Romans 12:1-2 Archives – Facets of Faith

Knowing and Growing with God: God in Us

10.13.2020 by Jennifer Howe //

Hello! This month a FACET shares what’s happening here as we talk about knowing and growing with God:

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 Persons 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 in, pray, and ask God to further reveal Himself. We pray you find comfort in the greatness and vastness of our God, knowing we will forever have more to learn about Him.

Once upon a time…

I (Jennifer) put God in a box. He seemed, like the wind, invisible. In my ignorance, I assumed the situation was like Shrödinger’s cat: He was there, but I could never be sure if He was alive or dead. (Forgive me, Father!) I couldn’t be sure of what He might or might not do…or what He definitely wouldn’t do. My rebel heart was on a rampage.

Every so often it’s still tempting to throw a little tantrum when I can’t see what He’s doing, when I don’t know which way to go in the silence, when I can’t be sure He’s working in the way I’d like. (Key words: the way I’d like!)

The real truth is: this was nothing my Abba Father couldn’t handle or lead me through, and He graciously and mercifully did!

There was Someone I didn’t know…

I wasn’t reading enough of the Bible or looking very closely at the evidence surrounding me. It was the perfect setup for a setback in what should have been an intimate relationship with my God. How I calibrated “truth” in my life and heart mattered. A person’s version of truth and reality comes from somewhere; mine was a lot “loosey-goosey.”

Who is He?

When the conversation revolves around God, only ultimate truth will do. And His identity—Father, Son, and Spirit—that’s where His holiness, bigness, and otherness leaves me (and you?) speechless. Since it’s impossible to use my limited language and experience to express His identity with specific clarity, I know better than to try, I suppose. For simplicity, I want to think about the Person of God who has been my heart’s longing to know more and more intimately: His Holy Spirit.

Spirit of God…

The Spirit! I grew up reading ‘Holy Ghost’ in my Bible. Not a wrong translation necessarily, of course, but I’ve always had a certain mindset in connection with “ghost” because I lived through the extremes of the cultural conversation about spiritual things: Casper the Friendly Ghost and Poltergeist. It’s not surprising the culture holds mistaken ideas about His identity. What a challenging way to think about spiritual things and, ultimately, the Person of God!

God in us…

We have been given an incredible gift! Father God has always been for us; Jesus, Immanuel, is God with us; and Holy Spirit is God filling us. Please know there is little I can say here that is pinpoint accurate. I’m humbled with every word I try to put on the page.

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. Romans 8:9 ESV

For me, silence falls on those words.

The gift of Him and assurance…

Not only does every believer receive the presence of the Person of God, Holy Spirit, as a definite seal of belonging to God.

1 …I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12 ESV

A sure sign of life in Christ! We cannot speak truth, or perhaps even desire godly things, without the beautiful activity of His Spirit. Thank you, God, that You never wanted any of us to die apart from You (Matthew 18:14) and gifted us Your Spirit! Thank you, Spirit of mercy!

As if He were not enough…

In humility I come to these words and sit with them. Really—as if HE were not enough, He generously fills us with truth, wisdom, strength, and integrity we couldn’t even attempt to muster up!

For it is God who is working in you, enabling you both to desire and to work out His good purpose.
Philippians 2:13 HCSB

And that’s why it has to be His truth, love, and power. Ours is flawed and weak in comparison. By His strength…

4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit… 11 All these [gifts] are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. 1 Corinthians 12

Galatians 5:22-26 (fruit) and 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (gifts) reveal how a believer is equipped. A range of gifts are given in order to glorify God and bless others. How generous is our God!

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 2 Peter 1:3 ESV

“All we need for life and godliness”…that’s what some translations say. Thank goodness! It’s the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that makes that happen.

A prayer…

I would love to pray for both of us, friend, if you’ll have it:

I’m asking You, Spirit, to do this very thing: work in us! Grant us fresh mercy.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin… Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. — Psalm 51:1-2, Psalm 51:10-12

Enable us to desire and do the will of God, which is “good and perfect and pleasing” (Romans 12:1-2). We know Your goodness, love, and holiness; and we are getting to know the things You will do! Holy Spirit, we want to be intimately knowing and growing with YOU! Help us lean into the Word of God instead of others’ takes on what the Bible says.

Neither by our human strength nor our measly power, ‘but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts’ (Zechariah 4:6).

“By my Spirit,” says the Lord. It’s a good word!

Thanks for reading, friend. Be blessed as you go today! Should you choose to share this with a friend, I’d be humbled.

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Love Is…Compassion

03.10.2020 by Jennifer Howe //

Welcome, friend, this month the Facets are turning over a good question: Do they know they are loved? Deciding who “they” might be is up to each writer. We ponder whether we are loving others well because that’s what a follower of Jesus is called to do in light of Jesus’ compassion at the cross. Compassion is key. Take a peek at Tracy’s thoughts here, but don’t miss Megan’s and our guest’s posts when they appear!

We’ve Got Stories

I (Jennifer) have a story. You do, too. We aren’t that different, you and I. My story may be rougher around the edges than yours, or not. Let’s avoid the comparison game and, instead, think about the experiences and imagine what compassion looks like in light of the good, bad, and ugly stories. How would we give compassion? How would we receive it?

A Hurting World and Harm

In this crazy-busy world, who of us is not hurting? Our culture is overwhelmed with strong, nagging feelings—anxiety over things yet to come that may never come; fear of the hard reality we face every day; frustration over the things others say, think, and do; and anger because, well, life shouldn’t be this way. Our hearts break just a little more each day in a hundred ways.

The harm is real. Adding two elements, helplessness and abandonment, to any deeply harmful incident creates a traumatizing incident, a perfect storm. Whether you’ve been traumatized or not, this may put words to how trauma affects a person—

Traumatized people chronically feel unsafe inside their bodies: The past is alive in the form of gnawing interior discomfort. Their bodies are constantly bombarded by visceral warning signs, and, in an attempt to control these processes, they often become expert at ignoring their gut feelings and in numbing awareness of what is played out inside. They learn to hide from their selves.¹

The wounds can be deep—and they can heal! God can use Scripture, relationships, and story work powerfully in the process. God’s biblical truth, compassionate love, and power are always the focus. The stories spark heart connection with God, self, and others. In the right human relationships, we may find the wounds aren’t so different or indelible. We might find a whole community experiencing pain we understand.

Time

It heals all wounds, they say. (I don’t believe that’s true.) It happened so long ago, they say. (Read The Body Keeps the Score.) Why would you go back and dig up dead things in the “bone yard,” they wonder? (We don’t want to do that!) It can’t be as bad as all that—ten minutes of your life in 50 years can’t be that big a deal, they say. (Really. Trauma is that big a deal.)

Trauma in the Church

When the Church welcomes a hurting world, the people inside her walls are wounded by real, terrible things. What will the people in the Church do about that? Will the whole community know the truth and freedom in Jesus? The number of people in the body of Christ knowing the biblical truth, compassionate love, and transforming power of God is related to the preaching, teaching, and relationships. I suggest we think about relationships in the context of God, self, and others.

You and Me

Compassion in our world and our churches begins with you and me. We answer questions for ourselves, and then we can sit with others as they answer the same questions.

Let’s start simply.

Do you know you are loved?

I’m a 5 on the Enneagram, and I desperately need to stretch beyond what I know cognitively to the reality of God’s love.

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 NLT

How do you measure God’s love knowing Jesus would die for every one of us? He did just that! Consider Jesus’ love in light of this: But God showed great love for us by sending Jesus to die for us while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8).

I won’t lie. It’s not easy to wrap my mind around John 3:16 because I know who I’ve been and the struggles I still have. Honestly, I find myself asking God to make the depth of His love real and settled in my mind and heart.

Do you bless your self with God’s love?

In my too-black-and-white, perfectionist mind, I sometimes fight to believe my God’s grace isn’t saved for perfect people—it saves imperfect people from their sin and into the Kingdom. Imperfect? That’s me! Jesus’ death on the cross wouldn’t be necessary if I could achieve perfection. And if grace could be earned, it wouldn’t be grace. Sin is the reality of this world and our condition at the DNA level. Because of sin, we need God’s solution.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NLT

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2

I think we ask our loving God to help us show appropriate love and care to ourselves—mind, body, and soul—in light of His grace.

Do you bless others with God’s love?

Culture wars, wars on all the things, wars on each other—we aren’t always good at loving, are we? We have a hard time liking people who look, think, or behave differently, let alone loving them! We’ve forgotten the real war:

For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Ephesians 6:12 NLT

If we think “we have met the enemy, and the enemy is us,” we would be terribly wrong.² The one who claims to follow Jesus receives two commands: love God and love others (Matthew 22:37-40). Even if someone qualifies as an “enemy,” we must love and pray for them (Luke 6:27).

What does love look like?

We are surrounded by people who have stories, just as we have our own. We do well to remember everyone fights a battle we can’t see. Time doesn’t heal wounds, caring relationship does. We all need a saving relationship with God through Jesus, and then we receive God’s power through the presence of His Holy Spirit. God loves us deeply and well—He is compassion. We need Him, and we need supportive relationships with safe people.

It’s not good for a woman to be alone. A wise woman opens her life to honest, compassionate people who can support her when she’s ready. That looks like finding someone who will hold her story with gentleness and kindness by listening carefully without interruption, instructive comments, or judgement. She takes care of herself with gentleness and humility, and then offers the same gentle, humble compassion to others when she can. As she heals and matures, she becomes a safe person for others.

Thanks for reading. You can find the Facets on Facebook. I would love to read your thoughts here or there.

¹ Bessel A. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, p. 97.
² Walt Kelly, 1970.
For more on “story work,” check out The Allender Center, Seattle, WA.

Woman.of.God

05.28.2019 by Mackenzie Carter //

Welcome to FACETS and spring (for real)! I (Tracy) can’t wait to introduce you to Mackenzie Carter as she shares her writing and communication gift with us. Truth be told, as I read her piece ahead of time, it moved me. A lot! I pray God touches your heart through it at least as much as He moved mine. Rhema. A good word, fresh and in season for all God’s girls.

I wish I could say that I am an expert on this subject, that I have steadily walked this out with beautiful grace and dignity, but that would not be true.

I stumble and fall – quite literally

all. the. time.

I have allowed myself to be tossed about with emotions and questions throughout the last twenty-two years of following Christ. I have struggled with shame. I often feel I am not deep enough, a bit quirky, and maybe a little too loud and excited for most. Questions often fill my mind – Am I ok? Do I belong? Who am I?

What would I want preached to myself during all those times that I question or stumble?

Fellow women of God, maybe you need to hear this too.

Quit trying to earn everyone’s love.

Jesus loves you. The King of the Universe. Live your life falling more and more in love with Him.

Though sometimes it may feel this way, God is not mad at you. He doesn’t pace back and forth in heaven frustrated as He thinks about you. He is not the voice of the critic in your head. It is quite the contrary. When God thinks about you and I, a smile warms His face. A love that can never be squandered fills His heart for you. His thoughts about you are kind. His plans for you are good.

When Jesus died on the cross – you were on His mind. His blood covers you. He breaks strongholds. Fear and shame flee at the sound of His Name. You have been made into a new creation. There has never been a day that He has left you alone. He delights in YOU and I. He is proud of you. He will be faithful through all your years. In the midst of insecurity and doubt, you are held, known, seen, and loved.

Anchor yourself in the Word of God. It is your steady in a world of turbulence.

Being a woman of God inherently means knowing Whose you belong to and Who defines you. Honestly, it is way too easy to look around, desperately trying to find affirmation from likes and hearts on social media, peers, what group we belong to, or our titles. You are a woman of God – OF GOD – not of the world, not of Insta or Facebook. Our worth – the meaning of our lives can only come from one place if we are to be truly satisfied. That place is Jesus. The faithful One. The One who invites us to follow Him and find our identity in Him.

My friend, we were meant to live an abundant life of abiding in Jesus. That is where true joy and satisfaction are found. We are daughters of the King. We are women of the Word – the unchanging, never wavering Word of God. Culture shifts, the trends change, but the Word of God remains the same. It is this – the Word of God that defines who we are as a women of God.

Take hold of the Word – read it, believe it, and live it out.

Follow the ancient paths.

Remember the ones who have gone before who lived solely for Jesus – the Elizabeth Elliot’s, the Mother Theresa’s, and the Amy Carmichael’s. Remember the mentors who simply showed you Jesus. This world is trying so hard to suck you into the vortex of comparison and self-focus. Don’t you give in. You were meant to live a counter-cultural life.

Therefore, I urge you, sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12:1-2

Live a life worthy of the One who called you. Live every moment as a continual act of worship unto God. Be the one to go against the grain. Don’t worry so much about being “on trend”. Trends are here today and gone tomorrow. Become the woman you would want to sit across the table from in twenty years. Faithful, shining with beauty from within, holy, full of grace and mercy, kindness on your lips, wise from the Word of God being hidden in your heart, and closer to Jesus than ever.

Run together with other women.

You are not alone as you walk this road. I know this can be so hard sometimes. I know you have been hurt and betrayed. I know it feels like sometimes going it alone would be easier.

My friend, you were never meant to be an island. It sure can feel like it though, can’t it? All of us trying so hard to accomplish it all, achieve it all, look and feel the best doing all the things.

We were meant to run together. We were meant to encourage each other in the hardships, to be honest and open with one another, and to cheer wildly as we see our fellow sisters move forward. Y’all, this life is not easy, so lend a hand. We are not in competition! We were made to celebrate one another.

“If we don’t open up, we will miss out on other women’s wisdom and perspective. We might even walk around with a bunch of burdens we shouldn’t be trying to carry alone.” ~ Sophie Hudson, Giddy Up, Eunice

Always trying to get ahead may be stifling your progress.

Bloom where you are planted.

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. Proverbs 31:25

I know it is easy to want to look ahead and see what is coming. Maybe it seems impossible to know how it is all going to work out. Perhaps you are wondering if you missed it? Maybe you thought you would be somewhere completely different by now.

Be still.

Wait.

Don’t rush over the present – the very gift Jesus gave you today.

You have everything you need for today.

The truth is, God holds what is yours. You are on your way, sister! God has an appointed time for everything. Stay in it, friend.

Run the race that is all your own.

Follow Jesus. Obey His lead. Allow His sanctification process to take place. His timing is perfect and His way is right. He is faithfully leading you.

God is using everything for your good.

There is miraculous joy to be found in the journey, in the process – right here and now. Look around and really see all that surrounds you. Live to the full right now.

Trust Him with it.

Woman of God, you have been called to live out the purpose set before you.

Build your house

“A wise woman builds her house; a foolish woman tears hers down with her own hands!” Proverbs 14:1

Every time I come across this verse, it stops me in my tracks. I start pondering how am I building up my house-with words and attitude. How I am spending my time? What I am pouring into my children? How I am praying for my family? How am I loving my husband? Am I making it count?

In Finding Your Purpose as a Mom by Donna Otto, she says that our homes are holy ground. Just like Moses took off his shoes at the burning bush, we are to take off our shoes as we come into our homes because of the great work God is doing in our midst.

I want to be a part of it. I don’t want to miss it.

If you are married, rock your marriage. You are the only one who can be your husband’s wife. Love him, encourage him, allow God to show you the joy and beauty of submission, be his teammate, and have fun!

If you have children, you are the only one who can be their momma. Take the time and trouble to shepherd them, train them up, listen well, spend time with them, enjoy them at every stage. You are raising the next generation of warriors for Christ. Teach them about Jesus. This is the most important calling of your life.

Woman of God

You are here on purpose for such a time as this. You have been called to pick up your cross daily and follow Him. We are called to seek first the Kingdom of God. Though this life is not about us, we get to take part in an incredible story – a beautiful tapestry of God’s faithfulness. This life is for God’s glory.

Live for God. Obey Him. Trust Him. Love ferociously. Bring the Kingdom of God in your sphere of influence.

… Wasn’t that great? So many nuggets to ponder!

Add your voice to the conversation at FACETS of Faith’s Facebook page or sign up to receive our weekly blog post and comment to share what God is doing in your life as it relates to each topic.

Want to know more about Swordgirl Conference? Click Mackenzie’s bio link above to be directed to the Swordgirl conference web site.