Andrea Merrell's Blog

 

By Andrea Merrell

The end of a thing is better than its beginning.

Ecclesiastes 7:8 NKJV

The pastor’s wallwas covered with diplomas, awards, and accolades of every type imaginable.Well-respected in his church and community, the man took great pride in hispopularity and all his accomplishments. He carried his profession around like atrophy.

But just like somany others who take their eyes off the Lord and take credit for all He hasdone for them and through them, he fell into a sin-filled life and losteverything he had—his church, his family, and his reputation. His arrogancebecame his downfall, and his story did not end well.

On the other hand,let’s look at Rahab. She was known as a harlot. Not a good beginning, butbecause of her belief in and commitment to the God of Abraham, she was sparedwhen her city fell and is now listed in the lineage of our Savior Jesus.

The Word forYou Today says this aboutRahab: “Her profession of faith mattered more than her profession as a harlot.”God redeemed her and redirected her life. Unlike the pastor, her life wastenuous at the start, but ended strong. What a testimony!

Many of us had arough start in life, but God is all about redemption and restoration. He turnsmourning into joy and replaces ashes with beauty. When we trust in Him, He cantake ever the worst and most tragic situation and turn it around for our goodand His glory.

As believers, wedon’t know the future, nor can we control what happens in this life. But byplacing our trust and hope in the Lord, we know the end of our story. And it’sbetter than anything we could ever imagine.

Do you know theend of your story?

 

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By Andrea Merrell

How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives

in the Spirit, why are you now trying

to become perfect by your own human effort?

Galatians 3:3 NLT

For so many years,I thought everything in my life had to be perfect—my hair, my clothes, myhouse, my car, my words—so people would love and accept me. That misguidedthinking bled over into my relationship with the Lord. As a people pleaser, Ialso worked hard to please the Lord. If I didn’t do everything just right ormeasure up to my own self-imposed standards, how could He possibly love andaccept me?

The truth isperfectionism is a trap that holds us back from receiving God’s unconditionallove, acceptance, and approval, as well as those around us. We can never fullyexperience God’s peace or a sense of well-being as long as everythingassociated with us has to be flawless.

One writer saysthat perfectionism is a “mindset of self-defeating thoughts and behavior aimedat reaching unrealistic goals.” When we live this way, we set ourselves up tofail each day because we think our accomplishments are never good enough. Whenwe fall short of our own expectations, it only drives us to try harder—or tostop trying at all.

The good news isthat God knows us better than we know ourselves and accepts us just as weare—our faults, imperfections, and weaknesses—and He gives us the ability tolove and accept ourselves. And according to Galatians, no matter how hard westrive to do and be better, it is the Spirit’s job to change us, not our ownhuman efforts. The Message translation brings ithome:

Let me put thisquestion to you: How did your new life begin? Was it by working your heads offto please God? Or was it by responding to God’s Message to you? Are you goingto continue this craziness? For only crazy people would think they couldcomplete by their own efforts what was begun by God. If you weren’t smartenough or strong enough to begin it, how do you suppose you could perfect it?Did you go through this whole painful learning process for nothing? It is notyet a total loss, but it certainly will be if you keep this up!

Don’t let yourself get entangled inthe perfectionist trap. Instead, strive for excellence: doing the best you canwith what you have and what you know.

There is nothing—and no one—perfectexcept our Lord.

Photo courtesy of Microsoft 365.

 

By Andrea Merrell

Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit,

but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others betterthan himself.

Philippians 2:3 NKJV

 

For so much of mylife I was a bona fide people pleaser. Unsure of myself and lacking a healthysense of self-esteem, I tried to be and do what I thought everyone else expectedof me. What I didn’t realize at the time was that my efforts were rooted inpride and selfishness. I cared more about what people thought about me than Icared for those people. 

My misguided and performance-orientedefforts led to nothing more than hopelessness, anxiety, and feelings of beingless than, never good enough. I was seeking acceptance and approval in thewrong places.

The apostle Paultells us in Philippians that we should esteem others better than ourselves. TheNLT says it like this: “Don’t be selfish;don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better thanyourselves.”

Once I found my true identity inChrist and took my focus off myself, I learned to be less self-consciousand more God-conscious. My approval and acceptance come from Him, and Heis the only one I need to please—not others and not even myself. That revelationset me free to love others without any selfish motives.

One writer says that we should careabout others even when they don’t care about us. That’s the love of God inaction.

So ... who are you trying to please?

Photo by Ricky Kharawala on Unsplash

 

By Andrea Merrell

Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

Galatians 6:7 NKJV

 

As the womanshared all her woes for the week, the group discussion went down the proverbialrabbit hole as each woman attempted to one-up the other. “You think that’s bad,let me tell you …”

Some say if notfor bad luck, they’d have no luck at all. And there’s always good old Murphy’sLaw that says anything bad that can happen will happen.

Not only are thesenegative mindsets unhealthy and unscriptural, they’re contagious. They put usin a position of sowing bad seed which produces a bad crop. That’s the law ofsowing and reaping found in Matthew 13. What we plant is what we reap. Or toput it plainly, what we give is what we get back.

We don’t realizehow much power our words carry—both good and bad. James calls our tongue “anunruly evil full of deadly poison” (3:8 KJV). Proverbs tells us that “death andlife are in the power of the tongue” (18:21 NKJV).

When we wantsomething different, we have to do something different. When we keepsaying and doing the same old things, we’ll keep getting the same old results.

Jesus said in Mark11:23 that we can have whatever we say—when we believe (His Word) in our heartsand have no doubts. That’s how faith works.

Let’s make adecision to be careful with our words and intentional about the seeds we’resowing because we will reap what we sow. That’s a fact.

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By Andrea Merrell

Set your mind on the things above, 

not on the things that areon earth.

Colossians 3:2 NASB 1995

The woman was stressed, frustrated,and completely burned out. Unable to say no, she had committed herself to somany projects, she could never keep up. She had spread herself so thin, shewasn’t doing anything well.

“You’re trying to do too much,” thecounselor said to the distraught woman. “You need to cut some things from yourlife and narrow your focus.”

Every one of us is looking for apositive focus. Many find their identity in what they accomplish or acquire. Itmight be a job, a sport, or a hobby. It could be a child or other family member.It might mean working too hard or volunteering for every project that presentsitself. Or it could simply mean trying to please one’s self above all else.

The truth is God planted that longingin the human heart, and He is the only One who can fully satisfy it. The Bibletells us to set our minds on things above, not on earthly things. That’s whereour main focus should always be. You will keep in perfectpeace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! (Isaiah 26:3 NLT).

When we put Godfirst and take delight in Him, He promises to give us the desires of our heart(Psalm 37:4). Satisfaction. Peace, The desires of our heart. Sounds like apretty good deal to me. How about you?

Do you need tonarrow your focus?

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By Andrea Merrell

Present your bodies a living sacrifice …

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Romans 12:2 NKJV

 

The car was so farout of alignment that it constantly pulled to one side, making it hard to stayon the road. It finally became undriveable and had to be put in the repairshop.

We can be justlike that car, out of kilter, pulling one way or another, making it hard tostay on that straight and narrow path.

What do we do whenthis happens?

Romans tells us tooffer ourselves as living sacrifices and to be transformed by renewing ourminds. But how do we do that? The Message translation makes it clear and plain:

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take youreveryday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, andwalking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what Goddoes for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become sowell-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out.Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike theculture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, Godbrings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

The key is fixing our attention on theLord. Hiding His Word in our hearts. Putting on the mind of Christ. Bringingour thoughts, words, and actions into agreement with His.

Romans 8:6 says that “to bespiritually minded is life and peace” (KJV). It’s a matter of allowing theSpirit of God to control our thought life and bring our soul into agreement with our spirit. 

That's how we stay in perfect alignment.

   

Photo by Edz Norton on Unsplash

             

 

By Andrea Merrell

And we know that all things work together 

for good to thosewho love God,

to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Romans 8:28 NKJV

 

With the edges firmlyin place, we went to work on the inner portion of the puzzle. With so muchsimilarity in colors and all the oddly shaped pieces, it turned out to be quitethe challenge. Just when we thought we had it mastered, something didn’t quitefit.

Jigsaw puzzleshave been around since the 1700s and come in a variety of shapes, colors, and sizes.The key to putting them together—and many times the only way to keep our sanity—is an occasional glance at the picture on the top of the box.

Our life is muchlike one of those puzzles, especially when the pieces don’t seem to fittogether and we have no picture to go by.

The good news forus is that God already sees and knows the big picture, and He lovingly andmethodically puts the pieces in place as we learn to trust Him. In the same waywe can’t force the puzzle together, we can’t force portions of our life to lineup the way we want them to when God has other plans. When we try to makeit happen, the picture gets distorted.

We’re all familiarwith the Scripture about all things working together for good (Romans 8:28),but I love the way the Passion translation explains it:

So we are convinced that every detail of ourlives is continually woven together for good, for we are his lovers who havebeen called to fulfill his designed purpose. For he knew all about us before wewere born and he destined us from the beginning to share the likeness of hisSon.

The big picture for us is being conformed to the image andlikeness of our Lord and Savior Jesus, and only the Father knows what thatlooks like for each of us.

Trust Him to put all the pieces—even the broken and ragged ones—ofyour life together. The results will be amazing, and you won’t be disappointed.

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By Andrea Merrell

For the weapons of our warfare are not physical

[weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God

for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds.

2 Corinthians 10:4 AMPC

Do you have a stronghold in your life?I’ve certainly had a few.

Merriam-Webster’s describes strongholdas something fortified. In the Christian’s life, it can be anything that exaltsitself against the knowledge—and the Word—of God, our ultimate truth.

Many times we receive wrong teachingthat goes against that truth. It could be a conviction, a belief, or a habit.According to The Word for You Today, these are some of the most commonstrongholds we deal with:

Guilt – God could never forgive me.Resentment – I could never forgivethat person.Self-pity – Bad things always happento me.Pride – I have to be in charge.Rejection – I don’t deserve to beloved.Defeat – I’ll never recover.Performance – I must be good or Godwill reject me.Appearance – I’m only as good as Ilook.Materialism – My value equals mypossessions.

The good news is Godnever intended for us to live under these false premises. Strongholds are meantto be broken, and He has given us the tools: His Word, prayer, fasting, thename of Jesus, the blood of Jesus, and His very own weapons of warfare (seeEphesians 6).

Don’t allowstrongholds to keep you imprisoned in a state of perpetual frustration and evendepression. Use God’s mighty weapons to overthrow, destroy, and completelyobliterate them.

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By Andrea Merrell

 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;

old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV

 

My friend and I were discussing thepast, which brought up a plethora of memories—many good, others not so much.

I thought about the struggles I facedin those earlier years with fear. Low self-esteem. Anger. Trying desperately tofit in. I was, as they say, a hot mess.

Fortunately, I hardly recognize thatperson any longer. In a way, it’s like she never existed. It’s hard to lookback and try to remember her at all because so much has changed.

The Bible explains it as becoming anew creation in Christ. The old passes away, and everything becomes new. The Passiontranslation puts it like this:

Now, if anyone isenfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new person. All that is relatedto the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new.

During those rough years, I had noclue who I was. I constantly searched for my identity, my true self. And it wasonly found when I realized who I am in Christ. How He sees me. What He saysabout me in His Word. Once I surrendered completely to Him, my life changeddramatically and I became, just as the Bible says, an entirely new person.

If you’re searching to find your trueself, stop looking in all the wrong places. Your worth, your identity, and allthat you were created to be is found only in Christ.

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By Andrea Merrell

But the  Lord  was not in the wind; 

andafter the wind an earthquake,

but the  Lord  was not in the earthquake;  

and after the earthquake a fire,

but the  Lord  was not in the fire; 

andafter the fire a still small voice.

1 Kings 19: 11-12 NKJV

“What does Godsound like?” the little girl asked her mother.

Her motherthought long and hard before answering. “Sometimes like a whisper.”

The child’s eyes widened.“You mean like when you lean over closeto me in church and go shhhh?”

The motherchuckled. “Yes, something like that.”

So many of God’schildren struggle to hear His voice. They wait for a thunderclap, a loud command, or even theproverbial writing on the wall.

Elijah theprophet was no different. He listened for God in a powerful wind, an earthquake,and a great fire. But what he heard instead was a still, small voice. A gentlewhisper.

God speaks to Hisown in many different ways, but He is always communicating with us. One thingwe can count on is that His voice is never harsh, condemning, or overpowering.That, my friend, is the voice of the Enemy.

Jesus Himselfsaid, “My sheep hear my voice” (John 10:27). Jesus, our loving Shepherdtenderly cares for those who follow Him.

Are you followingHim. Are you listening for that still, small voice?

Photo courtesy of Microsoft 365.