Bold Believers

1 Thessalonians 2:2, 8

2 They must not speak bad of anyone, and they must not argue. They should be gentle and kind to all people.

8 What I have told you is true. Teach these things all the time so those who have put their trust in God will be careful to do good things. These things are good and will help all men.

Colossians 4:5-6

5 Be wise in the way you live around those who are not Christians. Make good use of your time. 6 Speak with them in such a way they will want to listen to you. Do not let your talk sound foolish. Know how to give the right answer to anyone.

Being BOLD BELIEVERS can be very difficult, especially if you have been wronged or are in a situation that you feel weak.  We want to do 1 of 2 things:  1. run and hide, or 2. face that issue head on, not reflecting God’s love, but your  Earthly anger.  

I’m currently working through a Beth Moore study titled “Entrusted”.  She broke down the word COWARD for us last week.   This word came from coe "tail," or from Latin coda, popular cauda “tail”.  Think about what it looks like when you see a white cotton tail hop across the road as you are driving.  What does it do?  It runs as fast as it can the other way.  All we see is the white little bob jumping into the nearest bush or brush.  What does the enemy want us to do when we are faced with an obstacle in our lives?  He wants us to RUN and drive us away from what God has created us to be.  

Being a BOLD BELIEVER means to be wise in our actions and reactions, speak with confidence and strength so that they may feel God’s love and want to know more about Him, be meek and humble, but yet strong about God’s will.   Some of the seeds you plant, you may not see grow.  However, you have scattered God’s seed.  He will continue to nurture that seed through other disciples in that person’s life.  Let go of the negative feelings and let God’s love bring you closer to Him.  God doesn’t want us to live a life of regret and worry.  He wants us to truly trust Him and rely completely on Him to carry us through those tough situations.  Be a Bold Believer!

Be Blessed!

Live Loved

1 John 4:7-8, 11-12 (HCSB)

Knowing God through Love

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 

11 Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us.

Zephaniah 3:17New Life Version (NLV)

17 The Lord your God is with you, a Powerful One Who wins the battle. He will have much joy over you. With His love He will give you new life. He will have joy over you with loud singing.

“Live Loved.”  I have seen this phrase a few times in life, but really had time to stew over it the last few days.  I’m currently reading Uninvited, by Lysa TerKeurst.  In Chapter 3, which ironically is titled “There is a Woman at the Gym Who Hates Me” (I live in the gym 4 mornings a week.), it really talks about “living loved”. 

There are so many time that we “think” too much into situations.  In fact, I can probably safely that most of what brings us negative feelings comes from our own thoughts of making something more than what it actually is.  I say this A LOT… your worst enemy is yourself/aka your brain.  The biggest battle is in between your 2 ears.  

So what does “living loved” mean?  Dropping the negative thoughts, not letting the mood of others drive your emotions, and letting go of past rejections/hurts.  

God desires for us to live a full life with love.  Love comes from HIM.  Love fills us with what HE wants us to be filled with.  How do we do this?  By making letting HIM make small tweaks in our daily lives.  Again, how do we do this?  Letting Him pour into our daily lives is both easily done, but also takes dedication.  Suggestions:  carve time out daily to sit and be in HIS word, find a good devotional or reading plan to follow (I have suggestions if you don’t know where to start.), listen to a Christian station to and from work (because we all know that negative vibes happen a lot while at work), PRAY, and looking for HIS goodness throughout the day.  

Lysa states, “I’d say, I put God first in my life, but give all my first moments of each day to checking my text messages rather than checking HIS message.”  

Go out today and LIVE LOVED!  

“Live from the abundant place that you are loved, and you won’t find yourself begging others for scraps of love.”

God's Mission

John 15:16New Life Version (NLV)

16 You have not chosen Me, I have chosen you. I have set you apart for the work of bringing in fruit. Your fruit should last. And whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give it to you.

3 years ago, I was given a task that seemed easy.  However, I struggled/fought with it for months.  What was my purpose?  We have all been blessed with titles such as wife, husband, mother, father, daughter, son, friend, mentor, teacher, etc.  Those titles come to us and we begin to fit into that “box”.  That title starts to define who we are as a person and what we do in our actions.  So, why was it so hard for me to define my purpose?  I had to really dig deep to excavate this purpose.  I had limited myself to being a wife who takes care of her husband, a mother who comforts her children, and a teacher who, well, teaches.  Something was pulling on my heart to do more with those titles/blessings.  

God gives us all a mission.  He looks at all of us the same (Galations 2:6b), but places us together on this earth to accomplish something different.  Breaking beyond our comfort zone is hard.  Chiseling away at who I had become to make something better for HIM was and still is NOT easy.  However, I have discovered that wherever my journey takes me my purpose is the following:

“I do life with God so that I can do more and be more for my family and others around me.”  

Through the hardest times, His hand was placed on my heart.  He always guides me through those valleys.  You see, 3 years ago, my father was towards the end of his journey here on Earth.  I really reflected on him and all that he had accomplished in his lifetime.  He was more than a husband, a father, a son, a brother, an uncle, a pharmacist, a friend…the list could go on.  He was more than those titles.   He was a man of God and walking God’s mission in his life.  

What is your purpose?  What is your mission?  Take time to meditate on those thoughts and truly listen to HIM.   

Be Blessed!

Realignment

2 Corinthians 13:5-9The Message (MSG)

5-9 Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won’t show that we have failed. But if it comes to that, we’d rather the test showed our failure than yours. We’re rooting for the truth to win out in you. We couldn’t possibly do otherwise.

We don’t just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on to celebrate every strength, every triumph of the truth in you. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives.

re·a·lign·ment

1 the action of changing or restoring something to a different or former position or state."the scheme will require the realignment of local roads”g

The past week has been very busy.  I knew going into the January month that life was going to be on the fast track.  I knew that I was going to really need to be strong with juggling life and being the best wife and mom I could be.  After the weekend flew by, I realized that I didn’t do anything to really carve out time to spend with my kids or my husband.  I spent more time working on things that are important, but could have been pushed aside for the moment.  

Very quickly the voices in my head started chiseling away at my emotions.  They were stating that I had failed, I wasn’t good enough, and that I was a disappointment.  I actually started letting those voices win.  But then I had

to give myself grace.  I needed to be honest with myself.  Being honest with myself realigns my thoughts and actions.  

So realignment of my actions and thoughts is what I’m doing.  What do I need to adjust so that I am a wife that gives her utter attention to her husband after the kids go to bed?  What do I need to do to make sure my kids have my complete attention?  Where do I set boundaries?  Being honest with myself is going to help me move forward and be better for my family and others.  

Hearing this song tonight helped and I hope that helps you as well. 

The Voice of Truth - Casting Crowns

Be Blessed!

Seasons

John 15New Life Version (NLV)

The Vine and the Branches

15 “I am the true Vine. My Father is the One Who cares for the Vine. 2 He takes away any branch in Me that does not give fruit. Any branch that gives fruit, He cuts it back so it will give more fruit. 3 You are made clean by the words I have spoken to you. 4 Get your life from Me and I will live in you. No branch can give fruit by itself. It has to get life from the vine. You are able to give fruit only when you have life from Me. 5 I am the Vine and you are the branches. Get your life from Me. Then I will live in you and you will give much fruit. You can do nothing without Me.

6 “If anyone does not get his life from Me, he is cut off like a branch and dries up. Such branches are gathered and thrown into the fire and they are burned. 7 If you get your life from Me and My Words live in you, ask whatever you want. It will be done for you.

8 “When you give much fruit, My Father is honored. This shows you are My followers. 9 I have loved you just as My Father has loved Me. Stay in My love. 10 If you obey My teaching, you will live in My love. In this way, I have obeyed My Father’s teaching and live in His love. 11 I have told you these things so My joy may be in you and your joy may be full.

We all go through pruning seasons.  These seasons can be dark and stagnant.  In the midst of those seasons, we usually don’t see what HE is doing to mold our hearts.  We ask, “Why?”  The truth is, His vision for us is beyond our imagination.  “He cuts back so that it will give more fruit.”  

During those seasons, our survival tool is getting in the word and surrounding yourself with Him however you can.  “Get your life from me.”  He will “live in you”.  I listen to KLove and Way FM whenever I am in the car.  These are the songs that fill my heart.  You have to fuel your heart and mind with the good stuff.  Weed out the things that are not from Him.  

In time, you will be through that pruning season and you will “give much fruit”, in which He will be honored.  “STAY IN MY LOVE” and LISTEN TO WHAT HE IS TELLING YOU.  If you remember last week’s devotional, my phrases have changed from “have faith” to “holdfast” to “be faithful”.  What you can’t see on this screen is the pruning season I went through and the fruit that has come from that.  I will go through another pruning season in the future, that is inevitable.  However, I’m embracing this fruitful season.

What season are you in right now?  How are you living in that moment?  Reflect on those questions and truly ask HIM what HE wants you to hear and live during this time.  

Be blessed!

What's your word?

“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.”  Hellen Keller

Over the last few years there have been seasons in which I have felt God giving me one word or small phrase to hold onto.  For example, about 2 years ago it was to “have faith” - 

Galatians 6:9 “Do not let yourselves get tired of doing good. If we do not give up, we will get what is coming to us at the right time.”   

Then it became “holdfast and trust” - Isaiah 40:29-31 “He gives strength to the weak. And He gives power to him who has little strength. Even very young men get tired and become weak and strong young men trip and fall. But they who wait upon the Lord will get new strength. They will rise up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired. They will walk and not become weak.”  

Now I feel that He is calling me to these 2 simple words, “Be Faithful”, which brings me back to 1 Thessalonians 5: 5-28, these are the verses I referenced last week.  The difference between “having faith” and “being faithful” can be difficult to weed through.  However, one shows possession and the other shows action.  I have entered a season in which He is wanting me to be active.  Do I know what that is?  No, but I know that if I listen hard enough, look with a clear vision, and keep pouring myself back into His word, it will be spoken.  This is a beautiful thing…”it cannot be seen or even touched”, it will be spoken within my heart.  

What is your word or phrase during this season?  What verses tie into it that help you better understand that season?  Find your word or phrase and then tie it to a verse.  Place that verse on your mirror in your bathroom.  Let it be one of the first things you see in the morning and one of the last you see at night.   

Be Blessed! 

The Mess Around Me

1 Thessalonians 5:5-6

5 For you are children of the light and of the day. We are not of darkness or of night. 6 Keep awake! Do not sleep like others. Watch and keep your minds awake to what is happening. 

1 Thessalonians 5:11New Life Version (NLV)

11 So comfort each other and make each other strong as you are already doing.

1 Thessalonians 5:14-16

14 We ask you, Christian brothers, speak to those who do not want to work. Comfort those who feel they cannot keep going on. Help the weak. Understand and be willing to wait for all men. 15 Do not let anyone pay back for the bad he received. But look for ways to do good to each other and to all people.

16 Be full of joy all the time. 17 Never stop praying. 18 In everything give thanks. This is what God wants you to do because of Christ Jesus. 

I feel like the older I get the more my eyes are opened to the world around me.  I see more messes in and around me.  As I scrape the surface of others’ stories around me, I see hurt, pain, anxiousness, and so much more.  As I dig deeper in my faith, I see a tangle of mess inside of me.  However, is it truly because I’m getting older, OR is it because I’m closer to God.  Is God opening my eyes to the mess around me so that I can pray for them?  Yes!  Is God wanting me to help others when they are needing strength and comfort?  Yes!  Is He wanting me to reach out to the needy and give what I can, whether it be a meal or money or just to listen?  Yes!  Is He wanting me to give Him my mess?  YES!

So, I could sit and worry about the messes around me, OR I can lift them up in prayer as I see them.  Then I can take what God places on my heart and put it into action.  Worrying about the messes doesn’t get anyone anywhere.  Stop and pray! 

If We're Honest (Lyric Video)-Francesca Battistelli

Be Blessed!