The Power of Vulnerability

 Vul ·ner·a·bil·i·ty the quality or state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally:

A recent discussion on vulnerability in our Bible study class stirred my thoughts on the importance of confessing our faults and shortcomings to each other. It reminds me of the extent of making ourselves vulnerable to others as a vital sign of personal spiritual growth. 

Take note of the words expressed by James 5:16: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces incredible results.

Even so, our human perspective tends to focus on only physical healing, but as you know, this scripture is not limited to physical healing but also our mental and social health. 

It is impossible to avoid vulnerable situations because we are in contact with others regularly. Although these encounters will happen, you can still choose how to respond. God tells Paul about his thorn experience, "God's power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9). 

Vulnerability is not a detriment but the ultimate empowerment for us to allow God to reign in and through us.

An aspect of practicing Vulnerability is affected by a society that celebrates human attributes such as independence, autonomy, and self-sufficiency, and guarding one's emotions, which, for Christians, stunts their spiritual growth, making them ineffective in power and producing incredible results. Moreover, it seems like a daunting task to open ourselves up emotionally to others with the possibility of rejection, ridicule, and losing relationships. 

Are there Biblical examples that help further our understanding? Yes.

Although being vulnerable seems like a solo act, we have help from Jesus to light the way to our freedom. In sharing the Gospel message, Jesus practiced vulnerability in his daily interactions with people from all walks of life. His vulnerability shows an act of willing submission to his Father as he went to Calvary, an ultimate display of submitting himself to open rebuke, scorn, suffering, and hatred for our sakes.

Furthermore, Hebrews speaks of Jesus being our "great high priest" because He can sympathize with our weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15). To become more like Jesus is to lay down our lives, take up our cross, and become weak. When we are weak, we are strong because God's grace is sufficient for us (2 Corinthians 12:9-11). As we follow Jesus and obey Him, our faith and trust in Him will increase.

Jesus made himself vulnerable to purchase our redemption. Practicing and living a life that embraces vulnerability is much more than individual unburdening of emotional selves; it exists for the good of the community (www.the gospel coalition.org).

Lilianna Hogan's article How To Be Vulnerable gives three examples of the armor we use to protect and defend our emotional selves. 

• Striving for perfection. Most people think they can avoid being seen if they can become perfect.
• Numbing out. While this effectively minimizes the gravity of negative emotions, it also numbs out positive emotions.
• Imagining all the ways things can go wrong, catastrophizing. Instead of being vulnerable and accepting how precarious your happiness and the things you love are, you beat Vulnerability to the punch.
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Might I remind you that God has given us His Whole Armor? Ephesians 6:10-18 protects us from certain death and ensures that we can stand against the enemy's strategies in God's mighty power and not our own. Even amid vulnerable situations, we are still victorious.

John Bevere, in his book The Bait of Satan, relates that knowledge without the love of God will lead to deception, especially from false prophets. Jesus warns us, "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many" (Matthew 24:11). 

The words expressed in your reading will increase your spiritual understanding. This understanding is my prayer for you.

Growing in God's Love,

Minister Sylvia Joyner

Hummingbird or a Vulture: Looking at life through Two Perspectives

 Greetings,

What are you looking for in life? 

What are you expecting to find in life? 

The altitude you possess reflects what you wish to find in life. The hummingbird and the vulture are two birds one can use to visualize this expectancy. The hummingbird experiences life by seeking food sources involving a variety of living foods, and the vulture seeks food involving dead things, such as rotting flesh from dead animals.

 

But what if I identify with the vulture perspective in that, as a Christian, I experience life as a vulture? What is that saying about my choices in life? Darkness spiritually means God did not abolish darkness at creation. God added Light. But for many, darkness symbolizes all that is negative, harmful, evil, and fearful.

Analysis of the vulture perspective reveals that the vulture's diet consists of dead things without getting sick. Creatively designed by God as they ingest rotting flesh, protected by potent acids in the vultures' gut that begin digesting the meat so entirely that it even destroys the prey's D.N.A. So, can you continue experiencing life without getting sick? Jesus again unto them as a Christian, saying, "I am the Light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the Light of life" (John 8:12 K.J.V.). 

Some individuals understand their dark appetites are not acceptable to God, especially when they look over and see the hummingbird feasting on life experiences, producing life and that life more abundantly. Desiring dark things excites many individuals, but the aspect of excitement and the unknown that turns many on also turns many away from God.

So, how does an individual break the vicious cycle of desiring a life comparable to a vulture? One must practice and know that according to Colossians 3:10, each individual has put on the new self, which brings renewal in knowledge after the image of its creator. Consider this scripture and ask yourself, am I a hummingbird or a vulture? Your answer will determine what you are looking for in life and What you expect to find.

 

 P.O.V. Desiring the wrong things produces strange bed-fellows. 

Here are some scriptures on desiring God:

• Psalms 37:4 - Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
• Proverbs 10:24 - The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
• Psalm 73:25 - Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
• Jeremiah 29:13 - You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.
• 1 John 1:1 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Desiring God, Not Darkness,

Minister Sylvia Joyner

The Power of Encouragement

 Greetings of Love,

I want to share a positive experience with you. Yesterday we attended the Sweet Pilgrim of Faith's Family and Friends Day picnic at Wicker Memorial Park. For those unaware, Tarrytown Baptist Church and Sweet Pilgrim have been in an ongoing God-inspired collaboration of rendering service to God for about a year or so. Anyhow, after service yesterday, I had purposed in my heart that I would not attend based on the fact that previous excursions as such were challenging on my body, especially the walking and sitting (diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease). 

However, when Pastor Frazier (Sweet Pilgrim) discovered I was not coming, he encouraged me to come; I said I would come with one request to tell me some jokes once I made my arrival (still waiting on the jokes, lol); hopefully, I thought to make the sitting and walking easier. Well, to my delight, it was not only a positive experience but a moment of ministry sharing and reflection with one of the new members of Sweet Pilgrim and members from Tarrytown.

 

God always meets us where we are going for his purpose. 

Lessons relearned from yesterday are that encouragement is a vital ministry in the church, and the ministry of encouragement changes a whole lifespan of experiences previously experienced as unfavorable and provides a positive outlook to the person being encouraged. I pray that my positive experience will enable you to challenge yourself in sharing God on a grander scale, primarily through experiences once deemed hostile.

Greater is Abounding,

Minister Sylvia Joyner

Faken Christians!!!

 Greetings,

Faken is the new expression or term given to the Carlee Russel incident. I have been thinking critically about her mindset and motives as to why a 25-year-old beautiful black, seemingly intelligent woman would perpetrate such a grievous falsehood on herself, her community, her family, and her friends. Why?

The why is not so important in knowing when you summarily ask, but why like this? 

However, a greater truth is revealed through Ms. Russel's actions and some believers in the body of Christ. More than many will not admit to committing acts of "Faken" in that they too have created stories about seeing a toddler on the road walking by himself, calling 911, then proceeding to get out of their car and kidnapped and abducted, held against your will for two to three days and subsequently returning home (Church). 

We call these missing believers Christmas, Mother's Day, and Easter (CME) Christians in the church body. 

 

So, I ask the question again to those willing to participate in Faken acts. Why like this?

These missing believers' actions hinder their relationships with family, friends, community, and God. God has not called his true believers to a life of faken. 

So maybe, discernment is that these are not true believers because God's word directs our attention to these words:

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

"And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand John 10: 27-28 (KJV).

Moreover, as Christians, when a need arises in our lives, let's acknowledge the need, pray, and submit ourselves to God's will, which advances God's purposes, not ours. 

Remember this; God will do what He will do only when you do what he has called you to do.

Advancing the Kingdom,

Minister Sylvia Joyner

You Will Come Through This Too and Be Stronger!!!

 

Malachi 3:1-3

The Lord declared through the prophet Malachi: "Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the LORD" (Malachi 3:1-3, ESV).

Do your life's battles (conflict, struggles, clashes) seem never-ending? 

I agree, and it's an overpowering experience we all experience.

However, God's word provides the secure anchor needed to see beyond the battles that, if left unchecked, will uproot our faith. I have learned through each action encountered they are growth opportunities. I know, I know, battles, growth, and opportunities. It seems like an oxymoron.

Think about the last battle you encountered; what did you learn?

What happens in the process of growth? As indicated by Malachi 3:1-3 referenced, in refining metals, the metal is heated until it melts, which releases the impurities from it, and then skimmed off, rising to the surface, leaving the pure metal. Without this action of skimming and melting, there could be no purifying. Hence, this action of impurities skimmed off the top allows for the worker's reflection to manifest. So it is with us; as God purifies us, his reflection in our life will become increasingly apparent to those around us. 

So why is refining an essential process for growth? 

As mentioned earlier, opportunities provide levels of growth needed for areas of purifying. Opportunities to grow are everywhere. Ephesians 5:16 says, "Making the best use of time, because the days are evil" (ESV). And Hebrews 4:7 emphasizes, "Again, he limited a certain day, saying in David, To day, after so long a time; as it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts" (KJV).

 The scripture asks: But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? God is coming back for a prepared people devoid of impurities.

Is God's reflection in your life increasingly apparent to those around you? 

Stronger in the Lord,

Minister Sylvia Joyner