GET IN....WHERE YOU FIT IN!!

Ever felt like you just don't belong? In a place way, way out of your comfort zone?  PRAISE GOD!  You might be just where He wants you to be!

It's been said that Complacency is the Enemy of Success! After all the hard work, time, energy, and money spent reaching life goals you're now faced with the inevitable...how to maintain and stay on top of your game!

Or, perhaps for you, it's the opposite! You don't WANT to do anything different than what you're doing now!  You've earned the right to go to church once a week, Praise awhile, Pray a little bit, Enjoy the sermon and then Tip God on the the way home! You paid your dues long ago (teaching, ushering, committee work, and the like)...let the young folks take it from here!

 To both groups the Lord is saying ... It's time to get a bit uncomfortable.  Time to get off the Career track and off the Church pew and back into serving the needs of others!!!

Listen, my sisters! The world is hurting and if the Church is to make a difference we ALL have to do our part!  TWO GREAT RESOURCES ARE A.W.O.L. FROM SERVING NEEDS: The Wisdom of the Aged and the Energy and Expertise of  Millennials (18-34 year olds).  Let me remind you: 

Everything you have is because of the Lord! (Psalm 24:1) Your talents, your gifts, personality, and ability to achieve is from His hand (James 1:17).  If you are seeking significance and sustainability and disappointed with the world's definition of success, come on back to the Lord!  Use what you've learned IN the world to SAVE the world and be richly rewarded in the process! 

God's work has no Glass Ceilings! And Senior Saints, God's work has no Retirement Plan! (Jeremiah 29:11)

Don't Let Complacency Keep You From Being Your Best:

1.  Keep Learning- Challenge yourself to try something different! Take a class in something of interest, learn to play an instrument, travel then share these experiences with others. Keep your mind and body active as you grow older!

2.  Welcome Change -  Don't close your mind to new ways of doing things!  Get a fresh perspective from those who may be younger,  do things a bit different but have a common goal!

3.  Keep a Future Focus - The world's future may seem bleak but in Christ yours is as bright as ever! Shake yourself out of the habit of complaining, criticizing, and negative thinking.  No one wants to be around this attitude!

Don't Let Complacency Keep You from Giving Your Best:

1. Discover and Use Your Gifts For God - If you don't know your Spiritual gifts, take a class or access one of the free gift assessments online: https://gifts.churchgrowth.org/analysis/index.php
It is relatively easy to transition technical, communication, and social media skills used on your job to ministry and it is much more rewarding to do so.

2.  Learn From the Best, Not Books! - Find a mentor who may not have your education but has experience; godly wisdom, and valuable insight gained over years.  Learn from her, share your thoughts about where God may be leading you to serve, but most important.. LISTEN!!!  There's a big difference between Thoeory and Practice!

3. Stay Humble and Persevere - Today's culture is known for providing formulas for success, building you up with lofty expectations, then telling you to wait for a speedy outcome!  That's not the way it works in real life!  In ministry as in life, you must be willing to stay the course, stretch yourself, reinvent your method of outreach occasionally, and when things don't turn out the way you desire be satisfied that God will work it all together for His good! (Romans 8:28-29)


God's Purpose and Passion is  embedded in your very soul!  Your gifts have already been earmarked for success  (Ephes. 2:10; Joshua 1:8)  Don't squander your life on that which has no eternal value. (I Corinthians 3:13)  The Body of Christ already has a place for your unique Talents and Gifts.  All You need to do is....

GET IN WHERE YOU FIT IN! 

  

UNTIL NEXT TIME...

If you would like to leave a comment please send an email to: sisters4sisters@att.net OR  scroll to the bottom of my blog page at  http://alittlewiser63.blogspot.com  click on the  no comments by the pencil and it will change to a writing space.

SEIZING YOUR SEASON!!

Erratic winter weather this year has caused my poor little Boxwood shrubs to sprout with what looks like new leaves!  Here in the Midwest we've had days that felt like Spring complete with rains that come with it; below zero temperatures, and forecasts nearing the 70s!  Not your typical winter is it?

SMH (Shaking My Head)! It makes me think about the old folks of my childhood who would point to the bible and warn:  Time is getting short.  If you've got something you want to do, you better be about it! 

“Now learn a lesson from the fig tree: when its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near.  In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know His return is very near, right at the door." (Matthew 24:32-33 NLT)

Biblically speaking the use of this verse in that way is out of context. Yet, I take the sentiment to heart! Now is the time to Seize Your Season in Life, for the future in so many ways is very unpredictable! 

I sometimes look back at the various seasons in my own life, those times I took a big bite of  luscious looking fruit and found it bitter because it was out of season for God's plan in my life!  (Song of Solomon 8:4). When I was discouraged in a season, thinking I would never realize my dreams for college, a career, spiritual, and cultural enrichment, but in its appropriate season got it all! (Matthew 6:33)  

Even now as I am aging, I wonder if my season has passed for fruitfulness and significance! Can I still add value to others. Is it foolish to entertain these dreams I still have! While I would admonish every young person to: Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say,  I have no pleasure in them...(Ecc. 12:1).  I am also comforted by these words of King Solomon: (Ecc. 3: 1-5)

There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die,
A time to plant and a time to uproot,
A time to kill and a time to heal,
A time to tear down and a time to build,
A time to weep and a time to laugh,
A time to mourn and a time to dance, 
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
A time to embrace and a time to refrain 

Perhaps after reading this you've concluded as I have....There's STILL a lot left for me to do in MY Season!!!!   A lot of planting, a lot of healing, a lot of building, a lot of serving, a lot of living! 

 This is my Prayer!  (From the lyrics of a popular song)

"Lord, whatever You're doing in this season, Don't do it without me!"

DON'T WAIT...SEIZE YOUR SEASON!

If you would like to leave a comment please send an email to: sisters4sisters@att.net OR  scroll to the bottom of my blog page at  http://alittlewiser63.blogspot.com  click on the  no comments by the pencil and it will change to a writing space.

FRUITFULNESS IN THE LAND OF AFFLICTION!

This is my Father's glory that you bear much fruit..
(John 15:8)

Sitting in Sunday service yesterday, the Spirit of the Lord moved  powerfully on my heart!  I heard my pastor wax eloquently on the virtues of Joseph from the book of Genesis who was able to achieve such greatness, in spite of the horrible situation he was in! (Genesis 39-.50)!

I knew immediately that I had to share some thoughts to encourage women everywhere who find themselves in their own personal land of affliction!  I don't know what your Egypt is!  Maybe it's sickness, wayward children, a loveless marriage, or worse.  I just know that God is still with you! (Ps. 139:7-10) He has a purpose and plan for your pain and He will see you through it all.  Yet as Christians there are important lessons to learn and mind-blowing truths we need to get settled in our heart first!

1.  We Lve in a Fallen World!  Are you still reeling from the shock of the four teens who mercilessly beat a special needs man this past week? Or the man who went mental and killed and wounded so many in Ft. Lauderdale?  It's not a comfortable thought but more of this is to come!(2 Tim. 3:2; Rom. 6:10-13)

2.  This World is Not our Home but a Place of Service! ( Phil. 3:20) You and I won't be here forever!  The place of pain that you are in won't last forever!  (Ps. 30:5)  Like Joseph in Genesis with a humble heart and an obedient spirit, God can do miraculously things even where you are right now! Look for ways to be fruitful and bloom where you are planted!

--Don't have the money/time to visit foreign lands and see God's glory?  Support a missionary who has sacrificed much to bring others to Christ!

--Chronic health and fatigue prevent you from church ministry? As your energy permits, send cards, make telephone calls, give bedside testimonies of God's faithfulness right where you are! (I can't tell you how many times I've visited the sick and shut in and left more focused and determined to live godly than ever!  I've also left ailing whiners and self-pitiers thinking, what a way to waste such precious time!)

3.  We're Never more like Christ than when We Suffer for His Cause! (2 Tim 2:12). Let's get real with ourselves this year! Sometimes our affliction has nothing to do with God's will or another's malice!  We bring it upon ourselves!  But thank God for His grace and His forgiveness! Even if by our own hands we suffer we can still glorify God by learning from it and sharing the wisdom lesson with others! Pain is a powerful teacher but one that must be shared sometimes to destroy its devastating legacy for others! (Ps. 119:71)   

This Year Even If You have to Suffer - Choose to Be Fruitful!  For It is the Only Way to Make our Pain Count!

UNTIL NEXT TIME....

If you would like to leave a comment please send an email to: sisters4sisters@att.net OR  scroll to the bottom of my blog page at  http://alittlewiser63.blogspot.com  click on the  no comments by the pencil and it will change to a writing space.

LIVING LIFE ON PURPOSE!

Happy New Year dear sisters!  Hope you made it through the holidays with maximum joy and minimum weight gain! Ugh!!! Those big family dinners are wonderful but boy do we regret them the closer we get to Spring!

I'm begging off the traditional New Years Resolutions discussions sprouting up everywhere this time of year and instead opting for  lifestyle changes with a more eternal value!  This year I've decided to live each day with Purpose and Passion! 

Seems a rather reasonable choice to me since two cities near and dear to my heart  (Chicago and Indianapolis) hit record numbers of violent deaths again in 2016!!  This tells me that somebody out there does not respect or value life...let it be known...I'm not one of them!

Let me share with you what Living Life on Purpose means to me:

First, it's understanding that I have more time behind me than I do in front of me in this earthly life!  (Ephes. 5:16-17) So with that in mind I intend to make every moment count.  Simple things like asking myself these three important questions when tempted to take on a new task. 1) Is it necessary?  2) Am I the only one who can do it?  3) Will it help me grow (intellectually, spiritually, experientially) as well as benefit others?  This is one instance in which the old W.I.I.F.M. (What's in it for me?) adage can be applied with wisdom.  Take a look at the places you spend inordinate amounts of time with others.  How many people are doing the same thing but labeling it differently?  It could be that  reorganizing tasks into their appropriate places with the most qualified person or team would alleviate the need for an extra hand?

Second, be intentional in my relationships. I truly believe that the people in my life are there for a reason!  They may be there for me to learn from or for them to learn from me! But there is a purpose!  The investment I make in taking time to really know these people without judgement will teach me important things about human nature; about myself, but certainly, if I commit each relationship to the Lord, it will teach me something about the Character of God! (Jer. 10:12)

Third, God has gifted His children with joy and passion for all things good! Each day I will find something to laugh about out loud; drink truth deeply from His Word; appreciate something beautiful often overlooked in the hurriedness of life, and pursue God's will in service to another with humility, sincerity and fervor. (Coloss.3:17, 23).  

This is the Path of Life I Choose: 

                                                 To Walk in Wisdom - Ephesians 5:15

                                               To Walk by Faith Not Sight - 2 Corin. 5:7

                                             To Walk Humbly with My God- Micah 6:8

                                               Won't You Walk this Path With Me?

UNTIL NEXT TIME...