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Strategies that Count!
Are you thriving? Are the strategies you use for life bringing you closer to your life’s goals or are they bringing you further away? Are your life skills presenting you as having control over your life or are they showing your inability to use wise strategies to accomplish your dreams?
The world will have us believe that if it is good, it is good for us! I will submit to you that Paul had it right when he spoke to us in 1 Corinthians 10 verse 23. All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. The things that we do daily speak to who we want to be and how we want to live. The Word of God can transform our decision making so drastically that we will understand exactly what Paul means when he says not all things are helpful to us nor are all things going to edify us. With that in mind how do we get closer to our goal? How can we live a life abounding in self-control?
The Truth Leads us Closer
To get closer to our life’s goals we need to understand what Biblical strategies are available to us from the Word of God. The fear of God is the beginning of the knowledge (Proverbs 1:7) we need to implement the Biblical skills used to direct our lives closer to our goals. Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him,in John 8 verse 32 “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” As hard as the truth is sometimes it brings us closer to our goals rather than the lie that says we can have anything we want, any time we want!
Self-control is a Fruit
Once we begin to pull Biblical strategies from the Word of God we begin bearing fruit. Before we realize an internal fruit appears called self-control, among others. Galatians 5:22-23 lists all the fruits of the Spirit. He reveals to us all the strategies we need to use to make our decisions then He fills us with love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. These gifts from God then become part of our strategies for life. We can turn our whole life around with these internal fruits of the Spirit spearheading our life closer to our goals.
Choose Life in the Word
Choosing life in the Word of God will transform the skills from God’s teachings into solid Biblical strategies that will improve our life. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us how important Scripture is in our life. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That says it all! Of all the choices we will make in our life this will be the most important one.`
Do you want to get closer to your life goals? Do you want to present yourself as having self-control? The choice is pretty clear to me! Let us get in the will of God together to thrive!
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Let Him Choose!
Elijah, the prophet of God Almighty, killed 450 prophets of Baal and believed at this time that he alone stood for God (1 Kings 18-19). He was exhausted and ready to give up. He went up to the top of carmel and put his head between his knees waiting for the rain to come. It came but it poured down more than just water. Elijah had to run for his life to Bersheba. God ministered to him there but he was still running under the impression that he was the only one. It is a great encouragement to know that God has a plan and you are not the only one working it but until you know you are still alone. God asked Elijah what he was doing in Horeb. He told God he alone is zealous for Him. God, before He told Elijah about His plan first showed him His glory then He informed him he is not alone.
Elijah built his ministry by himself. He walked by himself in the zeal of the Lord! He alone went against Jezebel. He looked around and listened but there was not anyone with this same zeal. I feel like this sometimes. I feel like I alone am filled with the zeal of God and it is draining sometimes. Over this couple of weeks I have seen that Jesus has spoken the same words to others as He has spoken to me. He is training me with the same instruction He is using with others. He is showing us His glory before He chooses our fellow workers for His cause. When we are ready He will unite us!
Sometimes we feel we are alone but when God tells us that He is going to do something He does it. We CANNOT do God’s works on our own and if He has shown us that we will join with others He has those others already chosen. He is moving them into place just as He is moving us into place. God knows exactly what we need in a partner worker to accomplish His Word. I am finished trying to pick my fellow workers I am going to let Jesus do that for me and see the wonderful people He adds to my life for the glory of God. He definitely has revealed to me that He can do a better job choosing His workers than I can!
Action Plan: If you feel alone you are in a good place because your aloneness will make you available to view the glory of God from the place where you can see it best. This week open you eyes and ears to what others are saying so you can hear how God is working just for you. Sometimes you have to reveal God’s plan for you even though you have discounted it out of barrenness. That is when God will reveal to you the work He is doing!
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A Change Maker not Making Change!
I am a change maker except I am making no changes in my community at least that is how I feel at this moment or rather a moment ago. Has God directed you as He has me that you will be a change maker but He hasn’t released you to make much change except in yourself. My innards are bursting to make change in my community! They are curdling with age though! I wrestle with what to do! I wrestle with how to do it! I am a wrestler at this moment not a changer.
God has taught me over the past year that I am a learner right now. I read the Word, I learn the Word and I read other books that help my mind get ready. BUT I wrestle with learning. I think I know enough! I think I can but apparently God has a different plan for me. What I learned recently to help me deal with this is – I cannot understand God’s plan for me because my feelings get in the way all the time.I know that He has a plan for me (Jeremiah 29:11) and I know that I am predestined to walk in that plan (Ephesians 2:10) and I know that He will finish what He started (Philippians 1:6) but my human feelings get tangled with the world. [She has my job, he is doing what I want to do, she is being used by God in the way that He will use me.] All of this gets the better of me sometimes making me feel unused and unwanted by God!
This is why He revealed to me that I am not focusing on Him. I have memorized verses just for this reason – to focus on Jesus and not on the world but I had forgotten why I was memorizing them. I recently came into a situation where I decided my feelings were getting the better of me so I started focusing on the verses I memorized. Amazing enough I was relieved of the turmoil and found peace again.
Action Plan: Last week we attempted to discover what it is that God has gifted us to do but what do you need to learn to be more efficient at that gift? Begin that process of learning this week but don’t get discouraged. It may take 12 years, like me, or it may take 2 before God starts using you in His Kingdom. Whatever the number the goal is to be ready to be the change maker that God has revealed you’d be!
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RIM 2: A Patchwork Called the Body!
Much like this Christmas tree I purchased in 2014 for my basement decorations, we are a patchwork of patterns and colours. Some of us have buttons and some bells. Some are cross-stitched and some are straight stitches. Some of us shine from the top and some of us hold the patchwork up for all to see. There are bells at every level and buttons as well. Each part of the Body needs to be sewn together to make the whole. For this tree to look like a tree it all had to come together at a specific place.So is the will of God for each one of us at each stage in our walk with Him. He puts us into place at a specific time so that we can edify the body at that given time with the knowledge and wisdom we have. He makes us the stand sometimes so we can support the whole. He makes us a bell sometimes so that we can sound an alarm to someone who is in sin. He makes us cross-stitches sometimes so we can be two places at once and straight so we can fly solo. He makes us a colour pattern so we can cause people to look twice and solid to be hidden yet blend. Sometimes He makes us a button so we can be in the gap to hold someone together. He has a clear plan for each one of us even if it is the weld on the stand. It is our responsibility to know what part of the body we belong. This is part of knowing the will of God. When you are in the will of God the body comes together but all it takes is one person in the body to stray from the will and the body becomes out of sink and can become fruitless but when everyone does what God wills them to do the fruitfulness of the body can be seen for miles. 1 Corinthians 12:18:27 describes this wonderful phenomenon that Jesus has put together.
Action Plan: Ask yourself this question this week – what is it that God has gifted me to do and am I doing it? If you understand this part of the will of God you will yield much fruit and help the body yield much fruit too!
