Monday’s Blog: It’s Okay to Say “No!â€
God has been working with me lately to do only what He leads me to do. I am often burdened with trying to meet everyone’s requests and demands that I get overwhelmed and lose sight of God’s direction.
I was listening to a local Pastor on the radio recently. He was talking about following the Holy Spirit in everything we do. He commented that there will always be needs as long as we walk this earth. We are not called to meet everyone’s needs. We are called to follow the Holy Spirit in meeting the needs God has prepared for us to meet, at the appointed time.
As I talked about last week, we each have a calling (a purpose) in life. Psalm 139:15-16 says, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”
God has ordained all the days of our lives. He has certain things prepared for us to do. And He has designated times and places for us to do those things.
If we are not following the Holy Spirit where God designated us to be, and we are not doing the things He has prepared for us to do, we will be laboring in vain and not see our labor produce a harvest.
I have met many demands and requests through the years. I can look back and recognize which times the Holy Spirit wasn’t leading me. Those times were a burden. I didn’t have any joy in my labor. And I didn’t see my labor produce any good fruit in my life or the lives of others.
Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden and overburdened, and I will cause you to rest. [I will ease and relieve and refresh your souls.] Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle (meek) and humble (lowly) in heart, and you will find rest (relief and ease and refreshment and recreation and blessed quiet) for your souls. For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good–not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne.
—Matthew 11:28-30, AMP
I know when I am following the Holy Spirit and when I am not.  When I am following the Holy Spirit, the task may be hard work, but I don’t feel burdened. I feel at peace and I have joy in my laboring. I feel empowered and I have confidence that Jesus is walking beside me carrying all the weight. But when I run off and try to do something on my own, I don’t have Jesus there to carry the weight. The burden is all on me.
We don’t have to say “yes†to everyone. We only have to say “yes†to Jesus and follow and serve Him.
Anyone who wants to be my disciple must follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And the Father will honor anyone who serves me.
— John 12:26, NLT
I get emails from ministers, mainly from overseas, asking me to help with their ministries. I am learning that even though these people may have pure intentions, and I sincerely want to help them, the devil uses those opportunities to try to pull me off course from the mission God has sent me out to do. I recently had back down from a commitment I made because it was taking up most of my time and I wasn’t doing the things God originally told me to do.
People may not be happy when we tell them “no,†but we are helping them. They have a calling as well. If God is not asking us to meet their needs, that means He has someone else designated to help them. We will be hindering God’s plan for them if we step in and take over.
I learned this lesson through my journey to publishing. At first I would get frustrated every time someone wouldn’t help me. I quickly learned that God had certain people planned to provide help in the areas I needed at designated times. I didn’t have to push anyone to help me. God already had people prepared to help me willingly. I had to look to God for my provision, not to others.
If you are burdened today, ask Jesus to carry your load. Whatever He is not leading you to do lay it down, walk away from it, and follow the Holy Spirit. He will take you where He needs you to be.
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**Prayer for the week**
Heavenly Father,
We praise You that we don’t have to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. Jesus already did that for us. Help us to say “no†to the things that lead us away from Your Spirit. Help us to only follow Your Spirit and meet the needs You have ordained. Help us to walk in Your path daily. When we stray from Your path, thank You for always bringing us back on course.
In Jesus’ precious name, Amen!
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*If you have never accepted Christ as your Savior, please click on the “SALVATION†tab at the top of the website. Don’t wait another day!
*Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s Truths and the reasons behind the Truths.
*All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted.
Posted in Find Your Calling, Monday's Blogs by Amanda Beth with 14 comments.
Monday’s Blog: Finding Your Calling
A woman asked me recently “How do you know what God’s will is for your life?†That is probably the number one question every Christian has. That was my number one question for many years. I often heard preachers say that God’s calling was something you would be drawn to. And it would be something you were empowered to do.
At the time I was a waitress. I knew God wanted me to be there, but I didn’t like it and I definitely wasn’t good at it. Throughout the years I tried many different things to seek out my calling in Christ, but nothing worked out. I eventually came to the conclusion that I had no gifts and no calling.
Despite the thought that I had no calling, I was determined to do the best with whatever I was doing. I thought maybe God would still use my life to reach someone. Therefore I was determined to live in integrity in my waitressing, in my marriage, in raising my children, and in everything I did.
Even though I wasn’t a good waitress I strived to be on time, do the best I could, and allow Jesus to shine through me. At home, I strived to be a good wife and allow my marriage to shine for others to see God working in my family. I strived to be a good role model for my kids in hope that they would follow Christ, not because I told them to, but because they would see Him working in our lives.
I strived to be honest in my everyday dealings. If the cashier at the store forgot to ring something up I would return it. If I made a promise to someone I would strive to fulfill it. If I couldn’t fulfill my promise I would apologize. If I borrowed something from someone I would return it. If I was in a quarrel with someone I would quickly apologize, even if I wasn’t at fault. If someone was gossiping I would try to say something nice about the person being talked about.
At times I thought I was being petty, but I knew deep in my heart God wanted me to live honestly in all my dealings. If by chance God had something bigger for me to do in the future, I had to be faithful with the little things first. Otherwise I wouldn’t be faithful with greater things.
Jesus said, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilitiesâ€
—Luke 16:10, NLT
Though I never did everything perfect, and I failed many times in my marriage, raising my children, and my everyday dealings, I still strived to do the best I could while relying on God to help me. I strongly believe God used those times as preparation for what I am doing now. I don’t believe I would have found my true calling and discovered my hidden gifts if I had kept them buried under dishonest dealings and lazy living. And I know I will not reach my full potential in Christ if I don’t continue striving to walk uprightly.
God has given you talents to do what He has called you to do. Instead of wasting time trying to find your calling, start being faithful where you are and God will bring your calling to you. I can look back and see every job I worked had a purpose to prepare me for God’s ultimate calling on my life. God was training me through those years, and still continues to.
So if you are miserable cleaning toilets today, remember to do it with joy knowing God is training you for something higher.
In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
—2 Timothy 2:20-21
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**Prayer for the week**
Heavenly Father,
We praise You for using us to reach the lost. Help us to lovingly express truth in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly. Enfolded in love, help us to grow up in every way and in all things into Christ (Eph. 4:15, AMP). Lead us into Your will for our lives so we can bring glory to Your Name.
In Jesus’ precious name, Amen!
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*If you have never accepted Christ as your Savior, please click on the “SALVATION†tab at the top of the website. Don’t wait another day!
*Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s Truths and the reasons behind the Truths.
*All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted.
Posted in Find Your Calling, Monday's Blogs by Amanda Beth with 22 comments.
Monday’s Blog: Disappointments
Today is Labor Day. Summer is ending. School is starting up again. Last week I signed my kids up for a homeschool co-op group where they’ll be attending three classes a week through the school year. My kids were excited to sign up for their classes. But since there was limited space they had to make a list of their first, second, and third choice for each class. My boys got their first choice for all three classes. My daughter, however, ended up with three classes she didn’t want. Her excitement quickly turned to tears of disappointment.
It made me think about how many times we experience disappointments in life, as things don’t always work out the way we would like them to. I don’t believe it’s wrong to feel disappointed. The Bible tells us God comforts the downcast (2 Corinthians 7:6). The Bible also tells us God comforts us so we would comfort others who are disappointed with the comfort we have received from Him (2 Corinthians 1:4).
When we are disappointed we have one of two choices. We can receive God’s comfort and allow Him to lift us up by filling our hearts with hope that He will work it out. Or we can sulk in our sorrows and allow our disappointments to keep us down and make us bitter.
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
—Romans 5:5        Â
Hope keeps us trusting God to work our disappointments out for our benefit. Many times our expectations lead us to disappointments. We expect something to happen a certain way, but then we get disappointed when it doesn’t work out the way we planned. Hope, on the other hand, trusts that God gives us what we need, even when it’s not what we want.
For example, I searched for an agent for my book for almost two years. When I finally got an agent, God told me to walk away and self-publish, as that was clearly His plan. Suffice it to say I was deeply disappointed. I didn’t want to self-publish. I didn’t want to do all the work on my own. I have four children to care for. I didn’t understand why God would give me more work when I already had so much to do.
Despite my disappointment, I trusted God had a better plan. So I started to self-publish.  To make it easier on me, I found a self-publishing company that would do most of the work for me—design my interior and cover, and do the marketing. Just as I was about to pay for their services, God stopped me again and told me to do it on my own. Again, I became disappointed and started to question why God would make it so hard on me.
God ensured me He had a plan. He filled me up with hope as I waited to see how He was going to work it out.
God led my husband to design the cover and led me to do the interior. Both of us never designed a book before, but God was clearly with us. We saw God use our own hands to put it all together. I started to see why God wanted me to take this route. God wanted to give us something beyond our ability so we would come together as a team and rely only on Him. That way God would get all the glory instead of someone else.
God gave me what I needed to put my hope and trust in Him. He worked my disappointments out for my good. I may not understand everything right now, but I know His plan will be greater than I anticipate. If I would have let those disappointments keep me down and paralyze me, I wouldn’t have been able to move forward in the direction God wanted me to take.
Sustain me according to your promise, and I will live; do not let my hopes be dashed.
—Psalm 119:116
I am happy to announce the book is now for sale at https://www.createspace.com/3652158. It will be coming soon to Amazon and other online retailers, as well as an ebook.
To thank you all for your support, I am giving $2.00 off this book for the month of September. Follow the link and enter coupon code EDQDFFL3 to receive the discount.
In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
—Psalm 22:4-5
If you are disappointed today, be encouraged that God will turn your disappointments around for your good if you put your trust and hope in Him alone.
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**Prayer for the week**
Father,
We praise You that You comfort us when we are down. Thank You for filling us with hope as we trust You to work all things together for our good when we live for You. Help us not to let our disappointments keep us down and paralyze us from moving forward in Your will. Help us to cast all our cares, worries, and disappointments on You, and to put our trust solely in You.
We praise You in Jesus’ precious name, Amen!
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*If you have never accepted Christ as your Savior, please click on the “SALVATION†tab at the top of the website. Don’t wait another day!
*Come back next Monday as I share more of God’s Truths and the reasons behind the Truths.
*All Bible verses are taken from the NIV, unless otherwise noted.
Posted in Book Updates, Find Your Calling, Monday's Blogs by Amanda Beth with 15 comments.