-
How to abandon fear for an abundant life!
Jezebel set up an environment that bred fear and since that went against the teachings of the prophets of God she had to eliminate those who went against what she stood for.
Our Biblical Background: 1 Kings 18, 19, 21; 2 Kings 9
Jezebel is introduced to us in 1 Kings 16:29-31 as being King Ahab’s wife, the daughter of a Sidonian King. The Bible tells us that it wasn’t bad enough that Ahab followed in Jeroboam’s foot steps but he married Jezebel and began worshiping Baal.
Jeroboam was the first king of the Northern kingdom of Israel and set up high places for the Israelite’s to worship so they would not go to Jerusalem which was now in the southern kingdom of Israel called Judah. Now, you are all caught up! đ
Since Ahab was a pansy, Jezebel was actually running the country. She usurped the power from Ahab by catering to his every desire. She kept him so busy creating new desires that she was able to run the country with an iron fist while he was occupied fulfilling his own desires.
She had control of the 400 plus prophets of Baal and Asherah. She had control of the whole of Israel including God’s people but God was not going to let her and Ahab have complete control. He created an environment of fear for them too using Elijah.
Biblical Life Lesson: If you are not afraid to die, you can live without abandon for Jesus.
The people around Jezebel where afraid for their lives. They were complicit in their worship of false gods because they were afraid to die therefore afraid to live for God. There were still quite a few people that the Lord saved for Himself who were not afraid to die including Elijah. The Lord might not use you to go after Jezebel but He does have a vision for you that will fill your life with wonder.
Last week we talked about killing the old you so the new you will live for Jesus with everything she has. Being afraid to die holds you back from living your life with abandon. There is nothing on this earth worth hanging onto that will cost you your soul. Elijah had nothing and lived without abandon.
The Lord showed His power to Elijah by feeding him using birds. Then the Lord used Elijah to show His power to all of Israel. He was the opposite of Jezebel and that is why she wanted to kill him. Â
Join me in The Bible Gals Monday at 2pm EST to discuss the Biblical Power Tools for how to abandoned fear for an abundant life.
I have exciting news for you as well. I am running a FREE Biblical Goal Bootcamp to help you plan a future with Jesus in The Bible Gals from February 22-26th. You can learn how to set biblical goals even if you don’t know your vision from God yet. Sign up here and make sure you join The Bible Gals.
-
Leading Yourself IN Success Part 2
A Dream Just for You
Have you stopped dreaming about a future of goodness and joy? Why? Why would you just stop dreaming? Dreaming about our future is natural even for those who follow Jesus. Dreams are not just for the unsaved they are for the saved too. One of the things we can dream about is the task Jesus has given us in the body of Christ.
We have six areas in our life that need our attention to be good. If we want joy in these areas, we need to dream about the future of them. I want to look at each area individually then encourage you to dream big in them.
Area One: Personal Development
Our growth in Christ and in our life is imperative for us to mature in every area. If we do not grow, we will not advance into our definition of success. Success depends on our growth. Maturing in the Word of God is part of this personal growth. More imperative is that you learn about what it is that He is asking you to do. One thing we need to get used to is constant learning all the way through life. When you stop learning you are going backwards.
Area Two: Career
It is a well-known fact that we will change careers although there is something that you love to do so much that you would do it for free. You need to figure this out and learn how to make money doing it. If you learn how to do that you will never work a day in your life.
Area Three: Financial
Shakespeare wrote in Hamel, âNeither a lender nor borrower be.â Â Both of these cause us to fall in love with money or fear people because of money. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Balance your check book and you will have a balanced life.
Area Four: Social
Many a woman has put her social life ahead of everything else. The extrovert craves her social life. She thinks being social rejuvenate her battery but being with Jesus does that. People cannot give you everything you need but Jesus can. He can make you feel all the things those people are making you feel but He doesnât want anything in return. Your family and friends will appreciate it when you curb your social life.
Area Five: Family
We are not born to our friends we are born to our family. Your family life might not be all that you want it to be, but you can make it better in the sphere that you live in. Family is what you make it so make it what you crave it to be. Â Family does not have to be limited to those folks who share you blood. It is who you want it to be.
Area Six: Physical
Every one of us wants to live a good long life but you will not if you choose to ignore your body. We need to get our body under submission and stop giving it the bad things it craves. Sugar products are addictive just as drugs are addictive. We all know that so why do we continue eating them? Because we refuse to say ânoâ to our body. You are more than capable of making your body come into submission.
Dreaming is a good thing, but do you dream about each area of your life? Are your dreams balanced or are you dreaming more about your career because it will help you finances? Are you dreaming about your physic thinking you will have a more balanced family life?
Dreaming in one area will not fix another area. You must have dreams in each area of your life. They may cross paths, but they wonât fix the problems they come across. Dreaming about having a great family life will not happen if you are going out every night with your friends. Dreaming about having a great job will not fix you finances because you have no idea how to manage money. Can you see the issue when your dreams are unbalanced?
Dreaming is a good thing when you act on the validity of them. Dreaming invalid dreams is fine too as long as they remain dreams. Your life would be dead without dreams. Your life would be dull without dreams. Your life would be stagnant without dreams. Dream until your heart is content but donât just dream, act on them if you deem it feasible.
Session three of the Leading Yourself IN Success is Dream Your Life. You will create a Dream Collage to help you sharpen your dreams and dig them out of the pit as well. If I do say so myself this session is the most fun of all the sessions and the most enlightening. You have no idea how many dreams you have stifled until you try to dig them out. No one in your life wants you to be dreamless because your dreams will include an abundant life for you and them. I invite you to join the Leading Yourself IN Success Workshop in the fall of 2018.
-
3 Ways to Discern Your Destination
You have read in my blog I am a proponent of knowing what God has for you in the future. That is what your future destination will be with Him. I challenge you to find one character in the Bible that didnât know what God wanted them to do in the future. When God calls you, He equips you with this knowledge, whether you understand what He has told your or believe it, makes no difference to the plan. God will have his way. You can come kicking and screaming or you can come willingly filled with joy. Your attitude is your choice, not the plan. There are three ways you can discern (or remember) Godâs plan for you.
Way One: Life is Difficult
You might have had difficulties in your life along with everyone else but that doesnât stop the plan, nor does it excuse you from the plan. The difficulties, in our life, are how we remember our plan. They are directly related to your growth toward the âsaidâ plan. What do you have the most difficulty doing but feel youâve had the most success? For me it was getting my whole life in order. I already knew I would teach Godâs Word all across Canada but through this process I learned what I would teach. I had to create my own tools for improvements, using the Bible, now I teach them. For what project have you created your own tools to accomplish and had great success? You will use them in your plan.
Way Two: Trouble that Makes us Cry
Of all the difficulties in the world which one makes you bang your hand on the table and yell, âSomebody has to do something about that!â Well, guess what, itâs you. You will do something about that trouble. I am not teaching life skills for the sake of teaching life skills. I am teaching them because I despise women being trafficked for sex. The side benefit is that all women have access to my workshops and books to improve their lives as well. At first, we will think Godâs plan is for us, but it isnât, it is for whomever you are called to serve. It is to be of service in the trouble that makes us cry. You will use this passion to rid the world of this trouble in your plan.
Way Three: Mirror Character
The Bible has an inordinate amount of characters listed. Have you ever pondered why? It is so you can see yourself in them. Which characters are you identifying with right now? When you read the Bible, you will find your mirror character in the phase of learning you are in right now. Right now, I am learning what to focus on for my ministry. Joseph is in the forefront of my mind. He had trouble that he didnât make for himself, yet he knew God was still with him. Joseph still obeyed God in his sorrow, and eventually his teenage dreams came into fruition. Sorrow is no reason to stop working your plan. Joseph is my mirror character right now, who is yours? You will use the information you garner from your mirror character to obey God in all seasons of your life on your way to your future destination.
Your Challenge
I know how difficult it is to first believe but it gets easier as you grow. Your challenge is to continue to grow in the direction of your future destination. Many people before you have done just that; Mother Theresa, Joan of Arc, Elizabeth Fry, Florence Nightingale, Corrie ten Boom, and many more. Today, you can watch Kay Author, Beth Moore, Pricilla Shirer and many more also grow into the direction of their destination. This is the challenge for all of us but you will never grow in the direction of your destination unless you know what that is.
God told Gideon he was a might warrior then proceeded to teach him how. Paul was told he would suffer for Jesus then Jesus show him how. Peter was told he would fish for men then God showed Him how. Can you see what knowing your destination looks like? God will tell you your destination then he will show you how. That is the way God does destination and this is how we are supposed to do life.
-
The 3 Ways to Live
My Goal to Live
As you know by now my whole goal for you is for you to live. I want you to stop sitting on the sidelines while others live. I want you to stop agonizing over a spent life. I want you to live. I want you to be somebody who is proud of the way you have lived. I want you to say on your deathbed, “I have lived a good life.”
This is why Jesus has made me who I am. To bring you the news that no matter what is going on in your life, you can live. I know struggle. I know hatred. I know medical problems. I know loss of time. I know every excuse that is known to man, but I still make it my goal every day to do what Jesus has called me to do: live.
If you are able to grapple with and overcome three major problems to living, you will live. Before Jesus gave up His life for us, He told us three things about living that we ought to pay attention too. He told us we must die to live. He told us we must see to live, and He told us we must feed off of Him to live.
Way One: Die to Live
Jesus said to her, âI am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. John 11:25
You will never live until you kill yourself. To live the life Jesus has for you killing yourself is mandatory. Up until you were saved, you were living your own life. BUT now you must live for Jesus or you will surely die. This is a conundrum all of us grapple with, but I can tell you that once you have successfully overcome this, you will begin to live a life more abundant.
Your mind changes from striving for goods to striving for God. You look at people differently. You love differently. You plan differently. You begin to live as if death has no hold on you.
Way Two: See to Live
A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. John 14:19
You will never live until you see Jesus all around you. To live a life for Jesus you must be able to see Him at work. Jesus is alive and at work in this world. He is alive and at work in the people around you. It is because He is alive in this world that we can possibly live a life more abundant than before.
When you see Jesus at work, He is easier to follow. When you see Him, you see His plan for you. You see Him at work in othersâ lives. It is because He manifests Himself to you, that you are able to see Him, follow Him and live through Him. Your previous blindness falls away leaving you are able to see.
Way Three: Feed to Live
As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. John 6:57
You will never live until you feed on the Word. Everything that happens in our life can be understood by Word. Your life will always remain a mystery if you never feed on the Word. While you are trying to solve life’s issues you are not living. You are moving from one problem to the other instead of one event to another. Jesus has provided the food for us, so we can use it to live a life more abundant.
Have you ever heard that if you eat too many carrots your skin turns orange? Well, if you eat much of the Word, you will look like the Word. We already have the image of the Word, now we need the character of the Word. The world will see the image of the Word working like the Word. You will live because of the Word, and your life will become much more abundant.
Your Goal to Live
None of us want to reach our deathbed full of regret and sorrow. Jesus came that we might live (John 10:10) so why aren’t we? Why aren’t we dying to self? Why aren’t we seeing Jesus? Why aren’t we working like the Word? We are grappling with life and we must overcome it.
Living for Jesus is the most wonderful thing in the world to do. He supplies us with everything we need to do what He has asked us to do. He makes the way for us to do His will. He has provided us with a room in the Fathers mansion. He intercedes for us when we fail. What more could we ask for? What more do you want?
If all of the provisions are available living for Jesus should be easy but it takes time and effort in the beginning. You just need to get past this stage no matter how hard it is so that you may live. I want your goal to be to live. I will be with you every step of the way bringing you my stories and solutions to life’s problems. We can and will overcome this life, so we may live His life more abundant.
