KEEP YOUR STRENGTH, PROTECT YOUR HEART

 Judges 16:18 – When Delilah saw that he had told her all his heart, she went and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, “Come up once more, for he has told me all his heart.”

You should never be more comfortable sharing your heart with any woman other than your wife. This is a clear indication that something is seriously wrong in your marriage.  Your heart belongs to Elohim, God and to your wife.  It is treason for you to share your heart with any other woman, and this includes your mother.  The contents of your heart are the desires of your soul. Once shared with the wrong person, they can destroy you; because you have given them the ability to weaken you. God did not give you and a stranger dominion, He gave you and your wife dominion in the earth.

It is an insult to share a bed with a woman whom you cannot trust.  Learn to trust your wife, she is your helpmate and no other woman should be permitted to serve you in such capacity. Your wife is bone of your bones and flesh of your flesh and likewise she deserves to be entrusted with your heart. You weaken yourself when you share your heart with any other than Almighty God and your wife.  With these two, you have dominion in the earth and without them you are weak and vulnerable.

Prayer

            Heavenly Father I am now learning how to properly protect my heart and my marriage.  So often I have been deceived into believing that I can better communicate with other people than my wife.  Forgive me for denying my wife the opportunity to support me and to be my helpmate.  I repent of dishonoring my wife and I ask You to restore a healthy communication in my  marriage.  Deliver me from becoming a prey to others by sharing my heart. Let Your Spirit guide me toward my helper, my wife, my spouse and the one whom You have given unto me to share all of my heart.  Amen. 

Copyright by Pro Type. An excerpt from Connecting With God - Devotional For Spouses. Available at Amazon.com in paperback and kindle. 

The Heart and Mind of the Victim

Jesus did not only pray for Elohim, God to forgive His offenders but further realized and also sincerely stated the reason why He wanted God to acquit them of their wrong doings.  Jesus said, “they do not know what they've done.”  He didn't focus on His pain, neither did Jesus focus on the shame He suffered, their ridicule and mockery of Him, the grave injustice towards Him or the abandonment by His disciples.  He did not go into detail with the events of His sufferings.  It is this mind and this heart we must endeavor to possess as victims.  This is the reason why whenever we find ourselves in the victim position, not to permit the root of bitterness to enter our hearts.  This evil passion of bitterness, of anger, of revenge will prevent us from possessing the heart and mind of Christ. “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus” Philippians 2:5 - New International Version (NIV). Therefore our challenge and our goal as victims will be to forgive our offenders and also pray unto our heavenly Father to likewise forgive them.  This is a forgiving heart. 

Copyright by Pro Type.  An excerpt from A Forgiving Heart. Book available at Amazon.com in both paperback and kindle.

 

Vain Pursuits

We were created to incorporate Elohim in everything that we do, every thought, every imagination and every desire. Our lives begin when we plug into God, the source of life. The fulfillment which we so yearn to experience is not found in the things that we can obtain, the goals we can accomplish or the relationships we can establish.   Our emptiness, our voids, that nothingness that lingers is removed or filled when we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.  (Excerpt from VAIN - The Foundation of Emptiness) Copyright by Pro Type. 

available at amazon in paperback and kindle

LEARNING TO OVERCOME - from A Forgiving Heart

Why haven't we overcome as yet?  We have failed to overcome because we refuse to release our offenders and ourselves from our negative experiences.  Overcoming our pain and shame is as challenging as it is for you and I to have a forgiving heart. We must realize that we don't need to have it all together.  It is alright for us to make mistakes.  It is alright for us to experience hurt every now and then, it is nothing more than a manifestation of the level of emotions connected.  It is alright to experience some shame, this manifests where we've placed our securities.  I want you to know that there is a much better thing for us to do.  The best thing that you and I can do is tear down those idols of ourselves which we've erected and become humble.  He is Almighty God, yet He chose to live His life as the Son of man.  He existed in glory, yet our Lord decided to dwell in a place of poverty and sin.  He is Lord of all lords and  yet Jesus lived His life as a man of instructions.  Jesus made Himself of no reputation and He learnt obedience by the things He suffered. Hebrews 5:8 - "Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered" (NKJV).  This is what you and I must do. We must learn obedience by the things we suffer.  This obedience includes the act of forgiveness. 

We must discontinue our selfish acts of holding our offenders hostage and thereafter become obedient to that which is required of us by our heavenly Father.  God's desire is for you and I to forgive.  We need to practice forgiveness and it is very important that we possess forgiving hearts.  The pain and the shame will be as effective as we allow it to be. Can we honestly forgive people and ourselves?  We must decide how long we want to carry our emotional baggage because the key to overcoming our pain and shame is having a forgiving heart.  We must free ourselves and also our offenders.  This is true victory and the proper way of moving forward. 

Excerpt from A Forgiving Heart. All Rights Reserved.  Copyright by Pro Type. Book available on Amazon ISBN 9781494808754. Author: Tanya E. Munroe. 

REVELATION by Tanya E. Munroe

It was all smiles, hey we've finally met
I told you basic stuff about myself
You did the same
Telephone contacts and addresses exchanged
And off we went to become acquaintances

Wow! This is great, I think I've found a friend
Hours chatting on the phone and online
Lunch dates, social outings to events
We were learning each other
At least this what we both thought

As time progressed we referred to each
other as FRIEND
But were we really friends?
There was so much we didn't like
about each other
Rather than getting closer we erected walls
Time began to reveal something beyond our words
It revealed who we really are

The smiles became fake
The conversations were meaningless
The motives were impure
The time spent together was not fellowship
but rather tolerance
The impurities of the heart were manifested
through actions
There was a revelation

We were not friends
We weren't enemies either
We were just two people who crossed each
other's path for a season and also for a reason
That reason and purpose was fulfilled
There is no need to continue beyond this point
Because such was only a burden on us both
The assignment was completed

Did I change?
I hope I did because my passion is to evolve
into becoming a better person  day by day
Did you change?
Maybe not, I am not sure
I do know that I finally learnt the
the real YOU
It was a revelation

Now what must I do?
I take this revelation of who you are
and guard my heart
I take this revelation of how you've
been treating me and I guard my life
I take this revelation of your motives
and I guard my future
I take this revelation of what you represent
and I guard my relationship with God
You were in my life only for a purpose
The apocalypse has taken place
Now I know why we have met

(This poem is copyright  by Pro Type and written by Tanya E. Munroe)

We must learn that not everyone who come into our lives are for a long period of time.  Some people only come to help us get out of the rut, others come to teach us something that we need to know for that particular time. We must cease from being so clingy and learn the purpose of the individual and thereafter release them.  Not everyone we meet is a potential friend, a potential spouse, business partner, prayer partner etc.  Sometimes we deposit into the lives of others and other times people are depositing into ours and this was the reason for meeting...nothing more.  We must learn how to fulfill the purpose and move on.  

A kind act does not mean friendship.  A welcoming smile does not mean friendship. Receiving financial assistance or a listening ear does not mean friendship.  God sends people to help us in our time of need, this does not mean that they are in our lives on a long term basis.  The same applies to you and I, we are likewise sent to assist and thereafter must learn to move on.  We become too attached to people and fail to move on.  

The above captioned poem was an inspiration after meditating on the volume of people who came into my life and the effect they had.  Not everyone was intended to be my friend, that was a description I gave them.  It was not God's intention for them to be in my life for a long time, that was my desire. What God wants is the goal attained, the assignment completed and the purpose fulfilled for His glory.  This is the revelation I received by the Spirit of God and I must say that it is life changing toward maturity and wisdom. 

ALMOST

Have your realized somethings about your life and some people who are in your life that you can no longer accommodate? Nothing negative about them or whatever it was that you were doing or entertaining - I am referring to a shift in season.  Many of us don't realize when our shift is on. Seriously, we miss it!  We were almost there and guess what happened to prevent us from experiencing the shift in our lives - FAMILIARITY. 

The familiar face, the familiar feeling or anything familiar in your life that was attached to your soul begins to draw you backwards.   I need you to realize the importance of completing your transition process toward the next level in your life or your next assignment.  Read what the Apostle Paul said, "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" - Philippians 3:13, 14. 

There comes a time in each person's life when there is a shift and this shift is not automatic. It is an opportunity for the individual to thrust himself/herself toward a higher level.  There are three key phrases in Paul's statement.  For you and I to be able to embrace the shift in our lives we must:

1- Realize that we are yet to apprehend.  We are not there, God is not finished with us yet and regardless of the ground covered, tests completed, trials overcame, we are still in the hands of the Potter.  One more point - none of us knows it all. We are all still in the classroom learning. 

2.  We must  forget and release ourselves.  Some attitudes and mindsets MUST change. Everything must shift. There are some trees that can tell us that a shift in season has occurred because it begins to shed its leaves. When it is autumn season trees begin to shed and at the peak of this season some trees are completely without leaves.  We must have this same kind of mindset and attitude towards our shift in life. For some of us we are going into our next season friendless, without anything familiar.  You must be willing to release yourself and forget your former life, not because it was something negative but more because it is something needed. 

3.  You must move forward and upward.  It is not you and your friend's shift. It may not be you and your spouse's shift. It is your shift in life.  You - solo, alone, by yourself....got it!  Paul said that he had to reach forward to those things which are ahead.  He had to move himself away from familiarity and embrace with effort and strength those things which were ahead of him.  This can only be accomplished when you begin to drop leaves like the tree.  The only way you are going to free yourself from the mediocre and mundane things in life is for you to release yourself from them and press forward.   No one can do this for you - you must embrace your shift. 

So many people were almost there...the next level was right before them but they failed to press toward it. They permitted those things which were behind to hinder their progress.  For something to be behind you means that you were already in the process of leaving.  Remember Lot's wife my dear reader.  She was on her way from Sodom and Gomorrah but she never made it to her destiny.  Some friends are seasonal, jobs are seasonal, places where we reside are also seasonal. Our lives are full of seasons - the purpose of seasons is for you and I to be able to discern the time in which we live; personally.  I am not referring to summer, winter, autumn and spring. I am referring to when a shift is occurring and we need to make the proper decisions to embrace what is ahead of us. 

It is time for you to stop ALMOST being able to obtain, ALMOST being able to complete,ALMOST being able to leave, ALMOST be able to execute, ALMOST being able and release yourself from familiarity and thrust yourself toward your destiny.  Is your shift on? Remember Lot's wife!

IT IS ROUGH, BUT IT IS GOOD

A few weeks ago while walking in my back yard, I noticed this long scaly skin at the side of my concrete steps.  It was the old skin of a snake.  At first I had an uncomfortable feeling of a snake being in my yard especially after staring at the length of its old skin.  Shortly thereafter the Holy Spirit comforted me.

It was an unusual comfort because no one in their right mind with children who play in their backyards would find any comfort in discovering the old skin of a snake at their steps.  I picked it up with a stick and spread it out so I can learn of its full length.  It was a good size, big enough to cause fear for any person who is afraid of snakes.  

After discovering its size I sat on my steps and the Holy Spirit began to comfort and minster unto me. He told me that the snake needed something rough to enable it to shed its old skin. I also learnt that it was of grave importance for the old skin to be shed because the snake was carrying around dead weight.  Wow! What an eye opener.  While I thought God had forgotten all about me because  my deliverance appeared to be delayed, He was there all the time.

My diversity of trials were rough, but they were also for my good.  I could not shed the old me without the presence of some rough times in my life.  Those difficult and challenging days were needed so the new me can come forth.  There were days when I thought I could not endure another trial, or another set back.  There were also  days when I was extremely frustrated with God, and very angry as well.  After understanding why the snake was in my yard, I began to appreciate those rough days in my life.  They have been very rough but they have also been extremely beneficial for me.   Next time you experience some rough days just remember that they are only there to enable you to shed the old man and bring you into your newness of life in Christ Jesus.  Rough days are like the snake that visited my back yard, they are only there to ensure that the newness comes forth and the dead, useless part of our lives are left behind.  I didn't see the snake but I can attest to it having experienced a change for the better.  Welcome your rough days and welcome your change.  It is rough, but it is good!