Kathy — Self-image, self-worth and self-government cannot be determined by your IQ or strengths or looks or successes or skills, but neither are they determined by experiences or failures or opinions or lies.  The thing that outranks all of that is your relationship with the Father and guaranteed daughtership or sonship.  Identity, affirmation and boundaries are powerfully established through that relationship. 

(Kathy will be speaking at DREAMS VISIONS PROPHECY which is September 10-12 at Grace Church Willis. CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL INFO.)

What did the waves of Mk 4:37-41 do to Jesus? They did nothing whatsoever to Him physically or even emotionally. He was able to rest in the midst of them! But the same waves brought up fear in the disciples so that they were unable to function. Jesus had a Kingdom mentality. We must embrace His Kingdom mentality: He was completely convinced of His authority in the midst of, and indeed, over storms.

Kathy Gabler — I know a lady who was raised on the church bench.  She had such a heart for God when she was young, that she truly considered marrying a minister.  She is wired primarily eagle, who tends to require perfection in self.  She is also ox, wanting no conflict, and she has a motivational gift of serving as well.  She went right from high school to being a secretary.  As choices flowed in her life, she married young and went through two divorces.  Being a conscientious church girl, she saw herself as disqualified and a failure.  She struggled with thinking that her potential and purpose were lost.  For years, her self-image and self-worth were shaken.  However, even with those two elements shaken, she was one of those exceptional people that had enough strength of character not to allow her self-government to take a dive.  She remained diligent in her career and rose to executive secretary.  After dealing with taunting questions like “Who am I now?   Why am I here now? (since I’ve messed up so badly),” she came to the realization that God had not changed His mind about His original intent for her and her gifts and calling were still intact.  Today, she has overcome and is an awesome intercessor, just as she was originally intended to be.  She realizes now that even her time as a secretary was actually intercessory in nature, building bridges between problems and their resolve.  She outgrew her feelings of unworthiness to even allow the Holy Spirit to stir gifts in her of discernment and prophetic proclamation.

Some say Matt.11:12 refers to a battle: “the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.” There is no language in the Bible which shows evil attacking the Kingdom. But properly put: the Kingdom of heaven acts powerfully and requires a powerful reaction. Jesus taught that because the dynamic power of His Kingdom has invaded the world, men are to respond with a radical reaction (Matt.5:29-30).

Kathy — When our self-image takes a hit, it is tempting to feel so fragmented that we stop functioning.  If we do, then condemnation seeps into those cracks and tries to “kill”  (Jn.10:10) our relationship with our Father and tries to “steal”  (Jn.10:10) our sense of worth and tries to “destroy” (Jn.10:10) our self-government.  Condemnation is one of the most lethal weapons the devil uses because it carries a mixture of truth and lie that is particularly toxic.  Condemnation’s first punch is usually true, like, “You know you messed up. You’re guilty.”   However, it’s second punch is a poisonous lie like, “There is no way out, no healing for a damaged self-image.  There is no way to redeem value that was lost and no restoration of broken boundaries.”  Those lies should make you want to spit!