The Devil’s Photo Shoot

I had the opportunity to teach a workshop at Gateway’s Women Conference, Pink Impact, on one of my favorite subjects, overcoming condemnation. The name of my workshop was the Devil’s Photo shoot, because how many of you know the enemy likes to take snap shots of us in our worst moment and tell us that’s who we are. Our worst moment doesn’t define us, Jesus does. Gateway Church has so graciously made the podcast available at this link. Please listen in and share your feedback in a comment.

Because my teaching included some visuals of women in their worst moments, I’ve included those pictures here to view while you are listening to the podcast. The first picture is of my family as I introduce myself and talk about them. Then there are five pictures that go with the teaching.

I pray the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart, reveals snap shots that need to be thrown in the bonfire of His great love bringing grace to you and a grace that extends to others.

Thanks for taking the time to visit, listen and share.

Great Love!

~Ris (Marissa Star)

A special thanks to Katie Coiner who was my host for this event and took the workshop pictures. See more of her photography here.

He Hovers

He hovers. I think that’s really cool. That the Holy Spirit hovers.

I’ve recently been on this journey of walking into greater heart freedoms.  Aww, “journey,” it seems like such a loose expression but fitting none the less of this place of hiking through the wilderness to explore new terrains of my heart.  Been having some Nicole Kidman Far-and-Away-moments, I’m on my horse, I have my stake in my hand and I’m ready to claim new territory of my heart for the Lord. I’m a little scared of horse back riding, but man alive, I’m on that horse and I’m ready to ride! I’m a visionary so I love when God speaks to me in movies  … I totally get Him when He does.

So I wrote about this concept of nothingness in the post previous to this one in reference to what I learned about wound vs. neglect that effected my perception of God as Father based on my relationship with my earthly Dad.

I was grieving the nothingness and the voice of the Lord spoke so clearly to my heart.

“By the way, I haven’t changed.

I love creating. In the same way that I hovered over the face of the deep (*some versions say over the vast expanse) and created the world as you know it. I called it good and then I rested.

In the same way I hover now over the vast expanse of your nothingness creating and building in you what didn’t exist before. I love creating something from nothing … if you only knew just how much fun I think it is!

Creating is a process. I could have created everything in one day, but I took six, each day building on the day before and I called every day of the process good.”

He began speaking to my heart to understand that this journey was a process and day seven represented the completion of the work in my heart with a season to come of resting in my newfound freedom.

He spoke about how on day 1 He created light as He spoke it forth and then separated it from darkness. You see darkness was already there … He didn’t create it … He separated it.

He showed me how I was in Day 1 of my heart process and to embrace it. Day 1 is about separating truth from lies, separating the darkness from the truth of His light.

He shared that sometimes we can walk in life with a one-inch revelation in proportion to our capacity for God. But as our capacity for God grows so does the depth of our revelation in any given area.  We can go from a one-inch deep revelation to a ten-inch deep revelation of the same truth. It’s like taking the stairs in God and then encountering a catalyst that turns your stairs into an elevator. There is quite a jump from one to ten … it almost feels like free falling naked into the deep springs of freedom.

It’s like thinking your in the deep end of the pool with God and then He picks you up out of the deep end and says, “you think that pool was deep,” … here’s the ocean.

He doesn’t drop you in the ocean to abandon you, in all truth He wouldn’t leave your side for one second. It’s in this place you realize He has been equipping you for these waters all along. The destiny of each day both trails and victories all have been wooing you to this moment of truth. You are more than you think you are … much stronger than you ever thought you could be. You may be in the ocean but the revelation becomes clear, you’re not drowning, no, not at all … your swimming!

I know you may not be experiencing the exact same journey I’m on but I want you to be encouraged that He hovers. Ask Him what He’s hovering over in your life. Ask Him what He desires to create in you that wasn’t there before. Ask Him how you can embrace the destiny in today hidden in both the great and the mundane.  Stop settling for a pool … ask Him for the ocean! Find out something new about yourself! Be being changed

As for me I’m embracing Day 1 and calling the “naked free falling” good. I’m not shrinking back from the understanding that for today my mess is my message. I’m reveling in the fact that, heck the oceans ginormous, but hey … I’m not wearing flooties!

All our yesterdays in God have groomed us for our destiny in today! Let’s not let today’s destiny pass us by!

Great Love! ~Ris

Stop! Don’t Touch Me There!

I LOVE freedom! I always want to be a person that wants to get a lil’ more free (well from what I know I need freedom from). I’ve always had a bit of a pit bull spirit, not afraid to take hold of God and not let go in certain areas of my life. I’ve confronted pride and anger in my life with 21 day challenges and positioned my life to be a fighter and a winner (with cute pink boxing gloves on of course!). I’m telling you, I love growing in God … making more room for Him and making more of me “hit the road Jackee” (Jackee because I’m a girl) if you get what I mean )

Well that all sounds “spiritual” and “good” when you know what you know and you do what you know is right.

Well what happens when you don’t know what you don’t know? And you don’t know you didn’t know it?

In all God’s loving-kindness He’ll allow someone else to show you.

You guessed it! I’ve recently had a head on God collision with something I didn’t know. That I didn’t know about me.

I know what your thinking. Back story pleeaassseee. And yes I will appease.

Recently I was in a leadership class and I had a project that was due at the end of it. I knew exactly what it was going to be. God had already been stirring these ideas about addressing real and raw issues we face as Christians in video form and redeeming reality TV. I kinda love reality TV … I totally get sucked into the human story of it, whatever “it” may be. Weight loss. Talent contests. Interventions. Rags to riches. You name it!

So I was going to rework a skit I did in Bible College that had to do with a girl who couldn’t relate to God as her Heavenly father because of her relationship with her earthy father. It was a great monologue that showed the tension of distrust that turned to surrender (Extra detail: I was performing this skit the first time my husband ever saw me). I wanted to change it and make it a documentary style piece. My husband and I started working on it … and then I saw the fine print on the bottom of the script. You could use it any way you wanted except for video. HALT!

Five days before my project was due I had to re-strategize the vision for the piece. My husband said haven’t you had that struggle? … You know the Dad/ God struggle, what if we tell your story? You know, the way it naturally unfolds in your life and what God is beginning to do in you? Time crunch means Ris said, … “Ok. Sure.” Awwww … and now it begins.

Of course the audio you’ll hear of me in the video below is not of me bawling as I begin to share things about my relationship with my Dad that pop the lid off the …

“STOP! DON’T TOUCH ME THERE! THIS IS MY NO-NO SQUARE!!!”

Ok that is a song you teach your kids to sing while you make a box shape over your private area so they understand that’s a place that’s off limits to strangers.

But how many of us if we were honest have a NO-NO square with God … known and unknown?
(Aww … let us p.a.u.s.e and think on that.)

Oh babe in that moment I definitely became aware of something deeper. BUT WAIT! I forgave my dad. I feel bad he had a rough life. I feel bad he hurt others because he was hurt. I mostly feel bad he hurt himself and died young. I’m good! I’ve gone there …done this! In bible college! In my closet! At the alter! At Kairos! (Amazing freedom ministry retreat sponsored through my home church Gateway … if you go to Gateway and you haven’t done it … do it.)

My final thoughts on that night; I embraced my cleansing tears and prayed God would prick other’s hearts to walk in greater healing in this area. Because really when we walk into our greatest darkness in our hearts and God comes, He rescues us with His light and then our freedom can’t help but bring others to that same light … right? Well isn’t that what “ministry” really is? If it doesn’t minister than it’s not ministry. If HE hasn’t ministered to us how can we minister to others? … Is it really “us” that ministers or is it the truth we gained that ministers through us? It will always be HIM to us and then through us! So if the video helps anyone it’s HIM! And that’s what I have to say about that.

So two months passed and I didn’t realize that THAT night marked the beginning of a greater journey and the shattering of my NO-NO Square until in a “freedom” conversation (on a whole different subject “I thought” I was talking about) this question was asked?

Did you know there is a difference between a wound and a neglect?
(I don’t get it! I don’t get it! But lights are starting to turn on!)

A wound you can pin point and address.

A neglect is like a nothingness. … a lack of something that should have been there.
(OH CRUNCH! The moment. The realization. The I didn’t know what I didn’t know has been revealed and now … and NOW nothing will ever be the same! I’m seeeeeing it!)

Let me unpack it!

I WILL NOT bash my dad. I REFUSE! So as long as that’s clear I can say I was in situations that caused me to grow up too fast. I was exposed to the emotional inadequacies in a relationship with someone who struggled with many addictions. Did he “love” me … there is no question, YES! Is what I went through right, NO.

Because He loved me didn’t mean he ever connected with me. Honestly I was too scared and internalizing too many awkward situations because I was treated like an adult friend and not like a child. Children can’t counsel adults through their emotional struggles. They can’t help adults process their guilt. They shouldn’t have to feel like they have to protect the adult and themselves not feel protected. I LOVE my Dad … He is the only one I get! Some of my favorite things about me are because of the good qualities of him that are in me. So this is NOT all about him … so then what is it really about?

It’s about a Father God in heaven that is the Pastor of my heart and will NOT do without every area of my heart operating in freedom like He created it too. It’s about when we cry out for more of Him to move in … in order to make more space for himself he has to crowd out the NO-NO boxes. He doesn’t just start throwing out boxes against our will. He let’s us choose to let them go or let them stay. We have to confront every lie connected to every box and kill every NO will a YES … YES God you can go there with your light! YES more of you and less of me! (which actually is the default setting of humility … which gives Him the ability to be exalted in our lives … aka beauty for ashes. Joy for sadness. Comfort for grieving. They are expressions of God exalting Himself in response to humility … that’s just extra food for thought … couldn’t help myself )

SO what’s the neglect?!

I had a friend, kinda. But I didn’t have a “Daddy”. What do you mean by that? I didn’t receive the healthy fatherly love that imputes security, identity, the healthy value as a woman, and the understanding of worth, do we need to go on? So what happens to me when people share or talk about the Father heart of God? I hear and listen to what they are saying but I get a big FAT nothing response in my heart and head. And simply think well that’s great for them!

OK analogy time … this is a good MAN one!

Have you ever gone to a website and clicked on a link or an archive and you get a page that reads: ERROR 404 Page NOT found?

It’s because that page doesn’t exsist. The programming code has not been written or has been written wrongly. (ARE lights going on?)

I realized I’ve been walking around my whole life with this hidden “I didn’t know it” nothingness. So in many situations in my life when I was clicking on the “Father God” link, I kept getting a page not found error and not understanding why. The why is because there was no historical reference point or information that was stored in my brain or heart in that area. I successfully related to God as Savior, Healer, Lover, Husband so the error in knowing Him as Father didn’t stop me from knowing God. It just stopped me from knowing the fullness of what He has for me and a part of Him He is not willing for me to do with out!

Is there any lack in your life in this area? I’ll tell you one thing! He is NOT willing for you to do without knowing Him in ALL the ways He is God in your life! Let’s let more of Him in and together confront and crowd out those NO-NO squares! Let’s stop saying … “STOP! DON’T TOUCH ME THERE!” and instead say, “YES! TO MORE OF YOU AND LESS OF ME!”

I End with:
I asked God does this make me broken?

He answered, “Awww, if you want it too. Don’t be afraid of Broken or undone or of nothing. It’s the best place to be! It means I get to make something from nothing. I get to write code that didn’t exist. I get to be the page you’ve never seen. I get to build in you a city on a hill and then I get to shine! ”

And I said, “Ok … since you put it that way!” And then I said, “I love You for loving me like You looovvve me … I love you for showing me “the know” I didn’t know, that I might really know YOU!”

There were tears. There was grieving. And it came in waves for like three days.

He said more stuff. But this has gone long. It just means I’ll write more soon.

The first video is a prophetic song by Dennis Jernigan that was my heart song. If you are on this same journey or you need a heart song like right about now … you can make this your heart song too.

Great Love! ~Ris

Video short documentary called: Treasure this was also featured on Destiny in Bloom.

Treasure from Visual Gospel on Vimeo.