Author: Arlene

How to have a strong, healthy mind

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We’ve probably all seen the TV show Fixer-upper, where Chip and Joanna Gaines find a house that needs renovating. If the bones are good, they turn a rundown house in a good neighborhood into a thing of beauty.

Our minds can be like that rundown house. Being part of the body of Christ, we definitely live in a good neighborhood. However, our minds can sometimes be very much in need of change. God is inviting us into the renovation process. Empowered by His Holy Spirit, we become a part of completing the process that He has begun. With His word as our plum-line, we are invited to become co-laborers with God. As we cooperate with Him in the process, our lives become transfigured; the reality of who we’ve become in the spiritual realm becomes evident in the physical. So how does that happen? Continue reading →

Chronic fatigue: Is the cure spiritual or physical?

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Simple tips that will help you discern between spiritual and physical tiredness.

Let’s face it…our bodies get tired sometimes. Especially if we’ve been pushing ourselves to accomplish some big goal. But have you ever experienced on-going fatigue that you just couldn’t seem to shake? Have you been wondering if what you were experiencing had more to do with your spiritual self than your physical body? If so, you’re not alone.  Continue reading →

Seeking and Speaking Truth: Not For the Faint of Heart

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person-2694459_960_720Our words have meaning. They reflect what we agree with. And agreement is a powerful thing. Yet often taken casually. How different the 1940’s would have looked if no one had agreed with Adolf Hitler. The question is, how do we know what to agree with? What is true and good and just? We all need a plumb-line. Something bigger than ourselves that we can depend on to tell us what is true. And what truth applies in a given situation. Continue reading →

How to be healed of a hardened heart

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“I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh…” Ezekiel 11:19

Does it look to you like your heart has grown callous, insensitive? Unable to feel? If you have, you’re in good company. On more than one occasion, Jesus asked his loyal disciples, “Do you have such hard hearts?” I don’t know about you, but the disciples aren’t the first people I would have imagined when I picture someone with a hardened heart. These men were devoted. They had left everything to follow Jesus, and yet they struggled with some of the same things we might today…a heart that can sometimes be dull and unresponsive. Spiritually blind and deaf. Lacking spiritual perception and understanding. But what causes our hearts to become hardened? Continue reading →

What is the spirit of Jezebel?

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“I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel…” Revelation 2:20

 

During the time when Elijah the prophet lived, there was a Sidonian princess named Jezebel. She married Ahab, King of Israel. She hated and murdered God’s people, especially the true prophets of the LORD.  She was an idol worshiper and a witch.

While the Jezebel of the Old Testament was an actual woman, her life is a type. It is through the account of her life that we are given a picture of what a person who tolerates the spirit of Jezebel looks like. However, most people who tolerate this spirit have not fully yielded to it the way that the woman Jezebel did. If we’re honest, most of us will probably recognize that we have yielded to some of the markers of this spirit at one time or another. The key is that we don’t stay in that place. Continue reading →

Letting Go of Mother Wounds

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Unresolved wounding from parents impacts adults on a daily basis. Often the deepest hurts came from the very one that should have protected you the most…Mom.

While it would be helpful if we as parents would take the step to undo the damage that we caused, that doesn’t always happen, does it? Sometimes as parents we just don’t know how to go about it. Or maybe we are unaware that we have hurt our sons and daughters. Sometimes children interpret events that happened to them very differently than a parent does. Perhaps you’ve never told your parents how their actions made you feel. Some of you may have parents that know that they have hurt you but simply refuse to fix it. Maybe your mother has passed on now and the door to healing seems closed off to you.  Continue reading →

Finding Comfort In the Midst of Grief

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man-walking-on-the-beach-in-slow-motion-silhouette-of-a-boy-moving-along-the-coastline-a-guy-walk-in-the-evening-at-sunset-silhouette-20s-european-male-outdoor-person-move-in-hd_sti65xnnIt is possible to experience God’s healing power in the midst of sorrow.

For those who have longed to feel His comfort but have been disappointed when it seemed absent, I can relate. I’ve been there; and I stayed there unnecessarily for far too long. My disappointment over the lack of comfort I felt from God was on a subconscious level, so it was easy to just keep shoving it down, stuffing it away where I didn’t have to look at it. I think I had expectations of what it should look like for God to comfort me; maybe Him speaking to me in an internal audible voice or through angelic visit. I had to lay those expectations down. While God does sometimes comforts in these ways, this wasn’t my experience at that time.  When God didn’t comfort in the way I thought He should, I assumed He didn’t care enough to help me.  I hope the hard lessons I’ve learned over the years will help others who may be grieving and in need of God’s comfort. Continue reading →

Healing From The Heartache of Rejection

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so-sad-2551808_960_720There is a way out of the pain.

Feeling accepted goes beyond just something we all would like to experience; it’s a basic human need. Rejection shrinks us, tempting us to pull back from others. It can cause us to seek isolation to prevent further rejection. It tempts us to become invisible so others won’t see our perceived failures and weaknesses. It has the potential to keep us from our destinies. Rejection can be like a contagious virus, infecting everyone it comes into contact with. It ricochets back and forth between people like a cruel game of catch. Rejection is one of those emotions that not only could be described as extremely painful, but a place of agony. Continue reading →

When depression settles on you like a thick blanket, KICK IT OFF!

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pexels-photo-320007Depression cannot stand in the presence of worship

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to… give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…” Isaiah 61:1-3

It’s often called a lot of things: depression, mental illness, a chemical imbalance. The Bible has another word for it: a spirit of heaviness. It is also called a spirit of despair, or fainting. The Hebrew word for it means to be dull, dim or faint. Continue reading →

The Day Depression Began to Lose Its’ Grip

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It all began with a simple prayer request. Our daughter Lauren and her husband Ray were part of one of their church’s community groups, and this night they asked for prayer for me. They asked their group to pray that God would set me free from depression.

It was right after this that I began to look back over my life and the impact that depression had had upon it. During the 25 years that I felt such bondage to depression I had a distorted view of the effect it had had upon myself and those I care the most about. Now as I looked back, I could clearly see that depression hadn’t just occasionally influenced my life. I could see that there was a consistent pattern of it stealing from myself and my loved ones. It was like looking at the landscape after a hurricane has passed by; the devastation had been there all along, stealing joy, contentment and a sense of well-being.

Continue reading →