Wounded

Posted by: kim

It seemed like I had been driving forever! Finally I came to a greatly neglected piece of property out in the middle of nowhere. The address in my hand matched that on a dilapidated mailbox. Cautiously, I turned onto the long dirt driveway. I finally reached an old rundown home. I put the car in park and slowly made my way to the side door. The owner met me outside. The sound of well over 100 dogs was piercing. She brought out the 3-month old puppy I had come to see. Hovering in her arms, shaking and terrified, the puppy eyed me with palpable fear. The owner explained how this puppy had been removed from her mother at about two weeks of age and isolated from other dogs its whole life because of a Parvo epidemic. The previous day, however, she temporarily put this puppy in an enclosure with some older dogs that ganged up on her and attacked her. At only one-and-a-half pounds, she was obviously underfed and had been emotionally and physically abused.

I knew right then that I would be bringing Cinnamon home with me. A short while later, our local paper ran a story about this breeder. As the story unfolded, my family read with horror the abuse these 100+ dogs suffered at her hands. She was now in prison. In the ensuing weeks and months, Cinnamon’s emotional wounds became increasingly obvious. The abuse and isolation she had endured created a very insecure, fearful, poorly socialized dog who, nine years later, still struggles with emotional issues on a daily basis.

Can you identify with Cinnamon? Statistics show that most people suffer some type of significant trauma by the time they enter adulthood. Sadly, many never overcome the damage caused by the ordeal or suffering, especially in the area of relationships. I talk with many young people every week and am amazed at what they reveal to me…things they have endured and are struggling to overcome, losses they have suffered of great magnitude, or the ramifications of poor decisions they made in the past. The numbers are sobering.

Are you one of these people? Perhaps you have suffered:
---rejection by a parent
---abuse (physical or verbal) or betrayal by someone you trusted
---bullying by schoolmates, “friends,” or associates
---death of a parent or sibling
---serious health issues when young, which isolated you from normal peer interactions
---sexual abuse by someone of the opposite (or same) sex
---exposure at a young age to something very damaging
---growing up in an alcoholic home

Maybe you are suffering from the effects of choices you made, such as:
---drug, alcohol, or gambling addiction
---abortion

If we don’t adequately deal with the trauma in our past, at some point in our lives, it will reemerge. Some of us are masters at keeping our “secret” buried and hidden. But we cannot keep it “under cover” forever. It will surface sometime and will begin to consume our thoughts and emotions. Then it will start to control us (our thoughts, actions, and relationships) … and then it will define us. We begin to see ourselves through the eyes of our injustice and not through the eyes of our Creator. We eventually become handicapped by the anxieties we feel in response to our hurt.

This world is controlled by sin, the enemy of our souls. Left alone, it will defeat us. Plain and simple. But God provides a way out. He sent His only son to earth to die in order to defeat sin and the injustices of this world. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. He is called the Great Comforter and intercedes on our behalf when we are unable. The Holy Spirit will fill our emptiness, heal our hurts, and replace our feelings of confusion, inadequacy, anxiety, and unworthiness with peace and fulfillment … if we call out to God for His help in dealing with our past.

Oftentimes our past hurts and our losses are especially intense over the Christmas holidays. Let’s actively choose to focus on Jesus and not our circumstances. Let’s “keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed -- that exhilarating finish in and with God -- he could put up with anything along the way: cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God.” (Hebrews 12:2, The Message)

Remember that God is in control and our eternal destiny is held safe and secure.

Humor


An elderly couple took their 4-year-old grandson to church one Sunday morning. The grandma sang in the choir, so she told the boy that he would be sitting with his grandpa in the church. She took the boy aside, gave him a quarter, and instructed him to poke his grandpa now and then to keep him awake during the service.

The grandpa slept through much of the service, and after church, grandma asked the boy why he hadn’t followed her instructions. The boy replied: “Grandpa gave me 50-cents not to wake him.”

Welcome


A young man living and working in Garissa, Nairobi-Kenya joins us as our newest subscriber this week. Welcome!

Do you have any friends, siblings, or cousins who would like to connect with The Edge? Why not consider forwarding today’s Edge to some of them? It may be just what they need.

30-Day Challenge


If you are doing the 30-Day Challenge, when you finish, remember to email me a brief accounting of what you did, along with your physical address. Kim@walkontheedge.org

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Check it out!

Praise and Prayer


The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:16b)

Please remember Gail Lazenby in your prayers as she recovers from chemo for metastatic pancreatic cancer.

How may we pray for you or someone you know?

Closing Thoughts


Let’s face it, this fallen world will knock us around a fair amount. Some of you have already suffered serious losses, trauma, or injustices. As we adopted Cinnamon into our family, God adopts you into His family (John 1:12) and you belong to Him (1 Corinthians 6:20). But unlike Cinnamon, you have the blessing and power of the Holy Spirit! Do you realize what this means?!? In essence, God has taken up residence within YOU! Did you catch that? Inside YOU! And He doesn’t leave! How cool is that?

Tap into this power (through prayer) to rise above your wounds (with God’s help) and not allow them to define you. Instead, allow God to refine you into the person He designed you to be—a person unencumbered by the past. Know what else? God also promises that He works every detail of our lives into something good in the end. Somehow and in some way, He will use your past for something of value.

I don’t want you to think I am oversimplifying the process that some of you will need to take to deal with your past and resolve your suffering. A number of you will need professional counseling to overcome the deep-seated wound you are left with. Deciding to take control of your situation (before it controls you) by seeking professional help is a sign of strength, not weakness. Decide today to make 2009 the year to get the process rolling. Do not delay. Go to your pastor for counseling or ask him/her (or someone you trust) for the name of a good Christian counselor. Then make an appointment. The more you delay, the harder it will be (yet never impossible) to overcome the hurt and get your life back on track.

But always, take it to God. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you [emotional] rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

God is here. God is active. Do you believe it?

To Him be all glory!
Ms. Kim
www.walkontheedge.org
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I need your help


If any of you have the name of a good Christian counselor or a minister who is trained in counseling, will you please pass along that resource (name and contact information) to me? I’d like to build a data base of people all over the U.S. and world who can minister to Edgers in this capacity. Thank you.

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To comment on this newsletter or to dialogue with the writer, post comments below.

Dialogue with other readers in the forums as you respond to these questions or those of your own.

If you have ever undergone counseling, how did it benefit you? How can you encourage someone (reading this) who is trying to deal with an injustice or trauma like one we listed in this Edge? (You may conceal your identity in the forums by using a pseudonym and hiding your email address.)

Spiritual Leprosy

Posted by: kim

In the last Edge, we recounted the story from Luke 17 of the ten men infected with “leprosy.” Will you allow me to plunge deeper this week? In a sermon, theologian Don Schultz identified “spiritual leprosy” as the more serious disease infecting these men. Let me explain.

In Bible times, leprosy was an incurable, physical disease that rotted away your body while you were still alive. Upon detecting the first signs of the rash, you would have to leave town and go out into the desert to live in caves with other lepers. If someone came close, you’d have to shout, “Unclean! Unclean!” to warn them to stay away!

The day Jesus approached, the ten lepers called out to him, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!” They must have heard that this Jesus had the power to heal; perhaps some thought that He could even be the Messiah.

To their astonishment, Jesus healed them immediately! All went running off excitedly except for one who realized that this man really must be the Messiah! When he returned to praise Him, Jesus acknowledged his faith. “Rise and go, your faith has made you well.”

Did you catch what happened? Don’t miss it! Jesus healed all ten men of the skin disease that was eating away at their bodies. But nine of them didn’t recognize a more serious disease they had--a “sin disease” as Schultz puts it--that was eating away at their souls. One man, however, was different. Because of the faith he showed in acknowledging Jesus’ deity, Jesus healed him of his sins and made him whole. He was now a child of God.

The ten lepers represent the masses. Nine have spiritual leprosy. They are self-absorbed and focused on outward things (their body’s problems, their family & friends, things they must do, etc., etc., etc.) to the point that they are blinded to the reality of their internal condition. When healed, they forget to thank God. Instead, they run headfirst into the world and its enticements, becoming even more self-consumed in the process!

You … my friend are the one leper who remembers to praise God. You remember to take time out from your friends and family, sports, entertainment, job, parties, etc. to praise and thank God. When others sleep in on Sunday mornings, you remember this is the Lord’s Day and you get up and go to church. You realize that no matter what the rest of the world is doing, Jesus came and cleansed you from the rapid decay of your soul—an incurable, awful disease that has infected all mankind. Jesus restored you and made you whole! Yes, YOU are different from the world.

Does this mean we supposed to neglect the people in our lives and the things we enjoy? Absolutely not!!! We are to enjoy it all, but God deserves the first portion of our time. We must remember to seek Him first, then the rest. (Matthew 6:33) It’s a priority thing.

Those of us in the U.S. will be celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow, a day when many of us will recall our blessings. When we do, will we thank and praise God? Or will He be forgotten in the delicious feast of turkey, cranberries, and pumpkin pie—the festive pageantry of the Macy Day Parade—the exciting football games all afternoon—the (you fill in the blank.)

“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name.” (1 Chronicles 16:8a)
”Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15)
”Now, our God, we give you thanks, and praise your glorious name.” (1 Chronicles 29:13)

Are You Taking the 30-Day Challenge?


Only Edge subscribers are eligible. Let’s make a powerful impact in our world together!!! Since we have all been richly blessed, let’s reach out in gratitude and bless others! For 30 consecutive days (between now and Christmas) do something every day for someone or for the world around you, without expecting a payback. It must be something different every day. It doesn’t have to be big! Will you join us?

Keep a very brief record of what you do. If you haven’t started yet, today is your last chance to start in order to finish by Dec. 25th.

When complete, email your list (Kim@walkontheedge.org) along with a mailing address and I will send you a surprise. Just think of the difference we can make together! For some ideas, refer to the previous newsletters on the web.

Humor


The new bride wanted everything to be perfect for the Thanksgiving dinner she was hosting for her in-laws. So she called the turkey hotline and said, “I bought a 12-pound bird. How long does it need to cook?”

“Just a minute,” said the hotline operator, paging through her reference book.

“Thanks!” said the bride as she hung up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At a White House breakfast for religious leaders, President Bush told the story of a little boy who offered up this simple prayer: “God bless Mommy and Daddy, my brother and sister; and God, do take care of Yourself because if anything happens to You, we’re all sunk.”

Welcome


This week we welcome two new Edgers. One is a student at The College of Southeastern. He also works as a worship leader at his church, as well as at numerous other churches and student activities. We also welcome a student in Georgia. We’re glad you joined us!!!

Odd, but True


A German couple says it was just a joke, but authorities see it differently. Hours after a young German couple listed their 7-month-old baby on eBay, authorities had the auction shut down and the child in protective custody. The price on the child’s head started at one euro ($1.58). The ad read, “Offering my nearly new baby for sale, as it has gotten too loud. It is a male baby, nearly 28 inches long and can be used either in a baby carrier or a stroller.”

-World Magazine, June 14/21, 2008

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Get involved. Discuss hot topics with one another.

Praise and Prayer


The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. (James 5:16b)

Please remember Gail Lazenby in your prayers. She has now had two chemo treatments for pancreatic cancer and remains very weak. She greatly appreciates your prayers.

May we pray for you or someone you know?

Closing Thoughts


In all honesty, every day is Thanksgiving to the Christian! Every day we live in praise to God and the wonderful things He has done. While the rest of the world is running down the hill in a frenzied rush of activity, we stop for a moment or two to thank Jesus for his blessings, especially His ultimate gift of dying and rising from the dead (for YOU and ME personally!), for cleansing us of our sin disease, for being with us at all times, for always caring.

May we all seek Jesus with pure hearts that recognize Him amidst the many distractions that clamor for our attention. May we gladly interrupt our busy lives to glorify Him first.

Thank you all for blessing me so richly this year. May God bless you with peace and a heart of gratitude this Thanksgiving. And in our gratitude, let’s remember to invite Jesus to our celebrations.
Ms. Kim
www.walkontheedge.org


To comment on this newsletter or to dialogue with the writer, post comments below.

Dialogue with other readers in the forums as you respond to this question or one of your own.

What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?