#242 - Let the Blessing Work

Proverbs 10:22 - The blessing of the Lord--it makes [truly] rich, and He adds no sorrow with it [neither does toiling increase it].

Proverbs 31:20 - She opens her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her filled hands to the needy [whether in body, mind, or spirit].

This morning these words have been ringing in my mind: Be a value adder. Allow the Blessing of the Lord to work for you. 


Here in Proverbs 31:20, we see our Proverbs 31 friend doing both. Not only is she being a value adder, giving to the needy in heart, in spirit, in physical necessity, but she is allowing the Blessing of the Lord to work for her. She is allowing the Blessing that is on her life because of the Lord, to bless others. She is open to bless. She is not so caught up in her own world, life, family, circumstances, "drama" of life, that she misses the opportunity to be observant of what is going on around her. She is aware. She sees a need and fills it. She is being a Value Adder.

No sorrow is added to The Blessing. No toil is added to The Blessing. The Blessing of the Lord, is just that. It is all blessing! It is encompassed with good things, not sorrow. It is encompassed with joy.

Where can you add value today? Is it in prayer? Is it a financial gift to someone? Is it in friendship? Is it in time? Is it in babysitting and giving a friend a 'date night'? Where can you add value? Or... is it merely recognizing the BLESSING of the Lord in your life. The Blessing of the Lord that has been all around you. The Blessing of the Lord. Are you a Christian? Can you see where and how the Blessing has been working for you? Can you see it? If you took the time, could you slow down enough to recognize the Blessing?

#198 - A Tactic of the Enemy: The Wife!

*blowing breath out*

Whew. *wiping brow* It's been a full morning already. The first 2 hours of being awake was heavy! And that was even before getting into my quiet time! My husband is so smart. We talked a lot this morning, I reviewed some notes that I recently took, and overall... it was just a pretty emotionally full morning. I believe that today's devotion is going to impact you. If anything, connect some dots on some very important things to do.  We are going to take a "field trip" from our Proverbs 22 chapter of today, and jump  back earlier into the Old Testament. Let's get started....

2 Chronicles 26:5 (talking about King Uzziah) - He set himself to seek God in the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the things of God; and as long as he sought (inquired of, yearned for) the Lord, God made him prosper.

2 Chronicles 32:31b (talking about King Hezekiah) - ... God left him to himself to try him, that He might know all that was in his heart.

Proverbs 31:11a - The heart of her husband trusts in her confidently and relies on and believes in her securely... 

This is going to be full. I'm going to do my best, with the direction of the Holy Spirit to bring it all full circle.


First of all, if we look at the beginning of Proverbs 31:11, we see that it is talking about the heart of the Proverbs 31 husband. His heart trusts in his wife. His heart is confident in her. His heart relies on her. His heart believes in her. She is not how some would view as the "weaker vessel" or as the "lesser of the two," she is VALUABLE and he is relying upon her.

Let's take a trip back to the beginning. In the Garden, there were Adam & Eve. How did the enemy infiltrate mankind? He got to the woman. Satan chose his tactic to get to Eve, the wife, to bring down mankind. His plan worked, in the short-term (obviously Jesus came back and gave us a way to Victory! Praise the Lord!) I heard an amazing woman of God say last night that she noticed when SHE was not on her full game, it was very quickly after that she would notice her husband would come off his game. If the enemy is successful in getting the wife down, getting the wife distracted, he has the potential to get the WHOLE mission of the couple off course!

As we peek into 2 Chronicles 26:5, it tells us that as long as King Uzziah sought the Lord, inquired of, yearned for the Lord, that because of it, GOD made him to prosper. Marry that with the lesson from Adam and Eve. It becomes SO MUCH MORE important for WOMEN to stay in a position of SEEKING THE LORD! It ultimately makes it a key in why the Lord makes us to prosper. YOU, woman of God, like in the beginning of time are a target. Like it or not, you have a bulls-eye on your back. Just ONE of the tactics of the enemy, if he can get to the woman, he has potential of disrupting the whole mission. Whether that be through strife, discord, discouragement, busyness, focusing on the unimportant... whatever it is, the tactics have been set out by the enemy.

The Woman's Responsibility: STAND GUARD! GIRD YOURSELF with the Word and with strength. Serve, give, love people. Pursue your calling. Don't delay. Distractions can cause you to get off course, be aware of what is taking your time. Be aware of your heart. Pursue the Lord! Pursue deeper revelations into the Word. EXPECT to get clarity. EXPECT to be directed. Like King Hezekiah, God wants to know your heart. What are you putting into your heart? What is going in? Is your heart getting purer or is your heart static? Staying the same? Blank?

The Husband's Responsibility: PRAY! Knowing that YOUR WIFE is one MAJOR tactic of the enemy to destroy your mission and ministry as a couple, PRAY FOR HER! Pray a hedge of protection around her. Pray for her mental stability. Pray for her growth in her walk with the Lord. Pray for her sharpness, that she would be able to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit with clarity. Plea the blood of Jesus over your wife. Protect her from the enemy with your prayers!

The Proverbs 31 husband TRUSTS in his wife with his heart! She has has spent time girding herself up, strengthening herself, and because of this, he trusts her. She is guarding herself from becoming overwhelmed. She has safe-guards in place. Where she is vulnerable & obedient, is to being LED by the Holy Spirit, and that is exactly where we want to be.

We can learn from the past. We can learn from the beginning. The enemy's goal was to take out Eve. His goal was to distract Eve, get Eve into disobedience. Woman of God, recognize this as a warning. This is ALL THE MORE reason for you and I to be diligent in our pursuit with the Lord. Our marriage and our calling as a couple is dependent upon our stability & obedience. If we know that we are a target of the enemy, it makes it crucial that we are always armed. That our foundation is in the Word. That our stand is on the ROCK! Stability is key, pursue it! Don't be victim to the enemy, be the VICTOR!

#185 - You are Valuable!

Good morning! Woke up hungry... so, guess what?! I put some cinnamon rolls in the oven! Yum! Not an every day or every week occurrence, but it sure is yummy to have a treat like that every once and awhile. :)  If you are not following me on twitter (@amyjmccart) or Facebook... you may not have the update from our appointment yesterday. We had a great ultrasound and enjoyed watching baby kick and move... drum roll please.... the news is, we are having a baby girl! :) Our Trin-Trin is on her way! Trinity Faith is her name. We are so excited to meet her. We've talked about her for so long, in many ways we feel like we already know her... along with her younger brother & sister (Timothy & Taylor). About 9 years ago, shortly after Tyler & I got married, for some reason we decided to begin praying for our "yet to be conceived" children. We began praying, and even went ahead and named them. Tyler Junior, Trinity Faith, Timothy Isaac-Josiah & Taylor Liberty. Over the last 9-10 years as we have prayed for them (and their spouses), it's as if we have gotten to know them, like their personalities & gifts have even taken shape...well, at least become known to us. The amazing thing is, they have always been, before we even prayed, they were. If you remember in Jeremiah 1:5, it says, "Before I formed you in your mothers womb, I knew you." Our children are already meant to be, God already has a plan for them, they were predestined to be on this earth. God said, before He even formed them, HE knew them! He already has put giftings inside them, He already has a plan & calling for their life, He has already placed a sense of humor or strong personality inside them. God already knows them and they have been created for GREATNESS! Anyways... we are excited to meet Trinity and excited to watch her blossom into an awesome woman of God. A long enough intro!?! :) Let's get into some Word!

Proverbs 31:10 (KJV) - Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

When I study the Bible, I have a parallel Bible. It reads the King James Version (KJV) in one column and the Amplified Bible in the other. In most devotions, I quote scripture out of the Amplified Bible. I feel like it typically gives a broader idea of the full context of the verse. It often puts in parenthesis meanings of words in their original Greek or Hebrew, and to me, it just gives me a fuller picture. I've read Proverbs 31:10 so many times in the amplified, that today I decided to just begin again reading down through the KJV.  One word caught my attention. Price. Price. Price. It is talking about a person here. It is talking about "HER" price. The "Price" of the Proverbs 31 woman. Her price! The word "price" just really caught my attention.

Have you ever had the opportunity to do some work, but the amount you were going to get paid did not seem worth your time? Maybe you had the opportunity to "make money" or spend time with your grandchildren, or spend time with your husband. Maybe it was even "make money" or take a nap! Sometimes a nap is something we could all use! "Price" jumped out at me because I just recently had that opportunity. I could do some work for "x" price. I'm always for a few extra dollars, and I wouldn't call me lazy.... but I must say, finding out the "price" made me look at my time and evaluate it. Is the "price" worth my "time?" What is my "price"? What am I worth?

Here in Proverbs 31:10, we see that the Proverbs 31 woman is valued HIGH above rubies. FAR above rubies! Her worth is much greater! In a world where material possessions are looked upon as "great value" and keeping up with the "Joneses" has been the motto for most people as they chase down success, I heard a story recently that put things more in perspective. A now successful business woman told of what it was like when she got started. Her business floundering, little success, but she continued in the pursuit. She would see a nice car, a BMW or Mercedes, and not wanting to be what she classified as "materialistic", she determined that she didn't want to own one of those. She would see a big, nice house, 4000-5000 square feet. She determined, it was too big, she did not want to be materialistic. She would see nice jewelry, and determine she didn't need it, she did not want to be materialistic. Only later to realize that all the while she was being materialistic. Here she would walk into a car dealership, and she would see her own self worth or value as LESSER than the value of that $50,000 car. She would see the nice house, and see herself as LESSER value than the house. She would see the jewelry, and see herself as LESSER value than the jewelry. It wasn't about being materialistic, it was about the small value she was placing on her own worth. Her "price" on herself was very small. She did not see herself as worth much, of great value.

Here, in Proverbs 31:10, we see that this Proverbs 31 woman, her VALUE, her PRICE is FAR above that of rubies! Her worth is FAR GREATER than those precious stones. I found some interesting information. The worlds largest ruby has been found weighing over 8.2 pounds and is 18, 696 carats. A little bigger than the traditional 1 carat "diamond" ring. No price has been put on this stone, but the highest "priced" ruby coming in at 302 carats has a price-tag attached of $500,000.* Look at our Proverbs 31 friend, her price is FAR ABOVE that of rubies! Her value is far greater!

Friend, YOU are also worth FAR greater than rubies & precious gems! Do you realize that YOU are God's most prized possession!?! YOU! That you are greater than the value of ANY gem, stone, diamond. Your value is GREATER than the largest house or castle. Your value is greater than the BMW or the Mercedes AMG that you see driving down the road. YOU! YOUR VALUE is much greater than ANY of those things! YOU are worth MORE than ALL of those things combined! YOU, wherever you are sitting right now are such a great investment to God, He sees such great potential in you that He was willing to give up His most precious gift for YOU! He gave up that which was closest to Him so that YOU would have a chance at life. So that YOU would be able to pursue your dreams. YOU would be able to have children & laugh with them. Watch them ride a bike or be silly at the dinner table. He wanted YOU to have a chance to pursue those things which make you happy, see you succeed as a seamstress or business owner,  teacher, actor, model, writer, cook, inventor, public speaker. He sees so much in YOU that He gave up everything so that you would have a chance to live. Your value is so great! Your value, like the Proverbs 31 woman, exceeds that of rubies. Your value is priceless.

Today, know that a love runs deep for you. Today, pursue those dreams you have knowing that YOUR VALUE is greater than all the possessions available. See yourself in the house or car. You are of greater value than it! The house on the river with the quiet trickling sound, the big kitchen, the large family room to entertain, it's value is not greater than YOU. Dream again! Let your dreams come back alive! Dream again! God is no respecter of persons. It's His desire to bless you and see you succeed. You are Valuable!

* Gem info

#23 - Sales & The Christian

Good Morning! So... I woke up without an alarm clock this morning. Pretty wild. I slept GOOD! :) It's going to be a great day. :) SOOOO happy to be enjoying my blonde coffee this morning. Along with bringing the kitchen sink to Jill's, I also brought my Vanilla Hazelnut Kahve coffee, and my sugar-free French Vanilla (COFFEEMATE) creamer (I can't do the other brands of creamer, gag!) So.... enjoying a nice morning. Sitting out on the balcony, very woodsy out here. Nice cool breeze. No flies. :) (Yippee! No sending them to be with Jesus!) Jill and Bella I guess will be getting up sometime around 10:00ish. :) So... blueberry muffins, eggs, grits, bacon & fruit for breakfast! YUM! (And no, I do not do this at home all the time! My apologies Tyler.)


Let's dive in. Pretty good stuff this morning. 

Proverbs 25:15 - By long forbearance and calmness of spirit a judge or ruler is persuaded, and soft speech breaks down the most bonelike resistance.

Proverbs 31:24 - She makes fine linen garments and leads others to buy them; she delivers to the merchants girdles [or sashes that free one up for service].

Good stuff! Well, let's automatically take a look at our Proverbs 31 friend. Did you realize SHE is a SALESPERSON!!! Can you believe it?!?! Amongst everything else, she can sell! And, I don't believe just sell, I believe she would be among the top ranks in sales of Corporate America today! The woman knows how to sell! She is not the woman we grew up thinking she was.... she is not the typical picture of who most view as a "godly woman." The long hair, pulled up in a nice, tight, clean hair bun; the long, drab skirt; little or no make-up looking a bit on the homely side; bent over a wash board scrubbing clothes until they are clean; then hung over a stove, flour on her face, flour on her splattered white apron cooking for the family. I believe if this was still our picture of the Proverbs 31 woman, we would be mistaken. And, as a sidenote reminder, she has built up her business that now she does enjoy having maids (Prov. 31:15), and if I had maids I can tell you I would not be doing the scrubbing of ......hum.....anything! So... let's move on. 


Our Proverbs 31 friend leads others to buy her product! Others, plural. She leads them. She knows the good things about her product, the "sales features & benefits." And why does she feel good about SELLING her product?? Because it is high quality, it is FINE! She is adding value to the marketplace. Her product is adding value, take a look: this girdle frees one up for service. It is HELPING people. She has provided a product that adds value & helps people! 


How do we know she has a pretty big size business? Well, she sells her products to merchants, plural. Since I used to be in the "Merchant Service" industry, I set up "merchants" to accept credit cards. What is a "Merchant?" It is a business or business owner. A company who provides a good or service to others. Our Proverbs 31 friend has merchantS that she is selling too. Her products are hitting the marketplace and being sold from many stores, vendors, malls, etc. She is a BUSINESS WOMAN. She is a SALES PERSON. And she has a product that the market needs and wants!


What about this "judge or ruler" being persuaded? How is this bonelike resistance broken down? Well, let's look at persuade. The dictionary tells us persuade means to advise or to urge. Some synonyms are: to urge, influence, move, entice. So this judge, with soft speech is able to be influenced. With soft speech his opinion is able to be moved. Despite his bonelike resistance or resolve not to "move" his opinion, with some persuading, he does. 


That brings us to something of great importance. Sales. When I was working, one of my top years, along with managing an existing base of business, I also got new business. Sold. Won accounts. I added over 18 million dollars of new sales volume to my existing portfolio. I knew and know how to sell. That was only one year. Not to mention each other year the new sales volume. If I were to go back and could look at it... during my 4 years of working in "Corporate America" I probably brought in over 45-50 million dollars of new revenue. Not too bad. And throughout the "nation", not only was I "Rookie of the Year" my first year, but was in the "Top 5" performers by my second. I say that all to say, I know sales. What does a good sales person run into the risk of doing? One word. Manipulating. Instead of leading and guiding, instead of showing the pro's and con's, but still leaving a way out, a good sales person most likely has the skills that they can even manipulate the person who does not need their product or service to purchase. Manipulation. What is one of the most common, easiest sales lines? Ending the sentence with what you want them to choose. For example: "So, would you like to purchase just the two cases, or do you want to go ahead and get four?"  


Where is the danger? Honestly, the person I have to be the MOST careful to doing this to is my husband. I know I am a good sales person. I know he is also a good sales person. BUT as a wife and as a Proverbs 31 woman, my goal is to lead. My goal is to lay out the facts. My goal is to include options. Pro's & con's. And often, when I know I could EASILY get my way, word my desire in a way that sounds appealing and obvious, "Of course, that sounds great. Yes Amy, you should go buy that or do that." Instead, especially with my husband, I choose to lead not to manipulate. Many women have the ability to do this to their spouse. To position your plee so your spouse will look upon it favorably. 


Well, ladies, men.... IF we are the GREAT sales people that we think we are, we should be able to LEAD people to purchase. We should be able to show them the value that will be added. We should know & have the confidence in our products so much that they can see how much it will benefit them. 


So today.... whether you are in sales....or whether you are trying to convince your spouse, sibling, friend, boss, etc of something... how about try to lead versus manipulate?


And let's close with a few parting tips....


SALES TIPS FOR THE CHRISTIAN:

1. Are your products made of good, fine material? And are your products high quality?
2. Does your product add value to people? Does it make the lives of others better or easier? 
3. Have you found your "target market" of who may need your product or service? And are you trying to lead them to purchase your products or use your service?
4. Do you know the features & benefits of your product? Are you able to "LEAD" others by informing them about your product? What makes it so good? What are the features they may not see if you didn't point it out? How can you inform & educate them?
5. Are you "LEADING" others to purchase versus "manipulating" them into buying something they do not need?

#13 - Are you a Value Adder?

So... have you had those days? You go to bed in anticipation about a great next morning? Well.... typically Tuesday nights I just go to bed excited! Tuesday nights are great.... we have our business class, so I get to see lots of friends. I'm typically stretched in some form or fashion to do more or be more. I'm around an association of people who are doing more than the norm.... they are doing more than just sitting at home watching TV at night.... they are aspiring to be more, do more & make a positive Impact in the world. I enjoy the association, it has molded me and made me into a better person. Positive association is so crucial to our growth & development in our gifts. Recently on Tyler's vlog (video blog), he said, "If you do not know your purpose, if you do not know why you were put here on earth, get around people who know where they are going. Get around people who know their purpose and in time, that will give you a clue to what your purpose is." (Check out his YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/tylerhmccart)


Well, got home last night and jacked to see Ms Sherrie had done all the laundry, dishes, our sheets were changed and everything looked very tidy. She has been off the last 2 weeks so we were desperately looking forward to her return. She has been overcoming a lot of bone challenges.... so pray for her to be completely well. (And... I haven't done laundry real regular for 3 years! Ahhh! I could do it again, but wouldn't be too jacked about it.)


Slid into some new, clean, tight sheets.... so heavenly, my favorite and closed my eyes as I looked forward to my DOR (for the new folks.... that's - Day Of Rest). Every Tuesday night I look forward to Wednesday, being off. Not working. Not having a list of "To-Do's". Not setting an alarm clock. Just completely resting & enjoying the day. So, here's where it started out interesting. Not good sign #1: Woke up to the boy crying. I thought... "Bummer.... hopefully he'll go back to sleep." Went down to get my coffee, listened to the boy a bit more and could tell he wasn't going back to sleep, so we'll get him up and feed him. Not good sign #2: After feeding the boy, Tyler asked, "Where are you going with the laptop?" .......so.... annoyance began to set in. I'm thinking, "DUH! I'm going where I usually go." I was definitely getting annoyed at that point. Not good sign #3: Tyler talked about us needing to change up our DOR's and take them different days from each other. Totally annoyed me, but.... is totally true. (Having a child throws a whole new thing into the mix, which sometimes can make it "not" restful or relaxing....especially if you are looking to have a nice quiet time with the Lord.) Not good sign #4: Apologies. I headed outside, totally annoyed with Tyler. I thought, "I just want to start my Quiet Time and now I'm annoyed and annoyed and AHHHH! I don't even feel like I'm at mental place to even want to spend time with the Lord. Even though I apologized, doesn't mean I'm still not annoyed..... and definitely just being in a bit of a bad mood now." I even cried a little. Don't you hate it when you cry and know that there's not really a "good" reason for it?


That's where it all began. Have you ever had days like that? I left out "Not good Sign #5, #6, #7" .... thought I would spare you the ANNOYANCE of having to read!


Here's the crossroad. Road #1 - Just have a crappy attitude. "Well dang it! My day started out crappy, so I'm just going to have the rest of it be crappy. Stomp around. Slam cupboards. Not look at Tyler when I go back inside and just give him a guilt treatment. And just be mad the rest of the day. (Even as I write that, I noticed I'm typing hard on the keyboard! You know when you're mad, you slam the keys down! haha!) Or Road #2 - Realize Tyler was not trying to upset me. He really didn't even do anything wrong. Just start over now. DECIDE to have a positive attitude and enjoy this DOR. Enjoy the rest of this day despite it's beginnings.


Reluctantly, I guess I will choose Road #2. I'm really mentally having to work my way into that road.


So...let us begin! :)

Proverbs 31:20 - She opens her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches out her filled hands to the needy [whether in body, mind, or spirit].

Proverbs 9:3-5 - Wisdom... has sent her maids to cry out.... Whoever is simple (easily led astray and wavering), let him turn in here! As for him who lacks understanding, [God's] Wisdom says to him, Come, eat of my bread and drink...

Proverbs 9:13-17 - The foolish woman is noisy... calling to those who pass.... Whoever is simple (wavering and easily led astray), let him turn in here! And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, Stolen waters (pleasures) are sweet [because they are forbidden]; and bread eaten in secret is pleasant...

Voices are going to call out regardless. Wisdom is on a mission to make a difference. Wisdom is on a mission to allow the lost to turn down her path, to bring them down the path of understanding so they will not follow the road that leads to death. Wisdom sends out her maids to CRY OUT, because Wisdom most likely knows that the foolish woman will be yelling too! The foolish woman, whose road leads to death will be calling out, luring and tempting, "Come down my road!"

All the while, our Proverbs 31 friend PRO-ACTIVELY also reaches out. She is reaching out to the needy...... like Wisdom calls out to make a difference, to bring others to her path in Proverbs 9, our Proverbs 31 friend is also PRO-ACTIVELY reaching out to make a difference. It didn't say that the needy came knocking down her door asking for help, food, guidance, direction. Our Proverbs 31 friend chooses to be a VAR. In the "corporate world" which I left... we talked about VAR's a lot.... those companies that were "Value Adding Relationships". Our Proverbs 31 woman chooses to be a VAR. She chooses to be a VALUE ADDER in the lives of others. She isn't counting what she is going to get out of it, she is just choosing to give, to be a VALUE ADDER into the lives of those who need it. She is "reaching her hand out, calling out to those who may be going down the wrong path, and she says, "Come this way. Eat. Drink....travel this path."

Well... I hear the boy inside. Since my day has been a bit "unconventional"... I should probably go "play mom".

Food for thought.... 
First, Who can you add value to today? 
Secondly...what is going to determine your day? When things go bad....do those circumstances control the outcome of the rest of your day? Do YOU control having a good day, or do the circumstances control you?