What It Means to Stay Devoted

TRUE IDENTITY

Dr. Jackie Greene wants Christian women to know who they are.  “Embracing our permission to live in His freedom and abundance comes in accepting who we are: God’s beloved daughters,” she emphasizes.  “Our identity is confirmed.  Our roles are established.  The family dynamic is clear.  We are heirs and joint heirs.  We are loved.”  Jackie understands from personal experience what it’s like not to have a father in her life.  Her own dad, a pharmacist, left the family for a time when she was just four-years-old, to return to their native Ghana.  His goal was helping his people, and providing better for his family.  Little Jackie was extremely close to her dad, and this absence for a time hurt deeply and felt like rejection.  “Whether you have experienced a great relationship with your natural father or witnessed the devastation of an absent one, we’re going to take hold of what it means to be loved by God,” Jackie says.  “It is His consistent love as a father that fills the empty spaces and enhances the beautiful ones of my life.  It is this love in which I want to remain and bear fruit.  I desire the same for you.” 

Jackie believes that spending time with our Creator is what will clarify one’s identity.  “We begin to take on more of His image.  We start to sound like Him – speaking life.  We begin to look like Him – shining radiantly when we show up.  We begin to act like Him – extending love to all we encounter.  Getting to that place requires time and attention.  Operating in His image requires intention, vulnerability, and intimacy,” she says.

Some practical tips Jackie offers to deepen one’s relationship with God come in the form of four “W”s:

• Wait.  “I wait instead of automatically rattling off my go-to prayers.  The goal of the wait is coming into agreement with what God wants to uniquely do in our time together that day.”
• Write.  “I always try to document where I am, even the days when I’m just not feeling it.  Being able to look back at the prayers God has answered and the words of affirmation He has spoken over me is necessary and effective.”
• Word.  “I engage with God’s Word.  Iwant and need to be reminded of His promises.  I go to whatever book I am studying and pull out the nuggets. 
• Worship.  “I find a worship song that reflects how I’m feeling at the moment.  I offer it to Him as gratitude for the time we’ve spent together and the day He’s set before me.”

HEALING WHAT’S BROKEN

Jackie acknowledges that many situations in life can cause us to be broken in every sense of the word.  She uses many chapters of her book to encourage us that God can and will restore us as we seek Him earnestly.  “Your life matters!” she exclaims.  “In fact, God calls you His own special treasure.  We’ve been set apart as holy and chosen.  No matter what your past experiences are, you’re still a valuable, special treasure set aside for His will and good pleasure.” 

When it comes to physical healing, Jackie is a firm believer that the Lord can and will heal us.  With her dental training, she says she’s able to tell a lot about a person’s overall health just by looking at his teeth.  “Our bodies carry narratives about our well-being, including evidence of our emotional and mental states.  In many cases our body’s ailments are extensions of our internal health.  Anxiety can cause us to grit our teeth in our sleep, which

leads to jaw pain when we’re awake.  But there is hope!  Jehovah Rapha has the cure to our emotional wounds.  He is the balm for our spiritual bruises.  He can repair the physically damaged things within us.  It’s up to us to trust Him as our healer and seek wisdom on how to proceed with treating ailments.”

FINDING BALANCE

One thing that Jackie believes is vital to achieving balance in life is resting in the Lord, which is more than taking a nap or sleeping at night, but taking time to seek God unhurriedly.  “Whatever you’re facing today, the Lord wants to teach you to abide and rest in Him and His Word.  This means that worrying all night will not leave you refreshed for the tasks of tomorrow.  Worrying will not add a day to your life (Luke 12:25-26).  Understand that God can do more in a moment than we can do in our lifetime.  God’s Word over your life will accomplish what it was sent out to do. Rest because it’s already done!   

Check out her recent book Remain In His Love

Check out her other title Permission to Live Free  

Author, Remain in His Love (Nelson Books, 2024) / Co-Pastor with husband, Travis Greene, Forward City Church in Columbia / Founder, Permission Movement , helping women find freedom in Christ / Bible teacher / DDM (Doctor of Dental Medicine), Medical College of Georgia, 2014 / B.S., Georgia Southern University / mother to Jace, Joshua, and Judah

Check out more information about Forward City Church at www.ForwardCityChurch.com