"Empowered to lead by serving!"
"Empowered to lead by serving!"
"Empowered to lead by serving!"
I took a sweet nap in Church last Sunday. So wrong, yeah? I shamelessly rested my head and just allowed myself doze off. My neighbour (the young man who sat beside me) nudged me once to wake up but I gave him a power-nod. You know, one of those nods that confuses even the guy trying to wake you up-- is she sleeping or in the spirit?
As a child I used to hear that when you feel drowsy in church it meant that the devil was beside you fanning you to sleep in order to steal your blessings. That memory must have been one of the things that jolted me back to reality. The nap was for like five minutes but it felt way longer.
The message for that day was about managing expectations in order to reduce the amount of disappointments we experience in life. As the passion of the preacher roared through the hall, I took some notes.
The jenniferized version:
Most times disappointment comes when we are the ones engineering things...we set goals with a now-now attitude. And so when things don't happen as we "engineered", we hit the rock bottom. Disappointed.
He also said something about the risk of comparing ourselves with others. You know. We sometimes forget that we all have our times and seasons. Living by another person's timing is risky. A big catalyst for disappointment.
It is okay to fail. Life is about winning some and loosing some. But the latter can be better managed to become a stepping stone for something greater.
The preacher man pointed out a few examples from the Bible to back each point he made. I caught some:
2 Kings 5 -- Naaman who almost missed the opportunity to be healed because he was expecting the Prophet to give him a VIP treatment. His high expectation did not match the simple instruction that he was given. If not that he tucked away his pride, God knows... Some of us have lost so many things because of pride.
Psalm 38- But God is merciful. David understood that so well.
Psalm 37:4- that key!
Yo! Have a fantastic Friday! Manage your expectations well and be kind to yourself. I am learning too.
Shalom!
Trying to watch at least one movie per month. I've just seen Queen Esther... one of my favorite scenes is the tête–à–tête the king had with Esther after Vashti lost her throne due to "rebellion". The king fearing that Esther might rise up to become another activist within his palace asked, "Will you be an obedient queen?". Esther's response included, "Will you be a faithful king?". I liked that she had a very "strong voice" (confidence and wisdom) in the presence of the king. Any royalty will be attracted to that. The rest of the discussion is pure poetry. You 'll enjoy it. But I still prefer the book as it is recorded in the Bible 😊. I guess I'm just a bookaholic.
Eight effects of God's word in our lives:
1. It produces faith. Faith comes when we hear God's word. (Romans 10:17)
2. It is the seed of the new birth (produces incorruptible life). James 1:18, 1 Peter 1:22-23
3. It produces spiritual nourishment and keeps us healthy. 1 Peter 2:2, Hebrews 5:12
4. It gives mental illumination (not same as worldly education). Psalm 119:130
5. It provides physical healing. Psalm 107:17-20; Prov 4:20-22 (God saves, heals and delivers)
6. Makes it possible to have victory over sin and satan. Psalm 119:9,11;
7. It sanctifies and cleanses us (holiness). Ephesians 5:25-27
8. It is a spiritual mirror. James 1:23-25
Notes from "Laying the foundation: part 2 (Authority & Power of God's Word)"
by Derek Prince.
Shalom!
Thanks for the tag @afolayanesther 😊. Here is my version of the #psalm23challenge:
1. The Lord is my Warrior and has made available to me ALL that I will ever need.
2. He makes me, trains me and leads me - through low fields, high mountains, raging storms and calm seasons of life. We bear good fruits together.
3. He knows when I run off sometimes and run on empty or in error. Nothing catches Him by surprise. But still He takes me back and refuels my inner-man so that I can honor Him and not bring shame to His name.
4. Sometimes it gets really dark and I walk through the corridor of death itself. But I come out alive because of this living God who is forever the life of my light and light of my life.
5. Thank you Lord for always being my sufficiency and showing me off as a living example of your amazingness. Because of your love, I have more than enough.
6. Your presence excites me. Everything about it is good. Plus I really like gathering with others to worship You. Keep me humble. Keep me solid and holy. As long as I breath, use me as a channel to express your great love to others, especially the unreached.
Take the challenge 😁 Did I change the rules 🤔 Well, well... what is your story?
#psalm23 #HolyBible #takethischallenge #impassioned #prayitforward #lightofmylife #lifeofmylight #iamnotashamed
“God calls us to the ongoing ministry of intercession...I believe that worship and intercession are perhaps the two highest ministries of which christians are capable...intercession means coming in between God and somebody who needs God…Jesus is the perfect intercessor.
Intercession is not thinking about what you should pray about…it is opening yourself to the Lord through the Holy Spirit and letting Him share His burden with you…”
Derek Prince, “His Power in Your Hands”
