Speaking Social Media

This is for all the writers aspiring or otherwise and the public speakers everywhere.

Every time we log onto our social media and post we are engaging in the art of public speaking.  Whether it’s a simple “like” or a lengthy thought it’s all part of the language of social media.  We are constantly speaking volumes publicly whether we consciously know it or not.

About ten years ago I began writing my first book Path of the Blessing: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob.  Then with the encouragement from a friend of mine who is an editor I began blogging. 

Those early beginning stages of writing were so scary. 

When a woman first finds out that she’s pregnant and she’ll be delivering in nine months those first few weeks are full of excitement, anticipation, fear, and unknown.  That’s exactly how I felt at the beginning when writing. 

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Most of all I’ve wondered if anyone will be listening.  HELLO? Is anyone there?

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As the years have gone on and my baby has been born onto Amazon.com I’ve been finding ways to share my baby with the public.  Blogger, a Facebook Page, and now more recently Twitter and Instagram have been new ways to display and talk about my baby.

I know I can’t be the only one feeling this way, and you know what?  I’m not.  Jeremiah felt the SAME way!

In Jeremiah chapter 1 verses 5 through 9 God calls to Jeremiah.  He told Jeremiah that he had a plan for his life and that plan included public speaking. 

Jeremiah’s response was one that I can relate to:

“I do not know how to speak; I am too young”

Jeremiah is feeling all those feelings of excitement, anticipation, fear, and unknown.   Then the Lord says to Jeremiah not to be afraid because he will rescue him and give him the words to say.

AHH! So there it is…One of the pertinent KEYS to speaking social media.

Invite God into our words before we write, “like”, and post and he will give us the words to say; speaking social media.

Follow me at the LINKS above right for daily inspiration and encouragement or right here on my blog.  

A Recipe for Revival in 7 Steps

God’s people are searching for revival, but all we need to do is start by looking at our own lives.

Revival comes from the root word revive.

Revive:  to return to consciousness or life, become active or flourishing again

Has your walk with Jesus become routine, stale, or shallow?  Do you hunger for more knowledge regarding who God is?  Do you want to go deeper into truth so that you become refined? Then follow this ancient recipe which is from Nehemiah chapter 9, and it will lead you down a personal path of revival.

Ingredients Needed:

A heart that is committed to Jesus

Desire to change

Step 1 -Prepare your heart for repentance

Step 2 -Begin with fasting

Step 3 -Choose to separate yourself from on-going sinful behavior

Step 4 -Confess to God personal sins and sins of generations past

Step 5 -Read the Bible

Step 6 -Worship the Lord

Step 7 -Close with standing up and praising the

Lord

*Follow me at the Links above*

God's Valentine Invitation

In Matthew 22:1-14 Jesus talks about what the kingdom of heaven is like. 

He compares it to a wedding banquet, or a wedding reception. 

I like to think of it as a Valentines Party. 

Here’s my more modern rendition:

The King is having THE party to end all parties to celebrate his Son and his True Love.  He invited a group of people, but they refused the invitation.  The King then told the servants to open the invitation up to EVERYONE.  He told his servants to go out and stand on the street corners, telling everyone about this fabulous party and that they are ALL invited.

Every single person was invited this time, not just a select group.

They found all the people both good and bad and invited them to come into the Grand Hall to wait for the party to start. Just as the King came in to the hall, he noticed a man there who wasn’t wearing the proper party attire.  The King called out to the man, “Friend, how did you get in here without being dressed properly for the party?”

The man was speechless.

He was totally caught off guard.

He thought he was dressed properly, he thought he was prepared for the party just like all the other invitees.  The King then told the attendants to kick the man out of the party outside of the palace walls while everyone else went in to celebrate the love between the King’s Son and his True Love.

The party that everyone is talking about in this parable is a reality.

It’s God’s Valentine Invitation to the whole world.   The King is God the Father.  The Son is Jesus Christ.  His True Love is his church; believers in Jesus as well as the attendees.  Those who choose to reject his invitation of Love will not be clothed in the proper

attire and will miss out on the celebration.

Everyone is invited!

John 3:16 is one of the most popular verses to show God’s love for us.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son.  That whoever believes in him will have everlasting life.”

In Galatians 3:27 it shows us how to be ready with the proper party attire, “for all of you who were baptized into Christ, have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

How will you respond?

Intentional Acts of Kindness

Earlier today I posted a quote on my Facebook page about 

kindness.  {See link in upper right hand corner}

Then after thinking about that word for quite a while, I 

remembered that just over a month ago, I had received a gift.

That gift was a Christmas ornament with the word 

kindness written on it. 

I think God is trying to tell me something….maybe…just maybe...

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I thought I had that word conquered.  I actually would think to myself, “Hey, that one’s easy. Why would God want me to focus on being kind when I’m so good at it?”

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So now, I’m writing this with a new perspective on humility. 

I’ve realized that I need to be more kind. 

Not just more kind.

Not just random acts of kindness, no, that’s easy.

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I need to have intentional acts of kindness.

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It’s easy to be randomly kind to a stranger, holding the door for them.  Giving a smile.  Maybe even lending them change at the store register.

It’s much harder to think of ways to be kind in advance to people whom you interact with on a regular basis.

Your spouse, your children, your parents, your in-laws, your co-workers, your staff, your neighbors.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 

forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

gentleness and self-control. Against such 

things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23

-Whew! Good thing God is asking me to focus right now on only ONE part of that fruit!  I think I have a lot of work ahead of me!

What area is God asking you to focus on?  Be intentional about it and see what happens! 

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 Days to Wait

Saul’s demise as king over Israel begins in 1 Samuel chapter 13 when he sinned against the Lord.

He was deep in battle and was waiting for a word from the Lord that they were blessed with favor in battle against their enemies.

He was given a word to wait seven days and then the prophet Samuel would show up. 

Saul waited the seven days and when he didn’t see Samuel, he decided to make an offering to the Lord in order to seek the Lord’s favor without Samuel. 

(This wasn’t the role of the king, but of the prophet and priest to perform these inquiries.)

Saul was tired of waiting, fearful and disobedient to the word of the Lord.

Feeling compelled to do something when you’re tired of waiting on God isn’t a good time to take action.

A while later, at that same battle location, in chapter 14, the men of Israel were starting to hide from their enemies, seeing that they were vastly outnumbered and out weaponized.

A small victory at one of the enemy’s outposts by Saul’s son Jonathan and his armor-bearer encouraged the men of Israel. 

Saul went to inquire of the Lord for direction and favor and as the priest was about to do so, Saul stopped him. 

He could hear the action of war in the near distance and decided to assemble his men for battle without receiving confirmation from the Lord. 

Twice Saul decided he had had enough of waiting for the Lord’s approval. 

He was slowly becoming consumed with fear. 

God gives Saul another opportunity to redeem himself in the sight of the Lord.

Through Samuel, he is given a mission with very specific instructions in chapter 15.  He does do some of what the Lord instructed him to do but not all.  He decidedly disobeyed the Lord in rebellion toward him almost as if he just didn’t care anymore. 

He then sets up a monument in another town in his own honor and there forth refers to the Lord as “the Lord your God” when speaking to Samuel. 

Saul’s heart has grown hard toward the Lord and decidedly turned away; rejecting him as his God.

This grieved the Lord. 

Saul decides to confess to Samuel that he “was afraid of the people and so I gave into them” (1 Samuel 15:24).  This excuse is not enough to win back the favor of God as Saul continues to refer to the Lord as “the Lord your God” separating himself as someone who no longer follows God himself. 

The Lord then searches for another who will reign as king that will love him and not turn away, who will follow all his instructions.

The Lord found David.

The Lord still searches for those who will follow him and not turn away. 

What will you choose?

A Demonstration of Deliverance

When Jesus entered the temple courts in Matthew 21:12,13 he drove out all who were buying and selling and he flipped a bunch of tables.

Not only did Jesus get physical, he made a statement which was a harsh rebuke. 

“It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Once Jesus died for our sins and redeemed us, paying the ultimate sacrifice, we no longer as a society need to sacrifice at a temple.  

Our bodies are the temple of God (2 Corinthians 6:16) and host the Presence of the Lord.

So what does this mean for us today?

Jesus drove out all the merchants who were taking advantage of the people who needed a last-minute sacrifice; over-pricing their goods.  

They were doing whatever it took to make a profit.  

They were thieves.

The temple had become a home for thieves to come and live and hide.

What is the enemy, the thief, stealing and hiding from your temple?  

Has he made a home there as well?

Jesus says that this house, the temple, is to be called a house of prayer. 

This is simply communication with God.

We need to ask Jesus to cleanse our temple by kicking out the den of robbers so that we may become solely a house of prayer.

Ask Jesus to reveal to you those things that should not remain in your temple.

First repent for those things having a place in your life.

Then get mad and tell those things to leave you and not return in Jesus name.

Jesus delivers and sets us free!