Will You Be Made Whole? (Part 13: The Letter)

Hey Special One,

As you read this, I want to you know that you are beautiful, you are special, and most importantly, you are fearfully and wonderfully made. And for anyone to tell you otherwise, is not telling you the truth, nor is what they say that’s not who you really are the truth. So, let’s shine the light over that lie.

I see the best in you and most importantly, the God that I serve sees the best in you. I don’t know who discounted you or wrote you off during your childhood. Was it your mother, your father, your siblings, your aunts, your uncles, your grandparents, or was it other extended family members to include friends of family? I also don’t know who is currently discounting your true identity or worth right now, is it the man or woman that’s in your life? Is it a co-worker, or a stranger that really doesn’t know who you really are? It may be time to cut those ties, because your associates will either add value to you or devalue you. And I’ll say this, those who discount you, are actually devaluing you.

Whoever told you that you need to be the talk of the town and that you need to just be popular – just to get attention – is lying to you. I know your childhood wasn’t picture perfect, and neither was mine. May I encourage you right now and tell you that you are not your past. You are not what your abuser said that you are. You can be free, healed and whole. I know you have dreams, aspirations and goals. May I say that you may not be mentally ready for some of them just yet? There is a growing process that has to take place, and it starts with being comfortable in your own skin. So, you must ask yourself, do you love you? When you look in the mirror when you’re by yourself, what do you see? Do you see your past, your pain, your shortcomings, or possibly your mistakes? If you do, do you believe that you can learn from them, grow from them so you can eventually declare what was mentioned in the first paragraph that truly is your identity? No man, woman or other human being will ever love you unconditionally than God. And let me say that you don’t have to compete with others for your attention; you are beautiful just as you are. I see the pain when I look at you, and I know that you are doing all you can to masquerade it, but there are consequences if you’re not careful.

Whoever told you that you need to be a certain shape or size just so you can be attractive, is lying to you. Whoever told you that love has to hurt is lying to you. I know you are strong, and I don’t deny it, and when I look at you, I see the pain and the tears that you are holding on to because of the situations you’ve put yourself in. I know you are fearful of the next step in your life. Just know that fear paralyzes, and faith sets you free. You are more than what people say they are and you don’t have to live up to other people’s expectations. That old saying, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” is a lie from the pit of hell! Words have the power to hurt or heal. And you are not the negative words that clearly devalue who you really are. The people who talk down to you are people that are trying to build themselves up at your expense. Let them go, as they will do what they can to destroy you with their words. May I encourage you right now and tell you that you are not your past. You are not what your abuser said that you are. I know you are carrying a weight (not physical weight, I’m talking about weight of fears, hurt, shame, etc.), which is actually a burden, but our human bodies aren’t built to carry that weight. You can be free, healed and whole. I know you have dreams, aspirations and goals. Write down who you really want to be and desire to have in your life. So, you must ask yourself, do you love you? When you look in the mirror when you’re by yourself, what do you see? Do you see your past, your pain, your shortcomings, or possibly your mistakes? If you do, do you believe that you can learn from them, grow from them so you can eventually declare what was mentioned in the first paragraph that truly is your identity? No man, woman or other human being will ever love you unconditionally than God. And let me say that you don’t have to compete with others for your attention; you are beautiful just as you are. Once you divorce yourself from the opinions of others, you enter another dimension.

Just know my special one, you are uniquely gifted, and there is no one like you. Despite what you’re going through physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, and spiritually, God loves you and He is not punishing you. He has nothing but love for you, and I do too. May His peace surpass all of your understanding, and know that you can be free, healed and whole from everything that you’ve been through in your life. He can give you beauty for the ashes that you’ve accumulated in your life and He can restore your broken self-worth/self-identity if you will let Him.

Blessings,

The Mayne Man

Don't They Deserve To Be Made Whole?

Good afternoon everyone. I pray that wherever you are as you're reading this that you are prospering even as you soul is prospering. 

It appears lately that I have been talking about healing and/or being made whole on my blog. I pray the posts from that past few days encourage you and that they are bringing peace to your spirit as they are bringing peace to mine. Using the foundational text for this post (John 5:1-9), it's the story of the lame man being healed and made whole by Jesus.

I believe that there are many people who deserve to be made whole. Who are these people? I'll answer with a series of question. Would you say that a child who was sexually abused deserves to be made whole? Would you say that the man or woman who has struggled with anxiety all of their life deserves to be made whole? Would you say that the woman who was raped deserves to be made whole? Would you say that the child who was neglected, rejected and/or abandoned deserves to be made whole? Would you say that a family who lost a loved one deserves to be made whole? Would you say that a woman who suffered under the hand of domestic violence deserves to be made whole? Would you say if a person endured deception and manipulation in a previous marriage, they deserve to be made whole? What about those who have endured long-term illnesses and have the desire to live, don't they deserve to be made whole? And what about those who know the song, I Surrender All, but because of the hurt and pain they've endured, they refuse to surrender all and make feeble attempts to go it alone? Don't they deserve to be made whole? 

The answer to every question is simply, YES! YES! YES! I'm sure I didn't hit every category, but I believe you get the point. Everybody deserves to be made whole. Some might ask the question, what's the difference between being healed and being made whole? Great question: I'll use Luke 17:11-19 to capture the difference.

On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." When he saw them he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus answered, "Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" And he said to him, "Rise and go your way; your faith has made you whole."

If you noticed, all of them were healed on the way to the priest, so it was just from that one thing. But the one who came back and gave thanks to God, his faith made him whole (complete restoration of his health). Do you need a restoration in your life? Believe God but at the same time, don't allow your faith to grow weary - that's what the enemy is after, your faith. 

In closing, in order to be made whole, you have to humble yourself and surrender everything to Him (and yes, this requires faith). So, I ask you, do you trust God with everything that concerns you? Like the lame man in John 5, he trusted that God could make him whole. You deserve to be made whole.

Blessings,

The Mayne Man

Take The Limits Off Of You And God

How many of you desire to live life with no limits? I have a better question, how many of you desire to let God take the limits that you've placed on your life? If you answered yes to both questions, then I ask you how bad do you want this? Now there's a strong chance that your flesh is screaming no, but your spirit is screaming YES! Turn off the no that's screaming at you. Your life depends on it. Before this starts, grab some tissue as you will experience some moments of sorrow as well as tears of joy. If you happen to cry as you read this, let the tears flow, and yes, I shed some tears as I was writing the outline for this as this post was given to me via His Spirit. Don't worry as to who sees you crying as you read this, your freedom is too important to worry about what others think about you. Once they see your freedom, they'll want a piece of it. Believe me on this. With that, let's get started.

You know, there are many people walking around with a skewed view of God and how He is a loving Father. How do I know? You're looking at someone who has struggled with it. Many of you know my story. But let me share a piece of it from a different perspective. I was sexually abused, but at the same time, I lived in fear as to how my parents treated me. It was either do what I say on my timetable, or fear the wrath of the belt, which I felt on numerous occasions. The truth is that parents are really supposed to paint a picture of who God really is. And if a child is scarred through a trauma, they will rightfully question when older, can I trust Him, because I surely can't trust my parents after all the abuse I suffered, their abandonment and their neglect. Eventually what happens is that we treat God based on how our parents treated us especially if trauma is involved. How do I know? There were areas I struggled with God over. Example, if I messed up with my parents, it was like I had to make so many amends for them to forgive me. Even though God forgives me when I confess our sin, I still wrestle with the concept of "I have to make amends." What hastens is that I just limited myself and what God can do.

What happens is that we end up creating boxes and walls within our lives as a form of protection. And let something traumatic happen when we think to let the wall down, the heart will become callous for some. What's even worse is that we put a wall up to protect ourselves from God. And He is much more compassionate than our biological parents. Of course, it's hard to fathom when we surely didn't see a good example. And the reason why we didn't see an example is because the devil is after us. He knows the gift that's ok each of us, and he's after that. With that wall comes the feeling of we have to carry our own burdens, when we are to cast it over to Him for He cares for us. The truth is, He knows what we're holding on to and He wants it so we can have this 150 pounds lifted off of us. Excess weight costs us our life in many cases. The same holds true when it comes to burdens and limits. It will weigh us down to the point we end up with psychosomatic illnesses and in some cases, eating disorders. Galatians 5:1 says for freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

You see, we can put up a facade with people and in some cases with our family, but you can't put one up with God. He sees all and knows all. No matter how hard you try to box God in, we can't. I don't know about you, but I love surprises and His surprises always give me more of a reason to not quit on Him. Take Him at His Word and please don't cast away your confidence. He is up to something, but the key is to not keep your wall up so you block His blessings, but also to not bring Him down to your level. He'll let us go on our own for a little while, but you will physically and possibly spiritually burn out. Yes, there will be people (in and out of the church) who will discredit you and say, "You can't do this!" Believe me, I lived it. He wants to work through you so He can get the credit while you are blessed. 

I do believe that our walls and our limits within ourselves and with Him really is a lack of trust. That doesn't mean we're going to hell, and it is true we may not have had good role models when we were kids. Now, it's time for a thought exchange and ask for a spiritual download from Him so we can dump our past thinking for a mindset like His. It's recorded in James that what is not of faith is sin. I didn't say that to condemn, but it's because of the fallen world we live in).

Earlier, I mentioned about the devil was after our gifts. Let me expound further, he really wants us dead in all areas. How? I'm glad you asked. He brought the trauma through our lives via childhood abuse, domestic abuse, emotionally abusive relationships, con men and con women, unexpected deaths, and the list goes on. All of these things can cause the limits to come. And yes, God understands; however, He wants it so He can free you up for an unexpected blessing.

Of course, I ask, where's the church in all of this? Well, sadly, many of them have the mentality of the AMCC (American Middle Class Church) where it's all about me, my family and my clique and everybody else can go to hell with our help. 

How can we get the limits off of you and your thoughts about God? Great question. I want you to survey your life and ask, "what stinks? What's dead in your life?" If Jesus can raise Lazarus from the dead, He can raise you up. Now, Lazarus was dead for four days, and it turned around. I declare that some of our dead situations will turn around. Can you declare that?

Get those Pharisees that say "you will never amount to anything, you'll never recover, you're the blame for all that happened to you" out of your life. 

Sometimes we don't appreciate our miracles when we're not involved. The scars that you have remind you of how bad it was so you can appreciate how good the miracle is.

At the end of Luke 7, people called the harlot out, probably saying, "look at that whore trying to get to Jesus." And Jesus had to tell them, "leave her alone." Jesus built her up and forgave her. And we in the church want to remember people's wrongs. 

I really want to close this on a positive note. The beauty of God is that He specializes in forgiving our screw-up, He specializes in restoring the years you lost, He specializes in drying the tears you cried because you struggled to put food on the table, you stepped out on faith to leave that mate who abused you, He specializes in giving you double for what you've endured. I know I did some things wrong in my life, but He's not done with me (and He'd not down with you either). Don't be afraid to take the limits off of yourself and off of what God can really do (and who He really is). In fact Psalm 27:10 says for my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in. This is so true.

Can I just say this? Sometimes when we put limits on ourselves, we tend to make mistakes like Abram & Hagar. Now, Ishmael was not a mistake, Abram & Sarai wanted to help God out and jump ahead of God's timetable. God promised Abram that he and Sarai we're going to have a child. He doesn't think like we think, so we have to wait on Him. That waiting period requires faith. 

Now many of you know me. I'm an accountant by profession and I'm always talking about working our day jobs like a Hebrew slave. If you think that's all there is to your life, you'll be working above and beyond just to only get 50% of your money. There's a proverb that says your gift will make room for you and bring you before the great. Once you operate in the gift God gave you, expect unexpected blessings that your day job can't even do for you. Another way to take the limits off of you and God.

Take a good look where you are, can you testify of what He's brought you out of? If you can't think of anything, you're still breathing especially when your life was threatened at one point in your life. When we take the limits off of God and His majesty, we need to posture ourselves for the unexpected to happen (and that's meant in a way that will bless your life tremendously). Regardless of what we've been through, our God can do things we haven't even imagined. He's the only one that can restore our broken soul (even though I write to right the broken soul - smile, He does a much better job than I can), and heal us from the inside out. We need to stop trying to figure Him out; He's unlimited.

Come on, I'm trying not to cry. He's not done with you, He's not done with me. He rescued me from many dangers and spared my life on many occasions. He's just getting started. I'm going to say it again, He specializes in restoration!

Blessings,

The Mayne Man

When Life Beats You Up

I was sitting in my office last Thursday and this topic was dropped on my spirit. So, I was wrestled within my mind deciding if I wanted to release this in two parts. Well, it will be in two parts, in this blogpost. So, I pray that you are relaxed and that you hear my heart as I’m writing to write the broken soul. Let’s begin.

(Part 1 of 2)

This part was dropped on my spirit 2/11/16 at 11:49am.  If you are broken, beaten and battered due to life (but especially because of what another human being did to you), always remember that the devil is behind the pain and the shame and he wants you to take the blame for it. If you ask me if there's an agenda to what the devil is doing with this pain, shame and blame, I will tell you it's to steal, kill and destroy your life. If you are volunteering to remain bitter because of what you allowed the devil to do to you (or because of what he did to you), you are indirectly giving the devil power over you. Know that you are saved, but simply oppressed, that's all. I'm also not saying that you don't have a right to grieve over it. The focus here is the choice of healing and moving forward. Will I agree when you say you need time to heal from what life has done to you? Yes. Will I understand when you say your faith is wavering as a result of life? Yes. Do I disagree when people say that you should give thanks FOR all that you have been through? Absolutely!!!! Did you deserve all that you have been through? Absolutely not!!! Why did it happen? It’s because of sin in the world and the devil, plain and simple. Notice that I didn't say that you're the blame for this.

(Part 2 of 2)

You see we all have to walk through this path called life. I’ll be the first to tell you that’s not easy. Many of you know my story, but for the benefit of those who don’t know, I suffered under the hand of abuse within my family, and a few years back, I wanted to end my life due to the pressures of life. I have been rejected, abandoned and neglected at certain points of my life. To me, that’s life beating me to the core. I could easily have asked, “why me? Why do I have to suffer?” Are my questions legitimate? Absolutely!  

So how can you and I be able to stand tall when life beats you up? If you feel that you can’t get up, know that a just man (I’m talking to you my brother and sister) may fall seven times, he still gets up. Let life know that I’m not quitting until it’s time for me to leave the earth. Don’t go before your time. One way to stand tall when life beats you up is to have the truth in your heart, put that on your waist; you need the shield of faith – it’s your faith that overcomes the world and anything it throws. You’re not out for the count – the devil wants you out! I could go on and on, but I believe you get the point.

In closing, know this: Sometimes things happen that we know not the reason for... bad things, even when we are not the one in sin. It's called life. It's in the knowing that God is still with us, that God still loves us... it's in knowing that we can find the hope to move forward and receive God's peace.

Blessings,

The Mayne Man

Bitter Like Naomi?

This was on my spirit yesterday morning. So many times when we read Ruth, we're focusing on chapter 1 and verse 16; or on Ruth finding Boaz. Rarely do we talk about Naomi, and that's who we're going to talk about today. I believe this is going to set someone free who experienced a loss and is bitter as a result, but as Jessica Reedy said, you must believe it gets better.

In the first chapter of Ruth, we find that Naomi lost her husband to death. A few verses down, she lost her sons.  See, when you're grieving, there's a strong tendency to push people away. That's what Naomi was trying to with her daughter-in-laws. Now, those who have grieved before (or are currently grieving) can testify to what Naomi was doing. I want to encourage those who are grieving (or who need to grieve) to grieve. Granted, I know the loss of my father will come in stages; but anyway, Jesus said blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. 

Part of me wants to jump ahead to say something, but I'll refrain for now. When Naomi was pushing her daughter-in-laws away, Ruth was adamant in staying with Naomi. See, Naomi felt that this was the Lord's doing and that she was being punished. When Ruth & Naomi reached Bethlehem, Naomi wanted to be called Mara - which means bitter. Now I will say what I want to say. I know there are a lot of people who might be grieving (or covering their pain with a smile) either the dead or the living. What am I talking about?

You're grieving the loss of a spouse

You're grieving the breakup of a friendship, relationship, marriage

You're grieving the loss of a child

You're grieving the death of a dream

You're grieving a financial setback, bad investment deal

You're grieving your childhood abuse, the pain you feel you allowed yourself to endure (via domestic abuse)

And for some of you reading, you feel like Naomi and/or walking around with Mara as your nickname (and not realizing it). Believe me, I've walked around with Mara as my nickname so you're not alone. But it's time to get better - in His time. God doesn't want you bitter at the world because of what the enemy has done in your life. The past should not scar your future especially to the point you penalize the future due to your past. God has so much in store for you - the best is yet to come!

Of course, I can't end this blogpost here. There's one more thing that needs to be said: in Ruth 2:20, Naomi declared this to Ruth; "May he (Boaz) be blessed by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!" What she's starting to understand is that God never forsakes those He's called. He's called you right where you are. You may feel bitter right now, but you can feel better once you allow the grieving process to run its course. 

Blessings:

The Mayne Man