WOMEN COMMENDED PUBLICLY

AUGUST 17TH DAILY READING

Today as I was reading  Romans 16, a woman named Phoebe was mentioned. Phoebe was a significant servant in the church of Cencherea. She helped, protected, looked after and provided for many. Phoebe's name in Greek means radiant and pure!

Women had a VERY important part in the ministry of Paul. As we find in many verses throughout Romans 16. Paul specifically mentions Phoebe and speaks highly of her and her strong leadership in the church. He introduces her to other Christians as "sister," "servant," "saint," and "helper."  Paul valued her as a radiant light for Jesus.

Paul commended her publiclyand 3) she is “a patron  has

Complementarity in Ministry
From the very beginning of the Christian church, women have been absolutely crucial partners in ministry with men—partners in marriage and partners as single women.
Paul did not treat women as if they are on the sidelines.
Paul also did not treat women with a differant annointing perspective.
 In the history of missions, the role of women, and the courage of women, is simply breathtaking. The fact that God calls men to lead the church as the teaching and governing elders is, in the long run, we believe, a strengthening, liberating, joyful thing for Christ-exalting women. However... God does call women to do amazing things and if men in the church do not learn to commend as Paul  did many women could be pushed away from their destiny.

Now I want to encourage women in general today that God has a huge plan for your life!

Women have the opportunity to help others struggling with their daily lives.
 God has a significant purpose for you in His church.
I personally encourage you to step out and go to a women's meeting, bible study or other opportunity in your church. 
 God never created you to stay on your personal island.
Each women is hand picked by God, situated in Christ's body just as He desires. God will select the perfect place for you appropriate to your talents and gifts.
We all go through experiences in life, your story is important! 
God will put the exact people  in your pathway that needs your aid and help. Many difficult areas of my life have been used for others to find the heartbeat of God. 
If a person feels inadequate for the ministry task the Lord reveals to them they need to only remember Jesus' words, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12:9).Jesus' life began with a woman named Mary and ended at His resurrection with a woman at the tomb.
The bible recalls several significant women in the new testament and Paul affirms them by name. 

I believe public AFFIRMATION is huge when God is creating and working through particular individuals or ministries in the church.

 Friend, you are significant!

Allow God to establish you according to His ways, He has a story to tell through your life.
How are you allowing God to use you today?
How are you being commended in your place of worship?

Paul always established credibility for his leadership, remember that this in important.

Today others in church leadership should affirm those whom God calls, whether male or female, and encourage them in faithfully learning God’s Word. We need to affirm all potential laborers, both men and women, for the abundant harvest fields.

I love to hear a woman lead us in prayer corporately on Sunday mornings at my church,that alone is commending!

I am thankful for Gods word today, continue pursuing your calling my friends!

Blessings,

---

7 WAYS GOD EMPOWERS YOUR LIFE

AUGUST 2 DAILY READING CLICK HERE!

I am still away at the Resurrection Life International Church pastors and leadership conference. What A time of exploring, growing and  

networking with pastors from all over. I have been empowered by others dreams and visions. In every conversation I can see God's plan unfolding as He prepares each individual for their higher calling.

Do you have a higher calling?

YES YOU DO!

Last week I mentioned that we would be reading the book of Romans all this week. If you want to get a visual of yourself within the book of Romans check out this BLOG!

Today I want to share 7 ways that God is EMPOWERING us from the inside out.

God is all about transforming those He is preparing for leadership. He RADICALLY and permanently changes His people. God will never demand obedience or conduct that He doesn't EMPOWER His followers to achieve.

7 ways God EMPOWERS

1. HE LIBERATES

He frees us from strains, chains and pains of the past.

Your pain in preparing you for your bigger purpose.

2. HE ELEVATES

God embraces us and lifts us up to reign with others.

3. HE EDUCATES

God gives us wise counsel and future direction

4.HE COMPENSATES

God will fill ares where we are weak or lack competence

5.GOD MOTIVATES

He is our source of VISION,hope and purpose

6. GOD REGENERATES

He transforms us to live on a higher level by His supernatural resources.

7. HE ACTIVATES

God commissions us to obey and to move forward in His cause.

The conference that I am attending this week is a great  picture the 7 empowerment's listed above. I can see God at work in my life in all 7 areas. That is my hope for you today, to simply see God and feel God at work in your life.

God wants to EMPOWER your life today. Whether you are stepping out into a bigger ministry calling or struggling with stepping out of your personal pain. God wants to radically change your life! 

Do feel God EMPOWERING you from the inside out?

Take a look at the 7 areas and if you feel stuck in an area, I challenge you to ask God to radically empower that situation.

The book of Romans today teaches us that we can be alive to God! God's supernatural gift of grace will reign in your life!

Blessings friends

SECURE LEADERS GIVE POWER TO OTHERS

JUNE 29TH DAILY READING

LETS ZOOM IN ON ACTS 9:27

²⁷ But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the name of Jesus

A secure leader is very important in the shaping of ones calling.


When you sit under leadership in a business, church ministry or program that cannot or will not empower others it will create barriers within the organization and within your personal calling.


God wants to maximize your potential and He uses others to empower you!


Theodore Roosevelt realized and explained"the best executive is one who has the sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and the self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it."


It is so important to be around leaders that EMPOWER others by helping them feel valuable as they develop.


BARNABAS in today's reading was definitely a LID LIFTER type person. It seems as though he let no opportunity escape to add value to others. His greatest contribution was in terms of empowerment!


Barnaba's looked for opportunities to bring people before other leaders to help then make a connection and strengthen their credibility.

 In the book of ACTS you see that he empowered Paul to reach his potential.

 Barnabas pretty much endorsed Paul so that he was then able to move freely throughout Jerusalem, teaching the people the truth of scripture. 
God had a specific role destined for Paul and he chose Barnabas to invest and empower Paul to become his BEST!


Empowering people takes a personal investment. It requires energy and time. But it's worth the price. If we take time to empower others we will have the privilege of seeing someone move up to a higher level. And as an added bonus, when you empower others you create power for your own organization.


I am thankful today for Secure leaders that God has placed in my pathway. Leaders that are more concerned in empowering others. A big thank you to Pastor Dave Ferranti for believing in my next steps as Barnabas did with Paul.

I have Big DREAMS...
I encourage my readers to dream big too!

 However, it is very important to be around secure leaders that embrace and empower those dreams.

Do you need a lift on your dreams today? Pray for God to bring others into your pathway to influence your potential.

Are you a secure leader? If so... then take time and INVEST and INSPIRE a young leader to achieve things never thought possible.

Blessings,

REPOSITIONING THE VISIONS

JUNE 8 DAILY READING (CLICK HERE)


2 Chronicles 31:20,21


20Hezekiah did this throughout all Judah, and he did what was good, right, and faithful before the Lord his God.

21And every work that he began in the service of the house of God, in keeping with the law and the commandments to seek his God [inquiring of and yearning for Him], he did with all his heart, and he prospered.

 The past year I have DESIRED to PROSPER with some personal visions!

Do you have a vision in a certain area?
Do you also desire to see it prosper?

VISIONS ARE IMPORTANT AND HEALTHY

 My visions and energy toward God's work/ministry keeps me ticking like a time bomb ready to explode.
However, God has me in a season of transitioning and repositioning.

Prospering for me would be... for God to QUICKLY... position me perfectly for these visions to grow and explode.

A year later...I am still ticking 

A vision will not go very far if it does not have the opportunity to be stewarded creatively through others...

MANY TIMES THIS IS WHY GOD REPOSITIONS YOU.God began to reposition me last year.

REPOSITIONING TAKES TIME!

So I ask myself today...Do I still have what it takes to prosper these WILD DREAMS?

Remember this past week I wrote about how God wants to GIVE YOU SO MUCH MORE! CLICK HERE to read this post

God gives you visions and dreams because He has something to fulfill through you.


The hardest part is when God wants to reposition you to bring about the BIGGER and BETTER for the visions. This season takes a bunch of patience and commitment to walk in obedience to the word of the Lord.

Not easy for a HIGH ENERGY TIME BOMB LIKE ME!


I would like to share 7 points that have been crucial in the REPOSITIONING PERIOD.

1. CHANGE  God is Changing your heart, perspective, friendships, leadership styles and  "spiritual" behavior in order to position you better.

2. LONELINESS  When you step out in obedience with God and accept CHANGE you will feel very alone during the repositioning phase.

3. FAITH IN GOD  Believe daily that God will bless your efforts and that He has an amazing plan.

4. CRITICISM  You will learn to weather the 
HARSH questions of others, wondering what you are doing!
5. HARD WORK AND MONEY    You will GIVE UP time, energy and budget to reach the goals.
 
6. DAILY DISCIPLINE  This needs to be number one!  You need to instill a daily regimen to bring about the discovery of your dreams. God will position but you still need to work in the dream or vision. God then begins TO HINGE YOU into your position. CLICK HERE and Listen to Jon Acuff speak about Closing the Gaps for the Bigger Dreams.

7. CONSTANT PRESSURE Endure the pressure of possible failure and misunderstanding. I write this in a unique font because I want to stress that rejection is part of the molding process. Allow God to work in the PRESSURE AREAS of THE PAST to mold you!

A TITLE OR A TOWEL?

JUNE 2, BIBLE READING

John 13: 4-6
"so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. 5 After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. "

There are all kinds of towels.
 Some are meant for decoration. ( That does not work in my house)
 Some have sentimental value in our lives. Some have a special purpose or are better for a particular need.
But a towel always symbolizes a need being met or a service being rendered. Jesus knew what a towel did for others and how he needed to serve.The savior of the world proved himself to be the greatest servant of all times.


A towel is nothing new to us. It wipes sweet off our faces. It dries our hands. It cleans things up. A towel is used to serve. Left by itself, a towel is of no use.

 Pick it up, let it do what it was created to do.



Jesus possess a security that allows Him to serve others.
The insecure are into TITLES and the secure into TOWELS. Jesus' security enabled Him to both stoop and stretch.

Jesus put others ahead of His agenda.

How can we walk through the business of today and recognize a need and take the initiative or even risk to perform a small act of love?

Where can you be a towel today? Ask God to show you an opportunity?

Blessings,

 

COMMITMENT PRECEDES RESOURCES

APRIL 4th READING

                                                                     


I cannot tell you how many times in which I have all the desire needed to move forward with great God dreams but the resources LACK! 

My heart is full of energy and excitement and then I step out and hit a wall because of resources or lack of wisdom in a certain area! This can be frustrating, my human wisdom thought that if I had the money I could hire someone to help move the God visions forward and pay others for their area of wisdom. This is not Gods wisdom and His ways are so much higher! I understand all this but a little of "MY FLESH" took over this morning!


I found myself full of doubt this morning, wanting to GIVE UP on some things. DO you ever just want to throw the towel in and move on. Even with the help of others I am still running into problems. I said this morning WHY GOD? WHY?


BUT then GOD said....I turned to my daily reading which landed me in the book of Ruth.  A women of COMMITMENT! Her commitment moved her to so many open doors. She had a FIRM COMMITMENT REGARDLESS OF HER RESOURCES.
 I was so impressed with Gods love and ability to speak to my doubt immediately this morning because of my commitment to reading the daily WORD.


Today I choose to remain COMMITTED even when I go through periods of doubt. I know that God will provide resources and the circumstances of HIS timing will pull together what He intends.
In RUTH 1: 1-25 I reminds me that COMMITMENT PRECEDES RESOURCES.


While EVERY leader needs financial and human resources to reach his or her goals, commitment should always precede these resources. When a leader demonstrates commitment to the mission and goals of the organization, the resource WILL FOLLOW!


In the very first chapter of the book that bears her name, RUTH chooses to stay with Naomi, her mother-in-law, even after she looses her husband. She did not know it, but her commitment would lead her to all kinds of OPENED DOORS. Ruth finds work during difficult time, makes friends in a foreign land, and eventually gains a new husband, Boaz. Most impressively, GOD INCLUDES HER- a Moabite adopted into the family of Israel- in the line of Christ. The child she bore became part of the lineage of the Messiah!


  THE KEY?... COMMITMENT!


Until a leader commits, a hesitancy lingers. But the moment that leader commits, then GOD moves and a whole stream of events begins to flow. All manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, materials, persons and material assistance --Which no one cold ever dream up--begin to occur.


This all starts to happen the moment you COMMIT!


Today I will commit and disregard my skill level in certain areas. I will RECOMMIT even though I was committed. Certain things remain with  hiccups and faults BUT I will RE COMMIT  again and be reminded of RUTH'S example.


God has a plan and He will lead us to all kinds of open doors. JUST STAY COMMITTED!


Blessings,
Heather                                                                                                                            

ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT!

MARCH 31 READING

HOW DID JESUS TRAIN AND MENTOR HIS DISCIPLES? I WAS CAPTURED BY TODAY'S READING BECAUSE JESUS TAUGHT HIS LEADERS ABOUT ATTITUDE AND PERSPECTIVE!
JOIN ME IN LISTENING TO TODAY'S VIDEO BLOG AND SEE HOW GOD SPOKE TO THE YOUNG DREAMER IN ME!

BLESSINGS
HEATHER

A WOMAN IN LEADERSHIP

March 28th Reading

                                                                       

I will announce the winner of FREE FRIDAY at the bottom of today's post!

I was thrilled to read about a woman in the bible that was so respected for her leadership ability. She was respected by men and women. Men in the military sought her help! Many recognized her gifting in leadership and followed her.

People follow those whose leadership they R E S P E C T. Deborah's leadership gifts commanded the respect of both men and women, even though very few women rose to leadership positions in her day. The Barak military commander of the northern tribes of Israel, sought her help.

I have struggled in the past with the idea of women in leadership because of the other leaders and their  influence.  I learned some great things with the help of other men and women that certainly value the calling of women into leadership positions. Today I looked at an individual God called  forward and noticed some common things that summarize why this women was RESPECTED.

Lets look at 7 qualities that moved DEBORAH forward into her God given calling. (Judges chapter 4)

RESPECT YOURSELF
1. Gaining respect from others always begins with yourself and your associates. Deborah did this, and people from all over Israel came to her to settle their disputes. If you desire to win respect of others then RESPECT others no matter what gender and have a healthy respect for yourself.

EXCEED THE EXPECTATIONS OF OTHERS
2. Exceed the expectations of others
Deborah raised the standard of living for others!

STAND FIRM ON YOUR CONVICTIONS
3. followers respect a leader with conviction and a willingness to join the journey.

PRODUCTION IS THE KEY
4. Deborah believed in people accomplishing things together as a production team. When another is left out this may very well be a dream that is dismissed. How does your team work together?

EXPERIENCE PERMISSION
5. As followers grow to like and trust a leader, they begin to follow because they want to. People came to Deborah, seeking out her influence. She was given permission to lead and that is a great experience.


 CONTRIBUTE TO THE SUCCESS OF OTHERS
6. Deborah did many things right with wisdom great wisdom. She gave others the word of the Lord that they would WIN! Under her guidance the children of Israel grew stronger and stronger against Jabin King of Canaan, until they destroyed him, (Judges 4:24) God does choose people still today to shepherd others in the journey!

THINK AHEAD OF OTHERS
7. Deborah was always furnishing a PLAN. She had strategy and vision. How could people not respect a leader of such vision?

REMEMBER the highest calling of any leader is to help others reach their potential and walk out their God given destiny. I have a passion for leadership and I also have a passion to learn Gods word and understand what Gods word says about women in leadership! God is very clear that he calls women forward and speaks vision through them. He RESPECTS women and uses them in great ways!

If you are struggling with respect from others in leadership I suggest to LET IT GO and LAY IT DOWN and then reach out to the best leader ever and allow God to direct your steps. He is a leader who will move you to a new level of change and focus to develop the leader inside of you!
A good leader will recognize the God given leader in you and will spend their lives developing Gods plan so you may help others reach their potential.

TODAY'S WINNER FOR THE "GOING BEYOND CONFERENCE IS: SHARYL ROBRITIUS

The others that posted on blog and my email please consider coming and purchasing your tickets here:
WOMEN'S EVENT

I would love to meet up with you if you decide to come out! Please let me know!

I will be video blog Wednesday and Thursday this week!

Have a great day and may the Lord stir the LEADER in you!

Blessings,

HOW IS YOUR TEAM CULTIVATING, HARVESTING and PLANTING?

February 23rd Reading

Today's Blog is spacific to the area of leadership!
We are all leaders in some way, shape or form.
I strongly encourage ministry leaders to soak in today's devotional.
 Whether you are in women's ministry, a speaking ministry, writter, worship team, prayer team or teacher/facilitator of studies you are a person of INFLUENCE in the church.

In Mark chapter 4 of todays reading... I want to ask you,  WHO WAS THE SOWER IN JESUS' PARABLE?
The sower is the person of influence, a leader, anyone who declares Gods word.
 The sower scatters a lot of seed, and later determines the chracter of the soil. I would like to share some principles the I believe ALL LEADERS need to know about sowing seed! Maybe this will be a great resource in your next prayer team or leadership meeting. After you read the 7 principles, I will apply how this may look in your church ministry.

1. A lot of SEED must be scattered to produce a crop

2. Not all soils produce, but we cannot reap if we do not sow

3. We must continue sowing because one day we will reap a harvest

4. The soil that produces will mulitply, we will always reap more then we sow

5. WE CANNOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT LAST YEARS HARVEST, BUT WE CAN ABOUT THIS YEARS HARVEST

6. We must BELIEVE in the seed we sow, knowing that some will produce fruit

7. Once we see fruit, all our effort through Christ seems worthwhile

In ministry it is important to stay filled up with faith and Believe in what God has called you to do. Even on a cold snowy day in which only a few ladies may have shown up for your bible class, PLEASE coninue to BELEIVE in the seed God has given you for that day.
 If you are leading worship and it seems like the same song but differant day, remember the words of the song are SEEDS that you must believe in that day.

 A SEED is an area of ministry in which God is or may be calling you forward to. God observes the land (the church and all the ministries and activities) and produces visions and ideas in the heart of men and women to prepare a particular seed that will cultivate and produce fruit for that land in its season.

A ministry team is always cultivating, planting and harvesting in the season and or cycle of What God is doing in that church.

God surely knows the needs of  His people at each particular time in their existence.
It is important to share your particular passion in serving because it may be an area of growth the church needs.
I also encourage your ministry team to take inventory and study the land at your church for the needs of the people. God will give your team wisdom.

 Different SEEDS produce differant crops.

Cultivate a place for all to BELIEVE , BELONG and BECOME


MINISTRY IS VITAL and TEAM WORK IS HUGE, if you are in ministry now, thank God for the opportunity and the SEED He has given you to sow. If you are not in a place of ministry but feel a calling deep inside seek a leader out in your church and share what God is doing in your life. A good ministry team is ALREADY at work praying for you to step forward with your SEED!

How are you CULTIVATING, PLANTING and HARVESTING in your church today?

Blessings as you scatter seed,