Posts tagged practicalchristianity

I am more than a conqueror

Christianity

Monday Devotional – February 14, 2022

I AM MORE THAN A CONQUEROR

‘Yet even in the midst of all these things, we triumph over them all, for God has made us to be more than conquerors, and his demonstrated love is our glorious victory over everything! ‘ Romans 8:37

Read: 

Who could ever divorce us from the endless love of God’s Anointed One? Absolutely no one! For nothing in the universe has the power to diminish his love toward us. Troubles, pressures, and problems are unable to come between us and heaven’s love. What about persecutions, deprivations, dangers, and death threats? No, for they are all impotent to hinder omnipotent love, even though it is written: All day long we face death threats for your sake, God. We are considered to be nothing more than sheep to be slaughtered! Yet even in the midst of all these things, we triumph over them all, for God has made us to be more than conquerors, and his demonstrated love is our glorious victory over everything! So now I live with the confidence that there is nothing in the universe with the power to separate us from God’s love. I’m convinced that his love will triumph over death, life’s troubles, fallen angels, or dark rulers in the heavens. There is nothing in our present or future circumstances that can weaken his love. There is no power above us or beneath us—no power that could ever be found in the universe that can distance us from God’s passionate love, which is lavished upon us through our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One!' Romans 8:31-39

Reflect: 

Happy Love Day! I know the title of today’s devotional does not conjure feelings you would equate to sunshine, rainbows and hearts. But maybe it should. In this passage, Paul writes a riveting exhortation to the Romans in chapter 8 about living by the power of the Holy Spirit,  our position as children of God and the destiny that awaits us. Finally in the last section his encouragement to all of us in Christ is that nothing in this life has the power to overcome us because of God’s indescribable love for us. 

I love that Paul doesn’t paint a picture of a utopia on this side of eternity. He makes it clear, there may be “persecutions, deprivations, dangers, and death threats”. There may be life’s troubles, fallen angels, present or future circumstances that threaten us. But none of that has the power or authority to shut God’s love out of our lives. This is the kind of love that strengthens our inner being. Love like this empowers us to fight and conquer any threat in our lives. 

Do you have an issue that feels insurmountable today? Have you been up all night trying to figure out your next move? Power is already available. You are more than a conqueror. That statement brings an imagery of a fully equipped and trained soldier, a fearless warrior. Well that is you and that is me. We are loved by the Author of the universe and that makes us more than conquerors. 

I pray today that of all the love relationships you experience, the deepest one and the one that makes you smile today, is the one you have with God. His love in us, that is the the one most worthy of celebration. 

Song of the week

This week I wanted to give us a battle cry, a song that would get us pumped to face the week. So I’m pulling on a bit of my Jamaican roots for  this one.

Journal Prompt:

  1. What circumstance in your life do you crave victory over?
  2. Does knowing that in His love you have the power to be more than a conqueror change your perspective?

Pray: 

Heavenly Love, I am so grateful that your love is embedded in me. It is a privilege to be called yours. Help me to come into the full understanding that no matter what comes against me I will be more than okay. I will more than survive. I will thrive because I am more than a conqueror through your love.

Affirmation:

I am more than a conqueror. There is nothing in this life that has the power to permanently defeat me. The love of God in me makes me victorious. 

__________________

Have a great week!

See you next week for another Mocha Monday – a weekly Monday Devotional by Lady Kavan.

To read more from Lady Kavan, check out her blog 

You can find Lady Kavan on Amazon. Follow this link for an overview of her available books

Forgiving the unforgivable

Christianity Life 
*Trigger Warning* : The following post contains material about sexual abuse and violence that may be triggering or disturbing to some audiences. Reader discretion is advised.

Story Time

I was in a virtual bible study this week with my favourite faith sisters (wink, wink). During the discussion, one person shared a testimony of how God relieved the burden of friend burdened by unforgiveness. He did some sweet supernatural healing her heart. That friend was raped and I understood, deeply, her pain. Her pain was once mine too. Yet, God healed her, much like He healed me.

I took a moment to do a heart check. Have I forgiven my sexual abusers? What about the man who killed the father of my children, my first husband and very best friend at the time? Have I forgiven the people who lambasted my name with baseless accusations?

I think so…. God, Search me! Have I buried this pain or slapped a “blessed and highly favoured” band-aid on it? I come up empty. I see their faces in my mind’s eye, and in the case of the masked man, a silhouette but I feel no anger. I feel… I feel sorrow for the pain they must be in themselves. I pray God heals them and brings them peace.

Heart Questions

How do you forgive the unforgivable? How do you let go of the desire for revenge? How do you meet your enemies with love? How do you confront the one who has seemingly destroyed your life and not be angry? 

Before I say the next thing, I want you to understand that I am in no way trivialising or simplifying the trauma of abuse of any kind. How can I?  I carried trauma for years and unwittingly bled on my most loved ones because I couldn’t stop the haemorrhage.  Abuse wounds beyond physical scars. It creeps into the psyche, the emotions and into identity. It can be debilitating and it often is. So how do you heal? How do you forgive?

Healing is a choice

It starts with a choice. Healing is a choice. Your physical body has mechanisms to begin the healing process. However, your soul’s direction is determined by the choices you make. “At some point, we must take responsibility for our destructive behaviour patterns regardless of whether they originated from a character flaw within us or in response to something external” (Lady Kavan 2020). The abuse was not your fault. But you get to choose whether you remain a prisoner for the rest of your life.

I remember after Chris died, there was a day I could not bring myself to get out of bed. It was just too much. Life was unfair, the bedrock of our family was gone, alcohol was not fixing it and I just wanted out of this life.  As the boys rushed up the stairs after school, excited to see their mom, I was ashamed of the state I was in. I realised then that if I kept on this path my sons would lose two parents, not just one. I decided at that point I needed help. So that’s the first step, a decision: “I want to heal”

Next step… get help. When we get a small cut, we grab ointment and a Band-Aid and allow our bodies to do what it does; heal. But how many of us would stay home and not seek medical attention if we broke a leg or got wounded so badly we were losing pints of blood? No hands? Didn’t think so. Mental health is just as important as physical health. We need to shake all the negative stigma around seeing a mental health professional when we need to. Jesus and therapy saved my life. 

Forgiveness is crucial for healing

I found crucial to my healing was learning to let go of resentment, anger and the need for revenge, in a word forgiveness. “Psychologists generally define forgiveness as a conscious, deliberate decision to release feelings of resentment or vengeance toward a person or group who has harmed you, regardless of whether they actually deserve your forgiveness.”  This aligns with Mark 11: 25 “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” 

So going back then to the key question I posed, “how do I forgive the unforgivable?” Choose to. Super hard, I know. You may need to say it a thousand times, you may need to release the anger 10 thousand times, you may need to pray even more than that before your soul aligns with God on this matter. BUT… Your joy depends on it. Eventually your soul will begin to feel what you have declared. I found that, at least for me, when I pray for the people who hurt me, it shifts the atmosphere in my heart and overtime letting go of the offence becomes easier.

A fresh perspective

A friend shared this great conversation from Youtube that is so relevant to this topic. I hope it brings an even fresher perspective. 

Finally, I leave this thought with you:

‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. ‘ Philippians 4:8-9

It is difficult to harbour resentment and anger when we make a conscious effort to think about and meditate on true, honest, just, pure, and lovely things. To forgive what seems to be unforgivable we must choose to!

Write Fully Yours

Lady Kavan

To read more from Lady Kavan, check out her blog 

You can find Lady Kavan on Amazon. Follow this link for an overview of her available books

I am forgiven

Christianity Devotional Life

Monday Devotional – January 24, 2022

I AM FORGIVEN

‘I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus. ‘ 1 John 2:12

Read:

John 8:1-11

'Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning he was back again at the Temple. A crowd soon gathered, and he sat down and taught them. As he was speaking, the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. They put her in front of the crowd. “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the act of adultery. The law of Moses says to stone her. What do you say?” They were trying to trap him into saying something they could use against him, but Jesus stooped down and wrote in the dust with his finger. They kept demanding an answer, so he stood up again and said, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” Then he stooped down again and wrote in the dust. When the accusers heard this, they slipped away one by one, beginning with the oldest, until only Jesus was left in the middle of the crowd with the woman. Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.” ---------- '

Reflect: 

Guilt is a heavy emotion. I think of it as a pandora box stuffed with other not so lovely ones like fear, anxiety, condemnation, self loathing and depression. There were days when guilt weighed so heavily on me that I was sure at any moment some freak accident would take me out. The truth is, I knew for certain I was guilty of a lifestyle that dishonored God. 

There were times though I felt nothing. It was as if I was unaware of my sin, at least until I got into God’s presence. Like Isaiah I had to declare “woe is me for I am undone. I am a man of impure lips.” I used my own words though. 

Contrast these to the feeling of absolute freedom when God lifts the weight of sin from our hearts. The relief makes you feel like a whole new person. To the sinner (in other words ALL of us) God says… neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more. 

So my friends, let us confess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. The best part is He wants to forgive. The only prerequisites are confession and asking for it.

Song of the Week:

This is a powerful oldie but goodie. The lyrics are are powerful scriptural imagery of how God deals with our sin. The song is: East from the West by Casting Crown

Journal Prompt:

  • Is there any area in my life where I am holding on to shame inducing guilt?
  • Why is it so hard to release the guilt and accept God’s forgiveness?

Pray:

Jesus I do not deserve your forgiveness, yet You offer it. I am extremely grateful! Forgive me for every sin and cleanse me deep within of everything that offends You. I thank You, that once I confess my sins You are faithful and just to forgive and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. I accept your forgiveness in Jesus name AMEN.

Affirmation:

I am forgiven. No accuser within or without has the power to condemn me because Jesus has already removed my sins. As far as the east is from the west so far has He cast away them. I AM FORGIVEN

Have a great week!

See you next week for another Mocha Monday – a weekly Monday Devotional by Lady Kavan.

To read more from Lady Kavan, check out her blog 

You can find Lady Kavan on Amazon. Follow this link for an overview of her available books

Heart Matters

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I miss you … deeply. 

I miss family dinners and ridiculous banter about nonsensical things.

I miss the belonging, flavours of family wafting through the kitchen on Sundays.

I miss the history you carry, the stories and the traditions that would have strengthened their anchors and steadied their gaze.

I miss you too… I used to believe our friendship forged in the fires of Mount Doom was unbreakable.

Sadly as the adage goes all good things come to an end.

Must they really?

I’ve been adjusting to a new type of grief lately. In some ways,  it has been a challenge to handle because it is intangible and difficult to explain. I cannot pinpoint an end date. There is no burial place. No funeral was held. There is nothing tangible to mark the end of this thing. In an article  The Best Definition of Grief, Russel Friedman defines grief as “the conflicting feelings caused by the end of or change in a familiar pattern of behavior.”

I am talking about grieving the living; friendships and relationships that I once held dear that I can no longer hold on to. In some of the instances, I have no opportunity to say goodbye or tell my side of the story. They simply came to grossly inaccurate conclusions and decided that a relationship with me was not in their best interest. Others came when a relationship came to a fork in the road and both of us headed down separate paths. We used to be able to connect and discuss the intricacies of the path we were on, no judgement, no conversation off limits. Then the conversations started to lose depth and now we feel like strangers holding to a shadow of what once was.

Emotional pain is a familiar institution in my heart. I thought I knew it well. But now I am discovering new hallways and rooms I didn’t know before and I am … drowning. Sinking to unexplored ocean floors where creatures of depression  and anguish jab at my heart in unexpected moments because I can’t see my way through. It seems like Ive lost my  vocabulary, my ability to express my feelings with words. Instead I eat them, my feelings that is, hoping carbohydrates will provide the endorphins I need to push me out of this cave. What could be worse than this? Losing hope because hope hurts. What if I am disappointed again; hurt again? What if happiness is the ethereal guest and anguish is the reality?

Heavy emotions, I know. And typically this is the part of the blog post I say something really inspirational to pull you out of your struggle. Here is a nugget of truth for you. Healing is a process that takes time, intentionality and lots of help from Jesus (if you are going to do it deep and do it right). Hope hurts and is scary but that’s why we need faith to reach for what we cannot see. No you may not feel better after reading this. Frankly, I’m still reeling, still healing and everyday I must ask God to help my unbelief and to give me a daily ration of the bread (the strength, wisdom and courage) to face that day and jump the next hurdle. If I’m honest the pain is still palpable but I’m doing better than 4 years ago 3 months ago and better than last week.  I’m not where I want to be or where I will be but I’m not where I was. Be gentle with yourself. You made it this far. Rest in this truth… He that began a good work in you is faithful to complete it.

Writefully Yours,

Lady Kavan

I pray with great faith for you , because I’m fully convinced that the One who began this glorious work in you will faithfully continue the process of maturing you and will put his finishing touches to it until the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Philippians 1:6 TPT

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photo credit: https://isaw.company/2017/11/16/vapours-of-sadness/

P.S. I Love You

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If you are a rom com/chick flick/sucker for love/emotional movie kinda person, the title of this blog should ring a bell. It’s that 2007 movie with Gerard Butler and Hilary Swank where Gerry (the husband) dies but to help her healing process he leaves a series of letters post mortem that come at seemingly random moments from different sources. The letters provided instructions and encouragement to live her life fully without his physical presence. I love that movie, I think it would make my top 10 romantic movies that include among others the Notebook, Love and Basketball and Crazy Beautiful. Anyway, I came home exhausted and strangely emotional so what do I do? I torture myself with the sappy movie so I can bawl my eyes out. Surely, there must be an easier way to release my emotional tension! Nope, not me. Romance /drama movies are my drug of choice.

When my bawl fest was over I started to think about love. I love love. I love being loved. I love loving the people around me, but mostly I love that peace I have from knowing the God of the Universe loves me unconditionally. Someone asked me recently, how did I manage to love again? I said, in my view point there are two directions you can take when handling grief; you either shut down and close your heart off from the possibility of deeply feeling for anyone and anything OR you choose to grab hold of life in its fullness and embrace love in all its glorious facets. For me, I started down the first road. I made an internal promise to myself never to love again. I could not fathom it. But I soon came to realize the walls I build to shut love out also shut me within myself. It became difficult to relate to the people I wanted to love; my boys, my mom, my friends. I knew if I let myself feel anything at all I risked my whole fortress crumbling. It did not feel like living at all but I felt this was the best way to prevent my world from shattering again. It was a lonely numb place.

One day I had the epiphany that since Chris (my first husband) sacrificed himself for his family, if I were to function like a zombie and not truly live then I wasted his sacrifice. My mind went back to a conversation we had before he passed about wanting each other to live fully if the other person were gone. I recognized in that moment that to live fully, no holding back was my best gift to him. So I honour his memory by holding on to the people I care about. I try to choose quality of conversation over quantity. I laugh loudly, I sob uncontrollably, I think deeply and I allow myself to feel every emotion. The ones that lead me to unhealthy pathways like anger and bitterness I give myself a time frame to feel them, to explore the emotion and then I let them go like waves receding from the shore.

When I re-met Carlton (long story), I was still on the first road. He was my auto-mechanic and my knight in greasy armour but nothing more. When I decided to crawl out of my fortress occasionally, he was there making me laugh and getting me out of my head. When it got scary, I crawled back into the fortress. When I had the epiphany and started to pull the fortress down brick by brick he was there. He was patient and never rushed my process. He allowed me to cry when I needed to and never disrepected Chris’ memory. He still does this and I love him for it.

I’ve observed that walled hearts find it hard to see the light. I find that people who are so focused on protecting their hearts miss the joy and beauty of love and being loved on deeper levels. This is not to say they have no fun or walk around miserable. Most people will not even recognize they are in the “walled in heart crew” until they encounter Love. Love (God) whispers P.S. I love you over the course of history via His Word with timely reminders of His all-sufficient grace. He loves on us lavishly all the time but until we release the fear of being hurt we will be hard pressed to see it. Until we abandon the need  to have all answers, all the time before making a move, we remain stuck in “could have” and “should have” thoughts. I saw a quote recently from an unknown source that said “sometimes we want greater clarity when what we need is deeper trust”. The quote hit me hard because Im still in the beginner class for deep trust but I’m trying. So when my heart quakes, I remind myself that Love loves me and that if I open my heart to Him, He will direct my path.

Write Fully Yours

Lady Kavan

P.S. I love you, says God.

Trust in the Lord completely, and do not rely on your own opinions. With all your heart rely on him to guide you, and he will lead you in every decision you make.
Proverbs 3:5 TPT

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Toy Cars and Match Boxes

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I like to sit at the window seat when I take the plane. When I look outside shortly after take off, the cars and the buildings look like toy cars and match boxes. Soon, they become unrecognizable specks and I can only identify larger patterns; city grid, farm land, mountain range or body of water.

I also love water. The beach or any spot overlooking the ocean brings me such calm. I think it’s because each time I look out at the expanse of the water, I am reminded of how small I am in comparison. The open water points me to a Greater Source that keeps this massive element in check. I mean, land and sea operate in vastly different ways yet, when all is well, there is such synergy.

Anyway, I’ve been thinking about the toy cars and match boxes we strive to maintain. As adults, how many hours in our day revolve around earning funds to purchase lease or rent these? How many hours are spent maintaining these things? I’m certainly not suggesting that we should not. I’m just asking myself.. how important are these treasures I store up? What is the true cost of my possessions? What am I trading in to acquire them? When I’m on my “A-game”, I work, bills are paid, house is cleaned, laundry done, I splurge on retail therapy and like clockwork I push and fight to maintain the cycle without falling off balance.

Lately. I’ve been feeling like there has to be more. It all seems so insular and selfish sometimes; my house, my car, my perfect children, my enviable career. I’m not at the level of having gained the world but I believe we lose our souls a little at a time, not all at once. I believe we lose it when we become so pigeonholed in our thinking that we forget about our neighbour. I believe we lose our souls a little bit when we don’t look up and out of our own concerns to be there for someone else. I’m not saying we should all be grandiose in our projects to help others. I’m just self examining. Am I helpful to the people who live in my house? How do they see me at work? Am I a team player or all for my own glory? Am I simply a nice person? I know that I don’t have to be a socialite to be pleasant. Do I operate like that? When I leave that job would the security guard notice I was gone because I used to be the one who paused to smile at him or cared to know him or her by name?

As the questions ramble on in my head, it climaxes at this thought. What do I want to be remembered for? My aim is to not care too much if my name was spoken before great people IF the people I see and work with everyday find me obnoxious, moody, miserable or even worst selfish. I want to be remembered for being a nice, welcoming, helpful, loving and brave. When I think of the people I love, who have gone before me, I scarcely remember their accolades. I remember how they made me laugh or how they made me feel. When I am gone, I want to be felt not recollected. I don’t want to gather toy cars and match boxes at the expense of love, empathy and intimacy for the people I encounter in my everyday.

I leave these words of Scripture with you from the Passion Translation. I have been thinking about it. It may or may not be familiar, but read it slowly and intentionally…

If I were to speak with eloquence in earth’s many languages, and in the heavenly tongues of angels, yet I didn’t express myself with love, my words would be reduced to the hollow sound of nothing more than a clanging cymbal. And if I were to have the gift of prophecy with a profound understanding of God’s hidden secrets, and if I possessed unending supernatural knowledge, and if I had the greatest gift of faith that could move mountains, but have never learned to love, then I am nothing. And if I were to be so generous as to give away everything I owned to feed the poor, and to offer my body to be burned as a martyr , without the pure motive of love, I would gain nothing of value.
1 Corinthians 13:1‭-‬3 TPT

Think about it. What motivates you, is it toy cars and match boxes or is it love?

Write Fully Yours

Lady Kavan

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