God, please translate!!!

This past Tuesday night in the Ladies Bible Study I attend, we were asked to share a brief testimony about ourselves. It is bizarre to me that you can be both equally afraid and excited at the chance to share what Christ has done for you!! I realized in my preparation that eventhough the heavy chains and bondage of fear has been removed- (AMEN!!!!!)- there still remains random anxiety strings. Will I say the right thing God wants me to? Will I speak clearly? Will I be boring to listen to? Will I make sense? What if, What if!! I am still praying for the day where fear is completely absent from my heart and mind and I no longer have to push through it, I will simply jump up and proclaim "YES Lord!!!" In my heart I do. I can be bold here as I write and even as I share one on one, but in front of others, looking at you...woah.

You wonder how it went? Well, it went....okay. Something practical I did learn is that if you are crunched for time, it would be better to take a minute to gather your thoughts, summarize them down and speak less with a "regular speed." This is better than doing what I did, which was to speak faster in an attempt to get all 5 minutes out in 3! My mouth went faster than my mind causing me to feel random and lost as I hoped to get out at least one good encouragement through the fluttering words. I prayed that God would intercept my babble and translate into the spirits in the room as He had done in Acts 2:6, " And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language."  

Since that night, I have received messages and assurances that all went well and hearts were touched. Looking forward to some additional share time with a few!! (Yes, I am eager, especially with a cup of coffee or sweet lemon tea in my hand!!) It seems God's grace met my mouth and carried the words into the ears of some of the women. Maybe God changed the frequency of their ears to tune into His Words. Oh, how I prayed He would!!!!God is good!!!

As I walked back to my seat that night, heart jumping all over the place and my mind wondering What just happened?, I was sad that I didn't make any final points. It is my prayer and I think it ought to be the prayer of each of us that as we share our life story it should be about our journey with the Lord despite who we are. Not, who were are despite our journey with the Lord. We should be reflecting Christ's handiwork, not human perceptions. Of course, we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" and it is important to know who we are in Christ and everything we have been through is a part of our journey, but if I only talk about all my mistakes and accomplishments in my flesh, and not focus on God's hand in all of it, am I making the most of Him, or me? I pray, I pray I would make the most of Him!!! 

This was a great opportunity to reflect back on and recount where God has brought me from crisis to the Cross as I prepared to share. He really is my greatest Love!!!! 
He has been sooooo good. 
Soooooo faithful. 
Sooooooo generous. 
Sooooooo patient!!!!! 

Although each of these could be a blog all on their own, detailing how I got there and ways He taught me this, I would love to share with you some of the points I had hoped to make. They are really even the same things I tell my kids, it's simple and we need to be walking in this same consuming faith and trust, regardless of age. You may have been asked to speak this week, although we should always be ready, but I encourage you to reflect back and see where you have walked. Can be humbling and convicting, especially if you have walked a few circles around the same dirt path a few times.e

As always, I know there are those of you that read these blogs, thank you for taking the time to read-I pray God intercepts these words and translates them for your spirit, and it is my prayer that God will reveal something in each one that sharpens you and encourages you. May I remind you as long as we are here, "it's easier said than done." Just because God places these lessons or applications in my heart to encourage you, does NOT mean I too have mastered them. I do share a lot of victories in Christ, however, rest assured I am still a work in progress!

We can lead outwardly perfect lives and yet live a defeated inward life.

You can never fully know what someone else is going through. Smiles can be masks. It was even for me for a long season.

For the person struggling: keep your eyes on the Cross. The Cross is your victory!!! We are not meant to battle alone, share your struggle with "whatever" with someone...a BELIEVING, LOVES THE LORD someone. Not only does it take away the secret Satan would love for you to be ashamed of, you will receive intercession before the Lord on your behalf (which is why it is important who you share with) and you will be stronger with accountability than on your own. I have blogged plenty on accountability in the body of Christ. "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." James 5:16 Drop the pride, humble yourself, don't fear rejection...God has placed the people in your life for such a time as this!!

For the "other" person: funny, there really isn't a "other" person. We are ALL struggling with something and if you are not, you believe you are perfect, ask God and He will show you that His Son is the only perfect person who has walked on the Earth! In my perfection moments, my friend would ask me, "Are you Jesus?!?" The message for each of is this: keep your eyes on Him.

When we keep our eyes on Him, the Body works.

For obvious reasons, we know we should keep our eyes on Him so that we will be of right mind, gather all of our identity and peace and strength from Him but I would like to also point out that within our focus on Christ, we should be fully aware of two things: spiritual warfare and spiritual gifts. I could TOTALLY write pages on these...but I will refrain in this moment in an effort to get the point out (I am trying!!).

It is much easier to see the warfare the closer you are to Christ as He gives you His eyes to see. You also gather more strength and endurance when you fight with the power of God and are replenished with the Living Water as you walk through the wilderness. Satan roams the Earth, mountain tops and wildernesses. You are never out of attack range. Yes, God is with you always and will give you all you need for when the time of trouble comes. He will fight with you. Keep close. Stay fixed on Him. 

Secondly, spiritual gifts. You may think being a Mom or whatever title you hold is your gifting but it is not. I also thought it was my call and gifting to be the perfect Mom and Wife and church member, volunteer and friend...but these are simply the avenues in which God calls you to use your gifts, they are not your gifts. " Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord;  and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good." I Corinthians 12- read the chapter!! It was a Mom who God used to encourage me in dark season, her Momness did not encourage me, but her gift of encouragement from the Lord lifted me. It was a church member who can do no wrong in the kitchen who insisted on bringing me a meal on just the day I had no strength, it was her gift of hospitality and discernment that she unknowingly ministered to a need I had. It was retired neighbor that spontaneously checked on me often through a season of crisis, it was her gift of intercession, faithfulness and encouragement that caused her to war on my behalf when I had nothing left in me. It was a professional counselor and later mentor that walked me through application steps to walk out my daily life through this season but it was through her gift of encouragement, knowledge and wisdom that my spirit, not just my mind, were ministered to and forever changed. These gifts should be called tools, to be used by God, to be cared for by us!!!

God needs us to see what instrument He has created us to be in the world so we can be a conduit of His work. Each of us needs each other to know their gift.

It is the gift of Christ, the sacrifice of our Heavenly Father, that gives us victory over all things. It is Christ blood infused in ours that the Holy Spirit fights and conquerors the enemy before us. With His eyes of Authority, we can see the warfare. With His eyes of Graciousness, we can see our precious and powerful gifts (tools).

" If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth... Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. 

And be thankful. 

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him." Colossians 3:1-2, 12-17

Think about it? Doesn't it excite you each time God reveals Himself to you?!? Small ways. Big ways. Obvious and in hindsight. God is every where. So, what if the entire Body of Christ "put on then" that inexpressible JOY and awe-ness in the Lord and lived it to be real and true, how would our family, our city, our nation, the world...the physical world and the spiritual world be different? If we all functioned with seeing eyes and ready with tools to go to work in Jesus Name???? Talk about a revival.  

God, may it begin with....me....us. Revive our spirits and refresh The Body and make it contagious!!! Bind the evil one and his army from capturing our thoughts and stealing our strength. Guard our faith and our trust in You. Give us courage and faithfulness to love You like you deserve. Humble our hearts that You can fine tune us, shape us, mold us by whatever means necessary so that we can be effective tools for Your Kingdom, Your World. To You Lord, receive all Glory. We worship You...I worship you. amen.