Another RE -

Already a month ago, I wrote "RE - something" as re:gards to my 2026 One Word - still  undetermined; and also about a REALLY Excellent Bible Study by Megan Fate Marshman called "RElaxed" - Walking with the One Who is Not Worried about a Thing ... diving deeply into Proverbs 3:5-6 meaning that we can RE-LAX because God is in control, so through this online study, we slowly walked toward (and with) the RELAXED life of Jesus as we learned to "submit our ways" to Him. {6 of those "ways" chosen & written about by Megan were given in that post} 

In the Bible, RE-laxing is tied closely to the concept of "Rest" and "Stillness". We also learned that rather than doing nothing, spiritually it means to let go of anxiety and cease striving for control by placing our TRUST (my 2025 One Word) in God's Provision. Yes, the italicized words are problem areas in my own personal life, so that makes it clear why I find it difficult to find "rest" and "stillness" easily ... in fact, it's a real struggle. Clearly, this is why I needed time away to truly focus on this RELAXED study, but its last session was this past week & Faith Gateway is moving on to another wonderful new study by Jennie Allen, starting on June 1st, "The LIE You Don't Know You Believe" (to register). Truthfully, I did not intend to do this one, however God gently prompted me to give it a try that it may be the beginning of a lifetime healing. You'll see it's worth it! So I will, how about you? (just click on the title) YV sample too

While doing "RELAXED", I also was doing the Max Lucado study again "What Happens Next", which has one more week left; plus I was reading a daily devotional by Beth McGuffin, M.Ed.; "Begin With God: Find Rest" ... as you can see Rest definitely is needed by me yet I still seek it.

Jennie Allen has a Podcast! {yeah, even though I know she does so much and is so involved, I just found this out} ... It's available on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher & Amazon besides the one I linked on her website linked to Podcast. I made a playlist on my Spotify but I don't think it's public. But here is Jennie Allen's link on Spotify as "The Jennie Allen Podcast" but then you'll have to sort through and find the Book Club but many in between and prior also relate to "The LIE ... " I only have the Kindle Study Guide this time, not the Book or any extras.

Right as I began reading ahead to check out "The LIE ..." Session 1 ... I came across the following One Word that struck me with familiarity:

RELIEF

[image credit: Brainy Quote]

This is the One Word, I heard from God on September 7th, 2025 in the local Church I attended that day. It was a significant word for me that resurfaces often since that time and seems to strike an inner part of me. Instead of GRIEF that most people feel after the loss of someone close that they shared a great deal of their lives with, and what they experience in different stages in the time after that loss; I simply could not feel the normal grief because I felt this sense of such RELIEF. And God let me know that day, that it's ok and again recently in a medical appointment, that was reaffirmed that it's ok and normal. Yet I did not "identify" all these months that it was ok, and I was feeling guilty. One of the biblical definitions of RELIEF is the alleviation of suffering, distress, or oppression. Primarily, it is portrayed as God's merciful invention. God delivers His people through offering both physical rescue and deep spiritual rest. We, as believers, are called to act with compassion on the vulnerable. (a little more on this will follow later*). 

The first session of The LIE is not at all on GRIEF, it's IDENTIFY. Yet in the 2nd paragraph, I read: (but in a different context entirely) ...

"... what I felt most was RELIEF"

In Jennie Allen's study guide, clearly it's in regard to discovering the LIE that she found out she had been believing about herself and the frustration about learning she had been believing that LIE. Here's what follows that discovery and the above statement:

"RELIEF that my suffering had a origin. RELIEF that I could know what that origin was. RELIEF, that by the power of God, I could go back to that origin and find my way forward in health." ...

And I knew that immediately this was what God wants for me ... going back to the origin, healing going forward, and RELIEF. This is yet another RELEASE and way that I can be RE-freshed and proceed forward in my life. Of course, Jennie Allen's book & study will help me with "the LIE" however I have years and years of LIES, yet she writes that there is a Core Lie that all those LIES boil down to 3 simple categories & she offers a quiz to help you identify yours at jennieallen.com/lies-quiz. 

My Core Lie: "I am worthless." Truthfully, I think all 3 Core lies have been part of the many decades of my life at different times. Yet, I do understand where this LIE came from and how it was continued after my childhood & teen years into my young adult years, one example is in my childhood foundational Church at their Communion time, they say (on repeat) "Lord I am not worthy to receive You, but only say the Word and my soul will be healed." As a young adult, I was told that I could not receive Communion because I married a divorced person. Not my sin except that I married him. To me, that is a Church made rule that I do not find in the Bible. If it is, so be it, but it began my journey to seek another Church in another denomination, because every time there was Communion at the Church, I wept. Clearly the enemy did not need much else to confirm & reaffirm that LIE over and over that I'm unworthy. Also discovering that this LIE speaks to my people pleasing & my performance of how & what I do, from a very early age, confirmed. I could give so many examples of this, so this was not a surprise. But I do know times when I believed also that "I am helpless" and the other Core Lie that "I am unlovable" - that love is earned.

I don't think by doing this study alone that I will find the RELIEF I seek, however I do know that it's a fresh start in discovering the healing God hopes to do within me and breaking the stronghold of the LIES that the enemy has used my entire life to set me up, whereas Jesus Christ has given me the Truth to defeat the LIE of the enemy and set me free.(John 8:31-32).

In biblical context, "RELIEF refers to the alleviation of distress, suffering, or hardship. ...RELIEF can be physical, emotional, or spiritual, and is a recurring theme throughout the Scriptures, highlighting God's mercy and the call for His people to act justly and compassionately."

The two Biblical words for RELIEF found in Hebrew [REVACHAH] in the Old Testament translates as RELIEF, respite, or "breathing space". "It captures the moment that crushing circumstances ease & God opens up a "spacious place" - without knowing it, this is what had happened in my life since September 6th, 2025 when I  clearly received RELIEF from God. It stood out and captured me at a time that I should have been in a  devastating grief (as for almost everyone else). I did not find myself at all in grief, but felt RELIEF, yet as I've mentioned, I struggled with not grieving and there is so much back history to this, not just the final 7 years, but at this time, I will save you the details as I sort it out and through it all. However, when I began this RELIEF post, I really did think I was going to write on this (but not yet) too raw and too soon. Then we come to the Greek word for RELIEF [ANESIS] translated in the New Testament as "RELIEF" or Rest meaning a loosening, a lessening of distress, or a relaxation of tension. ✅✅✅ That's how I felt the immediate day after when I went to Church to seek God & He spoke RELIEF into me, not grief. I am now understanding it was not because I was or became more hard-hearted but because God was starting something new for me: RELIEF from many, many years that He promises.(Joel 2:25) God will complete His healing of me - and now it will begin with exposing the LIE I believed. According to the quiz, my core LIE is "I am worthless" yet as I listen to Jennie's podcast before the study begins in many ways, my life has gone through all of them (as she states) that I believe "I am helpless", "I am unlovable" and "I am worthless" which in my opinion has led me in this late stage of my life to feel "I am hopeless", but I'm not - even in any down moment, God is my anchor, Jesus is my hope & I anchor myself to that hope I have and hold on until I see that "He, who began a good work in me.He is faithful to complete it!" so the Spirit from within rises and REFRESHES me with a good word

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*As REGARDS this (from above):

  "RELIEF is associated often with God's intervention, provision and the compassionate actions of individuals toward those in need."
This is definitely a time in our world, both at home and at-large, where many find themselves in need. In fact, many of us are finding ourselves in need. Times are hard. Compassion seems to be desperately in need but in short supply & not enough to go around or among us with even a small act of kindness here and there. We are facing the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Most of you that know me at all, know that all this weighs heavily upon me. God also knows this! "RELIEF is a manifestation of God's compassion and justice. It reflects His character as a loving and merciful Father... The call to provide RELIEF to others is a fundamental part of true Christian ethics", rooted in the  commandment(s) that Jesus gave us (Matthew 22:36-40) two core commandments that I believe can combat he LIES, too. I do believe that this OBS on LIES will bring me RELIEF through a RELEASE from the LIES I have believed about myself. I believe that I will see a RENEWAL of compassion in me and God will RESTORE in my core what He placed in me at my birth and rebirth ... and has been building & REBUILDING in me through His Word. I believe I will heal by His Spirit.

{I did not read this book (trust me, I have plenty that I'm reading & hopefully will get to read)}

{I just really love this photo on this book}

[image credit; book cover]

Some quotes to reflect on:

“The tears that finally streamed from her eyes were tears not of mourning but of relief, and tears for the dark unknown that lay ahead of her.” — Gwynne Forster  "Can I see another's woe, and not be in sorrow too? Can I see another's grief, and not seek for kind relief? " ~ William Blake  "Lord, grant me relief from my suffering, so that I may have some relief; ... Jeremiah 17:14 (NET)    "LORD, hear my prayer, listen to my cry for mercy; in Your faithfulness and righteousness come to my relief. Psalm 143:1 (NIV)

The  3-3-3 Rule for CALMING:
Name 3 things you SEE.Name 3 sounds you HEAR.Move 3 parts of your body.
???
{if you like, you may share in the comments your 3-3-3}
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Please continue to🙏
I do need
RELIEF
... but I don't thinkRELIEFis my2026One Word