I feel like we are living in a time where we are loaded with distractions. Social media, our phones, games, streaming services, etc. At any moment, we can find a way to "entertain," or distract ourselves from our problems and our life. If we are distracted from what God is doing in our lives, our harvest will not produce grain. We will choke the seeds. So let's get focused...
Without hope, we won't produce a harvest. I would categorize a lack of hope as the rocks in the soil, as mentioned in the parable. We can choose hope. When things are hard, when things didn't go as expected, when something didn't work out, we can still choose hope.
"I see a girl that didn't understand what it was going to be like to build meaningful things. I see a girl who didn't understand that having five kids, which ended up being six kids, would happen over years, not months. I also see someone who at times didn't consider the struggle that her partner was going through when I was so determined for my goal, that I didn't take into account that it was really hard for him."
What happens when we allow our feelings to be our guide? In this episode, we are talking about the importance of clearing the noise of our feelings. They can confuse us and should not be followed on a whim. We should learn to understand them, to acknowledge them AND say no to them when we need to.
Let's talk about your core beliefs, priorities and gaining wisdom.I would like to invite you to take a moment and do some digging into what your core beliefs are. The true foundation of your beliefs. Today, we are covering how our priorities and wisdom can help us stay on track with our core beliefs and have good soil to produce a harvest from them.
Where are my planners at? The people who like to think every step of every experience through and have it all figured out before you ever get there?It's me. I am one that likes to know and have a plan. But I have learned that if we open ourselves to see the plan outside of our own, we can have greater experiences than we could have imagined for ourselves. Are you willing to open yourself up to God's plan?
What kind of fruit are you seeing in your life? Do you feel like you aren't receiving the fruit that you believed you were harvesting?In this episode, I share a journey I experienced in my life where I constantly desired approval, but at the same time, I was walking an intense season with God and wondered why I wasn't experiencing fruit that I thought I deserved. Listen in for the story and what God showed me during that intense and challenging season.
Transformation is not easy. To think so would be lying to yourself.We have to dig deep, get quiet, make mistakes, give ourselves grace and listen to what God is calling us to do.
Surrender. Trust. Clarity.How do all three of these elements come together? In my experience, they don't come all at once. We usually won't find clarity until we have surrendered and reached a true level of trust with God.Today, I open up more about my own journey of working through trust with God and what I have learned this far that may help you as well.
I have grown up and lived my whole life in the Christian culture. I have known God. I have loved God. But when it comes to Trust and Surrender, I begin to struggle to truly release things to Him.Join me as I share a recent journey I have been walking with God and what I am learning about trusting Him.
You are not obligated to Transform. There will be a lot of opportunities in your life to back out of a season of transformation. Maybe people around you not being on board with the transformation God is asking of you, not understanding your own transformation, the transformation taking too long, etc.You always have a choice. Are you going to lean into God's invitation for transformation in your life?
What are some thoughts/doubts/fears that come up for you when God asks you to do something that you feel like you aren't ready to do?Do you believe God would ask you to do something for the only end result to be that you fall on your face, embarrass yourself, make a huge mistake etc?There is so much to learn from our struggles. I think it is important to dig deep, lean into trust and unveil the true meaning of our struggles.
"You will find any excuse to not do what I have asked you to do."Wow. I felt called out when I felt like God was speaking these words to me. And these exact words stick with me to this day. Are you going to say yes to God when he asks you to do something, no matter how inconvenient of a time it is?
Oh getting confused in this life. I've done it, not once, but several times in my life. I feel like there are times where our path isn't clear or straightforward. Maybe we know where we are headed, but no we have no idea what we are supposed to be doing each day to get there.How do we obtain clarity in regards to the purpose God has placed on our lives? I believe there are two forms of clarity that we need to be aware of to get us back on track when that confusion hits.
What comes up for you when you hear the word church?This is where I go on Sunday morningsThis is my spiritual community I see once a weekIt's a building that I worship atNow join me as we explore the true meaning of church and what it actually looks like to be living church.
Has your determination ever actually kind of ended up putting you in a messy situation? Like paint spilled all over your house kind of messy situation?We know that we will always face problems and struggles. You are probably facing one today. But how important is our determination and how can it help us through a mess when we need it to?
There is the version of you that others sees.There is the version of you that you see.There is the true version of you that God created.People who know us well will speak words over who we are that aren't always accurate, no matter how well they know us. We will also do this to ourselves. We must check in to make sure we aren't holding onto all the words people speak about who we are, including what we believe about ourselves at times.
There is no doubt we all have our own struggles. We have unique struggles that are specific to who we are and where our story is going.In all honesty, there are some struggles that we will face for the majority of our lives. Events in our lives make us face it over and over again. Are you going to trust God's truth through your struggle or are you going to give up?
People around us will always have their opinions. They will sometimes even say hurtful things about how we look, who they think we are and the plans that we have for our life. So how do we find the truth about ourselves through the hurtful things being said to us?We have to surrender to the truth God has placed on us. If we decide that everything people say about us is truth, we will not only feel lost about who we truly are, but we may also become exactly what that lie spoken over us says. Are you willing to surrender to the truth?
I'm going to bet that you have had a moment in your life where you said something that REALLY came out in the wrong way. Maybe you left just cycling through your mind thinking things like "That was so offensive," "How embarrassing, I can't believe I said that," "That wasn't what I meant," etc. Important reminder, obedience is more important than performance. Join me as we talk a bit more about learning to be heard when God has given you something to say.