He Loves Me Enough to Nudge Me!~ Guest Blogger Shawn Givens

Wow! It is has been a long time since I posted and you will have to wait a little longer to hear from me. (Don't judge me! I am busy!) Today, a friend posted a note on Facebook and I asked her if she would share. She graciously agreed!

Shawn is a mother, wife, sister, daughter, and friend. She is a woman of God and a child of a King! She finds herself at a cross roads in her faith journey. If you find yourself dealing with consistency, obedience, and hearing from God I think this post will touch you and hopefully move you to take action. What do we do with the gentle nudges from the Lord? Do we recognize and respond to that still small voice? Great questions! Can We Talk?! As you read Shawn's post remember...to hear a still small voice we have to follow very closely AND be quiet! Enjoy!

I was pulled out of a deep sleep by God's voice speaking the word "CONSISTENT"! WOW!! Maybe I didn't hear quite right.. 2 more times I heard..CONSISTENT! Oh, okay Lord I hear you loud and clear. So I got out of bed and began to pray, and I began to do some research!

Consistent: Possessing firmness or coherence, marked by harmony,regularity,steady continuity, free from variation or contradiction and showing steady conformity to character, profession, belief or custom.

~Deuteronomy 4:24 - For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God!~ OMG.. God loves me enough that he is JEALOUS!

{I also came across the word INTENTIONAL: to have in mind a purpose or plan; to direct the mind and a determination to act in a certain way} Which caused me to question myself... Am I being intentional in all that I do?

Consistency is the key, but it requires some effort EVERYDAY. It requires a plan.. no matter what is happening in our lives.

I "intend" to do alot of things every single day that I don't get around to doing. I continue to hurry about my life, seldom taking time to focus. Even before I am fully awake my brain is already running crazy! The thing about intentions is this.. IF YOU NEVER ACT ON YOUR INTENTIONS THEY WILL STAY JUST THAT.. "INTENTIONS" Which means we have no purpose, plan or direction!

I want to be intentional and consistent about everything: My life, walk, talk, marriage, parenting, relationships, career, appearance, showing love/support, my health, my worship, studying God's Word and living a life that is pleasing to God.

As a part of my plan to be a "Consistent and Intentional Woman" I challenge myself to wake up each day and make my intentions into realities by doing the following:

~Getting a clear plan and writing it down

~Sharing my intentions with someone that will hold me accountable to taking action.

~Acknowledge that I did what I said I would do (Being a woman of my word)

By setting an intention and being consistent about my plan, I will make it clear to myself and others that I intend to redefine what it means to me to be CONSISTENT.

I Thank God for loving me enough to nudge me when I am not following correctly!

ARE YOU BEING CONSISTENT AND INTENTIONAL ABOUT YOUR DAILY LIVING?

Shawn R. Givens

Pruned for Greatness! Part II

Every spring, the landscaper prunes the overgrown landscaping, beautifies, and refreshes my yard for the new season. One year, in my busyness and frugalness, (hey…settle down there was a recession) I skipped a year and decided I would wait until the following spring. During this time, we had an incredibly rainy spring and fall season so the foliage in the front yard literally looked like...a jungle. The scenery had lost its beauty and splendor, the plants lost their shape, some of the more delicate plantings died from a lack of sunlight, and even some of the larger plantings which once were so healthy showed signs of dis-ease and death (I think you know where I going with this).

Last time we chatted, we talked about God pruning us for our greatness and for His glory. But WHY does God HAVE TO prune us? I’m glad you asked! Can we talk?!

When a gardener prunes a plant or tree pruning is necessary for many reasons. Some of the reason include…to train or direct growth, control size and shape, improve fruit quality (by increasing light penetration), remove diseased or storm damaged branches, and aesthetics or beauty.

God, the Master Gardener (and oh, what a Master He is) prunes us for many of the same reasons. God uses pruning to train and direct our growth. He is concerned about us becoming mature, complete, and lacking nothing (James 1:3-5).

One of the ways that God prunes us to control our size and shape as believers is through humility. God may prune away arrogance and pride from our lives so that humility might grow and in fact abound in its place. When we humble ourselves before the Lord, we live and learn true obedience and He promises to lift us up in due season (1 Peter 5:6).

Fruit quality…this is my favorite reason for pruning! God prunes us to improve the quality of the fruit we bear. Just as the gardener, prunes long hanging branches so the shorter hanging branches can receive more light, God prunes us to increase the Light penetration (Jesus) in our hearts, minds, and spirits so that we might bear good healthy fruit.

“Future fruit is always the result of present obedience.”

Many of us will really love this reason for pruning. God prunes us to remove the dis-ease and storm damaged remnants (past hurts) that haunt us and keep us from moving forward mentally, spiritually, physically, and emotionally. When the storms of life come (and they will come), God can take away all the pain, all the heartache, and dry our tears through the pruning process. (Hallelujah!) The key here is we have to choose to let IT go, so that God can take IT away.

Finally, beloved God prunes us so that we are beautiful to behold. Not beauty in the sense of vanity or debonair good looks (although I know you got it going on) but the beauty that comes from within, from a heart that longs for God and a heart that loves the things and the people of God. We must love what and who God loves! Pruning makes this love and this beauty possible.

When the landscaper finished pruning the landscaping, I walked outside and noticed the beauty again, almost for the first time; I noticed some of the greenery, the various shapes and sizes of the plants, and the fall colors. The same yard that I passed everyday and hardly gave a glance captured my attention and was fresh and new again. We are the same…when we allow God to prune us people look at us differently. They notice our beauty and our fresh new anointing.
In Part III we will talk about WHAT God prunes FROM our lives. Hope to see you later!
 

The Road Less Traveled

Has anyone ever been sharing their newest plan or venture with you and you ended up wondering why they were choosing that specific route, path, or journey? Of course this wondering is based on what you know about them and their personality. In your mind, the plan makes absolutely no sense. (I can hear you now...you are going to do what?!) However, the plan seems to make perfect sense to them.

I have been guilty of making this type of judgment. But since I have been convicted of being judgmental, my eyes have been opened to how our own journey makes us question the journey of others. We see the world through our own lenses and experiences and we make judgements based on the success or failure of those experiences.

We have to learn to live and let live! Everything and everyone has a purpose!! The unique anointing on YOUR life is not going to help me accomplish MY purpose and MY unique anointing is not going to help you accomplish your purpose. Basically, you have to do you, and I have to do me. The journey or path we choose shapes and molds us (hopefully in a positive way). But even when we make bad choices or things do not go as we planned, our missteps and mistakes can bless us and help us grow (if we choose to learn from them and not let them destroy us).

Everyone has to choose their own path. The fact that you did not or would not choose the road or map out the plan that a friend or loved one chooses doesn’t make it a bad or the wrong choice. It is just different and part of THEIR learning, growth, and purpose.

The journey someone else takes may seem unconventional, wasteful, and even useless. It very well may be...for YOU, but not for them. Sometimes the shortest distance between two points is NOT a straight line, in terms of learning and growth, we may have to take a different route to get to the successful end of our journey.

It has been said that the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason. That may or may not be true in every case. Next time you are privileged enough for someone to share with you their hopes and dreams, listen with an open mind and an open heart! The road less traveled often leads to good success!