The She Speaks Conference is an amazing opportunity for women who are called to write, speak or lead a women's ministry. This conference offers time for fellowship, learning and growth in the giftings God has bestowed upon us. Those who coordinate the event even provide scholarships for those who would like to attend, but may not be able to for financial reasons. I love this as I am a big believer in the underdog succeeding! My heart cheers for those, who against all odds (including unbelief from loved ones), not only succeed at what they set out to accomplish, but also come out on top. This requires faith, determination and trust in God and it is a blessing to be associated with a ministry that believes in turning around and helping other women walk out their God-given destiny.
As a full-time seminary student who can only work part-time because of her class schedule, I so want to be a part of this year's conference. I have wanted to attend for the past five years, but have never had the money to attend. Just a few weeks ago, one of my professors challenged me to get my own women's ministry up and running as he believed there was a need to teach women godly beauty, how to discover their spiritual giftings and live out His call on their lives. My seminary and Christian life coaching training are the extra resources and equipping I need to carry out the ministry God has laid on my heart. Attending the She Speaks Conference will give me the training in other avenues that can be used to reach God's girls.
I am madly, deeply in love with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and so want other women to have an intimate relationship with Him as there is nothing like it! The longing to serve the Lord and provide the best for His daughters won't go away. This is something I just have to do because I love Him so.
If God has called you to serve His daughters, I encourage you to check out the Proverbs 31 Ministries She Speaks Conference website located at http://www.shespeaksconference.com/. This will give you details about the conference. If you want to know more about the scholarship, click on http://lysaterkeurst.blogspot.com/2010/03/she-speaks-scholarship-contest.html.
I pray that you will be able to attend and perhaps we can meet to share the ministries on our hearts. In the meantime, be blessed!
Monica
Monday, March 22, 2010
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Fear and the Greatness of His Call
Have you ever reached the point where you know for sure that you are called by God to do something great for Him? Has the call's greatness scared you into paralysis? As you continue to grow in your faith and belief, does God reveal more of what His call is to you? Has He suddenly shown you how great and powerful His call is? Has the magnitude and power of that call brought you to your knees in humility, awe and disbelief? How could He pick you? Why? Is He really sure?
In our love and devotion to God, we want to be everything He has created us to be. There is a deep longing that continually nudges us to seek more of the life He has promised us. For some, it is a nudge that comes once in a while. For others, it is a constant knocking, a sense of urgency that won't leave no matter where you run to. The power of His call is something we cannot escape. It must be surrendered to and accepted.
For those of us who have agreed to pursue the call but are still waiting, debating and analyzing it into paralysis, we gotta go! We cannot turn back because there is no place to go. God has healed our broken places of retreat and like Paul, we have to forget the past and stretch towards the high call of Jesus Christ in all its power.
The hardest part about moving forward (at this point of the journey) is moving into the greatness of the call. It is bigger than we will ever be and we know that in our own ability and strength we cannot do it. Before, there was and still may be that fear of failure - not the kind of failure that comes from the plan not working, but the kind that has humiliation wrapped around it as a result of negative responses from other souls who live in deep need, misery and fear.
As we move closer to God and His plan for our lives, we realize that a new fear surfaces (more?!) from the greatness of the power He gives us. It is going to affect other people! A huge sense of responsibility comes with that and looking at what we believe are our strengths and weaknesses, our instinct is to run or crumble in disbelief. Could God really want me to do something great? Seriously?! Yes, He does and as Oswald Chambers says in My Utmost for His Highest, we must believe that when we answer the call, in each step, God will be the God we know in our most intimate moments with Him.
I have to tell you that I am scared to step completely into His call on my life, yet there is a part of me that longs to be in that place twenty-four hours a day for the rest of my life. The steps are simple, but the decision to fully commit in faith is hard. Those steps require me to be continually transparent, leaving me vulnerable to the heartlessness in this world. Yet, I know that to fully live I have to let go of the side of the boat and move forward. Why do it? Because I don't to disappoint my heavenly Father.
God has called each of us to greatness. My prayer is that each one of us makes two decisions - one to commit to the call, and two, to lovingly encourage each other as we come closer and move into the high calling on our lives.
Be blessed and encouraged.
mts
In our love and devotion to God, we want to be everything He has created us to be. There is a deep longing that continually nudges us to seek more of the life He has promised us. For some, it is a nudge that comes once in a while. For others, it is a constant knocking, a sense of urgency that won't leave no matter where you run to. The power of His call is something we cannot escape. It must be surrendered to and accepted.
For those of us who have agreed to pursue the call but are still waiting, debating and analyzing it into paralysis, we gotta go! We cannot turn back because there is no place to go. God has healed our broken places of retreat and like Paul, we have to forget the past and stretch towards the high call of Jesus Christ in all its power.
The hardest part about moving forward (at this point of the journey) is moving into the greatness of the call. It is bigger than we will ever be and we know that in our own ability and strength we cannot do it. Before, there was and still may be that fear of failure - not the kind of failure that comes from the plan not working, but the kind that has humiliation wrapped around it as a result of negative responses from other souls who live in deep need, misery and fear.
As we move closer to God and His plan for our lives, we realize that a new fear surfaces (more?!) from the greatness of the power He gives us. It is going to affect other people! A huge sense of responsibility comes with that and looking at what we believe are our strengths and weaknesses, our instinct is to run or crumble in disbelief. Could God really want me to do something great? Seriously?! Yes, He does and as Oswald Chambers says in My Utmost for His Highest, we must believe that when we answer the call, in each step, God will be the God we know in our most intimate moments with Him.
I have to tell you that I am scared to step completely into His call on my life, yet there is a part of me that longs to be in that place twenty-four hours a day for the rest of my life. The steps are simple, but the decision to fully commit in faith is hard. Those steps require me to be continually transparent, leaving me vulnerable to the heartlessness in this world. Yet, I know that to fully live I have to let go of the side of the boat and move forward. Why do it? Because I don't to disappoint my heavenly Father.
God has called each of us to greatness. My prayer is that each one of us makes two decisions - one to commit to the call, and two, to lovingly encourage each other as we come closer and move into the high calling on our lives.
Be blessed and encouraged.
mts
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Follow Me and Change
Change. It's uncomfortable, different, comes with uncertainty, may cause us to respond in fear, sometimes lets us be in control and other times takes us for a ride. At times it may be necessary for our well being and other times, it may be meant for harm.
Are there some people, situations, beliefs or habits that need to change in your life for your greater well being? Are there places of pain or fear that keep you from changing? Are there needs so deep and painful that they take your breath away when you steal a moment to think about them? Is there a longing so deep within your soul that compels you to cry out because it is the only response you have to give? When you pray for relief, do you believe God has answered your prayers or do you keep saying them out of fear that He has not heard you or that you are not worthy or the need isn't big enough?
When Jesus called the disciples and said, "Follow Me," they did. Why? Was it a compelling command or was their response out of simple human curiosity? By His appearance, did He have something better for them - better than collecting taxes or hauling fish? We now know that His message and works were compelling and still are to this day.
If Jesus said to you, "Follow Me," would you go? Would you leave all that you are clinging to and follow Him? Many of us would say, "But, I have this or that to do. But, I am not ready to go because I don't have this or that or I don't look the part." The apostles went without regard for what they had or did not have or what they were or were not.
With all that you know about Jesus, would you willingly give up all to follow Him? Does knowing who He is and His promises of rest make you consider following instead of leading for once in your life? In the midst of your fear, uncertainty, distrust and pain, did it ever occur to you that "Follow Me," could be the answer to your prayers or fulfillment of your deep need? He gives us invitation after invitation to take His yoke upon us after laying down our heavy burdens, yet we still insist on going our way.
What would happen if you accepted His invitation? What would life be like if you followed Him? What if it was better than it is now? Would it be worth stepping out and away to follow Him?
Think about it.
Are there some people, situations, beliefs or habits that need to change in your life for your greater well being? Are there places of pain or fear that keep you from changing? Are there needs so deep and painful that they take your breath away when you steal a moment to think about them? Is there a longing so deep within your soul that compels you to cry out because it is the only response you have to give? When you pray for relief, do you believe God has answered your prayers or do you keep saying them out of fear that He has not heard you or that you are not worthy or the need isn't big enough?
When Jesus called the disciples and said, "Follow Me," they did. Why? Was it a compelling command or was their response out of simple human curiosity? By His appearance, did He have something better for them - better than collecting taxes or hauling fish? We now know that His message and works were compelling and still are to this day.
If Jesus said to you, "Follow Me," would you go? Would you leave all that you are clinging to and follow Him? Many of us would say, "But, I have this or that to do. But, I am not ready to go because I don't have this or that or I don't look the part." The apostles went without regard for what they had or did not have or what they were or were not.
With all that you know about Jesus, would you willingly give up all to follow Him? Does knowing who He is and His promises of rest make you consider following instead of leading for once in your life? In the midst of your fear, uncertainty, distrust and pain, did it ever occur to you that "Follow Me," could be the answer to your prayers or fulfillment of your deep need? He gives us invitation after invitation to take His yoke upon us after laying down our heavy burdens, yet we still insist on going our way.
What would happen if you accepted His invitation? What would life be like if you followed Him? What if it was better than it is now? Would it be worth stepping out and away to follow Him?
Think about it.
Friday, January 8, 2010
My Life's Resolution
Every year, many of us make New Year's resolutions. Some we keep and some we just don't bother with after a few attempts. A few years ago, I decided to stop making resolutions because they were the same every year and my heart wasn't in them. Instead, I prayed and asked God what He wanted of, from and for me each year. A certain word would come to mind such as transform, freedom, or new and fresh. This year, I sense the word commitment. By this I mean being completely immersed in living my life for Christ, doing my best to live out His Word, trusting that He will work it in and through me.
During my devotional time this morning, I read Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest which talked about being a living sacrifice and what that really means. So I began to reflect on Romans 12:1-2, which led me to Philippians 4:13, 3:10-11 and finally 3:12-14. As I read, reread and meditated on these passages, I began to write them out as to how they would be applied in my life: Philippians 3:12-14 would lead to Philippians 3:10-11 leading to Romans 12:1-2 to Philippians 4:13. I thought this process of living could be my resolution for 2010, but then realized this was my truth and life's resolution.
I am currently attending seminary which I am loving and I am training to be a Christian life coach because of God's call on my life to lead His daughters into a life of freedom from the world's chaos and control. My background has been in image consulting, helping women feel good about themselves by changing their outward appearance. This process is fun and rewarding, but is temporary. At some point the novelty wears off. Having spent twenty-four years in the retail and fashion industries, I watched women shop four and five times a week in the stores I worked in, staring at themselves in the mirror, trying to look younger, prettier, slimmer, taller and buying everything they hoped would make them just right. I grew up feeling the same way and could see the hunger and deep need for love and recognition in their faces. Today, God has called me to a different kind of image consulting - consulting from the inside out, based on His principles, bible study, prayer and reflection, resulting in an intimate relationship with Him where we discover, embrace and celebrate who we are in Him.
I have and still am discovering all that I am in Him and am moving from living in fear of failure, humiliation and disappointment to stepping out and living in freedom. My fear is still with me, but I am making myself take deep breaths, tucking my fear under my arm and moving towards all that God has for me.
I pray you are encouraged as you read, study, reflect, meditate and pray on God's Word. Trust that He will be with you as you discover, embrace and celebrate who He created you to be. Don't settle for what is good, but trust and wait for His best.
Be blessed.
Monica
During my devotional time this morning, I read Oswald Chambers' My Utmost for His Highest which talked about being a living sacrifice and what that really means. So I began to reflect on Romans 12:1-2, which led me to Philippians 4:13, 3:10-11 and finally 3:12-14. As I read, reread and meditated on these passages, I began to write them out as to how they would be applied in my life: Philippians 3:12-14 would lead to Philippians 3:10-11 leading to Romans 12:1-2 to Philippians 4:13. I thought this process of living could be my resolution for 2010, but then realized this was my truth and life's resolution.
I am currently attending seminary which I am loving and I am training to be a Christian life coach because of God's call on my life to lead His daughters into a life of freedom from the world's chaos and control. My background has been in image consulting, helping women feel good about themselves by changing their outward appearance. This process is fun and rewarding, but is temporary. At some point the novelty wears off. Having spent twenty-four years in the retail and fashion industries, I watched women shop four and five times a week in the stores I worked in, staring at themselves in the mirror, trying to look younger, prettier, slimmer, taller and buying everything they hoped would make them just right. I grew up feeling the same way and could see the hunger and deep need for love and recognition in their faces. Today, God has called me to a different kind of image consulting - consulting from the inside out, based on His principles, bible study, prayer and reflection, resulting in an intimate relationship with Him where we discover, embrace and celebrate who we are in Him.
I have and still am discovering all that I am in Him and am moving from living in fear of failure, humiliation and disappointment to stepping out and living in freedom. My fear is still with me, but I am making myself take deep breaths, tucking my fear under my arm and moving towards all that God has for me.
I pray you are encouraged as you read, study, reflect, meditate and pray on God's Word. Trust that He will be with you as you discover, embrace and celebrate who He created you to be. Don't settle for what is good, but trust and wait for His best.
Be blessed.
Monica
My Life's Resolution
Philippians 3:12-14
so that I may know Philippians 3:10-11
by being Romans 12:1 and doing Romans 12:2
so that I may live Philippians 4:13.
Write this out for yourself.
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