Leading from Your Strengths Certified
Leading from Your Strength Certified

Trust. Don’t Be Too Late

A Mini-Minute with Pam: Trust. Don’t Be Too Late

Continuously following

Don’t be too late… Easter is fast approaching. Each year, naturally the focus is on Jesus’ sacrifice. His death. For you. For me. But what if this year is different. What if Jesus came this very hour just as you finished reading this post? Would someone else have to shut off your computer or would you still be there to do that?

Will you join me in this prayer?

Your love is amazing, Lord Thank you for going to the Cross for me. For my sin, so I don’t have to. Lord, what do I have to do, in order to put myself in the path of Your blessing? I believe the answer is to have a heart response to your invitation to join your Family. And to be content in You. To be prepared for Your coming back for Your own. To KNOW in my KNOWER that YOU are LORD of my life.

What if my scenario above happens

Are you ready? There is a story of a workman that was always the first out the door when the siren sounded for the end of the work day. When asked how he was able to consistently do that, his response was simple. “I stays ready so I don’t have to get ready.” What about you? ARE YOU READY? Or are you hoping for more time to GET ready?

Don’t be too late

It is a matter of trust. Do you believe any day now you could hear the shout of the Lord and the trumpet blasts to announce his coming for His own? Are you one of His own? Things are pretty bad right now in the country. In the whole world, actually. There was a big gathering in DC this week and the cell phone coverage was unavailable for a period of time. It caused quite a stir. So many signs point to the possibility that we need to STAY READY. When He comes, will you GO? Or will you be left behind?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
Lean not on your own understanding
In all you ways, acknowledge Him
And He will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Some versions say, “…And He will give you the desires of your heart.”

Is Easter just giving up stuff?

Many people focus on the call to discipleship as a call to self-denial…specifically at Easter time. That is often the case. Giving up something. Dying to your own desires. But the Christian life is more than just giving up stuff. Rather, as you draw closer to the Lord, His desires become your desires. Your will begins to closely align with His will. It becomes more about the amazing relationship that develops between you and Jesus. The closeness. The freshness each day. The joy of “belonging”. You are His and He is yours. Forever. You don’t—you can’t—do ANYTHING to EARN that. It is a gift to those who CHOOSE to TRUST HIM. His call to you is to follow Him unceasingly. Unconditionally. Always seeking to know Him better. Seek Him in the Scriptures. Don’t just read the Bible. LOOK for HIM on every page. He’s there! Waiting for you!

Moment by Moment

Discipleship for a Jesus follower is day-by-day. Delighting in Him. Desiring to make Him happy. To FEEL Him smiling at you. To believe that He knows what is best for you. Do you fully trust Him? Walk toward His Light. Don’t sit in the darkness.

Related Post: Stunning Realization. Easter

Looking closely at Psalm 57

“He (David) was facing multiple dangers and what bothers him most is the slander, gossip, and criticism surrounding him. Verbal cruelty can do just as much damage as physical abuse. He refuses to respond with hateful words…

“God’s presence is the only safe place when life seems to be falling apart and we are wounded by the words and actions of others. This habitual practice of prayer and praise in such times is David’s lifeline. It can be ours as well.

“Instead of spending sleepless nights worrying about what he cannot change, he uses these hours awake to find suitable expressions of praise and worship… Do you know how to speak to your soul like that?”

Almighty God, there is nothing too hard for you! When I face hardship, keep my mind and heart fixed on who you are.

— Encounter with God

Until next time.

Personality and Jesus

Do you know who God created you to be? Have you ever stopped to think about how your personality affects the way you interact with others? Find out more in this new book by Pamela A. Taylor.

Personality and Jesus

Let's Connect!
Awaiting His shout,
pam_signature-c49a6c

www.loavesandfishescoaching.com

Filed under: Mini-Minute with Pam,Spiritual Life — Tags: , , , , , , — Pam Taylor @ 7:00 am

If God Says No

A Mini-Minute with Pam

Tiles Spelling the Word "No"
What do you do when God says NO to your dream?

  • When that happily ever with the man of your dreams turns into alcohol addiction and adultery
  • When that promise: train up your children in the way they should go turns into: they lost your address
  • When that plan your daughter would wear your wedding gown turns into “I’ll wear the MIL veil instead”
  • When that acreage you’d all worked so hard on has to be sold for expenses
  • When that vision to provide a place for unwed moms turns into just a dream with no feet
  • When that joy of being a missionary turns into “he can stay” but “you have to leave”
  • When that dream to write and publish books is realized but you are still waiting to be “discovered”
  • When that dream biz to be like Barnabas in the Bible, an encourager of women starts out big but turns into a whimper

You DON’T sulk. You don’t “lose your religion”. You don’t let your heart get hard. You pray like crazy. you Keep Looking Up because God Is Big!

You choose to trust your Lord. You choose contentment because you KNOW He has you in the palm of His hand, so all is well.

“Sometimes we just can’t see what God is doing.
Trust Him to the end; He’s working in all our wayward situations fulfilling His promises.”

Anchor devo

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding…”

Proverbs 3:5

When David lost his dream to build the temple for His Lord, God said No. So…

We do what he did…We look for ways to show God we love Him, no matter what…

  • You get up, dust yourself off, and literally, go for a walk.
  • You pray God keeps you from a complaining spirit.
  • You seek God—on your face—asking for direction.
  • You search the Bible to get to know Him better.
  • You count your blessings. Name them one-by-one.
  • You sing His praises! You pray the Scriptures.
  • You cry out for help in Jesus’ Name.
  • You choose contentment. In Jesus’ Name.
  • You look for ways to bless and encourage others.
  • You ask Him to show you the way forward. You ask the “NOW what, God?” question.

Onward Christian soldiers!

Glory, Glory! To God be the Glory!

Until next time…

Do you need encouragement in your walk with God?

I offer one-on-one coaching and would love to come alongside you to help you become the woman God created you to be.

Let's Connect!
Awaiting His shout,
pam_signature-c49a6c

Christian Life Coach
Leading from Your Strengths Mentor
www.loavesandfishescoaching.com

Filed under: Mini-Minute with Pam,Strengths Mentor Coach — Tags: , , , — Pam Taylor @ 7:00 am

Finding Perspective in Times of Testing

Woman with son on beach

Is your life a mess? Are you going through a rough patch? Do you wish things were different? Do you wish YOU were different? Do you want to be a better person? In this post, we’re going to cover finding perspective in times of testing.

I have to remind myself daily that my basic calling and focus is to pursue an authentic relationship with Jesus. Key word: Pursue! Yup! Deliberately pursuing Him! Not to be better, but to choose to be with Him!

We all have difficult seasons of our lives

Times of testing. Sometimes our perspective gets a bit skewed. Maybe you have questioned if God even exists. Maybe thinking: If God is good, why do bad things happen to good people?

All that sounds so reasonable in our humanness. However, God is the only One who is truly “good”. And He calls us to a higher ground. He says, “Trust Me.” We don’t have to feel it, especially at first. But it has to be a conscious choice. We can’t wait for the feeling to come. It has to be a moment by moment and daily choice to trust Him no matter what! Why? Because He is good. All the time. In good times and bad, God is ALWAYS good! Do we understand why things happen? Not usually, but we can trust that He has purpose in all that happens. Beyond anything earthly.

Jesus came to restore us to relationship with God.

He experienced all the emotions we experience. AND…He feels your hurt. He is not a distant deity. He is a very personal God. When you hurt, He hurts. He chases after you until you find Him. And then He draws you into relationship with Him. It is your choice how deep you want that to be.

Finding perspective

When someone hurts you, betrays you, or speaks lies against you, what do you do? I remember when I first found out my husband had been unfaithful through our entire 20-plus years of marriage. We were on the mission field when I found out. Talk about feeling “lower than a snake’s belly” as my dad would say. We were in California. I ran outside alone, walking and walking, and crying out to God. The mountains loomed in the distance and a verse I didn’t even realize I knew, came to my mind: “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people, now and forevermore.” (Psalm 125:2) I just kept saying that verse over and over until I believed it. I didn’t understand, but God was assuring me that He was with me and He would help me through the, “Now what?”

Related Post: Not for One Second

That was a tough one to work through.

Everyone has to seek God’s wisdom and direction after a betrayal like that. It is not easy. It hurts to the very core of your being. But God walked that lonely painful road with me. Our Savior went through some rough relational problems while here on planet earth, so I knew He understood. And I knew He was good. The situation was bad, but God was/is good.

What about you?

Do you remember a book about: Are you a FAN or a FOLLOWER? Isn’t that a powerful question? We all know what fans are. They get together with other fans and scream and yell and love it when their team wins. But God expects MORE than that. He wants us to follow after Him, even whether we are winning or losing! God’s not about winning. He is about BEING! He expects us to be fully committed to Him no matter what happens. Let’s commit to being a FULLY DEVOTED FOLLOWER of JESUS. Putting our hand to plow and not looking back. (When you look back, you plow a crooked row.)

“Come and see what God has done, His awesome deeds for mankind…”

Psalm 66:5

“To everything there is a season and a time for every purpose under heaven…a time to weep and a time to laugh.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1, 4

The Song Trust and Obey

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies, but His smile quickly drives it away. Not a doubt or a fear, not a sign or a tear, can abide while we trust and obey. Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share. But our toil He doth richly repay. Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross but is blessed if we trust and obey.

The book of Psalms

It is comforting to know throughout the Psalms, that others have walked in shoes similar to whatever we ourselves experience. Pain and joy, doubt and confidence, defeat and victory, hatred and love, confusion and clarity. No matter what you are feeling, you will find comfort in the Psalms. Praise will always lift you out of hum drum and into a joy-filled relationship with the Lord of Lords. Time spent in the Psalms daily will not disappoint.

Here’s a few suggestions to get you started:

“My heart has heard you say, ‘Come and talk with me”. And my heart responds, ‘LORD, I am coming.’”
…Even if my father and mother abandon me the LORD will hold me close”

Psalm 27:8, 10

“The LORD gives his people strength. The LORD blesses…with peace.”

Psalm 29:11

“I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.”

Psalm 9:1-2

Notice the CHOICE. The “I WILL”. The CHOICE to praise. The CHOICE to walk in relationship. The CHOICE to take the time away from the world, and into the Presence of the very One Who created you. Father knows best. He adores. Be sure to give Him lots of opportunity for you to experientially know that.
David Jeremiah: By the Word of God, we are taught, challenged, corrected, and trained, so that we “may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (I Timothy 3:16-17)

My friend, Dawn used to say, “I know it in my KNOW-ER.” Perfect!

Until next time…

Do you need encouragement in your walk with God?

I offer one-on-one coaching and would love to come alongside you to help you become the woman God created you to be.

Let's Connect!
Awaiting His shout,
pam_signature-c49a6c

Christian Life Coach
Leading from Your Strengths Mentor
www.loavesandfishescoaching.com

Filed under: Christian Life Coaching,Freedom,Spiritual Life — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Pam Taylor @ 7:00 am

Do You Have Test Anxiety?


Have you ever suffered from test anxiety?
There are all kinds of tests. Tests we had for each subject in school. Standardized tests. It is getting to be that time of year for school kids of all ages to take final exams.

There are Real Estate license tests. College entrance tests. Drivers tests. Medical tests. Breathalyzer tests. Etc. Test anxiety is a very real thing for many people. It’s all-consuming and immobilizing. For those who suffer from it, it sucks them down into a black hole of fear and despair.

Feeling turmoil and stress
This season of life on this planet can feel like that sometimes. It seems everything everywhere is in turmoil. Just living your daily life with people, can bring challenges and trials and can feel much like test anxiety. And in a sense, that is exactly what is happening. God gives us “opportunities” to trust Him. God tests us so WE can see how much more we need to grow, judged by our response to the testing. I am thinking of Job in the Bible. He questioned his “friends” and he even wished he had never been born, his testings were so difficult. But the wonderful example Job leaves us is that he never stopped TALKING to GOD. Even when he was confused and in horrible pain and suffering and betrayals from his friends.

It’s hard to concentrate

When we’re going through trials and testings, it can feel overwhelming. We may try to ignore it or we may try to talk ourself out of it. Sometimes we try to drown our sorrows in addictions and bad behavior. Often, we try avoidance by sleeping too much, or maybe we can’t sleep well or long enough each night, which can bring out the worst in us sometimes.

We often then neglect fellowship with God

And that is our biggest error. We become self-focused to the point that we neglect God-time. We neglect the very thing that will make the testing manageable and give us the victory.

It helps to remember this world is not our home

It’s easy to forget that this world is just a temporary residence, while we are in the midst of daily “testing. Yet, in spite of the fear or anxiety, we have a CHOICE to make. We can CHOOSE joy. We can CHOOSE to think before we speak.

We are not victims of our feelings. God has given us the “tools” to rise above the anxiety—to rise above that sense of overwhelm. He says ASK. He says SEEK Him. And then He promises when we seek Him, we WILL certainly find Him! He WANTS to be found by you and me.

CHOOSE this day to focus on God

Choose to be God-focused, rather than problem-focused. Run into the arms of God the Father. He has the answers you need. SEEK HIM in His Word—the Bible—and in prayer.

CHOOSE to TRUST your faithful God

SHOW yourself faithful in the midst of the testing. In the midst of anxiety, He even gives His beloved sleep and peace. He promises,

Ask and you will find Him expectantly waiting for you to come to Him, so He can express His love to you. So he can help you through the testing. The trial. The circumstance.

“I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”

Philippians 4:13

“Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

Jeremiah 33:3

Until next time…

Maranatha. Come Lord Jesus.

Related Post: Needing God Desperately

Do you need encouragement in your walk with God?

I offer one-on-one coaching and would love to come alongside you to help you become the woman God created you to be.

Let's Connect!
Awaiting His shout,
pam_signature-c49a6c

Christian Life Coach
Leading from Your Strengths Mentor
www.loavesandfishescoaching.com

Filed under: Christian Life Coaching,Spiritual Life — Tags: , , , , , — Pam Taylor @ 7:00 am

Expectation Management

Perhaps Today

Download Photo for Your Desktop

Today is the seed for tomorrow.

When we decide that we have come to the end of ourselves, and we finally surrender to the Lordship of Christ, we come to Him as broken vessels in need of repair and restoration. ONLY GOD can do that. Some come with expectations that there will be an instantaneous change. Some expect that wealth and prosperity will follow. Some will sit back and have the mental attitude that they will merely wait for Christ’s return. Some will believe that all relationships will be restored, thinking they can bypass consequences of previous decisions and actions.

Giving and getting.

Some will believe they can pay the bills and have some fun, and whatever is left over, will go to God. The only problem with that is God asks for the First Fruits, not the left-overs. He has expectations, too. He expects to be FIRST in every aspect of our lives. He instructs us to GIVE. He promises that then, it will be given to us, good measure…running over…However, the GETTING is not to be our GOAL. The GIVING is to be joyful and off the top. The BEST. FIRST. THAT is GOD’s expectation before He grants ours. He wants our hearts. Not our leftovers.

Time management.

Some will daily meet with Jesus to get their marching orders for the day. And to surrender their will for His will. To submit to God so we have the strength to resist the devil, so that he will flee from us. It is a moment-by- moment conscious decision to follow after Jesus.  Managing our time to give First Fruits of time to developing a relationship with God is essential.

THY Kingdom come.

“When you pray, pray ‘Your Kingdom come’ and ask God to rule in your life until He returns to rule the world.“
{However}…”Before we can pray ‘Thy Kingdom come’, we must be willing to pray: MY kingdom GO!!!” –Alan Redpath

“Your Kingdom come…” Is our agreement and expectation of God’s right to rule!” –David Jeremiah

God’s Kingdom is within us. He is always in our midst! Are we living our lives with that expectation? That understanding? We must choose to manage our expectations from worldly expectations to Godly other-worldly expectations.This world is not our home. We are merely passing through. And then we enter eternity.

God’s will.

God’s will and God’s rule are the same. God’s will is always done in Heaven.
It is done on earth when we submit our will to Him—as Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane”
(See Luke 22:42 ) – David Jeremiah

What about you? What is an expectation, anyway?

Expectation: ”The feeling or belief that something will or should happen.”
— The Cambridge English Dictionary

Expectation: “A mental attitude. A prospect of future good or profit. The degree of probability that something will occur” — Dictionary.com

Synonyms: Expectancy, anticipation, hope, trust.

Verses about expectations

In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice;
In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.

Psalm 5:3

“And now, Lord, for what do I wait?
My hope is in You.

Psalm 39:7

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

1 Peter 1:3

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men.

Luke 6:35

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

Proverbs 13:12

What seeds are you planting, friend? What are your expectations? Do you have some re-planning and re-planting to do? Tomorrow may come sooner than you planned. What if TODAY is the day of His return? For over 30 years, I have had this quote (the graphic) on my kitchen counter. It is part of my expectation management. It helps keep me focused.

Perhaps Today

“Don’t get too comfortable here. This world is not your home.
It’s a transition place. He’s coming for me”

Discover Living From Your Strengths (LFYS) Life Changing Mentor Coaching.

Do you have questions? Through the Ministry Insights assessment, you will Discover your strengths. And then, through mentor coaching, you will learn how to daily Embrace and Live out your strengths. You can contact me by clicking on the blue button beside the signature line. Or leave me a private message on Facebook.

Leading from Your Strengths

Let's Connect!
Awaiting His shout,
pam_signature-c49a6c

Christian Life Coach
Leading from Your Strengths Mentor
www.loavesandfishescoaching.com

Filed under: Christian Life Coaching,Spiritual Life — Tags: , , , , , , , — Pam Taylor @ 7:00 am