“For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Colossians 1:13-14

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Reclaim – Verb – To bring (wasteland or land formerly under water) under cultivation. To bring (uncultivated areas or wasteland) into a condition for cultivation or other use. Cultivate – Verb – To prepare for the use of raising crops — to loosen or break up the soil, to labor, to foster the growth of; to promote or improve the growth of by labor and attention.

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One of my dreams is to someday flip a house. Not literally… But to buy an old, run-down house and completely transform and remodel it from floor to ceiling. To take a house that is tattered and worn and transform it back to life would be so much fun. To reclaim it. I am currently house hunting and a few months ago my soon to be house-mate and I found this property with the grossest (seriously) mobile home on it. There were weeds and junk that needed to be cleared out and the house itself needed to be completely gutted and remodeled. As we walked around the property, wishing we were in a position to buy it, my friend, “cast her vision” (as I call it) for the house and we began to dream about the potential that this house and property had. We began to envision what it could be. We envisioned all that needed to be done to make this house beautiful. We planned garden placements and googled deck ideas. We plotted where the grill and fire pit would be and planned out back yard designs for our future 45 dogs. (We aren’t old cat ladies….totally old dog ladies though.) I guess I just love the possibility of taking the old and completely loving it into transformation because that is how Love works. God has a vision for our lives just like we had a vision for that old house. When we look at our lives, we see from our perspective. We see the foundation cracks, the broken windows, the gross pink counter in the bathroom; the weeds and the stains on the carpet. But when Father looks at me, and when He looks at you, He doesn’t see the gross current state of affairs that we may feel we are in. Regardless of how junky and out of control our lives may feel, or even when we try and hide the mess with a facade … He still sees the potential. He still looks at us with love. Why? Because of Jesus. When we try to tackle life only from our perspective and what we can see, we can become discouraged, lose hope and even question our purpose. Jesus came to reclaim all of that for us. What Jesus did was, He went to the Father as our intercessor, even before we knew Him, and “cast His vision” for our lives. If life doesn’t look the way you thought it would just remember change is happening and potential is being released as Holy Spirit works on the remodel! The result will be better than you could ever imagine. Jesus gave His life to pay the price to redeem and reclaim you. And because of that, the deed on your life has been transferred into “the Kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom you now have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.” If you have received that free gift from Jesus, then you were instantly made new. Yet in our day-to-day lives, we still live out the process of changing our perspective to think differently and to live differently. That is what the process of reclaiming is all about; beginning to cultivate things in your life that align with your new position as a Reclaimer. Any process of transformative growth starts with a renewing of your mind and changing how you think. Healthy growth is the result of the environment that is created; the right conditions need to be cultivated depending on what you want to grow. Romans 12:2 says, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed but the renewing of your mind…” You can grow either negative or positive things depending on the environment. Mold grows in the right conditions, (like the unattended dishes of a single person), as do: the lies we believe, wrong identity, bitterness, and jealousy etc. So how do we now cultivate the environment of our lives so they are positioned for the Holy Spirit to move and work to bring forth His desired fruit more and more in our lives? One way that we do that is by being intentional with our habits, our thoughts, our free time, our endless hours spent on Netflix. (Yes, I know, I went there and talked about our Netflix!)

What do the things in your life cultivate in your heart and mind? 

When we take an honest evaluation of our lives and identify the areas that need reclaiming? What needs to happen next? We need an environment change, we need some new conditions: Do your thoughts line up with what the Word of God says about you? Do you believe what He says, over how you feel? We all have areas of our lives where we aren’t fully believing the truths of the gospel; areas of fear, doubt, and shame. If we are going to bring every area of our lives under cultivation, to prepare it and get it ready for the use of bearing fruit, then change is needed. It’s time to find those areas of your life that feel run down, neglected and apathetic. Are there areas in your life that are closed off to love? Areas that you’ve felt are too junky so you have kept them hidden behind a mask. It’s time to begin to let Love come and do what He does best and love those areas into wholeness, healing, and growth. Father is in the business of reclaiming ALL of the parts of our lives; It is a beautiful process that takes time to press into Him and allow His love to do what only His love can do.

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