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Drama Queen



Have you ever thought of yourself as a “Drama Queen”?

Or has someone else called you that?

I don’t need a show of hands, so come on, tell yourself the truth.

Being a DQ is kind of cute.

When you’re five.


 

After that, it’s not too cute at all.


Have you ever just responded in tears to something, so totally over the top that you embarrassed yourself?


Worse yet, have you realized later that you didn’t even realize you were over the top?


How mortifying is that?


I’ve had seasons in my life where I could cry at stop signs.


During these times, there was great release for my heart.


A time where God did something in my heart, a touch of healing you might say.


I’ve also had seasons though, where tears would not come.


The wells seemed to be dried up.


Unfortunately, these times were more abundant in my life than the stop sign times.


The DQ was nowhere to be found.


The problem is that my heart was dried up too.


After long periods of dryness, I would erupt at the slightest provocation,


or no provocation at all.


The DQ would be back, but she took on a different form,


not so much with tears, as with anger and rage and bitterness.


This recalcitrant little girl stomps her feet and screams.


This little girl will not be denied her place on the stage.


There’s a problem though. This little girl isn’t five.


She is big enough now, that others better not get in her way.


Now, she should be mortified.


I had always seen my tears as a weakness.


God showed me recently that tears were actually a gift.


The hot, angry, mad tears, were actually a cleanser for my ravaged soul.


When those tears are allowed to flow, healing could begin.


No DQ required.


The ugly cry.


Just straight up, truthful, exhausting, healing, cleansing tears.


After that, I learned I was able to cry a quieter cry.


Tears of humility and repentance.


He is our God, and He is big enough to handle them.


In His hands they are truly a treasure.


Here’s the truth that God showed me on a particularly weepy day;


He will not waste our tears. He saves them in a bottle.


Why would He bother saving them, if they were useless?


Psalm 56:8 AMP ~ 8You number and record my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle–are they not in Your book?


Psalm 56:8 TLB ~ 8You have seen me tossing and turning through the night. You have collected all my tears and preserved them in your bottle! You have recorded every one in your book.


Psalm 56:8 GNT ~ 8You know how troubled I am; you have kept a record of my tears. Aren’t they listed in your book?


No matter how you say it. We all have those times, those times when we cannot stop the tears from flowing and those times when tears just won’t come.


Don’t be afraid to cry.


God has a purpose for those tears.


He will one day show us what they were all for.


He does not save worthless things.


 

Names Mean Something

(Cont. from Death Structures)

In the Old Testament of the Bible you will find many names changes.

Jacobs name meant “Deceiver or Trickster”, God changed it to Israel.

                                Israel literally means “He has striven with God”.

Abrams name meant “Exalted Father”.  God changed it to Abraham.

  Abraham means “Father of many nations”.

Sarai meant “Princess”.  God changed it to Sarah.

                                Sarah literally means “Mother of nations”.

In the New Testament you will find name changes as well.

Saul’s name meant “Prayed for”.  God changed it to Paul.

                                Paul means “Small or humble”.

Simon means “To be heard”.  God changed it to Peter.

                      Peter means “The rock”.

Specifically Abraham’s name change signaled a better covenant with God. 

God called him to walk mighty, and blameless before Him. 

God confirmed His covenant with Abraham and enlarged his numbers greatly.

In Genesis 17:15  it states that kings of peoples will come from Sarah.

A new relationship with God often required a new name. 

The new name signified that new relationship. 

God honor bestowed Abraham and Sarah by changing their names to encourage and confirm their faith.

New names are a symbol of when someone has “A Significant Encounter” with God.

My own came during the month of December in 2008.

You can read the story here “A Significant Encounter” (post)

It was on this day that I came to an intersection. 

It was an intersection of decision.

On this day I had to decide if I believed what God said about me all the way, or just some of it, or any of it , for that matter..

This decision was a choice to be made between mediocrity, and supernatural kingdom living.

Did I believe His word enough to be “All in” with Him in control, or did I just sort of believe it?

This decision would either propel me to a future of walking each step with God or cause me to to sit the next part of my life out on the sidelines, wondering if I could have been more than mediocre.

One way would be familiar and perhaps boring, but very predictable.

The other would be one of unknown adventures, born of a new relationship with my Heavenly Father. 

Either way, there would be no going back.

So on this day, I made the choice that forever changed the course of my life AND my name.

My birth name was Debbie.  Debbie meaning “bee”, or busy bee, as my mother called me.

On this day it was changed by God to Deborah. 

God called me to be a “bee”, not just fluttering around, but for a purpose.  The bees’ movements mean something.  In nature, every movement a bee makes is focused on his purpose.  Its purpose being exactly the thing God created it for.  To transfer pollen, which creates new life, and to make honey, which is sweet to the taste. 

Deborah in the Old Testament was a queen and a judge.  She held court under a palm tree and her decisions were wise.  Her wisdom came from her relationship with God.  She spoke the truth of God’s word, and the people trusted her.  It was her purpose to make the difficult judgments for the people, using the wisdom she had gained from her relationship with God.

Do you see what God wants to do?

– He wants to change your name –

He wants to change the way you see yourself

He wants you to see you the way He sees you. 

He wants you to completely fulfill the purpose that He created you for.

His motivation is for you to see the truth that He has declared for you even before you were born.

His motivation is for you to be able to accomplish all that He has for you, for the kingdom, and for His glory.

 

What is your birth name? 

Do you know what it means?

Have you had a “Significant Encounter” with God? 

Do you know your new name?               

Do you know what it means?

Death Structures

(cont. from A Significant Encounter)

True repentance could be my only response.

A bit later, one of the speakers’ team prayed with me.  She told me that I was living with “Death Structures.”

I did not know what “Death Structures” were, but my journey to find out was only just beginning.

As this woman was praying for me, she began “bringing down” “Death Structures” by “Speaking Life”.  This vocabulary is not typical to most people; in fact, it is quite strange to some.  It simply means that she was praying that the bad things wouldn’t continue their hold on me, and that through my obedience to God, death would lose its grip on me. 

While she was praying, in my mind, I could sense God telling me;

 “It’s your mouth.”

On the drive home, I prayed a bit myself. 

I told God that I knew how to speak life, and I knew how to speak death, but I had been speaking death (and living it) for so long that it was habit. 

I asked Him to please help me to recognize when I was doing it.  I knew that it would probably take quite a bit of time, and perhaps a really long time.

So I started right away.  I knew it would have to be an “Inside job.”

A job beginning in my heart and radiating out.

After a good night’s sleep, I awoke with a fresh mind. 

I took my Bible and some paper to my upstairs office and began with the following prayer;

Lord, I tear down ALL the death structures in myself and my household.  It must begin here and radiate out.  Amen.

Not much of a prayer you say, but oh what a powerful beginning.   

Proverbs 6:2 (AMP)  You are snared with the words of your lips, you are caught by the speech of your mouth.

Luke 6:45 (ASV)  The good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth that which is evil: for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

James 3:10 (ASV) out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be.

If Jesus was truly in my heart, then shouldn’t I be way more careful about what comes out of my mouth? 

Victim speak could no longer be acceptable. 

I would no longer be able to claim the heart of a victim,

           but the heart of Jesus instead, which is a victorious heart.          

  • I would have to find out what an over comer would speak like, and begin to do it myself.
  • Grumbling and complaining could no longer come out of my mouth.
  • Talk about other people (gossip) could not be mentioned in my daily discussions; no matter what it was they had said or done.
  • Oh and, what about that “debt/poverty” talk?  I needed to stop it – God would provide.

I would certainly need some help in all of these areas and more.

The only reliable help I could find, would be found in God’s word. 

Words of life could be found there, and I would need to find them. 

I could consider it a treasure hunt, and I would be the finder of buried treasure. 

Finder’s Keepers       

(Next post – Names Mean Something)