The Converge Network with Pastor Michele Jackson

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hi, everyone, Welcome back to Life and the Overflow. I'm
your host, Michelle Jackson, and today we are continuing in
our healing and wholeness like topic. I feel like it's
so key because fifty seven eighty five, the year that
we are in, it's the hypbreak year. For twenty twenty
five is the year of the window and the year

(00:28):
of God's breath. And so really what the Lord wants
us to receive as a new perspective and new life,
resurrection life in him, and part of that is confronting
some things that maybe we want to sweep under the rug.
And so as we continue to go deep into this
topic today, I thought it'll be really good for us

(00:48):
to talk about the fact that God wants to heal
what we hide. One of the things that we hide,
we see it all the way back to the Garden
of Eden, is shameful things that happen to us also
like rejection, and a lot of times we're just conditioned
to stuffing our wounds. Right, So the first thing I

(01:08):
want to like point out is that rejection is a wound.
A lot of the things that we deal with in life,
whether it be anxieties, challenges that we have in our
life with even like making friends or having relationships and
things like that, because that's a lot of what I

(01:29):
hear post the COVID shutdown time is that it's been
really hard for people to like reintegrate and to attend
in person things, a lot of overwhelm and things like that.
So all of those kind of things indicate that there's
a wound. Right. But Isaiah fifty three three says that

(01:52):
Jesus was rejected, So Jesus was also wooked, it right,
And so sometimes we don't see our say beer in
that way. We see him only from the place of triumph.
We see him only from the place of the cross
to the tombstone was rolled away. But Isaya fifty three

(02:15):
tells us that he was despised, he was rejected, He
was a man of suffering, he was familiar with pain,
and like one from whom people hid their faces, he
was despised, and people look down on him, right, because
the Bible says we held him in low esteem, which
means we didn't value him. And so I think a

(02:38):
lot of times when we think about circumstances, the enemy
tries to lie to us that we're alone in that
of people maybe looking down on us or people underestimating us.
And I had a very interesting encounter at the store
the other day because I just felt inspired by the

(02:59):
Lord to encoura rich this young lady who was waiting
on me checking me out of the store, to tell
her that, hey, you know, a lot of times, even
as leaders or people and even women, right, sometimes we've
so allowed ourselves to be defined by the labels that
people have placed on us that the actions we take,

(03:22):
even the things that we pursue, while they may be
good things and it may even be godly things, are
in reaction to what people say is impossible or can't
be done, or things like that. And while I'm saying
that there is room for faith to overcome obstacles, what
I am saying is that sometimes we're so defined by

(03:42):
our wounds that we're setting goals and reaction to wounds. Right.
And I know, like growing up as a pastors can,
we grew up in like a glasshouse, right, So oftentimes
there were a lot of eyes on us, but we
also felt invisible and disconnected because as a ministry family,
sometimes we didn't feel like we measured up to people's

(04:05):
expectations of what should happen. And so what happens when
you feel like that is that there can be a
seed of rejection that's planted that can show up later
in relationships, in ministry and career, and in moments where
you feel unseen. You have to be careful that you
are not defining yourself or your life by the wounding,

(04:29):
but allowing God to bring healing into those areas. And
so what's interesting is that you know, one of fun fact,
I am a minister with restoring the Foundations, and actually
I'll be speaking this year in October at their thirty
fifth anniversary conference. Right. So some of these things are

(04:52):
things we cover when we do personal ministry with the
clients that we receive, and I just have the pleasure
of ministering to so many different kinds of women pretty
much by referral. But this is one of the cycles
that we talk about a lot, and it's the cycle
of shame, right, And we see it first in Genesis

(05:12):
three ten and Adam said I was afraid I was naked,
and so he hid from the voice of God. And
so what happens when we have unaddressed wounds in our life,
we begin to hide things that God wants to actually
address with us. And so it's very easy to come
in and out of church, and we are very like

(05:33):
present driven ministry. We really want to encounter the Holy Spirit,
the presence of God each each time we come in.
But the challenge is is that you can be in
a present driven ministry and never and never change because
it's about you being open and you receiving what God
wants to do. Right. And so in that cycle of

(05:55):
shame that we see Adam walking in, shame is telling
him to cover up, and so he's retreating from God's presence.
And so one truth that I want to sow into
you today is that you can have as much of
God as you want. Our human capacity, we can't take
him all in right. He is infinite, We are finite, right,

(06:17):
But our appetite for God has to grow. And so
the wounds that we carry on the inside, that we
hide from others and from God, and even the cycles
of shame that we don't want to look at certain
things that have happened or certain things that we're carrying,
keep us from receiving all that God has for us.

(06:39):
And we're in such a divine window of acceleration and
healing and wholeness, and so I don't want you to
miss the moment by being like an ostrich right. Sometimes
we feel like we're right, We feel like we're justified
to hold the opinions we have. And if you're feeling

(07:01):
like that, I think the last episode would be a
good woman to go back to forgiveness, because sometimes that's
just what's needed to unlock our hearts that have become
hardened because of the things we've hidden. There's no way
for us to not be shut down if we're holding
on to things from our past. So I've seen that

(07:24):
I've seen high capacity leaders, especially women because that's for
my primary audience who I am ministered to in restoring the
Foundation's ministry, but also through young men that I mentor
in our ministry, I see high capacity, high potential people
that have hidden depression, hidden anxiety, hidden fears, and things

(07:47):
that they're wrestling with that no one knows about. But
God wants to minister to the real you. He wants
to administer to your real heart, your whole heart. And
so coming into a place of wholeness means that we're
willing to allow God to have our whole heart and
our brokenness. So you know, love covers a multitude of sins.

(08:13):
That's what the Bible says, and Romans five point five
says that God's love is shed abroad in our hearts.
It's literally poured out into our hearts. And so God's
not afraid of our pain. He's not afraid of the
things that we've been through. He he wants to meet
us in that. And so so many times, especially when

(08:35):
I'm ministering to people who have gone through a lot
of trauma and a piece and things like that, it's
hard to connect with the part of us that was
wounded because we have stuffed that pain down and a
lot of times we don't think we'll ever get justice
for it, or we think that God abandoned us in it.

(08:55):
And when those things are there, it really doesn't let
God's love come in and cover that place and heal
that place. And so I remember when I first got
certified to do thorough format ministry, I had a young
lady who had been severely abused by a stepfather and
the mother had really just abdicated her authority in the

(09:19):
home and knew things were going on but never addressed them.
And she had so much anger, and the Lord asked
me in the session, what I will be willing to
stand proxy for her parents and repent and apologize to
her for not protecting her, you know, and recognizing the

(09:41):
authority and the gift that children are. And she received
such breakthrough from that and was able to release the anger.
I was ministering to a young man prophetically in our
altar recently, and the Lord led me to repent on

(10:03):
behalf of pastors and spiritual leaders who had mismanaged his heart,
and he just wailed. He broke because when love comes in,
love comes in to bring restitution. See. I think sometimes
we don't recognize that God wants to leave our hearts

(10:25):
in our lives in a better way than what it's been. Right.
I have these bookcases in my house that everybody said
was ugly. When my parents passed away. Nobody wanted them
and they said, oh, they're dated, it's seventy style, they're ugly.
Why would you do that or whatever? Why would you
want to keep them? Chat I kept them. I restained

(10:49):
them because I had a vision for what they were
going to look like. And so they're in my home.
They go with all my friend. I get so many
compliments when people come over and they're like, where did
you get that? And I got them for my parents.
They don't make them anymore, right, But I was able
to see the potential on the inside of them and
bring them to a place of being current right. And

(11:09):
that's really just what God wants to do as far
as restoring your life. He wants to bring you to
a place of being current right. So everything in your
life that from the inside out that may cause you
to shrink back from your purpose. God wants to bring

(11:31):
restoration and restitution in such a way that your life
is better than it was if everything it had gone perfectly.
And so I know, I don't know how much those
bookcases are now, but they're actually real wood, you know.
So they don't make a lot of real wood furniture anymore,
not here in the United States. Maybe somewhere else where

(11:51):
you're watching, maybe they do. But a lot of our
furniture is like particle wood, where it's like very it's
not very sturdy, it can't last a long time. And
so that was the other reason that I wanted to
keep the furniture, because I saw the value in the
way that it had been made and that's the same
thing with the Father. He sees the value and how

(12:13):
you were made, in the family that he placed you in,
in the things that you've gone through, he still sees
your value. And I know that as you begin to
see that value that's on the inside of you, you'll
be able to receive from Him. And He is going
to use people to minister to you, because that's how
we heal in the context of the body of Christ.

(12:36):
There are things that God can do sovereignly, right, but
there's also things that the Lord wants to put you
in a community or a body of believers to receive.
And so you know, as we're coming out of some
behaviors that we learned based on survival right from the pandemic,
we have to recognize and place a value on community

(12:59):
because there's some things that we can only get by
having a relationship with like minded believers through the local church.
That God could do sovereignly, but he assigned his church
as the vehicle through which you are to receive them, right.
So I just want to encourage you to just really

(13:19):
place yourself in a position where you can let God
heal you and you can let God do a deeper
work in your life. So here's a devotional response that
you can journal about if you want to, where you
can take to prayer and you can ask the Lord
where am I still hiding? Are there things in my
heart that I'm still hiding from you? And invite God

(13:42):
to look with you into that space. We had an
amazing time of worship the other night and encounter where
the Lord invited us to receive iesaf, to receive iesap,
to heal our vision so that we could see things rightly,
to see him right now, to have the right perspective.

(14:02):
And so I just want to pray for you that
as you allow yourself to come out of hiding and
out of those places of wounding, that you'll receive the
healing that Jesus died on the cross for you to receive.
The Bible says that he was beaten beyond recognition, that
they couldn't even tell, that he was so disfigured that

(14:23):
he didn't even look human. So if he did all
of that, no matter what ugly thinks you think, you
have to hold on to the blood of Jesus. The
cross of Calvary put an end to those things and
all you have to do is receive it, receive it
by faith, and then just begin to walk in that
and begin to walk in the newness that the Lord

(14:43):
has for you. So, Lord God, I just thank you
for everybody who tuned in today. I thank you that
it's a divine appointment for healing. I thank you Lord
that you're bringing us out of hiding. You're bringing us
out of hiding into the light of your truth, into
the light of your love. I thank you that we
can bring our brokenness. We can bring our shame, we
can bring our fear, our anxieties, whatever wounding that we have,

(15:08):
we can bring it to you and we can process
it with you as you wrap us in your love
and you heal the barroken pieces. God, I thank you
that freedom starts with honesty. And I thank you that
we don't have to hide to live a set apart
life for you, or pretend to be perfect in order
to be loved by you. I thank you that you

(15:29):
love the real us because you made us in your image,
and that you don't want to just leave us there,
but you want to bring us into a place of
hollness and healing so that we can live a life
that's pleasing to you in accordance with your word and God,
we just thank you for your sovereignty to meet us
and our brokenness and to restore us and to make

(15:50):
restitution and to make us better than you. So we
give you the glory for what you're doing in this moment,
and we thank you that even as we touch your presence,
we receive that life that comes from your spirit. So Lordie,
thank you for it. In Jesus name. Amen, listen, I
am excited for you. I'm excited for the opportunity that

(16:14):
you have either to walk yourself through or to recognize
people around you that need healing and need the love
of Jesus. Each of us as believers are called to
be an example but also to be a doore that
people can receive the love of Christ through. So maybe
this wasn't your personal situation today, but some of the

(16:35):
indicators of what we talk to can equip you for
strengthen you and inform you to be adore through which
people can receive the Lord Jesus Christ and healing and
what he has. So I just want to encourage you
in that because you continue to live in the other overflow,
invite others into what God has. I'll see you next time.