live out this verse in my life?

At the same time frame in which I am memorizing this verse, I came to a part in my homework book that meshed with this verse. I’m paraphrasing so I don’t violate copyrights. 

What fruit do others see as evidence of your heart’s devotion to the Lord? Outward fruit is the manifestation of the inward thoughts. The source of our roots determine what type of fruit we bear.

In my homework book it used the words: captivate, captured, and captivated. Does that describe my heart in my relationship with the Lord? Is Song of Solomon 5:1 Amplified a reality for me?

I read it as though the Lord is speaking of me. It says, “..Drink, yes, drink abundantly of love, O precious one (for now I know you are Mine, irrevocably Mine! With His confident words still thrilling her heart…”

I am typing out my thoughts as I am thinking this through. In the first 22 verses of Psalm 119, here are the ways that identify God’s word: law, testimonies, precepts, statutes, commandments, word, and judgments. 

John 1:14 says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

As I mull this over, here is my conclusion. At all times our heart should break with longing for the Lord. He is His word no matter what word is used. He is the One who has captured our heart through His death on the cross. Our heart becomes His dwelling place when we accept Him as our Savior and Lord.

We don’t obey a set of rules like a robot. In our love relationship with Him, our heart longs to do as He has written, because He is the Giver. His word is our greatest gift to lead us into righteousness. That is our path of progressive sanctification. It is the process through which our thoughts, purpose, and actions are continually being conformed to His will and His ways.

Parenthesis are mine, and depict the new way my heart can now read this Psalm of 176 verses! Psalm 119:16 says, “I will delight myself in (You) Your statutes; I will not forget (You) Your word.” Verse 92 is a truth I lived in through this last brain injury. It says, “Unless Your law had been my delight, I would then have perished in my affliction.”

I can experientially put in ‘You’ for ‘Your law’ because I couldn’t read my Bible. After three weeks my soul was breaking with longing for His word. I had to wait for someone to read it to me. I also had a CD of verses that a friend recorded for me of ones that I requested. It was my relationship with the Lord that kept me from perishing in that affliction. 

Refute means to to beat back, to disapprove and overthrow by argument, evidence or countervailing proof, to prove to be false or erroneous. God’s word is irrefutable. Here are some irrefutable truths I want to bring to your mind.

Titus 1:2 says, “In hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began.”

2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.”

Luke 1:37 says, “For with God nothing will be impossible.”

Isaiah 59:1 says, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear.”

We frequently face hard trials, seemingly impossible circumstances, or strong winds of adversity. These challenge any fleshly square peg thoughts that are hidden. Our heart is our belief center. 

We might say, “I believe God is in control of all things,” yet if we give any thought to worry, we are not resting in the round peg of irrefutable truth. We must not look with our natural eyes at what is before us. We have to look at our heart’s belief in God. We look through the spiritual eyes of irrefutable truth. 

It is when our flesh rises out of hiding that we have to act before it can manifest in a square peg thought. It gives an enhanced understanding of what it means to renew our mind. Our rogue thought is against, if we don’t give it another thought, it falls to the ground.

God said of Samuel that He did not let one of his words fall to the ground. We let God’s word fall to the ground when we refute it with unbelief and not rest in it. To renew our mind is not a one time thing.

Ephesians 4:23 Amplified says, “Be constantly renewed in the spirit of your mind (having a fresh mental and spiritual attitude).” We can only do that as we memorize and meditate on His word.

Psalm 119:89 says, “Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.” Isaiah 55:11 says that God’s word will never return to Him void. He speaks and it is. It doesn’t fall to the ground. Remember Genesis 1:3 says, “Then God said, Let there be light; and there was light.”

What does John say about His light? John 1:9 says, “That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.” Can anyone refute that truth? No! Jesus is the Light of the world!

When we are having dark thoughts (square pegs) we can instantly transform that thought through irrefutable truth by renewing our mind. In the natural, a square peg can be reshaped with a tool. In the spiritual, our mind can be reshaped by God’s tool which is His word.

We are all members of the body of Christ. We each have our unique fit. Colossians 2:19 says that when we hold fast to our Head, “…from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.”

1 Corinthians 12:14 says, “For in fact the body is not one member but many.” Verses 15-26 thoroughly describes how the body of Christ functions. Verse 27 says, “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually.”

The foot cannot function as the hand does. Nor do the eyes do what the ears do. We have to function together in order to make up the whole. This is a tight fit that the Lord has designed.

He uses all of us in our unique role to make up the whole. We serve one another through our unique role. You are a gift to His body. Your uniqueness is essential in His design. 

We are to love Him wholeheartedly: with all our heart, all our soul, and with all our strength. Our square peg mentality does not fit into His round peg ways. Colossians 3:2 says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.”

Our path of progressive sanctification is always filled with circumstances, hardships, trials, and adversity to help shape our hearts to conform to His will and His ways. We chafe when we try to be someone that we are not.

The word ‘sincere’ was a cry of the bazaar vendors. They wanted everyone to know that their pots had no wax to cover blemishes or cracks. The astute buyer would take the pot they were interested in out into the sun. That way the darkness of the shop would not prevent them from seeing any wax cover up.

1 Peter 1:22 says, “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.” Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Psalm 18:26 says, “With the pure You will show Yourself pure; and with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.” Shrewd in the Hebrew means to wrestle. What happened to Jacob when he wrested with the Lord?

Genesis 32:28 says, “And He said, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob (deceiver), but Israel (Prince with God); for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Parentheses are mine. Remember the definition in Joshua 1:7 for courageous? It means to prevail.

Are you in a wrestling match with the Lord now? The Lord will always set up circumstances that will reveal the hidden deceit in our heart. What is the Lord seeking to accomplish in your life by bringing the same challenges right before your face again and again?

His goal in our path of progressive sanctification is to transform our inner being to reflect His character before others. When you feel frustrated, it might be because He is redirecting your square pegged way into His round peg way to enhance your uniqueness in serving Him.

Have you ever tried to be something that you aren’t? When I first moved in with my parents to take care of them 24/7, my dad had me working on the drip system. I was a square peg trying to fit in a round hole.

It frustrated my dad when I didn’t hold the channel locks and pliers the way he would. They were totally awkward for me. The Lord doesn’t get frustrated with us. He already knows what we are like. He designed us.

You are unique. There is no one you. No one can fill your shoes, nor can you fill someone else’s shoes. I wonder what Joshua felt like when the Lord called him to lead the children of Israel. He was Moses’ assistant. He knew the frustrations.

Yet the Lord set out His path through the beginning words in Joshua 1. As I read verse 7 yesterday, the Holy Spirit stopped me. There was a progression He wanted me to see. The condition was to be strong and courageous so that he could observe to do all that was written down for him.

Strong in the Hebrews means: prevail, firm, resolute, and to press. Courageous in the Hebrew means: to keep, guard, give heed, protect, watchmen, treasure up in memory. Verse 8 said that he was to observe to do so that he could meditate.

Our thoughts determine our actions. Negative thoughts (square pegs) do not fit into God’s thoughts (round holes). We cannot force them through our will or our own strength. Yes, our heart is the receptacle for our will.

Multiple times in the Psalms the words ‘I will’ occurs. Psalm 119:16 says, “I will delight myself in Your statutes, I will not forget Your word.” That is the power of meditating on God’s word. It seats His truth in our heart designed to effectively influence our will.

As you read these words in this new song, I encourage you to celebrate your uniqueness. When we force ourselves to fit into something that the Lord has not designed us to be or do we will be frustrated.

Celebrate Your Uniqueness 

My hands have made you and fashioned you in My image. There is no one else like you. Don’t try to copy others. Influence them through who you are. Be you in the design of My making.  

Creativity is freedom from sameness. It all begins in your thoughts. Be free to explore and develop the passions I’ve given you. Thoughts can box you in or free your spirit. Accepting who you are will cause you to thrive in every aspect of your life.

All things work together for good to those who are called according to My purpose. Nothing is in vain. I will redeem it all. The things you have been through have given you eyes to see and ears to hear and compassion to minister to others. I want you to celebrate you as I celebrate you. You are created for My glory.

Matthew 18:16 is in the context of church discipline. I’m using this verse as confirmation to something in my present. It says,”…that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.” There are no coincidences or happenstances in God’s economy. Everything is divinely orchestrated through His impeccable timing.

Sunday my pastor brought up Deuteronomy 6:5. It says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Three times Moses said ‘all’ which means no exception. On Monday I had 2 Chronicles 16:9 as my homework assignment. The translation given was different from what I had memorized as a child.

It says, “…whose heart is completely His.” My mind immediately went back to the verse in Deuteronomy 6. I looked up the Hebrew words. Heart~inner man, mind, will, understanding. Soul~desire, emotion, passion. Strength~might, force. David had a prayer in Psalm 86:11 that we can make our own. He asked the Lord to unite his heart to fear His name. He was asking the Lord to give him singleness of heart. 

Here is an example of a cry of the whole heart. Psalm 63:1 says, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:8 Amplified says, “My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You; Your right hand upholds me.”

Psalm 42:1-2 are the words depicting the cry from a deer that knows that if it can’t get to water it will die. We need to ask ourselves if this is the cry of our heart. It says, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?”

Do you remember what God told Samuel when He sent him to anoint David as the next king? 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “…For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” The only way that we can truly know our heart is to look at it through God’s eyes. He sees everything.

Sunday I was reminded of this, as I was on Monday. Tuesday I started reading in my homework assignment book. There it was again! The third day in the row Deuteronomy 6:5 was set before me. I sat back and said, “Lord, what are You speaking to me that I didn’t get the first time?” Have you ever had the same type of trial more than once? The Lord will repeat our lessons until He has accomplished His purpose in our lives.

Until we are both hearers and doers of God’s word, we will remain weak in our faith. Moses had died and Joshua was the new leader. Joshua 1:7 says, “Be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.”

The Lord knows our thoughts before we think them. He knows what is in our heart. He knows what squatter lies occupy places where truth should be. He knows every nook and cranny. Here is a verse from a new song Womb Of The Morning. Don’t let the cares of this life choke out My words. Open your heart to hear the beat of My own heart. I desire oneness with you but I won’t compete with that to which you give yourself. I will but wait until you tire of your own pursuits. And nestle down in My love.

A parent says to a naughty child, “Shame on you!” Those words are a pronouncement that covers that child with shame. Those words may be carried in their heart the rest of their life. It unconsciously follows them like the dirt following Pig Pen (in Charles Schulz’ cartoons of Charlie Brown), unless the Holy Spirit leads them to freedom. 

I’m saying this from personal experience. Yesterday the Holy Spirit set me free from something hidden! It all came about as I was considering what character qualities are revealed in the three verses. There is endurance, steadfastness (fixing eyes on Jesus), and despising shame.

I had owned the shame pronounced over me as a child. It was buried and forgotten by me, but not by the Holy Spirit. He used my moment of revelation to set me free. Jesus despised it. We are empowered to walk as He walked through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us. I forgave, renounced, affirmed, and rejoiced at my new freedom!

What has happened to us, that caused us to bury the emotional pain, does not determine our responses to it. Our thoughts and motives do. We are not to despise the person. That is satan’s ploy. It leads to unforgiveness and hostility towards the one who shamed us. We are only to despise the shame brought on by their sin against us.

Shame is an entanglement that will thwart us in every direction. It brings embarrassment and dishonor. It holds down Jesus’ gift of joy and drains us of energy. Nehemiah 8:10 says that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Jesus endured the cross because of the joy set before Him ~ us! Joy is His essential irrevocable gift to help us endure all the trials in our lives. 

When we despise shame, it helps us to NOT give up and become hopeless. It makes us stalwart and reinforced, like rebar reinforces a foundation. We fix our eyes on Jesus. To fix means that nothing can distract our gaze. 

It is when we gaze upon Him that, according to 2 Corinthians 3:18, He brings deep character transformation. It all takes place through our relationship with the Lord as we abide in His word. All healing from buried emotional pain comes through the Holy Spirit’s leading. He sets the needed foundation of truth first so that we will remain free. Who has shamed you? It is time to despise that shame and be set free!

The path of healing from emotional pain is all grace. There is not one thing we can do to facilitate it, except remain humble. Years ago I heard a pastor’s personal working definition of grace. He said, “It is the power to be all that God has called you to be and do.”

That ‘power’ is grace that is released through our relationship with the Lord. John 15:5 says that apart from Him we can do nothing. That ‘nothing’ is in effect in every aspect of our lives.

The worst thing we can do is to seek healing in our own strength. Self-help books are futile. Following the Holy Spirit is essential. He is our way through. 1 John 2:27 says, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”

The key to our healing is abiding. As I read through my Bible, the Holy Spirit often highlights a phrase that cuts into my flesh. It always speaks to where I am in the present. That is the power of His word. Our Surgeon uses His word like a scalpel that pierces and exposes the hidden.

Let me give you an example. In my present homework assignment, I am to look for God’s character in the list of verses. There is one for every day during my two week time. Yesterday the Holy Spirit highlighted something I’ve never considered before.

You can read it for yourself. Hebrews 12:1-3. These are very familiar verses as I have them memorized. Here is Jesus’ character revealed, “…despising the shame…” He bore all sins for all mankind on His body. When we are sinned against, we often take that defiling shame upon ourselves.

Shame causes us to want to hide from it, so we bury it by ignoring it. Someone has brought shame upon you through their sin against you. Here is your course of action: you can forgive them, renounce it (disown it as yours) and affirm the truth. Jesus bore that shame and despised it for you. Tomorrow we will do a deeper dive.

God’s words to the children of Israel can apply to us as well in our healing path. Exodus 23:29-30 says of their inherited land, “I will not drive them out from before you in one year…Little by little I will drive them out from before you, until you have increased, and you inherit the land.”

Buried emotional pain takes up real estate in our hearts. It decreases our capacity to walk in truth because the lies are squatters. What do lies do? They control. Paul instructed his readers to take every thought captive. 2 Corinthians 10:4 says, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.”

How do strongholds get into our hearts? They usually start with a fiery dart lie that we did not take captive. When it seeds itself into the soil of our heart, it sets up a command post. As other lies get through they join forces. Verse 5 says, “Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” 

Here is a lie that I picked up in my homework yesterday. If you believe that you are like you are because of your circumstances, you have believed a lie. Our adverse circumstances, abuse, hardships, or losses do not define us. They do not determine our outcomes.

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” We might not think that our heart is wicked. However Matthew 15:19 clearly states the opposite.​ ​It says, “For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.” Evil thoughts are wicked. Fleshly reactions come from negative thought patterns.

Our thoughts are colored by our motives which come from what we believe. Our heart is our belief center. Therefore our motives determine the outcome of our adversity. If we have believed a lie, then our motives are tainted by that lie.

The path of obedience is strewn with God’s grace. He gives His grace to the humble, but He resists the proud. We resist God through our disobedience. When He says to forgive AS we have been forgiven, He doesn’t leave any loopholes. 

We buried our emotional pain as children because we didn’t know what to do with it. We were too young to understand what happened, let alone process it with truth. Yet, when we come to an age where we do understand, God will lead us into His healing process. 

First though, He must lay a foundation for our healing. It comes through our relationship with Him. 2 Corinthians 10:5 said that the strongholds are built up against the knowledge of the Lord.​ ​​​That is the key to our healing. As we abide in His love, learn to trust Him in all things, and hide His word in our heart, He will then lead us into truth that will set us free. Not before, but little by little. There are no shortcuts, loopholes, or exceptions.

Here is my article in our local newspaper today.

Confidence is a settled assurance that cannot be shaken. It is a deep inner persuasion that does not waver. It is steadfast faith in only One, not something or someone. Hebrews 10:35 says, “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward.” As Hebrews 6:19 says, it is what anchors our soul in the storms of our lives.

Here is one of my anchor verses. 2 Timothy 2:13 says, “If we are faithless, He remains faithful…” Why? The verse goes on to say, “…He cannot deny Himself.” He is our confidence as we walk in 2022. Our next step is unknown to us, let alone the whole year. However, we can go forward with confidence and boldness because He has gone before us.

Psalm 85:13 says, “Righteousness will go before Him, and shall make His footsteps our pathway.” When our thoughts, purpose, and actions are conformed to God’s will, nothing can derail us. It is when our thoughts veer off the path of righteousness, that our faith will be compromised. In Galatians 2:20 Paul made a declaration of faith.

It says, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live…” Paul was grounded in Christ’s finished work on the cross. Nothing could lure him away from his anchor of hope. The verse continued, “…but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Think of Paul’s words in Romans 8:38-39. It says, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Did you note the words ‘nor things to come’? There is nothing. Let me say it again. There is absolutely nothing that the Lord is not able to handle. Ephesians 3:20 says, “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.” 

Our confidence in that power is based on Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. It is the gospel that brings light into the world, and inner transformation of souls. We have been given eternal life, the greatest gift of all, yet it cost Jesus His life.

Let’s take Abraham’s declaration as he faced his impossibility. Romans 4:20-21 says, “He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.” 

Here is a key for us to apply. Verse 19 says, “…he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.”

Philippians 1:6 says, “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.”

Psalm 119:73 says, “Your hands have made me and fashioned me; give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.” Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”

1 Chronicles 29:11 says, “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; for all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all.” 

What can we give Him that He has not given us first? We can bow our will to His. We honor You, Giver of Life. Thank You for coming to earth in the form of a man to die for us. You gave us a free will. May Your purpose be accomplished in each of our lives, as we bow our will to Yours.

No matter what impossibility we may face in this new year, we can go forward with confidence. He will be faithful to take us through. His grace will be our total sufficiency.