August 13, 2025 • 33 mins
In this final episode of our Shame to Shalom series, we share a freeing truth—you are not a project to fix, but a masterpiece in progress, fully loved right where you are. We talk about the difference between “project thinking” and surrender, and how God isn’t our impatient project manager but a loving Father who completes His work in His timing. Through breath prayers, visualizations, and personal stories, we invite you to replace shame’s critical voice with the joy-filled song God sings over you, as promised in Zephaniah 3:17.
We also unpack the richness of “shalom”—wholeness where nothing is missing and nothing is broken—and how it offers rest when shame tries to push us into striving. This journey isn’t about quick fixes, but deep renewal through God’s truth. If you’re ready to keep going deeper, we’d love for you to join our From Shame to Shalom 8-week class starting September 8th. Register now at revelationwithin.org/shalom and continue walking in the peace and freedom God delights to give.
Learn more about our Revelation Within Community: https://www.revelationwithin.org
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hi and welcome to our podcast Revelation Within On
the Go.
I'm Heidi Biles-Mutt-Epperson,one of your hosts and the owner
and lead coach of theRevelationWithinorg ministry.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a
Revelation Within coach andHeidi's partner in all things
Revelation Within, and we are sohappy to invite you to join us
for this episode of RevelationWithin On the go.
(00:35):
We're so glad you're here today.
Come on in.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Yeah, come on in, sit right down, sit right down.
Welcome, in fact, to this finalepisode in our From Shame to
Shalom series.
Over the past few weeks, we'vebeen trying to gently move, move
, hopefully, from shame's griptoward the healing wholeness and
peace.
That true shalom that Godoffers.
(01:05):
In fact, he wired us for shalom.
He wired us to operate bestwhen we're at peace, and today
we're going to celebrate how farwe've come, not by measuring
progress, but by noticing thefruit of grace.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Oh, I love that, heidi, and I was just thinking
oh no, this is our last one ofthis series because I don't want
it to end.
I have loved, loved, talkingand sharing and just kind of
soaking in this subject.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Well, it doesn't have to end for you or me or anybody
, because we've got aneight-week class, nine Zoom
sessions starting September 8th,and I really hope that you will
be there.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Christina, yes, I'm going to be there, of course.
I'm going to be there withbells on, and any of you who are
out there listening, we wouldlove for you to join us.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yeah, just visit revelationwithinorg forward
slash shalom.
Yeah, yes, yeah, I'm going togo ahead and pray for our time
because I think that's helpful,of course, and I just love
recognizing his presenceAbsolutely.
Father God, thank you forwalking with us in every quiet
(02:18):
moment, every breath line, everyeffort, every release of shame.
We are not finished, but we areheld.
We are not perfect, but we areloved.
Lead us in your peace today.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Amen, all right.
Well, we're going to startright here.
You are not a project.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I'm not a project.
You're not a project, I'm not aproject.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
You're not.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
No, you're not a project, heidi, yay.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
You're not something to fix, to manage or improve.
You are a person deeply lovedand gradually transformed by the
king of the universe, who isalso the lover of your soul, boy
.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I was just thinking what if?
What if, every time one ofthose really negative,
condemning thoughts comes intomy mind about my body, my, my,
whatever my personality, myshortcomings?
What if I just said that tomyself?
That truth, how would thatchange things?
Just that one truth, you know.
(03:28):
So many of us live in what wecall project thinking.
You know, that's really what itis.
It's like project thinking.
If I could just fix this partof me, if I could finally get it
right after a million bazilliontries, if I could just be more
disciplined.
But here's the truth and here'swhere I want to sit and stay
(03:51):
and soak.
God isn't our project manager.
That's not who he is.
God is our redeemer, ourshepherd, our father.
I'm just going to say that withthe word I in there.
Maybe you want to say it too.
God isn't my project manager,he's my redeemer, he is my
(04:17):
shepherd, he is my father.
Oh, I love that.
I think that that's a placewhere I've gotten stuck many,
many times over the years.
So let's go to Philippians 1, 6, which many of us know, one of
our favorite verses he who begana good work in you will carry
(04:40):
it on to completion.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
And the Greek word for completion in this verse is
epitaleo, and it means to finishfully.
Yes To bring, to get this tomaturity.
To bring to maturity with care.
He's not rushing, but he isnurturing.
Oh.
So let's start off with abreath prayer together.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Yes, great idea.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Let's just take a few deep breaths first together.
Okay, like, try this Try toinhale through your nose and
exhale through your mouth andexhale through your mouth.
(05:31):
I've noticed that a lot of uswill go.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Well, I never do that , I know, and so a good way of
thinking of it is a count offour on the inhale and a count
of four on the exhale.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
And that's just to get us ready and started.
So let's go ahead and inhalethrough our nose on with a count
of four and exhale count offour.
(06:07):
The inhale we're going toincorporate the truth of
Philippians 1.6 and think thosethoughts, but we're going to
speak them out loud, if you can.
On the inhale, we'll say youare completing the good work,
and on the exhale, and I don'thave to strive.
(06:30):
So are you ready, let's, let'sget all the air out of our lungs
before we start and now inhaleand say you are completing the
good work and exhale and I don'thave to strive.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I don't have to strive.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
And again inhale.
You are completing the goodwork and on the exhale and I
don't have to strive, I don'thave to strive.
Oh, I like that.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, I like that too .
The first phrase.
You're completing the good work.
There's this part of me that'slike oh, work, work, I have to
work, and then we get to thatsecond part, but I don't have to
strive.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And it's so freeing.
It is that's true and it's thetruth.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
It's the truth striving, striving.
You know.
You know what striving is.
I'm sure you have ideas in yourmind about that word.
What you're thinking, striving,pushing, pushing.
I'm thinking of pushing,pushing through, pushing as hard
as you can in your own strengthis.
It's exhausting, it is and it'sshame's whisper do more, be
(07:49):
more, get it together already.
But here's what surrender says,and again, this is where I want
to live.
Surrender says I am loved righthere, just as I am.
I'm loved right here.
You know all my imperfectionsand messes and problems and
(08:14):
shortcomings.
I'm loved right here.
And then I trust your timing,god.
Right, your timing is perfect.
I don't get it, I don'tunderstand it, but your timing
is perfect.
I trust you.
And then you are enough for me.
I don't have to be enough, Idon't have to be amazing.
(08:36):
God is enough for me.
Let's do a quick exercisetogether.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Yeah.
So when you hear either fromsomebody else or from yourself,
or a voice in your head, Ishould be further along, try
replacing it with God iscompleting his good work on his
timeline, so let's say thatagain.
When you hear I should befurther along, so let's say that
again when you hear I should befurther along.
(09:05):
Replace it with God iscompleting his good work in his
good time.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
And then when shame says you failed again or I
failed again, let truth replacethat.
This is part of the process,and I'm still held.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
What's one phrase that shame often says to you
Christina.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Probably the biggest one is you can't do this.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And how could God rewrite that?
How could God?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
rewrite it.
I love that.
It's a great question.
So I'm going to submit that lieto the Lord and ask him how
would you rewrite this, Lord?
And he would say you don't haveto be enough, you don't have to
do this without me.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I am enough, and.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I will do it in you, I'm not worried.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Yay, that's great.
Wouldn't it be awesome if wecould live there where anytime
we had those thoughts thatreally don't stand in alignment
with god, every time we had likea holy spirit alarm go off yes
and we were sensitive enough tohear it that we would capture
those runaway thoughts, takethem captive and replace them
(10:26):
with what God has to say.
That would just be well.
That's what we desire to do.
That's why we push mind renewalso much, because I'm not going
to think God's thoughts left tomy own devices.
I have to be super intentional.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Well, I actually I was working with one of my
one-on-ones last week and sheactually did what you just said
the timer.
So she created reminders in herphone where, where it says what
do you want to be reminded of?
She put in God's truth what wewere just saying specific to her
need, and it was pretty muchthe same thing all day long, so
(11:03):
that when she heard that voicein her mind saying that, lie
again, whether it was her voice,you know the enemy's voice or
the world's voice all she had todo was look at that reminder
and say it out loud.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
And it was powerful for her.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Yeah, she went through the whole day and then
she did two more days and it hasmade such an impact in her
thinking.
And, of course, we know thatthoughts lead to beliefs and the
beliefs lead to your actions.
And so now her actions arestarting to change and it's been
awesome to see.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yay, so you know, that kind of just reminds me of
this underlying truth that wewant to.
We can't overstate it, and thatis why do we push in steps to a
fitter body, or 10 ways toconvince yourself not to eat
(12:10):
when you want to, or whatever.
Renewing our minds causes us tobe transformed, to think God's
thoughts, to believe what is inalignment with God, and then we
act on it.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
It's a beautiful truth.
It is.
It's amazing the way Goddesigned this this way for us to
have a new mindset.
And it's not like you said,it's not just going on Instagram
.
And here's your new mindset.
Read these three, these threesentences.
I saw one the other day whichsaid things that I think about,
that trick me into not eating,oh yes.
(12:47):
I saw that the other day onInstagram and I thought, wow,
that is so fleeting, it's goingto be gone in a second.
There's no depth to it, there'snothing that connects to the
heart with those little tricks.
There's no meaning there.
But with mind renewal, it'sGod's work in us, and so the sky
(13:09):
is the limit, and it goesdeeper than anything on this
earth could ever go.
It goes deep, spiritually deep,deep into our heart and soul,
and that is where thetransformation happens.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Yeah, okay.
So let's talk about this wordthat we've been using a lot
lately Shalom.
It's a beautiful word.
I love the way it even rollsoff my tongue Shalom.
Shalom isn't just no conflict,that's kind of just the very tip
of the iceberg there.
It is the presence of wholenessspiritually, emotionally and
(13:51):
physically, and so shalom reallymeans nothing missing, nothing
broken.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Even our bodies know when we're living in shame or
we're living in peace andchronic shame kind of puts us in
that fight, flight or freezestate.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Of course God invites us to safety, to rest, to peace
, to shalom.
He really does.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
He does.
Okay.
So here I get to share one ofmy very favorite verses,
zephaniah 3, 17.
He will take great delight inyou.
He will rejoice over you withsinging.
That's the sound of ShalomGod's singing over you, not
shaming you.
(14:41):
One of the things I just wantedto say really quick.
I love, heidi, that youmentioned something called
chronic shame, because some ofus do live in chronic shame,
like it's become who we are,it's become what inundates our
thoughts all day long.
But this scripture tells usthat God delights in us, he
(15:06):
rejoices over us, and someversions say loud singing, which
just cracks me up.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, raucous, I think the translation is
actually rowdy, singing Rowdy.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
I love that.
I'm imagining the Lord with allhis angels being rowdy up there
and singing over us.
That's great, but that's reallywhat the sound of shalom is God
singing over us, not shaming us.
There's no shame from God.
No shame from God.
We are redeemed.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Okay, so let's do a visualization together.
Just, it's a shalomvisualization.
Close your eyes, if you can,and if you can't, that's okay.
Okay so let's do avisualization together.
It's a shalom visualization.
Close your eyes, if you can,and if you can't, that's okay.
But close your eyes, if you can, for a moment and just picture
God near to you.
He's near, he's coming closerand he's not impatient with you.
(16:04):
What does his face look like?
If it helps, it can be Jesusthat you're picturing.
He's not impatient.
He's not tapping his foot andlooking at you cross-eyed like
you're not doing something right, but instead he's singing.
He's singing, wow.
Can you feel the soft edges ofhis love as it wraps you up like
(16:30):
a blanket?
What would change in your lifeif you moved through your day as
someone delighted in by theking of the universe and if you
could move through your day asone who is sunk over?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Okay, that made me cry.
I'm sorry about that.
No, it's a good, they're goodtears.
I imagined Jesus coming upbehind me and kind of surprising
me by wrapping his arms aroundme from behind me, and that
(17:13):
teared me up and still is.
So let's go ahead and jump intoanother breath prayer.
At this point.
We're going to breathe in andsay you rejoice over me with
singing.
We're going to breathe in andsay you rejoice over me with
singing.
And we're going to breathe outand say and I rest in your
delight.
You know what I just have toshare really quick.
(17:34):
Yesterday, heidi and I werehaving an exchange over text and
we had a little bit of adifference of opinion and Heidi
was right and I was kind ofgoing my own way and doing
things not doing things, butthinking about something in a
way that was pretty stubborn andshe called me out and it was so
(17:55):
good and it was so loving andisn't that what best friends are
for?
And so I kind of went away fromthe phone for a few minutes and
I turned it into a breath prayerand I just let myself quiet
down because I needed to do that.
I was all wrapped up in myself.
I was wrapped up in my ownstuff, my own issues, and so I
(18:18):
pulled away just for a second,turned it into a breath prayer
and right away, right away, Iwas so aware of God's presence
and right away he was speakingtruth into my mind and my heart.
Right away, because I was opento it, I was inviting him in
instead of, well, I want this,well, I need this, well, this
(18:41):
feels right, well, what aboutthis?
And I thought, you know, whenmy best friend speaks up like
that, I need to be listening,because it's God speaking
through her.
Not that you're perfect, heidi,and not that everything you say
is perfect, but it was such asweet moment because God, it was
(19:01):
like I just he was ushered inand he surprised me with so much
peace.
And then I was able to think somuch more clearly and it was
good and it felt like relief.
It was good.
Thank you, Heidi, for allowingGod to do that in you.
(19:22):
It was super special, superspecial.
Thanks for telling me.
Yeah, okay.
So here comes the breath prayer.
Let's take one deep breathwithout saying anything, breathe
in through through your nose,breathe out through your mouth,
(19:44):
and now let's inhale again.
And now let's inhale again andsay you rejoice over me with
singing exhale and I rest inyour delight.
Let's do it again inhale, yourejoice over me with singing
(20:12):
exhale and I rest in yourdelight oh thank you Lord, thank
you Lord, thank you, lord.
And you know you can takeanything that you're going
through and turn it into abreath prayer, as long as it
(20:32):
lines up with scripture.
You are reminding yourselfwhat's true.
You're telling your own soulwhat is true, what's true.
You're telling your own soulwhat is true.
So you're still going to havemoments when shame tries to
speak up.
No matter how much your mind isrenewed, no matter how many
times you do it in a day, nomatter how many years you've
(20:52):
been working on this or maybeyou just started today, you know
, walking through this world, wewill always have moments when
shame tries to speak up.
The mirror might still feelloud, like you can really hear
what those thoughts are from themirror.
Old patterns might still knock.
(21:14):
In fact, they will.
They definitely will.
But now, now you have tools,you pause, you breathe and you
ask God what do you say about mehere?
What are your thoughts?
What is your perspective?
I want to live and breathe andbelieve and think and act
(21:37):
according to what you say aboutme.
And again, one of my favoriteverses.
This has been kind of my versefor what I'm going through right
now with breast cancer.
I've used this one every singleday since I started.
Isaiah 26,.
Three you will keep in perfectpeace, shalom, shalom those
(22:01):
whose minds are steadfast.
So I get to choose that.
You get to choose perfect peace, which is shalom said twice,
which is so much fun to saytwice.
When your mind is fixed onChrist, when your mind is fixed
on his truth, when your mind issteadfast on his faithfulness,
(22:24):
you get to choose that perfectpeace, and so do I.
Perfect peace, double shalom,not shallow, not on the surface.
Deep and lasting.
It doesn't get any deeper deepand lasting.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
It doesn't get any deeper.
I'm experiencing shalom, shalomright now Me too.
It feels so good.
Well, we want to take a momentlater today perhaps, if now's
not a good time to pause thepodcast and do it now.
But take a moment later todayto ask Lord, where are you
(23:07):
inviting me to walk in greatershalom next?
I'll ask that again God, whereare you inviting me to walk in
greater shalom next?
Oh, I love that question.
Do you have something thatcomes to mind?
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Well, yeah, just now, just right now, just this
journey that I'm on right now.
You know, every day looksdifferent every day.
I'm not sure what to expect.
You know how I'm going to feel,what I'm going to be able to do
, what?
What I'm asked to do, what I'mnot asked to do.
I love this question.
I'm going to take it into myweekend.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Hmm, you know we haven't shared with our podcasts
folks about your news.
This is the first mention of itwe've made, and so why don't
you just give a little nutshellright now before we wrap things
up?
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Yeah, okay.
So I've mentioned before manytimes that I struggle with
chronic Lyme disease.
So, that's ongoing and it'sstill there, although I'm really
in a good place with that rightnow.
I'm very grateful that God hasgiven me a lot of peace with
that physically right now, butit's been about six weeks, I
(24:23):
think maybe seven.
I went for a routine mammogram.
I didn't think it would be anydifferent than any others.
I've never been called backafter a mammogram I know a lot
of people are, you know,routinely but I was called back
and then I was called back again.
So biopsies, ultrasounds, scans, all the tests and it did come
(24:46):
back positive for cancer in mybreast.
It's a bad cancer I mean, allcancer is bad but it's
definitely one of the harderones to fight and takes longer
and it's a more intensive fight,but it is curable, thank God.
I'm so very grateful for that.
And it is not um genetic, whichI'm also very grateful for.
(25:09):
I'm grateful for a lot ofthings, um, actually, even
though it was such a totallyshocking, totally shocking
discovery.
So as soon as we heard the news, they had me going through
tests for really an entire week,got all the information they
needed and then we went on atrip that was a trip of a
(25:32):
lifetime with our family toEurope and my husband and I
celebrated our 30th anniversaryand we picked up our daughter,
who had been in Europe for 10months, and we got to see my
family in Germany and it was anamazing trip.
When we got back, hit theground running and started
(25:53):
treatment.
So I will be in some kind oftreatment for about a year and
it's going to be a lot.
Many of you are going throughsomething similar right now or
have a loved one who are.
Cancer is everywhere.
It's very common and prevalentthese days.
I don't want to minimize howdifficult it is.
(26:15):
It is.
So I'm going to say it's goingto be a hard road and God is
going to be there with me everystep of the way.
I'm already seeing incredibleblessings and changes and
sweetness in my kids, my husband, friends, family.
(26:36):
It's been amazing to see andI've been working hard on
intentionally choosing mythoughts and putting boundaries
around my thoughts when I startgoing down roads of fear which
you know that's really easy todo is to go down a road of fear
Well, I can go into the negative.
(26:58):
What ifs very, very quickly andwe don't know what God has
planned and we don't know whyhe's allowing this or timing it
the way that he is and I trusthim.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah, it makes sense that that would be what comes to
mind when you ask God.
Comes to mind when you ask Godwhere are you?
Speaker 2 (27:23):
inviting me to walk in greater shalom?
Yes, exactly.
That's just a perfect questionfor anyone who's going through
any kind of chronic illness orsuffering.
Or maybe it's an emotionallychronic thing, maybe it's
chronic shame I mean, it can beanything like that.
That is ongoing.
What an amazing question to askLord.
(27:44):
Where are you inviting me towalk in greater Shalom next?
Could be in the very nextminute.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
And Heidi has already prayed me through every single
day of this and I know that shewill continue, and I just
couldn't be more grateful.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Another question that you can ask the Lord is to show
you what he would want you toremember when shame tries to
creep back in.
Remember we are moving fromshame out of shame.
We're not letting shame defineus any longer, we're not giving
(28:25):
it even one ounce of room in ourlives and we're moving towards
shalom, to embrace shalom, tolet shalom, which is brought to
us by God, have its way with us.
What can we remember?
Lord?
Show us.
What can we remember when shametries to creep back in?
(28:47):
You know what?
One of the things that I wantto remember when shame tries to
creep back in is that, yes, I'min process.
Yes, he's going to finish hisgood work in me, but he is
delighting over me with singingright now.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Yes, Loud, rowdy singing.
Yes, I can't wait to be a partof that.
That'll be really fun to be apart of that rowdy bunch Singing
over people when we're inheaven.
Won't that be fun?
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
I love that idea.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Okay, let's close with some praise.
You ready for some praise?
Let's close.
Let's do this.
Lord God, you never shamed meinto change.
Lord God, you rejoiced over mewhen I was weary.
Lord God, you rewrote my storywith grace and, lord God, you
(29:47):
led me to rest.
You lead me to rest.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Lord, you give me hope for the future.
Yes, lord, lord, you also helpme to see the wonders and
mystery and joy of this moment.
Yes, yes, god, you are righthere right now, and I can touch
eternity just by changing mythoughts in a Godward direction
(30:17):
oh I, I love that one.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
I can touch eternity.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Lord God, you are my way maker where there seems to
be no way.
Thank you, God, for all thatyou are.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Yes, thank you, god.
We love you.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
So we're going to urge you we're going to
commission you, listener, to goforward, not as a project, but
as a poem.
You are God's poetry in motion.
You are his masterpiece.
You're not going to chaseperfection, but you're going to
practice peace.
You're not going to need toprove yourself.
You could just receive what hehas for you.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Doesn't that sound better?
That sounds so good, thatsounds so so so good, so good.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
That sounds so so, so good.
So, from Romans 15, verse 13,I'm going to just speak this
blessing and then Christina willclose us.
So here's a blessing straightout of Romans 15, 13.
May the God of hope fill youwith all joy and peace.
As you trust in him, walk inshalom.
As you trust in him, walk inshalom.
Respond with curiosity ratherthan to criticism.
Live like someone who is deeply, joyfully loved, because you
(31:27):
are.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Oh, I love that, heidi.
Thank you, okay.
So live, loved.
Live as a person who is loved,live, light.
Live as a person who has lightall around them, because you do
live free, as one who can chooseand live whole in shalom,
(31:49):
shalom.
We are so glad that you've beenhere today I just don't even
want this podcast to end.
It has just touched my heart sodeeply and we're so glad we want
to invite you to our nextpodcast, revelation Within On
(32:10):
the go.
Okay, thanks for joining us.
Come on back next time.
See you then.
Bye-bye.
Hi and welcome to our podcast Revelation Within On
the Go.
I'm Heidi Biles-Mutt-Epperson,one of your hosts and the owner
and lead coach of theRevelationWithinorg ministry.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And I'm Christina Motley, your other host, also a
Revelation Within coach andHeidi's partner in all things
Revelation Within, and we are sohappy to invite you to join us
for this episode of RevelationWithin On the go.
(00:35):
We're so glad you're here today.
Come on in.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
Yeah, come on in, sit right down, sit right down.
Welcome, in fact, to this finalepisode in our From Shame to
Shalom series.
Over the past few weeks, we'vebeen trying to gently move, move
, hopefully, from shame's griptoward the healing wholeness and
peace.
That true shalom that Godoffers.
(01:05):
In fact, he wired us for shalom.
He wired us to operate bestwhen we're at peace, and today
we're going to celebrate how farwe've come, not by measuring
progress, but by noticing thefruit of grace.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Oh, I love that, heidi, and I was just thinking
oh no, this is our last one ofthis series because I don't want
it to end.
I have loved, loved, talkingand sharing and just kind of
soaking in this subject.
Speaker 1 (01:34):
Well, it doesn't have to end for you or me or anybody
, because we've got aneight-week class, nine Zoom
sessions starting September 8th,and I really hope that you will
be there.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Christina, yes, I'm going to be there, of course.
I'm going to be there withbells on, and any of you who are
out there listening, we wouldlove for you to join us.
Speaker 1 (01:56):
Yeah, just visit revelationwithinorg forward
slash shalom.
Yeah, yes, yeah, I'm going togo ahead and pray for our time
because I think that's helpful,of course, and I just love
recognizing his presenceAbsolutely.
Father God, thank you forwalking with us in every quiet
(02:18):
moment, every breath line, everyeffort, every release of shame.
We are not finished, but we areheld.
We are not perfect, but we areloved.
Lead us in your peace today.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Amen, all right.
Well, we're going to startright here.
You are not a project.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I'm not a project.
You're not a project, I'm not aproject.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
You're not.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
No, you're not a project, heidi, yay.
Speaker 1 (02:51):
You're not something to fix, to manage or improve.
You are a person deeply lovedand gradually transformed by the
king of the universe, who isalso the lover of your soul, boy
.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
I was just thinking what if?
What if, every time one ofthose really negative,
condemning thoughts comes intomy mind about my body, my, my,
whatever my personality, myshortcomings?
What if I just said that tomyself?
That truth, how would thatchange things?
Just that one truth, you know.
(03:28):
So many of us live in what wecall project thinking.
You know, that's really what itis.
It's like project thinking.
If I could just fix this partof me, if I could finally get it
right after a million bazilliontries, if I could just be more
disciplined.
But here's the truth and here'swhere I want to sit and stay
(03:51):
and soak.
God isn't our project manager.
That's not who he is.
God is our redeemer, ourshepherd, our father.
I'm just going to say that withthe word I in there.
Maybe you want to say it too.
God isn't my project manager,he's my redeemer, he is my
(04:17):
shepherd, he is my father.
Oh, I love that.
I think that that's a placewhere I've gotten stuck many,
many times over the years.
So let's go to Philippians 1, 6, which many of us know, one of
our favorite verses he who begana good work in you will carry
(04:40):
it on to completion.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
And the Greek word for completion in this verse is
epitaleo, and it means to finishfully.
Yes To bring, to get this tomaturity.
To bring to maturity with care.
He's not rushing, but he isnurturing.
Oh.
So let's start off with abreath prayer together.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Yes, great idea.
Speaker 1 (05:10):
Let's just take a few deep breaths first together.
Okay, like, try this Try toinhale through your nose and
exhale through your mouth andexhale through your mouth.
(05:31):
I've noticed that a lot of uswill go.
Speaker 2 (05:39):
Well, I never do that , I know, and so a good way of
thinking of it is a count offour on the inhale and a count
of four on the exhale.
Speaker 1 (05:42):
And that's just to get us ready and started.
So let's go ahead and inhalethrough our nose on with a count
of four and exhale count offour.
(06:07):
The inhale we're going toincorporate the truth of
Philippians 1.6 and think thosethoughts, but we're going to
speak them out loud, if you can.
On the inhale, we'll say youare completing the good work,
and on the exhale, and I don'thave to strive.
(06:30):
So are you ready, let's, let'sget all the air out of our lungs
before we start and now inhaleand say you are completing the
good work and exhale and I don'thave to strive.
Speaker 2 (06:49):
I don't have to strive.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
And again inhale.
You are completing the goodwork and on the exhale and I
don't have to strive, I don'thave to strive.
Oh, I like that.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yeah, I like that too .
The first phrase.
You're completing the good work.
There's this part of me that'slike oh, work, work, I have to
work, and then we get to thatsecond part, but I don't have to
strive.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
And it's so freeing.
It is that's true and it's thetruth.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
It's the truth striving, striving.
You know.
You know what striving is.
I'm sure you have ideas in yourmind about that word.
What you're thinking, striving,pushing, pushing.
I'm thinking of pushing,pushing through, pushing as hard
as you can in your own strengthis.
It's exhausting, it is and it'sshame's whisper do more, be
(07:49):
more, get it together already.
But here's what surrender says,and again, this is where I want
to live.
Surrender says I am loved righthere, just as I am.
I'm loved right here.
You know all my imperfectionsand messes and problems and
(08:14):
shortcomings.
I'm loved right here.
And then I trust your timing,god.
Right, your timing is perfect.
I don't get it, I don'tunderstand it, but your timing
is perfect.
I trust you.
And then you are enough for me.
I don't have to be enough, Idon't have to be amazing.
(08:36):
God is enough for me.
Let's do a quick exercisetogether.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
Yeah.
So when you hear either fromsomebody else or from yourself,
or a voice in your head, Ishould be further along, try
replacing it with God iscompleting his good work on his
timeline, so let's say thatagain.
When you hear I should befurther along, so let's say that
again when you hear I should befurther along.
(09:05):
Replace it with God iscompleting his good work in his
good time.
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
And then when shame says you failed again or I
failed again, let truth replacethat.
This is part of the process,and I'm still held.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
What's one phrase that shame often says to you
Christina.
Speaker 2 (09:30):
Probably the biggest one is you can't do this.
Speaker 1 (09:36):
And how could God rewrite that?
How could God?
Speaker 2 (09:39):
rewrite it.
I love that.
It's a great question.
So I'm going to submit that lieto the Lord and ask him how
would you rewrite this, Lord?
And he would say you don't haveto be enough, you don't have to
do this without me.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I am enough, and.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
I will do it in you, I'm not worried.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Yay, that's great.
Wouldn't it be awesome if wecould live there where anytime
we had those thoughts thatreally don't stand in alignment
with god, every time we had likea holy spirit alarm go off yes
and we were sensitive enough tohear it that we would capture
those runaway thoughts, takethem captive and replace them
(10:26):
with what God has to say.
That would just be well.
That's what we desire to do.
That's why we push mind renewalso much, because I'm not going
to think God's thoughts left tomy own devices.
I have to be super intentional.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Well, I actually I was working with one of my
one-on-ones last week and sheactually did what you just said
the timer.
So she created reminders in herphone where, where it says what
do you want to be reminded of?
She put in God's truth what wewere just saying specific to her
need, and it was pretty muchthe same thing all day long, so
(11:03):
that when she heard that voicein her mind saying that, lie
again, whether it was her voice,you know the enemy's voice or
the world's voice all she had todo was look at that reminder
and say it out loud.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
And it was powerful for her.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
Yeah, she went through the whole day and then
she did two more days and it hasmade such an impact in her
thinking.
And, of course, we know thatthoughts lead to beliefs and the
beliefs lead to your actions.
And so now her actions arestarting to change and it's been
awesome to see.
Speaker 1 (11:41):
Yay, so you know, that kind of just reminds me of
this underlying truth that wewant to.
We can't overstate it, and thatis why do we push in steps to a
fitter body, or 10 ways toconvince yourself not to eat
(12:10):
when you want to, or whatever.
Renewing our minds causes us tobe transformed, to think God's
thoughts, to believe what is inalignment with God, and then we
act on it.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
It's a beautiful truth.
It is.
It's amazing the way Goddesigned this this way for us to
have a new mindset.
And it's not like you said,it's not just going on Instagram
.
And here's your new mindset.
Read these three, these threesentences.
I saw one the other day whichsaid things that I think about,
that trick me into not eating,oh yes.
(12:47):
I saw that the other day onInstagram and I thought, wow,
that is so fleeting, it's goingto be gone in a second.
There's no depth to it, there'snothing that connects to the
heart with those little tricks.
There's no meaning there.
But with mind renewal, it'sGod's work in us, and so the sky
(13:09):
is the limit, and it goesdeeper than anything on this
earth could ever go.
It goes deep, spiritually deep,deep into our heart and soul,
and that is where thetransformation happens.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
I love that.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
Yeah, okay.
So let's talk about this wordthat we've been using a lot
lately Shalom.
It's a beautiful word.
I love the way it even rollsoff my tongue Shalom.
Shalom isn't just no conflict,that's kind of just the very tip
of the iceberg there.
It is the presence of wholenessspiritually, emotionally and
(13:51):
physically, and so shalom reallymeans nothing missing, nothing
broken.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Even our bodies know when we're living in shame or
we're living in peace andchronic shame kind of puts us in
that fight, flight or freezestate.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
Of course God invites us to safety, to rest, to peace
, to shalom.
He really does.
Speaker 2 (14:21):
He does.
Okay.
So here I get to share one ofmy very favorite verses,
zephaniah 3, 17.
He will take great delight inyou.
He will rejoice over you withsinging.
That's the sound of ShalomGod's singing over you, not
shaming you.
(14:41):
One of the things I just wantedto say really quick.
I love, heidi, that youmentioned something called
chronic shame, because some ofus do live in chronic shame,
like it's become who we are,it's become what inundates our
thoughts all day long.
But this scripture tells usthat God delights in us, he
(15:06):
rejoices over us, and someversions say loud singing, which
just cracks me up.
Speaker 1 (15:11):
Yeah, raucous, I think the translation is
actually rowdy, singing Rowdy.
Speaker 2 (15:19):
I love that.
I'm imagining the Lord with allhis angels being rowdy up there
and singing over us.
That's great, but that's reallywhat the sound of shalom is God
singing over us, not shaming us.
There's no shame from God.
No shame from God.
We are redeemed.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Okay, so let's do a visualization together.
Just, it's a shalomvisualization.
Close your eyes, if you can,and if you can't, that's okay.
Okay so let's do avisualization together.
It's a shalom visualization.
Close your eyes, if you can,and if you can't, that's okay.
But close your eyes, if you can, for a moment and just picture
God near to you.
He's near, he's coming closerand he's not impatient with you.
(16:04):
What does his face look like?
If it helps, it can be Jesusthat you're picturing.
He's not impatient.
He's not tapping his foot andlooking at you cross-eyed like
you're not doing something right, but instead he's singing.
He's singing, wow.
Can you feel the soft edges ofhis love as it wraps you up like
(16:30):
a blanket?
What would change in your lifeif you moved through your day as
someone delighted in by theking of the universe and if you
could move through your day asone who is sunk over?
Speaker 2 (16:53):
Okay, that made me cry.
I'm sorry about that.
No, it's a good, they're goodtears.
I imagined Jesus coming upbehind me and kind of surprising
me by wrapping his arms aroundme from behind me, and that
(17:13):
teared me up and still is.
So let's go ahead and jump intoanother breath prayer.
At this point.
We're going to breathe in andsay you rejoice over me with
singing.
We're going to breathe in andsay you rejoice over me with
singing.
And we're going to breathe outand say and I rest in your
delight.
You know what I just have toshare really quick.
(17:34):
Yesterday, heidi and I werehaving an exchange over text and
we had a little bit of adifference of opinion and Heidi
was right and I was kind ofgoing my own way and doing
things not doing things, butthinking about something in a
way that was pretty stubborn andshe called me out and it was so
(17:55):
good and it was so loving andisn't that what best friends are
for?
And so I kind of went away fromthe phone for a few minutes and
I turned it into a breath prayerand I just let myself quiet
down because I needed to do that.
I was all wrapped up in myself.
I was wrapped up in my ownstuff, my own issues, and so I
(18:18):
pulled away just for a second,turned it into a breath prayer
and right away, right away, Iwas so aware of God's presence
and right away he was speakingtruth into my mind and my heart.
Right away, because I was opento it, I was inviting him in
instead of, well, I want this,well, I need this, well, this
(18:41):
feels right, well, what aboutthis?
And I thought, you know, whenmy best friend speaks up like
that, I need to be listening,because it's God speaking
through her.
Not that you're perfect, heidi,and not that everything you say
is perfect, but it was such asweet moment because God, it was
(19:01):
like I just he was ushered inand he surprised me with so much
peace.
And then I was able to think somuch more clearly and it was
good and it felt like relief.
It was good.
Thank you, Heidi, for allowingGod to do that in you.
(19:22):
It was super special, superspecial.
Thanks for telling me.
Yeah, okay.
So here comes the breath prayer.
Let's take one deep breathwithout saying anything, breathe
in through through your nose,breathe out through your mouth,
(19:44):
and now let's inhale again.
And now let's inhale again andsay you rejoice over me with
singing exhale and I rest inyour delight.
Let's do it again inhale, yourejoice over me with singing
(20:12):
exhale and I rest in yourdelight oh thank you Lord, thank
you Lord, thank you, lord.
And you know you can takeanything that you're going
through and turn it into abreath prayer, as long as it
(20:32):
lines up with scripture.
You are reminding yourselfwhat's true.
You're telling your own soulwhat is true, what's true.
You're telling your own soulwhat is true.
So you're still going to havemoments when shame tries to
speak up.
No matter how much your mind isrenewed, no matter how many
times you do it in a day, nomatter how many years you've
(20:52):
been working on this or maybeyou just started today, you know
, walking through this world, wewill always have moments when
shame tries to speak up.
The mirror might still feelloud, like you can really hear
what those thoughts are from themirror.
Old patterns might still knock.
(21:14):
In fact, they will.
They definitely will.
But now, now you have tools,you pause, you breathe and you
ask God what do you say about mehere?
What are your thoughts?
What is your perspective?
I want to live and breathe andbelieve and think and act
(21:37):
according to what you say aboutme.
And again, one of my favoriteverses.
This has been kind of my versefor what I'm going through right
now with breast cancer.
I've used this one every singleday since I started.
Isaiah 26,.
Three you will keep in perfectpeace, shalom, shalom those
(22:01):
whose minds are steadfast.
So I get to choose that.
You get to choose perfect peace, which is shalom said twice,
which is so much fun to saytwice.
When your mind is fixed onChrist, when your mind is fixed
on his truth, when your mind issteadfast on his faithfulness,
(22:24):
you get to choose that perfectpeace, and so do I.
Perfect peace, double shalom,not shallow, not on the surface.
Deep and lasting.
It doesn't get any deeper deepand lasting.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
It doesn't get any deeper.
I'm experiencing shalom, shalomright now Me too.
It feels so good.
Well, we want to take a momentlater today perhaps, if now's
not a good time to pause thepodcast and do it now.
But take a moment later todayto ask Lord, where are you
(23:07):
inviting me to walk in greatershalom next?
I'll ask that again God, whereare you inviting me to walk in
greater shalom next?
Oh, I love that question.
Do you have something thatcomes to mind?
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Well, yeah, just now, just right now, just this
journey that I'm on right now.
You know, every day looksdifferent every day.
I'm not sure what to expect.
You know how I'm going to feel,what I'm going to be able to do
, what?
What I'm asked to do, what I'mnot asked to do.
I love this question.
I'm going to take it into myweekend.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Hmm, you know we haven't shared with our podcasts
folks about your news.
This is the first mention of itwe've made, and so why don't
you just give a little nutshellright now before we wrap things
up?
Speaker 2 (24:03):
Yeah, okay.
So I've mentioned before manytimes that I struggle with
chronic Lyme disease.
So, that's ongoing and it'sstill there, although I'm really
in a good place with that rightnow.
I'm very grateful that God hasgiven me a lot of peace with
that physically right now, butit's been about six weeks, I
(24:23):
think maybe seven.
I went for a routine mammogram.
I didn't think it would be anydifferent than any others.
I've never been called backafter a mammogram I know a lot
of people are, you know,routinely but I was called back
and then I was called back again.
So biopsies, ultrasounds, scans, all the tests and it did come
(24:46):
back positive for cancer in mybreast.
It's a bad cancer I mean, allcancer is bad but it's
definitely one of the harderones to fight and takes longer
and it's a more intensive fight,but it is curable, thank God.
I'm so very grateful for that.
And it is not um genetic, whichI'm also very grateful for.
(25:09):
I'm grateful for a lot ofthings, um, actually, even
though it was such a totallyshocking, totally shocking
discovery.
So as soon as we heard the news, they had me going through
tests for really an entire week,got all the information they
needed and then we went on atrip that was a trip of a
(25:32):
lifetime with our family toEurope and my husband and I
celebrated our 30th anniversaryand we picked up our daughter,
who had been in Europe for 10months, and we got to see my
family in Germany and it was anamazing trip.
When we got back, hit theground running and started
(25:53):
treatment.
So I will be in some kind oftreatment for about a year and
it's going to be a lot.
Many of you are going throughsomething similar right now or
have a loved one who are.
Cancer is everywhere.
It's very common and prevalentthese days.
I don't want to minimize howdifficult it is.
(26:15):
It is.
So I'm going to say it's goingto be a hard road and God is
going to be there with me everystep of the way.
I'm already seeing incredibleblessings and changes and
sweetness in my kids, my husband, friends, family.
(26:36):
It's been amazing to see andI've been working hard on
intentionally choosing mythoughts and putting boundaries
around my thoughts when I startgoing down roads of fear which
you know that's really easy todo is to go down a road of fear
Well, I can go into the negative.
(26:58):
What ifs very, very quickly andwe don't know what God has
planned and we don't know whyhe's allowing this or timing it
the way that he is and I trusthim.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
Yeah, it makes sense that that would be what comes to
mind when you ask God.
Comes to mind when you ask Godwhere are you?
Speaker 2 (27:23):
inviting me to walk in greater shalom?
Yes, exactly.
That's just a perfect questionfor anyone who's going through
any kind of chronic illness orsuffering.
Or maybe it's an emotionallychronic thing, maybe it's
chronic shame I mean, it can beanything like that.
That is ongoing.
What an amazing question to askLord.
(27:44):
Where are you inviting me towalk in greater Shalom next?
Could be in the very nextminute.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (27:55):
And Heidi has already prayed me through every single
day of this and I know that shewill continue, and I just
couldn't be more grateful.
Speaker 1 (28:05):
Another question that you can ask the Lord is to show
you what he would want you toremember when shame tries to
creep back in.
Remember we are moving fromshame out of shame.
We're not letting shame defineus any longer, we're not giving
(28:25):
it even one ounce of room in ourlives and we're moving towards
shalom, to embrace shalom, tolet shalom, which is brought to
us by God, have its way with us.
What can we remember?
Lord?
Show us.
What can we remember when shametries to creep back in?
(28:47):
You know what?
One of the things that I wantto remember when shame tries to
creep back in is that, yes, I'min process.
Yes, he's going to finish hisgood work in me, but he is
delighting over me with singingright now.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Yes, Loud, rowdy singing.
Yes, I can't wait to be a partof that.
That'll be really fun to be apart of that rowdy bunch Singing
over people when we're inheaven.
Won't that be fun?
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:18):
I love that idea.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Okay, let's close with some praise.
You ready for some praise?
Let's close.
Let's do this.
Lord God, you never shamed meinto change.
Lord God, you rejoiced over mewhen I was weary.
Lord God, you rewrote my storywith grace and, lord God, you
(29:47):
led me to rest.
You lead me to rest.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Lord, you give me hope for the future.
Yes, lord, lord, you also helpme to see the wonders and
mystery and joy of this moment.
Yes, yes, god, you are righthere right now, and I can touch
eternity just by changing mythoughts in a Godward direction
(30:17):
oh I, I love that one.
Speaker 2 (30:18):
I can touch eternity.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Lord God, you are my way maker where there seems to
be no way.
Thank you, God, for all thatyou are.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Yes, thank you, god.
We love you.
Speaker 1 (30:33):
So we're going to urge you we're going to
commission you, listener, to goforward, not as a project, but
as a poem.
You are God's poetry in motion.
You are his masterpiece.
You're not going to chaseperfection, but you're going to
practice peace.
You're not going to need toprove yourself.
You could just receive what hehas for you.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Doesn't that sound better?
That sounds so good, thatsounds so so so good, so good.
Speaker 1 (31:03):
That sounds so so, so good.
So, from Romans 15, verse 13,I'm going to just speak this
blessing and then Christina willclose us.
So here's a blessing straightout of Romans 15, 13.
May the God of hope fill youwith all joy and peace.
As you trust in him, walk inshalom.
As you trust in him, walk inshalom.
Respond with curiosity ratherthan to criticism.
Live like someone who is deeply, joyfully loved, because you
(31:27):
are.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Oh, I love that, heidi.
Thank you, okay.
So live, loved.
Live as a person who is loved,live, light.
Live as a person who has lightall around them, because you do
live free, as one who can chooseand live whole in shalom,
(31:49):
shalom.
We are so glad that you've beenhere today I just don't even
want this podcast to end.
It has just touched my heart sodeeply and we're so glad we want
to invite you to our nextpodcast, revelation Within On
(32:10):
the go.
Okay, thanks for joining us.
Come on back next time.
See you then.
Bye-bye.
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