Perfect Love: The Remedy For Being Lost
5 When he finds the sheep, he is very happy. He lifts it up and he puts it across his shoulders. 6 Then he carries it back home. He speaks to all his friends and to the people that live near him. He says, “I have found the sheep that I lost. So come to my house and we can all be happy together.”
Luke 15:5-6 Easy-to-Read Version (EASY)
Lost
“I am happy about your return.” These are the words that echoed through my mind as a began to write this post. I believe, the Holy Spirit was providing the reassurance, confirmation, and deliverance I needed to break down a few strongholds I allowed to build up in my heart. At the time, I was concerned about God’s thoughts towards me. I had made a series of decisions that reflected all the characteristics of being “lost in the world.” The decisions were emotion led, steeped in idolatrous desires fueled by past disappointments. My soul was severely wounded and healing felt very far off from me. In reflection, I noticed that bitterness was at the root of the wounds. I had built up bitterness and resentment toward myself for giving into temptation during a season of testing. It was painful to accept and acknowledge the fact that I did not listen to the wisdom of God during that season. Instead of confessing my disobedience and allowing Jesus to heal me, I began wallowing, looking back, and attempting to “fix or right my wrongs.” All efforts and attempts to “fix” increased despair and caused unnecessary warfare. I was also holding myself in a prison of guilt and shame for becoming distracted and prideful in a season of promotion. In the midst of all of the self-inflicted wounds and warfare, I began to turn and cry out to Jesus and He did just what He promised in the reference scripture. He went searching for me in my dry place of depression and disappointment. He threw me over His shoulder and began to feed and strengthen me with His bread (the Word) ,water (the Holy Spirit) and love.
If you have experienced closeness to the Great Shepherd in one season and then experienced the feeling of being “lost”, take heart Peculiar Person. Jesus has promised to search after you and bring you back to Him so that He can rejoice at your return!
Characteristics of Being Lost
As I mentioned previously, I allowed life’s circumstances to cause me to become lost in shame, guilt, doubt, and unbelief. I unfortunately developed a prideful perfectionistic mindset that caused me to be bitter and critical of myself and others. In my mind, I had “moved past” and been healed of anything that could cause me to feel “lost or distant” from Jesus. However, the failures and disappointments, proved something different. I was definitely experiencing a “prodigal season”. The need for repentance was highlighted by the Holy Spirit. Once I had repented and was sincerely wanting to avoid decisions that would increase my sowing of seeds of disobedience, I saw my desires shifting. However, I noticed the tendency to shame myself based on perfectionistic expectations of my healing process. I wanted the consequences of the disobedience to quickly end. I wanted to be restored speedily. In hindsight, I recognized that the process lasted longer than I expected for multiple reasons. One, to ensure I would not repeat the same patterns. Two, to allow me to have a testimony to share. Three, to allow patience- with God and myself to be strengthened. And four, to ensure that I was “putting off my old nature” to live out the Word that I was writing about in these posts.
The Amplified Bible Translation of Ephesians 4:22-24 says, That, regarding your previous way of life, you put off your old self [completely discard your former nature], which is being corrupted through deceitful desires, and be continually renewed in the spirit of your mind [having a fresh, untarnished mental and spiritual attitude], and put on the new self [the regenerated and renewed nature], created in God’s image, [godlike] in the righteousness and holiness of the truth [living in a way that expresses to God your gratitude for your salvation]. It’s the “former nature” that causes us to live “lost” and disconnected from the love of Jesus. Below, I will list some of the characteristics that I noticed and experienced.
Examples of the “Former Nature”:
Increased symptoms of depression to include shame, guilt, hopelessness, purposelessness, and worthleness
Increased symptoms of anxiety to include fear of the future, fear of failure, and restlenesness
A tendency toward operating in self knowledge, wisdom, and pride ('‘I can do things on my own without God.”)
Increased desire/lust of and for earthly possessions to boost mood and esteem
Decision making fueled by emotions heightened by anxiety or depression
Difficulty “casting the cares of life” to Jesus in prayer
Increased fear of the thoughts and feelings of others; people-pleasing
Increased critical thought/judgement of self and others
Struggles with obedience and adherence to scripture
If you have experienced a similar situation, I would encourage you to sit and think on Ephesians 4:22-24 to see if the Holy Spirit highlights any additional characteristics based on your experience(s).
From Lost to Loved
The more I meditated on the reference scripture John 15:5-6, the more Jesus’ promise increased my hope. Although I felt lost, the scripture, the living word, Jesus himself was reassuring me that I would not remain in that state for long. That all I needed to do to be “found” is to call out to Him. And that He would do His part by laying me across His shoulder. What I recognized to be the source of contention for myself was….not getting back down off the shoulders of Jesus, but learning how to remain or abide. Abiding in the love ofJesus is the only way to cancel out the feelings that result from wandering off from His presence and becoming “lost”.
Abiding
In the Amplified Version of John 15:4, it says, “Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me.” According to the Strongs concordance to Abide or Strong's G3306 - menō in the greek means not to depart, not to leave, to continue to be present:(genitive of person). Abiding is maintained through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The second definition means to maintain unbroken fellowship with one, adhere to his party, to be constantly present to help one, of the Holy Spirit, to be kept, to remain. to be held, kept, continually. I love an excerpt listed in the Strongs’ Concordance, it states, “Something has established itself permanently within my soul, and always exerts its power in me:” That “something” is the work and power of God’s precious Holy Spirit. Through all the failure and pride, I learned and am still learning the importance of abiding in Jesus, the vine.
From Feeling to Knowing
As humans, our feelings can change from moment to moment. However, facts do not change. And when facts are developed by life experiences, your “knowing” of the truth does not change. Your understanding of what you know is consistent. Although I am creative, God has also made me a practical thinker. So, to increase my “knowing”, the Holy Spirit gave me a revelation on how to practically practice abiding in His presence. After I read the definition of abiding, I envisioned a tea bag being steeped in hot water. In realtime, abiding looks like “infusing” myself with scripture through consistently reading, listening, speaking, or thinking on the word of God- meditation. Through the constant state of meditation, He would help to reshape my thoughts, desires, emotions, and actions. He affirmed to me that the more I abided in the light of His Word, the clearer the path would become. The more the darkness inside of me would be exposed, the more I would be healed by the light of His wisdom, mercy, truth, and love. I began to understand that although I felt lost, abiding in the truth of the scripture helped to increase my faith and hope in being “found” by Him. That knowledge produced a “knowing” that extended beyond my feelings. From then on, I learned that when feelings tried to arise, my job was and always will be to remind myself to wholeheartedly focus on believing the truth of scripture. I pray this helps you to develop an understanding of how to abide in Jesus.
The Pain of the Process
This process of going from “feeling to knowing” can “feel” painful and overwhelming. At times the demonic thoughts may attempt to talk you out of fighting back against your raging emotions. However, I did not begin to increase in confidence until I went through the process of exercising my faith even when I didn’t “feel it.” God was training me to develop a faith that stemmed from knowing the truth so that I would never experience “feeling” lost and away from His presence again. The moment I received this revelation, I rejoiced. However, living it felt as if I was walking through life with a blindfold on. It was uncomfortable to say the least, but a necessary process. I was living the verse mentioned in the Amplified version of James 1:2-3, “Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials. Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. “ I pray that you are allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you in the same process. Remember that the truth is although you may wander away from His path for you, He is never to far behind. In the Message version of Psalm 139:9-11, the Psalmist King David wrote, “Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight? If I climb to the sky, you’re there! If I go underground, you’re there! If I flew on morning’s wings to the far western horizon, You’d find me in a minute— you’re already there waiting!.”
The Joy of Being Lost in Love
The Living Bible Translation of Psalm 139: 15-18 says, “You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion!You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book! How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn toward me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me!” This is the kind of unconditional love that you and I have access to Peculiar People. The kind of unconditional love that can heal any and all wounds that you may have experienced while feeling “lost.” In the Amplified Version of Romans 2:4 (b), it says, “ God’s kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking—seek His purpose for your life]?” The kind of love that is all consuming and produces an unspeakable joy that nothing can take away. If you have yet to experience this type of joy or love, my prayer is that the Father God will heal the wounds so that you can wholeheartedly believe and receive.
As I was writing this post, I had to thank God for the joy of being kept by His precious Holy Spirit. The joy of being guided by the Holy Spirit, and the joy of being comforted by the Holy Spirit. For those who know that pain of experiencing deep anxiety or depression, then you would also know that there is nothing like the feeling of comfort or joy to relieve you of your thoughts and feelings. Unfortunately, there can be a tendency to crave and seek temporary joy and counterfeit comforts to heal the wounds you incurred while being “lost”. Yet the beauty of the word of God and the Holy Spirit is that through belief and praise, you can receive continuous peace, comfort, and healing. A well that never ends or runs out. What a cure! Remember what Jesus promised in the King James Version of John 14:16. He said, “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;”
The overall beauty of being lost in love is the peace of knowing your life’s’ purpose through abiding or intimacy with Christ. Just as King David mentioned in Psalm 139, God “scheduled” each day of our lives. So, when we make the conscious decision to become lost in His love, He uncovers His plans for our lives. This type of knowledge brings a clarity and focus that is unmatched. Depression and anxiety will be obsolete in your thoughts, feelings, and actions. For myself, the process of healing looked like returning to habits and practices that has always increased my intimacy with God such as writing, listening to worship, or watching films that depended my knowledge or belief in Him. I recognize this is the way He helps me to abide in His presence as a creative person. I pray Peculiar Person, that as you read this post, the Holy Spirit will highlight how He desires for you to abide in His presence. It’s when we abide in His presence that He gets the glory and someone else can heal or be impacted by our testimony. That’s why it does not good for Jesus as the shepherd to allow you to continue to remain a “lost sheep.” Remember that abiding is the remedy to being or feeling “lost,” Peculiar Person.
Rejoice At Your Return
Just as the Father ran to the son in the parable of the “Prodigal” (Luke 15:11-32)- I pray that you experience the joy of knowing that the Father in Heaven is rejoicing at your return. If you are in the mindset that I was in during my process of writing this post, you may be thinking, “Why or how could He rejoice over my return?”, or maybe your thoughts are filled with “this is too good to be true.” I get it! I was there and there are thoughts that I am certain the Holy Spirit will continue to highlight so that I can cast them down. Please know that you are not alone. As a Peculiar person, when you make the conscious decision to turn and repent of any sin, transgression, or iniquity, God’s mercy meets you and gives you the grace to grow forward. He is a God of reconciliation. It’s what He has promised to do! What limits your experience of His promise(s) is unbelief. In the Expanded Bible version of Mark 9:24, the man who asked Jesus to heal his demon possessed said, “I do believe! Help ·me to believe more [me not to doubt; me overcome my unbelief; L my unbelief]!” So, if you are having a hard time believing that you are worthy of being sought after by Jesus. Yet you still believe that God is real and can guide you through the Holy Spirit, ask Him to strengthen your belief in a way that is personal to you. Once you ask, in faith, you give Him the permission to fulfill his promise(s). [I intentionally used the word “permission” to reinforce the fact that God is not forceful or coercive. Everything He does is done in love. Everything we experience from Him is because we are willing to believe and receive it.] As I am healing, my prayer is that I continue to focus on His love and rejoicing over my return. I pray the same for you, Peculiar Person.
With Love,
Riva
SALVATION
I’d like to believe that everyone who reads this blog has a personal relationship with Jesus, but if you have yet to make it official and have stumbled upon this blog, know that you can establish that relationship and receive all of His Awesome Promises in a few easy steps.
Pray (speak out loud with your mouth) the Salvation Prayer based on the scripture listed below.
Connect with a local church to deepen your spiritual journey and foster community.
Read Your Bible as often as possible. Click here to discover helpful scriptures and Bible plans to read.
Scriptural Reference
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
ROMAN 10:9-11
Prayer
LORD JESUS, I CONFESS MY SINS AND ASK FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS. I BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THE SON OF GOD AND DIED ON THE CROSS FOR ME AND THEN ROSE IN THREE DAYS. PLEASE COME INTO MY HEART AS MY LORD AND SAVIOR. TAKE COMPLETE CONTROL OF MY LIFE AND HELP ME TO WALK IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS DAILY BY THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. THANK YOU, LORD, FOR SAVING ME AND FOR ANSWERING MY PRAYER. IN JESUS’ NAME. AMEN
