Laced With Grace

Do you have a rug?

You know. The big woven monstrosity that sits in the living room under the coffee table? This rug displays it’s finely designed workmanship to the world. Everyone who steps into the entryway notices its extraordinary color and luxurious fabric. It’s put together with exquisite patience. It’s well worn. It is….. ….well it’s perfect.

It’s perfect.

But, underneath this beautifully displayed rug lies a secret. It’s where the dirt is swept. Where year upon year the crud, unsightly and ugly is quietly tucked away. Sweep, sweep, sweep.

The rug of shame.

It has a place in almost every home.

It really begins as an innocent child’s mat. A sweet and beautiful child of God is hit or abused or unloved or scoffed at. Sweep, sweep. Middle school hits and insecurity is heaped up then shoved under the rug. High School further drives the rug to remain protected and tightly guarded. The secrets held under that rug are for no one to know. More “stuff” is shoved under the rug. Shame, hurt, abandonment, betrayal, insecurity.

Sweep, sweep.

Year after year. Marriage and disrespect and fighting and struggle. Bosses, finances, bad choices, harsh and hurtful words, shame.

Sweep, sweep.

That rug has grown and covers the main room. It appears as a beautiful and perfectly woven treasure.

But, that rug hides the truth. It hides the trash and lies of the enemy. It has become the center of our life.

It’s time to start to peel back the corner of that rug and let the light shine on the dirt. It’s time to rip it from the floor of our life and deal with the trash swept there.

That rug is the sum of all the bad experiences in your life. That rug IS your life. That rug is….

It’s me. It’s you. And it’s in need of a thorough supernatural cleansing.

Let Jesus rip that rug up. No longer does it hold power over you. Expose the lies of the enemy. Speak them to someone you can trust and watch as all that dirt and shame loses its power over you.
—-
I watched in absolute wonder as a friend of mine pulled her rug of 25 years up from the floor. Everything buried in there was exposed, talked about, sifted through the cleansing lens of the Bible. She is free. She is free at last.

She is now more beautiful to me with her frayed edges and faded coloring and imperfect stitching than when she pretended to be perfect.

I love her with a full heart and thank Jesus for her freedom and thank Him for allowing me to witness the power of light shined onto the lies of darkness.

If you are living with a giant and dark rug, there is hope. If my friend can part with her rug of a life-time of years, so can you. Write me and I will set you on a path of freedom through Jesus Christ.

Be embraced this day in the power, truth, and light of the King of Kings. Lynn

Isaiah 61:1-3 The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn.

Find me daily at:

“You must NOT murder.” -Exodus 20:13 (NLT)

The 6th commandment is pretty clear. It doesn’t beat around the bush or leave for any misunderstanding. It obviously forbids the taking of another human beings life for no justifiable reason. Most of us reading this today might say, “Well, I’ve never murdered anyone. So at least I haven’t broken THIS commandment!” But after looking at the Sermon on the Mount, I wonder if Jesus would disagree with us…

“You have heard that our ancestors were told, ‘You must not murder. If you commit murder, you are subject to judgement.’ But I say, if you are even angry with someone, you are subject to judgement! If you call someone an idiot, you are in danger of being brought before the court. And if you curse someone, you are in danger of the fires of hell.” (Matthew 5:21,22) NLT

So what Jesus is saying is that anger in our hearts has the same penalty as murdering someone. In 1 John 3:15, it says that “Anyone who HATES another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart.” The word “hate” here can be translated to “habitually despise”. This is not speaking of a passing emotion but it is referring to a deep-rooted loathing.

Now, all of us lose our temper from time to time. While stuck in traffic, while standing in the long check-out line, when the children forget to do their chores, etc. But what about the kind of anger that festers in us to the point that we loathe someone? Just the mention of their name sends cringes up and down our spine. The thought of that one thing that made you so mad about that person just causes your brow to crinkle and fire come to your cheeks. The kind of anger that has brewed over a period of time and now the bitterness that resides in your heart for this person just quickens every time you hear their name or come face to face with them.

Murder. You have just committed murder. With your thoughts, with your actions, with your bitterness, with your uncontrolled anger. Spreading lies about others, gossiping about them, or assassinating their character to others is just like murder.

Anger kills.

If we love God, we MUST love our neighbor. Holding grudges and bitterness not only kills other people, but it will slowly kill us. May we walk worthy of the calling in which we have been called by loving one another. Love supersedes anger.

Have you been guilty of holding a grudge or being angry with someone? Today, you can confess and turn from it. Its not too late to be acquitted of all charges. Once you repent and receive Gods forgiveness, go to your brother or sister and ask for their forgiveness. There is freedom in love and forgiveness.

Visit my blog for daily devotions: www.womentakingastand.blogspot.com

Words. I love them. Individually they are interesting enough but combined in just the right way they come to life. For those of us who love to read there is nothing more enjoyable than a well written book. Words strung together in such a way that we are held captive - taken to another time and place. Words written from a heart that we somehow know, that bring us to a place of deeper understanding.

For those of us who love to write, words are the means by which we seek to communicate something of what we are, something of what we hold dear. The discovery of that perfect combination of words is exhilarating.

In the Gospel of John, Jesus is described as the Word:
“In the beginning was the Word, and Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God…
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
John 1:1,2,14

The Greek word for “word” is logos. The footnote in my Bible says: “Revelation is the keynote idea in the logos concept. Here it is applied to Jesus, who is all that God is and the expression of Him.”

The Bible is comprised of many words written through divine inspiration that tell us who God is. When Jesus came, He had no need to write down what He wanted us to know about the Father and His Kingdom. He lived it. He, God’s perfect Son, was a living, breathing epistle of Who God is. The life He lived on this earth was a perfect reflection of the Father.

Are we longing to know who God is? We have but to look at His Son. His perfect life, marked by love, grace and holiness, has written the story.

Blessings,

Linda