There once was a Man…

Published by Angela | Filed under Uncategorized

John 1: 6-8 The Message

There once was a man, his name John, sent by God to point out the way to the Life-Light. He came to show everyone where to look, who to believe in. John was not himself the Light; he was there to show the way to the Light.
Interesting!

What was so confusing that God needed to use a man to point the way to the light of life?

· Were there so many religions that people were being deceived and confused as to who God was?

· Had tradition replaced life-giving faith in God?

· Was the world so dark that it couldn’t even see the light right in front of them?

· I wonder…

 

· God sent a man to show everyone where to look for the life-light, who to believe in.

· Before the gospels there had been four hundred years of silence from God – no prophets proclaiming, no scripture written, nothing,,, and then here comes a man – a simple man – a strange man.

· Things must have gotten grim indeed.

· But into the darkness, grim silence walks a man…

· God is always faithful to send a man or woman into the darkness to pierce it with the light of lights – Jesus incarnate in us, living and breathing, transforming and reflecting His splendor and glory.

· That is the light – His splendor and glory being reflected through our lives.

· What a privilege!

· What a responsibility!

 

Don’t we need that today too?

· Good is called evil and evil declared good.

· Tolerance and diversity in the place of down right sin.

· America no longer called a Christian nation but a diverse nation. What does that mean? Diverse gods, diverse religions, diverse beliefs, diverse tolerance of whatever seems right in the eyes of man has spawned a revolution.

· Darkness is overtaking the light. Confusion has clouded faith, meism taken over theism, tolerance replaced reason, disillusionment dulled passions silencing the prayers of God’s people.

· We’re drowning in the muck and mire of our choices, our consciousnesses darkened, the light almost snuffed out by relativism and gods of seduction, self-delusion and self-deism.

Oh God, where is the man or woman who will point us to the life light?

 

9-12The Life-Light was the real thing: Every person entering Lifehe brings into Light.

He was in the world, the world was there through him, and yet the world didn’t even notice.
He came to his own people, but they didn’t want him.
But whoever did want him, who believed he was who he claimed
and would do what he said, He made to be their true selves, their child-of-God selves.

Self-Esteem or Kingdom Worth?

Published by Angela | Filed under Uncategorized, Self-Worth

In our cultural system our self-esteem is measured by our performance, physical presentation and wealth. How well we perform in the different arenas of life gives us a measurement called worth. When we perform well our sense of worth is greater. When we perform poorly either because of choices, a lack of support or resources and finances, or physical setbacks then our sense of worth suffers a roller coaster affect. When our physical presentation (looks) is compared with others and is better our worth goes up. But when compared with others who may have the DNA pool of natural beauty then our worth goes down. Up and down we ride through life based on these ever fluctuating criteria.

Unfortunately, these criteria are not fair because we don’t all have the same resources from which to draw. Not everyone has the gene pool to be a “jock” athlete, a leggy model, intellectual genius or a financial wizard. Not everyone has loving, nurturing parents who believe in them and can support them financially and emotionally in their pursuits of excellence. Not everyone has a great school system or opportunities in their neighborhood to excel in their particular area of potential expertise.

So how do we make the judgment of worth fair? How does everyone start out with the same worth even though they have different DNA, environmental influences and support?

I believe it’s only as we take a Kingdom view of self-worth that we can find a fair and just judgment of our worth. The secular view is unfair and leaves too many people with no hope of ever measuring up, so “why try” is their attitude.

What is the Kingdom view? It’s based on how God views each one of us according to His revealed Word.

1) He sees each of us as “fearfully and wonderfully made” even with our handicaps,

moles and birthmarks. He has a hand in designing each one of us personally so we are each a Masterpiece. Being designed by the Master makes each one of us a person of great worth.

2) We are each unique in our design. No two people are exactly alike in their genetic make-up, influences and responses to those influences. We each have a unique combination of gifts, talents, abilities, passions and personality blend. Anything that is unique or one-of-a-kind is considered to be of great worth. Being unique makes each of us of rare worth.

3) God paid a high price to redeem us from the destruction and consequences of the Fall so we could be in relationship with Him. The price was the humiliation, suffering death of His only Son in our place on the cross. We are of extreme worth because of what we cost the Father to purchase us back for himself. Our cost makes us of great worth.

4) If we are part of the Kingdom of God through believing and receiving Christ while following Him then we are God’s child – joint heirs with Christ Jesus and that makes us Children of the King which makes us very valuable.

People all over the world from different genetic pools, different socio-economic groups, rich or poor countries are people of great worth just because of the cost to potentially redeem them back to the Father. That worth is realized when we enter His Kingdom now with the decision to follow Jesus rather than go our own way seeking the ever changing value of self-esteem through performance, looks and wealth.

Which would you rather have? That which keeps you striving to keep up or that which is bestowed upon you by the creator of the universe?

Once we see ourselves as people of great worth then we can begin living out that worth in our performance, attitudes and lifestyles treating everyone as people of great worth and dignity.

South West Metro Spring Celebration 2008

Published by Angela | Filed under Personalities

I flew out of Pittsburgh on Saturday night, April 12,  with a grateful heart for my experience at the Ladies Spring Celebration in New Kensington, PA.   Though my body was tired my spirit, mind and heart were energized by the power and presence of God at this Celebration. 

Their theme was iEssence!  We looked at Who I am as a person by looking at the personalities and the need to understand Who I am as a person, accept my Divine Design, while forsaking the striving and comparing syndromes that trip us up so often in our spiritual journey of faith.   

Before I spoke the Honorable Cheryl Lynn Allen, newly elected Superior Court Judge of Pennsylvania, shared the testimony of her grassroots election.  She asked us if we had heard of “signs and wonders.”   “I had no signs and people began to wonder, is she or is she not running for election to the Superior Court?”  Laughter filled the room as the miracle of her election unfolded.  With only $20,000 for her campaign and no advertisements on TV, radio or the newspapers, Judge Allen ran against the powerful Democratic and Republican machinery and won big!   Against all odds — no money, no party backing, not much publicity, being a woman and African American’  Cheryl Allen answered the voice within herself to be true to who she is, to be true to God’s design and purpose for her and to be available “for such a time as this” to make a difference.   

Though reserved in her communication style I sensed a powerful, purposeful Choleric underneath all that reserved control.  Yes, she is a Melancholy/Choleric blend whom God is using as a shaker/mover in the system of law in Pennsylvania.  As I talked with Judge Allen over lunch I identified a passionate woman for God and His people.  She has answered the call to fulfill her Divine Design even against all odds.  She shared how she had had to “die to public opinion” so that she could move forward in spite of all the criticism against her.  She has learned to rise above the “comparison deception disorder” in which our culture is steeped.  Judge Allen is CounterCultural — just like Jesus.    

 In the afternoon, Cathy Marshall, a pastor’s wife from the area,  shared how God had called her to start ”Women Without Walls” in an effort to break down the denominational and racial walls between women.  I marveled as Ruth Puleo whispered, “Cathy is a Peaceful Phlegmatic.”  Well, who better to be called to help bring “harmony” among women of different nations and denominations?  Peaceful Phlegmatics just want everyone to get along and maintain peace.  

Then Sue Willis shared about “Beyond Survival”, a ministry for survivors of sexual and physical abuse.   This ministry seeks to help victims become victors and more than survive but thrive as children of God.  I referred a few ladies to her later as I prayed with them about their own abuse.  God knew who would be there and what they would need.   

As I stood to minister in the afternoon on our ”identity in Christ” I felt that God had orchestrated the day with Stephanie Peters on worship and these ladies testimonies that went so well with what God had given me to share.  It was like He had woven us together for the day.  God had certainly lead Patti Carver, the Women of purpose Rep, in her choice of this team.  I marveled at the beauty of how He works in different people’s lives to produce an experience where women can be changed and challenged in His presence. 

It took a team and I loved working with this team of women.  That is what energized me the most –working with Spirit empowered women of God fulfilling our iEssence.   

Lesson from State College, PA

Published by Angela | Filed under Personalities

On March 26 I had the privilege of speaking at the North Central Ladies Spring Celebration in State College.  One of the women at the event felt that she had found the answer to why she had depleted her adrenal glands — she had lived with a mask and worked a highly stressing people centered job for most of her life.  Her “fight or flight” response was depleted leaving her unbelievably fatigued.  She felt that what she had learned about the personalities that day had given her the reason for this depletion and might serve as a warning to others to find out who they really are and live within that personality.  Here’s her letter:

Dear Angela, I have not forgotten my promise to give you my testimony including my medical condition, for your blog. I must tell you I wept all the way home and the following week, Praising God for using you that day of the conference. As I had told you it was like receiving a life-giving part of the puzzle that I really needed. 

For twenty five years I was worked at a job that sucked the life out of me.  I just kept on until I couldn’t work anymore. Last year when all the jobs ended and I had much time off alone and with no pressure, I began in earnest to seek and cry out to the Lord in so many ways. My whole family is goal oriented, perfection driven and people pleasers as our parents were, except for my sister who is more of a “life of the party” girl.  I have taken the personality profile test and while at one time I would have placed me in the powerful choleric, I now understand I am really a perfect melancholy. Yet the job I was doing required me to have more of the Sanguine qualities and work with people all the time.  I realize now that I was being stressed and drained by my job.    I read the definitions and what the masking really means for the personality crossovers. It has meant so much to know that I can be the person God has called me to be.  One of my favorite parts of the Bible has always been the Psalms.  So often Ifeel like David and when I cry out to the Lord as he did, He always brings me comfort. 

My journey these last two years have been a hard soul searching thing to learn who I really am. I have cried out that question and for His plan for the rest of my life so many times. I may not know all those answers yet, but after the conference I feel better able to trust myself and my decisions and in Gods plan for me. It has also helped me to understand what has happened to me physically. When some one is really operating outside of the personality type, as I was, it can bring to your body serious health issues as it has with me. About eight years ago I was suffering from severe fatigue; I went through all the normal tests and nothing. I did not even fit the “Chronic Fatigue:” Syndrome pattern. At that time I was seeing an endocrinologist in

State College. He is very good, but he felt it was my thyroid, which again did not fit the profile. I was working in

State College at the time (in a very stressful environment) and I was just exhausted at day end. During one of my visits’ (where I felt like one of the women in those magazine stories”), I said something that finally got his attention. I used to feel as though I was going to literally crash from fatigue.

 He ordered some tests and found that my adrenal glands are deficient and my Fight or Flight response is gone. This means I will have to take prednisone for the rest of my life. I need to wear an emergency ID in the event of an accident. As the doctor explained it to me, since I called so often on my every day stressor’s it has caused my emergency response to become depleted also. 

Some days are better than others and the medication helps me to function with less fatigue, but your adrenal glands do not restore themselves, so I have to always take the medication. If we look close enough we can find other medical conditions that relate to our not working in God’ plan for us, Only He can help us to be all we are meant to be as both Christians  in our home and our church and in the workplace.  Another word that was spoken over my husband and I this week, by a prophet is that we are not too old and that God does have plans for our lives, which include children.  Since I do not think He meant as Sarah and Abraham literally, He will reveal it to us in time. Whatever that may be I am so grateful to the people he has placed in our lives, the church He has led us to, to heal and the loving Pastor and his wife who shepherd us! GOD IS GOOD ALL-THE TIME!!  May the Lord continue to bless your ministry greatly! Your’s in Christ, Barbara J. Bratton PS – my heart is full of love for all that He has done

Lancaster Personality Puzzle Workshop, April 2008

Published by Angela | Filed under Personalities, Workshop Schedule

          Friday night and Saturday morning I had the privilege of sharing the Personality Puzzle Workshop with the women attending the Victory Church Women’s Retreat in Lancaster, PA.  What a wonderful experience.

          I loved the combindation of ages between teens to sixties.  It’s certainly a sign of a healthy group to have such a wide span of ages present.   Their hunger to learn, warm response and keen observations during processing blessed me.

         Laughter, quietness, intensity and competition filled the room as the women completed the puzzle interaction.  What an intersting experience seeing the different personalities in play.  The women at one table were quiet, reserved and steadily working — Peaceful Phlegmatics and Perfect Melancholies for sure.    At another table the ladies were just the opposite.  On their feet standing and bending over their puzzle pieces they were intense on winning as they worked quickly together to get the puzzle done.  Every once in awhile we could hear screams of joy as they progressed and they never quit talking in the process.   Yes, you guessed it, they were the Purposeful, Powerful Cholerics and Playful , Popular Sanguines.   

          Most of the other tables were a combination of the four personalities with the Powerful Choleric barking instructions, Sanguines talking everone through the process and others dutifully following the instructions or just sitting and watching.   It was interesting to hear one Powerfl Choleric actally request the ladies at her table to “find the edges first” rather than demand them.  Her firend explained that she had learned that skill as a teacher of small children.  There’s hope for us yet, Cholerics.

          As usual, one lady didn’t want to participate in all the fun.   Was she a serious Melancholy who didn’t like to waste her time on such firvolity?  Or was she a  purposeful Choleric who realized it wasn’t worthy of her commitment?  Maybe she was a Peaceful Phlegmatic who just didn’t feel like expending that much energy after a hard week of work.  One thing for sure, she wasn’t a Playful Sanguine; they are always ready for fun.

          Along with the laughter were some tears as we shared the emotional needs of each of the personalities.  One lady had taken time to invest in herself as her husband took over at home with their special needs child.  I pray that her whole family benefits from what she learned.  As I watch their faces I knew that God  was speaking to their hearts and elping them apply the truth – “it okay to be me and I am valuable just because I’m His.”  

          Being energized by being with so many women, the Sanguine in Kathy and I decided to have some fun and go shopping at the Craft and Flower Warehouse in Blue Ball before coming home.  Then since I’m a Choleric I risked using a different route to get from Blue Ball to Gap and onto Route 41.  It was a winding, narrow road with a speed limit of 45 but it only took us twenty minutes to drive what would have been a sixty  minute drive another way.  We saved forty minutes just because I was willing to leae a different way.

          Hopefully, the ladies left the retreat different than when they arrived. They risked their precious free time on Friday night and Saturday morning.  Time that could have been spent with family and chores.  I hope the time and heart they risked will far outweigh the cost.  May they go a differnt way.    

North Central Women of Purpose Spring Celebration 2008

Published by Angela | Filed under Workshop Schedule

Spunky, with spiked, stylish hair, black pant suit, and “attitude” she walks toward me smiling and meeting my eyes.  I suspect that she is a Playful, Social Sanguine but the black pantsuit makes me question myself.  Yet her energy screams “Sanguine.”    She introduces herself as “Cheryl.”  

  

When I ask her to answer the question, “Who am I” she quickly responds, “I’m the mother of one of the J-Gals worship singers.”  Cheryl quickly opens her jacket to display a wildly multi-colored blouse with soft flowing sleeves and collar.  She plans on surprising her daughter with her blouse that matches the orange which all of the J-Gals are wearing.  The different shades of orange and pink were mixed with yellow and splashes of green and red.  Aha!  I am right.  Cheryl is a playful, social Sanguine.  

 

As I move around the foyer of the State College Assembly of God I find another group of ladies to interview.  It’s the North Central Spring Celebration and the ladies are gathering to hear me speak about “Identity Investigation.”  As I ask different ladies to answer the question I receive some interesting answers.  One of my favorite was, “I’m Dawn’s BFF.”   She can tell I’m not sure what BFF stands for so she explains, “Best Friend Forever.”  Ohh,”  I say with delight.  I’m learning something new while at the same time noticing that most of the women with whom I ask this question answer with a relationship.  “Wife, mother, grandma, best friend are the ones most frequently given.

   

That is the way we are wired – for relationships.  We define ourselves by relationships.  We live for relationships.  We talk, eat, drink and sleep relationships.  If we have unresolved conflict in a relationship we have to fix it.  If we can’t fix it, we obsess over it.  These relationships are important to us.  They bring us happiness, joy, satisfaction and sometimes pain.     

   

Women, let’s not hide who we are but celebrate our Unique Personality, Divine Design and being “In Christ.”    Remember, “God called nobodies and made them somebodies.”  That’s You!   

10 Lies the Church Tells Women by Lee Grady

Published by Angela | Filed under Book Review

I’ve experienced deep, deep grief,  a sense of mourning, sadness, frustration, and relief while reading this book.  10 Lies the Church Tells Women by Lee Grady exposes how the Bible has been misused to keep women in spiritual bondage. 

 

The grieving of the Holy Spirit  overwhelmed me as I read misguided quotes from theologians, historians, philosophers and well-meaning Pastors.   I definitely felt frustration at the unbelievable misinterpretation of Scripture, the abuse and intolerance of the believers who have bought into the bias of ignorance and stupidity that has been passed down through the centuries. (Too rediculous to dignify on my blog).  Yet, I was so very grateful to live in our century and in

America where women are treated with more dignity than most other nations. 

 

Since I have grown up in a denomination that is more open to women in ministry and has used them as Pastors, Evangelists, Missionaries, Presbyters and in our headquarters to oversee ministries, I had no idea how oppressed other women have been in other churches.  Women at times are just as guilty of the gender bias believing that they are following “scriptural mandates.”  

 

I was also appalled at the amount of physical abuse apparent in evangelical churches where Pastors or leaders encourage the women to stay in the abuse, submit to the husband and just pray – even to the point of some being murdered.  Their blood may be upon our hands if we do not seek out the truth. 

 

Lethargy can definitely be detected as generation after generation perpetuates the lies, imprisoning more and more women, keeping them from fulfilling their God given design and gifts.  It’s easier to just believe the lie than go against the tide of evil prejudice and disdain.  It’s easier to just be told “this is the truth” than to learn for ourselves. 

 

God has so much more for His daughters – your daughters, sisters, mothers and friends. God has so much more for our sons – your sons, brothers, fathers and friends.  This lie has affected the men and entrapped them in having to be “everything” instead of sharing the load with their “counterpart, partner, Ezer – shield, warrior, life protector.  God’s Divine Design of “cultivating, subduing and ruling together – man and woman is screaming to be fulfilled.  The Cross not only redeemed our spiritually dead souls  and made us alive to God, but the consequences of the Fall for man and woman so they can fulfill their original design.  The gap between what has been redeemed and what is reality is grieving the heart of God and crippling the church. 

 

Lee communicates his passion to see these lies refuted in Choleric style proclaiming the truth boldly.  If you need a more Melancholy sensitive explanation go to God’s Women: Now and Then by Dr. Deborah Gill and Barbara Cavnass.  But by all means, do not put your head in the sand and go along with the status quo.  God is passionately in love with His daughters and is pursuing their freedom and dignity through raising up many voices.  Whether you agree or not; at least be curious enough to read a book.

Leading with Personality

Published by Angela | Filed under Personalities

Last week I enjoyed doing a small Personality Workshop for twelve wonderful women. They are the Women of Purpose Sectional Reps for the Pennsylvania - Delaware District of the Assemblies of God.  I especially enjoyed the workshop partly because it was a small group and I was able to be flexible about the content according to their questions and needs.  Being a Sanguine I love flexibility.  The other reason I enjoyed it was because they were so eager to learn.   Of course, on my way home I thought of some things I wished I had shared  such as:

• Any Personality can be a leader but their style of leadership will be different.  Different is not good or bad; it’s according to what is needed for the organization or group at the time.  

•  If an organization needs direction and purpose they want a Purposeful Choleric at the helm to cast vision and activate or equip the group.  They will keep the group working toward the goal and make sure they have what’s needed at their finger tips to get the job done.  They are not easily discouraged or distracted so they can keep the group organized and focused on the goal.

• If the ministry has had a lot of conflict and disharmony a Peaceful Phlegmatic will lead with an easy going style.  A Phlegmatic has the raw ability to mediate problems and help people come to solutions while keeping things on an even keel.  They will not stir up controversy or cause waves but calm and restore harmony through their one on one relational style.

• If the ministry has a the vision and inspired followers then they may need the help of the Strategic Melancholy Leader who analyzes, accesses the situation, counts the cost and can come up with the order needed to effectively reach their goal.  They won’t waste time or money under the Melancholy leadership.  The Strategic leader may move more slowly than the Purposeful Choleric but they will move well.  They will be well planned and organized and have thought about everything. 

• Sometimes the organization needs someone to inspire and motivate them and who better than the Popular Sanguine leader.  This leader makes work feel like fun.  They energize the troops by communicating the vision in exciting colorful word pictures.  Their enthusiasm and high energy draws people to want to follow them which makes them excellent recruiters.  Their flexibility keeps them working in spite of challenges and set backs.

• Sometimes people think that certain personalities can’t be good leaders but that is not true.  Each Personality has their strengths and weaknesses in leading and they need to be aware of those so they can work at leading from their strengths.   They also need to know the different personalities so they can adjust their expectations and style of leading to better suit their group.  It may mean that the leader will need to step out of their comfort zone in order to lead their group more effectively.  This may cause some internal conflict but we ‘”an do all things through Christ who strengthens us.”

•  The enthusiastic Sanguine and purposeful Choleric personality combination does normally make a very good leader but they will need a Melancholy to help with the details, strategic planning and keep them on schedule and a Phlegmatic to observe and give feedback on their team. 

• We need to think in terms of leadership teams instead of lone rangers.  We need one another and the results of the synergy of a complimentary, well thought out team under God’s leadership is greater than the results of any one person no matter how great they are.   

Be What You Were Made to Be

Published by Angela | Filed under Personalities, Self-Worth

 “So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body.  Let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.”( Romans 12:5-6 from The Message)   

The problem Paul recognized in the Galatians is still a problem today.  When we don’t know who we are, we’re susceptible to gift envy or prideful boasting.  We’re prone to becoming ensnared in the performance trap or striving to measure up. We are also open to the torment of the lies of the enemy, low self-worth and rejection.  But when we are fully informed about who we are and our unique combination of personality strengths we are able to move in those strengths instead of wasting time trying to become something we are not.

  We can accept and celebrate who we are and find rest in being that person.  We can concentrate our efforts and energy in performing our function in the Body of Christ and find fulfillment and satisfaction.  

But part of the problem is that we don’t’ even see ourselves as excellently formed.  Psalm 139 tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made so whose report will we believe?   Romans 12: said that we are ”excellently formed and marvelously functioning.”  We look at the size of our nose, the thinness of lips, the hard jaw and delcare ourselves deformed.  But it’s not our physical appearance that allows us to fulfill our purpose and destiny.  We look on the outward appearance but it’s the mind, emotions and will that enables us to develop our gifts and talents to be used for His glory. 

 The next problem is that we don’t know who we are so how can we go ahead and be who we were made to be?  Studying the personalities helps us understand who we are – extrovert or introvert, people or task oriented, scheduled or spontaneous, intense or relaxed, risk taker or comfort zone sitter.  The different strengths don’t make us right or wrong – just different.  We are different in motivation, perception, energy, desires, passions, emotion and thinking for a reason – in order to fulfill our design and function in the Body of Christ.  

 

The risk taker will blaze new trails while the comfort zone sitter may make a great mediator in difficult situations.  The extrovert will communicate the vision well while the introvert helps to analyze and make plans for effectively fulfilling the vision.  We are different but compliment one another as we function together in the body of Christ.

Go ahead and find out who you are and be who you were made to be –  fearfully and wonderfully made to function marvelously in the body of Christ bringing Him glory and honor with your life.

“Love in the Dining Room” Part 6 - “The Unforced Rhythms of Grace”

Published by Angela | Filed under Personalities, Speaking Notes

Matthew 11:28-30

“Are you tired?  Worn out?   Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. ·        Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it.·        Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. ·        I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. ·        Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

No matter what personality we are or how much we have it all together, we get tired, weary or just plain worn out.  It’s January 22 and I’m ready for a vacation already. 

 If you read the first five posts about “Love in the Dining Room”, which began in September, you will see that we looked at Christ’s call for intimacy and the way each personality responds.  Our standard is usually the Perfect, Proper Melancholy’s style which is deep, disciplined Bible Study.  The rest of the personalities have a difficulty measuring up to this standard and, consequently, become tired, weary or very worn out in the process. 

 But here in Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus calls the tired, weary and worn out to come to him.  To escape the expectations of others and get away with Christ where we can recover our life – bring it back into perspective. 

 We tend to withdraw from Christ when we’re feeling like we’re a failure, especially when it comes to our devotions.  He’s knocked and knocked, called our name, waited and waited; but we ignore him out of embarrassment or fear of what he may think or say.  It’s easier to live in denial than face the fact that we’ve let him down in the intimacy category. 

 But The Message expresses Matthew 11:29 so well for the different personalities:    Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.

 Grace does not force us into a mold or pattern in which we do not fit.  Grace is an enabling power that sets us free to respond to Christ and life within the framework of who we are – not someone else’s expectations.  Grace is like a dance. We place our hand in his and because he is leading and knows our level of proficiency, he makes up for any lack of skill or confidence. 

 We can be assured that he won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on us.  He knows us better than we know ourselves.  With one he may dance the slow dance and with someone else the waltz but what is that to us? 

It’s in keeping company with Christ that we learn the unforced rhythms of grace and intimacy; not in withdrawing and hiding.

Every personality blend has her particular strengths and challenges for which she must learn the unforced rhythm of grace.

  

Each personality must be set free from “should have”, “could have” and “ought to” so they can enjoy communion as simply developing a grace filled relationship with God.  

 

Intimacy awaits us all no matter what our personality.Come…learn the unforced rhythms of grace.