Holy

Dear Sister,
I’m guilty. Are you? I often live my life according to how I think others think of me. I have no idea what they are truly thinking, but that does not matter. My image is formed by imagined thoughts of others. As a kid, my image was determined by having the “in” shoes and style for the first day of school, having good grades for my parents, being the best soccer player I could, and being at every church function available. My teenage image had all of those but added the desire to be liked by popular guys and girls. Onto college and my image morphed into being the most perfect person I could: from daughter to student to Christian. You see, I wanted the perfect perceived image inside and out. I wanted to make everyone happy and feel comfortable around me. Now as an “adult” my image is still formed by what I think others are thinking about me: I need to be a good mother, hot wife, best lover, best friend, thoughtful, servant hearted, and hospitable to others. At other times I want others to imagine (ha) me as not caring about any of these things so I become apathetic. This gave me a humble image, right? Are you tired? Phew I was/am. I honestly almost died trying to meet this imagined image of myself. I became anorexic and was sent away for two months to begin healing and repenting of this sinful pattern of life where I lived for an imagined image rather than for the image for which I was created. Genesis 1:26a says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.’” Hmmm…there is nothing in there about looks, ability, grades, or perfection. It says that our image is determined by the Trinity, not by what we think other human’s think of us. Our worth is being made in the image of God. But wait, there is more!!!

Sin tarnished our image forever, but God has told us in His Word that He made a way for our image to be restored once and for all eternity. He sent Jesus to live a perfect life and die for all sin once and for all. He rose again conquering sins penalty of death so those who put their trust in Christ will be forgiven and their image will be restored to what is was in the garden. Look at what Paul says of the image of the believer in Ephesians 1:3-14

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard he word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee4 of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.”

Holy cow! Do you see this? Paul is reminding believers of their identity because we forget it!

• He has blessed us in Christ with EVERY spiritual blessing
• He chose us before the foundation of the world
• We are holy and blameless because of Christ
• We are adopted into the family of God and have full inheritance
• We have redemption, we are no longer slaves to sin, we have been saved into a family because of Christ
• We are FORGIVEN of all past, present, and future sin to the riches of His grace
• He LAVISHED his grace on us

I could go on and on…and Paul does in every letter to churches. He reminds the believers in the churches of what their image truly is before correcting behavior or addressing questions. Why? Because I forget the gospels meaning and power in my life. I try to form my imagined image on my own instead of remembering who we are in Christ and letting that form my image.

Sweet sister, we act like we believe. If we believe that our imagined image is what is important, then we work at it with all our might! We buy certain shoes and clothes, we join certain groups, we eat certain food, and we behave in a certain way. I pray this New Year we will all stop. Stop letting things and behavior determine our imagined image. I pray that we will actively think on what our image truly is: we are created in God’s image with intrinsic value, we were bought with a price, we are adopted, forgiven, showered with grace and mercy, loved, and have an inheritance, all to the Praise of His glory! Now act accordingly!

Your Sister in Christ,

Colleen

My Dearest Sister,

When we think of loneliness, usually our immediate response is that it is negative. We usually cite Genesis 2:18 or Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 and say that God did not intend for us to be alone. While it is true that God created us as social beings who are designed to function better together rather than by ourselves, the truth is you can still feel lonely without actually being alone. Have you ever been surrounded by people, even those who you know love and care about you, and yet still feel that heavy void overwhelm you? I certainly have. As a military wife, loneliness is just sort of a regular occurrence. Every time I say goodbye to my husband, even if it is just for a short training exercise, I feel that weighty, gaping void settle in my chest. Yes, it certainly helps to surround myself with other believers who can uplift and encourage me, but I still struggle with feelings of loneliness nonetheless. I can only imagine how my fellow military sisters who are facing their third, fourth, or even fifth deployment feel. The truth is God never said that loneliness would be absent from our lives. In fact, sometimes it can even be a blessing in disguise.

My first personal experience with that overwhelmingly deep loneliness came when Isaac joined the Army several years ago. We had been married less than a year and the program he was in required a total training time of four months, a daunting hurdle to a newlywed who had never been apart from her husband. I reassured myself that I was strong and could handle the separation, however when he finally departed nothing could prepare me for the ensuing loneliness that would consume me day and night. Even though I moved in with family during that time I still felt very alone. I constantly battled against the deep ache of missing my closest companion, longing for something more than the five minute phone calls every few weeks. Finally, in complete desperation I cried out to God, pouring out my pain at His feet, and asking Him to fill that deep loneliness that was eating away at my spirit. I began studying the Bible every morning, praying to Him, and just spending time fellowshipping with my heavenly Father.

And do you know what happened? I noticed an immediate change in my ability to cope with missing my husband. I still felt the pangs of loneliness but they weren’t nearly as strong as before. You see, I hadn’t realized just how much I had been neglecting my relationship with God; Sadly, other things had become more important to me than spending some one-on-one time with the Lord of my life. Because God is immensely powerful and holy, I think it became easy for me to forget that He is also our intimate friend and companion. He wants us to depend on Him for guidance, turn to Him for reassurance, and cry out to Him for comfort. Sometimes that deep aching void we call loneliness is simply a sign that we need to pursue the Lord first, above all of our other relationships. Not only will doing so strengthen our faith and our testimony but sister, it is the only way we will find lasting comfort and peace. Strong marriages, faithful friends, and a loving churches are great to have and we should definitely pursue them, but nothing can replace that constant kinship that we find in our Lord’s presence.

I know that sooner or later Isaac will probably get his orders for deployment. And while the thought of the immense loneliness that comes with it used to terrify me, I now know that it will be a remarkable opportunity to lean even more on my heavenly Father, to become even stronger in my faith. I cannot fathom the depths of loneliness that have been felt by some of my fellow military wives who have been through multiple deployments or even lost their husbands in combat, but I do know one thing: they are some of the strongest, most God-loving women I have ever known. So don’t despair if you are facing a season of loneliness in your life, my sister. Instead, seize that ache in your heart as an opportunity to grow closer to your heavenly Father. Not only is He the only One who can completely fill that void, but His is also the most important relationship you will ever pursue.

“Nevertheless I am continually with You; You hold me by my right hand. You will guide me with Your wise counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is none upon the earth that I desire besides You. My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”- Psalm 73: 23-26

In His Love,

Lauren

Tag: Holy

Imagined Image

A Blessing In Disguise