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The Trinity: Intimately Knowing & Growing

10.08.2020 by Tracy Stella //

Welcome to FACETS!  As we start to dig into the persons of God this month, we wanted to preface with a bit about what we believe. We believe in one God who exists in three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They are three individual facets of one magnificent God. There are numerous scriptures throughout the New Testament that reference the three persons of God individually, and together, giving us glimpses of the personality and characteristics of God. If you wrestle with the thought of one God in three persons, we encourage you to lean into the confusion, pray, and ask God to further reveal Himself. We pray you find comfort in the greatness, and vastness of our God knowing that we will forever have more to learn about Him.

The Trinity: Intimately knowing and growing? (Tracy)

How do we talk about the trinity, the Godhead three in One? Father, Son, Holy Spirit. Relationship with ALL are of equal importance. One is not more significant than the other. We need all aspects of God.  More of Him. Less of us.  More of Him. Less of us as He leads us. As He grows us. As He grows us to know Him more, and as we do, we grow to know ourselves more. Because we are made in His image.  Mind blowing!  I know.

There have been times when I’ve run into the arms of my loving Father like a little girl in need of comfort (no matter my age).  When I need to feel safe and loved, I turn to Him. He showed me how I am celebrated, that He was there the day of my birth (before actually) and He rejoiced. He celebrated me because I am fearfully and wonderfully made, because I am fearfully and wonderfully made by Him. You too, sweet one, are fearfully and wonderfully made by a Father who sees you and knows you, who fashioned you in your mother’s womb. (See Psalm 139) He delighted in you that day and every day since. Even in your sin, mine too.  He doesn’t delight in our sin; he delights in US, in spite of our sin. That’s EXACTLY why He sent His Son!  He sent Jesus to cover our sin with sacrificial blood. He loves us THAT MUCH.  Can you imagine? Our sin couldn’t go unchecked. He can’t taint holy with our sin. The sacrifice was needed, so we would no longer be separated from God.  (See John 3:16)

He is rich in mercy.  I need it. We need it.  Not sure? Take a look at the world. Hate, division, murder, violence, angry words.  Without God directing our steps that’s what we’re left with.  Heaven knows we need His mercy.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins,  in which you formerly walked according to the age of this world and according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,  among them we all also once lived in the lusts of our flesh, doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  even when we were dead in sins, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  and He raised us up and seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God,  not of works, so that no one should boast.  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, so that we should walk in them.─Ephesians 2:1-10 MEV (emphasis added)

Because of His great love, He richly reaches toward us with His mercy.

There was a time when I called on the name of Jesus, because His name brings salvation. That sweet moment when amazing grace sweeps in for the rescue.  I’ve had that moment.  Have you? If not, let me tell you. It’s life changing! My life is beautiful and peaceful now, not perfect, but so good, because Jesus saved me.

I used to have despair; now I have hope. I used to have depression; now I have joy. I used to have promiscuity; now I have purity. I used to have unrest; now I have peace. I used to be lost; now I am found.

If you don’t know Jesus but would like to, it is quite simple. All you need to do is say a prayer something like this from your heart (that’s the most important part – your heart is what He wants the very most).

Jesus, I don’t know you, but I desire to know you.  Thank you for your precious gift of forgiveness for every one of my sins: past, present, & future.  I do need hope, and joy, and peace, and purity of heart which brings that peace. I need those things and somehow my heart tells me having you in my life will lead me to those. Help me to know You more. Help me to know of Your great love, of Your great love for me. And help me to follow Your ways all the days of my life. Make a difference in my life, LORD, so that I can make a difference in the world. Thank You for celebrating the very day I was born. Help me to learn more about Your deep love for me and the world I live in.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

If you prayed that prayer for the first time, please let us know. We’d love to celebrate with you.  For God’s Word says there is much rejoicing in heaven when another precious child of God comes to know Him.  You are His, sweet one, forever. You will never be alone again. God has a name, Immanuel. It means God is with us. God is with you. Forever. Soak in that. Feel God’s smile upon You.

Jesus’ name is the name above all names. I needed His rescue. God’s Word says we can come to the Father, because Jesus has cleansed us of our sin. We are righteous, because Jesus made us righteous. We can enter the holy presence of God, because we are made holy through His sacrifice.   If you have accepted Jesus in your heart, you are righteous. No shame. Freedom from sin. That’s pretty incredible, right?

And for those of us who have a relationship with Jesus, let us not miss this moment afresh. Let us not forget the hour we first believed as the lyric goes. Let us hold tight to that moment and every saving moment since.

These faith moments help us when life gets hard.  Like 2020. When we wonder what on earth is going on?  Yet still, if we sit silent, we see God in our moments.

Be still and know.

Be still and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.

─Psalm 46:10 MEV

 

When the world feels weary, isn’t it good to know God gives us the command to rest in Him. We can be still. We can be still because we know God. That’s where peace that surpasses understanding stems from: a growing knowledge of the goodness and power of God.  It’s how we rest.

God the Father, God the Son, but what about God the Holy Spirit? That’s where some folks can come to a screeching halt of misunderstanding.

For whatever it’s worth, here’s what I know.  The Holy Spirit is not weird.  (Some people are, but not Him.)

Before Jesus’ death and resurrection, Jesus said this:

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.  I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, that He may be with you forever:  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, for it does not see Him, neither does it know Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you, and will be in you.”

─John 14:15-17 MEV

The Counselor, the Spirit of truth, He is the Holy Spirit. We were blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit to help teach and guide us.  God’s Word says we are given the deposit of the Holy Spirit when we are saved.

Jesus also said this:

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.─John 16:7 ESV

Jesus SENT us the Holy Spirit. He said having the Holy Spirit with us is for our ADVANTAGE.

As I have grown to know the Holy Spirit more, I grow to desire to know Him more.  This is the space God has probably been growing most in terms of my understanding of the trinity. As I try to “be still” He speaks to my heart.  Stillness isn’t easy, but it is when we hear the Holy Spirits’ desires for us and others.

If you didn’t know the Holy Spirit and I had to tell you about Him from my vantage point (as small as my perspective is), I would say He is incredibly sweet.  He lets me in on secrets and He sends me on fun assignments of kindness.  As I see how His adventures play out (sometimes I get to see), I am delighted at God’s loving goodness. That’s His nature: kind, compassionate, tender, and loving.

As I pay attention to how He works in the world, it brings me joy.  Who knew in 2020 we could have joy?  With the Holy Spirit imparting divine wisdom, peace, comfort, and revelation, we can.

He has been growing my heart to align more closely with His.  I certainly haven’t “arrived” in this, but I am more attuned to Him and His desires now.

And He blesses me so much as I see and know His presence guiding me, my life, and the lives mine intersects.  Sometimes, a “chance” meeting with a stranger.  Sometimes, the perfect timing of a call or a connection with a friend.  His melody perfectly orchestrated when we slow down and listen to what the Holy Spirit desires to speak to us and through us.

When I have slowed enough to listen, I am told I am loved. I am shown I am loved. I feel seen and known, because the Holy Spirit brought wisdom from above. And it delights me that now He uses me.  His Spirit ministers through my hands and heart, your hands and heart too if you know Him and slow to listen to Him. He is speaking to us. Even now.

The Holy Spirit is not weird. He is wonderful! He is kind, loving, and true.  Remember, He is the Spirit of Truth. God cannot lie. He will tell us the truth about ourselves, Himself, and others as we need to know it (and some of their stuff is really none of our business).  What we need to know to effectively minister to others, that’s what He will tell us.  Sometimes we are doing His work without even knowing it.  My guess is that is often the case.  Why?  Because God is always doing something beneath the surface we are completely unaware of.

I think of the work He was doing in my heart well before I was saved.  Back then, you would never have imagined who He is making me into.  Maybe you can relate. Perhaps you were in prison, and now He has set you free. Maybe you were once an addict, and now the only thing you are addicted to is Him.  This is the beauty of the Spirit at work in our lives.

I like to think of myself as a secret agent for God sometimes.  When I can slow down enough to engage with Him and His missions, that’s when He uses me most.

Just this past week the Holy Spirit has done these things.  To be clear, I am bragging on Him.  He is a Mystery, but a Mystery I want to know more of, to be more a part of as I get to participate in His plan.

The Holy Spirit grows us up in our faith. Certainly, this is not where I started (listening to God and carrying out missions). I started in the ditch of life. In His love I have grown. In His love I will grow some more. Until the day I die, I will be being taught by the Holy Spirit how to be a better ambassador for Him.  That’s my way of saying I don’t always get it right, but when I do? It brings a smile to my face even now.

Last Saturday, I attended a virtual conference with a friend. Over lunch break we shared our hearts about much, and specifically about our children. We talked about the power of prayer from our mama hearts that we know God hears.  The next session was a spirit-filled prayer for attendees, including us.  As the speaker helped us enter a peaceful space (ushering us into God’s presence), part of her prayer was about the prayer of mothers for their children. She talked about how God hears our prayers for the ones we love so much.

It was as if God used her to encourage my friend and I that He’d been right there at the lunch table with us. He heard our conversation, and He hears our prayers. I walked away encouraged because the Holy Spirit had ministered to me through the voice of one of His saints.  His well-timed voice dispenses hope.

That’s why it is so very important for us to be still and listen.

Who does God want us to encourage?  Who does God want to use to encourage us?

In the weary world of 2020, I can guarantee we all need encouragement. The Holy Spirit knows that, and He will use those of us willing to be that for each other. Isn’t it the most beautiful thing?

On my way home after the conference, I felt the Holy Spirit impress upon my heart.  Don’t turn the radio on. I have something to tell you.

It made sense to sit in silence, to decompress from the day. So much had been said. God had been speaking all day through each woman delivering messages we needed, I needed.

I asked what God wanted to say. And waited.  Sometimes, I can be too fervent in wanting to hear, almost causing distortion. I want to know.  Finally, I settle down enough that He can speak through my mental chatter without having to crash through. It’s almost like He just kind of lets me squiggle a little and then He slips something in when the opportune, settled moment happens in my brain.

Have fun.

God told me to “have fun”.  Sometimes, I do need reminding of that.  Life can be serious.

I had shared with my friend earlier in the day sometimes the more serious life feels, the more fun and joy we need to infuse.  I do think there’s truth in that. We have to counterbalance the weariness of the world in the every day difficulties and in the large, looming pandemic challenges.  The harder those things are, the more fun we need to have.

As a child I was silly and fun. As an adult I can be serious, not that serious is bad. But neither is fun and silly.

The Holy Spirit also said to my heart, You having fun is one of the greatest witnessing tools you have to show Me to the world. 

I believe that to be true and why the enemy tries so hard to weigh us down with worry.

Joy. Fun. They are a weapon. And as God said, a most effective witness tool.

It took effort not to look at my text messages.  Several had come over during the conference. I knew there were “things”, things to attend to. I didn’t know what because I’d turned my phone over, knowing if I saw a text I wouldn’t be able to emotionally engage in the conference and what God had for me.  So those ignored texts became the place God called me to linger.  No radio. No texts. Be with Him.  It became a matter of trust. Did I trust Him that the sky wouldn’t fall if I spent 20 more minutes with Him during the car ride home without glancing at my phone?

Almost home I passed by a man, a woman, and a child. The man held a sign that read something like this, Out of work. Please help my family. However you can help.  It was that sentiment if not those exact words.

I had driven past because I had somewhere to go that evening.  (Not to mention my unknown texts.) But the Holy Spirit didn’t let me get far.  My car made it to the next Home Depot entrance where He placed on my heart,

Turn around and give them (x-dollar amount).

I pulled into the semi loading area of Home Depot, navigated my car past the garden center, through the parking lot, and pulled my car near the family.  I felt prompted to get out of my car, walk over to the dad, and hand him the money.

As I did, I told him this, “Jesus loves you.  He told me to turn my car around and come to give you this money.  He sees you, and He loves you.”

I have no idea what God will do with that, but that’s an awesome point.  We do not know what the Holy Spirit is up to in anyone else’s life.  What if I had disregarded His prompting to sit quiet in my car for a 20 minute ride home?  I can tell you I most certainly would have been mentally engaged in whatever work was calling me. And I would have missed it!  But God’s grace had me be still a little longer with Him. He gave me a sweet message to have fun, and I got to see His goodness play out in the smallest of ways through me.  And it was kind of fun too.  Being sent on assignment is fun.

Maybe you needed to hear that.  God’s assignments shouldn’t feel heavy and burdensome, another thing we have to do.  His assignments are covered by His grace. He’s doing the heavy lifting.

So, if things feel heavy, hand those over to God. Have fun. And let His Spirit do the work.

Now the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, seeing the glory of the Lord with unveiled faces, as in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory by the Spirit of the Lord.─2 Corinthians 3:17-18 MEV

Join the conversation here or on our Facebook page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking to engage some more?

I encourage you to read Acts chapter 2 as a start (or referesher) on your journey to learn more about the Holy Spirit.  The early church was greatly impacted by the power of the Holy Spirit.  If you look at how the Spirit came upon the Church and then Peter preached the sermon of his life with power and impact for God’s kingdom, I hope you  are encouraged.  The power of the Holy Spirit is available to you and me today as well.  Let’s “be the Church” through the power of the Holy Spirit who does the heavy lifting.

Categories // Uncategorized Tags // 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, Be Still, Counselor, Encouragement from God, Ephesians 2:1-10, Father, forgiveness, God Assignments, Have Fun, Helper, Holy Spirit, John 14:15-17, John 16:7, John 3:16, Listen, Love, Mercy, Psalm 46:10, Salvation, sin, Son, Spirit of Truth, Transformation, Trinity, Witness

Hey Thelma, Who’s Your Louise?

08.04.2020 by Tracy Stella //

Welcome to FACETS of Faith and our discussion on friendship. While our summer looks a bit different than many of us planned, I pray you are finding ways to connect with the friends you love.

When we first discussed this topic, I envisioned a piece about the fun adventures I’d take with one of my girlfriends.  I thought it might be an amazing assignment involving a road trip, laughter and a spirit of adventure.  Then Covid created this odd, social standard where we stay physically distant from each other.

So I’m going on a celebratory adventure of some of the Louise’s God has brought into my life and how they’ve impacted it.  I’ll take a rain check on the road trip, because that has to happen!

Hey, Thelma! Who's Your Louise? (T. Stella)

One of the Louise’s in my life loves Jesus, worship, motorcycles, and coffee chats full of authentic conversation.  We share that.  She also loves chickens, alpacas and goats.  Those we don’t share, but that’s okay.  Real friendship doesn’t mean we have to be identical; it means we see and appreciate our differences too.  Friendship rooted in the gift of vulnerability says, “You are safe.  I can share with you.”  She’s that kind of friend.

She is a treasure to me, and truly a gift God sent when I needed friendship.  God hand-selected her for me, and if you knew her, you’d know how truly blessed I am.  Like Thelma and Louise, our friendship involved a road trip.

Great friendships take courage

Maybe you needed to read this piece just to take away this nugget:

Be brave enough to extend an invitation to someone you don’t know.  You never know if she may become one of your best friends.

You see, I had radically shifted my lifestyle:  from sinner to saint (who still sometimes sins).  My old friends were confused by my new behaviors.  I remember feeling lonely. God knew my heart, even if I didn’t express it to Him at the time.

He prompted me to invite someone I didn’t know to spend an entire weekend together at a women’s conference.  I had an extra ticket and I wasn’t sure who was supposed to attend with me.  After prayer, God placed her name on my heart.  And I’m glad He did.  Because, you see, He knew we had a lot in common and we needed to be friends.

It felt incredibly brave to me at the time, especially since I’m a bit of an introvert.

“Hey, I don’t know you very well, but how about if we drive 5 hours to St. Louis, spend the whole weekend together in the same hotel room, attend this women’s conference, and see how it goes?”

God will have you do some crazy stuff, my friends.  Crazy! And terrifying!  But sometimes those adventures might turn out to be incredibly terrific.  This one did!

God is faithful. And He sets the lonely in friendships that feel like family.

Find your friendships that feel like family

God sets the lonely in families,

            he leads out the prisoners with singing

Psalm 68:6a NIV

 

Friends that feel like family are the perfect Louise to your Thelma.  If you don’t have them, I pray God brings them into the fold of your life.  If you do, I pray He grows them to be even more blessed.

While I thought I’d be writing a free-spirited piece about adventure (something my adrenaline seeking spirit loves), my heart is also lamenting right now. I wished one of my Louise’s well as she moved 1,024 miles away.

When we are following God, sometimes He takes us down different paths which spread us out (but not apart).  We’re still friends, spiritually linked forever because this Louise happens to be someone I am spiritually connected to in a special way.

Know this: you are worthy of friendship

I remember the first time I thought about being friends with a pastor’s wife.  I thought to myself, “Um.  Not worthy.”  You see, I was a baby Christian still breaking free from my sin and shame, but this Louise saw something different in me.  She saw who God was making me into, and she spoke precious words over me that I still treasure.

She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. ─Proverbs 31:25 NIV

I haven’t always felt strong in life, but I postured as though I was.  That was my former defense mechanism.  She prophesied words over me that now feel true (or at least a whole lot truer than they did about a decade ago).

I also had felt a lot of shame, but that’s not what she spoke over me.  She spoke the word dignity over me and my life.  And, amazingly, that is the spacious place God has brought me to.  He used my precious friend to give those words to me as a gift.

It’s a good place to pause and remind us all to speak words of encouragement over one another.  Let’s challenge ourselves to listen to the Holy Spirit’s prompting and be the words of love and encouragement our friends need to hear.  Those words have the power to transform a person’s life.

I have done ministry with this woman. I have shared deeply and laughed SO HARD, because she is hilarious.  Her hands dunked me in the baptismal and joyously celebrated new life in me as a child of God.

She too is a treasure.  She’s on assignment by God and she and her family are following hard after Him, thus the reason she is now a resident of Colorado (effective last weekend).  The one consolation I have in this is I now have the perfect excuse to visit one of my favorite places to see some of my favorite people!

Find friends who follow God & bless our faith

Having friendships that follow hard after the things of God for their lives is truly a great blessing.  Their faith grows ours.  I have realized the friendships I have treasured most are ones in which they commit to learn and grow more each day about who they are and what their contribution to the world will be.  I so appreciate friends on the path to always learning and growing.

Maybe it’s because I don’t ever want to stop learning and growing myself.  The woman I am at 50+ years is a much different version of the woman I was in my 20s, 30s and even 40s.

I’m still learning more and more about who I am, and much of that comes through fabulous friends who see and say things to help us realize our giftedness and calling.

And who we feel safe to share with when we fall flat, because we know they’ll dust us off and help us stand again.

When ones’ life has shifted so dramatically, so too has her friendships.

There are a few friendships I miss (I imagine that’s probably true for you too). Not every relationship is for a lifetime, but we can hope some are.  I feel like we need to consult with God about that.

What friendships is God calling you to in this season?

God redeems and restores friendships

I’ve seen Him restore a friendship I thought was permanently severed.  I remember being afraid to bump into this person at the store, because we’d had quite a traumatic end.   But we serve a resurrection God, and He brought that person back into my life.  He knew it was safe to do so – for her and for me.  I felt peace about it and time demonstrated that feeling to be true. We were different women and we both realized where we’d went wrong.  God had grown us, and then He resurrected what I would have once told you was permanently dead.

That person had played a pivotal role in my attending church.  I wouldn’t have went had she not invited me.  (That whole not worthy thing.) We had shared familial history and we understood one another’s story.  We were brought together during tragic life circumstances that God used to grow us closer to Him and each other.

Be on guard of the enemy’s plans to unravel relationships

I’m sure the enemy didn’t want us helping each other learn how to stand, so he tore us apart.  I really didn’t understand spiritual matters all that much back then.  I was just learning about the things of God. I didn’t know how much I also needed to be on guard for the plans of the enemy. He loves to tear relationships apart, especially when they are trying to help one another seek after the things of God.

Maybe you need to read this piece for that nugget of truth. The enemy has plans to unravel godly friendships, but God tells us to be relationally on guard for that. God doesn’t want our friendships stolen from us; he wants those relationships to be part of the abundant life He died to give us.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.─John 10:10 NIV

There are a few friendships I grieve the loss over.

Grieve & pray about lost friendships

Sometimes, God has to rip you (or them) out of one environment for reasons seen and unseen.  I miss my friend I called sister for nearly two decades. She knew things about me I didn’t tell ANYONE.  She saw a lot of my sin.  Don’t get me wrong, I still sin … but she saw the big stuff.

I don’t want to celebrate my former sin; it led to some pretty painful destinations.  But I do celebrate her, and I hope one day God will bring us back together.  We didn’t fight; we faded.

Celebrate your sister w/o celebrating your past sin

I think because she knew me and all of my sin, God had to separate us so He could work on separating me from my former sin.  It’s my running theory. I’m not sure what He’s been doing in her life, but I’m sure He’s up to something amazing there too.  I pray He is and I hold out hope for our friendship.

She is brilliant and funny.

We used to spend the whole week of the 4th of July out on my boat with magazines splayed across the seats where all sorts of girl talk would ensue.  She was my roommate at our national sales meetings, and I knew I could count on our bathroom vanity to be a hot mess with her things strewn all over.

She packed a separate suitcase just for her shoes.  How can you not love a woman like that?  If one of your favorite places is DSW, you know this friendship was a match made in heaven!  Like Cinderella’s glass slipper, it just fit.

She could come over to my place no matter what it looked like, because real friends let their friends see their homes even when they’re a mess.

She knew my love of boots.  When I stood up for her at her wedding, that was her gift to me — an amazing pair of grey suede boots that I still adore.  Hey, you know you’re a good friend when you can pick out a pair of boots for the other one.  It’s kind of like picking out another woman’s purse. You better know her taste!

This is a funny Thelma & Louise type story.  It still makes me laugh.  Boy, were we some crazy “kids”.

It was April and the thermostat read over 80 degrees. My Louise went to the city with me where we happened upon a cute boutique.  I found the most amazing pair of sunglasses I had to have. It was the weather’s fault as I was feeling a bit more free- spirited, as so often happens when the temperature heats up prematurely after a winter thaw.

After my shiny new sunglass purchase, I proposed to my friend we test drive convertibles.

She said, “No way!” (Because she knew her Thelma friend wouldn’t just take the car for a test drive.) She didn’t want to get in trouble with my then-husband for playing a role in this adventure that would involve a major purchase.

Finally, I talked her into it.  I saw an adorable silver 2-seater stick shift and I was in love.  The car salesperson asked me if I knew how to drive stick shift, but it felt more like a statement than a question.

I wanted to say, “Child, please!”  Instead I spoke with my driving skills. He may have had to hold on a little tight that day as I took the curves snug and sharp.  (Still makes me laugh thinking about it.)

When I got back from my test drive, “Louise” saw that look on my face.

“I have to buy it.  It matches my sunglasses perfectly.”

She shook her head and laughed, because she knew she’d be unable to talk me out of it.

We all need those friends with mutual history that can tell of our stupid stories, but love us too much to share them.  This “Louise” holds many pages from my days of youth where you think you are invincible, until you realize you’re not.

I honestly think, in part, it was too hard for her to see my life unravel.  And at the time, that’s exactly what was happening.

But I have learned sometimes God unravels a person’s life to weave it together in a far more beautiful fashion.  He wants the tapestry to look like a masterpiece from all angles – forward and behind.  I pray He does weave this sweet friend back into my life.  I remember her saying something to the effect of she didn’t know what to talk about around me anymore.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.─Ephesians 2:10 NLT

This verse gives me hope, because God sets us where we are with whom we are for a reason. He planned our relationships long ago, and even as He creates us anew He is weaving together a beautiful masterpiece — our life.

Trust God is making a masterpiece of your life as He weaves beautiful friendships into it

If my Louise reads this (and I hope she does), I’d tell her to just be yourself. Real friends let you do that.  I’d also say, “Yes, there are parts of me that are much different from whom I used to be.  But there are parts of me that haven’t changed.”

I still love boots and you never know, maybe I’ll get another convertible one of these days.  If I get the inclination, I know just who to call!

She’ll always be my Louise.

There are many friendships I celebrate and treasure, but for whatever reason, these are the ones I felt led to highlight. I trust someone needed to read these vignettes about friendship to help them find (or find again) their own.

I pray every person reading this is blessed with the Louise to your Thelma, those treasured friendships that help us feel seen and loved. I pray God highlights the area He wants you to focus on regarding your friendships.

Which of these stands out to you? What is God speaking to you through the headline?

  • Great friendships take courage
  • Find your friendships that feel like family
  • Know this: you are worthy of friendship
  • Find friends who follow God & bless our faith
  • God redeems and restores friendships
  • Be on guard of the enemy’s plans to unravel relationships
  • Grieve & pray about lost friendships
  •  Celebrate your sister w/o celebrating your past sin
  •  Trust God is making a masterpiece of your life as He weaves beautiful friendships into it

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Categories // Friendship, Tracy Stella's Perspective Tags // Celebrate your sister, Courage, Created anew, Dignity, encourage, Ephesians 2:10, Follow God, Friends that feel like family, Friendship, God's masterpiece, Grieve lost friendship, Invitation, John 10:10, Proverbs 31:25, Psalm 68:6, Redemption, Restoration, Road trip, Satan, Thelma & Louise, Worthy

Freedom on the Road to Calling

07.10.2020 by Tracy Stella //

Welcome friends! We’re so glad you’re here! This month  we’re talking about freedom and calling, two things Jesus is very concerned about for us and others.  We hope you’ll check in each week to see what He’s placed on our hearts.  We trust this message is His message, and He has freedom planned and purposed for each of us as we engage with Him.  For those of us walking free, we pray a deeper level of freedom.  For those of us still captive, we pray He sets us free through our calling.

Christ has paid the price of our admission to enter through freedom’s gates.  Let’s walk through every gate He opens.

What is a calling?  According to Merriam Webster, it is a strong inner impulse toward a particular course of action especially when accompanied by conviction of divine influence.1

As God’s children guided by divine influence, we have a high calling on our lives. Each of us is placed where we are with whom we are for a reason. Our location and vocation are not accidental; they are providentional.  If God establishes our steps (and He does), each paver we walk upon is there for purpose.  Sometimes, the steps He has us take lead to freedom for ourselves.  Other times, those steps are intended to liberate someone else.  Captives are set free along the way in God’s efficient nature─a bit of me, you, we all at once.

Freedom on the Road to Calling (T. Stella)

Recently, I had a client unexpectedly pass away.  It was like a spiritual slap in the face, a wake-up call.  The volume of my tears was large, and I was in absolute shock.  As I processed my feelings, I thought to myself, “I need to pray with more intention.” I always pray for my clients, but this kind man’s passing made me realize I need to pray more and more specifically for them in light of eternity.  Maybe the person we encounter and pray for never comes to know Jesus. But maybe they do.  What if God brought them to me for that specific purpose? What if He’s put someone in your path for that divine reason too? I don’t want to miss that high calling.

Faith is a personal choice. As believers we need to respect where others are on their faith journey. Force feeding someone Jesus is likely to have the reverse effect. Like a baby being coerced to eat smashed squash, they could spit Christ out because we didn’t let them taste and see His goodness for themselves.  But that doesn’t mean we can’t pray for those God has placed in our path, nor does it mean we can’t try to walk out our own lives in such a way as to create curiosity in others.  Side note:  Jesus gave us free will because He wants us to choose Him. Let’s stay out of God’s way and give others the choice to choose Him. Pray and stay out of God’s way. He’ll let us know if and when we need to take action.

I meet a lot of people doing what I do.  I’m a REALTOR®. To say buying and selling a home is an emotional process is a bit of an understatement. The stakes are high and even if the person’s home sale or purchase is for a happy reason, it can be a bit of a roller coaster ride.  Often my job is helping level out the peaks and valleys.  I love getting to celebrate with clients as I’m let into a very treasured life event. It’s sweet and special much of the time. Tears of joy, laughter, and happy dancing, they’re all part of the calling.  (Who said calling had to be all work and no play?)

What I’d never given thought to before becoming a REALTOR® is the amount of ministry opportunities within this career path God has placed me on.  Honestly, until something impacts us (or at least me) we can be oblivious.  As I got into things, I realized people die and their estate needs to handle the selling of their loved one’s home.  Hard! So hard! Those folks need a compassionate person to sit with them in their grief. They likely need someone to help them make decisions, because they’ve already had to make some pretty difficult ones that weigh heavy on the heart.  They need someone who can help them navigate dark waters, with many people often involved who are all dealing with the loss of their loved one in different ways.  Sometimes, we just have conversation human to human. We can leave the home sale talk for later if need be.  Maybe what’s called for in that moment is a shoulder to cry on or ears that can hear their favorite memory of their loved one.  It’s a sacred space.

What sacred space is God calling you to enter?

God gives me women who have had to navigate divorce and need help finding a home.  I’ve made a personal choice I will not proactively market to women or men getting a divorce, because it feels contradictory to the calling God has placed on my life to help married couples work on their marriage and stay together.  But before I was a believer I did get divorced, and so I can certainly understand many of the emotions my clients experience.  It’s another very hard season that needs to be grieved, even if we don’t realize it.  I try to point them to hope.  Hope helps!  I remember one time I was talking with a client in a vacant home for so long Sam got worried for my safety and came to check on me. I was okay, but the one God had placed before me wasn’t. She needed to be heard and God wanted me to listen.  When He uses bits from our bio, His desire is for us to connect.  Those “me too” moments can make all the difference in the world to someone going through something God already helped us through.

What “me too” moment is God calling you to share with someone in need of hope?

There are joyous occasions, newlyweds in need of a home, excited about what the future holds.  It’s so much fun to help them dream and envision building their life together.  Sometimes, they need advice, occasionally it’s about real estate. (Wink, Wink)  Helping people buy homes, in particular, creates a close connection.  You get the opportunity to know someone exceptionally well through the process.  Along the way in the course of natural conversation, people tell you things, personal things.  I have had the best time getting to know people’s stories.  Isn’t that something Jesus would want us to do?  Whatever you do for a living, maybe God is leading you to ask someone to share their story (even if that feels far outside your comfort zone).  You learn some pretty amazing things about people.  Entering others’ story changes ours jobs from a career to a calling.

How is God nudging you to shift your mindset from career to calling?

God once placed it on my heart to do something kind for a person who had been a bit difficult.  Okay. A lot difficult. I’m glad I listened to that still, small voice.  He knew what that person had been through in life.  I had no idea. Clueless with a capital C.  So, I did this thing God asked me to and it caught the person off guard.  Unexpected kindness created an opportunity for another human being to feel safe enough to open up. A lot. Hearing that person’s story softened my heart faster than melting ice cream on a 90 degree day.  I’d say, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.”  But perhaps we should in that if there is difficulty dealing with so and so, there must be a reason. If the outside reads hard, the inside is probably hurt.  Life’s tribulations can lead to prickly people, because they’re just about protecting themselves at this point.  That’s what God showed me.  This person was in deep pain. From that point on, I had a completely different thought process about this person.  They hadn’t changed, but I had.

Who is God calling you to see from a different perspective?  What act of kindness can you engage in on their behalf?

If you like to be in control of things, don’t become a REALTOR®.  This job has sanctified me about 1000 times over!  I have control over my actions (on a good day), but I have no control over anyone else’s.  If you play poker but only have half the hand and have no idea what the other player’s cards are, that’s real estate.  I know things to look out for.  I know what SHOULD happen. But I only get to see my client’s piece of the transaction.  I try to have order and process for the things within my control, but there are a lot of players in this real estate game: buyer, seller, 2 agents, 2 attorneys, home inspector, appraiser, sometimes extra family members, and occassionally interfering neighbors. (Oh, the stories I could tell.)  All those other people and their actions, I can’t control one little bit.

God has brought me (and continues to bring me) freedom in this job.  Freedom from letting my emotions boss me around.  Most of the time I do a pretty good job of that now.  Occasionally, I need God’s grace to rush back in and point me back on the path of freedom.  This job has helped me to trust God on a whole new level. We do what we can and give the rest to God. The things that I know to do, I do them. The things I can’t “make happen” make me pray even more fervently.  Sometimes, I get inspiration and direction on how to proceed.  Sometimes, I’m called to sit a spell and let God do what only He can do.  It is a gift (and a relief) to know and believe in my heart that God’s the One in charge of the outcome.

What’s something within your control God is asking you to take action on?  What is at least one area of your calling God is asking you to relinquish control of and trust Him with the outcome?

Just this week I had a moment where I let fear creep into my calling. It wasn’t good.  I was concerned that this or that wouldn’t happen.  And then if that didn’t happen, then this, and this, and this might happen.  My momentary setback was a good reminder that as much as I want to be like Jesus, sometimes I’m like the leper and need some healing along the way myself.

How does God desire to bring healing to you through  your calling?

Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee. As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance  and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”

When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.

One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?  Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?”  Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.” (Emphasis added)

Luke 17:11-19 NIV

 

My prayer is that more times than not you and I will look a little more like Jesus. As we travel along the way walking out the calling God has on our lives that we will never be too busy to pause and “take pity” on someone. We don’t want someone to have to stand from afar off shouting for attention. Like Jesus, He’d want us to be attentive to the ones He places before us.

What if others are “cleansed” because they encountered the love of Jesus through us?  Maybe that means salvation. Maybe that means healing (or the beginning of that journey for them). Shouldn’t we stop?  Jesus was busy, but not too busy to stop for lepers like you and me.

What will we do if we help a lot of people and we don’t always feel appreciated? Remember, the scripture above. Ten were cleansed, but only one came back to thank Jesus.  I’ll speak for myself in this, but I wonder how many times Jesus has done things for me that I never bothered to say “thank you” for. I thank Him, but do I thank Him for everything?  No.

So another person’s gratitude can’t be our motivator if we are Christ’s children. We need to stop because Jesus stops. He stopped for each of us (and He still stops for us when we need to catch up to Him).

What if in that process we are like the leper ourselves?  As we go about our calling and connecting with people along the way, what  if He leads us to someone intended to help bring healing to us? Wouldn’t we hope someone would stop?

As we are going, let’s not forget our high calling to STOP for others.

———————-

Consider spending time with God processing the questions in this piece.  Grab a notebook, pray, write the question, and journal a response.  I pray God will reveal His heart for you and others during that set aside time.

Join the conversation here or on our Facebook page. (INSERT LINK)

1 “Calling.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calling.

Categories // Uncategorized Tags // As we go, Calling, Career, Control, Death, Difficult People, divorce, fear, Freedom, grief, hope, Jesus, Joy, Kindness, Leper, Life Events, Listen, Luke 17:11-19, Me Too, On His way, Perspective, Pray, Sacred Space, Salvation, Stop, Story, Trust

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