Stop Calling You by Your Past

Stop calling you by your past.  That is not how God sees you nor does He does he call you by it.  He calls you by the future plan that He has for your life.

When a child is learning to walk you don't focus on how many times they fall down, you focus on the step they took.  You rejoice over each and every step, closer and closer to walking on their own.

God is the same way; He doesn't focus on what you were.  What ever He called you to do is already ingrained in your DNA, you just need to start doing it.  You are going to make mistakes along the way, that is okay as it is a part of the learning process.  The more you do, the closer you are to getting there, just keep moving forward.  

Even if you don’t “feel” that you are, you are what God created you for. 

You a writer?  Keep writing page after page.

You a teacher?  Keep teaching lessons after lessons.

You a sewist?  Keep sewing stitch after stitch.

You a dancer? Keep dancing dance after dance.

You a singer?  Keep singing song after song.

Do you refer to yourself as those things that you are in the process of becoming? 

If God created you to be a writer, you are a writer. 

If God created you to be a teacher, you are a teacher etc.

It is not to brag to others, “Hey I am a writer.” It is to tell yourself, “HEY, I AM A WRITER!!!”  Whatever you believe, you become.

When you see a baby apple tree without apples you don’t say, “oh it is just a tree right now.”  No, it is still an apple tree.  It just hasn’t gotten to the stage of producing apples yet.

Whatever you are and whatever you are doing, be the best at it as you never know who God will bless through the things that you do, touch, say on a daily basis.

Even if you clean toilets, be the best at it, you never know who God will heal after they used the ones that you cleaned!

Let God do GREAT things with the simple things that you do. 

By the way He showed me that the more I move forward the further and further I get from my past - What a journey we are on with God, right?!?!

I have been listening to Abounding Hope and Joy a powerful teaching series from Steve and Wendy Backlund.  What a bountiful harvest of information that I have never thought about before. 

Last week I finally understood why or how we become righteous when we accept Jesus into our lives.  It took 17 times through the series to finally get it but it finally clicked.  The stadium lighting went off above this blonde’s head and angels were singing.  That was a simple concept that I really didn’t think about but was missing it nonetheless. 

The above is what I am taking away this week for my life.   I am not going to call myself by my past.  God told me that I am a writer and who am I to tell God that I am not?!?!

God said it, I believe it, and I AM GOING FOR IT!

How am I going about it?  Well, I am going to keep writing.  Blog post after blog post.  Page after page.  Story after story.  I keep writing. 

As I look at my book shelf – I see a full binder of blog posts and a second one started.  I see a binder twice the size of those filled with stories of my childhood and experiences.  There is even a fairy tale in that book that reminds me that even fairy tales have a layer to truth to them.

As I keep typing, blank pages become filled with what the Holy Spirit dictates to me.  He is the one with the talent; I am just the vessel He is utilizing for God’s purpose. 

You never know who may read what has been written but I know that God is using it for a bigger plan than I can ever imagine.  I just have to do my part by keep listening and typing.

I pray that as you go about your day doing whatever it is that you do, that you do it as unto the Lord.  That He uses what you do to bless others in ways that you can’t envision.   

I also pray that if you have a dream, even if it seems outrageous and unattainable that you start moving toward it.  God gave you that dream and He also gave you what it takes to make it happen.  Just start believing it and moving toward it.  Each step you take you will move closer to it and soon you will be running toward your goal making that dream a reality. 

Until next time, God Bless!!!

Laugh at the Lies!

Last weekend I attended a Pastors and Leaders Conference where we learnt to laugh at the lies.

It was a real eye opener on how many lies I currently believed much less the lies that I had believed since childhood.

Psalm 2:4 states He Who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord has them in derision [and in supreme contempt He mocks them].

God laughs at His enemies.  As a child of God who is our biggest enemy?  Satan!  

Satan’s biggest weapon is lies.  He lies to us and when we agree with him we believe the lies.  When we believe the lies we become bound to those lies and are in bondage in that area of our lives.

I have been meditating on what was taught at the conference and A LOT of lies that I had believed have been exposed.  I will not bore you by listing all of them.  However, I do want to share one with you. 

As a child I played the typical games that children play.  My younger cousins and I would play school.  With me being older I of course was the teacher. 

On one particular instance I discovered that one of my cousins (who is very dear to me) couldn't spell words that were considered well below her grade level.  The more I tried to help her learn to spell those words, the more frustrated she became.  Before long we both were in a puddle of tears.

That day I heard the whispers, "You will never be a teacher."  I believed it and didn't think any more about it.  Needless to say, that was the last time we played school.

As years went on, I got married and had children.  When those children started school, they came home with homework.  I would try to teach my oldest daughter math.  The same outcome of teaching my cousin happened, my daughter and I ended up in a puddle of tears. 

Same whispers, "You will never be a teacher."  Nope!  No more, someone else is going to have to help my kids as I am no teacher!  (Agreeing to the lies)

It became so bad that instead of showing them how to do things I would do it for them. 

Joela how are they supposed to learn if you don't show them how to do it?  Don't know but it can't be me, I can't teach anyone anything.  (More agreement to the lies)

Over the last decade or so I have noticed something...I was teaching adults and children.  I was called a demonstrator who would show adults how they could make cards, scrapbook, make gifts out of cardstock.  I was also showing people how to sew and quilt.  Whether it was in a workshop setting or a class, I was teaching.

I was also teaching children in church, things about Jesus and the Bible.  I was also teaching them how to craft and make things.  Not to mention bringing them into my home to make gifts, whether out of cardstock, fabric or with food...I was teaching them.

At work I noticed that I was helping my co-workers with different computer programs.  I would show them how to work smarter not harder with the programs the company purchased for us to use.  I was teaching them.

Last year I started teaching Bible Study to adults.  Basically I was just talking about what God had to show me as I was doing my personal study.  People were learning as I talked...as I taught!

When I have a passion for something, I get great joy out of showing others that they can do it too.  Hmm sounds like teaching to me!

So, satan, take your lies of my not being a teacher and kick rocks as I laugh at those lies and YOU!  AMEN?!?!

All this to say, satan just doesn't lie to adults, he also lies to children.  As you look around to see the lies that satan is telling you, find out what he is telling your children.  What is he telling them that they are believing?  What are they agreeing to?  What part of their destiny are they delaying because of the lies he is telling them today?

Remember that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.  There will come a day when we look at satan saying, "Is this the one who made the nations tremble?  Is this the one who terrorized me?"

Satan's job is to steal, kill and destroy.  He already has the non-believers so he is not sweatin’ them.  He comes at us believers to try to make us doubt the word of God.  He will take the truth and twist it enough to make us believe the lie. 

Eve was already like God and yet satan made her believe God was holding out on her...Adam stood there not speaking up and went along with the action of eating the fruit...

The lie attack has been working so well for thousands of years; he isn't going to change his game up now.

Laugh at the lies my friends, LAUGH AT THE LIES! 

Until next time, God Bless!