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God is Sending you!
Sometimes the first hump we have to get over, in our climb up the Ministry Mountain, is our relationship with the Church. Satan has held some pretty mountainous ground in this area for centuries and it is time that we start taking it back for the sake of our ministry.
Seeds of Fire
Verbs are action words that move us to do something, yet one thing I am sure that a ton of us do not understand is that we learn more when we take action.
As I am writing this I am learning another life changing lesson from the Lord about what I say. I want to hide myself away because I speak words, from my feelings, and say something that I should not have said. I took action to say them and I need to take action to make amends for them.
There is a lot we don’t know about ourselves and the Lord. Why He puts people in our path? Why He does what He does? But we do not have to remain ignorant or guess.
If you don’t know what God has call you to do — DO something and He will guide you.
If you don’t know the Bible — READ the Bible and you will know what the Bible has to say.
If you don’t have any Christian friends – MAKE some Christian friends and you will have some.
In the Invisible Christ Effect we talked about planting seeds that spread like wildfire. Fire cannot happen unless we plant our feet in the soil held by Satan for centuries – our churches.
Healing Church Hurt
The seeds (your giftings) planted in Women of Vision by God, are meant for preaching the good news, teaching the Bible, leading ministries, healing the sick and so much more. The only limit on our gifts is the Lord.
I know that others have stood on your seeds and caused them to die, or squelched your leadership zeal, or caused you to avoid church communities all together.
I know that you have learned to cope with being alone, to lead your ministry outside those church buildings or resign yourself to never taking on a leadership role again.
I know that you feel inadequate or disqualified by your lack of successes in any of your ministry leadership roles or your unrecognized work or even how you have treated others as a result of your own bitterness.
God is calling you to infiltrate the church again with your skills, your zeal, your steadfastness, your ideas, your love of Jesus, your love for the saints and even return to a leadership role.
Plant the Seeds in Christian Community
When we continue standing on our seeds, they will never sprout and we will never take back the ground Satan holds in our Lifistry (Personal Life Stewardship/Ministry Life Stewardship).
Satan wants you to hate, dislike, feel shame, be held back, squander your gifts, avoid people, be ignorant about the saints, be scared of the saints, avoid preaching, teaching and leading, and any other brick (selfish ambition) he has put in your pathway to your ministry.
The time has come for Women of Vision to infiltrate Satan’s ground and bring about transformation that frees Christians to unite men, women and children for the spreading of the Gospel in every capacity.
My Visionary Living Advice 💦 for you this month is to get on your knees before the Lord, repent and resolve to do what He has asked you to do in your community even if it hurts.
You will discover that there is healing included in the action plan God has for you.
There is love in the “capital c” Church that you are missing because you have avoided a relationship with the Church folk. Go and be free to love and be loved in your Church community because it is there that you will learn the most important truth of all – God is sending you!
#lifistrydisciplines #lifistrydiscipline_5 #ChristianCommunity #its_about_time #liveyourvision #yourway
Join me this September, in Midlife Ministry Makers, as we take back what Satan has held over us for centuries. No matter what mountain you need to climb we are going to climb it together, so God can display many signs and wonders in your ministry.
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The Matter of Growth
No matter how you feel about yourself, the Lord is in the business of making you new. He is going to plant you by the River of Life and make you grow.
I have told you before that I felt stupid growing up. There has always been a sense of not knowing or understanding in everything that I have learned.
I have spent many brain cells sitting in front of a book wrestling with the pages to put them into order so I was able to fully understand the action I was about to take. I was looking for the hidden path to reveal the mysterious answer hidden from me.
A Woman with Answers
I wanted to be smart at math, at music, at French, at my latest craze but I would hit a road block and have to hunker in to keep it going. Most of the time I quit saying it wasn’t meant to be.
But that wasn’t really the answer. The answer was that the Lord was not shining His light on that for me. The answer was that it was not a need but a want. The answer was that it was not part of my vision from God to play an instrument, speak French or be a scientist.
A Woman with a Conflict
I was conflicted because there was really nothing I was good at that the Lord shined His light for me to excel with. I had no natural abilities to speak of. This created a zeal in me to know who I am and what I am naturally gifted to do.
I tried everything that I could think of but my life conflicted with my need to know. I got better at designing cars when the computer age came. So, obviously I am going to excel at that and I did. What I really got better at was listening to this still small voice I kept hearing.
A Woman with a Passion
The most amazing thing that has ever happened in my life happened right under my nose. I became a Christian. I began reading the Bible. My brain was open to every story, every line, every word. I became passionate about reading and learning the Bible.
I excelled at remembering every detail of the stories I read. Then I excelled at relaying what I learned. Then I excelled at giving women hope. Then I excelled at making Christian living a priority in my life and doing what the Lord has assigned to me.
A Woman Called
This became the only subject calling my name for continuous growth. The River of Life is the only place I felt free to learn. The only thing I became passionate about. I had no idea what reading the Bible was going to do in my life. I didn’t know it was alive.
I just knew I was called to dive deep into it.
I knew I had to swallow it.
I knew I had to be planted by the River of Life to feel alive.
The still small voice I heard before I was a Christian became understandable to me as a Christian. The Holy Spirit was and still is directing me into His vision for me in every area of my life.
I knew I has a called to this.
A Grown Woman
This passion for knowing and following Jesus has lead me into many situation where I have had to use His words to break free from it. Even this morning I had to use them to break free from bitterness.
His word is a lamp for my feet and the light to my path (Psalm 119:105).
There has not been one day since, when I read the Bible, that I don’t hear the Lord preaching, teaching and leading me into me to grow into my vision in every area of my life and ministry.
Join me in Midlife Ministry Makers for The Peaceful Pace Part 4: Peace in Growth, A Firm Foundation this week to discuss make every day a day of growth in your life and ministry (Lifistry) using the Lifistry Disciplines as a guide.
We are diving deep for divine direction into Tool #170 Every day has an Appointment with God to Grow You.
