Calling God up like...
Last week, we talked about the importance of embracing the new you and your new season and being transformed by the renewing of your mind. These are both keys to receiving and walking in the freedom Jesus sacrificed for us to have so that we would be able to serve Him and the Kingdom of God fully. Though we touched on some of these topics a bit last week, I wanted to share the unique experience that often occurs after deliverance (& salvation) specifically, because I recognize that it is similar, but different from the normal process of growth.
Being set free from sin and demonic oppression literally lifts burdens off of you that were never meant to be there, but may have settled in as “normal” over time. As such, being set free will uncover parts of you that were hidden or suppressed, and God will restore parts of you that were cut off or blocked from blooming. As we are delivered, we will likely need to get to know ourselves all over again. This does not mean that we’re starting from scratch, but rather that we will likely need to go through a process with Jesus and ourselves to relearn who we truly are.
Once we’ve been set free, we must come to Jesus and ask Him, who am I, really? What parts of me were really me? What parts weren’t? Some things will naturally go away because they were literally tied to the demonic influence you were under, but there are also nuanced parts of what you’ve thought to be your personality that may not actually be a part of who you are.
In addition to learning your true identity in freedom, there may be a re-creation or reshaping of your interests, likes, dislikes, etc. What does this new you like now that she’s free? How does she spend her time outside of her time with God or working on assignments? How does she dress? You don’t have to attack all of this by just sitting down one time and mapping it out. Instead, allow yourself the freedom to curiously and adventurously find out!
You will most likely find that your destiny changes. To be clear, from God’s perspective, it’s always been the same, but now, your eyes will be opened to see it with more clarity. What you thought you were supposed to be doing with your life may not actually be aligned with God’s true, perfect plan for your life. His plan is likely bigger and definitely better, hence why you needed to be FREE to see, pursue, and walk in it. This may mean dramatic changes if you were far off course before, or could be minor track changes if you just wandered off the path a little. Either way, allow the Holy Spirit to redirect you and be willing to let go of anything He shows you isn’t a part of your destiny. Also, be willing to embrace what He shows you IS a part of God’s plan for your life!
Finally, (though I’m sure there’s more that could be said), you may realize that the relationships you were in only made sense with the you that was in bondage. It doesn’t mean that everyone is bad or you are better, but similar to what we talked about last week, if you chose most of your friends, acquaintances, and even romantic relationship while you were under the influence or oppression of a demonic spirit, it very well may be that the true you, who is now free, has little to nothing in common with those you chose before you were set free. Again, this is not one of those, “I’m moving up in life and leaving y’all behind” points, but rather to say that you may not relate to them anymore, but also, they may not relate to you, the true you, and that is okay. You’re literally a new person, so you may not even be their cup of tea anymore or vice versa, and that’s okay, too. And even if you are being tolerated for history’s sake, there’s a strong possibility that true acceptance and deep connection may not be there anymore, and that’s okay.
This is not a post where I’m here to give you the steps for how to navigate these changes, because tbh, I’m still navigating some of it myself. However, I just want to let someone know that what you are experiencing right now post deliverance, the learning who you are all over again and the reshaping of your life and interests, the shifting of your relationships… it’s normal. Spend time with Jesus and let Him relay to you who you are and also, spend time exploring the new you.
Love you bunches! 💕
P.S. You may also see that you have ‘new’ spiritual gifts. They may have been there all along, but have only had a chance to surface now that the oppression has been lifted. This is another area to discuss and explore with the Holy Spirit and seek His Will for how He wants you to use them! 💛
And then, the TRUE you emerges like...
In today’s video, we are continuing our deliverance series, where we’ve been highlighting practical steps for obtaining and maintaining FREEDOM through Jesus Christ. This week, we talk about the process of being transformed by the renewing of your mind. The mindsets we carried in the world, in sin, in bondage aren’t suitable or conducive for the Kingdom of God. So, as we learn the knowledge of God (Kingdom wisdom and understanding), we must undergo an intentional transformation in the way we think in every area of our lives in order to fully walk in our freedom and into our God-given destiny!
I pray this video blesses whoever it is meant to reach. Please like, comment, subscribe, and share with your tribe!
Love you bunches 💖
Focus Scriptures
Anchor Scripture: Romans 12:2
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Isaiah 55:8-9
1 Corinthians 10:5-6
Philippians 4:8
Proverbs 3:5-6 (whole chapter, really!)
Want to read about the biblical transformation stories I mentioned? Check out the passages below.
Abraham - Starting at Genesis 12
The Israelites - Exodus
Ruth - She had her own book 😌
Esther - She has her own book, too 😌
Paul - Acts 9
Jesus’ Disciples - Read the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)
Watch the Video
Practical Steps for Renewing Your Mind
Make a commitment to this intentional process of changing your mind and letting go of whatever doesn’t align with God’s Kingdom.
You may not even know what all of this entails at the beginning, but commit to the process of finding out and following through.
Pray and ask God to order your footsteps and teach you His ways. Ask Him to point out mindsets, habits, etc. that won’t be conducive to your relationship and future in Him.
Know that it is okay to not have all the answers at first
It was be a process to bring all areas of your life to Kingdom alignment
There may be a period of time between unlearning the old and relearning the new — it’s okay not to know it all during that time.
God will reveal the things you need to know in His timing.
Guard your ear and eye gates always, but more particularly as God is remolding your thinking in certain areas.
This is not just guarding your gates from open doors to the enemy, but also shielding your intake as you are allowing God to teach you and transform your mindsets in certain areas.
Advice in any area can be good, but it can also cloud your hearing and judgment if you haven’t solidified your foundation. It can also create unnecessary noise in the moments when God wants to speak to you directly, so just be mindful.
Take every thought captive and make it submit to the obedience of Christ!
Don’t just accept every thought. Actively filter through them.
Eliminate what is not fitting and replace it with correct thoughts that align with what God says.
Ask yourself: Is it noble? Pure? Lovely? Of good report? Virtuous? Praiseworthy? TRUE? If not, refer to the two points above.
Don’t conform!
In unlearning the world’s ways and relearning Kingdom ways, you may find that you are the only one or one of very few (from what you can see around you) that’s thinking and doing thing’s God’s way
Resist the urge to shrink back into old ways just to fit in
Resist the thoughts that you’re crazy for believing what God says about things
Resist the urge to let your logic choke out God’s voice, Word, and instructions!
Trust in the Lord with alls your heart, mind, and strength! Lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path!
Be blessed on your journey, beloved 😘💕
God says:
"You are not 'her' anymore"
"You have grown & I have pruned you.
It is time to stop identifying with your past self.
You are not her anymore.
Gone are the days when you weigh your character by what you did or who you were back then.
I have made you NEW! It is time to begin to embrace this new identity FULLY.
You’re not “there” anymore. You are HERE & who you are is who I’ve molded you to be!
You will continue to grow from glory to glory, but from now on, no more looking back and judging who you are now based on your track record when you didn’t know to do better, when you didn’t recognize who you were.
You are who I’ve called you to be and you will continue to grow into her.
Embrace that today."
A couple months ago, God spoke these words to me about me.
He was trying to show me some things about my future and who I truly am in Him, but I wasn’t yet able to fully receive it, because I had yet to fully perceive who exactly He was talking to. God was speaking to who I am and who will be, but a part of me was trying to understand and identify with His plans, promises, and instructions from a place of who I used to be.
I believe the word God gave me also applies to many of you who have been in a season(s) of growth. When you've been on a journey of healing, growth, or transition, especially over a significant period of time, it can be hard to recognize that you've actually healed, reached a new level of growth, or transitioned. There's no such thing as "arriving" in general, because we should always be learning & growing, but there is such a thing as arriving at a new season... a new you.
Recognizing where and who you are now is so key, because if God speaks to us based on who we are yet to be, we can’t try to apply what God is saying to us based on old renditions of ourselves or seasons that have long passed. We also need to understand who and where we are now in order to navigate as such and to steward well over the current season. Having an outdated perspective of ourselves or our season can not only cause us to miss out on what God is doing, but also may cause us to make decisions based on factors of our former identity or reality that no longer exist. Stepping into a new you or a new season will often come with many changes (and even challenges), but the first key is to recognize that a change has occurred.
For today, I’ll focus on two of those changes / challenges — imposter syndrome and growing apart in friendships.
Imposter Syndrome.
Imposter syndrome occurs when a person constantly doubts their skills, talents, or accomplishments, and more specifically, when they fear being found out to be a fraud, or imposter. On one hand, this is certainly a tactic of the enemy to keep us from stepping into the fullness of who we are and what we’ve been called to, or to keep us miserable while doing so. I talk more about this in our previous Overcoming Series, so check that out if that’s something you’ve been struggling with. On the other hand, though, imposter syndrome is a natural bi-product of not actually understanding who we are, in general or in a current season. Going back to what I mentioned earlier, if you have stepped into a new version of you, but are still wearing last season’s identity, you will naturally feel inadequate, because the former you was the one being prepared for what you are in now, but not yet the one who was equipped to walk in it.
For example, let’s say you’re a college student who just graduated and now you have a full-time job in your field. If you try to navigate from a place of still being a college student, you will certainly feel like you don’t belong, you aren’t qualified, you slipped through the cracks and got hired by accident, etc. However, upon realizing that you’ve studied to actually become an expert in your field and graduated from that stage of life, you can begin to walk with a bit more confidence. It does not mean that you may not still feel that there is much to be learned and a lot to adjust and grow into, because after all, you went from being the “big fish in a small pond” (ie. a senior & ‘master’ at doing the college thing) to kinda ‘starting over’ as a “small fish in the ocean” of the workforce. However, it does not make you an imposter. You’re coming equipped with everything you’ve learned and every part of you that you’ve developed so far. See that, embrace it, and stand on it! You have ‘leveled up’ and now need to grow into this next level. That takes time, but it doesn’t mean you aren’t qualified. Know that when you enter a new season or realize a new you, it’s new, so it will require some growing into, but don’t let that send you into an identity crisis. You’re not an imposter, you’re the real deal, so grow into this new level with confidence!
In the same way that the new you and your new season require growing into some things, it also usually includes a natural falling away of some things, like friendships, relationships, hobbies, etc. It happens. If the old you chose those things, people, activities, etc. or you chose them in/based on previous seasons, they may or may not align with the new you or your new season, and that’s okay. This isn’t a “the price has gone up” type conversation (lol @ those posts), but rather a conversation about alignment. While I don’t believe in cutting everybody off every five seconds, I do know that there is often a natural growing apart that can happen, specifically in friendships and I believe happens for many different reasons.
Growing Apart in Friendships.
One, as you grow, your interests, values, convictions, hobbies, etc. tend to develop and change, especially as you grow in the things of God and commit to submitting to His will for your life. Coming “out of the world” and “into Kingdom” can (and will) produce drastic changes in you and your life, so if your friends aren’t on a similar journey (and sometimes, even if they are), you will likely grow apart. This is not because you’re better or anything like that, because that’s prideful thinking. However, it’s natural to expect that if you built a friendship based on certain things, and those certain things are no longer a part of your life, unless new common ground is developed, there isn’t much left other than love and memories—and as great as those are, they don’t actually constitute grounds for a solid friendship. I think sometimes, we can conflate loyalty for friendship. There should be loyalty within a friendship, but loyalty alone does not constitute grounds for maintaining a friendship. For (a very basic) example, let’s say you built a friendship with someone based on your love for trying new steakhouses—I told y’all this example would be basic, but go along with me here. Lol. Well, you’re now a vegetarian and find that now, you and that friend don’t have much in common anymore. There will naturally be a growing apart that happens if the friendship wasn’t solidified based on other factors that are actually still a part of both of your lives. And sometimes, you may even find that it’s not just one or two things that have changed, but literally, your whole life has changed and you’re a completely different person, and now, y’all just don’t relate at all. That’s okay, too. It happens over time, especially with those who were seasonal companions, and not ordained for lifetime bonds.
That brings me to reason number two: if we were unhealed when we chose these friendships or simply lacked a revelation of who we are and who God has destined us to be, we may not have selected our friends wisely (or even actually “selected” them at all). As you begin to heal and/or come into knowledge of who you really are, you may find that your “picker” was off. 😬 This will also cause a natural growing apart, because you formed these bonds erroneously. This includes, but is not limited to, trauma bonds, one-sided friendships, friendships that you never vetted to begin with, unhealthy or toxic friendships, or even ones where you actually never had anything in common. As you step into the true you, and even more specifically for this example, as you heal and develop in wholeness, you may find that certain friendships can’t stay, because they never truly belonged in the first place.
Last reason I’ll mention is situational friendships. These are friendships that were built on things like proximity—you worked or went to school together, you were on a team together, went to the same church, etc. When the “situation” changes, these will grow apart for obvious reasons if the friendship wasn’t solidified further on a firmer foundation.
I’m sure there are many more reasons why this growing apart in friendships happens, but I’ll leave you with those. I don’t really have the answer for how to navigate the process of growing apart from friends, because to be honest, I’m still navigating that myself, but I do think it will be different in each case. The few things I will suggest are…
Understand that as uncomfortable or sad as it may be, this is a normal part of life and growth.
Know that growing apart does not diminish the value of what once was, nor does it diminish the love and care that is likely still there.
Ask God for guidance on which friendships you should maintain and which you should allow to fizzle out (or even intentionally end).
Nurture and grow with the friendships God says are meant to be in your life, but don’t try to force outdated friendships based on loyalty or longevity. (Refer back to #2)
Take time to grieve the breakdown of friendships you cherish(ed) if needed. Just because the alignment isn’t there anymore doesn’t mean it won’t still hurt to let go.
Ask God for guidance and key qualifiers in choosing new friendships and alliances. Also ask Him to help you grow and develop as a friend, so you’re equipped for these new friendships—it may require doing friendship differently.
When the time is right, intentionally make space in your heart and in your life for new, God-ordained friendships to develop.
Whew, this got a little longer than planned, but I pray this helps whoever needs it.
In conclusion, when you enter a new season, or become a new person, embrace it fully.
This will likely require asking God to open your eyes to how He sees you and what He says about your season, but this is necessary to navigate with confidence and authority, and to steward the season well. Know that it is NEW, so there will likely be some discomfort and stretching, but it is only because you’ve stepped into new territory. You may feel like you are starting over, because in many ways you are, but you are not starting from scratch. Your former ceiling has now become the ground of your next level.
Say it with me:
You have changed. Your season has changed.
Remind yourself as much as you need to until it sticks, “You are not ‘her’ anymore!”
And begin to walk into the ‘her’ you are today with confidence.
Love you bunches 💕