2017: Healthy Connections and Stewardship

Goals 2017:

Since 2012, I have set a simple goal, an area that was impressed on my heart to work on. This last year was authenticity and God did a good work on me. 

I have been given two areas for 2017 and I am excited to embrace the journey. Those areas are "healthy connections" and "stewardship".

For healthy connections, I am realizing the difference between wanting people and needing people in my life. It's impossible to want that which we need. Reflection has revealed to me that I was wired for connection and the connection I need is with the Godhead. Lacking healthy connection with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will cause me to seek out people, places and things to fill that gap. This is the cause for my own people addiction and struggle with co-dependency. I know as my connections become healthier, there will be a shift in my ability to love others. That work has already been started in me and I am able to see the difference in my relationships with my children and my friends. 

Stewardship was another area huge on my heart stemming from a revelation that everything in this world is a gift from God and I should respect it as such. My morning prayer has been for God to help me be a good steward of time, love and money. I know through good stewardship, all those areas will increase. 

""One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much."

‭‭Luke‬ ‭16:10‬‬

I want to put out there, it is through progress, not perfection that we are molded. I hope by sharing these goals, they motivate you to reflect and set some space aside for the Lord to work on an area or areas in you for the coming year. 

A Grateful Believer in Jesus Christ, 

Johnna 

Standards and Belief Systems

Standards and Belief Systems:

 I have come across a lot of young women lately that have been going through that midlife stuff. I also see a lot of them stuck and it's sad for me. This has led me to share some of what I learned about this time.

I went through this reconciliation process with myself 6 years ago, during a time of pain and desperation. I was in a marriage that was hurtful and harmful because I thought I would go to hell if I got a divorce. I tolerated my mothers abuse because I was fearful of breaking any commandments. The reality is, I didn't understand Gods word, just the parts that were cherry picked by religion to condition me. I had reevaluate everything I was taught and everything I had believed.

This phase of life  is actually a very necessary process. It's in this place we reconcile our identity and purpose. Done in a healthy way, this can change a life for the absolute better. 

The most important piece here is making sure not to give up our standards and beliefs but rather evaluate what our standards and beliefs will look like. We are allowed to do that as adults. 

An example is religion. I had to come to terms with the reality that some of the beliefs I had picked up were not necessarily in line with God's  word. Without an environment of recovery, I would have probably just thrown away my beliefs about God and lived a lost life, but that was not the case. I had people to help me through the examination process. 

As I reevaluated my beliefs and standards on my own terms, the lesson I learned was to seek God and his will for my life. I learned to be spirit led, read my bible and live out my understanding of the great creator that I now love and no longer fear. ( I want to clarify I fear living outside God's will for my life so it's important I obey his calling for me but I don't fear being thrown into hell for making mistakes. He is good and forgiving and wants me to try again when I mess up.) 

Reconciling relationships with people is important too. I was able to decide what type of daughter, sister, mother, and friend I wanted to be and then I got to be that person. When we know what our standards and beliefs are, we are less likely to be manipulated and hurt in our relationships because we can be comfortable, confident and authentic inside our connection with others. 

I share this because I think that so many that go through this process get lost. They throw all of their belief systems and standards out the window and end up jumping from one relationship to the next with no guidance from the God they have given up on. 

Take ownership sisters. It's your life. Examine who you are and what you were created for. God brought your here with value and purpose. I pray you come to a place where you can recognize and embrace that.

A Grateful Believer in Jesus Christ,

Johnna 

Fish Out of Water

I borrowed this story for this blog. It is

Discovering Your God-Given Purpose

By Shana Schutte 

There once was a man who netted three trout from a mountain stream and carefully placed them side-by-side on a thick patch of grass. Before he removed them from the water, they were like a liquid ballet in motion. Fluid. Graceful. Vibrant. Alive.
After he netted them, it was another story.
As the trout lay on the grass, they were motionless. Their eyes were fixed. They gasped for air, and they looked — and acted — stupid.
The man noticed they seemed unhappy, so he talked to them, hoping that his encouragement would change them.
“Little fish, don’t be sad. You’ll like the grass. Just try it out for a while.”
No movement. No response. No change.
A few more seconds passed. The man’s neighbor walked by. “Hey, Bob! Come and check out these fish!”
Bob sauntered over and the man explained that he was certain the fish could adjust. “I’m sure they could prosper here on the grass. Don't you agree?”
“Why not?” Bob replied. So he also tried to tell the fish it would be good if they learned to like the grass. After all, he liked the grass. Why shouldn’t they?
Still, the fish didn’t blink. They just lay there looking dumber by the second.
Finally, a little boy approached exclaimed, “What are you doing? Put them back! They can’t be all they’ve been created to be when they are out of the water.”

Finally convinced, the man carefully placed each fish back in the stream. After splashing for a split second, all three swam away effortlessly. Again, it was like a liquid ballet. What ease! What grace! What beauty!
In that moment, the man realized that no matter how long the fish lay there they would never adjust to the grass, and would never be satisfied — no matter how much he (or anyone else) told them otherwise. Even if the fish tried to convince themselves they could learn to like the grass, they never would, and they would never prosper. In fact, they would eventually die.
Do you feel like a fish out of water? Your prolonged dissatisfaction, God-given gifts, passions and the voices of others could be telling you that you were created for another purpose. And like these fish, if you feel like you are dying inside, listen up. It could be just what you need to push you into another, more satisfying ocean.

Spiritual Warfare is Real

Spiritual Warfare is real. The bible gives us a glimpse of a battle in the spiritual realm in the book of Daniel. Daniel has prayed for 21 days for the answer to his vision, the answer to his ministry. An angel comes to him, an angel not named but assumed to be Gabriel, the same angel that came to him previously. This angel tells Daniel that from the time he had humbled himself and prayed, his blessing was on the way but that the prince or Persia had tried to block his blessing. The Chief angel Michael had to come help in this battle in the spirit realm so that blessing could be released in Daniel's life. (Daniel 10:12-14)

If you are aware of spiritual battle then you know about the Amor of God we are told about in Ephesians 6:10-18. This armor prepares us defensively and offensively for spiritual warfare but the book of Daniel tells us we aren't in the battle alone.  Angels are fighting for us. 

In a broken and sinful world, it appears at times that too many bad things are happening and evil is gaining ground. We have to remember that we are only getting a partial picture. God works all things out for His glory! Those spiritual battles are ongoing but as Christians we know the outcome. Jesus has overcome this world (John 16:33) 

I share this because awareness equips us for the battles that we are all going to face. The strongest warriors aren't those that face the biggest battles, they are the ones that have faced battles and don't hesitate about going into the next one. It's those warriors that, win or lose, still have the confidence of Christ sustaining them to endure the next situation knowing the calling isn't about the single battle, it's about each soul that is saved and advancing the Kingdom of God. That is the war we are here to win. That is why Angels are on our side.

A Grateful Believer in Jesus Christ,

Johnna  

Deciding to Move Forward

At any given moment we have the ability to say, this is not how our story is going to go. Things are always getting better or getting worse, there is no such thing as stagnant. The part you need to know is that getting better is a decision, getting worse is the absence of decision.

In recovery, Step 3 tells us that "we made a decision to turn our life and our will over to the care of God". The biblical comparison for that is :

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.  ROMANS 12:1 NIV

It is a decision to work be better rather than getting worse. We make a decision to trust God for the plan and with the outcome. He had our steps planned before we ever took a breath. He had plans for us for a hope and a future :  

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Jeremiah 29:11

So in reflecting, in moving forward, what decisions are you ready and willing to make? 

A Grateful Believer in Jesus Christ, 

Johnna Hurt