RP Devotionals - Redeemed Pink Ministries

Redeemed Pink

Devotionals to Ponder

I recently saw a thought provoking book title-Nice Girls Don’t Change the World. The book is written by Lynne Hybels, who joined her husband in starting Willow Creek Community Church and has done a lot of ground work as an advocate for those affected by HIV/AIDS. I haven’t read the book yet, but I’m going to have to purchase the book because the title has had me pondering a lot the last couple of days. I want to challenge our Redeemed Pink audience today on what it has me thinking about. Nice Girls Don’t Change the World.

What does that statement mean to you? Are you a nice girl? What does the word nice exactly mean? Sweet? Shy? Never offending? Never rocking the boat? It’s something to think about. It’s something to blog about. www.redeemedpink.com if you’d like to do that with our other readers.

It’s totally fine if you want to be nice. What we want to challenge you to do today though is to rock the boat a bit. To stand up for a cause. To assert yourself in a new way. To be bold, courageous leaders. To stand up for the weak. To serve the least, the last and the lost.

Points to Ponder:

1) A friend of mine and I were reflecting on financial accountability the other night and she shared of a time when she gave to a cause so sacrificially that it hurt. She said she needed to do it more often because it felt good! When was the last time you gave of your time or money so sacrificially to something you believed in to the point that it hurt?

2) Who could you stand up for in your sphere of influence?

3) Think of one situation where you can do a better job of asserting yourself.

4) Is there a cause you’ve always resonated with deep down inside or something you’ve wanted to change but thought it seemed too big or impossible? Tell someone! Or blog about it www.redeemedpink.com

5) Take action! Do something each week that makes you uncomfortable and stretches you in a new way.

Girlfriends

With the upcoming Easter holiday, I’ve been thinking a lot on the Last Supper and what friendship looked like with his twelve closest friends. Friendship with Jesus was about being real and authentic. Jesus and his twelve disciples worshipped together, learned together, shared meals, traveled, participated in the works of the kingdom together, prayed together and had intimate conversations together.

Far too often we drift away from this model of being real and get tempted to put on our happy faces and pretend life is just peachy, when sometimes it’s just not. Genuine friendship that is patterned after Christ’s model allows us to be who we are, regardless of what we’re going through. In her new book, “Shattered Vows, Hope and Healing for Women Who Have Been Sexually Betrayed”, by Debra Laaser, she describes safe friends and communities of women like this: “It is a safe place where you can feel free to share all of your fears, frustrations and behaviors. It is a place where you can open your heart, admit your inadequacies, own your mistakes, share your anger and grief or just vent. You can be you with all of your flaws and still be accepted and encouraged and loved. In return, safe women will also share their stories, be vulnerable and not try to fix you” (62). We love Debra’s definition of safe friends and communities. It’s hard to find, but worth striving for.

We also highly recommend Debra’s new book on sexual betrayal. In our society, many of our girlfriends are suffering in painful silence because their husbands have betrayed them by having affairs, pornography usage and other sexually driven behaviors. Reading a book like Debra’s will help give you an understanding for what they’re experiencing, equipping you to be a better friend!

If you aren’t currently experiencing the sort of freedom in your friendships we’re discussing today, then we at Redeemed Pink want to challenge you to increase your circle of friends! Below are some things to keep in mind when increasing your circle of friends and growing your current friendships:

1) If you’re going to probe into your friends’ life with questions, also be willing to be vulnerable and transparent with your own life by sharing your own stories and current real life experiences. Keep it real!

2) Giving advice and fixing others is a big no, no!

3) If you offer to pray for a friend going through a difficult time, then be willing to receive prayer from them next time. Don’t refuse prayer from them, as if you’re above struggles or above them on your journey.

4) Allow each other to share real emotions without offering corrections or scripture. For example, if your friend vents about the horrible time she’s having validate her so she feels heard, instead of telling her what the Bible says about complaining.

5) Consider befriending someone younger in age, younger in the faith or unchurched. Mentoring is always a wise investment. We all have a wealth of information to offer a younger generation.

Don’t forget to hop on-line and blog with your Redeemed Pink girlfriends about this month’s topics! Maybe you’ll make a new friend! www.redeemedpink.com

Sources:

Laaser, Debra. Shattered Vows: Hope and Healing for Women Who Have Been Sexually Betrayed

Grand Rapids, Zondervan , 2008

Ahhhh….winter! We’re cooped up inside, missing the sunshine and longing for our cabin fever to pass. Despite its shades of gray, I’ve found that the darker days of winter provide lots of opportunities to reflect on the year ahead, reorganize and sometimes simplify my life. It seems like a good season of winter always brings with it a greater sense of awareness of those areas of my life that are desperate for the growth of spring.

Just like the outdoor landscape that loses branches and leaves from the below zero temperatures, blizzard winds and ice storms, we too must allow cold, dark times to eliminate unnecessary places and things that remain within us and our lives. From sin and past hurts to ineffective ministries and bad habits, the things we hold on to often prevent the future growth that awaits us in the spring. So, instead of dreading the gloomy days of winter, take the Redeemed Pink challenge to allow winter to prepare your ground for the spring planting season ahead.

Here are some practical ways you can take advantage of winter prepare and for personal growth:

1) Give the Holy Spirit permission to examine your life according to Psalm 26:2 “Test me, Oh Lord and try me, examine my heart and my mind.” Then be ready to confess what he brings to the forefront. 1 John 1:19, God’s word tells us that “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” NIV

2) Take time this winter to make worship a daily habit. Worship keeps our hearts pliable and humble before God and puts us in a place to hear his voice.

3) Ask a trusted leader for an honest opinion about an area of growth for you and be prepared to receive what they have to say.

4) Read a book, take a class or listen to teaching on the area of growth you sense the Holy Spirit may be identifying for you to work on this season.

5) Find an accountability partner that is healthy, ahead of you in their journey in your specified growth area and commit to being accountable to them in this area. Healthy accountability partners will respect your boundaries, not judge or attempt to fix you, they will try their best to refrain from giving unsolicited advice and they will respect your confidentiality. Try using a structured accountability format by committing to one or two questions and give your accountability partner permission to ask you about those specific questions.

We hope you’re up for this month’s Redeemed Pink Challenge! Fruitful harvests take much preparation in and off season!

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December Devotional

I entrust that all of you are wildly pursuing your annual holiday traditions by now. Please don’t choke on your snickerdoodles and eggnog when I bring up the subject of fasting in the midst of all the holiday hustle and bustle. Wait! Did you say fasting? Yes, I said fasting. Before you go back to chewing again, you’d better hang on tight to that cookie because I’m not done yet. Let’s talk about fasting and forgiveness. I know what you’re thinking…who the heck wants to think about forgiveness when we’re getting ready to spend the bulk of the season with our in-laws and out-laws. We just want to eat, drink and be merry, right? We’ll get to that part later.

First I want to share with you one of my own favorite holiday traditions; the tradition of fasting, forgiveness and festivals. Throughout the Old Testament, God commanded the Israelites to honor him with festivals. Often times they would spend time fasting and repenting in the days leading up to the festivals. Then the festivals would end with a big feast. Our holiday traditions often include the big feasts and celebrations, but too many times we leave out the life changing elements of repentance and fasting. In regards to repentance, I’ve found the holidays to be a special time to focus on forgiveness.

Here’s how it works:

1) When a Christ-Centered holiday is coming up that typically includes feasting (such as Thanksgiving, Christmas or Easter) pray and ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to fast, so that you’ll know how long and what type of fast you should do.*

2) Once you begin your fast, start to pray and meditate on forgiveness and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal people to you that you need to forgive. Confess unforgiveness as sin, as it is revealed to you.

3) Pray for direction in these relationships. Are there any specific steps you need to take toward reconciliation?

4) I always end my fasting and repentance like they did in the Old Testament, with a big party, dinner or traditional holiday celebration. This is where we get to eat, drink and be merry! I will often use this time with family to include those specific steps toward reconciliation. Sometimes I will confess something to my kids and ask them to forgive me. Maybe I’ve been unusually irritable. An apology and genuine repentance goes a long way in relationships, especially when we make it a habit and don’t allow sin to build up in our lives.

In addition to having greater emotional and spiritual health and improved relationships, I think you’ll also find that this holiday tradition will keep you tuned into the true meaning of the season.

-Oh and you can go back to your snickerdoodles and eggnog now!