I sometimes picture my life as a big jigsaw puzzle and God only hands me one or two pieces at a time. I place the pieces where he directs and then try to make sense of the picture forming in front of me. I wait for more pieces.
I am thankful that I am part of God's bigger picture! But I am also thankful He doesn't decide to reveal all the pieces to me all at one time. He hands me a couple of puzzle pieces and says, “Here, let’s just focus on these.” I want to trust that He will hand me the pieces I need right now.
God has given me some small pieces of the puzzle over the past few weeks. One of these small pieces is leading me to attend the She Speaks/Proverbs 31 Women's Conference in July. I just need to focus on these small pieces until He gives me some bigger pieces of the puzzle.
Learning and growing and putting all the pieces of our lives together is a fascinating process!
I love looking back and seeing God’s fingerprints all over the puzzle....Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” John 13:7
Blessings,
Dalinda
Monday, April 29, 2013
Friday, April 26, 2013
Are You Power-Packed?
Witnessing doesn't start with what you say or how well you say it. Your staring point is knowing who you are in Christ. You are God's beloved child - unique and useful to Him just the way you are.
Be focused on His purposes for your life. Then go do your best at anything and everything He has gifted you to be.
You may never realize the impact you have. Your story is important. You are the answer to someone’s prayer. Don’t be afraid to obey. Remember, God uses small. God uses average. God uses you.
God isn't limited by your age, your weaknesses, or your lack of experience. Whoever you are and wherever you are in your spiritual growth, you're most useful to God if you let His Spirit empower you daily. Just watch what He can do through you when you give His Spirit control!...You become "power-packed."
He is the only one in the universe who has the power and authority you need to meet and beat all of life's obstacles - physical, mental, social, or spiritual.
When you give His Spirit control, you have everything you need to succeed at doing exactly what God wants you to be doing!
Blessings,
Dalinda
Be focused on His purposes for your life. Then go do your best at anything and everything He has gifted you to be.
You may never realize the impact you have. Your story is important. You are the answer to someone’s prayer. Don’t be afraid to obey. Remember, God uses small. God uses average. God uses you.
God isn't limited by your age, your weaknesses, or your lack of experience. Whoever you are and wherever you are in your spiritual growth, you're most useful to God if you let His Spirit empower you daily. Just watch what He can do through you when you give His Spirit control!...You become "power-packed."
He is the only one in the universe who has the power and authority you need to meet and beat all of life's obstacles - physical, mental, social, or spiritual.
When you give His Spirit control, you have everything you need to succeed at doing exactly what God wants you to be doing!
Blessings,
Dalinda
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Risk-Takers And Change-Makers
In my effort to not fail in life, I settled for easy. I’ve learned that when it comes to living a good life, aiming for easy will seldom lead to beauty. Sometimes, it only leads to empty.
I’ve learned that a pain-free/risk free life is a lie, because the pain of settling is far worse and far more costly than the pain of failure.
Through our journey in life we will all come face to face with struggles. Situations that will make us want to quit. And sometimes we do....But we are called to be risk-takers and change-makers for the Kingdom.
I often reflect on the times in my life when I finally starting taking some leaps of faith, those pivotal moments when I started living as if God was big enough to catch me when I let go. Amazing things have happened in my life each time I’ve made the choice to trust Him with the scary. For this is the only way we become risk-takers and change-makers.
Blessings,
Dalinda
I’ve learned that a pain-free/risk free life is a lie, because the pain of settling is far worse and far more costly than the pain of failure.
Through our journey in life we will all come face to face with struggles. Situations that will make us want to quit. And sometimes we do....But we are called to be risk-takers and change-makers for the Kingdom.
I often reflect on the times in my life when I finally starting taking some leaps of faith, those pivotal moments when I started living as if God was big enough to catch me when I let go. Amazing things have happened in my life each time I’ve made the choice to trust Him with the scary. For this is the only way we become risk-takers and change-makers.
Blessings,
Dalinda
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
He's Not A Road Map; He's The Road
If we walk in His ways, we will be in His will.
We can study God’s will, we can debate God’s will, we can deliberate over God’s will, but until we actually DO what God has told us to do we won’t see God move in our lives. God doesn’t show us His will so we can know it, he shows it so we can do it.
No one ever said the Spirit-led life would be trouble free. Remaining faithful in the face of the temptation to flow with the crowd can be tough.
Even when the burdens of life take us down, through Christ we can be renewed in spirit every day....God does not spare us trials, but He helps us overcome them. Amen!
The deepest level of knowing God’s will, and doing God’s will is in desiring God’s will. God wants me to want to do His will. And as I grow in my relationship with Christ, He moves me out of the duty, and into the desire.
God has given you special abilities, talents, and gifts. He's equipped you for what He wants you to do. So, we must boldly step out and do what God has made us capable of doing.
I want to give The Lord permission to interrupt my plans today. He has a way of taking me on some incredible paths, if I just have the courage to trust Him....Because He's not a road map; He's the road.
Thank you, Father, for never wasting a crisis, but for using them instead to deepen my relationship with You and strengthening my ability to trust Your plan. I am so thankful for being a part of something so much more important, so much grander than myself. Today also brings thankfulness for the promising days ahead. For Your promises are all "Yes!" in Jesus Christ.
Blessings,
Dalinda
We can study God’s will, we can debate God’s will, we can deliberate over God’s will, but until we actually DO what God has told us to do we won’t see God move in our lives. God doesn’t show us His will so we can know it, he shows it so we can do it.
No one ever said the Spirit-led life would be trouble free. Remaining faithful in the face of the temptation to flow with the crowd can be tough.
Even when the burdens of life take us down, through Christ we can be renewed in spirit every day....God does not spare us trials, but He helps us overcome them. Amen!
The deepest level of knowing God’s will, and doing God’s will is in desiring God’s will. God wants me to want to do His will. And as I grow in my relationship with Christ, He moves me out of the duty, and into the desire.
God has given you special abilities, talents, and gifts. He's equipped you for what He wants you to do. So, we must boldly step out and do what God has made us capable of doing.
I want to give The Lord permission to interrupt my plans today. He has a way of taking me on some incredible paths, if I just have the courage to trust Him....Because He's not a road map; He's the road.
Thank you, Father, for never wasting a crisis, but for using them instead to deepen my relationship with You and strengthening my ability to trust Your plan. I am so thankful for being a part of something so much more important, so much grander than myself. Today also brings thankfulness for the promising days ahead. For Your promises are all "Yes!" in Jesus Christ.
Blessings,
Dalinda
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Put God Into The Equation And Watch Everything Balance Out
Trusting God is not always easy, but I make the choice to trust Him no matter the outcome in this life. He NEVER stops being faithful no matter how bad it gets.
Put God into the equation and watch everything balance out. The school of suffering graduates exceptional scholars.
Jesus didn't instruct His disciples to cook up a batch of evangelistic sermons or memorize a bunch of spiritual principles. Jesus told them to tell about their own experience with God. That is everyone's basic plan for one-on-one witnessing....what Jesus has done for you!
Sermons and underlined verses are good, but the message we all know best is the awesomeness of what Jesus has meant in our life. When you mess up everything else, you still know what God has done for you, and you can talk about that with confidence and authority.
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. - 2 Corinthians 11:30. It is good to have weaknesses, because God shines through them.
Please be in prayer for me. I am considering attending the She Speaks/Proverbs 31 Women's Conference in Concord, NC in July. I feel God may be leading me to further my service to Him through my writing. Thanks!
Blessings,
Dalinda
Put God into the equation and watch everything balance out. The school of suffering graduates exceptional scholars.
Jesus didn't instruct His disciples to cook up a batch of evangelistic sermons or memorize a bunch of spiritual principles. Jesus told them to tell about their own experience with God. That is everyone's basic plan for one-on-one witnessing....what Jesus has done for you!
Sermons and underlined verses are good, but the message we all know best is the awesomeness of what Jesus has meant in our life. When you mess up everything else, you still know what God has done for you, and you can talk about that with confidence and authority.
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. - 2 Corinthians 11:30. It is good to have weaknesses, because God shines through them.
Please be in prayer for me. I am considering attending the She Speaks/Proverbs 31 Women's Conference in Concord, NC in July. I feel God may be leading me to further my service to Him through my writing. Thanks!
Blessings,
Dalinda
Monday, April 22, 2013
Forget The Rules And Play By Your Heart
Because most people associate following a bunch of rules with following Jesus, they walk away from both.
Jesus doesn't expect His followers to be perfect, but He does call them to be authentic. Jesus wants someone who isn't pretending on the outside to have it all together....Professional pretenders - on the inside their faith has grown cold and is dying, but they are determined to keep up appearances.
When we learn to truly follow Jesus, we find that obedience to God comes from the inside out. You don't often get to see people without a mask, but when it happens - it's such a beautiful thing!
When people put rules over their relationship with Jesus, they get so caught up in keeping the letter of the law that they don't show love to others. They are technically obeying commands of Scripture but they are missing the point of the commands.
When laws become more important than love, and rules take precedent over relationships, it's a good sign that we are aiming at the wrong target.
There is something more important than the letter of the law: the person. When we make rules and policies more important than people, we are no longer following Jesus.
Rule followers are all about the "do," but Jesus followers celebrate the "done." Jesus came to free you from religion...follow Him. Don't miss out on God's amazing grace.
Love rules, without rules.
Blessings,
Dalinda
Jesus doesn't expect His followers to be perfect, but He does call them to be authentic. Jesus wants someone who isn't pretending on the outside to have it all together....Professional pretenders - on the inside their faith has grown cold and is dying, but they are determined to keep up appearances.
When we learn to truly follow Jesus, we find that obedience to God comes from the inside out. You don't often get to see people without a mask, but when it happens - it's such a beautiful thing!
When people put rules over their relationship with Jesus, they get so caught up in keeping the letter of the law that they don't show love to others. They are technically obeying commands of Scripture but they are missing the point of the commands.
When laws become more important than love, and rules take precedent over relationships, it's a good sign that we are aiming at the wrong target.
There is something more important than the letter of the law: the person. When we make rules and policies more important than people, we are no longer following Jesus.
Rule followers are all about the "do," but Jesus followers celebrate the "done." Jesus came to free you from religion...follow Him. Don't miss out on God's amazing grace.
Love rules, without rules.
Blessings,
Dalinda
Friday, April 19, 2013
You Can Discover The Treasure Within The Trouble
There is enormous positive power in adversity!
Trying to avoid adversity is like trying to avoid life. If you are somehow able to hide from adversity, you are unlikely to be really living.
Adversity is what molds our character. When we view adversity as natural, normal, and in fact even necessary, it empowers us to take advantage of its potential for growth.
EVERY moment I give over to hurt or worry or anger or painful memories is a moment when I should/ could be praising God for how He's brought me through it!
Adversity, regardless of its origin, can be turned to our advantage when we trust God to be bigger, stronger, and more tenacious than anything we ever face.
Our life and each new day are true gifts from God. We're being hypocritical if we start each day by asking Him to be Lord over all I do and say, only to give in to thoughts that destroy and tear down our joy. It's the enemy who wants our joy, our happiness and our love for the Lord. We cannot forget to "whom" we belong. :)
You can discover the treasure within the trouble, but you must train yourself to look for it!
Blessings,
Dalinda
Trying to avoid adversity is like trying to avoid life. If you are somehow able to hide from adversity, you are unlikely to be really living.
Adversity is what molds our character. When we view adversity as natural, normal, and in fact even necessary, it empowers us to take advantage of its potential for growth.
EVERY moment I give over to hurt or worry or anger or painful memories is a moment when I should/ could be praising God for how He's brought me through it!
Adversity, regardless of its origin, can be turned to our advantage when we trust God to be bigger, stronger, and more tenacious than anything we ever face.
Our life and each new day are true gifts from God. We're being hypocritical if we start each day by asking Him to be Lord over all I do and say, only to give in to thoughts that destroy and tear down our joy. It's the enemy who wants our joy, our happiness and our love for the Lord. We cannot forget to "whom" we belong. :)
You can discover the treasure within the trouble, but you must train yourself to look for it!
Blessings,
Dalinda
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