Lecture Notes: Understanding Faithful Wounds, Rejection, and Abandonment

Key Themes:

• Faithful Wounds vs. Deceitful Kisses: The concept that friends can wound you in a faithful manner, leading to spiritual or personal growth.
• Relationship with Jesus: Understanding Jesus as both savior and friend.
• Reduction and Potency: The idea that going through reduction leads to increased potency and that God may 'cut' us for a reason.

Major Concepts Discussed:

Faithful Wounds:

• Trusting God During Pain: A relationship with God involves enduring faithful wounds, which are part of being a true disciple.
• Retention and Reciprocity: The importance of retaining what is gained and reciprocating commitment with God.
• Mirroring Behavior: The concept that God mirrors our behavior, emphasizing commitment and investment.

Jesus as Fully God and Fully Man:

• Incarnation: Jesus was fully God before and came to Earth to be fully man, highlighting the importance of His humanity.
• Kinsman Redeemer: Jesus needed to be fully man to be relatable and to redeem humanity.
• Humanity and Divinity: Discussion of Jesus’ dual nature and its implications for redemption.

Rejection and Abandonment:

• STRAP (Surviving the Trauma of Rejection and Abandonment Plan): Emphasizes the need to plan for and survive rejection and abandonment.
• Biblical Examples: Referencing Jesus’ rejection and the broader gospel message showing rejection leads to destiny.
• Psychological Impact: Discusses how rejection and abandonment affect the brain and emotions.

Emotional and Spiritual Response:

• Rejection as Direction: Using rejection as a guide towards destiny.
• Impact of Rejection: How rejection affects both emotions and life direction.
• Coping with Rejection: The necessity of emotionally surviving rejection to reach a higher purpose.

Emotional Catharsis and Healing:

Biblical References to Rejection:

• Jesus’ Feelings: Jesus expressed sorrow and cried out during His experiences of rejection, indicating His humanity.
• Wailing as Therapy: Historical practice of wailing in church as a method of emotional release.

Personal Reflection and Connection:

• Emotional Release: Encouragement to express deep-seated emotions and cry out to God for healing.
• Importance of Travail: Emphasizes travailing, or deep prayer, as a method to spiritually and emotionally cleanse oneself of trauma.

Conclusion:

• Abandonment and Rejection in Theology: Jesus’ rejection and abandonment were purposeful for carrying our grief.
• Letting Go of Grief: Encouragement to not carry grief that Jesus has already carried.