All posts tagged: Motivation

Praying with Accuracy, not Accusation: Turbulence in Transition

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Change can be such a beautiful thing. Moving from one season of life into another, leaving one position at the workplace in order to lay claim to a more rewarding position, stepping out of the realm of singlehood to embrace that of a family, is glorious change. And the list goes on. Unfortunately, many times when we are offered the chance to embrace life redefining change brought on by accepting transition through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we inevitably run into the turbulence that shakes our current relationships to their very core. The truth is with the turbulence of transition and change comes the bitterness of pain in some of our existing relationships, be they familial, friendship, or romantic. Sometimes these are growing pains that draw us closer to our loved ones. Other times they are pains that push us away with the sharp barbs of rejection and disapproval. What do we do when we face such shaking when the wounds caused by a loved one’s rejection cut us deeper than our marrow? What …

When the Going Gets Tough, You Have a Helper

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“Behold, God is my helper; The Lord is with those who uphold my life.” ~PSALM 54:4 The Lord Who called you with purpose, dream, and vision, will help and sustain you especially when the going and growing gets tough (PSALM 23). Remember when He told the disciples He required or had a need to go to the other side of the sea of Galilea (MARK 4:35-41)? He let it be known to them that He had business there, instructed them to row in that direction, and then with Him, on the boat with them fast asleep…an ugly storm came. STORMS DON’T CANCEL HIS WORD The storm that hit in the midst of transition did not cancel the word, desire, or direction that Christ had spoken and put in motion. The best part about it was that not only was His plan and purpose not hindered by the storm but He was also in the midst of the storm during the transition with those He had commissioned to go forward. And as He was with the disciples during their storm, so too …

Turbulence in Transition: Relationship Wisdom for Faith Moves

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Turbulence. It is what happens most often when a plan takes flight and encounters unruly pockets of wind while in motion. The plane shakes, rattles, and by the grace of God, refuses to roll even if your belly does, as a result of the sudden ‘speed bumps’ that drive as a force against the craft, nearly knocking it off course. The sudden jarring punches of the wind from outside cause many passengers to grip their armrests with white-knuckled fear as if that will keep the plane in the air. Others simply buckle up, having decided not to be bothered by the jostling forces from outside, and continue to look forward to the journey ahead, fully confident that this moment will pass and the plane and the passengers will reach their destination intact. Have you been there before, not just as an experience of an actual flight, but within a relationship with someone close to you as you took off on your journey of transition from dream to manifestation? The Lord God, Jesus Christ, places a …

Strategic Power: Power in the Process pt 4

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“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.” ~Abraham Lincoln In the book of Acts, we find the disciples waiting in Jerusalem, along with many others for the green light from Heaven to go out and spread the goodness about the Lord and Messiah, Jesus Christ. They’ve witnessed His miracles, they’ve heard His words, they watched Him die a gruesome death on a rugged cross only to see Him risen on the third day. They believe. They believe in what He has said, they believe in what He has done, they believe in Who He is. They believe in what He has commissioned them to do…however… However, He, considering all of their belief instructs them to…wait. “Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.  But you shall receive power when the Holy …

Life Abundantly by Regina Hernandez

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“The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but I have come so that they may have life and life more abundantly.” ~JOHN 10:10 After an unexpected surgery in December, I found myself in this really weird place. I was lacking motivation. Simple tasks felt impossible. I wasn’t feeling social at all, which is a bit uncharacteristic for me…and the worst was, despite life being in a pretty good place, I was carrying this overwhelming sense of sadness with me. Come to find out, post-op depression is a thing, and I was struggling. Once I identified what was going on, I decided to find a way to press into the Lord. I wanted to seek Him out in the midst of the struggle instead of embracing the depression and just trying to trudge through until it was over. As I spent time with Him, I started just writing out some of what was on my mind and what I wanted help to overcome. I wrote about how I felt like I was lacking motivation and …

The Purpose in the Process: Part 3 of Power in the Process

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“Anything good will often require a good amount of time.” ~Candice Coates Scripture: I Samuel 17:24-40 (I encourage you to read I Samuel 17 in entirety.) In I Samuel 17, we find the Children of Israel in the Valley of Elah, stationed there for forty days in fear. Why? Because the champion of the Philistine army, Goliath, has come to defy them. “Send me your best warrior!” He says. “If he kills me, we will be your servants, but if I kill him, you will be our servants.” Standing nine feet tall and likely weighing near a complete ton, it is understandable why the Israelites would see this giant and camp out in fear. Who could match his strength? Who could possibly bring him down? No one has the courage to do so…except one–David, the son of Jesse. Ironically, David was likely no more than seventeen years old and was a trained…shepherd, not a warrior. But he was a master of faith in the God if Israel and the world. David was also a poet and inventor of new musical instruments, instruments …

The Process of Prayer: Power in the Process pt 2

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 “…rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer…” ~ROM. 12:12 One thing that I have noticed in my own faith walk and processes is that sometimes, when time and patience seem to stretch, and trials seem to mount, my rejoicing has the propensity to draw into silence as I fill my time with distractions…and prayer about my situation goes silent. Yes, I am still praying about other things, but praying about that purpose or point of passion that burns in my heart but seems oh so far away, I at times grow quite, fatigued. I begin to think, “Well, I’ve prayed enough times about this, and the Lord knows.” But the problem with this attitude and posture is that when we cease to rejoice in our hope when we lose patience in the process when we grow quite in our pointed prayers, we inadvertently fall out of line with the purpose that God has for us. We allow the passing of time to push us off course, thusly becoming distracted with things that will not strengthen …

Viewing Sin God’s Way by Bri Lassiter

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I‘m keenly aware that any time I have ever had victory over sin, it has been because of how kindly and patiently the Lord treated me as I struggled. We are so obsessed with behavior modification in our church culture, that it can be difficult to accept or acknowledge the Lord’s lack of judgment towards us. I hear the phrase ALL the time, “The Lord never told us not to judge, He just said judge with righteous judgment”, which is, of course, is just an excuse to continue cherishing our own judgemental thoughts towards ourselves and others. The righteous judgment the Lord exercised the most seemed to be kindness, and getting people to drop their rocks they were about to throw at each other. The righteousness judgment I see Jesus exercise when a woman was caught in sin, was to ask questions that led to self-examination so that inner healing could take place. Who is accusing you? Jesus asked. No one has a right to, but me, and I’m not going to. The rock and …

The God of All Comfort: Faith for Creatives

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“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” ~II CORINTHIANS 3-4 I am so grateful for the Word of God that not only encourages us to keep the faith but encourages us with purpose as we continue forward in faith. The Lord Jesus Christ assured us of His great and many blessings to and for us, but in that, He also assured us that alongside the blessings there would be troubles and tribulations. Suffering, unfortunately, is a part of all of our faith walks varying from person to person and calling to calling. But one of the glorious things found in this is that through our own personal trials we are able to strengthen and encourage others who are walking alongside us as our Shepherd, Lord, and King, carries us. What better encouragement in a trial is …

The Process of Patience: Power in the Process pt 1

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“Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him…” ~PSALM 37:7 Patience. For many, especially in the age of ‘hustle and grind,’ has become a foul word and even more a foreign concept to those who have a heart that beats to the tune of ‘do and achieve.’ Patience itself seems to be the very antithesis of progress and success itself, almost as if it is a waste of time. And waiting on the Lord, well, that seems to be a difficulty all its own. But oh is it so very worth it! First, let’s gain the understanding and the truth that more than you or I want to succeed, the Lord wants us to succeed even more. The glory and beauty of His desire and plans for us is that He is the one who planted those desires in us in the first place. He is the one who has written each of our stories from beginning to end, and He knows exactly what it is going to take to get us for beginning to glorious …