Tim & Jen Part 1 | by Jennifer Hill
Learning to Ask for Help | by Dianna Auton
MAY / JUNE 2019 ISSUE 14
Aspiring to Be Helping you to be all that God has created you to be. Aspiringtobemag.wordpress.com
Contents 03
Contributors
04
Letter from the Editor
05
05
Learning to Ask for Help
07
Tim & Jen Part 1
09
Looking at the Light
By : Dianna Auton
Learning to ask for Help
07
Tim & Jen Part 1
09
Looking at the Light
13
Slaves to the Misery of Sin
13
By: Jennifer Hill
By: Kristi Willingham
Slaves to the Misery of Sin By: Ashley Chambers
Regular Contributors: Jennifer Hill
is the founder of Broken to Blessed Ministry. You can find more information about Jennifer and her ministry on her website: www.brokentoblessedministry.com . Watch on YouTube and follow on Facebook.
Kristi Willingham lives in Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. She works in Social Services for the Salvation Army.
Ashley Chambers
is a wife and mother to 5. She is founder of Count it All Joy Ministry on Facebook. She is also a blogger for FOCUS Ministries and social media coordinator for the Girls Life group at Redemption Church in Knoxville, TN.
Dianna Auton
holds a Bachelor of Science in Christian Education. Her personal ministry is to encourage women of all walks of life to serve God in every area of life. She lives with her husband of 20 years, Andy, and daughters in East Tennessee, where she serves in her local church. You can connect with her on her personal blog, "A Little Bit of Everything" at: diannaauton.wordpress.com
Time of Celebration We are in the midst a very busy season. May and June is a season of celebrating. If you have kids in high school and/or college, it is a season of graduations and end of school year fun. We are in the midst of this right now. My middle daughter is graduating high school and we are celebrating her. It's also a time of celebrating our parents. Mother's Day and Father's Day follow one another and it is a time when we can say thank you to those that fill those roles in our lives whether they are our biological parents or people God has put into our lives to fill those voids. As you go through these next days remember to say thank you to the most important parent. Daddy God. He created us and is molding us every single day of life. Just as clay is shaped into something beautiful. God works in us and creates us something beautiful in all of us. Blessings to you during this season and may this time of celebration bring you joy.
Dianna
Learning to Ask for Help Dianna Auton
As a woman I sometimes forget that I am not Wonder Woman or Super Girl or any of those female super hero's that I grew up reading about and watching. But lately I was reminded even more so that I am not one of them. In fact, as much as my husband and children think I'm awesome, I am just as human as they are. In recent days I have learned that I actually could use some help. I have a couple close friends who lovingly remind me that I need to take breaks. I need time to relax, have fun and rest. It's so hard when you are wife, mom, teacher, and ministry leader to find time to yourself and so you just get into a groove and you just keep going and going. That is, until you crash. Eventually you will get to a point where you can not go anymore. Then you realize that something has to give or you will give out. God reminded me once again that we can not go it alone. We must learn to ask for help. I know it sounds so hard to do, but we must learn to do it so we can give our best to the people and things that are important to us. God doesn't want us to be worn out. He wants us to live our life to the fullest. So we must learn to ask for help when we need it and stop trying to be Wonder Woman. Sometimes it all comes down to pride. We think people will look down on us if we need help. We think people will think we are weak. But it is all in our minds. It is something that Satan will use against us to get us overworked, burdened down and no longer functional to do the things that God has called us to do. It's a ploy. A deception that we must do it all on our own.
If you look through out the entire Bible you will see that our forefathers in the faith had partners or helpers. Adam had Eve, Moses had Aaron and Hur, David had Jonathan, and Paul had Barnabas and Timothy. In fact I remember specifically that God spoke to Moses about assigning leaders in the camp. Those who could be trusted to help. This story is in Exodus 18 you can read it but in verses 17-18 Moses father-in-law, Jethro, said this to him "... the thing that thou doest is not good. Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is to heavy for thee; though art not able to perform it thyself alone." (KJV) I'm going to share it from the The Message Bible to clarify "... This is no way to go about it. You'll burn out, and the people right along with you. This is way too much for you - you can't do this alone." God used Jethro to help Moses to see that he needed help. He could have ended up in an earlier grave if he didn't get help. I don't want to wear myself down to that point, do you? I want to be able to fulfill all my days on the earth and all that God has called me to do. I want to live my best life in order to be a light to the world around me. So how do we ask for help? Well you would think that would be the easiest thing in the world, right? But so many people have this problem. So here are three things you should do in order to ask for help. 1.) Let go of pride. 2.) Pray and ask God who you should ask or to send help. 3.) Ask. Then take it a step further and let go of the thing you asked help for and don't pick it back up. Remember why you needed help to begin with. Let the person you assigned it to do the job. (This is sometimes the hardest part of asking for help.) I hope you have been helped and remember that it is okay to ask for help. - Blessings -
Tim & Jen Jennifer Hill
This pic was taken in 2013, we were about to go into a counseling session. In 2013 we had been married 19 years. We had never been to counseling or really ever thought we needed it til now. As many of you know, I grew up in a very toxic, abusive environment. I also grew up in a home with a strong Jezebel spirit. Near the end of 2011, that spirit that I had fought and would not cave to, tried to overtake me and destroy my family. You may wonder if I had fought it for most of my life, how it almost destroyed me, it snuck in through fear. A spirit/demon doesn’t care how it comes in as long as it gets in! I started having these vain imaginations, these lies and even pictures in my head. I started listening to lies and the deceptive voice of Satan. I thought/felt my husband was cheating on me and going to leave me. I can see these things playing out in my head like a movie, vain imaginations. The Bible tells us to cast these down, but of course I was headlong in the battle and they were running wild. Tim was trying to do everything he could to help convince me that this was the devil and lies and the Jezebel spirit trying to take over. But, I couldn't see it, I was already so blinded to the truth. Satan had already caught me, in his evil web of deceit. My ear gates and eye gates were closed to the Truth and even the Truth of God’s Word. My eyes were shut for a year & 1/2, I couldn’t get the breakthrough I and Tim so desperately needed. I was seeking the Lord, I would read the Word and pray, oh I would pray. But, do you remember the verse Matt. 6:23 about when your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And the light you think you have is actually darkness, and how great is that darkness. My mind was as one dear woman who tried to counsel me said, a hornets nest. Lies and evil thoughts were already flooding my head. See, I believe that’s how Satan gets in to our lives, with just one lie. Then we meditate and meditate on that lie, instead of the Bible and that lie grows into more & more lies. The Word comes from hearing and hearing, we know Satan has a counterfeit for everything God has, so when we’re hearing these lies and hearing these lies, they become truth to us. This is why we must shut Satan down the moment we hear and discern that it’s him, or it will quickly have a snowball effect. My mind was in a constant
uproar, I used to wish I could shut it off. This Jezebel spirit I have noticed comes in a lot (not always) of times through fear, like through even a traumatic experience. This spirit doesn’t want to play, it is 1 of the deadliest spirits in my opinion, I lived in an environment with this spirit for 20 years of my life. You’ll have to wait for the next article to get the end of the story. The love and restoration the Lord brought us was nothing short of amazing! He will do the same for you! ~Blessings~
Looking at the Light Kristi Willingham
I love that first sunny, warm day when Old Man Winter finally releases his grip and cries “uncle” to the playful youth of Spring. When everyone seems a bit lighter, more giddy, twitterpated, and bubbling over with laughter. And Dusk brings the beautiful pink and blue clouds that float effortlessly through the late evening sky. Somehow on that day of the year, I feel a bit taller. It’s as if the light from the sun lifts my physical body and my thoughts turn to afternoons at the lake, followed by bonfires and music, and the joys of interacting with friends, old and new. On a recent Sunday morning our worship team was practicing before service. As we sang the familiar lyrics of a popular song, I lifted my head skyward singing, “Jesus, You make the darkness tremble” and “Your Name is a light that the shadows can’t deny, It cannot be overcome”; and I entered into that secret place where my Husband, Jesus and I often walk together. Here is where I should mention that I tend to lose myself in worship. I close my eyes, look up, and before you know it I’m the little girl dancing on Daddy’s feet in a field of wheat, or lying in the grass with my head in our Lord's lap as He pushes my hair back as you would a little child, or walking with Jesus holding hands. The moment we’re in that sweet fellowship, whatever is going on around me becomes impossible to see, like snow blindness from looking at the sun. This morning we were discussing, John 14:27-31 in our weekly devotion time at work. I asked the Lord why He said to His disciples, "I'm telling you these things now so that after they happen, you will believe". He began to speak to me about light. He brought to my attention John 1:5, “And the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not.” Other versions read, “has not overcome it”, “has not defeated it”, “can never extinguish it”. Then He began to speak to me about John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness”. And later as I began to study it out, 1 John 1:5-6, “This is the message we have heard and declare to you; God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.”
I don’t ever remember a time in my history when there has been such a dense spirit of darkness and depression loose on the earth. If ever there was a time for light to shine, it’s now. I wanted to get a better understanding of what Daddy God was saying, so I looked up some physical aspects related to light. Did you know our eyes can only see images when light is scattered into them. The light forms an image of what we are looking at in our brain. Objects can be seen sideways because our eyes scatter light in all directions. But Light itself doesn’t scatter other light at all, but rather, the two beams pass through each other. (“Not my will, but Your Will be done, Father”, as Jesus in the Garden submitted His Will to the Will of the Father.) Because of this, we can only see a light source if we’re looking directly at it. Otherwise, the only time we can see the source of light while not looking directly at it, is if it’s traveling through another medium, like a dust cloud, fog, or water. I mean, wow! See I think Jesus knew His disciples couldn't possibly grasp the horror of His death (and subsequently believe in His resurrection) while they were walking with Him. How could they? Remember, snow blindness from looking at the sun? If you're walking with the One Who can solve every problem you could ever face (including raising people from the dead), how could you ever believe anything bad could happen?! Holy Spirit directed me to this, Hebrews 3:6, “But Christ was faithful as a Son over His House, whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.” And John 14:23 and 1 Corinthians 3:16, both of which speak of Jesus living on the inside of us. Back to the worship song! His Name is a light that cannot be overcome! No matter how hard the darkness tries to comprehend the light, it simply cannot! DARKNESS CANNOT SHARE A SPACE WITH LIGHT! When we focus our eyes on the Light that is Jesus living on the inside of us, that darkness or depression (or sickness, or financial despair; darkness of any form) utterly cannot defend itself against the Name and the Presence inside us of our Lord Jesus! If you’re struggling with a spirit of darkness, depression, or heaviness I urge you to, like the song says, “Raise a hallelujah”! Use your God given power of a shout of praise and thanks to the Lord for His Goodness to defeat that darkness. And keep your eyes focused on the Source of Light, through praise, worship, reading His Word, and praying in the Spirit. Remind that spirit that it cannot stay in your mind, because a house divided against itself cannot stand; and since the Great Light that is Jesus Christ inhabits you, spirit, soul, mind, and body, darkness has no ability to stay!
Pray this prayer: Spirit of darkness, heaviness, and depression I rebuke you. I command you to leave my mind and body in the Name of Jesus! You have no right to any part of my life because Jesus, the Great Light lives on the inside of me, therefore you cannot stay! You go now in the Name of Jesus!
Thank you Lord Jesus that You have not given me a spirit of fear, but Your Perfect Love in me casts down all fear. I love You, I praise You, and I thank You for Your Goodness that is overtaking me. And I choose every day to rejoice and be glad; and I know this to be a weapon which You gave me to defeat the enemy. And I thank You that every day, the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart are acceptable in Your sight, Lord. For You are my strength and my redeemer. You redeem the thoughts of my mind. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen. Blessings!!!
FOR I KNOW THE PLANS I HAVE FOR YOU,” SAYS THE LORD. “THEY ARE PLANS FOR GOOD AND NOT FOR DISASTER, TO GIVE YOU A FUTURE AND A HOPE. Jeremiah 29:11 NLT
Slaves to the Misery of Sin Ashley Chambers "Slaves to the misery of sin." The last six words of Hosea 6:11. I really want to focus on those six words first. I remember when I was absolutely miserable because I was a slave to sin. NOTHING brought me peace, joy or satisfaction. Those can only come from one source and it requires our choosing. Giving our lives to the lord and accepting Jesus as lord and savior. Turning away from all the sin and dead end roads that lead us to death and destruction. As a believer Romans tells us that we are no longer a slave to sin but God’s servants. As His children we are free from bondage and shackles. We get to RUN out of the graves that hold us down and run into the arms of Jesus. Take refuge and cover under the wings that mount us up as eagles. He is our defender and shield. Our fortress and strong tower in time of trouble. He delights in us and sings over us. He adopts us into His royal family and crowns us into righteousness through the blood of Jesus. We are no longer dead but alive! We no longer need to walk as we once did but instead dive deep into the knowledge and lifestyle of our Christian walk. Abide and delight in Him. Chase after the living water. The well that never runs dry. We need not hunger nor thirst. God’s Word is alive and active. We are equipped as children of the most high and we IMMEDIATELY receive EVERYTHING we need to walk in victory over every circumstance, hindrance, attack, temptation and trial we will ever face. Some have gone from God by their own choosing, slipping away one choice at a time. Then as corporate worship, encouragement, and edifying of the saints occur within the church; the counterfeit of drawing one another to sin and encouragement to remain in it occurs out of the church. It’s not that obvious but that’s exactly what it is. The world longs to entice us and We aside from the lord will be dragged away. Those that are His that have walked away should then by choice after hearing His calling them back to Him return. It brings Him glory and it is for our good. We must remind one another of the importance of repentance and pray for one another to keep the good fight of faith! We have examples in Hosea 6 of God’s desires and what not to do. We are seeing a church so muddied and watered down and the people of the church look so much like the world that you can’t tell the difference and there’s no distinction between them and the world. We must not forget to be and remain set apart. Keep the biblical examples before our eyes and vivid in our minds. Honoring God and desiring to please Him and be obedient. His Love and kindness draws us to repentance.
May we not forget the importance or seriousness of Him as a holy and righteous God and father. Return to Him in spirit and truth. Remain in Him as He desires to come to us as the latter and former rain! Our preparation for the harvest. Let’s not destroy the plentiful harvest crop while it’s still a seed. Hosea 6:3 "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come to us as the rain, as the latter and former rain to the earth." (KJV)
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FOR I AM ABOUT TO DO SOMETHING NEW. SEE, I HAVE ALREADY BEGUN! DO YOU NOT SEE IT? I WILL MAKE A PATHWAY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS. I WILL CREATE RIVERS IN THE DRY WASTELAND. Isaiah 43:19 NLT
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