Focus on the Family

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John Fuller: This is John Fuller and please remember to let us know how you're listening to these programs on a podcast, app, or website.

Kim Meeder: 2 Corinthians 3:15 says that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom. So Kim, where you don't have freedom, guess where His Spirit isn't? And will you invite Him into that place and step through the ashen darkness of that place into the freedom that you already have if Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior?

John Fuller: Perhaps you're a Christian and that's speaking to you. Stay with us. Kim Meeder is our guest today on Focus on the Family. I'm John Fuller, thanks for joining us. Your host is Focus president and author Jim Daly.

Jim Daly: John, I love meeting people who have recently accepted Christ. Their faith just bubbles out of them. They're looking for every opportunity to see God in every circumstance. And it's fun.

Over time, sometimes people can lose that passion to lead people to Christ, to explore their faith with others. We kind of pull in. It's just the expectations of life. We've got bills to pay and things to do.

But the Lord wants to be in all of it. He wants to be right there with us. And I think, as a father would be, a loving child who's excited about their dad, that's the relationship. And we're going to talk today with a special guest who I think will either reignite your commitment to Christ and draw you closer to Him or certainly provoke thoughts about where am I with the Lord?

John Fuller: Saying you want to walk by faith is one thing and then actually walking by faith is another thing. We're going to hear a whole lot about walking in faith from Kim Meeder, who is a bestselling author and a very popular guest here on Focus on the Family.

She and her husband, Troy, founded Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch in Oregon. They rescue abused and neglected horses and they use them in a therapy program for abused and hurting kids. Kim's newest book is called *Revival Rising: Embracing His Transforming Fire*, and we have copies of that at focusonthefamily.com/broadcast.

Jim Daly: Kim, it's always great to have you with us here at Focus on the Family. Welcome back.

Kim Meeder: Thank you so much. It's great to be in the company of my brothers.

Jim Daly: As many of our listeners know, you became a Christian as a child after some very traumatic circumstances. We're not going to cover all that today, but if you missed that part of Kim's story, it is powerful. Probably one of the most powerful presentations about God's pursuit for us.

I would encourage you to get the download. We'll make sure it's there and you can pick up that story. But years later now, you still have that same kind of wonderful exuberance for Christ. And not everybody enjoys God at that depth over a long period of time. So I think the question is, how do you keep that passion alive in your life over the long haul?

Kim Meeder: I think that's a great question because the enemy is nothing if he isn't patient. All he desires is for God's people to look away from the face of the author of love and hope and joy and peace. When we do, all there is is darkness and frustration.

In order to maintain our joy in Christ, it's imperative that we know who He is in us and who we are in him. We do that by knowing His word and spending time in His word every day. When we know what the truth is, then we know what a lie is and we know what is literally the enemy or our own negative thoughts saying, "Hey, that's not okay."

Jim Daly: I want to drill down on this because I think a lot of Christians that have been Christians for 20, 30 years maybe, or maybe it's only been 5 years or so, but there is the demands of life that just keep pulling us down to the normal get out of bed, go to work, say hi to Fred, make sure we treat Fred nicely, whatever it might be, but it's not that faith that's on fire. It's not that faith that is exuberant. There's something missing.

Kim Meeder: Joy. Joy. We're commanded. Jesus commands us in the book of John to be filled with joy. We're only filled when we're actually overflowing and He says, "Let your joy overflow."

We are filled by His joy oftentimes when we worship God. Worship realigns our focus on the God that heals everything that hurts within us. Everything that Jesus Christ did for you and me is still true. For us to keep our focus on that, how can we not be flooded with joy?

Jim Daly: I agree. One thing that often begins to falter in a Christian's life is a grasp on God's freedom, which is what will give you that joy. I think we tend to listen to the enemy, our own flesh, about our sins, our shortcomings, the way we fail God, and we start concentrating on those things.

They do become a barricade to that deep sense of joy because let's face it, if we really got a hold of what the Lord has done for us, we should be walking joy bubbles. That God sent His Son to die for us and to take on the sins of the world.

The exchange is do you believe Jesus is the Son of God? In exchange for that, you have eternal life. It's amazing. We should be going, "Yahoo!"

Kim Meeder: Right. And if our belief in that truth is not enough to change us, how could we expect it to change anyone in our midst? That's the real question.

Jim Daly: When you mentioned it, it's like being trapped in prison, our sin. The enemy of our soul just keeps whispering that to us. "This is what you really are. You know who you really are." So how do we say, "Lord, I'm going to believe in You and get over that barricade on our way to a more joy-filled life?"

Kim Meeder: I see the whole world in pictures and I love that Jesus Christ spoke in parables to take something that we can see to illustrate something that we can't yet see. Recently I was at home, it was the first warm morning of spring, and I didn't start a fire.

I'm spending time in the word. All of a sudden, I can hear this racket over my head and this scratching and thumping and bumping. What could only be a bird falling into the stovepipe of our woodstove and falling down the pipe fighting the whole way until finally in exhaustion it just drops and lands in the woodstove box.

I set everything aside and looked in. In the very back corner was a female starling, one of the most despised of all birds. They come, they take resources, they overwhelm native species of birds, and their droppings produce disease. A lot of people would have just left her there to die.

And yet, looking at her in this firebox, covered in blackness, it was like Jesus saying, "Yeah, that was just like you." So I put a towel over the door and reached in carefully and drew her out. Other than being covered in ash, she was fine.

I walked outside into the brilliant sunlight and just opened my fingers slowly. She didn't ask questions. She didn't ponder. She didn't need to process or talk about it. She flew hard and fast into the freedom that was offered her and she never looked back.

I could hear Jesus saying, "Do you see that? That's what I'm calling My people to do." Here's what I'm not calling them to do: fly back over your shoulder into the living room, into the firebox, and close the door and then cry and say, "God, oh God, where are You?"

When Jesus Christ came to this earth 2,000 years ago, He lived a perfect life and laid that life down for you and me. When He did that, He broke the lock on that prison door of suffering and sin and that firebox place where we are left to die.

It is His love that reaches in and we choose if we're going to take His hand and step out into the freedom that He's already purchased for us. Galatians 5:1, it is for freedom that Jesus Christ has set us free. If we don't have freedom in any area of our life, and I'm pointing my finger at myself, it's for one reason only: I'm not choosing it.

Jim Daly: That came up in our Sunday school class the other day. We were talking about freedom and God says, "I have taken care of that. Jesus covered that. I've moved on, will you?" But so often we don't move on.

Kim Meeder: Right. 2 Corinthians 3:15 says that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there's freedom. So Kim, where you don't have freedom, guess where His Spirit isn't? And will you invite Him into that place and step through the ashen darkness of that place into the freedom that you already have if Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior?

John Fuller: And if you don't know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, we want to invite you to call Focus on the Family today so we can tell you more about experiencing true freedom in Christ. Our number is 800-A-FAMILY, or stop by focusonthefamily.com/broadcast. When you get in touch with us, be sure to ask for Kim's book, *Revival Rising*. We've got copies of that and we'd be happy to send that to you.

Jim Daly: Kim, another mistake that we can often make as Christians is that we get so wrapped up in our own world, our own issues, our own problems. We don't feel like there's any capacity there to really love on other people, which when you get down to it, that's really why we're here.

That's why God has done everything for us is to show that kind of kindness and love to others. It sounded like as I read the book, you had an experience like that where you were in that spot and you were busy and you pulled into a gas station to get gas and the Lord said, "Wait a minute, I want to show you something." What happened?

Kim Meeder: Again, of all the weaponry from the Holy Spirit gifted to God's people, love is the most powerful weapon of warfare we carry. As I was driving into a gas station on autopilot, the Holy Spirit highlighted the attendant working there that day.

In Oregon, they pump your gas for those of us that don't live in those states. On this very cold day, I was actually grateful for that. As I was prompted to study this man, he was probably in his mid-60s, he was very thin, he wore tattered, filthy clothing, and he never looked at me once.

I could sense the Lord saying, "Do you see him? I love him so much. Will you let him know how much I love him? And today, I want you to make him laugh." Okay. So I put the window down and started to engage this man in what seemed like meaningless conversation. But every conversation that's driven by love is far from meaningless, every single one.

Pretty soon we were talking about some silly things and I shared something really goofy and he broke into this great big smile and his hand flew up over his face, but not before I saw what he was trying to hide.

This beloved son of God was embarrassed because he had no teeth and he didn't want me to see that. Finally, I looked at him and I said, "Brother, when you smile, your face gets so warm. Don't ever stop that."

Through a single conversation, as often as I was able, I would return to that same gas station. There, minutes at a time, the love of Jesus Christ was poured out into a life that needed to know he was seen and valued and perfect.

As oftentimes is the case, I don't know the end of the story. I returned one day and he was gone. But what I do know is the authority of God's word, which says in Isaiah 55 that everything that we pour out into this world that is filled with the love of God goes out like arrows that the receiver can't pull out.

They can't unfeel love. They can't unhear truth. They can't unexperience being seen and valued. That went with him wherever he went and I just got to be a piece in his journey of knowing the love of Jesus Christ. Maybe you who are listening will be the next piece for this beloved man who has no teeth to know he is a son of the Living God.

Jim Daly: And whoever that person is that the Lord is wooing. He uses His people to woo the unbeliever to Him. It's such a beautiful, poetic expression of God's heart for us and how He does it and how we're all part of the solution for that individual.

Kim, I don't want this to sound like psychobabble, but a lot of people may ask themselves or say to themselves they don't feel they can give love because they don't really experience that for some reason, even from their Father in Heaven.

What would you say to that person who is in that place? Sometimes some people may express that as temperament. Kim sounds very extroverted, very capable of noticing people and she engages people winsomely. But you don't have to have those gifts to do God's bidding. He'll equip you. But speak to the person that doesn't feel loved and therefore can't give love.

Kim Meeder: I would begin this answer with equal psychobabble in that for anyone who would say that's just not for me, it's not my nature, I would tell you my nature is split right down the middle, 49 percent introvert, 51 percent extrovert. I'm not either.

But that doesn't matter. What matters is that we avail ourselves to be used by the one and only Living God. He is the one who equips us. When we're trying to do something out of our own strength, we're going to fail every time. We don't have what is needed. I don't have enough love. I don't have enough wisdom or hope or joy.

But I do have the owner and the creator of all those things. When we know who He is in us and that all those things are available to fill us to overflowing, that when we move about in the world that we're so flooded with the presence of God that He's what comes out in every situation.

That is literally heaven coming to earth through God's people and that's what changes the environments that we're in. For someone who says, "I cannot give love because I don't genuinely feel love," you are trusting your future in something that is fallible and that's your feelings.

Let me just tell you straight, your feelings cannot stand against the power and truth and authority of God's word. It's the same yesterday, today, and forever and you can build a life on it. So let's step off the feelings and stand on the truth of God's word, trusting Him to always give you what you need when you need it. That's who He is.

Jim Daly: Absolutely. I think, Kim, in addition to that, the irony of it is when you take that step of boldness or whatever it might be to show people concern, to show someone else the love of God, it's amazing how you feel the Spirit of God well up in you. That's when He's on fire in you. You can feel it when everything's working in sync. You are the beneficiary of feeling God's presence, I think.

Kim Meeder: Absolutely. I again see everything in pictures and as I am learning to avail this vessel to pour out the fruit of the spirit of the Living God, I always see it like this molten honey coming down. If it's love or joy or peace, you cannot help but be covered in that beauty and glory yourself as you just avail yourself to be used by God. What a wonder.

Jim Daly: It's so true. I love the idea that the fruit of the spirit—love, joy, peace, goodness, mercy, self-control, all those good things. I once encountered somebody who said, "Well, I don't have much patience." I remember saying to this person, "I don't think it's a menu you order from. It's all present if the Lord is present in your heart. It's accessible to you."

You may have obstacles that you're placing to get there. One of those is joy. I want to end today, and we'll come back next time if you can stay with us. We'll come back tomorrow and talk more about your great book, *Revival Rising*. But this idea of accessing joy, feeling joy, embracing joy, knowing joy, letting that joy renew our lives, speak to that joy aspect and then that great story you have about that boy and how he found joy.

Kim Meeder: This is going to make me cry. I was invited with four other women to travel through Eastern Europe to share the gospel in some of the poorest nations in Europe. We were finishing our tour, we'd been traveling for weeks speaking up to four times a day, and had been invited to an equestrian facility where they were doing equine-assisted therapy.

What we do at the ranch is equine-assisted ministry and those are two highly different things. As soon as I got there, they wanted me to demonstrate what I do and instantly they were frustrated that I was not following a model of logic.

I was following the leadership of the Holy Spirit that Jesus Himself says in John 16:13, that the Spirit is the one who leads into all truth. You want to know how to work with someone who's hurting? Follow the Spirit into their life where He wants to go. He knows them. He made them. He always knows what to do. And it doesn't matter if it makes sense, it only matters that you trust Him more than you and you follow. That annoyed them.

So basically they let a horse in and a little boy and said, "Prove it. Prove it." And they were mad. So this little boy was brought in, he was 12, he was small, he had dark hair and dark eyes and I was told he is highly autistic, he's unresponsive, and he was born blind.

So do your best with this subject. They called him a subject. He was a little boy made in the image of Christ and he was made perfect. Just because he was different doesn't mean that he's not perfect.

So his name was Christian and we went through introductions. I was delighted he knew quite a bit of English so we didn't need a translator. He'd ridden there before and through a brief conversation, this was his favorite horse.

I told him that this horse always gives you a gift. "What do you think if we give this horse a gift?" He thought that was a good idea. I said, "What do you think would be the best gift you could give a horse that's your friend?" He thought for a while and maybe that sounded like a trick question.

I said, "Why don't we give him love? That horses receive love through your hands, so let's put our hands on him everywhere because he's big and he needs lots of love." So by putting my hands over his hands, we went over this whole horse from muzzle, eyes, cheeks, ears, mane all the way down through the whole horse.

Now that he's been loved so well, let's love him from his back. A pad was put on the horse and there was a leader and a couple side-walkers and I'm just narrating the scene. I was aware that they were rolling their eyes till they hurt. They're so frustrated with me that I'm not doing therapy.

So to satisfy that logic, I had him ride forwards and backwards and sideways, touching the horse all around. He did that. So now the Holy Spirit is like, "Go deeper, go deeper."

I said, "Christian, have you ever trotted?" He didn't know what that was. I said, "It's going faster and it's really bouncy. Does that sound scary or fun?" He smiled and he said, "That sounds fun."

So I gave him some simple instructions: hold the mane with both hands, mane always stays with the horse, and then we're going to ask the horse to trot. The man leading the horse asked him into a trot and this horse burst into a lively trot.

This little boy rocked back and screamed. I looked at him and he wasn't afraid, he was excited. As he started to ride this horse at a trot, he started laughing. This unresponsive subject was laughing.

And then I saw something that has changed my life from that moment on. It was like heavens split and glory and joy and light started filling this child and pouring out of his smile as he's laughing and it's like, "Christian, oh my goodness, your smile is so beautiful! It's so beautiful! Wow, wow, wow!"

As he's trotting away from me he says, "I have a beautiful smile? Miss Kim, can you see it? Can you see it?" He's riding away from me, now he's coming around. "And Miss Kim, can you still see it? I have a beautiful smile, can you see it?"

And yes, I can. Now I'm weeping. I think everyone behind me is weeping to see this unresponsive child respond to the joy of the Holy Spirit. As he came up to me, he's just laughing and beaming and then he leans down where he thinks I am and he says, "Can you tell me what my smile looks like?" Oh man, Holy Spirit, lead on.

I said, "You know what, buddy? You know when you're in your room and the sun hasn't come up yet? You know that because your room is dark and you don't have to see the darkness, you can feel it, it's really cold. Then the sun bursts over the horizon and light streams in and it fills your bedroom.

You don't have to see it, you can feel it because it's warm. Your smile is like that. It is so brilliant and beautiful and warm that it filled this entire arena and it covered me and everyone in it. Don't you ever stop smiling." He's just beaming.

Then he leans down and he whispers, "But Miss Kim, what does your smile look like?" I took his little hands and I put them on my face and I said, "Why don't you tell me?" So he's feeling my face all over and to even get the whole picture, he put his little horse-grubby fingers on the inside of my lips and he's really checking this out and feeling.

Finally he leans down, this precious little boy, and he says, "Miss Kim, your smile, it just looks like the best dream ever." He's blind, and so what he sees in his dreams are given by God. Just as quickly as he was led in, he was led out, completely transformed by joy.

As he was leaving, he turned around and said in the direction where he thought I was standing, "Miss Kim, now wherever you go in the world and you see a sunrise, you will remember me and my beautiful smile because I'm Christian and I have a beautiful smile."

John Fuller: Well, we're going to pause right there on our conversation with Kim Meeder today on Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. Kim's stories are always so gripping and captivating and I think they're evidence of why she's been such a popular guest.

Jim Daly: God really has gifted Kim, not only in reaching out to broken people, but in sharing her stories in such a way that demonstrates His grace and mercy. As you've been listening today, I know you've been touched by these stories of redemption.

That's really at the heart of what we want to do here at Focus on the Family. Everything points back to the Lord and His redeeming nature. Kim has many more stories like the ones you've heard today and we've gathered those in a free audio collection.

You can sign up at our website to download those and John will give those details in just a moment. We also have Kim's outstanding book, *Revival Rising: Embracing His Transforming Fire*, available for you. Just make a donation, a gift of any amount, and we'll send you a copy as our way of saying thank you for supporting the ministry.

Your financial support makes a difference. Let me share this note from Allie, who wrote in and told us this: "Thank you for allowing God to use you and your broadcast to reach me. Over the past few weeks, the messages I've heard on my drive to work have spoken directly to things I've been struggling with in my faith, my marriage, and my family, and they've helped me begin opening up and talking honestly with God. Many mornings I arrive at work in tears, but after praying, I feel a peace I didn't even realize I needed and I'm able to go home and love my family better because of it."

Wow, what an encouraging note. I love it. This kind of life-changing ministry isn't possible without generous friends like you. We're doing this together. As a nonprofit ministry, we depend on generous friends like you to help us provide resources to meet those needs of families and help them heal through Christ. So please, if you can, donate today.

John Fuller: Our phone number is 800-A-FAMILY, or online we're at focusonthefamily.com/broadcast. On behalf of the team, thanks for listening today to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly. I'm John Fuller, inviting you back as we continue the conversation with Kim Meeder and once again help you and your family thrive in Christ.