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Hope is my Upward Call Habit
Over the years I have not chased my calling to lead very hard because I did not trust that it would be. I trusted what my circumstance was saying and not what the Lord was saying.
What I did not realize was that all those leadership roles I garnered and lost were tests of training. Would I accept it?
I did at first, but when it was over, I failed. I wallowed in my “Downward Fall” from leadership and that caused my character to go right along with it.
A Life Fuelled by Emotion
I have a ton of Demonic Diva’s (emotions that overcome sound judgment) living inside me. They want the centre stage in my leadership. I had gotten in the habit of letting my circumstances control my emotions. As a result the Diva’s would take control of who I am.
My wallowing gave the Diva’s life. I have turned aside from worshipping the Lord and made my emotions kings.
The Journey Fuelled by Hope
The King of my life is Jesus and He brought with Him a whole host of heavenly character traits that I have available to me. I called them “Heavenly Hosts”.
I had to become aware that “Wallowing Wilma” (one of my Diva’s) had to be decreased with in me daily so I can begin fuelling my life with habits that move me to chase my “Upward Call”.
Going uphill needs lots of fuel. If I am to gain my “City on the Hill” (predestined leadership role) I must be fuelled by hope.
Shifting to Hope
Hope can be accomplish with just a one degree shift in thinking daily. As a result our actions make the shift as well.
We might have been rolling downhill with nothing to grab onto. Shifting to hope grows a branch large enough to grab onto. It stops the “Downward Fall” just long enough for us to pick up steam and shift upward again.
Just a tiny shift to hope will make a huge difference in your life some day. Meet “Shifting Shawna” right where you are today. She will get you closer to Jesus and your vision.
The Midlife Ministry Makers community will meet you right where you are and build you up as you shift your direction to your vision from God. We build up our “Everyday Christian Living” skills to make our uphill journey unshakable. Join us today and start climbing toward your City on the Hill tomorrow.
Kathleen derbyshire, everyday Christian living mentor -
Breaking Old Dreams
When I was younger I had great plans or should I say great childish dreams.
I was going to marry a rancher down south in the United States and have kids. I was going to be a master horse woman and sought after teacher. The best part of this was I am going to live where is was warm.
I am sorry to say that is not exactly what happened. Actually, none of that happened because I didn’t make it happen. It was just a dream because I did not plan how I was going to get it. But it made me happy as I slugged my way through high school.
When I graduated that dream found its way into a trash can as I struggled to find work and enough money to put good food on the table.
rePurposing Old Dreams
The old dream came to life again this past year as I binged watched “Homestead Rescue” on Discovery+.
There was a reason why I was dreaming that dream in my youth. I was dreaming it because I wanted to have a purpose in my life. Something I can focus on. Something with meaning.
When that dream disappeared, so did my focus. Watching “Homestead Rescue” revived a vision I was given when I was a child in Christ. Seeing the Raney family help homesteaders revive what they started and making their homesteading dreams into a vivid reality set my soul on fire for my own vision.
Preach New Life into Old Dreams
That rancher ended up being an automotive worker. The ranch is an English Tutor house on one acre of property in a city of 22,000. There are no horses in our yard but there are deer, squirrel, raccoon, coyote, skunk and the neighbours dog.
I am not sought out for my horse training skills but I am sought out for my insight regarding Christian living reEnvisioned.
Revival began with re-purposing my old dreams into my new vision from God. The old is dead and the new will live. The Lord called me to preach new life into my old dreams. To preach new life into my old bones.
He has eventually called me to preach new life, through the gospel of Christ, into women who have aged out of the life they loved.
I guess you can call it “Christian Vision Rescue” coming soon to “Re-Discovery+”.
Do you need confirmation that God fully intends to use your time, talents and treasures even though you have aged out of all the works He has previously assigned to you?
Register for the “Your Way” Series here to re-envision a new life from dead dreams.
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The Way to Talk with God
Life can sometimes be rough. You can have a good minute then a bad. What do you do when the bad minutes come? Do you scream out to God or do you scream at Him? In Isaiah 1:18 God begs us to reason with Him. Why would God allow us to reason with Him? Why would our creator even want to reason with us? It is for our sake He allows us to reason with Him. It is for our sake He wants to reason with us.
God knows He is right but we do not. Not yet anyway. When He tells us to do something, we are unaware of the future ramifications. We bulk at the prospect of making this change. We come up with excuses but never to God. We talk to the air or people. We reason within ourselves and with other people looking for confirmation. God wants us to talk it out with Him.
When we first begin talking to God we go through stages and He walks us through each one. Jesus said we need to become a child and that is how we speak to Jesus first. Then we switch to being a teenager looking for independence and understanding. Then we should begin talking to Jesus, mankind to Man.
The Way of a Child
“Assuredly,” Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” Think about how children talk. Babies look at you with love as you talk to them. They turn their head when they hear you speak. Then they ask questions, in awe, to learn. As children they know the world is big and they want to know everything. As children of God we know the Kingdom of God is big and we should want to know everything. We should ask God questions and listen intently for the answers just like children.
The Way of the Teenager
When we learn more and are a little more traveled we want more independence. But what also comes with independence is rebellion. God is big and can handle your rebellion. In Matthew 18 is the story of the sheep that leaves the fold. Jesus leaves the 99 behind and goes after the one. He wants you to mature enough in this stage of talking to Him that you will be one of the 99 who waits for Him to come back but if you are the one it will be because you did not speak to Him about your rebellion.
During this way of talking to God He expects you will become childlike and also rebellious. Jesus is big enough to hear your complaints like the Judge from Luke 18:5. He will give you justice but you have to tell Him what you are looking for and listen to what He has to say about it. Both the way of the child and teenager are about learning. We cannot always stay childlike or rebellious we must prepare ourselves to become an adult.
The Way of Mankind
Isaiah 1:18 tells us we must reason with God and God told Job to prepare himself like a man because God is going to question Him, and God is expecting an answer (Job 38:3). God expects us to stand before Him and reason with Him about everything we need to understand. He expects an answer. Why do you think that way? Where were you when I created everything? Do you know how the ocean stays behind its lines or even how the line got there? Just as God reasoned with Job and every other person in the Bible He will reason with us, but we have to do it like a man. We have to prepare ourselves to speak to Him. The way to prepare ourselves is to put off childish behaviour and rebellion. Know that God is who He says He is and we are who He says we are.
God created each one of us to have a relationship with Him, but He will not allow us to act like children the whole time. He will also not allow us to rebel against Him forever. Time is not on our side. It is on God’s side. Use what little time you have left to talk with God about all the things that matter to you. All the things that matter to you are exactly the things that matter to Him.
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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, “I 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 others’ 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.
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The Way to Unlocking the Holy Life
The Bible tells us to be holy for our Father in Heaven is Holy (Leviticus 11:45; 1 Peter 1:16). If God tell us to be holy is it more than possible that we can be holy. More than I want anything in this world I want to be holy. Who has the key to unlocking holy in my life and in yours? Can we have this key? We have the key hanging around our neck but forget about it.
The Christian Journey
Being who we are created to be is the journey all Christians want to go on, but we become frustrated and lonely. It is a long journey filled with unexpected pot holes and huge ditches. We know in our heart that everyone has to endure this, but we don’t see them. We forget.
There is nothing like having kids around to remind us how similar we are to them. I wonder how I can teach them because I am so much like them. I am supposed to be different from them, so I can teach them to be mature and faithful. Having kids around actually teaches me how much I need to learn.
The Reminder
My four-year-old grandson is much more like me than I want to admit. He is an independent thinker who knows exactly what he wants and will do what is required to have it. We had a clash of the titans over the computer. I told him what I expected, then asked him to repeat what I expected, but he did not retain what I said.
Ponder Your way to Retention
I do the same thing to God. He tells me, in His Word or writes it on my heart, but I do not retain it. Why? Why can I not retain the wonderful Words He speaks over me? I spent more time pondering the negative aspects of my life than the positive. There was positive, but I forgot it. I had to change my pondering perspective.
Unlocking the Holy Life
I began pondering the words Jesus spoke over me, one word at a time. All this time I had the key hanging around my neck and did not know it. The key to holy is the cross. My reminder became my necklace. It is not often I wear any other necklace besides a cross. I need to be reminded daily I belong to Jesus and He is the key to holiness.
I began remembering the Word and retaining it. I am human just like you. This is possible to do. You too can begin to unlock the holy life Jesus desires for you by starting with one word at a time. Start with the word holy. I know it is one of those words we tend to stay away from because it is so over reaching.
Define and Unlock Holy Daily
You need to define what holy looks like to you, one day at a time. When you have defined holy today, you will begin to unlock holy in your life, today. Holy may mean silence today but tomorrow may mean lawful driver. Each of us are individuals who have an individual plan for our life. The plan God has for you always includes holiness. Be holy for your Father in Heaven is Holy.
Holy are You
Day after day of defining what holy looks like will add up into living a holy life. You will retain what holy looks like for you because you are looking for it. You will wake up every morning to begin a holy focused day and go to sleep every night with a holy smile. It is possible through Jesus Christ to be holy, as long as you retain the truth of this possibility. There is a way to unlock holy in your life and only Jesus has the Key. He will give it to you and too will be able to say, “Holy am I.”
If you require assistance with learning pondering skills please contact me at kathleen@thelifeskillsstrategist.com You can watch my podcasts to learn more about living the Abundant Life Jesus promises.
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The Way to Change
I want to explain why I have been using the word way so much recently. I, sometimes, will put quotes around the word Christian, because in today’s society being a “Christian” is like wearing a union badge. If you belong to the CAW/UAW, you are respected because they are feared. You don’t have to change, your employer has to change. Being a Christian is different, or at least it is supposed to be, but we come up with thousands of reasons why we don’t have to change, One of those excuses happens to be the love of God. I say, “How dare anyone, use the love of God, as an excuse to slander and misrepresent Him?” The line has been drawn for me. It has been a long time since I have called myself a Christian because I do not want to be lumped in with those who talk the talk, and don’t walk the walk. I know that sounds brash, but you might just need to hear this right now to be convicted to change the way you represent Jesus.
The Way
How did the disciples of Jesus Christ get this designation, The Way? John 14:6 tells us Jesus called Himself the way, the truth and the life but to what? He continues to say, “No one gets to the Father except through Him.” He is the Way to the Father, the Truth of the Father, and the Life of the Father. The Bible uses way to describe a travelled way, road or path, or as a metaphor for a course of conduct, a way of thinking, feeling, or deciding (hodos is the Greek word used: G3598). In other words following Jesus. Following Jesus to wherever He leads you will result in a change of way but if I am not seeing change in you then I can guess you are not following His way. He shows you “the way” then waits for you to follow. If you don’t follow there will be no other way for you to go. It is His way or the world’s way. You can change while you are in the world but all of your change will result in promoting self which will end up being thrown into the Lake of Fire. Trust me, I know my worldly works will be thrown into the fire, too. When I choose the way of the world, I am choosing the Lake of Fire. When I choose His Way to the Father, I am choosing the New Jerusalem. You can read about the Lake of Fire and the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 & 22.
Change for the Way
As I’ve said, you cannot follow Jesus without making change or you are a “Christian” in name only. If you are following Jesus the Christ, you are of “The Way” and changing every minute of the day, every day you follow Him. 2 Corinthians 5:17 calls us a new creation. The God of all creation makes us a new creation. He renews us day in and day out. This is the change to expect and we should be the first of the witnesses to it. It is painful and will disrupt your current life but the new life you gain is like none other. If you are not seeing change in yourself, you must ask yourself if you actually are following the Way to the Father. Answer truthfully, otherwise you will never be changed by the Way. If you are afraid of the pain involved, walk through it with another follower who knows your anguish, but you will do the majority of it with Jesus. There is no one else who will understand 100% of your anguish or plan except Him. We think because they are “Christians” they understand but we are in for a rude awakening. They do not for two reasons, they either are not a true follower or they are not supposed to understand. You are following Jesus on your path not theirs. He is creating a new Way for you to get to the Father that no one has traveled before. You are a NEW creation not a carbon copy of another creation.
The Way is New
Remember the reactions to the words Jesus spoke to the Jews? They were so new to them, they reacted violently in word and deed. Jesus was killed for this new stuff He was teaching. Not too many people like new because new means change. New means learning. New means different. We want the same and to be rewarded for our sameness but do not be fooled, you are not staying the same. You are not the same today as you were yesterday. Life happens and it hauls us along the path. Our choice is to go with the world to its new place or go with Jesus to ours. Our new place has been prepared for us before time itself. No one will have it except us. It is irrevocable, no matter how long it takes us to submit to our plan. The change we are required to make will get us to that new place. It will be the way we are to go alone with Him so we can serve His people to glorify Him.
Change your Way
I know how scary it is to drop the world. I tried to hang on as well. It seems comfortable. It seems peaceful. It seems well, but it is not. When you change your way to His way you will see how uncomfortable the world actually is. You will see how chaotic it is. You will see how ill the world is today. It is perishing and I do not want you to perish with it. All things are going to be made new including the world. Do you want to be a part of that? Let yourself become clay in the hands of the Potter. Let Him mold you His way, to the new you that you secretly long to be. The way to change is already paved for you, all you have to do is follow. Start by praying for God’s vision for your life then follow it, love it, and live it.
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The 3 Ways to Gain Peace
As a Christian we are not to be in turmoil with the world or anything in the world. The Bible was written for us to have peace from it. John tells us that Jesus spoke to us, so in Him we may have peace. In the world we will have tribulation, but we are not to go nuts, go insane or go berserk because Jesus has overcome the world. When He overcame the world, He gave us His peace in knowing Him. In knowing Him we just have to read the Words He spoke. He spoke all of His Words so in Him we can have peace (John 16:33).
I know that sounds tough, but it isn’t. When you become a Christian, God woos you until you fall head over heels in love with Him. Imagine, when you fall in love for the first time. You cannot get them out of your mind. That is what Jesus is doing with us. He has chosen us as His bride and He is making us fall in love with Him, day by day. Peace comes with this love. There are three ways you can gain this peace: calm yourself by talking to Jesus, know the laws of God and believe unto righteousness to sow peace.
Way One: Calm Yourself by Talking to God
My favorites part of being a Christian is the ability to speak to Jesus. When I first became a Christian, I had no idea how to speak to Jesus but in time I learned, no matter where I am or what I am doing I can speak to Jesus about anything. I would rather have a one-sided conversation with Jesus than a two-sided conversation resulting in hurt feelings. I learned to keep my mouth shut and talk with Jesus after the fact. Fifteen years later, I am becoming an expert at it. We all have feelings and sometimes they get out of control or hurt. As Christians, we have a God who cares about not only us but all the other people we are supposed to serve. He knows we will be hurt sometimes and He doesn’t want us to be the one doing the hurting.
Philippians 4:6-7 says, “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” We can say anything to Jesus and He will listen. I have said many things to Jesus including my misguided complaints against Him. There was a time when life was not as it should be, in my eyes, and I blamed Jesus for the way it was turning out. I couldn’t believe He wanted me to live that way, but He had a purpose for what was happening in my life. You are that purpose. Jesus taught me that I am not the only one He loves and taught me to calm myself and love, not only Him but His law.
Way Two: Know the Law of God
Because Jesus allowed me to say anything to Him I was able to speak until I discovered the real reasons why I could not have peace. I was so filled with sin that it had to be rooted out and dealt with. The only Person who can make that happen is Jesus Himself. I was reading the Word of God at the same time I was dealing with the sin bubbling up like ditch water. It stank, and it was good for nothing but carp. I needed to be taught how to use His Word to heal my wounds. I fell in love with the Law of God knowing its healing power in my life.
Psalm 119:165 tells us “Great peace have those who love Your law, and nothing causes them to stumble.” God says that if we love His law nothing will cause us to stumble. He is not saying you will never stumble but if you love the law of not lying you will not stumble when faced with a situation that might cause you to lie. It is one law at a time that changes us. We fall in love with one law at a time and we are changed by that love. To know the laws of God is to be changed by them. There might be some laws you don’t know yet or love, but when you know them and fall in love with them, you will not stumble. When we don’t stumble because we love the laws of God it is easy to believe unto righteousness.
Way Three: Believe unto Righteousness to Sow Peace
When you talk to Jesus about everything that is bothering you, and find He responds, you believe there is hope. Hope that life will get better. Hope the pain you are suffering will go away. Hope there will be peace in your life someday. You will learn His law more knowing He can be trusted with your dirty swamp waters. The swamp water begins to clear, and you can actually see beyond it. This is the fruit from your belief. Living, clear water, even in your ditches.
James 3:18 tells us the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. The living clear water in our heart is the fruit of the righteousness we now have from loving the law of God. Our hearts filled with this clear living water is sown to others. John 7:38 tells us those who believe will have living water coming out of them. This is how we sow peace. We can believe in Jesus and be righteous. We can sow peace by holding our tongue during a time of strife. The calm feeling we have is felt by others as peace and they want it. Peace sown.
We must set our mind to having this peace. If you cannot seem to gain peace in your life, then the Word of God is not in you. There can be no other result from the Words of Jesus then peace. He has told us what will happen in the world. He has told us what will happen to us. He has told us what He is doing. His Word gives us the hope we need for the peace we need to do what He has called us to do.
While chaos is erupting around you, you will be the one people look to for peace in the situation. They will look to you for stability. If this is what you want than gaining a peace from Jesus is the only way you will be able to do this. You must calm yourself enough to hear from Jesus, know His laws enough to know what is right and wrong and know that you are about to sow a peace no one will be able to understand unless they love Jesus Christ. Therefore, I beseech you, brothers and sisters, to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:1). Our love for each other, our lowliness and gentleness with longsuffering bearing with each other comes from a bond of peace. You can have this peace, with me, and your brethren. It is the best feeling in the world to know that there is nothing you can do that God cannot handle so go live in peace.
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The 3 Ways God Speaks to Us
Do you love Jesus? If you do John 14:21 says “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” If you love Jesus you can expect to hear from Him but does He speak to us all the same? Yes. He uses the same method of speaking to me as He will use with you, He just talks about different things. I was amazed one time when a famous Christian teacher was giving a conference, which I attended in Mississauga, Ontario, and God was talking to her about the exact same thing He was talking to me about. I used to be jealous about those things because I wanted to be special. Well guess what, I am special, because He is telling me the same thing He is telling someone else, who is much more popular than me. How amazing is that? This was a revelation for me. I want you to know that Jesus speaks to everyone who loves Him. He doesn’t have favourites. He spoke to Beth the same thing He was speaking to me about. He not only speaks to the people He loves His timing is also impeccable. He manifests Himself at the perfect time to show us the perfect path for us to travel on.
I want to give you a picture of what following God’s path is like so can visualize what you are doing when you follow Jesus. Picture a road with white solid lines on both sides. Look into the horizon and see trees, millions of trees. Your path disappears but you can see something in the distance that looks like the foundation of a building. It is huge but there is no floor, walls or roof. Your first question will be, “How do I get to that place?” The answer, “Follow Jesus.” Your second question, “How can I get the actual building above the foundation?” The answer, “Listen to Jesus.” Your path is of Jesus, for Jesus and with Jesus. When you are walking on gravel, not knowing your direction, look to Jesus because He has already paved a path for you to travel. It is all about listening and following but if you lose sight of Him there are three ways to get sight of Him again, His Words, nature and humans.
Way One: Words
We know that Jesus speaks because we have evidence of that in the Bible. He spoke the Heavens into being, this world into being and He spoke us into being. He may have been speaking a different language than us, but He was used Words that can be translated into our language. He doesn’t just use His own voice but He used breath. He breathes out what He wants us to know. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17). He speaks so you will be equipped to do His work. His purpose for speaking is you. His purpose for speaking is them. His purpose for speaking is Jesus. The plan of the Father is forefront in His mind when He speaks. He never says anything the Father hasn’t told Him to say (John 12:49). He leads us into the plan the Father has for us and for Him. He manifests Himself in the Word of God (Holy Bible), so when He manifests Himself through nature, we know it is Him.
Way Two: Nature
From the Word of God we know the Father manifested Himself as clouds, fire, wind, rain, storms, and many more. When Paul tells us, in Romans 1:20, Jesus reveals Himself through nature giving us no excuse for not knowing Him we too must look for Him in nature. My description of following Jesus is following Him through nature. It is the best way to describe the things of God. Even Jesus used nature to describe who the Father was. Natural disasters come to speak to us. If you are unclear about how the Father uses nature you need to read the Bible more often because He uses natural things to speak almost as much as He used words. His words move mountains. His words flooded the earth.
I live in an area that feels all the seasons. It is winter right now and we have 14 inches or 35.5 cm of snow on the ground. It is cold outside so when spring comes I appreciate it more than if it was warm all winter. I live in the most Southern part of Canada. My back deck is my favourite place to be because it is like being in the forest. I love to see the creatures God created coming through my yard. We have no domestic creatures to allow God’s wild creatures to roam free unhindered. If I sit still enough a squirrel will get within inches of me before it sees me and scampers away. When you know Jesus you know His nature speaks to us. The beauty of it speaks to us. The stillness of it speaks to us. The volatility of it speaks to us. Nature speaks to us of the power of the Father. He uses that same power in people.
Way Three: Humans
It is the job of every person on this earth to do the will of the Father including Jesus. Jesus, who is God Himself, said, “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.” (John 5:30) If Jesus can do nothing of Himself then we can do nothing of ourselves. It is our job to follow Jesus who tells us what the will of the Father is but He is not just leading us He is leading every believer on this earth into the will of the Father. The Father will use both believers and non-believers to get us into His path. He uses believers to sharpen our character and non-believers to show us the world to drive us back to His character. The Father send Jesus to us and unbelievers so we stay on task. It is our character that drives us to the work of the Lord. It is that work and the character behind it that draws people to Jesus.
The building that goes on the foundation are people. The Father will send people to you to sharpen you and for you to serve. We erect the wall of our ministry with the people we serve. Every time we serve someone in the capacity we are assigned they are changed. That change establishes us as a servant in that ministry. The foundation begins to be enclosed by our works. He is sending us to help people speak His word, teach His word, and act out His word as an example to others. We do not have Jesus walking around as our example but we do have humans who are capable of having the character of Jesus on this earth. Many have done it and so will I.
The only way we can follow Jesus is through His manifestations. If we cannot see or hear him, we will get lost. We can only see and hear Him when we love Him because that is the only way He will manifest Himself to us. We see him more from love to love. One day you will discover your love for Him has grown beyond what you could ever imagine you could love. You cry at the hearing of His name. You smile at the sight of Him in nature. You want to serve His people out of love for Him. You love because you know what Jesus is doing in other people’s lives. He is manifesting Himself to them in the same way He manifested Himself to you. He is breathing His life into them with His words. He is showing them the beauty of the nature of things. He is sending people to them to serve and be served. His plan for us is remarkable and irresistible. Once you start seeing Jesus every day you will start going through withdrawals when you don’t and need to get Him back in your sight again. He has this effect on everyone who loves Him.
Recently I heard a song I want you to hear too. It is called So Will I by Hillsong United. This song speaks of God’s manifestations to us. He is the One who never leaves the one behind so if you have not seen His manifestations and you love Him, don’t worry He will not leave you behind. Your path is already paved. Your foundation is already there. The people you will serve are there waiting for you. What He speaks never comes back void (Isaiah 55:11).
For a complete teaching on this topic combine this Revealed in Me Blog post with Episode 5 of Pursuing Biblical Direction on WE Podcast.
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The 3 Ways to Earn Rewards from Heaven
You have worked hard all of your life and feel like you have gotten nowhere in particular. Your goals and your plans have all been for not or so you think. God has not looked upon your work and forgotten it. Each step you have taken, each kilometer you have driven, each ditch you have climbed your way out of has been part of His path for you. Where is your mind? Is it focused on you or on Jesus? Your labour of love is not a labour of love unless you are doing it for the love of Jesus. If you are doing your works for the love of Jesus, He will never forget it. Most of us will think our labour is to bring nonbelievers into the fold so we give up but Hebrews 6:10 tells us he will not forget our labour of love for the saints. It is no labour at all to bring people in to the fold because it is not our job. It is the job of the Father to bring them in, therefore, it is our job to labour for them after they come into the fold. What is in it for us if we labour for the Saints? Read Revelation chapters 2 & 3 to find out the rewards of the Saints. We still have to earn them but how can we do that? The ways in which we can earn them are, to know the will of the Father for us, to trust the will of the Father for us, and to overcome the things of the world that can trick us out of our rewards.
Way One: Know the Will of the Father
The wisdom of the world is not the direction we want to head if we are looking for the path God has paved for our lives. Ephesians 5:17 to not be unwise but to understand what the will of Lord is. There are many verses that tell us exactly what the will of the Father is but when it comes to walking the paved path specifically for us it takes understanding. We will not have understanding unless we know our God. I will say this over and over again in my writing and in my speaking. It is clear to me but it may not be for you. You cannot know God if you are not reading the Bible. He shows Himself to us in this Book so clearly that you cannot mistake His work for anyone else’s nor can you misunderstand His commands. The more you know Him the more you will know His will. The wisdom from knowing Him is what connects us to His rewards. He rewards us for knowing Him by speaking to us and manifesting Himself to us. The more we know the more we see. When we see Him we are able to follow Him down the paved path for us. The reward we get here is the satisfaction that we are on the right path, the reward in heaven is endless for loving Jesus while on the path. As we continue on His path we learn to trust His directions more.
Way Two: Trust the Word of the Lord
It is impossible to know Jesus more and trust Him less. He is so faithful to remember us when we move in His direction. He reminds us of the work He has done to get us to where we are even if we think we are still nowhere. It has been fifteen years since the Father called me and sometimes I feel as if I spent the whole time in the ditch. Jesus reminds me often how far I have come since the days when I traveled down gravel roads on my ten speed road bike. I have many flat tires and many broken spokes. I went off-roading to see if the grass was greener on the other side but it wasn’t. A snake is still a snake no matter what yard it lives in. Paul said to Timothy, “For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God.” (1 Timothy 4:10) We cannot have the hope of our God if we do not trust His will for us and we cannot collect any rewards. He shows us how faithful He is if we trust that He is. When we get discouraged doing good He comes through with ways to encourage us to be strong and courageous to continue on His path even in the driving rain, the fog and a snow storm. He will remember we are in there and give us the tools we need to continue and those tools sometimes are worldly rewards but are always heavenly. The tools we have will surely help us to overcome any adversity the world will throw at us.
Way Three: Overcome the Things of the World
We are not living a life that is uncommon to man. The sun shines on everyone, good and evil, and the rain comes on everyone, good or evil. The advantage we have as Christians is the Word of God and all it brings into our lives. To be an overcomer of all the world throws at us to trick us, we must use the Word of God. Paul tells us to put on the armour of God (Ephesians 6) but we know (because we know the Word) that is just putting on the character of Jesus Christ. The rewards for doing that are many. You can line those pieces of amour up with the letters to the church in Revelation 2 & 3 quite nicely. Jesus regales them with the rewards for overcoming the obstacles that are pounding against our amour. At the beginning it seems cumbersome to carry all this armour just to follow the path paved for us but after a while it becomes habit to put this armour on before we put on our walking shoes. Without this armour it is impossible to continue on the path God has for us because the armour shines a light through the darkness to reveal the tricks of the world. The obstacles we must hurdle are there in the darkness and they need to be overcome to continue. We need to stand our ground and not step backwards. Do not let a lie get through to you. We overcome by knowing our God and trusting our God as a barricade.
Knowing the will of God, trusting the will of God, and overcoming the tricks the world while doing the will of God will put you in a great position when it come to the doling out of the rewards when Jesus returns. When you read Revelation 21 and 22 you will see when the rewards are given so I beg you to understand the rewards we receive here on earth are perishable and cannot stand the test of time waiting for Jesus to return. The rewards we receive when the New Earth and the New Jerusalem become a reality are the ones that are waiting for us when the time is fulfilled for us to receive them. Just because the rewards here are perishable doesn’t mean we should not go after them but we should know they do not even hold a flashlight to the rewards we will receive from Heaven. This is your storm warning. I do not know right now if there will be storms on the New Earth for us to endure but I do know the difference between then and now. I will have Jesus to speak too then because I will be able to go into the New Jerusalem to talk to Him. Will you?
Combine this blog with Episode 4: The Future of Making Good Decisions podcast on WE Podcast.
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The 3 Ways to be Guided with His Eye
You know I believe that the Bible is the best way to find information about how to live your life, but I am especially thrilled to tell you it is excellent at helping us make good decisions. Every day we are faced with decisions, some easy some hard. What we choose to do with the power we have to decide is based on many things. Our history can play a role, our present and our future dreams and goals. The problem is we don’t think much about the future when it comes to making our current decisions. We are a generation of impatient decision makers. Why should we wait when we can have it today? The issue with that premise is, what we want today, can hurt us in the future. Take some time to look around you. Find something in the room you have purchased without thinking. As I look around me, I see purchases that are wasting away. Money that could have been used for more important things for the Lord. These were hasty decisions on my part and I am sure you can see yours sitting there too.
What does our Lord have to say about this issue with decision making? Psalm 32:8 “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.” Jesus has an eye on the future of His kingdom, that we do not understand, nor can we see. His eye is the eye we should look through. Our decision making should always be guided by His eye, not our own. We should look through the lens of the Bible for the way to make every decision we are facing. This is not to say that we cannot make decision on our own. When we become mature in the Word, we will be able to make decisions without consulting Jesus because we KNOW what He would say. We know specifically because we have been in this roundabout before. He has showed us His way out of the ditch and we do not want to go back for this decision. We will learn to trust God, we will learn to ask for wisdom and we will watch Him transform our skills for making godly decisions. We will be changed.
Way One: Trust Him, Proverbs 3:5
His eye is trustworthy. He has guided people from the time He created us. For six thousand years He has been showing people how to live an abundant life. If an abundant life is your goals then trusting God is the only way there. Leaning on your own understanding will not lead you to the abundant life, it will lead you to the self-serving life of the world. This will make you a slave to the world always serving them from your ditch. If you have been on this roundabout before it is time for change.
Today, I want you to stop making hasty decisions and set you mind to being guided by Jesus. If that means you are not allowed to make any decision until you know they are from Jesus, then so be it. His eye has greater knowledge than yours, so look through His eye first.
Way Two: Ask Him for Wisdom, James 1:5; James 3:17
To see through the eye of Jesus you need to know His eye. If you think not making decisions is hard, at first, wait until you try to look through the lens of the Bible. Do not get frustrated because you can do this. When you love Jesus, He reveals Himself and what He expects from you. This is the wisdom we want. We want to know Him, so we can follow Him where He wants us to be.
Today, wait before you make a decision to see if you can see Jesus already there. This is he greater knowledge you want. You want to know if this decision will lead you on the path he has paved for you or the ditch beside it. His eye knows where you need to be to accomplish His greater good.
Way Three: Watch, Romans 12:2
As you begin this Biblical decision-making process you may not notice the changes happening in you. Every Biblically based decision you make may cause turmoil within you but outside you, life is changing. Jesus will allow you to see through His eye to see the ramifications of your godly decisions. He will show you how positive His path can be when you decide to follow Him.
Today, keep your eyes open to the changes going on outside of you. Those of us who are already there so we can see the changes. Don’t be afraid to talk to us. We will encourage you.
The way to make better decisions is God’s way. Time is a better indicator of our progress than anything else. We have been making ungodly decisions for many years and we will not begin to make godly decisions over night. We need to spend time talking to Jesus about how we can begin doing this today, right now. Our fervent discussions with Jesus will result in great knowledge toward becoming a decision maker He can use for His will. We need to commit our mind to change our decisions from worldly decisions to godly ones. If we do we will learn to trust Jesus, we will learn to ask Jesus for wisdom and we will watch as Jesus transforms our skills for making godly decisions. We will be changed. We can only see that change if we are looking through the eyes of Jesus. The world’s eyes are filled with sin, but the eyes of Jesus look past sin to the abundant life. Let His eyes guide you today and see the future of good making good decisions.
Combine this blog with Episode 3: The Future of Making Good Decisions podcast on WE Podcast.
