How to Release 9 Blessings in Your Life {Blessing #9}

"Blessed are you when people insult you,persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Matthew 5:11,12

Blessing #9: a great reward in heaven.

To Release This Blessing:  The prophets took action; they spoke, they demonstrated, dreamed all with the power of God moving through them.  I believe this is the type of "because of me" acts that Jesus is referring to that brings persecution.  If we want to release this blessing, then we must do as they did.  Allow Jesus to live through you.

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These 9 Blessings are not easy to release or live out, but they are rewarding. Which of the 9 Blessings are you going to go after first?

 This post is originally from 2011 and I've re-vamped it from it's original post.  To view the 2011 version click here.   

How to Release 9 Blessings in Your Life {Blessing #8}

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"Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:10

Blessing #8: the kingdom of heaven belongs to us.

To Release This Blessing:  I personally didn't really like this blessing at first, it doesn't sound like much of a blessing....I mean, persecution, who wants that?  But it is NOT a blessing to be persecuted because of our right and moral living, but the blessing is the kingdom of heaven. When we stand up for righteousness (right and moral living), persecution is a byproduct of that lifestyle.  Release this blessing in your life by living a life of righteousness.

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In deciding to follow Jesus, we are made righteous by his sacrifice for our sin on the cross.  When we display righteousness, persecution will follow.  -It just comes with the territory as heirs to the kingdom of heaven as a child of the King. 

This post is originally from 2011 and I've re-vamped it from it's original post.  To view the 2011 version click here. 

Diving into Deliverance

People are fascinated with the term DELIVERANCE. 

Maybe it’s because of all those supernatural themed television shows and movies that freak everyone out.

Or maybe it’s because everyone knows there could be something lurking inside wreaking havoc in their own life and they need freedom.

Either way, it’s a great subject because whether 

you are a Christian or not, it’s possible for demons 

to influence your soul and at times your physical body.

When I say soul, I mean your mind, your will, and your emotions.

When I say physical body, I mean just that.  As an example, many times demons assigned to sickness and disease can manifest in our physical bodies.

Are you still with me?  

I don’t want to freak anyone out.  In fact, if you are a Christian (that’s someone who’s decided to follow Jesus as Lord and Savior), then the demons are AFRAID OF US! 

I know that my title is Diving into Deliverance and I could write for days on this subject……but I won’t….at least for now.

#1 The thief, the Devil, desires to 

do only 3 things to us in life.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”  John 10:10

#2 Jesus has come to set us free.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free,” Luke 4:18

In those two truths is the beginning of the knowledge and the understanding of deliverance.

You must begin to sort out what in your life is being stolen from you, trying to kill you, and destroy you and what in your life brings life and freedom.

I highly recommend a book that I began my journey of educating myself on deliverance.  It’s called “When Pigs Move In” by Don Dickerman. Which is found on Amazon.

It not only is full of testimonies, but also a step by step process to become free.

If this is a subject that proves a lot of interest, then I’ll continue to share more.

My husband and I have ministered in 

deliverance for several years now and 

have seen many set free from illness 

and other afflictions.

Brave

When your answer is “I feel the Lord is calling me on in a new direction (a new place) (new relationship) (fill in the blank__________)” why isn’t that enough?

We all have journeyed to a place throughout our lives where we’ve felt this tug in our spirits to do something new.

Whether this is changing jobs, changing who we spend our time with, changing where we live, changing churches, and changing ministries and more!

When asked, “Why” I’m choosing a new direction I tend to hesitate.

Can I trust that this person will support my vision?

Are they going to be critical?

Will they even “get it?”

Often, I give a much simpler answer to protect myself from what the person who is asking may or may not say.

Am I really protecting myself?

The truth is, they may not understand my “why” and they may feel all sorts of emotions regarding my “why” but at the same time it’s not fair play either.

Everyone deserves a truthful answer no matter if they fully understand the “why” behind it all.

AND it will have to be enough.

I’ll stand strong and do my part.

I’ll bravely tell my “why”.

In Genesis 12 Abram was called by God to a new place

Where is God calling you that will take courage?

7 Ways to be Consistent

1.      Determination. Set your mind on the fact that you will do this activity no matter what tries to get in your way.

 All this I tested by wisdom and I said,

“I am determined to be wise”... Ecclesiastes 7:23 

2.      Write it down.  Make a list of what you want to accomplish and how often you want to accomplish it.

But the noble make noble plans, and by noble 

deeds they stand.  Isaiah 32:8

3.      Verbalize it.  Speak out positive words to yourself about how you can and will achieve your goals.

So shall my word be that goes out from my 

mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it 

shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall 

succeed in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 

55:11

4.      Do it! When you wake up in the morning start to take action on your goals. Don’t wait for time to slip away.

We do not want you to become lazy, but to 

imitate those who through faith and patience 

inherit what has been promised. Hebrews 6:12

5.      Talk about it. Tell others about your goals and surround yourself with people who want you to succeed.

Therefore encourage one another and build each 

other up, just as in fact you are doing. 

1Thessalonians 5:11

6.      Pray. Daily pray over yourself and the tasks that you are trying to accomplish. Invite God to walk with you down this path.

 Rejoice always,  pray continually, give thanks in 

all circumstances;for this is God’s will for you in 

Christ Jesus. 1Thessalonians 5:16-18

7.      Be prepared. Get your mind, your will and your emotions ready to do it all over again the next day.

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds 

set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in 

accordance with the Spirit have their minds set 

on what the Spirit desires.  Romans 8:5

Post-Partum Depression & Spinning Plates {Part 2}

I cried out to Jesus for help.  He must have heard my cry, but it still felt impossible to sense his presence at all. 

All along this journey I had been spinning plates; trying to keep up appearances of the perfect mother and wife. 

It just all came crashing down so suddenly.  Then it happened.  I realized that I had fallen down the rabbit hole.  

I wanted out so desperately and as I cried out to God daily with my baby in arms and my toddler hanging on my knee I wondered if God could hear me at all.

I was so far down.  So very far down that hole.  Was I going to be able to come back?

At the urging of my husband I went to the Doctor and he gave me several months supply of samples of anti-depressants. 

I was on those pills for two months.  I didn’t cry, rage, or have suicidal thoughts but I also didn’t laugh, smile, and feel…anything.  I felt numb.

Then one day I just decided that I couldn’t live like that anymore.  I didn’t want to feel depressed but I also wanted to feel again. 

I stopped taking those pills cold turkey. 

A week had passed and I was feeling like my old self again; the self I once was before this post-partum had taken hold of me.

I distinctly remember what happened next.  I went to change my baby’s diaper just like I had done a dozen times before.  Everything felt normal until suddenly I started to feel anger and rage.  It felt like something hot climbing up from my feet and slowly rising up my legs.

I thought for a moment why would this be happening?  I don’t want to live like this anymore!  This is NOT who I am and who I am meant to be!

I whispered the only words I knew that would hopefully give me victory. 

“Get off of me in Jesus name!”

As suddenly as it had come on it had left. 

I felt joy again.

I felt freedom.

I was done spinning plates.  I was done with that rabbit hole.

From that moment on, I knew there was something more that I had personally experienced.  I experienced a tool for freedom from a spiritual enemy.

A tool that is also known as deliverance. 

This has been the path I’ve walked.  If you or someone you know is struggling with post-partum depression, I’d love to pray for you. 

Feel free to leave a comment or contact me through my Facebook page @Pathoftheblessing or Twitter @1BlessedPath 

{Links can also be found in the upper right hand corner of this blog site}

Post-Partum Depression & Spinning Plates

In 2000 I felt my mind and emotions slipping away with my first baby.  I adored her, but the world around me was completely overwhelming.  I was able to hide my struggle well enough that even the people who were closest to my, except my husband, never knew.

In 2002 I had my second baby and now I had tripped into the rabbit hole.  My mind and my emotions had teetered over the edge of what seemed to be no return.  Again, I put on my best face and was able to hide it from everyone until the melt down at a restaurant.  It was just too much. 

My baby was crying, there was a hot pot of coffee just above my shoulder, a table full of my husband’s relatives, several of whom I’ve never met, and I’m trying to latch my baby on to calm her. 

The only thing I can remember is I suddenly stood up and said, “I don’t give a damn” and quickly walked out of the restaurant with my baby in arms tears running down my face.

I sat out at the curb next to the car crying. Alone.  That was the moment I knew I needed help.

Jesus. Jesus. If you can hear me, please help me.

It was a miracle what happened in the next few months.  But I’ll write about THAT in my next blog.

4 Ways to Start on the Path of Blessing

Blessing flowed in and out of the lives of Abraham, Isaac, and 

Jacob.  Just before they were walking a path full of blessing, they all 

followed the same pattern.  

It’s what I call The Compass and it’s also the name of my soon to be 

published weekly devotional.

Front Cover Art from Path of the Blessing:Abraham, Isaac, Jacob 

The Compass consists of these 4 elements:

1.  Worship God.  Worshipping God is about exalting him above all others by approaching The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit honestly and allowing yourself to expose your heart before him humbly, resulting in glory to our God.

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.  John 4:23

2. Inquire.  Inquiring of God is about bringing our requests to him. 

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  Philippians 4:6

3. Listen. Listening to God is best accomplished when the atmosphere is full of worship and void of distraction.  Although many times God will break through the most chaotic atmosphere in the way of a thought, idea, word, someone’s name, or through visual cues to get his direction across to his creation. 

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.  John 10:27

4. Obey.  Obeying God is the most challenging aspect of The Compass.  It’s simply about surrender; surrendering our ideas, plans, and ways of living life to his plans.  It’s about living life on God’s terms and not our own, all the while applying faith.  Believing that God loves us and ultimately wants us to live out our lives to the fullest, which is only accomplished through obedience.

He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”  Luke 11:28

Want to know how Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob navigated their paths with The Compass and how their story is our story too?

Then find my book on Amazon; Path of the Blessing: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob by Tasha Johnson

3 Ways to Know if You’ve Walked Off the Path of The Blessing

Life isn’t always peaches and cream.  

Life can unexpectedly serve up steamed green beans.  

In my life, I’ve found these 3 ways to be the most common ways I end up finding myself on a path that I didn’t plan on walking. 

Obviously, sin is the #1 answer, but I wanted to get a little bit more personal, so here we go!

1) Relationships.  I’ve chosen friends in my past, that are controlling and I end up becoming the friend that feels the need to make her happy to keep our friendship.  I’ve been a people pleaser.  After the fun of the new friendship wears off, and without healthy boundaries in place, I am resentful of that friend.  This relationship can also be dating relationships and marriages.  -Yikes! I know I’m speaking to someone out there who knows exactly what I mean. 

2) Misuse of Finances.  In years prior, I’ve wanted to fit in so badly with the community that surrounds me that I’ve racked up quite a credit card debt.  I didn’t honor God with the money that he’s blessed me with and I didn’t honor my husband.  I’ve been sneaky.  That path led to regret and mistrust between my husband and me.

3) Following Leaders Who Don’t Lead.  My husband and I have sat under the authority of leaders who don’t lead us deeper into the things of God.  We’ve innocently placed ourselves under such leadership with illusions of grandeur and false expectations.  When the promises fall flat, you see behind the curtain, and you realize it’s never going to happen.  This path is loaded with disappointment and unforgiveness.  This leader can also be a leader at work and in the home, such as your husband. -again, yikes! 

The good news is there is a way to get back onto the Path of the Blessing. -and when I say “the” I’m referring to God’s path for your life. 

If you want to know more, you can find my book, “Path of the Blessing: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob” on Amazon

Don't Give Up, Stand Up!

•             When Hannah felt like giving up, she stood up.

•             When we feel like giving up, choose to stand up!

•             When you want to give up, stand up!

These thoughts flooded my mind after reading 1 Samuel 1:1-20.  It’s a true account of a woman named Hannah, her husband Elkahana, and Elkahana’s other wife Peninnah.  Peninnah was jealous of Hannah because Elkahana always blessed Hannah with twice as much when it came time to journey to make the annual sacrifice for the covering and cleansing of sins.  Hannah received twice as much because she had no children.  I find it strange that Peninnah acted this way towards Hannah due to the fact that Peninnah was the one who was able to bear children, while Hannah had none.  Peninnah was blessed but it wasn’t enough.  Hannah was afflicted by two hardships; she was bullied by a jealous woman and she wasn’t able to have children.

I’ve been in Hannah’s shoes many times in my life from elementary school and onward and I’m sure you have as well.  Girlfriends jealous of what you have, who you’re friends with, and intellect on a subject that somehow they feel inferior in.  When women act out these emotions of jealousy it looks a lot like lying, gossip, bullying, verbal and physical abuse.  Hannah was experiencing some of these reactions from her rival Peninnah.  Peninnah had purposed to irritate Hannah to the point that Hannah would cry and not eat.  Year after year this scenario would play out and Hannah would be bullied by Peninnah while the ever-present reminder that she was barren was on the forefront of her mind.

Then one year, one day, Hannah changed everything.  Hannah was at the Temple and when she had finished eating and drinking, Hannah stood up.  She did something different than in years’ past.  Hannah not only wept, same as before, but she prayed to the Lord and made a vow to dedicate her son to the Lord in service for his whole life; that is if the Lord was to give her a son.  She was extremely distraught as she prayed in her heart and the priest Eli sees her lips moving but no sound is coming out and therefore accuses her of being drunk. 

Not only is her rival beating her down verbally and now the priest too?  He had no idea what was really going on in the background of her life.  This is exactly what happens today.  People making assumptions about you without knowing what you’re going through.  Here Eli assumed that Hannah was drunk out of her mind in the Temple.  Instead, as she explains, she is “deeply troubled” and that she was “pouring out my soul to the Lord” and also that “I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief”.

 Has there ever been a time, a situation, and a relationship that has been of great anguish to your soul; a time where your heart aches inside of your flesh that it almost feels like you just can’t take it anymore?  Hannah got to that point and she made a choice.  She made the choice to not to give up, but stand up and do something different.  She decided to break the cycle, take a risk and in her desperation for breakthrough, risking her self-image before the priest in the Temple she laid her soul bare before God.

Hannah could have looked at the priest in all her hurt and pain and could have walked away feeling like the world was against her, but again, she pressed through.  She stood up for herself by explaining her demeanor.  After hearing Hannah’s explanation, Eli blessed her with words of encouragement.  Many times all we need is someone to just listen and encourage us.

This is our chance to view this situation from two different sides.  1) We can be the “Eli” in someone else’s life by listening and bringing an encouraging word at just the right moment or 2) We can be the “Hannah” who is in desperate need of an encouraging word, take that word and use it to pull us out of our despair. Hannah didn’t give up, she stood up.  At any given moment we are either one or the other.

The story of Hannah’s struggle ends with a son whom she names Samuel which was “because I asked the Lord for him.”  It ended because she asked the Lord for his intervention in her life.  Possibly this heartache could have been resolved sooner if she had chosen to stand up and pour her heart out to the Lord in any of the given years prior.  Don’t wait any longer, choose to be like Hannah; stand up.  Don’t shut God out when you are deeply troubled, choose to invite Him into your situation. Don’t give up, stand up.

I’m choosing to not give up on finishing a weekly devotional I had started years ago and as of this week I’ve stood up against feelings of frustration and failure.  I tried something I had never tried before, a new women’s group who prayed words of encouragement over me.  Just like Hannah, I believe my breakthrough is on its way. 

Transcending Earth to Heaven's Transforming Light

Romans 12:2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.  Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is –his good pleasing and perfect will.

Our thoughts, words and actions can take us places we’ve never been.  We can think, talk, and act our way into a dark place and allow our souls to dwell there or we can choose to think, talk, and act our way into the light where everything is fresh and new.  Only on mountain tops can you see the furthest vistas, the sun rise and set and what once looked like the largest obstacle now seems minute.  I want my mind to live there, on the mountaintops. But what if there was a better view?  Heaven, yes, from Heaven’s perspective, that must be the best view where even Earth finds its place amongst the stars and the planets dance in perfect harmony. 

From Heaven’s view all of the worries of Earth seem but a speck on the massive scale of time of which is eternity.  

From Heaven’s view, you might ask the question, what is worth holding onto and what is just sand slipping through our fingers?  The dark places still exist on earth but the light, that light that illuminates those dark places, that everlasting light from Heaven’s throne, surely there is no better vista.  I want my thoughts, words, and actions to not only live there but be propelled from there bathed in the light of my Creator, who’s transforming me from the dark places and into his glorious light. 

My thoughts, words, and actions need transformation to keep me from the dark paths and places.  God’s word has the answer.  Colossians 3:1-2 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  Colossians 3:10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

It begins with setting our hearts and minds on things above.  

Focusing on what is lasting and eternal verses the temporal.  To put this another way, what are we going to take with us when we die?  Those things that we can’t take are the temporal things, the sand that will continually slip through our fingers.  No matter how hard we try to grasp, those things will always evade eternity.

Once we shift our focus to the lasting and eternal, then we as believers are to choose to put on our new self which is in the process of renewal by the knowledge of God.  God’s knowledge is found in every word throughout the Bible.  Next we are to daily put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  We are also to forgive each other and to put on love as a part of this daily renewal.  Colossians 3:12-14 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.  Forgive as the Lord forgave you.  And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Transformation by renewing my mind is a process and it’s a journey worth taking.  This journey will take me to new places I’ve never been.  I’ve challenged myself to focus on the transformative knowledge of God that I wrote about in this blog above.  I’m focusing on one virtue a week, meditating on that virtue and letting it sink deep into my soul and allowing it to transform my thoughts, words and actions. I’m choosing to do this until I can put on these virtues daily whilst keeping them in mind throughout my day. Will you join me?

Week 1: compassion

Week 2: kindness

Week 3: humility

Week 4: gentleness

Week 5: patience

Week 6: forgiveness

Week 7: love

What other ways, through the knowledge of God, do you renew your mind?  What are other ways you focus on things above verses the things of earth?

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