Category: Encouragement

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Who Are You?

Excerpt from the Prayer Room’s I KNOW WHO I AM – (A PRAYER OF DECLARATION):

  1. I AM AN AGENT OF CHANGE on assignment from heaven to bring change to my world.
  2. I AM AN AMBASSADOR FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, so I HAVE AUTHORITY to command and affect change on earth.
  3. I AM EQUIPPED with power, gifts, and abilities to be successful in my assignment.
  4. I AM WHO GOD SAYS I AM.

But who are you really?

Most humans are born with their senses intact and functioning. They can receive and respond to stimuli in their environment. However, not all humans’ senses function to the same degree. For some, specific senses and/or sensory organs are more heightened than for others.

This is because every human is a carrier. We are carriers of the blueprints or instructions needed for the development, sustenance, and reproduction of that which God wants to see manifested upon Earth. We transport God’s ideas and inventions into this earth realm. The Lord God has encoded within us that which is needed for our assignment and for the war.

If we just paused for a moment and reflect on what makes me different from the others who came out of the same womb, we would be surprised at the glimpse into the revelation of who we are.

After spending some time looking at my life, analyzing the ways in which I was different, my strengths and weaknesses, patterns, cycles, attacks from the enemy, and my preferred mode of response, I discovered some things about myself. I came to understand that, although the following is true of all humans, and in particular, the children of God, for me they are especially true. I arrived at the following answers to the question of, “Who are you?”

  • I was built and designed – A Student of THE WORD – hence my attraction to books, study, teaching, and teachers of the word.
  • My greatest strength is WORDS.  I have been given the ability to see a word and uncover things in it that are (otherwise) hidden from the eyes of mortals.
  • I have been given the ability to hear words on frequencies….
  • I have been given the ability to use words to shape the minds of others; to build ministries; to build relationships; to call things into existence.
  • My greatest weaknesses/attacks therefore are linked to words. The words I hear have the ability to break my spirit and wound me terribly. So do the words I see (read) and the words I say. Hence the struggles with my speech.
  • The gift of WORDS is not only evident in my ability to see and hear the “veiled” things, but it is also connected to my ability to write – hence my obsession with writing.

What about you? Do you know who you really are? Are you able to identify what makes you different, at the core?

Such knowledge is needed to effectively wield your power, gifts, and abilities to be successful in your assignment.

Such knowledge is needed to affect lasting change in your world.

Such knowledge is needed to realize victory in your spheres: internal life, marriage, family, work, community, and church.

I submit that many of the struggles that we have in our relationships and assignments as women may be linked to a lack of knowledge of who we are. Would you make a commitment today to go beyond who you were told you are and discover who you really are?

PRAYER: Lord, I hear you. Please give me a revelation of the true me. Open my eyes that I might see beyond what others see in me. May your Holy Spirit reveal what flesh and blood cannot reveal. As you reveal, help my whole being – body, soul, and spirit – to come into alignment with who I really am; with who you designed me to be. Lord, I know that you not only sent me, but you are with me, and I shall ….”

DIG DEEPER:
1. Devotional – What Did He Call Me?

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I HAVE an ‘ezer!

The month of June 2020 is a momentous month for me. It is a month in which I celebrate two anniversaries: my 7th year anniversary of migrating to the USA and my 1-year anniversary of the launching of ‘ezerwatchers. Celebrating any kind of anniversary causes one to reflect; to look back at where you came from and where you are currently. Consequently, upon reflecting on both, I could only come to one conclusion: Through it all, I had and still have an ‘ezer. This fact is especially significant to me today because of what I am about to face.

In my first blog post for 2020 – New Year, New Training – I wrote, “For me, this new year – this start of a new decade – is another opportunity to become more skillful in warfare; the kind of warfare which, at its roots, is about listening to and obeying God’s commands. With this year comes new training for battles for which I lack experience.”

In that post, I also asked the questions, “What battle experience(s) am I lacking? What has God allowed to remain in my life from the previous year(s) that would give me the necessary training and experience so that I can become more fit for and skilled in warfare?What “enemy” has been left in my life for testing and proving; to know whether I would listen and obey the commands of the Lord?”

I concluded that, although I may have entered a new year, there will still be some old, remaining, or leftover things that I will have to deal with for my betterment. The Holy Spirit was impressing upon me to be careful not to offer wasted prayers, rebuking and cancelling the very things that the Lord has ordained for my growth and development.

At the time that I penned those words, I had no idea that six months later, in June, I would be taking a surgery for a health condition that I had been battling for some time. As I woke this morning and thought… six days away, I heard, this is an opportunity to not only SEE God as my ‘ezer, but EXPERIENCE Him as the true epitome, true prototype, of who and what an ‘ezer ought to be.

I was reminded of Genesis 2:18. Adam was alone. It was not good for him to be alone so, God made a help suitable for him. God made him an ‘ezer. As much as my husband, my children, and my mother are walking through this battle with me, I need an ‘ezer: one who can HELP in ways that they cannot. Just as Adam could not find a suitable helper (‘ezer) and God made him one, even so God is my ‘ezer in this season of warfare.

Motivated by this thought, I reached for my study tools at my bedside and began to dig deeper into this concept of ‘ezer. I was reminded that ‘ezer ( a noun) was derived from the verb ‘azar which means to surround, that is to protect or aid. Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon states of ‘azar – The primary idea lies in girding, surrounding, hence defending. It is used of an ally in war (1 Kings 20:16) and means to be helped (Psalms 28:7), especially by God (2 Chronicles 26:15; 1Chronicles 5:20) “and they were helped against them,” i.e. God gave them the victory.

When I think of undergoing general anesthesia and the whole surgical procedure, I embrace this idea of girding and surrounding. According to Israelbiblicalstudies.com, “to gird does not mean just to fasten, but to encircle and make safe. It comes from the root word that means to lock up, as in a city that is encircled by a wall.”  I find comfort in knowing that even though I will be under anesthesia, in a medically-induced coma, I have an ‘ezer who will encircle me and keep me safe. Although I will be unconscious, hence unaware of and unable to participate in this battle for my life, while I am asleep, there is one who will shield me and fight for me.

2 Chronicles 32:8 says, “With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help [‘azar] us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.”  In this battle, I am growing in the strategy of warfare called Resting in God’s words.

Isaiah 41:10 – “Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee [‘azar]; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”

I go into this surgery knowing, believing, that God is my ‘ezer and that God will ‘azar me. He is my helper, my ally in this battle for my health. He will surround me; be all around me, enclose me on all sides. He will lock me in and keep me safe as a walled city. The end result is that God will cause me to conquer this enemy because, I have an ‘ezer.

I do not know what battle you may be facing today; what obstacle you are finding difficult to surmount. What I do know is that you have an ‘ezer. You do not have to face this battle alone. God is your help and, if you can just rest in His words, you will see the deliverance from the sword of your adversary.

Pray with me: My Father and My God, please help me to rest in your words so that I can experience you in a personal way during this time of difficulty. Cause me to lean on you as my ‘ezer, my present help and comforter. May I find in you the support I need to carry me through and over this ordeal. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

DIG DEEPER:
Prayer Room: From one ‘ezer to another

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LOOK UP!

Excerpt from my prayer journal on 3/18/2020
I awoke this morning and laid in bed thinking about my day ahead. Today marks the first day that I will be teaching from home because of school closure due to the COVID-19 outbreak. School closures, social distancing, discretionary travel, cancellation of events, scarcity in the supermarkets, etc…. The list of the many things that are arresting our attention goes on and on, and we find ourselves distracted from our walk of faith.
As I lay in bed, several passages of scriptures came to mind. The first was Luke 21:26, 28 – Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth:… And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

I thought about what Jesus said our response should be during times like these: LOOK UP and LIFT UP YOUR HEADS. So I hopped out of bed, grabbed my study gear and began to research what exactly was meant by those two phrases. I discovered that the former phrase (LOOK UP) refers to a change in attitude, while the latter ( LIFT UP YOUR HEAD) refers to a change in focus.
As I meditated on what I was discovering, I realized that the Spirit of God was counseling me so that I could experience victory during this season of pandemic. He was drawing my attention to the strategy Jesus had given almost two thousand years ago; a strategy that would not only ensure my survival but my victory.
Guard against distraction….DO NOT BE DISTRACTED!!

When men’s hearts’ begin to fail them for fear, that is a sign that we need to implement a new strategy.
CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE!
CHANGE YOUR FOCUS!
Your redemption is near!

Heavenly Father, please help me not to sorrow and wallow in Fear as the world is doing now. Help me not to allow Fear and all of the bad news to draw my attention away from what you expect of me. Teach me how to change my attitude and my focus and give me the strength to follow through on both, in Jesus’ name, AMEN.

DIG DEEPER:
1. Bible Study: Unbend
2. Prayer Room: Lord Guard My Focus (2)

YOU MAY ALSO WANT TO REVISIT:
The Bible Study Series – Change of Focus, Change of Perspective
Blog Post – It Might Just Be an Illusion!
Bible Study – Maintaining Focus


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Bent Over!

I smile. I laugh. I do everything within my power to keep up appearances, because I do not want to rob my family of the wife and mother they deserve. But there are times when I am unable to be that ezerWatcher in their lives, because I am bent over.

In Luke 13:11-13, we are told of a woman who was bent over. We are told that the cause of her condition was the result of a spirit of infirmity that she had for 18 years. Was she bent over for those 18 years or did the permanency of the bent condition gradually set in? We were not told.

However, what we can surmise is that she was not in hiding. She was in public view; her plight was apparent to all. Yet only one, truly saw her need and responded to that needed. Her plight screamed so loudly (though she was silent), that it interrupted his activity.

We are told that Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues. When he saw her, he stopped teaching and called her to him. He didn’t call her to draw attention to her plight; rather he called her to give her a release that was overdue. He spoke a word of deliverance over her, laid his hands on her, and watched as 18 years of infirmity fell off her back. Immediately she was straight, no longer bent over!

As women, sometimes we struggle with some types of infirmities that may not be visible to the naked eye. Our bodies go through stages and phases that oftentimes even we do not understand. There are times when these infirmities put us in positions where we, like this woman, are unable to lift ourselves. We continue attending church. We continue with our daily tasks, not realizing that every day the burden of the infirmity is causing us to bend a little lower than the day before.

Eventually, we awake to the fact that we are completely bent over. We can no longer lift ourselves, nor those around us. This very lack of strength or ability to lift ourselves then becomes an additional weight of worry and guilt, because we are not able to function as the ezer we know we were created to be. The weight of that knowledge causes us to be even more bent over. If left unnoticed or unaddressed, gradually we become so bent that we find ourselves in a prison of despair.

But thanks be to God! We have a Savior who can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:15). His ears are attuned to the silent screams of our hearts. He is never too busy to call us to himself, speak a word of deliverance over our lives, and lay his hands of healing upon us.

My sister, he is waiting for your response to his call today. Would you be made whole? Will you come to Jesus as he calls you today? Will you heed his invitation, come aside for a while, and allow him to cause all the weights you are carrying to fall off so that you can be straight again?

Every now and then we may find ourselves bending beneath the weight of life; the weight of being ezer. But we were not created to bear that weight alone. Jesus died so that we do not have to remain bent over!

DIG DEEPER:
1. Bible Study – The God Who Hears & Sees Me

***Infirmity – from the Greek word astheneia – means want of strength, weakness, infirmity
A. Of the body
– Its native weakness and frailty
– Feebleness of health or sickness

B. Of the soul – want of strength and capacity requisite
– To understand a thing
– To do things great and glorious
– To restrain corrupt desires
– To bear trials and troubles

***Bowed together – from the Greek word sygkypto – means bent completely forward, stooped together i.e. completely overcome by it.

***Lift up – from the Greek word anakyptoa – means to unbend (as in a reversal) i.e. to rise figuratively, be elated – look up.
– To raise or lift one’s self up (i) one’s body; (ii) one’s soul

*** Key Terms definitions are taken from Strong’s Concordance and Thayer’s Greek Lexicon.

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Good Seed, Crowded Soil

Luke 8: 7, 14: Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And as he sowed, … some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.

For the past two weeks, we have been discussing the characteristics of the virtuous woman, the woman of valor. But I feel the need to pause in our explorations and minister to some women who do not see themselves as virtuous, victorious, or strong. I want to minister to my sisters who feel as if they have tried and tried but keep on failing. Those whose prayer lives seem to be a cycle of prayers of confession and pleas for forgiveness, because they seem to be always stumbling and falling down.

As I re-read some of my many journals that I have written over the years, I came across an entry where I had penned at the top of the page, “The environment (condition) of my heart determines the productivity of my life.” At the time, I was studying The Parable of the Sower, and the verses that talked about the seed that fell on thorny ground captured my attention. Let’s look at the verse from Luke’s account of that parable.

Notice a few things about what we learn in this parable:

1. The thorns, although not visible to the naked eye, were present in the soil/ground at the time that the sower scattered the seed on the ground.
2. The good seed fell on and germinated next to already existing thorn seeds.
3. The good seed produced a plant.
4. The plant became an adult plant; a plant capable of reproducing or bearing fruit.
5. While the plant was growing, the thorns were also growing.
6. Soon the area of land where they were both growing became overcrowded.
7. Eventually the thorns began to choke the plant that sprang up from the good seed. It deprived the plant of resources through crowding.
8. The thorns diverted the nutrients the plant needed to, not only produce fruit, but to sustain the growth of the fruit until it came to a place of maturity.

My sisters, part of our self-discovery involves a search for pre-existing thorns in our lives. We must identify those things that were deep-seated in our heart before we heard the call of God. Note, those thorns do not negate the fact that God called us and spoke the seed of His word into our hearts. However, those thorns will limit what we can do with what God has given to us.

For some, the thorns have been growing alongside the word of God in our hearts for years. Now that we have grown to a place in God where He wants to use us to reproduce, that is to make disciples, we are finding that we are not as mature as we thought. We are finding ourselves void of strength and stamina, making it difficult to bear fruit.

According to this passage of scripture, the thorns represent cares (worries and anxieties), deceitfulness of riches (going after making money), and the pleasures of life (going after just having fun). If our lives revolve around these three main areas, then we are causing the strength and life that comes from the word of God in our lives to be depleted, leaving us unable to come to maturity and reproduce much fruit.

As women, if we are not careful, we can allow the cares of life to so fill our days and eventually our hearts that the good seed of God’s word, will not be allowed to do its full work in us. What He says about who we are and what He has given to us will be choked out and not be able to bear any fruit in our lives.

My sisters, know that what God says about us as women is truth. What He has promised to do in us and through us is a certainty. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:24, “He who calls you is faithful who also will do it.” The problem isn’t with the seed, with His word or what He said. The problem is if we received His word in hearts that have not been cleared of the remains of the thorns that were there previously, then what His word produces in us will eventually die out.

You don’t have to allow your life and consequently your heart to become overcrowded with the cares of life. You can be all that God says you are and bear fruit that testify to the same. Take some time to weed out the thorns from the soil of your heart and make room for the word of God spoken in your heart to grow and bring forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty, and some one hundredfold.

DIG DEEPER:
Prayer Room – Be Rid of the Thorns

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But I am Afraid!

“Can’t someone else to do it?”

“Why does it have to be you? She is more experienced. She has so many more resources available to her.”

“Don’t you see you don’t measure up? Everything is pointing to your failure and defeat.”

These are the lies and predictions of the enemy that the adversary assigns the spirit of fear to continually whisper in our ears. He is assigned to torment us so that we wouldn’t stand and fight, but rather freeze or take flight.

So many battles have been won by the adversary, by his deploying the spirit of fear against us. He wins by default: we did not show up for the fight because we were too afraid.

But I have learned that fear is not an excuse. The presence of fear does not release me from the assignment that God has given me. In the presence of fear, I can still obey God and experience success and victory. I learned this from Gideon. He was called a mighty man of valor, because he exhibited great courage – the ability to do something that frightened him – in the face of fear.

So what if you are afraid? Don’t allow fear to paralyze you into inactivity or disobedience. Remember what the psalmist said in Psalms 56:3? “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” Let fear motivate you to run to God, your hiding place.

DIG DEEPER:
1. The Bible Study Teaching – Mighty Man of Valor!
2. The Devotional – Prediction: Imminent Defeat!
3. Prayer Room – Warfare: Against Fear & Warfare: Obedience conquers Fear

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It’s all so overwhelming!

Are you embarking on something new? A new project, a new job, a new home, a new marriage, a new child?

Do you find yourself becoming anxious and worried about your ability to rise to this new challenge and be successful at it?

Do you believe that this is something to which God has assigned you but you are doubting your sufficiency for the task?

Well I was there too.

I woke up this morning, after going to bed late last night, thinking… “I might have bitten off more than I can chew.” There is so much I want to do and so little time: blog, church work, research for personal development, time with the children, time with the spouse, rearrange the house, and the list goes on.

On my walk this morning, the Holy Spirit spoke to me about balance; combining biblical study times; tackling one task at a time so as to become an expert in one thing; spending some time in prayer and fasting; but, most importantly, allowing him to help me carry the load. Be faithful in that which I feel He is asking me to do at this time and allow Him to do His part.

He reminded me that I have help. All my help comes from him. When my heart is overwhelmed, I need to run to the rock that is higher than I (Psalms 63:2).

DIG DEEPER:
1. The Bible Study Teaching – Overwhelmed?
2. The Devotional – You Don’t Have To Do This Alone!
3. Prayer Room – My Help!