An important step in exchanged life counseling is helping the counselee appreciate the amazing, personal, love of God.

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:1,2 ESV

Often the rejection syndrome from parents (and other factors) causes our concept of God to be distorted. If we don’t believe that God is loving, compassionate, and trustworthy, it is very difficult to surrender to Him and move forward in the personal renewal process.

We see the value of addressing our concept of God and His love as an initial aspect of the counseling process. Here are some recommended resources to evaluate and use:

Fathersloveletter.com features the Father’s Love Letter script and additional resources. Their 30 minute testimonial video, Journey Home to Love has the Love Letter script woven through it and the personal testimonies are very impactful. There’s a children’s version of downloadable posters at www.fatherheart.tv/abbas-kids

Grace Notes that are relevant include:

• https://gracenotebook.com/correcting-your-perception-of-god/
• https://gracenotebook.com/a-testimony-my-fathers-shirt/
• https://gracenotebook.com/a-valentine-from-your-father/

Books:

• He Loves Me!: Learning to Live in the Father’s Affection, by Wayne Jaconsen
• The Father Heart of God: Experiencing the Depths of His Love for You
  by Floyd McClung

This page from the Steps to Freedom in Christ can be read through by the counselee with discussion and prayer: The Truth of Your Father God

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38,39 ESV

JBW

That question can come across as either confrontational or instructional. Mark McKeehan does both in his new book, subtitled Understanding Your Identity in Christ.

In the Introduction he writes,

“Years ago, I asked myself this same question because the things I saw in my life didn’t match what I wanted. I wanted victory and joy (I read they were available in the Scriptures) and even though they were sometimes my experiences, victory and joy were not the default of life for me. I would come home from work and my wife would ask me, “How was your day?” I always felt like I said the same thing over and over, but it never seemed to be a “good day.” Why? My life was not terrible, and many good things were happening all around me. My marriage was great, my children were blessings, and our church was growing. As I thought and prayed, I knew the truth. The problem was me! This journey led me back to my original question, “Who am I?”

“I want to take you on a journey to find out who you are. I mean, isn’t that the age-old question? How many times have we thought, “Who am I and why am I here on earth?” You may be surprised that many people live with a false identity. Living with a false identity is a recipe for a defeated life. In the Gospel of John 10:10, Jesus says, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” We believe the first part but what about the second?…”

The book reads like Mark is sitting across the table from you at a coffee shop. We rejoiced that the it arrived from the publisher just in time for Christmas! The book is available in paperback and e-book from GFI and Amazon. We pray that it will be a blessing to many.

As we posted earlier, one of the best ways to share the “wheel and line” message is to draw it by hand and explain the concepts as they are presented step by step. Sometimes a whiteboard is available, or even the back of a paper placemat at a restaurant.

To encourage this skill (and a more confident knowledge of “the line” presentation), we have prepared a blank template document that can be printed and used as a head start. Here is the document to download:
elcmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/fill_in_line_diagram.pdf

And here is a demonstration video.

One of the best ways to share the “wheel and line” message is to draw it by hand and explain the concepts as they are presented step by step. Sometimes a whiteboard is available, or even the back of a paper placemat at a restaurant.

To encourage this skill (and a more confident knowledge of “the wheel” presentation), we have prepared a blank template document that can be printed and used as a head start. (My biggest challenge has been to draw a round wheel and even lines.) Kristy has done this for us. Here is the document to download:
https://elcmatters.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/the-fill-in-wheel-diagram.pdf

After drawing and explaining the principles and related Scriptures, your disciple will typically ask to keep the page(s) for review. Feedback from our practitioners would be welcome.

And here is a demonstration video.

Raymond C. Stedman (1917 – 1992) was an evangelical Christian pastor and author. He was a long-time pastor of Peninsula Bible Church in Palo Alto, California, and author of several books, including:

• Adventuring Through the Bible: A Comprehensive Guide to the Entire Bible
• Authentic Christianity: The Classic Bestseller on Living the Life of Faith With Integrity
• Spiritual Warfare: Winning the Daily Battle With Satan,
• Body Life: The Book That Inspired a Return to the Church’s Real Meaning and Mission

We appreciate his discernment that man is spirit, soul, and body and the way he taught victorious Christian living through expository Biblical preaching.

On this site’s page recommending Daily Devotionals, we have added this one: “Christ in You.” Dr. Stedman’s archive site states,

“Ray Stedman believed that, ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ is the greatest truth taught in the Bible, and yet it is also the missing element in many churches today. Ray wrote, ‘Most Christians in our churches understand that Christ died for the forgiveness of their sins … but that is where most of them stop. Relatively few, it seems, ever go on to grasp the fact that Jesus died for them that he might live in them. It is his life in them that is the source of power, change and deliverance …’ “Christ in you” is the theme running through each month of this devotional.”

For example, the February readings are grouped under the theme of “The New Covenant.” The month is introduced this way:

“The New Covenant is at its core ‘Christ in you, the hope of glory’ Jesus expressing his character through his people. The incarnation, God clothed in human flesh, remains the heritage of his people. It is you in Christ and Christ in you. With our identity firmly in Christ, we live out an authentic Christianity!”

Explore and share these devotionals here: www.raystedman.org/daily-devotions/christ-in-you

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy” (Psalm 107:2).

Testimonies can be so encouraging. They demonstrate how the Holy Spirit applies the gospel at deeper levels in the lives of this who are receptive and responsive.

Here are two recent testimonies. Our associate in South Africa, Nehlsie DeBruto, sent this audio update on WhatsApp. She gave permission for it to be shared publicly. It illustrates how God leads His disciplers and how a crisis can become an opportunity for a senior citizen to discover new dimensions of God’s grace.

And here is a written testimony from a sister in Canada who has received personal ministry from one of GFI’s nine Guides. [“Guides” are those who have been certified as Exchanged Life Counselors through Grace Fellowship International and are accepted into the Guide program. They are then covered by our liability insurance, receive referrals and receive financial support through donations. For more information on how to apply to be a GFI Guide, contact Mark McKeehan at 865-429-0450, mark@gracefellowshipinternational.com.]

I hadn’t heard about the concept of exchanging your life with Christ until GFI counselling. When I was younger I went to Church and I don’t recall hearing about this topic — period. I remember being told do not sin, for you will make the Lord mad and therefore be sent to Hell for eternity. With GFI counselling, with Cheryl as my counsellor, I was able to understand who the true God is. He’s not some big, mean man in the sky who wants absolute obedience in order to be able to forgive and accept you. He accepts us as we are, however, when He comes to live in your spirit, sin no longer had any hold on you; as much as the Enemy will try and make you believe it does, it doesn’t.

Before GFI counselling I thought I was doomed. The way I saw it, my only choice in my ultimate depression was to die physically in order to end the pain I was going through. Since everything else I had tried to fill the void in my soul was ineffective, I was planning to commit the ultimate sin that I couldn’t turn back from. GFI counselling made me aware there is another way, and that is to die to my old self in Adam. Though at first it was a hard concept to wrap my mind around, with GFI’s excellent and unique way of teaching each topic and steps to surrender I was able to die to my old self in the flesh-life and really grasp the idea of what it meant to Exchange your life with Christ.

B.
A new woman!

We recommend books of testimonies as well. GFI publishes three of them:

• From Pastors to Pastors: Testimonies of Revitalized Ministries (ed., Charles Solomon)
• Discipling The Desperate (Charles Solomon)
• Exchanged Lives (ed., John Best)

See also They Found The Secret, by V. Raymond Edman (Zondervan)