iShineInMinistry

John 11:13-15 (CEV)

Surrender your heart to God,

turn to him in prayer,

And give up your sins –

even those you do in secret.

Then you won’t be ashamed;

you will be confident and fearless.

I love reading about the women of the Bible that had completely surrendered lives. Lately, I have been completely entranced by the lives of Ruth, Esther and Mary. Each lady demonstrates what godly character should look like on an everyday basis and they are fully devoted to their Lord, not what others may think of their actions and callings. They serve faithfully, walk the path that God has placed for them and seek Him with their whole heart as they do His will.

Ruth left all that was known and familiar to her to follow the path the Lord had in mind. She did not stay in a place of comfort or ease, but went on the journey that God gave to her so that she could be a godly example to us ladies. In her we see a surrendered life, filled with devotion and loyalty to God and family.

Esther took on a calling and surrendered her actual life to be used for the glory of God. Not only did she marry some guy that she did not actually fall in love with, but she also saved her people and went before the king (her husband mind you) to save them, knowing that her life was on the line. She simply said, “If I perish, I perish.” Could you live a life that surrendered to God, trusting and obeying when you had no idea what the outcome would be? We obviously know that she survived, but Esther did not know that as she walked the path God placed before her. What a life of faith and obedience!

Finally, Mary is obviously surrendered to God, calling herself a handmaiden of the Lord; she was willing to take her outward reputation being slandered and tarnished for the ultimate glory of the Lord as she gave birth to our Savior. Could you surrender to the point where people would judge and think ill of you, even if you knew that your calling was of the Lord? Would you risk your outward façade of being a “good girl” to do the will of the Father?

I encourage you to read each of these accounts in the bible (Ruth, Esther and Luke 1) and really ask yourself if you would fully surrender to Godand let Him take hold of your life. Ask Him if you are truly willing relinquish your rights and allow Him to let your life unfold before your eyes for His will and good purpose. He will search your heart and show you the truth; however, if you know the answer is “no” (and it is for most of us), pray throughout the week about how you can surrender certain areas of your life to Jesus and let Him move mightily on your behalf. You may be surprised where He takes you and how your life shines (or sparkles) for the Lord!

Listen to this song (one of my favorite versions) and ask God what you need to surrender to Him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsKw0c7mPhQ

Matthew 6:1 (NET)

Be careful not to display your righteousness merely to be seen by people. Otherwise you have no reward with your Father in heaven.

We are getting right to the heart of things in July, looking for a complete and total reset as we do the work of the ministry at iShine. We are taking a long, hard look at ourselves and making sure our hearts, minds and motives are in the right place. Last week, as we talked through remaining humble, a thought stuck in my mind as I was volunteering for an event. The question that we must all ask ourselves as we serve is, “Who is this for?”

I know that the answer to this question may seem pretty obvious to us; but we need to really ask ourselves the question, then let God answer. Are the things that we do in ministry for us, for people or for Him? Our sole aim should be to glorify the Lord, even if no one else sees or acknowledges our efforts. We should not do things just to make others happy or to get accolades or show off how wonderful we are, but we should do everything we do because we love Jesus and want to bless His heart as we worship Him with every part of our being. We should not do the bare minimum just to get by or say we were involved; we should have that servant’s heart, that desires to do all for the glory of the Lord and also come alongside our brothers and sisters as they serve and be a help to them (not out of obligation, but out of love).

The verse above speaks of the one that does things just to be seen by others. If your heart is in this place right now, I would encourage you to take a little break and get your eyes back on the Lord and heart back under His submission. He is the one that we want to please in the long run, not our pastors, missionaries, friends or ourselves. As we please the Lord, they receive the benefit, but it should not only be about being a pleaser of man or being popular in our social circles. I hope that you and I will always take the time to see where our heart loyalties truly lie as we serve our heavenly Father.

Proverbs 29:23 KJV

A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.

Remember when you first started working in full-time ministry and all you felt was inadequate, ill-equipped and nervous about making a mistake because you knew yourself and God could use someone so much better than you? Remember when you literally prayed about everything? From the perfect scripture for a counseling all the way down to the perfect color scheme for your bible study fliers? You were clinging mercilessly to the Lord, completely surrendered to Him and His plan, so thankful that He would bother to use someone like you...it was such a blessing to be where He had you!

Then, as you faithfully followed His plan, wonderful and miraculous things began to take place in ministry. People began to praise you for your diligence in being the Lord's servant. You started doing so well that the praises and compliments began to go to your head instead of to God's glory and a shift in your heart started to take place. Now, instead of being a dedicated servant, you are the queen of telling everyone else what to do and fishing for praise for other's who are truly doing the work of the ministry. You neglect ministry things that you deem "unimportant" and chase after serving opportunities that allow you to have spotlight, be seen and complimented. You have moved from a humble servant to someone that works in their own strength for their own agenda...in the midst of it you make sure to inject proper "Christianese" to give others the impression that you are there for God's purpose and not your own accolades.

Now before you get annoyed and stop reading, please know that this can happen to any of us. We can be so joyful and humble in one season, then not even realize we have morphed into a woman that has a spiritually elite attitude because of their ministry title. We all have to guard our hearts from this horrible pattern. If we don't, pride will continue to fester and then satan has us right where he wants us. Once we have brought ourselves up to a higher plateau, the enemy waits to push us off the spiritual skyscraper we have built for ourselves. He usually does it with a ministry-ruining sin and then we are brought low in the worst way possible. Most pastors and leaders don't plan to do the sinful things that eventually end their ministry life, but misplaced humility is the perfect way for satan to pull you off your self-made pedestal through sin.

So, as we serve and do the will of God let's always make sure that we are humble, constantly keep our hearts right with God and keep very short accounts of sin...especially the sin of pride! Let's remember that sweet, humble lady we were when we first began in ministry and always desire to have that same surrendered heart.

Happy serving!

Today is the final day in “Pray May”. Let us continue to seek the Lord all the days of our lives and grow in our prayer lives!!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NKJV)

Rejoice always,

Pray without ceasing,

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Lord Jesus, thank You for this wonderful month of prayer, where we got to fully draw closer to You and really sit at Your feet. I thank You for each and every single prayer that You heard; we know that You will answer, because You are faithful and true.

Thank You for each person and situation You laid on my heart to pray for and for giving me an attitude of praise and thanksgiving. I pray that I will keep this heart of prayer today and always, that You will fill me fresh with Your Holy Spirit and that I will continually desire to seek, love and serve You with all of my heart. Keep my heart focused on You and You alone. Be my strength, my song, my exceeding joy and the reason that I have hope…today and always.

Thank You, Lord for this month, for this time and for every good and perfect gift that You continue to give us each and every single day of our lives. We love You Lord and praise Your holy name. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Psalm 119:11-12, 15 (NIV)

I have hidden your word in my heart

that I might not sin against you.

Praise be to you, Lord;

teach me your decrees.

I rejoice in following your statutes

as one rejoices in great riches.

I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.

Psalm 119:107 (NET)

I am suffering terribly. O LORD, revive me with your word!

O LORD, please accept the freewill offerings of my praise! Teach me your regulations!

Lord Jesus, we know that there is a time and a season for every purpose under heaven and even the hard times are blessings waiting to be uncovered. We know that You have a huge, perfect plan and we thank You for the opportunity to be used for Your glory, even in trials and trying circumstances. We thank You for the end result of overcoming and enduring...we know You are faithful.

Lord we thank You that we can cling to the promises of Your word and that You are our refuge, our strong tower in times when we do not understand. In times when we are hurting, You comfort us, in times of heartache, You cover us. We thank You for the many ways You see us through the hardest times of our lives. We thank You that You are a gracious, loving Father that does not leave or forsake us.

We ask that You help us to fix our eyes on You and You alone in these moments so that we can continually have hearts of peace, hope and joy...even in the storms. We ️praise You Lord for the love that You pour out on us all the days our our lives. Help us to always remember that true, wonderful love in times of trouble. We love You and ️praise Your name...amen!