1.23.19 Recap

Good Afternoon Sisters,

How do I capture in words what we experienced last night? The Lord always goes exceedingly above and beyond what we can ask, think or imagine. Each week I fall more in love with His grace and goodness, witnessing the power of His love to completely transform broken lives.

The Holy Spirit was moving mightily and hearts were surrendering to Him. The flow was strong yet gentle. You could visibly see the stress and cares being lifted off as we threw them to Jesus. LET GO and LET GOD was the theme of our night. Letting go of our pain, letting go of our worries, letting go of our fears, letting go of our anger and bitterness, letting go of our fears and insecurities...letting it ALL go. When we LET GO Jesus goes to work. He heals us from the inside out. His liquid love travels deep down into the inner recesses of our hearts and heals the wounds that have been festering there for so long. Wounds that are affecting our physical, spiritual and emotional health. He then uses those scars to bring hope to others that are going through similar things.

We threw our cares to Jesus and are committed to leaving them there. We do this by staying at rest. When we feel like complaining we fill our mouths with thanksgiving and praise. The power of prayer is in the PRAISE.

We had a full house last night. So wonderful to see new faces! Jenny Buckley brought her beautiful sister Chris with her. Chris is a Volleyball Coach at NRCA and has three children. And we were so thankful to have Rebecca Conlon back with us. Rebecca is self employed and has two children, a 14 year old son and a daughter who is a Senior at Apex Friendship. For those of you who could not be here we covered you with an abundance of love, grace and prayer.

We started the night with prayer and devotions. The devotion entitled “Broken Hearts” ties in perfectly with our study and will be posted on the website later this week. Chapter 3 Study “God Wants the Wounded” will change the way you think about your wounds. Our real problem lies not in being wounded but in whether we are willing to be healed.  No one gets through this life without battle wounds and scars. But the great news is that God uses our wounds to give us wisdom and to equip us to bring light and hope into the darkness of other wounded souls. Our scars become lighthouses for others that are headed to the same rocks we hit. If we hide them out of fear and shame, they cannot become a light for others. Experience gives us something that nothing else can. Our generation is so afraid to let our kids fall. They need to fall!  If they never fall they will never know how to get up! God will never have the opportunity to strengthen them for greater things. They will never learn how to depend on Christ! God deliberately chooses the wounded to work in His Kingdom Army. The ones with the most battle scars are His Four Star Generals! He works through their wounds and weaknesses, and people see His power.  When people of the world think they are smart, strong and capable in their own strength and are depending on their own qualifications God cannot use them as they are relying on themselves and not Him. He often will pass them by for a less worldly qualified person that will depend on Him.

Proverbs 3:13 says “we learn by God’s Word and by life’s experience.” You can’t help someone in an area that you have no experience in. The world is full of people who are quick to offer an opinion and judge what they know nothing about and attempt to educate people on something they have never experienced. This is why we minister best in the areas of our own pain.

What qualifies Jesus to help us? Jesus CHOSE to experience our pain.

Hebrews 5:8-9 says “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience through what He suffered and, making Him perfectly equipped, He became the Author and Source of eternal salvation to all those who gave heed and obey Him.”  Jesus suffered. He gained experience. What He went through equipped Him for what His Father wanted Him to do. Jesus can understand what you are going through because He has been through it. He bore our infirmities and carried our pain. God takes what the enemy tries to harm us with and turns it into our good and the for the good of others.  He actually uses it to promote us to positions of greater power and influence.

Have you offered your experience to God?  Ask God to use you. He can take your mess and turn it into their miracle. He can turn your pain into purpose and your trials into opportunity. He takes the broken pieces of our lives and turns them into beautiful things. He gives us beauty for ashes. God’s story never ends with ashes. In Isaiah 41:15-17 God promises to take you and turn you into a valuable tool that He can use to help others. The people that are having the greatest Kingdom impact are the ones that have faced the most adversity. The greater your pain is, the greater your experience is, and the more people you can help.

Who is behind all of the pain and the suffering?  Satan is our true enemy and He is behind all of the painful and unjust things that happen to us in life.  If you don’t like what the devil has done in your life don’t fall into His trap by being resentful, bitter, angry and filled with self-pity. Allow God to sanctify your pain and you will see the promise in Deuteronomy 28:7 be fulfilled in your life…”the enemy may come against you one way, but he will flee before you seven ways.” No longer do you have to run from your past, feeling guilty and ashamed. You can crush the devil under your feet.

There are many things that wound a woman’s soul.  Joyce has a long list on them in this chapter. Being abused, bullied, being betrayed by a loved one, divorce, long term illness, being the subject of gossip or lies, rejection, are just a few. Anything that has wounded your soul can be redeemed by God and used for His glory. There is nothing that has hurt you that can scar you for life. There is nothing you cannot recover from and there is absolutely NOTHING that God cannot heal. I know this to be true as I had a very deep childhood wound that God has completely healed and redeemed. There are many kinds of abuse.  Abuse can be sexual, physical, or emotional. It is all damaging, but sexual violation is the most destructive to a woman’s soul. Science tells us that physical, sexual and emotional abuse marks a woman’s brains in certain patterns, but once you are a believer you are free from this mark. You are now marked and branded by the Holy Spirit. The seal of the Holy Spirit guarantees that we will be fully redeemed. God guarantees our success as long as we don’t give up. He takes the broken pieces of our lives and builds us back better and stronger.

You have been bought with a price my beloved sister.  That price is the blood of Jesus. We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit to protect us while we’re waiting on our full redemption.  You are His. You are safe. Feeling safe is one of the things that all women desire. You can take great comfort in knowing that you are safe with Christ.

I urge you to LET GO and GIVE IT TO GOD.  Give Him ALL of your pain. Let go of the bitterness, anger and unforgiveness. Ask Him to use your pain and experience to help someone else. Once you ask the Holy Spirit to do this He goes to work restoring ALL the enemy has taken. God will use ALL of your pain for good.  

We are SO excited to have Apex Senior Brooke Hanshumaker  (Rita’s oldest daughter) working as our Ministry Intern this semester (8 hrs/wk). Brooke will be helping us market our website through social media, increasing our exposure and improving all facets of our online presence. She is a very bright and creative young woman and we are very blessed and thankful to have her.

We need your TESTIMONIES for our ministry website! Your story matters! There are people on this earth that only YOU can touch! Allow God to use your scars to be someone else's lighthouse.

New devotions are posted each week on our ministry website sherrybraswell.org. Under our "Blog" tab you will find our weekly devotions, My Jesus Story, Wed. night recaps and testimonials. This is a great resource for you to stay encouraged and to send out to your friends and family. Our greatest mission on earth is to spread the this message of GRACE. Everyone needs JESUS.

(also have a Facebook Ministry page and an Instagram page)

Next week we’ll be plunging into Chapter 4 “What is a Healthy Soul”. Psalm 57:1 is a great promise for you to meditate on this week that aligns beautifully with this chapter…”My soul rests in you, and in the shadow of your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by.” Please study the chapter and complete the questions in the study guide. There are so many benefits to spending this quiet time with the Lord each day.  Our joy increases, we are more content and satisfied, we experience His protection and we are changed and conformed into His image. When we put Him first all of the other things in life that we are seeking seek us!  

Enjoy your week!  LET GO and LET GOD!

Love,

Sherry :-)