Re-Vision: Pursuing a Better View of God’s Way

By Lesa D. Shilling

Have you ever loved someone who was choosing a life that was leading them to hell? I mean really loved them, watching them make choice after choice after choice and no amount of noise from your own corner could guide them to a different path?

Have you ever just wanted to scream at those you love deeply and say it is not only that I want to help you get to Heaven, but I also want you to be able to taste and see RIGHT NOW the goodness of God? Have you ever begged God to give you some avenue, some path to change the trajectory of their lives, some introduction to a new way of seeing the Truth God offers?

This place of anguish, this earnest pleading, is the foundation for this book. I know a lot of broken people, and I am guessing you do too. I pray, dearest friend, that somehow this can be something you share with the people you love so they can start to see a new way. I pray they can re-vision the stories of their own lives and come to see Him who is The Way, The Only Way, The Way to Truth and Life. And if you are the one who needs a re-vision, and if we are honest, we all do, then please know I have been crying out on your behalf as well as my own behalf, praying we all take one step closer to Him today and everyday hereafter until He calls us home

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 12, 2022
• ISBN: 9781664283619

Lesa D. Shilling

Lesa Shilling is Headmaster and Teacher for Mission III Academy, a private, Christian school she and her husband Daniel established in their hometown of Albion, Illinois. Through this ministry, Lesa serves numerous families in her local counties along with remote students, teaching them foremost to Love God, Love People, and Serve Both. She is the blessed mother of Nate, Katherine, and Caleb, along with numerous others who claim her as a bonus mom. Lesa earned her first bachelor’s degree from Milligan College with a double-major in History and English and studied at Oxford University for a semester program during her stint at Milligan. She also holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Indiana in English Education and a Master of Arts in English from Morehead State University. Lesa’s passion in life is to follow the commands that Jesus gave to his disciples when He said we must all deny our “self,” take up our cross, and follow Him.

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RE-VISION

PURSUING A BETTER VIEW

OF GOD’S WAY

LESA D. SHILLING

Copyright © 2022 Lesa D. Shilling.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher

make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book

and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

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Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from The Holy Bible, New

International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by

Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation,

Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of

Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8362-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8363-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-8361-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022920959

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/09/2022

This book is for all the students who are seeking earnestly for the

truth about the big questions of life. Whether you are old or young

or somewhere in between, and whether you have been one of my

students in-person or are about to become a student under this

teaching, I hope you know that I am rooting for you as you ask

the hard questions and grapple deeply with knowing Truth. I pray

that your heart is open to hearing all the truths presented in these

pages so that you can see in a new way, with a new vision for what it

means to submit your life to our Great God. To all the students who

offered me grace as I did my best to help you navigate into a new

vision of God’s Truth in your life, thank you. And to all the students

who are still struggling to see life from God’s perspective, please

know my heart yearns for your Re-Vision. I am praying ceaselessly

for your ears to hear and your eyes to see the great gift before you.

I John 1:3-4, ESV

That which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you,

so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed, our

fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And

we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

1 Corinthians 2:9, ESV

But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor

ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what

God has prepared for those who love Him."

Job 42:5, NLT

I had only heard about you before,

but now I have seen you with my own eyes.

Praying earnestly that your journey through these pages moves you

from the delusion of a surface sight to the depths of a stirred soul.

SUGGESTED STUDY PLAN

CONTENTS

Prologue

Chapter 1     Rebuttals And Revisions

Chapter 2     A God Like No Other

Chapter 3     Jesus, Our Greatest Defense

Chapter 4     The Spirit Of Fire

Chapter 5     Unity Of The Trinity

Chapter 6     Yes, That’s The Book For Me

Chapter 7     To Be Or Not To Be

Chapter 8     Speak To Me

Chapter 9     The Church Lies

Chapter 10   The Culture Lies

Chapter 11   Pain And Purpose

Chapter 12   Epilogue

About The Author

PROLOGUE

My Dearest Abba Father,

I wish I could pinpoint the first moments of my rendezvous with You, but they began before my feeble memory can recall. I know Your creation speaks in general revelation of all of who you are. I can also look back over the tread marks of these many years and see imprints of my encounters with You there, but I can also see now how limited my vision was for so many years, too many years.

For years, God, I think I may have only caught glimpses of who You really are, and sadly even those snapshots were overshadowed by the many teachings of tradition. I thought I knew You the way all good Christians should know You, until somehow, I woke up one day and realized so many of my visions were founded in false perceptions.

Even good intentions can become putty in the hands of Satan to cast a limited vision of you which propagates into a life still lived for self. In reality, this is also a life lived for Satan even as it looks pristine on the outside with its whitewashed tombs. Church culture never set out to offer a skewed view of You, but I fear too many have failed to show the world the real You, and I am guilty as charged.

God, I don’t want to be confined by the past visions cast down to me through generations of beliefs. I want to see You, You in Your full glory, even if it is only as I step out to watch your backside turn the corner of my mountain top experience. God, one moment catching a glimpse of who You really are is worth more than a thousand elsewhere.

So, Lord, I pray that through this endeavor, we will catch just one glimpse. I know that I have tasted and seen Your goodness, and I want absolutely nothing more than to taste again, but what I also really desire is to bring others to the table, a table where all are welcome and nothing matters more than sitting with You, the real You. Not the photoshopped image we have allowed Christian culture to create for the sake of safety. The vast, infinite, dare I say dangerous, You. The You I am seeing more clearly with each new day and can’t help but fall in love with...You, only You, the Real You.

My Dearest Unnamed Friend,

This is your invitation to embark on a journey with me and others to see God in a brand-new way. Whether you are like me and think you know Him or are like others you’ll meet along this journey who either once entertained thoughts of Him or only know what culture falsely says about Him, you are here for a reason, a God-ordained date if you will. I believe we are all here in this time and space because God wants to open our eyes to see Him in a brand-new way.

Welcome to the quest of Re-Vision.

Reflection Questions:

1.Why are you reading this book?

2.If you had to summarize your current worldview, what would your statement be?

3.How has culture shaped your thinking about God/faith/religion? How has the church shaped your ideas?

ONE

REBUTTALS AND REVISIONS

Anticipation Questions:

1.When you look at the people in your sphere of influence, how would you describe them?

2.What questions about life plague you?

3.Are you a seeker (always asking questions about the realities of life) or a sleeper (content to just go with life as it comes)?

For thirteen years, I taught high school students in the public education system. Although I struggled in my college years to have any clear direction for my life, God took me and led me straight into the teaching field; He knew education is where my skill sets lined up with my heart for loving others which would enable Him to speak into the lives of countless people.

God has worked in the lives of so many for sure because of that path He set me down, but I can’t help but always see the one out of the ninety-nine who still needs rescued. I don’t know about you, but I see all around me people who simply and desperately need the love of Jesus.

I see students who are caught up in the ranks of status, working tirelessly to fit in and rise to the top of the popularity poll thinking that somehow, when they reach the pinnacle of fame in their measly little high school, they will then feel like they are enough. I watch the way they dress and the way they act and the people they surround themselves with and see how very lost they are. And I want to leave the ninety-nine to come for him; I want to leave the safety of the fold just for her.

I see students who are caught up in the pits of the lowly. They look around and notice how their clothes don’t quite measure up or berate themselves because their grades can’t quite get there. Never mind the fact that they don’t always know where the next meal will come from. Or that home is a far cry from a safe place. Or that tonight may be their lucky night to not be abused in one way or another. Never mind that the lack of foundation may be the very reason they struggle to