Exchanging your chains
This week we have talked about the decision to hand your chains in to the enemy (or better yet just throw them at him and never look back) and picking up your chains, or bond, to Christ. I love this discussion so much because I have walked this journey out personally and see how life changing it is to exchange your chains, to start the process of healing and discipling and maturing into the meat of the word of God, and this needs to be talked about more! After salvation should begin a beautiful process of healing, discipleship and growing intimacy with Jesus. It breaks my heart that in America the church has someone pray a prayer and then largely leaves them. Says yay! you made it into heaven, you should come back next week, bye! Not only is this detrimental to the individual, but it ruins the testimony of the gospel and leads to a very weak church. BUT, praise the Lord He is lifting up His people, raising up His remnant, and strengthening His church to fight back and bring in the harvest! Hallelujah!
Ok, but really, why is this necessary? Why can’t I just chill in my salvation and live life? Why does my life have to change and I go through this refining process? The short answer to this question is, Jesus won’t let you stay where you are :) The longer answer is because it is what we are called to do as His disciples. When you read the New Testament, it is all in there. Verse after verse telling us that we have to shed the old, and put on the new. That we have to let go of our life of sin, and begin to walk in righteousness. You will never live life to the full without being refined. You will never walk in the fullness of your gifts without being refined. And you will never understand the true joy and peace that God has for you, without being refined. Let’s read some verses about this topic:
Hebrews 12:6
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.
Psalm 94:12
Blessed is the one you discipline, Lord,
the one you teach from your law;
2 Timothy 3:16
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness
There are many more if you want to search through scripture for more examples. To me the greatest part of this journey is the intimacy with Jesus. There is a song I hear regularly and it says “I finally found where I belong, and it's to be with you”. These lyrics wreck me. I understand the depth of them. You see, God created us to have relationship with Him. God created YOU to have relationship with HIM. I like to say it this way…there is an unavoidable void in your life that can only be filled by God. Absolutely nothing else can fill that void, except for Jesus. And every single person has that void, because we were all created to have that intimacy with Him. So, until you are walking in relationship with Him, that void is there. My void was not filled until I opened my heart to Jesus, and said ok, let's do this. Let's start the healing process. Let’s get out the junk that life has put in me, and I ask you to refine me, to begin to restore me to who you want me to be! And guess what? That was about 10 years after my salvation. So, yes, you can receive salvation, and still have a gaping void.
We like comfort. It is a natural desire to search for comfort. So I get why so many avoid the refining process, and do not want to heal. But the best part about going through this process with Jesus is that there is no one more gentle than He is. Yes, you will go through some correction, but ladies, there is no one, and I mean no one, more gentle than Jesus! His correction is so beautiful because there is no judgment, there is no frustration, simply a diversion and correction in the deepest love you can imagine! So don’t be afraid of it. Trust me, it’s beautiful.
If you are thinking, I am fine. I don’t have a crazy anger problem, I feel happy, I have had a simple life with no overt trauma. Then let me encourage you to do this for your family. There are always things in us that do not belong. We live in a sinful world and need healing from our savior to walk in wholeness. No one is free from the effects of sin. Levels of healing will be different, yes. But healing will happen nonetheless! And trust me, your husband and kids will thank you! You will be a better wife, you will be a better mom. You will walk in more strength that you can give to your family. You will walk in abundant love and grace that you can give to your family. And those things are worth the process. It is all worth exchanging your chains.
So lastly, I want to touch on how to do this. It really is the simplest thing ever, yet can be so hard for us to do. All you have to do is let go. Surrender your control (or really perceived control, no one has control over their life!) and ask Jesus to come. Ask him to come and search you, search every part of you, and He will begin to reveal things that don’t belong in you. That He did not put in there, and that He desires to remove and replace with what only He can fill you with. He won’t move too fast for you, He won’t overwhelm you, He will give you time to process. He will be gentle. And He will do all the work for you! All you have to do is surrender and come to Him.
This takes time though. If you only give Him 5 minutes and get frustrated that nothing happened, well then let’s adjust those expectations some! For example, I have my time with the Lord every morning. It generally lasts from 1-2 hours and is a mixture of praying, worshiping, listening, journaling and reading scripture. This is my time in the secret place and I would not trade it for anything. I do not allow things to stop it from happening, it is the most protected time in my day. If I have to adjust then I simply wake up earlier. No excuses. This is the time that gives me life. This is the time where I find joy, peace, grace and life to the full. This is where I belong, in His presence. To go further, some mornings it seems as though nothing happens. It's very ‘normal’ if you will, I can get sleepy and I do not necessarily hear from the Lord. Other mornings I find myself overwhelmed by His grace or love. Some mornings I find myself so filled with joy I barely can contain it. Some mornings I hear straight from the throne room of God it seems and receive beautiful revelations, strong guidance and physical manifestations of the Holy Spirit’s presence.
Everyone’s experience varies because everyone’s relationship with the Lord is different. Just like all of our relationships with each other vary. But sometimes I think getting that practical and open about things can really benefit others. I am a very practical person, so if you are too I know you will appreciate the details! And this time. This intimate, quiet time, your time in the secret place, is where He heals you. It is where He reveals to you the things that need to go, the truth of what is in your heart, His perspective of situations, His love and grace for you, His plans for you! So go to the secret place. Set aside time everyday. For us moms it is usually early morning or late night when the kids are asleep. Find time where you can set aside all distractions and worries, and just sit with Him. Talk to Him. Worship Him. And in His timing, He will show up. Don’t give up. Don’t get impatient. Learn His voice, lean in to hearing His voice and quieting your voice. Distractions will come, just fight them off. When I notice my thoughts wandering I say out loud for them to go, and physically brush it away with my hand (sounds weird, but for some reason that really helps!) I also ask the Holy Spirit to remind me of things I need to remember when we are done, and He always does :)
So, as Paul says in Ephesians 4:17 “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.“ That is my plea. I encourage you to pursue healing with Jesus. Pursue Jesus in the secret place. Make the final decision to exchange your chains, give the enemy his back and to receive your chains for Christ!
