Daily Blogs

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Winter Bible, Day 1

The world is here at Rhema! 

Winter Bible Seminar Day 1 was a success. 

Pastor Hagin and Ms. Lynette preached on strongholds being broken and our authority as believers over every dominion of darkness. 

Wow!

Talk about a powerful word from God…

We came together today as a family to pray with and for each other as chains fell off. 

Fears are gone. 

Strongholds are broken!

We needed to be reminded of these powerful, yet fundamental messages on authority because our school and church is reaching the nations. 

Places where you have to stand strong and assured of your authority because the missionaries are literally carrying the light into darkness. 

I’m so thankful to be a part of a school that has such reach around the world and that brings the family back together to encourage each other. 

This is only Day 1, so I can’t wait to see what the rest of the week has in store!

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Help a sister out

Every once in a while I throw a post up about needing some help.

Help!

One of my goals this year is to improve my writing skills. I’ve even signed up for a few classes on writing through WordPress.

After only a few lessons, it’s obvious that my writing is too simplistic.

Let me back up a bit…

I approach blogging differently than others. It’s rare that I sit down and write out 5 or 6 posts in a day. In fact, I’ve never done that! Not once in my life have I been ahead when it comes to blogging.

Honestly, most of my posts are written in about 30 minutes.

Why am I telling you all of this?

Because it’s come to my attention that I need to be more disciplined in my approach. The reason I don’t do series is because my brain goes in too many directions.

And this WordPress series is kicking my booty….these people are legit!

I studied English and history in college, so I used to write 5, 10, 15 pages or more on a single topic. Though, most of the time, the paper took me a whole semester to write.

Yes, I am blogging everyday, but I have not been that focused!

Here’s where your help is greatly appreciated.

  1. What are some subjects you’ve been wanting me to cover, but I haven’t?
  2. What are some previous posts you really liked, but wanted me to get more in-depth?

Answering these 2 questions will help me focus more and grow as a writer and a blogger. I also want to use your responses to try out the new ideas I’m learning from the writing workshop.

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A life with no strings

unityPeople know when you’re a phony.

I know that I can tell when someone’s treating me more like a project or a prospect. It’s the fastest way to shut me down.

And it’s also an area where I have to be careful…

One time, my friend Holly Beth called me out on my general distrust:

Not everyone is out to get you, Audra.

Her comment helped me see that I was approaching situations all wrong. I had allowed things from my past to warp my perception of others.

The change wasn’t overnight, but it got me going down the right path. In fact, my problem with perception was something I discussed with my counselor last year. Her suggestions helped me even more to change my view.

I used to only see the strings attached to what others were saying or asking of me. My counselor wanted me to identify every string that I saw in a conversation.

The assignment was to give a name to each string. Then I had to examine it and see if there was any truth to it.

I saw a lot of strings that week and many of them were only my perceptions. The other person’s motives were pure! It was me with the problem.

 No matter the filters you have to set up to protect against faulty judgments, sincerity is easy to pinpoint. Finding out you’re nothing but a project or prospect is the quickest way to lose what little influence you may have in someone’s life.

In a world of posers, you don’t get many do overs.

This is why it’s important to be yourself. Period. When you’re okay with you are, you won’t get caught playing pretend.

 

 

 

 

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Why giving matters

I have a friend who always has granola bars in her backpack. 

She’s generous, too. If you need a snack, just find her! 

I’m actually going to buy her a box of granola bars this weekend because she’s helped me–and many others–out this week. 

My friend’s genorisity got me thinking…

Shouldn’t all Christians be known for their generosity?

It’s in the Bible. You see passages about:

  • Hospitality
  • Giving
  • Prayer
  • Miracles
  • Healing

And all of it was done for the purposes of evangelism to the lost and edification for the body of Christ. 

Nothing was ever done for selfish ambition. 

Christians are not supposed to be stingy–in any area!

In my class on the gifts of the spirit, we’ve talked quite a bit about how none of God’s gifts are for us. 

This makes sense to me because in light of the bigger picture, it’s kind of comical to think anything is ours to begin with. 

It all belongs to Him!

Plus, Jesus paid the ultimate price for our sins. He is our Redeemer and our pardon was purchased with His blood. 

How can we not give freely when He is our example?

Jesus has given us everything. 

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Soaring into the weekend

Teamwork is awesome. 

It is fun to see people working together, using their gifts and talents to help others. 

Winter Bible Seminar is next week. The world is coming home to Rhema! 

And with the world coming home, we’re going to see the power of family working together. 

I am excited!

There’s been so much prayer surrounding next week, too. 

The hearts of all the students, staff, and church members are anticipating all that God has in store. 

After prayer school this afternoon, I’m ready to soar! 

I know that the people who are coming–nationally and internationally–will receive all that the Lord has for them. 

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Doing what’s necessary

I’m working on a big project at work. 

It’s one of those projects where many other projects will stem from completing this one task.

No pressure, right?

The spreadsheet is long and I have to toggle back and forth between two programs to gather information. 

I keep telling myself, as my eyes cross from staring at the computer screen, that getting this task done right the first time will make my job so much easier in the long run. 

And it’s true. 

Sometimes the only way to get things done is to roll up your sleeves and dig in your heels. 

Trust me. I tried to think of a way to avoid this project…

Is there a shortcut?

Jesus, please show me a shortcut!

There is simply no other way to move forward without this project being completed.

What I’m learning, though, is that going in with a good attitude is helping me move forward quickly. 

If you’re facing a similar situation, don’t sit around pouting! Hating the project and your job will not help you at all. 

We all have parts of our jobs that are not fun. 

But since when does everything have to be about us having fun?

Set goals.

Get to work. 

Do your best. 

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Gifted to Serve

Don’t forget who you are–ever!

The comparison trap is a snare that many of us step in. 

It’s so easy to look around at others and think, “There’s just no way for me…”

First off, that’s stinkin’ thinkin’ from the get go. 

Secondly, no one’s asked you or even expects you to be anyone but yourself. 

As Christians, we understand that there’s unity in diversity. 

Think about the list of ministry gifts and manifestation gifts. 

They’re all different! And everyone has a job to do within the body of Christ. 

The goal is the same: share the gospel and make disciples. But the means required to do so demands a diversity of methods. 

I know this topic is a bit elementary in nature. It’s just that I found myself forgetting these fundamental truths today. 

The biggest reason I run far away from the comparison trap is that there’s no room for encouraging others when you’re busy comparing yourself. 

Plus, you waste time and wreck relationships. 

Do you know what I did during my prayer time today?

I thanked God for who He made me to be.

 I thanked Him for opening doors of opportunity to minister to others by using the gifts He’s given me. 

And, no, it isn’t prideful arrogance to pray in this manner. If the goal was to puff yourself up it would be different. 

The goal is to thank Him for using you in His kingdom. 

The goal is to recognize that God made you to be a vessel that serves others.

Understanding your identity in Christ takes away the need to compare yourself to anyone else. 

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Living by Faith

Pushing through when you’re tired is hard. 

This was my first real day of having to keep moving forward when what I wanted to do was take a nap. 

Everything is going well, but some days take more out of you than others. 

It’s always weird, though, when you experience your first long day in a new place. 

And that’s where being focused helps you out. 

The whys keep you motivated because not every day will be a picnic. 

This is the reason Christians must learn to live by faith and not feelings. 

My feelings are all over the place; my faith has not moved. 

Because here’s what keeps me excited: 

I’m learning so much and it’s barely been 2 weeks! Every day I wake up so thankful to be walking the halls at Rhema. 

Living by faith and not feelings means seeing through a tough situation–in my case it was a long day–to the plan of God unfolding around me. 

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Be a thought catcher

I surround myself with paper:

  • I carry a planner because using my phone’s calendar has never stuck with me.
  • My desk is covered in sticky notes and scrap pages and memo pads with scribbled out notes to myself.
  • I even use Evernote, which is a digital notebook.

If I don’t grab catch a thought immediately, it’s a goner.

Do you know how many times I’ve written a great blog post in my head and planned on writing it down once I got home?

Whether you’re the most organized thought catcher that ever lived or you have 10 notebooks and scrap paper falls around your feet when you walk, just write things down!

Habakkuk 2:2 says, “Write the vision and make it plain on tablets…”

The Lord was giving instructions and the first words out of his mouth were, “Write this down!”

The point of writing things down is to use that information to teach and encourage others.

None of us lack ideas.

If you’ve ever sat in a meeting, you know that everyone has great ideas–and they normally all come about the time the meeting is supposed to be over.

We just don’t catch the inspiration when the Holy Spirit gives it to us.

Grab your thoughts!

Write them down!

And then go do something with them.

 

 

 

 

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Future Rockstar?

I spent the afternoon wandering around the mall with my friend Nichole. 

There were a TON of people at Woodland Hills Mall! I even got stuck in some traffic. This is the first time I’ve sat in traffic since moving. 

It was fun to window shop, though, and I even rode a hover board.

Not sure I’m ready for a future of hover boarding…it’s just better for me to stay on the ground. 

Nichole and I then drove over to Mardel, a Christian bookstore. Our friend Andrew lives close to there, so he joined us. 

The three of us talked  about books and had a great time getting to know each other more. 

Andrew wanted to go into The Guitar Store. He showed us around and played a Fender Strat. 

I’ve always wanted to play the guitar, but today Andrew encouraged me to play  a bass guitar. 

I tried one out and it really fits me much better than a regular guitar!

I almost bought one, too! (It was only $16o.)

Don’t worry. I fought the impulse. 

This is not a decision to make on a whim, but it got me excited about learning how to play again. 

Who knows? Maybe you’re following the blog of a future rockstar? 

Not!

Future rockstar or not, my Saturday was awesome. It was fun to hang out with friends.