Faith Tactic #79 – Tell Your Story

Have you ever heard someone tell their story and thought to yourself, “that is exactly what I needed to hear? We need to tell our stories to others because we need to know that we are not alone.

While telling our story, we have no idea the impact it will have on someone else. In doing so, we are expanding His kingdom because as the Word says in Revelations 12:11, that people are victoriously triumphant by not only the blood of the Lamb but also by the word of our testimony.

I have actually taken the opportunity to record my testimony. Please click the link and listen to what the Lord has done through me and for me. The word of my testimony is being used in the lives of many women as they seek to a deeper relationship with the Lord. I absolutely love to share my story.

Some people don’t think that their story is worth telling. They think it trivial or not worth telling but every story is really His story in you. He uses everyone’s mess and turns it into a message. Whether you have had negative or positive experiences in your past, He uses it all for His glory, and your good and the good of everyone around you.

Ladies and gentlemen, Jesus is coming soon. Don’t be silent. Tell your story.

Faith Tactic # 78 Be A Light

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

Jesus said if we allow our light to shine before others it will cause others to see the good that we do for the Kingdom, which not only glorifies our Father in Heaven but it will actually be a way we expand the kingdom. So how do we let our light shine, so others don’t stay in the dark?

“This little light of mine” I was singing to my grandson and thinking how can this little light of mine could shine in such darkness our country is in. But I am reminded of the darkness I like to hide in as well. It is easier to hide than it is to expose and bring to the light the areas we would rather not deal with. We all hide stuff we don’t want exposed. We are afraid to show our dirt.

However, whenever I confess my sin to someone I trust, then the Bible says I am healed (I John 1:9, and James 5:16). I bring it out into the light and then when it is exposed for what it is then the light actually shines on the fact that my sin was already atoned for. When we keep it in the darkness we think it is so much bigger than it is. Wow! As if God couldn’t see and forgive!!

If Christ is living in you, then you shine because He shines. His radiant face is reflecting off you. Of course the condition of this is letting Him increase as you decrease. Our sinful nature that loves the darkness will keep Christ decreased in us. But as we come in to the light of His glory and grace then we find that His Spirit is consuming more of us than our sinful nature could.

Expanding the kingdom of God is simply coming out of the shadows of showing your neighbor the light that is inside of you. You don’t even need to tell them. They will see it. Jesus will show them through the light that is inside you.

What do these verses speak to you? How will these verses help you to expand His Kingdom?

In case you missed what this is all about, visit the introduction. And don’t forget to subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss any days.

Faith Tactic #77 Be Helpful

You ever wonder why the book of Acts show the multiplication of disciples? Throughout the book of Acts we find that the numbers were adding to the church into the thousands. This verse comes from the context that there was going to be a famine in the land and the disciples saw a need and jumped in to fill the need before the famine started.

How does this verse help me to expand the kingdom of God? When I think of famine these days it is not the shortage of physical food because even if you are struggling financially, food is not scarce in our nation. Even in my darkest moments of being homeless with three children there were always people who stepped up to help us in the time of need. God always provided.

The famine I am seeing in our nation more than ever now is the lack of Spiritual food or manna. Oh we have an abundance of snacks of Sunday messages, and oh there are plenty of Bible bites out there. But there is a true famine of His Word in our lives. We have become satisfied to nibble on devotions just enough to sustain us. But truly to dig in to God’s word as our source of nourishment we are starving in the Body of Christ.

So for me to apply this verse to be helpful in expanding the kingdom, then I want to dish out some tasty truth that could seriously provide spiritual growth in a believer. There is an abundance of tasty truth in our world today, and I don’t diminish what others have been able to provide to the body. But for me and as I am able and I have decided in my heart to give, the help I want to distribute to the brothers and sisters in the kingdom will be Special Food that will build you up. I believe that this devotional will help those who are starving for God’s Word in their lives.

The people in the Book of Acts were always sharing what they had with others. It built the kingdom of God in that time. I have been given some very valuable portions to feed the Body as it has fed me and become my portion in life. I want to share with you. I don’t want to eat alone. I want to pass on to you and help you find your portion in Him as well.

For any ladies that are hungry for more of God, please come to my table at the retreat. I have a seven course spiritual meal that I want to share with you. It will surely help you in these times of famine. At our retreat, we not only give you beauty treatments to apply to your life but we also provide special food that will feed you and make you strong. And you will leave the retreat ready to help expand the Kingdom of God. Join us!

What do these verses speak to you? How will these verses help you to expand His Kingdom?

In case you missed what this is all about, visit the introduction. And don’t forget to subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss any days.

Faith Tactic #76 Comfort One Another

Moving around a lot and not staying in the same place often keeps one from really engaging in relationships. If you are stationary then you are more likely to have strong relationships where you know when others are hurting or in need of comfort. For me it is a challenge to keep this commitment to my relationships outside my home. So when I read this verse I ask the Lord what does He want to say to me about comforting others when I am not in the position to be up in peoples lives. He encouraged me to see how my situation is actually pouring out comfort in ways I didn’t realize.

This verse showed me how I am making an impact on the next generation to expand the Kingdom of God.

At this current time in my life we are living with my daughter in VA. My husband and I are nannies to my most wonderful grandson. My daughter and I have developed a relationship that we have never had before which is wonderful in itself. And so this is where God has called me at this moment. God is calling the generation of grandparents back to their grandkids to train them up in the way they should go, so they can expand the kingdom. So at this time in my life, God has called me to comfort my grandson when he falls and bumps his head, or when he is sad when his mommy goes in the other room. Remembering what comfort I have received from my time as a mother, I feel honored to also be able to comfort my daughter when she is unsure of what to do, or to encourage her that she is doing a great job.

I wasn’t always a great mother so to have this opportunity to love, serve, and comfort my daughter and her family is more than a blessing. The sufferings I endured as a young mother raising three children on my own gave me the ability to see problems before they arise and be quick to comfort when they do.

Who is the Lord calling you to comfort today? Remember the days that you received comfort when you were in your distress and think about the people around you that may be experiencing the same troubles as you once did. It doesn’t have to be friends that you only see on Facebook (although it certainly can be) but if you are with your family, it may be your husband that needs comfort, or your children. The people right there inside your home.

What do these verses speak to you? How will these verses help you to expand His Kingdom?

In case you missed what this is all about, visit the introduction. And don’t forget to subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss any days.

Faith Tactic #75 Keep Praying

Mark 11:24

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

How does this verse help me to expand His Kingdom?

For over ten years I have been doing women’s retreats designed to prepare women for the King of Kings and His return. Because He is coming soon, and like I always say, even if He should tarry, your day may come sooner when we will stand before Him and account for the way we lived our life here on earth. With that in mind, I know I want to be prepared, and I also want the Bride of Christ to be prepared as well.

When I see this verse today I am reminded that whatever I ask for in prayer, if I believe I have received it, then it will be mine. Not that I really want this calling to prepare the Body of Christ, but whether or not I want it, I must believe that when God calls you to it, He will provide all that is needed to walk it out. So when I pray this verse I am asking that the Lord fill up our retreat not only so that we can help prepare women for the King, but in doing so we are also expanding His Kingdom. Women who are prepared spiritually are those who are really able to reach those not yet discovered. Those of us not yet prepared for His coming have gotten distracted and usually keep inside our little bubble. So attending retreats are a great way to realign your focus and get outside the bubble to expand His Kingdom. And so I pray, I believe, and I receive the people God is calling to prepare.

However, if I am going to be honest, almost every retreat my anxiety goes through the roof when it comes time to fill the spots needed to have a retreat until I stop and pray that God will bring the women. It is easy to get sidetracked because of all the planning. I am a women who likes to plan, and I take action but praying usually comes last for me, after I have struggled to do things in my own strength or attempted to fill the spots by pulling and prodding. If I am trying to do it on my own then I am not truly believing He can do it, am I? I love His Word how it challenges us and prepares us for expanding His Kingdom. I will keep praying that God will bring to this retreat all the women who are ready for amazing fellowship and good tasting truth.

How does this verse speak to you? How will this verse help you to expand His Kingdom?

If you or you know of someone who is ready to receive all that God has for them at an amazing women’s retreat, it is going to be held in sunny Florida on April 19-21, 2024. Here is the link for the event.

Faith Tactic #74 Keep Going

¹² Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. ¹³ Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14

How does this verse prepare me to expand His kingdom?

Today I have been inspired by the Holy Spirit to keep going. I forgot about this blog / book but He hasn’t. It is truly His desire to expand the Kingdom of God and He wants to use me to accomplish His Will. So I press on. I don’t give up. Even though I have not written in this blog since 2018, doesn’t mean that God wants me to just forget about it and throw it all away. No, on the contrary there is some valuable content in this blog that will be turned into a book which will prepare the Body of Christ to expand His kingdom.

It does me no good to wonder why I let all these years go by forgetting my calling, No I need to right now just forget that I failed in the attempt to keep a blog going. Yesterday is yesterday and today is a new day to strain toward what is ahead. Too often we focus on what we didn’t do and it cripples us to go forward. Yeah I got busy. I got dangled up in the hustle and bustle, so I can definitely agree with Paul that I do not consider myself to have taken hold of the prize for which I am called, but I press on.

This verse reminds me to get up, wipe off the dirt from the world, stretch out the kinks in my aching body, look up and keep going forward. There are way to many people, even now more than ever, that need to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. It breaks my heart to even see my loved ones lost in the whirlwind of today’s society, and all that God has put in me would be a waste if I kept silent. So today, I go forward to reach towards my heavenly calling to expand the Kingdom of God.

What do these verses speak to you? How will these verses help you to expand His Kingdom?

In case you missed what this is all about, visit the introduction. And don’t forget to subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss any days.

Faith Tactic #73 Live by the Spirit

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1-4

I haven’t kept up with this blog for a whole week now. And I was tempted to stop altogether because I was starting to get used to the sleeping in again. However, I am not governed by the flesh. I am governed by the Spirit of God and He said, “get up”. 🙂

In the past, I have struggled with inconsistency and I would beat myself up over it all the time when I got off track. Now I am realizing, life happens, and we all get off track and instead of focusing on what I haven’t done, I can just wake up today with a fresh outlook and keep going. His mercies are new every morning and I am going to rejoice that He helped me pick it up again.

I truly believe that it is God who called me to blog these faith tactics that will aid to building His kingdom. So when God calls you to do something, then He will equip you to do so. I live by the Spirit of God. He is my Abba Father and so I am His child. He doesn’t condemn me for missing a few days, so why should I? He gives me life, and set me free from the law that says “YOU CANT MISS ANY DAYS”.

The child of God is completely freed from the law of sin and death, and from the condemnation that comes with it. Only because the Spirit of Christ is our freedom. Our union with Him breaks off the power of sin. This makes us secure. So this verse does not apply to the one who is governed by the flesh. If the Spirit of God has not made His indwelling inside of you then you condemn yourself.

Those of us who do who have the Spirit of God in us, we may be chastened or receive discipline of the Lord, but we will not be condemned with the world. There is a big difference.

How do these verses help me to expand His Kingdom? It is usually new believers who quickly fall away when they mess up. The new believer is going to mess up and they will fall many times before getting back up. The enemy is quick to whisper in their ear to just lay there and die. He will say things like, “You will never be able to walk in the Spirit”, or “You are a horrible Christian”. He will stop at nothing to try to keep a new believer from growing and rising up. So for me, I think these new believers need to be surrounded by believers who live by the Spirit and can reach down and pick them up and dust off the dirt of the world and encourage them to keep going.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9

What do these verses speak to you? How will these verses help you to expand His Kingdom?

In case you missed what this is all about, visit the introduction. Click this link 180-days 2018  to print out the 2018 calendar that I created for this strategic plan to expand His kingdom. And don’t forget to subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss any days.

Faith Tactic #72 Keep it Shut

Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. Proverbs 17:9

My friendships are so sweet. Praise God!

As a child I didn’t have any friends, and the ones I do remember were not good influences for me. They were those who set their hearts on evil, and every unclean practice known to man. Out of all the ugliest things I have ever been a part of, I would have to say that when I repeated the offense of someone I loved to every ear that would listen. What did that do to our friendship? Sadly, it destroyed it.

Thankfully it was a hard lesson learned. Since then, over twenty years now, I am much more careful to restrain my tongue from anything that could damage a friendship.

When you repeat a matter, it is usually something that is already dwelling inside you, and the more you repeat it, the more it sinks down inside you. It is already doing the work of separation, as it works to change your mindset into believing you are better off without that person in your life, (most often it is your own husband or wife). It is like a bitter root that is planted deep within your heart and the only way to freedom is to forgive.

The love that is spoken about here is a love that doesn’t see faults. And when we can honestly get to a place where love covers over everyone’s offense, it would truly be a force to be reckoned with. This is my goal. I want to love like Jesus loved.

The opposite of separate is unify, so if we could just shut the trap, and cover over the offense with a loving compassion that we are all sinners saved by grace, the glory that will shine in our lives would be something that brings us all together in unity and Jesus’ prayer that we would be one, even as He and the Father are one, would be answered.

How do these verses help me to expand His kingdom? Well we already established that repeating a matter has the potential to separate close friends, so any separation in His kingdom is an open window for the enemy to separate more people, and divide His people from not only each other but from His will, His purpose, and His kingdom. There is no place for gossip in God’s kingdom. So if we are going to expand His kingdom, there must be a love inside of us that will cover over the offense of others, and not repeat a matter, even if it is because so and so needs prayer. Just keep the offense between you and God.

United we will stand together in His Kingdom. Love each other deeply from the heart and you will have sweet friendships like I do.

What do these verses speak to you? How will these verses help you to expand His Kingdom?

In case you missed what this is all about, visit the introduction. Click this link 180-days 2018  to print out the 2018 calendar that I created for this strategic plan to expand His kingdom. And don’t forget to subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss any days.

Faith Tactic #71 Commit and Trust

Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: ⁶ He will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn, your vindication like the noonday sun.

Psalm 37:5-6

What does it mean to truly commit something to God?

All the cares and business of the world, and all your desires need be yielded unto Him. That is to commit. It is where we let go of control and allow Him to do what He does best. It is where we roll the whole burden of life upon the Lord.

It is very easy for me to try and control a situation. I have the tendency to be a control-freak. 🙂 In fact, as a leader it is often frustrating when things do not go my way. It is in these times, as often as they are, when I have to learn to let it go, again.

To commit is to pledge or bind (a person or an organization) to a certain course or policy. So when I commit to the Lord, I am committing to His course. I am pledging that His way is the best way and I should therefore let go of my way.

Do you see the result of letting it go, and yielding to Him? He says when we commit to Him, and trust Him then He will bring forth our righteousness and we will shine. We will stand out as light in the darkness. Why? Because we are not carrying the heavy burden it takes to keep the cares to ourselves.

It is so much better to commit to God.

How do these verses help me to expand His kingdom? As I commit my way in what I must do for His kingdom, I must not carry any burden that is meant for Him to carry. He will always do what I cannot. I must not be led by my own wisdom, but I will obey God and He will finish His work in me.

What do these verses speak to you? How will these verses help you to expand His Kingdom?

In case you missed what this is all about, visit the introduction. Click this link 180-days 2018  to print out the 2018 calendar that I created for this strategic plan to expand His kingdom. And don’t forget to subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss any days.

Faith Tactic # 70 Be a Conqueror

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Romans 8:35, 37

It is not even conceivable how these afflictions should have any tendency to alienate Christ’s love from us. However, these tribulations do have the potential turn our love away from Him. If there is an attachment to Christ, these afflictions are bound to occur. The persecutions and trials to which Christians must endure on the account of their professed union with the Savior are inevitable.

Some will grow weary of a service that involves so many trials. But then there are some like Paul who will stand firm because their love for Him will be so strong that they are willing to bear all.

In the United States, we are a blessed nation. We don’t have to fear being beheaded for sharing our faith with our neighbor. Of course, they might throw a tomato at you and reject the message but you don’t have to fear that you will be imprisoned for it. However, there are nations around the world who are experiencing these afflictions daily, and the more affliction they receive from their enemy the stronger their faith becomes to endure such evil. These are those who are named Conquerors.

To be a conqueror means that your enemies are dead to you, and they don’t have any effect on you or the peace God gives you. Even more than that, these enemies will not only bow, they will get up and serve you.

For example, say trouble and hardship came over to your house, and you did not give them their desired outcome of fear, worry and anxiety. Instead you invited them in with peace in your heart. Trouble and hardship see that their plan is not working and a greater source of power is at work in your heart, so they start to work with you instead of against you. Now trouble takes you higher and hardship calls you deeper. And only the true conquerors will understand this.

The enemies plans against us will always turn out for our good, and His glory.

How do these verses help me to expand His kingdom? There are hurting people all around us, being afflicted on a daily basis. We have an enemy. Satan is roaring around like a lion seeking whom he may devour. People need to know there is One who is greater, and when they accept Jesus in their heart as their Savior, He becomes greater than the forces of evil on this planet. God can turn all things around. He can use trouble, hardship, famine, nakedness, danger, the sword, and any other affliction the enemy brings your way for your good. He can turn them into more than a conqueror. Jesus is the ultimate conqueror, and when you come to know Him, you too can endure all things.

What do these verses speak to you? How will these verses help you to expand His Kingdom?

In case you missed what this is all about, visit the introduction. Click this link 180-days 2018  to print out the 2018 calendar that I created for this strategic plan to expand His kingdom. And don’t forget to subscribe to this blog so you don’t miss any days.