CrossCounsel Podcast: "Weeding Out More Lies"

A couple of months ago, I was given an opportunity to share some of my testimony and experience with CrossCounsel International Ministries on their podcast, episode 155 (cleverly titled "No Need For Weed," 😆). I am honored to have been asked to be on the podcast again to further elaborate on my story and experience. That interview was just released this week, so I wanted to post that in case anyone was interested in checking it out (see link at the bottom of this post).

If you haven't heard of CrossCounsel before, it's an incredible ministry that seeks to connect us with the healing power of Jesus by helping us navigate through lie-based thinking and allowing God to shine his truth on it through what they call the MELT process (memory, emotion, lie/belief, truth/transformation). God is ultimately the one who reveals truth, but we have to be willing to go to the painful memories and lies we've believed, and open the door to let God into those same places. Once the lies are exposed and truth has been revealed, we can experience freedom in those areas that have held us hostage for so long.

It is truly a privilege to be part of such an awesome community that focuses on helping people change their lives for the better. The Lord has opened so many doors for me through this ministry to be able to share my own experience with others and to continue to learn and grow in my faith in the process. It has truly been an answer to many of my prayers. It is my hope and prayer that someone else might be encouraged by my sharing and find something relatable that helps them. As we receive help and encouragement from others, it enables us to do the same for others by sharing our own stories and experiences. May God bless you as we together seek Him, and to know His will and purpose for our lives.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ," -2 Corinthians 1:3-5 NIV.

CrossCounsel Podcast Ep. 159 - Weeding Out More Lies

Jesus: God's love for humanity

God loves you. Did you know that? The Bible shows us this when we read, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life," -John 3:16 ESV.

Some of us may struggle to see the depth of love contained in that single verse because of the brokenness of our own lives and families. Some of us may have fathers who failed to love us in the way that we needed, so to read something like this just doesn't seem like it could be real. Or maybe you were left feeling abandoned by those who should have loved you. Or maybe someone you love passed away too soon and left you feeling alone, or unloved. Or perhaps due to the choices you have made, or the things you have done, you just can't believe that you are worthy to be loved by anyone, especially God. Maybe you think, "how could the God who created everything, love me?" He can, and He does. If you don't believe me, put it to the test yourself. Read the Bible, start with the gospels, which show the life of Jesus Christ, the son of God. Personally, I don't know how you can read about Jesus' life and not be moved by his love for the broken and hurting people he encountered time and time again.

Love comes from God, because he is love. This does not mean though that there are not consequences for how we live our lives, there are in fact, very real consequences. Love does not leave people to their own destructive behaviors and simply look the other way, that is not love. The Bible shows us God's love for humanity from cover to cover. The Bible also shows us how despite God's repeated efforts to provide a way for us to be with Him, humanity continually rejects His love and we turn our backs on him. The prophet Isaiah beautifully illustrated this and pointed forward to Jesus when he wrote: "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all," -Isaiah 53:6 NIV.

No matter what you have experienced in this life so far, the truth is that God loves you and that he sees value in you, and purpose for your life. If you've been rejected by your own family, God is waiting with open arms wanting to have a relationship with you, and wanting to restore your life, and your heart. You don't have to take my word for it though. You can actually put it to the test. Read the gospels of Jesus Christ. Pray. Go to church. Ask God to come into your heart and to show you who He is, and if He is real. That is what I did, and why I became a Christian years ago. I saw how He was changing lives in my family, and I prayed an honest prayer asking Him to show me if He was real. That prayer was answered in a very personal and powerful way, and the next day I gave my life to Jesus.

God is real. Jesus Christ is real. He's as real today as he was 2000 years ago. And He loves you enough to die for you.

The Book of Psalms: A raw picture of the life of faith

Out of all the books of the Bible, it is possible that the book of Psalms could be one of my favorites. I love the raw honesty and depth of emotion conveyed by the various authors. To me, the book of Psalms is one of the most real books that shows the trouble that we all go through in this world. One of the risks we run in Christianity is adopting a false belief that when we choose to place our faith in Jesus, that life will be all rainbows and unicorns after that. This is not a belief based on biblical truth, it is 100% false, in fact. When I read through the Psalms, I see it in direct opposition to the false teaching and belief that Christians are guaranteed an easy ride, it's simply not true.

Out of the book of Psalms, perhaps one of my favorites is Psalm 51. This Psalm is supposedly composed by David after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and was confronted by Nathan the prophet about his sin. David has always been one of my favorite people in the Bible, because he's always seemed very real to me. For the Bible to describe him as a man after God's own heart, while seeing some of the terrible sins he committed and experienced the consequences of, has always given me hope as a believer. It shows me the very real nature of sin and spiritual warfare in our world. Even the best Christians who truly love God with all their heart, are just as at risk of committing sin as anyone else. The thing about David that I love the most is that he was always quick to repent and to seek after God for forgiveness. He did not make excuses, he admitted what he did and moved forward.

There is another danger that any of us can fall into believing if we're not careful, and that is legalism. Most other religions of the world are legalistic in some way or another, and Christians are certainly not free from the possibility of viewing God in the same way. At its core, legalism is simply the belief that we get to God by doing good deeds. It's the belief that if we follow the rules, or if we do more good than bad in this life, it will all work out in the end. The Bible has much to say about this, and so did Jesus when he was here. The truth is, it's not about the sacrifice (or good deed) itself that pleases God, it's the heart behind the sacrifice, which if properly aligned with God is a desire to be right with him and to be in his presence. Psalm 51 addresses this idea and it hits home pretty hard for me:

"You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise," -Psalms 51:16-17 NIV.

Whenever we commit sin, our conscience speaks to us and brings in guilt and shame to point us back to God (assuming we haven't seared our conscience yet by repeatedly ignoring it and living in sin anyhow). As Adam and Eve experienced the desire to cover up their shame by hiding from God, we are no different in our modern day. We may not use fig leaves anymore, but there's a world of other things we can use to hide the guilt and shame. For me, I struggled with various substances for years to cope with those negative emotions. I wish I would have known the significance of this verse years ago. What if we begin to look at those negative feelings as a way to offer sacrifice to God? If those negative emotions were designed to help us course correct and get us back to God, then by running from them we are in fact rebelling against his design, and ultimately from him. God uses those negative emotions to push us back to him so that he can teach us things about himself, and ourselves, so that we can continue to become more and more like Christ. This is what the process of sanctification looks like. We cannot participate in that process of growth if we continue to run away from God.