iShineInMinistry

John 6:63 (NKJV)

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

Do you ever have those days when you feel taken advantage of or frustrated with fellow believers? You know they are in the flesh when they react to you and it keeps happening; however, you don't want to get in the same place they currently find themselves in...but you are annoyed. You talk to God in your flustered state knowing exactly what He will tell you and show you, but your bad mood just will not subside. How do you deal with these issues?

First thing is first- if you, like me, are capable of giving harsh words just to make someone feel bad or inadequate, DO NOT TALK...yet. We need to get our hearts and minds right first, so that our gentle redirect is just that, rather than a verbal throat punch. Pray, listen to some worship music, journal and adjust the attitude. We may just be a little more compassionate about the situation; however, do not become a doormat, that is not helping anyone when what they really need is to be exhorted in doing godly things and acting accordingly.

Next, set time aside and make sure there is no fatigue, hunger or other random hindrances that can easily make tempers flair. An environment that is not threatening (or too public) is the best way to go about this. Then, once face to face, begin the interaction with prayer so that the words of our mouths and meditations of our hearts are pure in motive and gracious. Finally...unleash the wrath! Just kidding- Kindly and lovingly discuss the situation with this person. If they are prone to making interruptions or being overly defensive, preface the conversation with the fact that your entire heart must be shared prior to them giving all the rebuttals, explanations and excuses for their behavior. If they do not concede to and continue to excuse all things, note that this issue may be much bigger than you and commit them to prayer...do NOT under any circumstances, act in the same manner, then you become a hypocrite, which makes your point completely invalid.

True godly friends want to grow in their walks and interpersonal relationships, so if you find that this creates a problem or chasm between you and your friend, keep praying! Our fleshy selves always want to be right and sometimes we will dig our heels in just to be the 'right' one. Do not be this person. Continue to be their friend, but make sure to use discernment when interacting, because you don't want to start feeling kind of fleshy often. Give it to The Lord, keep giving it to The Lord! Feeling kind of fleshy happens to us all at times, but remember we do not want to stay in that place!

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Sometimes friend do need to be corrected and exhorted in the ways of the Lord; make sure your heart is in the right place when doing so…

Matthew 9:35-37 (ESV)

And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

It is the New Year and more than likely, you have been enlisted to become the accountability partner of one or more ladies that have decided, “2015 is the year that I will/will not ______(fill in the blank)” I know that this is a privilege, blessing and honor that God would allow us to be such a large part of their road to spiritual growth. Whether they are trying to lose weight, grow in their prayer life, become a submissive wife or just become someone’s wife, we know that without the help of the Lord this will not go well. However; there is one thing that our Savior, Jesus, showed us in scripture when people clearly need help…have compassion.

When Jesus interacted with the people during His earthly ministry, He looked on the people, so full of sin and in need of guidance, with compassion. They desperately needed help and rather than wash His hands of the people, judge or be annoyed, Jesus had total complete, sincere kindheartedness toward them. When we are keeping someone accountable and in three months (or three hours) they call, text or email and say they have ‘fallen’ or ‘failed’ in the area they are trying to improve we too have an opportunity. We get to look on them with compassion, pray with them to continue in the way God has shown them and lovingly redirect them to the goal they had in mind when they began this year.

What an amazing thing that we ladies in ministry get to do…and not just at the beginning of the year, but every single day of our lives as we do the work of the ministry that God has shown us to do at church, in our homes, on the mission field, or at a ministerial organization. We have such an amazing chance to tangibly show the compassion of Christ to people that need to know that their Savior loves them and wants them to get to that place of healing, deliverance, growing or season of change. Please be encouraged and be an encourager as you have the opportunity to help someone stay accountable this year (and always).

1 Samuel 23:21 (KNJV)

…“Blessed are you of the Lord, for you have compassion on me.

Isaiah 43:19

Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

2014 has come and gone - there were many amazing opportunities for ministry, some great testimonies and possibly some setbacks that discouraged you as you served faithfully. Or, maybe you hit burnout and you feel guilty about not finishing as strong as you had hoped. Maybe you are still beating yourself up about something you did not do perfectly; perhaps you burned the turkey dinner after Christmas Eve candlelight services! Whatever the case, let us now turn our attention to the Lord and the New Year ahead of us.

2015 is here! What are you praying for this year in ministry? What is the vision that God has shown you for the people that you serve? Have you sat down and thought through this? Have you been praying about something new to do with the ladies at your church? Are you considering starting a specific Bible study or doing some major changes to an outreach or retreat? What has the Lord placed on your heart for this upcoming year?

This is the perfect time to sit at the feet of Jesus, fast and pray, then see where He will lead you to go. He always has an amazing plan and we ladies that serve get to be part of the inner workings sometimes! If you are feeling discouraged, saddened or like your season of serving is coming to an end, remember to keep these things in prayer and do not make a decision until you hear clearly from the Lord. He will be faithful to show you which way to go, if you need to add something new, take something away, enlist some new volunteers or take a season off from ministering. Whatever He shows you in this time, just know that He knows best, His plan is always the best way to go and it will be the most beneficial for His children, his daughters!

What do you feel like the Lord is showing you for ministry in 2015? Make sure to keep praying until you hear a clear answer!

Psalm 5:11

But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;

Let them ever shout for joy…

Let those also who love Your name Be joyful in You.

This week completely filled me with joy and anticipation as I listened to Christmas music, decorated my apartment, did a little shopping and attended Christmas festivities. Of course everything culminated with Christmas day, which was also my first Christmas in New York. The lights in the city were beautiful and I enjoyed afternoon tea at a nice hotel by Central Park. Then I watched Christmas movies for the duration of the evening. Now Christmas is over and I still want to watch movies, listen to the music of the season and not let go of all the wonderful things that make Christmas feel enchanted. The one thing that does remain after the Christmas tree comes down and the presents have all been unwrapped is the fact that Jesus is still with us and will always be with us!

We do not have to limit our excitement about Christmas to December. We should celebrate the blessing that is our Lord and Savior every single day of the year. We should sing praises, bless others, have abundant joy flowing out of us and live each and every day as if it is December 25th! How much more exciting would our lives be if this was our mindset every moment? How much more fruitful would our ministries be if we truly lived every day like it was Christmas Day? What if we were always filled with joy, anticipating amazing things from the Lord and always had the desire to bless those we come in contact with? How joyful and amazing our lives would be.

Maybe you don’t need to keep the lights up, listen to Christmas music or buy more gifts; nevertheless, you can still have that unexplainable joy that comes with this time of year. I hope we can all keep the light shining in everything we do even though December 25th has come and gone. Let us ask God to keep refilling us with His Spirit, gladness and delight even when it is no longer the most wonderful time of year!

Are you having post-Christmas blues now that December 25th is over? Keep the joy of the season all year long and ask God to show you how to bless those around you after Christmas is over.

Colossians 1:9-10 (NKJV)

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

I love when I hear of a new lady in the congregation or a high school-aged girl that has recently been saved. I enjoy being a person of contact as they begin their walk with the Lord to be a source of encouragement and discipleship as she begins her journey of faith. Do you love those moments when you meet those new believers or ladies that have rededicated their lives to Jesus? We can always see God at work and hear of His faithfulness firsthand as this new girl or woman recounts her story of the moment she said yes to the Lord. I love these moments because it is always an opportunity to pray for them to grow in their walk!

When you meet a new believer is the above scripture something that you pray over them? I love this area of scripture and want to make this my commitment for the upcoming year. I want this to be the desire of my heart for all of the ladies that I minister to throughout 2015. I want them to grow in all wisdom and knowledge, I want them to have spiritual understanding and walk in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. I know sometimes our first instinct is to ‘talk at them’ so that they hear everything that they need to about their relationship with the Lord; however, I think we must first be committed to keeping these ladies in prayer and also take the time to sit with them, get to know them and then ask the Lord how He would have us be part of their lives.

Sometimes we think of a new believer as a project that we will mold into what we think an ideal Christian lady should look like. I want all of us to take this scripture to heart and then pray for the new believers we come into contact with in sincerity so that they truly do increase in the knowledge of the Lord rather than what our minds think a ‘perfect Christian woman’ should look like.

Are you currently discipling a new believer? Is your heart for her what Colossians 1:9-10 says or a specific image of what you think a “good Christian woman” looks like? Let’s all commit to pray this area of scripture over that new believer in our life for the next three weeks.

Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,