The Law and the Profit

Nope. Not about money….though it could be! As I’m moving forward this year into fresh starts, I’ve had a reoccurring thought: Father, teach me the difference between what is lawful and what is profitable. Here's what I mean. 

I looked up the word “profit,” it means: to move forward, advance in such a way as to bring improvement, gain, what is useful or advantageous (any state or condition favorable to success). Hmm….remember my last post? I love it when God continues to unfold a theme to me. It’s like being on a treasure hunt!

Now the “lawful” things I’m referring to are not the items on an approved list—you know, the rules. I tend not to think rules so much as a lifestyle of love and honor. Love, after all, is the goal. Nevertheless, there are things that Father says “no” to in my life (and lots of yes’s!). Then there are the in-between. Not gray. Just “lawful” but not “profitable” - as Paul put it.

These may include my choice of food, the way I spend my time, etc. I want to move forward with personal projects, business ventures, personal study, and relationships, but I need optimal time and energy. That means I need to take inventory of how I spend my time, manage it wisely, cut off some activities that prevent me from more important ones. It also means making some changes in what I eat in order to have good energy.  Good-bye Taco Bell and Twinkies….well, maybe an occasional Twinkie.

Father wants each of us to move forward in the destiny He has for us. We can work with Him by creating favorable conditions to our own success! I’m starting by asking Him to show me where I can move beyond “lawful” into “profitable”. As I note and put them into practice, I expect it will result in a more profitable year. And who knows—maybe it will also transpire into financial gain as well!

J. Nicole

Abba sure loves us!

Brand New Skates

I woke up recently with an old song playing in my head, “I’ve got a brand new pair of roller skates, you’ve got a brand new key.” Weird. Where did that come from? Sometimes it’s just cerebral randomness. Sometimes it’s God talking. He loves to be creative like that.

I recognized the Voice and knew what it was about. For the past three years I’ve felt like I’ve been at a stand still. No momentum with dreams, desires, direction, and no end in sight. Certain activities, involvements—good things, God things—just stopped.  I’ve always been active helping others. I love to give, serve. I had even felt the Lord speak to my heart to “run” (pull out the stops) just before the brakes hit. I was excited. I was ready. I was prepared to launch ahead, with speed! Then the track vanished and a brick wall appeared.  I was confused, and I didn’t handle the change as well as I should have. Thank God for grace.

God, however, let me know it was Him. During that time I had days of faith and days of whining – you know the routine: “Are we there yet?” Then we rounded the corner entering 2011 and I heard Him say, “It’s time to move forward. You’ve rested long enough.” What? Now I’m comfortable. Rest is good! ….fickle humans.

I’ve always believed in God’s timing, but I’ve never seen such a demarcation of seasons as I have with this one. When God said rest, that’s exactly what I did....whether I liked it or not. I could knock, kick, pray, make declarations, fast, whatever, but when He closed the door, it was shut. Period. Like Job said, “He’s walled up my way so that I cannot pass!” Father knows what He’s doing in my life, even when I don’t.

Now the other side of that coin is when He says, “Go!” All the sudden (and I do mean all the sudden), I go! Momentum picks up, doors open, relationships take a fresh turn. He’s given me new wheels, but He has the key.

There truly is a time for everything, and whatever time we’re in we can be confident that our times are in His hands, and His plans for us are fabulous! He knows what He’s doing, even when we don’t. We just have to trust His love.

J Nicole

Abba’s daughter  

The Freshness of a New Day

At the turn of this year, God spoke to me about it being a new day, and that the way before me was like a snow covered field - everything fresh. Fresh snow means no old foot prints are seen. Not mine. Not someone elses. It’s a picture of a new beginning as the old is covered.

Sometimes as I am trying to move forward into a new day, it’s easy to look at the tracks where I or others have walked – maybe where someone has walked over me, or where I’ve stumbled and fell. But fresh snow covers old prints with a blanket of grace.

As I pondered on this picture I prayed, God, I don’t want to bring my past into my future. I don’t want the past to be the focus of my today. Let grace like snow cover the tracks of yesterday. Let my eyes see only the freshness of today with You.

I then thought about the relationships I am in and the need to let go of old hurts—the need to cover past imprints with love and forgiveness so that their voice no longer speak to me. And in doing so, I can move forward in fresh relationship for the new day.

I’m grateful for Father’s love that covers old tracks and makes grace like snow possible for a bright today.

Abba Father loves you.

J Nicole

The Joy of Authentic Living

The word “authentic” is a popular word in our culture of late. People are looking for authenticity in the midst of a world of hype and illusion, tired of copies rather than originals. I know I am. I’m tired of the reprints I’ve gazed on and embraced (both rebel and religious) that define life and style after a man-made, self-made pattern—copies I see in the media, in society, and even in church that falsely promise an increase in personal merit based on performance or someone’s validation. Such reproductions only serve to cloak who I really am as Abba’s child: a daughter of light, a woman of worth, of divine purpose and quantum wealth.

The term “Authentic” declares a thing to be unique and original as opposed to fake or a reproduction. It is the affirmation of a distinctive work and its author, creator, or composer. God is The Author of all life, of my life, and He has a distinctive design for me. I’ve discovered that to pursue a design other than His original intent will only make me an unoriginal copy, or worse, a fake. The world makes copies, religion makes reprints, but God intricately shapes His children in His likeness and in the beauty of how He uniquely and wonderfully created each one with specific gifts, talents, and even tastes!

Satan tries to shroud the truth of our uniqueness, that we are a beautiful creation for a specific purpose, a divine reason for an eternal season—part of an important plan set in motion from before time began. There’s no one else like me or you. Abba wants us to know and enjoy who He is and who we are—unafraid of other’s opinions, to go, to do, to be a child who is learning the freedom of authentic living as Abba’s child.

So how can you learn to live more authentically? Ask the Author. He alone can highlight the glorious gem within you, bring out the gifts of the Spirit He’s given you, and show you the unique work He has for you to do…and set you free like a butterfly on the wings of His love to soar a supernatural lifestyle with Him.

Abba Father loves you!