peace

How to get your Joy Back

How to get your Joy Back

Chile, this week has been a lot!

Like seriously…

Recently, I talked about the fact that faith increases our capacity to succeed

Click here if you missed that, sis!

But did you know that you have other capacities too?

For example:

A) Mental capacity

The ability to make your own decisions

B) Emotional capacity

The ability to overcome limiting beliefs, your ease in adapting to challenging situations, and the quality of your relationships

C) Physical capacity

The ability to perform a variety of physical tasks

In the wake of such trying times, we run the risk of running low in one or more of these capacities

Which will then have knock-on effects on our ability to walk in purpose because…

As the saying goes, “you can’t pour from an empty cup” and this is really clearly illustrated in 2nd Kings 4:1-7

in which the woman literally took empty vessels, poured oil into them until they were full and then distributed the oil for profit.

2nd Timothy 2:21 says that we are “vessels of honour” so, like the widow did with hers, we need to make sure to fill ourselves up before we pour out to others. Here are 20 ways that I have been doing that this week:

Apart from the typical advice of praying and reading the Bible, in between, work, I have been doing one or more of the following each day:

Lessons from Jesus' Donkey on How to Dial Down Toxicity in your Life

Lessons from Jesus' Donkey on How to Dial Down Toxicity in your Life

Last week we talked about Jesus’ donkey and what she teaches us about how to overcome the insecurities that keep us from getting more visible

Remember that, sis?

Today, I will give you the practical steps for how to do this

As mentioned in last week’s post, a big part of letting go of insecurity is:

  • Loosing ourselves from other people’s opinion of us

  • Emancipating ourselves from mental slavery (Bob Marley)

Because it all comes down to mindset

Simply put-

Lessons from Ruth on how to keep showing up (even when you don't feel like it)

Lessons from Ruth on how to keep showing up (even when you don't feel like it)

A few weeks ago, I made mention of the fact that Ruth could have followed Naomi (her mother-in-law) to Bethlehem and chosen to do nothing but wallow in the house

Because, let’s face it, she had every excuse to- having lost her father and brother-in-law and become a widow herself. But she didn’t.

Instead of checking out of life, like Naomi did initially, Ruth decided that she would keep going and keep pushing forward for them both

Which, unless you missed my last 2 blog posts (here and here), you’ll know that Ruth’s decision to go work in the fields led to her marrying Boaz. birthing children and becoming one of Jesus' fore-mothers (Ruth 4:13-22; Matthew 1:1-16).

Which then begs the question: how do we as modern women keep showing up even when we don’t want to?

Especially when life happens, PMS happens or (from a business point of view) tech/staff issues happen- meaning that you don't always feel physically, mentally and/or emotionally able to put yourself out there and remain visible.

Lessons from Lot's Daughters on How to not Let the Past Define You

Lessons from Lot's Daughters on How to not Let the Past Define You

So, I’m not going to lie…when I first came across the story of Lot and His daughters, I was like:

“What type of Game of Thrones ish is this?!”

Because ***trigger warning***

Their story (as detailed in Genesis 19:30-36) deals with themes of (male) rape and incest.

However, through the Holy Spirit’s leading, I realised that the events of their story- plus the consequences of it- have important things to teach us about not letting the past define us in 3 simple steps:

  1. Acknowledge it

  2. Know it doesn’t define you (God does) and that-

  3. Where you started is not where you have to end up

All of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below.

How to Overcome Overwhelm with Your God-given Vision (The Birthing Process Part 2)

How to Overcome Overwhelm with Your God-given Vision (The Birthing Process Part 2)

Last Sunday's devotional was different in that rather than basing my musings on a particular woman of the Bible, I spoke on a an experience that is unique to women- giving birth.

Whilst this process is understood as a natural or physical (reproductive) process, I spoke about it and related it to the process of giving birth to our spiritual children or brainchildren (ideas, goals, dreams, vision). This will be summarised briefly in today's post but, just in case you prefer to see the whole thing in detail, you can do that here).

On thinking about this process further I realised that birthing brainchildren doesn't just cause labour pains, it can also cause feelings of overwhelm (particularly when our goals and dreams are in the early stages of being manifest or their infancy).

Well... I say "realised" but it was less a realisation and more a personal experience with overwhelm myself in the beginning of the week (more about that in the video..)

So this is where the inspiration to give 4 tips for overcoming overwhelm (really 5, if I include the bonus one) came from- all of which I shared on my Facebook page this week via the (live) video below.

 

Lessons from Jochebed on How to Balance the Risks and Rewards involved in Making Our Dreams a Reality

Lessons from Jochebed on How to Balance the Risks and Rewards involved in Making Our Dreams a Reality

Through studying Shiphrah and Puah last week, we found out that the Pharaoh reigning at the time of Moses' birth gave a command that all Hebrew sons be killed at birth. This is because he was afraid that the Hebrews' great number and might would mean that they would one day "join [Egypt's] enemies and fight against them" in the event of war (Exodus 1:9-10). However, these two midwives did not do as Pharaoh said and "saved the male children alive" because they "feared God" (Exodus 1:15-17).

As a result of Shiphrah and Puah's brave act of civil disobedience, Moses' mother was able to keep him. Scriptures such as Exodus 6:20 and Numbers 26:59 let us know that she was called Jochebed, although in Exodus 2:1-11 (which is the scripture that we will be delving into today) she remains nameless. According to this passage:

"...when she saw that [Moses] was a beautiful child. she hid him three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river bank. And his sister (Miriam) stood afar off, to know what would be done to him" (Exodus 2:2-4).

To cut a long story short, God had it so that the person that discovered Moses was Pharaoh's daughter. However, although she realised that he was a Hebrew child, Exodus 2:6 says that "she had compassion on him". I think that it was because of this that Miriam was bold enough to approach her and ask if she should go and call a Hebrew woman to nurse him for her. But there are two things that are especially remarkable to me:

  1. The fact that Pharaoh's daughter was willing to go against her father's orders by giving Miriam permission to find Moses a nurse, thereby preserving his life even further (Exodus 2:7-8)
  2. The woman that Miriam called was Jochebed and, not only did the Pharaoh's daughter give her permission to nurse him, she paid her to do so until he was old enough to be weaned and brought back to the palace- making Pharaoh's daughter Moses' adopted mother (Exodus 2: 8-10)

Point number 1 I will discuss in another devotional, especially about Pharaoh's daughter, soon. Point number 2, on the other hand, reminds me of a concept that I like to call "balancing the risk and the reward":

An Interview with Dija Henry on Ruth

An Interview with Dija Henry on Ruth

Today's interview feature comes from the lovely Dija Henry, an actress, writer and film maker. You can find out more about her and her exciting projects at Dijahenry.com. For now, enjoy as she discusses Ruth (her favourite woman of the Bible) and what the events of her life teach us, as modern women:

Lessons from Shiphrah and Puah on the Benefits of Fearing God

Lessons from Shiphrah and Puah on the Benefits of Fearing God

In Exodus 1:15-17 we are informed about the fact that the Pharaoh reigning at the time of Moses' birth gave a command that all Hebrew sons be killed at birth. This is because he was afraid that the Hebrews' great number and might would mean that they would one day "join [Egypt's] enemies and fight against them" in the event of war (Exodus 1:9-10). However, Shiphrah and Puah (two Hebrew midwives) did not do as Pharaoh said and "saved the male children alive" because they "feared God" (Exodus 1:15-17). As such, these women have much to teach us about the fear of the Lord and it's benefits. If you'd like to find out what these are by listening to the devotional rather than continuing to read, do feel free to press play on the audio below. You can also download and share it with your loved ones: