Laura Kate Wiley is finding her voice.
At 17 months, she’s off to a good start.
With safe surroundings and a fearless heart,
A free spirit and a supportive family,
She plays and rests and dreams and wants –
Sincerely believing that what she has to say actually matters.
She will need these things again and again,
As her world evolves and her voice is threatened.
Nobody can sing the songs meant for her alone.
Again and again, she will have to find her heart with clarity,
And express her mind with grace and courage.
So will you.
Find your voice.
April-something 2002. It was one of the most surreal, prophetic dreams I’ve ever had. I dreamed I was in prison. Not sure what the crime was; I just remember being in a cell there. The only thing remarkable about that was that instead of the typical concrete and steel, this cell had a nice waxed tile floor and bright lights.
For some reason, they let me out on a weekend pass, but eventually I had to go back. I remember dreading the return, and trying to avoid it. But I did wind up back in my tile‑floored cell. There in the cell, alone, my thoughts turned to Watchman Nee, the Chinese pastor/teacher who was imprisoned by the communist regime for his faith. All those years he spent in prison. How did he do it? How could he experience God’s presence there in the prison?
It was then I actually saw him. In my dream I saw Watchman Nee, prostrate on the floor of his prison cell. As I watched, he was transformed before my eyes into a puppy – a black Labrador Retriever puppy. Then he changed into a silver chalice. Taller, thinner. Rising up. From that he changed into a giraffe. He had risen above his prison cell and was feeding in the tops of the trees.
Four Images of Transformation
Just like that, the dream was over. I was left with four crystal-clear images – a prostrate man, a black lab puppy, a silver chalice, and a giraffe. A transformation from prison to freedom, though the outward circumstances never changed. A deliberately-staged process, flowing from the floor to the heavens. What did it mean? [click to continue…]
Dear Foggy Little Brain,
As you start your day, I want to remind you of some very important truth to shape your thinking…
- You are no longer under condemnation (Romans 8:1).
- You are free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
- Your flesh has been dealt with (Romans 8:3).
- The Holy Spirit will enable you to fulfill the requirements of God’s Law (Romans 8:4).
- The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace (Romans 8:6).
- Those who are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8).
- You are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit (Romans 8:9).
- Your body may be dying, your spirit is alive because of His righteousness (Romans 8:10).
- The Holy Spirit will also give life to your mortal body (Romans 8:11).
- You have no obligation to the flesh (Romans 8:12).
- You must put to death the deeds of the body (Romans 8:13).
- You are a child of God (Romans 8:14 16).
- You are no longer a slave to the world, the devil, and the flesh (Romans 8:15).
- You have received the spirit of adoption, so that you can go into God’s presence and say, “Daddy!” (Romans 8:15).
- You are an heir of God, and a joint heir of Christ (Romans 8:17).
- The present suffering you may be experiencing is not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to you (Romans 8:18).
- Your body will be redeemed one day (Romans 8:23).
- You don’t pray alone. The Holy Spirit will is helping you (Romans 8:26).
- The Holy Spirit is interceding to the Father for you (Romans 8:27).
- God causes all things work together for good to those who love Him (Romans 8:28).
- You are predestined to be conformed into the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29).
- You have been called, justified, and glorified (Romans 8:30).
- God is for you – who can be against you (Romans 8:31)?
- No one can bring a charge against you, because you are God’s elect (Romans 8:33).
- In all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us (Romans 8:37).
- Nothing – nothing – can separate you from God’s love (Romans 8:35 39).
As you go about your day, remember the banner under which you live, and the grace on which you stand. I’ve read to the end of the Book… You win!
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; (Isaiah 61:1, ESV)
There’s something you should know, though I’m not very proud to say it.
I’m an ex-con.
Ex-convict? No.
Ex-condemned? You betcha.
Ex-consequences? Uh huh.
Ex-con man? ‘Fraid so.
I lived on the wrong side of a legal system for a long time, and wound up in prison. But don’t go looking for my name in some Federal or state criminal records. I haven’t messed with Texas that much. [click to continue…]
If only I could love them enough…
To unfeel her pain
To unmake his choices
To unmedicate her sickness
To unreap his consequences
Surely there’s a way…
To fill a bottomless void
To fix brokenness-in-motion
To free him from self-made prisons
To find for her what keeps getting lost
To forgive for him what he can’t forgive himself
Short of that, I must…
Admit how powerless I am
Believe in a Redeemer more gracious and alive than I
Turn it over, turn it over, turn it over,
And (hardest of all)…
Leave it.
Leave it.
Leave it in His hands.
“Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad”
(Proverbs 12:25, NKJV)
In You, O Lord, I put my trust; Let me never be put to shame… O Lord my God, I cried out to You, And You have healed me… You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness… I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy, For You have considered my trouble; You have known my soul in adversities, And have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy… Who is a God like You, Pardoning iniquity And passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage?
He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, And will subdue our iniquities.
You will cast all our sins Into the depths of the sea…
I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; My heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the Lord always before me; Because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved.
You will show me the path of life…. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me; You will stretch out Your hand Against the wrath of my enemies, And Your right hand will save me… How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand… Let Your mercies come also to me, O Lord – Your salvation according to Your word. So shall I have an answer for him who reproaches me, For I trust in Your word… Remember the word to Your servant, Upon which You have caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life… [click to continue…]
I’ve been noticing something in me that I don’t like. It’s been around ever since somebody first said “no” to me and I ignored her or him. But lately it’s been strutting around with a vengeance, so I thought I’d expose the big puke for the world to see. So take that, flesh.
I first noticed it in particular when I started reading Watchman Nee’s classic, The Spiritual Man. While I read some really good stuff, I find my mind racing with a torrent of thoughts. Crazy thoughts. Rebellious thoughts. Ugly, fleshly thoughts.
I find it raging sometimes in church when I’m supposed to be the spiritual leader pointing toward Christ and instead I feel this compelling urge to point to me.
I notice it, strangely enough, when I’m with the people I love the most and I’m feeling a flood of emotions that are anything but loving. [click to continue…]
by Andy Wood on March 17, 2009
in Enlarging Your Capacity, Exploring the Possibilities, Five LV Laws, Insight, Leadership, Life Currency, Love, LV Alter-egos, LV Cycle, LV Stories, Principle of Freedom, Principle of Legacy
Maewyn Succat. Bet you never thought to hang that name on your son. But Maewyn wasn’t from around these parts, and his name apparently suited him as he grew up in his native Wales.
Maewyn had a pretty respectable upbringing. His granddaddy was a preacher, and his dad was a deacon – though rumor had it that Dad’s religious affiliations had more to do with tax deductions than spiritual passion.
In most ways, I suppose, Maewyn was your typical teenager. Times were tough, but youth is a time to dream of something better. No doubt this teenager had dreams, hopes, and plans to get there.
But all of that came crashing down when Maewyn’s family estate was attacked and he was abducted, placed in chains, and hauled off into slavery, far away from his home and his family.
What do you do when all you’ve ever known is ripped away from you? How do you respond when your dreams, your hopes, your family, and your heritage become distant memories or painful reminders of a life that once was?
Some children encounter such things at very early ages, and never remember their heritage or parents. Not Maewyn. He’d seen too much. Known too much. Missed too much. [click to continue…]
Dear Daniel,
Thank you for taking the time to share your heart and concerns with me last week. I respect your honesty, and am frustrated that you have experienced so many disappointments and hurts in your church relationships. While I can relate to many of them, only you know how savagely this has impacted your life and the life of your family members.
I know it has to be a bit surreal to always feel as though, in your words, “you kept missing the memo” about what was expected beyond a simple faith in Christ. And to be caught in between two conflicting women “leaders” had to have felt like a no-win situation.
I still don’t understand what the whole turf war stuff was all about. But I do understand the tension between trying to show grace and love to someone in deliberate sin and yet not approving the lifestyle. I guess until Jesus comes, we’ll still be arguing about that one. [click to continue…]
Okay, surely this is just a coincidence.