LET HIM SHOW YOU

LET HIM SHOW YOU

  • Heart Splinters, Kingdom Parenting

LET HIM SHOW YOU

A mom messaged me, saying that her daughter was believing lies and had shut down. She wanted my help with how to handle it. This is a great example of being led by the all-knowing Holy Spirit and not just checking off a religious formula. I first asked her WHAT the lie was. She replied that the daughter believes the parents are abusive and do not love her. While that is obviously a lie, it is the daughter’s truth. I then asked the mom to ask Jesus what He thought of the daughter’s words. The mom humbly came back to me and reported that Jesus showed her that she was using a tone and responding in a way that was hurting her daughter.

FOR MY GRANDCHILDREN

I have said for years, “Parents, do the heart work so that your children don’t have to clean up the mess.” This mom is willing to do the hard work for the benefit of her grandchildren. Breathtaking.

“Jesus’ flashlight (tool) was a breakthrough moment for us. The concept of heart splinters helped my children to see what was going on. Their delight in knowing Jesus wants to take it out so they could be healed was tangible and beautiful. I do feel like it is quite the growth curve for me based on the parenting that was passed on to me, but I am committed to doing the work. I envision what their lives as adults will look like as we address these things in childhood, and should they become parents themselves someday, the jump start they will have to navigate this with their children.”

FEELING DEPRESSED?

Do not be so quick to assume something is wrong with you. Depression is a chemical imbalance in your brain. The only way to resolve depression is through medicine. Oppression is a spiritual weight that we can come under when the enemy is trying to take ground in an area. The only way to resolve oppression is through your authority. Both look, sound, and feel the same. How do you know? Walk in your authority and see if it shifts. 

“I command all heaviness to leave me now in Jesus’ name. I break all assignments against me by the blood of Jesus. I invite You, Holy Spirit, to come and fill my mind, emotions, body, and atmosphere with Your peace, power, love, and clear mind in Jesus’ name.”

GRACE AS A PARENTING TOOL

When my kiddos were younger, I was learning about God’s grace. That sweet, love-filled gift of grace. I was so moved by His grace towards me that I decided I would give my children grace when they acted out… and all hell broke loose. I was perplexed that my kindness and goodness were being met with utter chaos. God showed me that grace without authority is nothing but entitlement. My children did not know how to handle the grace given because they had not yet fully been established under my authority. Let me say it this way – if you give grace to your children as a parenting tool BEFORE you have established your authority, you are not giving grace but empowering their flesh. Grace can only be received in the backdrop of understanding what they are given grace for. This is why character training is so important. It establishes for the child right living and positions them under your authority and covering. Do not mistake ignoring, avoidance, or checking out as giving them grace. That is laying down your God-given role to teach your children about His Kingdom structure. Justice is getting what you deserve. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. Grace is getting what you absolutely don’t deserve.

NO JUNIOR AUTHORITY

Children so desperately need to be taught their authority. If they do not get a junior Holy Spirit, they do not get junior authority either. How many of us were taught that when we were afraid at night to say, “In the name of Jesus, Satan flee?” While few of us deeply understand our authority, the enemy still had to obey and flee when we used the authority paid for us by the blood of Jesus. Imagine how powerful this next generation would be if children would see the enemy’s tricks for what they were and step over it!? How will they know unless we teach them? Isaiah 11:8.

“My son told my husband there was a ‘bumblebee’ in the corner of his bed, and it was so scary that he couldn’t sleep. My husband first prayed over it and then taught our son to say, ‘Go away in Jesus’ name.’ He fell right asleep after that. Praise God!!”

Kids have a limited vocabulary and range of understanding, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t seeing/hearing things in the spiritual realm. It takes a wise parent to really ‘hear’ what the child is saying. It had nothing to do with bumblebees and everything to do with fear of being in the room. Kudos to this father for ‘hearing’ his son.

BOSSY BOY

A mom came to me desperate over her son being bossy to his siblings. She was tired of co-parenting with him and, after a year, had tried everything; spankings, timeouts, yelling, discipline, and reprimands, yet nothing seemed to break through his behavior. I asked her what happened a year ago, and she began to tell me the story of the night the police came and handcuffed the dad and took him away for doing something ‘bad.’ I can only imagine the atmosphere in the home that night with confusion over losing their dad and all the mother’s emotions. Even if the mom hid her visible feelings from her children, they still felt the atmosphere. I asked her if her son was being bossy, as in a negative character trait, or if he was trying to save his siblings from doing something terrible that gets them taken away too. He felt the weight of responsibility and feared that bad behavior equals being removed from the home. Sometimes our child’s ongoing negative, annoying, frustrating behavior is rooted in something else. In this case, the child was believing a lie that it was his job to keep his siblings in line so that they don’t get removed from the family, too. I think he is a hero and a brave brother. As parents, we need to discern how to parent what is really going on with their hearts and not just the outward behavior.

ARRESTING FEAR

This wasn’t a moment for my friend, Kelsi, this is her lifestyle. She shares: “Tonight, after I had put the boys to bed, this sweet boy came upstairs with tears in his eyes and shared he was having scary thoughts and couldn’t sleep. I pulled him into my arms and told him I was so sorry. I asked him if he wanted to ask Jesus for the truth and for Jesus to show him where He was in that moment. In a matter of minutes, my sweet boy encountered Jesus, his scary thoughts were replaced with the truth, and Jesus showed him where He was. I had him speak the truth of what God spoke to him out loud. The enemy can’t hear our thoughts, so it’s so important we speak out loud His truth. His demeanor changed, and he was ready to go back to bed. There is no junior Holy Spirit. God is a perfect Father. My prayer is that as my boys get older, they will turn to HIM in all things and that they wouldn’t lose their child-like faith!” 

Let’s raise children that know that their identity comes from Jesus and know who their Heavenly Father is! Imagine how their generation could change the world!

CATCH AND RELEASE

Lauren greeted me one Sunday morning in her brand new (adorable) outfit, along with a scowling face. When I asked her what was wrong, she said, “I feel UGLY!” It was intense, and she was really feeling it. I simply hugged her and said, “Catch and release, sweetheart.” I have taught them they can catch those sneaky little lies that wreak havoc on our emotions and release them. I didn’t have to tell her it was a lie as her agitated heart was proof enough that it wasn’t of God. I have empowered her to RELEASE those pesky lies and not massage, embrace or feast on them. By the time we walked out the door, she was at peace again. I asked her later how she was doing, and she said, “Man, that lie hit me hard out of nowhere.”

Let’s face it – as adults, we don’t always catch and release this fast, but this is what the next generation looks like when they are intentionally taught from an early age that they can catch the lie and release it. Teach your child how to catch and release!

I WAS MADE FOR JOY

I was talking about JOY and CONNECTION in class one day, and this is what one mom shared.

“The Lord told me that I was made for JOY, and I need to experience that with my kids. I am always the ‘get things done’ one, and my husband is more the ‘fun’ one. So the Lord told me to do something with my kids they would never expect from me – something that would make the biggest mess and bring so much laughter. This is with a vision of a chocolate syrup fight with my kids in the backyard. (EEEEEEKKKKK! The mess! The stains! The waste! Sticky chocolate fingerprints everywhere… ahhhhh! Hahaha.) We haven’t done it yet, but five bottles of chocolate syrup are on the grocery list. Lord have mercy!”

HURTING HEARTS

Testimony from our JOURNEY class: ”I am so thrilled about the class and already see breakthroughs in our family, even though I am just learning. Today I heard both our girls, ages 4 & 5, crying and being upset at the same time. After hearing that one said ‘Eww’ to a song the other was singing, she ruined the floor puzzle they had been building. I explained that they both hurt each other’s hearts, and they told each other how they felt. Then I had them apologize and ask for forgiveness. One apologized, but the other refused. Not sure what to do, I asked her to draw a picture of how she felt. 2 minutes later, she returned with a picture of an upside-down heart and a regular heart. She said her heart felt upside down when she didn’t say sorry and that it felt right when she did. So, she went right away and apologized. All was well once again! I was pretty amazed that is how she felt when not apologizing! Anyways, thank you, Lisa, for sharing your experiences and journey and what you’ve learned with Holy Spirit. I can’t wait for more breakthroughs with Him.”

FULLY AND COMPLETELY

Empowering children to obey fully and completely the first time (Deuteronomy 28:1). Expose your child to horses, whether that be taking a field trip to a horse farm, simply pulling off the side of the road near one, getting a video from the library, or finding them on the Internet. They are so beautiful and powerful. Talk about how a horse is powerful on their own, but when the bridle is in its mouth, they are trained to obey the rider right away. All the rider needs to do is gently move the reigns to the left or right, and the horse automatically goes in that direction. They are not stubborn or demanding of their own way; they simply follow the rider’s commands. Explain to your child that God wants us to respond this way to His instructions. He doesn’t just want us to obey in the end but wants us to do so fully and completely right away.

In the days ahead, when you need your child to follow your instructions, remind them of the character of a horse. Often when my children were younger and not following the instructions I had given them, I would simply say, “Mama needs you to be a horse right now,” and they all knew that meant they were behaving in a way that was the opposite of what I had instructed. It was an excellent tool for when we were in public as it spared them the embarrassment of being called out in front of others.