Month: April 2015

Finding Your God-Given Design

/ Billie Jo / Leave a comment

GIFTS FROM THE FATHER – Romans 12

DESIGN
SIN TO BATTLE
VICTORY TO WIN
SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLES
NAME OF GOD TO MEDITATE ON
Idol of control
Fullness of Relationships!
John the Baptist, Miriam, Naomi
Jehovah Jireh
Idol of peace
Finding value in God’s eyes!
Joseph (father of Jesus), Barnabas, Timothy
Jehovah Rophe
Idol of being right
Live Truth not just know it!
Luke, Isaiah, Samuel
Jehovah Nissi
Idol of comfortable
Embracing hard times for joy set before you!
Paul, Jeremiah, Moses
Jehovah Shalom
Idol of materialism
Excellent stewardship of God’s resources!
Matthew, Abraham, Job
Jehovah Rohi
Idol of me
Leadership that blesses masses!
Joseph (coat of many colors), Nehemiah, Noah
Jehovah Tsidkenu
Idol of my way
Intimacy with God that delivers holiness!
John (son of Thunder), Ruth, David
Jehovah Shammah
JESUS FULLY PORTRAYED EVERY ASPECT OF THESE DESIGNS. WE ARE DESIGNED TO GROW INTO HIS IMAGE…TO GROW INTO ALL OF THESE AREAS, BUT WE HAVE A DEFAULT DESIGN THAT GOD GAVE US.

This is only a portion of the gifts from the Father, Son and Spirit.  Visit Discipleship-Coaching for further information.

Finding Your Design: Mercy

/ Billie Jo / Leave a comment

In Romans 12, we find the Father giving gifts to people.  Contemplating those ‘gifts’ as individual design can be eye-opening!  For further information, visit the Discipleship Coaching – Design page.

Are you a Mercy?

MercyThe final design in Romans is that of Mercy. Those with a mercy design rarely have enemies, and they are a safe place for wounded hearts to come. Not the folks to take risks, they avoid conflict unless they are fighting for others. Immature mercy design folks are often too willing to allow injustices to themselves, in fact. Mercies find it easy to enter into the presence of God and that ability helps them to be a great conduit of holiness.

At the root of giving mercy can be a stubbornness that opens the door to living a life of self-gratification. Unwilling to confront others, the Mercy can be paralyzed from action. A victim spirit may settle upon this design. Designed to be those who relieve the pain of others, avoiding confrontation simply makes sense to the mercy because confrontation is likely to cause pain.

The beautiful authority or design of Mercy is to reveal the heart of God to the world around them.

Finding Your Design: Leader (Ruler)

/ Billie Jo / Leave a comment

In Romans 12, we find the Father giving gifts to people.  Contemplating those ‘gifts’ as individual design can be eye-opening!  For further information, visit the Discipleship Coaching – Design page.

Are you a Leader?

The leader enjoys planning and pressure–and thinks everyone else does too! A ruler is skilled at time management but cannot be micro-managed or scheduled against their will. They do not go about assigning blame to others but find ways to fix the problems that come about. The God-designed ruler has an incredible ability to help people findtheir place and is masterful at using imperfect people…but may drive people too hard.

Rulers sometimes fail to seek the wisdom of God and rely on their own instincts. They may fall into the trap of thinking the ends justify the means. There is potential for great good in a Godly ruler and great devastation when this personality runs afoul of the Lord.

When living in the Lord, the Ruler gifting has the potential of bringing great blessings to many.

Finding Your Design: Giver

/ Billie Jo / Leave a comment

In Romans 12, we find the Father giving gifts to people.  Contemplating those ‘gifts’ as individual design can be eye-opening!  For further information, visit the Discipleship Coaching – Design page.

Are you a Giver?

Who owns it all? There is the question the Giver must answer…and the right answer, of course, is God. The Giver who stewards what God owns instead of seeking to find comfort in resources has much to offer the Kingdom of God. Resources simply flow to the Giver; learning to allow God access and control of those resources is the pinnacle for this gifting.Giving Tree

A desire for control opens the door in the Giver’s life for the enemy. Sometimes that desire looks sweet: like providing for others. Digging to the root of immature finds that the gifts are actually meeting the givers need to be needed by others. Since only Christ meets any need fully, victory comes to the Giver when he/she releases resources to the control of God.

Finding Your Design: Exhorter

/ Billie Jo / Leave a comment

In Romans 12, we find the Father giving gifts to people.  Contemplating those ‘gifts’ as individual design can be eye-opening!  For further information, visit the Discipleship Coaching – Design page.

Are you an Exhorter?

Now there’s a word we don’t use often! An exhorter is one who encourages, one who builds teams and enjoys people. The exhorter is a world-changer who loves a crowd…and is loved by the crowd. A networker attuned to people’s feelings, this gifting is not intimidated by new ideas and has masterful communication skills.

Pleasing people is something many of us struggle with, but the exhorter feels the weight even more. Sensitivity to criticism makes the exhorter prone to please people instead of God–and causes the agenda of others to take priority over the agenda of the King. Time management issues play into the struggle.

The exhorter has great potential for drawing people into knowing God personally when the cult of comfort is laid to rest! Growing disciples is the fruit of the mature exhorter.

Finding Your Design: Teacher

/ Billie Jo / Leave a comment

In Romans 12, we find the Father giving gifts to people.  Contemplating those ‘gifts’ as individual design can be eye-opening!  For further information, visit the Discipleship Coaching – Design page.

Are you a Teacher?

Ezra, Luke, Mary and Isaiah are among the teacher types in Scripture. You may be a teacher if you are a research-oriented person who likes to write. Teachers hate conflict but have a quick wit and humor. They are not likely to receive new truth quickly–or reject ideas out of hand. The teacher tends not to be judgmental which makes them safe for others and not intimidating.

Even though the tendency is not to be judgmental, immature teachers have an equally challenging negative: keeping studies in the head and not melding in the heart. Teachers prefer to have the path laid out before they start and often feel unworthy of leading. Self-centered religiosity keeps the teacher from reaching their designed heights.

Teachers must learn to live out what their heads know. When they do, they blend teaching and discipline to the Body that cleanses!

Finding Your Design: Servant

/ Billie Jo / Leave a comment

In Romans 12, we find the Father giving gifts to people.  Contemplating those ‘gifts’ as individual design can be eye-opening!  For further information, visit the Discipleship Coaching – Design page.

Are you a Servant?

Are you the one who simply cannot say no? Do you get angry over being used and feel like no one else ever does their share? Do you hear the lie that says you are nobody…even while you run yourself ragged to please everybody else? Maybe God has designed you as a servant…but that is not a doormat. See if these characteristics speak of you:

  • Work well with others and honor them
  • Make excuses for others
  • Hard worker
  • Obedience is easy for you
  • Reach out for the unloveable people
  • Desire to walk in holiness
  • Like to make others comfortable

If that is you, here is a beautiful truth. God knows your heart is to serve and He can trust you more than most because of that! You have great authority when you learn to not respond to life as a victim. Your victory lies in understand you are worthy in the eyes of God!

Finding Your Design: Prophet

/ Billie Jo / Leave a comment

In Romans 12, we find the Father giving gifts to people.  Contemplating those ‘gifts’ as individual design can be eye-opening!  For further information, visit the Discipleship Coaching – Design page.

Are you a Prophet?

Lots of folks have claimed to be prophets over the years, and perhaps they were. But like every gift, it can be used to glorify God or not. Immature prophets can be harsh and act as if they were god himself. The immature prophet is opinionated and more skilled at tearing down than building up. Good intentions are not absent but excelling is seen as the way to please God. The prophet struggles to enjoy close relationships.

The mature prophet, on the other hand, takes the principles of God to build relationships to their intended beauty. The prophet who walks in the Light receives mercy and forgiveness from God and effectively distributes it to others. The prophet has immense potential grow the Body of Christ to great beauty!

Some behavioral traits to help you identify if this is your design:

  • See things in black & white
  • Logic driven
  • Bold
  • Faith is an easy thing
  • Hate status quo
  • Quick to judge or categorize
  • Fixer

Additional writings

/ Billie Jo / Leave a comment

Those who know me, know I love to learn–and to share.  What God shows me as I study becomes the material I share online.  Each week I write for TBL Faith News and Lambs of the Lord (a children’s site).  Those pieces are as much my heart for followers of Christ as the material I place on here, and I want to make it readily available.  So here are some additional pieces that may speak to your heart.

If the opening piques your interest, jump on over to the website.

A “Walk of faith” is a powerful metaphor to consider.  A walk implies progress, movement and purpose.  In the natural world, a walk offers multi-faceted blessings: the beauty of nature, the health of physical activity, the quieting of the Out for a walktypical frantic pace.  Though I know those things are truth, the primary reason I walk is our 70-pound Boxer.  One of his favorite things in the world is walking.  Well, what he considers walking anyway.  A walk for him is a joyous exploration of sights, sounds and possibilities.  “What’s that smell?  Who has been here?  What’s that over there? Oh, look, people who want to pet me!”


For the rest of the article: 

Faith Workout

———————————————————————-

Our GPS is an excellent guide; she and I just don’t get along.  It’s not her fault.  We’re often out of sync with one another–or more accurately, I am out of sync with her.  She gives an order, and I obey—too soon and end up on a wrong road.  Or the street she insists on doesn’t fit my recall, so I ignore her—and end up on a wrong road.  She patiently and persistently redirects me.  Best of all:  my struggles with the GPS help me see my problems with a bigger and better guide:  God Himself.

The rest of this piece can be found here:  God as Guide:  the Ultimate GPS

 

Helping children learn to walk out their faith is the highest privilege and priority parents have.  It is my joy to offer some devotions geared to that.

 

Harnessing Emotions

/ Billie Jo / Leave a comment

Emotions are part of God’s design for humanity.  They are not intended to harm us; they are to assist us in living with integrity.  If you have spent years ‘blocking’ emotions, it can be difficult to identify what you feel.  I encountered this feeling wheel years ago in “The Search for Significance” by Robert McGee.  I particularly appreciate the fact that it helps me trace peripheral emotions back to a root emotion.  It is not necessarily accurate in every case, but I found it helpful to look at the linkages in emotions.feeling wheelOnce emotions are identified, what do we do with them?  We trace them back to see what generated that emotion.  Emotions do not simply appear.  They are actually chemical responses triggered by thoughts.  So under every emotion is a thought.

Thoughts have roots as well.  Some are thoughts based on past experiences; others are divinely inspired thoughts.  Some are from the devil–yes, he can put thoughts in minds.  Thoughts are actual ‘things.’  They take up space in your physical brain.  Thoughts produce a chemical soup that either bring health or illness.  Thoughts are powerful!

Underneath thoughts are the things we believe.  Our beliefs are our foundation for living.  If we have a faulty foundation, our life will be shaky.  There is only one foundation:  Jesus Christ, the Living Word.

Here we have the purpose of emotion:  our beliefs hide!  Emotions are the marker that help us trace back to whether our beliefs are rooted in the Word.  God designed us to live according to Truth.  The deceiver continually tries to destroy us with lies and unbelief.  Emotions helps us discover what we believe–and then, when the roots are exposed, we get to work.

If you need help discovering roots, there are many resources on this page–and links for other helps.  If you need an extra hand, you may want to consider Discipleship Coaching.