Category Archives: Spiritual Interventions

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Living Free is a Spiritual Process

cover-6THE PATH TO SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

THIS STEP IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART: BE BRAVE, BE HONEST, BE WILLING. LOOK WITH GOD IN A MIRROR TO YOUR SOUL.

Sorrow and its part: Certain conditions and experiences are necessary for us to come into spiritual wholeness. Loving the Lord is not all there is to it. We must deal with self. The Christian will find some of these self-related issues coming into view when we are engaged in a sincere seeking of God. Seeking requires a state of openness and surrender which is part of the life of a true Christ-follower. Nothing is to be held back. Even the spiritually motivated human is capable of lying to self about their inner soul’s true condition. God must be asked and honesty must be enacted through the eyes of spiritual truth. The mirror of God reflects truth back as you ask God to reveal what is true about yourself.

Set aside “alone time” with God. To come to a place of godly sorrow will require a quiet place of serenity.  Plan a block of time to walk through the actions of the present and actions from the past, a time where you ask God to reveal the areas of sin or wrongdoing that you have not fully addressed. Asking godly friends to pray for you in advance of this time might be advisable.

GODLY SORROW:

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldy sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.” 2 Cor 7:10 NIV

Sorrow for personal wrong-doing or for causing pain to another person is something that God brings to consciousness in us as we allow him access to our present and past behaviors. Sorrow of this kind is an act of deep-felt regret, an immeasurable sadness, a wish that different choices had been made, that words had not been voiced, that harmful actions had not been undertaken. It is an honest, probing look deep into our heart of hearts allowing no excuses or rationalizations, a truthful realization of your own part, your own self-will, the pain you caused, or the failure to act or do what was right or best in a given situation. True sorrow that leads to repentance is a deep-felt inner desire to acknowledge the wrong you have done, to voice it to God to make it right, and to be moved in the soul for that which was evil or wrong-minded in you. This is the sorrow that leads to repentance that we read about in scripture. Sorrow is not looking at the wrong in the other person or participants even if they were a key player in the dynamic; it is not holding them up as guilty and blaming them for your actions. Sorrow is looking intently at the wrong in you…and being overwhelmed by its truth. It is being regretful of the hurt you may have caused to another person and the hurt you have caused to your own self. Believe me, this is a huge area of denial in many religious, spiritual people. It can cause people to become rigid, unbending, and unyielding.

You see, Christ gives us a sweetness that comes from Himself when we are willing to deal with our stuff. He waits for us to give up doing it our way to begin doing it His way. His way entails a deep cleaning in our heart, mind, and soul that he may heal and restore us to full life and living. This is in addition to saving grace that we receive at the moment of our salvation. Many people miss this step and miss out on so much that Christ offers. This is part of a consecration process that is key in our spiritual transforming into Christ likeness.

Logic, according to what is in self’s best interest, can be a deception. We have a great ability to distort truth, to justify actions, and white-wash actions that, in reality, are an offense to God. We also bury those things we wish no one to know about. Shame and guilt, the fear of condemnation or disapproval, and a host of other reasons keep us silent. For example, an unwanted pregnancy at a wrong time with the wrong person can lead to a wrong choice being made, the choice that others might logically say is the right or best choice because of the situation. My heart is grieved when I listen to woman after woman explain the reasons they made choices that continue to hurt them. I can truthfully say, God was there at the time of loss or abuse. He felt the pain, the act of perdition, the sadness, in his precious, holy, heart.

If this is you, whether it was abortion, abuse, rejection, adultery, betrayal, or something else, I want you to know that Jesus Christ bore your pain and bore your sorrow. He was there at the time of the hurt. He loves you with a love that forgives, cleanses, and heals. He will help you. Be honest with him.

However, this is not just about those terrible sins that are so easily recognized. It is also about self-righteousness and self-promotion, pride and arrogance, unforgiveness and grudge-bearing, withholding and controlling, issues which are also matters of great sin and wrong-headed behaviors. These must be acknowledged, repented of with godly sorrow. God must be asked to reveal what are our own areas of guilt. We fail to recognize some of them. That is why we need assistance. God’s Spirit will guide our thoughts to those issues we have buried or dissed. Looking at them in light of holiness helps us to see them for what they are in the sight of God.

It is critical and essential to look within one’s soul to see its true condition. Those areas where we have fallen short,  caused pain to another, or chosen to self-protect rather than to trust in God, must be brought to the throne of grace. The human has a great capacity for making up their own truth as a way to escape the inner pain or to shut up the hurt as a way to shield out the shame and guilt. God must help us come clean and pure. In my way of thinking, I believe we should go through a grieving process as we look at our past negative actions and sins, areas we have chosen self over holiness, those things which have been compartmentalized in hiding places lost or stored deep within our true selves. For these areas to be fully released to God, there must be an acknowledgement of their existence and then a painful regret or remorse that causes us to sorrow in a godly way. This will enact a great compelling toward holiness. It is the truth that sets a person free.

Godly sorrowing is not just a mental exercise. Saying the words is not enough. Our heart must be involved. It must sorrow. Truly, it must. We must grieve their existence and the harm they have caused. That is when we are able to give them to God. Why is this necessary? Isn’t confession of sin enough?  In practice it would seem to be enough. In reality, for there to be change and a freeing deep within, we must engage with God by seeing the offenses for what they are and what they mean.  Otherwise, they still will have a crippling affect that overshadows the ability to walk free. I will try to explain this. Denial or pretending that these areas of duplicity or sin don’t exist in us causes a deadness within our souls. They hinder our capacity to experience joy and freedom in Christ. Their hidden presence will affect interpersonal relationships because of the pressure within that lashes out, withholds, or withdraws. It reveals self-protected ways of living out life so there won’t be more hurt. None are able to escape these issues until they deal with self. A person may even become a runner who runs never looking back rather than deal with their true self and its areas of bondage.  It is such that inhibits the ability to walk free.

A redeemed child of God often has areas within them that need to be lifted up to God for his cleansing and purifying work of grace. They were forgiven at salvation, yes, but they must be acknowledged and then the healing may enter into that area of your real self. It is not enough to just be saved, a child of God, that is just the starting point. A relationship that has power and abundance requires of the person to step out into the journey of faith. The walk intensifies when we seek God to find him. The relationship must become real. For it to be real, there must be full disclosure of all the hidden things that have caused us to wear masks of pretending that says “I’m good,” when we really aren’t okay.

Let me say, it will  require of you that you ask God to show you what needs to be dealt with, those areas that reside within you that stunt or cripple your soul. People who walk in intimacy of relationship with God have removed their masks and God helped them to do it. It is not something you can do without God’s intervention. He will reveal them to you, I assure you. Ask Father God to lead you to godly sorrow that leads to repentance that you may have the right attitude toward the offense, that you may know the true state of your soul, your heart’s condition, that you may give it to your heavenly Father who loves you with a love beyond comprehension.

God wants to change you and to set you free. Approach Him. He is waiting for you. He really is waiting just for you.

Norma L Brumbaugh, with The Path to Spiritual Freedom

PURCHASE:THE MEETING PLACE by N. L. BRUMBAUGH

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Spiritual Truth that is REAL (Part 1)

We don’t always understand the confusing parts of our lives. We don’t always address our pain in satisfactory ways. We say cliche’s and positive words pretending that they are true even when our daily experience says it’s otherwise. We know what is true in the ways of truth, but these same truths ring false in our experiences.

Butte Creek Canyon: Photo NLB

PATH TO SPIRITUAL FREEDOM

That is where I was in my personal journey some twelve years ago. I had tried everything I knew to become a strong person of faith.  I was strong, well respected, a woman of spiritual strength with a heart for God. Yet. But the pain and problems had erected a formidable fortress of which I knew not how to trespass. It was a perfect storm. I was forced to give up doing it my way. I have to say, in reality, it was the end of one way of living but the beginning of a new way of living.

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight. So that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Jesus Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.”   Philippians 1:9-10 (emphasis is mine)
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I had experienced many hurts in my life: loss, rejection, failure, and betrayal. These were complicated by other issues including a lack of belief in my own self-worth. I took the initial step that set me on a new path of spiritual discovery one week after my world was rocked by circumstances beyond my control. I was hurting in a major way. Business as usual was no longer an option. I no longer could maintain and knew I was heading toward a breakdown if something didn’t change. I had to face the truth. Either change or fall apart.  A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.*  I wrote a prayer of commitment that essentially began this amazing process that has changed my spiritual life. To begin with, I bought a standard college issue composition book that I would use to document my journey as I took a decided step onto a side path that would head in a new direction, one with an unclear, undetermined destination. In the doing of this, I was leaving the well-worn spiritual path which had been my conventional spiritual walk since the days of my youth. I was desperate to reinvent my life somehow, someway. My heart was breaking as I wrote on the first page of what would become my Journal #1.

Gracious Father,
Work on my heart and mind. Help me to learn to listen. Help me to push past my fear and to have eyes to see. I want to see Jesus. May my reality adjust and readjust as my vision for you changes. May I see you alone. May the work you are doing in me be used outwardly to minister to others. I seek you and you alone. February 2002

After writing out my prayer and praying it to God, I began moving forward in a search to find the cheese** not knowing where my spiritual wanderings would take me. I started looking outside the spiritual box of known religious conformity and practiced spirituality, the form and conventions of obedient and scripted ways of living the spiritual life. This was not a rejection of what I had known as a Christian. None of those things were bad. Nope. That was not it at all. It was something else. It was this. They had never been enough. Why not? The abundant life had escaped me. What I knew, both intellectually and spiritually, did not address an inner need I had that was stifling my spiritual life, something I truly did not understand at all. Pain and despair dogged my spirit life. My new wish for something more was not a rejection of faith or belief. It was quite the opposite. I wanted more in the spiritual realm. The prior week had contained almost more than I could bear. I was running on empty. What I had tried to fend off for twenty years was now becoming my new reality. I would have to adjust to face it. This was easier said than done. It was too much, too long, and I was too dry in my spirit to continue on as I had been. I felt deadness implode in on me. I knew I could not survive the new set of difficult circumstances in my personal life without God’s intervention and help. I was too wounded, and the pain had been building far too long.

I made a choice that day. An intentional act that has defined my days ever since.  I chose to turn a new direction, to go out on a limb with God, by making a firm commitment to God as I asked for a new identity—if that was what I needed. I was done, unable to continue going through the motions but not really living. I said to God, “You take it. I can’t do this. I don’t want to live like this any more.” It was hard to know just what was wrong with me. The darkness was overwhelming and the emotional pain was always present throughout the course of each day. I knew it wasn’t depression, although some depression was present, it was something else that completely eluded me.

The original writingRejection seemed to be the curse I had received or internalized in the hand I had been dealt in recent years. Enough is enough. It was decision time. I weighed my options. No, I didn’t want to become a bitter person. Yes, I would choose to be better rather than bitter. No, I wouldn’t be angry at God for not answering my prayers. Yes, I would continue trusting him.  I had nothing to lose. The worst had already happened. In my living room on that ugly February day, I decided I would give it my best, the whole nine yards, by giving up and letting God take over. I knew, even in my brokenness, that I would use this for the good, that there was a glimmer of  light in my future. I knew if God could change me and make me different in some way, I would use it for him. I decided to promise myself and promise God that I would make my pain count for something useful for the benefit of others. In addition to the help that I could gain, I vowed to use anything that God would teach me to help the silent suffering within the Christian community of believers. My pain would not be wasted. My prayer was written in response to pain.  I look back on it as one of the most definitive of choices I have ever made. It changed everything because I meant EVERY word of it, and God knew it!

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* Quote by Lao-tzu, 604 -531 BC

**Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson