Start Again

This is a casual, mental, and emotional reset with practical and scriptural tools that can help you start anew every day. Do you feel overwhelmed, stressed, or worried? Discover what's available to us all when we invite God in to what we want to see next.

These messages focus on discovering practical, scriptural, personal, and metaphysical ways of experiencing more of God in all aspects of life, including the good, the bad, and the challenging.

Welcome to Invite God In. I’m Teemaree.

Transcript

Have you been feeling like weighed down,

Pressured,

Stressed?

I welcome you to Invite God In.

This message is all about start again,

And we're going to be exploring ways and thoughts and scripture and spiritual backup that's going to help us to start again.

I've been learning a lot about getting more physically active in an easier way.

Instead of lots of cardio and lots of weightlifting and going super hard in the gym,

About walking and using a weighted vest to do so.

I had started doing this.

I decided to mix my spiritual practice with some physicality and go for a walk with a weighted vest and just enjoy the morning and the sights around me.

I was receiving so much from it.

Now,

Because I didn't make it such a serious plan,

I was more open to having that be a part of my experience.

Well,

I just went in some regular shoes that I garden in.

And lo and behold,

Pretty soon after having these fabulous walks,

I started to see some blisters on my feet and I was experiencing some really big discomfort.

Now,

You might be wondering,

Well,

How does this have to do with starting again?

Well,

Maybe you're going through a physical challenge.

It could start off like with me in something that you wanted to do with joy,

Not because you had to,

But because you wanted to.

And all of a sudden something comes up that seems like it's going to be an obstacle.

You know,

Taking the practical route,

What I had done is I decided to get a pair of special walking shoes.

And of course,

There's so many out there.

And when I got the shoes,

I did feel more comfortable,

But a new problem had presented.

And pretty soon I was having issues with my knee.

So I couldn't go on my walks.

I had to sit it out and take a break.

Now this was not devastating.

That would be too powerful a word,

But it was troublesome.

I was just starting this new,

Wonderful habit.

And I didn't want to take a break because I was afraid that if I did,

That I wouldn't go back to it,

Even though I loved it so much.

Well,

In the end,

I had to be patient.

I had to give myself the love and care that my knee required,

Which meant some icing and some wrapping and some Arnica.

But then I had to start again.

Now this is a very practical example,

Something we all maybe have to face,

Whether it's in our physicality or a plan or a new schedule.

But starting again,

As some of you may know,

And definitely let me know in the chat if this is you,

When we're feeling something physical,

It's so challenging to remember who and whose we are sometimes.

Because all we can see is what we're feeling in our body.

All we can see is what we're feeling in our emotional world.

The practical senses are so,

So compelling.

And so all kinds of things can come into play,

Fear,

Doubt,

Worry,

Overwhelm,

Or maybe just nothing but tunnel vision on the experience that we're not liking.

Well here's how a practical and a spiritual thing started to come to my mind.

I personally see God in nature everywhere.

And I realized that my body knows what to do and how to heal,

And that I can take a break and sit it out so that I can get better and not worry.

I could start again.

Beloved,

If you're going through something physical,

You too can start again.

Whether it's needing to take a break or whether it's needing to take care of yourself in a special way,

Starting again and knowing that you can is so,

So powerful.

So I say this to encourage you if you're experiencing something physical.

Sometimes inviting God in is being able to see in the most practical way that you can start again and that you've been cared for so much that there is a system in place to help you.

Just like we see the seasons change,

Just like we know our body can heal from a cut or heal from a strain,

So too can we set our mind and our vision to start again when we're faced with something.

Now let's maybe take it in another direction.

Maybe you aren't experiencing something physical.

Maybe you're experiencing something relational.

This can be another really,

Really tough thing to handle.

Relationships are complicated.

Sometimes they really,

Really help us and they encourage us and sometimes they really hurt us and they're sources of great pain,

Anguish,

Stress,

Anxiety,

On and on and on.

Well,

I'll tell you something.

We can absolutely look to scripture for an example of someone that we know to be a hero of faith that shows us a lot about starting again relationally.

I think that this is really,

Really funny to note that this hero of faith is listed in the book of Genesis.

For those of you that may have not read the Bible or aren't very familiar,

It's all good.

There are so many things to learn in there.

Genesis is at the beginning of the Bible and so I thought it was funny that it's not only at the beginning of the Bible but it describes the beginning and it's the place where you can find stories about who I'm about to mention.

His name is Joseph and he has a very,

Very long and storied experience of needing to start again and a very long and storied experience about being let down relationally by people.

It begins with his family.

He was the youngest of all his brothers and his father loved him so much for that reason because he was a child that he was able to have as an older man.

So Joseph is really loved by his father and his father gives him a coat of many colors.

His brothers get so jealous.

Now let's stop here.

You see in the Bible it's a few scripture verses and you get to read all kinds of things about his life and often when we're reading the Bible it's pretty tough to kind of like bring it to today.

But what I thought was interesting about just that one piece,

If any of you have any beef with your family,

Tell me.

Is that not a practice to start again over and over and over and over?

Hey,

It sure is or at least it has been for me.

And so I was thinking about this.

Here's Joseph.

He's in a big family.

He's got like five older brothers.

He's the youngest.

Dad loves him.

Gives him this coat.

His brothers get jealous.

Yeah,

That's what we see in scripture.

But imagine day in and day out.

You have five brothers.

They're all jealous of you.

You're coming in wanting to share with them about your dreams,

Which he did.

And boy,

Not only is it a cold room,

I could just see it now.

Their eyes are rolling.

They're upset.

They're annoyed.

They're getting to the point where they can barely tolerate the sight of him.

In scripture,

It says that they even plotted to kill him.

I was really thinking about this.

That is a lot of starting again.

As you all know,

When we're in relationships with people and things start to get awkward,

We can already feel it.

So imagine when things start to get to such a feverish pitch that they want to get rid of him.

Wow,

That's tough.

That's just one of the things that Joseph experiences.

As a matter of fact,

As he's sent out by his dad to go look for his brothers and his brothers see him coming,

They actually plan to kill him.

And they would have,

Except one of his brothers,

Reuben,

Says,

Hey,

Don't do that.

Why don't we just sell him?

Because then our hands will be free of guilt,

So to speak.

We'll get the money,

And we'll be done with him.

And so that's what they do.

These two major events are just a couple out of five or six twists and turns that Joseph experiences relationally.

Talk about needing to start again.

If you are in a place where you need to start again,

I wanted to highlight this story because,

Well,

Yes,

It shows us that Joseph has put through so many hardships,

So many relational hurts,

Day after day.

Imagine,

Your brothers,

Every day,

They can't stand the sight of you.

They don't want to hear what you have to say and so on.

But this isn't necessarily just about Joseph.

You see,

God is with Joseph the entire time.

When the brothers couldn't stand him,

Joseph had the love of his father.

When the brothers plotted to kill him,

Joseph changed the heart of one of the brothers so that his life wouldn't be lost.

When Joseph was sold into slavery and goes on a wild adventure that includes prison,

Being falsely accused,

Each place he's taken,

God is blessing him,

Keeping him safe,

Putting him in places of power and influence,

Even giving him,

After decades,

The heart,

The capacity,

The openness,

The true power to be able to forgive his brothers in the end.

This is major,

Friends.

Why?

Because in this day and age,

What do we see?

Instagram,

Twitter,

Facebook.

We see TikToks,

All about how,

Hey,

If you don't like them,

Cut them off,

Let them go,

Ghost them,

Who cares?

But you know what,

Beloved?

We can start again in our relationships.

We can start again in our own character.

Now,

This doesn't mean that we're going to just let people treat us badly,

Necessarily.

But what this means is that we see two things,

Two major things in this story that I think are absolutely phenomenal and exciting.

The first thing we see is that every time Joseph decides to start again,

He's getting blessed.

So we have the capacity to start again.

There is goodness in store for us when we start again.

There is blessing that is coming our way.

Because we've said yes to something better than our circumstances.

Because we've said yes to being more than how maybe we should be if we respond in kind.

This is really cool because this means that we have so much power over how we interact with people.

And what we decide is going to take advantage of us,

So to speak.

But then we also see that God takes care of us the entire way.

That God likes when we start again.

That God can fortify us to be able to do so and stand in the face of things that really should be the end.

I think that that's absolutely incredible,

Wonderful,

And good news.

So you tell me,

Have you heard of this story of Joseph?

And how do you feel about relationships and being able to start again?

We're diving into this so we can learn and cultivate and grow together.

It's a journey.

And every day,

Every step,

Every hour,

Honey,

Is brand new.

Or maybe that's just me.

How many of us have felt so good coming out of our spiritual practice?

Or coming out of church?

Or coming out of a wonderful blessed experience?

And then all of a sudden we get a phone call saying something we don't like.

Somebody on the road cuts us off or pulls an action that scares us for the moment and we feel upset.

Or we come back into a cycle of dysfunction that we were happy to escape for just a moment,

But it all comes rushing back once we're back to normal.

All these relational things.

Yeah,

It can feel really tough.

But we can start again.

And when we do,

Even though it seems like we'll get taken advantage of,

Like it will be the end of us,

The truth is we're blessed and we're fortified in doing so.

This is incredible news.

So tell me,

Are you experiencing something physical?

Are you experiencing something that has to do with a relationship at work,

At home?

What could starting again be like for you?

This is where we get to play.

So like for me,

In the physical example,

Starting again literally meant,

Well,

Allowing myself to get rest.

You see,

It's really easy for me to push forward,

Bootstrap it,

Keep going.

But a new awakening that I've been blessed to have,

Thanks to God,

Is that I don't have to do everything in my own strength.

And that actually,

It's stronger when I allow myself to be vulnerable and when I allow myself to rest and take care of myself.

Hallelujah!

You know,

I didn't get that before.

Relationally,

I've had experiences too.

You know,

Things with my siblings,

I love them,

But throughout the years,

I felt like we've grown apart.

And pretty soon,

I found myself experiencing this kind of unease.

It's like I missed them,

But I didn't know them.

It was just so strange.

Starting again,

For me,

When it comes to this particular relation,

Has been to realize the areas that I too have been distant.

To be honest about what I've been contributing or not and about my desire or not to be with them.

That was step one.

And the next thing,

For me,

Was being able to see things in a new light.

For me,

I was only able to do that with God.

Every time that I looked at it from a personal perspective,

Sadly,

I was only able to look at it from what I wanted,

What I was missing,

What I hoped it could be.

But God helped me change all that.

And so,

That's why I get excited about sharing these things together.

So,

What could starting again look like for you?

Hmm.

Something to think about.

And if you want to put it in the chat,

I would love to hear from you.

So,

We're always going to have an action point,

Right?

Because,

Listen,

This works if you work it.

And even that's too strong.

So,

God has helped me with so much.

God has helped me with my faith.

God has helped me with material things.

God has helped me open my heart and my mind,

Given me answers.

There's been so much.

And I know,

I know for a fact that God can do the same thing for you.

But even though it can be very,

Very easy,

Simple as surrender,

I do see that just like with human relationships,

It takes something from me too.

So,

Let's explore a little bit of action that we can take.

If you've been thinking a little bit about,

Okay,

How could I start again?

Definitely put it in the chat.

You're welcome to.

We'll have some fellowship about that after the message.

Or just continue to marinate and consider,

How could you start again?

What could that mean?

One of the things,

One of the things that is awesome for starting again and that will be an action point for us,

We're going to declare a new thing,

Okay?

We're going to declare a new thing.

So,

There's power in our words.

So much power.

And when we mix our words with our emotion,

Then,

Whoo,

Imagine you have a magic wand.

Things are happening.

So,

I want to read something from scripture,

Okay?

From the Bible.

And I'm going to read it in the NIV,

Which is a more modern translation.

So,

It's a little bit easier than,

You know,

The old English version that may be hard for us to understand.

Check this out.

This is from Isaiah 43,

Chapter 43,

Verses 18 and 19.

Isaiah,

Okay?

Forget the former things.

Do not dwell on the past.

See,

I am doing a new thing.

Now it springs up.

Do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.

What?

Beloveds,

Listen to this,

Okay?

I just read it.

Now we're going to bring it to 2025 language,

Okay?

Don't think about the former things.

Don't dwell on the past,

Honey.

Don't dwell on the past.

I'm doing a new thing.

Now it springs up.

I'm making a way in the wilderness,

And I'm making streams in the wasteland.

Oh,

My gosh,

Y'all.

Again,

Let's really dive in.

Don't think about the past.

Don't even worry about it.

Just let that go.

New things are happening now.

As a matter of fact,

Where it looks like a wasteland and,

Like,

Dried up and,

Like,

Dead,

I'm making something happen.

I'm making a path there.

Where it seems dried up and just shriveled and,

Like,

Gone and old,

I'm bringing life,

Water.

This is awesome.

Why do I get excited about this for us?

Because when we see something that is in Scripture,

That is in a sacred text,

Not only does this show us what is possible,

But this shows us the backup we have,

And that is really,

Really cool.

Maybe you grew up in a religious experience that wasn't that forgiving,

That was,

Like,

More like,

Hey,

You've done wrong.

You were bad.

You got to do it this way.

Look at how exciting.

That's actually not what's happening.

You can forget about those past hurts.

You can forget about those people that let you down.

You can not worry and continue thinking about the physical ailments that you're experiencing,

Not because they're not real and we're pretending,

But because a new thing is happening,

Beloved,

A new thing,

And it's springing up now.

Glory to the Lord.

This is such good news.

So as you think about this and you want to declare,

Declare something new in your life,

We start again by declaring.

So think of an area of your life that you would like to see that new and declare,

Put your flag down and say,

Hey,

I declare that something new is happening here.

We see that it is in scripture that that is actually the case.

And when we agree,

Oh,

When we stand in agreement,

We are being very blessed.

So we declare and we start a new thing.

We declare with our mouths and then we begin to take that action.

So in my case referring,

Just so you have a practical example,

I declare that I'm still a person that walks,

But I did take a step back to heal my knee and let it get better.

And then I got out and walked again.

I was out there this morning,

Enjoying and praying and just looking forward to our time together right now.

So that is a practical way for us to take this and really,

Really make it happen in our lives.

I'm Team Marie.

This was invite got in and I will see you next Wednesday.