I listened to a lot different music styles growing up. When I became a believer, though, Christian radio pretty much played only hymnal music. These songs and style might have been contemporary in their day, but not mine. Because of this, what was I going to listen to? It was either not listen to music at all or I had a lot of filtering to do. I chose the latter. I listened to the lyrics. If they lined up with the Bible I kept the record. If they didn’t, I didn’t.
I remember the lyrics to one particular song: “You can run but you cannot hide/This is widely known/And what do you plan to do with your foolish pride/When you’re all by yourself alone.”
People are going to hurt us. We have two options when they do. We can run away from the hurt or process it through our biblically-based truth filter. If we physically run, we still go with us. If we emotionally run, we still go with us. We can’t run from the thoughts in our heads!
I’ll bet you have a third option in mind. You’ll try to push those thoughts down and pretend they don’t exist. The problem with this option is that those thoughts eventually will squeeze out in your behavior, often in a negative way, and may even cause physical problems.
Running away from a challenge is no more effective than trying to run away from what’s in your head. You may run and you may live, but you will never run and be free! If you want to be free from the pain and the disappointment, process them using the FREEdom principles. Yes, it may hurt, but only temporarily. In the long run, you win as you replace that hurt with a closer walk with Jesus.
Set “FREE” Nowww
This is great! As I read I would start thinking ahead, then you covered that thought with what you wrote next!
They are all things I know are biblically true, thank you for the reminders, much needed today. Seems like I more often fall back into believing old thoughts than I do move forward in my walk with Jesus because of the stuff going on. Apparently I am not alone, or the Lord would probably not have you writing these things.
I have a question. (maybe more than one)
There are many thoughts I deal with in my head after WALKING away physically and emotionally. I get through dealing with the “stuff”, reach a peace just to have the “stuff” come back in. I have tried to address certain issues with extended family members, but they RUN away. My mom went so far as to change her email address after my dad died – what a trip! I’ve met with her after that to just let her know that I love her, talk over things, let her know that I can forgive because of how much my Jesus has forgiven me. Then she slams me for my “religiosity” while she sends texts of Bible verses that talk about envy and jealousy – I don’t get it. So now I send an occasional text message or card just to let her know I’m thinking of her and love her. For goodness sake, Chris, she’s my mom, and i can’t just do NOTHING. Am I completely off base?
(Hey, that is only ONE question – impressive!)
I like that one question in the midst of the entire paragraph!
Couple of things. One, if you’ve forgiven the person, use your shield of faith when those old thoughts come back. Tell yourself the truth, “I’ve forgiven them for that” and then choose to go back to thinking about and doing what you were doing when the thought came back. Two thoughts can’t hold the same space, so don’t give the old thought any more “head time.” Soon, the pain associated with the thought will go away, leaving only a memory. Two, if an old thought comes back and you haven’t forgiven that specific one, then say, “In Jesus name, I forgive so and so what this and that (specific incident). Then put up your shield of faith and repeat the above.
When it comes to dealing with issues with others, remember this truth found in Romans 12:18 – as far as it is possible with you be at peace with all men. You can process and forgive what they did to you so you can experience peace. But you can’t do that for others. Make the attempt and stay open for the opportunity to deal with whatever needs to be dealt with, but at that point, it’s on them. You’ll have to come to the point to say what I say, “Mom, do you like the way this all makes you feel?” If not, she might then be open to working on it. If she wants to stay right where she is, there is nothing you can do, but pray for the Spirit to do His job in her life. So, to you question, unless she wants the relationship, there is nothing you can do until she does, her loss. You keep walking with Jesus, filtering daily life and experiencing more joy and peace. Hopefully she will see it someday and you’ll be able to share with her how she can have it to.
Keep up your shield of faith when she sends those text messages, filtering them through your Biblical worldview knowing the enemy is using her for his ends. But you are a child of God and can live victoriously each day.
We just used this for our morning devotions before we headed off to Sea World, thanks!
On a constant basis, I speak with Yeshua(God). I put my trust in Him and He shows me the way and in most cases, carries me through whatever I am afraid of. He is my strength on a daily basis and He tells me what I need to do and where I need to go. This is every single day. When I don’t know if I can trust Him, I say I do anyway. He is my hope and I give all glory to Him. He tells me that He brought me this far and He won’t let me down.