“O sing unto the Lord a new song; for he hath done marvelous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.” – Psalm 98:1
Music is one of the most healing things I’ve ever found and it has been a huge part of my life and especially the healing process I’ve gone through over the last two or three months. It has been a lifeline and I think one of the best ways we can share the light with others and help them feel the Spirit of God is through music.
Here’s a song that has been a lifeline for me over the last few months – “Thy Will” by Hillary Scott. This entire playlist is a collection of songs I’ve listened to in order to heal my heart. What songs bring light to your mind and peace to your soul?
Most of us live far beneath our privileges. We often live like paupers instead of princes and princess. In reality we are the children of God and joint heirs with Christ. It’s time we started acting like it. In this video, I talk about Romans 8:14-17
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons (and daughters) of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father! The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.”
Jesus taught “Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which spitefully use you and persecute you.” This is a tall order. How in the world do we get to the point where we love someone who has wronged us or severely hurt us? In this short video I give some ideas that have been working for me lately. I do not claim to be perfect in this regard by any stretch but I have received some insight by swallowing my pride and praying for my enemy.
The disciples of Jesus Christ “forsook all and followed Him.” (Luke 4-5) What would it take for you to forsake all and follow Jesus Christ? Most of us aren’t being asked to do that. So what could you do to shift your priorities a bit… where your main objective was to put Christ first? What would that look like for you?
You don’t reap the full impact of power of God in your life until you’re all in — until you reach a level of commitment. Half-measures don’t do. Prioritizing what God has you on this planet to do as your top priority changes everything in a fantastic way. In this video I share my experience with straddling the fence with God and how it didn’t work for me. I also share how fully choosing God and using this 90 Day Light the World: Build the Kingdom Challenge to dive deeper is blessing my life. And we’re only 9 days in!
Please join me and share your experiences on social media using #90DayLTWChallenge #LightTheWorld #BuildTheKingdom
Life is made up of a bazillion tiny choices that you and everyone else in the world is making. All any of us can do is tap into our own heart, our own spirit as clearly and as cleanly as possible. We can reach toward God’s reaching and make our choices the best we know how in the moment.
As we do that (and even when we don’t do that), I believe every choice we make is “perfect.” Even if we learn later we could have done something differently, it was perfectly designed to bring us to where we need to be next. There have been times when I outright knew to do better but could not muster the strength, will power or faith to do it. As I kept calling out to Him, kept asking for His help, He brought me back around and made all of it serve my journey and shaped me into a more compassionate, less judgmental person.
All our life lessons build on each other. Everything happens for a reason and often the reason is simply to position us somewhere new.
Looking back can be helpful when we look at it realistically…both the positive and the negative in equal balance, until we see it through grateful eyes that comprehend that it was all divine perfection. Second guessing everything in an effort to more effectively control future outcomes is futile. Even if we get it all right the next time, there will be a completely new and different set of a bazillion variables.
Regardless of what we may believe, we do NOT have ultimate control of outcomes. There are too many other variables involved (including the freedom to choose for every other person on the planet).
What we CAN control is whether we choose to see divine balance in everything that happens, whether we choose to gratefully see God’s loving hand in every little thing. In the darkness and in the light, in the poor choices and the wise ones, He IS There. His name is “I Am, That I Am.” There is nowhere he is NOT. Everything serves because HE IS THERE.
As we really begin to understand this, we liberate ourselves from the past, from the need to control. We can go forward living in love, peace, and gratitude, allowing whatever comes to be divine perfection.
Have you ever heard someone say, “That person isn’t worth my time?” Or maybe you’ve heard people speak derogatorily about people of a certain belief system, lifestyle, race or ethnicity. Our world is a world of labels. For some reason we feel compelled to lump people into groups or categories and assume everyone within those groups may be judged as a herd instead of as individuals. Jesus had a different view about the worth of souls.
In this segment of the Light the World: Build the Kingdom 90-Day Challenge I talk about how Jesus Christ treated people and how we can follow His example. His life, death and resurrection can teach us much about how to view and interact with people we don’t agree with or who we might perceive as our enemies.
In St. John Chapter 1, John the Beloved wrote: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God.
All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
That [Jesus] was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.” John 1:1-10
How can we follow the example of John and be a witness for Christ? How can we show people that He IS the light and life of the world. How can we help those who walk in darkness comprehend the light?
I love this video from my friend Tara Jensen of JoyInTheMountains.com. She talks about how we label other people instead of treating them the way God would treat them. I think this fits perfectly with the fact that we ALL have the light of Christ flowing through us. There is good in everyone. Let’s stop labeling people and see Christ in them instead.
After being tempted by Satan, Jesus began his mortal ministry in his home town by reading Isaiah 61. He declared he was here to preach deliverance to the captives:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised. To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”
He closed the book, gave it back to the minister, sat down and said, “This day is the scripture fulfilled in your ears.”
If Jesus Christ had a mission statement, it would be this passage. As disciples of Jesus Christ, His mission is our mission. We are here to be His hands and feet to set the captive free.
In today’s episode of the Light The World: Build the Kingdom Challenge we talk about how this might look in your life.
In Day 3 of the Light the World: Build the Kingdom 90 Day Challenge, we talk about letting go of any hurt, anger, resentment toward anyone or anything else. In order to shine our brightest, we must release anything standing in our way. Let it go! That includes feelings of unforgiveness.
In this video I share an experience I had today that allowed me to set things right with someone in my life so I could move forward unencumbered and step fully into the light.
