His Truth

I am SO excited! It amazes me everyday, how wonderful God is. Of course not all days feel wonderful, but thats the beautiful thing about faith...even when we don't "feel" it, we can trust and believe that He is forever and always faithful, that His grace is still opertaing in our lives, that His love has not changed, and that we are still favored and treasured.

I AM a success :) yep... thats what God says about me. He says that I am a success. He says that I am holy, faithful, a blessing to my family, prosperous, helathy, whole, complete, surrendered, lovable, beautiful, confident, bold, and every other wonderful thing under the sun. So are you. It's not about what we see on the outside. The outside reflection off all Godly attributes will come as we begin to be transformed on the inside. Drawing closer to God and allowing Him to help us believe that what He says about us is true, is the only way real outward change is produced.

EXCITING!!! It's not all about me trying harder. Its all about Him, reflecting His great works and love into my life. This is good news!

If you have read any of my earlier posts, you know that I have been transitioning lately and it has been rough. But God, so faithful and true is reminding me at a deeper level of His great and wonderful love for me, that I am His beloved and that He will guide me.

My "ministry" right now may not look the way I thought...but what God says about me is true and I am begining to see the blessing of my new business and how it gives me opportunity to pray for so many people that are coming into my life. I have the opportunity to help people change their lives and I can because I am who God says I am....Read on at Wrapped Up With Daveda

Jesus Is Our Happy Ending

Do you ever feel emotionally moved and touched by a love story, or feel your eyes brimming with tears as you watch a movie about someones dreams coming true? I know, I know...a lot of people say that it's "only in the movies." Some people will even caution you to not get swept away by the unrealistic expectations these movies can create. But why do we experience such emotions, is it really all bad?

Want to know what I think? I think we were created by God to be loved and valued. I think that deep inside each one of us is a desire, placed by God, to be treasured and favored. I think that God created each one of us with a desire to be successful, confident, bold and fearless. I think the reason these movies and stories stir something inside of us is because we can see our hopes and dreams in them.

The problem isn't the emotions or the longings that get stirred inside of us. The problem is that we don't always look to Jesus to fulfill them. He is our answer to every longing and desire we have. Jesus is the answer to our happy ending.

Refocus

I realized something this morining...My focus has been all wrong. After all that God has shown me about His love and His grace fully operational and functioning in my life...I somehow got my mind stuck looking in the wrong direction.

"For I determine not to know anything among you except Jesus Chris and Him Crucified"
1 Corinthians 2:2

My life has been shifting a bit lately and I have found myself constantly looking at myself and trying to decide if I know what I'm doing. The problem is I should be looking at Jesus and reminding myself that He DOES know what He's is doing. I don't have to try and figure out all these answers, I simply need to refocus and look to Jesus. He WILL guide me, lead me and teach me all things!

It not about me!! It's about HIM. It's not about me having the right answers, or making the right choices becasue when I am completely dependant on HIM He will simply guide me. If I make a mistake it's still ok because God uses ALL things together for good for those who love him.

I know Christ Crucified and what that means for me is a life of rest and trust in His goodness, grace and power operating in my life.

P.S. I am in the process of starting up a new blog page for my business. It'll be ready soon, please come take a look HERE

What I Wanted Before

I recently started a new business with It Works! Global. Have you ever heard of it? I know its popularity has made its way into many citites across the country and then some, but there are still many places that don't even know what it is. Which is exciting!

Its a great Christian company that offers all natural and botanically based products. Our lead product is called the Ultimate Boody Applicator, and this product detoxes, tightens, tones and firms the skin where applied, as well as reduces the appearance of cellulite and skin slackening...side affects....98% of people lose inches in that area with-in 45 minutes! NO JOKE it really does work.

Anyway I could go on and on about how great the products and the company are. I also replaced my part time income in 4 months with their business model. YEA ME!

But this post is about my heart...you see just 3 years ago I was consumed with ministry. It was all I ever thought about, it has been this way for me since I meet Jesus. I always felt "called" to teach and speak. I started writing a book a few years ago, havent gotten it published yet...but I have every intention of doing so...I'm just not sure its done yet. Although everyone who reads it tells me that its done and I need to publish it.

So, back to my heart...consumed with ministry...However, I wasnt necessarily consumed with Jesus, just ministry. I know some people feel that they are one in the same, but I no longer think so. You see ministy for me was busy work. Yes, you help people, but for me it feels like you get so consumed with planning this and organizing that, that its easy to get caught up in the program and not be focused on the person. Plus, I think that being in ministry made me feel like I was important. It identified me as a person. Which I no longer care about, it doesnt matter to me if others think im important. It matters what God thinks. My identity is in Jesus, period, and I have learned (still learning) that what I do isn't what makes me valuable.

Hence my current dillema...ministry doesnt look the same for me any more. I've preached in churches, at bible studies, at retreats etc...and I always felt like God used me to reach people. But I also have started seeing some things in organized ministry that have actually caused me to take a break from church for awhile. Don't get me wrong I'm not dogging "churches" I was lead to the Lord in a church and have made a lot of great friends through church. I'm not even opposed to being apart of a church. Theres a part of me that misses it. SOME of it. Then theres a part of me that has no desire to be apart of all the chaos that actually causes you to be more involed in ministry than with Jesus.

Does this make any sense to anyone except me? LOL I know there have to be others out there that can relate to where I'm coming from. And to be honest...I've never been this honest before. I've always been afraid of what you would think of me when you read this post.

So how does this have ANYTHING to do with my new It Works! business? Good question! I feel torn between what was and what is. I started this business for my family. It has the potential to create a very nice income that can provide for us in the future. My husband is physically in pain all the time and his job is really tough on him. This business can create the income to free him from that. Also, I have two boys at home that are Dyslexic and I need to homeschool so this job gives me the flexibilty to do that as well.

My dillema, I don't want to not use the gifts that God has given me. I lead a Bible Study on Wednesday nights in my home. I don't TEACH a Bible Study but I do lead one. The "job" I always saw for myself was me being a preacher, traveling around and teaching...but I don't even want that anymore. It would not be the best thing for my family, at least not right now. So I am having a hard time with this new business in the respect that I feel like to really be "all in" with this do I have to be "all out" with the previous ministry thing and if not what does that even look like now?Do I have to choose between doing what I feel is best for my family and what I used to see for myself?

I know that may sound silly and I know you can't answer that question for me. But this is where my heart is today. This business came along at just the right time and I know the Lord has blessed me with it. I am certain that God is working in me right now! Its just confusing to me...I really want to do well with this business and be successful. I really want to give my family the opportunity to not be tied down to a 2nd shift, hard on your body life style. But, I've never wanted anything but ministry before...

Uncomfortable Change

Over the last several years I have been continually set free from bondages and legalisms through the continued revelation of Jesus Christ the person, not the religion, and the truth of His Grace.

This had indeed been an amzing journey. However, each time I get to a new level of being set free and I begin to see something in my life differently, its a pretty uncomfortable feeling. It feels very much like having a band-aid ripped off of a wound that now needs some air to heal.

I go through this time questioning myself and asking "Could what I am now feeling and experiencing be right, or have I somehow lost my mind?" The last thing I ever want to do it navigate away from truth, so I am continally asking God to help me make sure I don't get lost along the way.

Why is this transition period so difficult? What are your experinces with this in your journey and how do you navigate through it?

Rethinking Your Thinking

Have you ever been in a place in your life where you were rethinking the way you think? A place where the what used to seem right or normal, has started to take on a completely different look? I feel like I am seeing life in a different light recently and am really rethinking what I see...What are your thoughts or experiences on this?