I Was Thinking...

As a person who struggles with perfectionistic tendencies, especially in my walk with the Lord, I have to guard myself very carefully from falling into the "do this, do that" mode.

BUT I have come to realize something here lately.

We are not saved by works, no. 

But I do believe we are called to engage.

Engage in the body of Christ, engage while serving, etc.

I also believe we are called to engage our minds.

This is the spiritual battleground of today. 

The enemy is cunning, but not overly creative in my opinion.

He gets us all in the same location: the mind.

It may sound irrational at first glance, but think about it...

The start of any stronghold is not an action, it is a thought. 

A lie not taken captive to the authority of Christ.

Then those lies become our identity and our identity the lies. 

Lately I have been more careful about what crosses the corridor of my mind 

and what I do to hold its attention.

Enough defeat is enough.

And I will do what I can to guard against it, to renew my mind daily!

Not out of perfectionistic captivity, but out of love for the Lord of my life,

who has promised an abundant life,

when I am living under His Lordship. 

Romans 12:2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. 

Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is. 

His good, pleasing, & perfect will.

The Wilderness

Through the years, I have experienced many seasons of being in the wilderness, spiritually.

As tough as those times are to walk through, God is showing me three big things about them right now.

1. He uses time in the wilderness in an unreal way!

2. He is with me in the wilderness.

3. It is I that veers off the path, because He is the path. 

Often times, in the midst of the wilderness, the enemy convinces us it is our permanent home and if you checked Webster's for the definition of "lonely," you would find our name inscribed right there on the pages. 

But I am learning such the opposite is true!

The words in Deuteronomy 2 jumped right off the pages and I had to share:

(v. 7) "He knows your going through this great wilderness...God has been with you. You have lacked nothing."

God's Word never ceases to amaze me.

He knows, y'all. He so knows what we are going through.

In fact, He spent time in the wilderness too, He suffered and was tempted there.

He not only knows, but He is there with us. 

And we need nothing!

This truth can bring peace in the midst of any wilderness. 

The King of Kings is with you, beloved!

The Spirit has also been showing me that it is not He that forgets me, but I Him.

In Deuteronomy 8:13, God even warns against this: "Take care lest you forget the Lord your God."

This got me.

How many times have I questioned the presence and power of the Lord, when all along He's saying, "Daughter, I did not move or forget, it was you."

My prayer this morning is that I may never forget, never move from this place.

He is so faithful, may I too keep my eyes glued on my eternal dwelling, my Heavenly Father. 

Balance Is A Bunch Of Bologna

Does your personality almost drive you towards a crammed schedule?

Does your perfectionism push you to never having a moment of rest?

Do you believe it is your duty to remain busy?

I use to.

People would always tell me, "Now, Jordan, you know you are going to burn out."

Yes, when I do things that I want to do, on my own time, in my own strength, simply for the sake of being 'the girl with the full schedule,' yes, I am asking to crash and burn.

I mean crash and burn.

Do I sound like I might be speaking from experience?

It's because I am.

Today, at You Lead Day 2, I got a new perspective on business. 

And here are a couple things I took away:

1. Business can result in barrenness.

2. Business is NOT NOT NOT a bad thing.

3. Balance is a bunch of bologna.

4. Jesus was busy, tired, always on the move, lived a full life in the ministry.

5. But there must be non-negotiables for busy women.

I have been trained to feel guilty for being busy and feel inadequate when I am not.

No more!

Oh, and long gone are my days of striving for "balance."

Jesus has called us to the abundant life, not the balanced life.

If abundant, in His plan for you means busy, that is NOT a contradiction.

It simply means that you must be in synch with the Lord at all times, in all you do.

It means having non-negotiables in your life!

I heard it broken down like this:

Categorize your schedule "based God's 'O-W-N' plan for you."

O - Ought

W - Want 

N - Need

What are the things you ought, want, and need to do?

One thing, for certain, is that time for God must ALWAYS remain an "ought" to, a priority, a non-negotiable.

Because our business will turn into barrenness if we do not stay in synch with Him, in rhythm with Him.

There is much for us to do, y'all. 

Business almost makes sense.

But only if there is Kingdom purpose behind it all. 

Stay in it it.

Exhausted but exhilarated is not a bad way to end some days!

A Day To Remember

For the hurt of the daughter of my people I am hurt. 

I am mourning; 

Astonishment has taken hold of me. 

Is there no balm in Gilead, 

Is there no physician there? 

Why then is there no recovery 

For the health of the daughter of my people?

Jeremiah 8:21-22

I am spilling over at the brim.

NOT even kidding you.

God is good, all the time, in all His ways, He is good, so good.

Today I served alongside HGBC Women's Ministry 

at the You Lead LifeWay Women's Conference. 

Can I just say, I was wired for Women's Ministry.

This is my heartthrob. 

Young girls, middle aged women, "well seasoned women."

You name it.

And I'm just beginning to get a vision for the vast amount of possibilities in the realm of women's ministry!

Why? Because they are ENDLESS with an all powerful God.

So this verse, Jeremiah 8:21-22.

It gives me chills.

It gives me conviction.

It gives me hope.

God gets it, girls. 

He gets our pain, our hurt, our broken hearts. 

He is broken over our brokenness.

We are daughters of the King and He treats us as nothing less.

Each and every one of us, tall and short, blonde and brunette, green eyes or brown, we are all equally loved and adored by our Abba Father and He is saying to us: 

"Look no further for comfort or compassion, I am by very nature those things."

More than that though, this verse teaches me that as the hands and feet of the Healer, I am to do all that I can to aid in this cause, to aid the hurting and broken of today.

To point women and young girls to the wellspring of life.

This world is cruel, the enemy is real, he wants us ladies.

Mind, body, and spirit. 

This is a battle.

Do not let your guard down. 

Do not be weak willed.

You are royalty.

Act as nothing less.

Okay, stepping of soap box now. 

I just had to get that out. 

God moved so evidently today and I am just so grateful.

You know what I love most?

Ministry doesn't start after college, after seminary, after marriage, after you've "learned it all." 

It starts today.

Right where I am at, right where I am struggling.

He uses that, He uses me, you, anyone willing --- 

despite ourselves. 

Be willing.

Treatment, Part 1: Anxiety: Worry Don't Work

Treatment, Part 1: Anxiety: Worry Don't Work

This is pure gold y'all.

Work, don't worry. 'Cuz worry don't work.

You Are For Me

My current obsession:

The message of this song is pure truth and beauty. 

It Costs

I've grown up in a Baptist church my entire life, but I don't define my religion by this basis.

There are far too many divisions amongst Christians because one sprinkles, one dunks, one listens to hymns, and the other needs ear buds at church.

While all along there is a spiritual warfare over souls going on right around them.

However, I will say, I am starting to realize the "Baptist Bubble" I have been in has rendered me oblivious to certain aspects of church culture outside of my norm.

While in conversation with an older couple the other night, one of them remarked about how they could never be a Baptist because of "all the alter calls."

To my naive mind, I assumed alter calls were a common practice amongst any and all churches.

Apparently, this is not so.

I kindo've got a kick out of the couple's perceptions from the outside looking in and found the conversation very interesting.

I began thinking about all of the alter calls I have sat and prayed through and even the one I responded to.

Often times, I recall hearing phrases such as:

"what have you to loose?"

"nothing is free in life, but accepting Christ as your Savior is a free gift."

"You are not promised tomorrow, your life could come to an end on the ride home from this service."

Now, I understand the good intentions behind all of these phrases and such, but in reflection, I couldn't help but question if this is how Jesus would really have us propose salvation.

As I read the Bible now, no longer looking to pull the nice and leave the realistic, I am struck by the contrast between our explanation of Christianity, salvation, and such and that which the Bible offers.

In fact, I am fairly certain that I have participated in the cheapening of Christianity, the cheapening of my Savior even.

During Christ's ministry here on Earth, 

He met potential Christians with phrases such as:

"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

"Go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

"Leave the dead to bury their own."

And so on.

What version of Christianity have I been presenting to people?

Not this one.

Not that to which we are truly called.

No, salvation is not by our works, but it will cost us everything.

It's a relationship of self denial, self sacrifice, loathing of all that is natural to us.

It's not easy, cheap, or any other demeaning adjective I have ashamedly used to describe the relationship I share with my Savior.

Lord, move me out of the way.

They need to hear it from you.

You are worth the cost.

Ask, Hope, Believe.

Often times, when I am most silent is when God is speaking loudest.

Hence my blogging absence these past couple weeks.

I'll start off by being completely real, open, and honest.

Sometimes, the hardest parts of my walk with the Lord are those that are considered most "basic" to most Christians. 

Or maybe, they're really the areas that we mask and pretend to have a handle on, when really we are desperate for the Lord's transformation.

Either way, I struggle.

I struggle to pray without ceasing, to live in an environment of prayer, to have faith that moves mountains, to delve into the Word with vigor, and so on.

Each of these areas have been under intense transformation this summer.

So much so that sometimes I want to ask God for a pause button so that I can catch my breath.

But He knows best and He knows my limits

 (which are limitless when I'm relying on His strength and not my own).

I want to crave God.

So at the beginning of the summer, I began asking Him to search my heart.

Search it and transform it, so that these "weak" areas become aspects of my walk with Him that are progressing.

Because as a wise friend once told me, you are always either moving closer to or farther from God --- there is no in between.

And boy, did He answer.

My prayer life is something He has turned right side up, for sure!

Immediately after I prayed that initial prayer, crying out to God to truly search my heart, all my longings and motives, I got a text from a friend asking me to come watch a sermon on DVR with her that she thought I might enjoy.

Good ole Andy Stanley brought it in that sermon.

God so spoke to me through that message on DVR I rode the entire ride home with tears pouring out of my eyes.

What was the sermon topic?

None other than how to approach God and what we receive when we do.

I needed that. I needed a reassurance that when I pour my heart out to God, He hears me, He listens, He cares. 

I shouldn't require a constant reminder of that, but sometimes I do.

Ask, Hope, Believe.

This became my motto for this season after the sermon, and goodness I cannot wait to share what has come since these events began to unfold.

That night I was reminded of what communion and conversation with God is, and ever since I have been  witnessing what it does.

As Andy stated in his sermon,

 tonight, and every other night, 

God is saying to you, "I know."

Whatever you lay at His feet, "He knows," He has been there, done that, faced it, conquered it. 

Roll into Him and press through, beloved.