Grief And Grace

The words I kept hearing today as I was asking Him what to write were, “Grief and Grace.”

1Corinthians 15:10

But by God’s grace I am what I am, and his grace towards me was not in vain… (CJB)

Bad things happen. Death. Unexpected moves. Job loss. People we thought were friends stab us in the back.

These situations cause grief. The hurt is real. Tears will flow. Anger will come. So will depression. There are many different emotions that cause waves in our life.

I have to think of the movie “Inside Out”. The girl and her family move across the US and she has to start over. Anger, Joy, Fear, Disgust and Sadness. These are feelings she deals with as she starts over.

These events are part of life. Feelings are too. However, we all walk out the events and feelings differently.

Grief can take 2 weeks for some people. It might take a year for others. Men and women respond differently too. How do we handle situations like this? What does the Word of God say about how to respond in situations?

A command that is given several times is to, “give thanks.” It also says to, “fear not!” We know David shed tears. We also know David got angry and frustrated with himself and others.

BUT, what happens when others don’t respond in the same way you do? What happens when others continue in their grief longer than you think they should? How do you treat them? What do you say?

The Holy Spirit has been convicting me lately of GRACE. What does it mean to extend grace? How long does one extend grace? What does it look like within families when individuals all respond uniquely to the event(s) taking place?

I truly believe that grief and grace need to work together. In grief we must allow grace, for ourselves and for others. We must realize that feelings and emotions are part of grief and that we will all respond differently to situations we face. If we LISTEN to the Holy Spirit, He will guide us through the emotions and grief. He will also give us the grace to extend His love to others as they grieve.

If God can grant grace to you, how much more should we try to extend grace to others? I’m not saying let them live in sin, but sometimes grace means just walking away and letting God take care of the situation.

When we come to the realization that TRUSTING God to walk through life with us brings GRACE to our lives, than we can find REST in Him. We will RESTORE ourselves to Him. We are then REFRESHED to walk forward day to day.

  ~ Rose Horton

Rest, Refresh, Restore

I am super excited to welcome Rose Horton to the Restored Ministries Blogging Team!

Rose with Touched By Grace will be sharing each Friday new words of encouragement right here on Restored Ministries Blog.

Check out more of Rose on Touched By Grace YouTubeChannel

Rise And Shine

We are super excited to introduce you to our newest member of Restored Ministries Blogging Team; Mandy Woodhouse.

Mandy will be sharing her gift with us every Thursday.

Here is a sample of her blog “The Sun Is Rising.”

Enjoy! ~XXOO

Sunrise.

God keeps speaking to me through sunrises lately. 

I don’t mean that I wake up early and watch the sun rise on a daily basis (my usual time of awakening is actually just after the sun comes up).  I mean that I have been dreaming about sunrises while asleep.  And then I wake up and see photos of gorgeous dawn sky-paintings all over social media.  And it’s always the sun RISING, not setting.

Just this morning, for example, after dreaming that I lived out on a mountain watching the sun rise, I saw 5 gorgeous photos on Facebook of the sun rising in my area.  Some were too stunning for words.

One of the dreams I had about the sunrise was so profound, I shared it in a previous blog. In case you haven’t read it yet, I’ll summarize.  I was at a high point overlooking the ocean.  On one side of the beach were people being distracted by things on the ground, and because of the distractions they were missing this glorious sun rise behind them.

They were too distracted to see that the sun was actually rising.

I had another dream recently where I was standing atop another very high tower, much like something you would see in the Lord of the Rings movies.  It actually reminded me of Isaiah 62:6, where God posts His “watchmen on the walls.” In the dream, my eyes were fixed on the horizon and I said aloud, “Am I supposed to warn others about approaching armies and war or something?”  I heard a voice whisper in response, “No…there are many people doing that these days.  What I want YOU to do is remind My people that the sun is rising…”

So here I am, reminding you that the sun is rising.  The dawn is here.  And the darkness cannot last forever.

“A light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:5).

I feel like this has a double encouragement in it. 

There’s more! Click here to read the rest of the blog.

For the other blog on the dream mentioned and summarized above Click here

Connect with Mandy on her Facebook page Outrageous Hope

And to see some of her previous work visit her website

And of course – follow us right here on Restored Ministries Blog so you won’t miss any new posts of Outrageous Hope coming every Thursday.

The Comeback

Worthy Thought: The comeback is always stronger than the setback.

Keep going! XXOO

Every Movement Of My Heart

We may have trained our words and actions to be pleasing and acceptable to God, but what about our thoughts and passions?

And “every movement of our heart”…are they pure and pleasing?

So, may the words of my mouth, my meditation-thoughts, and every movement of my heart be always pure and pleasing, acceptable before Your eyes, my only Redeemer, my Protector-God.

~Psalm 19:14 TPT

~XXOO Michelle

Life Changing Love

Through my darkest seasons

You never left my side

Holding my hand,

when I stood alone

Wiping my tears,

when I couldn’t go on

Interceding for me,

when I couldn’t pray

When I was too weak to fight

You were on the front lines

My Mighty Warrior

who never loses a fight

Day after day

Month after month

My faith grew wings

I was amazed by Your love

Forever changed by Your heart

Longing to go deeper still

Faith takes me to places

I never knew existed in You

Blind faith was birthed 

during dark times

In a God, I never saw

Yet, I see His hand

at work in my life

I know the fragrance

of His presence

The sound of His voice

Papa’s love healed every part

of my broken heart

In my highs and my lows

My deepest pain

and my joys

At times when giving up 

looked so appealing

He picks me up

Sings love songs over me

Reminding me of

His covenant with me

Indescribable is Papa’s love 

towards me

I couldn’t, but trust 

in a God so amazing

Supernatural peace birthed 

in the darkest of days

A reckless faith

I never knew could exist

A heart awakened

Longing only after

her One True Love

He takes me to places

I never thought I would visit

Higher and higher

I go with the One

who holds the whole world

in His hands

Yet, He chose

to chase after 

every hurting soul.

What love is this?

I may never know, but I know I was forever changed and overtaken by 

a God so amazing!

Papa never gives up

on His daughters!

He lures us into

His marvelous light

Where He heals our hearts

We only know who we are 

when we encounter Love

Everything we need is found 

in His transforming love!

Then we pass on the baton 

to daughter’s still in chains

Sharing our testimonies of 

the power of the Blood and 

His life changing love!

So that they too can be changed 

by Papa’s transforming love!

~ Ebigale Wilson

Life Changing Love

The Journey

My Hallelujah

#SongSunday

That Feeling

Make sure your alignments are right for God’s assignments!

When we trust Him to do it – He will always do it far better than we could of hoped for!

~XXOO Michelle

Far Better

I got super wounded recently.

Someone’s true motives were exposed that turned out to be so different than what I had thought and I felt duped and shock and hurt, But I was determined not to get offended or take the bait.

I was crying out to God and bawling and snotting a bit over it – teetering back and forth from mad to hurt to starting to get offended to back to praying for them and their ministry

when God spoke to my heart…

”Trust me Michelle! – whatever you feel you lost or were hurt or rejected by is My hand positioning you for more and better alignments – It’s for your ultimate protection and for something far better.”

REALLY, how could that be? The devil must have gotten a hold of this person to do this… I have pretty HIGH LEVEL Discernment, How did I not see this coming?

Honestly y’all ….I wanted to shout from the rooftops that this person had Done Me Dirty! Then, when I found out they also had flat out lied to me on top of things I really felt like they had Double Done Me Dirty!.

But, God kept saying,

“Let Me Fight Your Battles!”

I wanted the last word, I wanted instant vindication, I wanted them to apologize or pay or feel sorry for what they did. I wanted them to be exposed for their lies so no-one else got HoodWinked or hurt by them.

God wanted me to Forgive, Release, Bless, Pray for them and sit back and keep my mouth shut while He worked it all out for my ultimate good.

It was a few days and somedays I trusted, other days my head space got wacky and I had to step back and praise and dance through my disappointments and trust and worship Him when I felt defeated or discouraged or not seeing what possibly was He doing in this situation to speak to me or teach me or was He really doing anything about this injustice I felt had been done to me, HELLO.

I obeyed and chose to

do it God’s way.

I prayed. I forgave them for lying to me. I forgave them for doing what they did. I prayed for them and their family, their ministry and released them to God. I released the hurt and toxic emotions every time they creeped up and in. I thanked God for seeing what I didn’t and for removing this alignment.

I also unfollowed them so I wouldn’t have to see their face for awhile while God did His complete work in healing my heart.

(So, you may need to do that too to some folks.)

Within days… literally mere DAYS later I had 3 specific big answers to prayers I was waiting on from God. He answered in Crazy Big ways that I would not have even dreamed possible.

He partnered me with a couple of amazing people to finish some big projects. He even showed me a couple of crazy “God Winks” by number sequences aligning up in a HUGE blessing to me and Restored Ministries that will bless many others through this special alignment.

As I sat there just MIND BLOWN – God said –

“Who and how you thought about alignment/s is NOT how I am doing things” …. “Thanks for trusting Me and letting Me remove the old to make way for the new.”

He has taught me to Look again and Look closer… To release my control because His ways are so much better than my ways.

He taught me to wait. To Trust. To keep doing what I needed to do amidst the hurt and betrayal.

On this side of the hurt feels Oh’ so much better!

I was like, “OH YEAH…High Five Myself… BYE FELISHA …God Gots me! Oh, Won’t He Do It!!! Boom Shaka Lakka Boom. Yep, God is THE BOMB DIGGITY … and SO much more.

But I realize as I can celebrate now in my wounding, some are still deep in the betrayal and hurt side of things. Some may have not even gotten there yet. But we will, I will, you will, we all will, at some point be hurt and disappointed and hoodwinked and betrayed again.

As a dear friend felt alone and wounded and just about to throw in the towel, I told her my story and how God worked it out. That’s how we overcome, by the words of our testimonies and the blood of Jesus, and by being real and raw and taking things to God and trusted friends and praying and letting God fight our battles.

God may not work hers out the same as mine, He may do something even grander and over the top, because that is what I am praying for her. Exceedingly and abundantly more than she could hope, think or even ask for.

But, whatever it is…

God is not a respecter of persons and what He does for me He can do for her and for you and anyone else.

Hey, even for the one that “Did Me Double Dirty”…

He still loves them too.

Trust God to fight your battles. Let Him remove those alignments…Hold on loosely…and regardless how hurtful or shocking the betrayal..do the work to keep your heart unmoved by offense, stay humble, and alway Forgive, Release & Pray/Bless those that hurt you.

~ XXOO Michelle

Look Closer

Have you ever seen a display or bowl of fake fruit or food?

They can look so legit, until you get closer and inspect them. Sometimes, they are so authentic looking that you may even have to touch it or taste it to realize it is a counterfeit. A big ole FAKE!

The counterfeit market is such a big problem. I saw a documentary stating it was a multi-billion dollar industry.

People passing off fakes as authentic items and getting lots of money to dupe and lie to people.

People duping people, people using people, people lying to people, all that is not something new and not just happening in the designer watch and purse markets. It happens everyday, even in Christian circles, churches, and ministries.

We have all discovered those wolves hiding in sheep’s clothing.

We usually discover it not by seeing a little zipper exposed or a raveled thread. Although our discernment may pick up on those things; it usually happens by personally being wounded by someone that appeared authentic, but instead really turned out to be an abuser or user.

So, the moral peeps –

L👀k Closer!

Inspect the fruit!

or food, or purse or watch or person….

L👀k Closer!

It can seem robust and lush and shiny and beautiful or enticing and authentic, but once you really inspect it, touch it, spend some time with it, and maybe taste it, it could be just a Big Ole Fake!

I saw this funny Meme… It said,

“Try to remember the greener grass across the fence may be due to a septic tank issue.”

Discernment is key!

Lord, thank You that nothing hidden stays hidden. Reveal to us those counterfeit alignments and associations that are not for us. Bring us the authentic real alignments and Divine Connections You have designed for us to carry out Your assignments, plans, and purposes. Give us discernment and clear vision to recognize those counterfeits and wolves in sheep’s clothing. May we move in boldness and courage to walk away and release them. We trust You to sift the wheat from the chaff.

~ XXOO Michelle

Don’t Bite

A Humble Heart Shall Not Be Moved

This has become my favorite phrase lately!

You see, the enemy wants us offended. If we can get offended that will divide the body of Christ faster than anything.

A divided “anything” isn’t very strong. James 3:16 says:

Where there is strife there is every evil thing.

Unity really pisses the devil off.

He likes strife.

John Bevere’s best selling book “The Bait Of Satan” is so perfectly titled and truly depicts exactly what offense is and does. When we take the bait of offense it keeps us crippled and captive. It really is a deadly trap.

So, what do you do when you are stung by someone’s actions or words?

Being hurt or disappointed is very different than being offended – but it can feel very much the same and

can turn into offense if you let it fester.

You can either speak up or stay quiet – which many choose the latter because speaking up is not always well received, but what is crucial is you MUST release the emotions to God.

Let Him remove them and heal you.

Ask God to flood your heart with love and humility so that your pride doesn’t want to call the shots and tempt you to bite and take the bait.

Also, singing this Promise helps!

Great Peace have they that love thy law and NOTHING shall offend them. ~ Psalm 119:165

Try it the next time you lose your peace or feel a sting!

Spit the hook out and say with me…

“A Humble Heart Shall Not Be Moved”

Lord, help us let go of hurts and disappointments today so they don’t fester into offense and resentments. Help us to always abide in love.

~ XXOO Michelle Bollom