What it Takes to Answer God's Call Whether You Like it or Not by Teresa Shields-Parker
http://www.identitynetwork.net/Articles-?blogid=2093&view=post&articleid=What-it-Takes-to-Answer-Gods-Call-Whether-You-Like-it-or-Not-by-Teresa-ShieldsParker&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
By Teresa Shields Parker
Have you ever prayed and asked God one thing, and He seemed to answer with something that was totally off-topic? For most of my adult life, I felt this way when I prayed about my life's calling or direction. My prayer would always start out something like this: "God, I know You've called me to write, but it feels like there is something specific I should be writing. Would You show me, please God? Call, and I will do whatever You want me to do." Eventually, God would answer, but it seemed His answers to my plea for direction were totally incongruous with what I thought I was asking.
Book
By Jeremy Lopez
Price: $18.99
Have you ever prayed and asked God one thing, and He seemed to answer with something that was totally off-topic? For most of my adult life, I felt this way when I prayed about my life's calling or direction.
Understanding God's Answer
My prayer would always start out something like this: "God, I know You've called me to write, but it feels like there is something specific I should be writing. Would You show me, please God? Call, and I will do whatever You want me to do."
Eventually, God would answer, but it seemed His answers to my plea for direction were totally incongruous with what I thought I was asking. His answers always seemed to come back to how to lose weight and get healthy. This was the one thing I didn't think I could do. Plus, I didn't consider this a life calling, like being a missionary, preacher, teacher or anything else that seemed godly.
What I didn't see all of those years, though, was how very persistent He was with this answer. Recently, I was cleaning out my office and found all my old prayer journals. It was a rainy afternoon, perfect for revisiting my life. Reading through them helped me see my life in a different way.
Specific Instructions
Back in 1977, God had given me specific instructions I had never followed. This came during a prayer time where I asked Him how I could move the mountain of weight that was amassing on my body? He told me exactly what to do. One of those things was to stop eating sugar.
I told Him that I knew I'd lose weight if I did that, but I couldn't do that. I said that because I didn't think I could give up sugar for the rest of my life. I also thought I shouldn't have to give it up because others could eat it, so I should be able to as well. For the next 30 years, I ignored His advice.
God did not forget, though. Any time I prayed about what I was supposed to be doing while here on earth, His answer would always come back to what He said back in 1977. Looking through my prayer journals I saw it clearly.
Teresa Shields Parker
http://www.identitynetwork.net/Articles-?blogid=2093&url=10&view=post&articleid=What-Does-My-Voice-Sound-Like-by-Teresa-Shields-Parker-&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
To say we have no voice or say in what happens in our lives is an excuse for not surrendering to the Holy Spirit. We do have a voice but it means we are just living by every whim we have and not by God. Galatians 5:16 TPT tells us, "As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life." This lets us know that our voices will be dynamically powerful or marked by continuous productive activity and change in an energetic way when we make sure we have left behind our desires and cravings which seem to lead us down the wrong paths.
http://www.identitynetwork.net/Articles-?blogid=2093&url=10&view=post&articleid=From-Disappointment-to-Hope-by-Teresa-Shields-Parker-&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
What disappoints you? Is it yourself? Is it circumstances you think you shouldn't have to go through? Is what you think God should have done for you think He didn't? Is it other people giving up on fulfilling their potential? When it comes to our personal failures and disappointments, it is very difficult to deal with. Case in point. when we really want such as to lose weight and try but fail. It's disappointing when it doesn't go as planned. When we hit roadblocks within ourselves it's hard to know what to do.
http://www.identitynetwork.net/Articles-?blogid=2093&url=10&view=post&articleid=What-Can-I-Do-When-I-Am-Discouraged-by-Teresa-Shields-Parker-&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
King David asked God a question I've asked myself many times. "Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again—my Savior and my God!" (Psalms 42:11 NLT). That's what we should do, but many times we don't. The word discouraged means to have lost confidence or enthusiasm, to be disheartened. In modern language that means to be beat down, gloomy, and dismayed. When you are discouraged it's like you have been knocked down and can't get up even after the referee has counted to 10. If you do get up, it's to drag yourself to your bed and stay there. You have no energy.