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Moulded by Fire
It is not about just knowing who you are in Christ or boldly being who you are in Christ but also your ability to overcome the life challenges that will mould you into the Woman of Vision you are.
The World is Watching
There has been so much controversy over women in ministry that every move Woman of Vision make is placed under a microscope. This microscope reveals our character whether they like our character or not.
Whether we like our character or not…
But doesn’t that spur you on to make sure that you take the seeds the Lord is planting in you and set them on fire for Him before you plant them into another?
Jesus is Watching
Of course, Jesus knows that you will spew, vomit and spit out some seeds that are ineffective for the saints but He wants you to keep planting them so they can be improved every time you release them.
The only bad seed is the seed that never sees the light of day to grow the ground it lands on. Even our bad seeds are meant to grow something.
Growing through Fire
Some seeds fly out of us without us having much control over whether they have been sifted through the Bible or not. This happens when we don’t read the Bible or know the commandments of God.
Some seeds fly on fire because we know who we are in Christ and we are boldly walking out who we are in Christ. This happens because we read the Bible and set our face on being like Christ.
Some seeds never leave us nor ever grow in us. Some we buried in infertile ground. This is because we never intend to be or do what Christ has made us live for.
Don’t be offended, be convicted if this is you.
For whatever reason someone would choose not to do the most exciting thing they will ever do in their life that will set them on fire for the Lord and their vision.
Our job as Women of Vision is to plant seeds around that reflect the fire inside us to live our vision as highly effective Christians.
My Visionary Living Advice 💦 for you this week is to avoid being the 2 Timothy 3 woman and adopt the zeal of the Proverbs 31 woman to have effective Personal Life Stewardship and Ministry Life Stewardship without disobeying the Lord.
Join us this week in Midlife Ministry Makers for A Soul on Fire to discuss how you are able to change the way you think about overcoming adversity so you can always leave an example of freedom as a seed.
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Introducing the new blog “rePurpose”
This weekly blog is for vintage (over 40) Christian women who have a growing desire to rePurpose their time, treasures and talents to serve the Kingdom of God without feeling overwhelmed.
My most passionate day is when a woman tells me she is setting time aside to reDisover Jesus. There is a reason I get so excited about that.
I get excited because I know that when you discover who Jesus is you WILL discover who you are and what the Lord has called you into salvation to accomplish.
This thing that you are born to accomplish will make you feel alive and it will make the people you serve come to life too. There is nothing better than that.
Don’t waste another ounce of your time going in unfulfilling directions. Connect with Jesus and reDiscover His plan for you. Connect with yourself and reEnvision your passion. Connect with believers and reVisualize your Kingdom purpose.
The Kingdom of God is a vast place with plenty of room for every single one of us to fulfill our God given vision. It is for this reason that you were called.
Connect with me if you are driven to rePurpose your time, treasures and talents for the Kingdom and let’s do this thing “Your Way”.
Look for rePurpose every Thursday to blaze your visionary vintage trail to your city in the Kingdom.
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Dang, I’m Old
Recently I have been losing my energy a lot faster than I used too and I noticed in the summer that I cannot handle the heat like I used too.
I thought I would just be able to do what I want when I want but my body is telling me that that is not possible.
I wonder if I can do what Jesus has planned for me now that I am old. I worry He will be done with me before He even got started with me.
Then I am reminded of all the things I have been teaching.
Jesus knows me better than any one else does and I know Him too. If He has put the desire in me to live for Him than it will be fulfilled. I don’t remember Him giving me an age cap.
Phew!
Now I am okay with being old. Thank you Jesus.
I invite you to take my complimentary course called
Knowing Jesus is Knowing Me: A Practical Introduction to who You are in Christ.
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A Mixture of Confusion
Was Solomon so bored in his world that he needed to mix it with the pagan world?
Solomon asked for wisdom to lead the Lord’s people but did He come to the end of His wisdom of these people and went seeking the wisdom of all the world by marrying pagan wives?
Our Biblical Ground work: 1 Kings 11
Solomon was surrounded by paganism as a way of testing the Israelites. He obviously was intrigued by it because he collected women like he would collect rocks. He also collected horses, land, wood and every little thing he could get his hands on. He was a collector, especially of knowledge by wisdom. See the book of Proverbs for evidence of his collection of wisdom.
In his collection were many pagan wives, for whom he built high places and alters. These women would worship their “man made” gods and the Lord would not punish them on this earth. This, and a lot of other life’s issues intrigued him, so he added them all to his personal growth list.
This pursuit caused Solomon to be drawn away from the One True God, who provided him everything he had. As a result, the Lord rose up Hadad the Edomite, Rezon the son of Eliadah, and one of his own, Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who would also lead his followers into paganism, but for a different reason than Solomon.
Our Biblical Lesson to Live Life to: Taking the pathway to Jesus leads to wisdom and any other pathways, mixed in with it, will only confuse you.
Solomon got himself into trouble because he his purpose and vision from God as the king of Israel with woman he was intrigued with. What he did not consider is that mixing their pathways to man made gods with Israel’s pathway to Elohim created confusion in Israel. This confusion created strife and the subsequent separation of the Jews from God.
Ecclesiastes is a look into Solomon’s personal journal, after the Lord spoke to him, revealing how powerful the Lord is compared to the man made gods of his pagan wives. They exerted their power over him due to his intrigue. When he gave his power to deep intrigue of paganism, his pagan wives took advantage and required him to build worship places for them on the promised land of God.
These pagan wives went on a mission to turn Solomon’s heart away for God and they were successful. Instead of gaining more knowledge about the God of Israel, he set his heart on gaining more knowledge about life and the pagan gods his wives worshipped. Mankind’s purpose of life had to be understood and Solomon was just the wise man to do it (Ecclesiastes 1:13). He pursued this to the detriment of the Israelite people.
Join me in The Bible Gals Monday at 2pm EST to discuss the Biblical Power Tools for how to remain focused on your purpose in life.
I have exciting news for you as well. I am running a FREE Biblical Goal Bootcamp in The Bible Gals from February 22-26th. You can learn how to set biblical goals even if you don’t know your vision from God yet. You can sign up here
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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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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.
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Piece of Purpose!
The Puzzle
Waiting is not an easy thing to do. All of her life she has gone and done what needs to be done. Leola didn’t do anything without purpose. As a single parent her purpose was to provide for her sons so she went to school. As a married woman her goal was also to provide for her husband and children. Leola is an action person who always believed there was a purpose for everything even before she called herself a Christian. Now she knows God, she is pondering her Christian purpose. Can it be the same as her secular purpose? Does God even have a purpose for her?
An inner city agency has requested volunteers from her congregation to help with their goal in serving the community. Leola’s heart is burning within her! Leola has always been a worker bee! Work that needs to be done; it gets done. In groups she will take the lead when there is clearly no leader. These are traits she has utilized all of her life. She hasn’t done too much volunteer work but her heart is aching to do something so she goes to volunteer night at the agency to see if there is anything she can do. As much as she loves her own kids she is uncomfortable with other people’s kids. What is God calling her to do? What does she want to do? Should she work with kids just because the help is so desperately needed? Leola is anxious to do something, anything!
Are you wondering around going from one volunteer agency to another trying to find your purpose? Do you know God has a purpose for all of us BUT it is not the same as someone else’s? Just because an agency is desperate for volunteers is God calling us to fill the spot? We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) Just because God says we are to remember the widow and the orphan does not mean that we are called to serve them as our vocation! Jumping into something, we are not called to do, will result in failure and frustration. If we do not have the courage to quit it will lead us into a very discouraging life. Elohim wants us to know we will do something for Him but it will be according to His purpose and we are to wait for Him to lead us into that purpose!
The Piece
Her anxiety and need to do something resulted in her taking a volunteer position working with tween girls. Leola was well out of her element and she knew it. She struggled every week to do what was required of her. She hated every minute of it except the teaching portion! The leader of the agency visited her on one of those frustrating afternoons after class to check her progress. Leola told her about her struggle with the girls but how much she loved teaching. There were four weeks left to the class so she gathered up her courage to resign. Leola knew she is gifted by God to ‘teach’ but who did she want to teach? She definitely knew who she didn’t want to teach!
Leola was puzzled about what God would do in her life! Watching the news one night God revealed to her who she was going to teach. It was the same old, same old night! Feed the family, do the dishes, do the homework, do the prep work for tomorrow all while listen to the background noise except on this night the noise was funneled straight into her ears. She walked into the living room where her husband was watching TV and asked him to turn it up. There she saw a scene that broke her heart and made her instantly break into tears. Women, dead, by the hands of their abuser. A statistic flashed onto the screen so staggering it threw Leola headlong into a heart break she still feels today for the women who have and are being abused. The God Leola was beginning to love has implanted a passion in her for the welfare of women! Another piece to the puzzle of purpose revealed!
What functional gift has God given you?(if you don’t know – take a Spiritual Gifts Assessment on the internet) For what people group has God implanted a passion in your heart to serve? The answer to these questions will determine what God is asking you to do? We cannot fail if we follow Elohim to what He has dropped into our heart! Piece by piece He reveals to us what purpose He has called us too! God will take one piece of His purpose for us and work it together for the good until His whole purpose for us is revealed!
This week’s meditation verses: Romans 8:28 and Jeremiah 29:11
