betrayal

Women Divided

/ merri ellen g :) / Leave a comment

How beautiful it is when women do life/walk/pray/disciple together in community. It is no wonder…the enemy is threatened by the power of women in unity. It is no wonder that one of his strategies is to divide women. (Not just men against women and vice versa.)

Yes, the enemy hates women in unity, discipling others together.

In the last days, the Bible warns us about division…

Matthew 24…

10 At that time, many will turn away from their faith. They will hate each other. They will hand each other over to their enemies. 11 Many false prophets will appear. They will fool many people. 12 Because evil will grow, most people’s love will grow cold. 13 But the one who remains strong in the faith will be saved. 14 This good news of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world. It will be a witness to all nations. Then the end will come.

The battle rages on… flesh vs spirit…

Galatians 5…

19 The result of sin’s control in our lives is clear. It includes sexual sins, impure acts and wild living. 20 It includes worshiping statues of gods and worshiping evil powers. It also includes hatred and fighting, jealousy and fits of anger. Sinful desire is interested only in getting ahead. It stirs up trouble. It separates people into their own little groups. 21 It wants what others have. It gets drunk and takes part in wild parties. It does many things of that kind. I warn you now as I did before. People who live like this will not receive God’s kingdom.

22 But the fruit the Holy Spirit produces is love, joy and peace. It is being patient, kind and good. It is being faithful 23 and gentle and having control of oneself. There is no law against things of that kind. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed their sinful desires to his cross. They don’t want these things anymore. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become proud. Let us not make each other angry. Let us not want what belongs to others.

“Lord, have mercy and come quickly…”

In the meantime…

1 Peter 5:8 

8 Be watchful and control yourselves. Your enemy the devil is like a roaring lion. He prowls around looking for someone to swallow up. 

Put on God’s Armour…

Ephesians 6:

10 Finally, let the Lord make you strong. Depend on his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor. Then you can remain strong against the devil’s evil plans. 12 Our fight is not against human beings. It is against the rulers, the authorities and the powers of this dark world. It is against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly world. 13 So put on all of God’s armor. Evil days will come. But you will be able to stand up to anything. And after you have done everything you can, you will still be standing. 14 So remain strong in the faith. Put the belt of truth around your waist. Put the armor of godliness on your chest. 15 Wear on your feet what will prepare you to tell the good news of peace. 16 Also, pick up the shield of faith. With it you can put out all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Put on the helmet of salvation. And take the sword of the Holy Spirit. The sword is God’s word.

18 At all times, pray by the power of the Spirit. Pray all kinds of prayers. Be watchful, so that you can pray. Always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

If you are a Christian woman betrayed by other women,

…you are not alone… 

1 Peter 5:9 
 Stand up to the evil one. Remain strong in what you believe. You know that you are not alone in your suffering. The family of believers throughout the world is going through the same thing.

You are also in good company with Jesus…

Luke 22

3 Then Satan entered Judas, who was called Iscariot. Judas was one of the 12 disciples. 4 He went to the chief priests and the officers of the temple guard. He talked with them about how he could hand Jesus over to them…

20 In the same way, after the supper Jesus took the cup. He said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. It is poured out for you. 21 But someone here is going to hand me over to my enemies. His hand is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go to his death, just as God has already decided. But how terrible it will be for the one who hands him over!”

How do you grieve the unfaithfulness of loved ones?

/ merri ellen g :) / Leave a comment

How do you grieve the unfaithfulness of loved ones?
A friend, community… you name it…?

💔

Good memories are painful… they haunt you… you don’t know what to do with them. How do you grieve over a once faithful but then turned hurtful inner community…? How do you grieve over the betrayal of a small circle within a community once loved and trusted, fasted for, prayed for…

…friends, leaders, mentors…

…who once were devoted encouragers and cheerleaders with pom moms… now with daggers by tongue? Some who have admitted envy and jealousy…

I am fiercely loyal and I am like a warrior for others. So, when those I once fought for, prayed for… resorted to attack because I had not met their expectations, which they failed to communicate directly to my face… ugh… I just wanted my aching heart to stop…

When your heart is broken, you rest in the arms of Jesus.

How I wish those I loved in community would have been loving to the end…

Not everyone was hurtful, thankfully …but of a few, I discovered painful stories behind closed doors of ones I thought loved me well as I did them. I learned they didn’t have the courage to seek to understand, but only to assume incorrectly and attack… and tear a community apart.

The hurtful attack didn’t stop… it became a toxic, abusive community… and my body crashed. It said, ‘enough is enough’. My doctor ordered me far away.

Blame, lying, hiding… it felt like Part 2 of the Garden.
How dangerous one mindset can become… to affect an entire family.

My heart became wounded. I ached. We were once a fruitful family… hearing God’s voice together, bringing freedom and healing to others together… Now, it was all brokenness.

Betrayal is so hard from those you deeply trusted and respected and loved.

John 17 is Jesus’ prayer for us…
He prayed for our unity, for our family love…
and yet some of us have been hurt the deepest by ‘church family’…

I am reminded of the betrayal Jesus went through by his own family and disciples… for our sake! … Timely, as it is Lent season now that I write this. I am reminded in Matthew 24 that it is the sign of the times…

And this too was timely…

It is a beautiful thing to adopt many of David’s Psalms for prayers… I’m so glad David was so blunt and raw and called a man after God’s own heart. Oh Lord, have mercy.

It’s 3AM… (Thoughts on Rejection)

/ merri ellen g :) / Leave a comment

…and I can’t sleep… today I finally finished Joyce Meyer’s book, ‘Ashes to Beauty’. I kept getting interrupted several times. One of the last chapters I read today had this…

“Almost every time God is ready to promote you and bring you to the next level, you will experience an attack of rejection at the place where you are now. Satan will use rejection to try to keep you where you are or even to bring you down from there…. It is possible that the bigger the call on your life, the greater the abuse that comes against you.” Joyce shared from her own experience how her home church rejected her when her ministry took off. She and her husband had to find another church. 😦 She then also wonderfully draws from the story of Joseph, betrayed by his brothers, and Daniel, thrown into the lions’ den.

Joyce’s words ring loudly in my head…. “Almost every time God is ready to promote you and bring you to the next level, you will experience an attack of rejection at the place where you are now. Satan will use rejection to try to keep you where you are.”

Joyce emphasized how Satan can use church people to tear us down – that’s the scary thing. She even writes…

“If you are going to be used by God, or if you are going to walk with God, you will experience a certain amount of rejection. And more likely that rejection will come from people who matter the most to you. It may come from family members or close friends. If God touches you, and you want to go deeper with Him than some of your church friends, even they are likely to reject you. People just do not want others to go where they are not willing to go themselves. If they want to pursue carnal interests, and you want to walk in the Spirit, they may openly hate you for your choice.”

Oh how I have felt this at times in my few years of ministry! It is one thing that has ripped me to the core as a pastor. One pours out and prays for people and yet they turn and speak or do evil to you. Perhaps it’s simply a glimpse of how Jesus loved us and yet we rejected Him? Well… I have not been crucified by my own people. Not yet. 😉

I reflect on this passage in Acts 13:49-52… (Amplified Version)…

49 And so the Word of the Lord [concerning eternal salvation through Christ] scattered and spread throughout the whole region.

50 But the Jews stirred up the devout women of high rank and the outstanding men of the town, and instigated persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their boundaries.

51 But [the apostles] shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium.

52 And the disciples were continually filled [throughout their souls] with joy and the Holy Spirit.

I pray I will be continually filled with joy and the Holy Spirit – keeping my mind, will and emotions fixed on the joy available through the indwelling presence of the Lord. Less of me, more of Him! May I draw continually from my favourite stories of Joseph, betrayed by his brothers, and Daniel, thrown into a den of hungry lions by his own colleagues.

I choose to claim the promises of Matthew 5…

10 Blessed and happy and enviably fortunate and spiritually prosperous (in the state in which the born-again child of God enjoys and finds satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of his outward conditions) are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake (for being and doing right), for theirs is the kingdom of heaven!

11 Blessed (happy, to be envied, and spiritually prosperous—with life-joy and satisfaction in God’s favor and salvation, regardless of your outward conditions) are you when people revile you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely on My account.

12 Be glad and supremely joyful, for your reward in heaven is great (strong and intense), for in this same way people persecuted the prophets who were before you.

I do not serve for the glory of others, but for the glory of God and for the building of His kingdom! Lord, I claim your protection as I seek to be faithful in Your ministry!