Author: Jackie Scott

Jacqueline Scott MA Personal/Leader Coach, PCC
Soul Warning

Soul Mitigation

  • While this quote is true and needed, what can we do to mitigate this usual course of life?
  • Can we lessen the regrets?
  • How can we reach into our pasts, be restored & renewed, then meaningfully connect with our present & the present lives of people who are now in those wrenching years of choices that affect so much?

As we watch the younger lives around us and shake our heads at the world they’re encountering, what are ways we can enter compassionately, engage graciously, and influence effectively so they want to hear us?  (I’m hearing of unique invitations into hearts and lives that some of you are stepping up to!)

God has us & them in this world for such a time as this. It is not a surprise to him that things are falling apart!  Esther’s world was looking pretty grim when she realized she had to stand wisely, strategically with winsome words & deeds.  And God miraculously turned things around so her people were not destroyed as plotted.  (Esther 8:7,8)

“Sorrow had a purpose but it’s time to stand…” Need to Breathe – Into the Mystery

“The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, to turn aside from the snares of death.”

Proverbs 13:14

Soul Help

Soul Stroke

Can your soul have a stroke?

When the flow of “life blood” is interrupted, it prevents needed sustenance to our very well-being. If emotional numbness, moral weakness & confusion and lack of balance are any indication, I think our souls can have strokes.

Living in a formerly repressive society, where anything could be twisted into offence against the ruling party, I surmise there had to be a lack of soul blood, a masking of oxygen, a clamping of vessels to the soul. It became a massive, irreversible stroke. It didn’t work the way they schemed.  It smashed, repressed, stunted and killed. Seeming good intentions annihilated freedom, beauty and reason. That began 100 years ago.  We live in the aftermath.

Yet…I detect similar leanings in my home country today!

In the repressive society, freedom of speech was a non-entity, let alone initiative and creativity of thought. Fear ruled. Anything deemed ill-spoken could have been judged against the accepted narrative with harsh consequences.

This is sounding way too familiar…

If caught up in faulty logic and subjective interpretations, a view (that doesn’t fit into a preferred narrative) is dismissed, this is a major loss.  Where is the equal playing field? A gradual shift in belief, sloppy indifference to philosophical foundations, letting pleasure and comfort lull to sleep, moves the subtle shift to a massive rift.

“Freedom of speech [saying what I think might be wrong or might be needed] is the oxygen of liberty.”  

“…where only the permitted narrative is tolerated then…you know what a diminished life this is going to cause.”  Heather Higgins

America with its government from the people, responsible to the people, is founded and built upon hearing what the people think. That is what has continued to bring about change and progress; rather than imposing unreachable seemingly virtuous ideals that bring inevitable destructive results.  (ex. Open border)

These pernicious ideas squelch some and megaphone others, rather than holding everyone to the same rules or the same treatment.  Where is the reason and accountability when there can’t be robust debate, healthy disagreement and respectful dialogue?

Let’s beware of our souls succumbing to the unhealthy habits of communication that lead to soul strokes!

How can our communication enhance dialogue even when there is disagreement?

 Listen to Peter’s words to people living under the repression of the Romans and the persecution of the Jewish leaders of their day.

“…even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”  1 Peter 3:14-16

We need Him for this!

 

A great book to help in navigating difficult conversations with truth and love:

I Beg to Differ by Tim Muehlhoff

Soul Help

Soul Bones

1 min. video

There are many good spiritual trainings, teachings, and materials available now, but without follow through, walking it out, or making it your own…it’s just a “notebook on the shelf”, as professor Howard Hendricks said.

For personal & leader development, I’ve crafted a way to take a deeper dive into walking out things we have well situated in our heads but haven’t yet settled into our hearts… let alone our bones! I’ve written a journey facilitator’s guide.

For the 1st anniversary of my book publishing, I’m offering a free pdf of this guide with the purchase of my book Your Life is Re-markable. From now until Sept 12, just send me a screen shot of your purchase & I’ll send you the guide!

If you’d like to join a journey group or explore facilitating one, Contact me at soulfit.us Let’s get this stuff into our bones!

 

What is a journey group?

Journey Coaching  –   Jackie Scott MA, PCC

 

-A small group journey together to unearth deep-seated beliefs that affect our lives and to give insight to walking in love and freedom.

These sessions are done by invitation for those committed to going deeper in exploring their lives and spirituality over a period of 10, 90-minute sessions.

PURPOSE:

  • identify a growth area in my life where God wants to work;
  • recognize the lies that I have lived by regarding that area
  • work with God to uproot those lies and plant His truth.

“Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.” Psalm 51:6  

These sessions include:

Taking a look (Ps. 139:23, 24)

  • It’s Biblical to “work” on ourselves
  • We need to choose to work with God on ourselves
  • The enemy is prowling yet God’s power over him is our hope

 Probing our lives (Lam. 3:40) 

Beginning to hear our self-talk

 Digging deeper into our patterns and beliefs (1 Tim. 4:16)

 Life journey lines/early foundations/arrows

 Innermost Being (2 Cor. 10:4,5)

Fighting the lies/renewing our minds

 Battle Within (Ephe. 6:10)

 Walking in the Spirit/recognizing the schemes of the enemy

 Overcoming (Rom. 8:37)

 Misconceptions of God and self/scripts from our past

 View of God & self

We are being transformed into the new self (Ephe. 4:24)

Transforming (Rom 12:1,2)

 Setting our minds on the Spirit/going to the hard places (Gal. 5:1)

 “Plunder” and Purpose (1 John 3:8)

 Keeping our freedom from slavery to our old ways

 Celebration & Resilience (Exodus 15)

 Life Planning, Resilience and Self-value

 

Gordon McDonald in his A Resilient Life p. 98 says:

“… We carry within ourselves all our yesterdays, the experiences and influences that have happened from our birth to this present moment. These yesterdays can powerfully affect today, the right-now and dominate our relationships, our choices, our view of ourselves, and even our understanding of God. If our yesterdays are in a state of good repair, they provide strength for today. If not repaired, they create havoc.”

 

Responses from recent groups:

“This journey group gave me the motivation and support to unearth deep lies and to begin to allow God in to redeem and restore. That is what I want more than anything; to walk in a way that is beautiful to the Lord… I know that I will get nowhere by continuing in the lies that I have identified. I wrote some of the claims or stakes that I am working on believing in my heart. I feel that my heart is often stubborn and slow to accept truth and often more comfortable hanging onto negativity or arguments to support old lies. But it is a journey and I feel that these messages of truth are slowly penetrating.”  

 

“It has guided and encouraged me in heart changes that I would not have done alone or without the wisdom from others who have experience walking with the Lord. I didn’t know what I was missing! Having your eyes opened to blind areas in your life is hard but having a spiritually mature coach gives you permission to look into those areas with confidence God won’t abandon you during the process.  – the prayers have opened my heart to communing with God in ways I have not known before and it’s been something I have shared with others each week. Practicing and doing them together has been a huge encouragement – despite how vulnerable it makes me feel. Hearing others talk with God and how they relate with Him gives the group a connection I don’t think would be there otherwise.”  

 

 “It gave me a renewed ability to focus and straighten my priorities on what needed to be worked on. It opened my eyes to my own life and past and hurts that impact me on a daily basis and gave me the ability and opportunity to reflect on my life and who I am. It has opened my eyes to things from my past that need to change to bring me closer to the woman that God has made me to be.”

 

Facilitators’s Guide

Preview

Soul Cries

Soul Bonfire – guest post by Brad Scott

Transition & Vision 

From Fear to Rejoicing by Meditating on God’s Promises

Fear and uncertainty can rule us when we don’t know how God will provide or lead in the next season in life. Satan’s lies can overwhelm us when we question if God is for us, and we get stuck in John Bunyan’s “Cage of Despair”, with the cell door unlocked.

I prayed desperately for weeks that God would give me guidance for the next step – if I could/should go against the flow, not get a job working for someone else, and pursue my dreams of building Kingdom business to be financially free and serve in Kingdom endeavors. At church: Acts13:3 – They sent the first missionaries only after fasting and praying. I realized I hadn’t even gone that far, hadn’t given the Lord that much effort or attention. So, I did a little fast and prayed.

The Lord led me, through the instruction of a God-fearing man, to ask what in my heart had I not surrendered to Him? I quickly realized that I was gripping tightly what I wanted and what I did not want. I said I was surrendered to God in my prayers but I only gave Him a lane to operate in with left and right limits, I hadn’t blown it wide open to full surrender – “anything, anywhere, here I am, send me Lord. I trust you.”

So, I prayed that. And it was scary, because I actually had to trust that He knew what was best, even if it was, “Go and become an employee somewhere,” which I despised the thought of. It seemed like a massive waste of my talents which I long to steward for the Kingdom. But it reminded me, real trust is only in full surrender. Even if it was, “Take your fam and go to KG”, or even if He called us to stay and have ministry in El Paso (which is Mexico on the US side of the border predominantly run by the Cartel). My heart finally said, whatever you want, Lord.

It all came down to surrender.

True foundational trust is rooted in full surrender. *

I saw ahead, one day soon when I’ll die, then stand before the King next to a massive bonfire, giving account of my stewardship of all that He gave me. Only what was done with/for Him didn’t burn. I cried out, “Make that my heart’s desire O Lord – to do fully and only what you call me to do with you!” I’d want a small fire that day. And then I asked Him to speak.

I lie down, couldn’t sleep because my heart was burning with words from the Holy Spirit: “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward Him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9! And, I saw a date in my Bible next to this verse 7 years ago, right before I transitioned into the Army. (Now transitioning out.) So, I asked Him for a blameless heart for the next 7. And He overwhelmingly assured me blamelessness does not equal perfection. I won’t be fully sanctified this side of death. My current status: Forgiven, pure, covered by the blood, blameless. My current life posture: Seeking. Full surrender. God fearing. He helped me see that, with regard to my will, “blameless” is a heart state of full surrender, not a state of perfection. Before the Father I’m already perfect by the cross.

And it hit me. My heart cried out, Oh, forgive me Lord, I have been dreaming so small, all I could see was my own financial freedom instead of fanning the fire I felt of your Spirit inside me to build Your Kingdom by building entities (business and ministries) that produce fruit for the Church for generations to come! I was like a child coming to my dad saying, “Please, please will you provide for us,” as if he were reluctantly withholding. And He was saying, “Why are asking so small son?” And I cried, hard. I saw that I didn’t ask big because I didn’t trust or believe Him, and I didn’t trust because my heart wasn’t in full surrender.

What He was saying was, “The Lord is able to give you much more than this!” 2 Chronicles 25:9 ESV

So, I said, “Father, in full surrender, I believe you.” I believe with Your strong support building business that furthers Your Kingdom is possible. Business that plants churches, that frees slaves of trafficking, poverty oppression, and pornography bondage. That funds Integrated and other Kingdom ventures. You have given me Your passion to bring Your gospel to life in business and Your Kingdom to entrepreneurs.

The next morning, I said to the Lord, I was pretty floored by our conversation yesterday. Please provide confirmation of all that. (Asking for dry wool on wet ground per se) I opened my devotions to 1 Thessalonians 5, which seemed to have nothing to do with all this. But at the end it says in verse 23

“May the God of peace sanctify you completely and may your whole spirit, and soul and body be kept blameless… He who calls you is faithful, He will do it!”

In other words: I just choose surrender. He sanctifies me, He makes me blameless, He gives me strong support, He is faithful, and He will make it happen!

 

(*I had the thought that in full surrender God doesn’t ask us to have a “blind faith”. He asks us to trust Him so completely that, with eyes wide open, we even trust Him with our blind spots. No matter how hard I look ahead and plan there is a lot I can’t see. I always have blind spots. Only in full surrender can I say I trust you Lord even with the things I can’t name yet.)

Soul Warning

Soul Storage

There is an ever-increasing demand for storage facilities in the US.  When looking recently at options for a temporary need, we couldn’t believe the price and how few were available.

Paying to store stuff…

Storage costs money. It can get to the point of taking away needed resources and energy.

Our bodies and our souls store things too. 

The traumas and emotions that shaped us, where we were too young to react well and just coped, where things were imposed on us that shouldn’t have been. These led us to false determinations in our minds. Those things are stored in you; in your neurons, in your body and thus in your soul.

“As long as you keep secrets and suppress information, you are fundamentally at war with yourself…The critical issue is allowing yourself to know what you know. That takes an enormous amount of courage.”

“Neuroscience research shows that the only way we can change the way we feel is by becoming aware of our inner experience and learning to befriend what is going inside ourselves.”

“The greatest sources of our suffering are the lies we tell ourselves.”

 Bessel A. van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score

 

Soul storage;  when so encumbered it reduces our brain function. It costs us dearly!

“When one part of the brain is overloaded with emotional material, the whole brain system and its functioning is reduced.” Catherine Thorpe (Licensed Mental Health Counselor)

Clearing out our soul storage is a process of revisiting the places where emotions/reactions are held inside our inner beings. We can with hope, open the old, rusty door, notice what’s there and grieve. Then carefully connect our younger formations with our older. We can assure our younger selves that it was not our fault, we did what we could and it does not define us. Our Creator comes in His powerful compassion, speaks and frees up our neurons, leads us to new places so we’re not stuck in that reaction anymore.

 

“…put off your old self… be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self…”

Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV

 

What is stored in your soul?

Soul Growth

Soul Spelunking

“An unhealed person can find offense in pretty much anything someone does. A healed person understands that the actions of others have absolutely nothing to do with them.”

Reading this, quoted by Michele Cushatt, reinforced how often this plays itself out and how needy we are for “soul spelunking”.

PC – Marcin Gala

 

Spelunking is the exploration of caves.  You need courage and a lot of light for those kinds of places. Spiritual spelunking “ventures down into the cavernous depths of faith” as Paul Tripp puts it in his introduction to New Morning Mercies.

He confesses his own tendencies (revealing our own) to shrug at amazing gospel realities and let other things in life take our hearts or put us in awe.  When we forget how much grace and rescue we need today, we begin to put ourselves above others which is never good for healthy communication or relationships. Self-awareness brings us to reality when we see our caves in light of God and His Word. His compassion and power there give us courage and freedom.

Our gut reactions (that flow from old patterns of thought or untended negative emotions) fester in deep caverns of our souls.  Many remain unexplored by our Light and thus are unleashed in certain circumstances, leaving us floundering.

“The spirit of a person is the lamp of the LORD, Searching all the innermost parts of his being.” 

Proverbs 20:27 NASB

  

What cave of your soul needs spelunking?

 

How will you nurture the courage to go there?

Soul Comfort

Soul Path

PATH TO THE CROSS

 

Crown of Thorns – What does this represent?

Mockery

Shame

Rejection

Not being taken seriously

Disregard

Not accepted

Not important

Irrelevant

Hated

In the way

Public spectacle

Disgrace

Unloved

 

                                                                     Add your own ______________________________

 

Ponder where have your sensed or felt things like these. 

 

Name the most prominent ones and carry them with you to the cross.

 

 And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand;

and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

Matthew 27:29 (NASB)

 

The Blood of Jesus

 

 Ponder the mystery of the power of an eternal God/Man shedding his holy blood for the likes of us.

 

       How do we treat this incredible act on our behalf? 

 

“He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon Him,
Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.”

Isaiah 53:2, 3 (NASB)

 

Do you hold back from accepting this radical act on your behalf?  Do you turn your face away and carry your sorrows and sin on your own? Confess you disregard of him and carry it to the cross.

 

” …without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Hebrews 9:22

 

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus… let us draw near …” Hebrews 10:19-22

 

“…but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

1 John 1:7

 

His Body Broken

 

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written,

“Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”  Gal. 3:13

He took on any curse we’ve been cursed with.  What names, labels, scripts, or unspoken attitudes have you been designated with or held over yourself that need to be shed, let go of or renounced?  Write down the ones coming to mind and carry them to the cross.

  “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:5

 

“…having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Colossians 2:14

                                   

Exchange at the Cross

 

 

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

John 10:10

 

What has the thief stolen from you?

What has Jesus done about this?

“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the suffering and afflicted. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted, to announce liberty to captives, and to open the eyes of the blind. 2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of God’s favor to them has come, and the day of his wrath to their enemies. 3 To all who mourn in Israel he will give: beauty for ashes; joy instead of mourning; praise instead of heaviness. For God has planted them like strong and graceful oaks for his own glory. 4 And they shall rebuild the ancient ruins, repairing cities long ago destroyed, reviving them though they have lain there many generations. Isaiah 61:1-4

 

Jesus took our sins, wounds, poverty, shame, rejection that we might be forgiven, healed, made righteous, accepted  (List your pains, rejections, failures, pain, shame to lay before him…)

 

Lay down the things you carry and make an exchange at the cross!

 

Exchange at the Cross  (adapted from La Rucher Ministries) 

On the cross a divine exchange took place.  All the evil that was due by justice to the human race (and to us individually) was poured upon Jesus so that all the good that was due the sinless obedience of Jesus could be made available to us who believe!

 Jesus was punished – that we might be forgiven.  Is. 53:4,5

 Jesus was wounded – that we might be healed. He carried our sorrows and bore our griefs.

Is. 53:4,5; Is. 61:1-4

 Jesus was made sin with our sinfulness – that we might be made righteous with His righteousness.

Is. 53:10; 2 Cor. 5:21

 Jesus tasted death for us – that we might share His life.

Heb. 2:9; John 10:10

 Jesus was made a curse – that we might receive the blessing.  Gal. 3:13, 14; Deut. 21:22,23

Jesus endured our poverty – that we might share His abundance.

2 Cor. 8:9 & 9:8

 Jesus endured our shame that we might share His glory.

Matt. 27:35, 36; Heb. 2:10

Jesus endured rejection – that we might share His acceptance.

Matthew 27:45 – 51; Ephesians 1:3-6

 

What do you lay down and what do you take with you?

Soul Cries

Soul Bondages

Things that hold us back, bind us, irk us, trigger us are often what we need freeing from.

As the returned Jewish exiles are working hard rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem in 445BC (reestablishing their place and their voice in Nehemiah 4) they encounter opposition that threatens to hold them back, keep them enslaved, trigger their fears & insecurities and greatly annoy them.

“What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they restore it for themselves?”

Nehemiah 4: 2b

They had been estranged from their homeland, immersed in someone else’s world, ways and rule. The Persian king Cyrus had given provision and permission for their return but almost 100 years had passed and it was still in ruins.

Coming out of bondage is a battle that takes time and strategy, thought-out plans that are agreed on and implemented.  The risk was high but the stakes were high. Their place in the world, their voice in their generation awaited their arrival.

 

What in your life awaits your arrival?

 

May we be attentive to Him in these unprecedented days,

Always

Becoming

Curiously

Drawn to Him in the wrenching sorrow

“Even if” He doesn’t seem to come through

Forlorn, fatigued, fretting, forgetting, fumbling

God lifts, leads, holds and 

Heals, sometimes, and will soon for all time

I wonder with questions and beg His coming

Jesus our hope in every place and pain

Kindred sufferer, acquainted with grief

Lover of my soul

Moving mountains I don’t see and mounting movement in me

Nearer we cling, in sorrow we sing

Opened heart’s eyes through what You bring

Pondering His paths so strange and beyond

Quietly fulfilling purposes of God

Ready to strongly support hearts that are His

Silencing enemy taunting and threats

Trials entrusted to us to train our souls

Unveiling lesser hopes to which we hold

“Verily, verily” the surety of His word

Wading with Him, using shield & sword

Examining, aware

Yearning for more

Zealots for His grace & truth at our core.

Soul Growth

Soul Invitation

 

“You made me bold with strength in my soul.” 

Psalm 138:3b, NASB

 

As a child I had the mysterious ashes applied to my forehead at the beginning of the Lent season, hearing the haunting “ashes to ashes, dust to dust…” as they were applied.

Later as a teen I rejected the practice of Lent when I came into my own faith thinking it was an effort to pay for sin already paid for.  After years of following, learning and studying the Word I find I am humbled into respecting this age-old practice started several hundred years after Jesus ascended to heaven.

Though it is not specifically from the Bible there are reasons the sacrificial practice assists us in making ourselves available to God, to stop and open space to allow Him to break through our busyness and assumptions.

Lately I’ve noticed a sloppiness in my physical, spiritual and mental disciplines; even in reactions that beg more influence of the Spirit in me. I desire sharpness of body, mind and spirit to be attentive to Him, aware of my own soul and prepared to reach out to others. He is worthy of so much more. As I was meditating I remembered Lent and the purpose of giving extra attention through setting something aside for a time. I sensed an invitation to draw nearer, to hear clearer and to love dearer.

In my noticing this slackness it’s tempting to take on condemnation.  But that is another’s voice. Rather I’ll take on empowerment through His filling, His forgiveness and His presence. He’s reaching out His kind hand to pull me up to higher places with Him, to growth and new freedom. I think I’ll accept that invitation!

What is your soul being invited to these days?