Learning Opportunities

Every time you blunder, stumble, fall, flub up, mess up, jack up, get hurt, get used or abused, IT'S A LEARNING OPPORTUNITY. 

It's never God's plan for us to experience these things and then just come away with no more sense than we had when it happened. Every time you hit a rough patch the Lord is waiting to see if you will come to Him and ask Him about what happened.  At first it may seem like He's blaming you for whatever went wrong in your life, but keep listening. God doesn't gossip about other people, but He does point things out to us concerning our interactions with others about  ourselves that will help US to be stronger, wiser, and more successful in our endeavors. 

The failure isn't in falling, but in FAILING TO LEARN THE LESSON from the fall.

YOUR DESIRE, YOUR CONFESSION, YOUR VICTORY!

You can’t determine your success by how you feel.  Remember, God’s Word  and promises are true no matter how you feel.  It just is what it is…TRUE. 

Flesh gives us instant results, but they don’t last. When we begin to work the Word, we don’t always see the instant changes.  That doesn’t mean things aren’t changing. Another way to see it is, as long as you have “feelings” that it’s not working, or you’re not making progress, that’s actually a good sign that you ARE changing and it IS working. (the enemy will always present his argument against you with the opposite of what is really true) God does His work from deep inside, in the place that isn’t visible.  But the changes that take place from deep within are being made from the core of who you are. Those are the changes that will last a lifetime and grow you into the person that you really are.

Right now the person you’ve become is really just a result of what you have been through.  You are now the sum total of everything that has transpired up to this point, whether it be decisions you made or things that have happened to you.  But the fact that you DESIRE to be better, is PROOF that inside, at your core, YOU ALREADY ARE WHO YOU DESIRE TO BE!  That’s where the desire is actually coming from…INSIDE OF YOU!  Agree with your desire to be greater because that desire is coming from the greater that is inside of you.

Acknowledge that it is hard, but CONFESS that YOU CAN DO IT. Acknowledging the challenge is good because it is a reminder of the testimony that is being built as a result of the situation. It keeps you out of denial. Denial says, “There's nothing wrong with me!" "It’s not hard!" "It doesn’t bother me!" "It doesn’t matter to me!” So don’t deny.  Go right ahead and acknowledge that, “Man! This is hard!”  “This ain’t no joke!” “This ain’t no punk!”  But guess what?  YOU ain’t no joke, and YOU ain’t no punk either!

 Confessing your ability THROUGH CHRIST is what will CREATE THE POWER TO CHANGE. Acknowledging the difficulty lets you take an honest look at what you’re dealing with.  But when you make confessions based on who God says you are and what His Word says, you make yourself STRONGER THAN THE STRONGHOLD, so that no matter how strong IT is, YOU ARE STRONGER.

Nothing is going to fall out of the sky onto you and make you Mighty Christian.  But what is going to create the Might inside of you is going to come from inside of you, out of your mouth, into the atmosphere around you, back into your spirit and manifest the power to change in your life.

Agree with God that you are victorious!

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A SHOT IN THE ARM #2

Every time you mention your "haters" you make them important. You draw attention away from yourself and what God is doing in you and you turn that very attention to them.   That's exactly what they want you to do! For you to use the power in your mouth to make them famous! Do you really want to do that?

If they were going to be known for anything on their own they would have done it.  But because they haven't done it, or don't feel capable, they wait for someone like you to come along who's making strides and progress, and they hop on your coat tail and linger in your shadow with drama in hopes of you being ignorant enough to share some of the stage GOD has given you with them.  Recognize drama for what it is.  Recognize envy, and jealousy for what it is. 

The worst thing that can happen to a "hater" is to have their antics COMPLETELY IGNORED by the person they are jealous of.  You being less of who you are won't make them more of what they need to be.  Don't throw away the price you paid for your anointing over somebody who suddenly has a problem with you.  When you were sitting, standing, working right next to them with a broken heart, with your spirit crushed, with your soul crying out for help, they didn't have enough discernment to even notice or enough God in them to care.  Don't you dare, give away your power or compromise what God is doing in you now.  Protect that which cost you everything!

IN LIGHT OF THE WORD

It's not enough to just speak positive over your life.  Remember, when you speak, don't speak in light of your feelings.  Feelings change from one minute to the next. If you base your words on your feelings, your words will change right along with your feelings, back and forth between bad and good, negative and positive. You can't speak in light of your past or anything bad or good that has happened. When you think of something good that happened, you'll remember something bad that happened right after.  When you think of something bad, it sheds negative light on all the good.

 When you speak it has to be based solely on what the Word says.  The Word never changes.  No matter what happens, or what you're feeling, when you go back to the Word, it's still saying the same thing.  It's constant. Always true. Never changing.

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LEADER FROM THE BACK WOODS

 In the midst of some things around me going through major changes I began to feel a little bit lost. But God spoke to me and said, "You just keep coming to me and I'll anoint you above what's going on around you."

As I prayed yesterday morning and continued to surrender to Him in the matter He revealed to me, through me, more of what that really means.  I love how He causes me to prophesy to myself while I'm talking to Him!

Leaders emerge during times of crisis and uncertainty.  Leaders seemingly come forth out of the shadows, from the background, right in the midst of things coming apart.  A leader is someone who for a lifetime was "known", but in a moment comes forth almost as a stranger due to the fact that God will appoint and and anoint them in a way that was never seen before even by those who "knew" them. These leaders, make major IMPACT, and gain enemies from within their own camp, but because of the assignment and anointing they cannot be stopped or even hindered as they continue to walk in the Will of God.  Two such leaders come to mind right off the bat. (Understand that your assignment is not about you but is directly connected to the Will and Purpose of God being fulfilled)

David was completely ignored by his father when the prophet came to anoint the next King. (check out my previous blog) But Samuel sent for him and anointed him to be king in the midst of his father and all his brothers. David had what Dad Johnson used to call "backwoods experiences" that prepared him for his assignment of being King. When questioned by Saul he was able to refer back to the time when he had to kill a lion and a bear to protect the sheep. He took a lamb out of his mouth and then took him by the beard and killed him. It was because of what David did that nobody saw, that he was able to kill a giant who everybody feared, and kill him in the midst of everyone so that all could see.

Even Jesus, was raised up pretty much as a nobody, a carpenter's son, a commoner.  Even Isaiah said of him in chapter 53: "For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him." In other words we could have walked past Him on the street every day and never given Him a second thought or glance. But when He came forth and let it be known who He really was, the leaders of the synagogue and those who "knew" him were offended at Him.  "Is this not Joseph's son?" they asked. They couldn't get past the fact that He was raised in the neighborhood.  His father probably had made or repaired a piece of furniture for them. They knew his family and all his little brothers and sisters.  How was He suddenly announcing to them in a church service that He was the Messiah they had been waiting on?

As human beings we tend to make the mistake of thinking and believing that God can't use us because of things we've done, and things we've been through.  We believe that someone else is better suited to lead out for whatever reason.  We've spent so much time in the background that we've forgotten the visions, the dreams, the words spoken to us by God of what He plans for us. We forget, or maybe some are never told that what we are going through is just the preparation for the fulfillment of everything God said. We mistake our backwoods experience for a tomb where we should bury the promises of God and the call of God on our lives.  

We tend to think that with every hurt and disappointment we are becoming more and more disqualified for use. But God is the opposite.  He chooses us because of the things we've done and been through.  He has the power to take what happened in the shadows and use it as an instrument to bring deliverance, salvation and healing to masses. God is saying that with every moment you spent in obscurity He was making deposits into your spirit. Every moment you spent feeling like you weren't strong enough to take another step, He was building your spiritual muscles. Every tear you shed He took it and converted it to anointing oil to be poured out upon His people. Every moment you spent alone, wishing you didn't have to be, was a moment He used to teach you  the power of His presence. 

And in a moment when you least expect, He calls you forth out of the shadows, out of the backwoods, into the forefront, to be the leader He told you that you would be years ago.  This moment when you feel the least qualified, God says to you that after reviewing your bio, your resume that He Himself wrote, He has decided that you are the one for the job. Your assignment begins now. Your season changes today.  But fear not because not only is He with you now, and not only will He never leave you, He was with you in the darkroom developing your character for the assignment ahead. He was with you in the wilderness.  He was with you in the backwoods.  Read back over your own bio, and agree with what God has written about you. Now go forth and walk in the fulfillment of all that He has shown you!

Who's Writing Your BIO?

Have you ever attended a church service, program, etc, where someone who was introducing a speaker read their bio, and when the person got up they said something like, "I was looking around trying to see who they were talking about!"  Because even though that is them, and even though they did accomplish and do all those things, and more, when they heard someone else say it, it sounded too good to be true, and it sounded to good to be...them.  It really did sound like they were talking about someone else!

That's what just happened to me when I read the draft for my BIO someone wrote for me.  This young lady has had only two conversations with me but because of the gift that works in her and what she saw and learned from those two conversations with me, she was able to draft a bio for me that makes me feel like I have to live up to it!  It almost makes me want to say, "Take some out! It doesn't sound true!"  Oh, but it is true.  That's all me!

It's the enemy's job to downplay everything about you that will bring glory to God, and make major impact on others.  He wants to downplay everything about you that will help break bondage, bring enlightenment, breakthrough and understanding to someone. It's his job to bring thoughts to your mind or use others in a way that may cause you to second-guess yourself, even though you are operating in that which God has called, appointed and anointed you to do. It's unfortunate that for too many of us, it's so much easier for us to agree with and be side-tracked by what he's saying about us than it is for us to agree with and continue walking in what God has said about us and to us! 

Other people often see so much more in you than you see in yourself.  Have you not been complimented and found yourself having a hard time accepting what they say?  That has happened to me more than once.  I've been complimented on things that I don't even think about, like my stature, or my confidence in my height and stature.  I've been told on several occasions that I carry myself like a queen.    I thought I had ugly feet until I was about 35 years old when a young man told me I had pretty feet. That one compliment literally changed the way I saw my own feet. But you know why it was a shock to hear such things about myself at first? Because I've spent so much time listening to  the devil downplay my beauty and stature by pointing out how much weight I've gained, the shape of my nose, or the imperfections I see in my skin and hair.  I know we're not supposed to be affirmation junkies, but sometimes a good sincere compliment can be just the booster shot you need to get back to looking at yourself and seeing the beauty and strength God gave you!

I believe this is why it is so very important for all of us to fight with everything within us against becoming stuck in a rut, stagnate, or locked into a comfort zone.  That which is comfortable and familiar can be the death of you and everything God has called you to be!  Those who "know you best" may be  the very ones who will resist your stepping out into the greater possibilities that God and life have to offer.  I've personally known people who live in Kansas City, Kansas but won't drive to Missouri, even though it is literally, down the street!  Or who will hardly ever even leave their county to shop or eat in another county, even though, doing so would only cause them to drive a few miles.  They fear the unknown, looking out of place, people who look differently, or they simply fear the interstate. They've either heard a few horror stories or made up a few of their own and use them as the perfect excuse to not expose themselves to anything outside a 5 or 10 mile radius.  This is exactly what the enemy wants us to do! Not just in driving, but in life in general.

But all it takes is one encounter with someone you've never seen before, and to see and hear that person's response to that which God has placed inside of you to rebuild that portion of your self-esteem that the enemy has been chipping away from you with his lies.  All it takes is for someone to hear your testimony, or listen intently as you passionately describe what you feel God calling you to do to reignite that fire in you that the enemy blew out with the wind of his verbal abuse.

All it takes, is for us to allow someone else to write our bio. I couldn't write my own bio because, although some people are,  I'm not good at  "tooting my own horn". But what I had written was so downplayed and generic that it did not sound professional, and it did nothing to present myself to the world as someone having something of value to offer.  As an author  my bio may be the only tool I have to draw people in to purchase my books.  So if my bio sounds like someone who  who doesn't know who they are, or doesn't feel like they  have much to offer, because I feel guilty about complimenting myself, I'll never become the best-selling author that I know I'm capable of becoming!   My  bio could actually hinder my own book sales! While I was writing my own bio, my problem was, even though I was doing the typing, I was letting the devil do the talking!  (My God!)  I was writing bad bio's because without realizing it I was actually allowing the devil to help write my bio. I was trying to advertise my gift but I kept falling prey to his idea that I didn't want to build myself up too much, or come across like I thought I was "all that".  But truth be told, I, you, we ARE ALL THAT!  We are ALL THAT God has said we are! 

I can think of a few bible characters who presented God with a devilish bio of themselves when He called them out to do something great.  Moses said that he was slow of speech.  (stuttered) God called Gideon a mighty man of valor while he hid, and even before he went and did what God told him to do he needed a few signs, just to be sure. Even Paul said he was less than the least of all apostles, as if one who was born out of time.  These people spoke and thought of themselves as less than what God could or should use.  How pitiful was the bio they wrote about themselves.  But look at how mightily God used them!  And then there was David's own father who took it upon himself to write David's bio to Samuel by not even acknowledging that he had another son.  It wasn't until the prophet asked the question, "Are these all your sons?" that he said, "Yes there is but he's outside with the sheep". But Samuel asked because he knew what God had said to him and the oil had not yet flowed, even though the other brothers looked like what he thought God should anoint as king. There had to be another son because God is not confused about who He chooses. So even though David's father had his own version of David's bio, God had already written His own and spoken that David would be king.

I will honestly say that some of the greatest compliments I have received have been from people I'd just met for the first time, or sometimes, from strangers who stopped me in public to compliment me. Those who know you and aren't jealous hearted can also speak to you about the great and awesome things God has placed in you. But you can tell when someone is a messenger of your enemy because even a compliment can be followed up with some type of criticism or something to downplay who you are.  These are not the people you will want to have a say in the writing of your bio! And the things they say are not things that you will want to include when writing your own bio.

Try something for me.  Choose a way to ask people you know what they would write about you if they were chosen to write your bio.  You will probably be presently surprised at how highly people think of you.  And if they think so highly of you, how much more highly do you think your heavenly Father thinks of you? How much more highly should you think of yourself?

TO THE NATIONS

I know that many of us have spoken of and heard it spoken of, "Going to the nations".  I always agreed with it.  I always felt that I was one of the ones who was called to minister to the "nations".  I imagined myself getting on and off of planes, carrying my little bags, being greeted by whoever was hosting me...A little bit glamorous I suppose. :-)  On my way to minister to the nations.  I felt like what God had/has placed inside of me was something to be shared with nations.  That it was huge and belonged to people all over the world.  I had no idea how I would come to the point of flying here and there, I just always pictured it in my mind as the only way to reach "the nations".

As years came and went, I felt less convinced that I was going to be getting on planes and going anywhere outside of this country, the grand old U S of A. A news story here and there, thoughts of being someplace and not able to get back home, you name it...caused me to even desire it less. 

But one day a hunger began to develop inside of me.  What was I to do with all that I felt I had to offer?  Sit and wait to be called upon inside my local church?  No.  The nations aren't in our local churches. That's family, friends, loved ones.  As this hunger grew I heard myself saying exactly what it would mean to me to "go to the nations".  I told my friend, "Honey I can upload a video on youtube and anybody in the world will be able to see it!  You can go to the nations with a youtube video".

Lightbulb.  That was exactly true.  Anything on the internet is open and free to the world, unless it's password protected or something.  Any video, blog, post on a social website, is immediate available to the nations. This really opened my eyes.  Why would any of us sit and complain about who doesn't want to hear us (not that I was complaining about that at all but just making a point) or not having opportunities to do whatever, when the WWW is at our fingertips.  People who you will never meet in person will watch your video, or read your blog without you even having to leave your bedroom (or whatever room your access is). 

The nations can be reached from your home, bedroom, on a bus stop if you're using a laptop, or anywhere you can get a signal for your phone.  Once you click the upload or post or enter button you instantly place whatever you shared at the fingertips of the entire world and all who God has ordained to partake of it.  Understanding this will make you think again before posting some things.  Thinking about who could wind up looking at it, listening to it, reading it, is enough to make you "check yourself before you wreck yourself"

The other day I checked the stats of this blog.  It showed me how many views of my blog came from which countries/nations.  This is what it showed:

Canada
11
Russia
3
Czech Republic
2
Germany
2Ireland
2
Jamaica
2
Lithuania
2
Singapore
2
Colombia
1

 

No bad for just 5 months.  So just in case you're one of those who, like I did, has begun to wonder just how in the world you're going to reach the world, let me help you.  It's called WWW.

 

TO THE NATIONS!