iShineInMinistry

So, it is officially the end of the year and our 365 days of great expectations is closing out. I hope that you had an amazing season with the Lord, learned more about His character, grew in your faith and trusted Him even more, having an excited and expectant heart for all of His wonderful plans. This year we also had a great journey with the single ladies praying every Sunday evening. Through all of the wonderful occurrences, times of prayer and fantastic experiences God was faithful to show up many times. I hope you learned a great deal about your relationship with the Lord and an abundant amount of new information about yourself. Here is what I learned.

 

1) God’s sovereign plan is amazing and it doesn’t matter how long “it” takes to get to the desire of your heart.

Many ladies joined me on a weekly prayer for our future husbands and two ladies actually got engaged this year! Some of the girls were able to start new jobs or go on new adventures with God’s provision and timing or do a myriad of other fantastic things. Some of us may have not gotten to get to the “finish line” with very specific areas of our lives, but that does not discount all of the other wonderful things that took place in 2017. Please take note of 10-25 lovely moments and memories from the year (perhaps one from each month) and thank the Lord for His perfect plan.

 

2) Sometimes by asking for something you want, you stumble upon the realization that you really do not want it after all, because it may not be God’s will.

As we draw closer to God, He begins to show us that He really is all that we need. Even through frustration, tears, heartache, sadness, discouragement and despair God will use things, circumstances, people and other seemingly inanimate things to bring us to the truth that God is our all in all. Sometimes it takes everything else getting taken away to see that…or sometimes we have the “aha” moment before we get to that point. Either way, that is a great place to be in!

 

3) Every single day is an opportunity to find joy, hope and greatness.

When you are truly trusting in the Lord, everything can come up roses because we know that God is in the details, whether or not we understand. God can stretch us, allow certain instances to happen or maneuver our lives in such a way that we will have to cling to His promises and choose joy in storms and hard times. When this happens, it gives us the upper hand over the enemy. He will not be able to throw anything at us that will thwart our faith or make our trust in God falter. Even as chaos ensues, we can find joy; not be in denial, but truly chose to be joyful and thankful in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for us in Christ Jesus!

 

4) Life is shorter than we think – make sure to tell people you love them!

Be a kind friend, a loving family member, a fabulous coworker, a listening ear, a prayer partner, a confidant, a genuine fixture in someone’s life. Be someone that reminds people that kindness still exists. Do it through God’s power and not your own strength. Do it without ulterior motives, do it without expecting something in return. Have the heart to be the hands and feet of Jesus and do all to His glory. Let your love abound so much that the overflow is a blessing to all those who encounter you!

 

I hope that you were able to find joy in this year even in the midst of all the mayhem; the sadness, heartache and craziness that we have seen take place over this year. I know that sometimes it can be hard to look for the joy in the middle of hurt, but don’t let your heart get stuck in the pit of despair. As we get ready for 2018, let’s start the year off right…with prayer! And if you need prayer for anything specific, please do message me. Have a wonderfully blessed New Year!

Psalm 51:3-4 (ESV)

 

For I know my transgressions,

 

and my sin is ever before me.

 

Against you, you only, have I sinned

 

and done what is evil in your sight,

 

so that you may be justified in your words

 

and blameless in your judgment.

 

 

 

I remember occasions in my childhood, college and even last week where I have had to apologize for the things that I have done. From coloring on the wall, to running up yet another credit card bill for my mom to pay, to changing plans on a friend last minute because (in my absurd opinion) they move too slow for my pace…or even for not showing my mom my final grades in college when my GPA lowered by two entire points.

 

 

 

During some of those times, I know I was genuinely apologetic about the situation and what I had done. Other times, I may have just said sorry because I knew that’s what the other person wanted to hear. Then there were times (like the grades) when I was genuinely repentant and sad that I had let my mom down. As I think through those moments and all the things that we see that happen around us on the daily basis, my thought is…are we truly sorry all the time? Or are we just sorry we got caught?

 

 

 

I think about this often when I’m around children. They know the right thing to do is say sorry, because it’s what they have been taught. My question is, would they just continue as is if no one ever mentioned their wrongdoing? Then my thoughts come to us as adults. As we hear so many stories of wrongdoing and years of secret sins, are people truly sorry for what they have done? Or, do they know, as little children, that this is the correct thing to say when we get caught doing wrong?

 

 

 

I want each of us to take a personal inventory this week and notice each time we apologize to someone. Do we really mean it? Are we coming forward or waiting for them to “catch us” before we apologize for our actions? Then, I really want us to think about how our hearts are when we pray for forgiveness to the Lord for our sins.

 

 

 

He already knows what we did, there’s no hiding. Are we like David and genuinely realize the depth of what we’ve done or are we like a darling little three-year old that just say “sowwie” because we know we should?

 

 

 

I pray for all of us (myself included) that we will have hearts ready to confess, repent, turn away and desire to obey the Lord. Let’s be transparent before God and let Him make us clean, new, joyful and faultless as we walk this journey of faith, waiting for the day when we will be like Him and no longer need to apologize for our fleshy natures.

 

 

 

Read Psalm 51 in its entirety sometime this week! Then make that your prayer as you seek to stay close to the Lord. Do you need prayer for something specific? Do you need to confess to someone or the Lord something you have done? Feel free to email me your request!

 

 

 

Psalm 51:10 (NKJV)

 

Create in me a clean heart,

 

O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

 

 

Mark 14:36

“…nevertheless, not what I will but what You will.”

Lord Jesus, it is so easy for me to be joyful and trust Your plan when everything is going my way or when I am able to settle in a place of comfort during the season I find myself in. I know that sometimes Your plans for me are completely different than what I think my life should look like right now and that can be frustrating as I try to understand why my plans are not aligning with my current situation. Lord, I ask that my heart’s desire will be for your will to be done in my life and that I will be content as that perfect will unfolds each and every day of my life. I ask for a heart of worship, a sense of Your presence and an extra measure of faith that reminds me that Your way is perfect and I can trust in You with all of my heart.

Lord I ask for my hopes and dreams to be what Your purpose and plan is for my life. I pray that I will not step out in disobedience and that I will trust Your perfect plan, I will trust the Creator of the universe, the Author and finisher of my faith. I pray that You will comfort me in times of doubt and remind me of Your precious promises in times of discouragement, dismay, sorrow and sadness. I pray that I will remain in You and that You will remind me to delight in You.

Lord, I thank You for being my heavenly Father, the one that knows all, the God who sees me and the one that loves me most and knows what’s best for me. I thank You for being my all in all, my everything. Please remind me of this when I start to get off track and help me to fix my eyes back upon You. I love You Lord Jesus and pray these things in Your name…so be it, Thy will be done, amen!

Psalm 119:2 NKJV

 

Blessed are those who keep His testimonies,

 

Who seek Him with the whole heart!

 

 

 

More and more, life seems to become increasingly hectic and tragic around us. There are a variety of reasons to be discouraged, dismayed, frustrated, infuriated or just get to the point of apathy because you are so done with all the bad and terrible news. I’m sure we can find ourselves settling in a little cloud of affliction as we see horrific encounters, read of devastating injustices and see that everything around us is in shambles; yet in all of the bad that surrounds us, we need to make sure that we continue to be the light in this dark, sad world.

 

 

 

Our job is to keep His testimonies, to seek the Lord with our whole heart. I know this seems like a “Thank you, Captain Obvious,” statement. However, how often do we let other trivial things in our life crowd God out of our hearts? How many times a day are we more interested in seeking a career path, lifestyle, husband, dress on sale, popularity via Instagram likes or a higher status overall instead of seeking God with our whole heart? How often are we caught up in vanity of vanities and not caught up in ministering to our coworker that just lost a loved one or helping a friend in need during a spiritually dry season of life? How often are we ready to go on a mission trip and document our good works via social media and not even take care of our own loved ones who are close by and need us?

 

 

 

Are we keeping His testimonies throughout our day or sweating the small stuff, acting petty and just plain losing focus of what truly matters? Let’s remember to look to the Lord and His word to lead us, direct us, allow our lives, path and thoughts to be established and then let Him work out how things are supposed to “work out”. Too many times we get in the way, take matters into our own hands or just do not respond in a godly way.

 

 

 

Let’s be women that are really blessed in every sense of the word, seeking Him and His kingdom above all things…and allowing life to go in the way that He plans for us. For we all know, that is the best way!

 

 

 

Matthew 6:33 (KJV)

 

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

 

 

 

Matthew 5:6 (ESV)

 

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Psalm 138:8 (ESV)

 

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;

your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Do not forsake the work of your hands.

 

 

For the last five years, I have been setting a goal to get back to a certain weight by my birthday. Yet, without fail, now for the fifth year in a row, I have not made that goal. While I am still quite active and healthy, I am hoping to get down to a specific number on the scale just for my own enjoyment. However, I don’t get bent out of shape or beat myself up fi this doesn’t happen. This is the reason why…

 

 

I’m still living a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy and getting more than an adequate amount of exercise each week.

 

 

I’ve been doing quite a great deal of other wonderful things with my time, such as ministry, volunteering, and fellowshipping and having personal time with the Lord.

 

 

My life is still filled with joy no matter how I look in the mirror or how chubby my cheeks are (plus it keeps me looking much younger than my age).

 

 

While we may come up with specific personal plans and goals that could be a benefit to us (mine is mostly vanity, not going to lie), we must make sure that we balance out our life in such a way that is pleasing to the Lord and allowing wonderful things to take place…such as divine encounters, opportunities to pray and serve and just the lovely things that go with living a life for the Lord.

 

 

What God wants to happen will take place and His love will endure no matter what pressure, unnecessary goals or crazy stipulations we put on ourselves. Let Him fulfill the best purpose for your life and continue the work that He is doing in and through you…you’ll be a much more joyful person if you do!

 

Philippians 1:6 (NKJV)

 

being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

 

 

What are three things in your life right now that are causing you the most anxiety, stress or frustration? Ask yourself if these are things God has called you to or decisions that you made without His prompting or consent. If they are not of Him, pray through how to redirect your plans to align with His will.