Undeserved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91hHw1YPqxE

Communion ~ (feat. Steffany Gretzinger & Brandon Lake) Maverick City

 

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ~ 1 Corinthians 11:23 NIV

 

As I stood before the Table, this was the first time I’d had a hard time approaching and partaking. As I stood there, staring at the Elements, I heard Holy Spirit say, “You are under the impression that you’ve ever deserved this. It’s always been undeserved.” The word undeserved hung in the air. It wrapped all around me and sat on me. But it wasn’t heavy. Quite the contrary, it was entirely freeing.

 

un·de·served. Un- meaning, “not,” and -ed indicating past tense, left only deserve. What I discovered helped me understand why it was so freeing. De- is a preposition, meaning, “from…out of,” and finally, serve comes from Middle English, Old French, and Latin, all words being equivalent to “slave,” (dictionary.com). Undeserved, therefore, is not-from-slavery. It can’t be earned. That’s what makes it grace.

 

Though I was welcome at the Lord’s Table, as His Bride, from the first time I put my faith and trust in Him, it was 15 years ago that I heard Him call me there. In 2007, I was suffering from pain, and it wasn’t getting better. One morning at church, I received prayer for healing. During the prayer, Holy Spirit spoke to me about receiving healing from the Lord’s Table. He said, “When you take the Bread, see My flesh bonding with your flesh, healing your flesh. When you take the Cup, see My blood flowing through your blood, washing away every sickness and disease.” It’s been 15 years, and His words have never left me. Though I am not always good at utilizing this beautiful and precious gift, I’ve never, before, hesitated to eat at His Table.

 

Prior to now, any pain or sickness I’d experienced was something that happened to me, not due to my own stupidity. And that’s how the devil got me. It was easier to believe the lie that previous times of healing were “deserved” because they weren’t my own fault. This time, however, I didn’t deserve healing, nor to even ask for it, because I’d made a dumb choice. That’s when the Lord stepped in and called me back to His Table. Standing there, staring at the Elements, a few words from the Lord, and everything changed.

 

It's not deserved. It can’t be earned. And that is what makes it grace.

©Heather Potts 2022

Concealed

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,

But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.

~ Proverbs 25:2 NKJV

When I worked for the newspaper, my boss sent me to an Excel class because she needed me to learn pivot tables. When the teacher asked us what we wanted to learn, he seemed annoyed with my “pivot tables” answer and said the correct answer was to learn what we didn’t know.

A lot of things feel hard right now: after so many interviews (that I’ve lost count), Brad still only has a part-time, temporary job; Savannah is struggling (again); tensions are high; we’re trying to make friends, lay down roots, and figure out where we fit and why we’re here. I was expressing my frustrations to one of my friends and she said, “Sometimes we just go through crappy seasons. I just hope we don’t run out of toilet paper.” Though the TP may run out, God’s grace never will.

Standing in His grace-covering, we’ve decided to take a stand and make a change. We’re asking for help. We’re seeking wise, godly counsel, just as God says to do:

If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking, (James 1:5 NLT)

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known, (Jeremiah 33:3 ESV)

And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, says the LORD… (Jeremiah 29:13-14 NKJV)

The enemy lies and says that we’re weak when we cannot stand on our own. But God says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding…Be not wise in your own eyes,” (Proverbs 3:5, 7 ESV). The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Instead of living in the craziness—in insanity—we’re going to walk in wisdom, honor, and glory, as we seek out the hidden, concealed, and unsearchable things.

If you’re going through a “crappy season,” don’t wait for the TP to run out; make a change. Determine to humble yourself before Father God and ask Him to lead, guide, and direct you in His infinite wisdom. And keep seeking until He reveals the hidden things to you.

©Heather Potts 2017

Let's Get Real

“The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful,
    a puzzle that no one can figure out.
But I, God, search the heart
    and examine the mind.
I get to the heart of the human.
    I get to the root of things.
I treat them as they really are,
    not as they pretend to be.”

~ Jeremiah 17:9-10 MSG

The key to managing your emotions is to acknowledge your real emotions ~ Julia Mateer, Life-Giving Leadership, A Toolbox for Leading Women

I like this quote by Julia Mateer, because we sometimes get so caught up in what we should or shouldn’t be doing or feeling regarding others that we never deal with our real emotions. A couple of months ago I was sharing some frustrations with a friend and mentor and said, “I’m trying to give grace and not make waves…” And that’s where she stopped me and said, “But it bothers you a lot when it happens.” When I said yes, she said, “Then say that. Say, ‘It bothers me’ or ‘My feelings are hurt when…’” She said if I never confessed and dealt with my real feelings, I wasn’t doing myself or the other person any favors.

God’s been dealing with me a lot this year, beginning very boldly on January 1, by telling me this would be a year of digging out any impurities in my heart. He went on to say that in order for me to receive the blessings and favor He would rain down, my heart had to be ready. What I’ve learned is that things that I thought were OK, even synonymous with being a redhead, are not any part of God’s design for me. Even though it’s been hard to hear at times, the one thing I can depend upon with God is that He’ll be “real” with me. And He wants me to be “real” with Him.

If you’ve been hurt by someone, you aren’t offering grace by side-stepping the issue.  Grace isn’t ignoring what happened; it’s not burying it under the rug or stuffing hurt feelings. Grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness enable you to say, “Those actions hurt me. But just as God has forgiven me, I choose to forgive you, relinquishing my right to punish you.” The pain might not go away overnight, and that’s ok. The first step toward freedom is acknowledging your real emotions and asking God to guide you the rest of the way.

©Heather Potts 2016