Keeping Secrets

Secrets! Families hide them! Liars recreate them. Good friends share them!

When family secrets are told, destruction and sometimes even healing comes. When liars recreate them, pride and deception permeate the atmosphere. When friends tell them, comfort is found in sharing with a caring ear.

But what happens when we live in alignment with the secrets of heaven?

”Examine your motives to make sure you’re not showing off when you do your good deeds, only to be admired by others; otherwise, you will lose the reward of your heavenly Father. Give secretly and your Father, who sees all you do, will reward you openly.”

(Matthew 6:1,4 TPT)

“Whenever you pray, be sincere and not like the pretenders who love the attention they receive while praying before others in the meetings and on street corners. Believe me, they’ve already received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your innermost chamber and be alone with Father God, praying to him in secret. And your Father, who sees all you do, will reward you openly.”

(Matthew 6:15-16 TPT)

“When you fast, don’t let it be obvious, but instead, wash your face and groom yourself and realize that your Father in the secret place is the one who is watching all that you do in secret and will continue to reward you.”

(Matthew 6:17-18 TPT)

Live keeping secrets and your Father who sees all you do, will openly reward you!

Consider the Lilies

Headline News: will herd immunity be successful in the US, non-stop political mayhem from the White House to the Governor’s mansion, mounting racial tension, mass shootings, discussions around police reform, the list goes on.

Then, there’s our personal story. What’s going on in your world? The doom and gloom of the news and our own realities can cloud our vision, creating anxiety and fear.

Yet, The Lord says to me, to you, and to every believer, consider the lilies. (Luke 12:27) Consider - fix your mind on, with a view to a careful examination; think on with care; ponder; study; meditate on, yes, consider the lilies. (KJV dictionary definition of consider) Consider that lilies are beautifully clothed by God and are here today and gone tomorrow. Yet God in His infinite wisdom takes time to beautifully adorn flowers.

You are more important to God than the lilies. Every morning He pours beauty upon you in the form of new mercies and sufficient grace. He adorns you, not with anxiety and fear, but with beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. (Isaiah 61:3)

Isaiah said I will sing for joy in God, explode in praise from deep in my soul! He dressed me up in a suit of salvation, he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness, As a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo and a bride a jeweled tiara. (Isaiah 61:10 Msg)

God secured our beauty in Jesus who was beaten beyond recognition and died that we would have abundant, yes beautiful lives. Now we get to display His beauty, His glory, His splendor, His power and His love to mankind.

Consider the lilies. But also consider that God is even more mindful of you. He instructed you to cast your cares upon Him for He cares for you.(1Peter 5:7) He’s the only One who can work every detail you’re concerned about into something beautiful. That beautiful something He’s working out is you.

Consider the lilies and know that people are watching. They are considering loving God based upon the beauty they see in you!

For as the earth brings forth its bud,

As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth,

So the Lord God will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

(Isaiah 61:11)

Exchanging Ghosts!

Have you ever been haunted by your past? I have. The ghost wasn’t spooky, but it was downright ugly!

The ghost of condemnation is one of the worst companions a human can have. You never leave you, and the trouble is, the accusations are at least in part, true.

I was ashamed of my past. I knew of Jesus from an early age but chose a different path. As an adult, I allowed me and Satan to remind me of a series of bad decisions that left me broken and used.

Finally, I allowed another ghost to come in and clean me up! The issue then was that the ghost was Holy. My belief system battled with The Holy Ghost even more so than with the ghost of condemnation. (Romans 8:1,7)

The Holy Ghost refused to quit and began to demolish every stronghold with holiness, righteousness, humility, truth, and purity. I slowly became a recipient of grace, trading my story for God’s glory! (Romans 8:15 for you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but you have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry ABBA father.)

I’m super encouraged by the stories of others who have done the same. Just read Matthew 1. The lineage of Jesus Christ, The Son of David, an adulterer and murderer, Son of Abraham a liar, and includes Tamar who tricked her father-in-law and had twins by him, Rahab, the harlot, and me! The Holy Ghost extends an open invitation to you.

So what about you? Have you submitted to The Holy Ghost and allowed Him to exchange your story for God’s glory? It’s not too late if you have breath. It is as simple as repenting, accepting Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection and allowing The Holy Ghost to overtake the ghost of condemnation. The HOLY Ghost will become your constant companion, renewing your mind, causing you to be free of condemnation and even make you Holy.

No longer will you worry about your past. You’ll war for your future. Allow The Holy Ghost to re-write your story for God’s glory!