Courageous~Radiance

There are songs I have memorized, and haven’t payed attention that I had committed to memory until the song comes on the radio and I start to sing along. Reciting scripture or certain Biblical passages, likewise studying the Bible is vital to the success of circumstantial victories. Many times, reflection on applicable scripture reframes my situation to not be on the level field as God, encourages me, and it gives me peace in spite of what I am dealing with. Psalm 62 chants more than once that God is our Rock and therefore we are not be be shaken. That is good news in light of reality, and it is hope in spite of what is uncertain.

God’s disclosure statement is written from cover to cover in the Bible, and no different than those before us, He wants us to believe and trust Him. In the face of adversity or difficulty we can either activate our fears or our faith; the former pulls us back and the other moves us forward. In Exodus 13-14, we will read and discuss God’s big picture overarching our circumstances, which is what we can use to activate step by step, moving us ahead. Thanks for listening!

In life there are not many certainties, but one thing that can be agreed on is that if you keep living it is inevitable that life dishes out problems. In John 16:33, Christ removes any false assumptions and guarantees that life will, in some way, be disappointing or frustrating. But, our hope is in Him we have peace through any difficulties and shortcomings. The disciples of Jesus hit some chopping waters and storms in Mark 4, in which Christ further illustrates that He is present with us in the trials. How are you weatherproofing your life? Thanks for listening!

If I asked you what are the 2 most important things that you commit to for your physical wellness, would the health of your teeth make the cut? I don’t know about you, but I want the report the dentist gives to reflect no cavities and improvement of my gums, without the dedication. When I short cut discipline, I try to makeup for lost time and get the same results as though I have been committed. Similar to dental visits, and other areas that you could stand to improve, where does God rank in importance within your life? If you are a vase, and the stones sitting outside of the vase need to be placed inside, in order of priority, and the stones are different sizes, what goes in first? Do you place the big stones in first? Should you fill the jar with smaller stones then put the larger ones in at the top? God is the big stone. Even if you haven’t accepted the whole Christianity piece, and in spite of the disbeliefs that may be present. I want to testify that God is the big stone. God in any other place, but the center, the first priority stone in our life jar, means that somewhere, somehow our life is out of balance. Are your procrastinating your spiritual pursuits towards God because you believe that you have time later? This is a risk that is not worth taking. We get to reorient our lives to reflect the scale that God has in mind for our relationship with Him. Will you run after connection with Him and pleasing Him more than anything else, and not just in the crisis? Thanks for listening in!

There was a song in mid 1990s called “Mo Money Mo Problems”, and it resonates when I think about money. From childhood on, we are trained to run after money, even if not directly said, it can be inferred by way of our laser focus on our career. I associated money with security, and I did a horrible job, for decades, to understand my relationship to money.  As we wrap up the prior weeks discussion regarding mind transformation and becoming the “new me” or better version of ourselves, it would be a huge oversight for me to not include my financial mismanagement. From low credit scores, to bankruptcy, and over 100K in student loan debt, in my lifetime I have successfully written the chapters to a book I like to call “What NOT to do with money.”  When Christ has invited us to live an abundant life in Him (John 10:10), there is no area in our lives that should go untouched. This week my husband has joined in order to give his expertise, as a financial advisor, along with his own life baggage application as to why we must be vigilant to renew and align our minds with what God says should be our priority.  Thank you so much for joining in to the podcast!