What Keeps Us from Saying Yes to God - Chapter 5

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Verse of the Week

You [God] will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.

Isaiah 26:3

Phrase of the Week

Keep Dancing! 

#KeepDancing

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I remember a conversation I used to have over and over:

What if they don’t like me? What if I offend someone? What if I mess everything up? What cloths should I wear? What if I say the wrong thing, or the right thing the wrong way? They will think I am stupid or overzealous. What if I am rejected?

The answer:

But if God is pleased what else matters?

As true as that is, our natural tendency we fight daily is for applause from people. We want to be accepted not rejected. We want to be recognized not looked over. We want to feel needed. We want to feel as if our lives make a difference. Well at least I do, desperately. I can relate to the gatekeeper image where I wrestled with acceptance and rejection. I would call someone more in tune with God and ask what I should wear to this or that. I would second guess others actions thinking I did something wrong. It was a constant back and forth trying to make sure I was "doing it wrong". Rejection held me back so many times and it was a circle of returning to God and asking forgiveness for not obeying. Of course there were times sprinkled in where I did ignore them both and went forward only to stand in the doorway and let myself be pulled back.

There was an event that changed this in my life. I really liked the story about the dance recital. I believe it is a very real account of our life in obedience to God. I had started prayer ministry. My pray techniques had come under fire. Told by some that social media and texting isn’t real pray ministry I continued to do it because of the fruit it was bearing. I was removed from the prayer chain by the women because I would not let people "tell all the family details" also called gossip.  I started a prayer group at church and we started training ourselves to pray an hour at a time, I used a PowerPoint and music to remind us of points to pray and fill the space with praise. This also was looked down upon. I had a pastor, however, who did believe in prayer and encouraged me. A very tumultuous time came in our church. I was told we could no longer pray at church. Soon after, God asked me to give a word or warning. I had given words of wisdom and encouragement to people several times but this was different. It was more difficult than anything I had done, God was stretching me. What if….. rolled through me like a tidal wave. I could not escape the desire to please God. I had to trust Him.  I said yes and obeyed.

His word was rejected and met with anger and hate, but the blows were aimed at me.  A meeting was scheduled and I was told to be there. I knew what was coming. I remember praying "God I did what you asked and now I have to walk through this? I have to stand and not defend myself or my actions? Why do I have to go through this rejection and hurt? How can I do it without bawling and snoting all over the place? I will be so humiliated and look so stupid under their condemnation and accusation. (grin) That’s a lot of "I" isn’t it. That is when I learned to dance. God said to keep my eyes on Him and only speak when He opened my mouth. It went just like that too. I didn’t defend myself but God did speak at times and left them without words. They did not see tears, a scared little girl or someone begging for mercy instead they saw and heard a woman confident in Christ and standing for Him without disrespecting there authority. I kept my eyes on God.

During my stay at Arkansas Children's Hospital I danced several times as I interacted with my daughters now husbands family. Genuinely loving them even though they manipulated my daughter against me was only possible with God. I dance every time I am accused of trying to take her baby away from her. I dance when my father calls me a liar. I dance when my words get messed up when I am speaking. I dance when church people say hurtful words. I dance as I stumble not knowing how to speak, how to react. I dance when I am made to look like a fool by my brother. I dance when I am witnessing to someone. I dance and if I get it right or wrong I know I am still accepted completely. You see the point isn’t that we get all the steps right, it that you try. One of my go to verses about obeying God is "You will be accepted if you do what's right. But if you refuse to do what's right watch out! Sin's crouching at your door and is eager to control you. You must overcome it and be its master." Gen 4:7.  "It" is all those things that we let keep us from obeying God. It does not say do what's right and do it right, it just says do it. Obedience is not about perfection it is about doing it, saying yes.

There have been other times of difficulty, but I have learned to keep my eyes locked on God. Just as the authors daughter did. All those needs I listed are real and we can have them filled by God, who accepts us completely on Christ's work not our own. That’s so freeing! I take comfort daily in the fact that I know my Shepherds' voice and all I need to do is obey with eyes fixed on Him.

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Week 6 Discussion  (Head on over to the Facebook group to join in).

1. One thing that can keep us from obeying God is worry.  What is the choice we make to defeat worry in our lives?
   
2. Often saying yes to God brings trouble around us. People can be harsh. Our own hearts can be harsh. What did the author say we must die to in order to have more of Christ in our hearts and minds?
   
3. We can help each other by sharing or "tactics". What do you do to help your mind stay focused on Christ?

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Author - Deb Abshier

I work with the Arkansas district Assembly of God Women's Ministry. I have completed one year of Biblical studies. My life is living proof that every woman can be used of God no matter what their past is. I am a pray-er and enjoy various types of intercession & prayer walking. I enjoy ministering to Women pastors and pastor's wives, reading, studying, music and hiking. I have two daughters and one granddaughter. I also collect rocks of remembrance.

You Never Know How God Will Use You Until You Let Him - Chapter 4

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Verse of the Week

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
1 Peter 3:15

Phrase of the Week

Use me Lord!! 

#UseMeLord

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In the last few weeks I returned to listening to sermons via podcast in my car on the way to work. I used to do it quite frequently, but I got lost in life and just hadn’t thought about it lately. That is until the other day. One of my favorite podcasts to listen to was the podcasts put out by “The Ramp”. So, I downloaded the newest ones to my podcast app and scanned through the titles to see what I wanted to listen to on the way to work.

One of them was titled, “Starting Points”. I was intrigued by that title because I am in a season of my life right now where I feel like I am waiting on something new to come. So, I turned that one on and headed to work. To my surprise, it really was a message about saying “Yes to God” and how each answer we give to God, whether it is a yes, or a no, is a starting point and our future is determined by that response.

If you haven’t heard about The Ramp, it is a large ministry that is focused on young people. They have multiple ministries going on, they have a school of ministry, and if you are up between 12:00 and 1:30 AM on the weekends you can catch them on Daystar and VTN.

In this podcast, Micah Woods tells about how The Ramp got started. This huge, generation impacting ministry, exists because back in 1998, Karen Wheaton said “Yes” to God when He asked her to move to Hamilton, Alabama and begin working with the youth in that community. She said that she felt too busy, too old, and not cool enough; but she obeyed God. Micah shared that she thought she was just saying yes to baking some browinies and showing up to hang out with the youth group on Wednesday nights. She had no idea where the obedience of saying yes to moving to Hamilton would take her. That decision to say yes, led to the ministry that The Ramp is today.

If you have some time, you should listen to this message.  There is so much more that he shared that is absolutely worth listening to and that I just can’t write all in one post. Everything about it lined up with this chapter to me.

In fact the end of the message brings out another point that Lysa made in this chapter.  On page 64 of the paperback book, Lysa says:

“Many people halfheartedly claim to be Christians, believing that because we will never be perfect this side of eternity we have an excuse to pursue that which pleases our human longings. Why not push the limits, live for the now, and worry about eternity later? The problem is that we miss the whole point of our existence, the very purpose for which we were created. God made us for the relationship of His perfect love. While we are not capable of percect performance this side of eternity, we are capable of perfect love. We can settle in our hearts that we will choose God’s love and the pursuit of a love relationship with Him above all else, no matter what comes our way."

I believe that God had a purpose for me hearing this message the same week that I was preparing to write the post for this chapter, and I believe the purpose was to not only remind myself of the very important truth’s that it held, but also to share it with you ladies. Toward the end of the message, Micah shared that in Numbers 33 God told Moses to write down their “starting points”, to record their journey.

If you were Moses, and had lived the life that he did, and God asked you to write down your journey, what is the first thing you would write down? Would you write about being raised by the Pharoh’s daughter? Would you write about living in the Egyption palace? Would you write about killing a man? Would you write about the years that the Israelites spent as Egyption Slaves?

Moses began writing with this:

“They departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month; on the day after Passover the children of Israel went out with boldness in the sight of all the Egyptians.”

When Moses writes down the starting points of their journey, he doesn’t go back into the days of bondage to begin writing. He begins with their day of deliverance!! Micah points out in his sermon, that to put this in perspective, yes, there were 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, 40 years of their journey of deliverance, but there were over 400 years of bondage to Pharoah before that. He chose to leave out every bit of that and start with their new beginning.

Now, the other thing he talks about is how their day of deliverance came at Passover. How Moses began telling their story at Passover, or in other words, the furthest back he went, was the blood of the lamb!! (Is anyone shouting yet?)

Here’s the thing, no one is perfect. Lysa on page 70 talks about how we reflect on our life and we find all of our faults and lable ourselfs unable or unqualified. But God isn’t looking for perfection in us, He is looking for women who will go to Him, seeking forgiveness, have their faults and their failures covered by the blood of Jesus, and move on in life.

“I am a woman who says yes to God not because my emotions and reactions are always perfect. No, I say yes to God becaue He is perfectly able to forgive me, love me, remind me, challenge me, and show me how to weather the trials in ways that prove His Spirit resides in me. I remind myself often that people don’t care to meet my Jesus until they meet the reality of Jesus in my life.”

Saying yes to God doesn’t mean we are saying that we are perfect or have it all together. It isn’t saying that we will never slip up and fail at a future point down the road. It is recognizing that we can’t travel through this broken and messy life all on our own, that we need the covering of the blood of Jesus. It is also using our broken and messy life to show others that they need to meet our Jesus too!

Has God been asking you to do something that you haven’t said yes to yet, because you feel unworthy or unqualified? Take those feelings, those hurts, and those regrets to Jesus, put them under the blood and move on!! They don’t define who you are now. They don’t disqualify you from saying “Yes” now. Put them under the blood and let God use you now.

You never know how God will use you until you let Him!!

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Week 5 Discussion  (Head on over to the Facebook group to join in).

1. What are some of the starting points in your life? Share a time when you experienced God and knew that a new journey had begun with Him!
   
   
2. What do you think about Lysa’s quote: “I remind myself often that people don’t care to meet my Jesus until they meet the reality of Jesus in my life.” What does it mean to you and how do we let people meet the reality of Jesus through us?
   
   
   
3.  Read 1 Peter 3 beginning with verse 8. Saying yes to God WILL at some point in life come with some suffering. What hope can we find in 1 Peter 3 for those who are suffering for the cause of Christ.

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Author - Brenda Duggins
Brenda has been married to her husband John for 11 years and is a full time working mom of a pre-teen boy (yes, you may begin praying for her now)!!

Her and her husband are currently serving as Children's Pastors at River of Life Assembly of God in Mabelvale. She also is currently helping the Women's Department with their social media sites and Online Bible Studies.

She recently re-discovered how much she enjoys crafting and DIY projects and her friend tells her that she is a kid magnet!!

When Obedience Becomes Radical - Chapter 3

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Verse of the Week

I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand and say to you, ‘Don’t be afraid; I will help you.
Isaiah 41:13

Phrase of the Week

Radical Obedience

#RadicalObedience

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If you read my bio you know that we just returned from being in Greece for 18months. Through a series of miracles and Gods call and purpose for our lives we had the privilege to be in Athens, Greece and share Christ love with the beautiful people of Greece. This is my heritage (blood), my dream, my purpose and when we had to leave it broke my heart. We miss it and are ready to return, which I know we will but God has a season of preparation for us.

About 6 weeks ago I read an excerpt from a book and it said "you cannot be in two seasons at once". At the moment when I read that, a great flood of grief gripped my heart and I said out loud to God "I don't want to let go of Greece". The days and weeks to follow were filled with sadness, fear, confusion, hurt, anger, loneliness, etc... But God never leaves us in that state and is always pursuing us because of His great love for us. In the last couple of weeks God continues to bring the word season into my path...life seasons.

In the 20+ yrs of living in Arkansas I have always enjoyed lengthy commutes because the scenery and seasons in Arkansas are beautiful. The other day I was Driving down a country road under a tree canopy and leaves began to fall with the gentle breeze, and I thought fall is coming the season is changing. Normally I would get excited about that but I felt a sadness because I knew God had been trying to speak to me about a change of season in my life, not being in two seasons, not being halfhearted.

Lysa starts this chapter of radical obedience with a challenge "to pray for God to use you in an extraordinary way FOR HIS KINGDOM". Then in paragraphs closely to follow she writes, she knew to accomplish this:

• She must prepare (dedicated preparation) 1Peter 1:13-16
• She must have courage (uncommon courage)
• She must be obedient (radical obedience)

I have thought of a few heroes in the Word who went thru seasons of preparation so they could see the fruition of the promise. Not for themselves to be glorified but for the saving of many lives. They did something extraordinary for His kingdom!

Joseph
In Genesis 37:5 Now Joseph had a dream... But from chapter 37-chapter 50 Joseph faced a great season of adversity and he could have let the dream die but he was dedicated in following God and in Genesis 50:20 dream came to fruition not for Josephs benefit but for the saving of many lives. He did something extraordinary for His kingdom!

Esther
In Esther chapter 4 a decree is given to exterminate her people but God had her in this season for "such a time as this". She could have remained quiet and saved her own life but she didn't. In chapter 5 she prepares, in chapter 7 she shows "uncommon courage", and in chapter 8 she is granted her request...the saving of many lives. She did something extraordinary for His kingdom!

Abraham and Sarah
It would be an end...the death of the dream and a promise.
In Genesis 18 was the promise! Genesis 22... God test Abraham with his dream and promise. Abraham had to have "radical obedience". Because of his obedience The Lord spared Isaac and provided a ram! Again for the saving of many lives! They did something extraordinary for His kingdom!

I believe when we say "Yes" to trusting God with the season He has us in at the moment, He will equip us with a Dedication to prepare, an Uncommon courage, and Radical obedience! Then we will delight in our salvation and the salvation of many others!

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Week 4 Discussion

Go to the Facebook group to join the group discussion.

1. Is there something that stirred in your heart as you read this chapter that God might be leading you to give up either permanently or for a season?
2. What is holding you back from doing so?
3. Read Isaiah 41:13. Are we to give things up in our own strength? Are we walking this new path of deeper obedience alone?
   

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Author - Yvonne Oaks

Married 28 years to Jimmy Oakes, a steady, loving, Godly man and father! Two amazing sons Dustin 20 and Sean 15. Both serving The Lord in ministry in their church and schools.

Jimmy and Yvonne have served as associates in ministry for 20+ years. From worship leader, youth ministers, Chi Alpha house pastors, to serving in Greece and preparing to return. While home on furlough they are training with an amazing ministry "Teen Challenge" developing an outpatient ministry "Lifeline Connections" in Arkansas.

Yvonne is the only girl of 12 children! Yvonne is Greek and her father was from Athens. She still has 4 brothers, and their families, living in Greece. She has had a heart for Greece since she was 5 yrs. old and feels honored that God would give her and her family an opportunity to serve there.

Yvonne loves people and giving hugs! She thinks it's therapeutic to cook and sing...at the same time! Because she is Greek one of the ways she shows her love is thru making special dishes for others. Their family loves to have people in their home laughing, eating, and living life with them! Yvonne loves to share, with anyone who comes around, what God showed her thru the devotion she studied that morning. Yvonne was saved at 17.5 yrs old and has been passionately following after and growing in Christ for 25+/- yrs. ;)

Hearing God's Voice - Chapter 2

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Verse of the Week

The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 
John 10:3-4

Phrase of the Week

Listen Up

#ListenUp

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To be perfectly honest, when beginning to read What Happens When Women Say Yes to God, I was at a bit of a standstill in my walk with the Lord. Being “churched” so-to-speak my whole life, I had grown up hearing of these wonderful, beautiful experiences people would have in their alone time with the Lord. How “visions of rapture would burst on their sight” or something like that. Man, I wanted that kind of prayer life so bad. When I prayed, I could hear things God might say, or could say, but I was never really sure if it was Him, or this personality I had given to Him because of what I’d heard about Him. This is usually how I’d do one-on-one time with the Lord.

1. Sit down somewhere secluded
2. Pull out my bible and prayer journal
3. Ask God to help me understand what I was about to read
4. Start reading in some random book
5. Remember that I don’t want to just read about Him, I want to know about Him
6. Guilt for not praying first and just trying to learn head knowledge about God instead of talking to Him
7. Ask God to forgive me for being selfish
8. Guilt for being selfish
9. Ask God to speak to me as I pray, wisdom for my classes, help for my problems
10. Guilt for asking for help for myself and not others
11. Ask God to give me wisdom on how to love those around me
12. Silence.
13. Repeat: “Give me wisdom on how to love those around me” (or something along those lines)
14. Silence.
15. Frustration that God promised everyone could enter into the Holy of Holies, and yet He’s not communicating with me, so I’m clearly not there
16. Remembered that talking with God is a two way street, so I need to stop talking, and just listen
17. Tries to focus on what God would say
18. Mind wanders to something completely off topic
19. Guilt for not being able to hear Him
20. Frustration that I fail to understand Him
21. Frustration that He’s being illusive
22. Close bible, chunk it on my dresser, and avoid it for a few days because I don’t want to go through the cycle of guilt and frustration all over again.

Man, what a rut to be in! It is truly miserable.

I had talked to my mom about this a few weeks before I started school, and we decided to stand on the promise in Matthew 7.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

That gave me a lot of hope and encouragement, because this was a promise, and God was always faithful to His promises…at least that’s what I’d always heard. So when my prayer time with God was being derailed and I walked away from seeking God feeling more drained and more shameful than I did before I started praying, I was baffled!

“God! You promised this! You promised, remember? You said everyone who asks receives. I’ve been asking, and have had very little receiving! What am I doing wrong??”

And that’s exactly what it became. What have I done wrong? What more can I do to make Jesus want to spend time with me? Obviously, I haven’t prayed long enough (because praying felt like pulling teeth), I haven’t read enough of my bible today, I probably responded a little too loudly when so-and-so said such-and-such, blah blah blah. That’s exactly how my perception of God went. It became so works driven. God is so pure and holy that He can’t use me until my life is holy like His. Then the days I did have an experience with Him, I accredited it to how good I had done that day. But by the next morning when I tried talking to Him again, the separation was back.

To me, hearing God’s voice and being in His presence was like this... Jesus is on top of a mountain. I am at the base of the mountain. I climb and climb and work to get to where He is. After I’ve finally worked hard enough, I get this beautiful time with Him where He speaks to me and it’s awesome. But then, I slide down the mountain because I’ve failed Him somehow. So, I have to start all over and it’s slippery and I’m tired and I want to do right, but it’s always an uphill battle and how is this enjoyable to anyone and God is supposed to be so good and faithful and help His children but right now I’m just exhausted. I long for Him so badly, but there’s always this separation when I can’t make it up the mountain.

In a story in Exodus 23, the children of Israel are crossing the Jordan for the first time. God is telling them how great the place He’s prepared for them is. It is this Promised Land. They will be His people, and He will be their God. Sounds awesome. Check out how he tells them to enter.

“See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared. Pay attention to him and listen to what he says. Do not rebel against him; he will not forgive your rebellion, since my Name is in him. If you listen carefully to what he says and do all that I say, I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you. My angel will go ahead of you and bring you into the land of the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites, and I will wipe them out. Do not bow down before their gods or worship them or follow their practices. You must demolish them and break their sacred stones to pieces. Worship the LORD your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take away sickness from among you, and none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span.”

“I will send my terror ahead of you and throw into confusion every nation you encounter. I will make all your enemies turn their backs and run. I will send the hornet ahead of you to drive the Hivites, Canaanites and Hittites out of your way. But I will not drive them out in a single year, because the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you. Little by little I will drive them out before you, until you have increased enough to take possession of the land.”

So God will go before them, and take out the “ites” (work with me here, those are some weird names.) To do it, He will send some hornets out in front of them. But get this: He won’t let them inherit the entire land all at once, He’s gonna move them forward little by little. This is so the population could increase enough to fill that piece of land, for protection from wild animals and other dangers. Then, God would drive the hornets a little further into the land, and allow the Israelites to gain more of Canaan. Little by little, as their strength grew, they would inherit the full promise.

Whoa. Let’s think about it. Maybe I shouldn’t view my relationship with Jesus as me always fighting up the mountain to seek His presence, failing miserably in my humanity and sliding back down, always yearning for more.

Maybe it’s like this...

God walks us to the border of the Promise. He reminds us He’ll never leave us to fight on our own. He reminds us of our responsibility to follow and obey Him. Then, He tells us He’ll fight every battle for us, we just have to walk behind Him. So we head on in. It’s going good. The Promised Land is awesome. I’m settling in, enjoying the abundance when I notice God is standing off in the distance.

“Wait, Lord! Where’d you go?? I can’t see you anymore!”

“Just take another step in!”

“But I can’t feel you like I used to…”

“Just come get close to me. There’s so much here you haven’t discovered yet!”

Maybe the separation we feel when we ask God to be near isn’t because we failed Him and fell down the mountain. Maybe it’s Him stepping further back into the Promise, saying, “Come on kiddo. You can do it. Come closer into what I have promised for you.”

I felt so much guilt in coming before the Lord that I never even had a chance to hear what He wanted to say. Guilt is such a lie from the enemy. It keeps us from restoring friendships, following dreams God planted in our hearts, and walking in the true freedom and promise He intends for us to walk in. Discovering this revolutionized the way I came before the Lord. He wasn’t mad at me, He wasn’t ignoring me, He wasn’t disappointed that I wasn’t perfect. The feeling of longing that I had for His presence was just proof that there was more Promise for me to walk into.

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Week 3 Discussion  

Go to the Facebook group to join the group discussion.

1. There are five questions that the author uses to help her determine if what she is hearing is from God or not. One of those questions is, "Is it consistent with God's character". How do we know if something is consistent with God's character?
   
   
2. Another question that the author asks is: "Is it beyond me." God frequently asks us to do things that are beyond us. How can we embrace those "God Sized Dreams" or those things that make us say, "You want me to do what" without fear or worry?
   
   
3. Maybe you can relate to Lexa's story. Maybe you are in a similar place. Maybe this book is stressing you out because you want to say Yes to God, but you just don't feel like He is speaking to you. Or maybe your relationship with God is great and your quiet time is full of hearing from God! Whichever camp your in at the moment, share with the group something that you took from Lexa's story and how we can ALL apply it to our own walk with the Lord.

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Author - Lexa Carpenter

Lexa is a sophomore at the University of Central Arkansas, where she is studying Education and Kinesiology.

Her favorite things include sports, Jesus, and smoothies.