I have learned to redefine success and ditch what the world told me. This lesson has really hit home for me the last few years. I reflect on my life and it did not go as planned. It would be easy for me to say it hasn’t been successful. However, that’s just not the truth. My life is successful because I am doing what God has called me to do. That’s as simple as it gets for a definition, but it can be a challenge to live out. Truth is, when you say yes to God, that yes leads you to carrying your cross.
That yes leads you to a place of death
Death to self
Death to your own agenda
Death to things you could have done that would have caused the world to applaud you and call you successful.
I also realize if I am not careful, I can abort what God has told me to do if it doesn’t become a “success” in my prescribed time frame. If I don’t guard my heart, the response of others can make me second guess if I am truly successful.
I have been a stay at home mom for the last 14 years. My duties can be summed up to tending to my husband, children, and house. Nothing glamorous about that. However, I have had to remind myself to keep my eyes on Jesus and look to Him to define true success. How about you? Are you struggling with this truth? Leave me a comment, I would love to hear from you.
Isaiah 55: 8-9 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
How would you feel if you gave someone a well thought out gift, only to find out that they didn’t think much of it. If they used it, it wasn’t very often and they didn’t take good care of it. You wouldn’t be too happy would you? Here is the thing, God has given each of us gifts, and He expects us to use it and for His glory.
I have learned that I shouldn’t take my gifts for granted. I must work on perfecting them, and one of the best ways to do so, is to use them often and according to God’s leading. I must also look for ways to develop my gifts. I should never get to the point of thinking I know it all because there is always room for growth.
Additionally, God has shown me that I can’t turn my gifts “on “and “off” based on my feelings or the setting that I am in. Sometimes, we are placed in certain situations that we think is beneath us, so we choose not to share our gifts in that setting, and if we do, it is not with the spirit of excellence. WRONG ANSWER! We take orders from God, not our feelings or ego. We shouldn’t wait for the “big stage” to turn “on” our gifts. We must start now and do so with all our heart. If teaching is your gift and you have been asked to teach a Sunday School class with only two half-awake students; I encourage you to prepare to teach those two students in the same way you would if you were called to teach an audience of a million people and all the cameras were on you. It is also important to note here that sometimes we don’t operate in our gifts because we don’t see the value in them. Instead, we are too busy coveting another’s gift that seem bigger and shinier than ours. We’ve missed the point all together when we have this mindset.
It is my desire to be a good steward of the gifts God has given me. I want Him to be pleased with the way that I used them to be a blessing to others. In the end I want to hear, “well done good and faithful servant, enter the joy of the Lord.” How about you? What have you been doing with your gifts? Are you using them for His glory or have you hid them and only take them out when its convenient for you? Leave me a comment, I would love to hear from you.
Be Blessed,
Anika
1 Peter 4:10-11 God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. 11 Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
There is nothing like feeling overwhelmed or having something hanging over your head that you just don’t want to deal with. In cases like these, I am quick to look for something to distract me instead of dealing with the issue or how I am feeling. I sometimes grab my phone to do some mindless scrolling or reading. I have also been gluttonous and even ate the wrong things, to use food as a distraction. This is not beneficial because after I am done being distracted, the problem still exist.
For today’s lesson, I have learned that I must be willing to turn off the distractions and deal with the issues that are before me. Before I can turn off the distractions, I must be honest with myself and admit that I am not looking to relax but I am trying to avoid dealing with an issue. There is a difference! I am learning to turn off all the external distractions and run to God to help me deal with the very thing I am trying to avoid.
Do you find that you look for ways to get distracted when you have issues you are trying to avoid? Leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.
Be Blessed,
Anika
Isaiah 26:3 NKJV
You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
I am learning that becoming comfortable in my own skin, goes beyond embracing my physical appearance. It goes so much deeper. Becoming comfortable in my own skin includes embracing who God made me to be. I must also embrace how He chooses to use me. The more I become comfortable in my own skin, the more confidence develops and the freer I become to operate in my gifts. It also helps me not to compare myself to others in the process (not totally there, but I am making great strides).
As I become more comfortable in my own skin, it is easier for me to celebrate others without trying to be like them. God did not make me a cookie cutter. He made me uniquely me, without mistakes. It’s an insult to God when I try to be like someone else instead of just being who He made me to be. How about you? Are you comfortable with being in your own skin or are you often trying to be someone else? Leave me a comment, I would love to hear from you.
Be Blessed,
Anika
Isaiah 64:8 (NLT) And yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, and you are the potter. We all are formed by your hand.
For today’s lesson, I am learning that I must purge the things that I have been hiding behind. For me, that thing was my wig. The wig covered what I didn’t want anyone else to see, my biggest area of insecurity… alopecia. The wig made me feel beautiful. There was nothing wrong with enhancing my beauty, but it was wrong that I didn’t ’t feel beautiful without the enhancer. After publishing this video, I made it one full year without wearing a wig. That may not sound like a big deal, but you must understand that this came after ten years of constant wig wearing. When I first shaved my remaining hair and made my bald head debut, I had intentions of still occasionally wearing wigs. However, after my debut, I tried to put the wigs on at different times, but I was so uncomfortable and would take them off. A few months ago, I decided to get a head start on spring cleaning and was purging unwanted and unused items in my closet. In the process, the Lord laid on my heart to get rid of all my wigs. You would think that it would have been easy for me to do this, considering that I had not worn any of them for an entire year. But that was not the case. The tears that followed the purging of the wigs, caught me off guard. But I later realized that I cried because I was letting go of something that was familiar and had offered comfort. The wigs had become a part of my identity. The Lord is doing a great purge in my spirit and is bringing me to a place of understanding who I really am. He wants me to become comfortable in my own skin. Getting rid of the wigs are a part of that process and I must say that I am becoming more compliant and excited about the process and the results.
How about you, what is that thing that God is asking you to purge so that He can do what He wants to do in you. Is a mindset (fear, unforgiveness, etc) , a relationship, eating habits, a job? Leave me a comment, I would love to hear from you.
Isaiah 43:19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
Today, it seems like the ones speaking the most and loudest are the ones who don’t have much worth listening to.
I have learned that I carry truth and I must speak that truth without reservation. I’ve always known God to be real. I remember as a child having deep convictions to serve Him, I went back and forth on those convictions. However, it was not until my Junior year in college that I surrendered, once and for all, no turning back!
The truth of Jesus is as real as real gets for me. I have never been so convinced of anything else in my life. This conviction is not just from the words of scripture but from my own personal experiences.
My own, “He picked me up out of the miry clay and placed my feet on a rock to stay” experiences.
My own, “you don’t know like I know what He has done for me” experiences.
My own, “I would have lost my mind, but God!” experiences.
My own, “I am so drenched in favor I don’t deserve” experiences.
As a result, I must speak up
I must speak up about His love when hate wants to silence me.
I must speak up about His ability to save because so many are lost.
I must speak up about His truth that will offend because many are dying with comfortable lies.
I must speak up about His standards even it causes me to be an outsider….and it will…and it has.
“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes ” (Romans 1:16). How about you? Do you struggle with sharing your faith in Jesus with others? What hinders you? Leave me a comment, I would love to hear from you.
Blessings,
Anika