It's all there...

Sometimes, we operate in fear, uncertainty, an adopted mindset, hesitancy, distrust etc....and these characteristics will typically manifest how we approach the Kingdom with our needs. Where we ask and believe God for certain things and not for others

But the bible clearly teaches us that all we'll ever need and more is in God. All we have to do is ask!!!

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

Matthew 7:7-8 KJV http://bible.com/1/mat.7.7-8.kjv

Trust

“Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces” Psalms 34:5, NLT.

For many of us, it doesn’t take much.  Just a small amount of adversity and we are offended with God and ready to give up on Him. We don’t understand why He let things happen, and it makes us afraid to trust Him.

We even go as far as saying "if He truly loved us, He would do something about our situation". 

But yes....God’s mind is focused on, “I do love you, and if you trust Me, I will do something.”

If you trust and believe, He will keep His promise to you!

Understand that God’s not intimidated by your anger with Him. As He did with Job, He will speak to you from the whirlwind. So many of us are angry with God when He’s not the problem. 

In this hour, we must be fully persuaded and confident in the love God has for us like never before. We must be confident that He has a plan for our lives and His plans are good. If we trust Him, He will do what He promised He will do.

In the meantime, keep your glow. Maintain the joy in your stride. Don’t stop talking about the goodness of your God and His amazing grace because, He will escort you to victory!

Don't give in

God is watching over you, so don’t listen or give in to your fears. This is a choice. Trust God!!!! 

God’s promise to believers is that, no matter what happens to us, He is working for our good — if we love Him and follow Him.

In that case, we can stop listening to our fears. There is no difficulty, dilemma, defeat, or disaster in the life of a believer that God can’t ultimately get some good out of. There is no need to fear the future. 
Your fears reveal where you do not trust God.

Trust Him, then sit back, watch to see how He comes through for you.

Trust

It doesn't matter how hard things are now; things will look better for you pretty soon

Remember that sometimes we have to learn by our own mistakes BUT the good news is, God patiently waits for us so He can redeem us and renew our journey.

Trust Him...

Trust in Jehovah with all thy heart, And lean not upon thine own understanding: In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he will direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes; Fear Jehovah, and depart from evil:

http://bible.com/12/pro.3.5-7.asv

Relationships

Don’t settle for a relationship that won’t let you be yourself - Oprah Winfrey

This isn't just about a romantic relationship. This is about all kinds of relationships; friends, sibling relationships, parent-child relationships, work-related relationships etc..... If you always have to pretend to be someone else for the sake of being accepted or for status quo, not only will it be a really bad not-so-honest commitment of a relationship, it also leaves a huge opportunity for abuse, misuse and distrust.

Don’t sacrifice yourself all in the name of wanting to be loved and accepted, because if you sacrifice too much there will come a day when you will have nothing else that you will be able to give.

Relationships do not need promises, terms, and conditions. It just needs two wonderful people, who can trust, love, care for, think about and can understand each other.

Anything less or more than this is not the right relationship for you.

Happy Tuesday!

Out of control

What do you do when you find yourself in a situation that is long, hard, and out of your control?

How do your emotions play out?

You sit, pray, and watch God work. It is at these times that God desires our presence more than ever.

We typically want more of God when we face these times but also, God desires more of us too. He yearns for us just as much!

Ladies, these moments are opportunities for us to draw nearer and closer to the Father. Not just for answers or an explanation to our situation but to demonstrate our trust, surrender our weaknesses, and gain His ultimate strength.

Sit back and watch what God can do!

Fugitive of a Hardened Heart

It has been my prayer throughout reading this book that we would all come to see jealousy as a symptom of a broken heart.  Somewhere, we have come to believe the lie that our God is not trustworthy in His justice towards us.  The fallout of the untruth is that we cannot believe that God loves us, because our idea of His goodness has been skewed by life's difficult and inexplicable circumstances.

This scripture gives us the reason for our blindness in seeing the glory of God in our own lives:
Hebrews 12:14-15 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.

We can make the false assumption that the secret sin of jealousy is contained to our thoughts, hidden away from others.  Scripture assures us that this is not the case.  The moment we detect the bitterness of jealousy entering our thoughts, we must take those thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ.  If we do not, we are in danger of not seeing the Lord. We must intently examine our thought lives, to ensure there is no place for a bitter root to grow.

Heart Builders:

• How has jealousy made you fugitive, either as its perpetrator or its victim?

Exerts from our book - Living with Unmet Desires

Unfinished Business

Everyone, knowingly or not, comes into a relationship with the hopes that their significant other and their relationship will heal past wounds.  That's the unfinished business we bring to the table, unfortunately. Many of us carry wounds from our childhoods, and sometimes, as it happened to me,  the wounds manifest later, and later in life.

Growing up with the challenges that I had to face, and I am sure some of you had to also, or maybe you are still facing them; I recognized my heightened need for trust.  I found myself fearful of the end, or waiting for something to fall apart, or unconsciously yearning for uncertainty. 

Listen, there are no quick fixes to these issues that we deal with (these unfinished businesses), but God is the healer of all wounds.  If you give God the time, and your heart, He will fix you and restore your ability to trust again.  I'm not talking about the kind of trust that comes with the tiny bitty undertone feeling that someone is out to get you, to hurt you or to destroy you.  I am talking about the kind of trust that doesn't rely on human.  The kind that if human does fail you (and they will), that you don't automatically run into a cave and push blames or blame yourself for letting your heart go this far again blah blah blah, ....and then you start orchestrating ways to avoid people, avoid relationships, avoid commitment etc.... and before you know it, you end up old, bitter, mad and sad!

Ladies, if we don't deal with these issues, and attack them head-on; I'm sorry to say but we will continue to live a trust-less, fearful, lonely, dissapointed, controlling, depressing, .....life.  God desires us to be free, and full of liberty.

AND THE CHURCH SAID "AMEN"! :)

Trust Builders:

• What "unfinished business" have you inherited from your parents or relatives?
• How can you become strong in that area of weakness?

Living with Unmet Desires - Week One

What is Jealousy?
Envy, covetousness, resentment, suspicion, distrust; jealous resentment against a rival, a person enjoying success or advantage, etc., or against another's success or advantage itself; mental uneasiness from suspicion or fear of rivalry, unfaithfulness, etc., as in love or aims; vigilance in maintaining or guarding something; a jealous feeling, disposition, state, or mood: to be zealous, in a bad sense or envy; to create, to procure, jealousy, as of a husband, or an enemy, malice, emulation, envy, fervent mind, indignation (annoyance) to be hot and fervent.

 

According to our workbook (Living with Unmet Desires), jealousy is defined as the following things:

 

• Symptom of a broken heart
• Symptom of a deeper heart issue
• Unbelief that beckons jealous thoughts through the doors of our heart
• We are unable to think well of others
• Pure devastation in our relationships

 

The four core issues of a jealous heart:

1. God, can I trust you? This question is not do I trust you, its can I? This is much more personal. It’s like telling God that you have heard of all the great things that He can do and has done, but can you trust Him with your life? Specifically, you! Trust is a big issue for us because we have been broken and burned so many times that our trust radar is always up and on alert. We just cannot afford to go through one more hurt, right? We play this game with God as if he is just a regular friend of ours; which we share a secret with or some story and we start off like that… friend, can I trust you with this?

 

Trust defined: assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something: one in which confidence is placed

 

If we cannot place our trust in God, then we cannot believe anything that comes from Him. Trust and faith are joined together. They are both something that you cannot rely on your own strength for.

Our trust in God is something the enemy would LOVE to steal from us…. Psalm 22:9 tells us of when our need for trust began and with whom. Exercise on lower page 14 is what happens when our trust in someone is broken. These emotions that we feel is something that the enemy is looking for…because when we feel alone, rejected, and confused…then, he decides to come in with the lies.

  

2. God, do You love me? – LOVE – have to have it, right? This is something that most, if not all of us, yearn for…single, married, dating, whatever…. We all want to love, and to be loved.

 

5 different types of love:
Eros is a passionate love, between a man and a woman with sensual desire and longing. The Modern Greek word "erotas" means "(romantic) love". However, eros does not have to be sexual in nature. Eros can be interpreted as a love for someone whom you love more than the philia love of friendship. It can also apply to dating relationships as well as marriage. Although eros is initially felt for a person, with contemplation it becomes an appreciation of the beauty within that person, or even becomes appreciation of beauty itself.

 

Phileo, which means friendship in modern Greek, a dispassionate virtuous love, was a concept developed by Aristotle. It includes loyalty to friends, family, and community, and requires virtue, equality and familiarity. In ancient texts, philia denoted a general type of love, used for love between family, between friends, a desire or enjoyment of an activity, as well as between lovers. It is as the affection between two people drawn together in a relationship based on common interests.

 

Agapē means "love" in modern day Greek. It is the unfailing, selfless love that every single one of our hearts longs for. Agape is used in ancient texts to denote feelings for a good meal, one's children, and the feelings for a spouse. It can be described as the feeling of being content or holding one in high regard. The verb appears in the New Testament describing, amongst other things, the relationship between Jesus and the beloved disciple. This kind of love always considers the other person’s interest. The only way we can love this way, is if we are empowered by the Holy Spirit.

 

The problem with this is that we come to God with the understanding of what we have experienced love to be from the world…because that’s all we know. And so when God tells us He loves us, we have a hard time grasping the concept.

 

Storge means "affection" in modern Greek; it is natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring. Rarely used in ancient works, and then almost exclusively as a descriptor of relationships within the family.

 

Thelema means "desire" in modern Greek; it is the desire to do something, to be occupied, to be in prominence.

  

3. God, are You good? The question in the book is “what do you do when the person who we believed has disappointed us the most in the area of being good to us is God Himself? This is a great question! Then the other part of this question deals with the presence vs the presents of God. Is God good only when we get things from Him or is He just a good God all together? How much do you and I equate the goodness of God with our personal happiness and comfort?

 

4. God, are You just? You know we look at our lives and compare it to the lives of others and we start asking God if certain things are fair….are they just… etc.

Read 1 Sam1:1-8

 

Making the choice to leave the pit. How do we get out of it? With God’s help, of course. First we need to recognize who God is, and secondly, examine our feelings and emotions…and see if they agree and accept God for who He is.

 

This is the battle in our minds.

Self Builders:

• Are you honest with yourself that you have once in your life asked one of those 4 questions?
• What has been the outcome?

Pray and Trust

How do you come to prayer?

 

When we are in between flights, what do we do?  Read a magazine, read a book, make a couple of calls, text away... but do we pray? When we have a whole evening without any concrete plans, what do we do?  Watch TV, go to a movie, read another chapter in that book, check your personal emails, make more phone calls, text some more....but do we pray?

 

Realistically, there appears to be empty hours in our lives to pray, so there must be something else getting in the way of prayer than just being too busy!

 

Our ambivalence about prayer reveals to us what kind of God our God is.  God is not someone who just seeks our occasional attention, and waits for our occassional prayers.  He is not someone who can easily do without us and will be quite content when we are willing to spend a couple hours of our weekend talking to Him. If God were that kind of God, then we wouldn't experience so much tension when we enter into His presence to pray.  Those tensions come from the awareness that God is a jealous lover.

 

Deutoronomy 4:24 (The Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God). Moses said this to the people of Israel and Paul said to his brothers and sisters in 2 Corinthians 11:2, that he loved them with the jealous love of God.  God is asking for our total, undivided attention. Not only is He asking for our undivided attention, He is also asking us to trust Him whether things are going well or going against us. 

A great quote I read goes like this "The root of all sin is the suspicion that God isn't good or isn't good enough" (revised). In the times of pain, questioning, anger and frustration, you need to say to God, "I'm not going to stop believing in your goodness, but I've got to know you better. I'm not demanding that you do anything for me.  I'm coming to you just for you."

That, ladies, is an appetite for God.  That's seeking Him with all of your heart.

Prayer and Trust Builders:

• How have you learned to fit times of prayer and focusing on God into spare moments of your day?
• What troubling question do you wish God would answer for you?
• How can you practice coming to God just for Him, without demands?

Hang on 'til Joy Comes!

Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. — Psalm 30:5 http://www.joycemeyer.org/OurMinistries/EverydayAnswers/dailydevotionals/ I gained an excellent piece of wisdom through personal experience: do not be afraid of pain! As strange as it may seem, the more you dread and resist the pain of healing, the more you increase the effect that pain has upon you. An example of this truth happened years ago when I went on a fast for the first time in my life. God called me to a twenty-eight-day juice fast. In the beginning, I went through some really hard times. I was very, very hungry. In fact, I was so famished that I was in actual pain. As I cried out to the Lord, complaining that I just could not stand it any longer, He answered me. Deep within me I heard the "still small voice" (1 Kings 19:12 KJV) of the Lord say to me, "Stop fighting the pain; let it do its work." From that time on, the fast was much easier, even enjoyable, because I knew that every time I felt discomfort, it was a sign of progress. The rule is that the more pain is resisted, the stronger it becomes. When a pregnant woman goes into labor, the advice she is given by her attendants is, "Relax." They know that the more she fights the pain, the stronger it will become, and the longer the delivery process will take. When you are experiencing pain, do not fight it. Allow it to accomplish its purpose. Remember this promise, "they who sow in tears shall reap in joy and singing (Psalm 126:5)". Learn to endure whatever you need to, knowing that there is joy on the other side!

Be Suspicious of Suspicion

Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person – 1 Corinthians 13:7 I can honestly say that obedience to this Scripture has always been a challenge for me. I was brought up to be suspicious. I was actually taught to distrust everyone, especially if they pretended to be nice, because they must want something. In addition to being taught to be suspicious of others and their motives, I had several very disappointing experiences with people, not only before I became an active Christian, but afterwards as well. Meditating on the components of love and realizing that love always believes the best has helped me greatly to develop a new mindset. When your mind has been poisoned, or when Satan has gained strongholds in your mind, it has to be renewed according to God’s Word. This is done by learning the Word and meditating (pondering, muttering to yourself, thinking on it) We have the wonderful Holy Spirit in us to remind us when our thoughts are going in the wrong direction. God does this for me when I am having suspicious thoughts instead of loving thoughts. The natural man thinks, “If I trust people, I’ll be taken advantage of.” Perhaps, but the benefits will far outweigh any negative experiences. Trust and faith bring joy to life and help relationships grow to their maximum potential. Suspicion cripples an entire relationship and usually destroys it The bottom line is this – God’s ways work; man’s ways don’t. God condemns judgment, criticism and suspicion, and so should we. Love what God loves and hate what He hates. Allow what He allows and disallow what He disallows. A balanced attitude is always the best policy. That doesn’t mean that we are not to use wisdom and discernment in our dealings with others. We don’t have to throw open our life to everyone we meet, giving every person we encounter a chance to crush us. On the other hand, we don’t have to look at everyone with a negative, suspicious eye, always expecting to be taken advantage of by others. Trust God completely and man discreetly! Extracts from “Battlefield of the mind” by Joyce Meyer

Why do people quit on us?

We work in different firms/organizations/companies etc and we see different people come and go. And you wonder why folks don’t stay in a business long enough, and why they quit. There are a few reasons: Untrustworthiness: First of all, working with someone we don’t trust is a miserable experience. We lose the trust of others; when we act inconsistently in what we say and do, seek personal gain above shared gain, withhold information, lie or tell half-truths, and become closed-minded. Trust is like a mirror; when it’s shattered, it can be pieced back together again, but the cracks are still quite obvious. Incompetence: Secondly, the way to inspire confidence in people is not with charm or charisma, but with competence. When a leader is incompetent, she takes the focus off the organization’s vision and values, and places it onto her own behavior. If people working for an incompetent leader have a high degree of skill, they continually worry about their leader messing things up. If they don’t have experience, they won’t know what to do. Either way, productivity, efficiency and morale suffer. Insecurity: Lastly, good leaders do two things; a) they develop other leaders and b) try to work themselves out of a job. Insecure leaders never do that. On the contrary, they do not want to train people to reach their potential and be more successful than they are. In fact, they don’t want them to be able to succeed without their help. Anytime someone who works for them rises too high, they actually see it as a threat. People want to work for leaders who fire them up, not put out their fire. If they perceive that their leader is more concerned with maintaining their authority and protecting their passion, they’ll eventually quit and find someone else to work for. A man who has friends, must himself be friendly – Proverbs 18:24 NKJ No matter how good a leader you are, you’ll eventually lose people. When the relationship is over, you’ll go one way and they’ll go another. Sometimes, the decision may be difficult to understand and subsequently, you’ll try to cling on to them and control them. When you can’t do that, you’ll be tempted to cut them off, isolate and criticize them. If you are this type of leader, there is good news! You CAN do things to make yourself the kind of leader people want to be around, and when the time comes for them to leave, they’ll do it looking back with joy. Six principles: 1. Take responsibility for your relationships with others. When a relationship goes bad, initiate action and try to make it better 2. When people leave you, do an exit interview with them. This helps you discern if you are the reason that they’re leaving. If so, swallow your pride, apologize and take the high road with them 3. Put value on those who work with you. It’s great when people believe in their leader; and it’s even greater when their leader believes in them! 4. Put credibility at the top of your leadership list. You may not always be capable as there are times when every leader finds herself way in over her head BUT, you can always be trustworthy 5. Recognize that your positive emotional help creates a safe and secure environment for people. Therefore, think positively, practice right conduct towards others, and follow the golden rule 6. Maintain a teachable spirit and cultivate your passion for personal growth. Keep learning so you can continue leading!