Angela Parlin

So Much Beauty in All This Chaos

Peace for a Lifetime {Book Review & Giveaway}

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peace healing wounds emotionsWe all want peace.

Around the world, every single day, people pursue peace from a variety of sources. Why is it then, that so few people discover enduring peace? So few experience a life marked by real and lasting peace.

Instead, we carry our past emotional wounds with us into each new decade, suffering the long-term effects. We experience overwhelming anxiety, worry, and fear. We remain stuck in our old thought and reaction patterns, wondering if we’ll ever change.

I think we settle. We’re not sure how to navigate our own emotional healing. We’re not sure how to get rid of the many things keeping us from lasting peace. And so we settle for less than what God desires for us.

I’ve been reading an excellent book slowly over the last couple months, Peace for a Lifetime: Embracing a Life of Hope, Wholeness & Harmony Through Emotional Abundance, by Lisa Murray.

Lisa is a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, and this book feels something like spending hours on a counselor’s sofa, doing the hard work of facing wounds and being healed. It’s like taking a friend along on an important journey, who encourages you to take just one little step at a time toward the healing Jesus offers you.

Sure, you could read the book quickly and skip the prying questions at the end of each chapter.

You could miss out on healing if you’re afraid to sit in solitude, dig deep, and uncover your wounds. But Lisa shares examples of her own undoing, to guide us into healing and freedom and peace.

“Peace is not a feeling—peace is a way of life. Peace endures. Peace is something on which you can build a life.” ~Lisa Murray

The truth is, peace is a fruit (or result) of a growing and intimate relationship with God.

As we become more deeply rooted in Him, we experience healing and transformation in every area of our lives, including our emotions.

“God intends this healing for you. He doesn’t want His army limping, wounded, unprepared, and ineffective in the fight.” ~Lisa Murray

So we begin our journey by making sure our lives are built on His strong foundation.

I grew up believing in Jesus for my salvation, and yet my sense of self in many ways formed around a collection of lies about my identity. These affected how I related to people, how I worked, how I experienced life in every way.

I’ve been doing the hard work of recognizing the lies and replacing them with truth for years, and God has been transforming me in so many ways as a result.

Wherever you are in your journey toward emotional wholeness, this book will be a gift to you. Read it nice and slow, a chapter at a time, so that you both apply it and soak up Lisa’s wealth of wisdom. You will be blessed!

I am giving away a copy of this book, by drawing a name on Sunday, February 28, after 12 noon. To be entered, leave a comment below!

Update: KIM won the book! Check your email, Kim! 🙂

Which of these topics from Peace for a Lifetime interests you most?

Wounds, Emotions, Anxiety, Identity, Meaning/Purpose, Solitude, Relationships, Self-Nurture, Remaining Calm, or Healthy Communication.

You can purchase a copy of Lisa’s book by clicking here!

peace for lifetime

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What Keeps You From Drawing Near to God?

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throne of grace draw nearDraw near to the Throne of Grace in every time of need, and do not be hindered by your own failures.

This is the encouragement of Hebrews 4:16 (see last post), where God invites us to come to Him boldly, confidently, and without fear.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16, NIV

Sometimes our failures (our sins) interfere with our faith, and our actions (or reactions) keep us from entering God’s presence. We feel guilty. We forget His endless supply of mercy covers over our failures. Sometimes we don’t feel ready to own and confess our sins. So we hide.

But I wonder what else keeps us from the Throne of Grace? I’ve been thinking about this for a few days, probably because I needed to.

What keeps us from the Throne of Grace, from entering God’s omnipresent Presence?

What an incredible gift we have been given! We may walk boldly and directly into God’s Presence, anytime, anywhere. He hears us. He sees us. He cares about every one of our concerns. He invites us to come to Him, to drop off our fears and worries at His feet and leave them there. He invites us to ask Him to do more than we can imagine.

The very act of coming to Him is an act of trust.

Maybe that’s the biggest reason we ever fail to come to God in prayer. It’s an issue of trust.

It always comes down to trust, doesn’t it? If we could simply SAY we trust Him, I’d have this whole thing down. But trust is proven by our actions.

When I try to handle things on my own, without the Lord’s help, I’m not trusting in Him.

When I’m self-sufficient, rather than God-dependent, I’m trusting in me.

But that’s not the only time I’m trusting in me. When my failures keep me from coming to God (as I wrote about in the last post), in whom do I trust? Myself! Right? Then I’m trusting in my own goodness instead of trusting fully in His.

What about chaos? My reaction to too much chaos keeps me from God. When life swirls chaos around me and I feel unsettled, what I need most is time with the Lord. I need moments in the quiet of His presence. But often I just keep running through my days, as if I could outrun the crazy if I try hard enough.

Chaos and Busyness are BFFs. In my life, busyness has kept me from better things more often than I know. When things get too crazy, I tend to look to other little “saviors” to help me—hello coffee, TV, music, research/finding the “right” answers, friends, and venting my unforgiveness toward my kids… {Please note: I’m not saying any of these are wrong—except the last one, of course—but could I be wrong when I look to them to “save me”, instead of looking to the Lord?}

You could probably add reasons to my list, but I have a feeling they would also boil down to misplaced trust in ourselves.

If you will, spend some time thinking about it.

What keeps you from drawing near to God?

 

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When Failures Interfere with Faith

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failures faith grace The other afternoon turned into a no-good, very bad day.

A couple of my boys fought with each other, several times an hour. They lashed out repeatedly and required me to stop what I was doing (mostly homeschooling) too many times for another calm conversation about what was going on in their hearts.

By the end of the day, I threw in a few not-so-calm conversations because I was over it. I was mad. I was venting.

But then I remembered the song that started my day, words which rose as a prayer from my heart~

“Holy Spirit, you are welcome here.

Come flood this place, and fill the atmosphere.

Your glory God is what our hearts long for,

To be overcome by your Presence, Lord.”

Francesca Battistelli, “Holy Spirit”

I stood before the sink, overcome with discouragement rather than overcome by the Presence of God. I didn’t even want to think about entering His presence. I felt like He was disappointed in me and the way I handled the boys.

Sometimes my failures get in the way of my faith.

Does this happen to you? Things are going sideways, and you’re making it so much worse. Instead of taking it to God, you want to hide from Him.

Then the devil cheers wildly (or he would, if he did that sort of thing). He’s been hoping to discourage you, and now he wants to keep you focused on your failures, your sins, your messes, to keep you thinking there’s no way out.

But the truth is, God knows us through and through, and He loves us still.

God invites us to come and draw near to His throne—always. Not only when we’re good—but when we need Him most.

Because of Jesus.

Let us then {fearlessly and confidently and boldly} draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy (for our failures) and find grace to help in good time for every need. Hebrews 4:16, AMP

Grace means we are invited to come before God with confidence—based on Jesus’ record, not our own behavior.

Although I’m always learning more of grace, I struggle to think in terms of grace.

From childhood, we’ve been learning an entirely different system. We’ve been learning we can have a treat—but only if we’re good. We’ve been learning we’ll be rewarded for doing good and punished for doing bad. School days taught us that. Even Santa taught us that.

But Grace says, draw near to God through Jesus Christ, because Jesus stands in as our high priest, making a way for us to come to God.

Because of His grace, we come without fear into God’s presence—in humble freedom, at liberty, unedited.

At the throne of Grace, we find our faithfully compassionate God, handing out mercy to cover over our failures, giving us grace to encourage us, to grow us, and to help us stay away from sin.

So don’t let your failures interfere with your faith. Approach the throne of grace and find mercy. Come with confidence, based on what Jesus has done for you—not what you deserve.

As the song ends, “Let us become more aware of Your presence! Let us experience the glory of Your goodness!”

Amen? Amen!!!

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Is Your Faith Real?

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faith real rest unbeliefHow does it feel, to know that God sees everything?

That He sees you when you’re sleeping…

He knows when you’re awake…

He knows if you’ve been bad or good, so—

Wait. I got caught up in a pretend story about someone else for a minute. Yet the above is all true, if we’re talking about God Almighty.

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight.

Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account. Hebrews 4:13

I learned in elementary school the word Omniscient–meaning God sees and knows everything. Along with Omnipotent {God is All-Powerful} and Omnipresent {God is Always Near}.

Nothing escapes God’s notice. He’s aware of everything that happens here, everything in you and around you, and the same for me.

In a lot of ways, this brings comfort. He is a good, good Father, and He loves us more than we possibly understand. But as we see in the verse above, this truth also brings with it accountability.

Hebrews 4:13 gives another reason why we should make every effort to enter God’s rest.

In my last post on Hebrews, I wrote about the living and active Word of God, which the writer associates here with the work of God Himself, as if they’re one and the same.

In this context, the writer is teaching that God knows where there’s rooted faith and where there’s only intellectual agreement with the facts. God detects our unbelief, and for it, we will answer to Him.

God knows where there’s real faith, and this is what He desires for us all.

He looks for faith resulting in action, faith that perseveres. God is looking for hearts fully committed to Him.

The eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. 2 Chronicles 16:8

Nothing is hidden from His sight, because His eyes range throughout the earth. What an incredible picture of God!

But it’s also a sobering picture. Nothing is hidden from Him. E-ver-y-thing is uncovered and laid bare before His eyes. Before the eyes of whom?

Before the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account. That’s the sobering reality. The part we all must face and many try to ignore, the part many try to forget.

This is where that question comes into play. How does it feel, to know that God sees everything?

Does He find true faith in you? If you know you have faith, you ultimately have peace. You also have conviction–but over it all, peace.

He reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with Him. Daniel 2:22

Today, may we fear and respect and worship our Father who formed our hearts and sees into them, who wades into the deep and uncovers hidden things. May He find faith that is real and hearts that are fully committed to Him.

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Who You Are In the Light

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identity who you are in the lightDo you know who you really are?

A friend told me recently that her Mom used to have her stand in front of the mirror and recite truths about who God says she is. Isn’t that great? I’ll save it in my parenting toolbox, but the truth is, I’ve needed it myself.

Not long ago, I knew certain facts regarding who God says I am—but I didn’t feel like they were true.

Have you been there?

There’s an identity crisis, within the church. It begins with our understanding of God, and our understanding of who we are in light of Him.

We can name details about God, but do we really know Him? And if we don’t KNOW the God who created us, then how do we know our own selves?

I grew up in the church, so I learned numerous truths about God and about myself through the years. I also live in a world where I heard an abundance of lies about us both. There were those labels people gave me, those labels I gave myself, and the experiences that told me things I couldn’t forget.

But more often, I was oblivious to what was going on around me. The world and the devil did their thing, and I failed to see the false and fiery arrows shot my way.

While my foundation was forming, the enemy worked to confuse my identity.

I didn’t know deep down in my heart who I really was–because of Jesus Christ. I didn’t live confidently out of the truth.

When you don’t have a firm grasp on who you are in God’s eyes (your identity in Christ)—
start with who God is.

Find Him in the quiet. Seek Him through His Word. Get to know Him more.

Meditate on who God is. Focus on who He says you are.

Look to the Word–not to the world–for daily affirmations.

Let Him change your view of Him and your view of you.

Let Him set you free from the lies that hold you down.

In time, God will transform your mind completely, giving you a whole new view.

You will understand who God is and who you are in light of Him.

May these scriptures be a starting place, pointing the way to the truth.

The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him and He helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise Him. Psalm 28:7

The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:4

Before I was born, the Lord called me; from my mother’s womb He has spoken my name. Isaiah 49:1b

She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me.” Genesis 16:13a

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

Read this post also at PurposefulFaith.com.

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