So I’m not going to apologize for the plethora of metaphors that I’ve used in this post. ? But don’t worry, I don’t think I put any dad jokes in there…?

You see, me and God are working on this thing, where I learn to not care about what anybody may or may not think about what I write on here.

When it comes to these posts, I’m learning to not care about “opinion or approval” from anyone—only Him.

So He and I are working on this thing…

And so I just write what I feel He puts on my heart to write, and I trust that He will do whatever He would like to do with it. ✍?? I’m just holding the pen, I’m just typing the words. So Lord, let it be You. And may You do whatever You like with it.

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Have you ever found yourself wrestling with something you thought had “died” a while ago?

And yet, this “ugly thing” rises up within you and flows right out of you—in your attitude, straight from your heart…

And you can feel the “ugliness” of this way, this attitude within yourself when it rises up and comes out of your mouth. ?

Or the way it sits and festers in your mind…

“(Blah Blah Blah) —Wait!….Ugh!…. I thought I was over that. Yet here it is again.”

Here is that “thing” and it’s coming out in my words and in my attitude… and I realize that it’s coming from a place that needs to be purified in my heart.

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I found another place like this yesterday— within my attitude—and thankfully the Holy Spirit helped me to see it and recognize it almost immediately.

After I saw and felt this attitude that came up out of my heart, the Lord caught my attention—kind of like there was this “rubber band” that caught me and yanked my attention right back to it almost immediately….

And I looked at it…

And knew that this attitude was in my way…

I looked at it and knew that it was in God’s way.

I looked at it and knew that this way in me, needed to die.

It needed to be uprooted. It needed to be cleansed and washed away.

My heart and mind needed to be transformed.

And I looked at this way in my heart that the Lord “yanked me back to” and I knew that it was something I needed to take to the cross.

It was something I needed to sit down and discuss with my Heavenly Father so that He can give me fresh eyes to see His truth in this area.

I knew that this part of me had to die so that more of Jesus can come alive in me, and so He can work through me, so that His pure light can radiate from within me.

So do you know what I did?

I looked at this ugly thing, and I faced it.

I faced it—I looked at the ugly, and I recognized what was happening, and I said,

“Yes, Lord. I see it. Here it is, and it’s not good, and it’s not You, and it needs to be uprooted. Father… I don’t like this way within me! I need your help. Will You forgive me, and will You help me? Will You cleanse and purify this area in my heart? Will You transform this area of my heart and write Your truth in its place?—Filled up with Your truth, replaced with Your Word and Your love—a strengthening and reinforcement to this area of my heart that only You can do!”

And you know, there were a couple of little things that He encouraged me to do that felt a little bit hard to do… (when they really shouldn’t be hard for me to do) ?

There were a couple of things that He encouraged me to do that felt a little bit like Him removing my foot from the quicksand I had stuck my foot into…

A little bit of a challenge, a bit uncomfortable, but freeing at the same time.

He pulled my foot out of the quicksand that was hidden in my path—it was hidden in my heart, ready to pull me under into the dust and the muck.

But He caught me, He grabbed hold of me, and He pulled me out…

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”—Psalm 40:2

And He showed me His ways…?

And He wrote them upon my heart. ?✍?

“Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them; and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth.”—Jeremiah 33:6

Father, thank You for showing me when I’m getting in my own way…. and most importantly—when I’m getting in Your way.

Thank you for these opportunities that lead me into freedom and wholeness and abundant life!

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”—John 10:10

As “earthlings” this is a process we’re going to have to go through…these are things we’re just going to have to face, and it’s different for each one of us…

But do you know what?

God sure has made it all so “beautiful.”

He has made repentance and redemption a beautiful process. ?

So don’t run from it.

Don’t be afraid to face it.

Don’t dwell in shame.

Don’t allow these places to remain in your heart that can grab hold of you and pull you under.

Just take His hand… and He’ll lead you and He’ll be with you…

…and He’ll begin to transform you. ✨✍?

By the way, did you know that today marks the start of the New Year on the Hebrew calendar?

It’s a great time to kick off the dust from the sin in our past, and to step freely into the new thing that God has for us. ☀️

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” —1 John 1:9

“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” —Proverbs 28:13

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” —Acts 3:19

Thank You, Father. ?

“He lifted me up from the pit of despair, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.…”—Psalm 40:2-3

-Heather ?