#269 - THINK & Rejoice About Your Future!

Proverbs 31:25 - Strength and dignity are her clothing and her position is strong and secure; she rejoices over the future [the latter day or time to come, knowing that she and her family are in readiness for it]!

Are YOU rejoicing over your future? As you sit, on your couch, in the kitchen, in your office, taking a bathroom break, are you rejoicing over where your life is going? What your future looks like? Are you ready for the future you see? Are you GETTING ready for the future you want?

In the blogpost Fanatical Obedience, we touched on this topic, where do you see your life 5 years from now? But really, where DO you see your life in 5 years? If nothing changes will you be in the same place, wishing and waiting for "a miracle to happen," or "your harvest to come in?" I am the first to be in agreement with you for you to harvest from all the seed you have sown. But at what point do you need to stop waiting, and continue in the work you should be doing?

There have been several books that talk about the idea of THINKING. That discuss actually taking time to THINK in order to see changes that you'd like to see in your life. Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, THINK for a Change by John C. Maxwell are just two of the books that discuss this glamorous, life-changing activity. THINKING. 

You may even be DOING the very thing that you are called to do. You are a painter, you may be PAINTING. You are a writer, you may be WRITING. You are a speaker, you may be SPEAKING. You are a mom, you may be MOM'ing. You are a baker, you are BAKING. BUT my question is, WHAT is your next step that will take your family to the next level? The next place? The future that the Proverbs 31 woman talks about that she is rejoicing over. What and Where is "THAT" place you are going?

Your gift is important… BUT, that is the EASY PART! If you write, there is no toil in the writing! That comes naturally to you. If your gift is speaking, there is no toil in that, it comes natural… as you speak it is effortless! If your gift is baking, you find peace in that place because it is your gift. But what is the next step for you?

Is the church, your community, the world suppose to see or benefit from your gift? 

That question, my friend is for YOU to answer. That answer may require you to SIT, THINK, PRAY and JOURNAL. It may take you brainstorming with your spouse. What are the next steps? That may mean finally monetizing from your gift so you can actually taste and see the fruit of your gift, allowing you to bless your family, your church and your community even more.

Friend… there are a plethora of resources out there to find out how to do this. Check out some podcasts that discuss the subject. A couple I could recommend….

• Michael Hyatt
• The Success Edge: for the Marketplace Christian (I was interviewed on episode 42)
• Brilliant Business Moms (I really enjoyed episode 2!)

GO out there and FIND the resources that are EASILY accessible and use them! Let those resources set you up for CHANGE for your life. So, like the Proverbs 31 woman, you too, can rejoice over your future! 

Fanatical Obedience

Isaiah 65:16 - So (it shall be) that he who invokes a blessing on himself in the land shall do so by saying, May the God of truth & fidelity (the Amen) bless me. 

Matthew 5:8 - Blessed (happy, enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous—possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace, regardless of their outward conditions) are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!

We all want to live our dream life, right? We all have our own vision of what "living in the blessing" is. We all (hopefully) even are still clinging to dreams, dreams of what we want to do, where we want to go & how we want to spend the rest of our days before meeting Jesus face to face.

Where are you today? Where were you 5 years ago? What will change 5 years from now if you do not change anything? Are you making progress towards the life you want to be living? Five years from now, how old will your kids be? Will you still be in the same rut, the rat in this rat race of life, running from here to there ready to pull out your hair if you don't get a break? What will you have to show for your life 5 years from now?

Your answers to the above questions could be answers that ARE indeed taking you to your dream life and dream destination, you could be well on your way, and if so, I commend you! If you calculated out how old you would be in 5 years, how old your kids would be in 5 years, and looked to see where you would be at in life in 5 years and you are not happy about it, i'm going to propose something to you. Are you ready? Here goes….

Fanatical obedience.

Yes, that's it. Fanatical obedience. The non-negociable sort of obedience.

The above verse, Isaiah 65:16, used the word fidelity in describing God. I wanted to look it up to see what it was really talking about. Here's what I found:

Fidelity

• strict observance of promises, duties
• loyalty
• accuracy, exactness
• devotion to duties, obligations
• loyalty or devotion as to a person or cause 

In the verse above, it is describing God as the "God of truth & fidelity". Ie: God is going to observe the definition of fidelity, it is who HE is. 

I'm going to propose that you and I adopt those characteristics in our relationship & obedience with God. That we apply devotion to duties & obligations. That we apply strict observance to the duties that God has asked us to do. Fidelity also was described as faithfulness to one's spouse. How about faithfulness to one's God?

I'm going to propose that we take an inventory… What is God asking us to do? What is He leading us to do? Once we know that answer, let's FOLLOW IT OUT TO A T! Let's get fanatical about the obedience of what HE is asking us to do! Let's get fanatical, if it means purging out some responsibilities that WE took on without consulting Him first, activities that maybe are taking us AWAY from obeying what we know we should be doing, PURGE them! If it's a TV show that has sucked you in… if it's that afternoon nap… if it's Pinterest, Facebook, twitter, or even just a simple one sleep! Whatever it is for you… let's take an inventory. What do we need to do to be obedient to what and where the Holy Spirit is leading us? 

Let's be FANATICAL in our OBEDIENCE!! 

I believe as we do this, the picture we see of where we "could be" in 5 years, will become a REALITY! Position yourself today to be LIVING in your wealthy place. I say "wealthy place" not only meaning financially. But, positioning yourself in your "wealthy place" with stress levels, with happiness levels, with your physical fitness, with your relationships, with you marriage, with your children, and yes, with your finances. Let's position ourselves so that WHAT WE DO TODAY, will put us in our wealthy place and in 5 years from now our lives will be the epitome of being blessed as it says in Matthew 5:8. Happy, enviably fortunate, and spiritually prosperous—possessing the happiness produced by the experience of God’s favor and especially conditioned by the revelation of His grace!

Together, let's do it! Let's be FANATICAL IN OUR OBEDIENCE! Ask the Holy Spirit NOW… what does that mean for you? Go ahead, ask Him!

Stand UP for God!

God needs YOU to stand up for Him! He gets blamed for far to many things that HE is not responsible for, even by Christians!

James 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect (free, large, full) gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of all [that gives] light

John 10:10 - The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it [a]overflows).

1 Peter 5:8 - Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. 

I'd like to plea my case today. The subject could be quite lengthy, BUT I will try to keep it into a "bite-size" devotion. :) 

How did your parents teach you? As a parent, would you teach your child the following:

• Put a disease on your child to teach them a lesson.
• Cause your child to get in a car accident to teach them not to value material things. 
• Burn your child to teach them not to touch the stove. 
• Strip everything from your child that they love to humble them. 

Of course you would not do ANY of the above to your child! You would not even THINK of it! Actually, if you did any of them today, you would most likely be thrown in jail! So why do we let God take the blame for ALL of these things?!? Why do we let our loving Father take the heat & get thrown under the bus like this? Let's take a look at the life of Job. I believe his story is behind a lot of our misconceptions. 

You know the story. Job gets everything except his life stripped from him, but let's take a closer look! At the beginning of the book of Job, envision God, a proud papa, bragging on his child. Look at Job. He's such a great son. I'm so proud of him. He really does honor me. NOTICE, when Satan asks God to take things from Job in chapter 1 verse 11, God WOULD NOT TOUCH JOB! In verse 12, we see that God only reminds Satan, "Behold, all that he has is in your power." If we rewind to the Garden of Eden, we'll remember that after Adam & Eve sinned, the authority & dominion that they had was handed over to Satan. After eating that apple, authority was given to Satan. Man no longer had dominion on the earth for the next several hundred years, Satan had dominion and authority. Not God. Not man. That is why GOD put in place a way for MAN to get back authority and dominion by sending his son Jesus to defeat Satan, death, hell & the grave. Even GOD cannot go against His Word. 

When Jesus went to the cross, that did something HUGE for believers! That took the authority out of the hands of Satan, and BACK into the hands of the believer! It had not been in the believers hands since Adam! Old covenant believers had to constantly sacrifice to be atoned for their sins. Even the sin of fear, which we see Job was living in sin as we look in Job 3:25, For the thing which I greatly fear comes upon me, and that of which I am afraid befalls me. Job was living in fear, and sin gives easy access for the enemy to come in. 

Why Today is Different!

Today, as Believers, we live under the new covenant. WE now have AUTHORITY, the key is we just have to TAKE AUTHORITY! The devil, Satan, is roaming around looking to devour believers, but he is a toothless lion! We have all the tools to defeat Him and live in victory! We have the Armor of God (Ephesians 6), we have the Word to defeat Him (Is 53:5- by his stripes we are healed!), we have Angels working on our behalf (Ps 91:11 - He will order His angels to protect ME wherever I go!), and the list goes on! BUT… there it is, the big BUT as it says in 1 Peter 5:8, it is our job to be vigilant and cautious at all times!!! Our enemy is ALIVE and REAL! He, NOT GOD, is looking to destroy us if we let down our guard. We can take the Word and put the enemy in his place! SPEAK the WORD DAILY and DEFEAT THE ENEMY! 

• I am the head and NOT THE TAIL!
• I walk in DIVINE HEALTH because the blood of Jesus is flowing through my blood stream!
• I AM Blessed!
• I am the Child of the Most High God who gives me FAVOR with God AND Man!
• Good things come to Me every day! 
• My family and I are Protected! Angels are encamped all around us and our house!
• I AM A BUTT KICKER! Satan has NO authority over me! I exercise my GOD-GIVEN authority, because Jesus defeated Satan, therefore I WIN! 
• I LISTEN to the Voice of the Holy Spirit and HE directs me where to go and what to do, every day! I AM OBEDIENT!

Speak the Word! Don't let God take the blame for what Satan is doing out in the world! Satan is STILL roaming the earth, looking to destroy, and destroys on a daily basis! Someone needs to stand up for God! He is a good God! He does good and He loves you! Don't let God take the blame for what Satan is doing! STAND UP FOR GOD TODAY!

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ALSO! Check out this interview! 

I was interviewed by "THE SUCCESS EDGE: For the Marketplace Christian" 

Get a little more insight into ME, my story and what makes me tick. :) 

Thanks in advance for taking a listen! :) 

TheSuccessEdge.biz/42
Have an iPhone? Listen to it via the podcast app from iTunes!
The Success Edge on iTunes
Android User?
The Success Edge on Stitcher Radio

Cut Him Some Slack

The movies make him out to be stupid. TV shows show him as incompetent. Even music pokes fun at him. "Who is this?" You ask? It's Dad. It's your husband. Sure, sometimes it's innocent prodding. We even hear other dad's making fun of themselves. In the recent movie, "Mom's Night Out" (which we saw on our date night and both LOVED), but even this movie made fun of "Dad", his choices and how he did things as a father (because who takes an entourage of kids to an arcade with just himself and a tattooed muscle friend?!) Nonetheless…. I'd like to talk about Dad. 

From the birth of our children, mom's have this innate sense to nurture. Often the crying of our baby isn't "screeching on a chalkboard" kind of noise, but it is noise that we say, "I can help." The moment we pick up our baby, the crying calms. Nurturing is innate. As our children grow, we build up a tolerance to, "Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom." We build up a tolerance that there are 1, 2, or 3 kids all wanting something different from us at the same time and we can only do ONE thing at a time. But we do it, knowing there is a pecking order to our completion, each child will get answered…. in time. 

Husbands, dads, they have innate things built within them too. They have an innate sense to want to provide. They have a desire to provide. They have a desire to conquer, to move the family forward, to win for their wife. The constant internal need to provide what their family deserves, what they believe their wife deserves. He desires to take you on the trip you want to go on. He desires to pay the mortgage without you being stressed. He desires to get you in that house that you have always dreamed.

He is not stupid. He is not incompetent. Just the opposite. God has created him to WIN for YOU and for the Kingdom of God. 

He comes home and…. 

• He tries to unwind and turn off the corporate emails and conference calls ringing in his head. Cut him some slack.
• He is trying to forget that last customer that he just got yelled at. Cut him some slack.
• He is trying to measure up to all the expectations put on him from the recent conversation with his boss. He is after all, the provider of the family. Cut him some slack.
• He is trying to do his best to handle and grow the millions of dollars in his portfolio of business. Cut him some slack.
• He is thinking about the family finances, and how he can get you ahead. How he can save to take you on the trip that he knows you would love. Cut him some slack.
• He's thinking about the new vehicle that you need and how he can make it happen. Cut him some slack.
• He's trying to be a good husband and do the things he knows you want him to do, like dishes or mow the lawn or change the lightbulb in the garage or take out the trash or even just give you a break. He can tell you're exhausted. Cut him some slack.
• He's trying to be a great dad and play with the kids even when he's tired. Cut him some slack.
• And…. he's trying to pursue God. He's trying to make sure He is on the right path to be an impact for the Kingdom of God. Cut him some slack.

Ladies… I definitely am not perfect in this area. There are nights when my husband comes in the door, looks at me, and with that one look he can tell I am up to my ears with kids. I'm not always perfect in putting on my "Leave it to Beaver"-wife smile, my apron on, and dinner warm and sitting on the table ready when he walks in. I'm not perfect either.

Find out from him! Does he need some space when he gets home to unwind? 30 minutes? An hour? Maybe it's worth a discussion (when you both aren't tapped out and exhausted) to find out what he needs (and what you need), so when he is home with the family, he can be at his best. That might mean you, having an activity for the kids to be occupied for the first 30 minutes after dad gets home? 

With Father's day coming up… Cut him some slack. Not only does he love you and the kids, but he's doing the best he can to be the best he knows to be. 

We love you Dad! You are worthy. We respect you. And we think you are doing a great job! God has great plans for you Dad! 

1 Timothy 5:8  

But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

1 Corinthians 11:3 

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.