The Secret Ingredient

I don’t know who is reading this, what led you here to have this up on your screen. However, I believe that the Lord lays specific things on my heart or takes me through hard trials to share the hope of Jesus with everyone I can. I believe that Jesus came not only to make a way for us to be with God forever, but for us to experience Heaven here on this earth as we embrace Him and His promises.

So, here I am, not even going to pretend I don’t struggle. I can be a hot mess a lot of times, completely drowning in my stress and worry, so overwhelmed I lose all control. I coast through life at times in this numb state of mind because it is better to ignore than face life head on because the overwhelming pressure of no answers or too many hurting people or the pain of my own trails feel like a plastic bag on my head and when I start to deal with it all the bag seems to get tighter and I lose my breath and willpower to get the bag off. There are a lot of ups and downs, but through the grace of God I am learning day by day how to walk out of the stress, anxiety and fear, leaving it at His feet and walking in joy, peace and love.

So, if this is you or you can identify with any part of it and want to hear the truth the Lord has spoken to me, keep reading. I am not free from the struggle, but I am growing in the grace of the Lord and you have that same opportunity.

James 1:21 “Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

Yes, there are some strong words in this verse: filthiness and wickedness. I don’t really like to think of my anxiety and worry as filthiness and wickedness, but once I humble myself and see it for what it really is I realized that anxiety is not from God and it leads to immense stress, worry and even depression. That is the exact opposite of righteousness and with that I would classify that wickedness. Also, in all that anxiety and depression I am not feeling lifted and wonderful, I am feeling awful and ashamed, don’t want to talk about it or draw any attention to it, it’s filthy.

James also says in chapter 4, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” I am being prideful when I ignore my anxiety whether I am ignoring because I don’t want to face it or I believe that I can handle it and fix it. God, the Creator of everything can’t do anything in our lives or with us in other people’s lives if we are all about ourselves, even if it’s disguised as helping other people all for Him. He sees our hearts and if we are feeling drained constantly while giving to other people we need to stop and ask ourselves why are doing what we are doing.

How do we live in this world and not be affected by it?

H U M I L I T Y

This is the “secret” ingredient. Although it is not easy for many of us and our thoughts of what humility is are skewed. As the Lord opens my eyes up more and more to the power of humility and what it truly is I am blown away by the impacts it has not only on those I serve, but myself more. This is something we have to grow in, choose to learn and persevere through the lesson of.

As God brought this to my attention He spoke these words to me. As you read them it is my prayer that your eyes are open and your spirit rejuvenated because God wants you have more in this life, more than any money can buy. He wants to show you how to have true, lasting joy. He allows things to come to surface so that He can remove them from us, restoring us again.

{My child, when I give you grace, you can only really receive it when you see that you need it, when you’re not thinking about yourself or how you can accomplish something, but only when you are completely humble. Be careful to not disguise your pride with giving to other people. You will put others first when they have a need, yet you refuse to admit you need prayer and help? My child, this cannot be.}

Giving to others is not bad.

Helping others is not bad.

Understanding a situation and gathering details is not bad.

Loving people where they are is not bad.

But, why are we doing all these things? What is the point? Only when we humble ourselves and think of ourselves less and God more do we being to, like James said in the scripture, receive the word implanted in us. We begin to receive the truth of how much we are worth and then we can pour out more love on others. We receive the truth of our purpose on this plant, not to make money and have a good living, but to love others and share the hope of Jesus with them.

So, if you’re feeling stuck, down, depressed, lost, or any other negative emotion that is leading you down a bad path, I want to encourage you to stop and sit, literally sit down in the presence of your Father, He is with you right now. What do you need to admit to Him? You admit not for His sake, but for your own heart and mind. How do you need to humble yourself in the presence of the Lord today?

“Doubt of your own wisdom, and reliance on Mine (God’s) will teach you humility. Humility is not the belittling of the self. It is forgetting the self, more forgetting the self because you are remembering God.”

It’s not easy but it is possible because God gives grace to the humble.

It might be a fight some days to remain focused on God more than yourself, but it is worth it because instead of feeling overwhelmed you will feel the peace of God.