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Our Significance in the Body of Christ is Christ’s Job not Ours!
We are significant to Christ at all times because He chose us but how often do we feel as if we are making a significant difference in the Body of Christ? Do we know how significant we are to the Body of Christ right now? Are we pushing our way in to make significance or are we so far removed we believe we make no significant difference? Who has defined significance? Do we understand how significant we are to the workings of the world right now? Not knowing this causes two type of mindsets. The one mindset leads us into the direction of laziness while the other leads us in the direction of uselessness. Getting a balance between these two will improve the life skills we get from finding significance in every day living for Jesus. Jesus has put us on this earth TODAY for His use in His Body. He wants us to overcome our feeling of insignificance by knowing there is something you can do, doing what you deem as useful and knowing you need not know the future to live for today.
There is something I can do!
Our significance comes from what God has designed us to do for Him. It is not enough to know that we are significant we need to work out our understanding or we will lose the knowledge. To sustain the feeling of worth we need to see our worth in what we are doing right now. At this moment I am learning but I am also doing what God has asked me to do on a daily basis. I have been doing the same thing for almost two years now and my patience is being tested but because I am learning I am also maturing. The way I felt about my significance two years ago is completely different from what I feel today. Our attitude that our work means nothing is not the truth but we have to see it to believe it. The Bible tells us faith without works is dead and as I continue in my walk with Jesus I can understand the whole ramifications of that statement. Faith is believing that something will happen even though you cannot see it right now. I am learning right now but that learning will be put to use in the Body of Christ eventually. Doing nothing is not an option for those who follow Jesus therefore a Christian should never be called a sluggard. Whatever you are doing for Jesus right now is something that is adding significance to your life and the Body of Christ. Jesus is always working to make that happen.
I am going to do what I deem useful
The other end of this is doing so much that nothing is useful. Let’s slow our pace for a while to see what we are supposed to do. Sitting down alone with Jesus is not going to hurt your ministry in any way. As a matter of fact, if you are aware whose ministry your ministry actually is, you will understand the more time we spend with Jesus the better off we will be. I know how hard it is to slow down because we begin to feel useless ourselves because we have identified ourselves with the work we are doing rather than identifying ourselves with Jesus. Jesus sends us each day to do works useful for His Kingdom and they may very well be all done in your own home or they could be outside of your home. Both are uncomfortable in their own way but they are being done to prepare us for the next work. I am an extrovert so doing works in my own home by myself is very uncomfortable, and in my head, useless. As I continue to do what Jesus leads me to do I have discovered how important my alone time with Jesus is? That time is useful to the Body of Christ more so now than before. My demeanor has changed, my understanding has broadened and my love for Jesus and His people has transformed into something significant. What I fear most now is when He sends me out will I want to go because I like spending time alone with Him. My house has become my haven. I am over the feeling of uselessness away from the body and I don’t see significant communion beginning any time soon. I am ready to make use of myself outside of my home when He makes a way for it because I have learned to be of use inside my home. Useful is defined by Jesus and my goal is to follow Him being as useful as He wants me to be.
We don’t need future knowledge
We do not need to know what the future holds to do what Jesus wants us to do today to feel significant. Our need to know the future is what allows us to deem ourselves insignificant in the body of Christ. We know the future – Jesus wins but how are we contributing to that? Are we saving souls? Are we teaching? Are we serving? We might say no to all of those because He has us learning right now and we might say yes but too much. You might have heard a preacher tell you that you are supposed to do this and that because we are all supposed to do it but the bigger questions is – is Jesus calling you to do this or that right now? If He isn’t but the preacher said we are then we feel insignificant because we aren’t doing what that man tells us to do. That man’s opinion is not important especially because he does not know us or our life. The Man that is important is Jesus. What He wants us to do is more important than what a preacher wants us to do. Don’t base your significance in the body of Chris on what the preacher or teacher thinks base it on what the Holy One says. Our significance, in the Body and out of it, comes from Him alone.
Ask yourself some questions this week.
- Am I called to what I am doing now or am I doing it to feel significant?
- Am I doing nothing because I feel insignificant or because I am ignorant of what I should do?
- Am I overworking because I think I can find who I am in that work?
Let Jesus define who you are and you will see your significance in the Body of Christ much more clearly. Let Jesus do His job while we do ours!
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Our Knowledge of God and Understanding our Plan Perfects Us!
Knowledge and understanding are the best tools for planning our future but how do we get them. Solomon, the wise king, said, “Without counsel plans go awry but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.” (Proverbs 15:22) Why, this was the wisest man alive saying this! If the wisest man alive says we need help with out plans, so be it. Let’s get some help! Our knowledge of God and understanding our plan perfect us, but where does our help come from? Sing the song!!!! Our help comes from the Lord!
Know what you’re doing!
Knowledge is most important to have when we decide we are going to do something. For me the knowledge of God is my most important asset so I depend on the Holy Spirit to provide many answers about who God is. I use the Internet for research and I listen to speakers. If we go back two weeks we asked ourselves some questions. We began looking at how much we have learned over the last year then last week we looked at how to make a plan for change. One of the goals I talked about is ‘knowing God better.’ For all of us to know God better we must know Him in a personal way for every day living. This even includes the teachers of the Word. We must know Him personally so we are proving out our faith as not to be disqualified from being respected as a teacher. In my plan of action my first go to is the Scriptures but yours might be to listen to a teacher. Either way we are getting the knowledge we need. Let’s say you are learning about human trafficking, abortion, church, women, men or children. No matter what topic you are learning you need knowledge to continue in it. Regardless of our task or career we must obtain knowledge or we will be deemed incompetent. I design cars as my day job for which I learn daily to complete the tasks I am assigned. Obtaining knowledge is how we are able to complete a task or a goal or even make a plan. We do not know everything and are not expected to know everything that is why we need Elohim. Leave perfection to Him and learn all you can about what you are currently doing.
Understand WHY you’re doing it!
Learning is one thing; understanding is a different animal all together. Solomon said, “Get wisdom and in all your getting get understanding.” [Paraphrased by me] There will be no wisdom without understanding and no knowledge is remembered unless it is accompanied by understanding. It is questioning the people who know, which leads us to an understanding. Some people understand quite quickly while others are involved in a lengthy process to understand. Our understanding depends on what we are learning and how we learn. There are visual learners who must see it to understand it. There are auditory learners who need to hear it and there are kinesthetic learners who need to touch it to understand it. These are not the only factors by far. God has gifted us to do a particular job for Him and He has gifted us to learn how to do the job in a specific way. We understand the way He wants us to understand and what He wants us to understand. We need to get the understanding. It is not good enough to get knowledge. We cannot go through life lacking understanding of our own plan and why we got to where we are. Failure will plague us if we choose to ignore the answer to the questions ‘WHY?’ God is not going to zap understanding into us! He can and maybe Has for certain topics or questions for us but on the whole He makes us work for our understanding through a process that really drills it into us. Sometimes He gives us quick ways to understand (thank You Jesus for the Internet) and sometimes He takes us on a journey to understand. He knows us, our mind and our purpose therefore the journey is always a means to His end. Leave perfection to God and understand all you can about why you are doing what you are doing!
My Understanding from My Knowledge
I have come to a much-needed understanding that perfection is from God alone. I am a carnal perfectionist! I like to do perfect work with no mistakes and no criticisms but it is impossible to do without the Father. I have also come to the understanding that if not for our imperfections we would have no advancements which has given me great ease to be imperfect. We can improve our life skills significantly if we give ourselves permission to use God’s knowledge and understanding to advance our plan. Our plans do not have to be perfect off the start they just need more knowledge and understanding to get us to where we want to go. All knowledge about God comes from God. Elohim will lead you to all the knowledge and understanding you need to be able to do His works (all of our works should be His works). He is perfect and His ways are perfect so to be the perfect person (obedient) He has asked us to be we need to get knowledge and understanding while working our plan out with God. Jesus has called us to be perfect and we can be under His tutelage!
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The Great Plan to Walk out the Door!
Last week we talked about putting questions to ourselves in this New Year. When we question ourselves it leads us into a plan resulting in change but what if we don’t know how to plan. Didn’t James say, “we do not know what tomorrow will bring so don’t make plans!” We could use this verse as a great excuse to avoid making plans yet we would be incorrect. James was talking about bragging about the future. Planning is a whole new ballgame God has a hand in. Before you begin your plans though there are three directives from God we need to think about; count the cost, commit them to the Lord, and watch them.
Luke 14:28 says, “Count the cost”
A lot of people never reach their goals because they never first counted the cost of getting to those goals. Let us use the goals of last week as our examples for this week. If I am to know God more I need to count the cost of doing that in my daily life. What will it take to know God better? Reading the Word. How much reading? This will take the rest of my life and it is unreasonable to think that I will be able to spend all day just reading. A good way to start is five minutes per day. This is the beginning of a plan but what is the cost of this plan. We need to be alone, we need to make the time and we need a Bible. The cost of getting to know people better is ‘shutting up’ to hear them talk about themselves. The cost of knowing ourselves better is probably a box of tissues. No matter what the plan is there will always be a cost to be counted otherwise the plan will fail. Do you think Jesus knew the cost of His plan? He did! Regardless, the plan still went forward and many people benefited from His obedience to God! When you count the cost and you are not willing to spend it then you are not willing to purchase your goal either but if you are willing many people will benefit.
Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit them to the Lord.”
If you have counted the cost and decided you are willing to spend the time, the resources and the effort it is time to commit the goal to the Lord. Is it what you are being called to do? Has the Spirit been leading you to do what you are about to do? This is the stage of goal setting most people will forgo because the goal they have is not the goal God has for them and they know it. If you know it right now stop going so time is not wasted. If you are sure the directive is from the Spirit then let’s go! Commit the thing to the Lord every time you work on it. Each time you create a plan or act commit it to the Lord too. It is in doing this He establishes our plans. His way of establishing our plan is to give them a nay or a yay. We can only know the difference when we know Him. If we go in the directions He guides us into we will get to our goal. Elohim will establish our plan if the goal is His. To commit your work to the Lord is to commit your goal to the Lord and follow Him throughout the whole process. You will go in directions you never dreamed and accomplish more than you ever imagined.
Proverbs 21:5 says, “Diligently watch them!”
We can count the cost and go! Commit them to the Lord but if we just let them work themselves out they are bound to fail. We have to work our plan from the time of conception until fruition. When we start slacking in our work the goal starts to fall apart. This is where the hard work and commitment come into play. Without hard work there is no plan and without commitment our hard work will go nowhere. Diligently watching our plan means knowing it location and its direction. Where are you right now in the plan? Beginning, middle or end? Determining that information is important because the work changes as the plan continues. There may be days we work endlessly and stand still. There may be days when we think the plan is working on its own and everything in between. If we do not know where we are with our plan we will not know how hard to work or for how long, leaving us lagging in our commitment to it as well. This lagging is not in our plan but in God’s plan too. This is very costly for us for our future. Not only for our goals but for our residence on the New Earth too. If we cannot be trusted with the small stuff we will not be trusted with the big stuff (Luke 16:10). I do not want to be stuck with the small stuff for eternity, do you? Let us watch our plan so it goes exactly where Elohim wants it to go.
Planning is time consuming and tedious work but avoiding it will leave us with failed goals all of our lives. We can talk about a goal and dream about the fruition of the goal for years but the day we start planning the goal is the day we get one step closer to completing the goal. I know there are a lot of folks out there who have trouble planning their goals as a result they have trouble accomplishing their goals too. Once we get used to planning, it then becomes the first thing we do outside of going to the Father with our petition to adopt the goal as our own and the direction He wants us to go. He does not come down and move our feet for us He expects us to move our own feet. Just put one foot in front of the other and you too will be walking out the door.
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What Kind of Questions do You Put to Your Self?
Happy New Year to you all! It is now 2017 and another year has come and gone. I am not one for resolutions but I am the kind who looks back on the past year to see what worked and what didn’t. As a result of the look at the past I put questions to myself. Normally, I keep asking myself questions until I get to the root of what needs to change. What kind of questions do you put to your self? What are they based on? Are they based on past failures or past successes? Do they lead to more failure or more success? Do you ask anything of yourself?
There are three questions we should ask ourselves once a year at the very least.
- Did I know God better?
- Did I know people better?
- Did I know self better?
Do I know God Better?
We are in an age where knowing God is not a good thing to the world but Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:24 we would be inundated by false Christ’s and false prophets that would fool many, even the elect, if that is possible. How are you preparing yourself so you are not fooled? Eating solid food is the most important part of not being fooled in your ignorance. I can tell you that I do not like being fooled. I have heard some untruths about the Lord and believed them only to discover I had been fooled. How did I know I was fooled? I set my face to knowing God the Father, God the Man, God the Spirit. To know God better you have to ask yourself how well you know all three.
Once you have discovered how much you know and how much you don’t know set a goal for 2017 to know Him better. I do know how hard it is but it determines life or death, hope or despair. You have to choose life and hope over death and despair! Start out by committing to five minutes per day of Bible time or God time. You can spend one minute reading and the rest thinking about what you read allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to you. I have been a Jesus follower for 15 years but I have not read the whole bible 15 times only three and studied the different books or words thousands of times. I am reading through my fourth time chronologically, which is very exciting. My next time will be with an Archeological Bible because I want to know history and geography much better. I will assume that will take me a couple maybe three years to read. There is no time limit reading the Bible and there is no set schedule for this daunting task but there is a need to do so! Without this task you will never know God better. Not everything you learn will be found in the Bible but it is the only place to start learning Him better.
Do I know People Better?
The second important question I ask myself is also about knowing God better. Since God has created all of us we need to know each other better to know God better. The one goal I set in 2016 was based on Ephesians 4:29 to make sure every word I utter is to build up not tear down. On the whole I was successful especially if I look back on pasted years. Since gossip is not allowed in my conversations I had to learn to listen more so I would be able to talk about other things giving me the opportunity to know people better.
Sometimes our goals have to be sought out and tested over the years before we are able to make them happen. A goal to know people better might start with a goal to talk less and if you are an extravert (like me) that will take some time. It is doable though and very rewarding when we are able to succeed. Our friends become true friends, our family becomes new to us and our encouragement to people has real meaning. These might be daunting goals for 2017 so we need to start small and test our goals first. Pay attention to your daily activities for the next couple of times you meet with people including your spouse. Who does most of the talking? What do you know about them? What do you talk about? What are you thinking about? If you discover that more corrupt words come out of your mouth than encouraging words you are not alone. I discovered that to be true for me many years ago and have been working on it for just as long. I have made great progress and am pretty happy with my words now. I still revert back to my old self sometimes but on the whole encouraging words are first out of my mouth rather than corrupt words. That is a complete turn around for me so if I can do it you can as well but you have to start. Set a goal for 2017 to lead you in this direction and you will know people better.
Do I know Me Better?
Unlike knowing God and people better this is more of a self-serving goal. To know God better or to know people better we need to know how we do this best. How best do I worship God? How best do I make people feel encouraged? These are things only we can discover about ourselves because outside of our Lord we know us best. No one spends more time with us than us! The big question is, “Do you spend enough time with you to actually know these answers?” If you are avoiding yourself you will never know God or people better because you will never know how to know them better.
Set goals this year to discover who God created you to be. How are you gifted? What do you do best? How do you learn best? You are new in Christ and discovering the new you makes life very exciting. It is like opening Christmas presents every day. To get to the new you we have to shed the old and that may be where the stumbling block resides. Colossians 3:1-17 is a very good start to learning more. There are plenty of good things we already know about ourselves and I suggest you start there. Discover the good and use it to discard the bad. Are you tenacious? Use the tenacity to learn. Are you passionate? Use the passion to discover. Are you quick witted? Use your wit to wade through your trash. Set your mind to performing your utmost best to discover who you are this year and why you exist today. Why has God seen fit to allow you to live today and not 100 years ago? He has a plan that includes everyone in the world but you are special. You have your own plan, no one else can complete, and this plan is why you need to know yourself better.
Knowing more should be a daily goal!
To overcome in God’s economy we should set knowing more as our daily goal. It has been my goal for as long as I can remember to learn something new each day but I have centered it over time. I do not spend my days learning useless information about events or details that will not move me closer to knowing God, people and myself better.
To improve our life skills we need to govern the way we spend our days. When I look at each day my goal is to have improved my outlook on life from the day before. Do I have more hope today than yesterday? Why, no matter what the answer. We tend to think because we are followers of Jesus Christ that hope is a by-product but it is not! We have the hope that we will live with Him forever but is that hope grounded in how we are living on a daily basis?
Let me write out my goals for 2017 regarding these questions for you so you see where I am going this year.
- How will I get to know Elohim better: by reading, studying the Scriptures and communing with Them to understand end times better. (I focus on topics)
- How will I get to know people better: by enjoying their presence at all times while listening and asking more questions. (‘enjoying them’ is new for me)
- How will I get to know me better: by focusing more on my daily tasks for God opposed to the future. (I am future task oriented so God has put it on my heart to concentrate on today and let Him worry about tomorrow)
I am gifted by God to be able to set goals but that doesn’t mean that I have the stamina to stay the course on every goal I set. Elohim has said ‘no’ to many of my goals forcing me to change direction. If you are not a goal setter, learn, because goals are how we get work done. Ask yourself with each thing you want to do in your life how you can realistically get to that place then begin setting small goals that will take you in that direction.
We are here to accomplish something greater than what we can ever imagine! When we set out mind to know God, people and ourselves better that greater accomplishment will eventually be revealed to us!
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Is God’s Heart or Your Hateful Heart Controlling Your Destiny?
Have you ever discovered, inside yourself, a prejudice you were unaware? As women, we see them all the time and most of us swear we would never have one BUT we do. They are a product of our surroundings and never see the light of day until we are questioned about it. A situation will arise to bring it into the light and it doesn’t like the light. It would prefer to remain in the dark where no one sees it (presumably) and we continue to deny its existence. We enjoy being fooled by our outgoing, warm and unbiased attitude. We know better as humans this should not be so and we hate that we hate and we want to put an end to it if we love Jesus. There are only two solutions to overcome a prejudice putting an end to it, admit the prejudice and turn from it.
Ignorance is not Bliss in the Eyes of the Lord!
Remaining ignorant about our feelings toward certain people is not what God wants from us. How will we be able to serve anyone from behind this veil. Admitting a prejudice is very difficult especially if we see ourselves justified in our hatred. The wall we built last week is not to keep our prejudices in but to keep trouble out. If I am to do what God has called me to do, all of my prejudices must be brought into the light so His heart can shine on others. If I do not admit them, the women I am serving will become prejudiced like me. I remember when God first called me out on my prejudice against abusive men. He brought it into the light and I was not happy to turn from it. It gave me comfort to see an abuser punished but ignorance is not Bliss in the Eyes of the Lord because we know as Christian,s we have all fallen short! As much as I believed women were more deserving of Elohim’s heart, men also need to see His heart to turn from their sin. Worse than dealing with my hatred, for me, was knowing I would be responsible for teaching women to hate men. Elohim continually makes me deal with my prejudices so I will have a pure heart when He sends me to serve a woman. Women need to see the pure love I have for them, along with every other person, so when they come out the other side of their affliction their prejudices are not in control of their destiny. Elohim shines a light on our prejudices so we will turn from them.
Allow Love to Control our Destiny!
Jesus gave us one commandment to follow in the Scriptures “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35 If we look at the love Jesus showed, even during the times when His friends did not understand Him, we will fully understand what He has said in this verse. We know each disciple admitted in the end, they were prejudice against others because of their laws (not God’s but man’s added laws), they turned from it and preached the gospel to all mankind including those whom were forbidden by the law such as women and children, undesirables and the disabled. Yes, they failed in human relations and had to be corrected. Yes, they failed in loving everyone and had to be corrected but this shouldn’t discourage me or you it should encourage us to do the same. Turning from my hatred of anyone for one reason or another is what Jesus was talking about when He said to love one another. He was talking to His disciples about the love they have for each other, for others to see and desire. He was the most forward thinking person of His day because He consistently gave examples of loving those we are prejudiced against by saying turn the other cheek or walk the extra mile. In other words He was saying “turn from it!” We need to turn from our prejudices because that hatred will eat us alive one day. When we turn from hatred we allow love to control our destiny! That is God’s heart for us!
Let God’s Heart not our Hateful Heart Control our Destiny!
Admitting a prejudice is extremely hard because most times it is ingrained in us from even an early age. We use prejudices, as if they are truths, to deny people the mercy they need. Elohim said He desires mercy, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. Hosea 6:6 Prejudices take many forms such as pet peeves, partiality, preconceived notions, cultural and hierarchy biases. Each one of us has experienced these, and unfortunately, been guilty of these. None of that concerns us more than doing what God has instructed us to do. If we are to improve our life skills we must understand God’s heart toward people and what He deems important with regards to our destiny. The salvation of man is more important than any agenda, any hatred or any sacrifice. We cannot serve the whole person if we teach them to be biased as we are biased. Our Lord wants us to rid ourselves of each and every prejudice and take on His heart for the salvation of His Children. Ask Him today to reveal each bias you have, so when you present yourself for service, you are only revealing God’s Heart for His Children.
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Write, A Person who has Self-control will Fortify his City Walls
I live in a city called Derbyshire. Its walls are fortified now but once upon a time they were not. They were broken through, then partially built again with children’s building blocks allowing them to be broken through again. Eventually there was not one stone on top of the other holding the walls in place. Everyone gained access! There were people coming in to plunder my possessions and raid my safe house. I even went out and gave away my possessions along with the contents of my safe house. Since I also wasn’t living up to my God given potential I was giving myself away. My walls were gone leaving my kingdom vulnerable. This was the beginning of my quest to improve my life skills to rebuild my walls.
I am not alone. I heard tell stories about bankruptcy and repossessions, credit card debt and homelessness. There are plenty of walls broken through today! It is the intent of this world to break through walls plundering your provision to build their walls. There are folks who want what you have and some will not be satisfied until they also have you. It does not have to be this way for anyone! Just as I told you, my walls are fortified now. I had to learn the hard way I cannot be all to everyone nor can I give everything away and build a fortified city for Elohim.
How is a wall built and fortified? It is done with self-control. Every stone laid is a stone laid with each temptation denied, each urge repressed, each commandment obeyed and each sin repented. I take seriously every verse in the Scriptures advising me to get control especially Proverbs 25:28. Self-control is listed last in the fruits of the Spirit because it takes every single previous fruit before it to gain control and fortify our walls. I have created an acrostic using WALLS to help us build our walls and over time fortify them with our unwavering control. Whenever you are asked to be invaded put up your WALLS to protect yourself.
Wait before you Part ways with your Current Stone!
Our stone could be anything from our money to our time. We already have this stone in our possession so let us appreciate its current value. It is ours to give or to keep. If we learn how to say ‘wait’ it will not kill us or anyone else to actually wait. People don’t like to wait so they will want us to hurry but we are going to wait. Rash decisions break down stones more than it builds them. The wisdom gained while waiting will bring us closer to God and a fortified city. Waiting allows us the time to analyze the stone.
Analyze the Purchase of this Stone!
The reason for waiting is to analyze your stone options. This step should never be foregone or our walls will never become fortified. Asking questions of our decision gets us closer to wisdom about decision-making. Why do I want this stone? Will this stone build my wall or tear it down? Will the wall remain fortified with this stone in place or will an undesirable person be given access? If we do not know the answers to these questions we are best to pass on this stone until we are wiser. Analysis needs answers to make a decision either to love it or leave it.
Love the Stone or Leave the Stone!
Waiting to do an Analysis results in a decision based on credible information. We have asked the hard questions and can come to a wise decision. We are either going to love the stone and purchase it or we are going to lose the stone and move on. Crucial to this decision is knowing this verse Matthew 5:37 because anything other than yes or no is from the evil one and will send us right back to where we started with all the same heartache and then some. Us women come by this hard but we still need to stand by this. The consequence of wavering on our decisions is what tore down our walls in the first place. Do not let this happen again! Analyze correctly then decide erecting a wall around that decision. Wait while analyzing for a wise decision will help us learn from our previous mistakes.
Learn the Lesson for Future Stones!
We are not perfect and will make bad decisions even after we analyze it and find it to be sound. The one important lesson we will learn is reasoning skills. Elohim tells us to come and reason with Him so we will begin to see His ways are the best ways. The lesson we learn is the Spirit will guide us into all righteousness. He is guiding us to make right decisions based on the future and today. Each of our decisions will either tear down the stones or build up the stones. Our walls depend on us learning the lessons built into our mistakes and our successes. Learning lessons from these will bring us into a state of control.
Self-Control Constructs our Stones into a Fortified Wall!
Building a fortified wall takes self-control and the result can only come from walking in the Spirit. Prior to the Fruits of the Spirit Paul tells us to walk in the Spirit and we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Self-control is the very essence of walking in the Spirit because it is the opposite of fulfilling the flesh. Our walls are built by the knowledge of our exact person in Christ and what He wants us to do to fulfill our predestined life for Him. Self-control in our daily living fortifies us.
The Derbyshire fortified wall has taken me many years to construct and I am fully aware it will take no time at all to tear it all down unless I protect it. I do not want you to be ignorant about the work it takes to build your own wall and the diligence it takes to protect it. There will be many years, many failures to overcome, many decision that seemingly break your heart, many kicks at the wall and many stones tumbling down but it can be done. You can write on your wall, a person who has self-control will fortify his city walls, rather than, Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.
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Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles!
I love the book of Proverbs because it is so clear sometimes it takes my breath away yet so vague it makes my brain numb! I read Proverbs 21:23 and was struck by the double meaning in this verse. I hit myself on the forehead in awe of how God teaches me about my errors. Let me tell you my story.
The Unguarded Story
I host a women’s retreat bi-monthly, I bought them some yummy chocolates knowing I have been watching my girlish figure and so has my mom, who was on her way to visit! We have had food issues for as long as I can remember! I put those yummy chocolates out at the retreat then when I got home, because my mood was such that I was weak, I put them out again. After teaching all day I was exhausted and vulnerable. Previously on my way home I had a chat with myself regarding my tongue so I would not say something in my weakness to offend BUT I should also have had a chat with myself about my mouth too. I guarded my tongue but not my mouth! Not only did I fail to protect myself but I also failed to protect my mother by putting her into the same temptation! Oh, how I long to get the drive to my house back to speak to myself again for my soul now has trouble! When my soul has trouble I have only two choices, I can harden my heart to the trouble or I can relieve it by righting the situation!
Hardened heart cold soul!
Hardening our heart means we are turning off our feeling of love for others and turning in to self! Maintaining our pure feelings for others is not easy and the Words of God never say it is! There are lists of what the result of a hard heart looks like in man. These scenarios happen from time to time in the Scriptures. When I harden my heart I don’t care about putting people into temptation nor do I care whether people have hope. My feelings are more important than you therefore your feelings don’t matter! This is not a permanent choice I will make as a follower of Jesus! I may make it initially because I am human filled with sin but the skills I have learned from Elohim will not allow me to put my own selfish soul in front of my mothers or anyone else’s. If we profess to love Jesus this is the only stance we should take therefore the only thing left to do is right the situation!
Guarding my mouth and tongue!
I didn’t guard my mouth so well but I will make amends with my tongue because my soul has trouble! I know my soul has trouble because the Spirit is pinching it. If your soul never has trouble than I can say with all honesty Satan controls your soul but if it even has the slightest trouble the Spirit is taking control. When the Spirit has control He leads us with a soft heart for people and ourselves. He not only helps us to see what we have done but He provides us with a way out! The way out includes the vision for a future hope of this not happening again affectively avoiding future soul troubles. These plans are called ‘setting up boundaries.’ This is a life skill many fail to establish and if they do they fail to protect them! The Spirit pinches us about the offence then He draws our attention to a verse we have read before then with our remembrance of said verse we become aware of the gravity of our offence. Our soul becomes so troubled we begin to cry out for relief. This is when we know for certain we have chosen them over us!
A Permanent Guard!
It makes complete sense we should get to this place if we are a child of Elohim but our goal should be to never get to this place again by setting up a boundary/rule about this situation or others. Perfecting the life skill of setting boundaries will serve you well in the future. Adhering to boundaries takes practice and determination but the clear speaking of it is the very first step. If we look at my situation clearly we can determine I was vulnerable from a whole day of teaching plus the days before from prep work! My mind was exhausted, but not dead, therefore I was able to make positive decisions such as talking to myself about my tongue but my mouth was left unguarded therefore I made a bad decision in regard to what was going into it. I still snapped at my husband but I was quick to apologize never to do it again on that night because I had talked to myself. I had the wherewithal to guard the output but not the input.
A way out and a way never!
I have the way out of this situation (make it right) but I must come up with way for it never to happen again (put a guard up for my mouth). I will not fool myself into thinking I can cure this particular soul trouble over night, as I told you food has been a problem for my mom and I for as long as I can remember. Reality has to remain a factor in setting boundaries and maintaining them effectively. Since, I am effected by this exhaustion for days before and the night of, I must hold to a mouth and tongue boundary for several days before as well as on the very day. I bought the said junk food the day before the retreat without the prior plan to buy it, my first mistake. It was a quick decision based on a lack of a plan for this mindset, no plan was my second mistake. To overcome the soul trouble resulting from brain exhaustion I will set a food boundary during this time – the buying of it and the eating of it! I will set this boundary while I am free from exhaustion and thinking clearly about what I should eat and what I should buy. Since my next retreat isn’t for two months I will have plenty of time to practice this boundary before the actual time arrives.
You know your weakness…
Since boundaries are about the yes’s and the no’s we have to discover our weaknesses and also discover what will work for us to overcome it. It takes practice to know what will work but you too can plan in advance what you will say or do during a weak moment. You alone (and the Spirit) know when it will occur and what it will take to overcome the event that will cause soul trouble. This is the very thing Jesus is talking about when He says, “To him who overcomes!” He knows we need reward but He also knows when the stakes are high we will come through. It is not about the deed it is about taking the way out and planning a way to stay out. To do this we must know who we are and what our weakness are and plan to tap into our strengths as our way out. This is something we are fully capable of doing when we use what God gives us plus making the choice to be an overcomer in the Kingdom of God!
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Perform My Good Word Toward You!
Recently Elohim has blessed me with reading two very different but similar areas of the Bible one right after the other. Take a few minutes and read Psalm 73 then Jeremiah 29:4-23.
Reprimanded by God
My Christian life thus far has not been filled with blessing as most people describe blessings. I have been stripped of every ounce of financial security, every reliance to my profession, every reliance to people, a church body to hang with, and most of my friends. I was in Babylon (a place of punishment and growth). I felt as if I was being punished for becoming righteous while others were prospering in their wickedness. Elohim kept reminding me it is not about them, it is about me! Just as Asaph is reminded in the Sanctuary of God, I am reminded in my deep place with Elohim, all men are reprimanded by God (Proverbs 3:12; Hebrews 12:6; Revelation 3:19) but some do not listen and harden their hearts to His Words. We are all to heed the call to be holy just as God is holy (1 Peter 1:15-16) individually and corporately. We become holy by allowing Elohim to reprimand us into holiness.
The Sin in and of the Body of Christ
In both Psalm and Jeremiah we will read of the progression of sin in Israel until Elohim removed the right for His people to live in the Holy Land. These are God’s chosen people who were becoming wicked rather than holy but, not only were they becoming wicked, they were condoning it too! I have to say, I did not go through all of these “70 years” of trial to condone wickedness from someone who professes to be Christian. Asaph learned the wicked would get there payment individually and Jeremiah learned corporately the wicked would be punished as well. There is sin in the Body of Christ that will be dealt with individually and there is corporate sin to be dealt with as well and God will do both but we a not to condone it from anyone in the Body of Christ.
Wickedness doesn’t just wake up one day and engulf the Body of Christ. It is brought in by an apostate or an imposter. They are allowed within the Body because the leaders/followers are afraid to stand strong for the Body of Christ. Our righteous anger doesn’t exist. We do not hate what God hates. The world has creeped into our holiness and we have redefined holy. We say it is acceptance rather than salvation. We say it is love rather than discipline. We have defined it as tolerance not hope. We have restated God’s good Words toward us and they sound nothing like the Words in the Scriptures because they are empty. They do nothing for the human race except condone sin. We know sin leads to death (James 1:15) but that seems fine to us rather than doling out correction causing them to go to God for guidance.
His Good Words will not Come Back Empty
Today, due to Elohim’s guidance, I am on the turn from the discipline of God because I have endured and overcome the trials set before me to make me holy. Romans 8:28 is a reminder for us of God’s Words working out for the good to THOSE WHO LOVE GOD AND ARE THE CALLED! Proverbs 16:4 tells us Elohim has made everything for Himself and He also makes those who are wicked, yes, He even makes the wicked for doom! Everything we see happening today is predestined to happen. Every person on this earth at this moment is predestined to be here, whether holy or wicked. The sins of the person and the sins of the corporate will get worse and it is up to us individually and corporately to make sure we learn the skills from Elohim to overcome during this time. His Words are what helps us overcome. His Words are what gives us the skills to endure and overcome and plan for the future. His good Words will never come back empty!
Know What His Good Word Is!
These skills for overcoming are all about knowing what Elohim’s good Words are unfortunately the world has redefined good but as Christians we need to know God has defined good as being and doing righteous. His good Words are His righteous Words. His righteous Words sometimes hurt our soul but they are meant to bring our soul in line with His Spirit. His good Word is like a sword to the wicked but His good Word is as a warm cozy blanket to the righteous. His good Word leads us to Salvation. His good Words teach us to love! His good Words give us hope for eternity. His Words are not empty. They are not subject to mood, time, situation or people. They are what they are and they are not changing just because we do not understand them. What God has said will happen WILL happen. He will perform His Word toward you! Are you listening?
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Diligence is a Man’s Possession
Do you work hard for everything? Nothing comes to me easily as I am sure the same is for most women. I have worked hard and long for the possessions I have. Nothing has been handed to me on a silver platter. I was not born to a rich family nor did I marry into one. Today, some folks may think they are entitled to riches and deserving of poverty because of who they are or where they live. Neither one of them are important because each one of them can change at the drop of a hat. The only possession we should treasure is diligence but some of us tend to use it only when we feel like it as if it is a book to be pulled off the shelf.
Whoever thinks life is easy is a lazy man!
If diligence is a book we leave on the shelf collecting dust we have deliberately given someone else a part of our life. Think of it this way. Knowledge and understanding are not things we can rely on other people for. We must learn for ourselves and get understanding on our own to improve our own life skills. Each act or discipline we learn contributes to knowledge and understanding therefore the less we do the less we know. Proverbs 12:27a says the lazy man does not roast what he took in hunting. This Scripture refers to more than just hunting meat. Elohim is saying the lazy man is the one who does just what is expected of him and even less. Those of us who think life is hard and complicated and convoluted are the ones who work hard to overcome each and every obstacle but those who think life is easy are the ones who start a job and never finish it because it got too hard. It is easy to hunt and walk away from the kill while others pick up the kill, haul it to the butcher then go pick up the prepared packages and cook it for you. A lazy man makes life easy for himself at the expense of his life skills but a diligent man takes possession of his diligence to gain knowledge and understanding.
Take Possession of Diligence
What causes us to be lazy? Think hard because it could be many things, or a combination: pride, jealousy, co-dependence, fear or habit. The list is endless for reasons and boundless in excuses. When we take possession of our diligence we are agreeing to work for what we want and improve our life. Proverbs 12:27b tells us diligence is a man PRECIOUS POSSESSION! Acting with all diligence does not always mean instant success each time but it does supply instant knowledge. Diligence doesn’t always continue in the direction started since correction IS heeded. Diligence sometimes resigns due to an understanding gained. Diligence may never results in physical possessions but always results in knowledge, understanding and wisdom that will ultimately result in knowing what we possess does not possess us. Diligence does not protect us from life it simply protects us from losing everything!
To Diligence Everything is Untouchable
When we take possession of diligence we see physical possessions as something corruptible. It’s the skills we’ve learned that are incorruptible therefore they become everything to us. We use those life skills to gain more life skills. When we get lazy and stop learning we forgo the skills to care for ourselves therefore we cannot take care of our loved ones. When calamity happens we blame others and never take responsibility for the calamity or even our own laziness. It is the fool who says, “I am lazy!” but never changes it. The only control we have in life is the ability to let our family know we care about them by using all diligence to meet the needs they have whether it is money, food, or love and encouragement.
Pay the Price for Diligence
Nothing in life comes without a cost; either we pay cold hard cash for it or calories. When we are diligent to make our family matter we do what is right for them to keep them safe from harm. The price for diligence is our own wants. The price for diligence is our won bad habits and the price for diligence is our own lame excuses for our lack of success in caring for our loved ones. When we pay the price there will always be a reward. The price is doing what Scripture so thoroughly teaches us to do. There is no other Book that can completely teach us how to live. As we get into the will of God we improve our skills to diligently overcome the issues of life. Each time we overcome a reward is credited to us toward life on the New Earth (Revelation 1, 2, 3). Heaven is not our permanent home, the new earth is (Revelation 21 & 22). Acting with all diligence teaches us to overcome knowing we will have rewards given to us when Jesus comes.
The proof of this is just a few verses away. Proverbs 13:4 The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich. Take possession of diligence on earth to gain your rewards for eternity!
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Stand in the Spirit by His Women!
Has the Spirit ever impressed something on you so much you cannot but do it! What about if it is information that is needed to drive you forward in your mission? What if it is something big? What if it makes your heart explode for people? I tell you I cannot but warn woman about what the Spirit is telling me. The Scripture we will discuss together is about perilous times. It is about the state of all mankind but what is important is what is going to happen to women during this perilous time. Let’s read together 2 Timothy 3.
A Warning of Perilous Times for Women
I cannot warn you enough about these perilous times. They are happening now. From verse 1-9 we are told of the kind of people who will fill the churches. Paul lists all the characteristics of mankind in this perilous time and we read it thinking surely these people are heathens, the people who do not know God. Then we read verse 5 and are stunned to find out these people profess to be Christians. They have a form of Godliness but deny it’s power – these heathens are Christians! Are you warned yet? That’s not all! These heathen Christians (HC) are creeping into our homes and leading silly or gullible women away captive. I hate to say this but I am seeing this today! Women are being held captive by HC’s all the time. One of the main characteristics of these silly women is that they learn and learn and learn but can never come to the truth. Why? They are laden down with sin and led away by various lusts. I am sick to death to know the women I know and the ones I don’t know yet will be led away by these HC’s. How do I know this? I’m already seeing it! There is good news though – their folly will be manifested to all unfortunately it will be too late for some because they will have already been deceived and hurt beyond measure. Now that you know this information, I implore you to take steps to make sure none of this happens to our women. Paul (as does God) gives us a way out, an escape, if you are already caught, or a preventative measure so as to never get caught.
Heathen Christians Persecute Christians
Paul uses himself as an example of being delivered by the Lord from persecution (10-13). He tells us we will suffer persecution from our fellow HC’s. These evil men and imposters will get worse and continue deceiving and being deceived. As a result the persecution will get worse for those who love God and want to mature in the things of God. The escape begins in verse 14. Continue learning and be assured of the things you have already learned (and believed) because you have learned them from a reliable source, if indeed you have learned from the Scriptures and Godly teachers. From your immature Christianity until now you have been learning the Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for Salvation through your faith in Jesus the Christ. Paul is saying we aught to be going from milk to meat using the Scriptures as our number one learning source to gain wisdom, and because we have faith in Jesus we know the Scriptures to be true. He again tells us how important Scripture is to those of us who belong in the Kingdom of God. Verse 16-17 are the way out, All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. The way through persecution is the Words of God (see Our Weapons for War). The escape from silliness or gullibility is the Words of God (See Who Will Teach Me to be Mature).
Be Spirit Minded for Your own Safety
Can Paul be any clearer? Can I be any clearer? Can God be any clearer? Perilous times are coming for those who love Elohim and the way to be equipped to deal with those times is the knowledge of Scripture. Scripture teaches us skills the human race wants to divest us of. Our skills for life in this world will come from someone, wouldn’t you rather they come from Elohim than man. How will we stand by our faith if we do not know the Man we have our faith in? How will we sing Psalms of worship if we don’t know the God we are worshipping? How will we feel the Spirit in us if we quench Him with our ignorance? Perilous times do not have to be perilous for those who believe! Please women, be proactive, be vigilant, be wise, be Spirit minded for your own safety and those who already are proactive, vigilant, wise and walking in the Spirit pray for those who are not. It is time for women to stand together because this will happen to us and we will have no one to turn to but each other. Knowing this get yourself ready to stand in the Spirit with power alongside His women!
