Tag Archives: direction

Incremental Obedience … God Leads in Steps NOT Leaps

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Incremental Obedience … God Leads in Steps NOT Leaps

Incremental Obedience…God Leads in Steps NOT Leaps

The phrase “leap of faith” is commonly used in Christian circles.  I’ve probably even used the term myself.  But did you know that this phrase is actually unscriptural?  God leads in steps NOT leaps.  We’re not frogs.  We’re humans.  Humans walk, not jump.  We need to learn how to practice incremental obedience via steps that God gives us.

God leads in steps NOT leaps. We’re not frogs. We’re humans—we walk. #incrementalobedience

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Previously, I  read through the devotional plan “How to Neighbor” by Pastor Craig Groeschel from Life.Church on the YouVersion Bible app.  It’s an excellent 10-day plan.  I highly recommend it.  In part of the plan, Pastor Craig is talking about Esther and her pivotal role in helping God’s people.  He mentioned that Esther had to take steps of incremental obedience…

“As a teen, Esther pushed back darkness and risked everything for her neighbors because Mordecai, her adoptive father, reminded her why she was alive “for such a time as this.” Think about this. Esther, and every other person who’s ever done anything valuable for God, basically just took incremental steps of obedience.”

The frequently quoted scripture, “Perhaps you were made…for such a time as this” (Esther 4:14) can apply to our lives too.  We will have “for such a time as this” moments throughout our lives.  Those moments will require steps, not leaps, of incremental obedience leading up to them.

Esther’s steps of incremental obedience

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How to Understand God’s Will

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Learn how to understand God’s will ...

How to Understand God’s Will

Recently I received a question from a reader that I thought was an excellent question and worthy of sharing…

“How can we understand about God’s will for us? I’ve been struggling with the feeling that I may have done something out of His plan, and it saddens me so much.”

I think this is something that many of us have wondered about at one time or another.  How do we understand God’s will, and what happens if we feel like we’ve missed it or did something opposed to His will?  This week I’d like to discuss a couple of ways to understand God’s will, and also address what happens if we miss it.

We ALL miss God’s will sometimes…

First let me say, don’t beat yourself up too much if you feel like you’ve done something out of God’s will or plan.  We ALL have “shoulda, coulda, woulda’s”.  I screw up all the time! 🙂 The cool thing I’ve learned is that I can never mess up so much that God can’t fix it or even use it.  God can turn anything around.  I wrote about that in “Mistakes Can Turn Into Success” if you want to see an example in the Bible.  Romans 8:28 says “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”  So if you know you’ve messed up, repent (admit it, apologize and don’t do it again), and then ask God to fix it or work it out to be something good. 

His will is in His word. #Godswill

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God’s will is in His Word

As for understanding God’s will, I’ve learned that the best way to learn and understand God’s will is by reading the Bible.  His will is in His word.

Romans 12:2 says “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”  Other versions say “renewing your mind…to discern what God’s will is”.  We renew our mind by reading the Bible.

God’s will or plan will NEVER contradict what the Bible says.  For example, God’s will is never for someone to have an affair because the Bible clearly calls that adultery, which is a sin. Another example is that God’s will is never for somebody to go to hell because God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Unfortunately, I’ve heard both of these examples used as “God’s will”, but they both contradict scripture.

Ask God to show you His will

I’ve also learned that I can ASK God to show me what His will or His plan is.  James 4:2 says, “You have not because you ask not.”  That means if we want something we need to ask for it.  The same can be true when trying to understand God’s will—We just need to ask.

So first I pray (i.e. God, please help me to understand your will and plan in this area…). Then secondly, I just spend some time reading the Bible.  I usually just do this in my regular daily quiet times, and I try to pay attention to anything that stands out.  A lot of times God will answer my question (usually not right away though) in some of the verses I read.

A recent example

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Scriptures About the Lord is My Helper

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Scriptures About the Lord is My Helper

The Bible declares that the Lord, God, is our helper. He is there to help us in times of need. That is a promise from scripture. It is part of who God is. It is one of his defining characteristics and traits. We are God’s children, and we have the one true and only God on our side to back us up and empower us. God loves us. He is for us, not against us, and he will help when we need it and when we call out to him. He is your helper and my helper!

There are times in our lives where we face trouble, when we need direction, or when we truly can’t do things on our own. We all need help from time to time. We will need help to do some of the things that God has called us to do. Sometimes that help can come from others, but other times we need help directly from God. It’s okay to ask for help, from others and from God! God will partner with us in the things that we face, big or small.

Therefore this week I’d like to share some scriptures to inform you and build your confidence in the fact that the Lord is your helper!

Scriptures about the Lord is my helper:

“By the God of your father who will help you, by the Almighty who will bless you with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that crouches beneath, blessings of the breasts and of the womb.” Genesis 49:25 (ESV)

“Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song to God, and spoke, saying, Let us sing to the Lord, for he is very greatly glorified: horse and rider he has thrown into the sea. He was to me a helper and protector for salvation: this is my God and I will glorify him; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” Exodus 15:1-2 (BST)

“There is no one like the God of Israel. He rides across the heavens to help you, across the skies in majestic splendor.” Deuteronomy 33:26 (NLT)

“Blessed are you, Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD? He is your shield and helper and your glorious sword. Your enemies will cower before you, and you will tread on their heights.” Deuteronomy 33:29 (NIV)

“And the song was thus: O Lord, my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God; he shall be to me my guard, I will trust in him: he is my protector, and the horn of my salvation, my helper, and my sure refuge; thou shalt save me from the unjust man. I will call upon the Lord who is worthy to be praised, and I shall be saved from my enemies.” 2 Samuel 22:2-4 (BST)

“But You, LORD, do not be far away; You who are my help, hurry to my assistance.” Psalm 22:19 (NASB)

“Do not turn your back on me. Do not reject your servant in anger. You have always been my helper. Don’t leave me now; don’t abandon me, O God of my salvation!” Psalm 27:9 (NLT)

“The LORD is my strength and shield. I trust him with all my heart. He helps me, and my heart is filled with joy. I burst out in songs of thanksgiving.” Psalm 28:7 (NLT)

“We put our hope in the LORD. He is our help and our shield.” Psalm 33:20 (NLT) Continue reading →

Scriptures About Direction from God

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Scriptures About Direction from God title image

Scriptures About Direction from God

Do you ever have those times where you just really don’t know what to do and you need some direction from God? I’ve written about this a few times before…

Don’t understand? Stuck? Confused? Need direction? Ask God!

What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do

How to Understand God’s Will

However, I’ve yet to put together a list of scriptures about direction from God until now. I always find scripture to be helpful because it’s a promise from God that I can stand on and/or His own word that I can pray directly back to him. Therefore today’s post will contain an abundance of Bible verses for you about direction from God to hopefully help you if you’re in a position of needing some guidance.

Scripture can be helpful because it’s a promise from God that you can pray directly back to Him.

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Scriptures encouraging us to ask God

God doesn’t want us to be confused, and he wants to be confident in coming to him and to his Word (the Bible) with our needs and to ask for guidance or direction. When we ask God, He will guide us to the answer and direct our steps. The answer does not always come immediately, in our timetable (Habakkuk 2:3, 2 Peter 3:9, Isaiah 55:8-9). It’s important to remember that we need to listen for, expect an answer, and wait on an answer.

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace…” 1 Corinthians 14:33a (ESV)

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God…” Hebrews 4:16a (NLT)

“The revelation of Your words brings light and gives understanding to the inexperienced.” Psalm 119:130 (HCSB)

“Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.” Psalm 27:14 (NIV)

“Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3 (NIV)

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” James 1:5 (NIV)

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7 (NIV)

“I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears.” Psalm 34:4 (NIV)

“You do not have, because you do not ask.” James 4:2b (ESV)

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:22 (NIV)

Scriptures About Direction from God

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How To Use the Correct GPS–God Positioning System

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How To Use the Correct GPS--God Positioning System

How To Use the Correct GPS–God Positioning System

I would consider myself “directionally challenged”.  Just ask my husband.  It doesn’t take much for me to get lost.  I’m a HUGE fan of GPS now though.  Where were personal GPS devices 19 years ago when I was driving to my in-laws’ new house in Texas for the first time?  A GPS would have saved me several wrong turns and a very tearful conversation on the phone with my father-in-law (there might have even been some frantic yelling on my part 🙂 ) as he was trying to verbally direct me to their ranch.  Apparently you can turn both ways on a loop, and if you go the wrong way and then take a right-hand turn you will end up completely opposite of where you want to be.  Oops.

“Directionally challenged” in life

I’ve discovered that sometimes I can be “directionally challenged” in life too, and like a lot of people, I don’t always seek direction and guidance.  Sometimes I even flat-out ignore it.  It’s either…

    • “I don’t need your help. I can do it by myself.”
    • “No way! I’m not doing that!”
    • “That’s got to be the wrong way.”
    • “I think this way might be better.”
    • “I don’t trust you. What if you’re wrong?”
    • or something similar

Next thing I know, I end up lost or completely opposite of where I should be.  What’s even more sad is Continue reading →

Don’t Understand? Stuck? Confused? Need Direction? …Ask God

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Don’t Understand? Stuck? Confused? Need Direction? …Ask God

Do you ever just feel stuck, confused, or at a loss about something? I have found myself in situations like that on a number of occasions. Something that I’ve learned about God’s character though is that He doesn’t want us to be confused. He’s also not afraid of nor offended by our questions. God wants us to come confidently and boldly to him without being afraid. We shouldn’t be afraid to ask God about anything. He wants relationship with us.

“For God is not a God of confusion but of peace…” 1 Corinthians 14:33 (ESV)

“So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God…” Hebrews 4:16a (NLT)

We should feel free to ask God about something we don’t understand or about something that confuses us. We can ask God for direction when we don’t know what to do about a situation. Additionally, God wants us to approach him with our needs. Anytime we need an answer, we can and should ask God!

When we need understanding

We are free to ask God anything we want. If we don’t understand something, we can ask God! It could even be something as simple as a question about the use of a word we don’t understand in the Bible. I shared before about a time when I decided to ask God about the meaning of the word “glory” when I heard the term used in the phrase “show me your glory”.

I didn’t understand what “glory” meant in that context nor how God could show it to us. So I prayed, “God, what does ‘glory’ mean? How can you ‘show me your glory’?” It was several months later before I got an answer, but it came nonetheless! I was listening to one of my favorite speakers, Beth Jones when she explained that “glory” meant God’s physical, tangible presence. Then I also saw the New Living Translation of Exodus 33:18 “Moses responded, “Then show me your glorious presence.” This again answered my question that I had asked God several months prior. God was faithful to answer me, and He’s done it multiple times since.

When we need direction

More recently, I had an opportunity to ask God for some help and direction as I have struggled some with leading a group of teenage girls in our church youth group. Without getting into the whole story, for time’s sake, let’s just say that I’ve been acting in reluctant obedience for the past 9 months to this “call” to be a small group leader for our students!

Working with the student and/or children’s ministry is WAAAAAY out of my comfort zone! As I expected, I felt that I was in over my head when it came to dealing with younger maturity levels. On many nights our group was quite chaotic, and I don’t do chaos well. I was almost at a breaking point, when I decided to ask God for direction on how to handle this situation at which I felt that I was failing miserably.

What story??

I woke up in the middle of the night unable to go back to sleep with several things on my mind. I got up, made cup of hot tea, grabbed my journal, and started praying and asking God about some things. I determined that I would write down whatever “answers” came into my head. As I prayed and asked God for direction, the phrase “tell a story” came into my mind. So I wrote that down. Then underneath that I wrote “What story??”

What Story??

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Prayer for You This Year–2018

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Prayer for You This Year 2018

Photo by Ümit Bulut on Unsplash

Prayer for You This Year–2018

As many people start the year with a fresh start and New Year’s Resolutions, it’s a time to look toward the upcoming year. The same is true for me. I’ll be participating with my church in a 21 day challenge involving 21 days of prayer, discipline and bible study. During the month of January, I will be spending some time in concentrated prayer. As part of my prayer time, I will be spending time praying for my blog, readers, and subscribers. I plan on praying for each person on my subscriber list individually.

There will be some general areas that I will be praying for each of you, which I’ll detail below. However, I’d also like to take this opportunity to reach out to you and see if you have any specific needs or prayer requests that you would like me to pray about. I would love to hear from you!

You can let me know your requests by:

  1. Posting a comment below (at the bottom of this page)
  2. Sending a message through my contact page by clicking here
  3. Sending me an email at tracy at happyhealthyandprosperous dot com (I have to list the email this way to avoid those crazy spam robots! :P)

I will add your specific requests to my list, and I will commit to praying for you and your needs. If you don’t have any specific needs, please know that you are still being prayed for by name anyway!

General areas I’ll be praying for

  • Spiritual growth and relationship with God and for you to also grow in wisdom stature and favor like Jesus did
  • Health, healing and emotional well-being
  • Relationships with others in your life
  • Work
  • Finances and prosperity
  • Gifts, calling and purpose
  • Direction
  • Strength and courage
  • Peace
  • Open doors for you this year and close the wrong ones
  • Experience God’s love this year

My prayer for you this year…

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