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ThTh.004: “…For they know His voice”
Have you ever been sent reeling over wondering if some tiny detail you noticed is a sign or not? If you are an over thinker like me, chances are you do this all the time! I can drive myself absolutely crazy by over analyzing situations and “coincidences” because I don’t believe in coincidence! I believe that coincidence is a term we humans came up with to explain away the things in this life that seem to point to an all knowing, loving and logical, heavenly father. It is mans attempt to write off the things that “work together for good” as mere products of probability therefore discounting our creator and His ultimate plans for us. Anything in this life that naturally works together so well that it all points towards a unified outcome or idea can only be the work of an omniscient and omnipotent God.
In John chapter 10 is where Jesus describes Himself as our Good Shepherd, we are His sheep. As His sheep, we know His voice. When we hear Him call to us and guide us to certain fields, we can have peace because we know He cares for us and so wherever He is taking us will be for our ultimate good. It is when we sheep forget that or blatantly choose to confuse the matter by wondering whether it’s coincidental that things begin to fall apart. Maybe another voice that sounds kind of like God is actually telling us that thing and really since it doesn’t look like we hoped it would, it is scarier than we thought it would be, we don’t think we deserve it, or we feel like it is beneath us to go there or do that thing, maybe we need to ignore that calling and take control of our lives instead. I feel kind of bad for ignoring it though so let’s try to find some peace in ourselves too, for not taking that chance….”it’s probably just a coincidence. It is not really God saying that, it couldn’t be! He would call us to something fun, successful, glamorous and comfortable right?!”
Wrong!! This is exactly how we all get stuck in comfortable complacency. We were not called to be comfortable and we were never promised easy! Sometimes…scratch that, most times, what we are called to by God will not make sense to us. It will seem hard, humiliating, or unachievable but that is the point! He is powerful in those circumstances to accomplish what we never thought possible, and all the more for His glory in our weaknesses! We can only see part of the picture, He sees it all. Back to the sheep analogy, If we truly have assurance that we are His children, then we can stop over analyzing most of the signs in our life. Yes, we still need to apply wisdom in every circumstance because there could be a devils advocate trying to make us stumble but, even if we get tripped up every now and then, we can get back up and shake it off knowing that even in that failure God was growing us and teaching us how to identify His voice better for the next time.
So chill sheep! Trust your knowledge of your Good Shepherd’s voice and follow the callings He places on your heart. The worst you can do is fail and that just leads to more character development. We are already cast on the winning side so what have we got to lose?! Let’s live boldly and go where no sheep has gone before! haha
Blessings FAM!
What has the Shepherd told you recently that you have been trying to coincidence away? What are you scared of that is causing your doubt in that being a true calling from God? Give all your anxieties over to Him and let Him replace them with peace. It can be scary even when the thing is really good. Maybe it just seems too good, like you don’t deserve it. That’s true but isn’t that amazing?! God loves you and want’s you to experience it anyway! Don’t let fear of the unknown or wallowing in self pity keep you from following His voice and chasing after His promises for you!
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ThTh.003: The Third Testament
We all know that the bible has two testaments, the Old and the New. I believe that these are guides for how WE are to be the third testament…let me explain what I mean. The word, testament, means 1. Testimony 2. A person’s will, especially the part relating to personal property 3. Something that serves as a sign or evidence of a specified fact, event, or quality 4. (in biblical use) a covenant or dispensation.
The Old Testament is evidence of events and promises made by God to His people from the beginning of time. It also establishes His intended will for humankind, His creation (property). The New Testament is Testimony of Jesus’ life, evidence of His miraculous ministry and promise of eternal life made to us through His sacrifice for us on the cross. In its entirety, the Bible sets an example for us of how we are to live as the third testament, a living testimony of His love to the world. By resting on the foundational Old Testament of God’s faithfulness and prayerfully pursuing the loving example of Jesus found in the New Testament, we can live by the power of the Holy spirit as the third living testament and be a shining light for others to see His goodness in all things.
I get that this is a lot of pressure and unfortunately, humans fail at being good examples all the time! I think we need to change what we define as a good example though. Have you ever had a teacher or boss that you idolize for their skill and knowledge of their craft? Maybe it seems like they never fail and so you feel like you can never admit your failures to them. It can be intimidating, stressful, and leave you feeling like you will never be good enough.
The best bosses and teachers I have had were the ones who related on a personal level. They humbled themselves to be transparent in their shortcomings and mistakes in order to prove to me that they are not special or perfect, meaning I could do it too! I could name so many names of people like this in my life and I am so grateful for them. Unfortunately, I can also think of some on the other side that were too prideful to allow their mistakes to show and act as lessons for their students/employees. While the ones who hid their mistakes would outwardly, to most, look like the prime spotless examples to follow, I actually learned and was encouraged more by those who let their guard down and were vulnerable with me. These are the examples that challenged me to be true with myself and about myself. I developed a distaste for those who fake and hide there sinful nature and an inclination to always hold myself accountable to others with what I am facing.
In order to be a good example for others, we do not need to be faultless. That is impossible! We must be humble and admit our struggles and failures, in order to gain respect and credibility from others and to show them the depth of God’s redeeming power. If people cannot relate to you, they most likely will not listen to what you have to say. The Bible says that though we live in the world we are not of it. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God! While that is true, we must still live our lives on earth as an example before men. While we are here, we are tempted by the devil just like Jesus was and just like everyone else is. The difference is, we know that we are on the winning side and in the end we have hope in our eternal gift of salvation. We must meet people where they are and not alienate ourselves as “holier than thou” types so that they will listen and learn that they too are invited to the winning side! This is how we effectively fulfill our calling to be the third living Testament.
Blessings FAM!
What are some ways that you live in the world but not of it? Do you feel like people respect you for your honesty and transparency? If not, why not? Maybe this is a sign that you have been evading your purpose and putting up walls to keep people from seeing your full testimony. Pray and ask God to give you wisdom in opportunities and boldness to show people your struggles and failures. Let your character and attitude in hard situations be a shining example of the peace, grace, and love of God. Be the third testament before men, of His redeeming power and eternal promise!
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MM.003: One Bite At A Time
A popular dad joke you may have heard before is, How do you eat an elephant?….One bite at a time! This seems like such a simple concept yet it is so hard for us to apply to real world situations in our lives. Why is that? Okay so lets imagine eating an elephant was actually a thing you had to do. Obviously you wouldn’t look at it and tell yourself, “Well I can’t fit it all in my mouth at once so I may as well not try!” So why is it that we look at the dreams God has put in our hearts, see how big they are, and say to ourselves that they are too big to achieve all at once so let’s not even try!?
Every God size dream is going to appear to be too huge to accomplish! That is one way of knowing it is from Him! This dream I have had for Flow Angel Media is enormous and for the longest time I had no idea where to start or how to explain it to people. (I still have trouble explaining it, that won’t change any time soon! haha) In college I discovered an enjoyment for most any form of digital artistic expression from Photoshop to 3D printing to coding and web design. I felt overwhelmed by all the directions I was being inspired to walk in career wise and in the end I settled for complacency in IT.
If you know me, you may know that this wasn’t my dream. If you have kept up with me recently though, you may be starting to see, along with me, how I have began to realize just how much God has taught me through my journey thus far. Nothing is wasted! Even though it hasn’t yet looked the way I planned for it to at first, God knew that I needed to take this slower route through some tough things in order to learn things I didn’t know I would need to know! Even though I spent years not knowing where to bite the elephant of my calling first, I didn’t stop wondering, learning, and seeking guidance. In the mean time I have grown in so many ways which has prepared me to take this next step which I will reveal to you soon…keep reading.
Another thing about elephants that I have seen people use as an illustration which I love is the fact that, an average elephant’s gestation period is 18-22 months long. That is at least twice as long as a human’s and at most almost two and a half times as long. The common illustration talks about how when we know something, like the fact that we are pregnant or that God has promised us something unbelievably awesome will happen in and through our lives, people may not believe us because they see no progress. Their unbelief does not discount the truth you know. Some times we are not called to share certain parts of our calling right away because the unbelief of others can rub off on us and cause us to lose faith in it as well.
I have been challenged in this regard a lot lately in different areas of life. I have been growing in wisdom about when and with whom I should share the glimpses of my callings, big and small, in order to protect them in their vulnerable unformed state. My fundamental flaw is overthinking and then being so sure of myself that I talk up a storm and then either lose all desire to follow through or have things crumble in front of me and make me look like the fool I was for presuming to know how God would work things out.
In light of all of that, I do not share this lightly. Some close friends and family already know what has been going on because there are some that I crave advice and prayers from and whom I trust to support me and not bash down my excitement. I feel like it is official enough now to share publicly and it may not come as a major surprise but….as of 8/8/2020, Flow Angel Media, Inc is officially registered as a nonprofit! I submitted the paperwork on that day and received the confirmation that processing has been completed just this morning! It’s finally official!! As an added display of God’s perfect timing, I ordered 50 stickers of this elephant design to have and offer as a launch special product. My vendor had an amazing deal on them but they were not supposed to make it till the 24th. However, yesterday I got confirmation that they would be delivered today and they have! I cannot ignore God’s perfect timing in all of this!
It feels like I have finally birthed this long gestated dream out into the world and now I get to nurture it and watch it grow! I am so excited for this new journey and cannot wait to see what God does through it all!
Blessings FAM!
p.s. Keep an eye out for the elephant stickers to hit my shop! I’ll have a special launch deal on them for a bit to celebrate the establishment of FAM, Inc!
What is a dream you have felt called to by God? What is holding you back from taking steps towards that dream? Do not let the unbelief of others discount your internal conviction to chase after it! God speaks directly to us and others are on their own journeys, they cannot always see the progress God is making inside of you. I pray for your wisdom to know when and to whom you should share your dreams with and for the boldness to work towards them each day regardless of external forces of encouragement or a lack there of. I hope that God brings your people around you, like He has for me, to believe with you in prayer for the realization of your calling.
