UnStuck?

Yesterday I wrote about the reasons we might become stuck in our spiritual walk or our relationship with God; We don't trust God, Our Past, Our Feelings, and/or Our Sin can all keep us from moving forward.

So the next question is, "How do we unstick?"

1. Get to know God and trust him more.

You have to know who God is, what is the truth, and his character. The enemy is the master deceiver and he wants to get you all messed up and confused about your relationship with God. He constantly mocks you and tries to get you to believe lies. The enemy loves to stir the pot and convince you that God is a killjoy or worse not to be counted on. You have to ground yourself in God’s promises and trust him to be who he says he is.

He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end; he is the King of Kings, who created the heavens and the earth. His love is so complete and powerful he put his son on the cross to die for our sins. He promises to never leave or forsake us and that he knows our name! Our faith, our steadfastness, and our trust in Him help us not be so easily swayed or deceived.

Then you have to really, not kind-of-sort-of, trust him!

• trust him to show up
• to keep his promises
• give you the strength when you feel like you can’t go on
• trust in his grace and mercy
• trust he has a plan for your life
• trust that you will have consequences if you go against him

You have to trust him and his word to become unstuck, to move closer to him. If you put your trust in anything else it will always return void.

2. Choose to take the next steps. “Knowing God’s word doesn't cause me to grow. But doing it does.” (Donna Jones)

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8-9

PUT IT INTO PRACTICE. DO IT. APPLY IT. THINK about things that are pure, lovely, admirable, praiseworthy, and true.  Get your mind on those things in the world not all the other garbage we fill our heads with. You can know God’s word inside and out, be a theologian that can argue with the best of them, but if you don't apply anything you know, hear, or learn you will remain stuck!

I can get a master's degree in exercise and nutrition and have my shelves lined with how to get healthy books. But if I never go to the gym or stop eating cookies all the knowledge in the world is not going to help me get healthy. It’s the same with God’s word. You can know it and stay the same, but you have to do it and apply it to change.

But the other part is progress. Progress means movement towards something. You have to take the next step. Might be a baby step, it might only be a shuffle but the cross, the sacrifice of the cross, DEMANDS a response!!! Maybe it is time to do more than just show up for church, sing a few songs, nod your head at a few things said from the stage and walk out of church really NO different. Maybe it’s time to stop making excuses. God doesn't want our excuses he wants our heart!

Maybe it’s time to take your foot off the brakes, and say, “I am ready to move forward. Take the next step!”

What is the Next Step?

• Maybe find one verse in the Bible you claim as yours and memorize it. One of mine is Ephesians 1:7-8 “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.”

When I first became a Christian and my past kept trying to keep me chained this verse got me through. It told me God bought me with the blood of his son, forgave me of my sins because he is full of grace and mercy which he poured out onto me!

• Have a tough conversation with someone you have been putting off
• Get the courage to share Jesus with that person he has put in your life no matter how awkward or uncomfortable.
• Stop isolating. Get connected to a community. Join a small group. Go on a mission trip. Join a team and volunteer. You can’t unstick yourself.  You need help, people alongside you on this journey.
• Maybe God wants you to confess a sin and get help to stop it. Stop sleeping with the person you are not married to, stop gossiping behind other people’s backs, stop bad mouthing the church when things don't go your way, control your temper, stop pursuing the love of money or material things.
• Maybe he wants you to break you free from an addiction of porn, drugs, alcohol, buying…. whatever it is SIN WILL KEEP YOU STUCK!
• Maybe it is surrendering your finances and being more generous.
• Look at how you are spending your time, what are you thinking about and focusing on most of the time? Is it stuff that has no eternal value?
• Go to counseling and really deal with some of that baggage you have been carrying around that it just too heavy.
• It could be as simple as a prayer or a conversation that you need to begin with God.

Ask yourself: Am I willing to do what is necessary to become unstuck? Will I get to the end of my life and be okay with where I am at right now?

Let me tell you about some people here at Elements City Church that are choosing to take the next steps to move closer to God. I want to share these stories because they are some of my heroes. They are choosing that no matter how crappy their past was, how awful they have acted, how unfair life has been to them, they are choosing to take the next steps, some of them drastic steps toward Jesus.

There is a guy that grew up on the streets of Philadelphia to teenage parents who couldn't overcome their drug addictions and never really parented him. He saw a verse on our whiteboard at home and asked a few questions. His next steps: he went to church the next day, got baptized, starting going to counseling, and comes every Sunday night without really knowing anybody but us.

A young female who sat across the table from me at coffee and said, “Kimberley, I am not a good person. I don't like who I am and if you look at my past it is awful and I am so ashamed. But I want to change!”  This girl is beautiful, smart, and successful and could get by on life just because of this. But she made the step to talk to someone. She is being open and honest about the sin in her life, she is trusting wise counsel on how to deal with it, and she joined a bible study. She also chose to stop drinking not because she thinks it’s wrong but because she looked at her past and figured out that most of her bad decisions came when she was drinking so it wasn't worth it.

A single mom with 5 kids who took the steps to protect her kids by having the courage to get them all out of an unsafe situation. She is scared and fearful about going at it alone, with very little resources, but taking the next steps to give her children a different life!

Or the mom who had a baby as a teenager and just got baptized 15 years later because she has recommitted her life to Jesus and wants something different for her family. She is not letting her past stop her from becoming part of leadership here at Elements. She knows she has been redeemed. Her next step was saying yes to be a team leader. Her past will not keep her chained.

Another young man who left a very strict religious home to find the Jesus of the bible not the Jesus used for control. His step out was filled with fear and anxiety but he knew he had to move. He found a church and community who could show him the love and compassion of Jesus.

One 20 year old female took a next step when she decided that Facebook was causing her too much of a distraction so she disabled her account, so she can spend more time listening to podcasts and worship music.

What is so different about these people? They are moving towards Jesus no matter what they have been through. They are ordinary people showing up and taking the next step.

Now I can almost hear some of your thoughts from here, “I can’t do this! It’s too hard. I am not disciplined enough. I am too young, too old. I am scared. I’m too hurt. You don't know what I have done. I am not ready. I will wait until I am older or get myself together more…..

And I say to you, The resurrected son of God lives inside us. The cross is ENOUGH! You can't stay the same and follow Jesus.  He said come follow me. He is going somewhere. Jesus never meant for us stand still and be stagnant.

“Being a Christian is about surrendering to Jesus and then submitting to him on a daily basis one step at a time and KNOWING that he is going to make us into who we need to be.” Perry Noble