All of us can think of MANY reasons why we cannot help other people. We are busy, we lack resources, and on and on. For today’s lesson, I have learned that I should not only be willing to receive help, but I must also be willing to help others. Let’s be quite clear here, helping others is OFTEN inconvenient, but that’s not even the point. The bottom line is if God is leading us to help, we must respond with obedience and not excuses. God has often interrupted my schedule and led me to a specific individual to help. When I respond with a yes, I walk away feeling fulfilled. I can also testify and say that God always redeems the time I give up helping others…ALWAYS!
I must help in the way that God is telling me to and not in the way I think is best. For example, God may be leading me to help a person by praying and fasting on their behalf during a season of difficulty. I may put false expectations on myself and push to always physically be there in the person’s presence to rescue them from feeling the sting of their difficulty. We will always encounter people who need our help, but it is important that we are not off helping people that God did not lead us to or helping others beyond the season that God is requiring of us. Yes, help, but make sure you are helping according to God’s leading and not your emotion.
I must guard my heart from being prideful or expecting something in return when I help others. Help others with a spirit of meekness and not make the person I am helping feel less than. Finally, everyone doesn’t need to know of my good deeds, God sees and that’s what matters. I encourage you to pray and ask the Lord to lead you to those you should help, and for Him to give you the blueprint on how to do it.
Be Blessed,
Anika
Mathew 6:1-4 “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. 2 When you give to someone in need, don’t do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get. 3 But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Listen, this pride thing went deeper than I initially thought. For a long time, I mean a long time, it was very difficult for me to admit that I needed help from others. I tried to handle it all by myself and when others offered to help, I would make sure that I would find ways to “repay” them for what they did to make things ‘even.’ I wore it as a badge of honor, but that badge soon became rusty and I was tired.
The lesson for today is that I have learned to humble myself and admit that I NEED HELP, and not just admit it but receive the help when it is offered from a sincere heart. I was not called to be superwoman. God created us to be in community so that we can get the help we need. It is foolish to think we were created to be islands and handle everything on our own. The longer I live, and my responsibilities increase, and I enter different seasons of life, the more my need for help is highlighted. I need help in different ways. The help may be my need for wise counsel on being a mom, wife, homemaker, etc. Or it may come in the form of someone physically showing up at my door to help me with all that I have to do. It is not a sign of weakness to admit our need for help.
I am curious to hear from you. Is it difficult for you to receive help? Why? Please leave a comment and let me know.
Be Blessed,
Anika
Can I keep it real with you? Sometimes I do my videos and write my blog post and wonder if it makes sense to others. Do they get it? Did they walk away with a desire to go after Jesus? Do I sound elementary in my speech and writing? That is why I get excited when people tell me they are blessed by what God gives me to share. I love to receive encouragement from others, it serves as confirmation that what I am doing matters. We all have low points in our lives and affirming words can serve as a picker upper.
For today’s lesson, I have learned that it is not only good to receive encouragement, but it is also good to give it. I am learning to not become silent when it’s time to dish out words of affirmation. Sometimes we can keep our admiration and appreciation for others in our head and we never let them know. How unfair! If someone blesses me, I try to be intentional about telling them. I want to encourage you to be intentional about encouraging those God has put in your life. Encourage them in their gifts and calling by sharing how it blesses you! Don’t assume they know or don’t need it. How about making encouraging others a priority this week.
Be Blessed
Anika
1 Thessalonians 5:11
So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
Proverbs 16:24
Kind words are like honey–sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.
Start. Just start already. I cannot tell you how many ideas died in my head because I talked myself out of starting. I am amazed at how much energy I used to kill a dream before it was even born.
Fear and self-doubt are serial killers.
Killers of dreams & purpose.
They trip us up before we even get to the starting line, that is, if we let them.
On my road to being forty I realize that I must be done with the excuses and all the why nots.
I am done with thinking of all the ways I could possibly fail.
I am done having tea parties with doubt and procrastination.
I am so over it!
I am making the choice to walk by faith and not by sight. Faith is the fuel that gives me the ability to START!
God has placed so much on my heart and by His grace, I am going to START because I have purpose to fulfill. How about you? Do you have a difficult time starting? Please leave a comment, I would love to hear from you.
Blessings,
Anika
I am quick to remind my children to say, “thank you,” in response to kindness. I am not a happy mom when they take the blessing and keep it moving without expressing gratitude. My heavenly father wants the same from me, a heart to come back and say thanks.
In Luke 17 we have the story of 10 lepers who were healed by Jesus and only one came back to say thank you. The others received their healing and went on their merry way. By not coming back to say thank you, they missed out on something of greater value than their physical healing. You see, when they first cried out for healing, they were at a distance because as lepers they couldn’t come close to others. However, the one leper who returned after being healed found himself at the feet of Jesus. His leprous state initially kept him distant from Jesus, but His heart of gratitude after receiving healing brought him to the feet of Jesus.
I have learned that having a heart of gratitude and coming back to say thank you, helps to pave the way to Jesus’ presence. Some years ago, I began a habit of waking up and jotting down in my journal ‘thankful moments’ from the previous days. I realize that the more I focus on saying thank you and praising God, the more aware I became of all that He has done. There are so many blessings I have overlooked in the past because I was more focused on what was wrong, instead of coming back to tell God thank you for all that He made right. Which of the lepers are you most like, the one who came back to say thank you or the nine who did not?
Be Blessed
Anika
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT)
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
Psalm 107:1 (NLT)
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
Not only did I want to present a perfect image for others, but I also wanted to present myself as perfect before God. I used to beat myself up when I would make mistakes, wondering if I would ever be able to get it ALL RIGHT, ALL THE TIME. God has had to remind me repeatedly that He knows that I am not perfect but that I am a work in progress. A work that won’t be completed until I see Jesus. The work that God is doing in me does not end the day that I accept Him as Lord, it is continuous! It’s not just any work that He is doing in me, it’s a GOOD WORK!
A good work that brings pride, jealousy, unforgiveness and all the like to the surface. I don’t have to lament because they are present but rejoice in knowing that they don’t have to remain IF I YIELD TO THE CONTINOUS PROCESS OF BEING PERFECTED. I love that God finishes what He starts, so I can be confident in knowing the work He started in me will be completed when I see Jesus. Take a moment and soak it in-talk about something to look forward to!
But wait, there is more! Ephesians 2:10, reminds us that we are also God’s masterpiece, a great work of art, God’s beautiful poem. I dare double dare you to daily look yourself in the mirror and declare, “ I am God’s masterpiece, created new in Christ Jesus for good works!” LISTEN, you better meditate on that scripture to knock insecurity back to the pits of hell where it belongs. Let the church say “AMEN!”
Be Blessed
Anika
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Philippians 1:6
And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.