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The 4 Ways I love Differently
In The Different Way we talked about being different than the world in three ways: walking in the Spirit, walking in kindness and walking in love. All of the things God takes us through result in love, not only for the brethren, but for Him. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). You can fake it ’til you have it with your brethren, but you cannot fake it with Jesus. Loving Jesus is a tight rope most people will not walk because they choose not to. We will walk the tight rope and follow the narrow path of Jesus because we love Him.
Love is a tight rope because so many people enjoy their hatred. It is a comfort blanket for them, but they will throw that blanket on you if you cross their path with the wrong colour shirt. The tight rope in our world is not others behaviour but ours. Are we strong enough to handle someone with pent up anger going off on us? Is our love of Jesus strong enough to continue loving Him, in spite of what He has allowed to happen in our life? Well, the amount of love you have for Jesus will determine how much you will be able to handle what comes your way.
There are many ways in which we should love Jesus. We don’t just love Him with an emotion we love Him with our actions. Jesus told us, if we love Him we will do His commandments (John 14:15) therefore love for Jesus is proven to Him by what we do, not what we say, hence the tightrope. Let me count the ways, for you, that I love Jesus.
Way 1: I love Him with my marriage and family.
My husband Bill and I have had many problems, during our 25 years of marriage, common to man. Jesus has had to step in many times to help us avoid murdering each other. He has stepped in the middle, with me, regarding my children and their spouses. I am not proud of the things I have said and done with my kids in the past but today I am very proud of who I am with them. BUT I can only be to my family what they see want me to be. If they don’t have a relationship with me they won’t see how much I love Jesus. The family members I know, and those who choose to have a relationship with me, are privy to my love of Jesus even if they don’t love Him. Those who choose not to have a relationship with me still receive kindness, but they won’t know my love for Jesus nor my commitment to them through loving Jesus. My husband and my children know I love Jesus because they have a relationship with me.
Way 2: I love Him with my friends
I don’t have many friends but those I do have at this moment I want to influence by the way I love Jesus. I love talking about Jesus so the friends that I choose are following the Way as well. Someone who isn’t, would not be able to handle how much I talk about Jesus, either they will get saved or they will run. I tell my friends, when I die the thing I want people to say about me most is that I loved Jesus well. My friends know I love Jesus because I talk the talk and walk the walk.
Way 3: I love Him with my Biblical studies
I could not and will not love Jesus unless I keep up my study of the Bible. I would not have the strength I have today, without it. I have been through some very disturbing things lately but Jesus has been comforting me with His Word and His commands to me. If I didn’t study the Word, I would not have known to do what I have done to quell the disturbing spirit within me. His Word has sometimes been my only solace. It has been the dictionary I have used to write all of my Strategic Life Skills Sessions. His Words put my soul on fire to put women’s lives in order. Jesus knows I love Him because I love His Word.
Way 4: I love Him with my ministry
Long ago when I was first saved Jesus called me to teach life skills from His Word. I have been waiting and growing along the way, writing life skills workshops, blogs and books. The time is fulfilled for me to walk in my ministry. I know this because I know my Jesus. I love Him enough to know He is calling me out onto the tightrope of ministry. I know I will have to fight fear, anger and hatred from people along the way too. The previous years of training and learning have prepared me to call on Jesus instantly when someone attacks me or my family. I am ready and willing to start the ministry Jesus has entrusted to me. Women will know I love them because I audaciously love Jesus.
It is my love of Jesus that makes me different from you and it will make you different from me. Being different is exactly what God is calling us to do. I am so in love with Jesus that I would stand in front of gunman to save your life as He commands. I wish that I could give up my salvation to give to you. He wants us to show our love differently to people, so they see Him. He wants us to do our ministry differently, so they see Him. If He wanted all of us to be the same, He would have created us the same. He didn’t, and I am so grateful for our differences because it makes life sweet. I love to look at women and see how God has formed them in such a delicate way. It thrills me, to no end, knowing Jesus is for me and He has made me for Him.
Loving Jesus means loving everything about your life, every aspect, every intricacy, every crook and cranny, every disturbing thing and every lovely thing. He created all of us to love with love in mind. We are always on the tightrope path to were Jesus wants us to go. I think we should just hang on and enjoy the ride. Take the blindfold off to see what He has in store for you and for me. The best places in the world are the places Jesus takes us. Fall in love with Him today and you too will see those places.
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The Different Way
Jesus calls us to walk a different way. How can anyone tell we have worked hard to be different than we were yesterday? Our last blog we talked about having a different character in this blog we are going to discuss the different way we act. We know our different character will manifest itself in the way we act. That is the different way. The way people see us, good or bad. Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-20 that false prophets and true prophets will be known by their fruit. The different way with God, always manifests itself as good fruit. We can go the different way producing good fruit when we walk in the Spirit, when we are kind and when we love our brethren.
The Spirit’s Way
Different is walking in the Spirit. Even your brethren will see you do things differently because you follow the Spirit rather than the world. The Spirit manifests Himself in you making you think different than others therefore you see you have become different. You look for Jesus in everything because the fruit the Spirit has produced in you something you want. You are addicted to the good fruit. Honey comes from it rather than mustard. Everyone’s good fruit is the work of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and our bad fruit is the work of our flesh. We walk a different way because we are killing our flesh. We have seen the result the fruit of the Spirit has had in our lives so we want to keep walking that way. How much fruit we produce is based on the percentage in the way we walk. If we are walking in the Spirit, we will produce good fruit, but if we are walking in the flesh, bad fruit. The fruit you produce as a result of the way of the Spirit will make you so different you will ooze kindness with those around you.
The Way of Brotherly Kindness
I know that some people will equate love with kindness but I see them as different. Kindness is a precursor to brotherly love. When I don’t know you, I am kind toward you, but once I know you it will be deeper. Kindness is more of a superficial way of treating unknown people. We are kind to people when we don’t know exactly what they need, so we guess, and we deliver. We can guess that a homeless man, who has no coat, needs a coat, so we give him one. When we continue to walk the way of the Spirit kindness toward people will make us different than others. We are kind to everyone no matter who they are, even when everyone else hates them. The need to be kind will be something you will not be able to squelch because the Spirit will give you the power and the prodding. When you go the way of the Spirit to kindness you begin to walk in love as well.
The Way of Brotherly Love
While kindness is superficial, love is deeper. We will be known to be a disciple of Jesus by our deep love (John 13:35). God is giving us information, by revelation, that can be used to know them better. We are drawn back to the people who need our kindness, by the Spirit, over and over again. We are beginning to feel more than a need to provide for them, we are feeling a deep need to see their lives improved. The way of brotherly love goes deeper than kindness and goes deeper into the trenches as well. Kindness provides a fish while love teaches them how to fish. Love is an endless action meant to improve lives. This different way of love manifests itself by the leading of the Holy Spirit and the mission of the Father. It is specific to the plan of God for us and for those we are called to manifest this different way of love too. It manifests itself as speaking the truth (all of it), reprimanding for sin, teaching ways to escape temptation, teaching every commandment in the Word of God, revealing every promise and all done with kindness.
Different in God’s way does not mean the same as the worlds way. It manifests itself in a way that set us apart from others. They witness this different way and they want it too. People are changed when we choose to walk the different way. When we choose to walk by the Spirit it is the way of life for both us and those we are called to serve. When we choose to walk in the way of kindness we see how people react to our actions. When we choose to walk in the way of love we are responsible for people seeing Jesus in this world. Every word we say, every action we take show the way to Jesus. Being Jesus in this world is the goal of being different otherwise there is no different way. Walk in the different way to manifest Jesus to people.
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This is the Way
I am no more confused than you are with figuring out the direction in which I should go. One thing I do know is I spend too much time trying to figure it out and not enough time just listening. I travel down this road, because it makes sense, only to fail. I travel down that road, for the same reason, only to fail again. I ask God, what the heckers is going on, but I ask in vain, because I am telling Him He is wrong and I am right. Due to my vainness I keep going. Thank the Lord for His great mercy to teach me, because today I am not as likely to keep going as I was yesterday. When I hear Him say, “This is the way, walk in it!” I stop, back up if I need too, and go His way. Pursuing the biblical direction is the Way. It is the only way. I go that way and I really want you to go that way too. It is the way to better character and it is the way to your calling.
This Way to Better Character
I assume you believe Jesus Christ. I assume you have faith. So, then I am going to assume that you want to act like Jesus in this world. 2 Peter 1:5-7 sums up the way all of us should go to a better character. Kindness and love is talked about as if it is the way to better character but according to Peter they are the last things to add to our faith. Kindness and love are external character traits that prove out that we have worked out the rest of the list (virtue, knowledge, self-control and perseverance). The way to have the character of Jesus is to work out what is going on inside you first. You need to care about the way you do life then know what you should do. You need to learn how to focus on the way you are being told to go and keep going in that direction despite what you think or what others say. You cannot help but become godly when you are following God all over the place. Treat people kind and show them the love Jesus has for them. When you go to the right or to the left, even if they the wrong way, people will be blessed by you. No matter where you are in your life, better character is always the best way to go to your calling.
This Way to Your Calling
There is only two things to do for Jesus, act like Him and follow Him. He has already been Him (2000 years ago) so you do not need to do what He did, so that has to mean, you have your own plan to follow. As you work out your character traits Jesus will reveal Himself to you along the way to do what He wants you to do. Unless you look like Jesus He will not send you into your calling. Imagine if you have an issue with people calling you by a shortened version of your name and Jesus wants you to become a public speaker of some kind. How will He send you if you lose your cool every time someone doesn’t use your full name. Boy, that will need to be worked out first, or you won’t have anyone coming to listen you speak. Your message will be – call me by my given name or hear me roar. That is not Jesus. The way to your calling is always through the way to better character. Jesus will not allow you to get to your calling any other way so don’t try to cheat, just follow Him. Do not be the thief of John 10:10 by trying to get God’s blessings by any other way but through Jesus. Your calling can be found no other way then by following Jesus. He is the only way to your calling.
Walk this Way!
Stop heading to the right and to the left to find you. Jesus is the way to the character that defines you and He is the way to your calling. Jesus cared about people because He focused on what He was doing for them and why He was doing it. He was focused on going in the way of the Father. He listened for His voice and saw what the Father was doing. His ears heard a Word behind Him saying, “This is the way to go, walk in it.” (Isaiah 30:21) He went to His calling through the Father’s character. Jesus was our example and we can do exactly what He did. We can hear the voice behind us and walk in it. The Father told us we can so we can. Follow “the Way” the Father is directing you and find yourself in the way too.
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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 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.
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You may not be Certain, but God is!
A mouse is not how I would ever describe myself but I might now because our God saw fit to change me. Those who are not close to me might call me a mouse. I am passionate about my God and passionate about women. I like to have fun and be boisterous. When I am having fun, it is no place for meekness but when I am discussing our God, now that is another story. I become who He has trained me to be and I am certain you don’t know the half of it or even any of it. You know what your history tells you to see.
I remember when I was first saved I was a Bible thumping Christian. When I was taught the truth I had to teach everyone that truth, even if they didn’t want to hear it. I would follow then around until they said, “Uncle!” If that is God’s truth then they needed to know it too, or so I thought. I was filled with pride but now I am qualified to teach with certainty. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I still get over exuberant but I never get angry at anyone’s lack of hearing or knowledge. I know now that you are born for great things but you need to be trained to do them in your time not mine. The great Teacher is the one who will teach you. I am here to drop the seeds. This knowledge is what brought me to a certainty that I can teach women, at any time, in any situation, even if I am certain they are not hearing.
Have you ever told someone something ten times and still they forgot it? Have you ever told someone something ten minutes ago and they forgot? We are surrounded by people who learn differently than us. As a teacher, I was having a hard time with this concept because I was insecure, not my students. When I am supposed to learn something, I learn it quickly. That is a trait God gave me from birth. The quick learning trait caused me to flip from pride to insecurity and back again every minute of the day. I am also gifted with administration which did not help my insecurity at all. I could envision great plans for the future of a product, a person or a function but was halted because no one else had that vision. A woman I worked with tied up some loose ends for me. She was sent by God, for that season, to teach me what my heart did not know. The knowledge I now had, forced me to deal with my uncertainty in God’s vision for me. Maybe He is seeing something I am not?
If I am a quick learner and had vision that no one could see, why do I feel so stupid? If I am made in the image of God, why do I think I am ugly? Can people see how insecure I am? Can God see how unqualified I am to help women? These unanswered questions were holding me back. How can this turn out for the glory of God? That is the one vision I did not have, as much as I tried to conjure it up. God knew exactly who He was training and what to do to straighten my mind out. I knew where I was going with God but I had no idea how I would become qualified. Do you feel the same? Has God told you His plan for you yet you continually believe you are not qualified or worthy?
He chose me just as He has chosen you. His plan for us is so spectacular that we cannot believe it. He takes us insecure, beaten up, drug around women, picks us up, dusts us off and sets us loose on His people. We say the wrong thing at the right time, we do the best thing at the worst time and we learn our greatest lesson at the nastiest of times. He uses each and every event to build up our faith in Him until we trust Him implicitly. Then He reminds us why He chose us, what He has planned for us and that we are perfectly qualified to do it. He puts an unshakable certainty in us. When we build up our own exaggerated plan He sends someone to us to bring us back to His plan. His plan will always prevail. His plan changes us from the inside so we can walk with certainty in His plan for the world. Certain in God and certain in me!
This certainty will not stop bad things from happening or stop people from hating us. God changing us and making us certain about who we are just makes us understand the works of God and the devil better. The devil may use people to harm us but God means if for good to save many people alive (Genesis 50:20). Because we have developed an unshakable certainty in our God and in ourselves we can walk in the character He has developed in us. We can fall in line with the plan of God for us to save many people alive even if it is outrageous and audacious. Do not let your uncertainty in your own capabilities trump His certainty in you. He is certain you can do it, so go do it! Whatever your task is from God, you are qualified, and He is certain you will save many alive, I promise.
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From Pride to Qualified
You are in a pit so deep you cannot see the Light any more. Years ago, you made a decision that put you here today and pride has become your cement overshoes. Someone hurt you, and as a result every decision, since that day, has caused a shovel full of dirt to be removed under your feet. Your shoes are heavier than ever before. It is not your fault, or so you have convinced yourself, it’s their fault but they are not in this pit with you which makes you angrier. No matter, your think, you are still down in this deep cold lonely hole in the ground with cement overshoes. The darkness is blinding so even if you aren’t alone you cannot see them, but you know they are there. The darkness is closing in on you squeezing the life out of you. The sweat of fear is pouring down your brow but you can’t move your arms. Even if you could move your arms you haven’t a cloth to wipe it with. You have lost everything even the coat off your back. The cold is inside your heart. Your heart is in a deep freezer with the lid closed and locked. It wasn’t a quick freeze. It took decades of digging this pit to get down below the frost line. Every shovel full of dirt caused your heart to harden just that little bit more. Your heart is so hard with frost bite it could break into a thousand pieces with one tap of a hammer. Any word from any person is an affront to your personhood. You have become sensitive to life. It is running you down and you just don’t think you can handle one more day. You weren’t meant for this day. You constantly ask yourself, “What happened? What brought me to this point in my life?”
God is what happened! God brought you to this point in your life because He is qualifying you for the ministry He has assigned you for. Those cement overshoes you wear need to be broken off. Each swing of the hammer hurts but each swing shows you how qualified you are for the pit. Qualified to encourage your brethren. Qualified to see the need. Qualified to fulfill the need. Qualified to cry with your brethren. To be qualified you need to know you are just like me, human, broken, tattered, mistreated, lost, ignorant, prideful, human! Humility comes from knowing this. Humility comes through crying, falling, dead end streets and face plants. The world says we are qualified with higher education but God qualifies us with lower education. He lowers us down into the pit one shovel full at a time until we are qualified to come out. This is completely the opposite of the world. The world wants graduates while God wants students. When we are in the pit, we will do anything to get out including become a student of the Lord. When we become a person willing to learn, we then become qualified. There is no graduation party. There is no degree. Just you, grabbing the Hand that beckons you from deep within the pit.
Maybe Jesus didn’t have to bury you alive to qualify you. Maybe He just made you feel like you were buried. Maybe the pit was metaphorical because Jesus needed to qualify you for your ministry. Maybe you were born with cement overshoes. Whether your pit is real or metaphorical, the pit is the frat house we all belong too, with the Alpha Omega as its President. Every person who has a calling from God is an alumnus. Some of us are still living in the house of the Alpha Omega while others are the alumni helping you graduate.
When we were in the pit ourselves, we saw others at the top but we couldn’t reach their outstretched hands, as much as we wanted too. They were not qualified to pull us out only the President is qualified. He has the power to pull us out or to leave us in. He can either throw a ladder down for us to climb, or He can throw one rung at a time. He is in control of the student’s education. You will graduate from this pit when your training is complete qualifying you to walk worthy of your calling. This is your choice. Will you begin walking worthy of your calling or will the President of our frat house have to knock his pledge back down into that pit for some more training. I am fresh out of my last pit but the remnants of it still exists. It haunts me sometimes but the Lord has again made a way out of my temptation to go back into training. Each trip into the pit He gives you a way out but each trip into the pit makes me strong enough to use His way out.
Ephesians 4:1-6 has Paul beseeching us to walk worthy of the calling for which we have been called. The calling in which Jesus is making us qualified for minus the pride. The pledge is the prisoner of the Alpha Omega and He is training us to be worthy of His calling on our lives. He teaches us to be able to walk in our calling with lowliness and gentleness and with longsuffering. While we are in our training, we see others in training and others who have graduated. While we are in the pit, we commiserate with our fellow pit dwellers. We despise those we see walking freely above us. Our pride will not allow us to see they are just like us and they truly want to help us. We do a happy dance when we find out they are in their own pit of training. These emotions belong to all of us and disqualify all of us from our ministry until we check them at the door, so back into the pit we go until we are able to bear with one another in love creating unity.
Our calling cannot be done by us alone. We need each other. I am currently walking worthy of my calling on my own but one day Jesus, the Alpha Omega, will provide a woman, out from her pit, to walk beside me while we blaze a new trail, cut out by Jesus Himself. He beckons me to throw away the shovel I use for digging pits and use the tools He provides. The tools He gives me to use qualifies me for my ministry but I am the one who has too keep picking them up. I do pick up the tools and my ministry is to show you the tools Jesus has provided for you to pick up. Those tools will make you qualified for your duties under the President of this fraternity house we call the Body of Christ.
Whether you are in the pit or out, the Alpha Omega has training specific to your calling and for you alone. No one goes through the exact same training. He qualifies you for that calling in His way so you can be of service to Him. The pit happens to the best of us who are already qualified for our ministry. The pit keeps us humble and dependent on the President of our fraternity. The Christian life is filled with training and God Himself is the Teacher. Your qualifications depend on no man. As long as you are in the Body of Christ you are qualified to go out on the mission field you are assigned. As long as you use God’s tools for His work you will go from pride to qualified, I promise.
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When should your Vision from God Take Precedence?
Why would you bother to set boundaries or goals if you believe your life has no purpose? Why would a Christian believe they have no purpose? When Jesus chooses you He tells you what your purpose will be and that purpose will change your whole life therefore it always takes precedence. If you give your vision from God preference everything you do and become should point you in the direction God has pointed to. This is my vision from God – to help you remember your vision from God and walk in it through teaching you how to improve your life skills. Do not think for one second you are not worthy. If you are chosen by God you are worthy to do everything He has assigned for you.
Would you modify your vision from God? Would you delete your vision from God? Would you ignore your vision from God? I know when you read these questions your skin went red hot. As you thought about it guilt began to bubble up from the pit of your soul. If any of these answers are “yes” then I have to question whether you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. You have to question if you are a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is not to criticize you it is to wake you up. Wake up to the fact that you have a calling on your life that Jesus has predestined you to walk in. Wake up to the fact that if you don’t do it someone else will and the joy from it will be theirs too. Wake up to the fact that Jesus wants you to prepare for this calling. You are worthy to do everything Jesus has assigned for you.
When I believed Jesus was who He said He was He told me I would speak all over Canada. I noodled that for a while then He gave me more. I would open a Life Skills Center for women in Essex County so they are capable to succeed in whatever God has assigned to them. Then He told me I would get the money from writing books. Okay, I know this sound awesome but I did NOT believe it. I was initially excited but my excitement waned into unbelief as time went by. How can I speak about Him when I was the only one in my house saved? This is impossible. How can I open a center for women when I had absolutely no money and in debt up to my eyeballs? This is impossible! How can I write a book because I just don’t have time with a husband, four kids and a full-time job? This is impossible. I had one big problem after another with this vision from God. Not that I didn’t want to do it or would give up the opportunity for all the world but it was impossible in my eyes therefore not believable.
The one thing I never took into account was preparation time. We are the ‘right now” generation. I put the vision out of my mind but the desire was still there. I learned how to speak publicly and to write creatively. I joined Toastmasters and took every writing course I could get my hands on. I wrote a bunch of Life Skills Workshops but they are just chilling on my computer. I gave up because there were no opened doors. I found the Lord would open a door then close it, open another one then close it and again open then close. He kept my foot in it just enough to remind me of what He had said. There were many doors He opened only to close them not long after. There was no long term doors open which frustrated me. For my whole life I have longed for stability but there has been none until Jesus. Jesus gave me my vision but He wanted me to be completely dependent on Him for the doors. He would open a door and worn me He was going to close it. I always knew the door was closing before it closed. I thought He was teasing me but I know now He was training me. He gave me time to get my emotions in check by the time the door actual closed. He taught me to put my all into whatever He opened for me for as long as it was open. Then when it closed He taught me to put my all into learning until the next door opened.
Fast forward to today, all the training has paid off. I have written a book called The White Picket Fence to help women set Biblical boundaries so they can get into the will of God. Did you catch that? Book, women, life skills – vision from God. I am beginning to do podcasts this month with WE Podcasts in Windsor. Did you catch that? Speaking all across Canada – vision from God. The only thing left is the Life Skills Center. Do you think He will do it? He will do it because He has buried the desire deep into my soul. His desire is to train all women, not just the saved. His desire is to train you and me. The vision He gave me is His desire for women, His desire for me, His desire for Essex County, His desire for you. His desire for me is to help you move toward His desire for you. You know what it is. You know what it feels like. You have ignored it long enough, squashed it long enough, forgotten it or don’t believe it long enough. The Holy Spirit is here to remind you of what Jesus has already told you. Ask and you shall be reminded of the God ordained tasks He has laid out for you.
Let me ask those questions again. Would you modify your vision from God? Would you delete your vision from God? Would you ignore your vision from God? Say “no” now and go. I don’t have the center opened yet but the Revealed in Me Blog is open every day, every hour. I have dedicated my blogging to help you get into the will of God and be successful wherever He sends you, whatever that looks like. If you have problems saying “no” to your church family or even your own wants buy The White Picket Fence novel and learn how to set Biblical boundaries. If you don’t know God well enough to know what His plan is for you start reading the Bible every day to know Him better. If you just don’t believe what God has planned for you drop to your knees and ask Him to show you truth. The time has come for you to DO what God has called you to DO. We are in this together to serve each other, in the name above all Names, Jesus Christ.
Send me an email if you have any questions or just need someone to lead you back to Jesus.
