Believe Truth Boards

Jesus said,

"I am the way, the truth, and the life."

I have come to see that

what I believe is how I will live.

And I have read that if the Son sets you free,

 you shall be free indeed.

And that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

So if I live what I believe,

I might as well believe Truth.

But there have been times I did not.

And some times I don't.

I have believed lots of things that aren't true.

For many years I believed that my

security, identity, validity, and value

were rooted in a successful academics, school activities,

a long list of accomplishments, 

career and business success,

and underneath all of that

admiration, praise and applause were my cup-fillers.

It's not that doing well in school and business is wrong.

But I grasped frantically and in desperation 

and sacrificed time, money, and values for those things.

They seemed like things I could control, they were right and good and admirable.

Yet those "things" are not The Way.

Those are not where I find ultimate security, identity, and value.

They are not what fill the hole in my heart I was seeking to fill.

The false beliefs are endless really.

We can discover them throughout our life.

And they really become how we live.

Even if they are not true.

But as my truth rather than my shameful hiding entered my life,

. . . even though it was painful at the time . . . 

as that happened

and the forgiveness of Jesus poured out on me

and His grace washed over me,

His truth 

opened up before my eyes.

The truth of 

who He is

and the truth of 

who I am

because of Him

and the truth of

who He has made and is making me to be.

He has continued

to show me Himself.

His Truth.

One in the same.

Three years ago,

I came to Cedar Canyon Bible Camp

just to go to the evening service.

Very raw.

Very broken.

Very much knowing

I needed to make a change.

I participated along with the teens

writing down what I needed to let go of on a piece of paper

and

we burned it.

I was not free yet in that moment.

But in the weeks to come,

I spoke with authenticity and truth.

And made hard changes.

Through restless nights,

vivid dreams,

wrestling with God and myself

about my beliefs and my choices and my options

to follow the Way.

Three years ago,

I let go of my agenda for how life had to be,

I let go of who I thought I had to please,

and let God transform my mind and heart.

Three years later,

I am back at Cedar Canyon Bible Camp,

sharing lies I have believed

and 

God's truth that can set us free.

Yesterday,

we nailed the truth

to pieces of wood.

With the lie

on the back side.

As I picked up the left over sheets

of lies and truth.

My heart broke when I saw the things the girls had believed

even though I have believed them,

and even though I knew

they probably have believed them.

Still, it breaks my heart when I see the holes

in the page,

where it said,

"I have believed that I am ruined 

and my life is ruined by things I have done 

or things that have happened to me."

It breaks my heart

when the hole was in the page

where the words read,

"I have believed that I don't belong"

or the one that was typed,

"I have believed that I am abandoned"

But my heart rejoices to know that

they also acknowledged that

"The truth is the Jesus can give me a crown of beauty

 in place of the parts of my life that have been destroyed" 

(See Isaiah 61)

and my heart rejoices

that she acknowledged that

"The truth is I belong to the LORD. 

He says, 'You are Mine."

(See Isaiah 43:1)

and that 

"The truth is that I have been chosen by Him to be holy and blameless.  

The truth is that it is His pleasure to adopt me and He planned to do it.  

The truth is He accepts me."

Ephesians 1:4-6

They made a

beautiful remembrance of Truth.

My prayer

for these girls

is that their hearts are prepared soil

ready to receive

the seeds of truth.

That the Word planted

won't be choked out by weeds,

dried up among the rocks,

or snatched away.

My prayer is

that they will be willing

to give their hearts to

the One who will make

their hearts into

the soil of a good and noble heart

receiving truth

so that it can grow

and mature

and

yield a harvest in their lives

100 fold.

Dear Lord,

Your word says in Isaiah 55 that

as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,

and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud,

That it may give seed to the sower

and bread the the eater,

So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;

It shall not return to Me void,

But it shall accomplish what I please,

And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

For you shall go out with joy,

and be led out with peace;

The mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you,

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Lord,

I pray that this Truth,

that your Word

shall not return to You void,

but shall accomplish what You please

and prosper

in the lives

of these

young

women.

And that there

will be

celebration.

In Jesus name,

Amen.

*

*

Cedar Canyon Bible Camp was

my "studio" for the week.

Visit Jennifer at Studio JRU and these 

inspirational artists, photographers, writers,

for a sneak peek into their studio this week:

Jodene Shaw Mixed Media Art & Photography copyright 2012.