Working Moms – Part 4 of 4

Interestingly, the Proverbs 31 woman was not suppressed by the male-dominated culture. In those days, it was expected of most women to care solely for their homes. They seldom had equal opportunities and most of them were uneducated. Sadly, it’s still like this today in many countries and cultures around the world.

This woman described in Proverbs 31, however, was someone with authority. She had the freedom to make her own business decisions and to earn her own money. Nowhere in the passage does it mention that her husband controlled her affairs. He doesn’t even seem to be threatened by her business savvy. Instead, he seems to have had full confidence in her decisions and even praised her for her accomplishments.

She seems to have been her own boss, which would have allowed her to choose her own hours. Perhaps, when her children were small, she didn’t have so much time on her hands to pursue being an entrepreneur. During this time, she might have acquired or developed skills that later became useful in business ventures.

Sometimes even hobbies become careers. Endeavor to put your energy into those things that give you fulfillment, and God will bless you. Never underestimate the potential that God has placed in you. Give yourself permission to be the unique you that He made you to be, and watch Him put it all together.

No matter the job, business, or career, we must never make money our priority. We cannot serve both money and God because our hearts will follow after one master or the other. That doesn’t mean that we can’t pray and ask God to give us success in our work, but if money becomes the issue, then it will have control over us. If we live for the pursuit of money, we will rob ourselves of living joy-filled lives.

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Spiritual Warfare – Part 2 of 4

When Adam and Eve sinned, they unknowingly relinquished to Satan their authority on earth. But now, through the work on the cross, Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth. He now sends us out into the world with that authority. We just have to learn how to walk in it.

Satan has two major goals. His first goal is to keep as many people as he possibly can from following the Lord. His second goal is to keep those who do follow the Lord from ever reaching their full potential. As with combatants in any battle, Satan not only has goals, but he also has strategies.

This is not the time for us moms to be spiritually asleep. God’s people are perishing for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6). Ignorance is no excuse. The Bible warns us to be always alert, prayerful, and wise.

One of Satan’s best strategies is to try to distract our focus from the real battle. The real battle is not against people, but against evil spirits. When we get tangled up in resentment, jealousy, anger, and hatred toward others, we lose the battle. We also end up wasting a lot of energy and a lot of negative emotions. To win this kind of war, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus, remain in His word, keep on praying, and keep on flowing in His love and forgiveness.

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Prayer is Powerful – Part 2 of 5

The best thing about prayer is that you can do it any time of the day. It’s like having a conversation with God. The moment you feel prompted to pray for someone or something, share it with God. Sometimes, when I’m driving and I see someone who looks like someone else I know, I think, “Hey, I wonder how so-and-so is doing?” Then I pray for that person. Even a quick prayer can be powerful.

At other times, I might be having a conversation with a friend and the conversation leads to the friend having a need. Perhaps she hasn’t asked for prayer specifically, but I recognize that if I offer to pray, she’d probably appreciate it. Depending on the situation, I might even offer to pray for her right there.

Your prayers don’t have to be done in “the closet.” The less you worry about having the right place and the right atmosphere, the more spontaneous and natural your prayer life will be. As long as you are praying to be heard by God and not by man, then pray without holding back. Don’t allow inhibitions to keep you from being utilized by God.

Of course, you don’t want to draw unnecessary attention to yourself, so decide when it’s more beneficial to pray silently rather than vocally. Things to take into consideration are: the purpose of your prayer, the situation, and the suitability of your environment. Even though it’s good to be aware of your environment, this should not primarily govern how you pray. As you flow with His Spirit and with His love, you’ll know how to respond appropriately in every situation.

One place where people pray out loud is when they are together in a group or with a prayer partner. It could be at a large prayer meeting or with just a few moms. God promises that where two or three gather together in His name, He hears and will answer (Matt. 18:19&20). This means that if people are genuinely gathered for Christ’s purposes then His Spirit will lead them to unity of thought and they can confidently pray, knowing what they have agreed on will be answered.

A safe place to practice praying out loud is when you’re alone at home. You could try walking through the house praying from room to room. As you reach your kids’ rooms, you could pray for their safety. You could pray that their spiritual, mental, and physical development will be healthy and balanced so they can reach their full potential. You could also pray for their unknown future spouses.

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Thankful in Times of Opposition – Part 3 of 4

Both Joshua and Caleb had the kind of faith where they were willing to be used by God to make a difference in their society. That’s because they never forgot their origins. They remembered that they were the chosen people of God and that their God was all-powerful. They also chose to remain faithful to God no matter what the cost. That included standing up to popular opinion. Everyone else, except for Moses, wanted to listen to the ten spies that had come back with a fearful report. Joshua and Caleb tried to persuade them differently, but to no avail. The discussion got so heated that the people threatened them with stoning.

How do you feel when others put you down or scorn your Christian faith? Do you wilt away, hoping that they won’t take notice of you in the future? Or do you stand up taller and smile brighter knowing that you’re an heir and a ruler in the family of God?

People will take notice of you, and they’ll want to know what your secret is if you’re willing to have the attitude of Joshua and Caleb. God created you with enormous potential. As you meditate on what God says about you in the scriptures, then you won’t have to worry about what others might think, say, or do.

Part of living out your faith includes having to go against the regular flow of society. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Most people are thermometers that record or register the temperature of majority opinion, not thermostats that transform and regulate the temperature of society.” We know that Dr. King stood for what he believed in despite all the threats and criticisms that he had to face.

You have to decide if you will be the thermostat and transform society or just another thermometer. Will you make yourself available to be used by God to make a difference in the lives of others around you? Do you believe that with God you have the potential to make your life and future a success?

Perhaps you’ve lost yourself in the daily grind of caring for your children, your husband, and your home, and you no longer know who you are. Or, maybe sin and fear are standing in the way of a joyous and faith-filled life.

The Israelites were offered their freedom and a blessed future if they would turn away from their idols and worship and obey God. Instead, they preferred their spiritual and even their physical slavery to God’s gift of freedom.

Don’t be a slave to your family, to sin, or to fear. If you’re going to be a slave, then be a slave to the Lord. The apostle Paul was a Roman citizen and therefore a free man, but he wrote that He was a slave of Christ Jesus. To be a slave of Jesus actually means to be free – free from the bondage of sin and death. The devil came to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus has come to give us life and to give it abundantly (John 10:10).

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Discovering Your Potential - Part 5 of 5

Most people will not champion you beyond their idea of what is possible. Therefore, you have to be willing to go where others refuse to follow. Many people are trapped in boxes of their own making. They feel either threatened by or jealous of anyone who ventures beyond their limited understanding. They take comfort in surrounding themselves with others who are doing the same.

Christians are not exempt from this kind of thinking. We are all tempted to hold on to what is familiar and to build our walls around that. When we ask the Holy Spirit into our lives, we aren’t immediately set free from the temptation to think like this. We still need to renew our minds by studying the Word of God, and we must develop our spiritual eyes, which are eyes of faith.

Sadly, sometimes it’s the Christians that will fight the hardest to prevent us from being who God intended us to be. However, our fight is not with people, but with evil forces (Eph. 6:12). We must look past our hurts and forgive those who try to stand in the way.

The right path to take is sometimes less visible and less traveled, but the trials we face along the way can only make us stronger. At the right time, God will open doors for each of us as we remain on course and in step with Him.

That doesn’t mean that life is always going to be exciting. The task, whether great or small, should be done with excellence. When we have the right attitude even toward the mundane we’ll experience more release in our lives. If we are faithful in the smallest things, God will bless us with bigger things (Luke 19:17).

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Discovering Your Potential - Part 4 of 5

The God who worked supernaturally through the prophets and the apostles is the same God who is still working through His servants today. God wants us to use the gifts of the Spirit, but not for our own gain. They are available to us in order to bless the body of Christ and to reveal God to unbelievers. Either we can be Jesus “wanna-bes” (all talk and no power) or we can be the real thing. God desires to transform us from being average Christians to being Spirit-filled (Matt. 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33).

Be open to the Spirit and willing to make yourself available through His leading. Also ask the Lord for opportunities as He can use you in any context. You don’t even have to leave your own home to be effective. For example, you can do something as easy as praying for someone over the phone. By tuning in to the Spirit’s promptings, you’ll find that you can pray for that person in a way that goes beyond your own understanding.

Start with little steps. The more you practice using the gifts, the better you’ll get at it. Begin to discover the different callings that God specifically designed you for. Whatever you can imagine that is, God said that He can do even more. God is not limited by human standards so we must look further than our own understanding.

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Discovering Your Potential - Part 3 of 5

When I was a teenager, I asked God to give me the ability to play the piano by ear. I was taking piano lessons at the time and found trying to read music slow going. Around that time I also asked God to give me the ability to write poetry. Well, I never developed into a pianist, but I did begin writing poetry. My first request may not have been granted, but my second one was. Because I was willing to try something new, I became richer for it.

The good news is that we don’t have to stay where we’re at. There’s much more up ahead for us if we’re willing to seek it with all our hearts. In 1Corinthians 12 and 14, the Apostle Paul taught that we can ask God for supernatural gifts of the Spirit, as I mentioned above. It could be a word of knowledge, which is information supernaturally gained about someone or something. Or it could be that someone you pray for is healed. These gifts are there for all believers to equip us for supernatural service.

Maybe you’re not sure what you should be seeking. God says that as you delight yourself in Him, He promises to give you the desires of your heart. As you stay sensitive to His Spirit, He will reveal to you bit by bit what His desires are for you.

I believe that we can operate in any one of these gifts when it’s needed, but we are all given at least one gift that we can operate in on a regular basis. I say this because there will be some who have a healing ministry, but that doesn’t exempt the rest of us from praying for people’s healing. We must be available and obedient. God will do the rest.

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Discovering Your Potential - Part 2 of 5

Too many women wish they had different hair, or eyes of a different color, or different gifts and talents. Wishing we were something or someone else only cripples our potential and our joy. Some even think that they’re not a bit talented or gifted. Actually, we’re all talented and gifted, but in different ways and to different degrees. We bring God glory when we embrace the unique way that He made each of us.

We are like life coaches, but we can’t coach our kids about discovering their identities if we don’t know our own. Therefore, we need to be thankful and honest about ourselves and not pretend to be someone we’re not. By modeling this we will help our children confidently get to know who they are. Peer pressure doesn’t have to get the better of them if we create an atmosphere that strengthens their self-esteem.

The best part is that whatever we’re born with doesn’t just end there. There’s more for us because there’s much more in Christ. It’s good to note our weaknesses, but if we spend time trying only to improve our weaknesses then we may forget about our strengths. This can have a bad effect on our self-esteem, to the point where we finally just give up on ourselves. We need to keep our focus on God and His potential not on our own abilities or seeming lack thereof. Even our strengths can be our greatest weaknesses when they are not properly harnessed. We just need to stay available and teachable, and God will do the rest.

I recommend that you read my post about my son and youngest daughter in "Eye Color Conversation."

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Discovering Your Potential – Part 1 of 5

The devil doesn’t like it when Christians are in a healthy relationship with God. He knows that if he can keep us from really connecting with our Maker, then he can keep us from reaching our full potential. That potential is wrapped up in a God-given calling. Part of knowing our calling is knowing who we are as individuals.

God made each of us differently for His good pleasure. He has given us both natural and supernatural potential. The natural potential God puts in us and we discover it. He does this like a computer programmer. He wires each of us a certain way and He carefully writes out our DNA. Only God can do that. However, we were not born fully grown. We had to develop into who we are now. The supernatural potential we discover in Christ.

When we become believers, we are able to become more like Him. The more He becomes a part of our lives, the more His Spirit will operate through us. In those areas of our lives where we feel inadequate, Jesus by His Spirit makes us adequate as we call on Him. This includes enabling us to operate in the fruit of the Spirit, as found in Galatians 5:22, such as in faithfulness and kindness. Furthermore, we can ask for supernatural gifts of the Spirit, which include knowledge and healing.

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