God Made You Brave
God, what do I need to let go of?
There is so much we carry
so much we hold.
But it’s in the surrender
that we begin to live fearlessly bold.
When I started blogging, God had guided me to share devotionals and also my testimony. As I began to write out my story, God even sent messages through other people to say He saw what had been done and that He was going to help me through it all. He used others to confirm what I already knew… He transformed my life in more ways that I’ve even begun to share. He can do that for us all.
Therefore, I spent close to decade writing and editing that memoir. In fact, a dear friend also edited it two times too. While some parts I have shared here, on social media and podcasts, there are parts that I have held back from sharing until now. When God says go, we must. Therefore, much of season 2 will share parts of that testimony and give Biblical advice and practical tips to apply to everyday life.
While I had planned for it to be an actual book (and maybe one day it will be ), for now this is what the Lord is unfolding. So stay tuned for season 2 coming in early 2024.
But for now this is part of it too.
It goes to that question again of …
God, what do I need to let go of?
Lord, what do you want me to do with this?
We do not know the conversations others are having with God. Also, we must not place unnecessary and unfair pressure or position on someone else to have the conversations with God for us. It is a gift to be able to go directly to God about it all.
In doing so, He will expose the lies we believe and also replace it with Truth. It is why we must be in God’s Word and reading the Bible for ourselves.
Expose the lies, declaring the Truth…
To do so…
We need the Spirit of God
We need the Word of God.
We are not called to understand everything. But we are called to love.
Let’s not tear down people or use our platforms to do that. And I pray that this message does not do that. When delivering messages like this and all messages, I pray for the Holy Spirit to guide my words how He wants me to say it.
So even before jumping into the topic of idols and sharing part of my testimony, a couple of months ago I saw some unkind posts about a particular profession. It is one I know well because I myself am in it. When I saw the comments, I prayed for the words to respond and this is the message that came. In fact, it prompted a heart check within myself too… to check for anywhere I may have placed unfair judgments. And as always, it encouraged me to pray to not be deceived and for others to not be deceived either.
Lord, open our eyes to know, lead us, and make us bold to go.
Let’s pray to not be deceived.
Let’s pray for others to not be either.
Of course God won’t call us to do anything against His word. Still, there are positions in our world that He calls believers to…
to shine His light…
to share truth and love. We are all called to live on mission. As believers, we are called to make disciples. (Matthew 28:19-20)
We can teach Jesus everywhere and anywhere, sometimes without even saying His name. Faith in action ♡
So what can we do when we start to question someone/something that seems off from what the Lord called us to do? Pray for discernment. Pray for our hearts to soften to hear what He wants us to do and pause to pray for that person. Pray that they would faithfully and boldly follow the plans that the Lord has for their life. Let’s pause to pray right now too…
Lord, I bless You. I love You. I don’t understand this or even why this person is where they are, but You direct our steps. I lift up my judgments. Forgive me. You direct my steps. You direct their steps. And I thank you for that. I pray blessings and favor on that and them. I pray protection for them and their families. I pray that my brothers and sisters in Christ will all become who You created them to be…
I pray that those who do not know You would have a personal encounter with You because an encounter with You changes everything.
I pray today that we all would shine Your light in this dark world wherever You call us to be.
in Jesus’ name, Amen.
With this topic of being deceived, drinking was one area I must admit I was deceived with for a while. God tried to get my attention on it but I stubbornly held onto parts of it instead of listening fully to what God was placing on my heart to do or not do time and time again.
Next season I plan to share specific parts of my testimony and how God saved my life literally. (By the grace of God I am here to tell you about it and for that very reason I need to…)
But for now, I’ll say this, the Lord has really walked me through making right some unhealthy areas and rhythms I was clinging and turning to time and time again.
Expose the lie, declare the Truth.
While this topic today is not a popular one, it is a necessary one. Because the Lord told me to talk about it. So I must.
The lie I once believed was that I needed alcohol, especially that wine.
The truth is and was always I need God.
Some lies I once believed on the topic of drinking were...
“I need this…”
“I deserve this…”
“I earned this…”
And when I was in college and right after college, I wrongly believed that in order to have fun I needed to be drinking.
But God… I am grateful to be washed clean by the blood of Jesus and for repentance.
We don’t need to sit in shame. We can rise in love.
So let’s not sit in the shame of what we have done. Instead, let’s stand in the deliverance.
Shame is also a lie of the enemy too. And so is the need for something other than God. How do we recognize these lies? How do we fight against it?
For me I have spent my life talking to God and listening even too, but often not following. That was before I started reading the Bible and realized that I myself thought I knew best. And in believing my thoughts, I made mess after mess. I do not know what is best for me. I will falter in my flesh when I try to do it my way or seek to validate my feelings. Not every thought we think we are meant to believe.
It is why we must surrender to God. We must learn His Word because His Word will never go away. It will never fail us. It is true.
“For no word from God will ever fail.” (Luke 1:37 NIV)
For example, if I start to hear myself say or even think I need that glass of wine or whatever it is, I recognize the need to push against that, turning to God instead.
We are all seeking something. And the world knows that, the enemy knows that, unjust people in positions of power know that…
There is so much trying to get us to seek it, indirectly telling us…
“Seek me, I will make you fun.”
“Seek me, I will make you happy.”
“Seek me, I will make you feel worthy.”
“Seek me, I’ll make you rich.”
But all the things that we seek that are not God are fleeting. They may make us temporarily feel good but feelings are unreliable when our Lord is dependable.
And drinking for me had deceived me for a long time. I actually think I avoided sharing because of the shame I felt about it, but God washes shame away. We are washed clean by the blood of Jesus. And like I said earlier, He showed me it was time to start sharing.
Those thoughts that once ran rapid through my mind were strongholds I allowed in. I allowed them to build a home inside my mind…
For example,
“I deserve this…”
“I worked hard for this…”
Or even in my early twenties…
“I need liquor to have fun.”
I can’t say this enough. Those are lies.
Listen, I believe in hard work. I believe in giving credit where credit is due but what good is hard work if it’s not something that God is leading us in. What good is it if we put all of our effort into something and God‘s hand is not on it. Ultimately it’s not going to last.
It’s like playing a tug- of- war game with God but God is not tugging because He is love and He won’t force us. However, He will lovingly guide us. Therefore, in our pulling and tugging, chances are we keep falling. But God won’t leave us in the muddy mess we can find ourselves in. Instead, He provides a way to get out. In fact, He rescues us and lifts us up.
We can teach our kids too. We must. For example, this is a lesson I recently heard in a sermon by Pastor Tim Dilena from Times Square Church and I taught my oldest two too. It is a way to fight anything from God's goodness, in His strength, with His Word. I started by talking about a couple movies we have seen where there is a protagonist and antagonist (good versus evil shows) and explained to them in a way that is appropriate for them that our lives are like that too.
That is not to make us fearful. Instead, it is to give us a way to discern and to fight. Because often on the brink of breakthrough, the enemy may say, “Be quiet,” but God says,”Be bold.” On the brink of the blessing, the enemy may leave us with only questions but God brings truth. On the brink of the breakthrough and blessings, the enemy will try to blind us with confusion, but God brings peace.
Let’s reflect on 3 examples and times in the Bible when the enemy speaks …
With Eve in Genesis 3:1…
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1 NIV)
What about in Job 1:9…
“‘Does Job fear God for nothing?’Satan replied.” (Job 1:9 NIV)
With Jesus in Matthew 4:3…
“Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’” Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matthew 4:5-7)
“Jesus said to him, ‘Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’” Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.” (Matthew 4:10-11 NIV)
Jesus shows us how to fight with the Word of God. He illustrates how we must not entertain the lies and instead declare the Truth. But to do this, we need to know the Truth, not our own truth but God’s Truth.
On the other hand, what is a common theme in the enemy’s delivery?
His words often end in question.
They leave us with questions.
Confusion.
The battlemind is the mind and the enemy’s strategy is to confuse us and get us to question the truth. Sometimes, he will even get us to compromise ourselves by allowing the confusion and questions to build strongholds in our lives. But may we remember to…
“Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:2 NIV)
May our hearts be on God.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” (Philippians 4:6 NIV)
“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV)
Pastor Tim Dilena was quoted in saying, “You don’t have a personal preference in war time…. Thank God we are adopted but pick up a sword. We are in the fight of our lives.”
It made me think of this…
How can we pick up a sword and fight when confusion has us not even knowing what we are fighting for or from?
Every day tens of thousands of thoughts come at us, many of which are negative. I recently read that the average person has about 12,000 to 60,000 thoughts a day and many are not positive. It is why we must learn to take them captive.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2 NIV)
We need to be careful what we allow to stay in our minds. Because if we don’t take care of them they may remain and make a home in our minds.
Becoming a stronghold …
a fortress…
a block…
Strongholds try to keep out God’s truth.
How do thoughts become fortresses in our minds? When the thoughts become higher than God’s knowledge. They then exalt themselves over God. Therefore, we need to grow in the knowledge of God. We need to learn it. Store it. Declare it. Grow in it.
“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18 NIV)
This holds true with all the strongholds...
the sexual immorality
the overdrinking
the sins, whatever they be
For me with the topic of overdrinking, let’s go back to my twenties. I was seeking to be alive by being free of my feelings. Wow. If that is not a line embedded in lies I don’t know what is.
We do not become free by avoiding our feelings. We become free through Christ.
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1 NIV)
Idols weigh us down. They don’t carry us like the Lord carries us. We carry them. (thus the heaviness.)
His freedom is for all of us.
But He is loving and won’t force us.
It’s our choice to choose the lies that limit us or turn to our limitless God who frees us and helps us live an abundant life.
In sharing my testimony with this, I am not saying there is anything wrong with drinking wine, but we must use caution. And the Holy Spirit will prompt us each with what we must do. It will never go against God’s Word.
“Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly! In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging. “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?” (Proverbs 23:29-35 NIV)
And we must realize substances like alcohol will never satisfy the inner and deep thirst of our hearts.
In fact, I was depressed and anxious when I was drinking a lot. I was waiting for my glasses of wine on the weekend instead of turning to the Lord, instead of waiting on the Lord for His perfect timing and plans. I was running from it. But I was set free… praise God. He has more for all of us.
Yes, I had this wrong for the longest time. I wanted to be carefree so maybe I would drink more than I should have because it made me feel that way for a moment. I was afraid to surrender it to the Lord because honestly I wanted to have the option of drinking too much. Being honest here… I held on to it throughout my twenties because of that. Once I had kids and started to read the Bible, I began to see this more clearly…
I had an idol, not a hobby. Drinking was not a hobby.
But remember, God gives us choice.
He won’t force us. He will guide us. But like many things in life, we decide if we listen and follow.
So how do we fix our focus on what God has called us to do and maybe even what we are avoiding?
How do we distinguish what is from God and not from God?
The first thing is we need the Holy Spirit.
Secondly, we need to read Truth every day… the Bible.
We need to go back to the topic of true worship.
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and 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.” (Romans 12:1 NIV)
To bring Him honor
We must ask ourselves …
Does this honor and bring glory to God? Does this point others to Christ?
“Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.” (Romans 6:12-14 NLT)
It is a choice.
Will we be surrendered to righteous living and living in freedom or slave to sin? How do we do live righteously and surrendered to God?
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2 NIV)
We must refuse to conform to the world. Instead, we must allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to be transformed.
It’s a process.
Our part is to push against the patterns of the world. We must control what we feed our minds. Pastor Roy McMillan said it perfectly, “We do the resisting and God does the transforming.”
“Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.” (Romans 12:3-5 NLT)
Transformation requires community. When we have blind spots, others who are like-minded help us see with truth and love.
Transformation requires knowing and using our gifts too. We all have them. We all have a unique identity in Christ.
We do not need alcohol to activate it. God equips us with exactly what we need.
Recently, Pastor Chris Morante gave a sermon called “The Day After.” In it, he taught and reflected in John 6 as we enter the day after the miracle of the loaves and fishes.
“The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.” (John 6:22-24 NIV)
But why are they there?
Why were they chasing Jesus?
Why are we chasing Jesus?
Are we chasing Jesus?
Is it about the bread? Or is it about the Bread of Life?
“From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” (John 6:66 NIV)
They walked away… they turned back. They no longer followed Jesus.
Therefore, as I close this message, let’s reflect.
What did the day after look like for those who walked away from Jesus?
What changed?
“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? (John 6:67-71 NIV)
Where would we be without the Bread of Life? Where would we be without Jesus? Am I unrecognizable without Jesus?
For me, before Jesus, my life was one of running after partying and drinking.
But God … He broke those strongholds and idols in my life.
The disciples left behind everything to follow Jesus. I left behind the ways I had been planned for. I left behind my shame and guilt. With repenting my sin of overdrinking, my life was transformed. Decades of depression and anxiety lifted… and childhood dreams like having a family and publishing books became a reality. He restored my life into one of happiness instead of short-term gratification and even restored my sleep. Sure, difficult times come, but I have everlasting joy because it is found in an eternal source… in Jesus.
The bottle broke and breakthrough flooded my life.
And I am forever grateful.
He is our life.
Experience Him.
Revelation will come.
Conviction will too.
So to recap, let’s reflect:
What motivates me?
Why am I having this drink ? Or why am I seeking this behavior or thing? Is it to avoid?
There was a period in my early thirties when I recognized this and how much time I “wasted”… delaying kids, writing and even speaking because of setting aside the weekend to possibly over-drink.
But there is this… Like the Dear Younger Me lyrics from Mercy Me state, “Dear younger me, It's not your fault. You were never meant to carry this beyond the cross. Dear younger me. You are not meant to carry it beyond the cross.”
Live and learn.
Use it.
God’s purpose on our lives doesn’t expire while we are here and living. We can walk in it but we need to be postured correctly, surrendered to Him and not the idols.
So if I could go back and give my younger self a piece of advice on this topic it would be this…
It is not too late. Turn to God. Give Him what you are holding. It is not yours to hold.
Get in the Word of God and listen to the Holy Spirit.
Sometimes when we are on the brick of being bold like right before this message the enemy will try to silence us. But be bold! For God has made you brave.
And dear friend and reader wherever you find yourself right now…
God has equipped you too. Be bold. Turn to Him. He will break you free and He will make You brave.
Dear God,
You are Love. Help me know You more. You are where all the treasures of wisdom, joy and knowledge are. I set my mind on things above, not on earthly things. I come to you today and everyday to drink so that out of my heart may flow rivers of living water. I want to be who You created me to be. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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