• My Story in a Nutshell
  • Resources
  • Traumatic Stress Recovery of CNY

Stacey L. Lacik

~ Common Sense Christian Counsel

Stacey L. Lacik

Tag Archives: HolySpirit

Straight Paths

13 Wednesday Feb 2013

Posted by Stacey in The Journey

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Christ, Christian Living, Christianity, God, HolySpirit, Paul

English: The path here is nicely improved A bo...

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“So take a new grip with your tired hands and stand firm on your shaky legs.  Mark out a straight path for your feet.  Then those who follow you, though they are weak and lame, will not stumble and fall but will become strong.”  Hebrews 12:12-13 

We are called to  live holy lives for God‘s glory, our benefit, and to help others.  Hard to do when you’re tired.  And shaky.  And you just don’t feel like it.  Don’t want to get up, stand up, start out on the path again, or deal with others. Anybody.  (Unless they’re bringing you a fresh cup of coffee.)

To ‘mark out a straight path for your feet’ means to live (as John Maxwell says) an intentional life.  To decide where you’re going, what you are and are not going to do today.  Who will you spend time with?  Do you even know what path you’re on?  The people you spend time with are largely determined by the places you decide to go, or not go.  Do you know where you want to end up?

Things happen;  life happens.  And it seems to take an awful lot of energy some days to walk this thing out.

I joined a gym in December because the orthopedic surgeon said I need to go;  swimming and Pilates are the best exercises for Scoliosis and arthritis.  I have yet to go.  I won’t feel better until I do, but most days I don’t feel well enough to actually get in the car and drive there.  (And there are people there etc., etc.)

This isn’t at all what this verse is talking about, I don’t think, but it certainly is one way to apply it.  When Paul wrote this letter to the Hebrew Christians, he was encouraging them to lead intentional lives.  Do you know we are supposed to have followers? That people should be able to look at us and say “So that is what a normal Christian life looks like.”  We’re supposed to set an example.

As one of the women said last night “Even if we go forward crying, and still in pain, we go forward.”  So true.  God isn’t looking for a dressed up and shiny package of smiling, bubble-headed believers who have it all together.  He looks at our hearts:  our desire, and willingness to follow Him, and live life differently than the people around us.

I stopped trying to make my daughters go to youth group  when I saw the direction the group was headed.  They were only investing in the kids who looked like they had it all together;  (mostly kids whose parents were leaders in the church) and who had all the outward trappings of what the world would call “leadership potential”.  I didn’t want my kids to learn that kind of Christianity.  My kids have been through hell, and will enter Heaven triumphant, victorious, and strong.  They know how to do warfare.

One night, in the middle of the divorce years, I had a dream.  I was in a large open field, which I understood to be a battle field.  My daughters were standing in the middle of this field, and I watched as my oldest daughter helped her little sister put on her armor, and then put on her own.  Then they each picked up a sword and a shield, and slowly turned to me and said “Okay mom, we’re ready”.  And I woke up.

They struggle, as young adults, to lead lives that are holy.  To know that they are called, but some days just don’t feel like it.  So do I.  We cannot do this on our own strength;  without the help of the Holy Spirit, it just won’t happen.  Life can be just too overwhelming.  If I’m doing this, then I’m neglecting that;  between college applications, financial aid, scholarship forms and deadlines, it’s hard to remember people.  The worries and cares of this world are just that;  once this journey is over, we leave it all behind.  We enter heaven blood-stained, tear-stained, and covered with the dirt of our own personal battles.  But oh, when we get there ….. to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant”.  To be welcomed with open arms and know that we’re safe, loved, forgiven.

It will be worth it all.

Speaking the Truth in Love

20 Wednesday Oct 2010

Posted by Stacey in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Christ, Christia, Christian, Christianity, Common Sense Christian Counsel, Denominations, Ephesus, God, Health, Holy Spirit, HolySpirit, Jesu, Jesus, Lord, NLT, Paul, Reality, Religion and Spirituality

 

 

the Stainned Gless of depicting the Holy Spirit.

Image via Wikipedia

Truth should always be spoken in love.  Sometimes our intentions are misunderstood, and sometimes we do not understand our own motives for saying things.  Spiritual maturity is about being able to hear what someone is saying, and sifting it through the truth we know about ourselves, and then asking the Holy Spirit to reveal what we don’t know.  God is not out to humiliate, or embarrass us. We have to learn to take these situations and lay them out before the Lord and admit that we don’t know what to do.  Words that are spoken cannot be unspoken.  The most difficult thing to do is to go back and say “I’m sorry”.   When we have reacted by over-spiritualizing something, it’s even more difficult.  Most of the time we’re not being attacked  by demons, but by consequences.  A hard thing to admit, when our reputations are at stake.  Sometimes, truth hurts.  But healing is not possible unless truth is spoken in love.  This is the value in counseling.  If someone has known a great deal of harshness and unkindness in their life, it can be a tremendously restorative experience to have a person who treats you with love and respect.  A good counselor models the love of God to their clients, and teaches by example what grace and mercy look like in relationship.

So, where does that leave us?  For starters, let’s be gentle, kind, and forgiving with each other.  In his letter to the Ephesian church, Paul encouraged the new believers to speak the truth in love, for the express purpose of becoming more like Christ.  He said:  “Then we will no longer be immature like children.”  When we have a problem with another believer, we should go to them privately, and speak to them in a way that encourages growth and healing.  Children react defensively.  Not every situation is a ‘win-win’ situation, and contrary to popular opinion, this shouldn’t be our goal.  Love is.   Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is let go of your need to be right;  to say, “You know what, I’ve hurt you, and I didn’t mean to.  I’m so sorry.  What can I do to make this right?”  Think of how many problems in the church could be avoided if love was our primary goal.  Right thinking may be accomplished by Truth alone, but no true soul healing occurs without love, in or outside of the church.

“Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church.”  -Ephesians 4:15 NLT

Related Articles
  • Others May, You Cannot (challies.com)

 

"The art of writing is the art of discovering what you truly believe." -Gustave Flaubert

Calendar

February 2023
S M T W T F S
 1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
262728  
« Mar    

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 279 other subscribers

Topics

View Stacey L. Lacik's profile on LinkedIn

Share This Blog

Bookmark and Share

Social

  • View @sllacik’s profile on Twitter
  • View sllacik’s profile on Instagram
  • View sllacik’s profile on Pinterest
  • View staceylacik@gmail.com’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View staceylacik@gmail.com’s profile on Google+

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets
Follow Stacey L. Lacik on WordPress.com

Categories

  • The Journey

Blog Pages

  • My Story in a Nutshell
  • Resources
  • Traumatic Stress Recovery of CNY

Recent Comments

John on When Pigs Fly
Memoryvictim on Have We Lost Our Minds?
Stacey on Have We Lost Our Minds?
Memoryvictim on Have We Lost Our Minds?
Stacey on Have We Lost Our Minds?
"Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant." -Robert Louis Stevenson

Google Translator

Visitors

Flags Around the World

Flag Counter
Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. Acts 20:28

Blog Stats

  • 24,488 hits

Pages

  • My Story in a Nutshell
  • Resources
  • Traumatic Stress Recovery of CNY

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com
  • RSS - Posts
  • RSS - Comments

Recent Tweets

  • LIFETIME ACCESS to the Christian Writers Institute – The Cecil Murphey Scholarship Fund christianwritersinstitute.com/giveaways/ceci… via @cwritersinst 1 year ago
  • Leader of False Theology Movement Likens Trump to Elijah at Values Voters Summit | Susan Wright patheos.com/blogs/susanwri… 2 years ago
  • We need a little Christmas Giveaway! #giveaway #win kingsumo.com/g/gr8nmu/we-ne… 2 years ago
Follow @sllacik

Recent Posts

  • Variations On A Theme
  • Happy New Year
  • Unsettled
  • A Season of Changes
  • A Wing and a Prayer

Top Posts & Pages

Traumatic Stress Recovery of CNY
Variations On A Theme
Happy New Year
Unsettled

Top Clicks

  • None

Goodreads

Domestic Violence

National Center for PTSD homepage

Amazon Associates Store

  • Stacey's Amazon Associates Store Shop Amazon Associates

Blogroll

  • Finding Balance A Christian organization dedicated to those who struggle with eating disorders and body image.
  • Une Petite Folie

Retail Therapy

Shop Amazon Outlet - Clearance, Markdowns and Overstock Deals
Follow this blog

Hours & Info

Syracuse, N.Y.

Tags

Agnes Sanford Anorexia anxiety Bethel Bible Business Christ Christian Christianity Christian Living Christmas Church common sense Common Sense Christian Counsel Counseling Counseling and Psychotherapy counselor deliverance depression Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Divorce domestic violence DSM-5 Elijah Ephesus Epistle to the Philippians Faith False Memory Syndrome False Teaching Family Gift God Grace Grief Grief Loss and Bereavement Healing Health HolySpirit Holy Spirit Home Homer Hope Inner Healing Jesus Leadership Lord marriage Medicaid Mental health Old Testament Pastor Pastoral counseling Paul Peace Prayer Reality Recovered Memories relationship Religion and Spirituality Single-parent Sorrow Soul Healing SOZO Spirit Spiritual warfare stress Syracuse New York Syracuse University Therapy The Search for Significance Thought Tree Trust United States Word

My Photos

4824210325698
2622250318074
SAM_0551
SAM_3704
IMG_50211230773907
SAM_3670

Blogs I Follow

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Inspired by Life ... and Fiction

Novelists bound by the pen, sisterhood, & more

My Only Comfort

Traumatic Stress Recovery of CNY

Faith-Based Crisis Counseling

Rooftops & Rafters

Bethel Redding in the UK

Apologetics Index

Apologetics Research Resources on religious movements, cults, sects, world religions and related issues

NACSW

A Vital Christian Presence in Social Work

A Cry For Justice

Awakening the Evangelical Church to Domestic Violence and Abuse in its Midst

CHRISTian poetry ~ by deborah ann

Glory To God

The Word For Life

2 Timothy 3:16-17

DestinyHighway.com

DRIVE YOUR VISION.

Which Jesus Do You Follow?

2 Cor 11:4 For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you bear {this} beautifully.

LifeCoach4God

ENCOURAGING YOU IN CHRIST CENTERED LIVING!

The Narrowing Path

walking together in truth and love.

andwearpearls

m'kayla's korner

Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. Luke 11:35

Emma Kayne

The Department of Designs

Berean Research

"Guard Yourselves in Steadfast Truth!"

Revolutionary Faith

Taking back Christianity

NAMI Syracuse

A Better Understanding

Michelle Borquez Thornton The Recipe Matters

Not just the ones you cook with but the ones you live by

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Stacey L. Lacik
    • Join 111 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Stacey L. Lacik
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...