Going Beyond

Yesterday and today I spent time at an amazing women's conference with an amazing bunch of women!!!  I am so privileged to be able to call these women my friends.  To each one of you, words cannot describe what you mean to me... and there are some of you reading this that did not attend the conference and I don't want you to feel left out... I feel the same way about you!  

I have said many times over that I KNOW, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that God placed me and my family at FBC!  His hand was on it, and His timing was perfect.  I look over the past 4 1/2 years and marvel at what God has done.  But, I also look at the years before and see how He was preparing us for what He had in store for us.  God uses every moment of our lives to prepare us for the next.  I don't believe in coincidence, I don't believe in chance. I believe that God has a plan for our lives and if we allow Him, He will use us to our fullest potential... but, that's the scary part.

It's easy to say, "okay, God, use me...", but how many times do we say that and add that "but" to it.  I know I do!!!   "God, I want you to use me, but I want to do this right now..., God I want you to use me, but that's not really where I want to serve...". Most of us have been there, most of us have had the same insecurities.  I still do.  When I think about serving, it's like, WHY do you want ME???  What do I have to offer?  I'm sure there is someone that is MUCH MORE QUALIFIED THAN I AM!

Going Beyond... the name of the conference that we went to.  Those two little words have so much meaning, especially to me, after today.  Going Beyond my comfort zone.  Going Beyond what I think I am qualified to do.  Going Beyond the little box that I have placed myself into and allow God to SHOW me and ALLOW HIM TO WORK THROUGH ME!!!  SCARY STUFF!! But why is it? Why am I so scared of what God may do in my life?  I KNOW He is FAITHFUL to me!!! I KNOW that He only wants what is BEST for me!!!

Priscilla Shirer used Jonah.  The Lord spoke to  Jonah and told him to go to Niniveh, but (there's that little word!) instead Jonah went to Tarshish; which, by the way, was 2,000 miles from where he was... Niniveh was only 300 miles.  Does this sound familiar?  It does with me.  Have you ever gone WAY out of your way to do something that you thought was a better idea?  How much easier it would be if I would just do what God asks me to do in the first place!!!  Like she said today, we can go our way but He's going to bring us back to where He first spoke to us... He doesn't forget what He wants us to do.  It's just up to us to decide how long it's going to take to do HIS WILL and receive HIS BLESSINGS!  As most of you know, Jonah did what he wanted to do, but he reaped the reward of his waywardness... and God brought him right back where he started... BUT, this is the BEST PART!!!  God gave Jonah A SECOND CHANCE!

When we don't do what He wants, He doesn't turn His back on us and say, "I'm not messing with her anymore because she doesn't listen to anything I tell her."  Instead He says... "I LOVE YOU! I will pursue you as long as I have to... I will pursue you even when you don't pursue Me."  Isn't that AMAZING!!!  Thank You God!!!  

Going Beyond... I challenge each one of you to go beyond what you think you are capable of doing.  Because honestly, if we only did what WE are capable of doing, it wouldn't be very much... each and everything that we have done is part of what HE has done in us to bring us to where we are right now!  Go Beyond your comfort zone!!!

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."  John 13: 34 & 35

"Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." Mark 9:23

NO GIANTS!

How many times do we allow our fears to take hold of us and not let us be all that He wants us to be??!!  Or the times that we believe the lies that satan tells us, to keep us from what we know is ours!

  

I love this illustration of David and Goliath...  In God's presence... we should have NO GIANTS!

David, the youngest in a family of eight boys could not believe the scene before him. Tossing the giant's threats and obvious advantage aside, David refused to accept what he saw.  Instead, he chose to believe what he knew in his heart; this giant was going down!  With simple but certain faith and unreserved confidence in God, David stepped through the fear, ushering in the mighty presence and power of God.  Goliath not only met David that day, He met the Lord of Heaven and Earth.  And the giant fell!  Giants always fall in the presence of God! (Mary Southerland)

Stepping Out In Faith!

Focusing on obstacles distorts our vision. Problems seem to loom so large that we can't see to take the next step in faith. In reality, if God has called us to do something, the only hindrance is between our temples! He has already planned a way around, over, or through any barriers that might lie on the path to fulfilling His purpose.And when we, like the Israelites, give in to fear and refuse to move forward, we miss out on the great reward found in doing God's will.
(Charles Stanley)

WALK BY FAITH

We cannot do it on our own... but when we have faith in him... WOW!

2 Corinthians 5:7 (NIV) "We live by faith, not by sight."

Friend To Friend 
Miracles should be a daily occurrence. "God things" should be the norm if we truly know and abide in Christ. Men and women leave ministry every day, their lives shattered against a measurable faith by the hammering blows of life.  Life lived in human power is consuming and futile but life lived in God's power is powerful and purpose driven. 

As a wife, mother, friend, family member ... in any relationship, we cannot lead where we have not been, we cannot share what we do not possess and we cannot convey a message of power from a powerless life.  God stands ready to pour His power in and through us to a world filled with hurting, wounded and hopeless people.  All of His power is at our disposal yet we are satisfied to live our days filled with results that can be understood and easily explained in human terms.  I desperately want to live in such a way that one day I can look back in wonder at all of the "God things" He did in and through my life.  I pray that those who come behind me will celebrate an ordinary life that was lived in extraordinary ways and is explainable only through a power man can neither produce nor comprehend -- God's power. 

The power of God is unleashed through faith.  Faith is a personal issue.  Just as we cannot inherit or borrow faith, neither can we rely on the faith of anyone else.  We must have our own personal faith. 

As a freshman in college, I began dating a young man whose faith was very different from my own. Normally, I would never have considered dating anyone whose beliefs were in such stark contrast to mine, but we had so many other things in common and so enjoyed being together that we decided to take the risk and just date for fun.  Big mistake!  Neither one of us was prepared for the fact that our relationship quickly escalated into a serious one but we both realized that unless we resolved the faith issue, we would never have a future together.

I had attended church from birth and simply assumed that my beliefs were right because they were all I knew -- until someone I really cared about questioned the authenticity of my commitment to God.  I began to examine my faith and ended up making it my own. While a human relationship ended, I will be forever grateful that God used that young man to affirm my belief system, test my faith and deepen my eternal relationship with God. 

"A man wrapped up in himself makes a pretty small package.  But a man, or woman, wrapped up in God is an amazing sight to behold."  (Unknown)

Paul had great confidence. The prefix, "con" means "with" and the root "fid" means faith."  Therefore, a confident person is one who walks in faith.  We walk in faith that we are holy, chosen, redeemed, dearly loved children of God who are empowered by the Holy Spirit, equipped by our Maker, and enveloped by Jesus Christ.  Now that's an unshakable confidence.  

(Sharon Jaynes)

"Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.  He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant" 

(2 Corinthians 3:5-6 NIV).