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.  

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! 

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!

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

How to Posture Yourself to Hear God Speaking to You

When I was a little girl attending Sunday School, one of my favorite stories in the Bible was the story of Samuel.  I connected with the story mainly because it was about a little boy who fell asleep in the temple and heard God’s voice audibly speak to him.

In 1 Samuel Chapter 3, Samuel had been assisting Eli, the priest in the temple for many years in worshipping the Lord.  Scholars estimate that Samuel was around 12 years of age when the Lord called out to him.  

Verse 7 says “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.”  I found this verse quite surprising.  

Samuel, day after day and for years was going through the motions; the act of everything required to demonstrate worship to the Lord and yet he didn’t know him.  How many of us are doing the same thing?  Saying our meal time prayers, our bedtime prayers, going to church on Sundays, doing all the “right” things, living a “good” life, being a “good” person and even reading the Bible.

  

Checking off all the boxes and punching in the time card. Is that what Christianity is all about?  -No, it’s not really about any of those things.  It’s about knowing the Lord through relationship.

Samuel didn’t recognize the voice of the Lord because he didn’t have a relationship with him yet.  He only knew God through the lens of rules and regulations.  He only knew to make sure to do the “right” things and check off all the boxes as he did them.

When the Lord called to Samuel, notice his posture; his position. Samuel positioned himself in such a way most likely because he was keeping an eye on the lamp of God to ensure it wouldn’t go out before it was supposed to.  In verse 2 it says that the lamp of God had not yet gone out.  This is something key to note because it was one of the laws to make sure it didn’t go out before morning. (Exodus 27:20, 21)  Also it’s key to note because it shows us just where Samuel had positioned himself.

The Lamp or what we now call the Menorah, represents fellowship with God.   Directly across from the Lamp stood the Bread of the Presence.  The Bread of the Presence represented fellowship and communion with man; speaking to him.   Verse 3 says that Samuel was lying down where the ark of God was.  The Ark of God represented the power and the presence of God himself. All three of these objects were surrounding Samuel.

Spiritually he positioned himself as close as anyone could possibly get to God, directly placing himself in his presence so that he could be in relationship with him and hear his voice.  That posture and position was where he needed to be to hear God, and he did.

Over time, Samuel understood how to keep the relationship close.  He kept hearing the word of the Lord time and time again.  I know I want that for my life.  I don’t want to live focused on the rules and regulations. Instead I want my focus to be on relationship; getting as close as I possibly can to the heart of God.  I want to rest in his presence like Samuel.

If you want to know the Lord and hear his voice leading you, then rest in his presence.  Get as close as you can.

How to get started: Slow down and read the Bible one verse/story/chapter at a time if need be, rest on that thought and meditate on it throughout your day.

Connect with me www.facebook.com/pathoftheblessing

Anxiety and Other Storms

Anxiety:

Distress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune (Dictionary.com)

Anxiety is rooted in Fear.  We’ve all experienced one or both at some point in our lives.  Maybe you are experiencing anxiety right now?  Recently, I’ve been on some cold medicine and I’ve noticed anxiety afflicting me, especially at night.  I’m tired, but my thoughts seem to keep going.  My body feels hyper-sensitive along with my hearing.  I worry that I’m not sleeping, so then I find myself in a cycle of worrying that I’m not going to get enough sleep before morning which then causes me to think and problem solve the reason of why I’m not sleeping soundly which then keeps me more and more awake.  (Woah, I’m feeling anxious just reliving this!)

In Luke 8:22 this passage has been subtitled “Jesus Calms the Storm”.  It’s the familiar story of Jesus crossing over in a boat when a major storm arises.  Jesus is sleeping through the whole event as the disciples are fearing for their lives because the boat is getting swamped with water.  They wake him up, and he simply speaks to the storm and then peace occurs.  The way I’ve heard it, and the way I’m describing it here, makes it sound so simple.  You might end up thinking that the lesson might be, “You shouldn’t ever be afraid if you have Jesus in your life”.  This is a misconception of the life of a follower of Jesus.  Storms will still arise and storms are scary.

In this passage you can relate this to your life, so let’s take a look at what was really happening…The followers of Jesus, his disciples, are on a journey with Jesus and they were crossing over into something and somewhere new.  As they were moving forward a storm approaches.  A storm not only approaches but is bent on stopping the journeyers from reaching their destination.  Now in verse 23 we can see the character of Jesus and he had an attitude of peace with absolutely no fear of what lies ahead.  The disciples however felt total fear.

Fear wants to stop us from reaching our destiny.

Now don’t think too poorly of the disciples, after all, at this point the boat was being swamped with water as the wind and the waves were blowing over the boat.  They were going to drown.  This was the circumstances that they not only saw but the very tangible physical experience that they were feeling. 

Remember my description of my anxiety?  I was experiencing and feeling something very real.  This was my storm in the midst of my peaceful night’s sleep.  Fear was rising up with the purpose to overtake me, to have me drowning in fear so much so that I wouldn’t be able to function the next day and accomplish my destiny that I was moving toward.

The disciples wake Jesus and he speaks to the wind and the waves.  He calms the storm.

Colossians 3:15 “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.  And be thankful.”  The Holy Spirit revealed to me one of those nights in the midst of my storm to thank God.  Here I was, alert, my mind going, my body buzzing and I’m reaching for whatever I know to use to battle this anxiety.

I reach for prayer. 

So I am rebuking the spirit of anxiety and asking for the Lord to fill me with peace.  –I felt nothing.  I felt absolutely no change.  So I thought, maybe I need to repeat that prayer as if maybe I didn’t say it right, or God didn’t hear me…again, no change.

“Can’t you see I’m drowning here Lord? I just need to sleep!”

Now the more I think about it, the worse it gets.  I get up and walk around and pray again, but more simply this time, “Jesus, please tell me what to do.”  Then the thought of thanking him entered my mind.  As I headed back to my bed, I started thanking God for specific family members, I felt instant relief from anxiety, then friends and by the time I got two friends in, I was out for the rest of the night.  Jesus calmed the storm.  This same incidence happened again, except this time I started right away with the thankfulness.  I only was able to express my gratitude to Jesus for about three people and then total peace.  This is amazing, thankfulness is tied to experiencing the peace of Christ!

Back to the disciples in Luke 8, they too were now experiencing peace.  Peace was restored to their journey.  They now had a renewed confidence in who Jesus is, and how he is able to bring peace to any element that will rise up.  For the disciples at that time, those elements were the wind and waves, but for us it can be anything.  For myself, recently it’s been anxiety that Jesus has calmed through thankfulness. 

What elements or storms do you have in your life that are rising up to stop you from reaching your destiny?  Ask Jesus to tell you what to do.  It just might start with thankfulness.

Hearing God's Voice for Your Life

A grand scale of the childhood game “Simeon Says” is being played out all over the world.  The Lord is “Simeon” and he’s asking us to listen to his voice and do the simplest of tasks every day.  He’s asking us to hear the word and do the word.

Luke 8:21 He replied, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God’s word and put it into practice.”

When we apply action to his commands, we move forward towards the reward.  The reward is having a closer relationship with Him.  The closer we get, the louder His voice is in our lives.  When we do something other than what the Lord is calling, then we learn that we have to go back to the start.  Just like in the game of "Simeon Says" we continue to do this until we train ourselves how to listen and obey.  Hear the word and do the word. 

It’s the simplest of games.  

The commands that are being called out are:

Love your neighbor as yourself

Love God

Have faith

Believe in Jesus

Pray for others

Serve

Be a light in the darkness

…and so much more!

If we want to move forward and gain the reward of a closer relationship with Jesus our Lord, then we must listen for his calling.  All of what he commands is found in his Word, the Bible.  Together, as one world, we can hear the word and do the word.

Are you ready to play?