Reflect

Reflect

By Shirley Mitchell


“As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.”

Proverbs 27:19

I’m one of the few people who still send out Christmas cards and take the time to send a Christmas letter. I have not stepped into the electronic age of sending it through the email. Plus there is just something about a letter that you can hold and read. Every year someone replies to me and tells me how much it meant to them and encourages them. However, I know God has me do it for me, too.

You see, when I write that Christmas letter, I am taking the time to reflect on what has happened over the past year. I think about what God has done. I think about what God has taught me. I think about how I have experienced God. I think about the new friendships that God brought into my life and the old friendships that have gone through bumpy times but still decided that the relationship was the most important thing.

I ask God to show me how I made an eternal difference through the past year. What treasure did I lay up in heaven? Who did I love with the love of Christ? God’s Word says in Proverbs 27:19, “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” What is the reflection of my life? Is it showing that I am like David and have a heart for God?

In the Christmas letter, I select my favorite photos of the year. By looking through the pictures, I remember what God has done. Each year, I I give Him praise and glory for His protection and healing of my loved ones. I stand amazed at how far He brought me and transformed me to be more like His Son and less like me in my selfishness and sin.

By taking the time to reflect, I’m invoking my memories. Memories are essential for learning. Without a memory, we would not have a foundation to learn anything new. Remembering what God has done in our lives will give us hope for what He will do in the future. It prepares me for the next year. I don’t know what the next year holds, but God knows. He knows how to equip me for it. He knows the trials and battles as well as my victories and mighty exploits. He knows how I will once again join in the exhilaration of participating with Him and experiencing the divine in some feat that is beyond me. He knows my destiny.

My job is to know Him. By knowing Him and building a relationship with Him, I will be prepared for the days to come. When I choose to reflect on what God has done, I’m building a foundation for the new thing that He wants to build on top of it. My foundation has to be secure. My trust has to be complete. He has proven faithful so far, He will prove faithful again. He has shown Himself mighty in these things, I can trust Him to do even more.

So beloved, when was the last time that you reflected on what God has done in your life? How have you seen His hand in your life? He is very much involved in it. Although you can’t see Him with your physical eyes, He can given you discernment where you know without a doubt that you have seen Him work in your life. Take some time to reflect over the past year. Think about how it looked from God’s throne room. There won’t be any criticism for the things you did wrong or berating for the things that you didn’t do. If have accepted Jesus as Your Savior, then He has covered your sin debt. If God convicts you of sin, repent and move on. Remember He is the God who loves you and wants the best for you. He doesn’t want to rip you to pieces and leave you useless. So, pray and ask God to reveal to you what He did. You can even take the time to write it down as an encouragement for when you may need it later.

Pray with me: Father God, we praise You! We want lives that reflect our hearts for You! We want a heart that is pure and strong in You, Lord. Help us to carve out the time to reflect on what You have done in our lives. We don’t want to take for granted what You have done. You don’t owe us anything. We are not entitled to anything. But You love us. You have made us Your children. So we recount what You have done. We remember You. It is foundational for what You want to do in our lives this year. May we learn from it and be encouraged by it. It’s in Your precious Son’s Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.

Don’t Hold It

Don’t Hold It


By Shirley Mitchell
“I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts.”
Psalm 119:45

She held onto her secret sin for months. No one knew that she had done it. Then one morning in Bible time, God’s Word convicted her of her sin those many months ago. She couldn’t sleep at night because she was tormented by her guilt and the lies of the enemy. Desperate for relief, one of my daughters sneaked into my bedroom while her sisters were sleeping and my husband was working. She poured her heart out to me through tears and agony. She thought no one would love her and that she would lose her friends. I won’t tell you which daughter it was or what sin she committed for her protection.

Together we worked through the process with God to find forgiveness for her sin and restoration. While she received discipline for her sin, the consequences of confession were nothing compared to what she had imagined or had been experiencing through keeping the sin a secret. Since it took a couple of weeks to work out everything, I could see how much it had plagued her. I sensed a willingness to never listen to the lure of the enemy to commit the same sin again. When it was over, she wept for joy in my arms and praised her Father in heaven for working everything out. She was set free!

What amazed me so much was that she had kept her sin a secret for so long! She let it torment her until it was completely unbearable! While no one in the physical realm knew her sin, the spiritual realm knew. Both our loving Father God and satan knew. The accuser fed her shame while God waited patiently for the right time when her heart would be tender to hear His voice and be convicted of her sin. She knew she heard a voice in her mind pressuring her to commit the sin. (I find that so interesting at her young age.) The enemy thrives on tempting us to sin and then piles the shame upon us after we have committed it. He makes us believe that all of the worst consequences are inevitable.

This is a classic case of the enemy’s deception and accusation. It is a classic example of how we humans sin and respond to our sin. We are lured and tempted to sin. We don’t listen to the alarms in our minds telling us not to sin, and we do it. After we commit the crime, the accuser hurls all sorts of names at us. There is some twisted truth to it that we really believe we are these terrible things. We don’t hold the twisted truth up to the precepts of God. We become beaten down by the enemy’s lies and unable to deal with our shame. We fall into devastating patterns of sin. Sometimes we become desensitized to it since we can’t deal with the pain. We complicate the situation by not bringing it to God. Or we decide that it was not really that wrong and forsake the ultimate truth of the matter.

All of this makes me wonder if you and I do the same thing but in a grown up way? What sin are we holding onto for so long? Do we have any sin that we have become desensitized to? Are we not finding freedom in Christ by taking the matter to God? Are we not seeking the ultimate truth of the matter and finding out what Scripture says about our situation? Have we broken relationship with God by focusing on a cover-up story instead of restoration? In what ways do we want to protect our image and reputation instead of keeping our intimacy with God? Whatever we are holding onto needs to be cleared out of the way and dealt with so we can gain the greatest prize – a cleansed heart and intimate relationship with God. I’m ready for letting go and seeking His precepts more! Are you?

Pray with me: Almighty God, You never intended for us to hold onto our sins. We were intended to bring our dirt and filth to You. In our hands, things just become worse. Consequences are amplified. Situations spiral from bad to worse. In You, we find relief, a cleansed heart, and the joy of the redeemed! Angels cannot experience what a fallen person redeemed of her sin can. We know what it is like to be set free from the shackles of sin and clutches of darkness. We are unchained and free! Hallelujah for the freedom and cleansing that can only be found in You! It is for freedom that Christ set us free (Galatians 5:1). When we seek Your precepts, Your Word, then we will walk in freedom! Oh, how we adore You! It is in Name above all names, Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, that we pray, Amen.

Copyright ©2011 Christ Compels Ministry

Encouragement’s Power

Encouragement’s Power


By Shirley Mitchell

“But your assistant, Joshua son of Nun, will enter it. Encourage him, because he will lead Israel to inherit it.”

Deuteronomy 1:38
“But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”

Deuteronomy 3:28



Are you down, my dear friend? Are you struggling with the cares and stresses of life? Or do you know someone who is discouraged? How does it feel to you when you have been down and someone has said just the right words, at the right time, with the right facial expressions or tone of voice that helped you to rise again? Do you remember the feeling of being recharged so you could face your situation?

Dictionary.com tells us that “encourage” can mean to inspire with courage, spirit, confidence, like a coach encourages us to keep running. It can also mean to stimulate by assistance and approval like a teacher encourages her students. Or it can mean to promote, advance, or foster like poverty encourages crime. Did you see in all three definitions for encouragement that it is the power to influence for good or bad?

I’ve been thinking a lot about the power of encouragement and building others up. Encouragement plays a significant role in the body of Christ. It is crucial to a healthy church. God’s Word tells us that it is every believer’s duty and not just the one who has received an extra measure through spiritual giftings.


In Deuteronomy 1:38 and 3:28, God tells Moses two distinct times to encourage his young apprentice Joshua. God had given Moses the assignment to lead the people out of Egypt, and He gave Joshua the assignment to lead the nation of Israel to inherit the land. Moses knew the difficulties of leading a nation that was prone to wander from her delivering God. Moses would not be there for Joshua when it was his time to lead, but his words would live on in Joshua’s memory. How many times do you think Joshua replayed over and over in his mind the fact that his mentor Moses, who met and heard from God regularly, believed that Joshua was the man to do this God-sized role? Joshua drew his strength from his God first but also from the man whom he admired and served for 40 years.


Some of us may have a Moses in our lives encouraging us, and some of us may not. However, all of us can be a Moses in the sense that we can listen to God’s voice for whom we are to encourage and strengthen. Maybe we haven’t known that person and served in ministry together for 40 years, but we know her and recognize God at work in her life. We have the power to influence her when we know she is headed in the right direction. We have the obligation to fortify her courage when we know she is doing the right thing. This is how we get to participate in the great adventure with God in others’ lives. We get to applaud them as they run the race heavenward to the prize set before them. We get to believe God will do mighty things in their lives. We fight the battle of this very discouraging world every time we sow into others’ truthful words that encourage them to keep pressing on.


My friend, this is a battle worth fighting. This is something that you and I can do. Let me ask you to take some time now and ask God whom you need to encourage. The method is between God and you – email, Facebook message, tweet, phone call, lunch, gift, or hallway conversation. The words are between God and you. Ask Him to give you both the words and the method and see the power of encouragement through your obedience. Then go one step further and ask God to give you more opportunities to encourage others. Your words matter. They have great power in the spiritual realm. So take some time to ponder the power of encouragement and how you can use it to impact the kingdom.


Pray with me: Father God, we praise You! Thank You for the people who have encouraged us for good. We know that You are the Giver of encouragement. Lord, reveal to us whom we are to encourage today and throughout the next week. Give us insight into what we should say. Help us to understand the power that we wield through encouragement. We often get caught in the busyness of life and forget that we can change the world by sowing strength and courage into others. Through our nudging and belief in them, they will believe You and act on their faith even though they cannot see the way. It’s in Your precious Son’s Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.

Copyright ©2011 Christ Compels Ministry

Shirley with Mary Kassian and Jaye Martin at the first W conference

Clean Inside

Clean Inside

By Shirley Mitchell
“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.’ ”

Luke 11:39-41

Happy New Year! Did you have a good holiday season? Were you better prepared for Christmas than ever before since we focused on the birth of Jesus and the meaning of Christmas? Did you spend time with the people that you love?

My holiday season was precious since I was able to spend almost 3 weeks with my family. My computer was quite neglected while I was able to be with the ones that I love. I also started to prepare for the New Year. At the close of every year I focus on clean and organize my house. The beginning of January is the best my house will ever look.

I start by doing a deep cleaning of the closets and drawers. If these are not in order, then the room can not be straight. The scariest place of all has always been my children’s rooms. While the older two children’s rooms are better now that they have separate rooms, nothing has tested my ability to not explode to the moon more. At the ages of 5-8 years, their idea of cleaning up their rooms is stuff every thing in a closet, drawer, or under the furniture.

So this year I focused on Victoria’s room. I found school papers, church stories and notifications, and loads of candy from church and friends. I found wadded up papers, used kleenexes, old catalogs from Land’s End stuffed under the bed. I found boxes in the closet that had never been unpacked since we moved in the house earlier this year. I threw away 17 bags of trash and have 10 bags of clothes, shoes, and toys to give away. All of these things were hidden from her sight so they didn’t bother her. But they took up space in her room so that she could not manage the things that really belong in her room.

The whole process of cleaning the closets, drawers, and things stuck under the furniture reminded me of Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in Luke 11. The Pharisees had the outer appearance that they were godly men. They wore the right clothes, went to synagogue on the right days, said the right prayers, and appeared to have it all together. However, on the inside, their hearts were filled with nothing but the desire to take care of themselves. They were greedy. Their hearts were wicked and ugly.

Gosh, God spoke to me through this. After 3 weeks with my family, it seemed that God exposed some things that were hidden in our closets. Things that we had moved out of the way, stuffed in drawers, and hidden through the busy, hectic pace of the year. We were able to have a lot of good talks about how we treat our family members. We used God’s Word as our standard, and realized we had a lot of work to do to be more Christlike. As a family, we have to work on cleaning up the inside of our hearts, if we are to ever make a difference in the kingdom on the outside. We have to get it right internally first.

So as we begin this year, tell me how are things inside your heart? If God were to inspect the closet of your mind, look under the bed of your heart, and pull out the drawers of your soul, what would He find? Would He be pleased with you? Or do you have some cleaning to do like I do? Don’t get down. Just start pouring God’s Word into your mind. It is the best way to get truly clean.

Pray with me: Father God, we desire to make 2011 a year that please You. We ask You to examine our closets, and reveal the things hidden deep in our hearts. We want to be like Christ. We want to be clean inside. Expose our issues and unveil our sin. Throw away the trash. Help us to let go of the things that don’t have a place in our hearts anymore. Make room for more of Your Spirit to fill us. It’s in Your precious Son Jesus’ Name, Yeshua’s Name, we pray. Amen.

Christ Compels Ministry 2011